Chapter 59
There was so
much blood. Nico's shaking hands had gotten covered in it from
clutching Luke's body. He just wanted Luke to wake up and everything
to be all right. And it was his fault. His fault. Nico's fault. Luke
got shot because of him. This was because of him.
His fault!
“Nico?”
Dark brown eyes
snapped open from where he had been sitting on a windowsill. Dark
circles were now very prominent underneath Nico's eyes in comparison
to his pale skin. He blinked several times as his eyes focused on the
rain that quietly hit the window outside.
Slowly, he
raised a shaky hand to touch at the glass. The blood was long gone,
but it was still fresh in Nico's mind. Taking in a breath, Nico
turned to the man that sat in a chair across the room from him, a pen
and notepad in his lap.
“I'm sorry,
what were we talking about?”
Asclepius was
the man's name, and he had been highly recommended by Gaea herself. A
month had gone by since the shooting incident, and Nico had been
going to regular therapy sessions at least twice a week since then.
Percy had quickly become worried when Nico started eating less and
not sleeping. And the little he did sleep, Nico often talked or cried
while he did. All he could dream about was Luke getting shot and then
watching him bleed out. He had barely said a word to anyone since
then, not even Percy.
The doctor
dropped his pen on the notepad and laced his hands together in his
lap. “Have you given any more thought to what we talked about in
our last few sessions? Mr. Jackson tells me you're still barely
eating, and your sleeping hasn't improved at all.”
“I-I just
want it to stop. I can't stop it,” Nico whispered.
Dr. Asclepius
arched an eyebrow at him. “Stop what, Nico?”
“Watching
Luke get shot. And I... I killed that man. Stabbed him, and then I
shot him. I could have just gotten the gun from him and stopped, but
I-I didn't... I shot him.” Nico's hands were shaking again. “He-
He died...slowly. He couldn't...call for help or anything. I didn't
have to do it, but I did.” Nico's eyes flickered up to where the
man sat. “It was an impulse. I wanted him dead for what just
happened. Luke... That wouldn't have happened if it weren't for me.
He was there for me, not Luke.”
The man reached
up and adjusted a pair of glasses on his face. “Nico, we've been
over this-”
“Just tell me
how to make it stop.” Nico curled in on himself and glanced back
out the window.
The doctor
leaned forward, curious. “Stop what, Nico?”
“I
just...want it to stop. There's so much p-pain in this world, and
nothing is done about. All of my friends had to suffer, and still
continue to. I just want it to stop.” Nico rubbed the sleeve of his
shirt against his nose. “Why can't they be happy? Why is there so
much pain, doctor? And why can't it ever end? Are we just not meant
to be happy?”
“I like to
think that we try to enjoy the small moments in life, and that helps
us get by.” The man smiled warmly at Nico. “But life can also be
hard and unforgiving. We have to make due with the hand we are dealt,
and maybe try to make things better. Perhaps for ourselves, or even
others.” The man picked his pen back up and scribbled some things
down. “Are you ready to talk about pulling that trigger yet?”
For a long
time, Nico just sat there and listened to the rain hit the window.
“I, um, didn't really think about it.” Nico ran his tongue along
his dry lips. “It just happened.” Slowly closing his eyes, the
boy shook his head. “I don't know. I shouldn't have, but I wanted
to. You read my file, you know what happened with my father. Yet I
let him live.” He took in a deep breath. “And now, whenever I
look in the mirror, I just don't see the same person staring back.
It's like a stranger is looking at me. That probably sounds weird.”
“Not at all,”
the man replied with a warm smile. “It's only self-preservation,
Nico. The man was going to do you harm, already proving that by what
he did to your friend, you just defended yourself.”
“You know,
it's just when I think about it, maybe I shouldn't be surprised by
the stranger staring back at me. I'm not the same person I was a year
ago, and I guess the change in me was just so minimal that I didn't
even notice it.” He blinked, swallowing a lump in his throat. “I
mean, I did, once. Percy was gone for a while, and I... I started
scaring myself.” He shook his head, standing up and turning his
back to the doctor. “It's stupid. In the environment I live in,
this shouldn't bother me.”
“But it
does,” Asclepius supplied for him. Nico nodded his head, biting his
thumb nail. “And I think that should let you know that you're still
the same person deep down. Perhaps not entirely the same, but your
morale compass has just shifted slightly.” He arched a brow as Nico
turned his head slightly to stare at the man. “You didn't kill this
man because you enjoyed it, you did it because your life was in
danger.”
Nico shook his
head. “It wasn't for me.” He let out a sigh when the doctor
arched another brow. “I let my father abuse me, and never did
anything about it until I found him again in the Lotus. I never
really cared about what happened to me.” Nico sat back down,
frowning. “It was because he shot someone very dear to me. I...”
Nico took in a deep breath, fighting back some tears. “I never even
wanted to tell my father that I was gay. He hit me that night and
Bianca got into a heavily heated argument with him. I was afraid that
he was going to hit her, so it just kind of slipped out.”
His doctor
remained silent. He didn't write anything down, just sort of stared
at Nico in mild surprise. Nico had not even told that to Percy yet.
It was just not a night he cared to relive. Finally, Asclepius opened
his mouth.
“Have you
been out there to see-”
“No,” Nico
interjected, still wiping at his eyes. “I can't. I can't see... I
don't want to face what happened because of me.” The boy pursed his
lips. “Does that make me a bad person?”
“Not at all,”
Asclepius said softly. He stood to his feet and moved over to the
door. “But I might recommend going. Some closure might do you some
good, Mr. di Angelo.”
Nico watched
the man move with an almost dead, cold stare. He took in a deep
breath before he got to his feet and nodded. His doctor wrote him a
quick prescription, probably for some nerve and sleeping pills, and
opened the door.
Smiling,
Asclepius motioned for Nico to step through the doorway. “I will
set up your next appointment with Ms. Dare. Have a good day, Nico,
and try to go easy on yourself.”
Nico briefly
looked down at the prescription before nodding. Usually, one of the
Lost Kids from back home waited to pick him up, but not this time.
Today, Percy sat in the lobby, quickly jumping up when he saw Nico
standing there. He smiled sadly and ran his fingers through the front
of Nico's hair when they were close enough.
“How did it
go?” He asked gently.
“Fine,” was
the only response Nico gave. Letting out a sigh, Nico shoved his new
prescription into Percy's hands before heading out of the building
and waiting at Percy's car, while his boyfriend paid the doctor bill
for his session.
When Percy
finally climbed into the car, he didn't start it right away. Instead,
he turned to face Nico, brushing some of the boy's black hair away
from his face. “Nico,” the young man said softly.
“I
don't...really want to talk about it.” Dark eyes stared down at his
lap as Nico sat, unmoving, in his seat. “I'm just sorry.”
Percy's brow
furrowed. “You don't need to be sorry, Nico. I don't see you any
differently. You did what you had to do.” The young man reached
over and took Nico's hand. “Look, I would be a total hypocrite if I
had an issue with what you did. I don't even try to think about the
number of people I had to kill, but I think that it is important to
point out how much this bothers you.” Squeezing Nico's hand, Percy
smiled softly. “If I can't see myself as a monster, then you most
certainly cannot.”
When they
started driving, it took Nico several minutes to realize they were
not headed in the direction of the hotel. His brows instantly
furrowed as he turned to look at his boyfriend. “Where are we
going?”
Instead of
answering, Percy just squeezed his hand.
Nico's nostrils
flared. “Percy Jackson, you tell me where we are going this
instant.”
“Calm down,”
the young man replied softly. “I just think that this will do you
some good. Like ripping the band-aid off.”
Looking back on
things, Nico probably shouldn't have tried to grab the wheel, because
they almost went off the road. Perhaps a little harshly, Percy shoved
Nico back into his seat with a glare. Nico huffed and crossed his
arms.
“Don't do
that while I'm driving,” Percy scolded him. “This isn't up for
discussion. You'll thank me later.”
Nico glared out
the window the rest of the way. When they arrived, Percy got out
first and walked around to open the door for Nico. The boy's
shoulders slumped as he took the green-eyed young man's hand. He
didn't want to be there, he didn't want to see. He just wanted to
pretend that it was a dream. If he didn't see it, maybe it never
happened.
But it ended up
staring him directly in the face. Literally.
Blue eyes
snapped up when Percy led Nico into the room, an uncertain look in
them. Nico squirmed and waved a little when Eros waved at him from
where he sat on the bed. “How did the therapy go, Nico?” Eros
asked as he held out a spoonful of mashed squash to the blond in the
bed.
“I can feed
myself, fucker,” Luke grumbled as he snatched the spoon from the
cheerful brunet.
Eros stuck out
his tongue. “Ah, but you are such a fragile little thing, I would
not want you to strain yourself too much.” With a glare, he got up
and yanked the pillow that Luke was using to prop himself up from
behind him, roughly fluffing it. “Connard.
Maybe next time you won't get yourself shot.”
Luke crossed his arms over his bare torso, which was still rapped in
a bandage. The doctors said that the wound would more than likely
scar, but at least it had healed. In fact, Luke was going to be
released in the next day or two. He probably could have already been
moved back to the hotel, but a certain brunet demanded the doctors
take extra care of him. And Percy just thought it was amusing at how
red Luke's face turned, so he agreed to it.
Finally, Luke's eyes snapped back over to where Nico now stood.
“Twerp.”
“Hey,” the boy mumbled softly.
The twins were actually in the room. Which was a little surprising,
as they got threatened to be banned from the hospital if they stole
another gurney and used them to joust. “Did the shrink diagnose you
as crazy yet?” Travis teased, who had his arms wrapped around his
brother's waist as the other twin sat in his lap.
Nico shot the older twin a glare, but Percy clamped his hand over
the boy's mouth the second it looked like the brown-eyed boy might
snap at Travis. “I just thought Nico should pay a visit, so he
could get past the guilt and realize that you're not angry with him,
Luke.”
Brown and blue eyes met. Reaching up, Luke scratched his cheek.
Briefly sighing, the blond turned his attention to Percy. “Give us
a minute.”
Eros opened his mouth to protest, but Luke roughly shoved him off
the bed. Percy chuckled and opened the door as the twins and Eros
left the room, the latter cursing furiously in French. Nico took in a
deep breath as the door shut behind him. When he looked back at Luke,
he noticed that the blond was undoing his bandages.
“Wh-what are you doing?”
Luke
arched an eyebrow. “Showing you, so you'll stop being so fucking
depressed. You know, you could have at least sent a card for the guy
that took a bullet for you.” Grunting, Luke exposed the stitched up
area of his chest. He then huffed and patted the spot. “See, I'm
alive. Jesus, I asked you to stop being so goddamn depressed when
something bad happened, and you couldn't even do that.” He shook
his head. “Can't even honor a dying man's wish?”
“You didn't die,” Nico mumbled.
“That's sort of the point.” Luke leaned back in the bed, placing
his hands behind his head. “I get why you're upset over shooting
the guy, kid, but stop beating yourself up over what happened to me.
I shoved you out of the way, I took the bullet.”
There it was. Once again, Nico was just 'kid'. “You could have
died.”
“I could have, but I wasn't going to give that French asshole out
there the pleasure of being rid of me.” Luke rolled his eyes. “I
know you're not weak, like I originally thought you were, so stop
pretending like you are. It happened, you shot the guy, now it's time
to move on with your life. You're about to go to college. If you
don't stop moping, do you really think Percy will let you go to
school in America?”
“I-” Nico pressed his lips together. “He probably won't let me
now anyways. He worries too much.”
Luke shrugged. “Then I suggest putting that mask back on and
acting like you're fine. Deal with your problems in therapy, but
you're only hurting yourself right now by acting like this. In a few
years, you probably won't even think about what happened.”
Nico really didn't see that happening.
In all his time in this life, Nico had never stared at the
performance on the stage as hard as he did on the night Luke got
brought back from the hospital. While the blond wasn't performing, he
had joined the small group at Percy's table. Luke was downing his
third drink. And while his face looked bored, those blue eyes barely
left the stage that Eros was performing on with a few of the Lost
Girls.
The brunet had half of his torso covered in body paint, accompanied
by a crescent moon and a few stars painted around his right eye. All
the while, the boy and two girls danced along to Ke$ha's “Take It
Off”. They didn't even bother wearing much to begin with, just
ripped shirts and some small underwear. Well, the girls still had
their shirts, for the most part, Eros had removed his at the start of
the song.
The choreography involved a lot of foot work and sliding across the
stage. The Lost Kids stomped their right foot along with the chorus,
while one of their hands tangled in their hair. Eros stood in the
dead center of the stage, his free hand hanging high above his head
as his body went along with the song. Eros seemed extremely
comfortable to dancing to music like this, but that probably was to
be expected, since Nico got to witness the brunet at a club.
When it came to the part of the song where there was briefly no
lyrics, their hands moving from their hair down to their asses with
three timed slaps. As the song came to its end, Eros smirked and
faced his back to the audience. And as the song played the final
beats, he swung his hips back and forth, slowly peeling back the top
of his underwear for the audience to see. Well, Eros seemed more
interested in seeing what Luke thought, as the brunet's green eyes
glinted at Luke. The blond just arched a brow and tossed back another
shot as his...whatever they were...showed his ass to the crowd.
The two girls did a quick wave to the crowd, while Eros winked and
blew a kiss. As they left the stage, Luke grunted and took another
drink. “Don't you think you should slow down?” Apollo chuckled as
he stared at the other blond next to him in amusement.
Apollo had gotten back almost two weeks ago. He was going to come
back sooner, when he heard Luke got shot, but Percy had assured him
that Luke would be fine. And, to nobody's surprise, the blond had
moved into a suite with Leo.
Artemis had been happy to see her brother again, which had been why
Apollo was gone so long. From what Apollo had told them, the two had
talked for a very long time about everything. Artemis no longer
talked to their father, and had actually come out as asexual a few
years ago. She was more than happy that Apollo was no longer seeing
Robert, but had also threatened to cut off the man's balls for
dumping her brother on the street.
She would be spending Christmas with them in Germany, from what
Apollo told them. And she knew what Apollo did. Well, most of it.
More of less, it was basically the same situation Nico was in with
Bianca. She knew Apollo stripped, but not the rest. It was possibly
why Apollo came back and asked for a job doing something else around
the hotel. Percy had assured the blond that he would find Apollo
something, if it was what he wanted.
“Mind your own business,” Luke grumbled.
Percy leaned back in his chair with a smirk, sliding an arm around
the back of Nico's chair. “Why don't you just ask him out? You two
are basically dating as it is.”
“We are not.” Luke glanced up to the stage again, even though
Eros was no longer there. “It's just sex.”
“Maybe originally, but doesn't seem that way now,” Reyna weighed
in. She grinned wickedly when Luke shot her a glare. “Come off it
Luke, you two are cute together. He doesn't put up with your
bullshit. I think he would make a good boyfriend.”
“Especially if he can whip Luke, without them actually dating,”
Apollo laughed, knocking glasses with Reyna.
Luke grunted and took another shot. “You three can go fuck
yourselves. I'm not whipped and we are not going to date.” Perhaps
Nico should have been paying better attention, though, because he
would have noticed the blond's attention turn to him. “You're being
very quiet tonight, twerp.”
Nico jumped a little at the nickname. It stung a little to hear it,
after Luke had actually addressed him by name. Perhaps Nico was just
over thinking it, though. Luke had admitted to viewing Nico as a
little brother, so perhaps it was just the blond's way of showing
affection. Bianca did the same thing half the time.
“Just thinking,” Nico finally replied.
It was pretty clear that Luke didn't buy it, but he didn't comment
further. Nico rubbed at his temple and looked off to the side. While
Percy had bought him a drink, Nico had not even touched it, something
that the green-eyed young man now took notice of. He tugged on Nico's
shoulder, bringing the boy closer to him.
“Are you tired?” He whispered, kissing Nico's temple. The
brown-eyed boy gave a small nod. “Okay.” Clearing his throat,
Percy stood up from the table. “I think the two of us are going to
turn in for the night.”
Luke continued to stare at Nico while the boy stood up, while Apollo
and Reyna smiled and waved. Once they were away from the table, Percy
slid his arm around Nico, letting the boy lean into him. It was
something that Nico took advantage of when they got down and got a
golf cart to ride back to the mansion in.
Nico mumbled incoherently into Percy's shoulder, his arms wound
around the young man's neck, while Percy did his best to find the
keys to his favorite golf cart. He smiled and wrapped his arms around
Nico's waist upon procuring the keys. Nico shut his eyes for a moment
when Percy rested his chin on top of the boy's head.
It was a little odd to think about how perfectly he fit under
Percy's chin. When they first met, Nico barely came up to the young
man's shoulders. Right now, he just wanted to stay like this forever.
Well, perhaps in the comfort of their room, which was what got him to
let go of Percy and let the young man drive them back to the mansion.
Percy smiled softly as he watched Nico move across the room and sat
down on the edge of the bed. With a soft grunt, Nico pulled the chord
and let the curtain fall around the bed. As Nico yanked off his
shoes, the boy let out another grunt. He pouted when Percy chuckled
lightly.
Sighing, Percy yanked his shirt over his head and joined Nico on the
bed. Nico blinked from the center of the bed and watched as Percy
removed his own shoes. A yelp escaped Nico's lips as the young man
practically tackled him.
“Percy,” Nico whined.
In response, Percy pressed a brief kiss to the raven haired boy's
neck. “I just want you to smile again,” he mumbled into the boy's
pale skin. Strong arms wrapped around Nico's torso and they rolled,
so that Percy was on his back and Nico laid his head on his lover's
chest.
A long silence followed, wherein Percy passed the time by raking his
fingers through Nico's hair.
“Are you changing your mind about where I'm going to school?”
Nico asked out of the blue. Percy blinked down at him in surprise.
Sighing, Nico slid down into the crevice of Percy's arm. “We
haven't talked about it since Luke got shot.”
A heavy sigh came from Percy. Reaching up, the young man pinched the
bridge of his nose. “I didn't think there was anything to talk
about” Much to Nico's displeasure, the young man sat up, which
meant he lost his 'pillow'. “You're still allowed to go to school
wherever you want, Nico, I'm not going to change my mind just because
something bad happened. You made a point last time we talked: this
could happen anywhere. And it did. You were just in the city when
that happened, and there was nothing I could have done to make it not
happen. Aside from maybe locking you up in this mansion.”
Nico opened his mouth to argue, but Percy chuckled and silenced him.
“I wouldn't do that.” Percy sighed and crossed his legs. “You
know what you want and I'm not going to try to make decisions like
this for you. If you want to go to school in America, I'll happily
support your decision. I'll miss you, but I'll support it. I,um...”
Nico arched a brow at the young man when his ears started to turn
pink. “Yes?”
Percy chuckled nervously and rubbed his wrist. “I care about
you...a lot, and I just want you to be happy.”
“I know.”
“No,” Percy chuckled, “I don't really think you do. I haven't
told you, because you were right again, when you said that I can be
unreadable. I mean, I do try to be affectionate with you, but I could
tell you more.” He shook his head. “I mean, I could just tell you
in general. It's just a simple phrase.” Percy's cheeks were now a
bright pink, the color slowly devouring his entire face. “This
really shouldn't be this hard.”
Nico cocked his head to the side. “Percy, are you okay?”
Percy quickly nodded, though he briefly buried his face in his
hands. With a loud groan, Percy rubbed his face. “Goddammit,” he
cursed. “I l-” He coughed, his face now even brighter. What the
hell was wrong with him? “Okay, so, I've just never done this
before, you know? Never...said this...before. I mean, aside from like
Gaea and my mom.” Percy groaned and buried his face in his hands.
“Why is this so embarrassing? It's just the two of us.”
“Percy, just spit it out.”
“I love you!” Percy instantly clamped his mouth shut, his eyes
going wide. His also resembled a tomato by this point, but at least
now Nico understood why. Taking a deep breath, Percy tried to calm
down. It was actually rather cute, seeing him all embarrassed. “I,
uh, kind of wish you would say something.”
Oh. Nico was still a little stunned from the confession. He quickly
blinked and took in a breath. Okay, wow, he had not been expecting
that. “I, uh...” His mouth felt incredibly dry. “Well, you
already know how I feel.” He just kind of stared at Percy for a
moment, who looked a little sick. “I love you, too, Percy, you
already know that.” His lips slowly tilted up and he wrapped his
arms around Percy, crawling into his boyfriend's lap. “But I've
been waiting to hear that for a very long time.”
Percy tilted his head up and sealed their lips together. He gave
Nico a lopsided smile when they pulled back. “Well, I mean, I guess
I have for a while now. It just kind of took me some time to realize
it.” He motioned in between them. “This is just rather new for
me. I've never been in love...or a relationship, for that matter.”
He let out a breath. “But you mean a lot to me, Nico. I would do
anything for you, and I hope you know that.” Leaning up again,
Percy kissed the boy in his arms. “And I managed to get you to
smile.”
Nico stared at the grinning idiot for a moment. Reaching up, he
touched his face. To be honest, he had not even realize he had been
smiling in the first place. “I guess you did,” Nico said quietly.
Leaning back in, he shared a slow kiss with his boyfriend.
It was finally time.
Summer had finally come to an end, which meant that Nico had to
leave Berlin and go to university. It had not been an easy morning,
or night for that matter. While packing, he had changed his mind
several time. Each time, Percy had just told him that he would
support Nico's decision, no matter what he chose. He had not gotten
any sleep, to be honest.
But here he was, in the middle of the airport. Beckendorf had gone
ahead to prepare Percy's private jet. The downside was that Percy
would not be getting on the plane with him. They had agreed that, if
this was what Nico wanted, it would be easier this way. So, even
though he had packed everything, Nico still, technically, had the
opportunity to change his mind. To be honest, the thought was
constantly running through Nico's mind as he stood there with some of
his bags.
The others had accompanied Percy and Nico to the airport to say
their goodbyes, even though it wasn't really “goodbye”. Nico
would still be coming back to Berlin whenever he got the chance,
mainly in between semesters and on holidays. Still, it meant going
weeks, or maybe even a month or two, without seeing his friends.
Percy was a different story.
The young man had assured Nico that they would see each other at
least once a month, even if that meant that Percy would fly out and
visit. Unfortunately, Percy's place was in Berlin, so he couldn't
just be with Nico the whole four years. Which Nico was already
planning on shortening down to three, if he could pull it off.
A hand eventually squeezed Nico's shoulder.
Taking in a deep breath, Nico turned around to face Percy and the
others. “I think I can do this,” he said nervously.
Percy smiled down at him. “You'll do great.”
Piper and Silena moved forward and embraced Nico on either side.
“Take care of yourself, make sure you eat all your meals,” Silena
said, squeezing him awfully hard.
“Come back to us in one piece,” Piper added.
Even though they would see each other again, it felt like a goodbye.
Nico shut his eyes and let the girls hug him. It was like seeing them
for the first time flash behind his eyelids.
There he was, the scared little boy, when Piper and the twins had
come in. The three had instantly become curious about him and
introduced themselves. Piper had been the one to prevent the twins
from overwhelming him.
Silena and Beckendorf had fought a lot, but somehow Nico always felt
like they would pull through. Something about them just felt like
they were tethered to each other, perhaps even destined to be
together. And now they were going to get married and start a family.
Nico knew that Silena would make a much better mother than the one
she had.
The twins appeared behind them, launching confetti. Nico wasn't even
irritated. He shocked them a little by embracing both of them. Connor
patted his head. “Whoa there, don't need to go making this so
emotional, Neeks.”
“Yeah,” Travis chuckled. “We'll see each other again.”
And there they were, back in Los Angeles. The twins were up to some
prank, causing terror throughout their floor. Travis was back on
their bed, watching his brother sleep and talking with Nico. Their
faces were seared into his mind, just like everyone else would be.
They were his family. It would always be their impish grins that he
would picture when thinking about them.
Next was Will, who stepped sheepishly away from Cecil and Lou. Nico
smiled at him and the two hugged. “Hurry back to us, the hotel
won't be the same without you,” Will mumbled into Nico's ear. Nico
could feel him smile. “Thank you. For everything.” He pulled
back, his hands still on Nico's shoulders. “I'm not sure if I can
get used to you not being around now.”
Nico hugged him again. “I'll be back before you know it.” Nico
gave the blond a friendly kiss on the cheek and smiled. “Take care
of yourself while I'm gone.”
There they were, back on Percy's couch during the movie night.
Will's smile had stuck out in the dark, and it had made Nico's heart
do a flip. They were on the beach and Nico just listened as Will
talked about surfing and how he loved the ocean. And the first time
they met, Will just leaning against Apollo's car as they got ready to
go to the beach.
As Will stepped back, Juniper wasted no time in jumping in to hug
her friend. Nico clung to her tightly. Out of everyone, she had
probably been the nicest overall. Not once had she really hurt him.
The others had their small spat with Nico during the early days, but
never Juniper. Granted she wasn't there when it happened, but Nico
couldn't really picture her being a part of it anyways. Nico breathed
in the smell of the Lost Girl's lavender shampoo.
She had been so excited to meet Nico, calling him adorable. She
wasn't quite like the rest, keeping her sadness and bitterness
bottled up inside, instead of trying to take it out on the world. It
had been heartwarming to see the way she smiled when she saw Grover
over Christmas. It made Nico feel good, knowing that the two would be
together soon enough.
“So, I made you this shirt to wear while you are at school,” Leo
said, holding up a horribly made shirt with the words 'Property of
Percy Jackson' on it. “You know, to keep all the suitors off of
you.”
Nico just rolled his eyes and accepted the shirt before pulling the
Latino boy into a one-armed hug. “I suppose I'll miss you.”
He could remember Leo's face, staring at him as Percy carried him
into the hotel. He looked so concerned, like he was worried about
bringing Nico into the pit of wolves. There were all the times Leo
and Apollo had fought. Back then, Nico had just thought they severely
disliked each other. Perhaps they did. But not now. He smiled,
watching as Leo stepped back beside the curly haired blond that he
had been so angry at once upon a time.
Apollo smiled down at Leo and stepped up to Nico. “Well, I guess
you're leaving after all. Just not in the way we talked about a long
time ago.” He hugged Nico, lifting the boy up in a bear hug. “Try
not to cause too much damage on any Lost Kids you encounter while
you're at school.”
The first time he had laid eyes on Apollo, Nico had developed such a
crush. It was not really hard to imagine, because Apollo was
beautiful. Percy was gorgeous and hot, but Apollo had a beauty about
him that could not be matched. Nico remembered how scared the blond
had gotten when Percy scolded him after humiliating Nico. And then
there was when they finally made up, as Apollo fixed the tie that
Nico wore. From that moment, Apollo had just been his big brother.
Nico couldn't help but laugh upon remembering the feeling of triumph
when he got pulled off Apollo, a piece of the blond's shirt still in
his hand.
“I don't think I could damage them as much as I did your face,”
Nico joked.
Apollo smirked and ruffled Nico's hair.
Clarisse surprised Nico by shoving the blond out of the way. She
stared down at him with an angry look. “Here,” she grumbled.
Nico nearly choked when he noticed it was a folding knife. “I
don't need that!”
“Well, you're going to take it.” And the Lost Girl shoved it
into Nico's hand. The boy quickly pocketed the blade. “And if some
bastard pulls some shit on you again, you better damn well use the
goddamn thing.”
Well it was Clarisse. She had been very intimidating the first time
that Nico saw her. To be fair, though, the entire situation had been
terrifying. He had been where he was not supposed to be, on the floor
that would later be where he worked. And, of course, her and Ethan
had gotten Percy, which had only scared Nico even more. Nico felt a
slight pain in his hand at the memory of the time Clarisse and Ethan
took him to shoot a gun. Nico had known right then and there that he
did not like guns.
When it came time for Rachel to say her goodbye, the girl snapped a
quick picture of Nico on her phone before shooting forward to embrace
the raven haired boy. “I know you'll be fine and you'll do great at
school. But you better call Percy whenever you get the chance, or he
will probably start moping.”
“Hey!” Percy whined.
Nico smiled sadly and hugged the girl again. He couldn't help but
think about all the knowing smiles she had given him. She knew how
Percy felt about him, even before the green-eyed young man did. The
way she had smiled at him in the elevator that one time, it was clear
now that she was scarily intuitive. All the advice she had given him.
If only he had listened to her more. She had told him to not act so
childish. If Nico had just listened to her, he could have avoided a
lot of arguments with Percy.
Octavian rolled his eyes and yanked Rachel backwards. “You might
be needing this,” the blond grumbled, handing Nico a very thick
book. It was the DSM book that Nico kept running across for the
required textbooks for his courses. “Hopefully, you don't make a
habit of getting yourself into bad situations. Not that you'd listen,
since you never do.”
That was more than true.
Nico had not even been a blip on Octavian's radar the night they
met. He had flat out ignored Nico, for the most part. Most of the
time they talked, it involved a snippy comment at Nico. He had helped
Nico, even if it was merely because his brother had asked him to. If
it weren't for Octavian, Annabeth probably would have crushed him
into the dirt without Nico even suspecting anything of the blonde.
The first time that he had even seen the blond Lost Boy smile had
been at Daedalus's house, when they had met Perdix.
Next was Reyna, who wasted no time in making sure that Nico checked
in with them on a regular basis. “And if you don't,” she said
with a firm look, “I will fly over myself and kick your ass.” She
then smiled at him and hugged the shorter boy. “Take care of
yourself, Nico. We'll all miss you, but I'm sure you already know
that.”
Reyna had been very distant and hard to read when the two had first
met. Perhaps a little angry. If Nico had not been so blind to things,
he would have realized that she had basically told him that Percy did
kill people. As they days passed and Reyna had started to open up
more, Nico found her to be a very reliable friend.
When it came time for Eros to bid Nico farewell, the brunet hugged
the raven haired boy while he rambled incoherently in French. Pulling
back, Eros kissed both of Nico's cheeks. It reminded Nico of the
first time that they met. He hoped that by the time he finished
school that Eros and Luke would stop dancing around each other and
actually get together.
Eros had been like a whirlwind, blowing into Nico's life out of
nowhere. And now he couldn't imagine not having the brunet around. He
had been so excited the day he took Nico to get outfitted for dinner
with Percy, the way he grinned at the brown-eyed boy through the
mirror. But there had also been the nightclub, where Nico got to
witness the more worrying side of the French Lost Boy. Or when Luke
had confessed that Eros had an eating disorder. But then he could
turn it all around again with times like when he looked so proud
after he and Luke got discovered for destroying the pinball machine
and golf cart. But perhaps Nico's fondest moment of the brunet had
been when he had encountered Luke's mother. The look of horror on the
woman's face would always be priceless.
Jason offered Nico a lopsided smile as he stepped forward and opened
his arms for Nico to embrace him, something Nico wasted no time in
doing. He closed his eyes and clung to the blond for dear life. “I'll
miss you,” Nico whispered into the blue-eyed boy's chest.
“Will's not so bad, but I think you're still my favorite
roommate.”
Nico could feel tears building up in his eyes now as he took hold of
the back of Jason's shirt. He didn't want to let go. The first time
he met Jason felt like so long ago, in another life perhaps, but it
was still clear in his mind. He had no idea who Jason was when they
met at school, but he knew there was something so familiar about
Jason in comparison to the Lost Kids.
Finally there was Luke, who had to be shoved forward by Eros. He
sighed and rolled his eyes when he bumped into Nico. “Watch it!”
Popped into Nico's head, the very first words that Luke had ever said
to him.
Nico had been such a scared little kid back then. It had nearly
given him a heart attack to bump into Luke, who looked like he wanted
to murder Nico right then and there. Their relationship with each
other had been so different back then. Luke had seemed like his
enemy, someone who wanted nothing more than to see Nico fail. He
remembered the cocky smirk on Luke's face when Nico wanted to try
working on the top floor. And then Nico got the shock of finding out
that Luke had actually tried to protect Nico by making a deal with
Percy. Or how could Nico forget the night he jumped on the back of
Luke's motorcycle?
It had nearly broken his heart to hear Luke's story, about how he
got that scar. Luke had given up on being happy back then. And then
he met Eros. Nico smiled at the memory of when Luke first laid eyes
on the feisty brunet. The look in Luke's eyes when Nico had almost
fell out of their raft at the water park flashed briefly through
Nico's mind. Luke had started out looking like his enemy, but it was
funny how all that changed. Because, as it turned out, Luke was
probably Nico's best friend during all of this, whether he would ever
admit it again or not.
“Just...don't go getting into trouble. I won't be there with you,
so I can't really take another bullet.” Luke rolled his eyes when
Nico pursed his lips. He glanced over his shoulder and glared at the
others before turning back to Nico. “Look, you'll be fine. Stop
worrying. Grow a pair and go knock 'em dead.” Those icy blue eyes
almost sparkled as they met Nico's brown ones. “Take care of
yourself, Nico. Not that I'll miss you or anything, but I'm sure all
the other losers I have to associate myself with are going to start
whining that you're not around.”
And the dam broke. Tears streamed down Nico's face as he hugged
Luke. It was his name that did it. Luke was his best friend, his
brother, always looking out for him. He just didn't want people to
think he was a softie.
A hand laid softly on Nico's shoulder and the boy was slowly removed
from Luke. Wiping at his eyes, Nico looked up into Percy's sea-green
eyes. The young man cupped Nico's face and gave him a quick kiss. “As
much as I want you to stay, which is what I know you're debating
right now, I also know you'll hate yourself if you changed your mind
right now.” He held on tight to Nico. The smell of the ocean
instantly filled Nico's lungs as he shut his eyes. “We'll be here,
waiting, when you get back.”
And there he was, back on the streets on that first night.
His legs screamed in pain as he tried to walk again. His body was so
tired. Just curl up and die, he thought again. It would be easier,
and his parents wouldn't miss him. Nobody would. He collapsed against
the wall of the hotel, slowly sliding down it until he sat on the
ground. He pulled his knees up to his chest and began to cry again.
He buried his head into his knees so people wouldn't see him cry. He
heard a door swing open, but didn't look up. He looked underneath his
arms at the person that walked out, only seeing up to the stranger's
knees.
“No,
everything is going fine.” It was a guy. “Yes, he dropped the
package off a few hours ago. I'll ship it over to you if you want.”
The guy sighed. “No, it wasn't like that.” Another pause. “No.
He tried grabbing her ass while she was on stage. There was no
negotiation with me.” He paused again. “Yeah,
I...informed him as to the instability of his company's stocks .”
Nico
scolded himself for picking this spot to collapse. He didn't want
someone to see him like this. People passing by were different, this
was someone up close. Something about the young man's voice pulled
Nico in, though. He wanted to look up and see who was talking, but
didn't want to chance him making eye contact. He would rather the
stranger just ignore him and go back inside.
Nico figured he
should get up, try to get away unnoticed. When he moved to stand, his
head began to spin and he collapsed on to the pavement. His cheek was
now throbbing, but he didn't care. He just wanted to lay there. His
eyes became heavy and he let them fall shut.
Nico let out a
groan as he blinked and found the figure leaning over him. He felt a
warm hand brush his bangs out of his face. “Are you okay?” He
heard the voice from a moment ago ask.
The door opened
again and Nico could make out a smaller figure come out and approach
the previous stranger. “Percy, Luke was asking for you. What are
you doing out here?”
“Talking to
the boss.” Nico felt arms reach under him. “Can you get the door
for me, Leo?”
The smaller
figure stood back up and moved over the door. Strong arms wrapped
around Nico and pulled him up to the stranger's, who's name must be
Percy, chest. “Sure, boss, but what are you doing with him?”
Nico groaned
again, blinking up at this Percy. His face was lifted, so Nico
couldn't really make out many features, other than dark hair. “Taking
care of him. He looks like he needs food and a place to sleep.”
“But-”
“No buts. You
act like this is something uncommon around here.”
Nico made out the figure of Leo. He was around the same height as
Nico. He was of some Hispanic origin. His eyes were peering up at
Percy. Percy made his way into the hotel and Nico had to screw his
eyes shut from the bright lights above him. Nico heard an elevator
ding open and figured they had stepped inside of it. He unconsciously
shifted closer to the warm chest that he was being pressed against.
Nico blinked his eyes open for a moment. They were in an elevator.
Leo looked over at him, giving him a friendly smile. “He's
conscious.” Nico looked up at his rescuer. Percy glanced down at
him. Nico's eyes began to shut again. The last things he saw were
warm green eyes staring down at him.
It was a memory that would forever stay with Nico, the first time he
had ever looked into those sea-green eyes. He had felt safe, a
feeling he would always associate with Percy Jackson. They were
always meant to end up here, weren't they? No matter what. Even when
Nico kept almost getting killed, just like the day on the movie set.
As they walked
back to the limo, the group fell into a silence. Percy walked beside
Nico, looking over the boy's shoulder as he kept flipping through
photos of himself with the celebrities that had been on the set. He
was so distracted that he did not even hear the low groaning noise
coming from above him until there was a loud scream.
The next thing
Nico knew, he had the wind knocked out of him as Percy came barreling
into him, sending the boy flying through the air. Nico's eyes widened
as he landed on concrete, though the hard impact to his head never
came.
His eyes became
filled with panic a second later when the large safe he had seen on
their arrival came crashing down where he had been standing just a
second ago. Nico just laid there in shock, his body shaking. His face
was pressed against Percy's shoulder, the young man's arms in a vice
grip around Nico's body.
A second later,
the two were surrounded by the rest of their group, with quite a few
other people running over to check on what happened. Kronos was
yelling down at Percy, though Nico was still in too much of a shock
to make out what the young man saying. The only words he could
decipher were “you idiot” and “worthless trash”.
And then Percy pulled back and allowed Nico to see his face. Nico
was frozen by what he saw. There was pure panic in Percy's green
eyes, his eyes wide as he looked Nico over. Kronos reached down and
jerked Percy to his feet, though Percy only continued to stare down
at Nico, like Nico might actually not be laying there unharmed. It
was also then that Nico noted that the back of Percy's hand was
bleeding, having taken the impact instead of Nico's head.
That day was the day that Nico really and truly realized that Percy
did care for him. Perhaps he didn't know just how much back then, but
it did show that Percy cared. And now the young man had said the
three little words that Nico had waited so long to hear. And how did
Nico repay him? By going to school halfway around the world.
“I could always just-”
“No,” Percy firmly cut him off. “You will be fine. I'll see
you every month and you'll be spending your breaks back here. We will
make it work. It'll suck, but it will work. You'll do fine and I'm
going to be proud of you. Well, more than I already am.” He smiled
when Nico blushed. “And it's good to know that I can still make you
do that.”
Nico laughed a little and tried to wipe his remaining tears off of
his face. “You promise?”
Percy nodded and kissed Nico's forehead. “I'll see you soon.” He
leaned in and rested his forehead against Nico's. “But I will miss
you. I really do love you, Nico, and I am very proud of you.”
Nico pressed his lips tightly together and nodded, willing himself
to not cry again. He wrapped his arms around Percy's neck and pulled
the young man down for a long, searing kiss. They got a few whistles
from some of the Lost Kids, but the two ignored them. Right now, it
was just the two of them. When they separated, Percy smiled warmly
back at Nico.
Taking in a deep breath, Nico slowly removed himself from Percy's
warm embrace. He reached down and picked up his backpack and one
other thing of luggage. He smiled weakly and gave the group a small
wave before brushing some hair behind his ear and heading in the
direction of his flight.
He stopped abruptly and turned to look over his shoulder at the
group watching him. Percy stood in the center of them and they all
smiled at him. Nico felt a lump in his throat as each of them waved
at him. This was his family. This was the end of the road. Perhaps
not literally, but it felt like it. The closing of a chapter and the
beginning of a new one.
His eyes slowly moved across each of their faces before making the
decision to run back. He fell into Percy's arms again, listening to
the laughter that escaped the young man's chest. The others circled
around them, embracing Nico in a long group hug. He never wanted to
go, even though he knew he had to. The future was uncertain, the
right now was not.
When they finally let him go, Nico knew that it was time to leave.
There was no more stalling. He bit down on his lip to keep from
crying and waved at the group again. This time he did not look back.
He did not look back until he was on Percy's private jet and secure
in his seat.
Nico turned and stared out the window, at the airport. He smiled a
little when he found everyone standing at the window inside the
airport, waving excitedly at him. He could do this.
“Ready to go, Nico?” Came Beckendorf's voice, startling Nico.
Nico smiled and turned to look up at the Lost Boy. “As ready as
I'll ever be, I guess.” He let out a sigh and glanced back out the
window, swallowing a lump in his throat. “It isn't really goodbye,
after all.”
Beckendorf smiled and walked towards the front of the plane. Soon
enough, the plane began to move away from the terminal and they got
into the air. Nico stared out the window, watching as the ground fell
away from them. He let out a breath and nodded.
This wasn't the end, only the start of the next chapter of his life.
