QuinnStormTwilight: Thank you, and happy early birthday to you, too. Your birthday is the day after my brother and sister's birthday (they're twins in case you didn't know).

Mrs-diAngelo25: My friends are rubbing it in my face that they're both six months older than me so they get their learners permits before I do. I laugh because that means I'll turn thirty six months after them. Ha.

infinity heart star lightning: Please don't cry your system out, you won't be able to read the end of the story. I love Nico in this story, but I feel like Thalia's a little pathetic. Maybe not as much at the beginning, but in the past few chapters. That's why I wrote the end of this the way I did. It actually is really cool that my mom's a writer because when I'm cranky because I have writer's block or if I'm completely distracted because I have a new story idea banging around in my skull she gets it. I've been thinking about telling her about my account, and if I do I think I'll show her your review. Thank you so much. I don't have a genius older sister but my mother went to a very high end boarding school for high school, Harvard for college, and then Stanford for law school. And she wants me to live up to her.

SummerSpirit18: I always look crazy enough to make me look like I escaped from an asylum. Romania isn't the middle of nowhere (I checked your profile). I live in a town in Northern New Hampshire that is about one square mile. We have four fun things to do in our town: the river, the playground at the school, the library, and the tiny restaurant. And we're not sure how much longer the restaurant is going to last, the last restaurant that was there went bankrupt and the one before was shut down because someone was murdered there. Very bad luck. The twin thing is true and very annoying. I hope your finals went well, my mother yelled at me because I got a 91 in English. My lowest score was an 87 in Geometry, I think that's pretty good. Happy very late birthday. I really didn't need that image of your friend's grandma, thank you. But it's not as disturbing as I thought it was going to be, I changed the plot line because I didn't think it fit.

Maddi: Thank you! At the end when she pours the pills down the toilet she's at Nico's house, that would have been clearer if I had remembered to put in the line break. Sorry.

Reader of all: Thank you, I intend to. It's almost finished, just two more chapters. Well, one and an epilogue.

Jes: That's not quite the right way to vote but I got your vote anyway so it doesn't matter. I was planning to have them meet but then I looked at my plot line and it doesn't work, so they're not going to meet, sorry.

I don't own Percy Jackson or Swimming Home by Evanescence.

Chapter 14 – Swimming Home

watch?v=J0lVfLnPl_E

"That sucked," Thalia said as they walked out of the theater. They had just come from seeing Jurassic Park in 3D (Nico's suggestion, and the last one Thalia would ever listen to).

"You certainly thought it was funny enough."

"It was funny because everyone was stupid. Like at the end, those kids had just been chased by dinosaurs, fallen out of trees, one of them had been electrocuted and died for a few seconds, and those idiot let them fall asleep. They probably both have concussions, they could go into a fucking coma!"

"I think I'd want that girl in a coma. She was annoying."

Thalia laughed and nodded.

When they pulled up in front of the house Nico stopped the car and leaned over to kiss her. When they broke apart he said quietly, "Go get changed, you smell like popcorn."

She smirked. "And here I thought you loved popcorn."

He smiled and kissed her again before leaning away and opening his door. Thalia did the same. "What do you want for dinner?" Nico asked over the hood of the car.

"Surprise me."

"Will do."

Nico held the door for her and she nodded to him as she went in and headed up the stairs to change. She shut the door and kicked off her shoes.

Suddenly she was on the floor with her hands over her ears and her eyes squeezed shut trying to block out the bright lights and loud sounds. Her breathing was ragged and in her head she screamed for it to stop, stop, stop.

Downstairs Nico had finished making dinner (he prided himself in his ability to make perfect peanut butter and jelly sandwiches) and went to the base of the stairs. "Thalia," he called. She didn't answer. "Thalia," he called again, beginning to make his way up the stairs to the room that they shared.

A knock on the door split through Thalia's consciousness, but she didn't say anything. She felt like she was holding herself together by a thread and if she opened her mouth she would break the thread and fall apart.

The door opened and she was vaguely aware of someone coming into the room and saying her name. But when they put their hands on her arms and said her name again it cut through to her and she felt the intensity fading away. After what felt like ages but was really only a few minutes she lowered her hands from her ears and opened her eyes, breathing heavily.

Nico was kneeling in front of her looking like he was scared but was pretending to be worried. "You okay?"

She wrapped her arms around him and took a few deep breaths. She nodded into his shirt. He had a unique smell, like rain and a cold night and something soft that she couldn't describe.

Nico could feel her trembling and he felt like he wanted to be sick, the way he always felt after she had an attack. It reminded him of what Luke had done to her. But he put on a brave face for her and when he pulled back he offered her a hand to help her stand up and they went downstairs to have sandwiches.

"You're sure you'll be okay?"

Thalia rolled her eyes. "I'll be fine, just go to work."

Nico hesitated, his eyes worried, but decided to trust her and gave her a quick kiss before grabbing his jacket and walking out the door. "I'll bring dinner," he called over his shoulder.

"I expect pizza," Thalia responded, and shut the door behind him.

"Hey, Thalia," Bianca said behind her. Thalia turned around to see Bianca putting in an earring and looking around the kitchen. "Have you seen my phone?"

"Did you try your pockets?"

"Yeah, from my jeans last night and the sweatshirt I wore. It's not there."

Thalia turned and put her hands in Bianca's coat pockets. After a moment of searching her hands touched a hard square object. She pulled out the phone. "Bianca," she said, and when Bianca turned she tossed her the phone.

Bianca sighed in relief. "Thank you." She passed Thalia at the door, nearly ripping her jacket off the hanger in her haste to get to her car. "Bye, Thalia," she called.

"Have fun."

Bianca laughed and rolled her eyes. She hated her job at the tiny souvenir shop just down the street, but she hated being jobless even more.

As Bianca's car sped out of the driveway Thalia sighed and shut the door. She felt tired all of a sudden. She didn't know why.

Three hours later found her curled on the floor as another attack hit. She'd gotten better at dealing with them on her own, but it was so much easier when Nico was there. But he wasn't there this time, and she'd learned that either she could pull herself out of it, or she could wait for it to pass. Sometimes fighting hurt more. So she squeezed her eyes shut, clamped her hands over her ears, and bent her head to her knees. She refused to let herself shut down again.

When she'd fought it off she lay on her back on the floor, panting. She thought about Nico and Bianca and Mr. and Mrs. di Angelo, and she knew that it would hurt them. But she couldn't do this anymore. She couldn't live her life waiting for the next attack to come.

So she picked herself up off the floor, put on her sneakers, and left the house.

"Thalia?" Bianca called as she walked in the door. Her feet were killing her and she wanted to sit down, but she felt like she should check on Thalia first. Thalia didn't answer, so Bianca did a quick search of the house before deciding that she must be with Nico. His shift had ended an hour ago.

When Nico came in half-an-hour later and asked Bianca where Thalia is, she began to get worried.

"I thought she was with you," Bianca answered.

Nico shook his head. "They needed me to stay late at the diner."

They were both silent for a moment, trying to think of where she might be.

"Maybe she got bored and went to the cafe," Bianca suggested. But Nico had a horrible feeling that he knew where she'd gone.

"I'll be back," he said, turning to walk out the door, ignoring the fact that he was wearing a long sleeve shirt and jeans and no coat.

The wind whipped Thalia's face. The last time she'd been up here she'd been with Nico. Now it was just her.

In the elevator, Nico tapped on his leg, willing the elevator to go faster. He had to get to the roof.

Thalia stepped to the edge. The street below was teeming with people and cars. Maybe now wasn't the best time. She didn't want to hurt anyone. But she couldn't go back to the house.

The elevator doors opened and Nico stepped out. Thalia was standing on the edge of the roof. "Thalia!" he called, but the wind drowned him out. He began walking across the roof.

She closed her eyes. She'd always wondered what it would be like to fly.

"Thalia!" she heard, and opened her eyes and turned around to see Nico.

She sighed. "Go away, Nico."

"No," he said, stopping in front of her. He took her wrist and tugged her back away from the edge.

She tore her wrist out of his grasp. "Stop. You have to leave." She stepped back.

He put his hands on her arms. "I'm not going anywhere unless you come with me."

She shoved him back. "I can't do this!" she screamed, the wind carrying her words so that they sounded as if they were everywhere. "I can't sit in your house all day waiting to have to curl up in a ball so I can fight myself off!" She realized she sounded hysterical, but she felt hysterical, too.

"So what are you planning to do? Jump off a building? What is that going to fix?" he yelled back.

"Everything! You won't have to deal with me and I won't have to deal with any of this."

"I won't have to deal with you? Is that what you think this is? Thalia, I help you because I care about you! Why don't you get that?"

"Because!" She gripped her hair tightly in her fists. "Because no one's ever cared as much as you do."

"That doesn't mean no one can."

She knew that. She knew how much he cared, and now she didn't know what she'd been thinking, she knew that jumping off a building wouldn't help.

"I'm sorry," she said. It was almost a whisper, but he heard her anyway.

He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her.

She felt him do it but at the same time it felt like she was watching. She didn't cry, she didn't say anything, she just put her arms around his waist and reminded herself to breathe.

"Okay," Nico said in her ear. "We're gonna go home, and we're gonna order pizza and watch Mulan and then we'll eat ice-cream and talk about our favorite parts of the movie. And when we're done we'll watch Mulan 2. Okay?"

She laughed softly and nodded into his chest.

He pulled back and took her hand, smiling softly. "Come on." He began leading her toward the elevator.

"Wait." He turned around and she wrapped her arms around his neck one more time. "Thank you," she whispered into his ear before releasing him.

He smiled and took her hand again. "Let's go home."

You guys! We're almost at the end! There's going to be one more chapter and then an epilogue. It was going to be longer but I looked at my plot line and decided that I had to change it.

I quit my job at the stupid amusement park. I'm going to my summer home tomorrow, I'm so excited! Except my brother decided to bring his friend so I have to survive five hours in a car and two hours on a boat with two ten-year-old boys. And then the next week on a small island.

But my wifi isn't monitored on the island so I can post as soon as I finish the next chapter, I don't have to wait to get to the library.

If anyone doesn't know I uploaded three new stories on : The Highwayman, Without You By My Side, and When Broken Shells Make Christmas Bells. The Highwayman and Without You By My Side are both Thalico and When Broken Shells Make Christmas Bells is Jasper. Out of all of them Without You By My Side is my favorite, it's an AU about how fucked up Nico gets after Bianca dies. Very angsty and depressing, there's a Nico/Hades father/son moment (I love these moments), drug/alcohol abuse, cutting, and a few breakdowns on Nico's part. It's also my first story (I think) when Thalia is the strong one and Nico's the one who's (for lack of a better word) drowning.

I also uploaded a story called Shatter on , you should go read it. It's about a guidance counselor who's new to the school and he meets a girl named Jillian. He meets with her every Wednesday and he starts to really look forward to their meetings. But he can tell she's hiding something and when he finally asks her about it she starts to push her away. I'm really proud of it and I would love it if you would go read it. I have the same name on FictionPress as I do on FanFiction - RavenTempestShadowhunter. There's a link to it below.

Someone reviewed one of my stories the other day and said that Evanescence is a Christian rock band. I'm not sure what they were on, but Evanescence is not a Christian rock band. Rock band, yes. Christian, no. I've heard people say that because of certain songs, but anyone can put things like "My God, my tourniquet, return to me salvation" in their songs. That doesn't make them Christian.

I hope you all liked the chapter, again there will be one more chapter and then an epilogue. Thank you all for sticking with me.

Review!

Link to Shatter: s/3137190/1/Shatter