A Tale of Romans and Slaves | PJO/HOO

Chapter 55: Frank

Things were not going very well in the di Angelo family.

Lord Hades and Lady Persephone were in the middle of a huge fight. She was blaming him for Nico's suicide attempt, while he was blaming her for it. But it was totally his fault.

Bianca wouldn't let Nico out of her sight. She was worried that he might try to do it again.

Hazel was distant, barely talking to me. And Nico wasn't talking to anyone, trapped in his little world of pain that you saw glimpses off whenever you looked in his eyes.

Annabeth had gone down to dinner, leaving Hazel and I alone. She was staring out the window.

"Hi," I said.

"Hello," She replied. "The stars are pretty tonight."

"The stars are always pretty, aren't they?" I asked.

She smiled weakly. "Yes. But some nights you can't see them, or they don't shine as bright. I read somewhere that they were omens. The brighter the stars, the better the night."

I thought to all the bad things that had happened in my life. My mother's death. My father's. My grandmother's. Will's. I couldn't remember any stars on any of those nights.

"What do you thinks going to happen tonight, then?" I asked.

"Who knows?" She replied. "It might not involve us. Perhaps some Africans are getting married. Or some lord's firstborn son is being born."

I took her hand in mine and sat down next to her on the windowsill. She rested her head on my shoulder.

"Why did this have to happen, Frank?" She asked sadly. "Why couldn't my father just let Nico be happy?"

"Because he wasn't being happy the way he wanted him too," I replied softly.

"But he was happy!" Hazel said sadly. "Who cares if he loved a man? He was happy!"

"I don't know, Hazel," I said sadly. "I don't know."

"I hate him," Hazel said. "My father. I hate him. With all of my heart."

"I hate him too," I agreed.

Hazel looked straight into my eyes. "What if he takes you, Frank?"

"He won't," I said. "I promise. I'm never going to leave you."

"You better not," She said. "You're all I have, Frank."

I lowered my head down to hers, and kissed her. She kissed me back.

"And you're all I have, too," I said once we broke apart. "You're my everything, Hazel."

She kissed me again, throwing her arms around my neck. I wrapped mine around her waist, and pulled her closer to me.

Her fingers travelled to my tunic laces. I froze for a couple of seconds. Are we actually doing this?

Then she started to untie them, and I knew that we were.

I started to untie her dress with one hand, while closing the curtains with the other. The door was already locked.

Eventually, we were both naked. I picked her up, not wanting to break our kiss, and gently laid her on the bed.

The night that followed was the best one in my entire life.