Bruises | Solangelo | Mortal AU

Chapter 9

It has been three weeks since Nico quit and got his new job at Chase Space. He has been a lot happier. He has been going out with the gang and having fun. It's amazing to see. His wounds from Luke have even gotten better. They are now just faint marks and bruises. Everything was going great. Now, we are having lunch with our friends... That Nico planned. 

;;;

"Oh, my gods! You did not actually say that!" Leo cackled. 

Leo was slapping the table like a turtle on steroids, laughing at a story Percy just told. Jason was doing Piper's makeup, Nico was watching Leo like he was a science experiment, Hazel was eating a cinnamon roll, and Frank was observing everyone. 

"Not my proudest moment, but I did," Percy said. 

Annabeth shook her head. Her blonde ponytail moved side to side like a flag. "You can't afford to get expelled again, now that you are the captain of the swim team," Annabeth scolded softly. Like she was talking to a puppy. 

"I know but..." Percy's voice trailed off. "Who's that?"

A stalky blonde male was walking towards us and stopped at edge of our table. "Luke?" Annabeth asked, tilting her head. "What...are you doing here?"

He crossed his arms. "I just thought you might want to know what your little black-haired friend tried to do to me."

I looked at Nico and he suddenly became very interested in his napkin. Annabeth looked between Nico and Luke. "Luke, what are you talking about?"

"Nico falsely accused me of assault. I patted him on the back and he got offended. Told the cops that I was assaulting him for weeks. I'm being accused of hate-crime because Nico is gay, which I have no problem with. I can't be homophobic, I literally have a gay friend." Leo and Hazel's eyes widened at the remark and Jason put down his makeup brushes but before anyone could say anything Luke kept going. "He told Will that I was abusing him and they showed up at the shelter, told me off. Will got all dom-like and threatened me."

I stood up placing my hands on the table. "Now, wait a dam minute-"

Annabeth stood and held up her hand and I knew better than to argue with her so I stopped talking and sat back down. Annabeth looked expectantly at Nico, as did the rest of the group. Nico turned red and became a stuttering mess, fiddling with his napkin. "I... Uh... He... I... Um..." I placed a hand on his back. 

I locked eyes with him and nodded. We had a silent conversation. 

What if they don't believe me? 

They will. 

But what if they don't?

It's okay. I have a good feeling they will believe you. 

I nodded at him and he looked up at the group brushing his hair from out of his eyes. He sat up straight and took a deep breath. "Luke is lying. For months he'd beat me unconscious or slice me open with knives." Nico went on to tell everyone what had happened. Luke's face grew red with anger boiling inside him and every so often would try to speak but Annabeth would raise her hand without looking at him and he would shut up. Looks like Luke is either scared of Annabeth or smart enough to shut your mouth when she tells you to. 

When Nico came to an end, Hazel wiped a tear from her face. The only people in the group who weren't stunned with a baffled look on their face was were Annabeth, who was growing angry but trying to keep in under control, (that girl's death glare is dangerous all times of the year). Luke, who was getting ready to defend himself by thinking of the right lies to tell. Then, Frank, who's brows were furrowing and he got a very scary look on his face. 

Unfortunately, Luke found his lies. "Annabeth!" Annabeth turned her head towards him, they were the only ones standing. Annabeth's face also resumed being neutral. 

"Yes, Luke?" Her tone was dead of emotion. I knew her just well enough that I knew that was the tone she used when she made up her mind about something and there was no changing it. 

"He's lying! Are you going to choose his story over mine?" Luke gestured between him and Nico violently. 

Annabeth stayed quiet for a minute. Everyone was staring at her, waiting for what she was going to say. Was she going to agree with Nico? Or Luke?

"Yes," she said finally. 

Luke's face turned over from anger to disbelief and flipped to a shade a betrayal all in a second. "You've known me since you were seven! You've only known him a few months!"

Annabeth licked her lips and narrowed her eyes. "Yes, which is how I know this is something you are capable of. You said you wouldn't do it again... Not after Thalia. Nico's story matches hers exactly. I wanted to believe you could change. I guess some part of me knew you wouldn't, but I'm sorry, Luke." She laughed humourlessly and shook her head and looked at Luke. "Wait, actually, no I'm not." 

She went to step towards him but before she could even think about getting close to him, Frank stood up and walked over to Luke and grabbed his shirt. They were roughly the same height. Frank was about two inches taller. However, Frank was way more burly than Luke. "Nobody touches my family," Frank said before planting his knuckles on Luke's nose. "Go away, and if I ever see you around any one of my friends again, I'll do a lot worse than just flatten your nose." Frank promptly dropped Luke and he scrambled away (and I would too if I was Luke, Frank was big and scary) as Frank sat down and popped his knuckles. 

Nico was staring at Frank in shock, mouth dropped wide open. The rest of the crew was hooting and hollering at Frank's random outburst of protectiveness, giving him props. I scooted my hand closer to Nico's under the table and he wrapped his fingers around mine. He looked at me and I gave him a small smile. The group quieted down and was looking at me and Nico. As if I could read Nico's mind, I asked, "Hey guys. You might if Nico and I duck out early? That was a lot for one lunch."

As soon as I said it, Nico immediately relaxed. Percy nodded. "Go right ahead. That would be overwhelming for anyone." He paused for a second and looked at Nico. "And Nico? Thanks for telling us. We are going to back you up all the way. You're our family."

Nico looked somewhere in between 'I'm stunned' and 'I'm gonna pass out'. I wrapped my arm around his shoulder and guided him to the car, knowing that Percy was the kind of guy that would understand Nico was shocked and was okay that he didn't answer. Once we got in the car, I asked Nico, "You went to the police?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I, uh... Wanted to report him. So it didn't happen to someone else. Sorry, I didn't tell you, I just... Wanted some time to think before I did." 

I put a hand on his knee. "And that's perfectly okay." 

I turned and started the car. Nico was silent for more or less of the ride, but after we left the coffee shop he smiled to himself. "They called me family," he whispered to himself and then chuckled lightly leaning his head against the window. 

I smiled at him and turned up the radio. We drove home with 'Here Comes the Sun' playing in our ears and we were both content. Nico was happy.