Title: Stuck In Her Nightmares
Chapter: 12 (approx. 2052 words)
Rating: K
Characters/Pairings: Nico di Angelo, Rachel Elizabeth Dare | Nico/Rachel
Summary: Rachel's worst nightmares come true, and it is up to Nico to save her. Will true love conquer all, or will Rachel die in the hands of evil?
Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson whoops
Author's Notes: I haven't updated this in so long gomenasai :-( more detailed author's notes at the bottom
Rachel was watching Nico's taut back as he cooked their breakfast in silence. She listened attentively to the sizzling of the cooking bacon as she did, and as she felt her stomach growl, the front door slammed open.
Annabeth came hopping in (yes, hopping), flinging her left hand and waving it in front of Rachel's face when she reached where Rachel was sitting. Rachel jumped a little, and tried to look at what Annabeth was trying to show her. She gave up after a second, and eventually decided on violently grabbing her hand to stop it because she knew Annabeth was never going to calm down. When she saw a small band on her fourth finger with a small blue diamond on it, she looked up at Annabeth in pleasant surprise, before the both of them started to squeal like baby pigs.
Nico winced, and turned around to the sight of two girls jumping around screaming "Oh my gods, oh my gods!" He was about to ask what had happened, when they started discussing details, saying things like "Oh gods, you are going to be my bridesmaid, along with Piper!", "Nico is so going to be the best man, oh and Jason! Jason will be one of the groomsmen!", and "We're planning to put the wedding next month; I don't know, I just want to get married as soon as possible, it doesn't even need to be fancy!"
Nico rolled his eyes, and drawled as he turned back to his bacon. "Tch, it's only a wedding, relax."
The two girls spun around at the speed of light, looking at him with their jaws wide open. "How could you say that, Nico?!"
"This is an once-in-a-lifetime thing for a girl!"
"For that, you are so going to die."
He scooped up the bacon and put them on a plate, before moving on to eggs. "So, where's Percy?"
"Oh yeah, where is he?"
"Ah, speak of the devil, there he is." Annabeth said as Percy came running in through the door, panting.
"Gods, Annabeth, how in Hades did you even run so fast?"
"Excited girls run too fast, that's for sure." Nico replied, before taking a sip of coffee from his mug.
Percy shook his head, and only went to the kitchen counter to sneak a piece of bacon into his mouth, while the girls continued their excited spazzing. Nico slapped Percy's hand away, and muttered, "Ugh, girls."
§
Nico was trying to avoid all the fussy wedding preparations by the girls (they were trying to drag him to choose the bride's bouquet; flowers, ugh, not his thing) and was heading towards the café he and Rachel usually frequented when someone tugged on his arm and pulled him down into a booth.
"Hey, listen, I need to talk."
"So… you want to talk. After cheating on me."
Ruby's face flushed and a look of despair came over her face. "Look, I'm really sorry, ok? I just really needed to apologise to you. But I'm not going to break up with Brian, because we never really loved each other. The only reason I did what I did, was because I could feel that you love Rachel more than you ever loved me."
Nico's eyes widened, and he sputtered, "Rachel and I are just best-"
Ruby cut him off. "Don't deny it, Nico. I've heard you call out her name many times while you were sleeping; I could always tell you loved her ever since we started dating. Just treat her well, ok? Don't ever let her go. I don't know if you will forgive, I hope you will. But still, thanks for hearing me out." She held onto Nico's hand gratefully for a second, and then stood up and left.
Nico sat there for a little while more, trying to stop thinking about Ruby had just said. But no matter how many pages of his textbook he flipped through, he couldn't stop thinking about it, and he eventually slammed it shut, running his hands through his black hair in frustration.
He loved Rachel, he did, but did he really love her in that way? He would date her, in theory, he would. But the thing is, one does not simply date their best friend. What happened that morning before Annabeth announced that Percy proposed to her was nothing, right?
He tried to look out the window, but the only thing he saw was a red-haired girl which reminded him of Rachel. Another girl wearing a paint-splattered shirt. The bookstore opposite which Rachel loved. Everything he saw out the window reminded him of Rachel. He smiled to himself, thinking about how good it would be if he could just kiss her-
Nico's eyes widened and he ran his hand through his hair one more time.
Oh crap, he really was… in love with Rachel Elizabeth Dare.
§
Nico didn't know what to do about his feelings for Rachel. Every single time he looked at her his heart started beating so fast it hurt, every single time he felt her join him in bed he had to resist the temptation to put his arms around her… he just didn't want to think about it anymore. All he could do was act awkwardly around Rachel to try and not reveal his true feelings to her. Even Rachel could tell that Nico was acting weird.
So when Rachel received another call from the hospital, that was it. Her face had paled a little, and she looked at Nico for some moral support when she pressed the button to pick up the call. Nico couldn't help but avoid her gaze, and Rachel's face fell a little before she went back to focusing on the call.
"Hello? Miss, are you there?"
"Ah, yeah, I am. What is it? Did something happen to my dad?" Rachel whispered nervously.
"Ah, no, Miss, Mr Warren Dare has finally awoken!"
Rachel's eyes widened, and she clapped her hand to her mouth, before smiling widely. "Really? Oh gods, thank you so much!"
She pressed the button to hang up, and Nico stood up and walked over to her, looking at her curiously despite trying his best to look as nonchalant as possible. "What's up?"
Rachel grinned even wider, and she suddenly flung her arms around Nico's neck, pulling him in for a body-crushing hug. She let go for a second, squealing "Daddy woke up! He woke up!" before hugging Nico again.
"That's great, Rachel." Nico couldn't help but give her a small smile.
"I'm so happy, I need to go see him right now!" She pulls Nico in for what seems to be another hug, but what happened next came as a huge surprise to Nico.
Rachel's lips were on his.
Nico's breath hitched for a second, and going against the rational part of him he leaned in and relaxed for the kiss. Which was right about the time when Rachel realised what she was doing was probably wrong, and opened her eyes and stepped back in shock. Her face became flushed and she looked at her feet, feeling embarrassed about what she just did. "Crap, I'm sorry. I really shouldn't have done that. I know we're just best friends, please forget that."
Oh gods, what did she just do? Nico's only her best friend; she shouldn't have done that. Things are going to be so awkward now, oh no, shit-
Nico had stepped forward, tipped her chin up, and pressed his own mildly cold lips on her warm ones, relishing the feel of her succulent and plump lips. Rachel tightened her arms around Nico's neck, and he snaked his around her waist, pulling her in closer to him, before they finally stopped to take a breath.
"Who said anything about not having feelings for you? I thought you were the one who didn't have any feelings for me." Nico muttered.
Rachel smiled. "So I guess we're official now?"
"I don't know if you want to, I guess."
"Of course I do, what makes you think I don't?"
"Well then I guess we are… official. But I don't want people to know about it, do you?"
"We can keep it our little secret, if you want. I don't mind as long as I get to be with you." Rachel mentally cringed at her cheesiness, but blew it off when Nico gave her another small peck on the lips.
Rachel grinned, and said, "Now, how about you go join Percy and the guys for a tuxedo fitting, and I will go for a dress fitting."
§
For the next few weeks all they were hung up over was the wedding between Percy and Annabeth. "Ugh, why do I have to go for the rehearsals?"
"Because, Nico, if you don't go for rehearsals, Annabeth is going to murder you, and you are just going to ruin it all by not knowing what to do, which will just incur Annabeth's wrath again and get you murdered a second time." Percy smiled patronizingly at Nico. "And quick, shadow travel us there. We are 5 minutes late."
Nico shuddered at the thought of Annabeth freaking out and then murdering him. "Fine." He picked up his leather jacket and wore it, before grabbing Percy's arm and pulling the two of them into the shadows. Before they knew it they were already at the ballroom where the wedding was to be held. The moment they arrived, Annabeth turned on them and exclaimed, "Where have you guys been? You're late!"
"Sweetie, relax, it's only 5 minutes. I bet the bridesmaids are still getting dressed."
"Well, yeah, but you and the guys aren't even dressed yet!"
Nico smirked. "Annabeth, chill out, guys can get dressed so much faster than girls." He saunters over to the dressing room, where his tuxedo was hung on a hanger with his name labelled on it. He quickly put it on, and when he opened the door as he was buttoning up the buttons on his jacket, he came face to face with Rachel.
She was wearing a black one-shoulder dress which stopped at her knees, which hugged her mild curves nicely. He moved closer to Rachel, who blushed upon seeing Nico. "So, how do I look?"
Nico smiled. "Gorgeous."
"Thank you. And you, look gorgeous too." Rachel flushed even deeper as she arranged his collar properly, and Nico gave her a quick peck on the lips. He was about to give her another, when Piper suddenly came out of her changing room. "Hey, Rach-"
Rachel and Nico immediately jumped apart, but not before Piper had seen (and figured out) what was going on between the two of them. Her jaw dropped to the ground, and she almost started squealing. "Oh my gods, no way! You two are t-"
She had almost announced to the world that Rachel and Nico were together, but Rachel had pressed her hand to Piper's mouth just in time. "Shh, we want to keep it a secret, Piper. Don't tell anyone."
Piper's eyes widened, and she mimed zipping her mouth shut and throwing the key away. "Oh, right. Sure thing. It'll be a secret. But wow, I can feel the love. Literally. This is kind of intoxicating."
Nico rolled his eyes playfully. Piper was turning out just like her mum. He smiled, and took a step closer to the two girls wearing similar dresses. Piper's was a black dress which was completely sleeveless. "We should go now. Annabeth's kind of starting to freak out really badly."
And when they left the changing room area, Jason, Travis, and Grover came up to him, patting him on the back. "Great job, Nico. Our baby brother's all grown up now. Rachel's a great girl. A bit feisty, but great nonetheless," Jason said.
"W-what, how did you guys even find out?"
Travis winked, and he smirked at Nico playfully. "We have our sources. Besides, you and Rachel being a couple has always been a given. It was just a matter of time as to when it would happen." He shrugged his shoulders.
Nico groaned softly, and hoped that no one else would find out anymore. Especially Annabeth and Percy. Otherwise shit would seriously go down, and Nico would never be able to hear the end of it from them.
A/N: hey guys, sorry for not updating this for such a long time. I just thought I should just try and finish this story since I already have it planned out and all. But I've been busy these past six months with school, and I've only been updating my kurobasu fics ;_; im sorry
but anyway I hoped you enjoyed this chapter
reviews would be nice yay
