Chapter 8: Tips On Bonding With Your Dad:Bring Your Awesome Girlfriend

Percy sat up straight and stared at his hands. He knew his face was hot and his eyes were brimmed with red. He knew Tyson, his brother, was staring at him from across the coffee table.

"So brother," Tyson said it like they actually knew each other. Like they were actually brothers. "What is like in the big city? Do you have lots of friends? Who is this girl? She is pretty."

Percy looked up to who Tyson was referring to, and watched him point at a photo on the fridge of him and Annabeth. That made Percy wonder what Annabeth would do if she were here right now. What would she think of Tyson, or his dad? She always made him think better.

"That's my friend." He said slowly. He wasn't quite sure why, but he wasn't comfortable telling this boy about his girlfriend just yet. Though he did seemed nice, harmless actually.

He continued to stare at his hands as he listened to Tyson ramble on about how he liked the color of the walls, or the smell of peanut butter. The son of Poseidon wasn't listening though. He could faintly hear his mother and father in the kitchen talking in hushed voices. He couldn't quite make out what was being said.

It was only about ten minutes ago, the first time he had a proper conversation with his dad.

The four of them sat down at the kitchen table. Sally and Percy on one side, Poseidon and Tyson on the other. His father stared at him intensely, and it took all of Percy's power not to shy away. Finally Poseidon's gaze soften and he broke the silence. "Percy, I... I'm sorry I couldn't come sooner. You have to know I never wanted to leave."

"Why did you?" His voice sounded hoarse. Those were words Percy had always wanted to ask his dad.

Poseidon seemed to share a glance with Percy's mother. "I wasn't suppose to be here. My family owned a line of cruise ships in Europe my boy. I was to take on after my father of course. But when I was here, I met your mother." He gave Sally a soft smile. She nodded back, the smallest of smiles forming on her lips as well. She looked nervous.

"Then what?'' Percy asked.

Poseidon took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. "I had to leave. I couldn't stay here, and I couldn't possibly ask your mother to come with me."

Percy, surprising his mother, shot up from his seat. "How long were you here? How long did you know my mom?"

His dad looked at his hands. "I was here three months Percy. I knew her three months before I had to go."

Percy glanced at his mom, who excused herself from the table and stood by the sink. She stared out the window, tears brimming her eyes.

Suddenly, Percy was furious. His mom wouldn't be crying if it wasn't for his dad. "No you didn't! If you really loved my mom you wouldn't have left her! You would have decided she was more important!"

Sally gasped and turned her head. "Percy!" She scolded.

But Percy wasn't done. "You left! You left and must have met someone else! If Tyson's really my brother, who's his mom?"

Poseidon still wouldn't meet his eyes, and glanced at Tyson. He seemed completely oblivious. "I met his mother shortly after I settled into Europe. She didn't want to keep the the baby, so I had to take him. But believe me Percy, I never forgot your mom. I constantly thought of her, and how you were growing up without a father. I couldn't let Tyson go through that too."

Percy didn't say a word. He just glared at his father. His father's foam eyes were identical to his, and he felt as if he were staring in a mirror. It was a good three minutes of silence before Sally placed a hand on Percy's shoulder. She whispered, "How about you and Tyson go catch up in the main room?"

Percy hesitated, but nodded as Tyson followed him out.

Now here he was. Feeling completely uncomfortable in his own house. Tyson was still talking and Percy began to feel selfish. None of this was Tyson's fault. Just because his dad did awful things, didn't mean Tyson was bad. He seemed like a really nice kid, even though he seemed kind off for a teen boy. Percy thought of Hazel, and how her and Nico's relationship came to be. They even had it worse, with both of their favored parents dying.

All of these thoughts rushed to his brain, giving him a headache. He wasn't ready for this, not prepared for this mental pain. He rubbed his forehead and stood up. "Sorry Tyson," he muttered and ran to the door, ignoring his mother's calls of protest.

Percy didn't have a car, but he didn't care right now. He was stressed. Super stressed. He had left his phone in his room, so he couldn't even call Annabeth to let her know he was coming. He knew she wouldn't mind. Her father wasn't normally home, but her step-brothers probably were. They were annoying twelve year olds, so Percy normally tried to avoid them. So when he knocked on the door and one of them answered, he didn't wait for them to invite him in. He pushed past the short kid and ran upstairs, ignoring him as he shouted "Hey!"

He rounded the corner and ran down the hall. He banged on the door super loud and yelled her name once before she called, "Come in!"

He opened the door and found her in a white Fall Out Boy shirt Piper lent her. She had on striped pajama pants and her curly hair was all wet from the shower. She was curled up in her bed reading but looked at him concerned when she saw his face.

He normally always tried to act his bravest when with Annabeth. He had to take care of her, but right now, he couldn't contain himself. He broke down, and the tears washed down his face. When Annabeth stood up and held out her arms, he didn't hesitate to be embraced by her. She didn't say anything, she just hugged him. Percy knew she understood, and he wasn't ashamed of crying. On more than one occasion Annabeth had come to him in tears with stories about her father, mean boys, or even just situations in school. This is something they always did for each other, even before they dated. And although he felt as if he had to protect her, she protected him too.

Eventually his sobs subsided and they sat down on her bed. There was a short moment when one of her brothers poked their head in the room, but she shooed him away quickly. After about eight minutes of silence, Annabeth held up Percy's chin. "How you doing Seaweed Brain?" She whispered.

He blinked the tears out of his eyes and stared at her. Her soft clear skin, her wet hair that fell in her eyes. Her stormy grey eyes didn't look as fiery as usual, but she still looked like she could kill you with the flick of her finger. He just smiled and wrapped his arms around her, burying his face into her neck. "Thank you." He whispered.

She sat back and held up his face again, wiping some old tears off his face. "Talk to me Seaweed Brain." She grinned.

He nodded and began explaining, the natural color returning to his face. He told everything about his dad, why he left, and about Tyson. She was highly surprised about that last part. "Brother?"

He sighed at that one and nodded glumly. "Tyson. He's a cool kid I guess. I feel kind of bad because I totally bit my dad's head off right in front of him.

"Aw poor little guy."

"No Annabeth," He shook his head. "Big guy. He's like six ft tall. But he's only a little bit younger than us. He seem's much younger than he is."

She stared at Percy, confused. She could only imagine how confused he must be. "Oh." She said. "When do I get to meet them?"

Percy smiled and shrugged. "Whenever you're ready is good for me."

Leo fiddled with his fork on the table. He sat in a restaurant that was decently crowded with his friends. It was just the night before when Percy's dad disruptively showed up, and they all heard the story. So they decided to go out as a group for dinner tonight to lighten the mood. Today at school, things felt so tense, it made Leo uncomfortable.

But right now, everything seemed normal. Percy and Annabeth sat together in the booth with Jason and Piper right next to them. They seemed to be debating something he wasn't sure about. Hazel sat next to Annabeth, and she chimed in every few minutes on the conversation. Frank sat next to Piper, she glanced at him every few seconds and whispered something about how what Percy said wasn't true. He would laugh and tell her why he was right.

Sitting between Leo and Hazel was Nico. Yup, Nico di Angelo. None of them were quite sure how, but Hazel managed to get him to come. Like usual, she was the last to show up and with her she dragged her brother. He sat quietly next to Leo chewing on his straw, something Leo used to do when he was kid. He assumed it was something Nico did when he was nervous, kind of like how Leo taps on things and messes with things in his hands.

When he heard Piper's voice say his name, he broke his gaze from Hazel's brother. "What?"

Piper rolled her eyes, like this was normal. "Remember when I was talking to you before first period today?"

Leo's face lightened up as he remembered the story and broke into a sly grin. "Yeah it was so creepy! We were standing by the vending machines, ya know? Just chillin'. When this dude comes up behind her and stands there for a good five minutes just staring at her."

Hazel held up a hand and rolled her eyes. "And you didn't say anything?"

Leo shrugged. "I didn't know it was a problem. I thought he was just chillin' there too. That is, until he walked up and leaned over her shoulder and whisper 'Hey Piper.'" When Leo said that last part, he used all the acting skills he ever acquired to sound like a real creeper. His voice got soft and gruffy, so he sounded like a freaky hobo.

Jason slapped his palm to his forehead and laughed really loud. "Did he sound like that too? Like did his voice get all soft like that?"

Jason's two friends exchanged looks and nodded. "Yeah!" Leo laughed. "It was so creepy!"

Piper threw her face in her hands and groaned. "Ugg! I don't even know who he is! And wanna know the worst part?"

Percy snickered, some of his old self returning. "Having a kid stalk you and you don't even know him? I thought that was the worst part."

She frowned, leaning over and slapping him in the arm. Annabeth gave him a bonus one. "He was waiting at my locker today before lunch and whispered it again in my ear when I wasn't paying attention!"

Leo leaned toward Frank who was sitting right next to him and moved his face over his shoulder. "Hey Frank." He whispered in the disturbing voice. Frank, not expecting it, let out a loud bark that freaked out about every waitress in sight. He slunk down in his seat as the women sent glares his way and Leo grinned triumphantly. Five out of the seven broke out into laughter, as several people turned and shook their heads.

Leo watched Hazel's curls bounce around her face as she smiled and told Frank not to worry about it. Her gold eyes went beautifully with the designs on the walls behind the booth. There were gold dragon symbols grazing the walls up onto the ceiling, and a cute little fountain in the corner. The sound of the water was kind of cool and pretty sounding, something that went along well with Hazel. She was very cool and pretty.

Jason maneuvered his arm around Piper and pulled her closer. "Well you know what I thought was pretty funny?" They all stared at him expectantly. "I was walking to into town to meet Thalia and Luke, when I passed.. Lou Ellen and Cecil?" He glanced at Nico, "Did I get their names right?"

Nico didn't say anything but nodded. He was still biting his straw.

"Right," Jason said. "Anyways, I was across the street, but there was this group of boys in front of them. I noticed how they kept glancing back at them. Lou Ellen was getting so annoyed, and started gathering pine cones."

Hazel gasped but had a great big smile on her face. "She threw pine cones at them?"

Jason held up a hand. "She threw pine cones in their direction. But didn't hit them. Then the guys started to slow down and turned around at them. Lou Ellen yelled 'WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?' and threw another pine cone. The guys literally freaked out and ran across the street."

Percy held up his hands and grinned. "Wow," he praised. "I'm gonna have to congratulate her on her pine cone throwing abilities."

Jason laughed again at the memory of the guys literally fleeing in fear at the command of the small girl. "Yeah Cecil couldn't stop laughing. He sat against the tree for so long, I was already all the way down the road."

Frank sat up in his chair and took a sip of his lemonade. "Dang, I don't blame those guys for running. I would too, if a girl was throwing pine cones at me."

Leo elbowed Frank in the shoulder suggestively and raised his brows. "Not me. I would take that as a sign. I would take it that she was interested.'' His friends all stared at him, like they were considering it. Then Percy shook his head.

''Nah. If I didn't know Annabeth, and she was throwing pine cones at me? I would run. Like really fast in the opposite direction."

Annabeth raised an eyebrow and flicked him in the forehead with a frown. "What is that suppose to mean?" Percy laughed out loud and started rambling some lame excuse about how it was compliment. Jason called him out about how lame it was and Piper agreed and told him how he could make it more convincing. Even Hazel and Frank were sharing looks and saying stuff over the table that no one else could hear. Mostly because the room was so loud and his friends weren't listening. Except, Leo was trying to listen.

It was annoying him, all this couple-y stuff. He was still trying with Hazel, but when he wasn't with her, she was with Frank. Still feeling a little bummed, he glanced over at Nico who was also lonely. Nico still freaked him out, and although Leo felt bad for him, he was also a little relieved. He thought he was an outcast. And he did feel really terrible about it, but he couldn't help but be grateful that there was someone even lower than him on the food chain.

After paying so much attention toward his best friend's brother, he noticed where Nico was staring. He was staring right at Percy and Annabeth, who were playfully arguing with each other right now about some movie-book adaption. Nico slunk down into his seat when Annabeth kissed Percy's nose. Then realization smacked Leo right in the face.

He knew none of his friends would notice him talking to Nico, so he took his chances. "So, you like Annabeth eh?"

This seemed to catch Nico off guard, because his whole body froze, and his eyes slowly shifted toward Leo. He put down his cup, the straw chewed up so bad that there were holes in it. It looked like a stick Mrs. O'Leary got a hold of. "What?" He said coldly.

Leo swallowed and held up his hands. Sometimes he wished he kept his mouth shut. "Hey man, it's cool. I wont tell. I know what it feels like to like someone who doesn't feel the same way." He resisted glancing at Hazel. That would not be a good idea, especially while talking to her brother.

Leo figured that Nico seemed to consider this. Mostly because he hadn't snapped and punched him in the face yet. "I don't like Annabeth." He finally muttered.

Leo shrugged and took a deep breath. He was never great with words, but he thought he might actually be able to get through to this guy. Technically, he was older than Nico, so it was actually his job to take responsibility right? "Come on, bro. Admit it. You got the hots for Annabeth." He tried. Nico scowled but didn't say anything. Leo leaned toward him and nudged his head toward Percy. "Yeah, Percy is cool and stuff but everything always seem to go his way. That's the same thing for Jason. They are both my friends and stuff but seriously? So it probably really bites to see Percy with Annabeth-!"He couldn't finish his thought, because Nico shot up from his seat and stormed out of the restaurant.

This drew all eyes at Leo. The other six raised their eyebrows and Leo's face heated up, "What?" He finally said.

Hazel shook her head and began standing up. "Oh Nico..." She muttered. She went to head out the door when she felt someone snag her arm. She spun around to find that Jason had jumped out of the booth and was now walking past her.

"Let me." He said.

Hazel stared at him blankly for a few moments. "You sure?" She asked. She didn't know Jason was on good terms with Nico.

"Positive." He then jogged out the door, to find the younger boy still outside and beginning to walk away. Jason called his name and sped walk toward him. Nico turned to face him with his hands shoved in his pockets. His pale features had a tint of pink, and there were snow flurries nested in his dark hair. His scowl was unsettling, but Jason noted how he looked more sad than anything. "What's wrong?" He stupidly asked.

Nico stared at him skeptically, as if he was about to attack. "What's it to you?" He sniffled.

Jason could feel all his friends eyes watching them through the window, and he could tell Nico noticed it too. How he refused to turn his head that way, and how his eyes continued to dart around. "Because we're friends." Jason said softly.

Nico's eyes darkened and Jason prepared himself for anything that might come next. "Friends?" he scoffed. "Friends? This is the second time you have ever talked to me voluntarily in your whole life!"

Jason felt like he shrunk. He was right. Every other time besides the past weekend, he only talked to Nico because Hazel wanted them to. And Jason always made sure to have Leo or Piper with him. "Well.. I do want to be your friend Nico. We all do." He gestured toward the window. Nico and him both turned their heads to see the group huddled up against the window. They waved.

Nico shook his head and gave Jason a humorless laugh. "You don't get it do you? I don't need you! I don't need friends! I don't need a dad! And I certainly don't need Percy Jackson acting all in love with Annabeth right in my face!" Nico didn't seem to react to at first, but then registered what he said. His eyes widened and he took a step back.

From the corner of his eye, he saw the whole group flinch when Nico took the defensive step back. It probably looked like Jason threatened him or something. Jason himself, was still a bit confused. Is that why he didn't like being around them? Was he jealous of Percy? He never heard anything about Nico having a crush on Annabeth. "What did you say?"

Nico eyes still didn't seem right, but he shook his head and his voice quivered. "N-nothing! I don't need you trying to help me Jason! You're Hazel's friend. Not mine." And with that, he continued down the sidewalk, his image getting darker and blurrier in the distance.

Jason sighed and looked at the window. They all stared at him with wide eyes. Hazel's eyes were curious. At least, more curious than the rest of the groups. He just shook his head and held up his arms disappointingly.

Frank propped his head up with one hand over his lunch tray, while the other one swirled a french fry around in ketchup. He sat at the lunch table across from Leo. Only Leo. Unfortunately for Frank, and every other person who admired Hazel, she was not here today. Frank had tried texting her when she didn't show up in first hour, but he hadn't had much luck.

At that moment, Leo slammed his hand down on an empty water bottle, shooting the bottle cap across the walkway and straight into the trash can. Leo stood up and threw his fist in the air. "Did you see that?!" He said a few more things about how amazing his skills were before scrambling away asking other kids if they were done with their water bottles.

Frank sighed and rolled his eyes. Everyone had mellowed out a bit since the day they found out Percy's father came back. It was only a few nights ago, and Percy wasn't talking much about it. It had also been a few nights since they all went out to dinner, and Hazel's brother blew up and stormed out of the restaurant. The last one to talk to him before he left was Leo, but he wouldn't say a word about what had happened. At least not to Frank. Later in the night, he did see Leo snag Jason by the arm and whisper something. Frank wouldn't be surprised if that 'something' was what took place.

Leo came back a few minutes later with enough water bottles, you could fill a small bucket. He dropped a few and tried to pick them, resulting in him dropping more. He decide to leave those ones on the floor.

Frank straightened his posture and pushed his tray away. "Do you really need all those bottles?"

Leo seemed to ignore him at first as he was too busy lining up his water bottles. After a few minutes he finally said, "Not really. I only need a bunch of bottle caps."

Frank scowled and crossed his arms. "Then why take the bottles?"

The Hispanic boy shrugged and began launching them into the trash can. He was a little annoyed when some dumb freshman bumped it and totally screwed up where he was aiming. In a couple seconds, his target was in a good place and he began firing again. With more or less success. "Wouldn't want waste useful material." He finally said. When he only had one bottle cap left he stopped and looked at Frank.

Frank now had his hands in his lap and his eyes read that he was annoyed. His shoulders look tense and he was staring at the table. Leo sighed and said, "Eh, you wanna try?" He held the bottle over the table and gestured to it with a nod. Frank looked up and raised an eyebrow, as if he was scared something might pop out of it and give him a heart attack. In a way, Leo didn't blame him. It wouldn't be the first time he did something like that to him- minus the heart attack.

Frank frowned and said, "No thanks." The way Franks said it, kind of annoyed Leo. It was like he did something wrong, and Frank was holding a grudge.

"Fine, suit yourself." Leo then lined up his bottle and karate chopped the empty end of it, causing the cap to shoot off. Only this time, it went up high instead of far and landed right on the floor. It rolled around for a few seconds before settling at the end of a table full of smart kids. Ten seconds passed before a kid passing by skidded it across the lunchroom.

"Ha." Frank muttered and tapped his finger on the seat next to him. How long was lunch again?

The shorter boy twisted his mouth into a frown and turned to Frank. "Hey man," he started. "Let's talk about what this is about."

"You know what this is about." Frank scoffed.

Leo rolled his eyes but nodded. "Well duh. Look, I know you like Hazel, and I'm not afraid to admit that I do too," his voice went a little quieter at that second part. Okay, so maybe was a little afraid to admit it.

"Well duh." Frank mocked.

Leo decided to ignore that and continue, "And I will also admit I feel a little bad cause I know you have liked her longer..." It took a lot for him to say this, but he wasn't lying. He knew Frank had a thing for her for about two years. Or was it three? He honestly couldn't remember. He only recognized his feeling for her over the summer when they were all invited to Silena's beach house for her birthday. The two of them had been walking together on the beach while Jason, Percy, and Frank were passing a football around with a couple other guys. Sports weren't really his thing, so he hung with Hazel. Although he had known her for a while by this time, he had only now noticed how pretty her eyes were. ..

Frank furrowed his brows and leaned over the table slightly. "What are you trying to say Leo?''

Leo shrugged and gave a half smile. "Hey man. You're okay I guess. Like, I still think you're annoying and I think that's the best I'm gonna get, hm?"

Frank grunted in response.

"So what I'm saying is, we have one thing in common. We both like Hazel. So here's what I'm thinking, we try not to tear each others head's off and be 'friends'. But we can both try to win Hazel over."

Frank nodded like he seemed to consider this. "Win Hazel over?"

Leo grinned and pumped out his chest. ''It's obvious she has a thing for me. I'm amazing, good looking, and such a charmer." He then let out an exaggerated sigh and shrugged. "But she obviously had feelings for you too..'' He mumbled.

Frank's nose was sprinkled with red but he quickly brushed it off. "Me? It's not me who she spends her Friday nights watching movies with."

Leo bit his lip to hold back a smile. "True. But she's always with you. It was annoying the crap out of me when you guys were making faces over the table at each other the other night."

The Asian boy was a little nervous having this conversation with Leo. They were talking about Hazel like she was a prize and it made Frank feel a little guilty. But he was also a little excited he might not have to slap Leo upside the head after all. Well, he kind of was. "So we try to get along?"

Leo confirmed it with a nod. "For Hazel's sake."

Frank thought about the day him and Hazel held hands in class, and that immediately caused him to be on board with it. "For Hazel's sake," he agreed. He stood up and held out his hand gesturing for Leo to do the same. Leo hesitated but obliged.

He then blinked and said in a serious tone, "May the best man win." Then the bell rang, and the boys went their separate ways.

Nico scrunched up his nose and stood outside Hazel's door when he heard her puking. He had seen a lot of disturbing things that his father did after is mother died, but this was harder for him to deal with.

For one thing, she was his sister, and he hated seeing her in pain. And the other thing-he had no idea how to take care of a sick person. He had no idea what medicine to give, or what to eat. In fact, when Nico got sick, he just tried to toughen it out until it went away. If he was being truthful, he is pretty sure he has had a cold for the last year.

He hesitantly opened the door to find her holding a bucket under her chin and breathing heavily. Her eyes were bloodshot and her cinnamon hair was tangled. He crossed the room and took a seat next to her, gingerly putting a hand on her back and rubbing small circles. "Feeling any better?"

She tried to answer but ended up making loud wheezing sounds instead. Her nose was raw from all the tissues. "Just allergies." She replied.

Nico tried for a grin and picked up the puke bucket. "Now you're starting to sound like me."

He heard her laugh out loud and went into the bathroom to empty the nasty bucket. He wasn't sure what caused her to get sick, but it couldn't have been good. The smell of vomit was giving him a headache so he disposed of it down the toilet and washed his hands. Then he went into the kitchen to see what he could make Hazel to eat.

Now the di Angelo boy had two problems. He didn't know what sick people eat, nor was he a very good cook. He had tried cooking for her before, and she always politely declines. So he gave up and relies on Hazel to be the source of food, which she was not capable of right now! He now felt like the helpless one, which he knew wasn't fair to Hazel under any circumstances.

Glancing at the counter, he found Hazel's phone which he confiscated earlier. She had about 80 notifications. Of course that was an exaggeration but... He checked to see who they were from. One from Jason, two from Annabeth, five from Piper, eight from Percy, eighteen from Leo, and twenty-seven from Frank. Nico almost laughed at that. He could tolerate Frank quite a bit. He actually kind of liked Frank so this didn't concern him too much. What he almost laughed at was the fact that Hazel had a lot of friends.

Hazel had informed him that before she moved in with him, she lived in New Orleans and got bullied at her school. He could hardly believe that considering how well she was doing now on the social pyramid.

He unlocked her phone, because she told him her password not because he was nosy, and frowned at her screen saver. It was a picture of her with Frank, Leo and Percy. Of course, the Percy part annoyed him. But if he was being honest, the Leo part annoyed him more. Leo and his big stupid mouth. He really didn't like that guy and wished Hazel would realize how much of a idiot he was and drop him. But Nico didn't see that happening anytime soon.

He pulled a pot out of the cupboards and put it on the stove. He then picked up a can of soup and began reading the directions. He was ready to turn on the burner when he heard a knock on the door.

Letting out a groan of frustration he went to answer it and winced when he heard Hazel coughing. To his surprise and displeasure, it was Leo at the door. He was leaned over and out of breath, with his hand on his knee. He held up one finger as if to say 'Yeah lemme just stand on your porch and catch my breath'.

Leo then took a deep breath and plastered his best smile. "Hey Nico! Is Hazel here?" He tried peering over Nico's head and cringed when he heard Frank storming up behind him. He glanced behind him and stuck his tongue at him. "Hey man, I beat you here fair and square.''

Frank walked up the steps and pulled a twig out of his hair. "Yeah. Only because you pushed me in a bush!" Frank turned to Nico and grinned uneasily. "Um hi Nico."

Nico nodded at Frank and ignored Leo's presence. He was a little irritated that Leo wasn't concerned about what he said the other night. "Yeah Hazel is in her room if you want to talk to her." He was about to lead them in before he added, "She's really sick though, that's why she wasn't at school."

They followed him up stairs and he noticed their eyes scanning the walls and every corner. Nico knew the had been here before, but not often. And definitely not with him as the tour guide. He knocked on Hazel's door and peeked in. "Hazel. Frank and," he had to keep himself from scowling, "Leo are here"

The sound of those names seemed to light up her eyes. "Let them in!" She smiled. The two boys walked in and Nico could hear them quietly arguing about something. When Leo stepped on Frank's foot, the Asian boy quietly shouted, "Hey you promised!"

The two sat down on the foot of Hazel's bed and she smiled. "Hey guys."

"Hi," Frank smiled. He pulled his pack of his shoulder and brought out a folder. "I brought your homework." He handed it to her and when their fingers touched, he bit his lip to keep from smiling to widely. Her hair was pretty, even though it was so tangly. It looked as bouncy as ever and he had an urge to reach out and stroke a strand.

"Thank you."

Leo held up his hands. "Why didn't you answer out texts?" He acted like he was mad, but he really wasn't. He was happy she was okay, and not dead in a ditch. Around here, you can never be too sure. The seven of them always seemed to alert each other when one of them don't show up, so they all kind of panicked when know one heard from her. He still had his arms raised but was starting to smile. He couldn't tear his eyes from her even though it looked like she was just fighting with ghosts. Here she was in purple pajamas, and no matter how bloodshot they were, her gold eyes sparkled. "We were worried Levesque!"

She laughed at that, which made all three boys feel good. "Sorry. That kid,'' she nudged her head toward Nico, "took my phone."

Nico shrugged indifferently and left the room before Leo could say something dumb. He ran down to the kitchen and was grateful he hadn't turned the burner on yet. He would have forgotten about it and set the house on fire. When he crossed the room, he noticed he left the front door wide open. He felt the draft from all the way on the stairs and frowned. Stupid Leo or Frank must have forgotten to shut it. He went to close it when he saw a familiar face walking down the sidewalk toward his house. His face was tucked into a book and his blond hair feel all around his face and into his eyes. He had a big blue coat on and a grey beanie on his head.

It was so fortunate that Will was passing right now, Nico forgot to scowl. "Will!" He shouted, catching Will off guard right away. It was a good thing too, because the blond boy was steering off the sidewalk and would have ended up in the road soon.

"Oh hey Nico." He smiled as he closed his book. Suddenly his eyes narrowed and he sped walked toward him and up the steps. "Why weren't you at school today?"

Nico shrugged awkwardly. "Um yeah, I was actually gonna ask you for help. Hazel is sick."

Surprisingly, Will smiled. Nico knew he wanted to be a doctor and having a patient might help him practice, but Hazel and Will were friends kind of. Would he really want Hazel to be sick? "What!?" he snapped.

Will shook his head and poked him in the shoulder playfully. "You are asking for my help again!"

Nico crossed his arms and frowned. "N-no. I'm asking for Hazel's help."

Will patted Nico's shoulder and pushed him aside. He walked into the small house and looked around. "Nice place." He finally said.

Nico was still pondering over what he previously said. I'm asking for Hazel's help. That sounded sour coming out of his mouth. That was a complete lie and he knew it. He actually didn't mind Will's help that much. So why did he keep lying about it? He cleared his throat and walked into the kitchen, gesturing for Will to follow. "Do you know how to cook?"

When Will shook his head like it was no big deal, he was a little shocked. "You don't? Dr. Solace, who will stab anything that's half dead with a needle and save their life, doesn't know how to cook?"

The blonde teen held up his hands like he was weighing something. "Well, I suppose I can. Not my thing though, and I'm certainly not good at it."

Nico let out a groan. "Wow okay." He pushed over the unopened can of soup. "Well she's upstairs right now.'' For the second time today, Nico led him to Hazel's room. When he came in with Will, Hazel rolled her eyes and said, "Look how popular I am."

Frank and Leo, not knowing Will that well, waved.

"Hi Hazel," he smiled and walked over to her. He kneeled down next to the bed and pulled some vitamins from him back. "Nico wanna get some water?" Nico nodded and left the room.

Frank tilted his head and arched an eyebrow. "You keep vitamins in your bag?"

Will shrugged and flipped some hair out of his eyes. "Ya' know. Always gotta be prepared."

Leo scooted over toward Will and held out his arm. "You don't happen to carry band-aids on you? I cut myself in Wood shop today."

Will grinned and held up a finger. "In fact, I do!"

Nico carried a cup of water and walked in on Leo examining his hand and Will tucking a box of Spongebob band-aids into his pocket. He noticed that Will liked Spongebob band-aids. He noted to tease him about that later. "Here," he handed Hazel the cup and Will handed her a few vitamins. She took them, and Frank glanced at his phone.

"Sorry Hazel." He sounding genuinely upset. "My grandma is gonna slap me upside the head if I don't get home for my chores."

Leo's gave a sideways smile to her and reached over, giving her a high five. "See ya later Levesque."

After the two of them left the room Nico followed them out. He figured Hazel would be able to survive with Solace for a few minutes. Once they got down stairs, Nico stopped Frank before he opened the door. "Hey Frank, do you think you could cook that soup for Hazel?" He pointed at the can and shrugged. "I'm no good with this stuff."

Leo took a step back, grateful Nico didn't suggest him for the job. He would have burned the whole house down. In fact, Nico just looking at him was freaking him out. Sure, he was an idiot for assuming Nico had a crush on Annabeth. But he knew he was right, and Jason and Piper agreed with him. He wasn't sure, but he figured Piper said something to Annabeth about it, and she would obviously tell Percy. Nico didn't consider himself one of them, yet even he was caught up in the seven's gossip.

Frank uneasily picked up the can, nearly dropping it on his foot. He turned on the stove and started following the directions. "Do you know what's wrong with Hazel?"

Nico frowned at the table and sighed."Nope, not really. That's why Will's here."

Frank nodded. "I thought he was here because he's your friend." He thought about the day the three of them got ice cream and Nico left them to go hang out with Will.

Nico bit his lip and shrugged. "I mean, I guess."

Leo laughed. Nico admitted to being friends with Mr. Sunshine. It amused him quite a lot. In fact, Nico's bitterness reminded him a lot of a certain Jr. girl who didn't like him very much. "Nico, you kinda remind me of Reyna."

At the sound of Reyna's name, Frank lost grip of the spoon he was using to mix the soup with. It felt to the bottom of the pot and his face turned red. Thank God neither of the other guys noticed. Now that would have been very embarrassing. Nico was distracted on the subject of Reyna with Leo, so Frank peered into the nearest drawer and pulled out a fresh spoon. He felt stupid for being startled by Reyna's name. So what if she didn't like him and scared the heck outta him? And so what if it was her fault he missed the homecoming dance? And Leo got to hangout with Hazel all night?

It seemed like no matter how hard he tried, Leo just made things difficult. Leo came up with the idea of being nice to each other, but he pushed him into a bush and stomped his foot. Like who does that? Frank sighed and set the spoon down.

"Okay Nico," He worryingly looked out the window. It was getting dark and grandma was probably getting annoyed. "Give it a few minutes. Then it should be good to go."

Nico nodded and stood up from the chair he took a seat in earlier. ''Thanks Frank."

Frank smiled and headed for the door. Leo turned to Nico and shrugged. "Hey man, tell Hazel I hope she feels better?" The way he said it was so serious with no hint of humor.

"Sure." Nico agreed. After the two guys left, he turned to the stove and picked up the spoon. After a few minutes, he fetched a mug from the cupboards and poured some in. While doing so, a spoon came spilling out too. It startled him at first, but he decided not to question it. Zhang made soup, and that's all that matters.

He began upstairs and heard Hazel coughing. When he neared closer to the door, he realized she was laughing. He stood up next to the door and listened.

"-Yeah, Lou Ellen was so done with those kids. She slapped that kid right across the face. She got suspended for a good week. Yeah, freshman year was great."

Hazel sat up and took a sip of water. "Sounds exciting. I think freshman year has been great so far. And even though he would never admit, Nico has been doing better since school started."

Will raised an eyebrow and sat back on the carpet. "Since school started? That kid hates school more than I hate waking up late in the mornings."

Hazel smirked at this. "Yeah, but at least he has someone to talk to."

Nico noticed how Will's facial expressions changed. First he looked all smiley, then a bit confused, now he looked embarrassed. Will's tan face always got red when he was embarrassed, which it wasn't right now. But Nico has hung out with him enough to know the facial expression and that was it, right there. Chewing his lip, eyes wide, freckles glowing. That was definitely it.

"Well," he sputtered. "Lou Ellen, Cecil, and I are kind of social. Of course we took him under our wing.''

Hazel shrugged and set her cup on the table beside her. "Well, thanks anyway. I'm happy you think so highly of him. I know he can be kind of-!"

"Annoying? Moody? Sarcastic? Yeah I have noticed actually." He grinned and Hazel leaned over and slapped his shoulder gently.

Nico figured this would be a good time to cut in before she started telling stories about how messy his room is or how he talks to Jules-Albert. "Hey guys." He walked over and handed her the mug. It was decorated with multi colored gems and it was her favorite one."Thanks," she muttered before taking a sip of the soup. She nodded her head and gave Nico a small smile. "Not bad."

Nico shrugged and sat next to Will on the carpet. "You should thank Frank. He made it."

His sister nodded and set the cup on the night stand. "Yeah, he's always been a good cook." She whispered before laying on the bed and snuggling into her pillow.

Will sat up on his knees and placed a hand on Hazel's forehead. "You're burning up. I'll get you a wet wash cloth.'' He got up to leave and Nico followed him out.

"Hey man," Nico complained as they walked down the hallway into the bathroom. "You can't just go walk around my house."

Will snorted and looked around the bathroom. He pulled a random clean cloth he found on the shelf a held it under the faucet. "Relax Death Boy. I'm not gonna go searching for your baby pictures.''

Nico leaned against the door frame and watched Will wring out the cloth. "Death Boy?"

The older teen leaned against the sink and nodded with a smirk. "Well yeah." He said. "Your clothes, mood, it all screams 'DEATH!'"

Nico scowled but a thought popped into his head. "So that story about Lou Ellen slapping someone and getting suspended? Did she do that because you wouldn't punch him?"

When he saw Will's embarrassed face return, he grinned. He always felt satisfied when he made Will uncomfortable. Will stuck out his lip and shoved Nico out of the doorway while saying in a whiny voice, "Nicooooo!"

Nico, still smiling, followed Will and grabbed his wrist when he heard a faint sound. Will turned around and met his eyes for a second too long. In the lighting, it was hard to make out his features, but his eyes seemed to be glowing. They were soft and playful, but alert at the same time. Nico quickly let go and felt like something was caught in his throat. He shook the feeling away and swallowed. "You hear that?"

Will took a step closer to him and looked up at the ceiling liked that was where the noise was coming from. "Yeah," he whispered. It was hard for him to see Nico, for his dark hair blended right in with his clothes all the way down to his shoes. And the shadowy hallway wasn't helping very much. Will was tempted to reach out and touch his shoulder to make sure he was even still here. "Yeah what is that?"

Nico nudged his head and the two peaked into Hazel's room. She was curled up in her bed snuggling a stuffed elephant, snoring ever so slightly. She looked much more pleasant asleep than when she was hacking up every ten seconds. She looked like nothing was wrong. Hazel rolled over faced the wall.

"Awww.." Will cooed. "She looks so cute."

Nico was a little surprised to hear that. He wasn't sure why though, he knew Will was an affectionate person. "Hey watch it."

Will laughed softly and walked into the room, placing the cloth on her forehead. "Don't worry." He whispered to Nico. "You don't have to worry about me falling for your sister." He was propping up the cloth so it didn't fall off her face because she was on her side. He twisted his mouth into a smile and turned to his friend. "I think you need to worry about Leo and Frank."

Nico frowned at him and that made Will smile wider. Annoying Nico was his favorite part about this friendship. "Yeah, even I know they are smitten with her."

Will nodded in agreement and walked toward Nico. "Yeah, I'm kind of an expert on that kind of stuff."

Nico raised and eyebrow. "What?''

"Well," Will knocked some golden curls out of his hair. "I'm gonna be a doctor so I'm an expert on hearts. You know, physically and emotionally." Will bit his lip from breaking out in laughter. The truth was, he knew nothing about emotional hearts. Sure, he has had crushes. But he never knows when someone else does, no matter how obvious. Especially when they are on him. But Frank and Leo's crushes on Hazel, were a bit too obvious.

Nico held his breath at Will's words. If he was telling the truth, then did Will know about his? Did Will know his secret? Was he going to judge him and refuse to talk to him anymore? But to not give himself away or because of the possibility he wasn't telling the truth, he said, "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

Will shrugged and walked with Nico down stairs."But it came from me," he joked. "What could you expect?"

Nico leaned against a book shelf next to the door and shrugged. "Maybe if Leo said it, because it was so terrible, I could understand. But you legit just stooped to Valdez's level."

Not to Nico's surprise, Will let out a loud laugh. He was always laughing. That is, when he wasn't arguing with Nico. After he pulled himself together again, Will looked at Nico and said, "Anyways, it was nice seeing you today even though you didn't go to school. Sixth period was boring anyway. But thanks for having me stop in." He pulled his beanie off his head and ran his fingers through his thick locks. His hair stuck up in several different directions, and with his head tilted it gave him this innocent kind of look.

Nico wanted to answer and say 'No! Thank you!', but his voice betrayed him. In a way he wished his vocal chords stayed damaged because it kept him from saying that. How stupid would he sound if he said that? Probably less stupid than what he really said.

"Bellissimo. Semplicemente bellissima." Beautiful. Just beautiful. That's what he blurted out in a totally different language. He felt so fricking stupid that he almost fell over. How was that an answer to 'Thanks'? When he noticed Will's confused smile he felt a little relieved. He knew this 'beautiful' idiot couldn't speak his mother's native tongue.

"What does that mean?" Will asked in a sing song voice.

Nico prayed his blush didn't show, but based off Will's facial expression, he knew that wasn't the case. "It means get out of my house!" Nico swung open the door and pushed a snickering Will onto the porch.

"Adios!" He laughed as he regained his balance at the bottom of the stairs.

"That wasn't even Italian!" Nico complained and Will rolled his eyes and grinned in response. "Go lose at video games with Cecil or something!"

Will crossed his arms and stood up straight so his backpack, which he had been wearing the whole time, didn't weigh him down. "Actually I wasn't planning on losing tonight." His smiled sent a buzz through Nico's fingers.

Nico rolled his eyes and nodded. "Yeah okay. Bye Will." Will nodded and began his journey back home. Nico stood at the doorway for a few more seconds watching his friend. Sure, he admitted it to himself finally. Will Solace, was his friend. But there was no way in Hell he would admit that out loud.

He turned to close the door when he heard Will's gentle voice call his name. He looked up and saw him standing on the other side of the road. He stood in the only spot of the sidewalk where there was no snow. It was as if he melted the it. Nico could see his glowing smile from a mile away. "Yeah Will?"

The blue eyed boy rubbed the back of his head and took a breath. "Um, I'm not sure if Hazel will be better tomorrow. So if you need anything, don't hesitate to give me a call, okay?" To Nico, Will looked like there was more he wanted to say. In fact, when he didn't say anything else, Nico was a little disappointed.

He nodded his head, "Okay," he said in a shaky voice.

Will nodded and turned down the sidewalk. After that, Nico turned back into his house and sat down in front of the door. Hazel was confused about what was going on with him?

She wasn't even close to how confused Nico was about himself.

Annabeth wiped her sweaty hands on her pants as Percy's dad took a seat in the chair across from her. Right now, she was seated in an Olive Garden with Percy, his parents, and Tyson. Tyson sat next to her playing with some crayons that were left on the table. He reeked of trash and peanut butter, yet no one else seemed to notice.

"So this is Annabeth?" Percy's father started, breaking her from her thoughts. She looked up at him and smiled and glanced at Percy who reached under the table and grabbed her hand.

It had been almost a week since Poseidon and Tyson showed up. They were already moving into an apartment building a couple blocks away from Percy and his mother.

"Yeah that's me," She said softly. Annabeth was normally a very confident girl, but she couldn't help but feel a little awkward.

"She's a very nice girl," Sally interjected and Annabeth shot her a grateful look.

"And very pretty." Tyson smiled holding up his crayon drawing of him, Percy, and Annabeth on a boat together.

Percy laughed out loud, even though he could tell how uncomfortable Annabeth was. He slapped Tyson on the back and said, "Yeah she is!"

Poseidon laughed too, and it sounded so much like Percy it kind of spooked Annabeth. "Well, when did you guys meet?"

Percy and Annabeth exchanged looks and they both shrugged. "In fourth grade." Percy confirmed.

Poseidon glanced at Sally like he didn't believe it but she nodded her head with satisfaction. "Really? So you have known each other for quite some time?"

Annabeth twirled a piece of her hair, and nodded. To change the subject, she said "So Percy told me your family owned a line of boats."

"Cruise ships, my dear." He smiled.

Tyson cracked a crayon in his big fists. "Oh yes! As big as the Titanic!"

Sally giggled at the boy's confusion and Poseidon face palmed. "Not quite," He rolled his eyes but looked amused. "But they were a great size."

"So you lived in Europe for a while?" When he nodded, she continued. "What's the architecture like out there?"

When Poseidon's arched an eyebrow in confusion, Percy blurted, "She has a thing for architecture. That's what she wants to do when she grows up."

At first, Poseidon's face was emotionless. That stressed Percy out. Did his dad have bad experiences with architecture? Did a beam fall off a building onto his head? Did he get beat up by a gang of architect thugs? Dang, Percy should have googled the population of architect thugs in Europe.

His stress subsided though, when his father smiled and leaned toward Sally saying, "I like this girl."

He saw Annabeth's shoulders relax, and he could tell she was having the same thought process. Poseidon directed his attention to his son's girlfriend again. "That's a really good line of work."

Percy smiled and wiped his face with his sleeve. Then he saw his mother giving him a look, so he picked up his napkin. "Isn't it? She could make a boat load of money doing that."

Poseidon grinned widely and popped a grape from his salad into his mouth. "That's my boy!"

That's how things went for most of the night, Percy and Annabeth sharing stories with the family, and Poseidon making comments. Mostly positive comments. He really liked the story where Annabeth had to refrain Percy from beating Leo up when he threw a bunch of water balloons at Reyna, Octavian, and some teachers, resulting in the rest of them getting in trouble as well.

Before they left for the night, Annabeth stopped at the bathroom to freshen up. She was grateful her makeup didn't smear, and she touched up her hair a little bit. She wasn't sure what Piper did, but Annabeth's hair looked really pretty. It was still curled and wrapped up in a bun and held up with a clip. Annabeth's hair was so curly and thick, she could never get it to stay up like that. Piper worked magic. But, then again, Piper did put those feathers in her hair and it always looked super pretty.

Annabeth tucked some extra bobby pins that fell out of her hair into her purse, and headed out the door. To her surprise and confusion, Tyson was standing awkwardly outside. "Um Tyson.. What are you doing?"

He seemed to have just noticed her and broke out into a twisted smile. "Annabeth! You are here!"

She nodded. "Yeah where is Percy?

He nudged his head but wouldn't let her pass. "He's out there. But I wanna tell you I'm gonna start school after we get settled!"

She nodded and forced a smile.

"Should I come to your school Annabeth? There is another school nearby, for kids like me. But daddy said I can choose which one I want to go to!"

Annabeth thought about it. She wasn't quite sure what he meant by 'kids like me'. She knew he was a bit different, but she didn't know why exactly. Sure, she felt a little bad for him even if she did think Tyson was highly annoying. And if he went to her school she knew he would not be treated the nicest. "Umm. I think-I think, you should go to the other school. It's nothing personal Tyson." She wasn't quite sure if she said that for her or for him. She wouldn't be able to stand it if he came bouncing down the hallway everyday screaming her name.

Tyson put a hand to his chin, and because she couldn't see his eyes under his hair, she wasn't sure what he was thinking. "Okay!" he finally said with much enthusiasm. This kid just kept getting weirder and weirder in Annabeth's opinion.

The two of them walked outside and met with Percy and his parents. Before separating, Poseidon took Annabeth's hand and kissed it. He shook Percy's hand. Then hugged Sally and kissed her cheek. After that, Poseidon walked to his car with Tyson skipping behind him.

The other three loaded into Sally's car and Percy was beaming. Annabeth could hardly believe this was the same kid who came crying to her a week ago. Once they arrived at Annabeth's house, Percy walked her to the door.

"What did you think?" he asked her.

She smiled ever so slightly and nodded. "It was fun. Your dad is a nice guy."

He tired to conceal his grin but couldn't. "You have no idea how happy that makes me."

She rolled her eyes and flicked him in the head. "Um, yes I do. You have that stupid grin on your face."

Percy shrugged. "Hey, I get it. I was actually asking my dad about the whole architecture thing.. He said he had tons of great pictures. But I understand if you don't want to see them.." He trailed off, with the same dumb smile on his face, and said a few other random things. But Annabeth just slapped his shoulder laughing.

"Dang it Jackson! You're impossible!"

Percy put his hands on her waist and kissed her nose. "Yeah, yeah. I get that a lot."

She pulled him into a real kiss and smiled against his lips. She still couldn't believe this was the Seaweed Brain she's had a crush on since she was twelve. She then pulled away quickly, remembering that Percy's mother was watching. "Go home Seaweed Brain."

He gave her his signature crooked grin, and if someone he didn't know saw that, they wouldn't be sure if he was gonna shoot her with a dart gun or blow her a kiss. He wasn't very predictable.

He went back to the car, where he found his mother gushing and wiping a tear of joy from her eye.

Typical.

Hi friends! I'm back!

Okay! So first thing, Poseidon and Tyson do NOT have British accents. I know Tyson was suppose to grow up in Europe but lets pretend he is such an eccentric dude that he didn't pick up on it? Idk.

Also, Lou Ellen throwing pine cones at dudes? Yeah, thats a real situation that happened in my life. I threw pine cones at a bunch of dudes who wouldn't stop looking at me, my friends, and my sisters.

Sorry if the Italian is off a little bit. I use google translate and it's not completely reliable. I don't know French, Spanish or Italian, so if it's off in any other chapters, blame google translate.

Expect updates to be more every two weeks now. I would have had this posted yesterday but I was editing it deep into the night and I got sooo tired.

So we got some Lazel-Frazel fluff cuz I ship both of those so damn much. The Solangelo hints tho! I'm kind of scared for Trials Of Apollo tho! What if Will's personality is more different than we portray him? What is the Solangelo relationship is more different? Idk, but if it is, I'll probably continue my story the way it is.

Not sure what's gonna happen with the Percy and Poseidon stuff. Or how Annabeth is gonna be involved. And Jason is trying to help my baby Nico. Piper is so fricking done with drama.

Next chapter I'll try to get Reyna in the story.

While writing the parts about Frank I heard the songs-

"Burn" by Ellie Goulding: We got the fire, fire fire! And were gonna let it BURN!

"Set Fire To The Rain" by Adelle: Cuz I set FIRE TO THE RAIIIINNNN!

"Uptown Funk" by Bruno Mars: I'm too hot! Hot damn! Got a police and a fireman! I'm to hot!

I swear, I can picture Frank being like "Um how about no."

Anyways, please review. I realize I don't get a lot on each chapter and I lose motivation! Please bro!

Until next time~MyLifeIsALie

*UPDATE! RIGHT AFTER I FINISHED TYPING THE PREVIOUS STUFF, "I SET FIRE TO THE RAIN" CAME ON AGAIN! IT'S PLAYING AS I TYPE THIS! COINCIDENCE? I THINK NOT!

oh my god I'm sorry.