Never (A Percico Fanfiction)

Alone

Hi, guys! I'm an aspiring writer going through a serious Percico phase, so I hope you all like gay-demigod-fluff! There may or may not be HoO spoilers! Thanks for reading! I should update regularly (I can always find time to write fluff), so enjoy!

~AGreer

He was alone again. All alone. Trapped in that giant bronze jar. And it was cold. Gods, he was so cold. He was running out of seeds. Out of time. Where was his Prince Charming to save him? Oh, that's right. Swooning over the beautiful blonde girl he called his own. Face it, said the voice in his head. You're alone. He doesn't love you. Just give up now. And so he did, the darkness washing over him like a rolling tide.

Nico woke with a shout. He bolted upright, scrutinizing himself inwardly for what he was sure would wake the boy beside him. As he glanced over, however, he found himself alone in the black sheets again. Too distraught to wonder why this could be, the frazzled young man curled his knees to his chest, tears streaming his face all the while. He whimpered softly, recalling the images from his nightmare, until the door opened halfway and light poured over his body from the hallway.

"Nico?" came the voice. "What's wrong? I-I heard you yell." The boy shut the door behind him, crossing the room and taking a seat on the bed near the other.

"N-nothing," Nico mumbled, face still buried in attempt to hide his tears. "I-I'm fine."

Unconvinced, Percy's arms wrapped around the other boy, pulling him closer and holding him tightly. "It was another nightmare, wasn't it?" The younger nodded in his embrace. He ran his hand in soothing circles over the boy's back, knowing by now how to calm him down.

"It's okay," he whispered. "You're safe now. I'm never letting you go back there."

Finally, Nico gave in to his attempts at feinted strength, allowing his knees to unfold and looking up at his boyfriend with his tearstained face. More than anything, he wanted Percy to hold him closer, to make him feel safe again.

"I'm so scared.." he whispered hoarsely.

Percy couldn't stand to see him like this. He still wanted to pulverize the giants for what they'd done to Nico, and that was saying something, seeing as they were already dead. He pulled the smaller boy's trembling frame into his lap, holding him as close as was humanly possible.

"I'm here," he said, leaning down to kiss his head. "I've got you. You're okay."

Nico nodded into his chest, but said nothing. Slowly, Percy felt his trembling start to subside, his breath returning to it's normal pace after a few minutes. He loosened his embrace a bit, peering down at the slight figure in his arms. Nico yawned.

"Feel better?" he asked.

"Y-yeah," he sighed. "I'm sorry. I just get so scared."

"Hey," Percy said. "It's fine. Gives me an excuse to hold my Ghost King."

"Mm," Nico leaned up and kissed him lightly, most of the tension gone from his body now. "You don't need an excuse."

"True." He wrapped his arms around Nico again, and the boy burrowed into his chest. After a few minutes, the smaller had fallen asleep. When Percy was sure he wouldn't wake him, he gently lay him back down, pulling the blankets up around his body and kissing his forehead once more. But, as he crept toward the door to finish all the paperwork he'd brought home from work today, he heard Nico's soft voice behind him.

"Hey, Perce?"

"Yeah?" he asked, turning back toward him.

"Come to bed. Please? I really need you close to me."

"Okay," he obliged without a second thought. Nico needed him, work could wait. "Just one sec."

He left the door open as he exited the room, because he knew that Nico couldn't stand the dark when he was afraid. Not in a childish way, but because he knew what could come from the shadows around him.

Walking into the hall with a yawn, he quickly checked that the doors and windows had been locked, straightened his papers into neat piles, and shut off all the lights, the hallway last of all as he came back through the door, closing it behind him.

Nico lie half awake in their bed, dressed in a large t-shirt of Percy's and a pair of black boxer shorts. Smiling down at the sight of him, Percy pulled off his blue jeans and t-shirt slowly, not bothering to put anything over his blue boxers. He climbed into the bed on the side opposite Nico, and the smaller of the pair repositioned himself to rest his head on the other's bare chest, body curled against him. Percy's arm moved comfortably around him, his hand slipping under Nico's shirt to trace circles again over his skin.

"Thank you," Nico breathed quietly.

"I love you," was Percy's response.

"I love you, too," and with that, the son of Hades began again to fall asleep, this time shrouded in the protective warmth of his boyfriend's body.

Percy lie awake long after Nico had drifted into sleep, still rubbing his back, waiting all the while to see if more nightmares were to come. None did.