Thank you all so much for reading! Reviews and comments are very much appreciated! I'm hoping to update again next Tuesday! Happy reading! :D

Nico spent the next day following Percy around in the shadows. The day began normally enough, with Percy waking up and taking a shower before being dragged to breakfast by Jason, who slept in his cabin that night, since him and Reyna were there for the weekend. At breakfast, Percy asked where he was, to which everyone responded he was on a quest for his dad, something easily believed by the gullible son of Poseidon.

After breakfast, Chiron goaded Percy into teaching canoe lessons for a group of newer campers. Nico was quite enthralled with the way Percy treated the children. He was patient with them, loving, and Nico could see that he genuinely cared about them. It was very apparent that Percy wanted children of his own, to which Nico was surprisingly upset. He couldn't give him children, but he quickly pushed the thought out of his head because Percy wasn't interested in guys. When Percy finished with the canoe lessons and put away the canoes, Nico followed him back to his cabin.

The son of Poseidon was obviously exhausted, so Nico wasn't surprised when he collapsed on his bed and fell asleep. However, he was startled about an hour later by the sound of Percy calling out his name. Nico lifted his head to see Percy shoot up, his breathing labored and drenched in sweat. Percy grabbed his knees and pulled them to his chest and rocked back and forth. He muttered incoherent words under his breath and began to sob quietly. Nico was shocked to see Percy in such a state. He didn't realize it was this bad. After the Giant War, Nico had focused on himself, making sure that he could cope without Percy and to ensure that he himself was okay. Meanwhile, it seemed that Percy had taken a turn for the worse. It was shocking to see the usually vibrant Sea Prince curled up into a ball, looking vulnerable and pathetic.

As much as he wanted to go comfort him, Nico was sure this wasn't the right time to reveal his presence, so he sat and watched as Percy slowly pulled himself together. By the time Percy finished crying, his sea green eyes were bloodshot and puffy. The son of Poseidon slowly climbed out of bed and ran into his private bathroom, an add on he insisted upon when he moved back to camp. Nico could see him through the door, which he left wide open so he had no reason to move from his current position in the corner of the cabin, where he had a view of everything. He watched as Percy stared at himself in the mirror.

"I can sense you in here," Percy suddenly said, turning around, looking in my general direction. "I can't tell who, but I know you're there."

Nico sucked in a breath, since when could the Son of Poseidon detect invisible people?

"Humans are made of water," Percy continued. "You better show yourself before I pull you out of your hiding spot and skewer you with Riptide."

Nico stepped out of the shadows to stand in front of Percy, who he was a little taller than, thanks to his growth spurt.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Percy asked. He paused for a moment, staring at Nico with a hurt expression, "Are you following me?"

"Technically, yes," Nico replied, remaining collected.

"Why?" Percy asked, a small twinkle of curiosity filling his eyes.

Nico reached out and took Percy's wrist, ignoring the flinch and the curling of a fist. He ran his thumb over a fresh scar, and then looked questioningly up at Percy, "Because of this."

Percy snatched his arm back to his side and glared at Nico, "That's not your business, di Angelo. Why would care about me anyway? You're the one who hates me."

Nico's expression softened, "I don't hate you, Perseus. Quite the contrary, actually."

"B-But you said… A-after the Giant War…" Percy stuttered.

"I only said that to help myself move on," Nico replied, his hand reaching out to take Percy's. "Besides, just because I said that I was over you, doesn't mean I don't care about you."

Percy looked up at him, his eyes still rimmed with redness, "Why do you want to help me now?"

"Because I can see that you're clearly hurting, " Nico said. "Jason and Annabeth can't always be there for you because they have obligations to their families. I can help you though, so if you will let me… I want to try and help you."

Percy shifted uncomfortably under Nico's gaze. "Can I think about it?" the hero asked, unsure of what to say.

"You can think about it, but the answer has to be yes, Perseus," Nico replied with a playful smile. "I'll be back in an hour if you don't show up for lunch.

The corners of Percy's mouth lifted slightly as Nico exited his cabin. For the next hour, Percy wandered outside his cabin to sit by the ocean— the place he would go when he needed to think. As he sat on the beach, Percy stared at the fresh scars on his wrists, the scars that Nico had referred to earlier. Percy didn't really know where they came from. They began appearing after nightmares, which made Percy notice that whenever he had a dream where he was hurt and injured, he would wake up with scars and wounds as evidence. He did his best to hide them, he didn't want anyone worrying about him. He knew he was messed up, but he didn't think anyone could ever really fix him.

After a while, his thoughts shifted to Nico. The gorgeous, bad boy son of Hades was concerned about his well being, a shocking thought to Percy. After he moved back to camp, Percy started to notice that he was attracted to Nico. He had discovered, after breaking up with Annie, that he was into boys, and even more interested in bad boys, much like the attractive Italian. Nico had really grown up, filling out his gangly figure into a more muscular form. His dark eyes could make Percy melt.

Percy sighed, shaking himself from his daydream and reminded himself that Nico didn't want him, he just wanted to help him. With that depressing thought, Percy got up and dragged himself to the dining hall, where his friends would be expecting him.