From Now On (Percico)

Chapter 5

Percy's POV:

Nico broke away from me quickly, his eyes wide. He turned on his heel and started to walk away quickly through the trees.

"Nico, wait..."

He shook his head. "Just leave me alone."

I stayed frozen in place, watching him weave his way through the woods. I sunk to the ground, my back scraping against the tree. I silently decided that I would wait here until he came back, whether he was planning on coming back at all or not.

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Nico's POV:

Stupid, stupid, stupid. Jason had told me that if I spent too much time around him, something like that would happen. I listened, I did. This was my first day around him in a long time. Why'd I have to screw it up like that?

I knotted my hands in the hair by my temples, tugging slightly. Tears were threatening to spill, I didn't want to have to face him. But I knew I'd have to. I couldn't just block him out again. I tilted my head back and looked at the canopy of leaves above me, watching the birds flit through the branches. I almost laughed at how carefree they were... why couldn't I do that? Just fly away from my problems.

I sighed and shook my head, looking down at my feet. I rubbed at my eyes, my hands shaking. Putting them down and curling them into fists, I walked farther into the woods.

At one point, I broke into a run, wanting to get as far away from him as I could. Branches whipped against my face, cutting the skin. I had no idea where I was going, but at the moment I didn't care.

I stopped when I got to a clearing with nothing but a large oak tree in the middle. I walked over to it and slid down to the base, leaning my head against the trunk. I touched my middle and index fingers to the side of my mouth, drawing them back and seeing blood. I sighed and pulled my knees up to my chest. My mind was a mess. The ideas swirling around in my head were like individual leaves falling off branches that haven't yet formed a pile on the ground. My thoughts were completely incoherent, and there was only one clear sentence that continued to reform in my mind: I needed to talk to Percy.

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Percy's POV

The sky was a mix of purple and blue, swirling with masses of dark grey clouds. I was standing up to my knees in a raging ocean, the water crashing up against my legs. I found myself swaying to the swelling of the waves, and I looked to the horizon. All I could see was a spiraling darkness that spread across the sky in wisps. It looked like it was slowly creeping closer, but I was too far away to tell.

I stepped back, but the pull of the ocean was strong. It seemed to be tugging me towards the tendrils of darkness that were crawling across the sapphire sky, and I struggled to move back, fighting to break the grip of the-

I jolted awake, feeling arms grip my shoulders tightly, shaking me back to realty. I opened my eyes to see Nico's face inches from mine, his eyes wide with concern. I pulled him towards me, hugging him tightly. I wrenched my eyes shut, and felt his small arms hesitantly wrap around my back. I leaned my forehead on his shoulder, breathing heavily as I tried to push away the feeling of being tugged towards the impending darkness.

"It was just a dream," he said quietly, and I nodded slowly.

"I know. I know..."

He pulled back and stood up. "I don't suppose you would tell me what it was about?"

I shook my head. "Not yet... not now. It would probably sound stupid, anyway. You know how you dream when you have a fever, and everything just seems overwhelming?"

"Yes."

"Well, it was overwhelming like that. But there was also a feeling of foreshadowing, like it was going to happen. I don't want it to happen, yet I don't know what it means."

"Oh. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, I think. I didn't even realize that I had fallen asleep..." I trailed off and stood up. "I'm going back to my cabin. You can come, if you'd like."

He seemed taken aback. "You'd let me back after I... after what I did?"

"Yeah, of course. Why wouldn't I?"

"B-because..." He shook his head. "Nevermind."

I watched him carefully for a moment, then turned around and started walking back to my cabin.

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Nico's POV

He didn't hate me? That was the only phrase swirling around in my head. He didn't hate me, yet I didn't know how to stop hating myself. Why me, why out of all people did I have to be attracted to him? To another male. Couldn't I be normal in at least one sense? I shook my head and trudged slowly behind him, watching my feet.

I glanced up to see him looking back at me over his shoulder. I looked away quickly, not wanting to meet his eyes. He stopped walking and ended up beside me.

"Did you think I'd... hate you or something? If you did, that's absolutely ridiculous."

I looked over at him slowly, then nodded my head. He ran a hand through his already disheveled dark hair, and turned his sea-green eyes towards the sky.

"Why? Why would you think I'd hate you?"

"Because I hate myself for it, so I figured you would, too," I said softly, looking away and veering off course slightly to get away from him.

I could hear his footsteps behind me. His hand was soon on my shoulder and spinning me around to face him. "If you hate yourself for that, you're an absolute idiot," he muttered. I shoved his arm away.

"Need I remind you that I was born in a time when being this way was not okay? It was disgusting back then, and that's still how I feel about it today."

"How could I change your mind, make it seem okay?"

"You can't," I said, turning away from him.

He whirled me around again, his sea green eyes staring into mine. He knotted a hand in my shirt and tugged me towards him. His lips trapped mine, and my eyes widened in surprised. I pulled away quickly and took a step back. Why did he do that?

"Would knowing that someone felt the same way help?"

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HAHAHA PERCYYYY

school is a struggle ugh. whoever invented it, whenever they invented it, should die in the pits of Tartarus asdfghjkl then we'd be spared from the hell that they send us to everyday -.-