Leo P.O.V

The next day, I stroll into my History class just waiting to see him stood there smugly. Instead, I see him already in sat I the seat next to mine. My feet lead me before I ca think and I sit down- too scared to break the silence. I never particularity liked History; learning about dead people never appealed to me. Still, I could hear the blur of voices and facts in the background as I glanced over at him. His lips remained in one thin line rather than speaking. He held his black aviator jacket a little closer than before. In the too bright light, his skin could have been translucent, the faint blue lines that ran under the skin of his neck barely visible. I ripped a page out of my book and quickly scrawled the words,

'Are you okay?' onto the paper before slowly slipping it into his hand. Nico glanced down and screwed up the paper into a ball and forced it into his pocket. I sighed out of frustration and scrawled another note- desperate to make a connection with him. This time, when he read the note, Nico looked up and mouthed the word stop. I looked down at my notes not wanting to annoy him.

"Okay Class, in two weeks' time, I would like you to give an oral presentation in pairs about any aspect of American History. I expect it to be excellent quality. I expect 3 day's work. You will work with your work partner. Good Luck" And with that, she dismissed the class.

"Wait for me at the gate when school's over. We can go to my house and start tonight." Nico said quietly.

"Um, yeah that cool." I replied. Nico looked at me for a second for a second before taking the note I had given him out of his pocket and passing it back.

"And it's none of your fucking business." He said before walking off.

My day blurred together as I drifted through classes and hallways like a zombie not really taking notice of anyone.

"Leo, are you okay?" Jason asked as I sat down at our lunch table. I nodded along not really listening.

"So, I heard you have to work with Nico." Percy said with a wink.

"I know what you're implying and it's not true."

"Okay but admit it, you like him a little. You love the fact he's a bad boy and you don't understand him and you love it."

The food went stale in my mouth. There were too many butterflies in my stomach I couldn't tell if I did like him or not. I hated the fact that my friends knew me better than I did.

"Okay, maybe a little." I muttered.

Jason groaned and handed Percy a five dollar bill. I glared at him.

"What? If you're going to have confused emotions about a guy I might as well make money out of it. Have fun at Nico's Leo."

I grabbed my tray and walked off still questioning how I felt about this boy.

The end of the day came around faster than I could have expected and I was stood there in the autumn air with my hands in my pockets and my head down. Suddenly, I was being dragged by my arm in the opposite direction. I tugged my arm free.

"Dude, what the fuck?"

Nico turned around with a smirk on his face that quickly died.

"You were standing there like an idiot and I didn't want the whole awkward introduction."

"How could that- Why would you- what-"

"But it worked didn't it? Now come on, I have better shit to be doing than this."

I jogged to catch up with him as he walked. We didn't talk much but when he wasn't looking, I chanced to take a glance at him and soon I began to wonder what lied behind his scowl. The thin line that was always etched on his face it seemed natural. What did he look like when he smiled? I was determined to know. I wanted to peel back the layers of hate and distrust and find out who he was.

"Here we are." His voice cut through the comforting silence. "Little warning, my Mom doesn't talk much, don't worry 'bout it."

I nodded and he led me through the gate into the relatively normal looking house.

"I'm home Mom." He shouted, dumping his school bag at the bottom of the stairs. The call echoed through the halls waiting for a reply but none came. Nico grabbed my arm again and pulled me upstairs, putting a cigarette in his mouth as he entered his room. I stopped dead in my tracks breathing in the unexpected colour that burst from the walls.

"No need to act so shocked. I do know that colours other than black exist."

"No it's not that its-"

Nico held up his hand.

"Don't bother. Allow me to explain myself. One colour is easier than the rainbow that you face when you even bother to step out of the door in the morning. Yes I get strange looks. No, I don't care. To be honest, I could build a castle out of all the bricks they threw at me but I couldn't care less."

I stood, too afraid to move and too scared to answer back.

"I think." Nico sighed, "That this would work better if I did the work and you slapped your name on the front at the end."

"No. That's not right. If it's my grade it wouldn't feel fair and anyway, she said that it would take at least 3 days of solid work. I can't do that to you."

But Nico had already sat down, engrossed in a book that I couldn't read the title of.

"I'll go then. See you tomorrow Nico."

He didn't say anything back and as I walked down the hall, I noticed pictures of two small children both alike in appearance- olive skin and black hair. One a boy, one a girl. I continued walking and out the door thinking about what would happen if anyone cared enough to tear those castle walls down.