Did he regret asking Hazel Levesque out? Not exactly. But partially. It was Rachel's fault. Frank had simply talked to Hazel at Reyna's party and of course Rachel had to see. So of course Rachel started saying 'you'd be so cute together!' Then the next day Rachel was like 'hey Frank hypothetically if I stole your phone and asked Hazel out what would you do?'. I mean, he wasn't mad. He was glad. Sort of. He'd apologised for Rachel then asked her out himself, though they'd only talked once. Ever since, Rachel, Grover and Percy have been lecturing him on how to be perfect. As if they'd ever been on a date. Was this a date? No. Maybe. Frank didn't know.
Frank offered to collect her and take her to the theatre, as they'd been talking about the new Avengers movie at Reyna's party and planned to go see it together. Hazel said she'd meet him there.
He pulled into the parking lot outside the theatre, seeing the di Angelo-Levesque car. Hazel was already standing outside the car, her half brother, Nico, fixing her hair. She looked even more beautiful than she did the night of the party. Nico saw Frank and hugged Hazel, before getting back into the car.
• • •
They walked into the theatre together, both of them attempting smalltalk. Frank bought the tickets and popcorn. Hazel was quiet, but she was laughing and smiling a lot. They took their seats, Hazel talking about her life in Alaska. Frank told her about the times when he'd lived in Canada, before moving in with his grandmother when his mother joined the war. Hazel was a good listener, but they both had to stop talking when he movie started.
[NICO DI ANGELO]
Nico was about to get back into the car and beg Jules-Albert to go to the pet shop when he seen Rachel Dare walking around the car park, phone to her ear. He still hadn't blocked her, but hadn't texted her either. For some reason he felt guilty.
"Hey, Jules-Albert, you go on. I'll meet you back here in like- an hour."
"Mister di Angelo, I cannot leave you here alone."
"I'm sixteen, I can look after myself. And I mightn't be alone."
It took a while, but he eventually convinced Jules-Albert that he'd be okay alone.
Rachel was off the phone by now. Nico was terrible at talking to people and talking to Rachel seemed even scarier. She knew.
He finally summed up the courage to approach her.
"Rachel. Hi."
"Hey." Rachel said, texting someone on her phone. She looked up. "Oh! Nico! Hi." She put her phone in her pocket.
"Look- I'm really sorry for ignoring you and- everything. I was scared."
Rachel smiled. "Yeah, I'm so scary."
"Well- no." Nico sighed. He didn't want to bring it up.
"I get it. I understand."
"Please tell me you didn't tell him."
"Of course not. It's not my place, even if he's my best friend."
Nico would've been lying if he said he wasn't surprised. For some reason he expected Rachel to tell Percy straight away.
"Thank you. Can we pretend it never happened?"
Rachel shrugged. "What never happened?."
"Hilarious." Nico said sarcastically, though he was trying not to smile.
"Hey, but you shouldn't hate Percy. Seriously."
Nico had a suspicion that Rachel knew about Bianca. She'd been one Percy's best friends for the past four years.
"Hating him isn't the only problem."
Rachel raised an eyebrow. "Love is funny like that."
"I don't love him. I hate him."
"Hate is a strong word."
"So is love."
It wasn't a lie- love was a stretch. Percy was good looking and funny but Nico didn't think he could ever actually fall in love with him, even if Percy liked him back for some stupid reason. Especially not after everything that had happened.
"Holding grudges is never a good thing, Nico. But if you're sure, then there'll be some other guy you'll fall in love with and they'll fall in love with you. Trust me."
"You don't know that."
"They don't call me the Oracle of Delphi for no reason." Rachel winked.
"No one calls you that apart from yourself." Nico couldn't help but smile.
"Right, right. Someday they will. Love will be found where you least expect it." Rachel said.
"Uh-huh. Anyway, what are you doing here?" Nico asked, anxious to change the subject.
"Waiting for Frank to force him to tell me everything."
"You do know the movie only started?"
"I need to figure out how to get into his car." Rachel grinned, walking around Frank's car.
"You're breaking into his car?!"
"Yeah, so when I question him he can't leave."
"Hm. Pretty good idea."
"Oh, also, Percy and Grover are gonna be here in a few minutes to help, so if you don't wanna be around him.." Rachel paused. "I'm not saying you should go! I'm just saying if you want to-"
"No, no. I'll go don't worry."
"Alright, see you around Nico. And don't ignore me anymore!"
Nico smiled. "Sure thing. Thanks Rachel." He walked off, calling Jules-Albert.
[FRANK ZHANG]
When the movie ended, they walked outside, non stop talking to each other. Hazel's driver wasn't there yet, so Frank waited outside with her. Normally he was terrible at talking to people, but Hazel was so easy to get along with. She was funny, kind and insanely beautiful. Her chauffeur arrived and Hazel pulled Frank closer to her, since he was quite a lot taller, kissing his cheek before saying goodbye.
"See you soon!" She waved, walking away. Frank took that as a good sign and headed back to his car. He tried unlock it before realising it was already unlocked. He must've been so nervous he forgot. He opened the door and got into the drivers seat, before almost having a heart attack.
"Hi Frankie!" Rachel said, jumping from the backseat into shotgun.
"RACHEL!" Frank yelled a little louder than intended. "Do you want me to die?! And don't call me Frankie."
"Hi Frank!" Percy and Grover said in unison.
"You both, too?!" Frank turned around, seeing them in the backseat.
"Yeah, so, remember that time you let me borrow your car when mine was getting fixed?" Grover asked, holding up the spare keys to Frank's car. "I kinda forgot to give these back so- we got into your car!"
"I hate you all."
"Cute! Anyway can you drop me home on your way? Also how was it? Tell us everything." Percy said. Frank started the car, knowing there'd be no way to escape.
"It was great."
———
Word Count: 1101
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A/N: me: *goes to write Frank's chapters* *WRITING SLUMP*
Frank mans I love you so much but why is your POV so hard to write from 😭😭😭
Anyway Frazel :) even though half the chapter is nicos pov :)
Also i (obviously) don't ship pernico, but it may sound like it from nico's pov. But nah. Hey, Rachel Nico friendship!! Yay!!
Ahh timeline thing for my boy fzhang
Ages 0-13
Frank was born and raised in Canada. His mother was Chinese and father was Canadian (so, he's Canadian Chinese, obviously). Frank's surname is legally his mother's maiden name cause why not? (Idk, bro. I'm so sorry it's 2am while i write this). When Frank was three, his father joined the war, being killed two years later when Frank was five. He has barely any memories of his father because of it, but his mother raised him on stories about his father.
Ages 14-17
When Frank was fourteen, his mother became a Canadian soldier, fighting a war in Afghanistan. Frank didn't want her to go, afraid the same thing would happen to her as did his dad, but Emily assured him she'd return safely. Frank moved in with his Grandmother in America, beginning high school in New York. In his sophomore year, Emily died saving her friends from a grenade. He spent a long time grieving and is now in his senior year.