Shoot an Arrow Through His Heart

Phase Four: Let's Go to the Dam Snackbar

CHAPTER SUMMARY

Valentine's day arrives.

BEGINNING NOTES

Word Count: 2688
Content Warning: None

I was too tired to post yesterday (my dogs only let me get three hours of sleep and then I had a late shift at work) so I decided to morning post.

Hard to believe we're more than halfway through. Enjoy, guys :)

And all the characters are owned by Rick Riordan.

Credits at the end.

Aaaaand, we're online.

Perfect, thanks, Nico.

It's what I'm here for. You know we gotta finish this today if you want it ready in time. I'm going to have a lot to edit.

Well, let's get started, then.

Will told me the good news when he and Nico got back from the Field of Mars. I was so happy I almost screamed. It took a few months, but my plan was working. This was the first time since, like, ever that Nico actually made a friend. Six years of badgering and all it took was some cash from my pocket? I should've done this years ago, I thought.

Things couldn't have gone better that January. Nico joined Percy, Will, and I in the afternoons to do homework. He talked, he laughed, he even started doing this running, sarcastic commentary every time we'd read from our textbooks together. I'd never had so much fun doing homework.

I didn't catch him drunk anymore. He got high maybe once every few weeks, and only on the weekends. He still didn't talk to Persephone, but he didn't ignore her either. When she tried to talk to him directly, he'd usually give one-word answers, or a nod, a smile, a wave, something like that. It was progress, to say the least, and Persephone took solace in the little victory.

Solace. Heh.

No pun intended.

Accidental puns are the best.

In early February, while the four of us were doing homework, Hazel and Reyna came thundering down the stairs. I heard Reyna saying something like, "Hazel, you can't force them to do that."

Percy raised his eyebrows. Will and I laughed; Nico dropped his eyes to the floor and shrugged.

I didn't want them to see I was blushing.

Hazel and Reyna came into the living room... well, Hazel came into the living room. Reyna was kind of dragged in.

"Can we interrupt?" Hazel asked.

"It's just homework, you're not interrupting anything," I said.

"Yeah, give me any reason to put off trig," Percy said. "I get it, Sine, Cosine, Tangent. Why do worksheets fucking exist when we can use calculators?"

"I'm with you there," Will said. "What's up, little sis?"

Hazel smiled. She loves it when Will calls her that. "So, the Valentine's Day dance is in ten days..." she began. I saw Nico stiffen up, but he didn't say anything or storm out of the room. Again, little victories. "We should all go together and do something before the party!"

"You don't want to spend the afternoon with Octavian?" I asked.

"He's busy," Hazel said quickly. "I thought we could do like a triple date. Percy, Annabeth, you and Will, Nico and me."