Nico's POV
I walked through the forest at Camp Half Blood, trying not to think about anything. I was just trying to enjoy the silence. And I was enjoying it- until I realized something. It wasn't silent anymore. About twenty feet away I could hear someone stumbling around while trying to control their sobbing.
I immediately tensed up and almost turned to shadow travel out before I could get caught, when I caught sight of a long, black hair- that was almost as black as the night sky- whip past a tree. I knew that hair.
I tip-toed over to the spot where the figure was and hid behind the tree to the point where I could still see her. I saw that they were sitting with their back against the tree and their knees up to their chest with their face hiding behind their knees. The black hair spilled over the girl's knees and I noticed that she was slightly shaking.
She was wearing dark wash jeans and black Converse with some black t-shirt, but I couldn't see the front. She was dressed similarly to me, except for the fact that my jeans were black.
I thought about just leaving- I doubt it would turn out good if I stayed- but then I thought about how much she looked like she needed somebody right now. I couldn't just leave her.
I took a deep breath and stepped out from behind the tree. "Thals," I whispered.
Her head snapped up and I could see how intense her bright blue eyes were and how red they were all around. Tears streamed down her face and I noted that she must have been wearing waterproof eye make-up because it hadn't really smeared much.
"What do you want?" Her voice was hoarse.
What did I want? What was I gaining from this? She probably doesn't want anyone around her right now, so why am I here?
Because she needs someone. That's why I'm here. "Do you need anything?" I offered.
"How about you leave and keep your mouth shut about this?" She was trying to sound harsh, but her voice shook and I couldn't really take her seriously, to be honest.
"I'm not going to leave, but I won't tell anyone about this," I assured her.
Thalia closed her eyes and shook her head. "Fine, I'll leave."
She stood up and began to stalk off. I wasn't just going to let her go off on her own. When Bianca died I didn't want to be all alone, yet I was, and now I didn't want anyone else to be- especially if it was someone that I knew.
"Thals. Come on, Thals," I called out to her while following her. "Thalia!" I yelled.
She whipped around. "What!"
I lowered my voice. "What's wrong?"
"Why do you care?" She questioned me while crossing her arms across her chest, tears still falling from her eyes like rain.
"Because I think you need someone to listen to you right now. I'll be that person." She just stared at me. "Come on. Just trust me."
She bit her lip. "You want to know my problem?" she asked in a low voice.
I thought I had made that quite obvious. "Yeah."
"I died and turned into a tree for about six years and missed out on my friends' lives! I had a loser mother that didn't care for me and now she's dead and I feel bad about it and I have no idea why!" Her voice got louder with every word that she said. "One of my best guy friends turned evil and died! My dad doesn't give a shit about me!" She was screaming at me now. "I joined the huntresses thinking that I could have a family and then I'm kicked out! " She took a deep breath to compose herself. "And you know what?" she asked in a level tone of voice.
I hesitated before asking, "What?"
"I don't even know why."
I just stared at her. "What do you mean?" I asked in confusion.
"I don't know why Artemis kicked me out," she spat at me. She turned on her heel and, once again, stalked off. "So thanks for listening to my problems, Nico. You're a great guy," she called out to me sarcastically.
I swallowed my anger. I mean, come on! I was just trying to help her and she was getting pissed at me! "Thalia, you know you can get through this. Don't worry about it." Maybe that wasn't the best way to comfort her.
She turned around got in my face, despite the fact that she was about five inches shorter than me. "Don't worry? Are you fucking kidding me, Di Angelo?"
"If you worry about something that hasn't even happened yet and it doesn't happen, then you just wasted your time worrying. If you worry about something and it does happen, then you've just caused yourself to worry twice as much as you would've if you hadn't worried to begin with."
"Well, how wise of you, Dead Boy."
I sighed, frustrated. "Will you just please stop crying?"
Well, that didn't come out right.
Thalia made a noise of disgust. "I didn't ask you to come over here and look at me while I cry. Leave if it bothers you so much!"
She turned to walk away- despite the fact that she just told me to leave- and I grabbed her arm. "Wait, that didn't come out right." Thalia rolled her eyes. "Seriously, I want you to stop crying because…" I trailed off unsure of how to say it.
"Right. It came out wrong the first time, I'm sure." She shook her head and rolled her eyes again. "Just grab onto your balls and admit that you hate seeing me cry."
Well, that was true. I did hate seeing her cry. "I hate seeing you cry," I quickly continued what I was thinking before she could cut me off, "because it's heartbreaking."
She stared at me in disbelief. "What?" she finally spit out.
"When you cry, it's heartbreaking," I repeated.
"Why would it be heartbreaking to you?" she asked in confusion.
"Because I care about you and I hate seeing people that I care about cry," I confessed.
Thalia bit her lip and I guessed that she was trying to stifle a laugh or something, but she failed. She laughed and smiled at me through her tears. "You care about me?"
I hoped that I wasn't blushing. "Yeah. I…yes, I care about you."
Actually, it was more than just me caring for her. I started thinking about how all of these things that I loved about her were just popping into my head right now. Had I always felt this way about her? Well, not when I was thirteen and younger. But now that I'm sixteen…well, she's got my attention.
"Why?" she asked, trying to bite back another laugh.
"Well…" She watched me, waiting for an answer. "You're someone I could get along with." I mentally beat the shit out of myself. Why was it so hard for me to just say what I'm feeling? "Okay, that didn't come out right…again."
Thalia nodded, "Right."
I had two choices. I could spill my guts out and risk Thalia laughing my face and rejecting me, or I could just tell her to forget it and walk away. And then what? She goes out with some other guy? She and I just act awkwardly around each other? Well, the latter could happen with each choice. But I feel like I can't pass this opportunity up…
I couldn't look Thalia in the eyes. "You make me laugh, you don't ever pressure me to talk about things that I don't want to," I had to look her in the eyes, "you're strong, you were the only huntress that I didn't completely hate," I took a deep breath and looked down, "and you're beautiful."
I heard Thalia sniff. I looked up to see her crying again. Oh gods. "Thals, I'm sorry."
She let out a sort of sad laugh. "Why are you sorry?"
"Well, now that I think about it, this may not have been the time to dump all of that on you."
She shook her head and smiled. "It was a good time. And I think you're the only person that's ever made me cry tears of happiness. That's kind of weird to be honest." She laughed again, but it wasn't as sad.
I let out a small laugh. "Yeah, who would've thought?"
"Thank you."
"You're thanking me for making you cry tears of joy?" I joked.
"Shut up. You know what I'm thanking you for." She smiled at me.
And then she shocked me, but not literally. She stepped forward and kissed me. Her lips were soft and I could feel how her cheeks were slightly damp from the last of her tears. Well, I think I may know why Artemis kicked her out…
She pulled back way too early for my liking. "Well, as much fun as this is, I think we better head back to camp now. And hope that my crying isn't that noticeable." She frowned and I chuckled.
I put my arm around her waist and she did the same. "Don't worry," I assured her as we headed back towards camp, "They can put it in their juice box and suck it." She laughed.
That was the first time that I realized that I was in love with Thalia Grace.
A/N: Just in case you didn't get it, Thalia was kicked out cause she started to feel for Nico. Cliché, I know, but still. ^^ xD I hope you enjoyed it!