Disclaimer: You know as well as I do that I don't own any of this!

oooOOOooo

It was close to a year now, Nico muses to himself, that he's known Reyna.

He met her when he first stumbled upon Camp Jupiter- Jason too he recalls, although he's not sure if Jason remembers that. She was all cold and calculating, armor constantly on, hair tied in a braid and walls up to keep anyone who may have wanted to from getting too close- not that Nico had wanted to. He was fine with not being close to anybody.

A faun had shown Hazel and him to Reyna when they first arrived and he remembered her being okay with letting Hazel join the Legion but she had looked over Nico with distaste clear on her face.

He had left the next morning after making sure Hazel had settled in well enough to stay.

Of course he had come back and each time Reyna warms up to him a little. At least the look of distaste is gone. She doesn't speak to him, he can't remember her even saying a simple hello, but then again few do where he's concerned.

Percy does, the thought enters his mind, and Nico pushes it away before he can dwell on it.

By the time Percy arrived at Camp Jupiter Reyna had even worked her way up to nodding at him when she would see him around, not even bothering to be surprised at his sudden appearances anymore. He knew it vexed her- it was her camp after all, she liked to know what was happening at all times- she had gradually become accustomed to the fact that Nico did what he wanted.

Of course that was the biggest lie of all- but nobody needed to know that. Not even Jason.

And now, months later, here they he was dragging a huge statue of Annabeth's mom, a crazy satyr and the female praetor of New Rome herself to a place he wanted so badly to call home. Why?

Because Percy- and the rest of the Seven, he grudgingly admitted- had needed him to. There was no one else and Nico hadn't really wanted to spend anymore time on that ship with certain people than he had to. They had only gotten out of Tartarus and it had already hurt to have to watch them together.

He knew he was avoiding Percy, gods why else would he have been acting like this for years? He knew Jason thought he should talk to the son of Poseidon and Nico knew deep down he should too. But he had become used to avoiding things. Avoiding people, avoiding gods, avoiding Camp Half-Blood in case someone found out, avoiding Percy, avoiding Annabeth, avoiding feelings... Nico was a master of avoidance.

Was it healthy? No, he thought, it wasn't. Was it easier? He liked to think so. It was easier than being judged and treated like more of an outsider than he already was anyway.

But what was done was done so here the three of them- plus the Athena Parthenos- were, camped out on the edge of some forest with the stars and moon in the sky as a source of light along with the burning fire they sat in front of to get heat.

Reyna was beside him, a foot or so away, and Nico couldn't help but still be surprised at the sudden ease she seemed to have around him now. They had been traveling together only days but Nico realized that they had bonded a bit in that time.

What surprised him even more was the fact that he actually liked her.

Sure she was sometimes condescending and harsh but he could understand. She wasn't the most open person and that was okay because neither was he. But they had talked, even if it was about Gaea, the giants, her asking questions about the Greek demigods, grilling him about how he traveled to both camps. They worked together to keep the Parthenos- and Coach Hedge- safe and bonded over keeping the satyr in line. They kept him from getting out of hand and whenever he would say something ridiculous (which was quite often) Nico would find them both glancing over at each other to share a smile.

It was disconcerting and he hadn't even realized it until now. He had never thought that this trip would make him and Reyna close.

Yet here they were.

"And let me tell you something else!" Coach Hedge said, holding back a yawn from where he sat on the log to Reyna's right. "Those pigeons didn't stand a chance! I was on them like- like..."

Nico glanced over at Reyna to see her smiling a surprisingly affectionate smile towards the Coach. "Yes Hedge, we've heard this before. We were there, remember?"

Nico looks back at the fire and listens to their murmured conversation, not joining in himself and it takes several minutes of silence a while later for him to look up and discover that Coach Hedge had fallen asleep using a very lumpy looking rock as a pillow.

"How does he sleep like that?" Reyna asked him in a quiet voice.

Nico shrugs, looking back at the fire. "I have no idea."

They're quiet for a minute before Reyna breaks the silence again. "You can go to sleep too, if you want. I'll take first watch."

Nico shrugs. "I'm alright for now." It must only be 10:00 o'clock and he doesn't feel like sleeping and being plagued by nightmares just yet. "If you want to sleep you can. I think I'll be up for a while."

He looks up as Reyna looks over at him, scrutinizing. He wonders if she trusts him yet, if maybe she thinks he's planning something.

He's not, of course. Probably wouldn't even if he wanted to. But nobody else seems to get that.

She shakes her head and something sinks in him. A part of him had though- hoped maybe...

"I don't want to sleep either."

He looks back at the fire.

It must be close to half an hour later when she clears her throat. "What are Piper and Jason like? Together I mean."

Nico glances over at her to see she's staring intently at the fire and he wonders if he imagined her saying it. She doesn't seem to be aware of him at all, only of the flames. But then he sees her eyes dart to him and away again and knows he didn't imagine her words.

"Umm," he swallows and awkwardness fills him. He had always thought Reyna had a thing for Jason but that didn't mean he wanted to get in the middle of it. He liked Reyna and he liked Jason too, despite everything. "They're good together."

Reyna took a breath and Nico immediately curses himself. Of course he said something wrong right away. "They- they're..." Nico trails off, unsure of how to describe it. He wasn't good with relationships and love, or even feelings in general. He was a son of Hades, not of Aphrodite. And a relationship between a guy and a girl? Nico was completely clueless. "I mean they really like each other. They watch out for each other all the time."

Wow, another stellar line by Nico di'Angelo. Thanatos might as well come and collect him now because all he wanted to do was die from embarrassment.

He looked at Reyna who only nodded, a painful look on her face. "What about Percy and Annabeth?"

Now he's surprised because he didn't think Reyna even liked Percy, let alone... cared about him. It's him who sucks in a breath now because thoughts of Percy and Annabeth are something he actively tries to avoid but he can't get out of Reyna's question without being suspicious.

"They're in love," he says flatly, staring at the fire. "Always have been."

He sees her look over at him but he doesn't look at her.

"And Jason and Piper?" She asks. "Are they in love too?"

"Here's a piece of advice," Reyna looked up at him in surprise at the amount of bitterness in his voice but Nico still didn't look at her, just stared at the fire in front of them. It was easier to look at than Reyna. Fire didn't have emotion. "Don't try and break up Jason and Piper, or Percy and Annabeth for that matter. They've been together so long by this point, and have so much history that you don't stand the chance. And even if, for some insane reason, they did break up, he probably wouldn't go for you anyway. Those couples are gonna be together for a long time, probably forever, and everyone knows it. Anyone else just gets side swept."

Percy's face flashes quickly in his mind and Nico clenches his teeth, anger and more emotions than he cares to look into fill him. He hopes Reyna doesn't realize that he was talking to himself as much as her by the end of his little speech.

He looked up after several minutes of silence to find Reyna staring at him; not in hurt, with crushing truth, or even anger like he expected. She was looking at him with a mixture of shock and confusion and he saw a dawning realization flicker in her eyes before he looked down.

He wondered if he'd said too much, wondered if she could possibly know...

But no. She couldn't. No one could read him that well, and even if they could hardly nobody bothered to anyway. Jason was the only one who knew and Nico preferred to keep it that way.

"I never asked," she says finally, softly. "Was there anybody- I mean, did you ever feel that way?"

He kicks the ground with his foot for a second before replying, for some reason telling the truth instead of hiding away and putting up walls. "Once," he finally admits. "But they don't- didn't- feel the same way."

She surprises him when her hand gently rests on his arm and when he looks up at her quickly he's even more surprised when she doesn't pull away, only meets his eyes steadily, concern and a companionship shining in her own.

"Thank you," she says to him.

He's surprised again and Nico can't help but ask, "what did I do?"

Now she finally does pull away, but only her hand. She shrugs and smiles a bit, the first smile he's ever seen Reyna give him that wasn't to make fun of Hedge, the first time she's ever seemed even a bit approachable to him. "For being a friend," she eventually says. "I really needed one of those."

Nico can't look away he's so surprised by her words and he finds he speaks without thinking. "Me too."

They're quiet for the rest of the night, Reyna nodding at him- still with that smile on her face- to confirm she'll wake him for the next watch.

And Nico trusts her to do it.

oooOOOooo

So this was just a short little story to get some feels out. Hope you guys liked it, I totally see Reyna and Nico becoming friends on their trip, bonding over a mutual patience for Hedge and the need to work together. They're both such sad, lonely characters and I think they'll be besties by the end.

Hahah okay maybe not besties. But friends.

Reviews are always welcome and will someone please PM me to talk about the Blood of Olympus cover. Is there a reason that only Romans are shown on it, along with the giants?! Where is Piper, where's my boy Leo? But, most importantly, WHERE ARE PERCY AND ANNABETH? You better not have killed them Rick! And the first chapter of Blood of Olympus, that snippet we got... I see Piper, I see old-man Jason and I see Annabeth but where are my babies, Leo, Nico and Percy? Huh? Huh? Should I be worried?

A sidenote for you, Tumblr is ruining my life. So many blogs and spoilers and feels and I just can't. If any of you have tumblr and wanna follow me my pen name is the same as on here! Tell me your Tumblr name and I'll follow you back!

So, read, review or rant. :) Hope you had a good Sunday. And if anyone who reads this is from the TMI fandom and also wants to rant with me about City of Heavenly Fire coming out, or more importantly, Malec!, then just go ahead. I really need to get out feels, I'm becoming emotional.

Oh god, I think this author's note is like half the story length. Sorry about that guys, I just needed to get this out there!

Love you all!

Percyjacksonfan3