It all started when I was sitting on the beach at Camp Halfblood at just about ten o'clock at night.

I was thinking about Nico when, speak of the devil, Nico came up behind me, but he was crying. A lot.

I turned around to see him with tears streaming steadily down his cheeks and I was immediately on my feet.

"What's wrong? Are you okay? What happened?" I rushed everything out at once and went in to pull Nico into the tightest hug I could possibly muster. I really cared about him, and when he was hurt, I felt like I would stop the world just to help him.

When he pulled away, I saw why he was crying. He turned over his left arm to show me his wrist. It had blood spouting from it and I freaked.

"What the hell, Nico?!" All Nico could say was a weak one word through his tears.

"Percy..."

I pulled him by his right arm to the water and healed the gash on his wrist.

He just stumbled behind me and fell into the water. I pulled him into yet another hug and squeezed his shoulders.

When he pulled back, his eyes rolled back into his head and He collapsed on the sand in front of me. My powers didn't help him. It only stopped more blood from spouting from the cut. He already lost too much blood.

"Somebody! Help! We need help!" I screamed at anyone that could hear me and scooped Nico into my arms. I sprinted towards the Apollo cabin.

I arrived at the doorstep of Apollo's cabin within mere seconds and started banging on the door. Nico was still unconcious, and he stopped breathing.

"Help! Nico's really hurt! Help! Someone!" I kicked the door and a few seconds later the Apollo's cabin leader, Will, swung the door open with a wild look in his eyes. He ushered me inside and put Nico on a medical bed at the end of the cabin.

"What the hell happened?" He asked.

"He slit his wrists! I tried to heal him with my water powers, but all it did was heal the wound! He already lost too much blood and he just collapsed right in front of me!" I rattled the whole story off in about 2 seconds flat with only one breath, and
I didn't take my eyes off Nico the whole time.

One of Will's siblings pulled me away and told me to sleep in his bed; he said I would need rest for when Nico woke up. Will yelled some orders at his cabinmates and started to sterilize the inside of Nico's elbow to put some more blood into his system.

"Percy, do you think you would be able to give Nico some of your blood?" I nodded before he even finished the sentence and he got the needle out.

He put a tourniquet on my arm and put some rubbing alcohol on my arm and I noticed what was happening. I saw the big needle and my eyes widened. I was going to pass out I was so scared. I hated needles.

"Percy, are you okay?" Will asked me, concern lacing his voice. I noticed I backed up into the wall staring at the needle.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I lied, sitting down on his bed. I could not let my stupid fears kill Nico.

Will sat down next to me and stuck the needle in and I had to bite my knuckle to keep myself from punching Will in the face. I grabbed onto the top bunk as if my life depended on it, closed my eyes and bit my lip so hard I tasted blood in my mouth.

I actually passed out when he let go of the needle. This was going to take a long time, let's just pass out, my brain thought.

oOo

Nico's POV - half an hour before

I slugged some more of the whiskey I got from Connor and Travis. The bottle was almost finished and I hadn't shared it yet.

I sat down on the floor of my cabin and started to cry. Again.

"Fuck, why am I doing this?" I muttered to myself. I decided I would drink a full bottle of whiskey just for fun and hopefully die. I was sick of watching Percy have fun all the time with his friends and be happy all the time without me. I needed to go
to the underworld for good.

I finished the bottle and threw it at the wall. I missed by a lot due to me being drunk senseless. I ended up hitting the drawer about two meters away from my target.

I got up to clean the glass up from on the floor, cause I didn't want to be passing out on top of a whole bunch of glass.

The drawer was half open from when I was taking the whiskey out because that was where I had it stashed it. I started to take shards of glass out of it, still crying. When I saw the picture of Percy playing football with Jason, Leo, Frank and Piper on
the bottom of the drawer, I started to pour a waterfall from my eyes.

I sat down on the floor and stared at a shard of glass. I could just end my misery with a single stroke. But what if Percy wanted me? What if he liked me back? No! I coulden't tell myself that. He was as staight as a metal rod. Besides, whenever he would
come over he would rant on and on about a hot girl he met during a quest last year.

I screamed out of frustration. Then of course, I got up and rammed myself head first straight into the wall. Hard. I turned around and slid down the wall. I started bawling my eyes out.

When I was calmed down a little bit, I looked around for the glass. I crawled over to the dresser that had that stupid picture in it and slammed it shut, taking the glass and positioning it in front of my wrist. I put it down then thought, what if Percy
does love me? What if he's thinking about me right now? I quickly dismissed the hopes of Percy loving me back and started to cut.

I watched as my wrist started to bleed. It was so painful, but at least I wasn't thinking about Percy. Dammit! Now I was. Wait! Stop! I didn't say goodbye to Percy! Or Hazel! I have to find them before I bleed to death.

I looked down at my very bloody wrist and looked around. I threw the glass behind me, going towards the door of my cabin. It was about 10 at night, so the harpies would be out. I walked out anyways.

I didn't know where to go, but I started to feel dizzy from all the blood loss. I briefly considered going to the Apollo cabin to get all fixed up, but why the fuck would I do that? Then Percy would just freak out and ask me why I did it, but he can never
know that.

I started to lurch, so I decided to go to the lake. I could feel myself dying, slowly but surely, so why not be enveloped in pure Percy? The lake has always been Percy's favourite spot at camp.

I got to the lake and almost turned around and ran away, still crying, because of who was sitting right on the beach.

Percy.

"Fuck," I whined to myself. Then Percy turned around. Double fuck.

He first smiled at me, then frowned, then looked terrified. After all, I didn't cry very much.

"What's wrong? Are you okay? What happened?" He asked me, still not noticing my bloody wrist. He pulled me into a very motherly - but at the same time, bone-crushing - hug. That lasted about a million years. When he pulled away, I turned over my arm to
expose my wrist.

"What the hell, Nico!" He practically screamed at me.

"Percy..." I tried to say 'I love you' before I died in his arms and he realized I was the one who held his heart while he held my dead body close.

But instead, he tried to heal me in the water. NOT MY PLAN. He healed the wound, but of course, I fell over (partly because of my being VERY drunk, partly because I just dried out my heart of blood) and that made Percy hug me again. Damn, if only he knew
what he was doing to me.

And then I blacked out.

But maybe I died...

oOo

Percy's POV - 2 hours after the incident

I sat there, just watching Nico for what felt like an eternity.

His skin was so pale... so so pale. His eyes were sunken in and he barely breathed. One time he opened his eyes, but then closed them back up not even a second later, and he went limp. His eyes... they were so... they were so lifeless, and scared. It
hurt to watch him like this.

Every time he would move it hurt even more. Will and his siblings worked on him for half an hour, but then they said we can only wait.

Every second he didn't wake up, it made me think more and more, 'What did I do wrong? How could I fail to notice that Nico was this bad off?'

All of a sudden, Nico screamed and jutted up off the bed. He then promptly fell into my lap.

"Percy!" He said rather alarmed. He just stared at me and stared and stared and stared and I couldn't help but see his eyes hadn't changed... he was sleep walking.

I broke down. I couldn't hold it in anymore. I started to cry and I didn't stop. Nico just kept staring, his expression still blank.

"Nico... I'm so sorry. I never thought it was this bad! I always knew you weren't the happy type, but.. I never thought you would slit your wrist! I'm sorry Nico, I'm so, so sorry." I blabbered all that out in between tears and my heart almost jumped
out of my chest when Nico woke up.

He shut his eyes tight and when he opened them, they looked alive!

"Nico! Oh my gods, you're alive! Nico, I love you!"

"Fuck," was all he said. He sat back down onto his bed and took in a very deep breath, closed his eyes and shook his head.

"No, you don't. You don't love me."

"Nico, yes I do! I love you! I love you, I love you, I love you!" I said it all in my moment of pure joy, surprise that Nico basically came back from the dead, not knowing the consequences.

Then he kissed me. Right on the lips. Hard. He sat back down again

and said, "Do you really love me?"

"Uh.. ummmm... I- I don't know..." I stuttered.

"Then leave. And call Hazel."

I got up hesitantly, watching his expression turn from hurt to mad and he yelled at me to get out. I turned around and started walking to the door of the Apollo cabin, and stopped at the door. Maybe kissing Nico wasn't that bad? Maybe...

Before I knew it, I had Nico backed up against the wall, kissing him passionately, and furiously at the same time, if that's possible. I just melted against him.

"I don't love you, but I can." I said.

"But you're as straight as a metal rod..?"

"But metal can be bent, if ya know what I mean," I say, my cheeky side getting the best of me.

He kisses me again, and I know now, that I can never get my crushes and feelings and all that goo-iness straight, and I never will.

But one thing's for sure. Right now, I like being bent.