Solangelo One Shots

Winter Nights

Flashback

It was December 19th. Nico always remembered the day vividly. He was 10 while his sister, Bianca, was 12. He remembered the dingy orphanage, the flickering lamps overhead, the mussed up beds sitting next to each other.

Many others found this time to be grim, the longing for a family to comfort them being magnified ten-fold. But Bianca always tried to lighten the mood. She always managed to find some extra lights and decorations. She would round up the littler ones to help her decorate while the older ones would look on with fondness.

Nico always admired her for being able to bring light to a dark situation. She always cheered people up and got them to see the brighter side of a situation. She was always there for everyone.

And that was her downfall.

———

Nico trudged up back to his dorm room after a tiring day at work. God, he really hated—no, despised—that stupid coffee shop. Half-Blood Café. What kind of freaking name was that anyways?

When he unlocked the door he was greeted to the sight of Jason, his roommate, cuddling with Piper on their couch and Leo rummaging through their fridge.

Nico dropped his keys on the table and sulked over the the fridge.

"Move it, Valdez."

"Hey, hey! I'm just grabbing some food so I can power through my workload."

Nico sighed in resignation before saying, "Fine, but if you take my chocolate milk, I will slay you."

Leo gave Nico a sly grin before reaching in and grabbing the last carton of chocolate milk. "You mean this?"

"Leo..." Nico growled.

Leo hesitated for a moment before running out the door cackling.

Nico rushed after him but he was too tired to deal with Leo's antics. "I swear to god, Valdez! Sleep with one eye open!"

Nico groaned and turned around. Jason and Piper looked at him with a mix of pity and amusement.

"Bad day at work?" Jason asked.

"Ugh, you have no idea!" Nico began. "This rude customer started berating me for adding too much coffee!"

Piper snorted to which Nico responded, "I know right?! Ridiculous! He kept complaining and it really started to wear my patience off. So I might've accidentally spilled the coffee on him."

Jason gasped and Piper tsked. Nico ignored them.

"Then lo and behold, Annabeth appears right behind me and she's got this firm grip on my shoulder and she looks over at the man and kicks him out. And after that, I got a stern talking to with one or two threats. So yeah, I'm having a bad day."

Piper sighed and got up, stretching. "Sorry, dude. It'll get better." She turned to Jason and kissed him before saying her goodbyes and leaving, giving Nico a tight hug.

Nico collapsed onto the spot where Piper was previously. He could feel his roommate's hard gaze directed at him.

"What," Nico snapped, his eyes glued to the television screen. He saw the mute button pop up and Jason settling into the space beside him.

"I know how you get around this time of the year, Nico." Jason stated. Nico stayed silent. "And I know you're gonna need a little bit of space. But you don't have to keep it all to yourself. Me, Piper, Leo, Hazel and the rest all have your back. So don't hesitate to come to us, okay?"