AN: I didn't want to leave any loose ends with Piper and Jason, so... O_O
A soft buzz tore Nico out of his slumber, but a canvas of ocean meeting sky still burned in his mind.
He let his eyes drift lazily to his alarm clock, relishing in the bright blue numbers on its face. 8:00. He gave a mildly disgruntled sigh as he reached for his phone. But he was too caught up in the numbers' color to care about the time.
He glanced over his cell screen. He'd gotten a text.
Will: Hello darkness my old friend
Nico rolled his eyes, but a small smirk pulled at his lips. He quickly tapped out a reply.
Nico: Will we literally just met yesterday
He sighed again, more contently this time, and locked his phone. He laid back down as he awaited a reply.
It came almost instantly.
Will: I've come to talk with you again
Nico rolled his eyes, irked by the blond who also happened to be his soulmate. In the short time they'd known each other, they could almost write the other's biography. Nico had never opened up to anyone like that before.
But of course, the conversation going two ways, he'd discovered the man's love for music.
Nico: Well, here I am. So talk. Better than spouting off song lyrics.
He felt a strange tug at his heart when Will texted back. He couldn't quite explain it to himself, and he wasn't quite sure he wanted to.
Better to feel than speak, right?
Will: Fine, Party Pooper. I was just wondering what you were doing today.
Nico fought to keep his lips from turning up. Will and his stupid consideration.
Nico: I'm not exactly sure. I think I might get kidnapped by my friends today. You know, because of what happened yesterday.
Will: Makes sense
A loud bang drew Nico's eyes from his phone, and he shot up. He hardly had time to register what was going on before a hoard of five or six people charged into his room and engulfed him in hugs.
"Ack- Jason! Guys, what are you- stop it! Leo!"
Jason leaned his head on Nico's chest like a puppy, his arms wrapped tightly around the Italian. But his grip was gentle, and it was nice to know that Jason still respected Nico's personal space.
Well, sort of.
"Sorry Neeks," Percy started, trying to push Jason and Leo away so he could hug Nico as well. "But we can't let you out of our sight at all today."
Nico sent a fearful glance toward Annabeth and Piper, who stood in the doorway with indiscernible expressions on their faces. He put every emotion he could into his eyes to scream: Help me!
"Sorry Nico," piped Hazel, who kept a small distance by perching on the foot of his bed. "We were just so scared yesterday."
Nico sighed, casting his eyes down almost shamefully. "I know."
"But hey," Jason said, pulling away from Nico at last, "let's just try to forget about that and have a good time today." He smiled brightly.
Nico looked from the guys with no personal space to the women by the door. Was he really up for this? He'd never admit it (though he had a feeling the others already knew), but the events that took place the day before had drained him.
And if it wasn't already bad enough that the others seemed to know how tiring yesterday had been for Nico, he still hadn't told them about Will.
"Fine," answered Nico after a brief pause. He held his hands up. "Just get out of my room so I can change, yeah?"
The others grinned, seemingly pleased with his answer. After a few more hugs and glances his way to make sure he hadn't disappeared, Nico's friends filed out the door.
Nico plopped back down onto his bed. Part of him wished he could just crawl back under the covers; escape from the world and everyone in it. With the exception of Will.
After a moment he ran his hand over his face and turned on his phone again. He opened up his previous conversation. Nico typed.
Nico: Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe there used to be this thing called 'personal space'
He didn't wait for Will to return the text, instead rising from his bed and ambling towards his closet. It wasn't until he'd grabbed one of his favorite skull t-shirts that his phone vibrated in his pocket.
Nico strode back over to the bed, throwing onto it his shirt and a pair of skinny jeans that were, you guessed it, black. He pulled off yesterday's shirt before reading Will's text.
Will: If you wanted to be left alone that bad you could've just told me
Nico frowned at the sentence. What had Will thought he meant?
Nico: Not you, dummy. My friends. I just got bombarded with hugs.
Nico's heart started to thump in his chest, already afraid of losing Will over a simple misunderstanding. But when his soulmate texted back, his heartbeat slowed.
Will: Hahaha
Nico raised an eyebrow at his phone, unable to tell if the man was being sarcastic or not. He quickly texted back, praying that he hadn't taken it the wrong way.
Nico: Hey! It's not funny!
Will: It's kinda funny
Nico grumbled under his breath, but a smirk seemed to pull at his lips yet again, unfamiliar yet at the strange time, strangely familiar.
Nico: No it's not, because now I'm gonna have Percy's weird ocean smell on me for a week!
Nico pulled his shirt on, quickly followed by his pants as he waited for the expected buzz.
Will: HAHAHAHAHA
Nico couldn't help but grumble again.
Nico: You stink
Nico could almost hear Will's laughter in his next text. Damn Will and his beautiful laugh.
Will: Actually, you stink
Nico sighed, rubbing his hands over his eyes. He heard a distant shout (distant being down the hallway) for him to hurry up, and he allowed himself one final text before exiting his room. But he made sure to include expectancy of a later conversation, unwilling to stop talking to the blond.
Nico: I'm leaving now. If you don't hear back from me by tonight you can assume that I've had the life sucked out of me by a hug.
After a split second, he added:
Tell the cops it was Jason. It was all Jason.
And he was out the door before he'd even gotten a response.
. . . . .
"Do it, Grace."
"But-"
"Do it or I'll sink this fork into your neck."
Jason paled at Nico's words, eyes glancing down nervously to the fork wrapped in Nico's white fingers. Nico knew that Jason didn't actually believe he would do anything to hurt him, but the fierce snap in his voice often raised people's defenses. And to be honest, Nico liked it that way.
"What if she doesn't say yes?"
Nico's head fell to the table with a thump and a groan. His voice came muffled. "Jason, you idiot, I could strangle you!"
He didn't bother to raise his head, and so he missed the pout that Jason sent his way. There was a long pause before confidence washed over the blond, and he jumped up from his dining room table before yelling, "Help me pick an outfit!"
Nico would have groaned again if he didn't understand exactly what those words meant. It was finally happening. Despite the deportation threat, Nico was having a pretty good week, with love all around him. Though of course, if it hadn't been for the fear of returning to Italy, he would never have met Will.
Nico hadn't realized Jason was gone until he shouted from upstairs, "Nico, get a move on! They could be back any minute!"
Nico glanced at his watch. Jason was right. The others had left Nico behind with a whining Jason for a chaperone (As if he was going to run away again. He came back, didn't he?) while they left to pick up a pizza. It had taken a lot of convincing for Nico to persuade them to go get it instead of having it delivered, claiming he needed time away from the crowd. Which wasn't really all that untrue. Now it was 7:15 and they could return any time.
Nico sprinted up the stairs, taking the steps two at a time. Normally he wouldn't have rushed, but he had waited too long for this moment.
As he entered Jason's room, he was assaulted by a shirt to the face.
He pulled it off with a huff. "Hey!"
In front of him Jason was a machine gone haywire, searching frantically through his closet for the perfect representation of… Whatever it was he was trying to represent. Clothes spewed out the door, quickly covering Jason's floor with piles of mess.
Nico raised an eyebrow at Jason's odd behavior. "And what's wrong with the shirt you're wearing now?"
Jason backed away from pulling out random clothes to survey the options with his eyes. They glowed a beautiful blue with a shimmer of apprehension, though Nico could sense an underlying spark of excitement. Jason answered simply, "Not formal enough."
Nico rolled his eyes, flopping down onto Jason's bed and kicking his feet up. He crossed his arms and watched Jason continue his wild scavenger hunt. "Piper doesn't really do formal, Jason," Nico reminded.
Jason shrugged, pulling out a selection of three or four shirts. "My girl deserves only the best," he said. "Now which one works most?"
Nico couldn't help but roll his eyes again as Jason started holding the shirts up to his chest. He raised an expectant eyebrow at Nico when he didn't say anything, and Nico retaliated by boredly checking his nails. Again he mentioned, "She won't care anyway, Grace, you know that." Then he looked up at Jason's frown. "But if you really need to know, the blue one looks best on you."
It took a moment, but Nico's breath caught in his throat as soon as he realized what he had said.
Jason failed to notice at first, but that didn't last long. As he shoved his arms through his sleeves and pulled the shirt around him, his hands paused.
And the silence that ensued was dreadful.
Nico couldn't help but think: maybe he hadn't noticed. Maybe he remembered something with no relation to the topic at hand. Maybe he was in awe at Nico's wonderful fashion sense. But he knew none of those could be true. There was only one answer.
And it was clear as day even before Jason turned around slowly to fix Nico with a stare. It was clear as day even before he spoke the words.
And Nico's heart was about to explode.
"I never told you the shirt was blue."
KA-BOOM!
Bye-bye Nico.
He started stuttering, feeling the heat of blood rushing to his cheeks. "Y-yeah, well you know h-how it is-I mean, colors, pfft, what even…" His hands fidgeted nervously. "Are they?" he finished weakly. He avoided Jason's gaze.
For a moment Jason said nothing. Which made it all the more scarier when he screamed, "NICO!"
The boy in black immediately jumped into defense mode, holding his hands up to shield himself from the onslaught of shirts and pillows Jason hurled at him.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?!" he demanded.
"Tell you what?" Nico tried, lowering his arms as soon as he was sure it was clear.
Jason's eyes widened. "That you met your soulmate!"
"Who says I met my soulmate?"
"YOU DID!" Jason yelled.
Nico sighed, realizing that this was it. It was going to come out sooner or later. He just didn't want it to happen right before Jason proposed! Nico made a quick mental note to confront Jason on his strange timing. What kind of person proposed on a day like this anyway, where friends were all around stuffing their faces with pizza?
"Alright, fine," said Nico finally. He slumped his shoulders in defeat, but his heart fluttered at the thought of Will. "I met my soulmate."
Jason's expression went from surprise to anger to excitement, a roller coaster of emotions passing over his face. With an excited squeal he leapt onto the bed, earning a strong flinch from Nico.
"What's his name?! What does he look like?! Is he nice?! Is he mean?! What did he say?! When did you meet?! Are you going to get married?! When do I get to meet him?! What's his name?! Are you going to get married?!"
As soon as Jason started repeating himself, Nico knew he had to get him to shut up.
"Will, okay?!"
Jason froze, his eyes meeting Nico's. "What?"
Nico wanted to scream into a pillow. There were plenty around after Jason's attack… But instead he explained, "His name is Will."
Jason grinned, but, thank the gods, didn't squeal.
Nico took a deep breath. Now he needed to lay down the law. "I'm not going to tell you anymore until you propose to Piper."
Jason's smile fell. "What?"
"I have been waiting too long for this!" Nico exclaimed. He jumped up, helping himself to the contents of Jason's bedside drawer. His fingers found the object he was looking for, and he tossed the small velvet box to his friend. "Now man up!"
Jason protested, "I was about to man up before you dropped this bombshell on me!"
Nico raised a defensive hand. "Hey, I didn't tell you anything."
Jason ignored him, gazing down at the small silver ring he now held. It was nothing special, just a thin band with a small square diamond. After a minute, he spoke. "I love her."
Nico could almost roll his eyes. He wanted to say, Duh!, but he felt that this was not the time or the place. So he said, "That's why you're going to do it."
A new voice joined in. "Do what?"
Jason and Nico shot their heads up in synchronicity. Having been deep in their sharp quips and short sentences, they hadn't heard the others arrive.
And now Piper stood in the doorway.
A vibrant blush started to spread over Jason's face. Now he knew how Nico felt when he let slip about Will. "Um…" He rubbed his neck nervously.
Nico rose, sensing the tension as his cue to leave. He shot Jason a quick glare as he walked past Piper though, as if to say, You're not leaving this room until you stop being such a wuss.
And he walked out the door.
. . . . .
He was greeted with a lot of confused faces when he came downstairs.
"What's going on?" asked Annabeth. She and Percy had already brought out the paper plates and started eating. Nico didn't see Hazel, so he assumed she was in the kitchen grabbing cups.
Nico smiled slyly, but other than a quick, "You'll see", he avoided her question.
It wasn't long before the couple of the hour came downstairs hand-in-hand, grins on their faces and a ring on Piper's finger.
Nico smiled.
Hazel came in then with a stack of paper cups in one hand and a soda bottle in the other. When she saw their expressions, she was confused. "What's got you all happy?"
Piper looked to Jason as if for confirmation, and turned back to the others when he squeezed her hand. "We're engaged!"
Everyone flipped.
Hazel squealed. Annabeth dropped her pizza and ran to hug Piper. Leo let out a whoop and gave Jason a high-five, muttering 'finally' under his breath.
But Percy froze.
Nico's heart fluttered. Why wasn't he happy? Even Nico was, and Nico was almost never happy.
"Are you serious?" he asked finally. Everyone's smile fell as they turned to listen to him, instead turning to frowns of confusion.
"What do you mean?" asked Hazel. Percy ignored her.
Instead, he ran to Annabeth's side. "Wise Girl, we can't let them get married before us!" Grins returned to the group's faces. Annabeth shook her head in annoyance, as if this was nothing new to her. It probably wasn't. "Come on, let's go elope right now!" Percy insisted. He tried pulling his girlfriend to the door.
Annabeth laughed. "Just be happy for them, Seaweed Brain."
Percy glared at Jason.
But they all joined in the mirth together, exchanging congratulations and thanks and clinking paper cups. They laughed. They had a good time, just enjoying each other's presence.
But Jason wouldn't stop sending glances Nico's way when he thought he wasn't looking.
AN: I hope you enjoyed! Also, let me know with a review how you want me to end the story. Do you want it to just sort of end, or do you want the others to meet Will and become protective over Nico? (I mean let's face it that's totally what they would do XD)