WHISPERS • A PERCICO AU

• Chapter 20 •

Nico woke with a groan, the ear-splitting sound of his alarm shattering the breezy silence he required to rest.

Pushing himself up until he was fully seated on his bed, the black-haired boy removed his soft quilt blankets reluctantly, knowing it was Saturday morning, and that he had to wake up.

Still dizzy with sleep, Nico stumbled to the bathroom, grabbing his clothes with him on the way. A quarter hour later he walked back out, sobered up by the warm spray of morning shower water.

Sitting back down on his bed fully dressed, he held his head in his hands, still feeling a faint trace of yesterday's headache.

He pressed the heels of his hands in his brown eyes as the daily thought of Percy came flooding back in him, the image either making him cry or smile.

Today, he was confused which, and it was like this for at least a week now. Because the green-eyed boy wasn't ignoring him anymore. In the school hallways, Percy was gazing at him intently with a sort of watered-down awe and newfound curiosity. And Nico had no idea why he was acting like this.

He was glad the guy didn't seem mad at him anymore, but he hated receiving only such small amounts of attention. He still wasn't talking to him, and that just drove him insane. Nico knew it was selfish, and he felt guilty about it. But he missed him so much. He missed him to the point that nothing was enough anymore.

Nico sighed. It was one of those days where he was needy for one special thing he could never acquire. He felt blamed and awkward when he thought about Percy, not really sad anymore. He had grown accustomed to the teen's divergent motives, and now, he just wanted to know why.

He felt like he was going crazy— crazy about him, crazy about the simple lack of him, crazy about almost everything.

Standing up, Nico walked down the flight of stairs that led to the first floor and headed towards the kitchen, snatching a cereal bar up.

He then grabbed some of his belongings and opened the door swiftly, leaving the house before anybody could realise he was gone. Clutching his fist tightly, Nico ran a series of coordinates in his mind before closing the front door behind him, hoping nobody had heard that.

It was his fifth appointment today, and he was internally praying everything would go well and according as planned. Because if not, his case was lost.

"Welcome back, Mr. di Angelo."

*    *    *

"Where were you?" Bianca practically screeched when Nico arrived back home a few good hours later, his slightly lifted spirits now sinking back down. "You could have died for all that we knew! Waking up, no note, no keys, no nothing!"

The girl was standing in front of the tall house, her slick worry shining behind the fire of anger blazing in her obsidian-black eyes. Her sleek dark hair was framing her freckled face, and her hands were formed into fists as she glared anxiously at her brother, awaiting an answer.

I was out to see a friend, he lied, curling both of his index fingers and hooking them together back and forth twice, making the sign for 'friend'.

Bianca just grunted, obviously unsatisfied with the answer, before heading back to the door, her stress seeming to radiate off her.

She opened the door slightly and looked behind her, her black eyes meeting Nico's brown eyes directly with a hybrid mix of angry worry and silent encouragement. "Someone came to see you."

And that's when he saw him: his jet black hair looking as windswept as ever, his bedraggled deep indigo blue hoodie, his sun-kissed skin, his slim jeans, his sparkling sea green eyes and most important of all, his smile, the misplaced warmth of it seeming to lift him off his feet.