Hey, I know it has been a while, but this time I actually have a good reason. Of course, you people know The Lost Hero comes out today. Well, my mom doesn't give me an allowance, so I had to work extra hard to earn money so I could get the book. That meant sacrificing some of my writing time to do some extra chores. So now that I have enough money, I can write again! Yay! And I put up a poll on my profile about a new fic I thought of. If you guys like the idea, I'll start writing it once I'm done with this and Annabeth Says. Anyway R&R!
P.S. Full Thalico!
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Annabeth's POV
You know, I've noticed that Thalia and Nico wouldn't look up. They wouldn't look at me, at Percy, at Grover, and especially not at each other. It's either they were still embarrassed of what happened earlier, or there was something majorly wrong with their necks. Most probably the first option. Yeah.
I looked at Grover and Percy, who was reading the map of the cave upside down.
"Hey, Annabeth?" Percy craned his head to the right. "I thought you said this map was in Greek. I can't understand a thing."
I snickered and leaned my head on his arm, taking the bottom of the map and bringing it to the top. "It's called, 'right side up.' Learn it, remember it, use it."
He nodded his head and smiled at me sheepishly. "I was testing you." I arched an eyebrow. His gaze left mine as he quietly said, "You passed."
I softly laughed and glanced at Thalia who should've made a snarky comment, probably along the lines of 'dumber than a rock.' You know, all that jazz. But Thalia ran her finger along the cave wall, not noticing anything. I groaned, throwing my head back.
Percy smiled and came up behind me, wrapping his arms around me. "I was kinda wondering if you could maybe . . . help me with the map?" He held up the map, upside down.
"Come on," I said, pulling him to Nico. "Not until you talk to Nico."
"Why?" he whined. "He's going to shoot me for waking him up. I don't know about you, but I like living."
"That's just in your head. As much as he has a temper problem, he wouldn't do that." I pushed him but he dug his heels into the ground.
"How do you know?"
"Because it would be really stupid to kill someone you hate. Well, for him, at least. If he kills you, he's still going to see you when he visits his dad," I reasoned.
"Comforting." He tried to escape but I just smiled and grabbed the back of his shirt.
"Unh-uh. You're talking to him and I'll make sure of it.
"But-,"
"No. Plus you're not going to be alone. I'm going to talk to Thalia." He paused.
"But I don't want to," he said, giving me his pouty face. Great. I felt my brain melt as I tried to remember what I just said. Yeah, he still has that effect on me. Especially with that stupid pouty face! I swallowed, took a deep breath, and put on a straight face.
"You are talking to Nico and that's that." I smiled at him.
He released a breath and slumped his shoulders. "Fine. But if I die and the big prophecy becomes about Nico, and he breaks under the stress and the whole world hates you, it's gonna be on your conscience," he pointed out.
I scoffed. "I'll take that risk." He raised an eyebrow at me and walked over to the goth-ish kid.
I took a deep breath and turned around. Time to talk to Thalia. (A/N: Haha! I just used alliteration! Pretty cool, huh?)
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Percy's POV
"Nico?" I asked cautiously. He swiftly pulled out his Stygian Iron sword and held it out. "Whoa, dude! I just want to talk!"
"Then this would be a perfect time to kill you," he threatened. I had an urge to call for Annabeth, but I ignored it. I had to know why this bugged him so much.
"Nico, just put it down. I'm sorry for waking you up while you were sleeping." I paused. "Next to Thalia," I added. He took a step forward with his sword. "Whoa, hey I was kidding. Sorry. Settle down."
He finally set his sword down and took a deep breath. "Why are you here?"
I raised an eyebrow at him. "I could ask you the same thing. This was my quest. I'm the one who invited you. So the question is-,"
"I meant, why are you here talking to me?" he asked, exasperated.
"Oh." I was finally beginning to understand why people say I'm so stupid. "Well, I'm talking to you because I want to know why it bugged you so much.
"Because it's embarrassing! I've known Thalia for about four years, and then I wake up and find out I was sleeping with her!" I snickered. "Oh, you know what I mean! And it's not funny!"
"Okay! Okay! It's not funny." I pursed my lips and did my best to hide my smile. "But seriously. I know there's more to the story. Just tell me and I'll go away. I promise."
"There's nothing else to it," he said simply.
"Okay," I said, walking away.
"Wait." He grabbed my arm, just as I thought he would. "Would it be weird if I told you I liked her?" (A/N: If any of you guys haven't noticed, Thalia is not a huntress. I thought it would be somewhat obvious, but just in case. I didn't want any comments like "OMG you're so stupid." Anyway, continue. :D) I smiled, finally satisfied with his answer. I looked over to where Annabeth was talking to Thalia. Thalia took a small glance at Nico and turned back to Annabeth. I pulled Nico's arm further into the cave to make sure the others couldn't hear us. I needed to talk with Nico on a much deeper level than I thought.
"Nico, why the heck do you think that would be weird? I mean 'weird' is a son of Poseidon dating a daughter of Athena. But look at Annabeth and me now. Our parents hate each other and no one would even think that we would date in a million years! No scratch that. Eternity!" I paused when Nico looked at me funny. "The word just seemed more appropriate," I shrugged. "Anyway, everyone got over Annabeth and me dating. Well, everyone except our parents. So what's so wrong if you like her. If you like her, go for it. If there's nothing holding you back, then why not?"
Nico looked away and stole another glance at Thalia. "Do you really think so?" he asked quietly. It was weird seeing him like this. So unsure and vulnerable. I nodded. "Then yeah, I'll go for it. And thanks for the pep talk, even if it was scary weird."
"I'd like to point out that you live for 'scary weird.' And anytime, dude." I smiled.
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Annabeth's POV
"So," I started as Thalia sharpened one of her arrows. "Thalia. Tell me something."
"I like Green Day. Now can you leave me alone?" I groaned.
"That wasn't the 'something' I wanted to know!"
"Well, you're not getting something else!" she yelled, putting way too much emphasis on the word.
"Okay, look. I just want to know why you're taking this so hard. It's not that embarrassing is it?" I asked, trying to pry deeper.
"Yeah, it's embarrassing."
"Thalia, come on. I know you better than that. Something else's bugging you. And it's not embarrassment."
Okay, seriously. Is it just me or is there something wrong with her neck? She wouldn't look me in the eye.
"Thalia? Do you like Nico?" I asked cautiously.
"Huh?"
"Thalia, I know you heard me. Do you like Nico or not?" I could almost see the little gears in her brain trying to think of a way out. She finally gave in.
Slumping her shoulders, "Yeah. Why? Is that bad? Oh, I knew it was bad. I kept on trying to talk myself out of it. But you know I couldn't. It's just- Why does he have to be so freaking cute? And those brown eyes! Don't even get me started on those! But I really tried to talk myself out of it! I really did. I know it's weird, but-,"
"Thalia!" I laughed. "There's nothing wrong with you liking him! Plus, I think he likes you, too." I smiled and gave her a knowing look. She glanced over at Nico, who was, as expected, looking at her too. She quickly looked back at me.
"How do you know?"
"Well, you two looked really cozy last night, you two always look away when you make eye contact, and you fight," I reasoned.
"So?" she shrugged.
"I always fall asleep on Percy. Before we started dating, I would always look away when he looked at me. And we bicker."
"Ah. I get it now." She paused. "So what should I do?"
"Talk to him, definitely."
"Now?"
"Now," I confirmed. She took a deep breath and walked over to Nico, who was done talking to Percy.
"Hey, Nico."
Percy smiled and walked over to me. "What happened with Thalia? She looks all happy. It's weird."
I pushed him lightly on the shoulder. "So what if she's happy?" We watched them as they talked and laughed.
"We did a good job," Percy said, smirking and crossing his arms.
"They grow up so fast," I said, shaking my head.
"You're mothering them."
I gasped, pretending to be offended. "Oh, no you didn't"
He laughed. "Oh, yes I di-id," he said playing along. I raised an eyebrow at him then slapped him on the arm. "Ow!" he whined. Then he got this scary look on his face. "Annabeth?" He smiled.
"What?" I asked slowly.
"Are you ticklish?" he asked, almost mockingly.
"I don't kn-." He quickly wrapped his arms around me and started to tickle. I shrieked, my scream echoing through the cave. I could feel Grover, Thalia, and Nico looking at the two of us make fools of ourselves. "No, stop it!" I laughed. He tickled me again and I jumped, bringing my arms up as a wall. On instinct, I grabbed his wrists and looked him straight in the eyes. "I am not ticklish," I said, trying to sound threatening.
"I beg to differ." He smirked. Oh my goodness. His eyes. Snap out of it! I turned my head to see our friends looking at us with raised eyebrows. "What?" Percy told them. "There's nothing to see here."
They shrugged and went back to their business. Percy turned back to me, smiling. I tilted my head up, intertwining my fingers with his.
"You know, you never told me what happened between you and Nico," I said quietly.
"Later." Then he leaned in and kissed me.
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Haha! I finally finished. This chapter was especially made for all the cutesy stuff and lovey dovey stuff. So I hope this chapter was satisfying. I'll be back for more! Review!
