What If Three Days Meant Forever?

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

Nico POV

"Spill."

I look at Piper and she looks at me.

Then, she looks at Monique.

Looks at me- looks at Monique- looks at me- and goes over to Monique!

"Piper!" I hiss at her. She guiltily stares at me.

"Sorry, Nico. But, I kind of want answers too."

I groan and tug at my hair. Now I have to tell Piper and Monique? This just got a whole lot harder.

I mean, don't get me wrong, I trust them. I've known Monique longer, that's for sure, and Piper, while it hasn't been very long, she seems like a trustworthy person.

But it's like all of a sudden the fact of the matter has dawned on me of what I brought Piper in here for and the thought of putting everything into words is scarier then I thought it would be.

"Um, okay." I stammer, "I kind of just wanted advice on... you know, feelings and stuff." A grin spreads across both of there faces. They turn to look at each other, have a silent agreement, and then turn back.

"Will?" Monique asks, already knowing the answer. I nod my head slowly.

"Let me get this straight," Piper starts, "So, you spent a long time not liking Will and now those feelings are kind of flipped, and you think you have feelings for him?" I stand there, gawking at her as she just got everything right. I nod my head again, faster this time. "Then what do you need advice on exactly?" She asks. Monique answers before I can.

"Because he wants to know if Will likes him back! That's why he brought you because you're a daughter of the love goddess herself." I nod again. Monique looks as if she wants to add something, but Piper grabs her arm and pulls her outside of the cabin without a word.

I sit back onto my bed, trying to assess the situation. Am I really that obvious? I think to myself.

Before I can figure the answer out for myself, the girls walk back in. For a count of seven, there's silence before Piper breaks it. "He's gay."

I blink a couple of times. "What?" I ask. How could they just know that?

"He's gay." Monique says this time. "Or at the very least, bi."

"How could you possibly know that?"

"Well, first off, takes one to know one," Monique says like it's obvious and Piper pointes at her, emphasizing her point. "I don't know, it's just kind of obvious, Nico."

"It's the short sleeve button shirts," Piper thought out loud.

"And the bracelets," Monique agreed.

"That doesn't mean he's gay," I argue, but even as I say it, I give thought to their accusations.

"There's also his overall personality, the way he carries himself, and, oh! The fact that he's so obviously into you." I make a face disagreement and Piper chimes in.

"No, yeah. The way he looks at you..." Piper whistles and Monique laughs. "It's kind of insane. If he doesn't like you, he's a psycho."

Monique hums in agreement. "It's like this look of total adoration, like you could never do anything wrong. You're simply incapable, you know?" I pause, trying to remember what Will looks like. Did he really look at me like that? I don't really know how he looks at other people. I go to ask another question (where do I go from here?) and see a look of fear mixed with guilt cross over Monique's face before she plasters on a smile. "If you guys would excuse me, I have to go!" With that, she dashes out of the cabin, leaving me with Piper.

"She's right you know," she starts, "You should give him a chance. What the worst that could happen?"

"He could reject me and actually be straight." I answer seriously. Piper laughs at the answer. "Besides, giving him a chance isn't even my problem. I... I think I'm willing to, but there's so many factors."

Piper nods and walks over to my bed to take a seat next to me. I turn to face her and she's sitting criss crossed. "Talk to me."

I sigh and cringe. "I've never dated anyone."

"Well, you have to start somewhere."

"Let's say things work out and he likes me and we get together. What if it doesn't work out? What if we break up?"

"It's possible," Piper nods. "But that's the risk of going into any relationship, really. Friendships, romances, whatever. Everything has a chance of ending. The thing is, if you never go for the risk, you're gonna live a very lonely life."

I ponder her words for a moment. "What drew you to Jason?"

Piper blushes and begins playing with the end of her shirt. "Well... I don't really..." She sighs. "Hera put us together. Which isn't to make it sound like I don't like him, of course I do. What's not to like?" I nod, feeling a little confused. "What I mean to say is I didn't... We didn't really have the chance to meet each other and gain feelings for each other organically. I mean, we have all these fake memories of how we got together and in those, I liked him because he was put together, responsible, funny, and just... good. Effortlessly a good person and that's hard to do at our age, I think." Piper shook her head with a small frown. "It's so hard too because sometimes I look at him and I feel this guilt and..." Piper looks to me then and shakes her head. "Whoa, I'm sorry, that was... Gods, that was way too much, I'm sorry Nico."

"It's okay," I comfort her gently. "Do you... you can keep talking if you want."

Piper shakes her head. "My point is that there's going to be risks. That's unavoidable, and it might not work out, but being together, the good times you share, even the bad... It's all important in the end. Pain sucks, but it's necessary for growth."

"Thank you, Piper."

She smiles gently. "You'll be just fine. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to see Jason before he leaves." She says as she slips out the door. Though the sun is still setting, I decide to lay down for bed with one thought bouncing through my mind.

Piper was right, I can't limit myself because of fear that things won't work out. Though, even with this thought in mind, I continue to hesitate. What if I'm not even his type? I wasn't Percy's. I cringe at the thought. Gods, why did I remind myself of that?

Then again, there's the way he supposedly looks at me. I think I might see it a little. His pupils are always so large when he's talking to me and he looks at my mouth and eyes a lot. He always looks like he's trying to memorize my face, as if he'll need to draw it at some point. I don't know. I don't know anything.

Maybe he does like me, I think to myself. Maybe it is worth the risk.