Disclaimer: Shall never own sadly.
The silence in the room was thick. Nico had grudgingly gone along with Hazel, but he was regretting it the moment they reached their destination. Although he knew she was there to support him, he felt alone as he walked towards Percy.
"I...uh...have something to say to you, Percy." Nico finally managed to say after a few terse seconds of everyone staring at him. He shuffled his feet nervously but stood his ground.
"Um sure?" Percy seemed confused, but with a quick glance around the room and the silence from Nico was able to grasp that this conversation would be better if done privately. "Do you want to...go elsewhere?"
"Yea, that would be appreciated." Nico responded quietly.
Percy led the way for them towards one of the many unused rooms. Once there he slowly closed the door behind them.
"So care to tell me what's going on?" Percy said as he turned to face Nico.
"Is it necessary for you to know?" Nico closed his eyes. "Cause I'm telling you right now, you would prefer not to."
Percy sighed. "It's necessary because I care about you. You can be a pain in the ass, but I can count on you."
"Ha...got a funny way of showing it."
"Nico, what is your issue?" Percy yelled. "I can't read your damn mind."
"It would be helpful…"Nico said under his breath.
"I'm trying to help you, but you aren't giving me a chance." He sighed again. "What happened to the little kid who actually liked me?"
"He grew up, but… he still likes you." Nico tried to imagine he didn't say that.
"Kinda hard for me to believe that."
"He…I...do…" Nico forced himself to look at Percy. "When I was a kid, I admired you."
"I remember." Percy stared down at Nico. "So what happened?"
"I...grew up." He swallowed. " I...realized...some things about myself."
"But what does that have to do with me?"
Nico ran his hands through his hair as he started to pace in front of him. "Nothing. Not a thing. I was just dumb and I started to believe in things that could never happen."
"So...back to the question...why take it out on me?" He was confused.
"Because it has everything to do with you!"
"What?" Percy grabbed Nico's arm to stop his pacing. "Please explain. I'm trying to understand."
"I liked you…" There was a long pause. "But I realized I wanted more."
"More? From me?"
"Yes." Nico took a deep breath before looking into Percy's eyes. "I wanted to be by your side. As partners."
"We are partners though?" Percy's eyebrows crinkled. "We all are one big group."
"You aren't understanding me." He sighed. "I wanted you to be my mine."
Percy blushed. "Yours? Like as in...a...boyfriend?"
"Exactly." They avoided each other's eyes. "I realized...I liked you as more than a friend."
"But...um...you know I'm with Annabeth…" His voice trailed off.
"That's why it's hard…" Nico slowly found himself looking at Percy's face again. "I know that you are happy...but when I first noticed you in...that way...you guys weren't together."
Percy tried not to notice how Nico was trembling. "But in the end...we still are."
"I know. Just...like...my feelings don't disappear so easily." He clenched his jaw. "I've been dealing with this for years, I can take care of myself. So I'll just do my own thing and go back to the underworld."
"Nico…" Percy pulled him into a hug. "You are a part of this group. Whether you like it or not."
"I don't know if I can face you or the others after this." Nico buried his face into Percy's shirt.
"I'm sorry I can't return your feelings." Percy held him tighter when he tried to pull away. "I'm not quite sure what the future holds for us. But I will not accept you leaving us. Regardless of you liking me, you are my friend first and that means I will fight for you."
"But I like you…" Nico felt a few tears fall down his face and into Percy's shirt. "I don't know if I'll be able to stop."
"You can never force yourself to stop." He chuckled. "I'm not a great catch you know."
"Yea, barely any knowledge points." Nico smirked before it slid into a grimace. "But you are one of a kind."
Percy let go of him and forced a smile. "And like that game, eventually you'll move on from me."
"How though?" Nico's gaze fell to the floor.
"I don't know." He grabbed Nico's arm and forced him to look at him. "But I'm not losing you in my life. You have done so much for me that I won't stand for it."
"I've done a lot of bad things too…"
"But you, as a person, are not those things."
Nico sighed. "What do we do now?"
"We do what we always do. We try to stay alive." Percy laughed. "But we will figure it out. Together. And...you know...I'm glad you told me."
Nico laughed and gave a semi-forced smile. "So am I."
A/N: Holy hell! I actually came back to finish this. Umm. Sorry for the long wait but this concludes the story more or less for me. I feel like this makes a bit more sense than Nico seemingly over Percy super quickly like in the books. Hmm if anyone wants to talk to me about Percy Jackson related things feel free to message me. Otherwise enjoy your day.