I greatly apologize for how late this is, but finals and a nasty cold are currently kicking my ass. Fucking art school man. But hey, in about a month I'll be traveling to Rome to study Renaissance art! That's kind of a surreal thing for me because, like, these books are what sparked my interest in ancient Greek and Roman cultures back when I first read them at 14. But enough blabbering, enjoy the chapter and my hideous attempts at fluff!

Also, special announcement in the bottom author's note ;P

Percy was always one to remind me that this whole thing was a process. I wasn't going to wake up one day and magically be okay with everything that'd happened over the last few months. After all, I'd spent upwards of five years in a state of infatuation only to have my wishes granted in the end. All this romantic stuff was a lot to process, and that didn't even include the aftereffects of fighting two wars in the span of two years.

He told me that he didn't mind if I had bad days, if I was sometimes difficult and withdrawn, because he could be the same. He understood that I'd been alone for so long that it made actually talking about my feelings hard. He understood that sometimes I needed space to calm myself down, and that I didn't always need him there.

He didn't make me talk to him about every little thing that bothered me because we both knew that it would be too much.

He just asked that, if I was really struggling with something, that I talk to him.

I could do that.

And I did talk to him, mostly about Hazel. Sure, there were other important things to talk about, mixed in with the casual conversation. But in the end, it usually boiled down to her.

We agreed that we would wait until Percy went on spring break to deal with Hazel. We made plans to spend it out in California, in New Rome. It would be kind of like a reunion, everyone would be there. Jason, Piper, Leo, Reyna, Frank, and Hazel. We would explore the city, go to the beach, just be teenagers for once.

Setting that date allowed me to relax a bit. It let me push all the fear of what would happen to a later date. Every time I thought about Hazel, I was able to remind myself that soon enough it was all going to be over. Not now, but soon.

I was now paying the price for pushing all my anxiety onto some arbitrary date in the future.

It was all I could do to squash down the panic as I laid on Percy's bed, staring at his celling. He was running around the room like a madman because of course he hadn't finished packing yet. It was so him to wait until the last minute.

"Hey babe, have you seen my other shoe?" he asked, frantically looking under every pile of clothes and clutching the shoelaces of a battered black Converse.

"You mean the one currently being crushed by your backpack?" I replied weakly, propping myself up on my elbows and raising an eyebrow.

"Aha! Victory," he grinned widely, holding both shoes up. His smile slipped when he caught the look on my face.

"You okay?" he questioned, tossing the shoes in the direction of his duffle bag. He sat down next to me, frown deepening.

I sat up properly, elbows resting heavily on my knees, head in my hands. "I'm fine… it's just finally hitting me that once you finish packing we're going to leave. And…and leaving means I'm going to have to deal with Hazel."

"I thought you said you were ready?" he asked worriedly. He was probably scared that I was going to back out. He'd really been looking forward to this trip, and I knew he wouldn't want to go without me.

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be, and I get that I can't keep pushing this off. I'm just…scared.?" I murmered, turning to look over at him.

He leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to my forehead, cupping the back of my neck with his hand and playing with a tuft of hair. I breathed out slowly, and glanced up at him. He always knew what to do when I was like this.

"I know it's difficult, but whatever happens, we're in this together. We're going to have a great spring break, whether Hazel is a part of it or not. You can't let her ruin this for you."

"I won't," I whispered, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. "Now get back to packing."

He smirked at me and resumed his frenzied packing, tossing rumpled clothes and errant socks into his duffle bag. I just hoped I would be able to keep that promise.

After 15 minutes (5 of which Percy spent searching for his phone charger), we were ready to head off. We gathered all our stuff and were waved off by Sally, who'd already weighed us down with massive quantities of cookies for the Seven.

Thank the gods I'd convinced Percy to let me shadow travel us to California. It might make our first day there a bit of a bust, but leaving now meant I could pass out for a few hours before we grabbed dinner. That prospect was way better than the other options. We basically would've had to take a bus, and there was no way in Hades that was ever going to happen.

I grabbed his hand and linked our arms together, drawing the shadows in the corner closer. We waved goodbye to Sally as the shadows wrapped around our legs, and in one spin, we were gone.

The next time I opened my eyes, we were standing just at the edge of the Pomeranian Line, the entirety of New Rome stretching out before us. Bright sunlight bounced off the white marble, and I could see the Lake off in the distance, water glistening.

We surrendered our weapons with unease, even though we knew New Rome was perfectly safe. It was just kind of hard to break the habit of being constantly armed. But I was a bit more relaxed knowing the Riptide would reappear in Percy's pocket in a few minutes, regardless of the city's defenses.

I kept reminding myself that I wasn't going to need weapons for some two weeks. Sure, we might end up sparring or participate in war games, and we'd need them if we go into San Francisco, but we would have a blessedly monster free break.

As we were handing over our weapons, we saw Jason and Piper crest the small hill. The second we were given the all clear, Piper captured Percy and I in a bone crunching hug ( a feat that was pretty impressive for someone so petite).

"Oh I just knew you two were going to end up together. I knew it!" she squealed in a very un-Piper way. She may reject the makeup and fancy clothes of the other Aphrodite girls, but love was a weakness of hers.

"Uh, Piper?" I supplied weakly, squirming a little. People tended to forget that I didn't really like being touched, especially when they were excited.

She pulled back, holding her hands up in a gesture of peace and chuckled, "Ah, sorry! You guys are just so cute and we're going to have such a good time this weekend."

She continued chattering on excitedly, outlining all our plans. Apparently we were supposed to have dinner in New Rome with everyone later tonight. Jason, Piper, Annabeth, Leo, Reyna, Frank, even Hazel. I tried not to think about that last part. I wasn't going to let Hazel ruin this for me. We were going to have a good time.

"You look a little tired Nico. Why don't we show you guys to your flat so you can get a little rest before dinner?" Jason interrupted. I sighed in relief as Jason picked up the fact that I was already getting uncomfortable. He was almost as good at it as Percy.

We weaved through the narrow, cobblestone streets. I had hoped that being in this city would be fun, but it was only making me feel anxious. There were so many people, bustling around and going about their daily business. Some even turned their heads in surprise and watched us go. A group of tweens pointed and chattered excitedly, shocked to see their heroes walking the streets.

I was already starting to feel overwhelmed. On top of the exhaustion from shadow traveling, this attention was becoming too much. It felt like everyone's eyes were on me. I instinctively clutched Percy's arm a little tighter, praying that we were getting close to our destination. I just needed to get off the streets. If I could manage that, maybe I could calm down and not ruin the plans for tonight.

After a few minutes, we arrived at a little cafe. We'd rented the little studio flat above it for the two weeks seeing as we didn't really have any other place to stay. Neither of us belonged to a cohort (at least Percy didn't anymore) so we couldn't stay in the barracks. Not that we would want to anyway. Having our own little place for the weekend would be fun, a little private getaway.

The second Percy unlocked the door, I dropped by duffel bag and I collapsed on the bed, sighing raggedly in relief. I heard Percy chuckle from across the room.

"Guess I'll unpack for you then," he said, dragging the two bags across the room to the dresser.

"Wake me up for dinner," I mumbled, already crawling under the comforter and savoring the feeling of soft sheets on my skin.

The bustle of the city faded into the background as I drifted off to sleep, the exhaustion from all the days travel and stress finally taking hold.

I wished that my nap could've lasted forever, but pretty soon Percy was shaking me gently by the shoulder. I groaned as I opened my eyes, fractured sunlight hitting me fulll in the face. I heard Percy chuckle at my pain in the background.

I sighed and tossed my legs over the side of the bed. I got up and, making sure that Percy's back was turned, stripped off my now wrinkled beyond repair t-shirt. I rooted through the dressers and eventually picked out the black button up I'd worn on our first date. I couldn't help but smile at the memories the shirt now held. Part of me was picking it because it was a nice shirt, but another part of me was picking it because I knew Percy wouldn't be able to keep his eyes off me. That would give Piper something to laugh about.

After Percy and I made twin failed attempts to fix our hair, we decided it was best to get going. It truly was a hopeless effort. His hair was never flat, and I could never get mine to look right either.

Thankfully the streets had emptied out a bit. We wandered the winding streets a bit, enjoying the soft orange light. Soon the gas streetlights would come on and the city would start to glow.

This place really was beautiful. Percy may have his heart in New York, but as much as I tried, I couldn't love the city as much as him. Sure there were beautiful parts, but as a whole the city always seemed so large and grimy and noisy. The massive skyscrapers were so tall they made me claustrophobic. It was like there was always something hanging over my head.

I was always more comfortable in New Rome, and not because I knew I was safe. I think its because it reminded me of home, my old home, Venice. They held the same spirit, the same sense of antiquity. It wasn't the same, but it had more old world charm than the monstrous metropolis Percy loved. It was quieter, more private.

It wouldn't take much to convince him to move out here though. His heart and his mother might be in New York, but I could tell he loved this place by the look on his face. He seemed so at peace here, his body losing all the tension it usually carried when we were out in public.

I could really see us having a future here. We could study at the university, get a little apartment together. We could be with friends and he could be with people the would constantly stoke his admittedly large ego. People would appreciate us here, love us for everything we've done to keep them safe. We would be surrounded by people that were understanding of our…issues, the fact that we had the psychology of war veterans despite the fact that we were only teenagers. I don't even think leaving his mom would be an issue, seeing as he basically had free and lighting fast travel in the form of me. It would be so perfect.

I dreamed about that day, it kept me going. I think I could be happy then, even if Hazel wasn't a part of the picture.

I had Percy. i had friends like Piper and Jason. I had peace and quiet, the ability to train and study at the same time. I had a place where I could be surrounded on by my peers, a place that made me so nostalgic for home (but in a good way). I had a whole life in front of me, waiting to be lived to the fullest. I had perfection, stretched right in front of me and standing right beside me.

I looked up at Percy. He seemed to glow in the waning sunlight, the orange rays bouncing off his dark hair and ringing him in a sort of halo. The shadows carved out his face, making his face appear even more chiseled. His eyes sparkled, and he was wearing an easy, lopsided smile on his face.

I could get used to this, walking with him on these streets, hand in hand, completely and totally at ease.

"What are you smiling at?" he questioned, delight clear on his face. It was so rare that I felt like this, that I smiled so openly and honestly. It usually didn't happen when we were just walking. At times like this, I was usually frowning, allowing my mind to be consumed by some anxious compulsion, some awful thought process.

"Oh, nothing," I replied nonchalantly, shrugging and squeezing his hand a little tighter. The grin remained on my face through the walk, even as we entered the little restaurant Jason had chosen our big Spring Break kick off dinner.

I ignored the fact that Hazel was going to be there. She didn't matter right now. What mattered was how beautiful Percy looked in the soft lighting. What mattered was reconnecting with friends who for some reason cared for and supported me. What mattered was embracing the opportunity for fun and relaxation.

Being here….it just made me feel so hopeful.

ATTENTION!

So if you don't already know, I've started a new story which will basically function as a dump for all of my angsty stories! So if you enjoyed the angst of this story, head over there for more! I'd really like to get a little more feedback and readership on the story.

Thanks for reading, and let me know what you think. Were my attempts of cuteness too hideous?