Disclaimer:: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Heroes of Olympus or its characters. They are the property of Rick Riorden, and are not my intellectual property. There is no financial gain made from this nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only.

AN: This chapter is a little back story heavy, but I'll get it moving along ASAP!

"How you feeling, Neeks?"

"Don't call me that." Nico rolled his eyes, "And I'm fine."

Nico sat in their regular booth at the diner down the street from their apartment. It had been a full week since his trip to the ER and Jason hadn't stopped hounding him.

"Did you call that Doctor and make an appointment?"

"No, I don't need to see a doctor Jason; I told you I was fine."

"He seemed really worried."

"I don't care." The younger boy mumbled. He wasn't planning on making any appointment with that doctor. He was overbearing and pushy. He was very rude, assuming Jason was Nico's boyfriend, embarrassing them like that. And he should not have told Jason about his recommendation. No, there was no way Nico was going to make an effort to see that man again. Even if he was stunning. Nico winced inwardly; he had been trying to avoid that thought since the minute he met Dr. Will solace. The wavy, golden hair and kind blue eyes. The way he seemed to radiate the sun itself with his warm smile and bright disposition. Nico remembered the way his muscles rolled beneath his scrubs, suggesting the young Doctor was very fit. Nico felt his face flush as he caught himself trying to imagine what those muscles would look like without the cheep material covering them.

"Nico, are you even listening to me?"

"Not really." Nico looked up with a smirk, Jason tended to ramble and his friend was used to the younger boy's mind wandering away.

"What are you thinking about?" Jason leaned in close with his arms resting on the table top between them.

"No one. I mean nothing!" Nico shut his mouth with a snap.

"Ohh, I see. He was pretty handsome wasn't he?"

"I'm sure I have no idea who you're talking about."

"I'm sure." Jason snickered.

"Shut up." Nico mumbled into his coffee cup.

"Hey guys!"

Nico looked up and groaned. "Really? You invited him?"

Jason kicked him under the table, "Be nice!" He hissed between clenched teeth. "Hey Perce! How's it going?"

"Oh, not to bad." Percy slid into the booth next to Nico, their arms brushing gently against each other. Nico felt a jolt of electricity jump through his arm making him jump. The younger boy slid towards to wall, putting as much distance between him and the green eyed boy as possible. "How are you feeling Neeks?"

"Don't call me that." He growled, with much more force then he used with Jason.

The older boy flushed, "I'm sorry." He mumbled lowly.

Nico sighed, as much as he hated being around Percy he couldn't stand the look of hurt on his face when ever Nico pushed him away. "I'm fine Percy, thank you for asking." The green eyed boy smiled wide and sat of straighter. Nico had to force himself not to grimace, but he couldn't make himself return the smile. Too much had happened for them to every truly be friends again. If it wasn't for Jason he would have cut the other boy out of his life completely. And maybe if Jason knew what had actually happened he wouldn't even care. But Nico couldn't do that to his best friend, forcing him to choose between the two of them would be cruel. And while many people would call Nico cold and out of touch, with Nico's fast agreement, cruel wasn't something he could ever be. Nico sat back in the bench fiddling with the zipper on his jacket, the two older boys chatted animatedly about school and girls.

Nico had never been the friendly sort, not since the tragic accident that ripped his Mother and Sister away from him. Leaving the young child alone with a cold and distant Father. He couldn't even say he was raised by his Father, most of his childhood was spent of countless Governesses and Staff taking care of him. When Nico met Jason, who was a year older, in high school he tried to push the older boy away, but the older teen would have none of it. Before long the butch blond had wormed his way into Nico's life, and with him came his friends. Reyna and Frank were pretty cool, and besides Jason the only two he willingly spent time with of his own choice. Reyna was like the big sister Nico had lost and Frank was kind and understanding when it came to Nico's quietness. Piper was alright, she was sweet and understanding but sometimes a little pushy. Especially when it came to the groups' loves lives. He respected Annabeth's intelligence and no nonsense personality, but they had never really connected. Then there was Percy; tall and strong with lean muscles covering his body. Smooth tan skin, shaggy black hair and the most gorgeous sea green eyes Nico had ever seen. Percy was friendly and kind, always trying to look out for everyone. He was selfless and loyal to a fault. It was no surprise Nico had fallen for him fast and hard. It was easy to ignore his feelings for the older boy in high school, since Nico wasn't out and the other boy was attached by the mouth to Annabeth. Their relationship was probably the main reason her and Nico had never really become friends. Then in Nico's second year of college, the golden couple broke up. It was all very amicable and they remained friends, it was Nico who suddenly began feeling awkward. It didn't help that Percy seemed to all of a sudden decide he was bisexual.

Near the end of the year, just after finals, Jason dragged Nico to some party in the dorms. That was the night the whole dynamic of their relationship changed. Both Nico and Percy ended up getting right drunk and somehow found their way to an empty bedroom. Nico ended up giving his virginity to the green eyed boy that night. A one night stand would have been bad, what happened instead was much worse. Percy told Nico that while he liked him well enough, it was a mistake and they should pretend it never happened. Broken hearted Nico agreed. They managed to keep hold of their rocky friendship for a while. At least, until they ended up in bed together again. By August Percy and Nico were sneaking around behind their friend's backs to hook up with each other every chance they could get. And every time they did Percy would say how bad of an idea it was and that it shouldn't ever happen again. But they were like magnets, draw to each other with ferocity neither could explain. Nico knew it wasn't a healthy relationship, if one would even call it that, he also knew Percy had no idea how Nico really felt.

That was about the time Nico started fighting.

It started by accident, really. He hadn't been looking for trouble that night, but it seemed to find him. Nico ended up curled into a ball trying to protect his most important organs, letting the rogues hurt him. And as his body blossomed in pain as he got his ass kicked he reached a moment of clarity. He fought back his attackers violently and by the end of it both of them ended up in the ER with him. Even thou both were called, Jason showed up to the hospital alone. Nico knew he was letting Percy hurt him the same way those ass hole had been in the ally when they jumped him, and it was time he fought back.

Once Nico was feeling better he paid a visit to Percy and like every other night they were together it was hard and passionate. They spent the whole night touching and kissing, rolling around between the sheets. When the sun started to rise and Percy pulled the smaller boy close to sleep Nico pulled away. He climbed out of bed and got dressed before gently pressing his lips to Percy's.

"Goodbye Percy, for good."

The older boy tried to grab him and pull him back into bed but Nico made a quick escape. With tears streaming down his face and his chest aching as he tried to breathe between sobs the young Italian raced out of the apartment. He was proud of himself for letting go of the boy who owned his heart. It was hard to stay strong, but he promised himself he would never go back. Not until Percy could prove there was something real. The older boy didn't make it easy on him; phone calls and texts multiply times a day, showing up at his house and classes. Begging Nico to talk to him, to tell him what went wrong. It seemed now that it was Nico saying no Percy decided to fight. But until he said the words, Nico promised himself he would never go back.

Whenever Nico felt like he was going to break he would take a long walk, alone, late at night. And when trouble found him, as was the way and he felt the pain of the beatings filling his body Nico remembered why he had to stay away from the man he loved. It became his coping mechanism. He started going to the gym with Jason three times a week; training and learning to defend himself. But always, before he fought back, he made sure to let himself feel the pain. To this day, as far as Nico knew, none of their friends knew about the two boys' fling and Nico planned on keeping it that way. Percy eventually learned to leave him alone, for the most part.

"Hey, guys, I'm pretty wiped out I'm just going to go." Nico said softly. He couldn't stand to be around people right now.

Both Jason and Percy looked at him with worry in their eyes. "You sure buddy? Do you need me to take you?"

"No, it's okay Jay. It's not far, sun's still up. The fresh hair will help and I'm just going to get some sleep."

"Alright, Nico, be careful."

Nico nodded and gave a small wave as he slid out of the booth and headed home.