Mrs-diAngelo25: God, you're so lucky. I want to be home-schooled so badly. But my parents both work. I told them I could do it online, but they won't listen. Thanks for the luck, it definitely helped.

The-Fyre-Lies: I loved the jokes so much. Thank you, I update every Monday. My favorite was the one about the man who walks into the psychiatrist's office wearing nothing but plastic wrap.

Guest: Thank you, you don't sound Aphroditeish at all. I get a lot of reviews like that.

infinity heart star lightning: There are some pairings that I can deal with when they're just fillers, like if they're dating as a set up for the rest of the story. Thaluke and Lukabeth (I think that's it) are two of them. But I can't stand Perlia. It's just weird, and I don't even know why. Powder Puff wouldn't be nearly as bad if the boys dressed up as cheerleaders, but they don't at our school. I did horribly this year, I didn't dress up for anything. Except the last two days I painted my nails.

SummerSpirit: I've never even seen PJs with giraffe print. The jokes were so much fun to look up, my mom was sitting behind me when I was reading them online and she kept asking me why I was laughing, so I had to read them to her. Romance comes in this chapter. But not much. And way more angst than romance.

Goddess Of Idiots: I think I want to meet your mom, she sounds funny. Maybe not to you, but to people watching. I update every Monday, don't worry.

kthulu: This story is prewritten, so I won't be taking suggestions. Thank you anyway, though. This chapter is even darker than the last one, I hope you like it.

dont get too close: But why didn't you like Thalia before? I think you'll like this one, it's more romantic, but it's also so much more angsty, too.

MusicMyEscape-SatsorikuAnkoku: Thank you, I update every Monday.

TeamLeoValdez: I hope you're not looking for a romantic fluffy story, because that's not what this is, especially this chapter. But thank you for reviewing!

I don't own Percy Jackson or Mount Sinai Hospital. I do own Maggie Carter.

Chapter 8 – Eleventh Grade Part Two

Nico could hear his father yelling at him to come back as he picked up his sneakers and slammed the door behind him. He ran down the hallway to the elevator and pushed the button so hard he was almost afraid it would break. He glanced back down at their apartment, expecting to see his father coming after him, but the door remained closed.

In the elevator he put on his shoes and then leaned back against the wall.

It was Persephone, of course. It was always about Persephone. His father barely ever spoke to him if it wasn't about Persephone. Nico was still waiting for her to come screaming at him about the Xanax that he'd been taking, but he didn't think she would ever notice. This time his father had come to his room after dinner and told him that Persephone was missing some jewelry. It wasn't likely that she'd said outright that she thought Nico had taken the pair of earrings she was missing (they were diamond, given to her by Hades for their wedding anniversary), but she had a way of hinting that he'd done whatever it was that had happened.

He hadn't touched the earrings, and he'd told his father as much, but of course his father didn't believe him.

Nico didn't notice that he'd gotten to the docks until he was there, his fists clenched and his breath coming in gasps. He sat down.

He hated her. Even more now that she'd quit her job as a teacher and was always around. But it wasn't that she was always there and was always trying to poke her nose into his business. It was that his father thought that she was perfect. It was that Hades treated her like a goddess. It was that Hades thought that she could replace Maria.

And she never could. She would never be Nico's mother, no matter what Hades said.

He wanted them back. Maria and Bianca. He wanted Bianca to hold his hand and tell him that everything was going to be okay. Because even though he knew she was lying, he still almost believed her. He wanted Maria to kiss his head like she used to when he was little and sing to him in Italian. He didn't want to be alone anymore.

He reached under the dock and unfastened the bottle of vodka he'd hidden there. He took a swig of it, not even wincing when it burned his throat. He was used to it by now. He took a few more swigs, then opened the bottle of Xanax he had in his coat pocket and swallowed a few.

He'd finished the first quarter of the bottle when he pulled out his black pocket knife and started sliding it across his skin. After so many years, he couldn't find a place that hadn't been scarred.

Tears dripped onto his lap but he didn't wipe them off his cheeks, just let them fall. His mother's face swam through his vision. What would she say if she saw him now? Would she be disappointed? Would she hate him for what he'd become?

He was trembling, and his hand slipped. He gasped as the knife sliced down his arm and blood began to pour onto the docks, faster than before. His mind was hazy from the vodka and Xanax, but as he watched the blood dripping into the water he knew that he wouldn't survive the night if he didn't call someone.

As he thought about it he realized that he didn't care. He would rather die.

He lay down on his back and stared up at the sky. Usually the pollution from the city hid the stars, but tonight they shone brightly. The world around him became dark, but the stars above him never disappeared. They were spinning. He fought against the urge to close his eyes.


The stars are brighter tonight, Thalia noticed as she walked past the warehouses to the dock. They're beautiful. I wonder if they reflect on the water.

She rounded the corner and the dock came into view. She smiled when she saw Nico lying on his back.

"Tired?" she called as she stepped onto the wooden planks.

He didn't answer.

She frowned. "Nico?"

The stars were still swimming above Nico's head when he heard someone calling his name. It sounded far away, like it was through a tunnel. The voice was familiar, but when he tried to think of who it was his head began to ache.

"Nico," Thalia called again. He still didn't answer, and shebegan to worry. She started walking faster.

She fell to her knees beside him and said his name again. His eyes were glassy, but he was still awake. She felt something wet on her knees and looked down. It was dark, so she put her hand down to feel the dock. Her fingers came up red. When she saw his arm she felt sick. She swallowed hard.

"Nico," she said, trying not to cry. She put her hands on his shoulders and shook him. "Nico." She lifted one hand to his cheek. Maybe it was just the moonlight, but he looked paler than usual.

She wouldn't cry. She wouldn't let herself cry.

Go away, Nico wanted to say, but his tongue was too heavy. This black head was blocking his stars. He wanted to see the stars. He wanted to see the stars before he died.

Nico blinked slowly and lifted a hand. Thalia thought he was trying to push her away, but the hand only hit air. Thalia grabbed it. It was cold and clammy. She tried to remember how to find the pulse in the wrist, but in her panic she couldn't. She let go of his hand and tried to find his pulse in his neck. It was weak.

She pulled out her phone and dialed 911.

Through the tunnel Nico heard the person talking on a phone, and he realized that it was Thalia. He tried to lift his left arm to take the phone from her, but the movement sent a wave of dizziness through him, and the stars swam even more, going dark for a heartbeat.

When she was finished telling the man on the phone where she was Thalia closed her cellphone and put it back into her pocket.

"You're gonna be okay," she said, her voice shaking. She took his right hand in her left and put her own right hand on his cheek. "You're gonna be okay," she said again. It came out as a whisper this time.

"No," he murmured.

He didn't want to be okay. Thalia should have known, she should have seen, she spent more time with him than anyone else did. But he seemed okay. They laughed together, they shared stories from school. She'd thought he was just lonely.

But she should have known. What kind of boy sits on a dock every Friday night drinking vodka?

A boy like me, she thought. He's just like me.

She sobbed, feeling like she would choke. "Please," she managed, but couldn't get any further. Instead she leaned down and pressed her lips to his.

Nico heard Thalia sobbing, and somewhere very far away he heard a loud wailing sound. It pierced through his skull, and he wanted it to stop, but he couldn't say anything.

His eyes slid shut, and he felt something against his lips right before he lost consciousness.

The lights from the ambulance blinded Thalia. She staggered to her feet.

"Carter! Get the girl!" someone yelled, and a few seconds later a woman with sandy blonde hair came running up to Thalia.

She smiled and put a hand on Thalia's shoulder. "Hi, I'm Maggie Carter. I'm going to help you, okay?"

Thalia nodded numbly and let herself be led away. Her hands were covered in Nico's blood and tears were still falling down her cheeks.

She didn't say anything the entire time Maggie was cleaning her up. She was brought to the hospital to answer some questions (his name, his age, his parents). When Maggie brought her home she collapsed on her bed and fell asleep.


Hades lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling. He wished Nico would just listen to him. He wasn't trying to make an enemy of his son, he was trying to get Nico to accept Persephone. And he wasn't accusing Nico of taking the earrings that his wife had lost. He just wanted to know if Nico had seen them.

He glanced at the clock. 11:51 PM. Persephone was asleep, and Nico had been gone for nearly two and a half hours. Where was he?

In his gut he knew that something wasn't right, but he brushed the feeling away. Nico was fine. This wasn't the first time he'd disappeared, and he'd always come back. He would come back this time too.

Hades turned onto his side, facing his wife, and tried to fall asleep. After five minutes of trying, he threw back the covers and went into the kitchen to pour himself a glass of water.

He was about to go back to his bedroom when the phone rang.

He frowned, but picked it up anyway. Who was calling at midnight on a Friday?

"Di Angelo," he said.

"Is this Mr. Hades di Angelo?" asked the man on the other end.

"Yes."

The man cleared his throat. "My name is Mitchell O'Brian, I'm a receptionist at Mount Sinai Hospital. Do you know a boy named Nico di Angelo?"

For a moment Hades couldn't breathe. "Yes," he whispered. "Yes, he's my son. What happened?"

"I need you to come down to Mount Sinai, please, Mr. di Angelo."

"What happened?" Hades asked again, gripping the counter to keep himself standing. He heard Persephone behind him.

Mitchell paused. "Has your son ever displayed any suicidal tendencies?"

"Suici…no. Did he…" Hades couldn't finish the sentence.

"Nico was found with a slit wrist that was confirmed to have been self-inflicted."

The world spun for a moment and he almost collapsed. Persephone put a hand on his shoulder.

"Mr. di Angelo?" Mitchell said.

Hades cleared his throat. "I'll be right down," he said in a hoarse voice, and hung up the phone. He turned to his wife. "We have to go."

"Go where?" Persephone asked as he went back into their bedroom to change.

"Just get ready, we have to go now."

Persephone didn't question him, just slipped on a sundress and picked up her shoes.

In the car Hades forced himself to breathe. He'll be fine, he told himself.

He spent the entire ride trying to convince himself that it was true.

I loved writing this chapter so much. It's the angstiest one. We only have two more left, and then it's over! I'm sad.

Homecoming sucked, but I'm not sure why I thought it wouldn't. I spent three hours sitting on the bleachers listening to really bad music at a really high volume and watching people in skirts so short they should be called underwear grind against each other. But I got a Dairy Queen sundae out of it, so it all worked out.

Has anyone seen Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2? Don't. I saw it yesterday, and it was awful. My sister thought it was hilarious, but she's ten, so what does she know?

I think I did pretty well on my tests. I should have gotten 100 on one of my Algebra II tests, but I made some really dumb mistakes (like saying that 2.5 divided by 2 is 1.75) and I got a 95. I would retake it but if I do I can only get a 90, so it doesn't really matter.

I'm working on a few new one-shots, so go read those next Monday. I'm also uploading another chapter of Along the Way, but I can't promise that the third chapter will be on time. I'll try.

Quote of the Week: "It's like Santa Clause: 'He knows what you've been Googling ". Sung to the tune of Santa Clause is Coming to Town. My Ancient World teacher was telling us that people can see what we search online. The entire class cracked up.

Review!