ᴀɴɴᴀʙᴇᴛʜ ɪꜱ ɪɴᴅᴇᴘᴇɴᴅᴇɴᴛ. She's living the life. No, she doesn't work at the architecture firm of her dreams, or any architecture firm, and she hasn't been in a steady relationship since she was a teenager. But who says a bartender can't be successful? Her biggest problem is the corpse that still hasn't gone to Tartarus. Oh, the wedding invite that came in the mail? No worries. She threw that out yesterday. ɴɪᴄᴏ ɪꜱ ꜰʀɪᴇɴᴅʟʏ. No, really! He's everyone's favorite counselor at Camp Half-Blood. The bachelor's life is everything and more. He's actually looking forward to being a groomsman in his half-sister's wedding, even though there's sure to be tons of awkward encounters. Bring it on. He's not scared anymore. He'll even buy the next round. ᴘᴇʀᴄʏ ɪꜱ ʀᴇɢʀᴇᴛꜰᴜʟ. Pining after a love from ten years ago does that to a guy. He's become a shell of the hero he once used to be. His fatal flaw has become his downfall. He's turning down job opportunities to care for his mother, spending his nights watching Wheel of Fortune, and eating leftover lasagna. Maybe a New Rome-style vacation is just what he needs to find himself again. ᴡɪʟʟ ɪꜱ ᴛʜʀɪᴠɪɴɢ. His internship at the hospital is amazing, his roommate is awesome, and he's not regretting his decision to move to LA. However, a trip to New Rome goes wrong when ghosts from his past threaten his new lifestyle. He'll have no part of it. Is this his optimistic nature, or his inability to commit? Ten years have passed since the war against Gaea and the giants, so everyone's married with kids, right? Wrong. This isn't one of those sunshine and smiles and Perca-babies all the time stories.

After that I only wore black. Black like the charred remains of everything I had once loved, black like the smoke billowing into the sky as my tears cut tracks through the black soot coating my face, and black like the little puppy that was squirming in my arms afterward, the only piece of my old life I had left. ~¤~ Four years ago, Nico's life was perfect. He had two loving parents, a caring older sister, and a beautiful house in Italy. Then a fire started in their house and everything Nico loved crumbled along with the walls and family photos. Now, Nico and his dad live in America with Nico's step mom and sister, but Hades is almost never home and Nico has hardly smiled since the fire. Maybe the boy who just moved in across the street can help him bring a stop to the relentless bullying Nico has been dealing with for two years, and maybe he can teach him to smile again in the process. - the playlist for this is linked in my bio -