Looking out the window wistfully, the brown-eyed boy sighed, a tug at his heart swelling up his chest.

He was doubtful at first, but now it seemed fairly obvious that he had fallen.

Hard.

*   *   *

Since Nico was now attending school, he wasn't allowed to out on his night adventures anymore. It deeply hurt him, since he loved the feeling of the night air on his face as he slid out of the front door, the wind battering his ruffled unkempt hair. Now, he couldn't relish the emotions anymore.

Sighing, Nico leaned on his bedroom's windowsill. He looked out the glass, eyeing the road he wished he could take a stroll on. Studying the sidewalk, Nico tried to imagine himself out there, each of his footsteps resonating across the clearing. But at every car passing, he flinched, cringing at the tires screeching against the hard ground. The harsh glares the lights generated blinded him momentarily.

He hadn't exactly gotten over the accident, and every now and then, he would still have nightmares about it. It haunted him so badly that he grew dystychiphobia, the fear of accidents, that he had to live with for years.

But he was too scared to admit it to anyone.

Not even his family.

Was it embarrassment? Nico wasn't sure. All he knew was that he would always remember that night, waking up in a cold sweat. The brown-eyed boy shivered at the thought. His biological sister was the only one who could calm him from his piercing thoughts that haunted him at night. Now that she was gone, who could possibly replace her?

It was now the long-awaited weekend, and Nico was bored out of his skull. Not bothering to change, he slid off his bed, still in pyjamas. As his stomach growled, longing for food, Nico jumped to his feet, his eyes gleaming with a sort of hunger he didn't recognise in the mirror. He ran downstairs, the sound bouncing off the tall walls.

When his foot reached the last step, his sister Hazel called from the kitchen.

"Nico! It's 11AM already! Get up immediately before I come wake you up myself !" she yelled, her voice betraying the amusement hiding underneath her sharp tone.

Suppressing a smile, Nico trudged into the room where her sister was standing, scrutinizing the door, keen for an entrance. "Chill out, I'm here." he grumbled, hiding the glimpses of silly determination holding himself together.

At the sight of his messy-haired brother, Hazel grinned from ear to ear. "Yay! Now you can help me for my Italian homework!" Despite her only being one year younger than him, it didn't stop her from acting childish all the time.

"Give me that." he said, clearly wanting to get it over the fastest possible, even though he had nothing planned for afterwards. 

He scanned the sheet, filling the answers at top speed. He didn't talk Italian as much anymore since he had almost nobody to talk to. The only people he could talk his native language with were gone for good. His mother Maria di Angelo and his sister Bianca...

Snapping out of his hazy state, Nico continued scribbling the correct answers on the sheet of homework.

When done, he handed it back to Hazel, his face expressionless as always. She had gotten over all her loss in life so easily since she's found love. The boy she met at the coffee shop, Frank Zhang, was already his boyfriend. Nico had tried to act as happy as he could be for them, when in fact his heart was burning once more, crumbling to ashes at the sight of it.

Hazel thanked him quickly, then left the room when her phone started chiming obnoxiously loudly. It was probably Frank anyways.

Nico sighed and grabbed a dazzlingly delicious-looking waffle from the tray and bit off a chunk of the sweet pastry. Still munching, he took out his phone.

He made efforts to try to text Percy more.

Percy, with his resplendent, heavenly sea-green eyes. Percy, with his tanned smooth skin. Percy with his gorgeous ravishing smile. Percy with his dark, black swirls of hair.

Percy.

The task didn't appear as difficult as it seemed. Even though he didn't want to admit it, Nico was dying to see him again. He had trouble concentrating because his turquoise eyes clouded his thoughts. He had trouble breathing because his ravishingly aspectabund features took his breath away.

Deciding too much fantasizing would be intoxicating, Nico finished his 'breakfast' and climbed up the flight of stairs to his bedroom. Creaking the door open, he peeked inside, checking for the sight of anybody, and entered.

With a unusual purr, he sat on his bed and quickly changed into more appropriate clothes: a black shirt with a fended skull and tight dark jeans.

Swiftly moving, he took out his phone and opened up his messages.

2 notifications: percy🖤

Sighing, he wondered if giving him his number was his best or worst decision ever.

percy: morning

percy: tell me you slept

Ugh, Percy. What you do to me...

*   *   *

After a very heated 15 minute-long conversation, Nico finally gave in to Percy's pleads to go hang out with him. In his defence, he didn't know how to say no to him.

Percy even threatened to FaceTime him, and Nico, knowing he would be flustered as hell, quickly declined. 

He threw on boots and a jacket, and left the house.

As he paced on the sidewalk, Nico kept looking around nervously. Creeps chilled his spine. His neck felt as somebody had just placed a cool towel on it. He tried his best pushing the feeling away. This was just an ordinary hang out with two teenagers. What could go wrong?

hey guys!

i just wanted to thank you so much because this book actually shot up in attention overnight so ^_^

also shoutout to @Siren07303Jackson for being awesome and supportive :)

stay cool

-drakonator :)