We Olympians (A Percy Jackson AU) || BOOK 1

Chapter 12 || Nico

Nico thought losing Bianca was bad. But no. Losing Percy was worse for some odd reason. Sure, Nico hated Percy for a whole two years, but the moment Percy was gone... Nico loved Percy. The thought of Bianca's screams in his head didn't leave, but the screams from Percy's mouth as he hit Gabe in the drivers seat didn't leave either.

He knew Percy didn't mean it.

He was blinded by rage.

He failed to recognize the one person who might've been the first to care about him.

But Nico didn't smile any less than he did four years ago. Nope. He never smiled. But when Nico saw Percy, joy overwhelmed him. Then, came heartbreak. Finally, the anger rose. The frustration pulsated. And Nico knew that after school, Percy Jackson was going to get it. Nico took a deep breath, still trying to calm himself down in the boy's bathroom.

When the bell rang, Nico knew he had to get out. So he took his bags and left the stall, going to his next class.

"Hey, where were you in class, Neeks?" Thalia walked next to him, "Mr. Dewman was really upset that you ditched."

"School's over, so I'm not going for an apology," Nico grumbled.

He almost sighed in relief when he saw Thalia shrug.

"Okay..." she trailed off when she saw him.

Perseus Achilles f**king Jackson.

"That Kelp Head..." she growled, pushing her way through the crowd.

Nico followed. Red coursed through his vision as he approached the sea-green-eyed boy who he had blamed for Bianca's death all those years ago.

"YOU!" he yelled, jabbing a finger into Percy's chest, "YOU CAME BACK?! NO CALLS?! WHAT THE F**K IS WRONG WITH YOU, PERSEUS?!"

Instead of the cowering expression Nico was expecting, Percy simply looked up, pulled Nico's finger away from his chest, and resumed the activity on his iPhone 12 Pro(How did he even afford that?). Thalia, anger blazing in her eyes, whacked the phone out of his hand and held his collar. Instead of being scared, Percy just met her gaze coldly.

"What's wrong with you?!" Thalia finally exclaimed when he didn't flinch, pulling away from him.

"Nothing," Percy said.

Nico froze when he heard the monotone voice of the lively best friend he had when they were twelve. It was like someone had blew dried ice in his face.

"Nothing?!" Nico's mouth moved on its own. "Percy, this isn't you. You've obviously got wacky going on--"

"Nothing's going on and none of it's weird."

Percy's watch beeped and Nico glanced at it curiously. He quickly saw Percy examine it before putting his hand in his hoodie pocket.

"I've gotta go," Percy let out a heavy sigh, "I totally am sad that I didn't get to talk to you more."

The sarcasm was everywhere, so even Nico couldn't deny it. Thalia and Nico couldn't only stare after them. That's when a boy came out of the building, catching Thalia's attention. Jason Grace.

"He looks like your brother--"

"Sh!" Thalia hissed, cutting him off. "That's what I'm trying to find out!"

"Thalia, that's ridiculous." Nico rolled his eyes. "Your brother's probably dead or something. There's no way Jason's your brother."

"But... his eyes are mine! He has the last name--"

"'Grace' isn't a very rare last name and you're not the only one with blue eyes. It's not a big deal, Thals."

"Don't call me Thals!" Thalia glared at him.

He watched as the two boys shared a bro-fist, talking about something they couldn't hear. That's when Annabeth came next to them.

"Hey," she said, noticing their stares. "You're looking at Percy?"

"Did you even talk to him?" Thalia asked, staring at the gray-eyed girl.

"No," Annabeth sighed, "He keeps avoiding me. Like... I was walking down the hall and he pretended that he was reading his textbook."

"How do you know he was pretending?"

"It was upside down."

"Dimwit..." Thalia muttered. "I don't know what happened is those four years but this 'Percy' dude who walked in? He's a jerk."

"No kidding," Nico agreed with her.

"But... I don't get it!" Annabeth paced back and forth. "We... We searched so long and hard! He knew we loved him and we knew he loved us! How could he turn into... this?"

They stared at the group of friends forming and Nico felt a jealousy coil in his stomach like a snake. The feeling of replacement settled in his stomach and burned through his chest like a flame of resentment.

"People change..." Thalia whispered. "I thought my mom cared about me those few years until I figured out that was a lie by the time I turned six. I hope that's not what's happening with Percy... but by the looks of it, I think it is."

With that, Thalia slung her backpack over her shoulder, grabbing her skateboard.

"I'm going to the skate park."

She stepped on the black board, taking off down the halls. Annabeth sighed, staring at the little indents her skateboard had left there a few moments ago.

"I'm gonna go the library," Annabeth said, slamming her locker shut. "You coming, Nico?"

"Nah... I'll probably just... do something else."

"Like what?"

"Go to Sally's? I don't know. But I think she deserves to know about Percy."

Annabeth nodded, walking off, her blonde curls waving behind her. Nico sighed, taking his backpack and walking towards the apartment he now called home. The smell of blue cookies wafted into his nostrils and he opened the door with his key to find Sally inside, taking a tray of cookies out.

"Oh, hey, Nico!" she smiled.

"Hey, Nico," another voice said and he turned to see Paul Blofis walking out of his room.

It was a relief to know that Gabe had moved out. Apparently, he had just left a note saying that he couldn't put up with Percy anymore and he needed to leave, so he did. For some odd reason, his stuff never left the house either. Not even his car. The thought always made Nico anxious. Gabe was the reason for Bianca's death, after all.

"Where's Thalia?" Sally asked, casually flipping the cookies onto the plate.

Nico then realized he hadn't said anything yet. He felt so bad not telling Sally... But something told Nico that Percy would've told Sally if he wanted her to know.

"The skatepark."

"Well, I hope she's home soon."

He then realized... he had just lied. And he felt awful for it.