Guys, I can't even express in words how sorry I am for not updating in like, a month. I was on writer's block and couldn't think of anything at all to write! But I finally got something! I hope it's to your liking! ;)

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing except for the character of Ariella. The song used in this chapter "We Are Broken" belongs to the band Paramore.

Chapter 10:

Nico:

Leave it to my cousin Percy to make every situation awkward. I mean, seriously, he really does. Yeah, I influenced him to tell Annabeth how he feels, but that doesn't mean he should do it when there are other people in the room, or even do it in general. He should know by now never to do anything I tell him to do because he always messes it up and makes a fool of himself.

So here I am, sitting in the recording studio, bored-ly watching to see how Annabeth reacts to Percy's love song. It's grotesque, actually. I don't think you should have to write your feelings down, or sing them in a song to someone. They should just know. Or you should just gain the courage and tell them straight up. Seriously, it's so much easier.

Annabeth smiles widely at my cousin before engulfing him in a huge hug. "So I guess this means you feel the same or...?" Percy awkwardly laughs.

"Of course I do, Percy." She tells him. "I've been waiting so long to hear that."

"So I take it you'd like to go out with me later?" Percy tries. "Like on a date?"

"That sounds great," Annabeth says as she pulls away from him in the hug.

"Although that moment was oh so touching," I state sarcastically, "we seriously need to start recording other songs. Thalia still needs one and so I do I. Upbeat ones, may I add. If we're going to make it on the radio by tomorrow, we need to get to work. And then tomorrow night we have a talk show interview. So yeah. We're busy. And it would help if we didn't have any distractions." I stare directly at Annabeth and Ariella, who don't seem to notice.

"Way to ruin the moment, Nico." Thalia glares at me. "Do you not realize how long I've been waiting for that?"

"As long as you've been waiting to finally have a family or fame?" I challenge.

"Well, I've been waiting ever since we met Annabeth five years ago…"

"I'm sure," I sneer.

"But I actually have," she assures me.

I choose to ignore her. Fighting with her will only waste time. And time is something that we can't afford to lose right now because of our deadline. "Can we just get back to song writing?" I suggest.

"But I already wrote my song," Percy reminds us.

"Really? I didn't realize."

"Oh," Percy crinkles his eyebrows in confusion. "Well I just sang a song to Annabeth. Do you not remember that or something?"

"Ignore him, Percy." Thalia rolls her eyes at me. "He's being rude."

"Am not!" I defend.

"You barged in on that Leo kid," Ariella recalls.

"Don't pretend like you didn't want to," I glare at her. "And stay out of this! This argument doesn't involve you!"

"Sorry," she crosses her arms at me.

"Oh my gods, Nico." Thalia frowns. "I forgot about that! You probably ruined my chances of ever being with Leo!"

"You don't want to be with him. Trust me. He's selfish, inconsiderate, and rude." I tell her. "I could tell all those things just by talking to him."

"But he was really nice about it," Percy says.

I give him a weird look. "No he wasn't. He got really mad and said he'd complain about us to his grandparents who own this place."

"No he didn't," Thalia widens her eyes at me. "That's not even close to what happened."

I turn to the other two girls in the room. "You guys say that, right?"

"No," Annabeth frowns at me.

"You're delusional," Ariella tells me.

"No. All of you were clearly hallucinating," I state.

"Alright Nico," Thalia nods at me. "We were the ones hallucinating the same thing. It wasn't you at all."

I sigh. "Let's just go back to writing and recording, alright?"

With Percy out with Annabeth, and Thalia still at the recording studio trying to find (or stalk) that Leo boy, I'm forced hanging out with Ariella. Yay me.

Honestly, I don't see why she's here. Or why she doesn't go back to Annabeth's house, or even her own. I have no idea why she's even living with Annabeth for this short period of time. I'd rather her leave. She's increasingly irritating and makes me want to rip my hair out. That isn't normal.

"So," she says as we sit in the kitchen of my dad and uncles' house. "How's life?"

"Horrible."

"Want to elaborate?" she asks, in course of conversation.

"My sister died, both my cousins ditched me, I'm at my dad's house and he hates me, but worst of all, I'm stuck here alone with you." I smile fakely at her.

"You make it seem like I actually want to be here," she replies. "Because I don't."

"Why are you even living with Annabeth to begin with? Why don't you just go home to wherever you're from?" I demand.

"I'm from New Jersey," she informs me. "And it's none of your business why I'm at Annabeth's house."

"Yeah, it kinda is." I say. "Because you're going to be forced to hang out with me."

"I'm not telling you," she crosses her arms at me.

"Like I care."

"You asked," she reminds me.

"I was trying to be polite," I lie.

"It didn't sound it," she responds.

"That's because I don't care," I reply. She doesn't answer and I just remain seated next to her, staring at her in hope to make her uncomfortable. Her wavy brown hair is pulled into a high ponytail, but it appears shorter because it only goes down to her upper-back instead of the middle of her back.

"Why are you staring at me?" her green eyes meet my dark ones.

"I wasn't," I lie. "I was looking at that painting over there." I point to a picture slightly behind her.

"Good," she says right as my uncle walks into the room.

"Uncle Z!" I exclaim. "I've been meaning to talk to you about something!"

"What is it?" he sighs.

"It's Thalia." I respond. "She's been acting kind of weird lately, and I think it's because she's confused."

"How's she been acting weird?" he asks me. "And what's she confused about?"

"The song she wrote today…" I tell him. "Here, I recorded it on my phone." I take out my black iPhone and play him Thalia's song that I recorded when we were in the studio. After a few seconds of depressing sounding music, she begins to sing, in a not much brighter way.

"We Are Broken"

(This song is originally by the band Paramore, but in this story, it's written by Thalia. ALL RIGHTS GO TO PARAMORE AND THEIR AMAZINGNESS.)

I am outside

And I've been waiting for the sun

With my wide eyes

I've seen worlds that don't belong

My mouth is dry with words I cannot verbalize

Tell me why we live like this

Keep me safe inside

Your arms like towers

Tower over me

Yeah

'Cause we are broken

What must we do to restore

Our innocence

And oh, the promise we adored

Give us life again

'Cause we just wanna be whole

Lock the doors

Cause I'd like to capture this voice

That came to me tonight

So everyone will have a choice

And under red lights

I'll show myself it wasn't forged

We're at war

We live like this

Keep me safe inside

Your arms like towers

Tower over me

'Cause we are broken

What must we do to restore

Our innocence

And oh, the promise we adored

Give us life again

'Cause we just wanna be whole

Tower over me

Tower over me

And I'll take the truth at any cost

'Cause we are broken

What must we do to restore

Our innocence

And oh, the promise we adored

Give us life again

'Cause we just wanna be whole

"What's wrong with that?" my uncle frowns.

"It just doesn't seem her." I answer. "I just don't think she's comfortable living here because of all that you guys have done to us in the past. I think she just wants answers. Or a reason why all this happened."

"But what's she confused about?"

"Jason." I say instantly. "I'm sure of it. Even though she's never said any of this to me, I can feel it. She's constantly thinking about it. She's confused why you separated them and why you never really let them interact. Uncle Z, you need to talk to her. And him. You three need to have a family chat or something."

"I don't think a family meeting will do very much," he reminds me. "The last time we had one didn't exactly end well…"

"Well, that was a family meeting. This is a family chat, or explanation. You three just need to start communicating or something because I'm scared for Thalia. This isn't normal for her. Please, Uncle Zeus. Will you talk to her?"

"I suppose so," he agrees.

"Good," I say as he exits the room. I guess he forgot the main purpose why he entered after I ranted to him about Thalia.

"That was really nice of you to do, by the way." Ariella says to me.

I give her a weird look. "What do you mean?"

"You made sure that he's going to talk to her so she won't be confused anymore."

"It was nothing," I respond. "I'd do it for anyone, even you."

She blushes. "I don't know whether to be insulted or complimented."

"Well it sounded like a compliment in my head but more like an insult out loud," I crack a smile.

"So it was intended to be nice?" Ariella asks.

"Technically, but…" I try and cover it up but she cuts me off.

"Maybe you do have a nice and caring side to you, Nico."

"Trust me, I really don't." I tell her.

She laughs. "Yeah, we'll see about that."

Thoughts?