Love Me Forever Or Love Me Never
Chapter 7: Party Time

The next day was a blur for Nico. Normal activities seemed to take grueling hours of work. Time somehow found a way to slow down that day. As the time ticked by slowly Nico still had one wall standing in his way before he could go to the party: His parents. Nico had been avoiding it all day. He didn't think he would have the courage to face them, not after the little scene he caused last night. He had been trying to mend things with them through out the day, but they just gave him the cold shoulder. Wasn't Bianca a little to blame as well?! She had also been fighting, not just him. Why didn't she get blocked out like he was? Why did his parents over look everything she did? Maybe it wasn't far that he had blamed her. Maybe it wasn't right that he screamed at her, but maybe she should have stayed out of his personal business. As Nico thought about this he could feel the rage bubbling up in his body. Why was she the perfect little angel and why was he the devil? Figuring things couldn't be any worse then they already were Nico made his way towards the kitchen. He was ready to make his request.

The moment Nico entered the kitchen door he felt as though he didn't belong there anymore. He felt as though someone had made a line dividing his home and his family was on one side while he was on the other. Perhaps it was all in his head, but no one could deny the feeling of tension that floated into the room behind Nico. Standing there stiffly in the doorway he looked at his mother. She had been riffling through the refrigerator, but stopped suddenly when he entered and was now looking at him curiously. His father was giving him the same look from his place at the kitchen table. Clearing his throat a little Nico stepped farther into the room.

"Nico, what is it?" His mother asked quite sternly. Apparently she was still sore with him.

"Umm..well," Nico mumbled quietly. At that moment he lost all his moxie. "Well, I was just- I was just…um."

His parents looked at him as though he was going crazy and perhaps he was. Nico mumble for a few more seconds before stopping. He stood there in front of them like a idiot. Maybe this was a bad idea.

His mother and father shared glances before looking back at him. Hades looked at his son for a moment before waving his hand, signaling for Nico to continue.

"Right." Nico gave a big sigh, "Well, I was wondering if it would be alright if- you know I went out for a while. Tonight that is."

His mother and father once again shared glances. Hades let out a sigh before shaking his head yes. Of course Nico was overjoyed. He did a little dance in place before smiling at them both. Suddenly his father held of his hand.

"One condition." Hades said.

"Ughh! I hate conditions!" Nico groaned as he rolled his eyes.

"Don't get in any trouble. Or if you do get in trouble there will be some hell to pay when you get home."

Nico looked at Hades for a moment, expecting the man to laugh suddenly considering his strange sense of humor. Instead his father looked utter serious. Nico nodded numbly, afraid to know what his parents would do if he did get in trouble. Perhaps the conflict between him and Percy was the least of his worries.

Nico stood in front of his mirror staring at his own reflection. He wondered what Thalia would say about his appearance. He wore a black t-shirt that was pretty much plastered to his stomach, ripped black jeans, boots, and to top it all off instead of wearing his aviator jacket he wore a black button up and down shirt over his t-shirt. The sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. Normally Nico wouldn't wear so much black. Maybe a black t-shirt or black jeans but never enough to look completely gloomy. As he stared at his reflection now he felt slight depressed, but satisfied with the darkness of his appearance. For once he wanted everyone to look at him. He really did. Still staring at himself in the mirror Nico considered rolling his sleeves back down. There on his arm were fully exposed scars. The line cut across his wrist, standing out against his pale skin. What would people say when the saw his scars? Did he even care anymore? Not really. At that moment Nico decided something- Fuck what everyone else said. Perhaps they would talk about him. Perhaps they would spread rumors about him. Why did he care? He was above all of them anyways so why did it matter anymore.

At that moment a car horn blared from outside his window. Thalia was ready to leave. For a moment Nico considered inviting Thalia in, but quickly decided against it. What if his parents began patronizing her with questions? Where are you going? Who is going to this party? Do you know the kid parents as well? Are they descent? If they actually did that to Thalia she might decide against taking Nico along with her. Opening his door quickly, not wanting to keep her waiting, Nico bounded down the stairs, striding across the room towards the front door. Within seconds a strong hand gripped his shoulder. Nico was whirled around by his father who, despite his concern, smiled at his son. Well, he smiled until he spotted Nico's wrists. He gazed down at Nico's hands, staring at the scars.

Finally he reached forward, quickly rolling down the sleeves on Nico's shirt.

"There. Your ready to go now." Hades said as he clasped his hand on Nico's shoulder before moving along. Nico stood there for a moment, frozen. What, so he was never suppose to wear short sleeves again? Fuck that. As soon as Nico made sure his father was at a safe distance in the kitchen he grabbed his sleeves once again tugging them back up to his elbows. He smiled slightly to himself before rushing through the front door.

Thalia's car was parked at the end of his driveway. She stared at him through the windshield a small smile curving upon her lips. She quickly began flashing her headlights at him, nearly blinding the boy in the process. Nico ran around the car to the passenger seat before grabbing the door handle. He gave it a hard tug, eager to get going, when the handle flew up but the door refused to open. Expecting the door to swing back as well Nico leaned back, which now caused him to topple over, smashing into the hard concrete driveway.

"Fuck." Nico murmured as he climbed back to his feet. He scowled as Thalia struck the inside door handle and the car door flew open.

"Sorry." She replied quietly as she stared down at him. "The door handle sticks sometimes."

"It's alright." Nico muttered feeling like a idiot. He slowly climbed to his feet and slide into the passenger seat. He could feel Thalia's eyes traveling up and down his body, looking at his appearance. Suddenly she took a deep intake of breath. Nico glanced over at her wondering what could be wrong. He followed the gaze of her eyes to his wrist and realized that she was staring at his scars. Good, he though, maybe she will realize how much hell Percy put me through.

"Thalia." He snapped quickly. She jerked her eyes up away from his wrists and meet his gaze. She nodded slightly before starting up the car. Thalia gave a slight laugh as she peeled out of the driveway.

The ride to the party was filled with a strange silence that Nico couldn't help but feel really awkward about. Maybe he should have said something? Oh well, it was over and done with now. As soon as Thalia turned onto the street where the party was being held Nico knew he was in for a great time. All the house on the street were huge, not to mention the large yard and pool that many of them had. Nico was also excited by the fact that it was going to be a huge party, so more than likely Nico wouldn't know some of the people there. Or more importantly they wouldn't know him.

Thalia ended up parking on the side of the road. According to what she muttered as they emerged from the car they were late and as Nico expected the driveway was packed with cars. Nico couldn't help but wonder who owned the house. He had to admit it was a lot nicer than his own.

"Don't worry about who owns it. I don't know him. But from what I heard he's a party animal who likes to play hard to get. Everyone says you'll find him passed out on the floor before the nights over." Thalia said as they marched up the drive way. For a moment Nico stopped hesitating to move any further. He just had a feeling that something bad would happen here and if what Thalia said was true there would probably be a drunken brawl. Suddenly, the words Nico's father had told him came wandering back into his mind. If he got in trouble it would be over. He would be finished.