For some strange reason, I had decided to go outside and train today.

I actually didn't sleep much last night after Will left. I stayed up all night and into a decent part of the morning, thinking about the meaningless conversation we had had and replaying everything that was said in my head.

Gods, I sound like a teenage girl reminiscing on every word her crush had spoken.

Too bad he'll never like you.

Freak.

I brushed a hand through my dark mess of hair and stared at my reflection in the tall mirror. My hair was always a mess, so I didn't try to fix it. I hadn't eaten in around five days, so my already stick-thin frame seemed to be engulfed by the large black tee shirt that hung off of me like a curtain. My jeans seemed to be less skinny than usual, which gave me satisfaction that it was working. Beaten-up, low top Converse sneakers that I wore everywhere were tied loosely on my feet. My arms were covered in the long-sleeved shirt that I wore underneath the tee shirt to hide my arms.

Still not completely satisfied with my appearance, I walked to the door and opened it for once, immediately being bombarded by too-bright sunlight. I groaned and shielded my eyes as I closed the door behind me and made my way to the arena.

I tuned everyone else out mostly as I shuffled to my destination. Keeping my head down, not making eye contact with anyone, lost in my own little bubble of thoughts.

Suddenly, my shoulder was jerked back by colliding with someone. I stumbled back, narrowly avoiding falling on my butt. I looked at who I had rammed into, and immediately regretted it.

It was an Aphrodite boy. And he was the one to have landed on his ass.

Lets just say, he wasn't too happy.

I started forward and reached my hand down to help him up, but he swatted it away and climbed up by himself. He grew red in the face and before he could say anything, I apologized. "S-Sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going."

"Yeah. I can see that, faggot. Get the hell away from me." He stomped off, leaving me shocked.

First day outside in two weeks. Great start, Nico.

"Okaaaay then." I turned and continued walking in the direction I had originally set off in, the words still reverberating in my head.

Faggot

Get the hell away from me

Faggot

I shook it off as best as I could and looked up as I reached the arena. Hundreds of demigods in armor were hacking away at training dummies, shooting at targets, or practicing their abilities.

And of course, sitting in the stands next to Annabeth, was Percy Jackson. They seemed happy, laughing and talking like couples should be. Just my luck.

I realized that I would have to walk by them to get to the armor and training swords and internally groaned. I averted my eyes, keeping them glued to the floor, and made a beeline towards the equipment.

"Nico?"

I knew who it was, so I pretended like I didn't hear them and continued walking.

"HEY! NICO!"

I flinched and turned around to face Percy and Annabeth jogging up to me with confused looks on their faces.

"Er- hi." I faked a smile, which probably turned into a grimace.

"Nico! We haven't seen you in around two months! Where have you been?"

"Uh...in my cabin." It wasn't entirely untrue, I went out occasionally to get things, but avoided Percy and Annabeth at all costs.

"Gods, have you been sick? We were worried." Annabeth furrowed her brow at him.

"Uh...yeah...I caught a cold." Now this, is what you might call, a straight-up lie.

"Oh, wow, are you all better?"

"Um, yeah, mostly."

"Listen, we were just about to go see Chiron at the Big House about something, so we've got to go, but maybe we can meet up afterwards?" Percy spoke up, staring down at him.

"Uh...sure." Hell. No.

"That's great! We'll see you around, Nico!" Annabeth exclaimed, smiling.

I nodded and turned back towards the armor. It was only a few feet away now, so I sprinted to it and began to get strapped up.

Once done, I grabbed a training sword and made my way towards an unoccupied training dummy, immediately hacking away at it.

I had pretty much destroyed the dummy in a matter of minutes, so I moved into the next one, which seemed to be better made than the last one. A few minutes in, I felt a tap on my shoulder, causing me to spin around with my sword, balancing it under their chin before realizing who it was.

I hastily dropped my sword and looked up into the grinning face of Jason Grace.

Since when did the Romans get here?

"What's up, dude?" Jason clapped him on the shoulder and grinned wider.

I rolled my eyes. "Olympus."

He shook his head and began walking, gesturing for me to follow him.

"What?"

"Want to train with me? We can catch up afterwards." Dammit.

"Sure. I need practice anyway." I shrugged and followed him to the battling area.

He turned towards me, Imperial Gold sword enabled, and smirked. "Ready to get your butt kicked?"

"You wish, Grace."

In the end, we beat each other multiple times, so we called it a draw.

And me?

I had began to feel the effects of very little sleep and vigorous exercise.

Jason had asked many times if I was feeling alright, to which I replied with that I was just a bit sleepy.

Eventually, he grew tired, and said a goodbye in search of other friends from Camp.

I had stayed behind, well into the evening, hacking at the straw dummies.

When I had decided to leave and head back to my cabin, I pulled off the armor and set it back on the shelf. I threw the sword in the pile of discarded weapons that somebody had created.

The sun hadn't quite gone down yet, so I was still safe from the ravenous Cleaning Harpies.

It began to get chilly, cooling the beads of sweat running down the sides of my face and neck, and causing me shiver. I rubbed my hands on my arms and picked up the pace towards my cabin.

Out of nowhere, a fist flew out of the semi-darkness, hitting me square in the nose. I felt it crack and blood spurt out of it. Unfortunately, I had fallen to the ground because of the impact. I couldn't get a clear look at the person, due to the fact that my eyes were watering because of the pain.

I attempted to stand up, but I felt a foot collide with my back, pushing me forward into the dirt and gravel. I spit the blood out of my mouth and blindly kicked out with my leg, coming in contact with what I assumed was a shin. They fell to the ground with a grunt, so I flipped around and climbed on top of them, throwing punches aimed at their jaw, nose, and head.

I felt myself be lifted off of the ground as I flew backwards, slamming into the ground at full force.

I was breathing heavily, my heart beating hundreds of miles per hour. I tried to stand again, but was greeted with a hard sneaker to the abdomen. I heard muffled talking as I was kicked in the ribs twice more. I realized that there was more than one person, and one of them was standing on my wrists, crushing them and preventing me from getting up.

"-show this fag a lesson." Before I could protest, I was being kicked in the back, abdomen, and face repeatedly. I was pretty sure tears were flowing heavily down my face as I tried to cry out for help. I felt useless, unable to fight back.

I eventually blacked out from the pain, still getting the shit beat out of me.

With a gasp, I jolted upwards. My head was pounding, and everything ached. I looked around, realizing I was in the infirmary.

I heard a shuffle from the other room, so I looked around wildly, in search of something to defend myself with.

On the nightstand next to the cot was a roll of bandages with a pair of scissors. I hurriedly grabbed the scissors and got out of the cot as best as I could, leaning onto the wall for support.

As the footsteps grew closer, I raised the scissors, in preparation to defend myself if needed.

The light flipped on as I readied myself.

In front of me, with one hand on the light switch, stood Will Solace with a toothbrush still in his mouth.

He let out a startled yelp and leapt back with one hand over his heart. "Holy Hera, Nico!" he took the toothbrush out of his mouth and spat into a nearby garbage can. "How in hell are you walking?"

I dropped the scissors and stared at him with confusion. "What even happened?"

His eyes widened. "You don't remember?"

"Yes, you dimwit. I remember getting the shit beat out of me, but what happened after that?"

"Whoever did it ran off after you went unconscious and I went to get something I had left at the bonfire when I found you passed out and beat- WOAH!"

I had begun to fall over, but Will leapt forward and caught me, throwing one of my aching arms over his shoulder, and him wrapping an arm around my waist. I was blushing madly at this point. He began to walk towards the bathrooms, steadying me. I said a quiet thank you and he gently set me down on the toilet seat lid.

He turned around and rummaged in the cabinet behind him and brought out a washcloth. He wet it at the sink and brought it to my swollen and bleeding face.

As he dabbed (Don't you even dare say it) at the cuts, he broke the silence quietly. "Do you know why they did it?"

I looked up at him and saw that he was frowning. "I-I don't know."

"Did they call you anything?"

I chewed my lip for a moment. "Yeah."

He stopped pressing on the cuts and looked down at me. "Did they call y-you a..." he trailed off.

I pressed my lips together. "A faggot? Yeah."

He closed his eyes and curled his lip. He seemed angry for once, which was quite a change from his normal happy self. "I'm so sorry, Nico." He whispered as he went back to the cuts on my face.

"It's okay," I paused. "I'm used to it."

"You shouldn't have to be." He stopped treating the cuts on my face and pulled back. "Erm, could you lift up your shirt, I need to check your ribs."

I felt my face heat up violently. "Uh, sure." I pulled off the two shirts I had on, which were partly sticking to my chest because of cold sweat and dried blood.

Of course, I forgot this meant exposing my arms. I tried as best as I could to hide them, but I think he noticed. He stayed silent as he examined my ribs.

Finally, he pressed lightly on a large, purple bruise, causing me to suck in a breath.

He sighed and straightened up. "That's what I was afraid of. You've fractured two ribs and broken one."

I put my head in my hands. "Seriously?"

"Yeah." He helped me up and steadied me. He reached over to the sink and grabbed a roll of large bandages. "Can you lift your arms up? I have to wrap it."

I did so, and he began wrapping the bandage around my torso. Ever so often, his fingers would graze the skin as he wound the bandage, which drove me insane.

Finally, he finished and went back to the cupboard to pull out a gauze bandage.

"What's that for?"

"You know what it's for, Nico. Hold out your arms."

I shakily did so, and he gently took my arm in his hand and began examining the various ugly scars, scratches, and burns. He gently ran his fingertips over the top of them.

"Nico."

I looked at him, staring into those bright blue eyes.

"Please, please don't ever do this again."

I said nothing as he gathered me in a hug. For once, I didn't tense. I let his body warmth radiate through me as I choked back tears.

"Promise me."

"...I-I promise."

He smiled and began wrapping my arms as I stared down at the floor.

THERE YA GO. EXTRA LONG CHAPTER FOR THE READERS. LEMME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK