"Is he awake?" Nico heard the voice of the blond who'd been chasing him.

"I don't know, are his eyes open?" This was a different voice; one he hadn't heard before.

"Well, no." That was the blond again.

"Then he's obviously not awake!"

"You can be awake and have your eyes closed, Percy."

"Oh, whatever. I just want to go surfing." Percy must've been this guy's name.

"Just go without me. I need to make sure this guy is okay," said the blond.

"I'm not going to leave you."

"Then shut up."

"Humph."

Nico felt a hand on his forehead. "Are you alright?" asked the blond. "If you're awake, please tell me. I don't want you to be late."

Nico's eyes fluttered open. The blond guy was looking straight at him. The other guy had black hair and was fiddling with his surfboard across the room, obviously not paying attention. He couldn't help but notice that they were both strikingly attractive. Though, that was besides the point. "Late?" He asked groggily.

"Yeah, late. For your date," he replied simply.

"What date?"

"You had flowers. I want to meet this girl. You know, to see if she's flower stealing worthy," he said matter-of-factly.

"Umm..."

"I'm sorry, did I embarrass you?" The blond asked.

"No, it's just...never mind. Thanks for, uh, helping me, I guess."

He shrugged. "It was nothing."

"I guess you can be on your way now. You know, so you and Percy can go surfing."

"How do you know his name?"

"You guys were bickering, and it woke me up," Nico explained.

"I'm sorry about that. I'm Will, by the way."

"Nico."

"That's a nice name," Will commented.

"Thanks. I got it for my birthday."

"Kudos to your mom."

Nico flinched and sat up. "...Yeah."

While sitting in an awkward silence, Nico observed his surroundings. The house's walls were painted a sunny yellow, no surprise. The couch he was resting on was light gray, much like the paint color of the exterior of the home. Surf-themed decorations were on the walls.

"Do you want to rest here while Percy and I go surfing?" Will suddenly asked.

"You want a stranger to sleep in your house alone?" Percy called from across the room. He wasn't really paying any attention to Nico; he was kind of spacey.

"I doubt Nico would do any harm."

"You know, you could just invite him to come with us!"

"I'm here too, guys," Nico said dryly. "You don't need to talk about me like I'm not."

"Do you want to come surfing with us?"

"Do I look like the surfing type of guy?"

"Well, no, but-"

Nico cut him off. "You're right. Maybe I should just sleep here."

"Are you sure?" Will asked thoughtfully. It was like he wanted Nico to go. Why would he? They barely even knew each other! Was he just trying to be nice? Or was he suspicious that if Nico stayed, that he would cause harm to his sun vomit home?

"I...I don't like swimming," the black haired boy said simply, awkwardly.

Percy suddenly butted into the conversation. "Okay, he clearly doesn't want to go. Just leave the guy alone, Will. I mean, realistically, all he did was run into a tree-"

"Enough! This is bullshit! I am leaving. Thank you, Will, for your, uh...services. I'll be going now," Nico declared, biting his lip. He stood up and headed for the door, but then stopped. "Uh...where are my flowers?"

Will blinked, as if suddenly snapping back into reality. "Oh! Right. I put them in a vase for you," he explained, hurrying to what Nico assumed was the kitchen. In moments, he returned with a wide, purple vase, in which the flowers were arranged beautifully in.

"Wow," Nico gaped.

"Are you being sarcastic?" Will narrowed his eyes.

"What? No. They look wonderful, thank you."

"I can thank Katie for that. She's my neighbor, the other house you were stealing plants from. She's a professional at gardening and stuff. I don't know much about it; I'm a doctor. She just wanted to spruce my yard up, I guess. I-"

"Okay, I get it."

"I'm sorry, was I ranting again? Anyways, good luck on your date, Nico," the blond said, heading towards him and putting the vase in his hands. Their fingers brushed awkwardly, which made Nico flinch.

"Are you going to report me to the police?"

"No."

The pale boy cocked his head. "You aren't?"

"I have reasons to believe that this girl is definitely worth stealing flowers for. So if you're ever back..."

Nico scowled. "Whatever. Goodbye, Will."

With that, Nico was out the door and on his way to the cemetery.

The walk was more awkward than usual. His hands were shaking as he clutched into the vase, and for some reason, he was sweating. He hadn't noticed this before, but his hands were wrapped in bandages. How'd he not seen, or rather, felt that?

Nico was also curious about why Will was asking about a 'date.' Why would he assume that? He could've stolen flowers for anyone.

Well, at least they'd never see each other again. Nico decided he'd rather not go back to that neighborhood.

The cemetery's gate was locked. Of course.

So that meant Nico had to climb up the fence with a vase of flowers in his sweaty, bandaged hands.

He dropped the vase.

Fortunately, it didn't break.

But the flowers had spilled everywhere.

Of course.

Nico was on the top of the fence when he'd dropped the flowers, so he slid down the black poles and landed on the grass. His hands stung, but he ignored it.

After he sat down on the ground, he briskly placed the plants back into the vase and hurried along into the cemetery. Nico certainly couldn't be seen; he wasn't even supposed to be here. Ah well. He climbed over the fence all the time.

The cemetery gave Nico a calming feeling. Most people were creeped out or scared, but to him, it gave him a sense of peace. The psithurism of the trees, the drops of water falling from the broken fountain, the quiet breeze.

But his favorite time was night. Looking at the stelliferous sky, blinking up at the stars. He swore some of them glowed brighter than others, outshone all the rest. Nico liked to think those were the stars of his ancestors and loved ones.

"Hi, Bianca, Mom," he said once he reached the spot of their graves. "I brought you these."

No response. Typical.

Nico got down on his knees and began placing each individual flower in the little vases on the graves. The roses for Maria, everything else for Bianca. He organized the roses in rainbow order, though he couldn't seem to find the pink ones. He swore he picked some. Two, to be exact. Maybe they'd just gotten lost when he dropped the vase.

Oh, well. Pink wasn't technically in the rainbow, anyways.

"Do you like them?" Nico asked.

Silence.

He leaned up against a tree trunk between the two graves. "I bet you'd say yes."

Silence.

"Oh, and I'm sorry I'm late," Nico began. "You see, I had a run-in with some guy today. He was chasing me, asking about some date. I don't know why. Anyways, I ran into a tree. Next thing I know, I'm in the guy's house. His friend was there, too. They were both very handsome," he explained.

"And one of them, the blond named Will, gave me this vase to carry your flowers. He didn't even try to turn me in. I've never been caught stealing before. I'm glad he didn't call the cops. But, just to be certain he won't see me again, I won't go to that neighborhood anymore.

"Such a shame, you know it? The wealthier people always have such beautiful gardens. Hopefully those gardens didn't have any camera to catch me." Nico laughed nervously. "I guess I didn't think of that beforehand."

He sat in the silence for a long while, arranging and rearranging all the flowers, tracing the names on the gravestones.

Bianca di Angelo
xxxx-xxxx

Maria di Angelo
xxxx-xxxx

Spouse: Hades di Angelo
xxxx-

Nico never understood why his father was listed as Maria's spouse. They weren't technically married. Though, they were planning to. And they did have children together. But, then again, Hades had been with two other women. Hazel's mom was one of them. However, she'd also passed away. Nico didn't really know her, so it was hard to feel grief. And then he'd gotten married to Persephone. She was a nice and pretty woman, but not as nice and pretty as Maria.

Nico had always wanted to know who the lucky significant other of Bianca would be. She was so beautiful, so innocent, so charming, that anyone would fall in love with her.

Unfortunately, he'd never find out who the person would be.

And if Nico ever get married (pssh, the thought made him laugh), Bianca wouldn't get to meet the guy.

And he wouldn't get his mother's approval. She wouldn't bake Nico's husband a pie for his birthday, or tell him just to call her, 'Momma.' And she'd never be able to embarrass Nico by showing his husband silly pictures of him as a child.

It wasn't like his dad or Persephone would do any of that.

Thoughts overwhelmed Nico, but that's why he came to the cemetery. The calmness always made him feel better.

In fact, it was currently so calming that he'd fallen asleep.

~~~

Mmm, sad thoughts.

For anyone that was wondering, by the way, the 'xxxx-xxxx' on the graves is the birth and death years of Bianca and Maria. I didn't know what to put, so yeah. And the 'xxxx- ' on Hades's is there because he hasn't died yet. So, yeah. Just wanted to get that clear.

Soooo, hopefully this story makes up for my lack of Roommates updates. I kinda like it so far, and I hope you guys do as well.

I'd really love some feedback, whether it's good or bad.

Thanks, have an amazing day. :)