Romeo and Juliet

by marissawonderful1998

Juliet Barnes wants to be remembered as more than "that one pretty girl". When Nico di Angelo shows up on her doorstep, she is thrown into a world of opportunities. However, she discovers that she has to accompany Nico on a quest to save the world from being engulfed by darkness. Juliet soon learns what is important to her and wonders if it is too late to find her Romeo.

19. Light in the Dark

I was six years-old when I found out that my dad was a greasy jerk wad.

Okay, I didn't know if he was greasy but I did discover that he was not the dashing hero I had always imagined. Mom never talked about him and I never had the courage to ask, so I delved deep into my mind and visited Build-A-Dad and created my own perfect father.

He was tall and dreamy and it was easy to see why my mother had fallen in love with him. He smiled at everyone he passed on the street, he healed injured birds, and he saved the world hundreds of times. The best thing about him, though, was that he loved his family more than anything else in the entire universe. He never let anything hurt me or Mom because we loved him and he loved us and if I've learned anything from Disney, it's that true love conquers all. He also rode a unicorn (I told you, I was six).

Anyways, six-year-old-me built this "Dream Dad" in the place of my absent father and everything was okay. That is, until my mom slipped up. She had just gotten fired from her job and was stressing out about how she was going to pay the rent. The thing about my mom is that she talks to herself, like, a lot. She's not crazy or anything, she just likes to think out loud.

She started saying things like, "We can't even afford a decent apartment!" and "This isn't a life." Then she said something that made me freeze. "If he hadn't left us then maybe we could actually have dinner every night!"

If he hadn't left us…

One of my friends said that her dad left her mom last year, so I knew what it meant. I knew that it meant forever. All the hope rushed out of me like one big breath. I had grown up believing that my dad was the hero who fought for what he knew was right. I had looked up to him, admired him, and waited for the day that he would come home and Mom would be happy again. We would be together forever.

I was six years-old when I realized that nothing is forever; not love, not friendship, not family.

With pitch black darkness swirling around me, my mace cold in my hand, and the dark silhouette of the traitor in front of me, the same hopeless feeling settled uncomfortably in my stomach. I had failed.

All of the sudden I felt so weak and tired that I fell to my knees.

Maybe this is just a dream. I told myself. Maybe Erebos is just messing with me. I heard footsteps approach me and I briefly wondered how he walked so quickly when the merry-go-round was spinning a hundred miles per hour.

I kept my head bent low as he came closer. All the fight had left me and I felt numb and indifferent towards the fate of the world. The footsteps finally stopped directly in front of me and I could make out the vague outline of his shoes.

Then he spoke and I knew this wasn't a dream.

"Don't feel bad." He sneered. "No one knew about me. Not you, not Chiron, not even your precious Nico." My head snapped up and even though it was incredibly dark I could see the tips of his fiery red hair. I remembered the endearing smile that he always greeted me with and the splash of freckles on his nose. I wished more than anything that I would have known earlier, and then I might have been able to help him. Maybe even save him.

"Oliver," I began, but my voice cracked and was carried away by the wind. I tried again. "Oliver, you don't have to do this. You can- "

"I can, what, Juliet?" Oliver demanded "Be the 'Good Guy'? Save the day? Get the girl?" He laughed bitterly. "If you haven't noticed by now, that's not how it works."

I breathed out quietly before saying, "I thought we were friends." Oliver only laughed humorlessly. A chill ran down my spine as I realized that I had never known Oliver the way I knew Nico. Sure it was easy to talk to him, but I realized that we never actually talked about him. I didn't know who his mom was, I didn't know his fears, and I didn't know his goals or dreams (other than conquering the world and submerging it in an eternal darkness).

I sighed and lowered my head again. "Why are you doing this?" I expected Oliver to laugh again and answer with a cruel retort, but he stayed quiet. After a few seconds he finally spoke.

"When he shall die,
Take him and cut him out in little stars,
And he will make the face of heaven so fine
That all the world will be in love with night
And pay no worship to the garish sun."

Of course he quoted Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet… But now I was thoroughly confused. I glanced up at Oliver.

"I don't-" but he cut me off.

"Of course you don't understand!" He yelled. I flinched at his suddenly loud voice. "You never have! You and all those numb skulls at camp have always been too preoccupied with their heroics to appreciate what's really important."

"And what's that?" I spat. My initial shock and sadness was wearing off and I was getting mad. Not at Oliver, but at myself for not realizing this sooner.

"Intelligence. Cunning. Trickery. I guess I have my dad to thank for that." He didn't sound thankful at all. "Since the day I arrived at camp I was the outcast just because I was smarter than everyone. Of course it's perfectly acceptable for the children of Athena, but a son of Hermes? No, everyone else spent their days sword fighting and learning how to be the dashing heroes that everyone loves. Sort of like your darling Nico. But, let's face it, neither of you would have made it this far without me."

I hated to admit it, but it was true. Without Oliver, we would all still be stuck on the train with Party Ponies smacking our windows with plungers. Oliver took my silence as agreement and he continued.

"Besides, physical strength shows nothing about what you can handle mentally. None of the brats at camp -not even you- would be willing to die for a cause this great."

If you only knew… But then it struck me. He did know. I replayed Oliver's earlier words in my head. 'When he shall die, take him and cut him out in little stars… and all the world will be in love with night' My blood froze as I realized that the "he" was Oliver. Oliver was going to sacrifice himself for Erebos' cause and he was okay with it.

I looked up at Oliver, wishing that I could look into his eyes and make him change his mind.

"Oliver," I murmured. "You don't have to die."

"Yes I do." I was surprised that he heard me over the roaring wind. I was even more surprised that his words were laced with regret. It was so faint I could have missed it, but it was still there. There was still a chance for him to change his mind.

"No, you don't!" I persisted. "We can end this together and go back to Camp Half-Blood. We can change things!"

"I am changing things." Oliver hissed. My heart sank and I knew that there was nothing I could do to save him. The best possible scenario involved releasing Hemera and saving the world, but killing Oliver and I in the process. But my mace still felt cold and there were no signs that Hemera was coming out any time soon.

"You know, it's actually kind of fun backstabbing people." Oliver continued as if we were talking about the weather. "You should have seen the look on your face!" Anger flickered in my chest and I clenched my fist around my mace. I didn't know why Oliver kept talking. I mean, wasn't he supposed to be fighting me or fulfilling Erebos' wishes? Either way, the more he talked the more my fury grew.

"But I have to say, it was much more fun watching Nico go a couple rounds with the Strix." I sucked my breath in sharply.

"It was you." I whispered quietly. "You tried to kill Nico!" I could almost feel Oliver roll his eyes.

"Of course I did! He was way too much of a threat. I mean, he's the son of one of the Big Three, for Zeus' sake! Do you know how powerful that makes him?" Oliver was talking to me as if I were an idiot. Of course I knew how powerful Nico was! I was about to say so, but Oliver rushed on. "Plus, his dad is too familiar with darkness. It's just easier if he's dead."

Rage rushed through my body and in one swift movement I stood up and shoved Oliver against one of the plastic horses. As much as I hated the idea of hurting Oliver, I held my mace up to his throat.

"Where is he?" I growled. When Oliver didn't say anything I reluctantly pressed one of the spike of my mace against his skin hard enough to pierce the surface. My heart ached when Oliver winced, but I had to know if Nico was okay. "Where is he!" I demanded.

"Look, I haven't seen him all day. I ditched him right after you left. Although, I wouldn't be surprised if he somehow got himself killed since then…" A week ago I would have laughed at his humor, but now I only scowled.

"Why can't you just- " but then I felt a burning pain in my right leg and I jumped back, my scream stuck in my throat. I don't know why, but I thought that Oliver wouldn't be armed. Obviously I was wrong.

As soon as my mace was no longer pressed up against his throat, Oliver jumped forward and knocked me off balance. However, the speed of the merry-go-round made him stumble forward. I could just make out the outline of his shoulders as he clumsily searched for something to balance himself with. He was only a few feet away from me, so I lifted my feet and kicked where I assumed his legs were. I knew that I had made contact when Oliver yelped and fell down.

While he was distracted I scrambled to my feet, ignoring the pain in my leg. I tightened my grip on my mace and prayed that I wouldn't have to use it. The carnival ride spun even faster and I lurched forward into one of the horses, knocking the breath out of my lungs.

I gasped for air as I held on to the toy pony. I looked around for Oliver, but I couldn't see or hear anything. I blinked and squinted, but no matter how hard I looked into the pitch black night I couldn't make out any shapes.

Then I felt two cold hands on my shoulders. They ripped me away from the horse I had been holding and together we fell backwards. For a scary moment we didn't hit the ground and I knew we must have fallen off of the ride. At the speed we were both flying at the ground, there was no way either of us would survive.

But then Oliver and I slammed into the cold metal of the merry-go-round and I breathed a quick sigh of relief. I rolled off of Oliver and onto my hands and knees. Miraculously, I was still holding on to my mace. Oliver was persistent and he lunged at me again. I was expecting him to tackle me off the carnival ride, but instead he fumbled for my hands and tried to find where my mace was.

As soon as I realized what he was trying to do he had already latched his hands around the mace and was pulling.

"Give… it… to me!" He growled.

How about no? I thought to myself. I focused all of my strength into my hands and arms, determined not to let go. Oliver was stronger than I thought and he made it really hard to hang on. As the tug of war continued we both managed to get to our feet. Now we were rotating in a slow circle as we pulled back and forth like a couple of kids fighting over a toy.

My muscled were burning and my palms were sweaty, but I wasn't going to give up. Oliver suddenly yanked extra hard and I tumbled sideways, causing him to spin as well. Our momentum grew and my fingers started to slip from the mace.

"No…" I groaned. I clenched my teeth and squeezed my eyes shut. Then I crashed into another horse, screaming at the pain that flared in my side. I felt Oliver's hands slip off of the mace and the energy from the spinning flung him sideways.

His scream sounded close, but it quickly faded. Then I heard a muffled thud and my blood froze.

"Oliver!" I screamed. I held still, almost hoping that he attacked me again, but nothing came.

No, no, no… I slid down to the ground and crawled forward a little bit, patting the ground in front of me with my hands. I sucked my breath in as I felt the area where the metal of the ride ended and thin air began and I forced myself to face the truth; Oliver fell off the ride. I killed him.

I scooted back towards the center of the ride and clutched the leg of an artificial pony. My mace rested in my lap as I stared wide eyed into the black air. I was shaking slightly and I couldn't catch my breath.

This isn't happening. This isn't happening.

It all felt so unreal, as if I were watching my life from outside of my body. I wanted to cry, but I couldn't. I wanted to scream, but I didn't have enough breath. So I just sat on a merry-go-round in an abandoned amusement park as Erebos continued to take over the world.

And the weirdest part was that I didn't care. Erebos could have killed me then and there and I would have been fine with it.

But apparently the gods had a different fate for me because just then my mace started to glow.

So the gods would rather kill me themselves than have Erebos do it. I thought bitterly. Glad to know you care, Dad.

I sighed heavily. I had only known about the gods for less than a month and I was already sick of them. I picked up my mace with both hands and wasn't surprised that it was warm.

"How nice of you to join me, Hemera." I said out loud. "Punctual, as usual."

I forced myself to stand and was surprised by how much windier it was. I spread my feet apart so I would have better balance and held my mace out, waiting for Hemera to blow up or assume her "true form", whatever that was…

The soft, golden glow emanating from my mace cut through the darkness and bathed my surroundings in dim light. My fingers were warming up and I was beginning to think this was a rather pleasant way to die.

However, as soon as I thought this, the dark clouds around me pressed against the bubble of light I had created. As they started to seep through the light it felt like they were soaking through my skin, which was weird because they weren't even close to touching me. For a few moments the trickles of shadows continued to infiltrate my glowing sanctuary and my skin began to feel icy cold again. However, the light from my mace steadily grew and fended off the darkness pretty well.

But then, all at once, the black clouds recoiled and Hemera's light shone brightly over the entire merry-go-round. My heart leapt as I saw a patch of blue sky above me. I couldn't believe it! I was winning!

But then the inky shadows came crashing down over me. They slammed into me with so much force that my vision blacked out for a second and when it returned I was lying on the ground with a killer headache. I could still feel the air pressing down on me, making me feel claustrophobic.

A couple feet in front of me I could see the fading glow of my mace. I was incredibly dizzy and cold, but adrenaline rushed through my veins and I lunged at the mace before the light vanished completely. As soon as my hand made contact with the lukewarm metal, the light emitting from the head of the mace flashed brightly, but quickly dulled to a weak glimmer.

Now Erebos had the upper hand and Hemera was too weak to fight back. All she could do was simply hold on.

So I tried the only thing I could think of. I closed my eyes and imagined the sun somewhere high above me. It was kind of hard to do because of, you know, the whole Erebos-is-taking-over-the-world-so-there-actually-isn't-any-sun thing.

Never the less, I put all my strength into it because this was my last chance. I scrunched my eyes tighter shut and concentrated on the image of the sun moving closer to me.

I did this for five minutes.

Nothing happened.

Tears welled up in my eyes and I knew that it was over. There was nothing I could do. I was going to die, Nico was going to die. Will, Kayla, Victoria, Austin, Travis, Conn-

My depressing thoughts were interrupted by something heavy landing on top of me. I grunted in surprise and immediately tried to shove it off. When it started shoving back I knew that this… thing… was alive.

Great. I thought sarcastically. Just what I needed; a creepy monster of death and darkness.

When the monster lashed out blindly and ended up punching me in the throat, I had had enough. I pulled my fist back and launched it forward as hard as I could. I made contact with something hard and even though it made my hand erupt in pain, it felt really good. The monster yelped and fell backwards.

"That's for punching me in the throat." I croaked. I sat up on my knees and waited for the next attack to come. But it never did. What did come knocked the breath out of my lungs.

"Juliet?" a very familiar voice asked cautiously.

"What?!" I exclaimed. "Nico?" I reached for my mace, which had been lying next to my, and held it up. The weak light illuminated a disheveled Nico who was clutching his bruised jaw.

"Juliet!" He said again, his face splitting into a grin. I just sat there, stunned into silence. Nico was here. Nico was here. My mind began racing so fast that I couldn't even complete an entire thought. How did he… What is he… why…? I finally gave up trying to think straight because the only world that ran through my mind was: Nico.

Nico. Nico. Nico.

After an embarrassingly long silence I finally managed to say, "You followed me. How?" Nico half smiled and I ignored the eruption of butterflies in my stomach.

"Are you kidding? There are shadows everywhere! It was hard not to shadow travel." I grinned, but then realized that since Nico was here, he would die right alongside me. My smile slipped off my face.

"I thought you would forget about me…" I murmured quietly, barely loud enough to be heard over the wind. I had almost been hoping he would forget about me. Nico's eyes widened a little bit, then went back to their normal size.

"Juliet." He said firmly. "I told you that I would never forget you." He paused, something flashed in his eyes. "I meant it."

I let out a short breathe that I hadn't realized I had been holding. Nico was here. Everything would be alright.

I smiled at him.

Nico was here.

Then Nico's eyes flicked to my mace and both our smiles faded.

"It looks so… dead." He said quietly. I nodded sadly.

"She pretty much is." After a moment's hesitation I added: "And there's nothing I can do about it." Nico looked at me hard, but it was too dim to read his expression. After a while his gaze made me nervous and I lowered my eyes to the floor. Then he scooted closer to me and took my hand.

His fingers were cold. So were mine.

"There's nothing any of us can do." I looked up at Nico. He looked sad, but also kind of content. Like he was completely okay with dying with me.

So Nico and I just stared at each other, waiting for the inevitable. And the longer I looked at him, the more I realized how much I missed him. I missed his eyes, his voice, his smile, and his overall gentleness. The longer I looked at him, the more I wanted to kiss him. I mean, YOLO, right?

Apparently Nico was thinking the same thing because when I leaned forward a fraction of an inch, so did he.

Another inch. Then another.

My heart was beating a mile a minute and I still couldn't believe that Nico as actually here. But he was, and now I was about to kiss him. When we were so close that I could feel his breath, Nico lifted his hand to push the mace out of the way.

As soon as he touched the cooling metal it erupted in sunlight. Both of us jumped back at the sudden reaction and watched as a beam of light shot out of my mace and into the thick wall of clouds above us. It cut through the darkness like a knife through warm butter, revealing a patch of cloudless blue sky.

I glanced at Nico and saw that his wide eyed, opened mouthed expression matched my own. For a second we just stared at each other, both of us leaning away from the mace. Then an unspoken agreement passed between us and Nico tentatively reached out to touch the mace again.

As soon as his fingers brushed the metal, another beam of sunlight erupted out of the mace. This time Nico wrapped his hand around the mace and held on tightly. The light coming from the mace was so bright that I had to squint and look away. After a moment I reached out to grip the mace with both hands and Nico quickly did the same thing. If rays of burning hot light hadn't been shooting past my face I probably would have noticed that our hands were touching. I also would have noticed that Nico had rotated his body so that he was sitting next to me instead of across from me. And I definitely would have noticed the way our entire sides were touching.

The longer Hemera released her true form, the stronger I felt. Maybe it was because we were finally winning, or maybe it had something to do with the fact that the sun always made me feel this way. I knew it wouldn't last much longer, though, because once Hemera revealed her entire true form Nico and I would be blown to bits.

So I smiled and leaned further into Nico. And I waited.

After a few long moments it finally happened. All at once the thick stream of light ended and for a second there was silence. The merry-go-round had stopped spinning and the entire sky was painted brilliant blue. I glanced at Nico, who was wide eyed, but before he could return my glance there was an explosion. The blast pushed me backward and on instinct I covered my face with my arms, but I knew it wouldn't be enough to save my life. The air was hot, but I didn't feel any pain. Which was nice, I guess.

So… I was dying. What more is there to say? Everything flashed white before my body slammed into something hard and then everything went dark. In the few seconds before I lost consciousness, I thought about Nico and wished that I hadn't brought him down with me. I thought about Oliver and how I wasn't able to help him. I had let my two best friends die.

And then I was gone.

But I wasn't.

I opened my eyes to the same blue sky and felt the hard ground beneath me. My first thought was that I was a ghost and now I was doomed to haunt the earth forever. My second thought was that my life was flashing before my eyes…except, slowly.

I knew I was dead. I had to be dead. Hemera said I would die! So I didn't move and I didn't allow myself to hope. I just lay on the ground and watched the cloudless sky change shades of blue. I don't know how much time passed –maybe an hour?– but the numbness in my body began to fade and was replaced by a deep and aching pain. It started in my back and worked its way into my head. My leg also started to throb and I remembered that Oliver had cut me.

If I'm already dead, why am I still hurting? But before I had the chance to think of a rational explanation I heard someone groaning. Without thinking, I immediately sat up which made my head hurt even more. I was secretly hoping that it was Oliver and that he wasn't… gone. But I knew that was impossible.

The moaning figure sat up and clutched his side before shakily getting to his feet. He wasn't facing me, but I knew who it was.

"Nico," I breathed. Warmth rushed through my body, chasing away the darkness that had seeped into my limbs. Nico was alive! He had survived Hemera's true form! Did that mean I was alive too? There was only one way to find out. I slowly pushed myself up onto my feet, swaying a little at first, and turned towards Nico.

"Nico." I said again, this time louder. He whipped around and saw me. As soon as I saw his face my breath caught in my throat.

I had forgotten how beautiful he was. The bright afternoon sun reflected in his eyes and made them look lighter than I had ever seen them. He wore his usual expression, with his eyebrows turned slightly upward and his mouth set in a straight line, and as I looked at him I couldn't help but think of a kicked puppy. Nico looked more worn than ever with his torn shirt and jacket, bruised face, and sagging shoulders. When he met my eyes he somehow looked even more sorrowful, but it was a happy kind of sad.

I blinked once and then his arms were around me. Nico held me so tightly that I could barely breathe, but that was okay. I pulled myself into the warmth of his body, feeling safe and vulnerable at the same time. Nico buried his face into my shoulder and whispered words I couldn't quite hear, and I whispered back. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry; I thought I could do it alone, I'm sorry.

Eventually Nico's arms relaxed a little and he lifted his head from my shoulder to look deeply into my eyes. We were so close that I could have counted his eyelashes. The sun was shining brightly and the sky was clear and we were alive and standing closer than we ever have; it couldn't have been a more perfect day.

But the best part was that Nico didn't back away and neither did I. So, with our arms still wrapped around each other, we closed the miniscule space between our lips. It was a soft and slow kiss, yet it still conveyed all the passion that we felt towards each other. It was something so sublime that not even Shakespeare could have captured it on paper. It was day and night; light and dark. It was Nico and I.

Even when he pulled away, my lips were still buzzing. Nico was blushing, but also smiling ear to ear and I could feel the happiness radiating off of him. I was about to return Nico's grin when he leaned down and surprised me with a quick peck on the lips.

"You have no idea how badly I've wanted to do that." He said quietly. I laughed softly, thinking about all the times I had wanted to kiss him.

"Oh, I think I have an idea." I replied before leaning towards Nico's lips again. But before I could get there I heard a voice behind me.

"That is just so cute!" gushed a man behind me. It surprised me so much that I jumped, causing mine and Nico's noses to collide painfully.

"Ah!" Nico recoiled and clutched his nose. I groaned and rubbed my own nose as well, momentarily forgetting about the man behind me. Then Nico suddenly went stiff and I whirled around to see what he was staring at.

At first I thought the man was Will, but this guy's nose was smaller and his hair was an even brighter shade of blond. He was very tall and muscular and tan and… well, hot. He was obviously aware of this because he was standing with his legs crossed and arms folded as if to say I'm-cooler-than-you-and-I-know-it. He was wearing what looked like a very expensive pair of sunglasses so I couldn't read his facial expressions very well, but he looked arrogant. I immediately disliked him.

"Almost as cute as myself!" He continued. I raised my eyebrows and glanced at Nico as if to say Who does this guy think he is? "Which is hard to be!" The Surfer Dude looked genuinely impressed that Nico and I had reached his level of "cuteness".

"Uh, who are you, exactly?" I asked kind of rudely. Nico immediately put his hand on my arm.

"Juliet, you might not want-" but the man cut him off.

"Who am I, you ask?" He said rather poetically as he pointed to himself. "The hottest Olympian! The God of the sun!" My body froze and Nico's hand gently squeezed my arm.

For almost sixteen years I had wondered who my dad was and what he looked like. Needless to say I was not expecting him to look this young. I mean, he could have been Will's age! What I had expected was his selfish, arrogant attitude and the obnoxious way he spoke that made you want to punch him in the throat and then scream at him for not putting on his big boy pants and facing his problems and for abandoning me and my mom when –

Well, you get the idea. So it was actually a really good thing that Nico was holding my arm because if he wasn't I would have jumped forward and strangled Apollo. Instead I clenched my fists, gritted my teeth, and tried to think of a stinging remark to shoot at him. But my mind was too full of blind rage and empty of words. So I fumed quietly while Nico stood awkwardly next to me and Apollo swaggered confidently in front of me.

"At a loss for words…" Apollo said as if he felt sorry me. Then he flashed me a perfectly white smile. "I have that effect on folks. Maybe 'cause I'm hot…"

Is he serious? "Are you serious?" Apollo looked taken aback at my words. He lowered his sunglasses and looked down his nose at me. He had the same baby blue eyes that Victoria and Kayla had. I suddenly felt a deep aching in my chest and realized how much I missed my two sisters.

"Of course I am, love." I stood completely rigid. He pushed his Ray Bans back onto his nose. "As hot as the sky is blue. Just ask Artemis!"

Okay, that's it! I had barely taken one step forward when Nico yanked me back.

"Uh, Mr. Apollo, sir." Nico began quickly before I could do anything rash. "Not to be rude or anything, but… what are you doing here?" I hated the way Nico spoke to Apollo like he deserved special treatment. I mean, sure, he was a god, but had he just saved the world? I don't think so.

"Yes. Why are you here?" I demanded angrily. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Nico give me a warning glance, but I ignored it. "Why show up now and not, oh, I don't know, sixteen years ago?" Apollo opened his mouth to say something, but I didn't give him the chance. "But you do show up now, after Nico and I do all the heavy lifting. You know, why is that? Too scared to get your hands dirty? So instead you thrust it upon your children and risk their lives instead!" I started slow clapping. "Well, congratulations! Here's the Worst Parent in the World award." Apollo's shoulders sagged noticeably and his mouth was set in a tight line, but it felt too good to stop now.

"And what about Mom?" Apollo had the decency to wince. "What about Will's mom? And Austin's and Kayla's and Victoria's? Did you never stop and think about how you were ruining their lives and throwing them into all this chaos?" I swung my arms out and gestured to everything around me. Apollo didn't say anything. He looked hurt and I was glad.

"You're pathetic." I growled before turning and walking to the other side of the merry-go-round. I could faintly hear Nico talking to Apollo, probably apologizing and trying not to get us disintegrated by an angry god. But you know what? I didn't care. I didn't care that this was a bad first impression with my dad. I didn't care that he would probably hate me now. I especially didn't care that he looked absolutely crestfallen.

Okay, maybe I did care. But only a little bit.

Keeping a fair distance away from the merry-go-round, I sat on the ground with my back to my father and Nico. I pulled my knees up to my chest and closed my eyes, pretending that none of that had just happened.

Now Nico's gonna think I'm a total jerk. Terrific.

I sat alone for a few minutes, trying not to think about anything that had happened in the past couple hours. Eventually I heard Nico's footsteps come up behind me. I knew they were Nico's because I had memorized the way they sounded. With a soft grunt he plopped down on the ground beside me. I kept my eyes closed because I didn't want to see the expression of disgust on his face. For an entire minute we were silent until Nico finally spoke up.

"Wow," he said with a short laugh. My eyes snapped open and I turned to look at him. He kept his eyes on the roller coaster in front of us. "That went really well." He wasn't saying it sarcastically, which was a surprise. He sounded like he genuinely believed that was a good conversation.

"What?" was all I could manage to say. Nico laughed again, and then turned to look at me.

"You should have seen the first time I met my dad! Yikes." I leaned forward and intently waited for him to explain. "I actually tried to attack him with my sword." My eyes widened.

"No." I murmured. Nico nodded.

"Oh, yes. And then he locked me in my room for the rest of the day. Can you believe it? My dad, who I had only known for ten minutes, sent me to my room!" I had to admit, Nico had a much worse first impression with his father than I did. We both laughed.

Then I asked, "Where is he?" Nico didn't respond immediately.

"He went back to Olympus." Nico glanced at me. I think he could tell that I felt bad because he quickly added, "But don't worry. I'm sure you'll see him again." I nodded even though I didn't quite believe him. I also wasn't too sure if I actually wanted to see him again.

"Come on." Nico stood up and held out his hand. I took it and let him pull me up. I was completely aware of the fact that we were alone and standing close and holding hands. Too bad Nico was oblivious. He stepped back (which made my heart sink) but he didn't let go of my hand (which made it soar again) and led me towards the shadows cast by a run-down gift shop.

"Where?" I asked, suppressing a smile. Nico grinned and squeezed my hand.

"Home."

And I knew we were heading back to Camp Half-Blood. Even though I had only been there for a few weeks, I had come to love it there. I couldn't imagine life without Kayla, Victoria, Will, Austin, Nico, and Oliv-

I swallowed hard and leaned closer into Nico.

"Do you think he'll be okay." I murmured quietly. Apparently Nico had been thinking the same thing because he knew exactly who I was talking about.

"My dad'll take care of him." And I believed him. I had to believe him.

When we reached the edge of the shadows Nico stopped suddenly and turned to me. I couldn't be sure, but it looked like he was blushing.

"We probably won't be able to do this all the time at camp," He mumbled, avoiding my eyes. "with everyone around… So…" He cleared his throat, but before I could ask what he was talking about he crashed his lips onto mine.

I almost started laughing, but I managed to suppress the urge. I wrapped my arms around Nico's neck and pulled him closer while his hands migrated to my waist. For a few blissful seconds, the world around us disappeared. My worries slipped away and all I could feel were Nico's warm lips pressed against mine. And it felt pretty amazing.

When I reluctantly pulled away, Nico rested his forehead against mine. It was romantic in a corny way and I loved it. For a moment we just stood with our arms around each other and our heads together, catching our breath. Then Nico took my hand again and pulled me into the shadows.

When darkness engulfed me I panicked for a second. Then I remembered that this darkness wasn't Erebos'; it was Nico's. And even though I couldn't see or hear him I could feel his hand firmly gripping mine. That was when I understood that Nico was stronger than I had ever imagined him to be. And in that moment I realized that I didn't just like him; I needed him. I needed his quiet confidence, his contagious laugh, his broken eyes, his powerful aura. So I held on even tighter to his had because –who knows- maybe he needed me to? Then I smiled because no matter how hard the wind blew or how dark the night was I would always have Nico di Angelo, my fallen angel.

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The End! Except for the epilogue that I'll (hopefully) publish sometime next week. Thank you guys so much for all the awesome reviews. They're so much fun to read! Anyways, thanks for sticking with story to the very end and I'll see you next week.

P.S. Sorry for the delay with this chapter. I'm a procrastinator and I had writers block. What more can I say?