One shot Perico. Modern AU. Elementary school setting. Also, Bianca is still alive.

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or The Heroes of Olympus, and none of their characters are mine.

Nico was running, his grey hood covering his shaggy black hair. His sunken, coal colored eyes were filled with fear, and his long, twig-like limbs carries him through nicely polished hallways, down mud stained staircases, and through doors. He ran from the fourth floor to the first, his breath coming out in short puffs by the time he had made it through the whole school, and out into the yard. Decaying, amber colored leaves littered the frozen ground, the trees all dead and bare, surrounding the field like a fence, their gnarled branches twisting and turning onto one another. The grass that in the summer would sway with the breeze was grey, and in some places, gone, and the playground over to Nico's right looked sad and ominous, its abandoned swing creaking with each gust of wind. The sun was hiding behind ash colored clouds, which were thick and let no sunlight through, leaving the area dark, with shadows dancing in the corners and on the walls.

Nico surveyed the area, not sure where to go from there. He couldn't skip school - his sister would be furious. He could already imagine Bianca, a scowl on her face as she explained the importance of education between fits of coughing that would tumble through her body, making her shoulders shake and eyes water. Nico shook his head, trying to clear his mind of his sister and her illness. After a few deep breaths, Nico decided the safest place to hide was back in the school, in the boys bathroom. And so he ran, as fast as he could, going back using a different set of doors, and made it into the bathroom as he heard footsteps already closing in on him. He ran into one of the stalls and locked it, and not a moment too soon. The door burst open, and a single pair of sneakers could be heard, feet dragging against the floor, squeaking.

Nico went out of his stall, confused. He looked at the kid who was now seated, his back against the wall, his eyes closed. The boy had shiny black hair, and seemed older than Nico, with a tall and muscular body, and tan skin. As if sensing his lingering stare, the kid opened his shining green eyes.

"Hello?" He asked, one eyebrow raised skeptically.

"I was just..." Nico started, not sure what to say. His eyes darted nervously across the room, taking in every detail, like how one of the tiles was chipped, or that there was a dark stain on the floor a few inches from the boy's foot.

"Hiding from those good for nothing jerks?" The kid asked.

Nico nodded. "How did you know." It was asked quietly, and more like a statement than a question, but the kid answered it anyway.

"I'm Percy Jackson by the way. And don't worry. You are not the only one they have picked on." Percy said with a light smirk.

Nico's eyes widened. He had heard of Percy from his classmates, especially from the girls. He was two years older than them, in grade eight, and was quite popular. The fact that he had also been teased by those kids... It was unthinkable.

"Here. Sit down." Percy told Nico, who silently agreed, sliding down next to the boy. "So. Want to tell me what you did to deserve their hate?"

Nico shrunk into himself, his eyes going dull, his long locks covering his face.

"Fine. I'll start then." Percy said with a sigh, and begun to tell him how they had assumed he was an easy target, because he defended others. One day, when Percy had been talking to a little girl, trying to cheer her up, they had decided that too much happiness was boring, and thus began the worst three years of his life.

"Why did they stop?" Nico asked, hoping the boy's method would prove useful for him, too.

"I don't know. I even offered them a good show, retaliating and all. Was I not good enough for them?" He answered with a chuckle. "I think they just got bored, and moved onto someone else. Thats what they do."

"Oh... Then I guess I'll just have to wait it out."

Percy smiled sadly, then patted Nico on the shoulder. "Just stay strong. Hang in there. It'll all be fine. Tell you what. I have to go now, but I'll see you here tomorrow, same time?"

Nico nodded, trying not to smile. Percy left, leaving a small boy, curled up against the wall, his eyes vacant, his face expressionless, although his heart thumped with excitement.

Weeks past. Nico and Percy met every day, talking, laughing, sometimes just enjoying eachothers' company. Percy didn't ask again about Nico's back story, and he didn't share it, until the reality of it became too much to bare.

The reason the boys had hated him, it was always there, and being with Percy brought it out. Nico would look forward to their meetings, his fingers twitching in anticipation, and would start counting down the hours before he would see Percy again the second he left.

But graduation day had snuck up on them, and only a few days were left of school. The trees had bloomed, the wind was warm, and the sky was alive with light.

It was the last day of school, the last time Nico would meet Percy in the washrooms, the last time he would say hello and goodbye. So when Nico sat down beside the boy who had, over the months, offered him compassion and friendship, his black eyes met his green ones, and he told him what he had been thinking for a while now.

"I really like you." Nico said, his voice breaking after the last word. The he stood up, running out of the washroom, running again, just like before, except this time for a very different reason. He ran out of the school, and into the school yard, and all the way home, ignoring the warning bells in his head. "I really like you." Nico whispered to himself, as his head spun, and his eyesight went blurry, and a single, warm tear ran down his pale skin.