Nico's POV

Will's parents have been home for a week now. It's not really hard for me to hide from them. Getting used to not hiding from Will? That's different. I've never been in human form in front of an actual human before. Well except for when I first met Octavian, but he doesn't count. I don't like to count him as human. He's cruel and smells terrible. Will smells different. His parents smell different too. 

Octavian smells.. Weird. Like.. If you were locked in a dark.. Wet room. Whatever you would smell in that kind of situation, that's how Octavian smelled like. At least, that's how I feel when I'm too close to him. Trapped. I guess that's because I was always trapped with him around. Smells give me strange mental images. When I smell Octavian, I feel like I'm in that dark, empty, and wet room. There was no way to escape. I've been there for so long, waiting to be rescued. But no help ever came. So, I gave up. I excepted being trapped. I didn't let it bother me too much. That's how I felt with Octavian in the shop. Trapped. And sick of waiting for something that won't come. (You're exhausted, listening for the voice that can't speak. ... I'm not sorry) 

Will's parents? It's like being with people you don't know. They've helped you, yes, but after all you've been through you can't bring yourself to trust them. Even if they helped you escape that dark and empty room, you still don't believe you've been rescued. You just think it's some dream. You'll just wake up and you'll be back in the dark room. And you'll be alone again. So you don't let your hopes raise. You just keep quiet and wait to end up back in the dark room, the place you're most familiar with. Where you can't get hurt.. Well, emotionally that is. 

And Will. He's something else. He smells of.. Well I'm not sure. Maybe it's like.. Getting close to one of your rescuers. It's similar to Hazel's scent. You let yourself get attached a bit. But Will's scent is different then Hazel's. At least, my reaction to it. I let myself get attached to Hazel. I grew to love and find comfort in her scent. I panicked when I couldn't find it anymore. And I calmed when it came back. But with Will? I run from his scent. I avoid it. I don't let myself get attached. But it's hard. When I got attached to Hazel's scent, it got ripped away from me. And I never found it again. The only scent I found was the dark room. And that hurt in more ways then one. I can't let myself get hurt again. I won't let myself get hurt again. That's why I'm hiding. 

It's weird to let a scent make a picture in your mind. To let it write a story. But that's how I go through the world. The good scents have sweet, comforting, or even funny stories behind them. Like blueberries. Their scent makes me think of warm and quiet scenarios. For some reason, it's different each time I smell them. But, the scenarios are always linked in a way. They all take place in the woods. Mostly in places that have a lot of shrubbery. Bad smells kind of give me memories that have to do with that smell. Like blood. I've bled a lot in my time. Every time I've smelled it, I thought of my mama's or Bianca's death. Those were bloody. And it gives me chills every time I smell the metallic liquid. 

But as time goes on, Will's scent changes. His parents' scents are changing. I learned their names. Apollo and Naomi. They began to smell different. Apollo smells like a summer day. Warm. Relaxing. Naomi smells like being somewhere warm during cold times. Calm. Soothing. Now Will's. He smells like.. A blanket. A kind of mixture of his parents' scents. In a really nice way. Warm and.. Safe. Yeah, safe. You know that nice and secure filling you get when you're wrapped in a blanket? His scent reminds me of that feeling. And that's a little scary. I haven't felt like that in so long. It makes a bit of sense. I found out his last name was "Solace". In my language (Italian) "Solace" mean "Comfort". That can't be a coincidence. How can a guy who seems so "comforting" have a name that literally means "comfort"!? 

And that's what I'm scared of. He's too nice. He's too gentle. He's too.. Good. Too good to be true. Over that last almost month that I've lived here, I couldn't help but feel.. Good when Will is nearby. Feel safe. Like with Hazel. Thinking of that made me panic. I know for a fact if I get used to Will's "blanket", I'll end up back in Octavian's "dark room". And I can't be in the "dark room" and have the "blanket" at the same time. Once I'm feeling warm and safe, it'll be ripped away from me. Then I'll be cold again. Cold and alone. I've gotten used to that feeling. I can't let that change. 

I've built my walls for a reason. Everyone has a weak spot in them. Many people can't protect it. Heck, I couldn't protect it at first. That's how you get hurt. I built my walls to keep me safe. To keep myself from getting hurt. I've left them down once since my loved ones died. For Hazel. I left myself wide open, ready to be attacked. And of course, it happened. And I got hurt again. It took so one to get them built again. And finally, they're finished. I promised myself I wouldn't let anyone make me break them again. And I won't. Never again will I let myself get hurt. So I do what I need. 

Just like I hide from Will's parents, I hide from the scents they give off. It's like a Siren's song. Especially Will's. It makes you feel safe and happy. But it consumes you. And it breaks down your walls. But you don't realize it. You continue to feel safe and warm.. Until it's ripped away. Then you're left there. Alone. Painfully alone. And the pain only gets worse. It never goes away. 

It starts out hard. Like a giant wave. It hits you and you're thrown under the surface. It happens over and over again and you're sure you're just going to drown. But you soon find land. And you're safe. But the wave never goes away. It'll come back. And try to grab you and pull you into it's jaws once more. The only way you can be safe is to build your walls up. Build them strong. Then you'll be safe. But the wave is ruthless. It'll wait like a predator in the night. And the moment your walls crack, it'll hit. And it'll slip through. And it'll find you. And drag you into it's painful depths again until you find land once more. And rinse and repeat. 

So I've built my walls. And I refuse to let it crack. And I hide from the wave of sweet scents that this family gives off. I won't let my hopes get too high. I won't let myself think that humans could be kind. That's not true. And I most definitely won't let humans hurt me again. They've taken everything from me but my life. I won't let them take that too.