Dear Nico,

How are you? I hope you're eating well.

I'm doing well. I don't really know what I'm doing but I'm doing well, I guess. Recently, I got a new offer to feature in a new magazine. Turned it down again, just because. I also recently just bought a new apartment for myself, haha, that sounds so mature of me.

Anyway, it's your birthday soon. What are you now? 75? Lol. Belated Happy Birthday! Advanced because I'm pretty certain this letter will be sent to you later than intended. Don't forget to eat your fruits, you wouldn't want to be sick on your birthday.

How are you sleeping? Weird question and really creepy but I just really would like to know how you're doing.

I miss you. I want to know whether you're okay and healthy and happy. Nico, even if just once, I wish you would reply. I'm not even sure whether you even bother to read these but I'm still hoping you do.

This is going to be last time I send a letter to you. Not because I don't want to write to you anymore but because I think it's time I stopped huh. Learned my lesson really late, right? This letter is short because I've run out of things to say and you probably don't want to read anymore so I've decided to stop.

I love you (A/N: Let's pretend its striked-through? Okay?) Take care of yourself, Nico.

Goodbye.

Sadie Kane

There it was, her flowy neat handwriting. He wanted- needed to read more. Just a little bit more. Maybe about where she was now. The fact that the letter had been 3 months old told him that she wasn't in the same place. He scanned the letter over and over again, it seemed so her. The handwriting, the way it sounded. He read the letter so many times he could practically memorize it. He just couldn't let go of it because then it would feel as if this marked the end of them.

He was being hypocritical. He was the one who wanted to end everything altogether but here he was hoping he had missed something- anything. Staring with intent at the last line, crossed out roughly. The fact that she didn't even bother to write a new one made him feel like, well, sh*t. But he could see what she wrote, he could see beneath the rough patches of ink. It didn't make him feel any better. If anything, it made him feel worse.

The stamp on the letter dated three months. There was still a box of full of letters from her, he wondered how old they were. He could barely utter a word.

10:00am. He had a meeting conference in an hour. An hour ago, he was looking for a suit for the meeting. An hour ago, he saw a plastic box behind the hangers. He knew how and why all these letters were in the box.

He wanted nothing to do with her, their divorce had just been finalized. He moved out. He was aware Sadie sent letters to his apartment but he never read them. He had asked Nona to throw them away whenever she sent one in. Clearly, Nona didn't. Now he was stuck between needing to read it and getting dressed for work.

The phone rang bringing him back to his senses.

"Nico, where the hell are you? Your meeting is in an hour and you aren't even in your office!"

"Speak to me like that one more time, Chase, I will fire you right there and then."

Magnus was working for him as his temporary assistant because he desperately needed a job. Magnus was an asshole but at least he could do well.

A nervous laugh came out of Magnus. "Uhm, hey man, there's no need to be so rough on me..." He trailed off pretending to act all innocent and pitiful.

Nico wasn't in the mood to talk, honestly. But he had to answer the poor guy.

"...I'll be there. Prepare my documents for today's meeting along with the product prototype."

"There's my boss. Alright, no worries, I got it all prepared right here for you." Magnus blabbed, Nico had to roll his eyes.

"Get out of my office, Chase. And stop sitting on my desk. You're going to contaminate it. Also, could you get me an aspirin?"

He heard frantic scrambling, he couldn't help but laugh.

"Dude, you have security cameras here? The f*ck man. Are you spying on me?"

"Just leave and get me my aspirin, dickhead."

"Alright. Alright."

Nico ended the call. He was having a headache.

He got dressed and glanced at the plastic box before leaving. He was going to get back to it later. He needed to.

Their 'marriage' wasn't genuine. It was arranged. He had no choice. He wasn't given one.

Nico's brows furrowed as he remembered how hard he fought against the idea. His family never cared about what he was up to and all of a sudden they come around and say he was engaged to someone he never liked.

Never liked.

He nodded slowly as memories ran through his mind. His grip tightened on the steering wheel. It wasn't a good idea for him to drive today, should've taken an Uber.

"Hey, you're here!" Magnus leaned down to the window to see Nico's face as he held up the box of aspirin and a bottle of water.

Nico mumbled a small 'thanks' and tossed his keys to Magnus as he headed to the building.

Magnus stared at his boss walking away and concluded that he looked dazed today. Probably had a bad start to his morning. He sighed and went to park Nico's car.

"I'm still older than you, Nico," he grumbled as he turned the engine on. But there was something in Nico's mind, he knew that. Also because this was the first time he ever asked for medicine. Nico liked to let his sickness pass which was stupid but that stupid guy was his boss and he was getting paid well- really well- so he couldn't care less. Lol. (A/N: Magnus you dick.)

Nico got into his office and immediately fumbled over the documents on his desk. He was literally just flipping the files around, he tried to read them but none of it got into his head. Taking a seat, he put his head in his hands and took a breath as he pressed on his face.

"...This is what you do to me..." He mumbled and closed his eyes, but immediately opening them and drank two tablets of the painkiller. He was not going to let her affect him today. Never did. And today wasn't going to be that day.

Luckily, he had been preparing for this meeting for two weeks already. Annabeth kept on bothering him saying that this small company he was going to have a meeting with was good partnership. Despite them being small and new, they were trendy and got the attention of most teenagers. So, even when his mind was somewhat of a mess today, he still knew what to do and say. Besides, even if he messed up, who would turn down the opportunity to work with their company?

(A/N: *rolls eyes*)

"That's about it. This prototype right here serves as your main gateway to connecting with young teens, our main audience for this project. Soon, after our 3- month trial, this will be ready for the public with an estimated profit of 75% within just a week."

He answered a few questions and let the director for this project continue for him. They signed the contract and shook hands, earning a bear hug from Annabeth.

"Ahh!" She squealed, still hugging him. "You did so well. I'm so proud."

He laughed and hugged back. Tolerating Annabeth was one thing he had to do, she took care of him like he was her own little brother so this partnership was all due to her.

"To show you how grateful I am, how about I treat you lunch?" She said as they walk towards the elevator. He nodded and pressed the button to his office, he looked back to Annabeth.

"12th floor, please," she laughed, "I need to check on my stupid cousin."

Nico cocked his head but pressed '12' anyway. "He should be on my floor, if you want to check on him." She shook her head.

"I heard you recently got two ice-cream machines for the 2nd cafeteria. I'll bet you $100 he's there."

He rolled his eyes. He wasn't going to bet, he was already agreeing with her. "So, I'll meet you at lobby at one?"

She nodded, "See you there." He nodded back and exited the elevator.

As soon as he was alone, he sat down on the sofa in his office. His condition wasn't good today. Groaning, he rolled his head to glance at his desk. There was a pile of documents he needed to handle, don't forget the emails he had to reply to. The urge to just go home was big. But going home meant that he was definitely going to read those letters.

For some reason, thinking about those letters made him angry. His right hand curled into a fist and took a deep breath. Priorities. His work was his priority right now. Not someone he used to know.

Grudgingly, he walked over to his desk and started working. If he did want to waste time looking through empty letters when he got back home, he would have to finish his work for today.

When it was almost 1, he put the desktop computer on sleep and left. At least when he's occupied with work, he gets to forget the letters.

Magnus tagged along.

"Magnus, I just told you I'd be treating Nico to lunch. I didn't even invite you." Annabeth said, walking into her car but Magnus stopped her and took her keys. "What the-

"I'll be driving. Besides," Magnus cleared his throat, "The only reason I'm tagging along is 'cause I don't want you poisoning my boss." He got in the car and started the engine. Annabeth rolled her eyes and sat shotgun.

Nico could care less, taking the backseat and closed his eyes. He was on edge. His headache was gone but his heart was beating fast for no reason and it could've just been anxiety kicking in.

Annabeth and Magnus both noticed his behaviour but kept bickering so that Nico wouldn't feel awkward.

They finally took their seats in the restaurant, and Nico let Magnus order for him since he didn't really have an appetite and he wasn't craving anything.

"Drinks?" The waiter asked.

"I'll get hot lemon tea, thanks." Nico ordered, since he wasn't feeling well, he should just get something warm to drink. But truthfully, it felt like his anxiety was getting worse and he had no idea why. It should've been before or at least during the meeting.

The waiter left to get their orders.

"By the way," Annabeth started, "Magnus said you asked for aspirin today. You feeling alright?"

Nico did a quick glance at Magnus for being a tattletale, in response Magnus looked at the menu avoiding eye- contact. "Yeah, I just had a slight headache this morning."

"I was so worried, I thought you were going to cancel out on the meeting," Annabeth sighed leaning towards the table.

"Why are you so intent on forming a partnership with them anyway?" Nico asked, genuinely curious. This was the only time Annabeth personally put herself out to recommend a company. She was so insistent on this one.

Annabeth smiled, "Actually Percy told me about them. They started off this campaign on protecting marine life and unlike all the other campaigns, they reached out specifically to the younger ones. Percy and I really wanted to help so basically we reached out to our greatest influencer." She babied the last few words making Nico roll his eyes.

"As long as they're good and work efficiently. Besides, if you guys trust them, then I have no doubt."

Just as Nico ended his sentence, the food came and maybe he was hungry after all.

"The ice-cream machine you installed in the 2nd Cafeteria is bomb, especially the mix 'n' match function." Magnus said as he ate the last bite of the dessert. "Falafel with plain vanilla, man. Unmatched."

"Here, you can have the rest," Nico slid the dessert plate towards Magnus. He wasn't a dessert person and his appetite was gone. As he moved his hand, Annabeth sat dazed in front of him, looking behind him. Her eyes moved and just as he was about to turn his head around, Annabeth came back and shook it off.

"Sorry, I thought I just saw someone I knew." She smiled and continued eating her food.

Nico glanced at his watch, "Let's leave as soon as you're done. I have some papers I have to finish."

Annabeth nodded as she took her last bite and raised her hand to ask for the bill. They got into Annabeth's car. Before Magnus stepped on the accelerator, Nico turned his head back to the restaurant and saw a familiar face. He scanned over the person wearing a white dress and the urge to get out of the car was strong. Just as his fingers reached to remove his seatbelt, Magnus drove away.

Giving up, he leaned back into the car shaking his head. What was I going to do anyway, he thought, fingers running through his hair.

Finally, he was able to reach his apartment and avoided going near the stairs. This was stupid. He knew he wouldn't be able to control himself if got near the stairs, he'd read all the letters in one sitting.

Why did he want to read the letter anyway? He even forgot they existed. So, why did that one letter make him want to read all the other ones?

He laughed at himself.

I never missed her anyways.

Hey, guess who's back after 3 years? This was a story I typed up a few years ago, long before Rick announced Nico's sexuality. I know it might upset some of you knowing that this pair is straight. I don't mean to disrespect Nico's sexuality in any way but I decided to post this anyway because this story has been in my computer since forever and it might be time to just publish it.

I hope you guys liked this. This was an ending of a story I was working on but I never got around to actually finishing the story. So here's the ending. There might be a sequel to this. Don't know if I'll post it haha. Anyways, please review, favourite and follow 3.