Dedication to my lovely friend @Demiwitchhunter!!! Thanks, beautiful :)

HERE IS THE NEXT CHAPTER BECAUSE YOU GUYS ARE INCREDIBLE AND I NOW HAVE 400 READS!!! Weeeeeeew!

*whole marching band*

Chapter #6, Part 1: Look After You

PERCY POV

~If I don't say this now I will surely break
As I'm leaving the one I want to take
Forget the urgency but hurry up and wait
My heart has started to separate
I'll look after you
There now, steady love, so few come and don't go
Will you, won't you be the one I'll always know?
When I'm losing my control, the city spins around
You're the only one who knows, you slow it down
I'll look after you
And I'll look after you
If ever there was a doubt
My love he leans into me
This most assuredly counts
He says most assuredly
I'll look after you
It's always have and never hold
You've begun to feel like home
What's mine is yours to leave or take
What's mine is yours to make your own~

After about ten minutes of watching Nico's limp figure snoring lightly, in a deep sleep- I've decided I've had enough. I sighed and made my way to his bedside. I touched his shoulder gently, hoping not to hurt him, and shook him a bit. He didn't wake. I tried shaking him a bit more, but he didn't budge. He just groaned in his sleep and curled up in a ball. I chuckled. Even though he's just a couple years younger than me (me being eighteen as of last week, and him being fifteen, probably almost sixteen), he looked like a child as he slept. Peaceful, youthful, innocent, and his hair fanned out across the pillow and his face. He actually looked... Untroubled. For once. But I have to go and ruin that, of course.

"Nico, wake up..." I whispered.

Nothing.

"Nicooo, please wake up." I tried again. "I need to bandage you up before you bleed all over my bed."

A twitch, but no other indication of actually waking up. I groaned and sat down on his bed (well, technically it's my bed, but hey). I didn't want to hurt him anymore so I wasn't gonna shake him again. Gods, I wish I could let him sleep, but... Nope, he's still hurt. Poor guy. And bleeding all over my sheets... Another thing for me to clean after the vomit. Poor me.

I sucked in a deep breath and brushed the hair out of his eyes. He's been through too much... And his thoughts? Horrible. I was surprised at what was going through his head back on the island. It honestly surprised me. I've always wanted to now what was going on inside his head, but now that I do, I feel terrible for the son of Hades. He doubts himself every second he's awake and it's just agonising to watch (or listen, in my case) Nico beat himself up. No one understood him, so he's hurt and lonely. But now that someone does... He won't be alone anymore. I'll be there for him when no one else is.

"Nico, wake up!" I randomly shouted, wanting to stop going through so many details in my thoughts.

He shot up out of the bed and I pulled away quickly, not wanting our foreheads to collide. His eyes were wide, but when he was finally sitting straight up, he flinched, groaned, and sank back into the mattress. See, it WAS a good thing I woke him up! He needs his medicine! But I still feel a wee bit guilty... Eh, he'll get over it eventually.

"Sorry, Death Breath." I smiled sheepishly. "But I couldn't let you sleep any longer without bandaging you up and making sure you ate some ambrosia."

Nico's head turned to the side and it seemed as if he was surprised I was there, sitting next to him on the bed. I smiled at him, hoping to fill in the silence and make him feel more comfortable with my presence. Then I saw something surprising that I haven't ever seen with Nico before: his eyes sparkled in amusement.

"Death Breath?" He grumbled, his voice husky and croaky with sleep and dehydration.

I shrugged and scratched the back of my neck awkwardly. He sucked in a deep breath and pulled himself up shakily, turning his body so his feet hung to the floorboards, and he now sat beside me.

Nico looked at me sideways and raised an eyebrow. "Does my breath really smell that bad?"

I was stunned at first, but recovered so quickly that no one would have noticed anything. I burst out laughing. It wasn't even that funny, but for some reason it just sparked something in me. I put my hand on his shoulder and he tensed under my touch. I rubbed his back once (I don't know why I can't seem to stop touching him) and stood up, clasping my hands together while looking around the small, dimly lit blue room.

"No," I finally answered with an amused smile. "Your breath doesn't smell like death, I don't think. But let's get you some ambrosia, yeah?"

He nodded his head slowly and sniffed. "Sounds good, Fish Butt."

I chuckled and shook my head while picking up the ziplock with small squares of food in it. I looked up at him, trying to decide whether I should risk giving him two at the same time, or give him one and him being in pain... He seemed to have sensed my indecision and raised his hand, the number of fingers he put up indicating to give him two. I nodded my head and walked back over to him, placing two squares in his palm. He had smaller hands than me, but with long, calloused, graceful fingers. His olive skin was so pale, I observed, as he ate the food of the gods to help heal his wounds.

"Done?" I asked. When he nodded, I grabbed the gauze and held it up. "Good, now... Time to fix you up. Could you... Um... Take your shirt off, maybe?"

He looked shocked for a moment, but then his face was a mask once more. I stood there patiently waiting as he looked down at his battered body and hesitantly played with the hem of his dirtied and blood stained black shirt. He sighed and lifted the fabric over his head, setting it on the floor beside the bed, afterwards tussling his dark messy hair and pulling it to the side.

Oh gods... His skin was different shades of black, blue, red and purple. Gashes were visible on his sides and cuts were peppered over his pale skin. His forearm had a big, bloody gash that looked suspiciously like talon marks. His ribs were bruised. A mix of dried and wet blood covered his stomach and back. When he looked up, I got a clear look at his face, too. He had a black eye; not too swollen but the colour made it stand out, and his lip was split open. His hair looked sticky and scarlet coloured as it ran down the side of his face. Man... He looked much worse than I thought he would. The guy is really tough, though, I'll give you that. He stuck it out and his injuries didn't seem as bad as they actually were, the way he was acting and making me think.

"Are you gonna help me, doc?" Nico muttered, squirming under my gaze.

I nodded gravely and approached him, sighing deeply as I examined his bloody body even closer. I made sure to soak the gauze in nectar before I even laid a hand on the son of the death god's skin. When I touched his shoulder from behind, he immediately flinched, but then let me continue. I can feel his tensed muscles and his cool skin under my fingertips. It almost made me giddy that he was trusting me to do this. I wrapped his ribs up, all around his skinny yet built torso, and made sure to get the gash on his forearm. We were in complete silence during the whole process. When I was done with him, Nico resembled a mummy.

"Now... Let me see that eye of yours." I whispered to no one in particular.

I stood in front of him and looked into his right eye. He still looked so tired, it was hard to get him to open his eyes wide enough for me to check it out. It looked red where it should be white and the whole outside of his eye was a deep shade of black. It didn't look good. Nico wouldn't hold my gaze, though, so I ended up getting frustrated and held his jaw in my hands so that he'd have to look straight at me. I guess the ambrosia worked well, because he was now all twitchy and restless... While I was looking into his eyes, I couldn't help but see the depths of them. So much emotion and so many stories. His eyes were so dark now, that they could almost be black. His hair and eyes seem to get darker while his skin just gets paler. It's quite odd.

I frowned. "I can't believe this happened to you..."

Nico blinked a couple times and his cheeks turned a pink colour before he looked away, hanging his head. "Yeah..." He raised a shoulder and let it drop back down, shrugging.

I didn't know what else to do, so I began fumbling with my hands, then put all of the demigod first aid stuff away. I heard a shuffle behind me but didn't think anything of it. Hm, what else am I forgetting...? A glass of water and some food. Yeah, I should probably get him some of that. I excused myself for a moment and rushed around the bottom deck for what I needed, when I came back, Nico was up against the headboard of the bed with his eyes closed and his head back. I tiptoed around the room, deciding he was asleep. I put the tray of food and glass of water on the nightstand and-

"I know you're there, Perce." A raspy voice said beside me.

I jumped and turned around to see that the ghost boy was watching me with that same twinkle in his eyes. Did... Did he just call me Perce? Wow. That's a first. To be honest, though... I really liked it when it came out of his mouth. I smiled sheepishly and handed him the glass of water which he appreciatively took. He looked at the food and pursed his lips, picking up a single grape and popping it in his mouth. Before he could push the tray away or complain about not wanting to eat, I grabbed a handful of fries and stuffed them in his mouth.

"Mmph!" His eyes widened at my sudden actions and I smirked.

I chuckled at his expression. "As long as I'm here, you're gonna eat something, Ghosty." I winked.

His face turned red and I laughed again, turning around and dropping into an armchair in the other corner of the room. I stretched out in it and felt tired myself as I watched Nico yawn. When his face scrunched up, I couldn't help but smile. He may be trying to pass as dark, dangerous and mysterious, but he's just an adorable little teddy bear on the inside. Quite like Leo and his 'I wanna be a bad boy. All the girls want a bad boy' facade.

"I think I should rest now..." Nico mumbled.

I nodded. "Same. Take the bed, get as comfortable as you can. If you need anything at all, I'll be right here."

"Thanks." He whispered as he fell back into the blankets.

Once he curled himself up and was facing the wall, away from me, I felt my eyelids get heavy. Di Angelo's snores only lulled me, dragging me into a peaceful sleep. Well, if he's already out, I might as well crash, too...

~~~

End of Part 1

Hahah, part 1!!! Soooooo... Hmmmm... Watchia think? :) (I simply LOVE the song Look After You by The Fray, thought it fit perfectly with this chapter and Percico x} What do you guys think?)

~Nurse Perceh