Chapter 9 – And some success

A/N: Hey all! I could make a huge speech about how school is such an annoying-time suck, but I think everyone knows that already :/ plus I've stayed up pretty late to get this done and I just want to sleep. So how about I just apologise and let you get on with the story? Sorry :(

So this is a relatively short chapter, but a very emotional one. Hope you all enjoy!


Another morning at Hazel's place. Another day of Nico sleeping in, lazing around, staying inside, and not doing much at all. As much as he loved relaxing and not having to attend classes all day, he missed the sense of purpose and order in his life. And as much as he loved spending so much time with his sister, she had her own life to live and her own things to do.

Now that he had spent so much time away, Nico kept on finding himself thinking back to the events that he driven him there. He hadn't received any form of contact from his father since he had left, and he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. On one hand, it meant that Hades didn't have any more terrible things to say to him. But it could also mean that Hades didn't have anything to say to him, which, though it was what he was used to, felt even worse. Like maybe Hades had written him off and didn't care about where he had gone or what had happened.

The thoughts and the strong contrast between the noise inside his head and the quiet outside of it as Hazel sat across from him, only disturbing the peace by the occasional flip of the newspaper page, manifested itself in Nico fidgeting, his fingers tapping again, clicking on the surface of the table and clinking the spoon in his coffee. He could feel Hazel glancing up at him every few minutes, knowing that she had her usual motherly frown on her face. She knew him well enough to know that whenever he got fidgety it was because he was upset or stressed, but she also knew him well enough to know that if he didn't bring it up himself he wouldn't want to talk about it. And that, ultimately, was what made him speak his thoughts aloud.

"I, um...I should probably talk to you." Nico started, focusing his eyes on the swirling whirlpool he had created in his coffee mug. Hazel laughed.

"Don't make it sound like such a chore. You don't have to if you don't want to." Though at first the words were said jokingly, but the end Hazel had looked up to meet Nico's eyes as sincere as he had ever seen her.

"But I want to." Nico sighed, wondering where to start now that he had opened his mouth. He should have thought further ahead. "I want to tell you about why I'm here, why I left..." he said, still addressing his coffee.

"Nico?" Hazel uncertainly interrupted his daze, pulling him out of his thoughts. She pushed her newspaper away from her and made to move towards him, but instead he grabbed at the paper as a welcome distraction. The first article his eyes fell on made him blink hurriedly to check to see if he was imagining it or not. It was just that it was the thing that was on his mind in that exact moment that he thought he could have been hallucinating it. But he wasn't, and Hazel was still staring at him confusedly.

"Same-sex marriage legalised across America." He read aloud, and he was unable to stop the grin that spread across his face. "That's great, that's...that's...what do you think, Hazel?" Nico returned his attention to his half-sister who was looking him full in the face, as though trying to read his thoughts there, and in that moment he felt as though she could. "I think it's wonderful. I'm in full support of it, and can't wait to see it happen here. Love wins." She gave him a gentle smile.

"Right. Yeah. Of course." Nico felt a lump forming in his throat and had to glance away from her to hide the tears swimming in his eyes. He hadn't prepared himself for how freeing it would feel to know that he would have Hazel's love and support, and it was all hitting him at once.

"I'm...I said-" Nico coughed, trying to clear his throat and get his words out and be understood, but he couldn't get it to happen. Next thing he knew, Hazel was kneeling in front on him, hand on his arm, carefully keeping herself at the distance that he had enforced for years, but offering comfort all the same. "It's okay." She whispered. "You don't have to say it." That was when Nico knew, when he was finally certain, after all of those glances and smirks that Hazel had sent his way whenever he was on the phone or the subject of Will came up, that Hazel knew who and what he was. And that she had been okay with it all along.

And now that he knew she knew and was okay with it, the pressure of having to say the words lifted off his shoulders. "I want to call Dad." Nico said suddenly. It had been weighing on his mind for days, and he had had the thought there the whole time, though he hadn't wanted to admit it to himself. "I don't want to talk to him but I want to leave a message for him. He'll be at work now, so I'll call the home phone and it will just go to voice mail."

"Do want me to go and leave you alone?" Hazel asked, rising to her feet, as he pulled his phone out of his pocket.

"Stay with me. Please." His voice broke from the strain of his emotions on the last word, and Hazel nodded, taking the seat next to him.

Encouraged by what had just happened, Nico dialled the number straight away, without pausing second-guessing it. That part came while he was listening to the dial tone and waiting for it to go through to voicemail. It felt like the longest 30 seconds of his life, his fingers itching to hit the bright red circle and put it off for another day, or week, or forever. But the Hazel's presence next to him kept him focused, grounded, in the moment.

"You've called the di Angelo household. Please leave a brief message after the tone and I will call you back as soon as possible." The curt voice that was so familiar and yet so distant winded him for a few moments, and the after the tone there were a few beats of silence as Nico recovered from the shock. "Dad." And as soon as the first word was out, the rest coming flooding after.

"I'm at Hazel's place. I'm fine. I'll come back when I'm ready, but it won't be permanent. I can't live with you any longer. I told you I'm gay," his voice stumbled on that word, but he was getting better at it, and Hazel reached out and squeezed his hand, "and you tore me down for it. I may regret the way that it happened, but I do not regret this part of me. If you can't accept that then I have nothing to say to you anymore. Goodbye." He jabbed a trembling finger at his phone to hang up, the adrenalin pumping through his veins, and he was scared, but also elated. He felt good.

"I'm proud of you Nico." Hazel told him, and squeezed his hand one more time. "So, what's the plan from here?"

"I don't know." Nico answered thoughtfully. "I love you, but I can't stay here forever. I've already been here for too long. I have to get back to uni, I have to get back to living my own life. I just don't know where to start." He sighed. "But I do want to go back into the city, see my friends, maybe check in with my classes, start looking for a place to stay. And I left a lot of stuff back at Dad's place that I need to pick up at some point."

"Good luck with all that."

"Thanks. Thank you so much, Hazel."


The next day, Nico was at the university, wandering around and looking for his friends. At first he wasn't sure who we wanted to see first, or what he wanted to do. It felt strange to be back after so long. Everything felt so different: the grounds brighter; the voices lighter; the sky clearer. And though it could have just been the changing of the seasons to blame, Nico knew that most of the change had come from within himself. It was he who had opened up and learned to accept the present and things as they really were in that moment, and appreciate the world for what it was.

Not really paying attention to his route, Nico soon found himself outside the library. He stood at the window, staring in absent-mindedly at the students there. He sensed the familiar feeling of being on the outside looking in, but for once it was not just metaphorical but literal as well. And for once it was not just isolating but peaceful. Nico closed his eyes, drawing his focus within himself, absorbing the moment and the pure-

"Hey Nico!" The moment was shattered but Nico held onto that sense of serenity, so when he wheeled around to see Jason stepping out through the library doors he didn't respond with his usual defensiveness. "Jason. What's up?"

"Studying," he gestured back at the building, "saw you standing out here and wanted to come say hi."

"You're that bored, huh?" Nico joked, but without any of his usual bitterness. Jason gave a short laugh.

"I wanted to check up on you. I haven't seen you around since...you know." And with that reminder, Nico clammed up again. He clenched his eyes shut, but this time from wanting to escape the situation rather than appreciate it.

"I haven't told anyone about it. Your sexuality is your business. But I want you to know that I'm okay with it."

"I'm honoured." Nico rolled his eyes, somewhat irritated by Jason's formal manner. Jason took a deep breath.

"And I realise that you're not the most outgoing person and this isn't my place, but if you ever need anyone to talk to, I'm here." Nico had the urge to roll his eyes again, but this time out of amusement rather than malice.

"I do have friends to talk to, you know. Not many, but they do exist."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." And now Jason was starting to get flustered, his carefulness slipping away.

"I'm only going to say this once, so listen up: thank you. But I'm fine."

"Oh...right." Jason shifted his feet uncomfortably. "As long as you're talking to someone, right?"

Nico turned away, already done with the conversation. "Yeah. See you around, Jason."

"See you."

Jason headed back into the library and Nico walked off, shaking his head and pulling out his phone as he went. He sent Percy and Annabeth a quick text saying that he wanted to meet up with them, and to meet outside of the university for coffee and a catch up. Nico got responses immediately, showing in their urgency their care for him, and before he knew it it was time to face the music.

Nico heard Percy before he saw him. "NICO!" The voice came tearing though the air, followed soon after a whirlwind of motion. And then his best friends were in front of him, Percy who had never really gotten used to Nico's aversion to being touched and was reaching out for him and then away and trying to pass it off as nervous excitement, and Annabeth had a beautiful smile that looked as though it were about to split her face in two.

"It's so good to see you." She told him, and Nico nodded, gesturing towards the other chairs at his table.

"Thought a catch up was long overdue."

"You reckon?" Percy grinned, and the sight gave a strange tug at his heart. Not the one that he had gotten so used to over the years - the one that came from feeling blessed to be the subject of the gorgeous smile, to want to be subjected to that more, to feel lucky to have Percy Jackson just looking at him even after how long they had been friends. But this time the strange feeling wasn't the one he was used to. Rather it was an anti-feeling, a sense of missing something, the absence of that emotion. It was gone, and all that was left was he memory of it. And that, more than anything , told Nico that he had made the right decision in coming here.

"I thought it was about time that I explained why I left." Nico started shakily.

"Are you coming back? Are you staying?"

"Let him talk, Percy."

"Sorry. Go on." Nico took a deep breath.

"I had an argument with my father. I told him something about myself, and he took it really badly, so I had to get out of town." He looked each of them in the eye and found that this time the skeletal butterflies in his stomach weren't as active. It was getting easier. And these were his best friends, after all. "I told them that I'm gay."

Without letting himself stop and overthink it, Nico added, "And just to clear the air, Percy, for a long time I had a crush on you. I just wanted you to know. But I'm over it now. I'm happy for you guys." Percy's eyes bugged out and his mouth hung open as he processed his words.

"Wait, so-"

"Right. But it's cool. We're cool. I mean, you're cute, but you're not my type."

A silence filled the gap between them. It was probably the longest time that Nico had ever witnessed Percy being quiet for, or maybe the suspense just made it feel that way. "Thanks for telling us Nico." Annabeth said, a sideways smile on her face. "That was brave. Really brave."

"Yeah, what she said." Percy agreed. "Also, when you say 'not your type' what-" Nico groaned.

"I don't want to talk about it. Please stop."

"Gotcha." Another pause.

"We were going to offer, and it's still open to you if you want it, but," Annabeth bit her lip, "I'm guessing you don't want to stay with us for a bit?" Nico laughed.

"No. Thanks for the offer, but no." The thought of spending too much time around the happy couple, even now, almost made him feel sick, and that was when he decided that he had had enough of hard awkward conversations for the day.

"Look, I've got to go now." He lied, getting to his feet. "I'm meeting up with someone-"

"Will?" Percy smirked, the trademark Percy glint returning to his eyes as they got back to an area of conversation that he felt comfortable with: teasing Nico. "Is he your type?"

"Percy no."

"PERCY YES!"

"Bye," Nico rolled his eyes and started to walk off.

"See you, Nico!" Annabeth called out.

"Say hi to Will for us!"

"PERCY JACKSON!" Annabeth and Nico shouted simultaneously, and then burst into uncontrollable laughter, the last of the remaining tension falling away completely. Then, with a light heart and a spring in his step, Nico moved on.