We Olympians (A Percy Jackson AU) || BOOK 1

Chapter 25 || Nico

When Nico sat in the ice cream parlor with Annabeth, quietly eating his ice cream, he saw Thalia rush in, her electric blue eyes alight with urgent.

"What's--" Annabeth started but Thalia cut her off.

"It's Percy."

"What about him?" Nico asked.

"Well... I met up with him at the skatepark today."

Jealousy went through Nico like a spear and Nico cursed at himself. What was wrong with him?! Thalia and Percy were obviously just hanging out! It wasn't like Nico was in love with Percy or something! But the thought of Percy being with another girl or another guy just got Nico's stomach in a twist. That's when realization flooded through Nico's senses.

No. Nico was in love with Percy Jackson. The kid he blamed his whole childhood for Bianca's death. The kid who annoyed the f**k out of him. The boy who now wouldn't even spare Nico a glance. That's the person Nico was in love with.

"He... He said he was sorry."

Both of Annabeth's and Nico's heads jerked up to face Thalia.

"And?" Annabeth asked, urgency pulsing through her stormy gray gaze.

"He said that the reason why he left was because he found out his dad was still alive."

"So? He could've been home," Annabeth said.

"That's what I'm still trying to figure out. Percy said he'd explain as 'much as he could', but I don't see why he couldn't have told us the whole story. He said that he and his father were dangerous."

"Percy can't even punch someone, let alone be dangerous," Nico scoffed.

"He went to a fighting club," Thalia said quietly.

"WHAT?!" Annabeth and Nico both jumped up.

"A fighting club?! The Manhattan Fighting Club?!" Annabeth demanded for answers. "How long have you known?"

"I'm sorry for not telling you sooner, Annabeth... But I knew it since last week. It's when I got mad at him. He sent me a note today saying that he was sorry and I told him to meet me at the skatepark. Then, he said something about how he still cared about us, but it was best if we cut all ties with him because it'd keep us safe. He said he was a danger to all those he loved."

"That seaweed brain is out of his mind!" Annabeth's eyes were wide.

"I know, but he didn't explain why he was dangerous. He told me that a lot happened in the four years he was gone... and that I wouldn't understand. And I don't understand! It's not like he became some wanted figure." But then, Thalia looked like she was hiding something.

"And?" Nico asked, his heart pounding.

"I told him that you like him, Annabeth." Thalia turned to the wide-eyed girl.

"WHAT?! Why would you do that?!"

"Because I thought it'd be the last time I got to talk to him that way! For the lord's sake, Annabeth! He told me to 'cut all ties' between him and ourselves! He doesn't want to be friends with us, yet somehow he claims he still cares about us."

"Yeah, I get that but... why did you tell him? It's a lot easier if he didn't know because we're not gonna be together anyways."

"Annabeth... he said something, too."

Both Nico's eyes and Annabeth's eyes, if possible, widened more.

"He said he likes you, too."

With that, Nico cursed mentally. Nico, you idiot! I can't believe you thought Percy Jackson, the hottie, would ever like you! He's straight. Not a gay ass like you. What would Bianca think of you if she was still alive? Your mom? What would Annabeth think of you? What would THALIA think of you?! But more importantly... what would Percy think of you?

"Nico? You okay?" Annabeth was staring at him. No. He couldn't tell Annabeth.

"Yeah. I'm perfectly fine," Nico said.

He didn't even convince himself.

"Do you think... Do you think there's still a chance for us?" Annabeth whispered, gray eyes hopeful.

"If the seaweed brain cares about us as much as he claims he does, yes," Thalia responded.

___

That night, as Nico was in Sally's kitchen, he sighed, feeling guilty when he saw Sally looking through Percy's old photos. All were full of happiness. Sally was hugging Percy by the kiddie pool in this one, Percy's sea-green eyes lit up by joy. Nico chuckled. Percy had always loved the water. Maybe he still did. The next... caught Nico by surprise. In this one, Percy was still by the kiddie pool, but something in those sea-green eyes got Nico confused.

Percy's eyes weren't looking at the camera Sally was holding in her right arm. His eyes were looking off to the side, fear flashing through them. And in the reflection of Sally's water bottle, he could see a glob-like figure and a face he knew all too well. Gabe. Nico tried to put two and two together. Why was Percy scared of Gabe? It made no sense to Nico, no matter how hard he tried to think about it.

"Nico, what are you thinking about?" Sally asked, stroking his hair kindly.

"Nothing..." Nico frowned, still staring at the picture. "Nothing at all."

"Alright..." Sally said, obviously not wanting to push it. "Well, dinner's gonna be ready in an hour, so tell Thalia to hurry home, alright? Don't want her staying too late in the skatepark."

"She's already on her way home," Nico said, looking at his phone screen.

TG: Nico, I just saw something crazy. I'm on my way home and I'll talk to you about it soon.

NDA: Okay, okay... What is it?

TG: It's about Percy. I just saw him.

Thalia burst through the door, startling Sally and Nico.

"Oh! Thalia... That was a great entrance... Do you wanna ask Annabeth if she wants to come over for dinner?"

"I can't," Thalia sighed. "Annabeth's dad's gonna come home from being out of town and they're celebrating."

"Where did you see Percy?" Nico whispered.

"I saw him go into the fighting club."

"What? That idiot's insane!"

"It's not the first time he's done it... But I don't see why he wants to do it again! I've gone inside of there when my mom used to want to find a man. It gets nasty."

"So what are we going to do? Percy told us to cut all ties with him!"

"We just hope the idiot comes out alive... but I actually wanna find out how he comes out alive."