It was the first day of Annabeth's top secret project: Fitting Nico di Angelo in. Annabeth had thought about it all night long. She hadn't slept, but she was hyper. She'd made her plan extremely neatly, and if it worked, Nico di Angelo wouldn't feel so alone.

Nico used to creep Annabeth. But now she was just feeling sorry and awful because she'd judged him. Everyone did. So, one of the steps that was in Annabeth's plan was to convince people that Nico was actually a nice boy- without telling his sexual preferences. But it was the easy part, the hardest one was the first step: Convincing Nico that people weren't as bad as he thought- without showing him that she knew about him.

When the two camps united, Mr D, Chiron, Reyna and Frank had made a decision: Mixing the meal tables. By this way, everyone could get to know each other and socialize, not just people who have lots of siblings. Annabeth was happy about this decision, it made her plan much, much easier. She saw the table which all of her friends were sitting, and walked to there.

"Good morning guys!" she said cheerfully. "Morning!" everyone replied- except Jason. He continued playing with his meal while staring at the huge crack on the floor. "Morning," he murmured, but his mind was clearly at something else- probably the thing Annabeth had found out the day before. She sat next to Piper. The seven is united again, she thought. There was an empty seat which Annabeth wanted to fill with someone.

"I don't know what's going on with him," Piper whispered to Annabeth nervously. "But since the war finished, he disappears in evenings, and he's been thoughtful lately." Her eyes were opened widely. "What should I do?" she asked to Annabeth.

"He'll be fine, just give him some rest," she answered. "The thing he's been thinking about, it'll be solved eventually, won't it? Don't worry." She looked at Jason. He looked like he hadn't slept either.

"So guys," Annabeth started. "What are we doing today?" All of the campers were given some time of due to the victory and getting used to the new (Roman) campers. "I don't know," Percy replied with a mouth full of blue waffles. "Maybe we can give these two" - he shoved Frank and Hazel- "a little camp tour."

"My brother has already shoved me the camp," Hazel said. "But I also remember you telling me that he hadn't showed everywhere," Frank added. They smiled at each other. "Fine then, camp tour is our first thing to do." Percy said.

Annabeth was nearly about to forget Nico, but then, she saw him sitting in one of the corner tables alone. He was as pale as usual, he looked like he hadn't slept at all and his nose was red. Has he cried? Annabeth wondered.

Nico di Angelo was as depressed as usual, but this time, it was different. He'd been through a lot. Nico has been in two wars which he was controlling, he'd been to Tartarus and back before he and his girlfriend had been, and he was now feeling like he was something that gods just left to die alone. He sniffed, and felt like he was going to cry again. But his tears were gone. He was drowning in his own thoughts, so he didn't see the girl that was coming to him- wait, hadn't that happened before? Deja vu, isn't it?

"Nico," the girl said softly. "Are you alright?" Nico turned to the voice, it was her again. Gods, what was wrong with that girl, seriously? "I'm okay," he said. "We're going to tour Hazel and Frank. Do you want to join?" she asked. Her grey eyes were sparkling. "No, thank you," he said politely. No, thank you, I don't want to be anywhere with you and your boyfriend, especially him, he thought.

"Come on! It'll be fun!" Annabeth said. "To you," Nico added. "It'll be fun to you. You shine when you speak. Everyone in your friend group shine when they speak. I'm the guy in the shadows."

"If you refuse to hide in the shadow and try to escape from the bubble that isolates you, I'm sure you'll be able to shine," Annabeth said. "Look Nico, some people just need to try a little more. You're one of them." She shoved the seven excluding herself with her hand. They were still eating. "These people are my friends. They'll accept you. They want to be your friend. I want to be your friend. So please, can you try?" Nico frowned. Annabeth sighed.

"Give me two weeks then, two weeks to convince you that they're great friends and they're willing to accept you. If you still don't like them after two weeks, I sweat to the River Styx that I'll leave you alone. I'll let you run away. But you have to promise one thing to me."

"What is it?" Nico asked.

"You have to promise that you won't judge them. You are going to try. Because if someone judges another person, they can get the complete wrong idea," Annabeth said. "Promise?" Nico stood up.

"Fine, I swear on the River Styx that I won't judge and try. Now can we please get started?"