Love Me Forever Or Love Me Never
Chapter 19: Crossing The Line

A/N: Hello there everyone! I hope you all are having a great day! I just wanted to say that there will only be two more chapters in this fan fiction. Only two more chapters! So far this is one of the only fan fictions that I have written that I am actually proud of and I hope you all like it and that you all are satisfied with the conclusion. Thank you all so, so, so, so much for reading. It always means a lot to me to know that people are reading my fan fiction and that they actually like my writing. It makes me really happy when I read all of your comments. Thank you all so much and hope you have a great day and a great week! :3

Nico winched slightly as Hera began wrapping his wrist in the soft, white gauze. He felt odd- sitting there in Hera's kitchen, rocking gently on the wooden stool beside the counter as she encased his arms in the bandages that he had began to despise. The feeling, the touch, the color, the tightness around his arms; everything that was associated those medical bandages made him sick. He was so tired of looking down at his own arms and just seeing them, feeling them scratch on his arms as he rolled in his sleep, the skin itching from being covered so long- every part of it. He was just so sick of it all. He was tempted to tell Hera to just forget the bandages and let him bleed. The bleeding might have hurt, but the bandages were a embarrassment. They seemed to mark him, almost like a branding, showing everyone what he did and that he had something wrong with him. He had a feeling that everyone would see them and know how messed up he was. How much pain he was in and that he couldn't deal with it on his own.

A hiss escaped Nico's lips as he tried to wiggle his arm free of her grasp, causing her to press tightly on his arm and cause more blood.

"Nico! Stop moving!" Hera flinched as the boy tried to flail his arm. She clenched her hand tighter around his wrist, wanting to hold him in place. Despite her best efforts not to hurt him, more blood seeped from the wound, staining the clean gauze. She sighed out in anger before letting him go, slamming the half used roll of gauze on the counter. Nico stiffened, hints of the aunt he knew flooding through her façade- the one that was angry, demanding, hateful, and stuck up. He knew that Hera well, but he already missed the new one from that sudden out burst.

Hera sighed quietly before bending over her nephew once more, holding out her hand purposefully to take his wrist again. Nico laid his arm in her hand before she quickly began wrapping the gauze around the cuts, listening to Nico hiss and whimper in pain. It took her a while to finish wrapping Nico's entire wound, having to deal with him squirming in pain and jerking his arm away. Finally, when she was done, Hera stood back on up, stretching the strained muscles in her back. Nico gently pulled his arms in his lap, tucking them around himself and trying to hide the gauze uncased cuts, his entire face washed with embarrassment and pain. He hated feeling like this. He hated knowing that everyone saw those marks and new what he was and what he was doing.

Leaning his head on his own shoulder, Nico muttered sleepily, saying something about hating his life. Hera looked at her nephew in sorrow. She wasn't very acquainted with Nico, to tell the truth she barely knew Nico. She didn't know what he liked, she didn't know if the boy was doing good in school, she didn't even know when his birthday was! Most of all she didn't know he was gay or had a boyfriend. That took the cake for her. It was a bomb of surprised that exploded. Although her and Nico wasn't close, she still loved him to some extent as a nephew. She didn't want to see him fail. She wanted to see him succeed.

"Nico, come on. Let's go sit on the couch. I think you'll feel better after we talk a little bit." Hera said motion him forward. Nico stumbled up from the stool, rubbing his eyes wildly, making his way towards the living room where his aunt was already sitting on the couch. The first thing that came to Nico's mind, through his hazy awareness from lack of sleep, was I like that couch. Immediately he flopped down on the velvety, creamy, white fabric, placing his legs under his body and pressing his check firmly to the cushion. He loved the feeling of the fluffy material. It was one of those huge expensive couch's that you would always flop down on in the furniture store when you were younger. It was the kind of couch that took up half the room and your mother would scold you for sitting on because she was afraid you would get a stain on it and they would have to pay for it. Nico distinctly remembered doing exactly that when he was a small child. He also remember his mother standing over him, red faced from anger and embarrassment, as she yelled out at him for it climbing all over it. He also remembered trying the same stunt when he was about eleven or twelve and getting weird looks for it. That was the day he learned that doing such was not acceptable in society. It's no longer cute when you're a teenager.

Hera looked over at her nephew, face creased in curiosity. After a few moments Hera's face smoothed out, now being over taken by a calm, slightly pleased, look. She didn't like it when people put their feet up on her furniture, but this time she would make a exception. The fact that large, dark footprints stained the pure white fabric wasn't helping her keep her cool. She really wanted to tell him to put his feet down, being the clean and perfectionist that she was, but she had that image of Nico being in a fragile state. Hera knew that Nico wouldn't like her saying that. She knew the boy would have cursed her out if she heard her thoughts, but that didn't matter anymore. She did see Nico as defenseless little kid who was lost in a fragile state, heartbroken and harmed. She wanted to help him in anyway she the way Nico's head was dipping to the side, falling into the couch cushion, she knew he want to sleep on the spot.

"Nico, you look tired," Nico nodded sleepily to Hera before placing his face back against the cool, soft material. "Well then, I guess we won't talk about everything tonight, but we have to talk about this. First, I want to know who the boy is that caused you to do this? I know that person must have meant the world to you. It may not matter, but it's something I have to ask or I will never get it off my mind."

Nico looked up at her, already feeling a few tear sting in his eyes from thinking about the other boy. "Percy...Jackson" Nico hiccupped in between the name before turning his face away from his aunt, not wanting to look her in the eyes. He wasn't sure if Hera knew who the other boy was, however, he felt that she had some sort of registration of who he was. The look that crossed her face surprised him, showing utter shock and a glint of anger.

"Percy Jackson...," She rolled the words on her tongue as if she was testing them out to see if they were poison. She knew the boy, faintly though. "That's the boy who came over for Thanksgiving one year instead of going with his own family. The little boy with those really bright green eyes and black hair, am I right?"

Nico nodded solemnly, "Yep, that's him. The boy of my dreams..." Nico murmured the last few words under his breath, before clenching his eyes closed, not wanting the tears to escape. He hated being so weak and defenseless. He hated himself for it. Rolling on his side on the couch, Nico let out a sigh of submission, finally giving in to the ach in his heart and strain of his back from sitting so stiffly on the stool in the kitchen and previously from riding in the car. He stretched out his legs and then his toes, listening to the crack as he loosened up his body. It felt nice to just lay down and listen to someone else who was trying to guide him.

"That's who I thought it was," Hera said nodding softly, "It makes perfect sense. The way you clung to that boy when you were little. You were about ten at the time, but I remember that holiday. The whole time he was at your home you were taking food and feeding him. Holding on to his arm and skipping around with him. You held that boy like he was your savior. Like he was a god on earth. It was cute at the time, but I guess he grew out of your affections. Nico, listen to me when I say this, you are a very handsome young man, growing into a strong adult with a great future ahead of him. I know you can do amazing things through your life, but doing this," She motioned to his wrists weakly as the boy continued to lay on the couch, eyes lazily glancing through the room, " You can't keep cutting your wrists. I know you've probably heard that a million times. You probably get that forced down your throat everyday. In fact...let me put this in another way. Cutting your wrist is killing you on the inside. It's breaking you and eating away at you. Is killing yourself a good idea? Think about it! Your life has just begun and if you end it before it gets started, how will you know that it won't get better? You can't see the future. You can't expect this to get better over night. It just doesn't happen, but this is not the answer. You have to take a deep breath, take a step back, and, instead of admiring everything that is wrong with yourself, look at all the good things that have happened because of you. Your mother, me, your father, Bianca; We all care about you Nico and we couldn't imagine life without you. Nico, just promise me you won't-"

Hera stopped her speech when she realized she was getting no attention from her nephew. Nico was laying with his face down on the couch, eyes shut tightly and mouth opened partially. He had fallen asleep during the middle of it. Hera sighed quietly to herself, standing up quickly. She stalked through out the living room before crossing over into her bedroom, taking the blanket swiftly from her bed. Coming back into the living room, Hera gently draped the blanket over her nephew, watching closely as he reached for it sleepily, unsure if he was actually asleep or not, taking the fabric close to his chest. Hera smiled down at him, unable to fight the look from her face. Realizing how she was acting, Hera quickly growled in annoyance before running a grudged hand over his hair and cheek before moving away, not disturbing Nico again as he drifted through a world of painless dreams where everything was alright.

"Hello?" Esperanza Valdez muttered tiredly as she began to open the door. She peered out into her darkened porch, looking for some form of life through the silence. Standing before her, looming beside the door, she caught a glimpse of two glowing, ocean green eyes, looking similar to a cat's eyes. The boy before her had his hand shoveled down into his pockets, holding the flaps down as the snippy wind pulled at the fabric harshly. He took a step forward moving closer towards the light that was seeping through the front door. In the faint glow she could see more of his features; straight ashen hair, oceanic, hypnotic eyes, and pastel lips forming a hard line. She looked at him curiously before opening the door slightly wider to peer closer at him.

"May I help you?" Esperanza called as the boy met her gaze. He shifted uncomfortably before replying.

"Hello there. You must be Mrs. Valdez, am I correct?" His voice was genuine as Esperanza opened the door fully allowing him to step inside with her before shutting in quickly behind him, fending off the chilling breeze. The boy quickly shook the hood from his head before turning to face her once more.

"Yes, that is me," She said quietly before motion towards the couch, signalling for the boy, who was holding out his jacket as though he didn't know what to do with it, to sit his jacket there. "May I ask who you are?"

The boy looked at her curiously before his face turned crimson, "Oh! I forgot my manners! My name is Percy Jackson." He held out his hand warmly before she took it. The two stood there for a moment, unsure how to continue. After a moment another question appeared in Mrs. Valdez's mind.

"Are you a friend of Leo's?" She asked softly. She knew that he had to be considering her son often invited people over, not telling her and having no consent over what time of night it was. Percy looked at her with bright eyes before a shade of pink once again splashed across his cheeks. It was obvious that the boy was stalling.

"Well...um...," Percy stammered, hesitating. At that moment Esperanza thought about tossing the boy out of her home. She didn't feel comfortable with him in her home any longer. Before she could utter a word, Percy began to speak. "Actually, me and Leo aren't actually friends. To tell the truth we just have a...um...let say we have a similar interest in a particular item that we both want to...acquire. I just wanted to talk to him about it for a moment. We just need to go over a few things. I was hoping he would actually let me have this special item."

Esperanza once again thought of tossing him out of her home, but before she could utter a sound a call came from further down the hallway. "Mom!" The voice exploded as the younger boy came bounding through the hallway and into the living room. Leo stopped short when he saw Percy standing there, eyes automatically filling with anger and betrayal. Although Leo didn't know who the boy was he knew the boy had a problem with him. As soon as Percy saw Leo he knew that Leo was the boy who he had saw with Nico. Although he only caught a glimpse of the boy when he was driving away, Percy knew that this was the guy.

"We need to talk." Percy said sternly as he glared over at Leo. Despite the worried look his mother was shooting him, Leo tensely nodded yes to him before starting down the hallway, wanting to take the other boy into his room so they could talk in privacy. He didn't know what he had done to piss this guy off, but he truly didn't want his mother to hear what the other boy had to say. Once they were in his room, Percy immediately shut the door before turning back to Leo, eyeing the boy murderously.

"So, who are you and what did I do to piss you off?" Leo questioned lightheartedly.

"Well, I'm the boy who wants you to stop screwing around with his boyfriend. My name is Percy Jackson and I want you to fucking leave Nico alone. I'm the boy who is suppose to be comforting Nico when he has to leave, but instead it's you. I'm the boy who is wants to beat the living shit out of you!"

"Of course you are," Leo murmured weakly under his breath, "I knew I shouldn't have gotten involved with Nico. He told me he had a boyfriend and I should have dumped him at that moment. I like him, but damn it! Why did he have to have a boyfriend and be such a slut? Why can't I find a nice guy who isn't a slut!"

As soon as Leo said those words he regretted it. As soon as Leo said it he was laying on the floor, pain etching through his face as a faint trail of blood began to drip down his face. He collapsed to the ground, staring up at Percy as he clenched his hands to his side. Leo expected to be yelled at for saying that, but he didn't expect Percy to punch him.

"Don't you ever fucking say anything like that about Nico, you bastard!" Percy cried as his hands began to shake.