Out of Nowhere

Chapter 20

We sit at the campfire after dinner. I'm not really singing, I'm just content with sitting next to Nico. I go over the day's events in my head and laugh mentally at some of them. I stare into the flames of the fire until Nico's elbow nudging my side brings me out of a trance. I turn toward him, inviting him to speak.

"Can I ask you something?" He asks.

I smile and nod. He takes my hand and shadow travels. The next time I open my eyes, we're on the dock. He holds both of my hands and faces me.

"Have you ever been to Los Angeles, California?"

I shake my head, grin growing.

"What do you think about going there... tomorrow?" He asks tentatively.

I gasp and nod aggressively, "I've always wanted to go to L.A.!"

He grins in return, "The main entrance to the underworld is there. There are other ways to get in, but since it would be your first time, I thought that would be safest."

I nod again, but then become confused, "Why are we going to the underworld?"

"I want to get my dad's opinion on our situation and I think it's about time he met you," Nico replies.

I sigh and sit sown on the dock, "I've never met my real dad. My step dad was great and I thought he was my real father my whole life. Now I know that Poseidon is my father, and I don't know what to think anymore."

Nico wraps his arms around me, "You'll meet him soon, I know it. I'm sure he loves you. I mean, he only has 2 demigod kids. You and Percy are both really awesome."

We sit there together for a while and it helps me, but then an idea or path of thought starts nagging on my mind.

"Nico..." I take a deep breath, "Did you... like anyone before me?"

It's almost like watching a clam close its shell. He pulls his arms away from me and stares across the water.

"Ames, I love you, and only you. My past was pretty bad. I did some things I wish I hadn't. But now, I've conquered those specific temptations. I trust you with that dirty bit of me that I hate. All of that is behind me and I don't want to re-live it," he confesses.

I sigh. "It was Percy," I whisper.

He doesn't move or make a sound and I almost feel as if I hurt him.

"I believe you, Nico. You've told me that you love me and I believe that. Whatever that was in your past, I want to leave it there just as much as you do. You can trust me and I know I can trust you with anything," I move back closer to him, wanting to heal the temporary gap that opened between us.

I sneak my arm around his waist, silently begging him to come back over to me. He slowly relaxes and replaces his arms around me.

He smiles and sighs, "I may have had prior feelings, but I can't help it with you. Ames, you get me every time."

I smile, "How's that?"

"You're beautiful, but not just that. You care about all of me. You accept all of me. I feel like you're the only person I could tell everything to," he kisses my nose.

"Only because you do the same for me, Nico. I love you," I close my eyes, feeling his breath on my face.

"Ames, I will never stop loving you," he says quietly, then finally kisses my lips. It feels like a scene from a movie, just perfect and beautifully fragile.

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I take my morning swim and eat breakfast, then go back to my cabin to decide what I want to take with me.

I leave my swim suit on under my cloths as usual, but exchange my blue t-shirt and basketball shorts for jeans and my camp shirt. I keep my goggles around my neck and pull my hair into a wavy pony tail.

I knock lightly on Nico's cabin door and walk in to find him doing the same thing I just did. He had just pulled on a shirt then grabbed his jacket.

"Isn't it hot in California?" I ask.

"Yeah, but it's cold in the underworld. You should go grab a jacket then meet me at the edge of the forest," he answers.

I run back to my cabin and grab my black Underarmor sweatshirt. I find Nico at the edge of the forest like he said and follow him in. He blends into the dark shadows, probably by accident, but I grab his hand so I don't lose him. He stops in a clearing and whistles loudly.

A big black dog appears and I recognize her as Mrs. O'Leary and pat her nose.

"If I travel distances to far apart by myself then I get really tired and pass out, so Mrs. O'Leary will take us," Nico informs me.

I nod and laugh, "Don't want that. I don't know what I'd do if you passed out in to middle of L.A."

We climb up on her back. I sit behind Nico and wrap my arms around his waist, feeling his muscles tense.

"Don't lose concentration," I say quietly in his ear with a chuckle.

"You sure are making it hard," he says, but I can hear the grin in his voice. I almost laugh at the unintentional double meaning, cursing my dirty mind.

With grins on our faces, Nico leans forward telling Mrs. O'Leary to go ahead. We bound into the darkness.