Chapter 17 (Percy's POV)
Nico and I walked down the hallway. I still had my swim practice before we could go to his house. "I gotta 79% on the pop quiz," I said. "What did you make Brainiac?" His eyebrows scrunched together, "95%. And I'm not a brainiac. I'm just smarter than you."
"Ouch," I said, pretending it hurt more than it did. Nico stopped walking, "I'm sorry." He looked afraid that he done something wrong. I laughed, "it's okay Nico." I grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. He gave me a small smile.
Three guys came around the corner. Immediately, the feeling in the air changed. Nico yanked his hand free from mine.
"Well hello, Nico. Where are you two going?" I recognized him as Clayton Fox, the same guy who was messing with Nico during P.E. "Well, if you would get your head out of your ass, then you would know we're going somewhere that doesn't concern you." Nico retorted.
Clayton glared, "how about you put your money where your mouth is?" Nico's eyes were watching their every move; his hands were fists at his sides. "No problem," he said slowly, his words slick with venom.
I've had my fair share of school fights, and it was clear Nico was about to get into one. The problem was, I wasn't positive Nico would be able to take on Clayton, especially if his two friends were going to help. They were bigger, taller, older.
"But I rather not do this on school property, the last thing I need is to deal with Mr. Perrimon" Clayton grumbled.
"He doesn't need to find out," Nico said and slipped off his backpack. He advanced, and all three looked ready to pounce. I was about say something, but Nico beat me to it.
"Wow Clayton, can't you fight for yourself?" he snorted. Clayton's nostrils flared, "they won't interfere, as long as your boyfriend promises to do the same." His eyes flickered to me. I put my arms up, "it's not my fight."
Nico looked relieved that I agreed not to step in. His anger radiated off him and for one second, all the doubts I had about Nico winning just fell through the floor. In fact, the look on Nico's face made me glad he liked me.
Clayton made the first move, taking a jab at Nico's left cheek. He slammed into the wall with a groan. I gripped the strap of my backpack. I wanted to do something, but I promised not to.
Nico stood back up, then blocked Clayton's next punch. He kicked Clayton in the stomach and punched him in the nose. Clayton stumbled back, clutching his nose. A little blood trickled down between his fingers. Nico pressed his fingers to his cheek to checked for blood. There was none, just a nasty bruise.
Clayton recovered quickly and punched at Nico again, this time connecting with Nico's shoulder. Nico countered with his fist slamming into Clayton's jaw, though not hard enough to cause real damage.
The fight was hard to watch. I didn't like Nico being swung around and hit, but he handled himself pretty well. With every move Clayton made, Nico was able to counter it. He was quick and smart with everything he did.
Clayton took another jab at Nico's face, but Nico caught his fist. He twisted his arm in an 80-degree angle, and then flung him into his two friends. They all clattered to the floor like surprised bowling pins. Nico grabbed his backpack off the floor, "see ya Clayton!" He took hold of my arm and dragged me down the hall to the nearest exit.
We didn't say anything until we were in my car. "Wow Nico" was all I was able to say. Nico tried to say something, but winced. That's when I saw how bad his cheek really was. "Let's go put some ice on that," I said and pulled out of the parking lot.
His house wasn't that far away. I was glad for that because I could tell how much pain Nico was in. He held his cheek the whole ride and kept looking at it in the mirror. It looked painful too, reddish purple and swollen.
"Do you have a First Aid kit?" I asked. He tried to mask the pain he but didn't do a good job. "It's above the sink in the bathroom," he said, filling a Ziploc bag full of ice.
The First Aid kit was on the middle shelf in the medicine cabinet. I looked around and finally noticed the di Angelo's remodeled their house since the last time I've been there. It was nice looking, classic but had a comfortable feel to it.
When I returned with the kit, Nico was sitting on the couch, the ice pack on his cheek. I crouched in front of him and found the pain ointment.
"This is a really bad bruise" I noted. "It doesn't hurt that much," he said, then winced as I dabbed some ointment on his cheek. "Well, he got a bloody nose, so I guess it's even." I tried to rub the medicine in, but I was only hurting him more. "Sorry. Here, you do it." I handed him a small mirror. He used it as he gently spread the ointment across the bruise.
I placed a band aid on it, which he didn't seem too happy about. "Just keep that ice on it to help the swelling." I cleaned everything up and sat beside him. "Feel better?" He nodded, moving the ice pack with him. "I'm glad my dad isn't here to see this" he murmured.
I gave him a sympathetic smile. "We still have to do our homework," I said. He sighed, "Okay. Let's go."
We went up to his room, which was the first time I've been in his room for years. The walls were white with black furniture. On the wall beside the door, was a black shelf. It held a large, bronze pirate ship sculpture. "You like pirates?" I asked him. Nico looked over his shoulder, "yeah, I love pirates."
I remembered him running around talking about this card game he liked. "Didn't you used to play this game with cards?" His face got red, "uh, yeah. But... I'm not into it anymore."
I sat on his bed beside him and placed a kiss on his forehead.
His slight blush was seen on his other cheek. I smiled and did it again. "Percy!" he said, trying to suppress his own smile. "Yes?" I asked, almost laughing. "If you're going to kiss me, then kiss me." His confidence drew me to his lips. I was gentle since I didn't want to hurt his cheek, but that didn't stop me from enjoying the kiss.
"Okay, let's get to work," Nico said and pulled out his homework. Doing homework with him, somehow, made time fly by. I studied my flashcards the night before to impress him, and I did. I only got 5 words wrong, which earned me another kiss.
I didn't do my math problems, though. I only wrote down random answers. Teachers don't check for correct answers anyways, only completion. Of course, Nico didn't need to know that tiny little detail.
"All done," I said happily and put away my textbook. "What do you want to do now?" he pressed the ice pack back to his cheek. The swelling had gone down while we were busy with homework. "We can watch a movie" I suggested.
The phone rang, "hold on." He left the room. I laid down on his bed. It was a soft, queen sized bed with a black comforter. Nico came back in a moment later, "hazel will be out for a while. Her, Annabeth and Piper are going to have a day out or something." He laid beside me. We were silent for a while, just looking at each other. Then I sat up on one elbow and leaned down for his lips.
He kissed back slowly, his warm, inviting lips made me feel dazed. I settled down over him, cupping his sore cheek with light fingers. It felt so good to kiss him. It made my skin hot and my mind blank. The only thing I could think about was how good it felt to kiss him.
I felt his dark hair and kissed his good cheek every now and then. His hands rested in my hair and on my neck.
The phone suddenly rang again, startling both of us. Nico got up and answered his phone. "Hey, Dad." I sat up and hung my legs over the edge of his bed. He talked to his dad while pacing the room. "And you are in a safe place at all times?" Nico asked. "I know but I'll feel better knowing you're safe." He walked into the hall to finish his conversation.
When he got off of the phone, he returned to the room. Nico came over, sitting beside me. "So, about that movie..." I said slowly.
"Yeah. We can get on Netflix." He paused, "do you want to watch movies in here, or in the living room?" Nico's bed was comfortable, and I liked the idea of being in his room rather than the living room.
"Here is fine."
Nico and I kinda made a nest with his blankets. We were wrapped together the whole time while watching horror and comedy movies. Ted was a little awkward to watch, but it was funny anyways.
The first time I thought about the time was when my mother called. "Hello?"
"Hey, where are you?" She sounded a little mad, and when I checked the time I knew why. Six hours had passed with just us watching movies. "Sorry, lost track of time. I'm coming home."
"Okay, be careful." I reluctantly crawled out of Nico's warm bed. "I'll see you tomorrow," he says sleepily. I crawled back up for a kiss, "bye Nico."
...
I heard a soft knock on my bedroom door. "Come in," I said. I set my phone down as my mom walked in. "Hey Mom" she smiled and sat on my bed. "Hey, I wanted to talk to you."
"About what?" She sighed, "You know you can tell me anything, right?" My mind immediately went to Nico. I wanted to tell her, and there was no problem with me telling her. "Yeah," I said quietly.
"What about Nico?" My head shot up, "you know?"
"Of course I know Percy. It's obvious." I wasn't too surprised, my mother was very smart. But still, I wondered how she knew from one dinner.
"So... you don't have a problem with it?" She cocked her eyebrow, "why would I have a problem with it? If you like each other, then you should be together. There's no shame in that."
I smiled, "thanks, Mom." She returned the smile, "I love you, Percy. Just know you can always talk to me." She kissed my forehead. "Oh and, please come home when you're supposed to. Or at least call." I nodded, "I will."
She gave me a hug before she left the room.
I wondered why I was so hesitant to tell her about Nico in the first place. I knew she'd accept it, and she liked Nico. It might've just been the voice of doubt. But it didn't matter, she knew and was happy about it.
It was one of those moments where I knew how lucky I was to have her as a mother.
I hope this chapter isn't boring. I noticed my book was getting boring, sorry.
This is coming to an end soon and I already have an idea for the next Percico story :D
Please point out my mistakes! Tell me (honestly) what you think of the story. When people start doing this, I'll stop asking. It's important I get your opinion.