The door opened behind us, and Jason came in. "Hey... I told Chiron everything. He's in the Apollo cabin right now, getting your stuff." He sat on his other side and pushed his glasses up, staring slack-jawed at the toilet. "... Nico, what happened? Are you sick?"
"No..." His lower lip trembled. "... I-I just, I..."
Jason seemed to understand. "Oh, baby..." He put a hand on his thigh and let him cry it out, silently supporting him.
Eventually, we got him to stand up, and I flushed everything down for him. He sat on the bed, and Jason sat next to him, holding him close. I sat on his other side, trying to tell him that it would be ok. He didn't need to worry about his appearance anymore, we'd love him no matter what.
There was a knock at the cabin door, and I pressed a kiss to Nico's tear-stained cheek before opening it.
Chiron stood in the doorway, holding Nico's jacket and skull ring. "Hello, boys." He trotted inside. "He's in the big house now, and I'll be having a talk with him later."
"What are you gonna do?" I asked.
He sighed. "I don't know. Never, in all my years, have I had to deal with this kind of... Situation. As horrible as what he's done is, he's still only a child. Casting him out wouldn't do anyone any good, and his mother..." He trailed off. "... But I don't see any other options."
I didn't understand, but Nico seemed to. He put a hand to his heart. "... I don't want him to get hurt."
"Neither do I. But if that's the price we must pay for your safety-"
"No. I... I can't let you send him back home." He stood up, nervously cradling his cast. "Isn't there some kind of... Rehabilitation you could do? Or... Therapy? He's not evil, he just has a lot of issues."
Chiron bit the inside of his cheek. "... As you wish. And as for you?" He asked.
"Oh, we're going to Camp Jupiter for now."
Chiron nodded solemnly. "I wish you three the best of luck." He draped Nico's jacket over him, fastening the collar's button and pressing the skull ring into his hand. "I'm so sorry I've allowed this to happen, in a place that's supposed to be safe."
-
We piled in the car, Jason driving this time, with Nico on my lap. We went through a drive-thru, and I was about to turn to him and ask what he wanted for lunch, but he was asleep. I just ordered a cheeseburger and fries, and saved the fries for him. "... Jason?" I asked.
"Yeah?"
"... What do you think was going on with Will's mom?"
"Isn't it obvious?" He asked. "She's probably abusive."
I put down my cheeseburger. "How would you know?"
"Well, I don't, but... I don't know what else it could be. Besides, it makes sense. My mom... She had issues with her own mom. I mean real big issues. Mommy Dearest type stuff. I don't remember hardly any of it, but Thalia told me she didn't fall that far from the tree."
"Yikes... Jase, I... I didn't know. I mean, I'm not mad you didn't tell me, but... I wish I'd known."
He shrugged. "Yeah, well... Like I said, I don't really remember it. Honestly, I'm kind of glad I got left in the woods as a baby... Except that it gave me abandonment issues."
"Dude, why am I only hearing all this now? We've been friends for years, and... I mean, I told you about all my shit. I thought we were close."
He sighed. "... Probably because of those abandonment issues, if I'm being honest. I thought, y'know, if I showed any vulnerability... You'd leave. Because I couldn't be your strong, fearless leader anymore."
"Oh, Jason..." I sighed. "... I hate that you've been feeling so shitty for so long, and like you couldn't tell me. I guess that's why you play everything off as, like, not a big deal."
"... Yeah." He paused for a long time. "... I wanted kids."
"What?"
"I... That's why Piper and I broke up. I told her I wanted kids, and I guess that made her start thinking about sex. And she realized she didn't want anything to do with me like that, and... I mean, I tried to comfort her, to tell her we could adopt or get a surrogate, but... She told me she had to 'date herself' for a while, to figure out who she was. I guess it makes sense, but everything just happened so suddenly... I'm starting to wonder if I should've gone down her route too. But I love you, and I love him, and... I don't care if this isn't what's best for me. It's what I wanna do, and it's what you two wanna do, so... We're gonna do it."
I smiled a little. "I'm glad you trust me." I wanted to ask if he still wanted kids, but it was late. The sky was dark. That kind of conversation could happen later.
"Yeah... Me too." He reached for my hand and kissed it. "Now, let's go get some gas. I don't want us stranded in the middle of Minnesota in winter."
I laughed a bit. "Me either."
