I don't own Percy Jackson or Somewhere by Within Temptation.

WARNING: Extremely adult themes at the end. Not described, but implied.

Chapter 7 – Somewhere

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Nico lay on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He had spent the last half hour looking at the picture of Thalia he had on his bedside table. They were at the mall, he had convinced her to go because Percy had convinced him to go because Annabeth had convinced Percy to go. They had managed to ditch Percy and Annabeth in the school supplies store (Nico didn't know why anyone would go there in the middle of the year unles they really had to, but Annabeth did). They had gone to the food court. The picture was of Thalia sitting nest to the fountain with a rink in her hand, laughing at him. He had bet her five dollars that he could put an entire double cheeseburger from McDonalds in his mouth. Now that he thought about it, she had never payed him.

Beside him on the bed, his phone started playing the theme song from Jaws. Annabeth had texted him.

You better find out where Thalia is the text said, because you still have that project due for Brunner.

He hadn't told them yet. He hadn't told them that she had run away. The only one who knew was Rachel.

A sudden wave of anger washed over him, and he threw the phone against the wall. How could Annabeth send him a text like that?

Then he flopped back down on the bed. It wasn't her fault. He could have told them. He should have told them yesterday when he found out.

From the corner, the phone started playing music again. American Idiot by Green Day. Percy's ringtone.

Nico got off the bed and walkedover to the corner, hoping to God that it was just a text. It wasn't. His finger hovered over the end button, but he decided against it and answered the call.

"What?" he said, sitting back down on the bed.

"Where were you today? You didn't come to school." Percy's voice sounded mechanical.

In the back of his mind, Nico knew there was a sarcastic comment to be drawn here. But he didn't have the energy.

"Home," he responded in a flat voice.

"No kidding. You dissapeared yesterday."

"I had something to do."

Nico heard Percy sigh exasperatedly. "That's it? That's all you're gonna tell me?"

"Deal with it." Nico's voice was still flat.

"Dude…" He could hear the frown in Percy's voice. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Nico snapped into the phone.

"No you're not," Percy said. "You're upset about something."

"I'm fine, Percy. Leave me alone."

"Tell me what's wrong," Percy commanded.

Nico was silent for a moment as his eyes filled with tears. Then he took a shaky breath. "She's gone."

"What? What do you mean?"

"She's gone, Percy, she's gone." Nico's voice rose. He closed his eyes and took another breath. "Thalia's gone."

"What do you mean gone?"

"She left. She ran away."

Percy didn't speak. He didn't know what to say. But he didn't need to say anything.

"Rachel brougt me to her house and I talked to her mom and she told me that Thalia had run away. And I don't know where she would have gone and I don't know what to do and I don't know how to face everyone at school because…"

"Nico, stop." Percy's voice wasn't very loud, but it stopped Nico mid-sentence.

"There has to be something else going on. She wouldn't run away because of a break up. It's not your fault."

The tears were running down Nico's cheeks now. "I know there'r other things going on, Percy, she…" he stopped. He'd promised her he wouldn't tell.

"She what?" Percy asked.

"She's a foster kid," Nico blurted. Percy needed to know.

Percy was silent for a few seconds. "See?" he said finally. "It's not your fault, Nico."

Nico laughed and wiped the tears from his cheeks. "God, Percy, when did you get so damn sensitive?"

Percy laughed, too. The two were silent as their laughter died away.

"What am I going to do, Percy?" Nico asked quietly.

"What can you do? Nico, you hear about runaway foster kids all the time. They don't usually come back. But she'll be found eventually. Don't worry."

Nico bit back a comment, he knew Percy was just trying to help. But at the same time, it felt like he was being told to give up.

"Thanks, Percy. I'll see you tomorrow," he said, and hung up the phone before Percy could respond.

He sat on his bed for a few seconds, looking at the picture of Thalia. She looked so happy. Then he stood up, opened his door, and went out into the hall. He knock on the door next to his.

"Yeah," came Bianca's voice from the other side of the door.

Nico opened the door. Bianca was sitting on her bed reading a book, but she looked up with a smile when he came in. The smile was wiped away when she saw the tear tracks on his face.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

He sat down. "Thalia."

Bianca sighed, and Nico could hear the I told you so hidden in the sound. "What happened?"

"She ran away."

Bianca looked at her little brother for a few seconds. "I'm sorry, Nico." But again, Nico could hear the I told you so.

"I feel like I'm just sitting here. I want to do something, I want to go find her. But I don't know where she went, I don't know where to start looking."

"You can't go look for her," Bianca said, shaking her head.

"Why not?" Nico asked defensively.

"Thalia is a broken girl, Nico. I told you that before you even started dating. It might be too late to save her."

Nico stood up. "God, you and Percy. You both sound like you're telling me to just give up! I can't do that!"

"Nico…" Bianca started, but she was cut off.

"No, Bianca, I'm not going to give up on her! I'm not going to sit here and wait for her to be found!"

"Why."

Even though it was phrased like a question, Nico knew it was meant to stop him.

"Why can't you just wait for someone else to find her? You're sixteen years old, Nico, you shouldn't be ready to give up everything for a girl. Especially not someone like Thalia." Bianca was on her feet now. "I'm not telling you to give up on her. I'm telling you what I tried to tell you before you even started dating her. Thalia could hurt you." Her voice broke, and when she spoke again, it was quieter. "I don't want my little brother to get hurt."

"I'm not just your little brother anymore! I'm sixteen!" Nico protested.

"Then start acting like it, Nico, because there are things you need to learn about the world. And one of those things is how to move one."

"You mean forget."

Bianca shook her head. "That's not what I mean, you shouldn't forget about Thalia…"

"The way you didn't forget about Mom?"

Bianca stared at her little brother. "I didn't forget about Mom," she said, her voice quiet.

"Don't kid yourself, Bianca. You and Dad both, you completely forgot about her. I don't even remember what she looked like, but it seems like I'm the only one who remembers she existed. I'm the only one who didn't act like Persephone was Mom when she showed up."

"I was accepting what had happened to Mom and realizing that Persephone wasn't going anywhere. I was moving on."

"You were acting like Mom didn't exist! Persephone came in here, pretended that she was our mom, and you never even blinked an eye."

"Persephone will never be our mom, Nico! I know that just as well as you do! And I hate Dad just as much as you do for acting like Persephone can replace Mom. She can't. But I know she's not going anywhere, and I've learned to accept that. And I think it's time you accepted that Thalia's gone, too!"

Nico stared at her for a few seconds. "Did I tell you why we broke up?"

The question caught Bianca off guard. "No."

He sat down, and Bianca followed suit. "We were studying in the library."

"She got up to get some water, and while she was gone, Rachel came. Long story short, Rachel kissed me, Thalia saw."

Bianca didn't say anything.

"I swear I didn't kiss Rachel back, but Thalia isn't so good at trusting relationships. So when she saw that…" He trailed off.

"You do realize that is one of the most cliché breakups in the world, right?" Bianca said. Nico glared at her.

"That's not the point. The point is, it might not be my fault that we broke up, but it's my responsibility to find her and explain. What should I do?"

"What should you do?" Bianca repeated.

Nico nodded.

Bianca looked down at her hands, then looked back up. "I don't like your relationship with Thalia, I think it's dangerous. For you especially," Bianca began. "And honestly, I wish you would give up and not look for her. Because eventually, she's going to hurt you. She already has." Nico looked down, and Bianca sighed. "But I know you care about her. So…" she exhaled, "do what you think is right, Nico. And if that means going to look for her," she smiled and laid her hand on her brother's arm, "go ahead."

Nico looked up at her and gave her a small smile. "Thanks, B."

From downstairs, Persephone called them to dinner. Nico scowled at the door.

Bianca chuckled. "Come on," she said, standing up and pulling her brother with her. She looked him up and down. "Damn, Nico, when did you get so tall?"

Nico laughed and opened the door for his sister, then followed her down to dinner.

*/*/*

Thalia sat on the sidewalk, digging through her pack. She knew she'd put that money somewhere. She'd found a wallet on the bus yesterday, and she couldn't believe her luck. It had a student ID, a credit card, and twenty dollars. She'd taken the money and turned in the wallet. It would feed her for a while.

She stopped her search when she realized that someone was standing on the street to her right. She looked up. The setting sun to her left made it easy to see the blonde hair and blue eyes, and the scar running down the left side of his face.

She knew him. He'd been her foster brother when she was ten. She'd run away with him.

"Luke."

He smiled, making the scar shift. "Thalia."

"What do you want?" she spat.

He laughed. "That's no way to talk to an old friend, Thalia."

"Shut up, Luke. What do you want?"

Luke shrugged. "Do you want to come home with me?"

"What?" she asked, staring at him.

He sighed, rolling his eyes. "Thalia, I've been where you are, you know that. Judging from the way you look," he leaned forward and sniffed, "and the way you smell, you've probably been out here a few weeks. I just want to give you a shower, a meal, and somewhere to sleep that isn't made out of concrete."

Thalia thought about it. Luke had left her, but he'd had good reason to, and she had trusted him once. Besides, she hadn't had any of the things he was offering in three weeks. She'd been washing in convenience store sinks, eating whatever she could pay for, and sleeping in alleys and on park benches. She was ready for a change.

"Fine," she said standing up. Luke smiled and led her to a red pickup truck. She got in the passenger door.

They drove for what felt like miles, and eventually Thalia fell asleep.

She woke up when she realized the truck had stop and her door was open. They were in the middle of nowhere, and it was dark. Thalia guessed it was near midnight. Luke was standing at her door.

"Luke?" she said. Her voice was still thick with sleep.

"Get out," he said, and stood back to give her room.

She obeyed.

"Now take off your clothes," he ordered.

"What?"

He reached into his pocket, then moved his hand to her head. She felt something press against her temple, but in the dark, she couldn't tell what it was.

"Take off your damn clothes."

Thalia didn't move. When the object next to her head clicked, she realized what it was. A gun.

Slowly, she unzipped her black sweatshirt and peeled it off. Luke's eyes flickered down to her lowcut shirt.

"Faster," he ordered, pressing the gun harder against her temple.

When she'd completed his demand, he ordered her to the ground. Then he lowered himself down and kissed her roughly.

She never screamed that night. She never make a sound.

I'm really sorry if that last part upset anyone, but it's really important to the rest of the story. I'm also sorry if the majority of this bored anyone, I feel like Nico talking to people is boring. So I'm sorry about that. Oh, and I'm sorry that this is a day later than I meant it to be. I started high school this week, if anyone cares. I'm trying to convince myself it will get better. I have an appointment tomorrow with my guidance counselor to change my schedule. By the way, I know I told you this a few chapters ago, but the link at the top is to the youtube video of the song each chapter is based on. Does anyone actually listen to them? Because even if you don't listen to them for the story, they're all by really good bands, so you should give the bands a chance. Because they're awesome. This chapter's song is Somewhere by Within Temptation, and if you happen to have a minute, look up Our Solemn Hour by the same band. It's amazing.

If anyone doesn't know, I've started responding to all of the reviews I get. But some people that review don't have accounts, so I can't PM them. So I'm responding to them here. There's only one today.

Lucy: Thanks. As you can see, I'm uploading now. I'll upload as soon as I can. Thanks for reading and reviewing!

I'm really sorry if I didn't respond to someone's review, but I promise I'll respond to all of them this time.