Thalia's POV

I was flying. But I wasn't high up in the air. It was bizarre, foreign. There were little specs of something hitting me. Was it water? No, it couldn't be. It was too hard and sharp to be water.

I hit something. I was skidding across it. I didn't want to open my eyes. They were too heavy. I had no way of knowing what was happening to me. But I could feel my face burn. It was sort of faint, like it didn't hurt as much as it should've. That's good right? To not feel the pain?

But I remember someone telling me once that pain was a gift from the gods to let you know that you needed to fix something. But if I wasn't really feeling pain then that meant that I didn't really have anything to fix, did I? Oh, everything is so confusing. Why should I even bother?

But I should wonder. I should try and fix it- whatever it is. I have the strange feeling that this isn't right. Something is terribly wrong. More wrong than I ever thought.

The right side of my head felt hot and gooey and sticky. What was in my hair? It better not be something completely disgusting, like shit.

Things started to get louder and then quieter. Shit, I do not want to be deaf. No thank you. I heard 'Meet Me Halfway' by the Black Eyed Peas playing somewhere. What? Why could I hear music?

A memory came back to me, suddenly.

Nico and I were at Hard Rock Café. 'Meet Me Halfway' was playing.

"Gods, this song…" Nico trailed off.

"What you don't like it?" I smiled.

"It doesn't exactly bring back the best memories." Nico got a look of despair in his eyes.

I reached across the table and held his hands in mine. "Stop," I told him, although these words weren't mine. It was just my body saying them. Or were they mine? "Will you just stop?" I pleaded with him. I didn't sound angry or annoyed- just sad and like I wanted him to move past something. But what was he supposed to move past?

Nico blinked and gave me a smile- I could tell that it was all an act, but I was touched that he was trying.

What in the hell was going on with me? Why do I care so much about Nico's feelings all of a sudden? I mean, I've never really thought that they don't matter, but they haven't been something that's as important to me as they are now. It was clear to me now that this wasn't a memory. It was another demigod dream. Damn it.

Nico sighed. "I'm sorry, babe."

I shook my head. "Just don't beat yourself up. I honestly don't see how it's your fault." This whole conversation was depressing me. "So that clearly means that it wasn't your fault." My voice was stern.

Nico raised his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay." He squeezed my hands. "You want anything else?"

"Depends on what you mean," I answered.

Holy. Shit. Was I…? Am I…? That is not a normal "depends on what you mean" where you're just being sort of a smartass. That was…suggestive.

Nico gave me a cocky smile. "Well, at first I meant food-wise, but now…" he raised one eyebrow and smiled at me.

"Well, food-wise, I'm good."

Damn it, we looked like a couple that Aphrodite would be going gaga over.

"Then I think I want to leave." Nico picked up a check that I hadn't noticed before and paid the bill. He stood up and I followed. He put his arm around my waist and again, I followed his lead. Why I did this, I have no idea.

Okay, yeah I do. This must be an alternate dimension where Nico and I are in love because Aphrodite has a spell on us. Yes, that sums it up.

Nico leaned over and whispered something in my ear. Gods this was getting more and more awkward for me- well, the present me. The other me just shook her head and then…my gods, she leaned in and kissed Nico.

I finally realized what this was. It was the future. And it couldn't have been more than a couple of weeks away.

The scene changed. I was in some apartment and from what décor that I could see, I was guessing that it was Nico's. Odd, why am I here?

Aphrodite appeared in front of me."You are so stubborn, Thalia. I had to find some way to get you to admit to yourself that you're falling in love," she said, answering my thoughts.

"Aphrodite, this isn't a great time. Can't I just leave?" I argued. "Besides, why do I care about Nico's future apartment?"

"You'll be spending a lot of time here, you know?" She smiled at me looking like she knew a secret that I didn't.

"What are you talking about?" I sighed.

"You know what I'm talking about! Don't be so blind, Thalia!" She exclaimed.

And then I saw it. Actually, I guess I should say that I saw us. We were lying on the couch…making out. My gods, it looked like we could hold our breath for a long time. Or maybe we just didn't care. I don't know. Either way, I didn't see Nico and I break apart for a while.

I suddenly had a fear that Nico and I would…um…take it to the next level. But when we broke away Nico held my face in his hands and whispered those damn three words to me. And I repeated them back to him.

Nico's POV

My eyes snapped open. Everything hurt. I felt like a dead weight. I could faintly hear the radio playing. I was in a daze; I didn't know what was going on. Then everything hit me like a face-full of bricks. Thalia. Flying through the windshield. Shit.

It couldn't have happened more than…wait, what time is it? Three in the afternoon. Six hours had passed.

I had a weird feeling in my gut. No. Thalia. She was slipping away, so to put it. I was so weak, but I had to get to her. I pushed the door with all the strength that I had and it wouldn't open. Then I realized that the windshield was gone. I took my seat belt off and climbed through the area where the windshield should've been. I slid down the hood of my car and crawled across the rough blacktop.

It was dark outside. That must have meant that Zeus was unhappy with our current situation. But what I want to know is, if he's so unhappy why is he not doing anything about it? Some father he is.

There she was. About thirty feet away from the car. Just lying there on her side- bloody and broken. Hot tears stung my eyes.

"Thalia," I croaked. "Thals."

No, no, no. She was fine. I was stressed and I wasn't feeling her slip away. No, she was fine. Thalia was a survivor. She's all right. She has to be. She doesn't just give up. She has to be okay.

I finally reached her after what seemed like an eternity- a very painful eternity. I rolled her over onto her back. She didn't respond to my touch. I shook her. "Thals. Thals, get up. Thalia!" My voice was getting louder each time I spoke.

Her body jerked and she turned back on her side to cough up some blood. I sent a silent prayer to my father that sounded something like this: "FUCK YES! THANK YOU DAD! I LOVE YOU! I SWEAR I'LL BE BETTER NEXT TIME I SEE PERSEPHONE! SEE? EVEN RIGHT NOW, I'M NOT CURSING HER NAME. JUST LET THALIA GET THROUGH THIS!"

I pulled her into my lap and she didn't object. She was shaking now. "Are you going to be sick?" I was starting to shake as well.

"No," she shook her head and then winced from the pain. "No, I'm not. Let's just go."

I let out a laugh that didn't have any humor in it. "Thals, where do you think we're going? And how do you think we're even leaving this place?"

"I don't know. I just want to go." She held her head in her hands.

My blood turned cold as my words sunk in and I realized how weak and fragile she felt in my arms. I sure as hell couldn't shadow travel us out of here and even if I had a car to drive, I was in no shape to drive- neither of us were.

"I don't have anywhere for us to go," I said defeated.

Thalia looked up at me and cupped my face with one of her hands. "Don't beat yourself up over it."

Gods, maybe movies aren't that cheesy with moments like these. When you're so close to death you act differently. You aren't stable, you don't make too much sense, you're harsher, you're kinder- whatever it is, you don't act like your usual self.

Thalia twitched and then let out a groan. "Ow."

A light bulb went off in my head. "I know where we're going."

Thalia looked wary. "Okay, where?"

I sent another prayer to my father, asking for his help. "We're going to the Underworld."

A/N: HAPPY HALLOWEEN! :D It's my day! CANDY! NOMNOMNOM!

Okay, I need to address a review that I got regarding the last chapter. Someone (notice they were anonymous) said that my story was like someone else's story on here. I am not copying anyone's story. I sit down and write what comes to mind. I don't plagiarize. And if you could review again and give me the link or the name of the story, that'd be great. Thanks.

Moving on now.

OMG! The Underworld! :D HADES YEAH!

Hm…I don't have too much to comment on my chapter today…um…yeah.

What'd you think of Thalia's describing of flying out the windshield? Realistic? What about her visions with Aphrodite?

ONTO THE RANDOMNESS OF MY LIFE NOW:

I have a story to share with you guys to show you how important honesty is. My mom didn't know about my account on here or that I am publishing stories, so when she asked me if I publish the stories that I write, online I panicked and lied to her. About ten minutes later, I wrote down my username and password, grabbed my notebook, and went downstairs to apologize to my mom and confess that I lied to her.

She asked if I would be upset if she read my stories, if I felt like she would be reading my diary and I let her read through the stories. I explained what was going on to her and read through everything. (By the way, my mom forgot who Hades was. xD)

When she was done, she started talking to me about how she isn't upset with me because she trusts me and she believes that I don't write explicit things and that she's more worried for my safety. Then she gave me the paper with my username and password on it and told me that if I had something that I wasn't sure I could publish she would trust me to come to her and she thanked me for coming to her and telling her the truth.

She told me that she thought I was a good writer and she enjoyed my stories and she was happy when she found out that people could comment on my stories and then most of them were good. And we started talking about me signing up for community college classes in the summer and me entering writing contests.

So, anyways (I ramble so much. I'm sorry T_T) moral of the story: because I was honest with her everything turned out okay. SO BE HONEST! EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY IN THE END! (Come on, I tell you guys this every time you worry about something in the story. :] )

(And after this all went down, we watched a movie and my mom showed me how to make popcorn the way her sister taught her. :D)

And yesterday, I put fake blood on my face and walked past my mom and she acted like it was totally normal for me to do. And then she got confused when I started singing 'California Gurls' by Katy Perry. xD

ONTO THE QUESTIONS OF THE DAY NOW:

What are (were, if you're reading this after Halloween) your plans for Halloween? (My answer: I'm hanging out with two of my best friends and then one of them is leaving early so the other is staying with me and I'm having neighbors over. :D)

Are you an honest person? (My answer: About 95% of the time. If it's something harsh, I'll try and find a nicer way to say it.)

And…

Anything you want to share? It can be anything. (My answer: My rambling sort of author's notes are my answer for this. xD)

I HEART YOU GUYS! :']