Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson or any of the characters. All rights go to Rick Riordan. I own only the plot.

Nico was heading back to school, on his motorcycle. The previous day had gone pretty uneventful after all the...effort it took to get Nico into that limo. He was just waiting for all the taunts and shocked remarks that were going to await him at school. His father had simply told him to expect a limousine to come and pick him up after school occasionally. Nico gritted his teeth. Because of his father, he was feeling lightheaded, kinda dizzy, and his chest felt tight.

Nico pulled up to school and walked inside, his hands in his pockets, a scowl present on his face.

Jason was talking to his friends on the football team, cheerleaders surrounding him. Nico didn't understand how Jason could stand people being in such close proximity to so many other people. He could understand wanting to be close to your girlfriend or boyfriend, but to be in the center of a bunch of people? No, thank you.

Jason walked up to him, attracting the attention of everyone in that suffocating circle. Nico stopped walking and glared at him as he walked up.

"What do you want, Grace?"

"I just wanted to know how...it all went down yesterday." Jason knew Hades. He knew how stubborn he was and how harsh he could be. This was Jason's nonchalant way of saying Are you okay?

Nico hated people giving him pitying looks. Which was exactly what Jason was doing.

"You saw how everything 'went down' yesterday, Jason. Draw your own conclusion." What do you think happened? Get lost.

"Yeesh, Nico, I was just asking a question. No need to get so defensive."

"Leave me alone. Why do you care what happens to me? You saw what happened yesterday; you don't need to know anything else."

"I'm sorry I asked."

"I'm sorry you asked, too," Jason walked away from him. His friends were giving him strange looks, but he seemed too irritated by Nico's brusque comments.

Nico continued to his locker, not sparing Jason even a glance in apology.

"Hey, Nico!"

Groaning, Nico turned around at the sound of Thalia's voice.

"What do you want, Grace?"

Thalia came up, followed by all the other people in her posse. "How was your ride yesterday?"

Nico rolled his eyes and turned around to continue walking, ignoring her.

"Nico! Don't just ignore me. You never used to ignore me."

Was she aware she was making it sound like he had pined after her? Because he most certainly had not.

"It was just about as enjoyable as listening to your narcissistic comments."

"What narcissistic comments? I'm not being egotistical. I'm just simply saying that you used to pay me more heed than you do now."

"You know why that is, Thalia."

"But it doesn't have to be this way."

Nico looked at her, confused. He knew she knew that she was making it look like he had had romantic interests for her. But he sensed some kind of sincerity behind the words in her last sentence, as if she meant them. But that confused him because they had agreed not to talk to each other at school, not to acknowledge that they were all cousins; they decided that they were too different and didn't want to feel obligated to interact with each other. Of course, Nico didn't really interact with anyone anyway, but he knew that his cousins would force him to socialize. By pretending that they had no relation to each other, the cousins weren't responsible for taking care of each other.

All four of them had agreed on it. So what was Thalia trying to say?

Throughout his internal struggle, he never let any emotion cross his face.

"Life is what it is, Thalia." was all he said before walking away.

He had almost made it to his locker when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He jumped away from the contact, whipping around to glare at the offender.

He should have known it would be Percy Jackson.

He wondered vaguely how Percy had managed to escape the entourage of girls who seemed to follow him everywhere. With his sea green eyes and windswept black hair, he tended to attract girls like a magnet. But he was alone right then.

"Nico, listen," Percy whispered, ignoring Nico's reaction to being touched. "I'm sorry that everyone knows who your dad is now. But is it really so bad? So you're rich. Yeah, I get that that brings a lot of attention. Heck, I get that attention. But people don't always have ulterior motives, Nico. There are people who actually care."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"I'm telling you this because I know that you're afraid of people trying to befriend you now that they know you're dad is wealthy. What I'm trying to say is, it's alright if people try to be your friend. They're not going to try to force their way past your defenses just so they can hear you say that they'll be in your will so they can kill you and get your money. Get what I'm saying?"

Nico didn't understand why Percy was telling him this. Didn't Percy understand that that was all people ever wanted? Nico had seen how money corrupts people. All he had to do was look at his father. His father just kept on wanting more and more money. He was never satisfied. People only ever wanted to interact with Nico once they knew who his father was. The same was happening now. Even if they didn't realize it, Percy, Jason, and Thalia were only just now talking to him at school, after everyone knew that he came from a wealthy family.

"I get that you don't know people like I know people. You don't understand human nature."

Percy was getting annoyed. Nico could tell. But he didn't back off the subject.

"People do this thing called betrayal, Percy. Maybe you should look it up."

"Listen, Nico," Percy's voice was rising by the second, and people were starting to look at the pair of them. "I get that you've had it rough, but who hasn't? So you've had difficulties in the past. That doesn't mean no one cares about you and no one should."

Nico yelled right back at him. "Alright, Jackson, you need to listen. You've never been betrayed by anyone in your life; I have. You've lived a life blissfully unaware of all the hateful things in the world; I haven't. So if I don't trust anyone, cut me some slack."

Percy was persistent. "But you need to trust someone, Nico!"

"And who do you suggest I trust?"

"Your dad, for starters."

Nico stared at him for a full second before laughing, but it was without any humor. "He's the last person I'd ever trust."

Nico entered the cafeteria. He was still light headed, and he was starting to feel dizzy. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest, and his breathing was a little labored. His father and his cousins were starting to affect his health.

He told himself he was just nervous about what people were going to say. He didn't want any more confrontations with his cousins. He sat at his usual table, which was gloriously empty. He didn't think he'd be able to handle any people right then.

He ate lunch, but he felt no better. In fact, his breathing was still hitched, and he was experiencing more chest pain. Lunch wasn't over, but he decided to leave anyway. His head was starting to pound from all the noise.

He got up and threw away the rest of his lunch. Nico started walking toward the doors to the cafeteria when he clutched his chest, gritting his teeth against the pain.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw people looking at him, curious and vaguely concerned looks on their faces. Nico tried to take another step when the floor rushed up to meet him.

His head was reeling and Nico struggled to make out what was going on around him. He heard people shouting his name, but it sounded like he was listening to them talk through a phone, and they were holding the receiver too far away from their mouth for him to make out what they were saying, despite how hard he tried to.

Nico could feel the pounding of feet against the ground, and it only made his headache intensify. He wanted to yell at them to stop, but he could hardly breathe, let alone gather enough breath to shout. Faces of people were swimming in front of him. He saw Jason's blonde hair and electric blue eyes, Percy's sea green eyes and black hair, Thalia's black hair and electric blue eyes, Drew Tanaka's curly dark hair and her (amused?) brown eyes. He saw the concerned expression of one of his teachers. Nico saw some of Thalia's friends exchange pitying looks. Luke Castellan's icy blue eyes evaluated Nico. Charles Beckendorf and Silena Beauregard's dark eyes glinted with mild concern. Nico hated it. He felt weak and helpless, something he had worked so hard to never feel again. He thought that by pushing himself away and isolating himself, he would never fall prey to weakness again. The eyes of so many people kept flickering through Nico's line of sight. Connor and Travis Stoll, Piper McLean, Frank Zhang, Clarisse LaRue, Chris Rodriguez. He even thought he saw Hazel for a second, but that didn't make sense; she was in a boarding school across the country. He might not know Hazel that well, but he knew that much. Out of all the eyes he saw, one pair caught his gaze. They were the bluest eyes Nico had ever seen. They seemed unassuming; they didn't jump out at you. Nico didn't know the owner of those eyes.

He was being dragged away from all the gazes. The blue eyes, their owner was...lifting him up, carrying him. He didn't have time to feel panicked, however, because his chest tightened, and barely breathing, he blacked out.

When Nico awoke, he was lying on a bed. He groaned and made to sit up, but a warm hand gently but firmly pushed him back down.

Nico looked up, startled, to see the blue eyes looking right into his obsidian ones.

"You need to rest." The owner of the blue eyes and the voice had curly blonde hair and tan skin. Freckles were sprinkled across the boy's face, and there were a lot of them.

"W-who are you?" Nico croaked out, wincing at the sound of his own voice.

Wordlessly, the boy handed him a glass of water. Nico gulped it down. "My name is Will Solace. I called the ambulance and rode with you to the hospital. You collapsed in the cafeteria. It looked to me like you were having some kind of chest pain. Am I right?" Nico nodded. Will continued.

"People were crowding around you. It took me a while to push past them all. Thalia Grace was kneeling beside you. She kept shaking you. I think it was out of shock. She got mad when I wrenched her away. Jason Grace kept staring at you uncomprehendingly. Percy Jackson looked terrified. You would have thought he had stabbed you or something."

"Who was laughing? I think I heard people laughing." Nico was remembering some more details as Will talked.

Will winced, as though he wished Nico hadn't heard that laughter. "I wasn't going to mention it. They were jerks. Mr. Blofis nearly burst an artery yelling at them. My friend texted me and told me they got detention for the rest of the week."

"Yeah, great, but who were they?"

Will sighed, then listed off the names. "Luke Castellan, his crew, and some of the jocks. Honestly, though," Will added hurriedly, as though he thought Nico was going to get angry. "No one thinks you're weak or anything."

"Really?" said Nico. "Because I'm pretty sure Castellan is spreading around rumors right now that Nico di Angelo just fainted in the cafeteria."

Will didn't answer right away.

"You don't have to lie, Will. I'm not an idiot."

"Luke is saying that, but-"

"What's Tanaka saying?" Nico interrupted.

For some reason, Will suddenly looked really uncomfortable. "Um, she's...well, she- she's saying that, um…"

"Just spit it out, Solace!"

Will rushed to get out his next words. "She's been going on about how- and these are her words, by the way, not mine- she's going on about how someone injured her bad boy enough to land him in the hospital. She's been telling people that her poor Nico got into a street fight defending her and a guy stabbed you and the blood loss is what made you pass out yesterday." Will looked at Nico apprehensively.

Nico probably looked like he was going to murder someone. Which he kinda felt like doing. "She. Said. What?!"

Will looked apologetic. "She's basically going on about how you almost died fighting for her. A lot of the girls at school are swooning." Will brightened suddenly. "But you can pop her bubble by telling them all you're just an arrhythmia."

"W-what?"

"It means your heart beats irregularly. Your heart might start beating faster than is healthy and it can skip beats. It's really very common. You can be at risk for fainting episodes sometimes. Symptoms include, but are not limited to, lightheadedness, dizziness, chest pain, shortness of breath, and fatigue. Were you experiencing any of that?"

"Yeah,"

"Which ones?"

"Uh- chest pain, shortness of breath, lightheadedness, and dizziness."

"Alright. You just gotta be careful for now. If you experience any of this stuff again, alert the nurse if you're at school, or get yourself to the hospital. You're at risk to faint again, so if your heart starts pounding, try to calm yourself down."

Nico stared at Will. "How do you know all this stuff? You can't be older than, like, seventeen."

Will looked kind of sheepish. "I want to be a cardiologist. My dad's a doctor, but he specializes in neurology."

Nico was…impressed. "That's ambitious."

Will grinned. "Hey, go big or go home, right? Oh, I almost forgot." Will's demeanor turned serious. "Who do you need me to call?"

Nico stared at him. "What?"

"You're in the hospital because of a heart defect. Who in your family do I need to call to let them know you're here?"

Reality hit Nico. He was in the hospital. He had fainted at school. He had a problem with his heart. In a way, Nico thought it was ironic. He always removed himself from people and felt next to nothing for people. Now science was telling him that not only was his heart messed up metaphorically, but also physically.

"You don't need to call anyone."

"It's really no trouble, in fact, I want to call someone-"

Nico interrupted. "No, I mean don't call anyone."

"But you're in the hospital. Wouldn't your parents or siblings want to know?"

"Just send my dad the hospital bill."

"That's not how it works."

"Well, that's how it's going to work this time."

"You're not leaving that bed until an adult related to you comes to help you."

Nico thought over his options. He sure as heck wasn't going to call his dad, and he knew that Persephone wasn't going to appreciate him calling her. That left only one person.

"Fine." Nico gave Will a number, not telling him who it belonged to.

Will called the number. "Hi, I'm Will Solace, and I understand that you're related to Nico di Angelo?" A pause. "I'm one of his classmates. He gave me your number so I could let you know that he's in the hospital." A longer pause. "Yeah, that's the right hospital. I'll meet you at the front doors."

Will hung up. "Who was that, by the way? She sounded really concerned, and also really young. Like, a teenager."

"She's an adult." Nico defended.

"Yeah, Thalia Grace really classifies as an adult. Especially when maturity comes into the equation."

"Hey, you said I wasn't leaving this bed until an adult related to me comes here. She's eighteen."

"So you're related to Thalia Grace? And therefore Jason Grace?"

Nico realized his mistake. He mumbled, "Yeah. They're my cousins." He glared at Will. "No one else is to know that. If word of this leaks out, I'll blame you."

Will just shrugged. "I don't see why it's so important to you that no one knows they're your cousins, but okay. I'd better go and wait for her at the front doors."

"You know your way around this place?"

"My dad works here."

Oh.

"I might even be able to convince the receptionist to let Thalia back to see you. It might be hard to vouch for her, what with her whole I'll punch you get up, but I'll try." And with that Will left.

Fifteen minutes later Thalia burst through the door, closely followed by Percy and Jason. Will entered before any of the cousins could say anything.

"So I'm guessing Percy is your cousin too?"

Nico nodded.

"Figures. I won't spill. I'll be outside if you guys need anything."

Jason ran up to Nico and started examining him, feeling his forehead and massaging his chest. Way too much physical contact for Nico.

"Nico, are you okay? You were just walking through the cafeteria, and then you collapsed, and then the ambulance, and-"

"Jason, get off me."

Jason took his hands off Nico. "Sorry, buddy, just trying to make your chest feel looser. I heard about the heart thing and figured-"

"Yeah, yeah. It's just a heart defect, Grace."

"Just a heart defect! Nico, you collapsed. We were afraid you were gonna die!"

"Well," Percy interjected. "Jason thought you were gonna die. Thalia and I had more faith in you."

"Yeah," Thalia agreed. "We figured you would send a glare Death's way and he would slink back to wherever he came from."

"It's not a joking matter guys. Nico has arrhythmia. I looked it up on the way here." Jason informed Nico. "The doctor pulled us aside on our way up here."

Thalia laughed suddenly. "Have you guys heard about Drew?"

Nico groaned and covered his face with his hands. Jason looked confused and Percy looked at Thalia like she was crazy. Which she totally was.

"No," said Jason slowly.

Thalia laughed at Nico's pain. "She's telling everyone that Nico fainted because of blood loss. She's telling the whole school that a guy in some gang stabbed him when he defended her. She said they had been trying to mug her but Nico came to her rescue. Mascara was running down her face as she said it too. Lacy is positively certain that you're a misunderstood bad boy Nico. Almost every girl in the whole school is trying in vain to find some way of relating to you. I have to hand it to you, Nico. You've made it really hard on them. Pretty much all they know is who your father is and that you like black."

Percy was on the floor laughing. Even Jason was smirking at him.

"Maybe you'll get yourself a girlfriend by the time you go back to school," Percy choked out.

"I most certainly will not. Besides, none of you can talk to me about getting a girlfriend. None of you guys have one."

That sobered Percy and Jason. Thalia laughed at her cousins.

She said, "Good comeback, Nico. See, I could have played that card," she added to Percy and Jason, "because I've sworn off relationships like that. I think they're stupid. But you guys haven't, so you've really got no leverage over Nico on the subject."

"C'mon, Nico," Percy said grumpily. "Let's go and get the doctor to check you out of this place."

A/N: This is not how a real hospital would operate. This was written as it is to simplify things, both for your sakes' and mine. Thank you for reading!