A/N: Wow, another chapter. Which means that I am alive, and not abandoning this story. Wohoo!

Disclaimer: Not mine.

I was lying on the second couch, which Li had miraculously transformed into a bed – the twenty-first century never stopped amazing me – and tried to sleep. Many things went through my mind, but one thought kept pushing itself into my brain. Why did I trust this mortal woman so much? I knew her for, like, two hours. Including last time. Maybe because she seemed to take pretty much everything quite well. I told her (more like let it slip) that I was gay? Her best friend was as well, and she was fine with it. I told her that I had run away from a homophobic prick? Not a single word about responsibility, not a word about standing up like a man or coming out. Nope. Instead, Li seemed to care how I would fix this mess. I really didn't want to think about how she was going to explain this to her friends, and I was determined to find myself an own place as soon as possible, but for one night, maybe a week, maximum, I would stand this.

The light in the kitchen was still on. Li was reading or something like that. I felt guilty for occupying her living room, but she had assured me that it was okay, and that she was used to sitting at the kitchen counter, either with her friends or alone. Eventually, I had given in, though the thought that I had practically invaded her apartment didn't go away.

Before I had went to bed, after dinner (and although she said that her friend was way better at cooking, the dinner had been really delicious), she convinced me to at least call Jason and let him know that I was okay. Will – who now had to deal with our roommate on his own – was probably flipping out after I had run away and disappeared for two weeks. But running had always been my way of coping.

'Beep. Beep.' The only phone at Camp Half-Blood used to belong to Annabeth, but when I had left the camp for high school, and later for college, Jason had insisted on getting one as well so we could stay in touch. He had become really protective after Croatia, seven years ago.

'Jason Grace, what can I do for you?'

'It's me.'

'NICO! WHERE ARE YOU? WHAT HAS HAPPENED? WILL IS WORRIED SICK, I AM WORRIED SICK! WHY DID YOU RUN AWAY? WILL AND JAKE HAVE SEARCHED FOR YOU! I HAVE SEARCHED FOR YOU!'

'Jay, it's okay. I'm fine. I'm staying at a friend's place. I – I don't think I'll come back this week. Maybe the next week, when I'm better. Tell Will I'm okay, would you?' I made a pause. 'Look, I'm not going to tell you where I am. I need time, Jay. I need time, alone, to deal with this. Don't worry. I'll come back.'

'You can't just disappear like that! Well, I guess you can, but we – fine. But… take care of yourself, Neeks. If you need me…'

'I know, Jay. I know. You'll be there.'

The door lock clicked, and although I had been dozing off, I was awake and alarmed instantly. The light got turned on, and in the doorway stood two men, looking at least as bewildered as I was. One of them was African American and the impersonation of tall. The other one looked like he'd run away from a low-budget Mafia movie. It was the latter one who spoke up first.

'Uh, Li? Why is there a stranger sleeping on the couch?'

Li stepped into the living room. 'Besides the fact that he isn't sleeping, Mel, he isn't a stranger either.' So the wannabe-gangster was Mel. She had mentioned her friends earlier. 'Nico, these are Mel and Ray. Mel, Ray, this is Nico di Angelo.'

The African American guy, Ray, tilted his head. 'And why exactly is he not-sleeping on the couch?' he asked. From the lack of surprise, I figured that both of them were used to their flatmate's strange behaviour. Did she often bring people home to stay over?

'He's got a little problem with a homophobic roommate that made him feel really down, and I offered him to stay until he got it sorted out.' I flinched at the word 'homophobic', and Mel and Ray didn't fail to notice.

'Homophobic? You mean—'

Now Li flinched. 'Shit, shouldn't have said this.' The apologetic look on her face reminded me of a kicked puppy. 'I'm sorry, Nico. I didn't mean to give you away, it's just, I'm used to talking about this, so—'

'It's okay' I interrupted her. The harm was already done, I might as well finish it. I got up, tried to ignore the fact that I was wearing pyjamas – Li had left to buy some in between, but I had insisted to pay for them – and reached out to shake the men's hands.

'I'm Nico di Angelo. As you've heard,' cue glare at Li, 'I'm, uh, gay, but, I haven't really told many people, in fact, I'm actually pretty scared of doing so, but now that you've heard it, I mean…' I was rambling, and I felt like throwing up, my heart pounding loudly in my chest. I had felt so when I had told Hazel, when I had told Will… it wasn't exactly getting easier.

But the tall guy – Ray, right? – just shook my hand, so did Mel. No sign of the disgust or the disapproval that I had been expecting, in spite of Li's assurances that her friends were fine with it.

'Hey, man, don't beat yourself up over it' Ray said. 'I know what it's like. I mean, really know. I've gone through the same. And believe me, no one of us is going to judge you. You can ask Mel and Li, I was exactly as scared when I met them.' He patted my back. 'You can stay as long as you want. Friends of Li's are friends of mine.' He smiled at me and walked towards the kitchen.

'Sorry for the harsh words' Mel said. Even though he looked pretty intimidating, his deep voice sounded more calming than threatening. 'I hope you can forget that. I should have known Li wouldn't let anyone stay without a reason. And if she trusts you, I trust you.' His lips formed a smile as well. 'Nice to meet you, Nico.'

I could hear the three of them talk in the kitchen, as if they were deciding what to do with me, and, to be honest, it made me feel absolutely shitty. The feeling was somewhere in the middle of guilt, because I'd 'forced' myself into their lives, and fear, because I was pretty sure I wouldn't survive another rejection. I didn't want to run away and be on my own again, but I didn't want to urge them into letting me stay either. My friends had enough problems on their own, what with Jason's whole Pontifex-business, Percy and Annabeth having jobs in New Rome, Leo and Calypso living Hades-knows-where, and Frank and Hazel serving in the Legion. Coach Hedge and Mellie had children to raise – so had Percy and Annabeth, by the way – and Chiron had heroes to train. Will and Jake had each other, and Will had a homophobic roommate to deal with.

That night, I didn't sleep well. Not that that was uncommon, I rarely slept well, and more than once, people had made fun of me for waking up, screaming and panting. Most of them had regretted it. But this night, I – luckily – only slept bad by mortal standards, which meant no nightmares about Tartarus or the two wars I'd been gone through. I 'just' had an uneasy feeling, and I woke up a couple of times, looking around frantically or reaching for my – nonexistent, Li had hid it from her friends – sword because I wasn't sure whether I could trust these guys. So, yeah, all in all, it was a pretty shitty night.

I woke up to the scent of bacon and coffee coming from the kitchen and wafting through the living room. It was long ago that I had woken up to the smell of breakfast. Like… eighty years? Before mamma died. At Westover Hall, Camp Half-Blood, and at the boarding school and college I had attended – or was still attending, in case of the college – you had to walk to the mess hall – or dining pavilion, in case of Camp Half-Blood. A quick glance towards the clock told me that it was ten in the morning – midway through the morning, rather – and if my memory served me correctly, it was Saturday, which explained why there were people home at this time.

I unwrapped the blankets that were wrapped around my body and sat up. Through the open kitchen door, I could see the wannabe-mobster – or maybe Mel wanted to look like a punk? – make breakfast. It was fascinating to see the buff, intimidating man handle pans and spatulas like he hadn't done anything else all his life. He reminded me of Frank, a lot actually. Intimidating at first, but a kind and friendly person instead of the strong-and-stupid bully you'd expect them to be. I smiled at the thought. My sister and her to-be husband were by far the cutest couple I'd ever seen, exceeding even Jason and Piper's cuteness record. Annabeth and Percy were constantly bickering, and Leo and Calypso were constantly teasing each other or laugh at stupid puns and jokes (yeah… Leo hadn't changed at all), but my half-sister and the son of Mars were the epitome of this 'two halves of a whole'-saying.

Ray stepped into the living room, not noticing me at first. For the first time – yesterday, I had been too tired and too nervous to look closer at Li's flatmates – I got a closer look at him. He was tall, muscular, and good-looking in general. His face showed a relaxed expression, one that was evidence of his carefree life. One thing I envied many mortals of. His brown face was graced by a thin, black beard at his jawline, and his head was covered with short black, slightly curly hair. He wore a tanktop for a shirt, exposing his muscular arms. His whole expression screamed 'casual'. Had to be nice, a life without PTSD since the age of ten.

'I know that I'm a sight worth staring at, but I think you creep Mel out if you keep drooling over me.' Ray's voice jolted me out of my thoughts. I blushed – and the flush was bound to be visible on my pale cheeks – when I realised that I had been caught staring. Shit. Way to scare people off.

'Mind if I sit next to you?' Ray gestured towards an empty spot on the bed-couch. I shook my head, scooting away so he could sit down. Though I had absolutely no idea why he would want to sit down there. But it was – partially – his flat, so who would I be to deny him to sit wherever he wanted?

'Would you tell me a bit about you?' Ray asked. 'Of course, you don't have to if it makes you uncomfortable, but I'm curious.'

During the past years, I had learned to open up to people. But that didn't mean that it was easy. It had taken me more than one year to confide in Will and tell him my story. I had needed another six months before I had come out to Hazel. I had learned to keep my secrets to myself to survive, and it was hard to fall out of this habit. Yet I didn't feel as uncomfortable as I had expected at this request. Now I just had to find a way to drop the whole demigod-thing without directly lying at Ray.

In the end, I settled for telling him that I had grown up in a very old-fashioned environment – if the past century wasn't old-fashioned, what was? I told him how I had discovered my feelings for my best friend – I mentioned that Percy had saved my life without going into details – and how I had hated him, and hated myself for my feelings that I had always been told were wrong and a sin. I told him about the death of my sister in an accident – it had been one, after all. I mentioned that I had been in a lot of fights, to explain my scars – he might think that I mean fights in the school yard or whatever. I told him how Jason had been present when I had been forced to admit my sexuality, again editing the details out of the story while telling it. I told him how I had went to high school, what meant leaving my friends behind, how I had gotten accepted into college, together with one of my best friends and his boyfriend, and, eventually, how the asshole – what was his name? Calvin? – had appeared and bullied us until I had run away, ending up here. When I was finished, I was crying.

I had never opened up this much before. My family and friends – Hazel, Jason, Percy, Will – had witnessed some of this, or learned about some of these things, but I had never told one person all this. When I looked up, I saw that all three of my hosts stood and sat around me, their mouths open, tears glistening in the corners of their eyes. I didn't want their pity. And I flinched when Ray bent forward and hugged me. Of course he was the touchy-feely kind of person, judging by his cheerful attitude. But I felt he was sincere. Both he and Li had assured me that he had went through, well, not the same, but had struggled with his sexuality as well. He was the closest to understanding what I had experienced. And after I had tensed for a second at his touch, I hesitantly hugged him back.

After a few moments – none of us had let go – Li cleared her throat. She mumbled something about the food getting cold, and she and Mel walked towards the kitchen and closed the door behind them.

Gently, I freed myself from Ray's embrace. Suddenly, I realized how close our bodies were, and promptly, the blood rushed into my cheeks, making me blush once again. To cover my embarrassment, I got out of bed and began to fold the covers.

'How about you tell me something about you in return while I get changed?' I suggested. Ray nodded., but didn't move.

'Um, could you, you know – turn around while I change?' I asked, the embarrassment instantly back. Ray flinched. 'oh, right. Sorry. I'm used to getting changed in Mel's presence and vice versa, what with us being best friends, so I forgot that it might make you uncomfortable.' He turned around. 'So, what do you want to know?'

I shrugged, even though he couldn't see it. 'Well, since I basically told you the story of my life, why don't you tell me yours?'

'Alright then.'