Unexpected Friend

Summary: When all of camp half-blood and camp Jupiter find out Nico`s secret he is comforted by the least likely person.

Disclaimer: I do not own 'Percy Jackson and the Olympians' or 'The Heroes of Olympus.'

Warning: HOH spoilers, rated T for some swearing, child abuse, and general violence.

AN: I had a snow day on Wednesday and this popped into my mind but it took a few days to write so please enjoy it and remember to review! Also I apologize for my poor grammar and spelling and severe lack of writing skills.

Nico Di Angelo had just collapsed after transporting the Athena statue along with two others back too camp half-blood he wakes an hour later little dose he know that he is about to fall victim to a cruel prank cooked up by Octavian and two of the Hecate campers.

Octavian had convinced the Hecate girls that it would be a good idea to help him get revenge on Nico for helping Percy Jackson and the rest of the Argo II of course he couldn't harm Reyna because of her rank and he didn't think a mere faun was worthy of his wrath so he chose Nico to pick on. The girls enchanted his water so that he would only be able to tell the truth for an hour and he would have to answer their questions.

After he drank the two girls who were taking care of him led him to the campfire where both the camps were gathered. "Attention everyone please" said Octavian "As you know this demi-god son of Pluto helped bring back the statue and restore peace to the two camps" the campers cheered "well" continued Octavian "he has some secrets that he is going to share with us" the room got quiet Nico wondered what Octavian was talking about he didn't have anything on him. Did he find out about the time he got turned into a dandelion?

"Where do I begin?" pondered Octavian "Oh I know! Nico what questions would you be most embarrassed to answer?" asked Octavian Nico didn't know how or why but the words just seemed to pour from the deepest parts of his soul right out through his mouth he was helpless to stop them despite his attempts. "Was I ever turned into a dandelion? What are my worst fears? And who do I have a crush on?" he reluctantly answered, "Ok then Have you ever been turned into a dandelion?" asked Octavian. "Yes my stepmother Persephone turned me into a dandelion after we got into an argument I was like that for three days until my Father made her turn me back." This got many snickers but Nico wasn't to concerned He was way more worried about where this was headed. He didn't know why he said all that, it was a yes or no question maybe whatever was making him say it went head and made him reveal eve more than necessary

"Ha well 'dandelion boy' what are your worst fears." Asked Octavian smugly the Demi-gods quieted down wanting to hear whatever juicy secrets he was about to reveal "I'm scared of the dark" he confessed this got shocked gasps Nico the creepy boy who always came out of the darkness and shadows scared of the dark "when I was in Tartarus I ended up in the realm of night and some things went down there that I don't even want to think about so now I'm afraid of the dark and if you had any sense you would be too and yes I know I am always shadow travelling through the dark and it terrifies me but I suck it up and deal with it" People gasped "you were in Tartarus?" asked an Aphrodite girl "yes I was I was trying to close the doors of death I thought that being a son of Hades that I could handle it and I was wrong Tartarus is a place no mortal or god should ever go It made the titan war that we faced seem like one of the best moments of my life "replied Nico "Another fear is of my own power I don't ever want to loose control and hurt someone" he said" I am also terrified of people finding out who I like" confessed Nico "It scares me worse than any monster it makes the dark seem like a silly game I think Tartarus is less scary, I'm terrified of what all of you would think of me It's hard enough being the son of Hades people treat me as if I'm covered in blood or sewage but if you people knew… if my crush knew …"

Nico shuddered he knew what was coming next they were all about to find out his most guarded secret both of the camps and he knew his father would find out and be ashamed and he was already in so much trouble in that area what would his father think of him being afraid of the dark much less being gay Nico wanted to curl up in a ball an cry he wanted to leave but he was still way to weak to disappear into the shadows he was helpless he tried to run but Octavian had two of the strongest Romans hold him in place "well it looks like your going to have to face your fear now" said Octavian "which girl do you have a crush on?" Nico tried to hold back the words but to no avail "I don't have a crush on any girl he said I have a crush on" he desperately tried to hold in his words but they decided to come out anyway "Percy Jackson"

The campers were so quiet you could literally hear a pin drop until an Ares jerk broke the silence "fag" he yelled Nico felt tears in his eyes the campers broke out in a roar of noise some were confused some were hurling insults "dandelion boy" "faggot" "I can't believe that wimp is scared of the dark" those were just some of the things that Nico `s ears picked up on. Nico ran to his cabin and curled up in the fetal position tears now flowing down his face his life was ruined now nobody would take him seriously ever again they would just make fun of him they wouldn't fear him or respect him and when his dad found out he would probably dam him to the fields of punishment and when the Argo II returned he Leo, frank, piper, and hazel would hate him Anabeth would go all boyfriend defensive bitch on him just like she did with Rachel, Jason would realize that everyone hated Nico and leave him and Percy would be so disgusted and mad at him for liking him like that. He would loose the closest thing he had to friends and he would loose his sister and most importantly he would loose Percy.

Just then there was a knock on the door Nico thought maybe if he were quiet enough whoever it was would go away thinking he was somewhere else unfortunately for him a voice he recognized as belonging to none other than Clarisse La Rue the biggest bully in camp "open the door Di Angelo I know your in their" she said "Go away" he replied "I'm not leaving and it would be in your best interest to open the door before I bust it down" she threatened "If your trying to scare me I've been to Tartarus and back I've seen things and faced enemies you couldn't imagine if you tried; you are nothing compared to them" he said sounding intimidating

The door swung open Nico immediately jumped to his feet and wiped his eyes trying to hide the fact that he had been crying but it was too late Clarisse knew that he was a pathetic crybaby. He summoned some hellfire but he was still weak from bringing back the stupid statue "get out" he said giving her a death glare but I didn't last too long because the effort made him pass out.

Two minutes later

Nico was lying on the floor Clarisse was hovering above him "Nico wake up." He heard her say. Groggily he sat up "what why am I on the…" he began then realization hit him. Physically he was too weak to fight mentally he was dying "just pulverize me already and get it over with" he said in a voice that reminded Clarisse how old he really was he was just fourteen but he acted much older, he could pass for nineteen any day but now he was just a scared kid and it broke Clarisse's heart to see him like that.

"I'm not here to beat you up kid" said Clarisse "then why are you here to call me names or to take my stuff" he asked curling up again and looking away not wanting to show that he was crying "I'm tying to be nice to you" declared the older girl. "Just do whatever you want and leave," he said, "I just said I was here to be nice to you, and you really aren't making the whole nice thing to easy." Said Clarisse "you don't know how hard my life has been you just want to make it worse" said Nico.

He just sounded so sad and helpless and it reminded Clarisse of herself when she was younger and got bullied in school she only wanted to help even if it revealed her secret she sang a song that had bee passed down from her great-grandmother calypso it was the same song that Clarisse's mother sang to her when she came home from school crying the song made Nico happy it brought back memories of when things were better when he was still the happy kid with a sister and his mythomagic cards.

When the song was over Clarisse said "do you trust me now" he nodded weakly "how did you do that?" He asked, "You mean the singing?" he nodded again "you cant tell anyone about that" she said "I get it from my great grandmother the titan calypso" "why are you being nice to me? Don't you want to tease me or beat me up? Aren't you discussed?" he asked. "I'm being nice to you because I know what its like I know what your going through." This was the wrong thing to say because Nico yelled, "you don't know what it's like to be hated by everyone, publicly humiliated" "yes actually I do," said Clarisse.

"Before I came to camp half-blood I used to get bullied in school people would pick on me for my weight, my hair, my dyslexia but mostly because…" Clarisse looked away she didn't know if she could tell her biggest secret to anyone at camp and she didn't know how he would take it "because why?" asked Nico wondering he didn't know why anyone would beat up Clarisse especially if they knew what's best for them. "I I cant I just c-cant tell you" Clarisse stuttered Nico had never seen Clarisse afraid never she never backed down from anything so why all of a sudden was she backing down? Wondered Nico genuinely concerned about the older girl "Clarisse you can tell me, I'll keep it a secret, I won't judge you" Clarisse took a breath and continued

"When I was four my mom died, I got put in a foster home where I was beat up and abused until I was five and I fought back of course that didn't work out even being a child of Ares as a five year I didn't stand much chance against a full grown thirty year old bastard and his psychotic bitch of a wife they beat me up so bad that I ran away I lived on the streets for about a weak fending for myself pretty soon monsters started to come but I fended them off with a celestial bronze spear that I am pretty shore came from my dad then the child care services found me and by the time I was six I got adopted by two women. Of course being six I didn't see anything wrong with two people of the same sex being together I still don't but the kids at school did. I had no friends, they relentlessly teased me humiliated me they would gang up on me four or five against one, beat me up, throw me in dumpsters, stick my head in the toilette, steal and vandalize my stuff, spit on me, knock the books right out of my hands When I told the teachers they said you shouldn't have been bugging them in the first place I knew that was there way of saying yeah you have two moms you deserve it" Clarisse was shaking at the thought of what she had been through. "I moved from school to school I learned to hide my secret very well but at every school it ended up coming out and then it would start again."

"Then I came here and everything changed people didn't find out, my cabin admires my skill, I pick on people because I don't want to be the one who gets picked on" a lone tear trickled down Clarisse's cheek she whipped it off quickly and Nico had the courtesy to pretend he didn't notice as she wiped it off.

"I'm sorry," said Nico "I had no idea." "It's alright kid I don't exactly go around advertizing the fact." Said Clarisse "look Nico I'm not gonna lie to you things are going to be tough people are cruel, gods are cruel, the whole dam world is cruel but you won't have to face it alone because I will be her for you." Said Clarisse then she did something unheard of she put her arm around Nico in a friendly; embrace? Nico managed a small smile "thank you" he said

Part Two:

"Nico come on we are going out there to face them," Clarisse suddenly blurted out taking Nico by surprise "I can't" he said terrified "yes you can, the longer you wait the worse it will be. "

Fifteen minutes later

After much begging, excuses, threats, blackmail, yelling and more of that fun stuff Clarisse had somehow managed to convince Nico to face the camps "just follow my lead I'll do the talking" said Clarisse she was no Aphrodite chick but she planned on talking some sense into everyone just like she did with her cabin. She could use her pep-talking skills to motivate a crowd into battle so how hard would it be to motivate them not to bully Nico?

When they reached the campfire Clarisse yelled "attention everyone" The chatter immediately stopped upon seeing who it was a handful roman guys from the third cohort started singing:

Nico and Percy

Sitting in a tree

K-I-S-S-I-N-G

First comes love

Then comes marriage

Then comes the baby in the baby carriage

By the time the song was over the majority of the campers both Greek and Roman sides had joined in and Nico was crying right there in front of everybody they all hated him anyway everything all the emotion he had kept bottled up inside of him for all those years "oh is whittle baby Nico crying" mocked an Ares girl. This brought rounds of laughter at Nico`s expense "is he going to run crying to Percy?" someone yelled more laughter followed the remark.

"Hey everyone shut up!" yelled Clarisse the crowed obliged "

Everyone who wasn't singing that song sit down" a few campers sat down she noted that her crush Chris was amongst them "Now everyone under the age fifteen sit down" around half the remaining campers sat down "I just wanted to congratulate all of you on making someone younger than you cry how do you feel now that you made a fourteen year old cry?" there were guilty looks on many of the campers faces "We all have secrets that we don't want to share how would you feel if someone made you spill all of your deepest secrets?"

This is Nico freaking Di Angelo people he went to fucking Tartarus to save all your sorry Asses Tartarus for crying out loud and he pushed his limits to bring the statue back here and bring peace to the camps and how do you repay him?

"I'm going to sing a song that should remind you all where you really stand" She started singing in her perfect soprano voice her voice was crystal clear and the tune she sang was neither happy nor sad it made everyone remember all there secrets their fears, and their insecurities. Like most songs passed down from calypso nobody understood the words but the message was definite.

"If your all going to laugh at someone then laugh at me I was raised by two woman and I can't swim" The words came out of Clarisse's mouth before she could even think about what she was doing "I'm afraid of disappointing or upsetting my father, I'm scared of being bullied and I have a crush on Chris Rodriguez" There now you know now you can pick on me. Said Clarisse with no regret she had to do it to protect Nico and she was tough she would get through it. Nico couldn't believe she had just done that for him risk getting bullied again for him.

Just then Chris stood up and said "Clarisse that was the kindest bravest thing I have ever seen" then he ran to stand by Clarisse and he said "everyone should pick on me instead because I have never had the guts to kiss a girl before now" Then he kissed Clarisse on the lips she was shocked and filed with joy after her confession he liked her enough to do that she kissed him back when the kiss was over they pulled apart both blushing like mad.

Then a small Aphrodite girl no more than ten by the looks of it said "no pick on me instead I wear contacts so I don't have to wear these" she put on a really thick pair of glasses. "Pick on us" said two roman guys both from the fourth cohort "we are gay and we have secretly been dating for two months now." "Pick on me" said an eleven year Hephaestus boy "I am scared of mice." "Pick on me" said Connor Stoll "I have a genetic medical condition that causes me to wet the bed" then he added with a mischievous smile "by the way my twin brother has all the same genes as me." This earned him a slap from a very humiliated Travis "what I didn't tell them that you wet the bed I just hinted at it a little" he said acting innocent This earned a few laughs but not in a cruel way "Pick on me" said a first cohort girl "I like other girls" "Pick on me" said another camper "I'm scared of getting shots" "I can't stand the sight of blood" chimed in another camper "I never learned my multiplication tables" said a seventeen year old "I'm scared of roller coasters" added someone else. "I wear headgear at night." Said a roman

It went on like that for a while people shouting out their secrets for the world to hear. And by the end of the night almost everyone had personally apologized to Nico Di Angelo.

A.N: wow I'm done finally! When I started this story I had a very different plotline in mind but my story had better ideas I didn't even see half of this stuff coming until I was typing it I mean Clarisse a descendant of Calypso? And that ending did you see it coming because I shore didn't. I used Clarisse because when I read The Stolen Chariot from The Demigod Files I saw a glimpse at the fact that there is more to Clarisse than meets the eye and there really is a person under all of her toughness. And when Nico made his big reveal it was one of those wow omg dying what just happened moments!

Please review! What was good? What was bad? I really don't mind constructive criticism you can even say you hate my story as long as you provide me with a valid reason of hatred. Or you could just leave a simple good or

Thank you for reading!