Flying High
Chapter 2
Leo watched Nico with a mixture of shock and confusion. As far as he knew there was nothing that had occurred during their conversation that would bring Nico to tears. Moments ago he seemed perfectly fine with talking about his family and all the death he had seen through out his life time. Nico kept his eyes locked on the deck, never meeting Leo's gaze. After a moment he brought his hand to his face, wiping away the tears that fell down his cheeks. A fire erupted under his skin and he began to blush, embarrassed that he had cried in front of Leo. Silence ensured, neither of the boys speaking, only being broken by the occasional sniffle from Nico. The two boys stood there neither of them attempting to make a move. Leo continued to gaze at Nico. He defiantly was a puzzle.
"We could pretend we are friends tonight. I could listen if you want me to. I know your hurting. Something is hurting you. There's something else causing you pain, besides everything you mentioned. You can tell me what it is. I won't judge. I have a lot of problems myself." Leo said calmly. Nico's eyes jerked up tearing away from the deck, surprised by the sudden comment. He stared in shock for a moment before becoming enraged. Leo had obviously struck a nerve.
"What are you talking about?! Nothings wrong with me!" Nico spat. Shaking his head he let out a growl of frustration.
"There you go again. Pretending your heartless. By doing that your some how more broken then before. It's hurting you." Leo said. He watched Nico with concern.
"Shut up, Leo! Just shut up! You have no idea what your talking about!" Nico cried backing up. His back struck the ships railing and he recoiled. Shaking his head again Nico let out a growl, clenching his fist tightly to his sides.
"But Nico, just tell me…"
"Okay! You want to know the truth! What bothers me is…..Myself!" Nico shrieked.
"What does that mean?" Leo asked slightly taken aback by Nico's words.
"I mean I just can't deal with it. There's something wrong with me, not just something that happened to me, but me as a whole. Almost as though I've been poisoned or something. Where ever I go tragedy follows and it kills me!" Nico sputtered.
"Do you really believe tragedy follows you? Ever since you got here you have nothing but help!" Leo protested.
"Well the moment I show up look at what happens to Percy and…. Annabeth." He said quietly. Leo looked at him for a moment. He had hesitated when saying Annabeth's name. Could Nico's problem have something to do with her? Suddenly, everything connected in Leo's head.
"Oh so that's what this is about." Leo said smirking slightly. Nico looked at him with pure terror reflecting in his eyes. Was he truly this scared that his secret would get out. "Nico, you feel guilty. You feel guilty about what happened to Annabeth. You liked her! And it kills you that something happened to her."
Nico looked at Leo with pain in his eyes. "You idiot." He murmured burying his face in his hands. Slowly he sank down to the ships deck, sitting quietly on the floor. His knees were tucked to his chest. Slight sniffles came from the boy as Leo gazed down at him, utterly lost for words. What was going on here? Hadn't Leo figured out the problem?
Slowly walking towards Nico Leo slid down beside him. Nico raised his head slightly before burying his face once again. He groaned at Leo. "Just leave me alone." He muttered pitifully. Leo had to admit it, Nico knew how to get someone's sympathy.
An awkward silence settled over the deck as Leo stared at Nico. Unsure of what to do Leo raised his hand slowly and began patting Nico's shoulder in a attempt to comfort him. Although it was failing miserably Leo hoped Nico would appreciate the effort he was putting forth. Instead of being grateful Nico glanced up at Leo with rage bubbling in his eyes. Rage and discomfort.
"What are you doing?" He hissed the words between clenched teeth.
"I was trying to comfort you but since you didn't notice I guess I'll stop." Leo said slightly annoyed. He started to remove his hand when his fingers brushed Nico's side gaining a gasp and a shiver from the other boy. Curiously Leo began to trace a pattern up and down Nico's back with his hand. Nico made no move to stop these movements, although Leo could tell it was making him uncomfortable. Within seconds he received something more then a gasp and shiver. Placing his fingers directly on Nico's side he heard Nico moan and watched as the boy's eyes slid closed. His mouth opened and he to a intake of breath.
"Stop!" He cried suddenly trying his best to jerk out of Leo's reach. Leo quickly grasped Nico's shoulder restricting his movements. There eyes met as the boy began to struggle. They stared at each other for a moment before Nico whipped around and sent his elbow flying into Leo's stomach. Leo gasped and pulled away from him.
Nico backed up wrapping his arms tenderly around himself. Leo doubled over a agonizing pain filling his stomach. He hadn't expect Nico to hit that hard. Even though the son of Hades looked weak and skinny he was quiet strong. Leo had to learn this lesson the hard way.
"Why the hell did you do that?!" Leo shrieked at him.
"I-I don't know! You're the one who started it! You shouldn't have been touching me!" Nico protested.
"I wouldn't have touched you if you would have just told me what's wrong!" Leo spat.
"Why do you care!?" Nico cried. Tears sprung to his eyes and he quickly wiped them away hoping Leo wouldn't notice. He managed to remove most of them but a few slipped away, catching Leo's attention automatically.
"Nico, I care about you. I barely know you but I care about you." Leo took a step towards Nico until they were inches apart. He slowly leaned down, placing his lips beside Nico's ear. "What's wrong? I want to help you but you have to tell me what's going on."
Little did Leo know Nico would do more then tell him. He was about to show him what was wrong. Without warning Nico's arms swung up wrapping tightly around Leo's neck. In a flurry of motion Nico pulled Leo towards him and crashed their lips together.
A/N: Hey there! Sorry that it took me so long to add a new chapter. I've been working on a Percy and Nico fan fiction plus I started writing my own novel which takes up a ton of time. I promise to have another chapter post soon! Thanks for reading! Please leave a comment or a favorite! :)
