How to Save a Life

three

• Nico •

I kicked up some pebbles as I headed to Cabin One. It was an hour or two after sunrise and Jason should be awake, so I knocked on the Cabin door. It was opened almost immediately as a sleepy-eyed Jason looked at me.

"Nico, you're back!" 

He went in for a hug, but I stepped back, causing him to bring his arms back in and his cheeks go red.

"Right," he whispered. "Come inside."

"Are you busy?" I asked, staying right where I was.

"No, just hanging around the Cabin."

"Really? Because if I recall correctly, you told Leo you were going to go train," I replied, my tone hard as stone. His eyes fell to my feet.

"Well, I-"

"I don't really care, Jason. Just know that while you were lying to Leo about what you were doing, he-" I stopped myself before my anger got the best of me.

"He what?"

"You don't even deserve to know. You've made a huge mistake, Grace."

I turned my back and walked away.

  "Wait, Nico!" Jason called out, running after me. "Listen, please." I stopped and stuffed my hands into the pockets of my aviators jacket, turning to look at him. "He left us for a girl!"

  "Yeah, because none of you made him feel welcomed enough," I snapped, the blood boiling in my veins. Jason flinched, looking towards the ground.

  "I deserved that."

  "Damn right you did. I leave for a month and I come back and Percy's gone, Leo's alone, and you and Piper are lying. What happened to us? We all used to be so close and now I can't even look you in the eyes."

  "I'm going to change. You're right. Leo's my best friend-"

  "Was."

  "Leo was my best friend and I shouldn't have ignored and avoided him like I did."

  "You're right," I said, standing up straight. "Glad we could have this conversation."

  I began to walk away, before I hear Jason call my name.

  "Neeks?"

  I turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow.

  "You're really fucking scary."

  I just grinned and walked away, heading towards my cabin, where Leo should still be. I let him stay there for the night so that he wasn't alone. When I got there, he was gone and my heart dropped to my stomach.

  "Shit," I whispered, before immediately asking whoever I could for Leo's location. They all didn't know or hadn't seen him. "Fuck, fuck, fuck."

  I ran to the lake and saw him sitting in the sand. I let out a sigh and plopped down next to him.

  "You scared the ever living shit out of me, Valdez," I admitted, eyeing him. He looked to me and raised an eyebrow.

  "Why?"

  "Because I went to the cabin and you weren't there. I didn't know where you went and I was just worried that..." I stopped myself, looking towards the water.

  "That what?"

  "That you were going to attempt again."

  "I'm sorry."

  "It's okay," I breathed out, trying to convince myself as well. "I talked to Jason."

  "I know, I heard. Thanks for that."

  "Anytime."

  We sat in silence for a bit, before it was lunch time, so the two of us headed to the dining pavilion. I sat by Leo so he didn't have to be alone, and though I got some odd stares, something in me couldn't care less. I let him talk and ramble as I just listened to him go on and on. I never had realized that his dark brown eyes lit up when he talked about his machines or how he moved his hands around a lot as he talked or how he had a slight Texan accent mingled with a Hispanic one. He often stopped mid-sentence for a second or two, before he continued. I didn't know why that was, but it was adorable.

Woah, let's not do that, brain. 

  "So, yeah, that's what I'm working on right now, but I can't get the stupid thing to work," he admitted as he picked at his food.

  "Another curse on Cabin Nine?" I offered and all of the Hephaestus kids turned to look at me, their eyes wide.

  "Oh gods I hope not," Jake Mason muttered, before going back to his food.

  "No, it's only been this one particular machine I can't get."

  "Hm...after lunch we'll go take a look," I said, causing Leo's eyes to light up as he gave me a smile.

  "Okay."

•

  Just as I had promised, after lunch we headed to Bunker 9, where Leo said he spent most of his time at Camp. Leo held the door open for me, before entering himself and walking over to a table set in the middle.

  "This is it," he muttered, so I walked over to it. "Do you even know anything about this stuff?"

  "I know absolutely nothing," I admitted, causing Leo to laugh, which made me smile and giggle a bit. He sat in a roly chair and motioned to another one on the other side of the bunker. I sat down in it and Leo pulled out a remote from the side. I looked over to see that mine had one too.

  "Watch this," he said, before pressing a button, which made boosters come out of the back and propel him forward. He laughed and spun around.

  "Which button is it?" I asked, wanting to join in.

  "I don't know, probably the one with the rocket on it, but hey, who knows?" he replied sarcastically and I stuck my tongue out at him, before holding onto the armrests tightly and pressing the button. I shot across the room and spun around a bit, causing me to laugh and giggle from the adrenaline pumping in my blood. Leo grinned at me and we played chase with the roly chairs, before settling down at the desk where his machine was.

  "So?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

  "So? I know nothing about this stuff. I'm just here for moral support."

  He let out a laugh, before turning to the machine.

  "Just don't touch anything, please."