Jason

He never told me what happened. And due to Percy being, you know, straight, I couldn't tell what happened.

He was happier than he needed to be, though.

"C'mon, Nico," I just needed to know what happened. "It's not like you're not out to me or anything. You don't have to worry."

"But I do," he corrected me. "Jason, do you really think that after your little slip up that I'm going to tell you what happened? No, I'm not. Go bug your girlfriend or something. I'm not listening to you whine about this."

He kicked me out of his cabin so I went and bothered Leo. He'd listen at least.

"What did Nico say?" Leo asked, knowing I went to ask him about it. They figured I could get it out of him.

"I think I might've pissed him off." I was honest about it. "Because I slipped up earlier at dinner and now he's fucking pissed off with me for it. It's dumb. It's not a big deal he shouldn't have to make it one. You reacted more than Hazel did."

•••
Leo Valdez

What...

"What are you talking about, Jason?" I asked, because he really wasn't making sense. "He..."

What did Jason even talk about? We asked Nico about a girlfriend and Jason mentioned...

A boyfriend?

"Nico's not gay, though," I responded, because he just isn't. "Trust me, Jason. If he was gay, if he was bi, I would know. Especially after spending the entire summer with him. We shared a room. Remember?"

"Oh my gods, yes he is!" Jason didn't care about keeping it a secret. "Why would I lie about this, Leo? What do you think happened with Cupid? That's how I found out. And it's not like he can do much, the guy he likes is straighter than a fucking ruler, but still. He's making this is a big deal and it shouldn't be. He's gay. Whatever."

If that wasn't a turn off, I don't know what was. That was just an asshole thing to do.

Yeah, I told him to fuck off and keep his mouth shut. That's not shit you start about someone, true or not. You let them come out. You know, on their terms.

Feeling bad, I went to Cabin 13.

"Jason, you're really testing-" but he was kind of pissed off. And then he turned around and saw me. "Leo?"

"Hey," I said, standing at the door and he let me into his room. It was nice. I've never had the nerve to come here. His room gave me an Italian, homey feeling. "Uh, sorry about Jason. He showed up to my place and he was pissed off because you were pissed."

"It has nothing to do with you," but at least he didn't take it out on me. "Don't worry about it, Leo. Jason just... Said things he shouldn't have without my permission. He can suck up not knowing what happened. It's not like he tells me anything anyways."

That's not a lie. And my eyes fell on a portrait. It was older than me, I think. It looked old, but I mean, I don't know. It was a painting. I recognized Hades.

"What's this?" I asked him, just curious.

"The painting?" He seemed almost excited that somebody asked. I suppose people don't visit often. Frank, but he's with Hazel. You don't go to Cabin 13. You just don't. "It uh... It's old, if you didn't notice. That was my family. My mom and dad, and then my sisters Bella and Bianca and then me and my brother, Nate. That was like our big project, we couldn't afford shit."

"Oh that's..." It was really sweet that he had it and then I realized that I've never really talked to Nico about his life. About his family and whatever else. "You have other siblings? Do they live with your mom? She looks really nice. Why don't you live with her?"

It actually threw him off for a minute. He didn't think that I would care. I mean, it was obvious that people don't ask him.

"I um..." He looked up at the painting for a minute. "I used to. They uh... I mean, I guess they are in the same place as my mom. She was nice but... Yeah."

"What happened?"

"There..." And again, it was so painfully obvious that people don't ask him about him that it was painful. "Zeus was targeting my dad. Set fire to our house. Mom, Bella, and Nate we're upstairs. They didn't make it. Hades put Bianca and I in the Lotus Casino. She raised me after our mom died. It was... A year after that painting was done? It was one of few things Dad was able to salvage for us. We got to camp and she went on a quest. Never came back from it."

My heart dropped.

"Oh my gods..." I like didn't know how to respond. I mean, that's how my mom died. In a fire. And Bianca... "Are you okay? Bianca must've died like recently."

He shrugged.

"It's been a while," Nico assured me, which helped a little bit. "It was... 3 ½ years ago. It was more of a hassle to not get over it than it was to move on. Hating someone is a lot of work when they're actually not that bad."

"Percy?" I guessed.

"Yeah," he nodded, confirming my suspicions. "He was on the quest with her. Then again so was Thalia. And Grover. But Percy was the one who told me and you know I was like almost 13. I took out all of my anger on him. I blamed him for her death and then ran away. So it's not like he was worried at all. I gave him hell."

We BS'd a little more after that, and then went to camp fire. It was Nico's turn for a check up, so he wasn't there.

And somebody brought up my mind. Which, no big deal. We we're talking about parents.

So I just brought it up. He said it was fine if it's gets brought up.

"Did you guys know," I just suddenly was inclined to talk about it and educate my friends. "That's Nico's mom and my mom died almost the same exact way?"

They all look at me. Percy knew. Annabeth knew. Grover knew.

That was it.

"I... I didn't even know his mom was dead." Frank answered my question. "When did he tell you about this?"

"Earlier tonight," I explained. "I figured I had never been in the cabin before, so I checked it out his room is really nice. He has a family portrait in there from when he was little and I asked about it. He told me it was his family. His mom, brother, and sister died in a house fire because Zeus was upset with Hades. Him and his sister survived. Sister died a few years ago. He's over it. You guys should ask him about it. He had some nice stories."

"You make him sound like an old man." Percy remarked. "He's 16. He's your age, Leo."

"They were still good stories," I insisted, thinking it might close some old holes between Percy and Nico. "Ask him about it."

"I know they are," he assured me, believing me. "I've heard them. Believe it not we we're friends at one point in time. I mean it was a week. But he never shut up. He was a happy and hyper piece of shit."

"What happened?" Piper was afraid to ask and Perch motions at me.

"His sister died." He referred back to what I told them. "It crushed him. He ran away. We found him like six months later in the labyrinth. He's doing better now. The first two years were just really rough on him."

"Now he has Hazel." I tried to be positive.

"Yeah!" Hazel agreed that she accounted for something in his life. "I'm here now."

Percy smiled and nodded, saying that she did seem to help him get over that final step of moving on. He's making friends now. Letting himself get close to others.

I guess he never did that before.