Camp Half Blood: One "Salty" Adventure

Camp Half Blood: A Salty Sequel//Chapter Nineteen

Rose's POV:

Once I left Myra to go find Nathan, I saw Ben sitting on a tree stump. He looked pretty lost in thought, so I figured I could talk to him once I finished talking with Nathan. I was having a pretty hard time finding him, so I decided to go to his Cabin to see if he was there, or at least if his siblings knew where he would be. I knocked on the door and was greeted by an earthy looking teenage girl, probably about a year younger than me. "Hello, can I help you with something?" She asked rather politely.

"Yeah, actually. I was wondering if you knew where Nathan was... or at least where he could be?" She smiled. For a moment, she looked back into the Cabin and then back to me.

"Are you Myra or Rose?" I smiled.

"Rose." She nodded and then someone else came to the door. It was Nathan.

"Hey, Rose." He scratched the back of his neck.

"Hi, Nathan. Do you mind if we talked? I needed to ask you about a few things." He said 'sure' and then closed his cabin door behind him. We starting walking and ended up at the lake. We sat down and then he began our conversation.

"So, what'd you want to talk about? If it's about what happened earlier, I'd honestly rather not. Especially if you expect me to apologize to Cole." I let out a small laugh.

"No way, that's none of my business. What I wanted to talk about was Myra, actually." He stirred a bit at the mention of Myra.

"What about her?" He said more in a more composed way than I expected.

"Well... in the castle. When you said you did what you had to do to get close to Myra, did you really have to date her?"

"Rose, I don't think you understand. It was kinda like... a moment. It just happened. I didn't mean for it to, but it just did. I went with it, but I didn't like it." I rolled my eyes at him.

"Honestly, I don't think you're telling me the truth. You didn't have to do anything. And even if you had a moment like that, you didn't have to kiss her. But you did, Nathan."

"Well I-I couldn't help it! It was weird, Rose. I can't explain it." He sighed.

"You had real feelings for her, Nathan. Did you not?" I asked, not sure what I wanted his response to be.

"I mean, I don't know. Maybe? Like I said, it was weird. I might've had some feelings in the beginning, but not anymore."

"I think you still might, Nathan." He laughed.

"And what makes you say that?" He questioned me.

"Why'd you leave Myra with that plant that you haven't tested right after she mentioned Cole?"

"H-how'd you know about that? That she mentioned Cole, I mean." He replied nervously.

"Nathan, tell me, honestly, if you have feelings for her still." I said looking him dead in the eye.

"I can't, Rose! I just-It hurts! Seeing her with Cole! I didn't want to leave her, but I couldn't bare to see her with him tonight. I don't love her anymore, Rose. That's the truth, I don't. It's like this weird after effect that just won't go away. I feel like I just need time. I-I don't know, Rose..." when he finished, he scratched the back of his neck and started playing with the zipper of his jacket. I grabbed his hand lightly.

"Nathan, I get what you're saying, I do. But that's no reason to leave her like that... she cares about you, but as a friend. You volunteered to risk your life to save the other demigods for her... don't beat yourself up with emotions like that." I moved my hand from his. "Emotions ruin everything... I know that. You can get way ahead of yourself, hurt somebody, or hurt yourself. It stinks..." he smiled up at me. "What?" I asked.

"That's just... everything you said was the most truthful thing I've heard... well, ever. And about the demigods... I don't know if I'm going to come out alive, Rose. But, no matter how it works out, I need Myra to know that I care about her and about everyone. Even Cole. You guys may be important to this prophecy... but you're more important to me. Keeping you guys alive means keeping you together, and that's all I could ever ask for." He said sincerely.

"That means a lot, Nathan. Thank you. But... I do think you should talk to Cole. Apologize to him. Please. He was just being overprotective of Myra, you have to understand that. You would've been the same way if the tables were turned." He sighed.

"Yeah, you're right. I would've. I'll apologize." I smiled and pulled Nathan in for a hug. I went to pull away, but he didn't let go. "Just a bit longer? I-I don't really get to hug people that often..." he said shyly. I laughed.

"Weird... but of course. You're just lucky I'm a hugger." He smiled and pulled me back in. Nathan was so tall and warm, I could see why Myra agreed to dating him in the castle. He's a great guy. We didn't hug much longer, so, when we said our goodbyes and then he sat back down, probably to think a bit more, I went back to where I saw my mopey boyfriend sitting on that same tree stump. I wasn't sure if he'd be there, but when I walked back, I found that he was. I sat down next to him, seeing as the tree stump was rather large, and started talking. "Hey, you alright, Ben? You've been quiet the entire night." I said becoming more concerned every second he didn't answer. Before he spoke, he let out a sigh.

"Yeah I'm fine. I don't know, I've just been kinda tired. I'm a bit out of it." He said staring off into the distance.

"Have you been paying attention to anything?" I asked curiously.

"Yeah, I know what's going on, just thinking about everything is all." He chuckled. "They're all so stupid if you think about it. I just think everyone needs to take a minute to breath. Calm down, ya know?"

"You know what, Ben? You're absolutely right." He smiled.

"Yeah, I know." I laughed lazily with a yawn. We went into a small silence.

"I am exhausted." I said as I put my head on his shoulder. He instinctively wrapped his arm around me, making me feel warmer in the cold of the night.

"You've been busy fixing everyone's problems again?" He asked.

"When am I not fixing everyone's problems?" I sighed.

"You really need to take some time for yourself. Without emotions being involved." I looked up at him with a questioning expression.

"When did you get so inspirational?" He laughed.

"Sorry, sometimes at night I get like this. Just means I'm tired." He yawned but continued speaking. "I'll be back to normal in the morning."

"Babe, we should get back to my Cabin and go to sleep. This tree isn't the most comfortable thing right now." I said starting to get uncomfortable.

"Alright, come on, Princess. Let's go." We got up, walking hand in hand, back to the cabin. When we walked in, we saw Myra cuddled up with Cole on my big blue chair. They were both fast asleep. I smiled and then turned the light down and slowly took my shoes and jacket off. Ben did the same and then we both got into my bed. I cuddled into both Ben and my blanket and was able to get comfortable immediately. I fell asleep to the sound of Ben's quiet breaths. I was woken up once in the night to the door opening, I could faintly see Nathan. He looked at all of us and walked in, only to turn the lights all the way off and then leave. I felt bad for Nathan, but he knew what might happen if he fell for Myra. He knew what might happen the whole time. So why did he go for it? Was it because he thought he had nothing to lose? Will I ever know exactly why?... probably not. But, like Ben said, it was time to think about me. Take a 'me day' for, maybe, more than a day once we get back from this quest. A little while to stop meddling with people's emotions even if they want me to help. I'm only one person, I can't keep doing stuff like that or it'll ruin me. I sighed out loud and then cuddled into Ben's arms a bit more. He tightened his grip on me as a reflex to me moving closer. I smiled and then fell asleep with a small smile on my face, exhaustion consuming me. This is gonna be a good night's sleep. It has to be one, because I know for a fact I'm not going to sleep well for a while. Here we go again... hopefully we can do it right this time.