Nico

I have another dream. It is one of the dreams that most demigods have- ones that are like visions, but except they show events going on currently. I'm in the dining room of the Argo II with the rest of the crew, though of course they can't see me.

Surely they can't still be awake?

"Jason, it's not your fault," Piper says. Jason is sitting at the table, arms crossed and forehead creased, staring at the wall opposite. Piper is standing beside him, hand on shoulder.

"I know. It's just I should have realised he might have done something like that. I should have brought him out of the room where he had no access to light switches."

Piper sighs.

"You shouldn't have realised anything. Nico Di Angelo is not your responsibility. What reasons do you have that makes you more responsible for him than anyone else on this ship?"

Jason's fixation on the wall in front of him intensifies and bites his lip. I hold my breath.

"No reasons," Jason finally says with a wry smile. I exhale.

"Look, Jason, I know you are worried about him," Percy begins, who stood nearby next to Annabeth "I'm definitely worried, but Nico is still pretty tough. He's a strong demigod that can look after himself. It may not have seemed that way an hour ago…"

I can feel heat rushing to my face and shame sinks through me, embarrassment flaring.

"…but he is. There is no way we can track him down if he doesn't want to be found so we might as well wait until he comes back to us. Trust me on this; he's good at running away," he and Annabeth exchange a look. They must have been remembering the times I kept leaving Camp-Half Blood.

Good at running away? Is that all people remember me doing?

Cupid's words echo through my head: "And so you run away again, from your friends, from yourself."

I'm…I'm not a coward. I'm The Ghost King. I don't run away!

But even as I thought it I knew I was contradicting myself. I was running away from the truth right now.

Okay-that's fine- just don't lose control of yourself again. That's all you need to do. No anxiety, no anger, no tears. Pull yourself together and show them Nico Di Angelo is not weak, not a baby, not a coward-

I suddenly awake to the sound of thundering footsteps as the bedroom door swings open.

"Alec, Nico's escaped-" Isabelle shouts breathlessly. She's cut short by the sight of me staring right at her. The others shortly arrive behind her. Isabelle's eyes are locked with mine. It looked like she wanted to murder me.

"Alec!" she repeats, even louder this time.

Alec suddenly sits up and reaches at his waist to unsheathe some sort of weapon, until he realises he's in nightwear and unarmed. His eyes gradually focus on Isabelle.

They then widen.

"Oh!" He looks at me, then back at her. "Oh, um, don't worry," he clambers out of bed and widens the door, inviting the rest in. Isabelle grudgingly moves more into the room to let them pass. Maryse is looking at me, suspicious. "He didn't escape," Alec continues "I let him out on the deal that he has accepted to stay here for as long as necessary."

"He stays here no matter what he has accepted," Maryse states coldly.

"Yes, I know, but he won't be trying to escape again. No need for the isolation room." Alec replies.

Maryse is still analyzing me, which doesn't help with the uncomfortable feeling of Isabelle's not well-hidden glaring.

"Right, Nico?" Alec prompts. His eyes are clearly pleading Help.

"Yes. I apologise for my behaviour last night and it will not happen again. I understand your rules and guidelines and I will stay here for as long as you wish. Please forgive me and I hope we can live civilised together for as long as it's needed."

Maryse seems taken aback. She turns her head towards Alec who seemed to be less panicked now. His back is straightened, shoulders broadened and breathing even. His gaze at Maryse is firm. She turns back to me.

"We accept your apology. If you want breakfast then we usually have it as soon as we are awake and dressed. Due to our unpredictable schedule this may vary. Just take anything from the cupboards at any time for any meal. Ask anyone who's not busy where everything is. Extra clothing and necessities will be supplied to you soon. The least we can do is be hospitable."

She forces a smile.

"Um, thank-you," I reply.

"Alec, you can be his guardian. It seems like you have already taken upon the role of taking care of him," she nods towards the bed.

We simultaneously blush.

Jace seems like he's trying not to laugh. Alec just has his arms crossed and is glaring at Jace from under his lowered brows.

I can't believe I've only just realised how awkward this situation is…I just shared a bed with a random boy! Gods, I must have been tired.

I cross my arms and hunch slightly, inwardly cringing from embarrassment. I then notice Alec and I are mimicking each other's behaviour and straighten our backs and uncross our arms. We then both turn our heads the other way at the again repeat of mimicking.

Oh gods…I internally groan.

"Come on, the matter is settled. Go on to normal routine and leave the boys alone," Maryse says, leaving the room. The others do so too, Isabelle eying Alec on the way out. Jace is the last to leave, who mouths 'alone'. Alec gapes in horror as Jace leaves the room grinning and I look down at the bed sheets, blushing even more so and feeling awkward.

He'd be more horrified if he knew that I liked guys. Then maybe Jace would not joke about such things.

"You okay?" Alec asks, sudden concern washing across his face.

"Oh, yes, of course," I say and smile. Lying and faking comes easy to me now.

"Oh alright, it's just you weren't so much last night so I just wondered how you were doing…"

Shame tugs at me again.

"I'm fine, really. That was rare for me; I'm hardly ever like that- don't you worry."

I smile up at him once more.

He eventually breaks a smile too, but his one is genuine.

"Good. Anyway, do you want cereal or toast?"

After breakfast Alec shows me to the guest room, which is temporarily now mine. On the bed is a pile of two sets of black outfits, both identical. My anxiety about having to wear anything colourful washes away.

Alec notices what I'm looking at.

"Oh, yeah, um, sorry about them. We weren't really expecting to have to provide clothes for a child-" he suddenly stops and corrects himself "I mean, someone the same size as a child so we could only supply you with spare clothing young trainee Shadowhunters wear. Actually, those may have been mine or Jace's…I am really sorry- I can go out and buy something else for you if you like-"

"Stop" I interrupt. "I like them. If you haven't noticed, black is fine by me." I wave my hand up and down my wrinkled pyjamas.

Alec is silent for a moment, looking up and down my body.

"Oh. Yes, of course. Silly me." He smiles, now not quite looking at me.

Suddenly I felt self-conscious. What did I look like? I don't exactly look appealing in general- Leo once said I reminded him of a vampire/zombie- but bed-head insomniac me after two episodes of complete flipping-out in one night surely looked worse. I tried to ignore it; it seems like that was what Alec was doing. He wouldn't look at me.

Once I got dressed (with Alec vacant from the room) I decided it would help my appearance if I showered. I poked my head out of my bedroom door while Jace was walking by, a cat following him at his heels. When the cat caught sight of me a hiss escaped it and ran off.

"What have you done to Church?" He asks, eyes narrowing on me.

"Nothing! Really, I swear, it's just most animals act that way around me…"

Jace broke out laughing.

"Chill. You're so easy to wind up! Anyway, you wanted something?"

I try to not to let this guy get to me. I know he was only joking, but I dislike trying to be made to look like a fool.

"Yes, just wanted to tell Alec not to worry if he knocks on my door and I don't reply. I'll be in the shower, you see. Can you pass that onto him please?"

"Ah yes, you have to think about these things with Alec being your guardian now, right?"

"Yeah," I reply, eyes on the floor. Can't he tell that I don't like that bringing brought up? It's just plain humiliating having to have a 'guardian'.

"Anyway- see you," and I slam the door shut.

Alec

I'm polishing my weaponry, for the first time in a while wanting there to be some demons in the area that we could destroy. After Magnus broke up with me I had felt drained and it was a chore to go into combat. I still did it- there was no way that I would let that disrupt my duties as a Shadowhunter- but it wasn't exactly pleasurable. Now I'm itching to get out the institute and do something I know how.

Come on Alec, you know you can't leave anyway even if there were demons in the area because you are Nico's guardian. You need to keep an eye on him.

The thought of Nico leaves me with mixed emotions. To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if he is the cause to this unsettlement.

My mind flashes back to the spare room, when he told me to look up and down his body…He didn't tell me to look in that way but unexpectedly it felt so. The worse thing is, if he knew that I like him in that way he most likely would feel very uncomfortable…I saw his face when Jace joked about us being alone together and he looked either sickened or scared. Both are not good things to make your guests feel. If he feels threatened by me…

I put down the weapon and the cloth in my hands.

What are you going to do, Alec? How are you going to be around him without feeling like a pervert?

I let out a troubled sigh.

Just act normally. He doesn't know you are gay so he has no reason to feel awkward around me and worry about me liking him. He won't suspect a thing.

I run my hand through my hair.

So much for the 'I'm not going to crush on any straight guys' pact I made after I got over Jace.

I wryly smile at remembering how Magnus helped with that.

"Well," I say out loud "I guess not everything goes according to plan,"

My door suddenly opens.

"Talking to yourself again?"

It is Jace.

"Can you quit listening through my door? It is creeping me out."

"I wasn't. I came in here to deliver a message from Nico. He told me it after cruelly scaring away Church- "

"Don't say that," I interrupt "That cat hates everybody. Don't give him a hard time."

The edge of Jace's mouth slowly creeps upward.

"I can't say that, huh?"

"Well, no."

"I can't say that about your Nico?" he says in a mockingly sweet voice.

"What? He's not 'my Nico'."

"Sure," he says, arms folded.

I don't need this.

I get off my bed and face Jace.

"What did Nico want?" I ask Jace, trying to ignore his comment.

He just looks back at me and smiles.

"I'm glad you've gotten over Magnus," he says in a soft tone.

"What? What makes you say that?" I snap, defensive.

"Well, you obviously don't like him anymore to be interested in Nico-"

"Um, who let you decide who I'm over and who I'm not?"

Jace suddenly realises he hit a sensitive spot.

"I'm sorry, it's just it appeared you didn't love Magnus anymore-"

"Of course I do!" I shout.

I realise what I just said. There is only silence.

"Sorry. Leave, please."

Jace stands there awkwardly, shuffling for a few seconds, and then leaves the room.

I flop onto my bed, groaning in anger at myself.

"Stupid, stupid , stupid. Yeah, that's great, Alec. If you keep this up you'll get the 'Most Pathetic man of the Year Award'. Yeah, your family will really be proud."

I suddenly jolt upwards when I remember that Nico sent Jace to give me a message. I stand up and exit my room.

Well there's no way I'm going to Jace straight after that awkward scene. I'll just go to Nico and ask him what is wrong.

He is only down the corridor.