Bewitched || P. Jackson

𝕄eeting the parent

Percy settled himself into his bunk. The sheets felt stiff and uninviting and he found sleep evading him like a twisted game of cat and mouse.

A timid knock on his cabin door relieved him from his chase. Stood behind his door was a dishevelled looking Nicki. Her hair was twisted into a terrible looking braid and she only wore fabric shorts and an oversized Carrie Underwood shirt.

"Connor snores really loudly."

Percy pulled the door open wider, "Do you want to come in?"

"If you don't mind." Nicki fiddled with her ring nervously. Percy nodded sleepily, returning to his bunk.

Percy patted the bed beside him for Nicki. "So what's the real reason you can't sleep?"

"I dunno," she mumbled. She perched on the edge of his bed and drew her knees under her chin. "The boys haven't let me sleep alone since I found out about you and now I just..."

Nicki gestured vaguely.

"I'm not going to lie I have no idea what you mean."

Nicki sighed. "You scared me. I thought I'd lost you."

"You didn't lose me, Nicki."

"I thought I did!" Nicki bit her lip to try to stop her tears. "I thought I'd never see you again and I don't know how to deal with that."

"Come here," Percy opened his arms for Nicki. The girl let out a soft sob and collapsed into his awaiting hug. "You can't get rid of me that easy."

Percy rested his head on Nicki's braided hair. Her head burrowed into his chest as they lay intertwined on Percy's bunk.

Nicki's fist balled up Percy's shirt in her grasp. The boy's heart skipped a beat.

"I just don't want to lose you." Nicki's words were heavy.

Some part of Percy couldn't help but feel there was more weight to her words than he first imagined.

"You won't lose me."

Nicki loosened her grip on Percy's t-shirt. She stuck her pinky finger out. "Promise?"

"Promise." Percy wrapped his pinky around hers and she smiled softly.

Nicki tried to stifle a yawn. "I should probably head back..."

"You can just..." Percy shrugged, tightening his grip around the girl on his chest. "Stay."

Nicki flushed a brighter red than she ever thought possible. "Only if you want me to."

"I wouldn't have offered if I didn't want you to."

Nicki hid her face in Percy's chest. "I'm staying then." Her voice was muffled, making Percy laugh.

His chest vibrating make Nicki's smile stretch impossibly wider.

This time, as Percy waited for sleep, he found his sheets to be the most inviting they've ever felt. He traced his fingers in small circles on the softly snoring Nicki's back.

Sleep encompassed Percy like a blanket of sweet honey, or maybe that was just Nicki's freshly washed hair.

The next morning Nicki made sure Mrs O'Leary had enough dog biscuits. Percy asked Beckendorf to keep an eye on her, which he didn't seem too happy about. They hiked over Half-Blood Hill and met Annabeth and Argus on the road.

The demigods didn't try to talk much in the van. Argus never spoke, probably because he had eyes all over his body, including—so Nicki'd heard—at the tip of his tongue, and he didn't like to show that off.