Bookmark (New and Improved)

Annabeth I

"In the attic." Nico said dryly.

"Uh-huh." There was no turning back now.

"In the dark."

"It... calms me down?"

"Without telling anyone."

"Kinda... wanted to just be alone...?"

"Doing what?"

"Uh... nothing?"

"I see..." the son of Hades narrowed his eyes.

For a moment, Leo couldn't help but feel a sense of hope that he might get out of this scot-free. Maybe Nico take pity on him and just drop the conversation. He seemed like a loner type of guy, he had to know what it feels like to want to be alone.   

His hopes were crushed, when Nico reared his fist back and struck him in the arm.

"Ow!" Leo yelled, eyes wide. He clutched his wounded appendage, suddenly feeling more awake. 

"What was that for?!"

"For giving me such a stupid lie!" the son of Hades snapped. "And this is for scaring the crap out of me!"

He punched him again in the other arm.

"Ow!" 

"I thought you ran away! I would've Shadow Traveled all over New York looking for you, if Will hadn't suggested we search here!" Nico yelled, waving his arms. "What are you really doing here anyway?"

Nico's eyes zeroed in on the book clutched against Leo's chest. 

"What are you reading?" he frowned.

"Nothing!" Leo said too quickly. He slammed the book shut and shoved it in his tool belt.

He'll do his research later.

"It had to be something for you to want to be so secretive about it." Nico huffed. His body relaxing from his earlier tense posture. Apparently punching him must've felt very soothing. "Whatever, as long as I've found you, I guess it doesn't matter. Let's go downstairs and tell everyone you're still here."

The son of Hades waited until Leo walked in front of him, before the two boys went downstairs.

"You found him!" Will said brightly, seeing the two come back from the attic. He grinned at Nico. "See, I told you he couldn't have gotten far."

"Yeah, yeah." Nico grumbled. "He shouldn't have even left his cabin in the first place."

"Right." Will frowned at the son of Hephaestus. His hair was sticking out in random places and was covered in cobwebs; his eyes were bloodshot and half-lidded due to lack of sleep. The only thing that looked neat about him, was his outfit which was handmade by some 'mystery seamstress'. Other than that he was a complete wreck.

"Do you have any idea how worried we were?" Will scolded. "Next time you decide to run off, you need to tell someone!"

"Sorry." Leo yawned.

"And what were you doing in the attic anyway?" the son of Apollo asked, picking the cobwebs out and attempting to fix his hair. "Couldn't have been sleeping, that's for sure. You look like you're going to pass out any minute."

"Nah. I'm an insomniac, remember?" the son of Hephaestus closed his eyes before snapping them open again.

"Stop saying that." Will groaned. "There's a difference between being unable to sleep vs. not wanting to sleep."

"I don't know what exactly he was doing," Nico told him. "But when I came upstairs, he looked like he was reading something."

"Reading?" Will repeated incredulously. He turned to Leo. "So after we spent hours reading The Lost Hero, you decided to sneak out in the middle of the night, stay up, and skip breakfast, just so you can read another book."