The Angel In The Sun

Hope is the thing with feather's

"You're here!" Percy ran towards us as soon as Nico and I stepped out of the car. He extended his hand for a handshake, but Nico tackled him in a hug. Percy's face splits into a huge grin, which is a reasonable reaction since it was his birthday.

It was nice to see Nico being physically open, especially since he wouldn't even let me take a blood sample from him a few weeks ago. But yet, it doesn't mean he is completely healed. Nico's problem was more psychological after all that has happened to him. No amount of medicines or drugs can ever heal a mental illness. It always lurks around. I had seen campers go insane before, too far gone to be recovered. I can only hope Nico is strong enough to hold himself.Annabeth patting me lightly on my shoulder reminded me this wasn't a place to think about such things. She is almost half a foot taller than me, and I look up at her and smile.

"Hey," she said, returning my smile, "glad you could make it. Percy was half-afraid you would ditch us,""Nico wouldn't do that," I replied. "he was looking forward to seeing you. And also, a night away from camp would be good for him. It doesn't really have the best memories for him,"

Percy's mom yelled for him from inside, to bring us inside, and Nico follows him, telling Jules-Albert to stay around the corner. Annabeth and I walked behind slowly up the stairs, and I keep an eye on Nico, feeling slightly overwhelmed with Percy around.

Annabeth digs her hands into her pockets, staring into the distance, "We have all seen people die. It's part of being a demigod. But camp is still home for me. It always will be. Nico will- adjust once he finds a reason to be there." She looks at me and smirks, "though it looks like he already has,"I raise my eyebrows and walked away smiling to herself.

The Jackson apartment is as cosy as you can expect a house to be. Comfortable, warm, with the smell of lasagna wafting through the air. I watch as Nico looks around, his eyes wide. I realize that he probably hasn't been inside a proper in a long, long time.

"Hey, Nico," an elderly woman walks out the door, who I assume is Mrs Jackson, and squeezes Nico in a hug. I expect Nico to pull out, but I'm surprised as he hugs her back, his eyes misty.

After letting go of Nico, she comes over to me with a warm smile. I extend my hand. "How are you, Mrs Jackson?""You must be Will. I've heard so much about you, sweetie. It's actually Mrs Blofis now," she says, showing a ring placed on her finger, "and you can call me Sally. Or mom if you want to. This house is a safe space for demigods. We still have an hour before we leave. You two can make yourselves comfortable."

Mrs Jackson walks back into the room she came from, and I realized Percy and Annabeth have disappeared too.I look over at Nico, who still seems lost. I put my arm around him. "pleasant house, isn't it?"He smiles briefly, "better than my cabin. That's for sure."

I nod my head and he punches my arm and holds it tightly immediately after. We sit on a couch talking softly and laughing, waiting for our friends to get dressed.I love how Nico is now. Warmer. He doesn't flinch when I touch him. That's how I want forever to be. Just us, in every way we are. That may not always be possible with Nico, but I still want to try. I tell him that, and all he says is "Me too,"

And for the first time in forever, maybe I can see that he wants to try to be happy. Wants to try to live. For the first time, I see hope in him, though in some way it was always there.

Number one: I know the title isn't technically a song but I thought it fits really well with the theme of the chapter so I just went with it. For anyone who doesn't know, its a poem by the poet Emily Dickinson.

Number two: To anyone who was actually reading this, this is going to be the last chapter because otherwise its going to drag along for  a really long time, and I thought the ending was appropriate enough for me to end it. So that's it. I have other stories if you want to check those out.