Detached

Chapter one

A/N hey guys! I know I really shouldn't be starting a new fic...but I've done so little for this fandom and I really should do more. So I've a couple PJO fics coming soon! Look out for them!

Nico gently lay a hand on his aching rib, holding it gingerly as he rose from the pile of blankets on the floor where he slept. His hair was growing too long again, hanging in his eyes getting in the way except for the places where he'd shaved to just below his ears, he didn't know why. Just a burst of rebellion, he supposed.

His resolve to stand quickly died when he did eventually make it to his feet. It was as if all the injuries had decided to head for his toes. He groaned silently, his back arching with the pain. He trailed himself to the bathroom cabinet and gulped down two painkillers like they were lifelines. Which, he supposed, were fitting names for them as he did rely on them greatly. The medicine did its job and soon Nico was able to peel himself from the toilet lid and walk to his bedroom with only a small twinge in his ribs.

He glanced at the clock which read 8:40, as if the gods were against him, it meant he had 20 minutes to get to school before classes started and he'd yet to dress. Nico squeezed his eyes shut, fighting the urge just to curl up under the moth-eaten blankets and let darkness take over again, but he knew that his excuse of a father wouldn't appreciate it so, he forced himself to pull on a long-sleeved black t-shirt and a pair of black jeans with a slash in the knees were Minos had come a him with a kitchen knife. Jamming his feet into the beaten converse, Nico pushed the memory to the back of his mind. 'No,' he thought somewhat bitterly, 'Time for happy memories later, your late as it is.'

Nico clenched his jaw when he picked up his backpack on the way out the rickety, peeling, door. He'd momentarily forgotten about his injury and the added weight of his school books had just reminded him of them. He mumbled a curse, not loud enough for Minos to hear him, and stumbled out the door and towards school.

It happened every morning.

(Pagebreak)

"Perseus Jackson! If I have to call you one more time, then I'll take away your car!" Although he knew his mothers threat hung empty, he still jerked up, and with the sudden movement successfully managed to get tangled in his sheets and land in a thump on the floor.

Ouch.

"I'm up!" He croaked, he could hear his mother chuckling in the kitchen and pouted. Obviously she knew what the ominous thump had been. Percy pulled himself to his feet, murmuring something about being late and detention slips. Hopping into his jeans while also reaching one handed for the blue-shirt on the ground, Percy read the clock and yelped when he read "8;42. He'd less time than he thought and hurried into his clothes, barely stopping to tie his trainers.

He hurtled down the stairs and dashed into the kitchen, grabbing his sweatshirt and snagging a bit of toast with blueberry jam slathered over it.

"Percy! Your book bag!" His mother called as he rushed out the back door. The toast somewhat muffled his swears as he raced back into the kitchen and grabbed the bag from the counter but it didn't stop his mother giving him a reprimanding glance.

He grinned apologetically and swallowed the toast, he chastely kissed her cheek before sprinting back out the door. Single handedly grabbing his car keys from the table and yelling "Love you!" Over his shoulder.

Dark clouds were gathering over head and he managed to jump into his car just before the downpour happened.

Percy grinned as he turned the window wipers on. This happened every morning. Well, the rain was new.

(Pagebreak)

Nico dashed through the corridors, as the bell rang,dripping rain where ever he went and clutching his books to his chest as if the pressure would stop the pain building in his chest. He wasn't exactly sure how he would explain the visible bruises, like the one on his eye, but he knew it was an unlikely thought for someone to even ask about them, never mind care about an answer.

The rain hadn't made his impending day any better, but Nico had a mostly clean and dry hoodie in his locker with his name on it. He wouldn't have too drenched if some idiot hadn't swerved straight into the puddle he was walking past and drenched him from head to toe in rainwater.

His mixture of rushing through the corridors and brooding made him not completely look where he was going so when he crashed into someone he knew immediately it was his fault. That person had managed in the collision, to send their file straight into his fractured rib.

Definitely not his day.

He groaned and slipped down attempting to catch his books and pick up the flying papers. "I'm so sorry, mate!" Rang in his ears, he clutched at his ribcage and hunched over, waiting for the blackness to leave his vision. "Jesus! Are you okay?"

Nico squinted through his half-darkened vision and could just about make out sea-green eyes and a dark thatch of hair. "I'm fine." He gritted out, clenching his sodden t-shirt with one hand and reaching out for his books with the other. The pain was subsiding now, which Nico was grateful for, leaving behind just the same twinge.

"No dude! Seriously! I'm really sorry! It's my fault!" The green-eyed boy was crouched beside him, picking up his things and collecting them all in one neat bundle.

"It's my fault. I wasn't looking where I was going." The younger teen glared up at him, "Let's leave it at that."

Percy gathered up the rest of the strange boys things and handed them to him, receiving a muttered 'thanks' in response. "I'm still really sorry though! Are you okay?" The paler teen struggled to his feet and Percy resisted the urge to help him up, he figured that it wouldn't go down to well.

As Nico stood, tears of frustration gathered in his eyes and he fought them as hard as he could. He hadn't cried since Bianca died, he wasn't about to start sobbing over a couple of bruises, rainwater and bumping in to somebody on the way to class. "I'm fine." He repeated, not making eye contact, his voice sounding somewhat strangled.

"Okay dude. I'm still really sorry!"

Nico managed a half-hearted smile in an attempt to get this dude to stop apologising, "Hi Really sorry. My names Nico Di Angelo." Hell no, he wasn't-no he wasn't flirting! Nick mentally scowled a himself, how scrambled is his head that he's flirting with some stranger who shoved his binder in his ribcage.

The boy with the green-eyes laughed "Nice to meet you Nico. My friends sometimes call me Percy Jackson. What form are you in?" He asked casually. As if they were old friends.

"39C."

Percy's green eyes widened comically, "That's my form! How come I haven't seen you 'round?"

Nico shrugged as he turned on his heel and began the traipse towards his locker, "Maybe you haven't been looking."

A/N is it worth reading more?