Hey everyone! One of my favorite [non-canon] pairings in PJO is Rachel/Nico, so I decided to write a one-shot for them. I hope you enjoy! Please review!

Rated T for cursing and a little make-out scene :P

Just to clarify, this fic takes place three years after TLO.

Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson & the Olympians. Haha, you're a funny guy, aren't you?

The cool summer breeze ruffles Nico's hair as he runs through the strawberry fields. He hears cheers from the basketball court as the Ares cabin scores again. Almost simultaneously, he hears boos from the Apollo cabin.

Nico di Angelo slows his pace as he nears the Big House. He bounces up the steps, looking around the porch encircling the house. There is no one in sight; just empty Pepsi cans and playing cards at the table near the front door. Nico knocks on the door three times. No one answers. He knocks three times again. No answer. He knocks three times again. After two minutes, he gives up. As he is turning around, thinking on where else to look for Chiron, someone calls out, "Hey, Nico!"

Nico turns around. Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Apollo's Oracle, stands in the doorway. Her hands and shorts are smeared with paint. Her fiery red hair is put back in a messy bun, and her green eyes sparkle in the light. Her freckles stand out prominently from her pale skin.

"Hi Rachel," Nico says, putting his hands into the pockets of his black jeans.

"Looking for someone?" asks Rachel. She tucks her paint brush behind her ear. She smiles at him.

"Yeah. Is Chiron around?" Nico tries not to gaze at her beautiful green eyes.

She shakes her head. "No, he's not. I'm pretty sure he has an archery class right now."

"Oh. I guess I'll go look for him there-"

"Why do you need him? If you don't mind me asking." Rachel leans against the door frame. Nico tries not to stare at her hips.

"Annabeth needs him. She's remodeling the dining pavilion, and she wanted to talk to him about a few things."

Rachel raises her eyebrows. "They're still doing that?"

"Remodeling the dining pavilion?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah." They both snicker, looking into each other's eyes. As if by some unspoken agreement, they stop laughing. What was so funny about them having the same choice of words, anyway?

"Well, I guess I'll just go to the archery range. But thank you." Nico turns around, about to walk down the steps.

"Wait, come in for a sec!"

Nico turns back around. Rachel is standing up straight now. She is beckoning with her hand for him to come in, while holding the door with the other.

"Why, what's up?" Nico hopes he isn't coming off as rude.

"I'm working on a new painting, and I want someone's opinion on it, before, you know, it's finished and it ends up looking like shit." Rachel laughs.

Nico smiles. "Sure. Although I have to warn you, I'm not the most artistic of people," he says, walking into the Big House.

Rachel shuts the door behind him. "No problem. Non-artistic people are going to be seeing the finished product too."

She begins climbing the stairs, taking the lead. Nico stares at her from behind as she walks; graceful, even if she isn't even trying. He gulps. Something about this girl makes Nico's stomach churn with butterflies.

XXX

"Whoa."

Nico is standing in a full blown artist's studio. What once was Rachel's bedroom is now completely done away with. All of her furniture is covered in bed sheets, along with the wooden floor. The entire room smells of paint and Lysol. Rachel's iHome is cranked all the way up to a rock band Nico doesn't know.

In the middle of the room stand two easels. Rachel walks to the easel on the right, where a half-finished painting of a girl sitting by a lake stands. She twists her head this way and that, muttering to herself. With her thumb, she brushes some paint by the girl's feet, creating a shadow. She picks up her palette from her bed and begins painting the lake.

"Can I take a look?"

She turns around. She has a look of intense concentration on her face.

"Sure." She steps aside.

Now that he has a closer look, Nico can see that the girl does not sit on a beach by a lake, but on a bench next to a river. In the background, he can just make out an outline of the Notre Dame. He can make out little circles dotting across the entire picture. Rachel is painting a rainy day by the River Seine in Paris.

"This is really great, Rachel."

"Thanks." She puts her brush into the palette, coming up with some more blue paint. She brushes lightly at the part of the river near what looks like a bridge.

"So, uh, what exactly are you painting this for? You said a lot of non-artistic people would be seeing it."

Rachel's eyes sparkle. "There's this really prestigious art gallery in SoHo. They sent out advertisements to public schools around Manhattan about a teen art exhibit sort of thing. You send your painting to them, and if it's really good, it'll be in the art gallery! There'll be people just browsing through the paintings, because it'll be open to the public, but there'll be one or two professional artists there too, scouting out pieces. It's a great opportunity for me. Percy got the advertisement in school, and he gave it to me when I got to camp. And I've been working on it ever since I got here!" She laughs, glancing at him.

"Well, you seem really excited about this," says Nico, looking back at the painting.

"I really am. It's funny, I've never been this excited about anything for years," she says, dipping her brush in the palette.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it's not exactly 'be yourself and have any remote type of fun' at finishing school. It gets…ridiculous. Tedious."

"You really hate it that much?" Nico's eyebrow furrows.

Rachel bites her lip. "Yeah." She continues brushing at the river.

"It'll be alright." Great job, son of Hades, thinks Nico.

Rachel turns around and smiles. "Hopefully." Looks like you didn't do too bad after all.

"Hey, you want to paint a little bit?" Rachel asks.

Nico shakes his head vigorously. "No, I'll mess it up so fucking bad."

Rachel rolls her eyes. "How about you work on the rain droplets, and I'll work on the river? You can't fuck that up too bad." She raises her eyebrows persuasively.

Nico takes a deep breath. "Alright. But if it looks like shit, you'll just have to blame yourself, Oracle Girl."

She laughs. "Fair enough, Ghost Boy."

XXX

Rachel lowers the volume on her iHome as Nico grabs a red brush from Rachel's container. He dips it in gray paint, and looks at the painting. There are so many dots; he does not know which to paint first. He decides on the one furthest from the girl's smiling face. He dabs at it lightly, trying not to paint outside of the tiny oval. Nico narrowly succeeds in his task, and goes to paint at the next one. They are in silence for a few minutes, just the gliding brushes on the paper and the sounds from the basketball court echoing around the room.

He begins to work on another droplet, this one very closer to the river. Nico and Rachel's hands touch. Nico feels his nerves going on hyper alert where Rachel has layed contact with him.

"Sorry," he blurts out. Nice move, son of Hades, he thinks.

"There's nothing to apologize for Nico," she says, smiling at him.

"I just…yeah. Sorry for apologizing."

Rachel laughs. "No reason to apologize for apologizing either."

"Right-sorr"

"Oh my gods, Nico!" She laughs.

"I don't know what's wrong with me today. I'm sorr-"

"I'm going to fucking smear some paint across your face if you don't stop!" She looks at him, mock-angry with him. Her green eyes are sparkling again.

Nico decides to go along with it. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Rachel."

Her eyes bug out, mock-annoyed. "Don't say sorry again, Ghost Boy."

"Right. I won't, I promise," he says, holding up his hands. "I feel really bad now, Rachel. I'm sorry-"

"Are you shitting me."

"What?"

"Are you shitting me?"

"No!" He swallows. "I'm really sorry, Rach-"

"Damnit, di Angelo!" She smears paint all across his cheek. The paint is cool, almost soothing his skin.

He can't help laughing. "Oh, no, why'd you do that? Did I annoy you that bad? I'm sorry."

"What the fuck," she says, dipping her paint in the palette, coming up with red paint. She smears it on his forehead.

"Okay, now I'm not sorry," he says, dipping his brush in the palette. "Now you're going to be sorry, Dare!" He spreads green paint across her cheeks and nose.

"Oh, bring it on!"

Rachel brings paint across his hair, digging deep to his roots. Nico responds with spreading purple paint all over her neck.

A paint war ensues. Rachel brings some across his black shirt, in which Nico responds with black paint across her shoes. He keeps laughing even as she smears some more across his pants, making the shades of the rainbow. Nico responds with throwing paint from the palette at the back of her shirt, then spreads it around and around so it looks like a giant, ugly blotch. Rachel laughs, throwing some at the back of his head and neck. He responds with throwing paint around her room, at the ceiling, the empty easel, the covered furniture. She giggles uncontrollably. Rachel throws a golden smear at his lips, causing him to cough and laugh in the same instant. He smears red paint around her lips. Her eyes are sparkling, happy. He looks at her face, grinning back.

She catches his hand, and kisses it lightly. He looks up, astonished at this. Her green eyes are looking intently into his. She takes a step closer to him, putting her hands around his paint-covered neck. Nico feels as if he is in a time-free bubble, one in which only he and Rachel are allowed in. He brushes a strand of hair away from her face. His stomach churns with butterflies as he leans in to kiss her.

She kisses back. Her lips are soft and plush, her hands firm at his neck. He puts his hands in her hair, smoothing it, covering it with his hands. Nico moves slowly to the empty canvas, where Rachel leans back. She puts her hands at his chest, then deepens the kiss more by twisting her head this way and that. Nico has never felt happier in his life.

XXX

They separate for a few seconds, catching their breath. Nico looks intently into Rachel's eyes, trying to figure out how she feels.

"D-didn't expect that one coming," she says in a husky voice. She puts her hands at his neck again.

"Neither did I," he answers, brushing his hands through her red hair.

She puts her forehead against his. She creases her eyebrows. "You're covered in paint."

He can't help laughing. "So are you, Dare."

"Oh shit, what did I do…" she laughs, looking up into his eyes. Suddenly, he separates from her, realizing he shouldn't be holding or kissing her.

"Oh shit, what did I do…" He puts his head in his hands.

"What, Nico?" She takes his hands, about to kiss them. He pulls away.

"Rachel, you…you're the Oracle."

"Thanks for reminding me." She steps in close, and sneaks in a kiss.

Nico shakes his head, pulling away. "No, I mean…you're not allowed to…be with anyone. Especially-"

"Oh, fuck it." Rachel puts her hands in his hair.

"You can't just fuck over something like that, Rachel."

She puts her hand on his cheek. He feels safe from her touch.

"Well, I will. Apollo will just have to get over it."

"Rachel-"

She kisses him again. "I'll handle Apollo. It'll be fine." Her tone makes it sound as if this will be the last word on the matter.

He looks into her eyes, green and bright. He smiles, almost hypnotized by her. He realizes everything will be okay. He puts his hands at her hips.

"Well, if you put it like that…" Nico kisses her full on the lips. They kiss for a long time, ignoring the paint on their bodies, the sounds of the demigods below, and the rainy day by the Seine.

Okay, so how was it? Did you like it? Any constructive criticism? Let me know in a review! :)

-singingtothewind