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

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Merrily POV

*one month later*

Giggling could be heard over the quiet of Camp Half-Blood. 

"Shhh! You're gonna wake up Chiron!" Abigail and I raced over to the Hades cabin with our pillows and blankets. We'd decided to do a movie night after the events of the past few months. I was emotionally drained and it took a while for Leo and I to completely heal. Heck, we're still working out some things. So that's why Abigail suggested a little bit of healthy rebellion. 

I knocked on the black-painted door of the Hades cabin. I heard hurried footsteps and I was greeted by a smirking Chey.

"C'mon!" she smiled. "Once David gets here, we're going to go work on something." Chey ushers us inside. Chey is wearing a T-shirt and pajama pants with kaleidoscope flowers on them. Nico, who is currently guzzling a black coffee is in a similar outfit except his pants are black. 

"What are we watching?" I asked cautiously.

"Well, since you said no to It, and Happy Death Day, we decided on..." I held my breath. If it was another horror movie I was gonna--

"Ferris Bueller's Day Off," Nico smirked at us. 

Chey bumped me lightly with her hip as she went to go answer the door. "We know you guys hate horror stuff. Trust us, this one's funny." Abigail and I share a glance and shake our heads. The door opens to reveal David, Ryan, and Taylor. 

"Hey, guys!" I greeted. Abigail rushed up to Ryan and gave him a kiss on the lips and then pecked Taylor on the forehead.

"Where's my kiss?" David asked jokingly. Abigail and I shared a glance and we both gave him a small kiss on his cheeks. He smiled and gave us a brotherly hug. 

"Ugh, you guys are ridiculous," Chey groaned. "Come on loser." 

"That would be me." David and Chey disappeared out the door and Ryan continued in. While we waited for Leo to arrive I drifted over to Nico's collection of records. 

"Gods, these are so old!" I said quietly. 

"Who're you calling old?" Nico laughed, giving me a smile that was probably meant to look creepy. 

I laugh back. "Aren't you like eighty or something? Who are these bands anyway?" Nico proceeded to show me records from bands I'd never heard of like the Hoosier Hot Shots and Harry Roy and his Band. Meanwhile, I was vaguely aware of Abigail and Ryan chatting quietly with a now around six-month-old Taylor snuggled between them. 

In the middle of Nico explaining all about the era of swing dancing, someone knocked at the door again. 

"I'll get it!" Ryan offered and stood up. The door opened and there was Leo, glasses perched dangerously on his dark curls and a blanket thrown haphazardly across his shoulders.

"Sorry I'm late," he breathed. "Harles wanted a bedtime story and-"

Nico waved him off. "Yeah yeah, whatever. Just get in here. Once Chey and David get back, we're going to test out my new ouija board."

I pause in kissing Leo. "I was not told about any ouija board."

"Uh duh, it's in every teen movie ever," Abigail insisted. "It'll be fun!"

"Didn't like all of those movies end with the teenagers getting killed?" Ryan asked hesitantly. Taylor clapped her hands in happiness. Abigail just shrugged and wandered over to Nico's closet. 

I sighed and pecked Leo on the lips. "How are you?"

"You just saw me today," Leo frowned.

"Nice try." I nudged him.

He smiles reassuringly at me. "I'm perfectly fine. Now go back to your records." I smirk at him. Leo heads over to Ryan and they start talking about who knows what while Abigail shouts criticism from Nico's closet. Finally, Chey and David come back with...

"What's that?" Abigail narrowed her eyes and waved a hand in front of her nose.

"It was supposed to be a cake," Chey said. The cake in question looked like the middle hadn't been properly cooked and the outside was burnt. Icing covered the majority of the cake and Chey and David. 

"How much icing actually made it on the cake?" Leo joked. Chey glared at him and David set the cake down mournfully. 

"Movie time?" 

"Nope," Nico said. "Ouija board time."

"Yes!" Chey laughed. 

Six ghosts, a broken table and a lot of screaming later, we burned the ouija board. 

I clutched the splintered leg of the table tightly and stared around the room. My friends were hiding in various places all of whom's eyes were sliding furtively around the room, hoping a particularly violent Revolutionary War ghost didn't come back.

At last, we settled on Nico's small couch. Because Nico was the only Hades child (and because he visited his father regularly, he knew there weren't others) it gave him the space to spread out, hence the small living area. Leo and I settled in the corner of the couch. I got to be the little spoon, which was fine by me because that meant Leo was warming me. Abigail and Ryan were underneath us, snuggled under a cozy quilt. Across the couch from us, Chey and Nico were huddled in a heap. Chey was leaning in Nico's lap with a blanket around both of them. For once, neither of them were arguing and Nico's hands were tangled in Chey's curly hair. David was sitting on the ground below Chey and Nico, eating popcorn and bouncing a laughing Taylor. 

All while the movie played, I couldn't help but look around at all my friends and see just how much we'd all grown. David had finally found a safe place; a place where he knew he was loved and appreciated. He had new friends and people that believed in him no matter what. And that knowledge had definitely changed him for the better, as I watched him dramatically lip-sync to Ferris's song with Taylor on his hip. He had new friends and people that believed in him no matter what.

Ryan was finally free. He had lost his old family and his old girlfriend, but he'd gotten his best friend back, a beautiful baby daughter and a wonderful girlfriend. He was free to make mistakes and learn from them, now with a strong support system always behind him.

Abigail... she'd finally told all of us her story. I could see the weight lift off her shoulders when we hugged her and reassured her that we would always love her and that we'd be her best friends no matter what. And with Ryan by her side, I know she has all the support she needs and then some. 

Chey had opened her heart. Now that she was surrounded by people who always looked for the best in her, she tried to be the best she could be. With friends to confide in and a boyfriend who was introverted, yes, but dependable all the same, Chey could test her limits and be herself. 

Nico, I didn't know much about and I still don't. Maybe he'd always be this closed off, I don't know. But while he'd lost a lot, he'd gained more. He had friends in so many different places and sometimes that was easy to forget, especially when they weren't around. But now he had us. A group of people that were always going to be there no matter what; whether Nico liked it or not. And a firey girlfriend who would most definitely keep him in check. 

Leo. The one who always tried to crack a joke and make people smile but forgot to smile himself. The one who was sometimes underappreciated. But, even though his so-called friends were off having their own adventures, he'd always have a place here with us. People that will always appreciate him and lift him up and let him know that it was okay to be weak, but at the same time, deliver a good punch in the face if need be. 

And me I guess. I know I've grown a lot. I've had my heart run over and then fixed and run over again, but this time, I think it might be fixed for good. My friends and my amazing boyfriend have changed me in so many different ways and I'm so thankful to them for everything. 

I watch my friends laugh as the principal makes a fool of himself yet again in the movie, and feel Leo's fingers twirling through my hair. I snuggle closer to him and see Chey stick her tounge out at me playfully. David and Nico have both fallen asleep and Taylor is crawling contentedly on the floor.

I smile to myself.

I've found my family. I've found my home.