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Nico? (ch. 3)

You looked up to find him studying something on his hand. It looked like a ring of sorts? He tilted his hand slightly towards your line of sight and found that it was a skull ring. You remembered reading a book awhile ago about a character with a skull ring and dark hair but you just couldn't seem to remember which series it was from.

Apparently you were making a sour face from the frustration of concentration because when you looked back up at his face he was worriedly staring back.

"Are you ok? You looked mad," he whispered. He still talked in that voice that was barely perceivable and you took a second or two to make out what he had said.

"Oh yeah sorry. You just...remind me of someone," you replied. You realized something that made you feel like you just got slapped by your memory. "What's your name? I forgot to ask sorry," you asked apologetically. You had a habit of saying sorry way too often on way too many occasions.

"Oh, it's Nico," he replied.

It all started coming back to you. The skull ring, the aviators jacket, the dark hair, the shadow-y vibe that you get from him, this guy seemed like he jumped right out of the book.

It's Nico.

You thought to yourself. Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Heroes of Olympus, the Percy Jackson Series. They were your childhood. You had grown up thinking that you were a demigod. Your first crush was on Nico. You always had trouble determining your godly parent because you thought you were a child of hades but if you were that meant you couldn't date Nico. Your inner ten-year-old came out and you smiled like an idiot.

"Oh my god. Nico? As in Nico di Angelo?" You asked excitedly. Completely forgetting the fact that he was probably just some kid who looked similar to your version of him. He was sure to be scared out of his mind if you were wrong but you didn't care.  What if it was actually Nico? You were about to freak out.

His eyes widened in surprise. I probably just scared him out of his wits oh no. Then his jaw dropped open. That was the face of someone who was shocked, not frightened. He blinked s couple of times, trying to take it all in. Your heart skipped a beat in hopes that you were correct.

"Y-yeah...oh my gods how do you know that?" He seemed genuinely confused. Wait. Did he just say 'oh my gods'? He did. This was Nico. This. Was. Nico. I repeat! Nico di Angelo!

"Wait seriously? You're not kidding that's your actual name?" You asked in wonderment. The back of your mind was screaming that he was just kidding, pranking you just to get a reaction from the weirdo. But you ignored that voice for now. You were too happy. Wow. You hadn't said that in a long time.

"Yeah wha- how- do you know that?" He replied.

Oh.

My.

God.

This was Nico di Angelo. You were about to cry. Nico was your everything. He was always there for you. He was your only friend that was there when you needed them. Well, your only friend period. Through all the fandoms, fictional characters, faves, fan arts, he was your constant. He would always come to your mind when asked 'Do you have a boyfriend?' Or 'Who's your favorite character?' He was the one you cried about every night when the tragic thought came crashing down on you that he wasn't real. You wrote countless fanfictions, drew numerous terrible drawings, made horrifying edits, all in his name. He was your perfect friend, partner, conversation topic, boyfriend, everything. Your last thought on many sleepless nights was always 'what if he was real?' He occupied more thoughts than you could count. He was the only thing that kept you alive at times. You promised God that if he was real you would do anything. Anything. He gave you Nico.

This was more than you could ever imagine. You didn't know what to do. Your normal expression turned into one of absolute shock. Your brain shut down for a few seconds while you just shook your head and blinked. No way could this be real. Your mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water, trying desperately to find some sort of phrase or string of sounds that could even begin to express your current emotion but the English dictionary was vastly limited.

"Oh my g- real- wha- huh?- ga-" was all you could muster for the current pile of confusion your mind was right now. After awhile of that you just gave up and tried to compute the statement that you just heard. You studied every detail about the recent conversation, trying to find some way to prove that it was fake but you found nothing. It was real. Your heart was hammering. If this was seriously Nico then you were being stupid and not soaking in everything about him. You rushed to pull yourself out of your thoughts and back into reality.

You focused on Nico and saw that he was smiling at you. Not the 'oh my god she's so stupid hahaha' smile but the 'oh my god she's so cute' smile. You blushed at the picture of Nico, Nico, finding you cute.

"Nico di Angelo. That's your name? Seriously?" You stared in wonder at this miracle boy. You were starting to breathe heavily. Your long term imaginary friend was real and talking to you, proving his real-ness.

You realized you were freakishly close to Nico and staring at him creepily. You instantly sat back in your seat, a blush forming on your cheeks. Your smile faltered, then disappeared; all your terrible thoughts that you had escaped for the brief moment had suddenly come bursting in and swirled in your mind, fining their old homes and settling down again for the long run.

You suddenly heard every thought at once, all the bad ones that is. Each and every tease, insult, hate, or derogatory comment that your mind brewed up. Your face screwed up, trying to cancel them out, but failing miserably. You though of wrapping your hands around your head just to see if it helped but from countless earlier occasions, you knew it wouldn't work and you would simply look stupid. You felt tears in your eyes. 'Why can't I just be happy? What is wrong with me that I hate myself so much? What made me this way?' You asked yourself again and again. You were terrified of your own mind.

You were looking down, covering your ugly face with your ugly bangs. They were your only form of protection against the world, your only shield. You never cut them. You saw each strand as a fictional character that you loved. They protected you. How could you let someone cut your bangs? And let them cut off their toes or ankles?

Yeah you were pretty messed up.

You felt cold tears on your warm, blushing cheeks. You hated crying in front of people, but here you were. Crying.

You were too wrapped up in your self hatred to realize that someone had been trying to get your attention. They had tried everything from calling out your name to tapping your shoulder. They had little left that they could use. They normally didn't like touching people unless they had to, but right now your state required a helping hand right away.

They saw your bangs in your eyes, blocking a face they found beautiful. That needed to change. They wanted to see your face, which was currently more interested in the ground than in them. They brought an uncertain hand forward and placed their fingertips at the base of your bangs and slowly brushed them away, lacing them behind your ear.

You were snapped out of your thoughts when a hand touched you. What? Nobody touched you. Not because you liked it that way, but because everyone-and everything-thought that you were a complete freak. It felt like a sensory overload. Someone was touching you, willingly. Your brain shut down instantly. All you had the capacity left to do was look up and cry even more. These tears, however, were from happiness. Finally, after many, many months of separation and loneliness you might actually be saved, loved, noticed.

~•~•~•~

Yeah. So. That happened. I'm trying not to make Nico the whole 'knight in shining armor' cliche but it's not really working. Idk.

Hey can someone comment how long this chapter was because I only know word length and idk how to find out chapter length. Thanks.

Anyways stay safe!