Darkness's Flower: Pulling It Together

Chapter 30: Back At Lilly's

~Nico~

Lilly and I stood there in more shock than anyone. I slowly inched towards my girlfriend and wrapped my arms around her midsection from behind.

"You...and...whoa..." Lilly stammered.

"Yeah. I've kinda always had a crush on you. I tried flirting with Nico to cover it all up, but I think I went a little too far. Look, I'm in love with you, Lilly. I'm not really sure why you don't feel the same the way about me," Bella said.

Lilly glanced over her shoulder and looked at me, then looked back to Bella. "Wait. So you mean to tell me that you really like me and you don't know why I don't feel the same way? Bella, I'm not like that! At all! My boyfriend is standing right behind me! Key words are my boyfriend!"

I tightened my arms. "She had a lot of guts to say it." I whispered it in her ear and I think she got the message.

"Well, um, thanks for telling me. I will gladly be your friend, but that's it. And wait. You're an Aphrodite kid... That just seems slightly odd to me. It might just be me, but alright. Well, goodbye everyone! I'm gonna miss all of you! Nico, let's go!" Lilly said.

Snow started swirling around both of us. We ended up near her house. I let her go and she turned around, eyes wide and the look of gods, what just happened.

I quickly kissed her. We were in the middle of the woods and I was making out with her. After a slightly long moment, I pulled away from her. She looked up at me.

"Thanks. I needed that," she said.

"I know." I laced my fingers through hers. "It did take a lot of guts for that though. I did it to Percy when I was fourteen. Then the whole thing with Solace happened and yeah..."

We started walking out of the woods and down the road. She kissed me on the cheek and continued walking.

"I know it did, but I never thought that a girl would have a crush on me. For the gods' sakes, I didn't even think I would have a boyfriend!" Lilly told me.

I smiled. "Well, newsflash, both have happened."

"Really? I didn't notice!"

"L, she might like you, but I'm the one that loves you. I'm your boyfriend who loves you more than absolutely anything. You have me."

"Yeah, I know. Gods, Nico, I love you so much. Please don't let that whole situation get out of hand. That would be awkward. It already was and I don't need anything else to happen."

I smiled and nudged her with my elbow. "Trust me, I won't let it get out of hand.. And you have to make sure my whole situation with Solace doesn't get out of hand. He thinks I still like him and I'm like, uh, no. Like, when that all happened with Percy and Will, I was more along the lines of bisexual and almost gay. Then you showed up." I nudged her again. "You showed up and changed my life around."

A light shade of pink spread across her cheeks. "I didn't do anything though."

"Oh, please. Maybe not the very first moment I looked at you, but shortly after. But, L, when I looked at you, it was like the biggest moment of realization I have ever had. I knew at that moment that you were something special and that I needed to be with you. Needed, not wanted."

Her face turned even more pink. "But still. All I really did to make it official between us was kiss you and tell you I like you."

"But that was the best thing ever!"

"Gods, I love you," she said.

I smiled. "I love you too."

She stopped. "Crap. You can't come inside! My dad will yell at me and probably yell at you too. We can't let that happen. If anything, let me get you up there. There aren't enough shadows for you and I can-"

"Lills! I'll make it! Calm down. I'll see you up there."

I kissed her on the forehead and had her transport me up to her room. It was just as I remembered it: white walls, roses painted everywhere of deep reds with dark green thorns and stems, her wooden floor messy from all of her clothes, some of mine even, and just anything. I smiled and saw that her door was closed, my name still signed across the middle.

Last time I was here, Lilly gave me a paint brush and deep red paint. I singed my name in dark red paint across the middle of her door. It looks awesome, if I do say so myself!

The door opened downstairs. "Hi! Oh, yay! Nick's here!" Lilly sounded so happy it made me laugh.

"Hi, sweetheart," her mom said.

"You didn't bring Nico back with you, did you?" Lilly's dad asked.

"No, Dad! I wouldn't do that! Now, um, it's nice to be back and all, but I really need to go unpack all of my stuff."

I sat on her bed and sniffed the familiar scent of vanilla and flowers. I smiled and got lost in my train of thought. Her door opened and I screamed, falling onto the floor.