A/N: I've occasionally thought of Falling and how much better it could be. This is my attempt at making it better, and I think it'll stay as a one-shot.
Also, I don't even know how this turned out 3x as long as the original with almost none of the original's scenes? And I spoiled myself while searching up Jason's age since I'm not up-to-date at all.
Finally, thanks to all the people that have reviewed, favorited, and followed this story despite how mediocre it was!
Warning: canonical character death in AU setting, messing with canon facts bc I can't remember anything (and therefore possible OOCness), inconsistent amount of time between scenes bc this is supposed to be a short drabble and I'm zooming through 3 years
Even as a freshman, Nico's heard of Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase. Percy's the captain of the swim team, one of the fastest swimmers Olympian High School has ever seen, and Annabeth's the Junior Class president, one of the most brilliant students in the school's history. Meanwhile, Nico's not really anybody.
That is, until someone finds out about Bianca.
Before, Nico's classmates and teachers thought he was just a relatively gloomy kid. Now, he has to suffer through pitying glances, hushed whispers that quiet down as he approaches, wild rumors exchanged behind his back. Nico hates all of it, especially the occasional condolences offered to him. All of them are just rubbing salt into a wound that hasn't healed yet and may never heal. They're reminding him that he's starting to forget what Bianca's laugh sounds like, what her smile looks like. Nico starts thinking about how many things Bianca never got to experience.
Barely a week passes before Nico gets called to the counselor's office. It's an awkward affair in which she tries to be delicate, asking after his wellbeing in the most roundabout way possible, and Nico's aware of exactly what she's trying to ask. He gives her short, one-word answers, and they both leave the encounter dissatisfied. Nico keeps the answer she was trying to get out of him firmly locked in his heart; he can't bring himself to admit No I'm not fine.
Then, his already-mediocre grades start to slip.
Mr. Brunner, his foreign language teacher, is the one who tries to help with that problem. (There's probably something funny that it's foreign language of all the subjects, but Nico hasn't found anything funny for a couple years now.)
"Nico, I know you're struggling quite a bit at the moment." An understatement. "So, I thought a peer tutor might help. One of my former students volunteered, so please consider it."
Nico tries to evade giving an actual answer, but there's a voice in his head, chiding him for slacking off with his schoolwork. It sounds like Bianca, and when Nico closes his eyes, he can almost see her defiant figure standing in front of the TV, refusing to let him play games until he finishes his homework.
It's what makes Nico say "yes" to Mr. Brunner in the end.
Nico immediately walks out of the library when he sees who's sitting at one of the tables, clearly waiting for someone.
After calming himself down, he heads back inside. His peer tutor is likely someone else and probably upset that he's now 5 minutes late. Nico confidently walks further into the library until the guy he saw earlier, Percy Jackson himself, calls out to him.
"Hey, you're Nico, right?"
"Yeah," Nico grudgingly answers, already preparing himself for insincere condolences.
"Great, I'm your peer tutor for Mr. Brunner's class."
Nico stares at Percy, his brain-to-mouth filter failing him. "I didn't think you could tutor people."
Luckily for Nico, Percy only laughs. Nico had noticed that Percy was attractive when he saw him from afar, but standing in front of him now, having a close-up view of his face transformed by laughter, forces Nico to acknowledge that he may have a little bit of a crush on Percy. He's good-humored on top of being attractive, and he hasn't treated Nico like a dangerous animal (yet).
"Yeah, I'm surprised Mr. Brunner didn't ask Annabeth. She'd probably be way better than me at this."
Nico drops his backpack on the floor with a thud and practically throws himself into a chair across from Percy. He doesn't acknowledge Percy's self-deprecating comment, and the actual tutoring begins.
It's annoyingly sunny when Nico goes to visit Bianca's grave the first day of summer vacation. He brings her fresh flowers, a brilliant purple against the dull gray stone. He sits and stares at her engraved name, wishing he could raise the dead.
But he can't.
It's a fact he's maybe starting to accept, though tears still sting in his eyes.
Wiping away his tears, Nico starts talking to Bianca about Percy, something that he's done every single time he's visited Bianca in the past year. It's almost like a tradition now.
"I got the highest grade in Mr. Brunner's class, and when I told Percy, he gave me this blinding smile. And he hugged me and said a bunch of things I don't remember exactly. It's so weird that he's the most popular kid at school, but he talks to me like he's not popular and he's so nice to me."
Only the birds answer him, but Nico can almost hear Bianca's response in his head: Why don't you ask him out on a date then?
"But Bianca," Nico whines like a bratty child before catching himself. He wraps his arm around his knees and mutters: "He has Annabeth, and they're not dating right now but it's only a matter of time! They're basically perfect for each other, and she's smart and beautiful and funny, so why would Percy want someone like me?"
Embarrassingly enough, that's how Jason Grace, the star of the football team and yet another popular kid, finds out that Nico's gay.
The conversation they have is awkward, stilted, and reminds Nico of his conversation with the counselor. Jason tries to be delicate, but he's definitely worse at it than the counselor.
Once Jason leaves, Nico relaxes. Hopefully, Jason doesn't try to bring up this topic to Nico again.
Unfortunately, Nico's hopes are dashed, as Jason proves himself to be incredibly persistent.
At the beginning of the new school year, Jason finds Nico and sticks to his side like glue. With him comes Leo Valdez and Piper McLean. They stay by his side, insisting on hanging out with him, helping out with his studies. They refuse to accept any of his excuses, and it's so frustrating how persistent they are that he just gives up.
Instead of taking the bus home and spending the rest of his day moping around, Nico regularly goes to Jason's house (basically a freaking mansion!) after school with Leo and Piper to do homework or to play games. Sometimes, on the weekends, Jason illegally drives them so they can hang out downtown. It takes him a while to realize that he's been smiling more lately, that his thoughts have been lighter recently.
At that point he admits to Bianca that he has real friends that he trusts.
And when he's called into the counselor's office again, he's able to tell her that he's okay without the ugly truth getting stuck in his throat, waiting to be said.
After spring break, Nico's gloomy mood returns, but without the grief in his eyes and the defeated hunch to his shoulders.
Olympian High School makes an event out of promposals, and of course, the stars of the event are Percy and Annabeth. Annabeth's promposal is the most dazzling of all, bathing the school courtyard in blue and presenting to Percy a gigantic poster that says in the prettiest font: "Won't you go to prom with me, Seaweed Brain?" Unlike everyone else, she doesn't have a pun, but it's enough for Percy.
He's lightly blushing (which, Nico thinks, is unfair because it's adorable but it's directed at Annabeth) as he joyfully accepts and wraps her up in a hug.
Again, unfortunately for Nico, there's events during lunch to hype people up for prom the whole week, one of which is a fashion show. And of course, Percy and Annabeth participate in it, as well as Jason and Piper.
Even as Jason and Piper show off their outfits, Nico isn't paying attention. He feels slightly guilty, but he's completely focused on Percy. Percy, who's wearing a navy blue suit that looks amazing on him because it makes his eyes seem that much more blue, which Nico's only noticing because...Percy's standing right in front of him.
"Hey, Nico!" Percy greets, and Nico tries to smile in response. "Sorry I haven't been talking to you much this school year. Annabeth was really on my case about working on college apps. Anyway, so how have you been doing?"
Nico forces his mouth to move so that he can reply with coherent words, and unperturbed by Nico's very inadequate responses, Percy carries on the conversation.
Later that day, Jason asks Nico about it, like the nosy, annoying persistent guy he is.
"Seems like you might have a chance," Jason says, accompanied by an encouraging smile.
"He literally agreed to go with Annabeth to prom!" Nico yells back, which somehow does not deter Jason at all.
"You know, this is basically Percy's last dance," Jason says, trying to be casual. "We can go together as friends if you want the chance to dance with him."
"Just go with Piper," Nico grumbles. "Stop bothering me about it."
For once, Jason listens, but it's like Nico can't help making the whole ordeal more painful for himself.
The day of prom, everyone's Snapchatting and posting to their story almost constantly, Percy included. Whenever Nico sees that Percy has posted something new, it's like he can't control his body. He clicks on Percy's story and sees how much fun he's having with his friends. Without Nico. It's a bitter reminder of how farfetched Nico's crush is, making him more and more miserable.
It's completely different from his misery back in freshman year, but it's similar in that all he can think about is Percy and his stupidly wonderful smile.
The next day, Nico wakes up to see that the juniors and seniors have uploaded a bunch of photos from prom. And yet again, it's like Nico's not in control of his body as he clicks on picture after picture of Percy who's often with Annabeth.
They look perfect together, like they complete each other, both of them smiling widely.
After prom, it's like they're hurtling to the end of the school year. Nico's weeks pass with Percy saying hi to Nico whenever they see each other in the hallway, which is almost everyday. Almost everyday, if there's enough time, Percy asks if they can hang out sometime. So, Nico's been preoccupied with coming up with excuses, all of which Percy accepts with good humor. He hasn't even gotten time to process that this means Percy's graduating when Percy hands him a senior portrait, complete with a note on the back.
Reading the note gives Nico hope and also another awkward conversation with Jason, and so Nico actually agrees to hang out with Percy and his friends for once.
Nico feels like a fish out of water, watching Percy and his friends interact. They have so many inside jokes, their dynamics already worked out after 4 (and possibly more) years with each other. It's like the first time Jason dragged him to meet Piper and Leo when he felt like he didn't fit in at all. No matter how much they say that he should hang out with them more, no matter how much Percy states he's glad that Nico came, Nico feels like he doesn't belong.
Jason picks him up, and he returns home with his hopes crushed.
Nico has his heart crushed one final time at graduation. Percy had given him a ticket to attend (Why? Nico wanted to ask. Why me?), and so he did. Alone, surrounded by strangers, he listened as the principal gave a speech. He listened as Annabeth gave a speech; at the end, she thanks Percy and Grover for being the best friends anyone could ask for, and Nico clenches his fists, closing his eyes. It feels like his heart is being squeezed as he hears the wolf whistles the moment Annabeth mentions Percy.
When he looks back at the stage, he watches and claps as students he doesn't recognize walk up and receive their diploma. They finally reach the Js, and Percy walks up. The graduation gown and cap aren't very flattering, but Percy still looks stunning. Once Percy's name is said, people clap and cheer. Nico joins in, clapping in earnest, and he sees Percy wave. Over the din, the next person's name is said.
Like that, the ceremony continues. There's a sense of emptiness settling in Nico's chest as the last name is called. Everyone claps, ready for the ceremony to end, but Nico isn't. He doesn't want Percy to leave. He can already taste the bitter tang of regret in his mouth as he resolves himself to confess to Percy.
As he's walking toward the graduates, toward Percy, he notices that Percy and Annabeth are standing together, posing for a picture. After the picture is taken, Percy turns to Annabeth, whispering something in her ear. She lightly punches him in the arm, giggling. For the nth time, Nico looks at them, so caught up in each other, and his resolve crumbles.
He starts walking away, and once he's off school grounds, he starts running for home. It's cold and windy, and his clothes are thin, but Nico's so focused on trying not to cry that he barely notices.
Nico shuts himself in his room when he gets home, trying to comfort himself by thinking positively.
At least he knows what Percy's answer will be without having to confess. That would've been disastrous.
At least he knows Percy is happy in his picture-perfect relationship with Annabeth, even if Nico's miserable.