Nico Di Angelo had mixed feelings about returning to Camp Half Blood. He had spent the past year in Camp Jupiter with his sister Hazel and Frank, and they were all getting along great. Frank was adjusting to his new position as Praetor, and Hazel spent her spare time practicing controlling the mist. Nico was happy where he was. He had his sister, his friends, even a boy he had been getting close with since he got there. Jared was perfect, but of course, Percy Jackson had to ruin everything. Nico was perfectly content where he was, but one Iris message from Percy telling Nico that he should come back to camp had Nico packing his bags and saying goodbye to his friends without a second thought. Nico hoped to one day be able to say no to Percy Jackson, but that was not that day. After saying goodbye, Nico found himself shadow travelling to Long Island. When Nico got to Camp Half blood, it was lunch time. He could have went to say hello, but he was tired, and he wanted to put off seeing Percy for as long as possible. He went to the newly built Hades Cabin and layed down in the middle of the floor, wondering what he had gotten himself into this time. He was excited to see Jason again. They had spent a lot of time over the past year, via Iris Message. Everyone knew about his sexual orientation now, but Jason was the first to know, and he was one of Nicos best friends. The only problem that was wherever Jason was, Percy would be. It wasn't that Nico hated Percy, it was that he wanted to hate Percy. Percy had ruined his life and not given it a second thought, but no matter how hard he tried, Nico couldn't bring himself to hate him. That may have something to do with the massive crush he had on Percy when he was younger, but he was over that now. At least that's what he told himself.
After lunch was over, Nico sent out to find Jason. He just hoped that the Poseidon Cabin wasn't with the Zeus Cabin that day. Apparently luck was on his side, because Jasons Cabin was paired with the Hermes Cabin that day. As soon as Jason saw him, he smiled wide. "Nico!" he yelled, running towards Nico, going in for a hug. He remembered Nicos aversion to touching just in time, and stuck out his hand for a handshake just in time. "Dude, why didn't you tell me you were coming?"
"I didn't know myself. It was sort of a last minute decision." Jason looked at him quizically, but decided it was better not to ask.
"I'm happy your here." Jason looked back to where the rest of his cabin was. "I'm supposed to be going to swordfighting, but I think I can skip it for one day, what do you think?"
Nico grinned. "Sounds pretty good to me."
"Soooooo," Jason said, poking Nico in the ribs and smiling, "Let me see this guy you've been telling me about, you have to have a picture of him, right?"
Nico blushed. "I mentioned him once, and I have a picture back in the cabin." With that they started walking back in the direction of the cabins.
"Once, my ass. Once every Iris message, maybe. Dude, you couldn't go five minutes without talking about that guy." Jason stopped talking for a moment, and he looked at Nico with concern, "Speaking of guys, have you talked to Percy at all?"
"He's sort of... why I'm here. He sent me an Iris message. Said I should come back. Said that exciting things were happening back at camp." Jason looked at him with raised eyebrows. "That doesn't mean anything! I'm not JUST here for him. I was excited to see you, and Piper, and Leo. And I'm not staying for long. I'm over him, Jason, I swear. I have Jared now." They were walking in the door of the Hades Cabin then.
"Well then, show me the boy! I wanna see, is he hot? I can't believe I just said that."
"Hold on, the picture is in my bag" Nico opened his bag and pulled out a small polaroid photo. He pressed it against his chest, face down. "Promise you won't make fun of him."
Jason laughed. "I'm not going to make fun of him, Nico, just let me see!" Nico slowly turned the photo around and Jasons smile slowly fell away from his face. In the picture was a boy with shaggy black hair, green eyes, and a mischevious grin that Jason knew well. "Don't you think he looks a little like... well... Percy?"
"No he doesn't! He's got different ears, and a different nose, and... and... and his body is built differently and he looks nothing like him." The boy in the picture was almost identical to Percy Jackson.
"Nico... do you think that maybe you aren't really over your crush on Percy? I mean..."
"No! No. I've been over Percy for a while. I like Jared now."
"If you say so. Tell me what's been going on back at Camp Jupiter! I mean all the juicy stuff you couldn't tell me over Iris message." The tension faded immediately. Nico told Jason everything that had happened in his absense at Camp Jupiter. They laughed and talked for what seemed like hours, like old friends.
After a while Nico heard an all too familiar voice yelling from outside. "Jason? Jason!"
"I guess that's my cue. It was so nice talking to you again Nico. I'll see you later, but , I think you should go see Percy. He is the one that asked you to come after all." Jason opened the door and stepped outside.
"Jason!" Percy yelled enthusiastically. "Natasha said that you skipped out on swordfighting. What were you doing in there?" Percy asked. Nico decided that that was as good a time as ever to make his presence known. He opened the door and slid out, nearly silently, but that didn't stop Percy from noticing him. "Nico!" He yelled, smile spreading accross his face. Percy ran to Nico and threw his arms around him. Nico kept his arms at his side, obviously uncomfortable, but Percy just kept holding him. "Come on," Percy said, finally letting go, but keeping his hands on Nico's arms. "There are some people you should meet!"
"I'm not really feeling up to meeting people right now. Shadow travel really drains me. I think I'll just take a nap."
"Okay," Percy replied, face falling. "Tomorrow then. It's nice to see you again, Nico."
Nico went back inside without a word. As he lay down, he wondered how he was going to do this. Just seeing Percy then hurt like being stabbed with Celestial Bronze, how was he going to do it every day?