Hey sorry it's been a while guys here's the next part. Please review.

Percy's P.O.V.

I rush out of Nico's cabin after giving some lame ass excuse, that makes me cringe at the thought of how bad I must have looked in both Jason's and Nico's point of view. I stop and shake my head, to clear my mind. Then I start walking, ok, running towards my cabin. I hear Jason call out my name when I am about half way to my cabin.

I start sprinting as fast as I can because I don't feel like dealing with whatever bull crap Jason wants to say. But being the asshole that he is, he just flies above me and gets to my cabin before me. I give up and slowly walk the few feet that are left.

"What do you want?" I snap at him, annoyed at how persistent he is. Jason just looks at me in a way that tells me that he is calculating what to say next. "What happened on Half-Blood Hill?" He asks, when he finally decides that the best way to ask me is bluntly. "Nothing! Nothing happened on Half-Blood Hill!" He just rolls his eyes."Whatever happened, I don't care. Just don't hurt Nico. He's so used to running away when he gets hurt; you might just lose him over something simple." He pauses. "There are so many factors to this that you don't know or understand."

I glare at him. Obviously I don't know him that well, but I'm going to. Even if it kills me, I will get to know Nico. Jason sighs out of frustration, to be honest, I'm frustrated too. "All I mean to say is be careful Percy. Be careful." With those last few words repeating in my head, he walks away.

I walk into my cabin and shut the door. Immediately everything goes silent. The words stop repeating, and my thoughts come to a screeching halt. I go over to my bed and sit down. I stare at the wall across from me, hoping that my thoughts will leave me alone.

But, of course, no such luck. My thoughts start racing, going and a million miles per hour, showing me a rerun of the day. How Cupid had pointed out all of my worst fears and made them worse. How Nico was prepared to take Cupid's arrow for me. Knowing it would be worse than the last time he had been shot.

Then the part of the day that caught my attention most. When I leaned in and hoped for the best, the moment that I almost kissed Nico.

I know what Cupid said is true. You can't lie to love. The truth is this, I don't love Annabeth anymore and I'm pretty sure she doesn't love me either. Another part of the bitter sweet truth is that I think I am gay, or at least bi. Because, if I am being honest, I think I have more than a crush on Nico.

The sad part about that is I don't even know if Nico likes me. He might have almost let me kiss him, and he might hace almost taken Cupid's arrow for me. But he might think he owes me, for all the times I saved his life. Even though, he has saved my sorry ass more times than I can count. Or he could have felt intimidated. I mean I am a child of the Big Three, but then again so is he. Or maybe he was too shocked to react. But, then again, he did start to lean into what I hope would have been an amazing kiss. But with my luck, that asshole, Jason walked in and ruined the whole thing.

Fuck, I think, I hate it when my thoughts contradict themselves. I mean, seriously, how much more fucking confusing can it get! I mean come on! It's literally an argument with yourself! How much worse could it get!

All I know for sure, is that I am glad it's Saturday. Because I don't have to leave my cabin, thank the gods. The reason I say that is that if I had to teach sword fighting right now, I would probably impale one of the campers. I'm just that distracted with my thoughts right now.

So luckily I get to be by myself and think, at least until dinner. But with my thoughts racing how they are, that won't take very long. Sure enough, the moment I think that I hear the signal for dinner. I walk out of my cabin and head towards the dining pavilion.

A nymph gives me a slice of blue pepperoni pizza, and I take a sip of my blue pepsi. I get up and sacrifice my favorite part, the crust, and ask the gods to help me sort out this mess of a life I have. Except for Hera, I think suddenly panicking, not wanting to disappear again. I calm my thoughts and sit down to finish eating.

When I finish my food, I leave quickly as possible. Heading towards the sword arena, wanting to decapitate some dummies with my sword. Knowing that when I go to the campfire, Annabeth will be acting super lovey dovey towards me. Then after words we will walk next to the beach near the woods. Annabeth will then perform a vanishing act into the woods with Piper. All so they can have, "girl talk," in private. I will be left with Jason to have a "conversation." That "conversation," will involve awkward stares into the distance and moving around to satisfy our ADHD.

I get to the arena and pull out riptide. I start slashing and stabbing. I finally decide to end the dummy's suffering and behead it. I go through three dummies in this manner before some dumbass puts their hand on my shoulder to get my attention.

I am still in attack everything mode so I turn around quickly and sweep my leg out intending bring their feet out from under them. But they hop over my leg and bring their sword down towards my neck. I quickly bring my sword up and block the strike. Then swing my sword at them.

At the moment I don't recognize this moron because I am too focused on taking this person down. All I know is that they are wearing a lot of black, to the point they look similar to a shadow. We then both step back and circle around each other once, before I make my move. I quickly step forward and make a stabbing motion, which they go to block leaving an opening on their other side. So my stabbing motion turns into a slice as I maneuver my sword around theirs. I then hit the person with the flat of my blade, which makes them jump a little. I use that to my advantage and stab at them before they land on the ground throwing them off balance.

I know it works just looking at the way they are standing, because now they have a bad center of gravity. I then sweep my leg out again before they can regain their balance. They stumble and start to fall sideways which would be the opposite off helpful. So I shove them hard enough that they land on their back and makes it hard to breath, but light enough so there isn't any real injuries.

I then pin them down by putting one of my legs on either side of them and then dropping down on my knees, so that I am barely hovering over them. I press my forearm against their neck (with more than necessary pressure I'll admit) and have my other arm ready, my sword ready to go.

They cough and try to speak taking a wheezy breath with each word. "So.. Not… Cool… Dude!" Their voice rips me back into reality because I realize who it is. The person I have pinned beneath me, is Nico Di Angelo.

The next thing I realize is that I, Percy Jackson, straddling NIco Di Angelo. My forearm is across his neck and my face is only inches away from his. For the third time that day. But, instead of letting go or moving. I freeze and look and him, scanning this whole scene. His dark hair looks a little sweaty at the roots and the rest is messily resting around his face.. His face slightly flushed from exercising and my forearm cutting off some of his air intake. His dark eyes are looking straight into mine, they are shinning happily. But they look, nervous too.

"Hey, uh… Percy? Do.. You think… You could… Maybe move… Your arm?" He wheezes. I then realize where and when I am, and remove of the pressure on his throat without moving my arm. I throw my sword a few feet away, then I place my newly freed hand next to his head. My body grows tired and I let myself relax a little. My body just barely hovering over Nico's body.

Now that I cooled down I smile and apologize. "Sorry, I didn't know it was you." He rolls his eyes and gives me a faint smirk. "Obviously!" He says sarcastically. "But for Hades's sake, pay more attention! One of these days you are going to seriously injure someone." I laugh and Nico's smirk turns into a smile. I stop laughing and just look at Nico's smile. It's a beautiful smile and it drives me insane because I have never seen a sexier smile. I then realize that the last time I saw him smile like this, was when he was younger. First coming to camp, so I just look at him and take in that beautiful smile.

"So ,what are you doing here? Other than trying to commit suicide by trying to sneak up on my while I am training?" I ask curiously. his smile fades a little. "Oh. Uh, I just.. You know what?" "What?" I ask tilting my head a little. "I don't know." Nico says. "I honestly have no clue."

"I kind of followed a silent call over here. I can't really explain it." The smile disappears from his face. "But when I saw you hacking away at those dummies, well, I knew something was wrong. And, well, I was and still am concerned because I don't like seeing you like that."

I don't know what to say, because those words are sweet, and the way he said them truthfully and nervously made them even sweeter. His face is flushed slightly because of embarrassment and all I want to do is tell him how cute, and how hot he looks. The best part is that he's not trying, he's just naturally this way. The way his hair just falls into place, his eyes gazing carefully into mine, and the cute pink glow on his usually pale cheeks. Then I realize what I need to say.

I am about to say it when Nico shifts one of his legs and accidently grazes my crotch. Knowing my voice will now be almost a dead giveaway, I hesitate. But then I realize, I need to tell him my voice being a give away or not. "Thank you for caring so much Nico." I tell him ignoring how my voice sounds rough. Nico blushes almost the second he hears my voice. "You're welcome, Percy." He say honestly before his voice starts to sound rough too. "Whether you have known it or not, I have always cared."

Those words send a chill down my spine in the best way making my back arch slightly and I gasp as quietly as possible. Trying to hide the fact I had such a strong reaction to his voice. But then he smirks and I know that he heard, I feel my cheeks heat up and I look away from Nico for a quick second. When I look back, Nico is smiling again. Which causes me to smile back, despite how embarrassed I feel, then the sound of footsteps and people talking ruins the moment.

I get up slowly, placing both my feet on one side of him. Then I put my hand out to help him up. Nico hesitates for a moment and then takes my hand. When he takes my hand, I try my hardest not to gasp at the shock of tingling electricity that just shot up my arm. Unfortunately, since I didn't gasp, I made a sort of squeak. NIco then gives me a funny as I help him to his feet.

Fuck, I think, what the fuck do I say to cover that up. But before I could say anything, NIco smirks. "Squeaking is not in your profile! You know that right? You are only allowed to make manly shouts!" As he talks he makes wild hand gestures, when he pauses he coughs and then continues his voice sounding deeper. "Do you understand? Huh, do you cupcake?" I smile realizing who he was impersonating. "I said!" Nico exclaims loudly. "Do! You! Under! Stand!" I nod as I laugh because he had just succeeded in sounding just like Coach Hedge. I think he also got shorter for a moment.

Nico just smiles until I stop laughing, and there is only one reason I stop laughing. I realize that I am still holding his hand. I don't have a problem with holding his hand. I'm just nervous that someone will walk in the arena and get the wrong idea. Or worse they'll figure it out and realize what is happening. Maybe even before I do.

So, reluctantly , I let go of Nico's hand and place that hand on the back of my neck. I can still feel the warmth of Nico's hand on mine, I actually feel like I am alone now. Even though all I did was let go of his hand, I mean he's still standing right in front of me. Something about my facial expression must have showed my confused, jumbled up emotions. Since Nico's smile to transform into a look of concern. "Percy?" He asks cautiously, like he is worried of becoming the next thing I decapitate.

"Thanks for earlier." I blurt out trying to get my thoughts and emotions off my chest. "What do you mean 'thanks for earlier'?" He asks me, his voice clearly telling me that he doesn't know where this conversation has gone or where it is going. "I mean, " I explain, " thanks for almost taking Cupid's arrow for me." Suddenly he snaps back into his usual self and looks at the ground. "It was nothing." He states calmly his voice sounding here with me, yet so far away in some hidden corner of his mind. "Cupid already hit me with his stupid arrow."

"Yeah," I say letting my emotions guide me, as I step forward putting my hand under his chin. Then applying a light force, I make him look me in the eye. "But," I continue explaining with his face only inches away from mine. "Cupid said that he had never shot anyone twice. " "Ha! He was bluffing." Nico replies in an overly confident tone. "I mean come on! People fall in love all the time." He makes overly dramatic air quotes at the word love.

"Yeah, but what if he meant true love. " I explain. "As cheesy as that might sound, I think that is what he meant. People get only one shot at true love." I pause for a brief moment before continuing, spilling some of my darkest thoughts out into the open. "He also meant that true love is only born in times of peace." I tell him in a defeated tone, Nico looks a little sadder than usual as I continue letting him listen to some off my darkest thoughts. "That love, that is true and meant to be, only grows and becomes stronger in time of war. But if it is not meant to be, it will be born in times of war. Then this love born in war, will easily shatter and fall apart when the war is over. When all has become peaceful." I say almost laughing at how poetic I sound at this moment. But despite wanting to just walk away, no run away, I force myself to only take a few steps back and continue speaking.

"That must be right, because everyone knows that love created during war, is still love. But it just can't survive after the war, when everything is calm. " I try to say it, but it comes out more like a question.

Nico sighs sadly and doesn't even try to hide the tear that is now running down his pale face. "Is this about Annabeth?" He asks me his voice shaking with concern. His voice, his concern, and that single tear still slowly tracing his face it all tears at my emotions, every single one that I have been hiding. The sorrow, the anger, all of it just breaks free in one chocked sob. I try to stop, but I no longer have full control of myself. To the point where I can only manage to cry silently, only a few tears falling from my eyes.

Nico takes a step forward and holds his arms out for me. I take a cautious step forward not wanting to let everything fall apart. Another tear runs down his face and it makes me cry a little harder. All I want to do is run into his arms and tell him everything despite the consequences. I feel like it would make everything just correct itself somehow, some way. But I resist the urge, still scared of the consequences. So I just stand there, crying and trying not to break down completely.

But as I see yet another tear roll down his face, it hurts me so bad that I take two steps toward him. Then stop one step short, realizing that in the end I could get hurt more than I already am if I am not careful. I am just about to step back again when Nico steps towards me and carefully wraps his arms around my waist. All I can do is wrap my arms around him, as he holds on to me. He pulls me closer to him with his arms and then rubs my back. As if he was trying to tell me through his actions that he is here for me. As long as I needed him, he would be here. Even if he asked me to stay forever, he would.

This unspoken message broke me and I started crying. Sobs, snot, and all. I just wish Annabeth would end it, I think. i just don't love her anymore. She obviously doesn't love me anymore either. I keep thinking as I cry. I pull my arms closer to me as I bury my face into the crook of his neck. Knowing that doing this is going end up hurting me, but even so I don't want to let Nico go. I just can't stop falling in love with him, and this fact makes me cry harder.

After what feels like forever, I start to calm down. Then after a few moments, my breathing returns to normal. I take deep breaths with my forehead resting in the crook of his neck. Ignoring the fact that I feel calm now, I stay in Nico's arms feeling safer this way. This moment just feels so perfect; I close my eyes and try to memorize everything. The way he smells is similar to a cold, crisp winter night with wilting rose petals blowing by on the breeze. The sound of his breath only mere inches away from my ear. The way his arms felt wrapped around me. The way my forehead fit perfectly in the crook of his neck, like two puzzle pieces placed together.

I take a deep breath as I think of what to do next, but I don't want to move. I feel like I could stay here like this forever. But I end up taking a step back, knowing I need to talk about why I broke down. I know what I am going to tell him. I am going to tell him my fears, my doubts, and if I find the courage to. My feelings for him.

"You guessed correctly. This whole thing, this whole mess, is about Annabeth. I hate this mess. I hate Cupid. All he did was make all of my fears, all of my doubts worse." I pause before admitting both my fear and a truth. "Nico I don't think she loves me anymore. But that's not the worst part, it's that I don't love her anymore. I haven't for a while." I look into Nico's dark eyes. "I don't know why it happened. It just... Happened."

"Do you know when it happened?" Nico asks me, sounding exhausted. " I think it was about two weeks ago, on the Argo two. Annabeth was sleeping with me in my room because this helped stop the nightmares of Tartarus. But one night, a nightmare reached Annabeth. That night she dreamed about our encounter with Misery." I know I sound lifeless, but I can't help it. I can't help it because every emotion has gone numb. I am just stating facts and avoiding emotion. I take a deep breath and continue. "She wanted me to say I'm sorry for what I did to Misery. That I regretted what I had done to Misery."

I look down at my feet, knowing that if I keep looking into his sad eyes I would break down again. "But, I don't." I explain. "I can't be sorry. What I did saved out lives. In my eyes Misery is just another monster that tried to kill us. So, I returned the favor by trying to kill her." As I finish saying that I look up at Nico, who is now looking at me with sympathy. "What did you do to Misery?" He asks me softly. I know he is only trying to help me, but I don't want to lose him too. So I look at him, and shake my head. "I don't want to lose you too. I have lost too much in this past year. I can't lose you too."

"You won't lose me, Percy." I just shake my head again. Nico takes a small step towards me. "Percy, I'm being serious. You won't lose me. I'm staying at Camp. Trust me. It will make you feel better. I promise it will. I promise I won't judge you for what you did. You also know that I won't tell anybody because I am a child of Hades." I laugh because that is actually funny and I am somewhat insane by now. Nico cracks a small smile before continuing, his face becoming serious again. "Lastly," he adds. "I am pretty sure I have seen far worse in the fields of punishment, and don't forget I went to Tartarus too." I slightly shudder from the two most hellish places that exist, knowing firsthand how hellish they can get. "So," he finishes, "Do you trust me?"

I do trust him, I have for a long time. So, I begin to tell him what happened that last day in Tartarus. "To get to the doors of death, we had to pass thousand of monsters unnoticed. To do that, we needed to be shrouded in a death mist. So, having no other option, we went to Misery. Who agreed to help us. But once we were covered in her death mist, she attempted to kill us." I look at Nico who looks like he wants to violently murder something before continuing. "She started attacking us with these poisons that oozed out of the ground. The poison was advancing at us from every direction. In a panic a took riptide out and tried to attack her. But because of her death mist we couldn't hurt her, while she could harm us easily."

I pause and take in a breath before reliving my part in that battle. "After a few seconds of pure fear, I thought that the poisons must have water in them. That if they did, I could possibly control them. Without any other ideas, I tried to control it by willing it to stop. When the poison stopped, I knew I could control it." A tear runs down my face because I am so scared of what Nico's reaction will be. But I am determined to give him a chance, and continue telling him what I did to end that battle.
"I made the poison encase Misery From the ground up to her shoulders. She started to scream the moment the mixed poisons touched her. She tried to escape, but the poison just followed her every move. Every moment her screams got louder and she cried even harder."

Another tear rolls down my face, the fear starting to get to me. "Out of vicious instinct, I controlled her tears. I – I started to drown her in her own tears." I glance at Nico sure that I have scared him, but he only looks slightly shocked. I know that the next part is probably the worst, but I continue anyways. "The only reason I stopped, is because Annabeth asked me too. Even then I didn't the first time she asked, and when I did stop it took everything in me to stop." I sigh, looking down at the ground. "That's what happened. That's what I did."

Nico takes a step towards me so that he is only inches away from me. He puts his hand under my chin and pushes my head up, so that I am looking him in the eyes. "You did what you had to." He says seriously. "Quite frankly, in my opinion, Annabeth should be grateful that you did that. If you hadn't done that Percy, you would both be dead. No one wants you guys to be dead. Percy, I – I," he stammers nervously before taking a deep breath and continuing. "Percy, I don't care what you had to do to stay alive. All that matters to me, is that you are alive. That you are living and breathing, right here, right now."

For a breathtaking moment, I think he is going to kiss me, which makes my whole mood a lot better. But instead he takes a step back, puts his hands in his pocket, and looks at the ground. "Thanks for not freaking the fuck out." I joke trying to get him to look at me. Which works and the moment he looks up I flash him a small smile, hoping he'll smile back. Luckily he doesn't leave me disappointed, and the smile he gives me makes my heart skip a beat.

"To be honest," Nico says. "I probably would have done something just as bad or worse to Misery. Especially, if I was placed in a situation similar to yours. Plus Misery is immortal; she has probably already recovered from that physically. God need a good scare now and a then." As soon as he says that I look up t the sky, expecting to see some lightning or something. But against all odds, the sky remained calm. I look at Nico, confused how there wasn't even a little thunder. He gives me a huge smile and says, "controlled weather." I laugh realizing that Zeus must be pissed, but can't do shit.

Nico smiles and looks like he might even laugh, when a familiar female voice ruins it all. "Hey, Percy! I've been looking for you everywhere! I should have known you would be in the sword arena!" I don't respond because I know it's Annabeth. Nico's smile immediately becomes a scowl. I have no clue why he ates her. I just know that it started after the Titan War and got worse after the Giant War.

"Hey!" Annabeth continues. "Seaweed brain! I'm talking to you! Earth to Perseus!" And that's when I snap because it's bullshit that she just used my full name. "What do you fucking want Annabeth?" "Damn." Annabeth says sounding annoyed. "Calm down. I just wanted to come get you for the campfire, so we can walk together." I shake my head, my anger deflating and turning into depression. "I don't feel like going. Can I take a raincheck?"

Annabeth tries to look hurt, probably to make me feel guilty so that I will go. But instead of hurt, she looks like she is panicking. Even though she looks like she is panicking, I still feel guilty for some reason. But I push the feeling down, determined to stand my ground. "But Percy," she whines. "All of our friends will be there. We made plans with them remember?" I thought I was angry before, but now I know what anger is. It's when you feel like you're about to explode: and right now, if I explode, I don't know what will happen.

"Well, Perseus Jackson?" Annabeth says, and I feel something inside of me snap and I can feel my rage burning inside of me. "No!" I yell putting my anger in every syllable. "No, Annabell Chase! I don't." Annabeth looks both shocked and confused. But I continue still furious, still not giving two fucks. "I don't remember any plans! I don't make plans! Jason doesn't make plans! You and Piper make plans! Then any plans," I make angry air quotes, "'we' make, end up being you and Piper hanging out in the woods!"

"Usually that's not a problem!" I yell. "But I get dragged along with your little plans! Then I am stuck with Jason trying to have some sort of decent conversation!" I throw my arms up in frustration, my hands then form fists as I continue yelling. "Trust me, I can't get him to talk much! All because you and Piper throw us into an awkward situation!" I take a deep breath and speak spitefully through my teeth. "Since that is what always happens how about you and Piper go have your hangout? You can send Jason over here. Then we'll actually have something to do." Annabeth looks like she is about to cry. Nico looks uncomfortable because he is shifting his weight from side to side and is biting his bottom lip.

So once again I am forced to be the fucking peace keeper, leaving me with no choice. I am forced to got to the campfire. But I refuse to leave this soon. I sigh before making my compromise. "Annabeth start heading to the campfire. I'll go, but I need to finish my conversation with Nico." She doesn't like it, I can tell. But honestly, I don't give a fuck. When she seed that I'm serious she says, "fine. We have a deal. I better see you there." She then storms out of the sword arena like a fucking brat. But even when she leaves, I wait a little while.

As I wait I form an apology in my head and then I sigh before I start apologizing. "Sorry, I didn't mean for you to see that." I am completely unsure of what he is going to say, which makes me nervous. I rub the back of my neck, hoping to find comfort in this nervous tic. I wait for him to yell or scream. Maybe even run away again, despite what he told me. But instead he does the last thing I expect, he laughs. He laughs and it just sounds amazing. There's literally no comparison to how amazing it sounds. People say, "oh, his laugh was music to my ears." No bitch, it's better than that. It is fucking ambrosia to my ears. It heals me in ways that ambrosia can't. It's slowly healing my broken heart.

"Percy!" I hear Nico say and it snaps me back to reality. "You've got to be kidding me! You just put Annabeth in her fucking place!" He laughs some more before continuing. "Acting like she knows everything. Oh my fucking gods! I wouldn't have missed that shit for a million dollars!" I crack a smile and enjoy the sound of his laugh. Then out of nowhere he stops laughing and frowns. "You should probably head over to the campfire." My smile drops as he says that. My hopes are crushed as I try to find a way out of going. When an idea pops in my head, I go for it. It's crazy, but I'll try anyways.

"You could come with me." I say as I look at him hopefully. But to my disappointment, he shakes his head. "Campfires just aren't my style. I'm sorry." He says sincerely. "Plus I don't like large crowds of people. Most of the time, they don't like me either." I nod understanding what he means.
Alright, see you later Nico."

"See you later Percy. Maybe we can hang out another time." With that he disappears into a shadow. Meaning that I am left alone those last few words repeating in my head, and I smile a huge ass cheesy grin. Then I remember that I have to got to the sing along and deal with some bullshit. But even that can't ruin my mood. Because all I can think about is Nico. How he smells similar to a cold winter night with wilting rose petals blowing by on the wind. How his laugh heals me and makes me feel better than ambrosia.

To be honest, if Nico was a drug. I would be more than addicted to him, I would be depending on him to live. I still wish Annabeth would end it though because she would know how to end it better. It would still hurt, just not as much. Then I would try to tell Nico about my feelings for him.

Oh, Nico. I think, you are so sweet, yet you make everyone think you are only tough and distant. I need him, but he doesn't know. Not yet, but someday he will. These thought make me smile as I walk to the campfire.