Sorry about any spelling mistakes, I did run through it, but I probably didn't get everything. I'll look at it again, but I think it's been long enough.
I'm only halfway out of Nico's back door when I hear it. Cheers, and shouts, and the ear-spitting hum of lots of people being as loud as possible. And the noise is coming from the front of the Hades cabin. I, fearing the worst, start to creep around the house. I glance around the first corner, and lo and behold, there stood a Hermes kid.
"Boo." says the kid, a devious grin plastered all over his dumb face.
My stomach twists in on itself. This is bad. Nico had been right to fear the shippers. They were everywhere.
I know that if the rumor that they were together spread, Nico's emotional state would get even worse.
"We didn't do anything." my mouth shouts, apparently independent of me. Oh god. Why did I have to say that? That was basically a confession!
The Hermes kid just smirks.
"Yeah right." he sneers, eyes glittering with mirth.
I glare at the kid before shoving past him. I don't have time for this! I have to get to Nico. And then I was running past the black walls of the Hades cabin, flying around the last corner, and then...I stops in my tracks.
There is a huge crowd in front of the Hermes cabin entrance, and they're all looking at a frozen Nico with knowing, anticipating looks. He shivers and stutters, looking for all the world like a deer in the headlights. Despite myself, I smile. He's adorable, even now. But I have to get to him, have to explain, have to save him from the crowd. And I'm moving again, pushing through the them, ducking past their questions, wrestling their curiosity away. And finally, finally, I'm by Nico. For some reason, even though I'm the doctor here, I feel better. I touch my finger to his hand, to show him that we're in this together, and turn to face the crowd. It's mostly made up of the Aphrodite kids. Piper gives me a wave and grins. The large group erupts into jeers and cheers and "oohs!" I sigh.
"I's not what you think!" cries Nico, distraught.
"It's really not. I thought I saw his sleepwalking, so I wanted to make sure-"
"Liar!" screams the gleeful crowd. "We know what happened!"
I don't want to deal with this right now. I don't want Nico to deal with this right now. So I say, "Come on Nico, they're not going to listen to us."
"But…"
"Just come."
Nico looks at me with those beautiful black eyes, and nods. I smile, and almost take his hand, before remembering that we should not encourage the crowd. Before he can shadow-travel, I pull him back inside the cabin, and make a beeline for the secret door. Nico sees what I'm doing and launches himself forward as well. We catapult towards the door's's faint outline, and Nico puts his hands in the groove that is that handle, pulls it open, and then we're in a little cupboard-like space between the door and outside. He slams the door shut as I open the next, hoping that no Hermes kids are on the other side. I peek out. We're free! Nico slinks out from behind me, quick but silent, and I wonder at his stealth as he signals for me to follow him towards the forest. Also, his butt is nice. Like, really, really nice.
I mean healthy. I meant healthy. It's a healthy butt.
Anyway, as he makes his way towards the wood with the kind of stealth that would make a spy feel inadequate, I clumsily attempt to not step on any twigs. And finally, finally, we're standing on dappled leaves, in the cooling shelter of the trees. I let out the breath that I had almost suffocated while holding, and try to meet those gorgeous black eyes of Nico's. But they aren't there. I look around, and after further scrutiny, find him huddled down in a shady patch behind some bushes. I join him, wishing that I too was wearing black.
But once I'm next to him, my smile vanishes like smoke on a windy day. He looks so tired. I scoot closer to him, and put my hand on his, to show him that he's not alone. I look at him again. He looks…. Vulnerable. Hurt. I'm shocked. I mean, the war was hard on all of us, and especially Nico, and I knew that his life was hard even before that, but… This was almost scary, just how tired and heartbroken he looked at that moment.
I figure that Nico wouldn't appreciate me staring at him as if he's some freak show oddity, though, so I switch my attention to the ground and try to figured out how I could make him happy again. But before I get to any conclusion, I feel a weight on my shoulder. My head snaps up at record speed, and I see that Nico has lain his head on my shoulder. His eyes are closed and I am struck with just how pale he is, excepting the fire-engine red of his cheeks. I turn my body so it's more comfortable for him, slowly though, so as to not make too much noise or scare Nico off. I hesitantly lift up one hand, and it hovers in in the patchy light before recoiling as Nico's beautiful eyes open. He sighs, and looks at the mottled brown of the forest floor. He turns his head so that only one of his eyes is showing, and puts his hands on mine. My already burning face reddens, and Nico begins to speak.
"I just… don't want to deal with this anymore."
"Deal with what?"
"Everything! I mean, now that my, er, secret is out, people either try to find relationships for me or ridicule me for how I am. Plus, now that the Saviors of the World like me, other people are trying to include me, but you can tell that it's hard. That they don't really want to."
"That's not true! We all love you, Nico." I plead, shock probably evident in my face as I stare at his sagging form.
"No, they're trying to love me. There's a difference."
"Oh, Nico…"
"Even you! I can tell that it's hard for you, and Percy, and Annabeth and Piper, and Jason, that you all just think of me as your little emo charity case!" a sob escapes from Nicos lips as he says this, and the edge to his words, the conviction behind them, drives them right into my heart. My shoulder feels wet with hot tears, and it keeps getting wetter as Nico sobs angrily. I just sit still, processing the words.
Eventually, I turn, and grab Nico's face. I glare at him, rage making my movements choppy and harsh. Nico looks up at me, shocked, but still angry.
"Don't you ever, ever say that again." I hiss, my nails digging into Nico's perfect skin. "You are not my fucking charity case. You have never, ever, ever been."
Nico's amazing, black eyes fly open at the swear word. I'm too angry to care.
Hot tears begin to pool up in my eyes and my grip loosens. Already, I feel guilty about treating Nico so roughly.
"You're too important to me to be a charity case." I whisper, shame gluing my eyes to the ground. I gulp. He's going to hate me isn't he. I glance up at him. His wide eyes are as open as they can be, and he stares at me in utter horror. I take in a deep, sharp breath.
Oh gods. He hates me now! I shoot up, turn around, and begin to run. Leaves scratch at my ankles, and twigs snag on my t-shirt, but I'm too embarrassed to care. The words 'charity case' and his expression of horror haunt me as I battle my way through the thick foliage of the forest, not caring who (or what) finds me. He hates me now after all. And I could never, ever stand Nico's hate.
But it's not just him. It's me that I'm running from in this forest. Why did I fly off the handle back there? Am I really that much of a jerk that I can't stand it if someone doesn't think of me as a kind, caring guy?
I feel as if I'm going to suffocate, with all of these depressing thoughts sloshing about in my mind. I begin to climb the nearest climbable tree, scrabbling up, up, up, for fresh air. Eventually, I run out of branches, and all of the Camp is spread out before me. I don't know why I feel so upset. I mean, he probably doesn't really hate me… Right?
And then I remember what I said, and how Nico's beautiful face was twisted in horror and shock, and I just want crawl into a hole and die. He'll definitely hate me after this. Plus, I was basically stalking him earlier, and there was I that time last week when I forced him to eat healthy by freaking spoon-feeding him vegetables, and a dozen other mistakes.
...God I'm an awful doctor, and I didn't realize it. I'm awful, he hates me, I'm awful, he hates me, I'm awful…
After wallowing in self-pity like that for a what seemed like forever, I realize that all I can do is apologize for being the largest idiot that has ever stepped foot on this earth and hope that Nico still likes me. I start to climb down from the tree, my butt aching and my limbs scratched, until I'm on solid ground. I start to follow the trail of broken branches back, keeping a sharp lookout for Nico. Running off was a really bad idea. Nico probably feels ever worse... Darn it!
The dead leaves make swishy noises under my feet, and I think of Percy and his swishy water tricks. Percy is everything I am plus everything I'm not. He's one of the best. No wonder Nico liked him instead of… instead of…
...Why am I even thinking of Percy?
Whatever. Point is, I'm the stupidest thing on the face of earth.
Wait.
'Swish'
What was that? I spin around to face the source of the noise, hand immediately going to my sword. One of the shadows is a bit too dark for my taste. I stare at it.
Oh Holy Apollo… It's Nico!
I lunge forwards, to him, and he tries to move away, but I'm fast enough. He materializes, and suddenly, I'm holding Nico's wrist.
"So." he says.
Panic wells up inside me, and I grasp both of his hands before blabbing, "Look, Nico, I'm so sorry for what I did back there, I shouldn't have done it. I don't mean, like, that I didn't mean that you aren't a charity case, I mean, you are really, really important to me, but I didn't want to, like, hurt you, or anything, so please forgive me please?"
Nico sighs, and looks at me, one of his rare, absolutely worth it smiles.
"You are such an idiot." he whispers, and I break into a giddy grin. He doesn't hate me! I'm grinning, and he's grinning, and it's perfect. Everything is perfect.
I suddenly realize that we are holding hands. Nico notices and lets go, his face reverting back to his default 'grumpy teen' setting, and my heart sinks a little in my chest.
"Anyway, we should probably head back to camp." Nico dictates, and I nod.
"Yeah. Who knows? Maybe we can convince them that were not together." I jest, trying to sound happy. A shadow flits over Nico's face before we start walking.
"Yeah." He murmurs. He looks sad again.
After seeing that frown, all I can think of on the way back is how much I want to get rid of all of Nico's sadness, how I want to protect him from the cruelness of the world, and how much I need to see his smile again.
