Son of Fire

Eleven

I stared at the horse in my hands, running my fingers over the gears, but looked up as I heard a lot of commotion outside. I set the horse down then ran out, seeing Andy being dragged between Jason and Percy to the infirmary. I ran after them, Hazel with me, but we got to the infirmary and I stared as Will got to work trying to heal Andy's head.

"What the fuck happened out there?!" I growled then Percy looked at me and shook his head.

"I- Frank went crazy, he started attacking Andy and knocked him into the creek! Andy hit his head then we rushed him here, we didn't know where Will was!" He said and I turned to glare at Frank, who looked terrified.

"What did you do?!" I snarled, but he shook his head.

"I just did what I was told!" He yelped, but that didn't help my anger.

"BY WHO?!"

"Nico!" Hazel grabbed my arm and I glared at her, but she wasn't backing down.

"I don't want to hear you acting like you care!" She said then I laughed.

"Yeah?! Cause it's your boyfriend who's getting-"

"Because you slept with Will and Andy saw you!" She spit then I froze, not realizing she knew. I also noticed Will had stopped moving, but everyone was staring at me.

"Nico?" I glanced at Piper, but shook my head.

"How-"

"Andy told me!" Hazel said then she looked hurt.

"You realize he was going to give you that horse and tell you everything?! Instead, he saw you with fucking Will, of all the people to be with! Will, and you crushed Andy!" She spit then shook her head.

"This is all your fault. Andy is here because you did this. He signed up for capture the flag because he wanted to feel something other than his heart breaking, and now he may die. Congratulations, brother, you've just killed the only guy who's genuinely cared about you." She said and shoved past me, leaving the infirmary as everyone continued to stare at me. I looked at Andy, but as I stared at his pale face, I realized how right my sister was.

~*-*~

I slowly blinked, my head pounding as if I had been hit with a jackhammer. As I opened my eyes and they focused, I saw Piper over me and smiling softly.

"Piper?" I breathed, my tongue feeling like cotton.

"Hey, Andy." I turned then saw Jason, Hazel, Frank, Annabeth, Leo, and Percy.

"Hey, guys." I whispered then reached up and felt my head, which had a bandage around it.

"What the hell-" I hissed as my head hurt then Annabeth handed me a small piece of ambrosia.

"You hit your head pretty hard on a rock when you were fighting Frank. Do you remember?" I shook my head as I ate the ambrosia, but I could kind of remember bits and pieces.

"I-I remember capture the flag, fighting that Iris child guy, then nothing." I said and Annabeth nodded.

"That's normal." She said then reached up and checked my head.

"Looks like you're healing okay." She said and I smiled, looking around again.

"He's not here." I looked at Percy then he looked angry.

"He went to the Roman camp, he's been staying there since it happened." He said and I felt like my heart was breaking all over again.

"He knows you saw him." Hazel said then I glared at my lap.

"We all do." I looked at Jason then he rubbed his head.

"Gonna be honest, I didn't know you were gay, Andy." He said then I smirked.

"Don't walk around with a sign that says 'I'm gay'." I said and everyone managed a smile.

"Well, once you're healed, Chiron wants to send you on a quest with Jason, Hazel, and Frank." Piper said and I nodded.

"It's a cross country quest, we'll end up in the Roman camp." Jason said and I glared.

"Is this to get-"

"He's got nothing to do with this." Hazel said and I nodded.

"Just rest, Andy." I nodded then they left, but Leo hung back.

"You had everyone worried, Andy. Everyone in the cabin was sure you'd die." He said and I eyed him.

"How long was I out?" I asked and he huffed.

"Three weeks, man." He said then I groaned, laying my head back.

"We've been holding off on the mission, because Chiron wants to send you. Something about a first quest." He said then I softly laughed as I looked at the ceiling.

"Can you get me to the Hades cabin?" I asked and looked at my brother.

"Sure." He said then got the blankets off me, but when he went to touch me, he stopped and eyed me.

"Ain't gonna stand if you don't help." I said and he smiled as I slid my arm around his neck, letting him pull me up. We walked out of the bed area then he handed me a hoodie, letting my slide it on and zip it so I wasn't walking around half-naked. When I was dressed, we walked out with him right next to me in case I fell.

"Why do you wanna go to his cabin?" Leo asked, but I decided not to answer. As we walked, everyone was staring at me, but when we got to the Hades cabin, I went in and saw Hazel on the bed with Piper and Annabeth. At the other bed, I saw that it was perfectly made, the two black nightstands on either side were pristine, but the only difference between Hazel's side and his was the mechanical horse sitting on the left nightstand. I went to it then carefully lifted it, thumbing the front gear on the right side.

"He left that, but he didn't say why. He even grabbed it, but set it down and left." Hazel said and I nodded, setting the horse down.

"And he's still there? At the Roman camp?" I asked and looked at her, but she gave a soft smile.

"Reyna, our friend there, says he has an apartment in the camp." She said and I nodded pushing my hands into my pockets.

"I'm gonna get some sleep in my bed, then we can go." I said and she nodded, since I was drop dead tired right now. Leo walked me to our cabin, but when I walked in, our siblings looked ready to cry as I smiled.

"Did you really think you could get rid of me that easy?" I laughed and sighed.

"Just keep it down, I wanna sleep." I said and went to my bunk then sat, laying down and closing my eyes, though my siblings did keep it down like I had asked.