Nico POV
I stumbled into camp. My head throbbed, everything was foggy. The grass was wet with some sticky substance I smelled death in the air. I felt the souls going to the underworld.
I heard something too. Reyna's voice rang out. "Stop! Nico and I have brought what your fighting over. I am calling for a..." her voice faded and everything went black.
...
I woke up to a pair of stormy grey eyes and messy blonde hair. If your thinking Annabeth, that's not it. It was that Athena kid, the one who had played mythomagic with me back when Bianca was alive. What was his name?
Malcom, his name is Malcom.
"Where is she?" He asked urgently.
Who could she be? A girlfriend? "Who?"
"My sister, where is she?" Malcom demanded.
His sister? Oh, Annabeth. "She's alive, but that's all I-" he shoved the spoon he'd green using to feed me nectar into my mouth before I could finish."
"Shut up, Di Angelo, someone's coming." He hissed. I woke several times, once to him chuckling under his breath and using a napkin to wipe something off my chin. The last time I woke up I was sitting in a lawn chair next to Reyna.
"You were really out." She handed me a glass of nectar.
"come on," I said "I couldn't have been out for more than a couple hours."
"Nico, you were out for three days." Reyna looked at me worried.
Wait. Three days? "I need to leave. Now."
"No!" Reyna yelled "Nico, please stay."
"I'll visit you and Hazel in New Rome, but I can't stay here."
Reyna repeated something shes said every time the topic of me leaving has been brought up. "It's not 1940 any more, Nico." I will not stay. So I stared at the ground. Reyna sighed and said "At least talk to Chiron first."
"I'm leaving after." I said firmly.
...
"You're awake, Mr. DiAngelo." Chorine observed.
Coach hedge turned eagerly "Nice recovery, cupcake."
I smiled at him, he was ecstatic about his child, I could tell. "Thanks, coach."
"I hope you will be staying this time Nicolas DiCaprio." Mr. D popped open a diet coke.
Malcom walked onto the balcony and cut me off before I could say I would not be staying. "You drool when you sleep." He smirked at me. At first I was offended. But Percy and Jason tease me all the time. I waved it off.
"No, I think Im going to leave. Forever." I said with absolute certainty.
Malcom blushed and started stammering "Nico -I -I didn't mean." He grabbed my shoulder. "If your leaving, I'm coming with you, you can't stop me."
I was taken aback. I have never expected someone to say something that nice to me ever, especially not Malcom. Not I always beat you at mythomagic Malcom. Not plotting cunning, scheming Malcom. Defiantly not joking sarcastic, aggravating Malcom. Especially not genius strong, perfect Malcom.
Did I just think that?
"Why on Olympus would someone like you want to come with someone like me?" I asked quietly.
If what he said earlier surprised me, it was nothing compared to what he did next. He grabbed my face and kissed me. Then he backed up, his face redder than Leo's fire. He tried to say something smart. "Because I love you, bone head, any more stupid questions?"
"Yes, actually." My body took over. It said and did things that I didn't want it to. I wrapped my arms around his waist, his face turned an adorable shade of pink. "Do you really love me?"
His hand caresses my chin so lightly I wasn't sure it even happened. But he kissed me and I was so sure that he wanted the same thing.
"I love you." we said in unison as we pulled away. Reyna cleared her throat.
I realized that we were being watched.
I could not have seen a weirder array of reactions. Reyna had the expression of an old woman looking lovingly at her first grandchild. Coach fingered his baseball bat and glared at Malcom. Mr. D chugged his coke like he didn't even notice. Chiron smiled like a teacher who tutored a -D student up to an A.
Dionysus set his drink down and said to me in the exact same way he had before "I hope you will be staying, Nicolas DiCaprio."
I said it more to Malcom than Mr. D. I brushed a lock of hair out of Malcom's eyes and said "I think Ill stay." A smile lit up my boyfriends face and he put his head on my chest.
