The Wants of a Young Demigod Heart (Nico di Angelo, Leo Valdez x OC)

Arrested

Merrily POV

-----------------------

I was feeling a lot better by now. It's a warm night with a light breeze; perfect conditions if you ask me. Chey is rocking Taylor in he arms, still looking rather sullen. Over near Festus, yet a little far away, Ryan is trying to kiss Abigail, but she won't let him. Nico is watching, doing a sort of awkward wheezing thing that kind of sounds like an asthma attack. He doesn't laugh much.

"So, what exactly happened?" I ask, turning to Chey.

"It's pretty simple," came the sullen answer. "We made it to the house okay, Abigail fell through the porch. It's really old and looks like it hasn't been taken care of in awhile. Then we go in and the goblet is just sitting on the kitchen countertop. So Ryan hands me Taylor and he goes to pick up the goblet. Then he just kind of drops it and starts stumbling around the room. It took us a minute to figure out he was drunk and that the goblet had done it. Then it was a matter of who got to carry the goblet. A quick game of rock-paper-scissors later, Nico got to carry it."

"That's kind of funny," I laugh awkwardly. Chey has said all of this in a monotone with no cursing. "Hey, are you okay?" But before Chey can get around to answering, Nico comes over, nearly slamming into Chey.

"Hey, you doing okay Merrily?" he asks me.

"I'm good, thanks for asking," I blush. "Glad to see you didn't get drunk."

"I suck at rock-paper-scissors and nobody'll tell me their tricks!" he complains. "So I almost always lose."

"They probably don't tell you just for that reason," I point out matter-of-factly. "You're easy. Someone says, 'Let's play rock-paper-scissors to decide who gets the ice cream' and they know that there's a good chance they'll get the ice cream." Nico puffs his bangs out of his face and gets a little confused look.

"Huh," he says. "That makes sense. Will you teach me?"

"Uh, no way!" I exclaim. "Now I can get stuff outta you!" Nico pouts, his dark, messy hair flopping into his eyes.

"You're mean," he whines. I lean up and kiss him on the lips.

"Better?"

"Much," he replies. "I've got to go help Abigail with Ryan. Please get better, 'kay?"

"I'll try," I say with a laugh. He gets up to go, and I see him stop by Chey. Whatever it was he said, Chey's face instantly crumples as Nico walks away. Clutching Taylor to her chest, she curls up in a ball and her shoulders start to shake. Quickly, I slide the short distance to her on my good arm. It's then I realize Chey is crying.

"Chey, what did he say?" I ask in disbelief.

"The truth," she wails into her arms. "It is my fault." I immediately realize what she's referring to and reach out my good arm to pat her shoulder, but instantly my hand is stinging.

"What, what's wrong?" I exclaim.

"Don't touch me," she snaps. "I don't need your f------ sympathy. I've been on my own practically my whole life and I don't need you and your s--- screwing it up." Chey stands quickly, wipes away her tears with a sleeve and stalks away. I am stunned. At least she's cursing again, which is a good sign, but she's obviously hurting about something. I sigh. Why does life have to be so complicated? And along with that, my shoulder is seriously hurting like heck. I wonder where Leo is so he can fix this! Oh, there he is. He looks so tired. And he's rubbing his wrist. I wonder what's up with that.

"My shoulder hurts!" I call over to him. He whips his head to look at me. His face is carefully blank and neutral as he walks over to me.

I'm still in my tank top and a little bit self-conscious. Leo gently touches the wound. Surprisingly, for a mechanic, his hands are smooth, yet hard and his fingers are long and nimble. Swiftly, though a little shakily, he takes off my bandages and sling and runs his finger over the wound. His brow furrows in concern.