CHAPTER SUMMARY

Everyone meets up at the Jackson house for the party. Hazel reaches out to Nico.

BEGINNING NOTES

Chapter Rating: General Audiences

Content Warning: Cursing, References to Self-Harm/Suicide
Word Count: 2348

Three things:
1. I am SO SORRY I didn't post yesterday! I was sick and also swamped with work and it just completely slipped my mind!
2. My dogs are assaulting me as I try and type. This is the cutest sabotage ever orchestrated against me.
3. This is the last pure-fluff chapter for a while, guys. Enjoy it.

And all the characters are owned by JK Rowling, or Rick Riordan.

Credits at the end.

_PERCY_

"LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!" Leo shouted the moment he stepped into the apartment.

"Neighbors, Leo!" Jason berated him.

Calypso chuckled. "Is it big enough in here for everyone to spend the night?"

"Oh, sure," Percy reassured her. "Everyone, put your bags in my and Nico's room. We'll figure out who gets the beds and couch and stuff later. Nico and I are going to sleep on the floor, and Mom and Paul are staying with our neighbors, so we should be good. Cramped, but good."

"Percy?" Nico emerged from his room with a huge grin; Percy easily swept his little brother up in a hug. He'd only been home for a few brief moments on his way to camp, and Nico had been in school. It was the first time they'd seen each other since Thanksgiving.

"Neeks!" Jason greeted him. Nico did the standard eye-roll, but couldn't help but smile. "Hey, Grace. Thalia couldn't make it up this year?"

"Artemis has her hunting some moose in Canada or something."

"Maybe she ran into some of Frank's family?" Piper joked, pulling Nico into another hug.

"Hey, hey! Neehhh! Piper!" Nico protested, but he didn't struggle too hard.

"What kind of sound was that, death boy?" Leo joked, already pushing random buttons on the coffee machine.

"No, Leo, you're not allowed caffeine!" Calypso tried to shoo him away but ended up locked in a shoving contest instead. "Stop! Stop!" They were both laughing hysterically. It was sickeningly cute, but Percy let it slide. It was Christmas.

"Dude, she's right," Jason said. "Remember that time you tried Starbucks? It was literally decaf but you were bouncing up the walls for a week."

"I know, I remember!" Leo grabbed a wooden spoon from the counter and started trying to duel Calypso with it. "Engarde! I wanted to tinker with it, that's all! Call it a-take that!-Christmas present, mi amigos."

"Can we not break Paul's lifeline?" Percy groaned. "And Leo, you're not Inigo Montoya. Stop trying to stab your girlfriend."

"I'm Latino! He's Spanish! I could be!" Leo poked Calypso again, who was laughing too hard to even stand upright. "You keelled my father! Prepaaare to die!"

Calypso grabbed onto the counter for support, but that portion of the counter happened to have a few pieces of paper on it, so she slipped and fell to the ground, curled up in fetal position, still laughing hysterically.

"Oh! Oh shit! Calypso!" Leo dropped the spoon and started to help her up. Everyone else started laughing right along with her.

Nico scrambled to grab the papers from the ground. "Sorry, guys. Paul was helping me with a take-home final earlier-I should've put my notes back in my room."

Will walked in while Nico still had his back turned. He'd parked the car for Percy since was the one with the key to the apartment. He put a finger to his lips, snuck up to Nico, and grabbed his arm. Nico jumped and turned; any attitude melted off his face in a second. "Will!" he cried, and wrapped him in a hug. Percy knew it was probably taking him a lot of self-control not to PDA, but, after Jason and Piper, that effort was much appreciated.

"Uh..." Nico sheepishly backed out of the hug and put the papers back on the counter. "Paul went to pick up a few things for dinner. He should be back in, like, twenty minutes? And Sally should be along with everyone else in about an hour.

"I brought Cards Against Humanity?" Will offered. "Since we can't play that once Sally and Paul get back..."

"Sold!" Leo cried. "All hands to the couch!"

Percy and Nico shared a look. It was definitely good to be back together.

_NICO_

Cards Against Humanity was definitely a fun way to pass the time. Nico himself actually got the biggest laugh near the end of the game. The black card said "Christians hate _." and Nico, not having any good answers, decided to throw out a card. So, not knowing where in Tartarus he'd use "altar boys," he put it down. That won the round. No one would explain what the joke was, though.

"Leave it be, Neeks," Jason warned, heaving with laughter.

"I used to be Catholic you know," Nico complained, "My whole family was! It won't be hard to explain-"

Every single person laughing in the room waived the question away, most saying something to the effect of, "just drop it." Nico made a mental note to ask Paul or Sally after everyone left, and picked a card for the next round. "My fetish is doing _ with _. ...Um, what's a fetish?"

That one Will whispered in his ear. Being technically ninety years old was annoying sometimes.

When Sally arrived, Percy did the smart thing and went into the hallway to meet Annabeth. Nico, Leo, Al, and Piper all bet the Jackson family's last Swiss chocolate bar on how long it would take for them to come back inside. Piper won with 'fifteen minutes' which was unfair because Nico said 'thirteen minutes' and they came in at fourteen minutes. Piper swore that it was fourteen minutes, thirty seconds, and Al backed her up, but Nico saw Al walking around with something that looked suspiciously like a piece of chocolate a few minutes later.

A Mario Kart tournament began, with Reyna, Jason, Percy, and Annabeth competing in round one. "The round of the love square!" Leo dubbed it.

"Hey!" Hazel harped. "It is a love hexagon, Leo Valdez! Nico and Piper were a big part of that all!"

Then, it came time for presents. The demigods had all decided that they'd chip in together by camp to get a few big presents since they were all basically broke. Will got to tag along with the Camp Half-Blood crew, because Nico insisted.

Hestia and Blaise chipped in together to get those cool two-way mirror collectable items from Hogsmeade, (since the drachmas expense made his parents force Nico to forgo weekly IMs), a complete set of the Assassin's Creed games from the Camp Jupiter people, a Celestial Bronze shield from the Camp Half-blood people (with a comment from Leo that Leo did most of the work). His favorite present, however, was from Will (as an extra) and his parents: a commuter's pass to Providence, Rhode Island, so he could visit Will in college more often.

Hazel's Camp Half-blood gift, a membership to a horse-barn-thing where she could ride trails and stuff (proposed by Nico), went over really well. His individual gift to Will, a new phone case that read "If you need to ask, don't" (Will's new favorite phrase) got a nice laugh from everyone too.

The most memorable reaction, however, came at the end. Percy had already given Annabeth an individual gift-this owl necklace that matched her old earrings-but said at the end that he'd accidentally forgotten the other half of the gift. "It was a box set," he explained, searching for the last box in his bag from Camp Half-blood. "I ran out of time to wrap this one, which is why I didn't put it under the tree."

The next second, he pulled out a little black box. A ring.

"Oh my gods..." Annabeth whispered. Nico looked around. Piper knew, and so did himself, Sally, and Paul, since Percy spent the last month planning and running everything by them. Piper had been especially helpful, between her close friendship with Annabeth and (probably) a council of Aphrodite kids under a sworn oath to zip it.

"Not until we're out of college, at least," Percy promised Annabeth. He was still sitting crisscrossed on the floor next to her, the little black box unopened in his hand, "I know how much you want to do, and I'd never make you choose between a career and me. But, we've been to Hell and back more times than I can count... we've somehow managed to stay alive and together through so much... and, I know that a lot of college couples end up happily married, so it doesn't really feel irresponsible anymore."

Annabeth laughed, tearing up. "When did you become practical, seaweed brain?"

"Day I met you," Percy answered smoothly, with his trademarked 'I'm the awesomest' grin. "I love you, Annabeth, and I don't ever want to lose you. I don't know what my life would be like without you-actually, I do. It would be over. Because I would be dead."

Another laugh. But neither of them were paying any attention to the group reactions.

"Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, will you marry me? At some undetermined point before one of us dies?"

He opened the ring. He wasn't lying; it was a box set. The beautiful little owl, sapphires for tiny little eyes, glowed as bright as the moon against the black velvet of the box.

"Yes," Annabeth whispered.

"She said yes!" Percy yelled, throwing both fists into the air. "Shit-here's the ring. You should probably put that on-"

"-before you drop it and one of the eyes fall out, yeah." Annabeth laughed again and kissed him lightly on the lips. "What would you do without me?"

"I literally just said-I would die."

In the commotion, Hazel grabbed Nico's hand and nodded towards his bedroom. He wanted to wish Percy congratulations but knew they'd have plenty of time for that in the days to come. So, he followed her into the other room.

She quietly closed the door.

"Some night, huh?" Hazel asked. Nico nodded. He knew when she was upset, and this was one of those moments. He'd been getting that on his radar all night-how quiet she was, and her smiles seemed a little forced-but she was too good at hiding her own feelings for him to know for sure, and he hadn't had a moment alone with her yet to ask.

"I was talking to Dad the other day-"

Of fucking course. Screw her feelings.

Nico stood up and started to head for the door, but Hazel blocked it. "Let me go."

"No, Nico."

"I want to wish Percy and Annabeth congratulations."

"In a minute."

"Hazel!" Nico slapped the foot of his bed. "How many times do you have to do this to me?! How many times do we have to have this argument?!"

"He cares about you, Nico!"

"That isn't good enough anymore!"

"You can't hold this grudge forever! You have no idea what he had to go through to keep you, Bianca, and me safe! You need to learn to forgive!"

"Not everything can be forgiven! This is a prime example. Now let me go!"

"No!"

"How many times will you let him put you up to this?! Just- just tell him to move on!"

"He's your Dad! He's not going to-"

"He's my father! He is not my Dad! Nonno, Paul, they're a Dad! Chiron, hell, Percy has been more of a parent than him!"

Nico tried to rip Hazel from the doorframe. She resisted, but after a few seconds of scuffle, he was able to shove her onto the foot of his bed. "This is killing him, Nico!"

"He was killing me!" Nico screamed, eyes wild.

He'd never told anyone about his suicide attempt. Percy, in the letter, yes, but he'd been rather vague on purpose and never really gone into much detail. The only time he'd mentioned it was to Harry, in the Chamber of Secrets, when he knew the follower of Hecate was minutes away from death. And, even then, it had taken such anger to get rid of his filter.

Now, the sweetest person in his life knew the truth in the most horrible way possible. Because he got angry. Again.

Way to ruin Christmas, Nico.

Hazel didn't say anything; she couldn't. So, Nico tried again. "He put too much pressure on me, Haze. He doesn't like being failed. You have Pluto, who doesn't interact that much with the outside world. Hades... he's different. It was some stupid luck that a random follower of Hecate walked into the bathroom that day... if he hadn't... I can't go back to that. I can't keep holding on."

Hazel stood up slowly and wrapped her arms around Nico. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I didn't know it was that bad."

"It's okay," he whispered back. "I love you."

Nico snuck out of the apartment at midnight; it was easy since he was sleeping on the floor by the door. He went to his favorite spot, a shadowy corner under the stairwell, and shadow traveled away.

It was December 19th again. Seven years since Bianca died.

Nico wasn't guilty anymore, but he wanted to remember his family. Nonno and Nonna, Mamma and Bianca, living in la Val d'Aosta and secretly working against Mussolini. So, he decided to return to their graves each December 19th. To give himself a day to mourn and remember, but not to lament. Maybe one day he'd take Will up here, or Percy, or Hazel.

He picked a few wildflowers from the roadside and crossed into the graveyard.

Nonno, Nonna, I'm sorry you never knew the truth. I think you'd be proud of me.

Mamma, you were a hero. More than anyone at Camp Half-blood or Jupiter... because you didn't have to be.

Bianca... I wish things had been different. I will always love you.

He sat there, humming his mother's old lullaby to himself. He looked up at the stars in the clear, Italian sky, and found the Big Dipper. His mother's favorite constellation; she'd always follow the panhandle to meet up with Papà. Hades.

A breeze whipped around Nico's face, startlingly similar to the one way back on his sixteenth birthday, when Hades summoned him with the Helm of Darkness.

"I love you, Papà," he said, shaking horribly. "That's why..." Familiar words came back to him, Bianca's words. "I love you, Papà. Unconditionally."

Just for a second, the Big Dipper seemed to twinkle out of existence, as though it was blocked by something.

But, perhaps, it was only in his head.

END NOTES

The Leo/Calypso thing? An actual moment between me and my (then) boyfriend. We're friends now, but I still have not forgiven him for making me turn into a laugh-fetus.

Nico's "Cards Against Humanity" fuck up? ALSO an actual thing that happened to me. I was Nico. I AM A STUPID JEW OKAY?! (And I know what was funny NOW, because I looked it up later that evening.)

I stole "love hexagon" from High School Story/Hollywood U, these free apps by Pixleberry. They're amazing, by the way, so you should totally download it.

If I said that Will went to a different college in the first fic, I apologize. Tell me in comments, and I'll correct it. I word-searched the fic just in case, but I couldn't find anything with "college" or "university" or "gap year" that applied to Will.

This week's beta commentary:
STORY: Since the drachmas expense made his parents force Nico to forgo weekly IMs
SARA: Man, how rich is Iris?
LISSY: I'm pretty sure at this point, Iris built a new wing in her shop and put "paid for with contributions from Nico di Angelo" on the wall.

Credits:
Melody Rose - Author (YouTube /watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ)
Sara - Beta Reader (Tumblr icomparemyselftoyou)

Please comment so I know what you think! See you next time!

COMMENTS

Thank you to GalaxyGirl0917, Nibra Ha Rishon, PercabethPerzoeJeyna and ShadeFireDragon for favoriting this story!

FestusGirl

Great chapter. Loved the ending of part one by the way. Oh and are you still updating twice a week? :)
And RIP Harry. Poor Hermione and Ron.

I am still updating twice a week, I just screwed up. And I'm glad you liked the ending-full disclosure, this chapter and the last chapter used to be the same chapter, and these two chapters used to be a one-shot before I decided to write a full-on sequel. I just kept getting ideas and one-shots weren't cutting it anymore! But when it's not a one-shot, it has no right to be almost 6,000 words so I had to split it up. The ending was the best place I found to cut the piece, and I added Annabeth praying to her mom to give it something to go out on. So, I'm glad that actually worked.

ShadeFireDragon

Oh my goodness, Paul sounds scary now XD BEWARE THE BEING THAT IS NAMED PAUL

BEWARE THE BLOWFISH!

The Goode Ravenclaw

so the last chapter wasn't working on [FF], so I just literally went onto wattpad to read it because I couldn't wait to read this. I stopped my own writing so then I could read this!

oh my goodness I love Blaise and Hestia so much, they are so ***oblivious (which makes sense) and I love how Hermione explained everything to them! I really love how this is going so far

RIP Harry

It wasn't working? That's odd. Blaise and Hestia are the best, aren't they? I love writing for purebloods, they're so clueless it's adorable. Thanks for the compliments, and yes, RIP Harry. Your sacrifice brought peace to the Wizarding World.