3 weeks after BoO, Nico is on the verge of leaving. Can Percy and Annabeth convince him to stay?
A little bit of Percabeth, a little bit of Solangelo. Probably a one-shot, and my first try at this. Let me know what you think!
All rights to Rick.
"Percy, can you go talk to Nico? I'm afraid I can't change his mind." Jason said to Percy, with a concerned look upon his face.
"Why? What's up?" Percy replied.
"Apparently he's had a couple of rough days. He is getting ready to leave; probably for good."
"Not under my watch," Percy muttered. Turning towards his girlfriend, he snapped, "Annabeth, follow me."
Hurrying to catch-up to Percy as he walked out of the dining pavilion, Annabeth tried to learn what had gotten him so wound up. "What's wrong? What are you-?"
"Did you notice Nico wasn't eating at my table tonight?"
"Yes, but that isn't that unusual." Annabeth said while looking at Percy with a raised eyebrow, still uncertain what Percy was so agitated about.
"Well, it isn't happening again."
Reaching out and grabbing Percy's shoulder causing him to turn around, Annabeth exclaimed, "Wait! You're in a tizzy because Nico decided not to eat at your table tonight?"
"No. I'm in a tizzy because that...that coward thinks he's leaving the camp without telling us." Percy stammered through anger.
"Well why didn't you tell me that right away? Come on!" Annabeth said, starting to run in the direction of the Hades cabin with Percy following closely behind.
"What the HELL are you doing, Nico?" Percy burst through the door and yelled.
Glancing up, with tears in his eyes, Nico looked confused. "You know exactly what I'm doing Percy. I've told you time and time again that I don't fit in here. It is just like the Titan War. Praised for being a hero for a couple of days, and just as quickly, I'm being avoided. Looked at with fear. I have no real friends here. Nobody here, or at Camp Jupiter for that matter, would give a damn if I was or wasn't in their camp tomorrow."
"No friends? Nobody would care?" Percy struggled to say, like he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Are...do you seriously believe that? You don't think that there are people here who care about you? People who consider you a friend? Or want to be your friend?
"Nico, the seven of us on that quest were all saved by you at one point or another. But that's not the reason we care about you. We don't care that you are the strongest demigod we know. We care that you are the most courageous person at this camp...by a long shot. We care because of the heart that you have.
"And it really sucks to say this because Leo is gone, but the six of us remaining want you in our lives. And it's not just us. People at this camp didn't treat you as a hero because it seemed like the thing to do, or because they were scared of you. They treated you as a hero because you are one. They treated you that way because they think of you as an important member of our camp family." Percy continued.
"Percy, you don't know how it feels. You don't understand the loneliness that I feel. You don't understand what being an outsider does to a person. It eats at you. It makes you bitter." Nico responded, now sitting on his coffin-style bed.
Calming down slightly, Percy kneels down next to Nico. "Look, I love you, Nico. Maybe not in the way that you envisioned, or wanted me to, and I'm sorry I don't love you in that way. But I love like a brother. You mean so much to me. I've caused you unimaginable pain, but I want you to understand what I just said. If you leave, and I never see you again, just know that. You are a brother to me.
"And that person who loves you in the non-brotherly way is out there. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that he is in the Apollo cabin right now." Percy said.
"Oh, please!" Nico scoffed. "He can't even look at me without disgust. He only talks to me because he pities me and thinks he is doing his due-diligence by telling me not overexert myself."
"He talks to you because he likes you and genuinely cares about your well-being." Percy said, frustrated by Nico's stubbornness.
Cutting off Percy before he could say more, Nico said, with fresh tears welling-up in his eyes, "Do you understand how lucky you two are?" now looking between Percy and Annabeth. "How lucky you are to have found your other half. The two of you were born to find each other. You have been through so much together and it has only made your bond stronger. I'll never experience the love that you two feel for each other."
Before Percy could respond, Annabeth placed a hand on his shoulder, nodding to him that it was her time to talk. Taking Percy's place in front of Nico, Annabeth took Nico's hand and said softly, "Percy and I are lucky. I never imagined I would love someone as much as I love him. But there are plenty of times that I had doubts about the two of us.
"I first developed an inkling of a crush on Percy while in a truck full of zoo animals in Las Vegas. It was our first quest together. Those feelings grew and intensified over the next couple of years, but I never knew if he felt the same way. I turned down a chance at becoming a Hunter of Artemis because I couldn't bear the thought of losing Percy.
"Two years later, he turned down the chance to be immortal because he couldn't bear the thought of losing me. It turns out, all that time, he had the same feelings for me as I had for him. The point is, Nico, Percy and I were fortunate that our feelings were mutual. It took us a while, but at least we expressed those feelings eventually. If Percy had chosen to become a god, and I never saw him again without telling him how I truly felt, I may never have gotten over it." Annabeth concluded.
"So you're saying that I have to tell Will how I feel?" Nico asked.
"And whatever his response is, it will be better than not knowing at all." Annabeth answered.
"If his feelings aren't mutual, do I have your permission to leave?" Nico said.
Putting a hand up to silence and glancing at a pacing Percy, who was about to interject, Annabeth replied with her eyes back on Nico, "You do."
Before more could be said, there was a crash at the door as Will Solace came tearing into the cabin. Looking directly at Nico, Will shouted, "Where in the world do you think you are going, Death Boy?"
"I...um…" stuttered Nico.
"Don't you dare 'I...um…' me, Nico! You aren't going anywhere! I'm not letting the person I care so much about just leave without so much as a goodbye! I...I love you too much to let that happen." Will finished.
A clearly stunned Nico responded, "To clarify, do you mean love in a brotherly or non-brotherly way?"
"What? A non-brotherly way!" stammered Will.
Looking at Annabeth, Percy gestured toward the cabin door with his head, "I think our work here is done."
Walking back towards the campfire now going on, Percy intertwined his fingers with Annabeth's and kissed the top of her head. "You did so well with him back there. Just one thing…" Percy said.
"What's that?"
"You had a crush on me when we were twelve?" Percy asked.
"Yeah, so?"
"Nothing. I mean it was a year earlier than I started having a crush on you, but, you know, who cares?" Percy smirked.
"It's not a competition, Seaweed Brain!" said Annabeth. The only smile that could match the joy represented in the one Annabeth was giving Percy was his he was giving back to her.