Together

Chapter 14: Piper

Nico and Will had returned to the Big House to inform us about the whole Octavian-wanting-revenge-and-threatening-to-kill-people situation, and so we decided it was best that everyone stays with a buddy, so that we're never alone to give Octavian an opportunity to attack us.

After a little while, I noticed that Will and Nico kept on looking at each other, and I postulated that as an Aphrodite child, it was my job to do something, since we all knew that the two of them were still in love. They only stopped dating for a year, and it was just because Nico had moved away so that meant that there was still hope for them getting back together, then getting married, and adopting children, and raising a family together, and taking sunset walks on he beach, and eeekk Solangelo!!!!!!!! Okay, so maybe I was getting a bit carried away, but they're like my OTP! Anyways, I had a plan to get them to spend more time together...

"So," I began, "for the buddy-system plan, who's going with who? I'd say that I should go with Hazel, then Annabeth with Thalia, Jason with Leo, Percy with Frank, and Nico with Will?" Everyone nodded in agreement, except Nico, who glared at me like he knew what I was up to.

"Piper, can I talk to outside for a minute?" asked Nico. I supposed I didn't have a choice, so I got up and followed him onto the porch. Once the door closed behind us, he looked and me. "I know what you're trying to do, and it's not going to work."

"Oh Nico, don't deny love!"

He squinted his eyes and then said, "Piper, what's gotten into you? You sound like your mom! You always used to give me the best relationship advice, to help me, but now it seems like this is just for your own amusement!"

I felt kind of hurt, realizing that he was right, and that I was being a terrible friend. "I'm—" I began to apologize but then he cut me off.

"I don't want an apology, I just want you to remember the advice you used to give me, and everyone else. You always used to tell us not to force love, but that's exactly what you're doing right now." I was about to say something, but he continued on. "You're one of my best friends Piper, and this isn't even about me and Will at all. Lately, you've been acting more and more like Aphrodite, and it's just not you. Others have noticed it too, but we didn't know how to tell you."

I didn't even respond to Nico. I just pulled him into a hug, and despite the fact that he hated when people touched him, he hugged back. "Thank you, for telling me. You're one of the best friends I could ever ask for."

He smiled. "Thanks for doing what you did with that little plan of yours. I'm kind of glad I'll have some time alone with Will, because we haven't really gotten a chance to talk."

"Nico, I don't want to force you or anything, but I think you should take a chance. You an Will were happy together once, you can probably be happy again. You just need to get past that awkwardness," I said.

He looked at me with a big grin on his face. "Now that's the Piper I know."