A/N: So funny story, I wrote the first 100 words of this chapter three different times in three different documents, so I had a lot of re working to do to get this to work. Let me know what you think in comments, and It's good to be back ~M
The next morning, the sun rose as it generally does, and Camp Half Blood awoke with it. Dryads walked through the forest playing ticks on satyrs, and campers rushed around getting chores done before breakfast. But not Nico Di Angelo. He was fast asleep.
"Nico!" Hazel called into the still-dark cabin. She could hear him pulling the blanket over his head and mumbling to himself.
"Nico, you have to get up. You'll miss breakfast." She walked around the cabin pulling shades up and letting light flood the room. Nico buried deeper into his comforter. She sighed and pulled the blanket off of her sleeping brother and threw it onto the next bed over. He mumbled a few curses, but rolled out of bed anyways.
"So nice to see you too, brother dear." She said as he walked past her and pulled on a t-shirt. "How have you been getting up without me?"
Nico smiled slightly and laced his sword belt around his waist thought his belt loops. Hazel smiled and rolled her eyes.
"Give me a hug, you nerd," She said, pulling the taller boy into a tight hug. He chuckled.
"Why am I a nerd?" he replied with a smile. He'd missed his sister more than he'd like to admit. Hazel smiled silently over his shoulder.
"Come on, we should get to breakfast." She said quickly, pulling him out the door. Nico smiled, knowing that she was avoiding the question, but let it go.
As they entered the pavilion, Hazel was greeted by Frank and Nico went to sit with Percy and Jason at his table. Hazel would follow soon enough, or not.
"Well would you look at that. Nico actually attended breakfast today!" Percy put a sarcastic hand over his mouth and gaped at his cousin. Nico rolled his eyes but continued to eat his breakfast; this was far from the first time they'd harassed him early in the morning.
Across the pavilion, Hazel and Frank were standing on the edge, talking softly.
"How's he doing?" Frank asked, glancing to Nico. Hazel smiled.
"He doesn't think I know about him and Will." She shook her head and Frank smiled softly.
"He's lucky to have you," Frank said softly, stepping a bit closer to her, "And so am I." He brushed some of her face and smiled. She smiled up at him and leaned closer to him.
"Zhang, are you serious?" Nico mumbled as he bumped his shoulder into Frank's as he walked by the larger boy. Hazel didn't hear him, but Frank did, and blushed violently, talking a quick step back from Hazel, whose eyes narrowed.
"Nico," She hissed, glaring at his back as he walked back to his table. Frank blushed as she gave him a quick kiss, and then stalked across the pavilion to pummel her brother.
"You sir, are a massive piece of shit." She said as she stood over Nico, who was blinking up at her innocently.
"He better not have taught you that word," Nico said with a sarcastic smile. Hazel rolled her eyes and sat down next to him at the picnic table, giving a quick greeting to Percy and Jason.
They ate in silence for a few moments, then Hazel put her fork down and turned to face Nico, who smiled slightly.
"Why do you have to make him uncomfortable? You know he's shy and still you go out of your way to make him uncomfortable! Do you think you're the only child of hades who can bother a boyfriend? Because you're not!" Hazel smiled as Nico's jaw dropped.
"Hoo, hoo! Shots fired!" Percy called. Jason gave Hazel a high five and shot a wink to Nico, who was scowling at his toast and blushing. Nico rolled his eyes as he ate his last bite, and then walked back to his cabin.
"What a drama queen," Hazel said, following him back to the cabin.
"It was a joke, Nico." Hazel said as she opened the door. "Oh, sorry," she said, motioning to leave.
"No, stay. Don't leave just because I'm here!" Will said as she moved to leave. He smiled and raised an eyebrow at Nico, who shook his head slightly.
"I don't know if we've met officially. I'm Will Solace, Nico's… friend." Hazel laughed slightly, shooting Nico a look.
"It's alright Will, she knows." Nico said, walking over to the two of them. Will sighed dramatically.
"In that case, I'm his boyfriend," Will said in a nasally voice, poking Nico in the side. "And I'm late, and so are you, Sunshine. We have to teach sword fighting at nine, which is in 37 seconds." He pulled Nico by the wrist towards the door. "It was nice meeting you!" He shouted over his shoulder as they took off for lessons.
"Well they looked cozy," Frank commented as they shot past him as he entered the cabin. Hazel shook her head and smiled.
"It's just nice to see Nico happy for once. He's so gloomy usually." She flipped her hair upside-down and pulled it into a giant bun. Frank smiled and leaned against the door frame, acutely aware of the rule about campers being alone in a cabin together.
"The best part is, you called it." She waved him inside, rolling her eyes as she grabbed another hair elastic to keep her hair out of her face.
"It was so obvious! And why shouldn't Will like Nico? Nico's nice…sometimes." Frank chuckled and pulled her close to him as soon as she finished taming her hair.
"Well, you'll have to forgive me, but I prefer you." He pulled her closer as she smiled, putting her hands around his neck. He pulled her closer so their noses were touching and Hazel smiled, it was nice to just be with him. Especially when Nico wasn't playing Big Brother. (1984 references anyone?)
He kissed her gently for a moment, then pulled away with a smile. Hazel frowned slightly and narrowed her eyes.
"We are supposed to be doing something while we're here, not just making out in your brother's cabin," Frank said with a smirk. Hazel rolled her eyes.
"I have as much claim to the cabin as he does. Just cause he's older, he thinks he can lay claim to it. He's not the only one who's older than he looks. Kids today." She said smirking gently at Frank, who sighed dramatically.
"Fine, we can go to swords practice, but you're sitting with me at lunch and dinner." Hazel said, walking towards the door with a glance over her shoulder.
"Gladly."
Nico, Will and Percy were teaching sword fighting class that morning, and they were going alright. If by alright, they meant nobody had an ounce of focus, then they were going quite alright. Nico slashed haphazardly at Percy, who sidestepped easily and took a cheap shot at his ankles, which he naturally saw coming. It had gone on like this for almost five minutes, until Hazel and Frank arrived.
"I knew they did things differently at Camp Half Blood, but I didn't realize that differently actually meant pathetically." Hazel said as they walked in hand in hand. The fighting boys stepped away from one another and raised their eyebrows.
"When did you get so mean?" Nico asked, teasing her. She smiled and shot Will a wink.
"Welcome to the 21st century. This is how we do things apparently." Nico sighed dramatically and pointed at her with his sword.
"If you think you can do much better, go for it," Nico said. Percy smiled at Hazel, who smiled softly.
"Why don't the children of Hades show us how it's done?" Percy suggested, gesturing to Hazel and Nico. He took a step back and pulled Will and Frank with him. Hazel shrugged, and Nico matched her gesture.
"Now, as we can see, Nico is taller and has the weight advantage, but Hazel has had more classic training, and has more swag." Percy commented as they began to exchange blows. Frank laughed slightly, and Nico shook his head as he blocked her jab.
"As we can see, Hazel is moving faster than he is, and using a more 'stabby-stabby' technique, while Nico is fighting a more defensive 'swipey-swipe' strategy." Percy gestured to the fight and the campers smiled, enjoying the commentary.
Meanwhile, Hazel and Nico were struggling to keep from laughing at him comments. They continued to exchange blows for almost 10 minutes, when Will called the match a tie, and they each stepped back, sheathing their weapons.
"Run along to lunch! We'll meet you guys there! Don't get into too much trouble before we arrive!" Percy shouted as the campers ran to lunch in a mob. He smiled as Nico and Hazel walked over, speaking with silent shared looks.
"How long have you guys been here?" Percy asked Frank and Hazel as he handed her a water bottle.
"We got in this morning," Frank said as Hazel passed the water bottle off to Nico, who took it with a soft 'thank you'.
"And you didn't come see me to say hello?" Percy said to Hazel with a hurt expression. Hazel smiled slightly and let go of Frank's hand to give Percy a tight hug. Percy smiled and hugged her back, shooting a wink to Frank, who smiled.
"Well now that that's taken care of, I think it's time for lunch," Percy suggested, pointing to the pavilion. They nodded and followed him towards the food, and Hazel shot Nico a look as he grabbed Will's hand. Nico shot her a certain finger and a wink and smiled as she blushed and looked away.
Lunch passed without incident, and the afternoon flew by as Hazel and Frank tried all the different activities, and even got to visit Will in the infirmary after Frank fell off the climbing wall. The campfire promised to be interesting as the seven plus Nico sat down on the bench and Percy chose to open the storytelling.
"So basically, the end of the world started when I got a nosebleed."
A/N: I'm back! And by back, I of course mean not back at all. I have SATs, AP testing, SBAC testing, and Finals in the next month or so, so don't go expecting stuff soon.
That said, leave me a review so I know where to take this story. I'm not sure what to do after this campfire scene.
Should it be more about Taylor? Do you guys even care about her?
Should it just end? Has this story run its natural course?
What are you guys thinking? Give me some feedback!
Hope all's going well, Muchas Gracias my lovelies, stay incredible, and as we say in my hometown, don't forget to be awesome (DFTBA)~M