Boys Like Boys [Nico di Angelo]

chapter twenty

When I woke up the next morning, Nico was sitting in his bed, reading a book. I thoroughly ignored him as I grabbed my backpack and crammed everything I owned into it. Nico never looked at me once, and I had to grind my teeth to keep my emotions from spilling. I bit my lip to suppress the feelings of betrayal and loss that overwhelmed me. Finally, I slung the backpack over my shoulder, grabbed the harpe, and went to leave the cabin. A voice stopped me.

"Where are you going?" Nico asked, but it was monotonous, as if he could care less.

"Probably Percy's cabin, or Leo's or Jason's," I responded with an attitude, looking up at him. His eyes were clouded with jealousy and anger.

"Why?"

"Because I'm gonna let them deal with me instead," I snapped, before walking out and slamming the door. I found myself heading towards Percy's cabin, since that's the only one who's location I remembered. I knocked and Percy responded after a couple of minutes, his black hair sticking up in various places. My eyes wandered his body and I realized he wasn't wearing a shirt and his pajama pants hung low on his hips. I gulped as I felt my face heat up, looking down to the ground.

"What's up?" he asked, letting me inside as he tugged on a shirt. Thank the gods.

"Um...a lot," I trailed off with a laugh, though it was forced and lacked emotion.

"What's going on? Is everything okay?"

"No," I admitted, sitting next to him on his bed. "I'll explain everything later. Or just ask Nico if you want to. Do you know where I can find Leo?"

"Yeah, I would say the Hephaestus cabin, but he's probably at Bunker Nine. I'll take you there," he offered and I thanked him as we made our way into the forest. It was beautiful and green, teeming with life, but it was a bit dark, and I wasn't so much a fan of the dark. "So, tell me why you have all of your stuff and aren't with Nico," Percy said, stuffing his hands into his pockets. I sighed and stared at the ground in front of me.

"Nico and I aren't on good terms right now," I explained bitterly, biting my lip. "He can tell you all about that. Don't forget to ask him about the things he said to me. That's the best part," I spat sarcastically, watching as Percy raised an eyebrow.

"Yikes," he whispered and I sighed, before running my fingers through my hair.

"It just sucks...y'know, like when the person you care about the most says the most gods-awful things...it just messes with your head," I rambled and Percy nodded, before giving me a soft smile.

"I'm sure it'll all play out just fine. I can tell Nico really likes you and likes being around you. He might've been really upset. He tends to shut people out when he's angry or...feeling any emotion actually," Percy assured me. "I wouldn't worry about it."

"Thanks" I murmured, watching as Percy stopped.

"We're here."

I thanked him again as he started heading back, before knocking on the door of the bunker. It opened upon pressure and I felt my eyebrows furrow, before I walked in and saw tons of blueprints scattered around the floor. Leo was sleeping, his head leaning on his arms, which were sitting on his desk. The lights were still on and I wondered how long he'd been asleep.

"Leo?" I asked as softly as I could, before walking closer to him. "Leo..." I repeated, watching his eyes slowly blink open. He gave me an odd look, before recognizing who I was.

"Calum! What's up?" he asked in Spanish, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Do you have time to talk?"

"Time's all I've got. Is something wrong?"

"Yeah, actually there is..." I trailed off, watching his eyebrows furrow in concern. And in that moment, I plopped down in a chair next to him and spilled everything.

---

  "So, this goddess, Atë...she's trying to get you to join her, she makes you go dark side, and Nico doesn't like that?" Leo summarized, raising a dark eyebrow. "Sounds like a problem."

  "Yeah," I agreed, casting my eyes to the floor.

  "And you like Nico?"

  My face flushed a bright pink, and I heard Leo chuckle.

  "There's my answer," he mused to himself. "Aphrodite's a bitch, huh? Don't tell Piper I said that."

  I laughed a bit as Leo cracked a smile.

  "Just let it play out on its own," he offered. "I know you just really want it to hurry up and solve itself, but all Nico needs is time right now."

  I don't have time.

  "That's what everyone keeps telling me, but..." I trailed off, feeling a lump rise in my throat. "Time is something I don't have."

  "Why's that?"

  "It's hard to explain," I said, before sighing. "I just really needed someone to talk to about it, so thanks for listening."

  "Yeah, no problem. If you ever need to talk about anything else, let me know."

  I stopped at the door, fumbling with one of the straps to my backpack. I turned to look at Leo, who was raising an eyebrow at me.

  "Can I stay here for the night?" I inquired and Leo looked taken aback by the question, before his features softened.

  "Yeah, of course."

  He walked over to the wall and pressed a button, a bunk bed raising from the floor.

  "I always sleep in the top bunk, so looks like you've got bottom," he said, before laughing to himself.

  "What's so funny?" I asked and he just smirked, before shaking his head.

  "Nothing. But it seems like it's breakfast time...you can sit by me if you want," he offered as the breakfast bell chimed.

"Yeah...that'd be great," I said with a smile, watching as he grinned and took my bag from me, plopping it down on the bottom bunk.

"Cool. Let's go then."