Author's Note: Just so you know, this story takes place after the Giant War with Gaea. Percy and the rest of the 7 have either graduated or are at Camp Jupiter, but they might appear later in the story. Please, please, please write reviews and let me know what you think of the story! Once again, all rights go to Rick.

I'm not sure how long I stared at the sleeping figure. It felt like hours, but it might have been seconds. I had no idea what to do. I could have called for my mom, but that might wake him up. If I walk past him that might wake him up, too. My decision was made for me when the unconscious boy suddenly stretched out his legs and arms. My eyes grew wider, if that was possible.

Great, I thought to myself. I lose Prince Charming and gain this hobo. By now, mystery boy had finished stretching and was sitting up, rubbing his eyes. He was still too groggy from sleep to notice that I was standing here. I remained motionless. I was afraid that if I moved even a fraction of an inch he would see me. He had finished rubbing the sleep from his eyes with this pale hand, but I couldn't see his face because his shaggy hair was covering it.

Suddenly he went rigid. He knew I was here. He slowly turned his head towards me, but before he could say anything I mustered my courage and shouted, "Don't try coming closer! I know Kung-Fu!" This was a lie, of course, but I figured it would make me seem more threatening. Apparently it did not, because the boy ignored me and stood up to put his jacket back on. Now that I could see his entire body, I observed that he was no Prince Charming. I mean, he wasn't ugly, but he sure wasn't a dream boat. He looked about sixteen years old, just a few months older than me. He was fairly tall, maybe an inch taller than me, and he was wearing all black, which made him look extra pale. His arms were small, but I could see that he had muscles. His messy black hair was in desperate need of a haircut. The only thing that clashed with his emo appearance was his eyes. They were brown and looked warm and welcoming; like melted chocolate. He took a step towards me and I held up the mail like it was a dagger.

"I'm warning you!" I said, glaring at him. "I know how to use this and I will!" Emo Boy smirked.

"What, death by mail? That's a first." His voice was not as silky as the boy in my dream, but it was almost as deep. I ignored his snarky comment. Instead I interrogated him.

"Why were you sleeping on my porch?" I demanded, raising the mail higher.

"I have a message for you." He replied casually, as if we were having a friendly conversation. "Wait, you are Juliet Barnes, right?" He asked suddenly. A flash of panic sparked in eyes. When I didn't reply, the boy groaned and rubbed between his eyes as if he had a headache. Then he started mumbling to himself, but I didn't understand any of it. "Not again! You would think Chiron would know the address, but nooo. He only knew the city! 'Nico, lad, you need to get out into the world,'" the boy said in a bad imitation of an older man's voice, "'You need to go on adventures and have some fun.' Yeah well look at how much fun I'm having now, Chiron…" The complaints slowly faded into incoherent grunts and grumbles and the boy started pacing along the porch. I think he forgot I was here, because when I cleared my throat he jumped. I was reluctant to tell this "Nico" character that I really was Juliet, but it was kind of painful watching him.

"Uh… I am Juliet Barnes." I said cautiously, lowering the mail just a little.

"Thank the gods!" Nico cried and threw his hands in the air. Then he turned to me. "You're gonna have to come with me. I have a lot of explaining to-" But I cut him off.

"Uh, yeah. You do. Like why you were sleeping on my porch?!" I was no longer holding the mail like a weapon. I wasn't scared anymore; I was angry. What did this emo kid think he was doing barging into my life? And why was he bossing me around?

"Er… well..." Nico stuttered. His face was turning red and he was scratching the back of his head with his hand. I crossed my arms and started tapping my foot. I've seen my mom this and it always made me tell the truth. I just hoped it worked on Nico. "I was…uh, tired." He finally managed to say. "But I can explain everything if we could just go inside." He added hastily, holding his arms out as if I was a bomb and he was expecting me to blow up any moment. I sighed and unfolded my arms. His shoulders sagged noticeably and he dropped his hands to his sides. Now that I knew he wasn't a threat I wasn't scared to get close to him. I walked up the porch steps and past Nico.

"Follow me." I said as I opened the front door. I stepped inside and Nico followed me. I noticed that he wiped his feet on the mat before entering.

So he actually has manners, I thought sarcastically. I led Nico past the living room and into the dining room, where breakfast was still sitting on the table. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye and saw him eye the bacon hungrily. Suddenly I noticed how tired he looked. His shoulders were sagging and he had dark circles under his eyes. I wondered when he has last eaten. I softened my expression and turned to him.

"You can eat something if you want." I told him. He didn't say anything, but he thanked me with his eyes. Once again, I noticed how soft and dark they were. Then he lunged towards the table and began loading a plate with bacon and pancakes. Soon he was inhaling every edible item on the table. I watched in amazement as he swallowed a whole piece of bacon and reached for another. I think Nico could tell that I was staring because as he was reaching for another pancake, his hand froze in midair. I closed my mouth, which I hadn't realized was open, and straightened my shirt.

"I'm, uh, gonna go get my mom." I mumbled. Nico, whose face was noticeably red, nodded and began chewing much slower. I quickly turned and walked out of the dining room and into Mom's bedroom. She was trying to ease another shirt into the bulging suit case. She realized that it wasn't going to fit and she threw her hands in the air with an exasperated sigh. Then she saw me standing in the door way.

"Oh, hey, sweetie." She said and began combing her fingers through her straight brown hair.

"Hi." I said back awkwardly. I wasn't really sure how to tell her that a teenage boy had been sleeping on our steps. I decided to go with a safe approach. "We have a… guest."

"Oh, who is it? I didn't hear the doorbell." Mom walked past me and out of the bedroom.

"I let him in when I went to get the mail." I replied. We headed towards the kitchen and after a few seconds Mom stopped walking. I almost ran into her, but I stopped just in time. Nico was finishing the last piece of bacon and he looked up when he saw us. I took a couple steps towards Nico so that I was standing between him and my mom.

"Mom, this is Nico." I said gesturing towards the boy sitting at the table. "Nico, this is my mom." Nico tried to smile at Mom, but it looked more like a grimace. Mom still had not moved. I wasn't surprised at her reaction to Nico. She was probably wondering why the heck her daughter let a juvenile delinquent into their house. I cleared my throat and gently nudged my mother. She came out of her daze and forced a smile onto her lips.

"Hello, Nico. It's nice to meet you." Nico stood up to shake her outstretched hand. "I'm Claire."

"It's nice to meet you, too, Ms. Barnes." Once again, Nico surprised me with his politeness. Now that the introductions were out of the way there was an awkward tension in the room. Nico just stood with his hands behind his back, nervously chewing his lip and looking at the floor. Mom looked like she was going to pass out any second. Her face was pale and she kept playing with the hem of her shirt. It was up to me to break the silence.

"So…" I began tentatively. "Don't you have some things to explain, Nico?" He nodded vigorously and looked grateful to have something to do. "Let's go into the living room." I suggested. I led the way with Nico close behind. Mom was still in her zombie-like state, but she managed to trail after us. I sat down on the sofa and Nico sat across from me in a small brown recliner. Mom lowered herself onto the couch next to me and crossed her legs. I leaned forward. I really wanted to know about the message Nico had for me. Nico straightened is aviator jacket and cleared his throat. He folded his hands and rested them in his lap. I was expecting him to start explaining everything, starting with why he spent the night on our porch, but he didn't. To my surprise he turned to Mom and spoke directly to her.

"I think you know why I'm here." He said quietly. He almost sounded sorry. To my astonishment, Mom nodded. She looked on the verge of tears. "And I also think it would be best if you let me speak to Juliet alone." This time Mom hesitated. She glanced at me and I gave her a questioning look. She grasped my hand for a moment, and then she turned back to Nico. She nodded. Mom dropped my hand and exited the room. I watched her leave.

"Okay, what's going on?!" I demanded. The soft, sweet look that Nico used on my mom vanished and was replaced with a business-like expression. I sighed impatiently, and Nico began talking.

"Do you take Greek Mythology classes?" I rolled my eyes and fell back onto the couch.

"What does that have to do with anything?" I exclaimed. "Why won't you tell me anything?!"

"I'm trying!" Nico yelled back. He had lost his composure and now he looked just as impatient as I felt. "Now tell me: do you take mythology classes?" I nodded reluctantly. Nico leaned back in his chair. "Okay," he began. "So you know about Greek gods and goddesses." I sighed again, but more dramatically. "Alright! Alright!" Nico exclaimed. He folded his hands in his lap again. "You aren't going to believe me, but I'm here to tell you that they are real." I didn't understand.

"What are real?" I asked.

"Greek gods." He answered nonchalantly. I looked at Nico as if he had three heads.

Is this guy for real? I thought to myself.

"Look," I began. "If you're trying to sell me something or get me to believe your weirdo religion, I don't-" But he cut me off.

"No, it's nothing like that." Nico said waving his hands and shaking his head. "But the Greek gods are real and one of them is your father."

Okay, this is getting ridiculous. I jumped up and pointed a finger at Nico.

"You don't know anything about my father!" I screamed. I don't know why, but for some reason I felt like defending my dad. Nico did not look surprised that I had lashed out at him.

"I know he left before you were born," He replied coolly. "and has never visited you or contacted you in any way." I was stunned. My finger was still raised, so I dropped it.

"How did you…?"

"Trust me. I know what it's like." Nico suddenly had a very sad look in his eyes. He stared at the carpet, but I knew he was seeing more than the red and gold material. After a few seconds he snapped out of it and looked back at me. "One of the gods is your dad and I was sent to take you back with me to Camp Half-Blood." Nico said, standing up from the recliner. "

Camp Half-Blood?" I asked just to change the subject off of my dad. I still did not believe Nico. My dad was not good enough to be a god. And even if he was, why couldn't he ever find the time to help my mom and me out when we were short on money?

"It's a camp where children of the gods, we call them demigods, go to stay safe and train to fight monsters." Nico explained. I raised my eyebrows skeptically.

"Monsters? Seriously? Are we back in kindergarten?" Nico scowled at me. Then he pulled open his aviator jacket. There, strapped to his side, was a glowing, black sword. My eyes widened. How had I not noticed it before? I looked up at Nico's face. He looked deadly serious.

"Life as a demigod is not fun and games." He said grimly. "You either fight to survive or get torn apart by monsters." Nico's eyes no longer looked like melted chocolate. They looked dark and troubled. A shiver ran down my spine. I was relieved when Nico let his jacket fall back over his sword, but I could still see most of the gloomy blade. I hugged myself and nodded at Nico to continue. "You're going to have to pack quickly. We were supposed to be at Camp Half-Blood yesterday." My mouth fell open. It tends to do that a lot.

"We're leaving today?!" I practically screamed. "What about my mom? What about my life here? Why should I listen to a scrawny homeless boy?!" Nico's expression hardened. I felt a twinge of guilt for calling him names, but I ignored it.

"I'm sorry," he said coldly. "But we have to leave today." He walked past me and out of the living room. I plopped down onto the couch and buried my face in my hands. A heavy sigh escaped be lips.

There goes our trip along the West coast.