In exchange for leaving Nico his house to himself during the whole summer, his father had asked him to go pick up his sister every day to her summer day-care. Hazel, the same as him, was the result of their father's multiple affairs since, apparently, his wife was unable to have children and Nico had found out about her existence less than six months ago, when he came back from college during the winter break. His father handed him a signed note, directed to her day-care teachers, in which he gave Nico permission to take her home on his behalf from then on.
On Wednesdays, they took the children to a park near the building. Once he arrived, he walked towards the playground and sat on one of the benches near it, under the shade of a willow. The children had not yet arrived, so Nico took his mythology book and his headphones out of his bag and continued where he left off the previous night, waiting for his sister and mouthing lyrics silently.

"Am I messed up? Am I loud?
Well eat my dust that's all I am a speck out in the crowd."

Nico got so engrossed with his book and with his music that he did not notice the small body approaching him until he saw little dark fingers tracing the ink in his arms. He took off his headphones to meet a pair of glowing golden eyes beaming with happiness.

"Nico!" Hazel exclaimed and hugged his legs.
"Hello, Princess." He smiled and picked her up, sitting her in his lap. She was wearing the beautiful purple dress and black sandals he gave her for her birthday. Her dark hair ran wild, swaying in the warm breezes of spring. "Did you miss me?"
"Lots!" she exclaimed and touched again his sleeve. "This is new?"
She did not seem scared about the grey skulls, and she definitely loved the bright red roses painted across his arm. He had been saving the little money he earned from tutoring his classmates in order to afford the rates of the most famous tattoo artist in the whole country. It hurt and it took many sessions, but in the end it was worth it. He loved it. It was very special to him and he wanted it to be perfect. They deserved nothing less than that.
He let Hazel trace her fingers across his arm and tell him about everything that happened that day while he ran his pale fingers through her soft curls.
"HEY, YOU!" A deep voice roared and Nico could see a figure running towards them. Hazel jumped at the sudden shout and she clung to Nico's neck and would not let go. Instinctively, he wrapped his arms protectively around her tiny body. A tall blond towered over them, with eyes the deepest shade of blue Nico had even seen. He was wearing white jeans and a mint green jumper. "LET HER GO BEFORE I CALL THE POLICE!"
"Jason!" Nico recognized the second person who arrived. Her name was Reyna. She had been in the same class as… as Bianca. Her older sister died on a hunting accident a couple of years before. Nico stopped himself and frowned. "What's…" Her dark eyes met with Nico's and she seemed to remember who he was. "Nico? What are you doing here?"
"You know him?" Jason questioned harshly before shifting his attention back to Nico. "I said. Let. Her. Go. Now" he growled.
"I came to pick Hazel up." Nico said quietly as he stood up. "She's my sister. My father gave me a signed authorization." He clarified when he noticed that Jason was about to start arguing again and, still holding his sister with one arm, he reached to the note in his pocket and handed it to Reyna.
"Calm down, Jason. Here, read it." She put a hand on his shoulder and passed him the note. "Your dad could have called us, though…"
"Same here. He just called me and told me that I had a flight booked and that I had to take care of her while he was gone" Nico shrugged his shoulders and gently put Hazel down on the floor. "Reyna, could you tell me where her backpack is?"
"I'll get it, you and Jason go to where the rest of the kids are" Reyna did not wait for them and took Hazel by the hand and walked away, leaving the two of them in an awkward silence.

"Why is everybody crying?!" Reyna asked alarmed when she and Hazel arrived to find the rest of the children hiding behind Jason and sobbing loudly.
"He smiled and scared them." Jason explained simply while trying to calm everybody down.
"I was just trying to be friendly…" Nico mumbled but did not try to argue back because he knew Jason was right. When they arrived where the kids were playing and they saw him, he tried smiling at them but it resulted in a bunch of five-year-olds screaming in terror of the guy towering over them with the scary tattoos on his arms, scary clothes with skulls and chains and an even scarier grin.
Reyna sighed and told him to take a step back and helped Jason, who gave Hazel her backpack and saw them off. Nico hung his head and, grabbing his sister's hand, started walking towards their father's house, where she lived and he sporadically stayed. The park was a short walk from there, so they arrived to the big brick house after a few minutes, and, as they walked up the stone path and reached the front door, Nico's humour improved thanks to his sister's cheerful personality. He found himself smiling while he looked for his keys and asked her what she wanted to have for dinner.
As the food was cooking in the oven, Nico decided to unpack and, with Hazel sitting on his lap, he took his University notes and talked about what should they watch once dinner was ready. They ate pizza while watching The Nightmare Before Christmas, her favourite movie, for the millionth time; not that he minded, since he had shown it to her and they sang along to every song and booed the bad guy every time he appeared on screen. He helped her when she took a bath and brushed her teeth. He tucked her in her bed and kissed her forehead before turning off all the lights except one.
'When is dad coming back?' She asked when he came back from the bathroom and passed by her door on his way to his own room.
'By the end of next month. He'll be here before I have to go back to Uni.'
'So you will be coming to get me until then?' she beamed.
Nico scratched his head bashfully 'Yeah. You are not mad that I made your friends cry? He asked. He could always ask Reyna to bring her back if Nico became too much of a trouble for her and Jason.
'It will be okay, they will like you tomorrow. You will come, right?' She asks, staring deeply at him with her round, golden eyes.
'Of course I will.' Nico hugged her tight and buried his face in her curls. She smelled like raspberries. 'I promise.' He kissed her forehead again and then went to bed.
They did not like him that next day. That day and every day for a whole week, when he went to pick Hazel up, he had his hopes a little bit higher than the day before. He had tried to tone his clothes down, avoiding his leather clothes and chains and, despite the heat and in order to cover his tattoos, he wore a black, long-sleeved t-shirt and jeans and he kept his combat boots on, but to no avail. As soon as the kids caught sight of him, they always started crying, maybe not as hard as the previous day, but they would still ran and hid behind Reyna and Jason's backs.
More often than not, Reyna would leave Nico and Jason together while she met with some parents or had to take care of some of the administrative work at the day-care. After that awful first meeting, both of them had tried to stay on good terms, until their minimal, civilised chit-chat became more of a relaxed conversation. Jason recommended Nico to stay some days with them, assuring him that it was the fastest way for them to warm up to Nico. By the end of the third week, Nico had spent enough time there for the children to get used to the sight of him, always by Jason's side, and, even if they still felt frightened, they would just not get very near him.
'You were right about spending time here.' He said. It was a major improvement and Nico felt happy.
'I usually am' Jason smirked. They were at the park again, watching the kids play and laugh. 'Plus, you've been a lot of help. Since Percy left, most of his paperwork went to Reyna."
"You really like her, don't you?" Nico asked, feeling somewhat uncomfortable with the way Jason always talked about her. Not that he was jealous. Not one bit.
"Yeah, she's an awesome person and I respect her a lot" He brushed a leaf off his lavender shirt and smiled. "She's like a second, more than strict sister."
Nico had heard about Jason's older sister, Tahlia. Bianca often mentioned her and Reyna when she called him. Although he never met her in person, he knew she was formidable and someone you would never want to cross, as both Jason and Bianca stated. Lately, even though he still missed her everyday, Nico realised that thinking about her did not hurt as much as it used to and that he could start to talk a little bit more about her. Even if it was only to Jason.
Nico noticed that being around the taller boy made him feel at ease. More than he had ever felt around other people. Jason knew what to ask and what not to and, when he noticed that Nico was feeling uncomfortable, he would swiftly change topics and never pressed Nico for answers he did not want to give and for that, Nico was grateful. They had become really close, and quickly learned where the limits were and were very careful not to cross them.
That day, the sun shone brightly and there was not a single cloud in the sky and they felt it warm against their skin, so they sheltered themselves under the shade of a willow and decided to call the children to apply more sunscreen. They phoned Reyna to come help them and asked the kids to apply it to the three of them first, making it look fun in order for them to want to get some sunscreen too.
"I can't reach your face, Jason!" one of the girls pouted. Her little arms were outstretched but they were still short.
"Let Nico so it, then, Piper." Reyna suggested while a little boy, named Frank, gently patted her arms with the cream.
Piper puffed her cheeks and reluctantly got off the bench and went to play with her friends.
Both Nico tried to talk her out of it but to no avail. Jason explained that, this way, the children would see how nice Nico could be and it could help to deepen the bond between him and them. Nico glared at the other boy and, failing to convince himself that it was the sun that made his cheeks warm, he sat closer to Jason and started tracing his face with his fingers dipped in sunscreen.
"Don't look as if you were enjoying it." Nico mumbled trying to focus on anything but Jason's clear eyes. Instead, he tried watched the slow, lazy transit. Two beige cars, a blue truck and even a silver van tuning around the corner.
Jason only grinned and ignored the urge of teasing him and let Nico finish.
Hazel asked Nico if she could apply sunscreen to him, because he was "white as a ghost" and did not want him to get a sunburn. Nico agreed and smiled when she started applying it clumsily on his arms and, when her playmates saw her, they all wanted to do it too. Nico found himself drowned in sunscreen and he felt little hands on his arms and his face while Jason and Reyna laughed and tried to calm everyone down and started applying it to the children. Between the three of them, they were done in an instant and let them go to play again until it was time for everyone to have lunch. They all gathered under the willow and ate their meals merrily and, once they were finished, they accompanied the kids to the bathrooms to wash their hands before packing their things and going back to the day-care.
Nico waited where the backpacks were and looked after the children as they arrived one by one, sitting more comfortably around him and asking him to help them with their caps but, as Jason and the rest arrived, Nico could not shake the feeling that something was wrong. Reyna and Hazel were taking longer than necessary. His gaze met Jason's and decided to go check the bathrooms.
With every step, his uneasiness grew and barged through the door, calling their names just in time to see two men running through the back door with the girls on their arms.
Nico felt his heart sink and his blood ran cold. His knees trembled. If it was a nightmare, he wanted to wake up, but he knew better. He was awake and if he did not move fast enough, he would lose her. He would lose another sister he had sworn to protect. He would be alone again but, this time, he would not recover.