The next morning Percy was furiously digging. He stomped on the shovel and scooped up the dirt, flinging it over his shoulder. The smell was adding to his guilt. Nico always had a lightly traceable scent of dirt to him. Percy hadn't slept all night after what had happened. When he did manage to doze off between his waves of guilt he had nightmares about Nico coming back as it was happening.

Suddenly water started to pour into the hole he had been digging for another camp sign. He looked up and realized that it was raining. He watched the water swirl into the dirt and as he did a thought occured to him. Like a child, he crouched down and shoved both hands into the mud and concentrated hard on his (ex?)boyfriend. Percy found that he had a difficult time remembering what his lover looked like. Why? He'd been gone 3 months, sure, but how could he forget? Still, he concentrated. He felt nothing, saw nothing. He sighed and stood up. The rain was coming down harder now. No point in continuing to dig if it was just getting flooded. He took the shovel back to the shed and rinsed his hands in the water pouring down from the edge of the roof before retreating back to his cabin.

Cameron was laying on his bed, listening to the rain. He felt that it was very poetic for his mood at the moment. Percy probably hated him now. It had been worth it, though. Percy had kissed him back! Even if it was just that one time, Cameron had gotten to hold him. He was so happy he wasn't sure what to do, but then he'd get sad again thinking of what Percy was going through.

"I'm a terrible person." he had said.

No no, Percy was a wonderful person. Cameron had always wondered why he had settled on the son of Hades as a lover. He deserved someone so much better.

Cameron was pulled from his bed and he was slammed against the wall. He felt cold wet hands on his throat and when he focused black eyes were looking at him with pure hatred. Nico was covered in mud and ash and the rain had soaked him.

"Did you tell him?!" Nico was shouting at him, slamming the blonde's head against the wall.

"What?"

The hands around Cameron's throat squeezed tighter, "Did you tell him it was you?"

"Of course not."

"What is your problem? What did I do to you?"

Cameron rolled his eyes and then pushed Nico with all of his strength. Nico hadn't expected it and fell back.

"I'm not the only one keeping secrets from Percy." Cameron said before lunging at the other man.

"Percy, sir, something weird is happening." A young camper was pulling at his shirt, trying to drag him outside. This wasn't the first time this scenario had occured. Usually it was an older kid putting candy up his nose or something, so Percy wasn't rushing very much.

"Come on! The mud monster is going to eat him!" the camper said, now pulling on his arm. That caught Percy's attention and he ran the rest of the way out of the cabin. He followed the gathering crowd to where he had been digging earlier. It was still raining and the entire area had turned to mud. He worked through the crowd until he got to the front. Percy felt his heart drop into his stomach and then leap back up when he saw Nico and Cameron fighting. They were both covered in mud, but Nico also appeared to have black ashes all over him. When the two sensed Percy's presence they turned, pausing the fight. Nico threw something at Percy, shouting at him to keep it safe. Percy picked it up out of the mud. It was a large glass marble of some kind. When he looked up again he saw Cameron withdrawing his blade from Nico's torso. When had they brought out weapons?

Nico spit out the blood leaking into his mouth from his punctured lung and pulled out his Stygian blade. He knew Cameron was better with swords than he was, so he would just have to be faster, more clever. He blocked a move and made to kick Cameron's leg, but he slipped in the mud and nearly took another stab in the gut. He was already light-headed from bleeding and lack of oxygen. This wasn't going to turn out well.

"Aren't you going to tell him?" Cameron asked, swiping his sword at the other man's face.

Nico answered with a swipe of his blade, managing to cut Cameron's arm. His blade wasn't big enough to get to any ligaments, but it had at least drawn a lot of blood and distracted Cameron long enough for Nico to succeed in his next attempt to trip him up. Cameron fell face first into the mud and Nico took the opportunity to sit on his back. He wasn't a dirty player, so he didn't stab him. He did attempt to rid Cameron of his sword, but Cameron was faster. He bucked Nico off and then twisted around, catching Nico on his shoulder.

Percy watched in horror. He knew he should stop this fight, but it was as though he was cemented in place. He had a terrible feeling that this fight would end in either one or two fatalities and he just wished he could close his eyes and not know about it.

"Tell him."

Percy looked up. Nico had Cameron on his knees facing the crowd with one hand full of Cameron's hair and the other held his blade at Cameron's throat. When Cameron swallowed the blade cut into his skin. The blonde mumbled something at Percy, but the warrior couldn't understand it. Nico moved the blade just barely away from Cameron's throat and he repeated it.

"I tried to get rid of Nico."

A hush fell over the crowd of campers watching and Percy's brain came to a halt.

"I sent Brian and Garrett for him. I sicked the hydra after him. I poisoned his fruit..." Cameron paused and Percy thought he must be finished until he spoke again, "I tried to make him stop loving you. Fucked with his mind every time he closed his eyes. I sent him away. How the fuck did you get back?" he asked, leaving Percy's horrified stare to look at Nico.

"He loves me." Nico said simply, kicking at the mud, "Anything else?"

Cameron smirked, but Nico didn't see it, "You want to know why?" he asked Percy.

"Yes." Percy said quietly, not entirely certain of his answer.

"Because Nico doesn't deserve you. All he is is lies and darkness. It's not just that, it's not right. You two just don't go together!" he started shouting frantically, "I needed to make things right."

Percy hadn't realized that he was crying until he spoke, "*You* are lies and darkness. Nico has never lied to me!" at least, at that moment he couldn't think of a time his lover had lied to him.

Cameron smirked again and looked up at Nico. Nico had no idea as to what the blonde was referring to, but he was on edge for what the warrior would say. Suddenly his feet were moved from under him with Cameron's body and he found himself dodging the sword he knew he should have thrown out of the other man's reach. As they fought Cameron continued to rant, "You always take things away from me!"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Nico said, finally dislodging Cameron's sword and kicking it deep into the mud beneath their feet. He grabbed Cameron's arm and spun him into his smaller body, placing the blade at his neck again, "Percy knows everything."

"Nope." Cameron said with a strange resolution. He found Percy again in the crowd and locked gazes, "You weren't really his first guy." after a dramatic pause Cameron continued hysterically, "He killed Bobby and took him away from me. I don't want that to happen to you, Percy. I don't want you to die because of him." he jerked his arm and once again turned on Nico, who fell backward into the mud. Cameron's hands were around his throat, "Which is why you need to die. You won't kill anyone else after I kill you. I don't need a sword to do it." He was about to laugh when Nico's blade slid across his throat. Blood splashed onto the small warrior beneath him and the light left Cameron's eyes before his body fell into the mud. The crowd watched in morbid shock and fascination as red mixed in with the muddy water flowing across the ground.

All eyes then turned on Nico as lay there in horror. He pushed Cameron's body off of himself and stood up, dropping his blade as if it had burned him. He wiped his hands on his shirt, but the blood wouldn't come off. As everyone stared the blood turned black and seemed to spread up Nico's arms like soot. Nico started madly wiping his hands, making terrible freaked out noises. Carefully Percy approached him, refusing to look at the dead body of Cameron, which was now laying face up and throat open. Nico looked up at him, "I'm sorry Percy." he whispered, "Come with me and I'll explain everything."

"Is it true?" Percy blurted out.

Nico looked at the crowd that was starting to come closer. All eyes were blaming him. "Percy, come with me, please!" he said desperately, looking like a caged animal searching for an exit.

"Is what he said true?" Percy shouted. He couldn't control his emotions right now and didn't care if people stared.

"Yes. Kind of. Shit, just come with me and I'll explain!" Nico held out his hand.

"N-No. I don't think I can do that." Percy said in a hurt and defeated tone.

Nico let his hand drop and looked at the crowd again. They had stopped long enough to hear what he had to say, but the weapons in their hands told him that now was the time to leave. He looked at Percy one last time, "Regardless, I love you." he said before darting past the crowd and into the shadow of a tree.

"Percy-" Annabeth started, touching the warrior's shoulder. He yanked it away.

"Just shut up right now!" he then got quiet, "Someone move Cameron's body while I contact his family." he then walked away with everyone at camp staring after him.

A few days later Percy was staring out of his window, watching students leave camp now that summer was over. As the main guy around camp, he knew he should have been outside bidding them farewell, but he just couldn't do it. Some parents had gotten their children early after the incident. So many questions that he didn't have the answer to. He was also tired of people telling him that it wasn't his fault. They all blamed Nico, regardless of the fact that Cameron had turned out to be psychotic on a number of levels. Regardless... that word brought back the memory of Nico's last words to him. "Regardless, I love you." Percy sighed and looked away from the window. He hated all of these feelings.

Percy had hated to contact Cameron's family, but it turned out that they were strangely calm about it. Percy was somewhat relieved to not have to deal with their emotions, but it also made him incredibly sad. Perhaps that was why Cameron was the way he was. He'd never learned to deal with his feelings in a normal way. Percy still couldn't believe it all. How could so much have happened to Nico and he hadn't known? He should have realized. Then again, Nico had never said anything. He never said anything until it was too late, Percy thought. Their relationship was so flawed. He began to wonder where Nico was; what he was thinking, what he was doing. Strangely Cameron's last words weren't bothering him as much as he thought they should have. Maybe he wasn't surprised. Nico hadn't been very shy for a virgin. Maybe he didn't believe it. Nico had said, "Kind of." That meant there was more to the story. He sighed again and got up to lay down. He had enough people watching for the day.

As Percy made his way down the hall he felt strange. His head felt light; perhaps he had stood up too quickly. He blinked his eyes as they became blurred. As he blinked he noticed shapes that weren't in his cabin. Yellow flowers and a person. Two people. His body ached as he fought them off in his mind. Percy's stomach felt nauseous and his head ached as though it had been hit. He felt a blade slice his forearms open as he used them to cover his face. As he lost blood and consciousness he fell and the two blurred bodies increased their fervor, opening his stomach and finally his throat felt warm as one made his final blow, then everything went quiet and dark.

Percy woke up in his hallway, which was now dark from the absence of the sun. His stomach still turned but his head had cleared. As he caught his breath he felt Nico's name on the tip of his tongue. He knew that everything he had seen had been real. He had to find Nico now. He quickly found himself in the stables, getting BlackJack ready for a ride. Yellow flowers. He knew where they were.

Morning frost still covered the ground where Nico's body lay. Dark eyes, aphotic with death, stared up at nothing and his body bent stiffly in a horrible death pose. Blood splatter marred the mossy decaying walls and congealed on the yellow petals of Nico's precious sunflowers. Percy choked on the dense copper scent in the air as his body convulsed in a disbelieving gasp.

He knelt down next to Nico's body and smoothed the hair from his forehead. His skin was cold, but then it always had been. Percy tried to put Nico's arms down, but the joints were stiff and he was afraid he would break them. He wished he could remember what all of those crime dramas on TV had told him about determining time of death. He needed to know how close he was to saving Nico, not that he had known that he needed to. In his shocked state Percy continued to try and make the corpse of his lover look more rested. He straightened his clothing and retied one of his shoes. He took his jacket off to give Nico a pillow. He carefully cleaned the dried blood off of that pale, pale skin, his stomach turning when it revealed huge bruises and gashes. He desperately wished for the body to go slack. The way Nico's back twisted looked unnatural, and Percy wondered when it had been broken. With that thought a gasping sob cut through the dead silence of the abandoned building.

"Nico..." Percy said in a shaking voice as he smoothed the dark curls from his lover's forehead again, "I should have come with you. I'm sorry I left you alone." He pulled the cold, stiff body closer and started to rock with it, "Oh Nico. I can't handle this! I wasn't ready!" As he rocked with the body it slowly began to go slack, as if the motion were working the stiffness out. When Percy felt it he stopped and laid Nico down, finally closing those dead eyes and folding his arms. He picked a clean sunflower from the corner and placed it under one of Nico's cold cold hands. Nico looked a bit like Snow White just then, with his pale skin and black hair. Percy sat for a moment, staring and whispering incoherent things. Then he began to wonder what to do with the body. He didn't want to be the one to tell Hades. Surely he already knew?

Arachnae, he suddenly remembered. He got up and slowly backed out of the room before darting down to room XIII. He felt sick again when he saw the floor covered in gold dust. Whoever had killed Nico had planned it out. He quickly ran back to Nico, half afraid that the body had disappeared. He choked on his breath when he saw Hades standing there. His dark eyes were difficult to read, and the similarity to Nico's stare made chills run down Percy's spine. He looked up at the warrior standing in the doorway.

"Percy. Come here."

Percy obeyed, nervously biting his lip, not sure of what to say.

Hades knelt down and smoothed Nico's hair from his face again before motioning for Percy to kneel as well.

"Did he give you anything and tell you to keep it safe?" Hades asked, studying the condition of Nico's body with a strange cold calculation.

"Yeah. How'd you know?" Percy asked, feeling the marble in his pocket.

Hades gave him a look, "Really Percy?"

Percy swallowed his retort and pulled out the marble. Hades took it and studied it for a moment before giving it back.

"Put it in his mouth." he commanded.

"What?" a startled Percy asked.

"Put the bloody marble in his mouth, boy."

The younger man did as he was told, feeling as if he were desecrating something sacred.

"Make sure it goes down his throat." Hades said, motioning for Percy to use his fingers to shove the marble further. Percy's stomach turned as he obeyed, really hoping that Hades would tell him why.

"Your fingers are too short. You will have to blow it down."

"You can't be serious. What are we doing?"

"Just obey me, Percy. Put your hand on his throat wound before you do it; I'm not sure of how deep it is."

Hades was at least patient enough to give Percy a moment to prepare before performing the twisted form of CPR on Nico's dead body. Percy wasn't sure what to feel when he noticed that doing so didn't feel much different from kissing the boy when he was alive. He heard it more than anything when the marble started to travel down Nico's trachea, then he felt the resistance change as it moved down further.

"You can stop." Hades said after a moment and Percy didn't hesitate to obey. He was going to ask what the fuck was going on when Hades told him just to watch. Color slowly began to bleed across Nico's monochromatic form and his wounds began to heal. Percy's heart was pounding as he realized what was happening. Suddenly Nico coughed and blood splattered Percy's knees. Hades turned Nico's stiff body over as he continued vomiting up body fluids, primarily blood and stomach acid. It would have been disgusting if Percy hadn't been preoccupied with the fact that Nico was alive. When Nico was at last finished he collapsed, landing partially in the puddle he had created.

"Nicolas." Hades said. Nico opened his eyes. Still dark, but now shining with life.

"Braaaaainsss." Nico rasped and Percy was about to flip out when Hades chuckled. Most inappropriate thing to say ever at that moment.

"Good. He still has personality." Hades said, picking Nico up in his arms. Percy imagined Hades holding Nico as a baby as the small man sort of cuddled against Hades in half-sleep. He wondered if his own father had held him as a child. "Better get him cleaned up." Hades said, bringing him out of his thoughts.

"May I come?" Percy asked. He couldn't leave Nico again so soon.

"Very well." Hades said before touching Percy's shoulder and disappearing into shadow.

Percy carefully helped Nico clean up in the bathtub. His joints were still stiff and he couldn't move very well. He also kept falling asleep. No wonder. Coming back to life probably took a lot of energy. Percy couldn't tell what Nico was thinking. His eyes had a tripped out vacancy and Percy wondered if he would even remember anything. He laid awake all night while Nico slept. He watched, fascinated at how Nico never moved in his sleep. If the sheets weren't rising and falling with every breath Percy would assume the boy was dead again. Finally Nico blinked his eyes open and looked over at the young man in his desk chair. Without speaking, Nico held his hand out. Percy came forward and held it. Nico's eyes looked normal again as they darted across Percy's face. Neither were sure of what to say. "Hey, thanks for bringing me back to life." "Oh no problem." Nothing seemed appropriate. Percy took a chance and kissed Nico. When their lips parted Nico licked his and Percy's mind raced as he remembered that Nico didn't know he had kissed Cameron. Did he know now? Had he tasted it?

"We should go for a walk." Nico said in a weak whispering voice. His wounds had healed, but as he sat up he moved as if he were still hurting from them. Percy helped him out of bed and it was then that he noticed something. There were strange black marks on Nico's skin where his wounds had healed. Percy was going to ask about them, but then he decided against it for the moment. Sensing Percy's stare, Nico put on a red zip-up hoodie before heading out of his room, Percy following behind. He watched Nico's robes as the shadowy hem glided across the stone floor.

They walked in silence. Percy sensed a distance from Nico. It didn't feel like the boy was angry or anything, but it still bothered Percy. They walked for what seemed like miles until Nico stopped at a shoreline. He stepped into the water and Percy panicked; you just couldn't trust Underworld waters. Nico turned and smiled at Percy's face.

"Relax, Percy. This is just an underground spring." he pointed upward where a tiny hole was letting light and drips of water in. He unzipped the hoodie and threw it to the stony shore. Percy tentatively stepped into the water. The water was the perfect temperature. Nico was sprinkling water on his arm with his hand, "Check me out; I have tattoos now."

"Yeah, I was going to ask about those."

"Nemesis marked me for what happened. Now I won't ever be able to pretend that I didn't kill her son, and everyone will know. I bet my dad had a right fit about it."

"Actually, that was probably a compromise between the two. She is all about just desserts and stuff."

Nico turned to Percy, "Two of her other sons KILLED me, and I still got branded? What kind of just desserts are those?"

Percy blushed. He said stupid things sometimes.

"I'll never get the blackness off." Nico said to himself, trying to rub the smokey black "tattoos" from his skin anyway.

"Nico come here." Percy said, sitting on the shore. Nico came over and sat next to him, not too close, though. "What was it like to die?" Percy asked quietly. Sure, he had felt it, but it had to be different to actually die, right?

Nico shrugged, "For me it was just like sleeping."

"You didn't like, see the light or anything?"

"Nope. My soul didn't go anywhere. You had it in your pocket."

Percy wiped his hand, feeling strange at having handled someone's soul so flippantly.

"So you knew what was going to happen?"

Nico nodded, "Sooner or later it was going to happen. After Cameron poisoned me I came up with a plan. My dad taught me how to cheat death, but it can only happen once. You just have to find a safe place to keep your soul. Can't keep it there for very long. They do have an expiration date."

"Weird. That's also kind of gross."

"I could have put it into the form of green gelatin. Would that have been better?"

Percy blushed, feeling dumb, "No."

"So you do know I can't ever go back to your camp, right?"

"It looked like Cameron made you do it, though."

"Do you really think that matters? Everyone thinks I'm just a jealous lover."

Percy stayed quiet. As he did he felt words scratching at the inside of his lips. Now was the time to talk about everything.

"Was it true, what he said?"

Nico looked away, "I already told you it kind of was."

"Well tell me what 'kind of' means."

"No. You won't like me anymore."

"You do realize that I had to blow a marble down your dead throat, right?"

Nico laughed nervously, "Yeah, I guess that's true. Fuck, how do I explain this?" he played with a string on his jacket and Percy laid his hand on the other man's to calm him. Nico sighed, "Did you ever meet that Bobby kid from the Ares cabin at camp Half-Blood?"

Percy shrugged, "I don't really remember him."

"Well I do. He was maybe kind of my first boyfriend I guess? I was like 14 or 15, so it doesn't really count as anything. Anyway, we used to hang out and had gotten to experimenting with each other before that gorgon ate him."

"How far did you go?" Percy asked. Strangely, he didn't feel angry about it.

"Umm... downstairs outdoorsies? No no, I think I remember holding his uh... yeah once, but I got freaked out."

"So weren't you sad when he got- uh, when he left?"

Nico looked up at Percy, "Of course I was. I just didn't say anything. It-it was my fault."

"How was it your fault he got eaten?"

Nico looked down at his bare feet, "We had a fight that day. Some other guy had written him a love note and I got jealous, but he said I couldn't be jealous because nobody knew we were even messing around. I told him that nobody could know, and he got all upset and ran away and got himself eaten that same night."

Percy stared for a moment before speaking, "How did I not know any of this? Why didn't you talk to me about it?"

"I wasn't about to tell someone that I was fooling around with another guy. I was totally freaked out about everything."

"... I would have understood."

Nico grabbed Percy's hand and kissed it, "Percy, I didn't want you to know I had blood on my hands. I didn't want you to know I was dirty."

"Fine. It just frustrates me so much that you don't tell me anything. I mean, you fucking died because you never told me what Cameron was doing. Do you even realize how much that hurts?" Percy couldn't stop the parade of words from coming out of his mouth.

"I'm sorry okay! I just didn't want you worrying about me, and I didn't want to take your friend away."

"I'm always worrying because I never know what's going on. Whenever you disappear I never know how long you'll be gone. This last time I thought you were already dead, and do you know what happened?" Shit, he hadn't wanted to tell Nico this way.

Nico sensed something, "What happened?" his heart ached as he already guessed.

"Fuck. I kissed Cameron. Well, at first he kissed me and I didn't like it, but then he kept doing it and he was so warm and inviting and I suddenly couldn't stop and it just... I don't know, it was weird because I wanted to push him away and keep waiting for you, but at the same time I wanted him to keep going so that I could know what it felt like to be with someone who would be around the next day." By the end Percy was pretty much yelling at the smaller man.

Nico just stared and blinked his wide eyes a few times until a sigh betrayed him. Tears fell from the dark eyes and he looked away, looking more shocked and hurt than anything. He took a few moments to compose himself before he spoke, "You had every right, Percy." he said, and Percy somehow felt cut deeper than anything else Nico could have said, "I've been a terrible boyfriend."

"It's not all your fault." Percy said softly, "I mean, Cameron had you trapped."

"I"m still away from you more than I should be." Nico picked up a rock and squeezed it before slamming it back down on the beach, "Fuck!" he said, rubbing his chest.

Now Percy started to cry. It was as if he could literally see Nico's heart breaking. "Nico, I-"

"We should have done this so long ago." Nico sobbed.

Percy's heart dropped, "Done what? What are you talking about?" he asked, already knowing.

"We can't do this anymore, Percy. We've started hurting each other, and that's not right."

Percy sniffled, "But I love you."

"I love you too, but sometimes that's not enough."

"Who says?"

"Percy." Nico said sternly.

"Whatever."

They sat in silence for a moment, then Percy got up and headed to the water. He needed his comfort. He more or less dove in once he got in deep enough. He stayed underneath the cool water as long as he could. He liked the silence. It helped him think. Had he just been dumped, or was it a mutual thing? Much as he hated it, he couldn't bring himself to fight it. Deep down he really did understand why this needed to happen. When he rose to the surface he found two black eyes staring at him from just above the water. Nico moved his head up more to breathe, but otherwise stayed silent. Suddenly Percy needed his other comfort, just this one last time. He swam forward and kissed Nico. Nico looked nervous when their lips parted, but then he leaned forward and kissed Percy back. Percy held Nico's body up as they kissed, making sure Nico wouldn't fall into the water. When their lips parted Percy continued to kiss down Nico's jaw and further. His heart dropped when he realized this was the last time he would hear that perfect noise that Nico made when Percy kissed that spot on his neck. He hated to, but he had to let Nico go for a moment while they removed their clothing. He let his clothes sink in the water; he could find them later. What were they doing? He didn't care.

Nico wrapped his legs around Percy's waist and his arms around the other man's neck before kissing him. They shared in a few deep, desperate kisses before Percy reached down and positioned himself. He watched Nico's face as he slid inside. Oh fuck, that face that he'd never see again. Nico's nails dug into his shoulders and he knew he would even miss that. Nico buried his face in Percy's neck for a moment before Percy laid him down. Nico hadn't even noticed that they were near the shore again until he was laying in an inch of water, looking up at Percy nervously.

"Just trust me." Percy said before starting to move. Nico's head dipped backward and he held onto Percy's shoulders tightly to keep his head above the water. The older warrior shrugged and whispered, "It's okay, Nico. I won't let you drown."

Nico looked at him and forced himself to relax. He trusted Percy. He felt his head hit wet sand, and that was all. He could feel the waves hitting his body, but not his face. He suddenly had doubts about his decision to end the relationship. Percy cared about him so much; how could he throw that away? No, he reminded himself. Love just wasn't enough. He pulled Percy down for a kiss and put all of his passion into it. When their lips parted Percy looked down at Nico knowingly. Nico shuddered at the way Percy seemed to be able to read his mind. Percy shifted his weight and both were reminded of what they were doing. Nico gasped at the friction and moved into a comfortable position. Percy kissed Nico sweetly and started a slow rhythm. He wanted this to last as long as possible. Nico's arms wrapped around him and goosebumps sprang up onto his skin. As he kissed the younger man he could feel Nico's breath on his ear, quietly gasping his name.

As the two became lost in each other's pleasure Percy used his power to manipulate the water surrounding them. He concentrated on making the water run across Nico's skin, ever so lightly. Nico whimpered and his legs closed tighter on Percy's hips as the extra stimulation washed over him. Percy had always wanted to try that. Nico gasped the taller warrior's name and Percy knew that he could easily take him over the edge if he wanted to. He slowed the water down and Nico groaned, sounding somewhat grateful between the frustration. Seemed that he wanted it to last as well.

"Nico." Percy said quietly and pet the smaller man's hair.

"Percy." Nico answered before kissing him slowly.

"I love you so much." Percy said in a heartbroken tone as he pushed in and out of the body beneath him.

"I love you too." Nico panted.

They moved together for what seemed like hours. Neither wanted to face the end, but oh they wanted to feel it. Nico pulled Percy's body close and kissed him as if he would never stop. Percy increased his speed and Nico's grip became tighter. The son of Poseidon lost control of the water surrounding them and Nico felt the water creep back up below him. The motion of the water added momentum to Percy's movements and Nico had to stop kissing the other man to gasp his pleasure, choking on the water splashing up. Percy panicked, but Nico told him to keep going. He watched Nico's face and wanted to keep making him feel that way as long as he could. All too soon he felt Nico's muscles contracting around him and he lost it as well, panting Nico's name.

Percy stared up at the dark cavern above him. No wonder Nico felt claustrophobic after a while. He looked over and saw that Nico had crawled up onto the sand to avoid the water. He laid on his side, watching Percy, then he laid on his back and Percy saw his body shaking.

"Oh Percy, I think I'm dying again."

Percy quickly got up and went over to Nico. He looked just fine, but he was rubbing at his chest.

"You're not dying, Nico. I feel the same way too." Percy said and laid next to his ex-lover. They both stared up at the cavern until their emotions were back under control.

"So what exactly happened?" he asked.

"Hmm?" Nico looked at him, half asleep already.

"I still don't understand why Cameron wanted to kill you."

Nico's eyes blinked with a new alertness, "Cameron may have been the child of Nemesis, but he was human; his judgement was flawed. He let his emotions decide what was fair. He knew about Bobby somehow, and because he liked you, he latched onto the information and got it into his head that I was a liar."

"You're not a liar. You just withhold information completely."

Nico gave Percy a hurt look, but didn't say anything to the contrary. He knew it was true.

"So what did regardless mean?" Percy asked, saving Nico from his berating thoughts.

"Huh?"

"Before you left. You said, 'Regardless, I love you.'"

"I meant it a couple of ways. Regardless of the fact that you wouldn't come with me, I still love you. Regardless of the way I sometimes act and the things I say, I love you. Regardless of the fact that we're not together anymore, I love you." Nico's breath hitched, but he didn't cry.

This time Percy was quiet for a moment. He simply grabbed Nico's hand and held it. Nico squeezed it and then let go, standing up and fetching his clothes. "I felt you die." Percy suddenly said.

Nico fastened his robes and looked at Percy, "I'm sorry. You- You won't feel me anymore."

"What? For real?"

"Yeah."

"Well I guess it's for the best." The son of Poseidon said sadly.

"Yeah..."

"What's your problem?" Percy asked, looking up at Nico as he zipped up his red hoodie. He didn't like the distance he was getting from the boy.

"I'm just tired," he held his hand to Percy, who took it and stood up, "I'm just tired."

"You said that."

"Oh."

Percy gave Nico a sad look, "Come on, I'll take you back." He put his arm around the younger man, who suddenly seemed barely able to stay awake. They walked back to Nico's room and Percy laid the smaller man down on his bed, "Will you be safe here now?" He asked.

Nico gave him a strange look until he realized Percy was talking about the various venegful dead running around, "I'll be fine. Now stop being so damn sweet to me." Nico half-joked.

"Never..." Percy stood awkwardly, not ready to go and have everything be final. What if he never got to see Nico again?

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm going to sleep. Just remember, Percy. Regardless."

Percy just laughed a sad laugh and watched Nico fall asleep. He felt empty now, even with Nico so close. There was a strange void that he could feel now. A cold chill settled into the room and Percy got the strange feeling that he was no longer wanted there. The thing was, he didn't know how to get out. He looked at Nico again, who was sleeping deeply on top of his comforter. He couldn't wake the guy up and be all "Hey, I know we just broke up and all that, but can I get a ride home?" and he couldn't just sit and wait like a creeper. His stomach felt sick with dread when he realized that he would have to ask Hades for a way home.

Woo. This chapter is actually way longer than this, but I'm splitting it up into two. I debated about killing Cameron off, as I'm not usually a violent person, but I felt that it would be more appropriate than just a catfight over Percy's affection. The next chapter will be something of a fast forward, and then I think this will be done. Sad day, I know. Anyway, I appreciate you all and thanks for the reviews!