The One That Got Away... (A Jasico fanfic)

Chapter 13

Nico pov

Jason stared at me awkwardly for a whole minute. That's right, I counted.

"So... NicoIdon'tknowwhyyouthinkIlikeLeobutit'sobviouslynottrue... I mean... Sorry?" I just raised my eyebrows.

"Leo told me he liked you, so I just wanted to give him a chance. I never had one with Percy, so I guess I just did what I wanted Annabeth to do," I told him. Jason blinked rapidly.

"So... you don't hate me?" he asked, then hastened to correct himself. "I mean, you..." He was at a lost for words.

"Don't hate you. Not yet, at least." Was that a joke? No, not really. Jason looked like he was asking the exact same question. He laughed nervously.

"Hahaha... very funny?" I just stared at him with a look that I hoped said, 'I love you and I don't want you to ever leave but you might so I'm scared and don't give me that I love you crap because why would you ever love me?'.

He obviously didn't understand the look.

"So... You're probably getting sick of this question, but... what are we?" Jason was fiddling with his hands, not meeting my eyes.

I was silent for a long while. How would I answer that?

"We," I paused to gather my chaotic thoughts, "are humans. Humans need love, or most do. The odd thing is that the ones that need it most, are the ones that don't have any. But we aren't entirely human, are we? We're demigods. Not human. But we still need love. So what happens when we don't have any? At all?" Jason's breathing became labored, and at this point, I didn't care. Tears were silently running down my cheeks, tickling when they paused at my lips.

I took a deep breath to calm myself. "I guess you wouldn't know. But I would. Unfortunately for me, no one was here. I was alone. But then Percy came. He marched into my heart, and set up camp. Couldn't forget him, but I couldn't have him either. Eventually, it drove me crazy. Bianca had died, I was alone with an impossible dream. The dream morphed into a fear. What if someone found out? How disgusted would they be?" Why was I telling Jason this? Dunno. Felt good, though. To vent to someone that would never understand me.

"Then... Eros shot me. I had to tell you. Worst fear come true. I was weakest, in front of the golden son of Zeus. Percy fell into Tartarus with Annabeth, and I was alone once again. Reyna and Coach found out, and they accepted me. We won the Giant war. I was barely alive. I stayed at Camp for two months, then left for Italy. Time flew, and I found myself in my father's palace. Once, I wandered to Tartarus's edge. Close enough to know it was there, far away enough not to get sucked in. I stood there for five days. No water, no food, just me and my thoughts. Decisions, choices, unclosed deals. It was there that I decided that I had a purpose. To be happy. Not to love, not to be loved, not to be insanely rich, not to be powerful, but to be happy and to make someone else happy. Who could make me happy? Will was nice, but he wanted to be friends. Reyna had her boyfriend, Chase. So who made me happy?"

"I bet it was Percy," Jason interrupted bitterly. I laughed with no humor, and Jason glanced up at me.

"It wasn't Percy. It was someone else. Someone else that I could never have. A hero in their own right. They had a beautiful girlfriend. Why would they ever need me?"

"So who was it?" Jason had to be the dumbest person on earth.

"You," I said simply, and a million emotions flashed across Jason's face before settling into one: confusion.

"Me? How? You - "

"Changed."

"Don't like me in the least, you tried to set me up with Leo - "