When Piper and Leo left the room everyone had dissipated throughout the house. Hazel and Frank were with Jason and Annabeth and Percy were in the kitchen, having their alone time.

"I think I'm gonna talk with Jason for a while k Leo?" Piper said.

"Yeah, go ahead Piper..." Leo replied, a warm smile on his face.

Piper left, leaving Leo alone, then a thought came to him, where is Nico?

Leo preceded to walk around the house till he found Percy's room. Nico was there, sitting on the bed, staring out the window.

"So, going for that whole lonely goth teenager look?" Leo asked, snapping Nico from his thoughts.

"So, what did you and Piper talk about?" Nico said, he was so quick to the point Leo flinched.

"Oh you know, stuff like 'oh Leo, you're so awesome!' and 'Leo you're so funny', the usual." Leo smirked.

Nico only sighed and shifted his attention back to the night sky.

"Do you think that if you stare at them long enough you'll become one?" Leo asked, sitting down next to Nico.

"The gods do make some of their heroes into constellations." Nico replied, shifting his gaze to Leo, hiding the sad look in his eyes.

Maybe I do like him, I don't know. Nico's gaze went to Leo's chest, observing how his shirt hung loosely off him. His gaze traced Leo's exposed arms, they weren't large, but he could see the small muscles. Leo fidgeted with his fingers in his lap as Nico observed him.

"Stop staring at me, it's like you're gonna look straight through me." Leo said through a blush.

Nico turned away, "don't flatter yourself, I was looking past you at the door."

"Really?" Leo leaned in and blocked Nico's eyes, "what was hanging on the back of the door?" Leo asked.

"... Leo, get off me."

"Not until you say what was on the back of the door."

"A hoodie..."

"Nope"

"A backpack?"

"Wrong again, last try."

"A picture?"

"Nope." Leo smirked, removing his hands.

Nico looked at the door to find nothing there.

"Asshole..." Nico mumbled.

"Sorry, off limits." Leo replied smirking.

"Eww, who would want that?"

"I don't know, maybe a certain death obsessed demigod who happened to roughly kiss me in a closet."

"I'm not obsessed with death..." Nico retorted in almost a pout.

"Really? Mr. Skulls for accessories, come on, you don't exactly hide your father's influence too well."

Nico pouted, Leo did have some sort of point there. Happy peppy clothes just weren't Nico's thing. He liked dark colors, finding comfort in the way that they made him almost vanish.

"So did you come in here just to annoy me or did you come here for a reason?" Nico inquired.

"No reason really, everyone was hanging out with someone, well everyone except you..." Leo replied.

Nico felt his heart clench, "well, why don't you hang out with everyone too? I'm used to being alone."

"You shouldn't be."

What did Leo mean by that? It's normal for me to be alone like this. It happens to people, I don't have a problem with this. I'm used to being alone. Nico visibly frowned at these thoughts. Do I want to be alone? Nico was puzzled with himself for a moment, no, I don't want to be alone. But, who would ever love me?

"Hey Leo.."

"Yeah?"

"Are you lonely?"

Nico looked up just in time to see Leo pull back, a pained expression visible for a moment before it was replaced by a laugh.

"Me, lonely? Why would you think that?" Leo asked back, laughing harder.

Nico stared at him a few moments, "no, I don't think that, I know that."

Leo stopped laughing, he was almost frozen, then slowly he shifted into a smile, not a normal smile, this was a smile that said he was close to breaking, "what do you mean Nico?"

"You are lonely," Nico moved closer to him, but Leo pulled away, "we're not so different when we really stop and look are we? You just bottle up the way you feel... waiting for it to explode like one of your machines."

"Stop."

"No, Leo, that's your fatal flaw. Even Hephaestus had this problem, you need to stop hiding behind your smile."

Leo sat on the bed, his eyes seemingly glazed over as if in thought before saying, "suppose you're right? What, do you get a medal? Some satisfaction or whatever? Why do you care?" Leo glared at him, as if it would make Nico go away.

"Nothing like that Leo... I... I just want to help you not feel as alone as I felt. No one likes that feeling."