"Annabeth, I'm literally gonna die."

"No you won't, weirdo. Well, maybe you'll have a heart attack."

"Y-you don't understand! I'm seeing Nico di Angelo, in person. God, this is quite literally the best day of my life!" Percy had been screaming at Annabeth for the past forty five minutes now, and by now he couldn't care less if Annabeth was annoyed because oh my god he was going to see Nico.

It had started out with Annabeth referring him to a song or two. He'd listened, and fallen in love with the singer immediately on that foggy March afternoon. They were a very small band and were just beginning their first ever tour. It was a small tour to say the least (they were only selling tickets for venues in Southern California) but Percy could not believe his luck when he not only won tickets to their concert, but V.I.P. tickets.

He was going to meet Nico di Angelo.

Oh god.

"Percy, calm down, you'll live," Annabeth laughed on the other end of the phone. Percy didn't think he could ever calm down, not even if Nico di Angelo floated out of the sky and commanded him to. This just couldn't be happening.

Nightmare Dreams was honestly the best music Percy had ever heard; each song was so beautiful and full of so much passion that Percy could hardly believe that an actual human being was the one singing.

Nico di Angelo: singer and lead guitarist, eighteen years old, and really hot. He had a fluffy, black halo of hair that was almost always loosely across his head, stray strands falling into his eyes. Oh, his eyes: brown, but not quite brown. More of an iridescent mocha that seemed to light up with the stage itself. His voice was beautiful and his guitar playing was incredible. He was perfect, and Percy absolutely had a hardcore celebrity crush on him. He couldn't help it, because who couldn't fall for Nico, honestly.

Will Solace: guitarist, eighteen years old, and immensely talented. He had blonde hair and a darker complexion, but he was cute all the same. His hair was fluffy and his eyes a majestic blue, almost as though the sky had combined with flashes of lightning to create his beautiful gaze. He and Nico always seemed to be shipped together due to their adorable friendship, but Percy didn't think it was real.

Leo Valdez: bass, nineteen years old, eccentric. His personality was definitely the highlight of him, creating him into a little spark of happiness and joy that eventually erupted into a wildfire of beauty. He was quite sassy and hilarious, but he had a bit of a soft side too. His black, curly hair drooped easily into his eyes, presumably making it hard to play bass. Still, the boy was incredible on bass, and the band certainly wouldn't be the same without him.

Jason Grace: drums, twenty years old, charming. The boy was certainly one of the more attractive band members and caught a lot of attention of the female (as well as some male) fans. He had bright blonde hair and electric blue eyes that seemed to pierce the souls of everyone he came into contact with. On top of all this, he was also an incredible drummer that came up with beats and patterns that nobody would probably ever be able to dream of. This was the talent of Jason though, and you had to admire him for it.

This was Nightmare Dreams, the band that Percy loved, and the band that he was seeing a concert for (and meeting the band members!) that very night. He could hardly wait, and the world seemed to spin around him.

He'd gotten a ticket for Annabeth too, but unfortunately they'd only gotten one V.I.P. ticket. Annabeth, being the awesome friend she was, said Percy could have it. Percy had literally broken down into tears and hugged his bestie; Annabeth had just awkwardly patted his back to calm him down which, thankfully, he did.

It was only four more hours until the concert, and Percy was literally going to die from anticipation. He would meet the band members after the concert, and Percy was already on his way to hell for thinking of just how sexy Nico would look with post-concert sweat gleaming on his face and the thrill of the music in his eyes.

That was another thing Percy absolutely adored about Nico. He seemed so passionate and real about what he did, which was a nice change. Some concerts Percy had gone to in the past were quite boring and dull; somehow, he knew that this concert wouldn't be like that at all.

Percy slipped in his headphones, allowing the gentle harmonies that Nico sang to fill his body and take him into a land where nothing could hurt him. Music generally had this affect on him, but Nightmare Dreams seemed to produce an even more enthralling thrill. The way their music just seemed to come together the way that it did just felt so unreal, so dreamy. Everything about their songs screamed hope, and perhaps hope was just what Percy needed.

Music in general wasn't just music, and Percy could never understand how some people would stare at him blankly when he mentioned his love for it. There was just something so mystical about the sounds and the way that it all somehow became physical, almost as though Nico could taste and feel the tones in each song he listened to. Honestly, it was his lifeline, and he really didn't care if that sounded emo because he was too far gone anyways. Nobody could ever know about the Gerard Way shrine in his closet.

A glance at the clock told Percy that he should get in his car to pick up Annabeth. The concert was at six: it was currently four.

Percy did a quick sweep of his apartment, making sure that there wasn't any food left out or lights still on. Once he'd assured himself that there wouldn't be a fire or an ant invasion while he was gone, he exited and locked the door behind him.

As he walked down the hallway, he knew this was a moment he would cherish. The wind whipped in his hair and sent chills down Percy's spine. It was a cold September evening, and, despite his jacket, he was shivering. The weather didn't seem to be the thing that was causing these shudders, though.

Percy pelted down the stairs, jumping off the last four and hitting the ground with a thud. He raced to his black SUV and hopped in, turning over the ignition at lightning speed. Percy could hear his heartbeat over the roar of his old van.

Percy remembered when he and Annabeth had picked out the car with his parents. It was a lovely day, and Percy had fallen in love with the used SUV at sight. Nothing had changed at all.

He missed his parents. He'd moved out at eighteen to go to college and study Marine Biology. Percy had graduated college merely six months ago, and was now in the process of taking online classes to get his Masters so he could teach. He wanted to spread the joy of marine life to students everywhere, and perhaps even raise awareness for the beloved blue whale. They were going extinct at an alarming rate, and Percy was determined to stop such a tragedy.

Sally and Paul were incredible parents and had done absolutely everything they could to assist Percy. Paul had only been married to his mother for two years, but he was already better than his dad who he was forced to have dinner with every month. Part of him felt bad for Gabe for having such an awful life, but then part of him could never forget the bruises that had littered his mother's body and the haunted look in her eyes.

Paul had fixed her though, and helped her out of that rut. Slowly, she got better and more trusting until one day her world seemed to ignite into color altogether. It was a beautiful thing for Percy to witness, and it was all thanks to Paul. He truly couldn't ask for a better step-father.

Percy, however, would never know his true father. He'd died on a fishing trip with some friends when they had gone out into open waters despite storm warnings. Needless to say, they'd never been found.

Percy was okay with never knowing because he had pictures and he had Paul. He was already happy with the life he had, he didn't need more.

The drive to Annabeth's house consisted of playing the Killers Greatest Hits at an alarming volume. Mr. Brightside faded to silence as Percy parked his car and shut off the engine. Percy was just about to go and ring her doorbell when he saw that his friend was already racing toward him with an overexcited grin on her face.

"You ready?" she asked. Percy nodded excitedly.

"You bet."

---

"Nico, same set list as Tuesday?" Nico turned around as Will approached him, a list of songs in hand. Nico glanced over it and nodded.

"Do you want to play 'Mirror' or should we replace it for 'Animals?'" Nico asked, glancing up at the blonde haired boy. Will shrugged.

"We played 'Mirror' yesterday, so maybe 'Animals,'" Will suggested. Nico nodded in approval.

"Cool," Nico said with a grin. He wrapped his arms around Will's waist and kissed him on the forehead. His boyfriend turned an adorable shade of pink.

"You're so cute," Will muttered, blushing harder. Nico giggled and ruffled the taller boy's hair.

"I could say the same to you," Nico flirted easily.

"God, guys, calm down. We seriously don't need you making out on stage or something," Leo exclaimed as he walked into the room, coffee in hand. His hair was slicked back by a black bandanna, and honestly he looked pretty badass. Or, as Leo always joked, badbass.

"That's highly unlikely," Will muttered darkly. Nico cringed back. He hated their situation and he hated how it hurt Will and made him angry.

"I-I'm sorry," Nico stammered, trying to avoid another argument. God, he hated this so much, yet Will seemed insistent on trying to convince Nico that they should just..

But Nico couldn't, and it made him feel sick because he wanted to, but he was too scared to.

"Not sorry enough, it seems," Will snapped. Nico felt his heart break.

"Guys, please, we have a show to perform in an hour. We should really be doing some last minute warm-ups, don't you think?" Jason said anxiously, glancing at Nico with worried eyes. Nico sighed and nodded, his heart breaking more.

"Yeah, let's go to the practice room," Nico mumbled, picking up his black acoustic guitar. Nico played electric and acoustic, but for the particular songs Nico wanted to practice before the show, his acoustic would be the one he was strumming.

Somehow though, he knew that their sadder songs would be sung with much more emotion tonight. The crowd would love it and Nico would choke back tears, but that was just part of being a musician. The emotion and passion was the reason Nico had learned to love music, and it was the reason he'd die loving it too.

Nico didn't know how long he had been strumming and singing mindlessly for when their band manager, Chiron, walked in.

"You're on in five, you should probably go line up backstage," he said in his deep, assertive voice. Nico knew his electric was already onstage, so he grabbed his acoustic and slipped it over his head. He closed his eyes and mindlessly let his hands roam the fret board, willing himself to feel the music rather than hear it. This was somewhat of a tradition of Nico's and it even doubled as a way to cure the pre-concert anxiety.

Jason stood to the left of Nico his drumsticks in his left hand and his hand resting on his hip in a sort of sassy pose. Leo was tapping on the body of bass, mindlessly counting out the beats he'd play. Will, however, had a blank look in his eyes. He was sad, and it was Nico's fault.

Then the stage went black. Roars erupted from the crowd, and Nico felt his melancholy melt away along with the light.

"You ready?" Will whispered in his ear. Nico grinned at him and nodded.

With heart beating and veins racing, he opened his mouth and began to sing. The chords came easily, memorized through months of practice.

When Nico was beginning his voice lessons, his teacher had told him that when he performed onstage he would probably experience something his teacher referred to as "stage amnesia." At first, Nico had thought that this idea was completely idiotic; there was no way he'd forget performing in front of an audience! However, the two hours of guitar and music and inspirational messages seemed to be a blur.

"You guys are incredible, you know that?" Nico said, smirking at his fellow band members. Jason giggled and Leo flipped his hair sassily. Will just smiled.

"We killed it!" Jason said, banging on an invisible drum in front of him.

"Totally," Leo said, and lifted his bass over his head and spun in a circle, a trick he'd learned from Pete Wentz.

"Guys, you have a V.I.P. visitor in five minutes, so get somewhat cleaned up," Chiron said. Nico sighed. The people that came to see them when having V.I.P. tickets usually just asked if Solangelo was real. It always pained Nico to say no, and he knew it pained Will even more.

Nico rubbed a cloth over his sweat-splashed face and applied some deoderant. Nico then picked up four Sharpies and handed one to Leo, Jason, and Will. Nico slipped one into his own back pocket before walking to the lounge area and sitting down lazily.

"Can he come in?" Chiron asked, turning to Nico for an answer. Nico glanced at the others and they nodded, Nico along with them. Nico felt a flash of love for his bandmates. They were more than a band; they were family.

But as Will Solace locked his hand with his, Nico felt his heart break at the look in his boyfriend's eyes as he pulled his hand away. Their family that seemed so stable was being torn apart, and it was all Nico's fault.

---

lol hi feedback is much appreciated. im really really REALLY excited for this one bc i have the plot layed out and its freaking great i promise. love you!

Until next time,

-Callie