Chapter Text
"So Niccolò, why don't you tell me about your sister? It may help to talk about it positively, yes?" Fredric, Nico's therapist, asked him.
Nico looked up, taking a deep breath.
Just lie.
Make it all up.
This was what Nico usually did. It worked, It helped it go faster. Lying always got him out of things, didn’t it? But this today, His sisters favorite day because it was her and Her best friends “friendaversary” as they always called it. He did not feel like lying. Bianca hates lies.
"Um well", his voice faltered as he thought about what to say.
“Today would be her and Zoe’s 17th friend anniversary, I’ve mentioned Zoe before right?” He looked up at him, waiting for an answer.
”Yes, her best friend” He said, nodding and leaning forward. Nico felt he did that on purpose now because it has to be obvious it pisses Nico the fuck off.
He grimaced before continuing, “Well she had an automatic alarm set and this morning it woke me up. We had forgot to turn it off. But it was also what made me call Zoe. I asked her if she wanted to come over and just…remember Bianca, she said yes and we hung out in B’s room earlier today”
Dr. Fredric just nodded and arched an eyebrow. “Would you like to talk about your time of reflection with Zoe?”
”No..Yes?..I don’t know, we ended up crying while looking at her photo album together. That pretty much sums it up right?” He kept staring at his feet this time rather than looking up.
“Crying can be great therapy you know?", Fredric said. Nico sighed.
just an hour, you can last an hour. Right? NO
"Yeah, I guess," he said.
After an hour of wanting to strangle his awful, boring therapist then himself it was time to leave! As he always did, Fredric walked him down to his dad's car to give him the report, Which his dad looked over and if it had no valuable information he threw it away.
Today though, when they were walking down to the car they passed a boy around Nico's age. He was tall with dark skin, blonde hair, and Dark blue eyes. He was pretty fit and had a beautiful display of freckles across his face and probably every where else, though Nico was definitely not thinking about that.
"Good afternoon William," Fredric said briefly. Though his name tag said, Will.
"Good afternoon doctor," the boy said looking up, locking eyes with Nico for a moment.
Nico blushed and started walking faster, he just wanted to go home. He pushed open the door Fredric following close behind.
"Hey kiddo how'd it go?" His dad said unlocking the car door.
"The same", he said getting in the passenger side.
Fredric walked up to the car and handed his dad some papers.
"Here is his report for today. We did more on opening up and worked on stepping out of his comfort zone.", He said in a very toneless voice.
"That's always good." His dad said.
Nico rolled his eyes and laid his head against the window.
"I will leave you now.", Fredric said as if he were a servant speaking to a king.
Nico half expected him to bow and walk off. Sadly, he didn't and Nico felt a twinge of disappointment. Would’ve been hilarious.
"I'm almost jealous that guys not my therapist, he’s a riot!" His dad said pulling out of the parking lot.
Nico snickered and said back in a sarcastic voice, “Oh yeah, we secretly have a huge party the whole time.”
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As soon as they got home Nico went to his room and collapsed on his bed. He sighed and rolled onto his back staring up at the ceiling.
Will.
He hummed remembering the tall boy.
"Nico?" His step-sister, Hazel, said, interrupting his thoughts.
"Yeah," he answered without looking at her.
"Dad asked me to ask you what you wanted from McDonalds." She said.
He shot up.
"What." He said, obviously offended, "How does he not know my usual order?" He said.
She shrugged, “Y'know he doesn't remember those types of things he's too busy at work for all the remembering."
"True, 6-piece chicken nuggets with large fries and a coke, and I swear if it’s not a large fry." He said, laying back down.
"Ok!" She said, shutting his door quietly and running downstairs.
Hazel had come with Nico's stepmom, she was two years younger than him with dark curly hair and a short chubby-ish figure. Her father had left her and her mother when she was ten. She never seemed bothered by the fact he hurt and left her but Nico thought the way she never hesitated to start calling them her brother and dad almost immediately said everything.
Nico moved under the sheets on his bed and switched on his TV, turning on some quiet music to keep his brain occupied because if he didn't it would start to wander to places Nico didn't want it to wander. He reached for his phone then stopped himself and looked over to the book next to it. He picked it up and started to read. It was a book he got in Italy once on their old family holidays to visit his grandparents. He had forgotten it until the day of his mother's and sister's funeral. It was about two boys who ran away from their families together and tried to find somewhere far away from everyone. It was a British novel that was pretty popular in Europe.
Soon Nico's dad walks through the door with McDonald's in his hand's calling for everyone to come down for dinner. With a sigh, he found a bookmark and closed his book. Nico made his way downstairs to the family dining room. They had one of those houses that would get you the title 'rich kid' if anyone but close close friends saw it. Only Nico cared about that though. Everyone would probably think he was ungrateful for not liking all the fancy stuff his dad buys him but they would be annoyed too if one of their parents died and then the other started giving them stuff they don't want or need to "make them feel better" when they used to ignore them all the time.
"Do I have to sit at the table?" Nico complained.
"Yes Nico, just sit down," his father said.
He reluctantly sat down next to Hazel and started eating.
"Your eating habits have gotten better I see." His father said with an optimistic tone.
His stepmother, Persephone, glared at him and he looked back confused. Nico put his food down and stood up.
"I'm going to the bathroom.", Nico said coldly, walking away.
He heard his dad saying “What? What'd I do?" To his step-mom.
He closed and locked the bathroom door behind him and went to the sink, staring at himself for a bit before slamming his fist on the counter. Why he fucking saw that? He turned on the water. He knows not too. He began stripping his clothes off. Just when I’m not thinking about it all the damn time. He stepped into the shower, sighing as the hot water hit his skin. Showers always calmed him, he had not explanation for it, they just did.
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A few minutes after he had gotten out and dressed he heard a knock as he was drying his hair and doing his lengthy routine.
"Nico?" His Stepmom.
He wrapped his hair in a towel and turned to the door, unlocking and opening it.
"Are you ok? You don't have to come back. I don't know why he even felt you had to come to eat at the table.", She said with a mix of concern and irritation.
"I’m alright Persephone, Promise, not that he’s forgiven, just not choosing to stay mad.” He said with a smiled
"Okay dear, just tell me if you need anything” She said sweetly and put a hand on his arm.
He smiled and hugged her. He loved her so much, she reminded him of her a lot…
When they pulled away she pulled him down gently to kiss his forehead and walked back to the kitchen. He went back into the bathroom and turned on music with the Alexa, dancing around as he got ready for bed.