Alone Again (Percico/Pernico AU)

Chapter 37

Oof, this chapter is kind of a mess.

And oh, was it a beautiful smile.
*****

Clarisse left the two boys alone momentarily after Nico arrived. They talked in a similar fashion as they usually did, sharing updates in their lives and Nico giving Percy important news from "the outside world".

That day, though, Nico quickly noticed a change in Percy's demeanor. If he hadn't been spending such an immense amount of time with Percy recently, he probably wouldn't have noticed it, but it was definitely there. Their usual eye contact was virtually nonexistent, and the green-eyed boy just seem so far away.

After a while, Nico checked the time on his phone. He had ten minutes until Jason would be there to pick him up, but Percy had no way of knowing that, did he?

Nico sighed. "I gotta go, Percy, Jason's here to pick me up."

Percy nodded in response. "Don't want to keep blondie waiting, do you?"

"Oh yes, he's very impatient," Nico said with a smile.

Not receiving a smile in return, unfortunately, Nico bid Percy goodbye. Instead of taking his usual departure walk, he took a different route through the building. He found himself at another familiar door, quietly knocking and praying Percy didn't plan on going anywhere besides where they had just been.

Nico heard a muffled, "Come in, Jackass!" He hesitantly opened the cell, aware that he was not expected to be there.

The female on the other side spun around when Nico quietly stepped in. "You're...not Percy," she oh so intelligently observed. "What do you need, di Angelo?"

"I just wanted to ask, uh, because you've been around him more than I have, if you noticed anything going on with Percy?" He explained awkwardly, still a bit unnerved by Clarisse's intimidating demeanor.

Clarisse sighed, a slight look of concern etched onto her face. It was obvious to Nico that she was trying to pretend what he said didn't bother her in some way. "If he's not hiding it around you, something's probably wrong."

"What's 'it'?" Nico asked for clarification.

She shook her head. "I don't know, but I did have to bring him lunch and wait for him to actually eat it after he skipped breakfast today. And he just seems..."

"Distant?" Nico suggested, receiving a nod. "That's the mood I got from talking to him. It was like he didn't even want to face me, and the last time that happened was when I thought he was the one that...that-"

"He's not mad at you, di Angelo, that's the one thing I can guarantee about his weird behavior right now." Clarisse reassured him. "But if something happens I'll make sure you're the first one they call."

Nico took that as an invitation to leave. He nodded. "Thanks, Clarisse." They quickly bid their goodbyes before Nico left and waited for Jason on the curb. Even as he stared out the window on the way back to the apartment, Nico couldn't help but be even more anxious after talking to Clarisse.

"If something happens?"

Nico didn't know what that was supposed to mean, but he really didn't appreciate it. He had begun to think that talking to Clarisse was not his best idea, considering it didn't make him feel less worried about Percy at all.