Short Recap

The door opened unexpectedly, causing Lilia to stumble a bit since she was leaning on it. Through the door came out my dad, showing a look of disbelief on his face.

"Why is there a boy in your bed, Arabelle?"

Chapter 4: Dad, Meet Nico

When you were caught in bed with a boy, you had to choose your words very carefully. One wrong word and you'd find yourself kicked out your house.

My dad wasn't the kind of person to do that, but it's been a while since I last saw him. I was hoping he didn't change his understanding heart. I was also hoping that he trusted my judgment enough to remember that I wasn't a dumb blonde.

When Nico had that mischievous glint in his eye, I narrowed my eyes.

"Morning, Mr. Camille," he grinned brightly. Making his way towards my dad, clad in a black undershirt and boxers, he shook my dad's unwilling hand, saying, "It's nice to finally meet you, sir."

I'm going to send you back to your dad, oh boyfriend of mine.

What the fuck did he think he was doing?

My dad's jaw had dropped, mostly from incredulity, that this fifteen-year-old boy had the audacity to introduce himself to him in this manner. Lilia, still leaning against the wall, stifled her laugh, as my dad's expression became deathly calm.

I would've found it hilarious, too, if I weren't at the end of his stoic eyes. Thankfully, I wasn't the only one.

At least, my boyfriend and I could suffer together.

Even though this was solely his fault.

"Arabelle Ella Camille." I winced at my father's usage of my full name.

Nico's eyes widened. "I didn't know your middle name was Ella!" The way he said it sounded like it was the most important thing right now.

I glared promises of painful death to my boyfriend, silently telling him what I would do the minute we were alone together.

Judging from the infuriated look etched on my dad's face, it seemed he would do anything in his power to keep Nico a thousand miles away from me.

"What is a boy doing in your bed," he took a deep breath, preparing, "WHEN YOU'RE BARELY A TEENAGER, YOUNG LADY. YOU ARE FOURTEEN, ARABELLE. WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING BEING WITH A BOY LIKE HIM?" He pointed a rude finger to said boyfriend—he was grinning like an idiotic jackass—obviously enjoying my father's rage. "And you!" He averted his gaze from me to glare at Nico. "What do you think you're doing sleeping in the same bed as my daughter? More importantly, I can't figure out for the life of me how you managed to get inside, let alone in my daughter's room!"

My dad ignored Nico's opening mouth, deciding to bring his enraged glare back on me. "YOU ARE UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES ALLOWED TO SEE THIS BOY, ARABELLE. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"

I let out a small breath, readying myself to calmly explain to my dad that he couldn't break Nico and me up.

Just when I was about to speak, Nico had to go and run his big mouth. Again. "With all due respect, sir, I love your daughter very much. I wouldn't do anything she wouldn't want me to do."

I cringed at his sweet, but poor choice of words, imagining the way it sounded like in my father's ears.

I wouldn't do anything she wouldn't want me to do.

My dad's whole face turned a violent shade of red, invisible steam blowing out from his ears. Wondering why this felt familiar, a smile tugged on my lips when I realized it was because my dad reminded me of Riegan.

Even when my brother wasn't here, he still found a way to haunt me.

"And what is it, if I may ask," my dad turned to me. "That you want this boy to do to you?" His narrowed eyes looked at me critically, conveying their message that I was to choose my words very carefully.

Treading lightly, I answered, "I want him to love me. And protect me. And take care of me." I tried to be the epitome of innocence as I spoke, praying to whatever god—mostly Hestia since she was the nicest—that my dad would believe me.

Saving the best for last, I added, "Nico makes me happy, dad. Don't you want your only daughter to be happy?"

I put out my trump card, knowing that my dad did actually want me to be happy; he just didn't want my happiness to be tied with a boy.

"You're fourteen, Arabelle," my dad repeated.

"What does age have to do with love?" I countered. "When you love someone, you love someone. There's no need for an explanation. You just do."

The words shocked me as they flowed out of my mouth; I didn't even pause to think about it. It just came out naturally, as if it was on instinct.

Lilia spoke up. "Trust me, Mr. Camille. Nico truly does care for Arabelle. He wouldn't do anything inappropriate, I promise you that." She smiled gently, her Lilia-smile, and I appreciated her defending us.

She glanced at me quickly, but in that small action, I knew she was proud of my defense on being too young to be in love. I remembered when I was like my dad, believing there was an age when you could actually be in love. But whatever way you looked at it, age was just a number, not something that controlled your heart.

A certain black-haired boy taught me that.

The impishness in my boyfriend's eyes faded away, leaving shining adoration in its wake. His mouth was slightly parted from astonishment but soon turned into a small smile after I gave him one first.

We reenacted our moment before we fell asleep, our eyes greeting each other like they were once old friends. We would've stayed like that for gods know how long if it weren't for my dad's resigned sigh.

That broke us out of our reverie.

"So?" I asked, full of hope.

My dad sighed again, louder than before. Staring at me with undecipherable emotions swimming in his eyes, his reply shocked me and all the occupants in the room.

"He can't be in your room at night."

His voice left no room for arguments, not that I was going to argue against a simple rule like that. I beamed at my dad, grateful that he even accepted my relationship with the son of Hades. I thought he would've put up more of a fight, but I wasn't going to say that out loud.

"With your Mother's beauty, I suppose it can't be helped that you've already found someone." There he went again with his sighing. Did my dad always sigh this much?

"It's just around breakfast time," Lilia announced, albeit she didn't have a watch nor did she look at a clock. "May Nico join us for breakfast, Mr. Camille?"

Nico grinned at the offer and winked at me from the side. My dad followed his every movement like a lion watching a defenseless deer, and I had to stifle a laugh at the thought of a fight between my dad and Nico.

"Behave yourself, Mr. Di Angelo," my dad warned. "I might have accepted your relationship with my daughter, but that does not mean I will accept any further presumptuous actions."

"Of course, sir," my boyfriend said, agreeing seriously for the first time he woke up.

The four of us were walking towards the dining area when I asked him, "Do you even know what presumptuous means?"

"Nope," he replied, popping the 'p' because it showed how much he didn't care. I rolled my eyes at his carefree attitude, taking a seat in my chair while Nico sat besides me.

We didn't really have any plans for breakfast, so we demigods decided to eat a bowl of cereal while my dad heated up leftovers from last night. In the middle of his food heating up, he received a call and went back to his room, bringing his food with him.

There was a moment of silence after my dad left. The only sounds were our spoons clanking as we scooped up our breakfast into our mouths. It wasn't awkward, just different, I guess. Nico never sat with us before at camp.

"So how are things back at camp?" Lilia asked.

Nico smiled. "Oh, Riegan asked Natalie out."

Um, what?

A/N: Wait, wait, wait. Riegan asked Natalie out? Did I really type that?

Huh.

Who knew?

Anyways, I'd like to thank you all for waiting for this overdue chapter and for all your amazing reviews. (: I know this was supposed to be about Arabelle going to high school, and it will be. I just don't really know when she's actually going. LOL.

Tell me what you think?(:

QOTD: How did you explain to your parents that you had a boyfriend/girlfriend?