My Best Friend's Brother (The Finale)

Chapter 9

I opened up my laptop again, only to be hit with a bad surprise. Apparently the weather forecast changed due to the sudden downpour of rain, making it harder for me to catch a flight. Before I could look into trains, I heard a knock outside.

"Annabeth?" I heard someone ask. 

"Come in," I said, eyes focused on my laptop screen. I saw something black out of the corner of my eye. Looking up, my jaw dropped.

"Nico?"

Nico Di Angelo was standing at my door, nervously twisting a skull ring on his finger. His eyes jumped from my desk, to my wall, to me, as if not sure where to look. "Uh, hi."

"Hey," I said awkwardly, sitting upright. He seemed pretty nervous "Is something wrong?"

"Oh- no not really," he said, standing a little taller "I just wanted to- about my comment on things not getting better- I didn't mean anything related to Percy. I'm really glad that he's alive and everything-"

"Hey, it's okay" I smiled, feeling a bit surprised "I know that you're glad he's okay. We all are."

"Yeah." he said hesitatingly. He edged away as if about to leave, but I gestured to my chair "But I have a feeling that that's not why you came to me."

His lips tightened for a moment, before giving me an awkward smile and sitting down. "Well, you're smart."

"Thanks. Now what's going on?" I asked kindly, as if I was about to scare the boy away. I haven't spoken to Nico much, mostly because he was the first one to catch me and Percy together, and the fact that well, he was always in the shadows.

"There's something I need to tell you. It's about Luke."

A chill went up my spine. I inhaled sharply, closing my laptop "Luke?"

Nico's eyes bounced to my door "Yeah. Do you mind if I close the-" I had already jumped up and shut the door quietly after ensuring that nobody was around. Did Nico maybe know about the paper Luke gave me before the shooting? 

"Well um," he cleared his throat and leaned forward, all awkwardness gone. His black eyes seamed to gleam "First I gotta ask, did Luke ever- have you and Luke ever met in the past? Like before you even moved to New York?"

"What? No. What's going on?" I urged, feeling impatient. Nico leaned back and exhaled.

"I think that Luke did."

For a moment it was completely silent between us. I examined his face but he looked dead serious. "Elaborate."

"A couple months before you moved in, Penny was supposed to chose someone to be her new room mate with Piper. You submitted a proposal.

"Well, yeah." I frowned "What's that got to do with-"

He got up and began pacing "You probably got an email from her last minute didn't you?"

"How did you know?" I remember chewing my fingernails and waiting for Penny Jackson's reply, praying that I could move in with her and leave California.  When she had put up the ad, she mentioned that she would email the person a day before the final moving in date. I luckily got it.

"Look, it's a long story, but on the day she was supposed to decide, she was kind of busy. Piper had been in LA visiting her dad so it couldn't have been her either. I walked in on Luke secretly lurking in the kitchen where all the applications were, and it looked like he had purposely planted yours in a way that would make Penny choose yours."

My mind was whirring "Wait, what? Do you know for sure if he-"

"I don't know, and yes I don't have proof." he interrupted, looking agitated. "The thing is, he desperately wanted it to look like he wasn't doing anything. He even tried driving me out. The crazy part is he's helped everyone move in here. He helped Penny and Percy get two apartments right next to his shop. Piper and Jason moved in. I asked Leo, and he told me that it was Luke who helped him find Penny in New York. I haven't figured out whether Luke did something to make Apollo move in too, but I have to find out. And it makes sense, because Luke was associated with Thalia and Thalia was part of that cult. They could have been watching for years."