DON'T BLAME ME! (p. jackson) (#2) (ON HOLD)

- twenty four

EMETOPHOBIA WARNING FOR THIS CHAPTER

AT SUNSET, ROSE FOUND NICO tying ropes around the pedestal of the athena parthenos.

"thank you," rose said.

nico frowned. "what for?"

"you promised to lead the others to the house of hades," rose said. "you did it."

nico tied the ends of the ropes together, making a halter. "you got me out of that bronze jar in rome. saved my life yet again. you're the only person on the ship besides hazel who's been nice to me without giving it a second thought. no wondering if i am who i say i am, or if i'm going to betray you guys. hazel told me you raised hell defending me. it was the least i could do. you and hazel are the only 'family' i've got."

his voice was steely. rose wished she could figure out what made him tick, but she'd never been able to. nico was no longer the geeky kid from westover hall with the mythomagic cards. nor was he the angry loner who'd followed the ghost of minos through the labyrinth.

"also," rose said, "you visited bob..."

she told nico about their trip through tartarus. she figured if anyone could understand, nico could. "you convinced bob that percy could be trusted, even though he never visited him. you saved our lives by being nice to him."

"yeah, well," nico said, "not giving people a second thought... that can be dangerous."

"nico, i'm trying to say thank you."

nico smiled— something genuine, that made his eyes crinkle and showed off the sharp curves of his teeth. "i'm trying to say you don't need to. i know you're really tired, but can you help me finish this?"

"of course."

she helped nico continue tying ropes. after a few minutes, he said, "can i talk to you about something?"

"always. what's up?"

"you can't tell anyone about this. not until i say you can. except jason, because he already found out."

rose shrugged. "okay."

"not percy, not annabeth, not mitchell."

"nico, i'm not going to say anything."

"good." he took a deep breath, and when he spoke again, he didn't look at her. "i'm gay."

rose blinked. "okay."

he finally made eye contact with her. "that's it?"

"i'm bisexual, nico, i'm not going to throw a fit because you like boys."

"oh."

she finished tying her knot before she stood straight. "nico, honestly, even if i wasn't queer, i wouldn't care. over half of the kids in the aphrodite cabin are fruity. literally everybody on the ship is, except for maybe hazel, but she's thirteen and from the 1940s."

"i don't know, i just thought you'd all find me weirder than you already do."

"nico, if any of them fuck with you, i'll kill them. you are so much more important than you think you are."

she didn't realize he was crying until he wrapped his arms around her and started sobbing.

"nico, hey," she said, "it's okay. everything is going to be fine."

"i'm sorry," he said into her shoulder.

"nico, you don't need to be sorry. i had an anxiety attack when i came out, so bad i threw up. i promise you, everything is going to be okay."