All's Fair In Love And War

He's Basically My Brother

After our lunch 'date,' Nico and I went bowling. He had explained to me that Venus and Cupid wanted the contestants and the bachelors to go on dates at one point or another, so he wanted to get them off his back.

"Why do you keep giving me the rose?" I asked him as I sent the ball down the lane again.

"Why shouldn't I?"

I frowned up at him, ignoring the bells that rang as I scored a strike. "Don't you think people are going to question our relationship?"

Nico shook his head. "Nah."

"Why is that?" 

He became interested in his shoes.

"Nico?" I stepped closer. 

"Uh, yeah?" He asked.

"Is there something you're hiding? I won't judge you, you know."

"It's nothing." Nico said. "I'm gonna go now."

I sidestepped and let him grab his bowling ball, a sleek black one with dark red swirls in it. Nico let it roll down the aisle, knocking down all the pins but one.

"That was close." I grinned at him. "But I'm still winning."

"Yeah, quit rubbing it in." The awkwardness between us dissipated as we continued the game, jabbing and teasing each other.

"I win!" I cheered, pointing to the final score.

Nico scowled. "No need to rub it in."

"Aw, someone a sore loser?" I pinched his cheek.

"Ow!" Nico slapped my hand away, trying not to laugh.

I grinned at him, then checked the time. "Oh wow, we should probably go."

Nico glanced at the clock as well. "Yeah, we should. Let's go."

We went to the counter and returned our bowling shoes, sliding our own back on. Nico offered me his arm like a gentleman and we strolled out of the building and right into a shadow.

Reappearing in front of the house that all of us were sharing at the moment, Nico stopped.

"Uh, what I was saying before Reyna, I...you're my friend, right?"

"Of course." I turned to him, smiling.

"Well, the reason I'm not worried is because...well...I play for the other team, you could say."

I frowned for a moment, thinking.

"You-oh. Oh!" It made sense actually. He did pick the same guys for the most part. I had also noticed he tended to get a little red around a few of them.

"Yeah, oh. If you don't want to hang out with me anymore, I get it-"

"Why would I do that?" I asked him, cocking a hip and putting my hand on it.

"I don't know. Most people who find out think I'm weird or something."

I shrugged. "Doesn't change my image of you. You're still Nico and we can still be friends."

Nico looked surprised at my response, but smiled. "Thanks, Reyna. That's kind of why I've been giving you the roses. It's nice to have someone who's just a friend, you know?"

I smiled back at him. "Of course."

Nico turned to the house. "Well we've got an audience, you want to go in before they start chanting for us to kiss?"

I turned to look at the house and saw Venus and Cupid watching from the top window.

"Yes, let's."

Nico and I parted at the stairwell. He headed for his room that he had told me he shared with Percy and I started up towards the girls' room.

"Have fun on your date?" A voice asked when I reached the landing, which connected to a spacious living room.

"I guess." I turned to face Bianca. "What're you doing?"

"Waiting for you." She said seriously, pointing at the seat across from her.

I frowned in confusion, but sat down anyway.

"What's up?"

"You've been spending an awful lot of time with my brother." Bianca's tone was accusatory.

I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. What's wrong with that?"

"I don't want you to get any ideas from that. He doesn't like you." She said seriously.

"I know."

"Let me finish." Bianca didn't even register my comment. "He may act like he likes you, but I guarantee he doesn't. Don't pull any moves on him, don't go mooning around waiting for that 'magical' kiss, it isn't coming. In fact, no girl is ever going to get one from him. He's-"

I held up a hand, cutting her off. "Gay. I know."

"You-what?" She looked shocked.

"He told me. We're just friends." I promised. "I think he wants me to help him decide who he should actually date."

She blinked. "Well....uh...sorry, then. I shouldn't have assumed-"

I smiled. "It's fine, he only just told me today, but I've never had any fantasies about him. We were just friends, and we still are. Actually, we're practically family. He's my brother, at least in my eyes."

Bianca nodded and stood. "Thanks for hanging out with him. He tries to pull away from me sometimes, I think it's little brother syndrome."

I chuckled. "Well he is a fun guy to hang out with. We mostly go on 'dates' to make Cupid and Venus leave him alone, then hang out and joke around. We spar a few times a week too."

She smiled at me. "That's great. Speaking of, we should hang out sometimes."

"I'd love to."

[A/N awww overprotective Bianca. Just FYI, I took everyone's ages and kind of pulled them closer to each other. They're all in the 17 through 19 area]