Never Too Late
"I love you".
He stared at her, anger and sadness in his eyes. He shook his head.
"No, you don't. If you did, you never would have joined the Hunters for a second time", he said to her.
He hated causing her pain, but she had to know the cold, hard truth. And he was going to give it to her.
"Nico, please! You know I do! I've loved you for years! You know that!"
It was true. He remembered every single time she had displayed her love for him…
The time she had tried to comfort him when he heard the news about his sister. Every time she teased him. The many, many times she had taken a knife for him because he was being reckless. Every single time she played with his hair, held his hand, sang to him, dueled with him, saved his life, and told him she loved him. The day she told him she had quit the Hunt, for him…
He clenched his jaw and spoke through gritted teeth, trying to gain control over his anger.
"No, you don't. If you did, you would have stayed and worked everything out! You wouldn't have fled! The Thalia Grace I know would never run away from a fight, much less from her problems! She would stand her ground, fight, defend herself, be a stubborn idiot, but she would never run away! But, I guess I don't know you anymore, now, do I? You fled, Thalia. You acted like a coward, which I knew you were not. But I don't know what you are anymore", he said to her.
He was desperately trying to repress the guilt and the shame that were currently eating at him.
Her electric blue eyes were full of unshed tears. They transmitted her plea to him. She was being vulnerable, risking everything, acting completely unlike herself, only to get him back.
She was pleading him to give her another chance. Asking him for a shot, to take her back so that she could make everything between them better again.
But she knew it wouldn't be that easy.
"You left, Thalia. You're the one who ignored my calls, those calls I made, begging for you to come home. You're the one who decided you'd had enough. You're the one who chose a life of immortality over me. You're the one who extinguished the tiny flame of hope I had left. That minuscule, practically non-existent hope that you would soon come back to me. But you never did".
She was about to speak, to defend herself, but Nico cut her off before she got the chance to utter a single word.
"It's too late, Thalia. You should have come home sooner".
And he stalked out of the Zeus cabin, locking himself up in his father's.
All he could think about was the broken expression Thalia wore when he said those horrible things to her.
Back in the Zeus cabin, Thalia Grace could be found lying on the floor, letting out heart wrenching sobs, while clutching a shirt she had stolen from the son of Hades to her chest.
"I ruined everything", she thought.
"I've lost him for good".
That night, all campers were woken by the sound of rain pounding on the roof, thunder booming in the sky and the crack of lightning bolts every two seconds.
It was the first time in over six years that Zeus conjured up a storm powerful enough to break through the Camp's magic barriers.
Unbeknownst to them, his daughter was the one who started it.