Two chapters in a day. You know I'm sorry when. A happy advantage of Solangelo is that it made me realise that I shipped the Rachel and Nico bromance more than the couple. Enjoy!

18. Ricardo: "my ex just invited me to their wedding and i need you to be my date so it doesnt look like ive spent the last few years failing to get over them."

"Rachel I am far too gay for this," Nico said. "And by 'this' I mean the church and the being-your-date."

Still, he didn't pry his hand away from hers as they walked into the church. Rachel congratulated herself on having beaten the life and resilience out of Nico di Angelo years ago. It made things so much easier now.

"Nobody knows that," Rachel said. "Just like nobody knows that your name isn't actually Ricardo, that you're not studying orthopedic surgery on a soccer scholarship and that you work the night shift at a shelter for abused puppies hence why we leave early. Now hush, you just moved here, and even if I'm tutouring you you're shy about speaking English in public."

"Orthopedic surgery?" Nico asked. "Why the hell would I be studying orthopedic surgery."

"It is a need in today's day and age," Rachel said. "Why don't you try growing a sense of empathy and being a little more sociocentric for once?"

"You know, a better alternative to this would have been declining to the invitation to attend this wedding," Nico said.

"No, that wouldn't have worked. See, that might have made Max think I'm still not over him-"

"Which you're not."

"Which I am working on," Rachel corrected.

"Rachel, you've been working on it for three years," Nico said.

"Three godawful years that fully entitle me to his open bar so I can bleed him of his stupid little New Roman trust fund one screwdriver at a time," Rachel said.

"Apollo said no drinking," Nico said. "He's waiting for that big prophecy to spew."

"Yeah, well, everything Apollo says gets me in shit so even if you're sleeping with his kid, I'm going to have to ask you to shut up about him," Rachel grumbled.

"A) Rude. Not only rude, but uncalled for actually, Will and I are about much more than sex contrary to popular belief. B), Max doesn't even deserve you to put on your nice green dress and show up at his crummy bureaucratic loveless wedding," Nico said. "I mean, you look really good."

Rachel smiled a bit, but it was a little sad. It was true that Max was an asshole. Son of Mars from New Rome, they'd hit it off pretty good when Camp Jupiter had nearly invaded Camp Half-Blood. That would have been an awkward "and that kids is how I met your mother", but luckily that wasn't going to be a problem since after one year of dating, he'd lost his cool about Rachel refusing to let him touch her because of her oracle vows and had told her she'd never be able to find a relationship before disappearing back to New Rome, never to frequent the East coast again.

He was an asshole. But maybe what Rachel had really been doing ever since that nasty breakup was mourning the romantic box she'd broken down by being the oracle, and not Max himself.

"I came here to get drunk," Rachel said. "Stop making me think di Angelo."

But she squeezed his hand in the silent kind of thank you their friendship would allow to pass through. If anyone knew anything about breaking boxes on the sex, love and rock and roll shelf; it was Nico.

"Ricardo no parlo inglese," Nico replied.