I stared up at Nico feeling the pink start to form on my cheeks.
Then I remembered my predicament and I busted into sobs once more.
"Hey, hey what's wrong?" Nico asked me crouching down in front of me. He reached his hand out and pushed the hair away from my face.
"Why are you crying?" He asked me concerned. He looked between my eyes his hands resting on either side of my face.
"Cause the worlds a bitch" I said simply and Nico nodded.
Then he stood up and offered me a hand. I accepted it and as soon as I was back on two feet he pulled me into his chest.
"I know that, but what about that has got you crying this late at night?" Nico asked me.
"I lost all of my best friends. Leo, Lyssa, Aaron, and Elise, they're all gone" I sniffled and Nico squeezed me a little tighter.
"I'm still here Lily" he whispered and I felt my heart flutter, suddenly forgetting why I had been so upset.
I then realized the proximity of Nico and I, we were touching, a lot. My face was buried in his chest, that from the feel of it was very nicely sculpted.
"I'll walk you back to your cabin" Nico whispered after a little while longer and I quickly shook my head.
"No, not there please" I begged him and he didn't question me instead he just nodded.
"Should I take you to the infirmary?" He asked and I shook my head again.
"I can't stand the thought of being there alone, it's creepy and I don't want to be alone right now" I said my voice so fragile and high that I knew it was the weakest I had ever been in my life.
"I'll stay with you if you want" Nico said softly and I stared into his dark eyes.
They were deep, mysterious, and almost scary, but there was also a bit of compassion mixed in. In fact, the longer I stared into his eyes the warmer they became, the more inviting they were.
"Thank you" I said simply, after realizing I had spent a lot of time staring into his eyes and not a quite but speaking.
He offered me a small smile and nodded.
"Anything for you Lily" he said and my heart jumped in my chest.
Nico then grabbed my hand and led my down the rest of the path before we reached the connecting path to the infirmary. From there he didn't drop my hand, instead he gave me comforting squeezes and even occasionally traced circles with his thumb on it. My problems were starting to grow smaller and smaller the longer I was with Nico, with him, I felt safe. With him, I was happy.
With him, I didn't need anyone else.
A small feeling in my stomach kept telling me that maybe I had a chance with this incredibly attractive son of Hades. Maybe, just maybe, he felt the same way I did.
Unfortunately an even bigger feeling in my brain was telling me
DON'T BE AN IDIOT!!!
So I didn't to long on those thoughts not wanting to ruin the butterflies.
It was only a couple minutes walking to the infirmary, but every minute with Nico either felt like a lifetime or a second. This time, it was a second. So, before long, we had reached the doors to the infirmary and Nico was pulling me towards the new wing. It seemed like in only an instant was I back in the same room I slept in the last time I was here.
"I'll stay with you as long as you'd like" Nico said and I gave him a grateful smile.
"Thank you Nico" I said once again and he waved it off.
I looked at him and noticed his shaggy black hair was a mess a top his head and the bags under his eyes were thick and purple.
Guess I'm not the only one who's been having trouble sleeping.
"Why were you out on the path this late at night?" I asked him and he stiffened a bit.
"Can't sleep" He said and I raised an eyebrow at him.
"Bad dreams?" I guessed and he shook his head.
"I'm just not tired, I guess" he lied.
It was complete and utter bullshit, anyone with eyes could see it. He looked like he was going to pass out any second, but he also looked like he was drinking just enough red bull to stay awake.
"Have you tried sleeping pills?" I asked him and he shook his head.
"No, camp doesn't supply sleeping pills and Will would murder me if I bought them outside and brought the in" He said quickly and I furrowed my eyebrows.
"How come?" I pressed.
I could see Nico was visibly uncomfortable, but I wanted to know. He deserved to sleep and he shouldn't have to be tortured by dreams to not be able to stay asleep.
"Because of Elise" he said and I cocked my head.
"She banned them?" I asked and he shook his head.
"No, she's the reason they are banned. There are other forms of sleep aids, sleeping pills are generally the strongest. We don't want to keep them in camp just in case someone starts to use them and then starts to abuse them" He explained.
"More times than not, people who take sleeping pills overdose and end up killing themselves, whether intentionally or not. That's not to say everyone who takes sleeping pills will overdose, it's just that quite a few people do" Nico added.
I nodded.
"Have you ever tried NyQuil?" I asked him and he shook his head. \
"What's that?" He asked me.
"It's like a medicine for cold and flu but can also be used to help with sleep" I suggested.
Nico nodded halfheartedly, obviously not really taking my suggestion into consideration.
"You don't want to sleep, do you?" I asked and Nico sighed shaking his head.
"I don't want to sleep but I want sleep, you know?" He said and I nodded even though I could only partially relate.
"You need the energy but you don't want all the nightmares" I guessed and he nodded staring off into the distance.
His eyes turned hazy and a saw a flicker of something I almost never saw in Nico's eyes.
Fear.
"You should try to sleep" He said to me still not breaking out of his gaze.
I looked at him worried. I didn't want to sleep until I knew he would at least try to get some rest, and that he would be okay.
"So should you" I said and his eyes snapped to mine.
"I'll go to sleep as soon as you do" He said.
I tried to believe him but the look on his face told me that it was a blatant lie. He wasn't going to try to sleep at all.
"I don't believe you" I stated honestly and he sighed.
"Please Lily, just try to sleep" He said and I shook my head.
"I'm worried Nico, it's not healthy for you to be avoiding sleep, caffeine can only hold you over for so long" I said and he sighed again.
"I know Lily, I'm just trying to hold off on sleep for as long as I can" He explained and I pursed my lips not quite ready to let this argument go.
"Nico..." I started but he cut me off.
"Please Lil, you need to sleep. I swear on the river styx that I will try to get some sleep" He said and I let my lips fall back into their normal position.
"Alright then" I said and then laid down, closing my eyes, and hoping to fall asleep.
I was able to fall asleep fairly quickly considering I had been crying, I was considerably tired but I was still surprised at how quickly I was able to fall asleep.
And for one of the first times in my life I dreamed
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"Why hello there Lillian" I heard an every familiar cocky voice say.
"What do you want Apollo?" I asked him in a bored manner.
He looked at me feigning a look of shock.
"Aren't you happy to see me?" he asked putting his hand up to his heart.
I rolled my eyes and nodded my head.
"Uhuh sure" I said and Apollo scoffed.
"Well then I guess you don't want to hear the results"
I froze as the relization hit me. He had found out who my mother was.
"Who's my mother?" I asked softly and Apollo cleared your throat.
"Well first off I'm not quite sure if you have any siblings, in fact, your mother was a goddess even I hadn't heard of until I did some digging" Apollo admitted.
"Alright then who's my mother?" I asked him not in the mood for his stalling.
"Your mother is
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A/N
Heyo
It's my last day of summer :'(
I went to a concert last night. I screamed my head off and now I can't speak.
Oops.
I have an announcement.
This story will be a stand alone spin off and I will not be continuing with Lyssa and Aaron's story after this.
I'm going to focus on writing some stand alone fan fictions that have nothing to do with Elise or Lillian or any of my past characters. I might try writing some smutty fanfictions since I really haven't done any before.
I also started another fan fiction that is not PJATO related. It's about The School for Good and Evil and it's kind of like the next generation, so, if any of you guys have read that series I'd love it if you checked it out!
QOTU: Who do you believe the mother is?
:) I promise you'll find out in the next chapter.
Thank you all so much for reading you guys mean the world to me!
~Percabeth_Lover_HQ
P.S These last few chapters may be short because I'm going to try to wrap this all up.