Tsk, tsk, tsk. The clicking of the nurse's shoes on the hallway floor was beginning to drive Nico insane.

Drip, drip, drip. The sink in the room was broken and leaking.

Beep, beep, beep. The monitor sound was steady, repetitive. That was good.

Though, it had only lasted a few more moments.

Her hair wasn't a shiny color anymore; it was dull. Her skin was pale and cold. Her body was in an unnatural position, one he knew all too well.

It was how his mother had looked in her hospital bed years ago.

Nico woke up in a cold sweat. Of course, his recurring nightmares always got the best of him.

He rose out of bed, wiping his sweating hands on his loosely fitted sleep shirt. He decided to take a trip to the bathroom so he could wash his face. Unlike the hospital sink, Nico's sink didn't drip.

The cold water woke his senses, sending a chill down his spine. The house was quiet, except for the air conditioner blowing through the vents.

Nico took a look in the mirror. His black hair was a scruffy mess. His dark eyes were drowsy. When was the last time he'd gotten a decent amount of sleep?

He'd showered soon after, throwing on a black and gray striped shirt and black skinny jeans. He could sleep another time. It was time to visit Bianca and Maria now.

Nico didn't even lock the door behind him; what did he have to lose?

He felt bad about not visiting his family for a few days, so he promised them that he would get extra flowers. What kind of flowers would his mother like? Roses. Yes, perfect. What about Bianca? Bianca liked everything. It would be easy enough to find something for her.

Nico picked the nicest neighborhood to search for flowers. The wealthy people always had beautiful landscaping, so there'd surely be flowers, right?

He passed the first few houses; the flowers there just weren't pretty enough. Not pretty enough for his mother and sister.

The next home with a garden had a variety of plants. Rose bushes, lilac trees, tomato plants, rhubarb patches, etcetera. Roses! Nico wouldn't believe his luck. The garden had every color rose he could imagine, so he picked a couple of each color. His mother would love them.

He froze when he suddenly saw movement from inside the window of the house. He registered a female with brunette hair standing next to a male with a mop of curly brown hair and a crooked smile. The guy had his arm around the girl's shoulders. They seemed to be peering at him through the window, though Nico couldn't tell for sure if it was him they were looking at.

Okay, it probably was him hey were looking at. What else would it be?

Shit. He'd been caught. He clutched the roses in his hands, not even caring about the thorns piercing into his palms, the blood running down his wrists.

Where could he go? The neighbor's house might work. Yes, of course. He dashed into the front yard, and into the side of the house, panting. There seemed to be no sign of anyone through the windows of this house. Thank god.

Nico did a trouble take when he examined the light gray house he'd run into. It looked like the sun had vomited all over the yard. Yellow daffodil petals littered the grass. Along the sidewalk were yellow and orange marigolds. Sunflowers danced around the fence. And, of course, there were daisies, which were none other than yellow daisies.

Would Bianca like yellow? Probably. She loved all of the colors.

So, in that case, he checked his surroundings, (again) and when he didn't see anyone, he began to pick some of the daisies. And then he'd moved onto the marigolds, and he plucked a couple of chrysanthemums that he hadn't noticed before as well. Perfect.

This neighborhood was a jackpot! He'd surely come back soon. Bianca and Maria would be delighted with all of the beautiful flowers.

He decided to check the backyard of the gray house, only to find the entire yard only consisted of yellow hyacinths. They were everywhere. Nico wondered why. Would the owner of the yard notice a few flowers missing? Probably not. He'd already stolen some, so a few more wouldn't hurt, right?

The hyacinth's petals were soft, though a few of the ones Nico picked were bloodstained from his hands. Oh, well.

Once he was satisfied with his flower selection, Nico decided he should probably leave the neighborhood. He certainly couldn't get caught on the first day.

He clutched his flowers in his hands and tried to look as natural as possible as he strolled down the sidewalk. What would he say if someone saw him? There were cars driving by, but none of them even paid attention to the short, black haired boy with the black pants and dark shirt.

Holding the flowers and walking down the sidewalk made Nico feel like he was a flower boy or something. That made him think about Maria and his father's wedding day.

Well, their planned wedding day. His mother had died prior to the big day. Nico was only around two or three at the time, and losing his mother was hard.

His dad moved on afterwards; he married some lady named Marie (the similarities in their names still shocked Nico) and had a child with her. That child was his half sister, Hazel, whom Nico loved dearly. He hadn't seen his dad in a while; they lost touch touch after Maria died. He always worked all day and night, and even when he was home, he never really paid attention to him and Bianca.

Whatever. If he didn't want to be a part of Nico's life, he didn't have to be. It's not like anyone else wanted to.

Nico was almost out of the neighborhood when he felt a sneeze coming on.

"A...choo!"

Of course, Nico's sneeze caused him to drop all of the flowers he'd collected; they were a mess on the sidewalk now. What luck.

He scrambled to pick them up and sort out the yellow ones from the multi-colored bunch, though he'd picked more than he realized. He probably looked ridiculous.

Once Nico had collected all of the flowers again, he heard a male voice yell from behind him. He wasn't sure exactly what the guy had said, but he was probably going to bust him, so Nico bolted off running.

"Hey! Wait!"

Nico risked a look back. The male chasing after him was much taller than he, and Nico registered a tight-fitting yellow shirt and shaggy blond hair. It was probably the resident of the sun vomit home. There was something in the blond's hands, though he hadn't looked long enough to see what it was.

"I know you know I'm here! Stop running, please!" The blond called.

"Go away!" Nico snapped in reply.

"No, I just want to meet her!"

Wait, who was her? Did this guy...did he know?

All of the thoughts running around in Nico's mind caused him to lose track or where he was running.

He ran right into a tree.

~~~

*This might have been a bit unedited, so please help me fix any errors.*

Alright, what do you guys think so far? Better, worse, or equal to the Roommates first chapter? (I'm only asking because I want to know if I have improved on my writing or not.)

Any suggestions? Feedback? Constructive criticism? If you don't want to comment, you can always message me about it.

I'm trying not to make this story cliche, does it seem like it is based on this chapter? I'm just trying to set the story.

I'm going to be dedicating this story to
MyVintageUnderworld_ ,
because she's an amazing writer, a great person in general, and the title idea was hers

RoyalsOfSolangelo , because they're thebomb.com and a very sweet and talented writer/person (and I get a lot of writing tips from them, bless.)

and finally Shingeki_No_Homo , because they're the dank to my meme, and the Will to my Nico because they light up my life. They're my biggest supporter and best friend. I would probably be stuck in writer's block forever if it wasn't for Drew.

Have a good day, my dudes. Thanks for sticking with me.