"You're joking. Tell me you're joking."

Nico stared at the intimidating woman pacing around in their suite. He was sat between Jason and Percy on the couch.

"No, Nico. I'm not. You're the frontman of this band, the singer, the face of the band. You're going to have to start doing more promotion. You're going to do that radio show this afternoon and that's final."

Nico whimpered, he didn't like doing interviews of any kind. They'd always ask him stupid questions he didn't know how to answer. He preferred to be in the background, ironic as it was.

"But Reyna-"

She held up a finger to silence him. "Listen, you guys signed with me because I'm the best at what I do," Pinching the bridge of her nose, she gestured at the couch. "I can't make you guys do anything you don't want, but it wouldn't hurt you to crawl out of your shell a little, Nico. I'm not asking you to light up the room, but you can't just stay away."

Nico opened his mouth in protest but forgot what he wanted to say as he felt Jason lay his hand on his knee. His friend shot him a look that said they would talk about this later.

A sigh. "Fine. Just the radio show this afternoon, right?"

Reyna nodded. "For now. We're trying to arrange a few instore gigs. Maybe with a ticket giveaway or a contest. Nothing big, maybe 25 people at a time, real special and intimate for the fans. Possibly acoustic, around Christmas time. For this afternoon , just answer a few questions, play a song and you can be on your way again."

Nico hung his head. "Urgh, this isn't what I signed up for."

The woman in front of him grinned like a shark. "I'll take this opportunity to remind you that, yes, you did."

She stepped forward and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Nico, I'm not the devil, just the messenger. If at any point you feel that this is all getting too much, be sure to let me know. We're not out to ruin you, but there are certain responsibilities you can't duck, it comes with the territory. I can, however, try to keep everything to a minimum. But we simply can't have Thrice Greek showing up everywhere without their singer, you understand that, don't you?"

Nico nodded glumly. He understood, but he hadn't yet reached the point where he would even resemble an outgoing person.

She straightened herself and pointed at Percy. "As for you, do try to keep your, ahem, relations with certain fans under wraps."

Percy grew bright red, his mouth hanging open as he stared at Reyna. From the other side of the couch, he could hear Jason mumbling as he tapped away on his phone.

"Subtlety isn't one of your strengths, Jackson," He held out his phone to his fellow band members with a smug grin on his face, and Percy took it. He rubbed his forehead as the screen showed a picture of a man who was obviously Percy pressing a blond woman into a wall. They were clearly making out. Percy winced and he could hear Nico quietly snickering next to him.

"Thesetwohadsexinthedressingroom!" Percy suddenly blurted out, gesturing at his bandmates, clearly trying to take the attention away from himself.

Nico and Jason whipped their heads around to glare at him, and by now the trio on the couch were sporting a matching blush.

Reyna sighed deeply. "You know what? I don't care. Do whatever you want. Just don't come crying to me if at the next interviews you get asked about your mystery blonde, Percy. Or the mystery redhead last month. I could go on and on."

She gestured at Jason and Nico. "And I expected better from you two. I honestly don't care about what's going on between the two of you, but keep it out of the public's eye unless you plan on answering questions about it."

With that, she turned around and walked out of the room, leaving the three bandmates staring blankly into empty space for a few moments.

"She scares me," Percy whimpered.

The other two nodded.

"'sup, Will?"

"I'm good. Drowning in coursework, what else is new..."

"How's life, Cecil?"

"I'm perfect! My classes are finally letting up a bit. Want to go do something this weekend?"

"Can't, got places to be. Sorry."

"Ooh! Got a hot date?"

Will grimaced. If only.

"Nah, going to a gig. Been working my ass off trying to get my assignments done so I'll have the time."

"You didn't tell me about a gig! Which band? Are there still tickets? We could go together."

"Sadly not. Sold out. Seeing a Thrice Greek show at the Labyrinth."

"WHAT?! Those tickets have been sold out for months, how'd you manage that?"

"I kind of got a spot on the guest list."

"Who did you blow for that, Will? Damn, I'd give and arm and a leg for that."

"Percy Jackson gave me one. It's a long story, no blowjobs involved. I've got an time after classes later. Coffee?"

"Shit! That's awesome. You'd better tell me the whole story and not leave out any details! Coffee at the Olympian at 4?"

"Sure thing. See you then."

Will smiled and shoved his phone back into his pocket. He was glad he had a friend who was also into Thrice Greek, since the majority of their fans seemed to be teenaged girls. He hadn't told Cecil about the guitar yet, but boy, was he in for a surprise.

Nico rested his head on the cool glass of the window, quietly staring at the people on the sidewalk. He quietly thanked whoever invented tinted glass, since they'd been stuck in busy Manhattan traffic for about twenty minutes already.

Percy was in the passenger seat, talking animatedly on his phone. "Yes, Mom. I promise. We'll be there for Christmas if the record company's not making us do other stuff." ... "All three of us, yes."

A soft "Hey," came from Nico's left. He lifted his head to the window and leaned in towards Jason who had a concerned look on his face.

"You okay?"

Nico frowned. Was he? The talk with Reyna hadn't gone well, exactly, but he'd come to get used to the pressure of doing interviews and the like. He knew he couldn't hide away in his private little world anymore. After their first single had shot its way up the charts, he'd been yanked out of his comfort zone and dropped in a new world where other people made decisions for him. He was a rock star now, and things were expected from him. He'd signed his name under the contract, knowing full well what he was getting into, he wasn't a stranger to the music industry.

It wasn't that he couldn't deliver, it was just hard to do so. He'd managed to reign in his anxiety during shows, and appear on stage as a confident man, hopping around as he shredded out riffs. Sometimes he felt like a superhero, his guitar being his weapon of choice, battling the darkness inside and around him with melodic tunes, belting out lyrics as if they were spells to hold off evil, strengthened further by his two sidekicks on bass and drums.

He could even deal with the media, provided they didn't ask questions that were too personal. It didn't leave too many topics that weren't, though. While he made sure that management informed the media that questions about his personal life were off-limits, he couldn't declare his music a barred topic as well, as closely as the two were intertwined. His music was his personal life, melodies representing feelings, lyrics coming from his experiences. While he chose to share his music with the world, he didn't want anyone to delve too deep into its meaning.

It just drained him. Physically and emotionally drained him. He'd need time after every show, after every interaction with the media, after every photo shoot, after every interaction with their fans.

He was working on it, he really was. While he still tried to tune the crowd out as much as he could when he played, he'd manage to mumble a few words in between songs. Baby steps, sure, but progress was progress.

He knew he'd have to interact with their fans a bit more, though, both on and off the stage. Their fans had given him a chance to do what he loved for a living, and he wasn't going to fuck that up. He did the signing sessions, smiling dutifully at every fan that stood before him, but usually never really got past "Hello/Did you enjoy the show?/Thanks."

His eyebrows disappeared into his fringe as he realized that he'd made more progress in the fan department than he'd thought. Just a few days ago he'd spoken to a fan beyond those three standard phrases. He mentally patted himself on the back for that.

His lips curled up the faintest bit as he thought back to that sunday. How he'd just started talking to... Will? Will. How the words come from his mouth without all too much anxiety after the man had mentioned his guitar. Yep, definitely progress.

He could still feel the warmth of the man's fingers around his own, even if they had only touched for a brief moment. He could still see those bright blue ey-

"-Ico... Earth to Nico"

Jason's voice pulled him from his memories. "Mmm?"

"I asked if you were okay and you got lost in your own head." Jason raised his eyebrows at him.

"You know what? I think I am." Nico smiled. "Don't give me that look, Grace. It's not a miracle. But feel free to announce it to the world later. Tabloids might pay you handsomely for that mindblowing piece of information," he deadpanned.

Electric blue eyes scanned his face. "I'm glad you're feeling okay. I'd honestly thought Reyna's speech earlier would've put a dampener on your day."

Nico shook his head. "She's been hounding us for months about that, so it wasn't exactly a surprise. I know I can't dump everything on you guys," he frowned. "But sometimes it's easier to."

Jason nodded. "Don't worry about that, Neeks. That's what we're there for. I don't mind picking up the slack here and and there, and we all know Jackson over there doesn't mind hanging out with the fans one bit." His lips split into a bright grin.

Nico grinned right back. "I can't believe he let himself get photographed again. You'd think he'd have learned by now."

The blond barked out a short laugh. "We are talking about the same Percy Jackson, right? Percy 'Do before you think' Jackson?"

"I heard that!"

Green eyes glared at the duo on the back seat. "I'm perfectly capable of thinking, thank you very much. I'm a grown man, and if I choose to make out with a hottie, I'll make out with a hottie. Media be damned." He took his hand off his phone and pressed the device to his ear. "Yes mom, I'm still here."

Jason and Nico both turned their faces to look at each other and burst out laughing as the car finally started moving again.

Will walked into the small coffee place just a little off campus. Cecil hadn't shown up yet, but his classes were further away from their meeting place, and Will had gotten there early.

He went ahead and ordered two coffees and slid into an unoccupied booth. He was rather nervous, rubbing his sweaty hands on his jeans as he waited for his friend.

His classes had been a breeze, and he'd spent all his free time finishing up his homework. He'd just have to put the finishing touches on some reports later that night and then he'd have the rest of the weekend off.

The week had flown by, and tomorrow he'd go see his second Thrice Greek show. The second one that week, the second one ever. He smiled a little as he remembered that last sunday his life had taken an interesting new turn.

He'd been happy, the past week. The guitar, which now hung proudly on the hooks on his wall where...

Michael. Where Michael's guitar used to hang. He swallowed as the memories of his brother bubbled up to the surface. Will had filled out an online police report report earlier in the week, and when the officer who'd called him later had taken his story, he had been told that NYPD had better things to do than go out and search for lost guitars, and not to expect to ever see it again.

It had stung, and it still hurt. In a way it was like he lost his brother all over again. He tried not to let it affect him too much but he didn't succeed. Throwing himself into his coursework had distracted him enough to function, and of course there was the envelope.

It was a bittersweet feeling. The events that had caused him pain were the direct cause to the events that brought him happiness. He'd happily give up Nico's guitar, the envelope, and everything Thrice Greek if it meant he could get Michael's guitar back. But he knew that wasn't going to happen, and while he'd learned not to dwell on the past, and to accept what happened and move on, the memory was fresh in his head.

Two guitars, identical in every way but for the silver markings. Yin and yang. Positive and negative. Pain and happiness. Will wasn't sure what to think anymore. He lived on cloud nine whenever Nico's guitar came up in his thoughts, and was yanked down below earth whenever Michael's did.

He was glad he'd decided to meet Cecil for coffee. When Michael had disappeared, he'd grieved alone. Maybe talking to his friend would help him, even if just a little. That was yet another thing that Nico had taught him without knowing he did. He hadn't realized it at the time, but if Nico's voice hadn't been his companion in the darkness, God knows how much longer he'd have been stuck in that hole.

A finger poking at his nose shook him from his thoughts. He tried to focus his eyes on the fingertip still pointed at him, but ended up going cross-eyed. He shook his head and looked up.

"Hey Cecil."

Cecil dropped his bag on the floor and slid into the booth opposite his friend. "How's it going daydreamer?"

Will smiled just slightly, he really had zoned out, hadn't he? Sitting up straight, he clasped his hands around the significantly cooler mug in front of him, the coffee inside no longer steaming.

"Just got lost in some thoughts," he shrugged. "It happens."

Cecil nodded, taking a sip from his mug and pulling a disgusted face before grabbing the sugar and pouring a generous amount into his coffee.

"So, do tell. Percy Jackson put you on the guest list for tomorrow? The Percy Jackson? Did you meet him? What happened? Is he as awesome as everybody says he is? Details, Will. I need details!"

Will chuckled at his rambling friend. Of course he'd want to know everything.

He took a deep breath and started his story.

"Wait, it got STOLEN? You're joking! Oh, Will. I'm so sorry," Cecil glanced at Will with a sincere look of sadness. "I can't believe someone would do that, urgh."

Will looked down at the table. "Yeah. I'm pretty heartbroken about it. It's like he's truly gone now, you know? I know he's gone and... And never coming back but now I've lost the last thing that tied us together..."

He felt tears well up in his eyes and furiously tried to blink them away. He wasn't going to have a breakdown in a coffee shop.

Cecil squeezed Will's shoulder. "Hey," he said softly. "What ties the two of you together isn't a guitar. I know, I know that thing means the world to you," He lifted his hand from Will's shoulder to tap at his chest. "But this is what matters most. Guitar or no guitar, you have the same blood in your veins, Will. I get that I'm being very 'Simba, he lives in you', but that doesn't make it any less true. He's there with you, always. A piece of wood and some strings aren't going to change that. He'll never be truly gone."

Will blinked at hearing Cecil's words. He was right. A lot of complicated thoughts entered his head at the same time, and he shook his head in an attempt to clear it.

"I've never looked at it that way..."

Cecil smiled at Will. "I don't know if I'm right, but that's what I believe. I'm not saying that guitar is just a useless collection of firewood, and I get its importance to you, but..." He took a deep breath."You get what I mean."

Will nodded. "I do. Thanks, Cecil. You're a good friend."

His friend squeezed his shoulder again and leaned back against the backrest of the booth. "I'm a good friend who is dying to hear the rest of the story"

"Gooooooood afternoon New York City."

"It's just after 5 PM..."

"...and you're listening to Twin Sanity on 96.6FM!"

Nico rolled his eyes as the identical radio hosts announced the show. He'd been in the building for 5 minutes and the endless barrage of jingles and 'wacky' noises made him feel the beginnings of a headache already.

"... Special guests for you today, but first, music!"

Nico felt his temples throbbing against the legs of his glasses. He was sat at a table covered in wires and broadcasting equipment and was staring at the black microphone in front of him as though it were covered in filth.

He clenched and unclenched his calloused fingers, worn from years of playing the guitar. He'd be playing a song later, all alone. He didn't like performing alone, and acoustic, no less. He'd written the songs as he'd meant them to be, to be played by the three of them. If he'd intended to play acoustic songs, he'd have written them that way. Too bad it was just one song and it made no sense for them to haul all their gear around town and set it up just for three or four minutes.

He smiled inwardly as he remembered walking into the small room where the radio show was being broadcast from, and seeing a bar stool and a microphone already set up for him. He was going to be hidden from view by a partition, as to have as little reverb as possible on the broadcast.

Thankfully, that meant he could focus on the music and not be stressed about playing in front of complete strangers, and if the number of shitty jokes was anything to go by, those strangers were complete idiots.

Percy and Jason were talking sports with the radio hosts -Travis and Connor? Nico couldn't tell who was who - which made Nico smile. He wasn't into sports, really, though his bandmates' 'friendly' rivalry when it came to hockey amused him to no end. It had been a while since Nico had been forced to sit and watch a hockey game with the two, and he wondered when he would be forced to sit in between his friends again, while Percy donned an eye-searing orange Flyers jersey, and Jason wore a vintage purple Kings jersey. His headache only worsened as he pictured his two friends, the colour combination of orange and purple making him want to gouge his eyes out.

Looking up at Jason and Percy he saw them glaring at each other, while the two radio hosts sported identical - Seriously, that was so creepy - grins.

Nico sighed and got off his seat to push his friends away from one another. He was 5'9" but barely reached up to Percy's nose, and he didn't even want to think about where that left him with Jason, but he managed to push both hotheads apart. "Seriously, guys. Not this "Who won the trade?" bullshit again."

He shot a glare at the suddenly way too innocent looking men across the room. The bastards had goaded his bandmates into one of their infamous hockey-offs.

"When are we up? I have a headache and I'm hungry. Reyna said we'd be done by dinner time."

Travis... Or was it Connor? Urgh, who cares. One of the twins piped up. "Five minutes. We'll have a couple of questions in between songs." He had barely finished his sentence before the other one started in. "And then you'll play the song, and we'll wrap it up. You'll be out of here by six."

They finished each other's sentences? Nico was seriously weirded out. The fact that they both had a look on their faces that made Nico look for a whoopee cushion on his seat every time he went to sit down made the whole thing worse.

Nico zipped the bag that held his black acoustic guitar open and took it out. He plucked at the strings and tuned them meticulously.

"Alright guys, you ready?"

The trio nodded and Nico set his guitar in the corner near the stool before joining Jason and Percy at the booth. He was given a large pair of headphones and put them on, feeling a little embarrassed at Jason having to bend the middle microphone down. He wasn't that small, damn it.

The twins started welcoming people back to their show after a commercial break, and introduced the band members. Nico rolled his eyes as one of the two pressed a button and a canned applause was broadcast over the air.

"We're happy to have you guys join us! How's the tour going, guys?"

Jason nodded at his friends to signal that he was going to take this question.

"It's been quite a ride so far. We're in New York for three months and doing shows all over the city, and even before we got here they were all sold out. We're honored that so many fans want to come see our shows. We've only played a few so far, but the crowds have been great. It's a rush, really," He babbled excitedly.

Nico and Percy nodded at his statement. Leave it to Jason to come up with the political answers, true as they might be.

"It's been a while since 'Let Your Good Heart' stormed the charts. Can you give us a hint about the next single you're releasing?"

Percy signaled. "Actually, we've been told that we can now reveal that the new single will be called 'Blue Days'," he grinned brightly as he continued. "Nico's going to play it later on, so you'll have the national premiere, but since it's an acoustic performance we'll leave you wondering what the end result will be, which will be featured on our second album."

The canned applause. Again. It would be a miracle if Nico managed to get through the next half hour without smashing that button to pieces.

A song started playing, and they all took their headphones off. A little timer on the wall counted down to when the song would be finished and they'd have to put them on again.

"You see? It's not so bad," Jason whispered into Nico's ear.

Nico nodded his head away from the table. "I'm fine. All these bells and whistles are hurting my head, though." His glasses slid up his forehead as he rubbed at the bridge of his nose.

As the song came to an end, everybody took their seats again.

"And we're still here with Thrice Greek! Nico, as the creative force behind the group, can you tell us a little about your songwriting process?"

Nico sighed. There it was. He felt Jason's hand press at the small of his back, and Percy's lightly patting on his arm.

He cleared his throat. "Uhm, I don't know, it's not all that special, really. I get inspired by the people around me and write songs based on that."

"And what would you say was the inspiration behind your biggest hit so far, 'Let Your Good Heart Lead You Home'?"

Nico froze. This was getting too close. He never talked about his sister in public. "Uhm, well..."

He realized he was trapped. Jason couldn't answer this one for him, and he really hated lying. "I uh..."

A loud thud came from beside him and all heads snapped to Nico's right, where the sound had come from.

"Folks, you're not going to believe this but Percy Jackson just fell off his chair!"

The canned applause sounded, and one of the twins announced a commercial break.

Percy jumped up and patted at his jeans. "I'm fine, I'm fine!" He shot a barely detectable wink at Nico. Jason shot out of his seat to look his friend over for injuries as the radio hosts were doubled over in laughter.

Percy... As caring as Jason was, Nico sometimes forgot just how close a friend Percy was. He was pretty sure his band mate had fallen off the chair on purpose to take the spotlight off of Nico.

Percy had a knack of doing anything for his friends, it was part of what had attracted Nico to him in the first place, back when he was still a boy at the young age of 13.

"Yeah, I think we're about done here. Let's do the song. My shoulder hurts a bit and I want to get it looked at, we have a gig tomorrow." Percy winced and held his shoulder.

After explaining what had happened to the twins - "I thought I saw a bear and it startled me so much I just fell off!" - and then repeating his pathetic excuse on air, undoubtedly much to the humor of everybody in broadcasting range, Nico headed to the back of the room and sat down, pulling his guitar into his lap.

"We're proud to announce Thrice Greek's new single 'Blue Days' live in our show. It's the first time you'll hear this so turn up the volume and enjoy!"

Nico closed his eyes and played. It was easy, being hidden by the partition, and the giant headphones blocked everything out beside his playing and singing.

A little while later, as they'd said their goodbyes on air and thanked the hosts for having them, they were making their way into the parking lot of the building, where their SUV stood waiting with the motor running.

Percy slipped into the back seat with Nico, while Jason took the passenger seat.

"Thanks, Percy. Really, I mean it. You did me a huge solid back there. I'm sorry about your shoulder, does it hurt badly?" Nico spoke softly.

Percy snorted. "Of course not, I know how to fake a fall. I just wanted to get us out of there." He stopped clutching his shoulder and swung his arm around Nico. "You did great, Neeks. I'm proud of you." His eyebrows creased as he pulled his vibrating phone from his pocket and read the name on the screen. "Reyna..."