A/N: I know Nico's a bit OOC. It's hard for me to get his character right. I'm gonna try, but I wont try that hard so yeah...
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. The characters, locations and everything else belongs to Rick Riordan. Please don't sue me.

"Ugh…" Alisha groaned. She felt heavy and disoriented, but nothing felt painful. She opened her eyes. The first thing she could make out was a wooden ceiling. "What the…" She whispered to herself as she tried to sit up. She was having a hard time since her head was still throbbing like hell.
"I could help you," She heard it from the corner of the sounded deep, like a male's voice.

"I could help you sit up, if you like." Then there was a figure standing at her side. She hadn't said anything to him yet, but he already had his arms around her. Helping her up, he offered her a glass of…whatever when she was comfortably seated on her bed. "Here, drink this," He said, holding out a glass. "It'll help make you feel better."

Alisha was still trying to assess the situation. She didn't know where she was, nor did she know the man who helped her sit up and was now offering her a beverage. Worst case scenario: He could be a crazy psychopath who was planning to poison her, or maybe he was some sort of monster who wanted to drug her so he'd be able to eat her or something, but if he did he would have already done it when she was asleep… Come to think of it, he didn't even look nearly as ugly as all the monsters she encountered, nor did he look like a psycho. He was actually pretty good-looking. Dark hair and even darker eyes, his skin the complete contrast being a pale white, he could have been a god. Maybe he was one. Whichever he was, he was still a stranger and Alisha had a rule about strangers: Never trust anything they offered you. Not even if it were a million dollars and they were already holding it out to you. You could never be too sure about them.

She shook her head.

"Sorry," She said weakly. Her voice was hoarse, and when she spoke it felt like fire was burning her throat. "I don't accept things from strangers. Even if they're as good-looking as you." She smiled wryly at him, pushing the glass away. He sighed.
"Okay, I understand." He smiled at her, and continued. "I'm Nico di Angelo, and you're in Camp Half-Blood. There, now we're acquainted, so drink up."
He pushed the cup back to her, and before she could protest that it didn't work that way and they were still technically strangers, pressed it to her lips, forcing the liquid down her throat. She took a moment to marvel at the taste of it.

It tasted like hot vanilla, mixed with chocolate chips. Something her aunt Kat made her when she visited them at the dig site in Egypt, back when she was still allowed to visit them them, when she wasn't 'exiled' by her stepfather's snooty older sister Matilda.

"Feeling better?" She was brought out of her musings by the raven haired boy, Nico, who was observing her in a chair beside her bed.

She nodded.

"Yeah, thanks. I guess you're not a monster after all." She meant it. She wasn't one to trust strangers easily, but here was this boy who was helping her sit up and giving her magic beverages that tasted like home. Also, she felt so much better since he chugged it down her throat.

She felt like she could lift a hundred men, and the throbbing in her head had stopped.

Nico looked at her curiously. "You thought I was…a monster?" Sigh. Of course the new girl would think that. Almost everyone thought that about him. Why would she be any different

Alisha's eyes widened as she saw his face harden at her words. She hurriedly explained. "No! No, no. That's not what I meant."

She was shaking her head, her eyes pleading him to understand.

" I just…I've encountered a lot of monsters so far, and I just thought, I shouldn't trust you because you might be a monster in disguise- I've ran into some, actually. They looked like pretty cheerleaders, but then they tried to eat me- so I thought you could be something like that, but you were helping me out a lot and you were smiling and offering me a nice drink that not only helped me feel better but also reminds me of home and I thought 'Oh, so he's not a bad guy I guess.' And…yeah…I…think…you're…not a monster…really…nice…actually…" She talked fast. As a result, she was panting by the end of her explanation

Nico's face softened at her. He was confused because of her attempt at making him feel better, but he appreciated it nonetheless. He also appreciated what she said about him being really nice, and smiling.

"You think I'm nice?" He said, chuckling at the cute expression she was making as she caught her breath. "Just you wait. When you're asleep…I'll eat you!" He jumped at her a bit at the last part, making her scream a little. He laughed at her reaction. "Hey!" She cried out when she recovered from the surprise. She punched his arm playfully. "No fair! I thought we were friends!"
He stopped laughing at her words.

"…Friends?" Nico questioned, his face devoid of emotion. "I don't even know your name." You don't even know how powerful I am. I could hurt you, if you ever got close.

"Well, we could be." She said, tilting her head a bit in confusion at his reaction. "Oh and yeah, sorry, right, I'm Alisha Grayson. I hope we can be friends. You're pretty fun to talk to." She offered her hand to him. He shook his head, refusing to shake her hand. "Um…sorry, did I say something insensitive?" She looked up at him with apologetic blue eyes. "If I did, please, tell me."

"You didn't do anything wrong," Nico said, his voice even and cold. It made her shiver a bit. "People just don't like being friends with me."

Oh. That was it. So he's kind of like me. "So we're a bit alike then." She said, grabbing his hand and shaking it excitedly. When their skin touched, she felt a surge of power wash over her. This feeling increased when she saw him smiling. She smiled back.
"Hey, did you feel tha-" Before she could ask him what it was she felt and if he felt it too, the door swung open and he was gone.

Standing at the doorway was a middle aged man in a wheelchair, accompanied by a tall girl with blonde hair in a ponytail. Next to the girl was a guy with messy black hair and sea green eyes. She felt like she saw those eyes before. They smiled at her, before coming closer.

"Hello, there," The man in the wheelchair spoke. His tone was soothing, like he was talking to a child. "I see you've awoken. Are you feeling better?"

She nodded, and told them that a Nico di Angelo made her feel better. They looked at her oddly, like she had grown an extra head.

When she was about to explain that he had gone the moment they entered the door, the man smiled again and spoke.

"Ah…I see you have met one of the other campers already, though that boy doesn't stay here too often. He's…a…how you say, mysterious person. It's a surprise he's helped you that much. Maybe he's taken a liking to you." He smiled even more at his last words.

"Wow. You've already got Nico as your friend. I'm pretty sure you'll get along really well with everyone else then." The green-eyed boy, Percy, smiled at her, offering his hand while the girl, Annabeth, asked Alisha her name. She shook Percy's hand shyly, as she said in a soft voice: "Hi, I'm Alisha."

Annabeth smiled at her. For some reason these people really smiled a lot. Alisha didn't like it, but she didn't show it. She hated it when people smiled much more than necessary. It's like they've got this unlimited supply of smiles and they aren't afraid to use it up. She liked Nico's smile though. It didn't seem forced. Like he only did it when he felt like it. Like he rarely ever smiled.

"Since you've already had your fill of nectar, why don't we show you around the camp?" Annabeth said, helping her out the bed.
"My fill of what?" Alisha looked at her, puzzlement written on her face.
"Nectar, the drink of the gods. As a demigod, you can drink that to give you power, but you can't drink too much or you'll burn up. Literally. Same goes for Ambrosia." Annabeth explained.
"Oh, okay." Alisha nodded her head as she followed Percy and Annabeth out the door.

"So those are the cabins?" Alisha asked, pointing to the houses that were surrounding a hearth. She saw a girl at the hearth earlier and waved to her, Percy asked her what she was doing and she stopped.

"Yeah," Annabeth answered. Alisha noticed that Annabeth was the one who answered most of her questions while Percy gave the sassy remarks. "You're put in the cabin of your godly parent."
"Oh. So which is yours?"
"Athena's my mother, so that one." Annabeth pointed to the cabin with an owl for its symbol.
"Cool. So that explains why you're the smart one in the relationship."
She blushed. Percy said something about Annabeth looking cute while she blushed and Annabeth punched his arm.
Alisha laughed. "You guys are so adorable!"

It was true. They were so cute together, so right for each other. She laughed at their cuteness, but she couldn't help but feel repulsed by it too.
The last time she saw a couple this cute was back when her- no. No.
Alisha shook her head, trying to erase her thoughts.
No, she would not think of that while she was here. Not when she came here to get away from those things.

She looked around, observing what everyone else was doing. It seemed there were many ways to spend time at camp. She was particularly interested in sword-fighting as she wanted to have an excuse to show-off the bracelet Hephaestus made for her, but she knew she'd have to stay away from the lime light. At least until she felt like she could trust these people whole-heartedly, not just because it was the only way she'd survive.

She spotted a familiar patch of black hair in the sword-fighting arena, so she walked towards it, leaving Annabeth and Percy alone to bicker.

Nico hacked and slashed through the dummies placed around the arena. Within moments they were all battered beyond recognition. He panted, catching his breath after the small workout.

"Wow. I guess they did something horribly offending to you, huh? I mean jeez, it's like they killed an entire village the way you went through them, slicing them in half." Someone spoke behind him.

By instinct, he spun around, pointing his blade to the throat of the speaker. He saw none other than Alisha Grayson standing there. Her hands rose in the air like she did something wrong. She had a cocky grin plastered on her face.

"Do it." She purred, challenging him to strike her. Nico dropped the blade as if it were hot iron.
"Sorry," He mumbled, looking at his shoes. "Didn't know it was you."
"So you point a sword at them?" She said, dropping her hands and pointing towards the other campers who were laughing and playing at the strawberry fields.
"Yeah, whenever they annoy me." He said coldly, bending down to pick up his sword.

"Sorry, was I annoying? Tell me, if I was. I try my very best to be." Alisha smiled at him.
"Don't you mean you try your best not to be?" Nico looked at her in confusion.
"Nope," And with that, fast as lightning she swiped the celestial bronze blade from Nico and ran.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going with that?!" He yelled, running after her.
"You'll see! Just try and catch me." She shouted back at him.

She ran past confused campers and scared satyrs until she reached the patch of trees that marked the entry of the forest. She stopped for a moment, putting the sword in her empty sheathe and tying her hair in a ponytail. She looked behind her to see if Nico had caught up with her only to find that he was nowhere near her. She giggled to herself.

"Nico di Angelo, weaknesses: can't run very fast." She whispered mostly to herself.

"What was that about not being able to run fast?" She heard someone behind her, but before she could turn around to see who it was, she was wrapped up in a cold embrace, pale arms placed on her hips not allowing her to move.

"Eep!" Alisha squealed, squirming against Nico's hold.
"Who needs to run when you can shadow-travel?" He whispered beside her ear, making her shiver. His hold on her still firm, one arm took his sword from her sheathe. He put it back in its place at his side and let Alisha go.

She was about to thank him for being kind enough to her, but she started laughing so hard that she couldn't form any proper words.

Nico was tickling her.

"Stop...Nico, stop! …Haha…s-stop…please…" She had tears in her eyes and was collapsed on the ground when Nico had stopped.

"This is why you don't mess with my shit." Nico said, beginning to walk away. Alisha grabbed his hand and pulled him down.

"Hey!" Nico exclaimed indignantly as he landed on top of her, accidentally pinning her down.

They noticed the position they were in. Alisha lying sprawled on the ground with Nico on top of her, pinning her at the sides.

Nico, blushing, began to move away. She giggled at the sight, righting herself as well.

"I don't see why those people told me you were so hard to talk to. You seem really fun to me." She was smiling at him again. For some reason, she found herself smiling a lot with this boy.

"Who said that?" Nico's voice had an edge to it. He glanced at her from his peripheral vision, but was facing the cabins, watching the other campers.

"Chiron did. So did that guy uh… I think his name was Percy? Anyway, I really hope we can become friends." She said, standing up and brushing the dirt from her clothes.

Nico stood up as well. "What is it with you and wanting to be my friend?" He said, looking at her now. He looked irritated, but his voice sounded confused and almost…lonely.

"Why? Is something wrong with that? I like you, and I'd like to know you further."

"You don't even know me. You can't already say that you like me."

"Yes, I can. Within the past hour I was here, you had taken care of me and made me feel welcome. I sort of owe you. I want to be your friend."

"It's not a big deal. Besides, you wouldn't like me once you got to know me."

"Oh really? And what makes you say that?"

"Because that's how everyone else acts,"

"From what I heard, you push them away."

"They don't understand."

"I can try."

"…"

That silenced him. He'd never seen someone try so hard to hang out with him, let alone be friends with him. He'd always wanted someone to talk to. Maybe she was right. Maybe he should start opening up. Well, she looked like a good start. Besides, Hades did say something about warming up to her.

"Okay, fine. You can be my friend."

"Yes!" She fist pumped the air and flashed him another smile. "I promise you won't regret that decision!"
He chuckled at her. Well she was gonna be a handful.