Perfect Little Blue Boy (Percy Jackson)

Chapter Nineteen

Nico

He hasn't been this happy since... Since before he was brought back to camp.

"What are you doing?" I asked my boyfriend. He was packing a small bag for me and his entire suitcase.

"I'm packing," he told me with that stupid humor that I loved. "Duh."

I rolled my eyes and sat down next to him.

"As much as I love the stupid humor." I assured him. "Why are you packing? You can't leave, Percy. You know that."

He stopped packing and looked at me for a second. He had something to tell me.

"I can now." My boyfriend informed me. "Chiron and Mr. D had my dad come here the day after I got out of the infirmary and they told him about my depression and stuff and they told him about my negotiations that I was willing to make and my dad said that if I'm really that miserable, I hold just leave camp. I just have to call him some time soon because he wants to talk about something. Probably the depression and stuff. But I can go home! And we can finally go on the date we had planned the day they brought me here!"

He had this really bright smile plastered onto his face and he just lit up for the first time in a long ass time.

Because he finally had freedom. This place just held him back for so many reasons. And it stressed him out, too.

"That's..." I said and I paused to take that in for a moment. "That amazing, Percy. Oh my gods, I was starting to miss your parents. And sleep. I haven't slept much the last two weeks. But who's the new leader then?"

He shrugged.

"I resigned. It's up to camp, I guess." He told me. "I could care less. I know Luke won't do it, he'll be out of here as soon as summer is over and he won't look back. He hates it just as much as I do. In a few, six years, the new leader will hate it, too. It's tradition now."

I laughed and gave him a kiss before helping him finish packing our stuff.

We got back to the apartment just in time for lunch.

Sally and Paul nearly suffocated the two of us when we announced we were back and Tenaya almost made us fall over. She hugged my right leg and Percy's left. It was the cutest thing.

Of course, we gave Tenaya hugs, too.

And they asked Percy about how he was, if he was okay. Chiron and Mr. D had told them about him planning to commit suicide. Percy assured them that he was a lot better now, especially now that he was home with a promise on the Styx that he'll never have to go back to camp unless he wants to.

Because now he can move forward with his life. Now he's made friends in the mortal world. He still had me and Grover and Thalia and come summers end, they can all visit. I can leave whenever the fuck I want. I've ran away three times from camp, they trust me not to die. They don't care..

"And what about you, Nico?" Sally asked me, being the mother of all she is. "Camp?"

"They've never cared if I'm there or not." I assured Percy's mom. "As long as I keep somebody posted that I'm alive then it'll be fine."

It was one of the best lunches I had ever had. And it was tacos. But damn, they were good blue hard shell tacos.

PmllllllHalf way through dinner I was hiding under the table because Hazel and a few others had shown up, looking for me. And I recalled that I just left. I forgot to tell someone.

Sally and Paul were nice, they claimed they haven't seen me since the last time I stayed here.

"Is everything alright?" Sally asked.

"Yeah!" Will insisted. "He does this a lot, we just figured he might've snuck out with Percy."

"Percy snuck out?"

This was alarming to them.

"What? No." Jason clarified. "Percy was let out. We just thought Nico might have snuck out. Hades said he didn't know where he was. Which, again, it's not a big deal. He does it a lot. Were probably overreacting and he'll call tonight or something. We just thought we might check in."

I wasn't going to call because I thought I talked to Hazel about it, but I'll have to now.

Somehow, I managed to sneak into the bathroom and went to call Hazel.

She answered and put me on speaker.

"Dude!" Frank asked. "Where are you?"

"Calm down." I insisted. "I thought I talked to you guys, Percy just texted me and apparently I forgot. I'm in the city, staying with a friend. Just relax. Go back to camp."

"What friend?"

"You haven't met any of them, Hazel." I told my sister.

"Are you doing drugs?"

"No, I'm not doing drugs," I told her. "I'm not drinking. I'm not gambling. Your brother is fine and healthy."

"Are you eating?"

"I had seconds at dinner, yes." I promised. "Just, yeah. I gotta shower, so I'll call you back later if you want me to."

"Okay," she said as she walked away from everyone else and took the phone off speaker, her voice becoming louder. "But can I ask you a question before you hang up?"

"Uh, yeah..." I assured her, thinking it sounded sort of weird. She's almost never quite this serious. She's serious. But... You get what I mean. She had that tone. "Of course you can. Is everything okay?"

"With me, yeah, of course." My younger sister promised. "I trust that you're fine, too. You know what you're doing when you leave camp and all. But do you know why they let Percy off and not anyone else? If it was just because he's leader, I mean, that's kind of bull shit. It's not fair."

"Do I know?" I repeated and kind of debated what's safe to tell her vs what I actually know about. "Well, I know his dad was involved. I know Poseidon had something to do with it. Percys position of authority had nothing to do with it. Why do you ask? Did somebody challenge it?"

She thought about it.

"Well, yeah." Hazel told me. "Quite a few people, actually. People asked Chiron, and he just kind of told them something came up and he couldn't be at camp and that pissed everyone off because of this reason or that reason and I don't know. Will said it could have something to do with the incident he ended up in the infirmary for but...."

She stopped for a second.

"I don't know why it would." My sister went on. "I mean, it was accident and he bled and passed out. It's nothing camp can't take care of, and even if so, they'd just transfer him to another hospital. He wouldn't be fine for a while and then leave. Will also suggested maybe family stuff, but we were just at his place, the others are still there and saying goodbye. They seemed pretty calm, nothing too big going on, but I just don't..."

"Get it?" I suggested.

"Yeah," she agreed. "If he can go, why can't anyone else? I mean even we needed permission to leave."

I laughed.

"You don't need permission," I tell my sister, getting a kick out of that. "I've never left there with permission. Well, actually... Nevermind. I just leave and, normally, I tell someone I'm going to be gone. The most trouble I've gotten in for it was with Percy and I wasn't in trouble, he just kind of lectured me and that's why I tell someone about it now. It's fine."

We went back and forth for a few minutes before somebody told her something and I found out that Will knew something.

It was silent after I heard a different voice say something.

"Are you sure?" Hazel asked. "That doesn't sound like Percy."

Somebody else remarked something off of that.

"I'll ask."

Hazel took in a breath.

"Will is saying that it might've been because Percy was suicidal."