The Child of Artemis

Chapter Eleven

Nico

After I had gotten her all the way to Zeus' Fist, she looked at me confused.

"What is this? Why are we here?" She looks at the pile of boulders.

"It's Zeus' Fist. The campers named it that. If you look at it at the perfect angle, it kinda looks like a fist coming out of the ground." I explain.

"Oh. Okay." She stares at it for awhile before smirking. "All I see is what appears to be a pile of poop. Why not name it the Poop Pile?" I laugh at her comment.

"You sound like Percy now." I smirk.

"Is that a good thing?" She raises an eyebrow slightly.

"I would say it is." I smile.

"So. Why are we here?" She asks again, suspicion leaking into her voice. I don't know what she suspects or why, but now it's gone and made me nervous. Oh styx.

"I have a question for you. I didn't want to ask it where other people might hear it, or the answer." I bite my lip. She seems to think about this answer for a second.

"Fair enough. Ask and you shall receive." She smiles slyly, while walking around the pile of rocks and staring at it at different angles.

I gulp. How was this so easy for her? That's when I notice her subtle stiffness, the tightness in her jaw, and the pink dusting her cheeks. She was nervous too. I take a deep breath.

"DoyoulikemebecauseIlikeyou" I say really fast, not knowing if she understood. I don't look at her face.

"You like me?" Her voice seems slightly shocked. I look up. Correction: very shocked. I nod and her eyes widen more.

"What is there to possibly like about me?" She laughs. "I'm just some street kid. Why would a hero, a legend, possibly like me?" I look at her, a little shocked myself.

"You're quite a bit cynical." I state. "Here I thought you wouldn't like me because I'm just a child of Hades. People don't tend to like kids with a father that rules over the land of the dead."

"That would be a dumb reason not to like someone." She declares.

"So would not liking someone just because of where they came. Sometimes people don't have control over where they come from." I declare at her.

"I suppose you have a point." He voice is sly and sneaky again. The Hermes cabin has left an impression, I see. "How would you react if I did like you?" She says vaguely.

"Probably shocked, happy, and relieved," I admit.

"Relieved?" She questions innocently.

"I've liked other people before. My feeling have not been returned." I bite my tongue in attempt to keep a straight face.

"Then you won't have to worry about that this time." She smiles. "The answer is yes. I do like you back." I smile happily and walk up to her, hugging her. She hugs back, and unlike with other people, instead of tensing up at my touch, she relaxes into it. I smile and put my head on her shoulder. She was a little shorter than me, so I couldn't put my chin on her head. It would have been fun to tease her with that though. She ends up resting her head on my shoulder too.

"You're the only person besides Abby who has ever been able to hug me like this." She murmurs softly. "Even at that, this is the best hug I've ever had." I smile at that, and tighten the hug.

"I will agree with that statement. This is the best hug I've ever had too." She hums happily at these words.

"Damn straight." She laughs, and I join in.