I've been sick lately :/ I'll try my best to write the next chapter quickly, though. This is the reason why I need backup chapters already written! Hahah, for the days where I'm sick and busy and all xP Anyway, here it is!
Filler, but important nonetheless!!!!!

*Jeopardy thinking music*

Chapter #8: I Won't Give Up

PERCY POV

~When I look into your eyes

It's like watching the night sky

Or a beautiful sunrise

There's so much they hold

And just like them old stars

I see that you've come so far

To be right where you are

How old is your soul?

Well, I won't give up on you

Even if the skies get rough

I'm still looking up

And when you're needing your space

To do some navigating

I'll be here patiently waiting

To see what you find

'Cause even the stars, they burn

Some even fall to the Earth

We've got a lot to learn

Gods know we're worth it

No, I won't give up

I don't want to be someone who walks away so easily

I'm here to stay and make the difference that I can make

Our differences, they do a lot to teach us how to use

The tools and gifts we got yeah, we got a lot at stake

And in the end, you're still my friend at least we did intend

For us to work we didn't break, we didn't burn

We had to learn how to bend without the world caving in

I had to learn what I've got and what I'm not and who I am

I won't give up on you

Even if the skies get rough

I'm still looking up

Still looking up

I won't give up on you

Even if the skies get rough

I'm still looking up~

My arms were firmly wrapped around Nico's healing body. It was kind of perfect how much smaller he was to me, even if only a few inches (he's catching up to my average height, I admit), because his body fit into my arms and chest like a matching puzzle piece. My stomach felt all warm and fuzzy, like when you drink a warm cup of hot cocoa on a blizzarding night. Even if Nico isn't technically hugging back, I'd give my right arm and say that he gives the best hugs in the universe. I can't help feeling that I've said or done something wrong, though.

Suddenly, the son of Hades leapt out of my arms, standing on his feet clumsily and fumbled with his hands. Why does he keep doing that? Pushing everyone away and then being so self-conscious? It's beginning to bother me a bit...

"I need to see Jason." He blurted out.

My eyes widened at his sudden burst of speech and questions flooded my mind. What? Things are happening a bit too fast. Why does he need to speak with Jason? That's odd... I've only ever caught them speaking a couple times. It was rare that he even spoke at all! Why would he need Jason? Can't he speak to me? Something must be wrong, then. That's the only conclusion I've made up.

With a questioning look in my eyes, I glanced up. "Is there something wro-"

But he was no longer there.

What the-? I peeked around myself and found that his cabin door was cracked open slightly. I hadn't notice it being opened, never mind Nico slipping outside. I sighed to myself and ran a hand through my hair. Oh well. Guess I'll have to catch up with him later. Even though I was kind of liking where me and Nico were heading. He doesn't seem to hate me with a burning passion anymore, it seems, which is great. Does he trust me enough now? I mean, he may not think of me as a friend yet, but I guess we're getting there, what with the teasing and joking and laughing and stuff. Right? I hope so.

~

The wind was whipping my hair around my face. It was a soft wind, one that I welcomed with open arms after an intense couple hours of straight on combat training. Sweat covered my face and I sighed as I wiped it away. Looking out over the valley in front of me, I've realised I haven't had much time to really think to myself lately. It's nice to just reminisce in something so delicate as a field covered in wildflower and strawberries. I don't get to do that much, being the busy demigod I am. The smell of strawberries reached my nose and I hummed in appreciation.

Strawberries... That reminds me.

Something has been itching my mind ever since we left Aphrodite's prison island. Something that I've been meaning to ask Annabeth about. If anyone would know the answers to what I want, it'd be Annabeth. I took one last long breath and began making my way down the hill, towards the main part of camp where I thought she might be. Turns out I was right. She was sat on a stump between the archery class and library, hunched over a book, pushing her blond hair out of her face. She looked to be in deep thought, her lips pursed. Typical.

Annabeth... You're probably wondering about our relationship after the war. Well, we almost died, for one. Repeatedly. But we made it through, although with many scars and haunting thoughts. Before, we were very gentle and loving, just two completely lovesick teenagers. But now... Now we're two traumatised demigods who have survived countless life threatening situations together. It made us a bit more hesitant, to be honest. Sadly... We aren't as close as we used to be. Sounds ironic, I know, since we've been through so much. But it is what it is. Now we just try to lighten up the mood with constant teasing.

"Hey, Wise Girl." I called as I approached her.

She looked up from her book and smiled. "Seaweed Brain."

I gave her a smile back and rolled my eyes at the nickname she gave me years ago. She patted the stump beside her and I joined, sitting down and purposely shoving her with hip, knocking her to the side. She chuckled and punched me in the shoulder as I stuck my tongue out.

"You're such a child sometimes, Perce, I swear." She giggled.

I crossed my arms, looking away and pouted. "Am not."

She poked my cheek. "Are too."

"Nuh-uh." I argued.

"Yeah-huh."

We were both staring at each other in the face now, both frowning with serious faces, challenging the other. I could tell we were both trying really hard not to laugh, so obviously, I had to win this little challenge. I raised one of my eyebrows and crossed my eyes, sticking my tongue out. Annabeth burst out laughing, pointing at my face and shutting her eyes close as she tumbled to the ground whilst clutching at her sides. I just sat there, basking in my victory. Ha. I win.

As she settled her laughing fit, I blinked down at her innocently. "Oh, I've been meaning to ask you something."

"Oh, really?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Mmhm, but I need you to be serious now, Annabeth, dear." I wagged my finger in front of her face. "You think you can manage that, Banana Muffin?"

She rolled her eyes and sat back down beside me. "Shut up, Jackson, just spill it already."

I chuckled. "Alright, well, it's about what happened back on Aphrodite's island..."

Annabeth nodded her head and encouraged me to go on.

"Well..." I cleared my throat, "Something strange happened after I left the cavern with Nico... I don't mean Valdez strange, but strange enough. Anyway, as I was carrying Nico back to the ship, we both realised something... We could, like, read each other's thoughts. I could hear what he was thinking and he could hear what I was thinking. But I don't get how that could happen... And back before we arrived at the island, the reason I knew where Nico was... It's because he told me. Somehow he could contact me. I don't get how that works, though. Unless I'm telekinetic or something... I mean, that'd be cool and all, but I don't think I am."

The daughter of Athena's grey eyes stared back at me with surprised curiosity. I stared patiently as she thought long and hard over what I said. I could practically see the gears turning in the head. Though her eyebrows kept scrunching up. Then she huffed in defeat, looking back up at me with slight irritation in her eyes.

"I'm not sure how that worked, Seaweed Brain, I'm sorry." She sighed. "But I'll try to look into it if you're really that curious...?"

I smiled and nodded my head like an excited child. "Yes, please!"

I leaned in, going to give her a kiss when she turned her head and began puckering her lips. My face heated up and my eyebrows went up as I pecked her cheek quickly instead. That was... Awkward, to say the least. I guess she thought I was gonna kiss her on the lips. Oh gods, I created this uncomfortable tension by going for a peck on the cheek. I hesitated at the last second for some reason. I knew she was going to turn her head, but still, I avoided her full on kiss. Now I feel like a moron. She looked embarrassed and a wave of guilt washed over me.

She frowned at my action and I cleared my throat, decided to break the awkward silence with something light and teasing. It's just how I roll.

"Thanks, Blondie." I winked at her, making her roll her eyes but grin nonetheless.

I smiled back in relief and stood up, stretching. "Well, I gotta go, so I'll see you at dinner, yeah?".

"Okay." She replied. "What you told me is odd, though. I just realised that that 'telekinetic' thing you mentioned didn't work with the rest of us. It was only you and di Angelo. It's just... 'M not sure."

I shrugged. "It only happened when we touched, so like when I was carrying him and stuff... Oh! And only on the island. When we were back on the Argo II, I couldn't hear his thoughts anymore."

"Oh... Well, I'm stumped." Annabeth mumbled, her chin in the palm of her hand. "Which I hate, might I add."

I chuckled and winked at her. "Oh, well. You're still the wisest girl I know, Annieboo."

I began walking away, still very deep in thought about the whole mystery of the one-on-one Nico and me telekinetic thing, and waved back at her.

She scoffed. "Don't call me that, Jackson, or I'll kick your butt at sparring next session!"

It was now my turn to scoff. "You can try, Wise Girl, but you can't beat the master of mayhem! I gotta go, see you later!"

"Alright, Seaweed Brain." She called back. "Oh! Don't forget our date this Friday! Two days, Fish Butt!"

"'Kay!" I replied, only half listening to her, too deep in thought to give her my full attention.

I sighed as I walked back to my cabin. I might as well just push the thoughts to the back of my head. If Annabeth doesn't have a clue of what happened, what makes me think that I do? I might as well not even try. I dragged myself over to my dresser and pulled out a fresh pair of jeans. I pulled my shirt off and slipped my new pair of pants on and stretched out once more. Might as well take a short nap after a day of hard work.

~

I woke with a shock as the pavilion horn sounded for dinner. I sat up and tried to slow my breathing. I just had another dream full of darkness. I swung my legs over the side of my bed and ran my fingers through my knotted hair. I just had a dream full of shadows... Full of darkness... Full of sadness... Full of Nico.

I shook my head, trying to rid of all my thoughts and dragged my feet towards the pavilion. The beautiful smell of food lightened my mood. When I saw all of my friends sitting at a table, ushering me towards them, I smiled. I love how Chiron changed the rules this year, allowing us all to sit where we choose. It made my free time eating a lot more enjoyable when I'm not alone. I picked up my tray of food, scraped off a portion into the flaming brazier for Poseidon, and plopped down in the seat next to Annabeth, who was speaking very animatedly to Piper.

While I ate, I noticed Nico was still nowhere in sight. After he left earlier today, I haven't seen him since. It's kind of worrying me for some reason. He does this often, and sometimes he doesn't come back fore months at a time, but this time it's really bothering me. I've been feeling sort of disappointed all day for some odd reason. I kind of... Miss him? I was really enjoying his company before he left. I sighed and kept eating, drinking some blue orange juice from my goblet. Instead of letting my thoughts drift any further, I began to make conversation with Frank and Leo. I don't understand how we ended up talking about the Wizard of Oz, but Leo seemed to love it.

"Sorry I'm late, guys." A gruff voice spoke behind me.

Jason sat down on the bench beside me with a tired sigh, scooping up some of his sausage and sweet corn, shovelling it into his mouth. I noticed his eyebrows pulled slightly together and how he wasn't making eye contact with me. I frowned.

"Hey, um, Jason?" I asked him once we were outside the pavilion, the others heading off to Zeus knows where.

He turned around, his eyebrows slightly raised. "Uh, yeah?"

"Why were you late?" I asked him curiously.

He cleared his throat. "Just had something to take care of, is all."

I pursed my lips. Jason was just about to leave when I remembered what Nico said before he left. I grabbed Jason's wrist and he turned around with a look of confusion on his face, but his eyes darted around, signalling he was hiding something.

"Do you, by any chance, know where Nico is?" I asked. "I haven't seen him all day and he didn't show up to dinner."

Jason looked away, running his fingers through his blond hair, then scratched the back of his head awkwardly. Caught you, Grace.

"Not sure." He muttered. "Maybe in his cabin? Or... The forest? Did you check the forest? Or he could be somewhere else, I don't know, the kid's a bit unpredictable. Y'know?"

"Did you, perhaps, speak with him at all today? He looked a bit upset about something earlier and then blurted out he needed to speak with you." I told him truthfully. "Is something wrong? You know you can tell me if anything's wrong, right?"

Jason's eyes widened, then he stood up straighter. "No, don't worry about it. Nico came to speak with me a while ago, but that's all. Nothing to worry about."

I cleared my throat, feeling it suddenly got a bit dry. "Is... Um... Is, uh, Nico... Is he alright? If he isn't speaking to me about anything, but he is with you," I said with a bit of an edge, surprising myself and Jason, "then you must know if something's bothering him, yeah?"

Jason's eyes softened. Usually his eyes would be hard and his stare would just scream 'Hey! I was born a leader!', so this... This is much different than I'm used to from him. Something must be going on that I don't know about, because with Jason's hand on my shoulder and his softened eyes, I'm just the slightest weirded out. Just a bit.

"He'll be okay someday, Percy." He promised. "Just give him time, you know? He'll warm up to you quickly, I assure you. Just don't give up on him yet. He's just a bit... Shaken? But if you stick with him, I'm sure he'll feel more safe. Um... If I say any more to you, the kid might pummel me all the way to the Underworld, so... Pretend I said nothing?"

I took in the information he gave me and nodded my head slowly. "Yeah... Thanks, Grace. And do I look like someone who gives up to you?"

He chuckled lightly, shaking his head. I stared back in confusion whilst he just smirked. "You and di Angelo are so much more alike than you think, it's crazy."

I grinned back. "I guess. I do have to admit I enjoy the occasional Frootloops, too."

Jason cocked his head in confusion, frowning at me as I threw my head back and began to bark out laughter.

Ohhh, Ghost King and his damned Frootloops.

~~~

End of Chapter

Whoa, whoa, whoa... Is Percy warming up to the thought of NICO...? Huh.

Thanks for the reads and beautiful comments and votes! :) Love you all <3 Hope you're enjoying the story so far.

~Little Things (whoa... 1D??? ;P)