King of My Miserable Life

Chapter 1

Nico woke up with a blinding headache and the sound of the shower leaking into the room. Ever since he could remember, he shared a bedroom with Percy in that little apartment. Gabe was gone, Paul came, everything turned normal. Nico could remember, vague in his memory, the day Sally brought him home from the orphanage. It had been so long ago he couldn't remember anything else, but he knew the small memory was real. He had been adopted, but he was okay with that. He liked his family.

He called Sally and Paul by their names but they were never anything but parents to him. They raised him, they provided for him, they kept him (mostly) in line. They treated him like they treated Percy, like their own.

The shower stopped and Percy walked into their room, a towel wrapped around his waist as he searched his dresser for clothes. "Nico, wake up. Mom's taking us out, remember?"

Nico groaned as he turned to face his pillow again, dreading having to leave the soft bed. "I don't want to..."

"We get to stop for food." Percy offered as he got dressed. "She said we can pick where."

"Why are we going at all?" Nico asked. "What are we shopping for?"

"She said we're doing errands." Percy shrugged. "I don't know. But we have to be somewhere at noon so I'd hurry up if I was you."

Nico groaned into his pillow again, able to smell breakfast cooking. "I don't feel good..."

"You have a hangover," Percy spoke, this time quietly to not be overheard by anyone outside the room. "We both know that, Nico. You got home at five in the morning."

Nico went to roll his eyes but thought better of it. "How would you know that?"

"I heard you come in the fire escape," Percy mumbled. "Plus, I was waiting up for you. You smelled like alcohol and still do. You need to shower."

Nico scowled. "Why don't you ever mind your own business?"

"You are my business." Percy got his shoes on. "You're my brother, Nico. I worry. And I'm taking care of you for mom. She's pregnant. She doesn't need the extra stress."

"You don't need to take care of me." Nico rubbed his temples. "And all I did was drink a couple beers. Nothing dangerous."

"You're sixteen years old." Percy shot back. "There's a reason that's illegal."

Nico pushed himself up, his feet moving to the blue carpet. "Can you get me some medicine? I'll take a shower if you shut up."

Percy sighed but nodded. "Fine. Go take a shower. I'll tell mom you were up all night on your laptop or something."

Nico mumbled his gratitude before grabbing a towel and clothes, disappearing into the bathroom. The room was still warm from Percy's shower and the mirror was fogged up, too fogged up for him to see his brutal reflexion. There was a reason he always took his showers after Percy.

He threw his clothes in a pile by the door before stepping under the hot water, letting it hit his sore muscles and aching head. He looked down, looked at his bruises. Looked up, looked at the cracked ceiling. He tried to be a good kid, tried to repay Sally for all she had done for him. But he couldn't be good all the time.

It had started one night after the football game, under the dark sky and with the crowds of teenagers. The alcohol, the pot, the self-destructors. It started with a night under the full moon.

Nico laid a hand against the cold wall, looked at the blood that escaped his short nails. Biting them, picking them, scrapping them against the brick walls of the city. Everything about him screamed that he had no respect for himself or his body.

The water soon turned cold against his skin, creating goosebumps across his arms and legs. He stood there for a minute more before getting out, wrapping the towel around his waist as he searched for where he put his clothes. The cold water continued to run and before long, the mirror wasn't as fogged up as it had been. He could see himself in the reflexion, see his bruised muscles and the bags under his eyes, see his hip bones poking up near his abs. He looked like a mix between the normal football player and the boy who would never get to eat.

Cold hair against his face, strands sticking to the back of his neck as he got dressed. He pulled the shirt over his head, winced as his muscles stretched out. That pain, a lovely pain to have and a victory pain at that, still hurt.

"Nico, come on!" Percy pounded on the door. "It's time to go!"

Nico moved a hand to his head, his pale skin seeming to shine in the bathroom lights. "I'm coming... Did you find me some medicine?"

"Yeah," Percy opened the door and held out a glass of water before setting a couple pills on the sink. "Hurry up. Mom and Paul already left. We have to meet them downtown."

Nico took the pills before groaning into his hands. "Percy, I really don't feel like going out."

"You don't have a choice. Maybe you shouldn't have snuck out last night." Percy walked off. "I'll give you five more minutes and that's it. Then I'll drag you out by your greasy hair."

"I just washed my hair," Nico grumbled. He took one last look in the mirror before exiting the bathroom, his hair sticking to his face and his jacket sticking to his wrists. He followed Percy out of the apartment and into the bright streets, cursed himself for drinking so much the night before. His headache pounded in his forehead, his heart barely beat. He felt like a ghost wandering alone.

"She gave me the address of where we're meeting." Percy grabbed Nico's arm to keep him close. "It isn't too far. She said we can stop for food after we get through with things there. What are you thinking? Pizza or burgers?"

"Anywhere that sells coffee." Nico let his head roll around on his shoulders. "Coffee should help me...even a little bit..."

"Nico Jackson," Percy scoffed. "Coffee King."

Nico hummed in agreement. "How easy that would be."