Shadows Fall to Flames. {{valdangelo}}

Chapter 6

Per Nico's request, Leo had kept the events of last week to himself.
That didn't mean he was ok with it.

To be perfectly honest, Leo was tempted to tell Annabeth everything, she always knew what to do. But on the other hand he really didn't want to betray Nico's trust, the kid was already emotionally unstable, Leo wasn't sure Nico could deal with his secret getting out.

Leo grabbed his head angrily, pulling at his hair a little harder than necessary.

He'd been trying to help his friend without being too obvious. He could tell Nico appreciated it, yet for some reason the son of Hades seemed more closed off then normal, avoiding Leo wherever and whenever he could.
It was quite possibly due to the guilt he was carrying (Leo knew how he felt) but the Latino doubted it. There was something deeper at play here.

Leo glanced through the doorway of Cabin 9, catching sight of Nico slouching past the sword fighting arena wearing his trade mark black aviators jacket.

Running to catch up with his younger friend, Leo pushed away his brooding thoughts trying to be as happy and supportive as a pleasantly graffitied structural pillar.

'Hey Neeks' he called,

Nico hunching his shoulders was the only form of recognition Leo received.

'Watcha up to' Leo continued his valiant efforts to keep up a conversation,

'Nothing' Nico sighed 'and don't call me Neeks'

'Cool! Let's go for a walk'

'Isn't that what we're doing'

Leo merely waved away the counter argument 'you coming or not' without waiting for an answer he grabbed Nico by the hand and ran towards the forest, half dragging the Italian behind him.

'Leo! Whoa! L..Leo, slow down!' Nico protested as he stumbled along,

Leo came to a sudden holt to make sure no one was watching where they were going, accidentally causing Nico to trip over his abductors foot.

'Whoa there!' Leo caught Nico knight in shining armour style like they do in all the cheesy romantic movies.

They stayed like that for a second, the son of Hades wide eyed staring up at his saviour, Leo with one hand on Nico's back and the other resting on his waist.

'Uhhhhh' he staid stupidly, the blush spreading across his face perfectly mirroring Nico's.

Mcshizle supreme, master of awkward situations pulled Nico all the way up before fidgeting nervously with some screws in his pocket.

'S..so where are we going' leave it up to Nico to get them back on track

'Oh!' Leo face brightened as he clung onto the new topic 'into the woods!'

'I thought as much' Nico muttered darkly.

And so they went, strolling through the tall trees, clambering over fallen branches, jumping small streams.

'This is nice' Leo said

They'd stopped in a small clearing. The sun filtered cheerfully through the canopy, leaving the mossy ground in dappled light.

He collapsed onto his back, like he intended to take a nap.

Nico stood awkwardly at the edge of the glade, scratching his wrists absentmindedly.

Leo noticed this and immediately sat up, startling the boy in front of him.

'Cmon' Leo encouraged, patting the ground beside him,