It was the middle of the night when Nico heard the soft pleas coming from the Zeus cabin next to his, and only one thought raced through his mind, Emily. He jolted out of bed and threw a pair of sweats on and ran out of his cabin. He threw open her door to find her kicking and fighting with a pained expression on her face, all the while fast asleep. She struggled as if someone were holding her arms, dragging her somewhere.

"No, mom please, I didn't do it! Please mom, stop! No! No!" Emily twisted and turned, yet never woke up. Without wasting another second, Nico rushed over and sat on her bed and grabbed her wrists, preventing her from striking out and possibly hurting herself, which has happened before. She still struggled against him, dreaming he was her abusive mother who scared her badly. He tightened his grip on her wrists; though not too much because he didn't want to hurt her, just rescue her from this nightmare.

"No, no, stop! Please! Let me go!" She fought Nico with every ounce within her, but he held on. He loved her and would never let her go through this alone. He held both her wrists in one hand and cupped her face with the other as he quickly swooped in and kissed her lightly. Immediately her eyes snapped open and looked through him before realizing that he was there. They stared into each other's eyes, hers coated in a plain and raw fear, and his wide with worry and concern, each burning with a love for the other so strong that nothing could keep them apart. She dived into his open arms and cried into the crook of his neck as he held her close, silently swearing to never let her go through this without him. There was silence shrouding her sobs, as no words needed to be said. He pulled her on his lap and they sat there like that for what seemed like eternity.

The next morning Emily woke up to find Nico gone, though he spent the night to comfort her. She got up and ready for the day before heading out to look in their spot on the shore for him. He was sitting there, looking out at the ocean with an unreadable expression on his face. She sat down in front of him so that his outstretched legs were on either side of her small frame. She rested her head back on his chest as his strong arms encircled her tiny waist, bringing her closer to him. He sighed deeply and kissed the top of her head, making her lightly giggle.

"I'm sorry," Nico said into her hair.

"For what?" Emily asked, wrapping one arm around his knee, which he brought up and letting her other hand rest on his other leg. He gently grabbed her wrists in each of his hands and cradled them in his hands. There was a hand-print bruise on each wrist from where he had grasped her wrists last night to stop her from hurting herself again. Emily sighed a light sigh.

"Nico, don't worry, they're only there because I bruise easily and you were onl-"

"It's still no excuse for hurting you. I promised I never would and now look…" Emily saw the conflicting expression on his face and knew he was probably beating himself up on the inside for this.

"You know what would make it better?"

"What?"

"If you kissed it and made it better," Emily said in dead seriousness. Nico couldn't help but smile slightly at his girlfriend's request. He brought her right wrist up to his lips and kissed the hand-print. He didn't stop though and continued trailing small kisses up her hand, ending at her fingers and making her giggle and blush. Oh gods how he loved it when she blushed, and her laugh was like small bells ringing. So he leaned to her left side and again brought her left wrist up and kissed it. Again he didn't stop, but left a trail of kisses up her arm and started kissing up her neck. Suddenly Emily let out a small gasp and Nico smirked into her neck and returned to the spot where she had gasped and bit until they both knew there would be another small bruise left on her delicate skin. He continued kissing up her neck and across her jaw, as she tilted her head slightly towards him. When he was about to kiss her lips he stopped and pulled back. She turned and looked at him, a confused look on her face.

"Mmmmm, kiss me," she demanded.

"No," At this response she turned in his lap to look at him, a slight pout decorating her face as she lightly chewed her bottom lip.

"Yes,"

"No,"

"Nico di Angelo, kiss me!"

"Hmmm, nope," he teased, trying to hold back a smile and a laugh at his girlfriend's pouting face as to why she wasn't being kissed. He knew perfectly well that she would never give up until she got her way, and he used this fully to his advantage.

"Nicoooo…" she started. He sighed and leaned in as she closed her eyes, a slight smile playing on her lips because she was going to get what she wanted. Just when their lips barely brushed, he whispered "no" and pulled away before it could become a kiss. He inwardly laughed at her playfully mad face. Suddenly, before she could comprehend what was happening, he had her lying on her back with both her wrists pinned in one of his hands above her head and his legs somehow pinning her own so she couldn't move. She struggled for a bit before giving up and looking into his dark chocolate colored eyes and getting lost in them. He smirked and leaned down and kissed the side of her mouth, then the other side, teasing her and toying with her desire for him to kiss her. She looked at him with her wanting written plainly on her face, so he finally obliged. He kissed her and she immediately kissed back. His tongue glided across her bottom lip, begging for entrance but she decided to tease him back and deny. He frowned in the kiss and bit her lip, causing her to gasp and giving him a chance to slip his tongue in. They fought for dominance but he, as always, won. Knowing he was in complete control, his hand ran along her side slowly, then back up to cup her neck and bring her closer, deepening the kiss further. Finally they pulled back, needed air. They got lost in each other's eyes and never wanted to leave. Nico started to get up but Emily grabbed his shirt and pulled him back, kissing him lightly.

"You tease, but I guess that's why I love you," Emily said as she smiled, cuddling into his strong arms as they played footsie.

"Yeah, and I love you for putting up with it," Nico chuckled as he kissed her forehead. They sat there cuddling and playing footsie as they watched the ocean, saying nothing yet everything.