Nico had almost been fine. He'd joined in some, activities and tried to be nice to people and enjoy himself. He'd agreed to go ashore in London the next time the ship docked in about a weeks time. It was all great, of course he was a bit quieter than some of the others and tended tire out faster but he had at least been trying. He had liked Chiron enough to start talking about some things he hadn't wanted to talk about with his old therapist, a cold woman called Alecto Dodds who had been almost the exact opposite of the warmer, friendly Chiron. It had all been fine apart from Percy Jackson.

Every time he had seen Percy it had sent a stab of painful memory through him and he hadn't been able to stay around Percy much, let alone talk to him. He knew other people had noticed the friction between the two but he tried to ignore it. To his relief Percy had never tried to talk to him, just making eye contact made him jump.

It had been one day, about a week after Leo and Nico had been caught up on deck, the group had been playing truth or dare. It had been Percy's turn and he had chosen truth. No one had been dim enough to ask who Percy liked (obviously Annabeth) so no one really knew what to ask him. In the end it had been Frank who had come up with the question. Nico liked Frank, he was quieter, calmer than the rest. Nico wished he'd get up the courage to kiss Hazel or ask her out at least. They were both really obviously into eachother. Nico also wished he hadn't asked the question, "What do you feel guiltiest about?"

Immediately Percy's sea green eyes flicked to Nico and back down again. Annabeth squeezed Percy's hand and Nico saw Thalia and Grover tense up slightly, both quickly glancing at Nico. Of course, they had been the three with Percy that day. They knew about him and Nico. A strange feeling bubbled up inside of Nico as he realised that they probably had all kept it secret while the others had possibly bugged them about why Nico hated Percy. He felt momentarily grateful.

Everyone was staring at Percy expectantly, expecting some funny story about his old, terrifying-sounding maths teacher or the time he accidentally blew up part of his school, with the help Annabeth, Grover, Thalia and Rachel. But instead he spoke quietly, "I'll do the forfeit." Nico gave the tiniest sigh of relief and whispered an excuse to Hazel before getting up to leave. He walked back down to his room, clenching and unclenching his fists.

He hadn't expected Leo to follow him.

The Latino boy stood in the doorway, head tilted staring at Nico. "Are you okay? Hazel said you felt tired but I think it was something to do with Percy," said Leo hesitantly. Nico just sighed and closed his eyes, leaning his head against the headboard. Leo continued, "Why don't you like Percy? He's a genuinely nice guy and why does he feel guilty about something to do with you? How do you to know eachother?" He asked before hurriedly adding, "Sorry, you don't have to answer. I get it's personal. I just noticed that Percy, Annabeth, Grover and Thalia all looked at you after Frank asked that. I was just curious, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Nico glanced at Leo suprised. Leo was cleverer than he had assumed. "Your pretty perspective, I didn't realise," he commented. Leo shrugged as he fell backwards onto his bed, "I'm a wallflower. I see things. I keep quiet about them. And I understand." Nico raised and eyebrow. "Perks of being a wallflower? Really? I didn't imagine you as the type to read that sort of book."

"I'm full of surprises," Leo countered, "Anyway. I didn't read the book. I watched the movie. It had Emma Watson in, as well as Ezra Miller and Logan Lerman. Percy actually looks a lot like him if you think about it. Wait, is a distraction to get me off the subject of you and Percy?" Nico shook his head and bit his lip. He didn't know yet if he did want to tell Leo. "It's just- it's just a long story," he blurted out. Leo rolled over on the bed, messing up his hair even more. There was still glitter in it from an earlier dare bit Nico didn't want to mention it. "We've got a lot of time. Truth and dare can wait. I mean, if you want to tell me that is, I totally understand if that was an excuse to get rid of me." Nico shook his head and decided. He would tell Leo about Bianca. He didn't know why exactly he decide that he did. "It's fine, I'll tell you," he said before taking a deep breath and beginning.

"I first met Percy at a party, a couple of years ago," started Nico. He hesitated, swallowing hard before continuing. He was telling Leo things it had taken him months to tell his therapist or even Hazel but for some reason he wanted to tell Leo. He didn't know why but he trusted Leo. In a way Leo was the first person to ask Leo about them just because they wanted to know. Hazel had never asked and his therapist, well. He didn't like his therapist at all, and the information was all in a file somewhere.

"It was a business party; my father and some other top guys from big companies and stuff. One of them was Percy's father. He'd brought Percy along, I was there with my sister. Not Hazel. My first sister, Bianca. We were really close, especially after our mother died when we were kids. We only had eachother as my father was away a lot.

"At the party we met Percy. He was a really nice guy, 14 at the time - like Bianca. I was only 12 but he didn't treat me like I was stupid kid or anything, he was friendly and funny. He was annoyed cause he had been planning to meet up with his friend Annabeth for a school dance or something but had to go to the party instead. I guess when I met Annabeth, and Thalia and Grover - he mentioned them, I should've made the connection but I had forgotten about him talking about them.

But Bianca and I hung out with him for a while and it was a lot of fun. Parties like that usually sucked but I actually enjoyed it for once. So did Bianca, I think she had a bit of a crush on Percy. Who could blam-" Nico stopped himself. There were things he didn't want to admit to Leo yet. Leo tilted his head at Nico, concerned for a moment but Nico just shook his head and continued.

"Whatever. The thing is they exchanged numbers and we all said we'd meet up at some point. The information came a few days later. Percy had got tickets to a broadway show - I can't remember which one and he wanted to know if we wanted to come along and meet some of his friends. The only problem was the date. I mentioned before how my mother died when we were kids? Well, it was the anniversary. Bianca and I usually stayed in and watched her favourite films that day but like I said, Bianca had a bit of a crush on Percy. She agreed to go but I was angry at her. I yelled at her and in the end I made excuses not to go; I was sulking and bitter at Bianca. She gave my ticket to a friend of hers - a girl called Zoe.

"They decided to take the bus. I can't tell you how much I wish they had taken the car or the train but for some reason they'd decided on the bus. Bianca came to my room just before she left and asked me to forgive her. I- I just ignored her. Kept on reading. I remember the sad sigh she gave as she turned away but she turned back and told me she'd get me something from the show. She told me loved me, in a casual, everyday sort of way. It was the last thing Bianca ever said to me. And I just ignored her, didn't even acknowledge her. I was angry. If I had had any idea- well, I just don't know.

"I don't know what exactly happened on the bus but about a street away from where Bianca and Zoe would have got off the bus a drunk driver swerved randomly across the road. Several cars and buses tried to stop but they couldn't. There was a massive pile-up, right in the middle of the street. The drunk driver was killed instantly along with loads of others. A truck had smashed into the front of the bus, tipping it over. Half the people in the bus were stuck in their seats. A lot of them up at the front died. Zoe and Bianca were sitting right at the back, they could have easily broken the class and climed out.

"My sister was always stupidly brave. She was the most selfless person I've ever met. Zoe came in a pretty close second. Instead of getting out of there they decided to go to the front and drag out the people trapped there. Bianca and Zoe managed to save eight people's lives that day but a fire had broken out in the middle of the pile-up. Emergency services were only just arriving on the scene. The fire had spread, you know with all the petrol and gas around.

"Bianca was trying to get the bus driver out of his seat. Zoe was dragging a small boy out. The fire ignited the fuel tank of the bus and there was a massive explosion. Bianca was right in the middle of it. The doctors said she died instantly. Zoe saw the explosion and covered the kid she was dragging out. He was pretty much fine but she was really badly injured - she died in hospital a couple of days later. But Bianca was dead. She'd died trying to save people, it was so much like her.

"Percy and his friends, I think it might have been Thalia and Grover actually, were on the pavement when it happened. People had heard the crash and come running. Percy had just arrived in time to see the explosion. He didn't know Bianca was in there. The only way he realised she was in the crash was when he tried to phone her about ten minutes later and her bag, which had been in the back of the bus started buzzing. If it hadn't been for that we wouldn't have known it was her for ages - her body was unrecognisable.

"Nine people died in that accident and nearly 50 were injured. Loads more would have died if Bianca hadn't saved them. My sister was a hero and I know it's selfish to say I wish she hadn't done it but I lost my sister. She was my best friend, almost like a mother to me. I just wish that I had had the chance to say goodbye.

"I know I shouldn't blame Percy. I don't really, I never did. Just because he was there doesn't mean it was his fault. He couldn't have known it was going to happen. It's just- if he hadn't invited her out on That Day I could still have my sister. She wouldn't have died on the same day that my mother died. Just after it happened I was so angry. I blame myself most and I just wanted to yell at someone, to hurt them like I was . Make myself slightly less guilty. Percy turned up to the funeral. I remember seeing him there, dressed in black but eyes standing out so green and so sad and guilty and something inside me broke. I was just yelling and screaming, stuff that was completely untrue. I had to get dragged away by my father in the end. Other stuff I said, well, I can completely understand why Percy would still hate me. He just brings up bad feelings, bad memories as well. It's like a sick universal joke that he's on this ship - a place I'm supposed to be 'getting better'. It's like I'm not supposed feel happy again. As soon as I have a chance it's smashed by Percy turning up. But I'm not angry at Percy. It's not his fault."

Nico finished, his voice monotone, face emotionless. He swallowed slightly and glanced up at Leo biting his bottom lip. Leo had a strange sad expression on his face. "What?" Asked Nico, slightly annoyed. Leo jerked out of his revery and looked at Nico. "Sorry. I was just thinking. I'm really sorry Nico. Gods, it sounds awful- I just don't know what to say," he said sincerely. He shook his head and looked away awkwardly. Nico leant back and stretched slightly. sighing. "It's fine. No one does. Let alone me, " he replied quietly. Leo reached out and patted his shoulder hesitantly but stopped after Nico sent him an evil glare which blatantly said 'stop touching me.' Leo drew back and apologised, "Sorry, I'm terrible at comforting and stuff. In situations like this I usually try to revert to humour but it's not really the right thing to do." Nico felt a tiny laugh bubble up inside him. He gave a quick, twitching smile before saying, "You know you still have glitter in your hair" A look of dramatic horror appeared on Leo's face as he rushed into the bathroom to look in the mirror. There was a shrieked followed by the sound of the shower starting. Nico laughed slightly before stopping suddenly as an emotion hit him. Turning away he frowned. He wasn't going to feel like that again. He just couldn't.

Sorry this chapter is so late, I'm back at school and ridiculously busy so this might start to be a bit more common, though hopefully I won't have writers block quite as much. Thanks for all the reviews :) they keep me writing! And no, they aren't actually demigods to the person who asked that though that is a pretty cool idea. It's like an AU AU, where they are demigods but don't realise cause of Kronos being all timey-whimey and sending them back to before they realised they were halfbloods or something. I will put that in my idea book. But yeah, you're all amazing and awesome and just keep reviewing and liking and stuff but that's what gets me all happy and inspired. (Also please suggest characters you want in more chapters and ideas for why their on the ship cause I'm trying to include more characters but it could turn into a purely Leo and Nico being angsty fest if I'm not careful). Anyway, thank you and goodbye (for now)