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Nico’s POV
I hate road trips.
Being stuck next to a bunch of obnoxious people singing along to annoying pop songs for hours on end? No thanks.
So how did I get here, packing the few things I have into a small backpack, preparing for one of these terrible horrible trips?
Will Solace and Hazel Levesque.
These two will be the death of me.
Bad pun.
“Nico! Hurry up! Everyone’s waiti-“ I opened the door, interrupting Will.
“I’m ready. Though I don’t want to go,” I mumbled.
Children of Apollo must have super hearing or something. “I heard that. And I don’t care. You need to get out of that cabin and actually interact with human beings.”
“But I don’t want to interact with human beings,” I groaned.
He ignores me. Go figure. He just turned around and walked toward Half Blood Hill, expecting me to follow him. I rolled my eyes and trailed behind him, shuffling my feet, trying to make it as obvious as possible that I don’t want to go.
When we reached the top of Half Blood Hill, I saw the Seven.
Around Camp, they’re legends. It’s kind of ridiculous sometimes, how they’re seen as these brave warriors who are capable of anything. I’ve known them longer than most, and I know how much they don’t act like heroes. Except for maybe Jason and Annabeth. Though they’re both perceived as a bit more than they actually are. They’re just a bunch of teens who were given a lot of power and a lot of pain. Percy, for instance, is annoying, sarcastic, and dense. Not exactly your typical, Disney-type (I like the original Grimm tales better than the Disney versions Hazel makes me watch) knight in shining armor.
I’m a bit of a different story. I’m not as ostracized as I used to be, but I choose to be a bit apart from the group. Unfortunately, the seven, as well as Will, don’t let me. They sit at my table during meals, volunteer me for things I don’t want to do, and make me do things like road trips. It. Really. Sucks.
(I actually kind of enjoy it, but I’ll never admit that out loud).
Hazel came up and hugged me, as if I hadn’t seen her leaving the cabin earlier that morning. I let her, though I rolled my eyes.
“Don’t roll your eyes. It makes you seem annoyed that your sister is showing you affection.”
“Well…”
“Don’t finish that sentence,” she interrupted. “Anyways, are you ready? We’ve been waiting for you for ages.”
Leo was leaning on the door of the front passenger seat, restless as always. “So, we’ve got a bit of a problem. The van’s magic is wonky, and it’s stuck in 7 seat mode. It’s gonna be a bit squished.”
I groaned. Why does everything happen to me?
Everyone climbed into the car and claimed their spots. Argus was driving us (Thank goodness. I would never trust Jackson to drive me anywhere) and Leo had apparently claimed shotgun earlier. Percy, Annabeth, Jason, and Piper sat in the back, a bit squished, but they didn’t really care.In the middle, Hazel, Frank, and Will sat comfortably. Gods, if I have to sit next to sunflower boy, I’ll officially die.
Leo rolled down the window and smirked at me, still in place, not moving. “Get in the car, loser, we’re going shopping!”
I raised an eyebrow. “But…I thought this was a road trip?”
He rolled his eyes and looked back at the others. “Really, guys? You still haven’t shown this uncultured, 1930’s kid Mean Girls? That’s like, a necessity!”
Will opened the door, annoyance visible on his face. “Just get in Nico. Argus is getting impatient.”
I trudged towards the van, sure I was going to regret everything. I was about to squish between Hazel and the left door when the car suddenly started moving and I landed in Will’s lap. We both blushed hard. I tried to get up, but felt like something was tying me to the chair.
I turned and saw everyone in the car holding in laughs at my situation. “What the hell?! Why can’t I get up?”
Annabeth was the first to get over her giggles (more like snorts), and respond. “Chiron had the Hecate cabin make magic seatbelts because he doesn’t trust us to wear ours. They won’t come off until we turn off the car.”
My face paled. “S-So i’m stuck like this?! For how many hours?”
Argus grunted. Annabeth’s grin widened even more, which i didn’t think possible. “Looks like Argus isn’t going to stop for you. So you’re stuck like that until we have a pit stop. Which is in two and a half hours. Enjoy!”
I was going to shove my fist into her face, but I was restrained. And Percy would personally murder me. I’d like to live long enough to see Percy thrown up on by his baby sister.
I have strange priorities. You don’t need to tell me that much.
I was glad I was faced toward the front, and not towards Will. My face was redder than a tomato. I was pretty sure Will’s was too.
Everyone else, though, was talking about everything from the Romans’ next visit, to Leo’s latest antics.
Will and I stayed silent most of the time. He occasionally piped in, but I stayed silent the whole time. Hazel was saying something, but I was too focused on the boy beneath me. Why did it bother me so much that his shorts made his warm, sun kissed skin brush against my calves?
Hazel reached over and snapped her fingers in front of my eyes, making me jump a little. She rolled her eyes. “Nico! I was talking to you!”
“Sorry.”
She smirked. Oh no. “Were you too busy thinking about Will?”
My face turned beet red as everyone in the car laughed. I looked away towards the window. “I-I wasn’t thinking about him!”
I could feel Will smirk. “Oh, come on. I know how hard it is not to think about me.”
I turned towards him and glared. “Why would I think about you? I’m trying to cut down how much I gag in a day.
Suddenly, the car was silent except for our intense gazes.
“Aw, you’re trying to deny it,” Will cooed, pinching my cheek. I jerked away from his touch and grumbled a curse.
Will suddenly blushed and looked away. I say looked away, but with the tight space we were in, it was really just averting our eyes towards something other than each other.
I hate awkward silences. Especially when it’s between me and Solace. As well as the rest of the car.
Somehow, my face warmed even more when I realized the rest of the Seven were watching us. I looked at Hazel and Frank from the corner of my eyes. They were avidly watching, analyzing our every move. Will looked up and his face softened for a moment. He must have sensed my discomfort, because he glared at the others and they began to at like it had never happened. Which surprised me because he is about as intimidating as a puppy in a pile of candy.
I gave him a grateful smile, then glanced at Jason. He winked and gave me a thumbs up. I groaned and hit my head on Leo’s seat in front of me repeatedly. These people are going to cause my early death.
Well, technically it wouldn’t be “early,” but there’s no point in being technical with these people.
I began to wonder what was going on in Will’s mind.
Will’s Pov
I am going to die.
I am going to die.
It’s official.
I’m going to die.
What do you do in a situation where your crush is sitting on your lap for two hours straight? Two hours of blushing, of looking anywhere but right in front of you, of trying not to kiss him senseless? Two hours of endless teasing from the 8 other people in the car? One of Argus’ eyes winked at me when Nico wasn’t looking.
I’m doomed.
I don’t know whether to be happy or sad that we’re taking a pit stop in half an hour.
I turned and noticed Piper trying to hold in her laughter but failing miserably. I stuck out my tongue childishly and it just made her laugh harder.
I huff, pouting. I turn back towards the front just to see Nico whip his head back around. I could see the tip of his ears were red. Was he…staring at me?
No, he couldn’t have been. He hates me. He could never like me back.
Suddenly, an Imagine Dragons song came up on the radio. I wasn’t familiar with it, but I recognized the band. Leo smirked at Percy and his eyes flickered towards me and Nico. Percy began belting out the lyrics, terribly I might add. Nico began to repeatedly bang his head on the seat in front of us. I couldn’t help but snicker at the sight. Obviously, the others were up to something, and it was annoying the heck out of Nico.
Annabeth caught on and sang in place of Percy. Piper and Jason followed, until the chorus came. Naturally, I already knew it before it even played. Perk of being an Apollo kid. Nothing Left To Say is actually pretty ironic considering what we’ve been through, but I digress.
Suddenly, I jumped at the voice that came out from right in front of me. Nico was…singing.
“There’s nothing left to say now!” Nico immediately covered his mouth with his hands, but the damage had been done.
“I told you it would work!” Percy called out between giggles.
I couldn’t help it. I began to snicker. Which turned into chuckles. Which turned into full-fledged snorts and laughter.
Nico pulls his hoodie over his face, trying to hide from the obnoxiously loud laughter surrounding him. I bit my lip to keep from cursing. Holy Hera that was adorable. This child of Hades is going to cause my doom.
What am I saying? He already has.
Nico’s POV
Just ten more minutes. Ten more minutes of being incredibly humiliated over and over again. Great. Just great.
We neared the gas station without much happening. I was surprised at how easily we were able to drive with no monsters attacking us. In fact, it was too easy.
Then, I heard the growls.
Piper rolled her eyes. “There’s a monster right behind us, isn’t there?”
Wow. I spoke too soon.
Argus stopped the car in a parking spot in front of the convenience store. Hazel looked out the window. “Oh. Great. Three dracanae.” She opened the side door.
Will reached out to open the door on our side. I just stared at his hands like a creep. What I forgot was that I had been leaning on the door, and that the seatbelt had come off. I yelped and fell out of the car, landing on my butt. Solace, the rude ray of sunshine he is, fell over laughing. He seemed to have forgotten there was no door as well, because he fell and landed on his face.
I laughed possibly harder than I can ever remember laughing. I didn’t hear the screams of agony of the dracanae as the others tried to slay them as quickly as possible. All I saw were the tears streaming out of my eyes, and a certain blonde head bobbing up and down as we snorted and laughed over and over. Every time we stopped, we’d just look at each other and start laughing all over again.
Suddenly, I heard Leo groan. “Why are you two red-faced and panting?”
I whipped my head around so fast I almost got whiplash. The seven were staring us down, some of them with gold dust on their arms or in their hair. I scowled at a certain smirking Latino.
“We weren’t making out!” Will let out. “I was laughing at him ‘cause he fell out of the car, then I-”
Jason held up a hand. “Just get in the car.”
I noticed Hazel had an evil glint in her eyes, which meant she was either going to try to get revenge on me and fail terribly, or she was going to end me.
I really hoped it was the first one.
Everyone got in the car before me. To avoid Will, I got in on the other side of the car. Everyone else was already in their seats, some of them with a smug look on their face. I shared a worried face with Will. What were they planning?
I tried to squeeze in between the door and Hazel, but suddenly, Hazel pushed me to the other side of the car. I was in Will’s lap again. Suddenly, the car started and I felt the restraints keeping me in place. The others in the car were laughing while Will and I blushed for the millionth time that day.
“HAZEL LEVESQUE I WILL PERSONALLY MURDER YOU!”
I forgot how terrible sisters could be.
Will’s POV
I hate these people.