*your POV*
I sat on a high branch up in a tree in the forest part of Camp Half- Blood. I swing my legs back and forward, leaning my head against the thick part of the tree. The sun was just setting and it was beautiful. My thoughts were interrupted by a snap of a twig. I look down to see Nico casually walking around with his hands in his pockets.
"Hey Joe." I say. I call him Joe because when I first came to camp he wouldn't tell me his name. I mean I know it's Nico now but it just stuck. He looked up and sighed.
"Hi (y/n)." He said as he started to climb the tree. I smiled as he plopped down next to me. We don't say anything we just sit with each other watching the sunset. I happened to glance at his wrist. I see the old scars faintly,
but I see the fresh cuts too. It kills me to see him hurt himself. Percy and Grover have told me how they used to find Nico's perkyness (is that even a word?) annoying but I would give anything to see him happy. I may or may not have a crush on the boy in black. I'm snapped back into reality when Nico grabs my hand and intertwined our fingers. I blush and look down, then I remembered what I was thinking about.
"Nico?" I ask. He looks up, surprised by the fact that I had used his real name. Tears gathered in my eyes as he stared at me.
"What's wrong?" Nico wonders.
"Why do you do this?" I asked him and lightly run my fingers along the scars. He looked down.
"It hurts (y/n). It really really hurts. You being with me, trying to help me, it helps but it's not enough..." he forces out. I can tell it's hard for him to talk about, I had heard what happened to his sister. I looked at him and saw the tears running down his face, that's when I realized warm salty tears ran down mine too. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he sobbed silently into my shoulder. He wrapped his arms around my waist and squeezed slightly.
"P-please don't leave me." Nico says into my shoulder.
"I won't. I promise." I swear even though I can't really make sure I keep that problem not with the life we live, "Promise me you'll come to me instead of the blade next time." I say, still crying.
"I p-promise. I love you (y/n)." He mumbled. My heart did cart wheels and I couldn't help but smile.
"I love you too." I grin as I ran my hands through his shaggy hair.
