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"Argh, Percy you don't understand anything!"
"Don't, Nico. I understand more than you'd think! I can help, but your being so difficult!"
They were arguing again. The Doors of Death had been shut, giants killed, Gaea stopped, camp saved, yada yada yada. That had all happened months ago. Now, Percy and Nico stood on the borders of camp. The magic must've slipped this winter, because they had to plough through a half foot of snow, arguing, to get up there. Nico turned around to face Percy, his dark eyes brimming with exasperation and anger. Slung over his shoulder was a black bag, large enough for a couple changes of clothes, covered in various pockets and buckles.
"You can't stop me from leaving, Percy!"
"I can damn sure try!" Percy yelled. Then, he took a deep breath, seeming to calm himself. "I can't stop you leaving. I get that, Nico, and I'm sorry. But I just want to know why you're leaving. It's winter. Persephone is down there, so if I know you I know you'll be spending as little time as you can in the underworld. Which means I'm going to stumble across you sleeping on a Central Park bench again, just begging to be stabbed. Please, listen to me, Nico. Just stay at camp. It's safe. You'll be okay, and no one will try to force you to do anything you don't want. Honestly, tell me why you won't stay."
"Because I'm different!" Nico seethed. "I'm different, and I don't belong here!"
"Oh, don't start that up again!" retorted Percy exasperatedly. "Different how? All of the gods children are accepted at camp now, and you just need to stop worrying about the nasty kids. You could make friends if you actually tried, you know. Both Jason and I will always stand up for you, but you still try to avoid us so much! What is it with you, Nico?"
Nico's face flushed darker. "Well, did you ever consider that I want to leave to get away from you?"
"Well I'm sorry you hate me so much, but except for this break week I'm not even here in the winter!"
"Argh! I don't hate you, Percy. It's the opposite, and that's the problem! And you can take your 'break week' and shove it up your-"
The two boys fell deathly silent as they realized what Nico had said. Or, at least, Nico fell silent as he watched in horror as Percy realized what he had said.
Hate - opposite.....
Opposite of hate...
Love.
It took a minute, but the realization eventually dawned on him. It must've shown on his face, too, because Nico suddenly took off, tearing down the slope of the hill into the forest with speed Percy would've thought impossible in these snow conditions.
"Nico! Hey, wait- Nico!"
If the smaller, black clad boy heard him, he made no effort to stop. He kept moving, snow swirling around his head, until he made the cover of the trees and Percy couldn't see him anymore. Obviously, Percy immediately started up after him. Nico was fast, but the older demigod had larger, longer strides. Percy reached the brink of the woods and stood stock still. There was no noise. Even the snow fell silently. Well, almost no noise- from a bit in deeper came a muffled sound. Crying, maybe? Percy approached the noise as quietly as possible. About fifteen feet in, Nico di Angelo was sprawled down by a pine. His clothes were getting soaked from the snow and he must've been freezing, but he didn't seem to care.
"Nico...."
Nico jumped a little to see the son of Poseidon standing there. Shakily, he stood, wiping his red eyes with his sleeves.
"Percy, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to say anything," Nico started to ramble miserably. "I didn't mean- look, I know I'm a freak, and I promise you I won't come 'round camp ever again, I won't bother you, you'll never have to see my face again. I know I'm wrong and I'm sorry, I'll just leave and-"
He was cut off by Percy wrapping his arms around him in a big hug. Nico stood there in shock. "Nico, don't you dare apologize. Don't you dare. Bad people do bad things and they don't apologize. Don't you apologized for caring about someone just because people are assholes and they call you wrong. The feelings aren't returned, but I don't hate you. The only reason I have to be mad at you is that you've been suffering for so long and you didn't tell me, and that you were intending to sleep on a park bench in 13 degree weather because of it."
All the tension and worry seemed to exit Nico's body. He limply fell into the hug, and might've even collapsed had Percy not been gripping the back of his coat so tightly. Percy didn't move away. In his experience, you should never let go of a hug first, because you never know how badly the other person needed it.
Nico nestled his head against Percy's chest. He clung tight to Percy for two deep breaths. Three. Then, he straightened, eyeing the other boy warily. Percy didn't really know what to do next. What would Annabeth do? She'd probably kiss Nico in the head or something like that. Percy wasn't really one for brotherly kisses, plus it probably wasn't the best idea given the situation, so he just clapped Nico on the shoulder like he would if they had just had a talk. Which they had. Despite himself, Nico seemed to smile a little.
"Oh, and if you think this is going to change the fact that I will chase you down this hill until you agree to come back go camp, then you're wrong."
Nico actually laughed a little at that. He hefted his bag, which he had managed to keep out of the snow. "Alright," he said, "I'll get hypothermia if I stand out here like this." The wind and snow chilled Percy to the bone. He couldn't imagine what Nico's soaked legs felt like. And so the two boys headed back up the snowy hill, talking about dumb things like the weather.