What You've Done To Me

1. Goodbye

What You've Done To Me

1. Goodbye

Nico really didn't want to tell him- he had managed to keep it a secret for this long (except for Jason finding out) so why tell him now?- but it had to be done. Nico would hate himself forever if he didn't tell him before he left.

Nico waited for him, standing in the shadows surrounding Cabin 3. After what felt like an eternity, Nico saw him approaching with the person he envied most in the world, Annabeth.

He kissed her on the cheek before they parted ways, him heading toward Nico, her heading toward Cabin 6. Jealousy boiled inside of Nico. Oh how he wished he could be Annabeth.

As he approached, Nico's jealousy was replaced with uneasiness. He had been avoiding the very person approaching him for a while now. It was just too hard to be around him anymore. Did he want Nico to hide his feelings and just look the other way whenever he was near? Nico just wished he could make the feelings stop for the teen, no matter what it meant doing. He'd rip out his heart just to save himself from this pain.

Nico bit his lip. He was now only a few feet from the door, most likely preparing for a good night's sleep and then spending the next day with Annabeth. And the day after that. And the day after that. And the day after that. He was probably even planning on spending his time in Elysium with her.

Nico stepped out from his hiding place right before he reached the door.

"Percy, we need to talk." Nico said, deadly serious.

"Sure thing, Nico." Percy responded.

"Not here, though." Nico said, thinking of all of the people that could be listening in on them.

"Let's take a walk, then."

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They spent their walk in silence. Finally, when they reached the strawberry fields, Nico stopped. Normally, the plants would have been green, producing bright red, juicy, sweet strawberries, even at this time of year. Not this year, though. This year, the winter weather was setting in faster, leaving them with bone-chilling winds in August. Usually, this still wouldn't affect the strawberries or the camp in general, but the camp had been weakened after the Giant War. Dionysus had left earlier that year because of his split personalities, and the satyrs had been too busy worrying about the wild to care for the plants. The camp's magical borders had been weakened from the battles that had occurred, so the winter weather could sneak into the camp easier. With all of these factors playing in, the strawberry plants had become yellow as they started to die and were only producing tiny, bitter strawberries.

"What is it you wanted to talk about?" Percy finally broke the silence surrounding the two, probably thinking that there was another threat that he would have to stop.

Nico stayed quiet for a moment and then finally said, "I'm going to be..." He tried to think of the best way to say this, "... going,'off-grid' for a while and I need to tell you something." He finally decided.

"What is it?"

"Um, well I, uh," Nico looked up at the sky and then down at the brown earth with the dying plants sprouting from it, trying to avoid eye contact with the boy standing in front of him.

"You know you can tell me anything." Percy said, noticing Nico's nervous behavior.

Nico sighed. Percy wasn't making this any easier.

"I just needed to tell you, that, um," Nico really didn't have any idea on how to tell Percy this. Before, he had just been planning on winging it, but now he wished he would have done something to prepare, like maybe have asked Jason what to say. Too late now.

Nico took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

"I love you." It slipped right off of his tongue and when he opened his eyes, he instantly regretted it. He saw shock and then pity play across Percy's face.

"Nico..." Percy said, reaching for him.

"No, I don't need your pity." Nico said, turning away. "It's just a stupid crush anyway. Besides, your not gonna have to be bothered with it anymore. I'm leaving. I just told you so," Nico's voice started to break. "So you'll know why I left.

"Goodbye, Percy Jackson. I'm sorry to have bothered you and your perfect life with my issues."

Just as he was about to shadow-travel away from Percy, from the cause of his pain, Percy said, "Nico, wait," effectively stopping Nico from disappearing, again. Nico stupidly hoped that Percy was about to say that he liked him back and that he was only dating Annabeth because he thought that Nico didn't return his feelings.

"You don't have to leave again just because you like me. We can work through this." Percy said, not wanting the son of Hades to disappear like he did after he found out that his sister was dead.

"I'm sorry, but I can't. I can't continue pretending to be fine when I'm secretly dying inside. I should have told you sooner to prevent getting this close to you. Besides, how would you feel if you were in my shoes?" Nico just let all of his emotions pour from him like the barriers had been removed and he was letting the river of his emotions flow free for the first time in years.

Percy stayed silent, stunned by how much he had impacted the boy.

"For years I've been watching you two grow closer as my feelings for you only grew. I can't keep playing this charade, I'm sorry." Nico turned away, tears forming in his dark eyes. He didn't bother wiping them away. So what if Percy saw him crying? It's not like he'd ever see him again. All he had to do was say some quick goodbyes at Camp Jupiter and he'd be gone, forever. No one would care that he was gone. He could even avoid death to stay away from Percy. Suicide just wouldn't work in his situation.

"Goodbye, Percy Jackson." And with that he was gone. Leaving the source of his pain behind, but bringing all of the pain with him.

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A/N Originally, this was supposed to be a one-shot, but as I read it over, I feel it could be continued. So, if ohh, let's say ten people ask me to continue, I will after I finish The House of Hades (My Version). If 10 people don't, then it will remain a one-shot. So, if you want it, leave a review telling me so!