"No!"
Nico sat up, gasping for air and sweating profusely, and realised it was another nightmare. A tear rolled down his cheek, and he buried his face in his hands.
Not again, not again…
He sat crying silently for Zeus knows how long, letting his sadness pierce through him. Letting his heart ache. Letting the wound reopen.
He began to hate the dark. He lived it. He breathed it. He even radiated darkness. And Nico was sick of it.
So, he figured he needed the opposite of dark. So… Apollo?
He slipped out of bed, already doubting his decision, and padded across his dark cabin. The sight of it pulled his mouth into an expression of disgust. Who'd have thought a son of Hades could despise the dark so much? There were no windows, so he couldn't see what time it was. For all he knew, it could be mid-morning. He quietly opened his cabin door and squinted outside. It was too dark to see anything. Dark. Dark here, dark there. Dark in his head. Dark on his body.
Nico was seriously regretting his cabin design. He would have to speak to Annabeth in the morning. The thought of Annabeth sent stabs of jealousy through him. She had everything he didn't. She had family. She had Percy.
He dashed to Cabin 7 and opened the door a crack. He peered in, heart thumping. He could almost hear his father sighing in defeat down below. It was dark inside except for a small glow at the back of the room. Nico felt relief wash over him. Finally, some light. He entered the cabin and closed the door quietly, tiptoeing over to see where the glow was coming from. There, under the covers, was Naomi Bender reading with a torch. She jumped when she noticed him and shone her torch in his face. He cringed away from it. Maybe his dark cabin wasn't the worst place to sleep in. "Um, could you take the torch off me?" he grunted.
"Oh, sorry," she said without removing it. "But first, what's wrong?" she asked softly, noticing Nico's thin, lean frame was trembling.
"I had a nightmare." He replied quietly.
"Oh, Nico," Naomi murmured sympathetically. "Do you…do you want to come in with me?" she asked bravely. The son of Hades, in the same bed as the daughter of Apollo? (don't you dare get the wrong idea) Nico seemed to think the same, because Naomi saw pink fill his cheeks and a flicker of doubt in his eyes before whispering,
"Yes please."
She turned off the torch and shifted over quietly to make room for it, heart thumping. What the Hades was she doing? He didn't need much room because of his bony body. He never really ate. He slipped in and turned over to face her. "Thank you." He said quietly. Naomi felt so sad for Nico. He didn't have any friends. He was always alone. She decided to be even braver. She shifted towards him until they were face to face. She could feel him tensing up.
"Hey," she whispered. "Calm down."
She leaned down and snuggled against Nico's chest. She felt his heartbeat speed up, and heard his sharp intake of breath. She doubted he'd ever been held like this before. She closed her eyes and sighed contentedly. She fell asleep, and the last thing she felt before she fell into he dreams was Nico hesitantly resting his hand on her arm.
Her book and torch were pushed to the bottom of the bed, forgotten by the Darkness and the Light as they slept together.
And for the first time in forever, Nico's dreams were sweet.
A/N: Aww, little Frozen reference there ;) I love Nico so much 3 and please feel free to substitute your name whenever Naomi pops up in my stories (Kind of like when other writers put y/n) that's just how im gonna write. Naomi may have different godly parents. Who knows, next time I write she could be a daughter of Zeus! Thanks for reading x