Light in the Darkness - Nico X Reader

Chapter 10, Alone

What on Gaea was I thinking? Oh my gods. I probably just ended our friendship. Hopefully not.

When I got back to the Athena cabin, I went straight to bed. I didn't even bother going to dinner. I sat on the balcony, contemplating my thoughts. "I've brought you some dinner," I turned around to see Annabeth holding a plate of cheesy diced potatoes and a hamburger steak. "Thanks,"

"I take that it didn't turn out as planned?"

"You're too smart to be wrong," I remarked

"You'd be surprised at all the stuff I've messed up," She countered

"I'm glad you're not like those phonies that go around telling me how incredibly sorry you are," I manage a small smile

"You're welcome," She started. "You planning on hiding in here for a couple days?" She asked.

"How did yo- has something like this happened to you before?" I dared.

"Yeah,"

"And you don't plan on stopping me?"

"Nope. You've gotta have some time alone. I get you," She sighed.

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I spent the next two days sulking around my Cabin. It was the weekend anyway. I spent most of my time in a corner of the library, the balcony, or by the fountain. Nico came around a couple of times. He'd knock on the door and plead me to open up. I wasn't ready to deal with this yet. I know, I sound like a stupid Aphrodite snob. But I wanted to avoid awkwardness. By the end of the weekend, I had read 1/4 of all the books in the cabin's library.

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Monday, week 2

8:30 - Breakfast

9:30 -

10:30 -

11:30 -

12:30 - Lunch

1:30 - Archery with Cabins: 1, 3, 7, 11, 13

2:30 - Sword Fighting with Cabins 3, 5, 9, 11, 13

3:30 - Pegasi Riding with Cabins 3, 7, 11, 13, 17

4:30 - Pegasi grooming with Cabins 3, 7, 11, 13, 17

5:30 - Showers

6:30 - Dinner

8:00 - Songs by the campfire

10:00 - Lights out

Great, just great. We were back to square one.

I reluctantly trudged my way down to the Archery range. Kayla was leading this session again. "This week, grade 1 archers come with me. I'll give a couple of demonstrations and help you guys. Grade 2 and 3, practice. Remember, partner up and assess each other,"

"Hey," I greeted Nico, attempting to sound calm and make it seem like nothing had happened between us. Nico trudged up to me. His face a light shade of pink. He walked closer, and wrapped his arms around me, in a large bear hug.

"I missed you Owl eyes," He whispered. I was shocked. As a matter of fact, Nico has never hugged anyone apart from his mother and Hazel. That, I know for a fact. Campers watched from all across the range. "I missed you too dead head," I whispered back. "We gonna start now?" I asked. "Sure," He flashed me a small smile again. After that, we acted like me admitting I had a crush on him never happened.

Sword fighting. This has to be my favorite session yet. "Today we practice our quick attacks," Percy started, "Duel with your partners. Again, assess, give advice. I'll be going around challenging a couple of you good swordsmen or women out there," He grinned. "Now go,"

I paired up with Nico. "I don't think I need to go easy on you this time feather brain," He said. My dagger and sword skills have improved a lot from the first time we dueled. I picked up on his tactics and fight pattern. "Ready to go when you are," I said.

He lunged forward, and ducked under as I attempted to deflect his first shot. I spun and stabbed at his face, he rolled quickly, getting up the second he rolled away. He swung his sword at my side, I ducked and counter attacked. My mind working with my body. Slash, kick, swing, duck, deflect. I let my instincts guide me. I swept his legs from under him. Straddling him like our first duel, dagger at his neck and elbow pinning him down. "You've improved," He nodded. He knocked my dagger out of my hand, spinning us around, straddling me and pinning me on the ground instead. "You've gotta remember how I defeated you the first time," He whispered. I smiled, a wave of Déjà vu washing over me. Then he did something completely unexpected.

He leaned forward, closing the gaps between us and... He kissed me. His lips were unexpectedly warm and soft. His mouth moving in soft, gentle movements. He dropped his sword, cupping my face. I kissed him back, his hands gently caressed my face. He slowly pulled back. "Gods, I've been wanting to do that for so long," He smiled. There were several wolf whistles and whoops. The entire class had gathered around us. But we didn't care. He got up, pulling me with him.

This time, Percy fainted.

Annabeth caught him and set him down in the corner. Not very manly of him. Piper, Leo, Jason, Frank, Calypso, and Hazel appeared from behind a stack of swords. "Damn Nico," Leo ran up to him, his face pulled into a large elfish smile. "Smooth man, but not as good as this hot chick magnet Leo," He teased. Calypso gave him a friendly punch to the arm. "Owww, that hurt," he complained. Piper was jumping up and down, "OHMYGODS OHMYGODS I TOLD YOU IT WOULD HAPPEN," She shrieked at Jason, who was covering his ears to prevent permanent damage to his hearing. Hazel was fanning herself with her hands, and Frank... He turned into a chameleon? A bright red chameleon with a heart on it.

Nico and I were blushing profusely. I guess we both looked like tomatoes, which made the little crowd go nuts.

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A/N How was it y'all? Smooooooth Nicoooo. Damnnnnnnnn. Anyway, I've got 36 views, which is an incredible amount for a newbie like me. Thanks guys! <3 Remember to vote if you enjoyed the story so far. I'll be updating pretty soon! Comment about what you think. Thanks!

~BlueFandoms~