Darkness's Flower: Pulling It Together

Chapter 25: Ugh, Dad

~Lilly~

"Um, hi, Dad. How are you doing this?" I asked.

I glanced over Nico, but didn't want him to come closer. My dad looked strangely at me.

"Is anyone else with you? Nico isn't with you, is he?" Dad asked.

"No, Dad. It's just me," I lied.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nico get up quietly and go farther over, just so he was not in my father's view. Sure, my dad and Nico seemed cool, but I've always had the feeling my dad is a little bit edgy towards Nico.

"Well, I have something to tell you. When you come back, Nico can't stay with us anymore," he said.

"Hold up. How are you talking to me anyways?" I asked.

Nick popped into view. "Hey, L."

My eyes narrowed. "Don't call me L."

"Whatever."

"This is how I did it, Lillian. Anyway, Nico can no longer stay with us. We feel that it's best for you not to be so close to Nico. He doesn't seem like the right guy for you and he's very, for lack of words, dark. He's the son of Hades! Why couldn't you be with Nick, because he's the son of Zeus. Demeter is all agriculture, not death, honey," my dad explained.

"Dad, Nico might not be able to stay with us, but that doesn't mean that I'm gonna break up with him just because that's what you feel is necessary. I love him and nobody else. Bye, Dad." I put my hand through the image.

Nico and I looked at each other. He came back towards me and held me in his arms as I buried my face in his warm chest.

"I don't care what he says, Nico, nothing can every separate us. I know exactly what we can do, Nico," I whispered.

"And what's that?" Nico asked.

I looked at him. "My parents aren't allowed in my room unless they knock. I almost always have my door shut and usually locked. There's that house nobody lives in down the road. You can always keep things in there, then you can come to my room to sleep. I won't mind and they'll never find out."

He smiled. "That's perfect!"

"They never come upstairs anyways, you know that. If I'm up in my room, especially at night, they don't even set a foot on the steps. I don't care what I have to do to keep you with me, but I will do absolutely anything."

He kissed me. "Same here, Lills."

"You wanna go do something with me the rest of the day? You know, until tonight?"

Nico grinned. "Sure. Why don't we just walk around?"

"Perfect. Can I, like, change first? Nothing against you, Mother, but I'm just not in the mood for it right now."

I twisted snow around myself and I was back in my shorts and black t-shirt with the skull on the front. I looked at Nico and he was checking me out, as usual.

"I guess I didn't realize how awesome your shirt is, babe," he said.

"We match, Nico."

He smiled. "Yeah, I guess we do. And it looks super cute on you."

"Come on!"

The rest of the day, Nico and I walked around, talking, laughing, holding hands, or just doing whatever. Next thing I knew, it was almost curfew. I ran into my cabin and changed into my navy blue pajama shorts that had white polkadots on them and a grey t-shirt. I went to The Fort to meet Nico. He was already in there, sitting on the couch.

"Hey," I said softly.

He looked back at me. "Nice for you to join me."

I giggled. "Well?"

He smirked. "I am so ready for this!"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Oh, come on! You have to do better than that! I know you love making out with me just as much as I love making out with you!"

He got up and started walking towards me. I giggled and placed my hands on his warm chest. He put his hands on my hips.

"Well?" he asked.

"If we're gonna make out, then let's make out," I answered.

He smirked and we crawled into bed together. He took his shirt off and I pressed my hand against his tattoo.

"I'm probably gonna get another tattoo sometime. I'm not sure when, but it'll happen," he whispered.

"I like this one. I don't think any other tattoo you might possibly get will be better than this one," I whispered back.