A/N: Hello! Sorry for the long wait. I can't believe this is already chapter 20... Everyone should check out my new story Above Average. It's all Percabeth so if you like that then ready away :)

Also, I know my characters are a little OOC. My writing is going through a small transition phase right now and I'm changing my style a little bit. I read the book On Writing by Stephen King over the summer and I'd recommend it to anyone who is interested in writing. I really want to improve this story so hopefully you guys will be able to tell the difference.

Read, review, and enjoy!

"Nico, I'm trying to be productive here," I scold, swatting away his hand.

He gives me a dejected puppy-dog look and sits down on the sofa, kicking his feet up and frowning.

I sigh. "Maybe if you weren't so bothersome, I could have finished already and I wouldn't have to worry about arranging all my stuff."

He rolls his eyes. "You've been unpacking for five hours straight. I swear if you move one more painting I might explode. Everything looks great, Rach, it really does. And I'm not just saying that because I'm so incredibly, exceedingly, mind-bogglingly bored. Honest to gods."

"It's called artistic expression, Nico." I plop down next to him on the couch. "The paintings need to be placed right in order to best showcase them. Things like lighting and space matter. Trust me on this, I sure as hell didn't get into RISD for my math skills."

"I know," he concedes. "But can't we take a break and do something fun?"

"Fun?" I repeat, blinking. "What do you have in mind?"

"Well, for one thing, there's this."

He turns towards me and cups the side of my face, skimming his thumb along my cheekbone. I lean into his shoulder, tucking my feet under me and shifting so I face him. He presses me against the couch, almost so I'm lying down. Hovering over me, he supports himself with his arms and gently leans down to kiss me. Instinctively, my arms wrap under his shoulders and I splay my hands across his back. I tug him closer, wanting to feel his weight against me. Our lips move in synchronization, every move familiar but new at the same time. I feel a twitching in my chest and my stomach tightens into a knot. Out of breath, I break from the kiss, panting heavily, all while Nico lays sweet kisses against my jaw. He trails down to my neck and the fire within my chest is so overwhelming that I'm unable to move.

I'm set free of my paralyzation by the sound of the door to the apartment opening. Nico freezes against my neck and jumps back across my couch, a few seconds too late. I sit up abruptly and smooth my clothes, straightening out any kinks and allowing my breath to return to a normal rate. Begrudgingly, I turn to look at the amused faces of my friends.

Perks of sharing an apartment with three other girls.

"Hi everyone," I smile uncomfortably. "This is Nico. We were just, you know, unpacking my stuff."

Nico nods, but remains silent beside me.

"I can see that," Amari says with a smirk. "Looks like you two were on fire, if you know what I mean."

"So is this the infamous Nico, we've all heard about?" Elizabeth asks, wiggling her eyebrows seductively.

"The very same," I admit. "Nico," I begin, "these are my friends Amari, Elizabeth, and Josie." I point to each of them accordingly. "And everyone, this is Nico."

They all give a friendly wave and sit down on the couch, oblivious to giving us any sort of privacy. Not like I can just ask them to leave though, this is partially their house after all…

"I like the paintings!" Josie comments brightly, looking around the room excitedly.

"Yeah, they're great," Elizabeth pipes, giving me the thumbs up.

"So, we just came back from the gym down the street. It looks really nice, and we're probably going to get a membership. You should really check it out too," Amari adds.

"Yeah, I'll definitely do that," I reply. Gods know I really do need to start working out more.

The chatter continues relentlessly, with an occasional question directed at Nico. He seems somewhat uneasy when he has to talk, but appears to be enjoying listening to me talk so animatedly with my friends.

I'm wearing my favorite jeans and he absentmindedly traces the doodles on them with his finger, which is extremely pleasant but also so distracting. Every few seconds I lose my train of thought and shiver slightly at his touch.

When the conversation turns to the hot guy Amari met at the gym, Nico decides that it's time to leave. He gives me a wistful looks and exits out the front door, promising to see me soon.

I turn back to my roommates who are practically jumping up and down from excitement. This should be good.

"Rachel!" Josie squeals. "He's just gorgeous! Why didn't you introduce us sooner?"

"Very sexy," Elizabeth appraises.

"Gosh you guys are such a cute couple," Josie whispers dreamily, cupping her hands together. "How did you two meet again?"

"Well, it's a pretty long story." I wince, waiting for the girls to start hammering more questions.

"I have an idea!" Amari shouts in triumph. "Let's place Truth or Dare. Except, minus the dares because those are just stupid.

I start to protest but the other girls hush me, so I give in.

"I'll start with something easy," she announces. "Josie, truth or truth?"

"Truth."

"What is your most embarrassing secret from when you were a child?" Amari probes.

Josie pauses to think for a moment and then blushes. "Well, until I was about nine, I used to think there was a monster under my bed. It seems normal except I would actually have conversations with it. Basically, I begged it every night not to eat me, and listed all the good things I had done for the day. I finally got over my fear after camping out under my bed for an entire night. Trust me—I was really stiff the next day." Her cheeks shine with embarrassment.

She turns to Elizabeth. "Truth or truth?"

"Ummm, truth."

"Who was your first kiss? And I don't mean Spin the Bottle Kiss at a party. I mean, really kiss." Josie flashes her a devious smile.

Elizabeth taps her chin thoughtfully before answering. "Elijah. In ninth grade, behind the dugout before his baseball game. So romantic. I think we only lasted about three weeks. He broke up with me for this other girl in my grade. It was annoying anyways, we got so many 'Elijabeth' comments it was driving us mad."

"How scandalous," Amari teases, grining.

Elizabeth laughs and turns to me. "Truth or truth, Dare?"

"Uh, I guess truth."

"So, you and Nico," she begins, the questions taking a turn for the worse. "How far have you gone? You know…" she trails off. Her brown eyes are fixated on my face and she giggles.

I inwardly groan. "What you guys saw today was the extent of it. I swear, nothing more."

The girls all give me pouty looks, which causes me to smirk. I mean, it's not like I have a choice in that kind of thing. I'm the Oracle so I doubt it will be ever happening. I briefly consider how frustrating that must be for Nico, but don't linger on the thought too long because Amari looks at me expectantly for a question.

I decide on an easy one. "Uh, Amari, who's your celebrity crush?"

"Easy," she grins. "Adam Levine. He has great music and he's simply gorgeous."

I give her that one with a nod. "He's cute," I confirm.

"Elizabeth," she begins. "Have you ever cheated on anyone? If so, give all the details."

After this, the conversation takes a turn for the worse, with each question becoming more and more personal and requiring extensive details. Surprisingly, I find myself enjoying every moment of it. It's not too awkward, as I love all these girls and consider them my close friends. They're a nice change from the preppy, self-absorbed girls at Clarion Ladies Academy. It's not like they don't have their moments, but for the most part they're all awesome, friendly, and intelligent girls who genuinely care about me.

We stay up late into the night giggling about boys and eventually the game subsides and we just chat. And even though I've never particularly cared what people think about me, it's nice to let all pretenses go and simply be myself.

Right before I go to sleep, I'm brushing my teeth when all of a sudden an Iris Message pops up. I smile sloppily, happy and surprised to see that it's Nico. He waits patiently until I finish and I roll my eyes, wondering what on earth he would possibly need to tell me so badly.

"Hey Rachel," he begins. "I feel like we never talk like this any more."

"Well, it's kind of hard to summon the goddess of rainbows without my roommates realizing anything is going on," I laugh at the ridiculous notion of them discovering me talking to a floating image of Nico.

"True," he chuckles.

"So, what's up?" I ask.

"Well, I was wondering," he pauses, giving me a frustrated look.

"Yes?" I implore.

"About the gym thing, do you think you'll really get a membership?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"I mean," he fidgets uncomfortably, "your friends were talking about all the attractive guys there and I just thought—"

"Oh my gods," I interrupt. "Is Nico di Angelo jealous?"

"Not jealous," he stutters, trying to defend himself. "Just concerned. There's really a big difference."

"Don't worry Nico, I've only got eyes for one man. I swear," I cross my heart dramatically, soothing his anxiety.

"Rachel?" a soft voice asks from behind the door. "Are you okay?"

I wave to Nico and swipe my hand through the image so it dissipates, allowing just enough time for him to smile at me. Sighing, I open the door to face Josie, sleepily leaning against the frame.

"Yes?" I ask, grinning at her pink pajamas.

She yawns. "I'm sorry, it's just that I swear I heard you talking in there."

"Nah," I snigger, waving my hand. "It must have just been the monster under your bed again.