Mary's mouth was agape as you tumbled out of the shadows. You hoped that she didn't round the corner so fast but alas, the Fates were never on your side. "How did you do that?" she asked amazed. You gulped and prayed that one of the gods would help. "Um. . . ." You began. "I did it. It's shadow travel." Nico piped up as he came out of the shadows calmly.

Mary quirked her brow at him and turned back to you with a grin. "What?" You asked nervously. Mary squealed and yanked your arm as she pulled you into her room. She slammed the door behind you and did a little dance as she giggled. "What?" You asked again.

"You and Nico duh! It's totally cannon! He likes you and you like him!" She exclaimed as she gave you a tight squeeze. "Uh. . . .Nico and I only like each other as friends. Friends, Mary." You told her as you looked her in the eyes seriously. "Sure you do." She answered as she rolled her eyes at you childishly. You crossed your arms over your chest defensively. "Mary." You warned as you saw her gush and ramble some more. "What?" She asked, stopping in mid gush. "Your Aphrodite is showing." Her eyes widened for a second before she shrugged and continued to talk about how much Nico and you liked each other. She was so immersed in her own little world that she didn't realize that you had left the room.

🕱

A few hours later you felt a tap on your shoulder and turned around, surprised. You looked behind and found no one. Shrugging it off, you began to pack for tomorrow. A few seconds later you felt another tap on your shoulder. It scared you half to death as you were once in a peaceful state of mind and was even singing a few songs under your breath softly.

"So, you like me, huh?" A voice whispered quietly. You stopped what you were doing and looked around your room cautiously. You rolled your eyes as you pretended you didn't see Nico in the shadows. "Oh, how I love Nico!" You shouted as you dramatically fell down on your bed. You tried to stifle a laugh as you looked back in the corner with a smirk on your face.

Out came a red-faced Nico as you stifled another giggle. "You didn't have to be so obvious, Y/n. I know you only like me as a friend." He replied as he looked you in the eyes. You couldn't help but let out a laugh. Nico knit his eyebrows together in confusion. "If I didn't like you as a friend, then you wouldn't be here right now." You told him as you laughed loudly. His face screwed up into one of horror and it only made you cackle more.

Nico pouted as your laughter only grew. After a few minutes he began to grow tired of it. "Y/n! Stop laughing! It's not even funny anymore!" He bellowed as your laughter began to die down. "Party pooper." You muttered as you grumpily plopped down on the bed and let out an exasperated sigh. "I heard that." He replied as he sat down next to you. Propping your head up with your hands, you snuck a glance at him and whispered, "Good. You were supposed to." Nico rolled his eyes in response and turned over to you.

Raising an eyebrow at him, you looked into his eyes. "Did you ever find that spider?" He questioned. Your eyes widen to the size of saucers as you jumped from the bed and swore. Nico howled with laughter as you frantically looked around the room with your knife in hand and jumped when he played around with the shadows so that they looked like spiders crawling towards you. You were petrified with fear as a wave of shadows shaped like spiders came at you. Screaming, you ran towards your bed and tackled Nico, causing him to make an "oof" sound as you landed on him. "Okay! Okay! I'll stop! I came back here earlier and killed it. It's gone now." He assured you. You shook violently as you coward into the corner of your bed, away from Nico. "Y/n?" Nico asked you as he looked over at you and say you shaking. You shook your head and covered your face with your arms as you shook and pressed your back against the wall.

"Hey, I didn't mean to scare you that bad. I was just messing around. Are you okay?" He asked as he looked at you with concern. You felt the bed move as he crawled over to you and pried your hands from your face. Hot tears streamed down your cheeks as you tried to get him to let go of your arms. You just wanted to crawl up into a ball and cry and Nico wasn't helping with your plans. "Y/n? Hey, it's alright." He said soothingly. You shook your head and tried to crawl away from him.

"Why didn't you stop?" You croaked out as a tear fell down your cheek. Your lip quivered as you held back sobs. Hurt flashed in his eyes as he noticed how you crawled away from him. He lowered his eyes only to bring them back to your face, showing his regret on his face. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I didn't know you were that afraid of spiders."

"I'm an Athena kid, Nico! I've lived my whole life running from spiders because they love to terrorize my siblings and me. It's all because my mother turned that girl into a spider! Do you know how many nights I lay awake, trying to tell myself that they won't be there when I wake up only to wake up in the morning and see bites all over my skin? They won't leave me alone!" You cried as you explained everything to Nico, not noticing how he came closer to you and held you in his arms. He rested his chin on your head as he held you close and played with your hair as you began to calm down. "I know. I'm so sorry. I won't do it again, I promise. I don't ever want to see you afraid like that again." He said as he looked you in the eyes.

🕱

After you finished packing, you went downstairs to eat dinner before you went to bed. You were warming up some pizza when you heard rustling outside the window. You flinched as you felt tingles go up and down your spine. The hairs on the back of your neck rose up on end and you knew something was wrong. A scream cut through the night and you ran towards the source. You stood in front of the living room as you saw Nico watching a horror movie calmly. You let out a quiet sigh of relief as you returned back to the kitchen.

A few minutes later you heard the rustling once more. Getting up and putting your plate away, you made your way to the open window. You peered into the darkness of the night and gazed at the sky. The rustling came again and it sounded closer. Going to the back door, you opened it quietly. Once outside, you closed the door behind you and looked around the house. You saw the bushes near the kitchen window rustle and you slowly walked over to them.

The bushes were about three feet away when something jumped out at you and pinned you to the ground. It was more like someone rather than something because there stood Annabeth, angry as ever. She had her blade in her hand defensively as she had one arm on your throat. Annabeth looked at you and released her hold. You sat up and breathed hard. Your heart was racing with adrenaline. "What . . . are . . . you . . . doing . . . here?" You gasped out as you looked up at her confused. She chuckled as she out her blade away. "Can't I just visit my sister without any questions?" She shrugged with a grin on her lips.

"Not if you had just threatened to kill me." You replied while crossing your arms. Annabeth stuck out her bottom lip and pouted. "Fine." She answered as she told you that she shipped you and Nico. "Annabeth!" You shouted loudly. Annabeth quickly clamped her hand over your mouth. "Are you wanting someone to find us?" She asked quietly. Your eyes widened and you clamped your mouth shut. "Good. Now, it's getting cold out, can I please go inside?" She asked with seriousness in her voice. You nodded your head and directed her inside.

"Mary! Nico! I've brought a guest!" You shouted as you and Annabeth went inside the house. "And she totally didn't just show up to tell me that she shipped me with my best friend." You muttered under breath. Your shoulders tensed as you worried that Annabeth heard you. Turning around to face the blonde, you saw that she was oblivious to what you said and you let out a sigh. You heard Nico grunt as he paused the movie he was watching. He turned around curiously and widened his eyes when he saw Annabeth with you. His face paled even more then it was before as he got up and ran out of the room.

"What was that all about?" You asked as you looked at the spot Nico was at. Annabeth shrugged her shoulders and sat down at the table. "Hold on a second, I'm going to go find my cousin and try to see if Nico isn't dying." You told her as you walked over to the hallway. Annabeth nodded her head as she slumped in the chair tiredly. You walked down the hall towards Mary's room and knocked on her door. "Mary? it's me, Y/n. Can I come in please?" You asked as you heard a few grunts from your cousin. The door opened and you were horrified at what you were face-to-face with.

"Who are you and what have you done with Mary!" You screamed as you took a step back. You stared at the girl in terror as she stood in front of you. She was wearing a rose-pink robe with fluffy bunny slippers. Her hair was a mess and she had something green all over her face. Make-up was smeared all over her face and her nails were done sloppily.

The girl stared at you harshly, as if you were insane. "Y/n it's me, Mary." She replied calmly. Your eyes widened and you leaned in to whisper in her ear. "What happened?" You heard her sigh and she opened the door wider. You saw dozens upon dozens of magazines sprawled around her room. "New beauty tips?" You asked as you looked back at your cousin curiously. She nodded with a smile.

"Okay then, onto what I'm here for. My step-sister came to visit and she has nowhere to go, can she stay the night in my room?" You asked nicely. Mary sighed and looked into your eyes sadly. It took several minutes for her to answer. "sure, but no staying up past midnight." She stated. You hugged her and said your thanks.

She laughed and told you to leave her alone before she says no. You quickly turned away and went to look for Nico. "Nico?" You called s you went down the hall. No one answered. "Nico?" You asked as you approached his door. "Go away! I'm sick!" He called as you knocked. "No you aren't, I just saw you a few minutes before Annabeth came, what's up?" You asked as you waited for an answer.

Nico opened his door and you fought back the butterflies that flew around in your stomach. You crossed your arms against your chest and popped out your hip in a sassy angle. He wasn't wearing a shirt, leaving his chest bare and you had to remind yourself not to look at his abs. You looked him hard in the eyes and waited for an answer. Nico, on the other hand, looked absolutely terrified at your stance and tried to shadow travel. "Don't you even dare." You said as you clutched his arm tightly. Nico grimaced and stopped to look into your eyes. "You may have fooled other people with that little trick, but not me." You told him as he just stared at you intently. "Gosh darn it Nico, say something!" You shouted. Nico just stood there, his brown eyes transfixed on you.

Suddenly, he pulled you into his room and closed the door behind him. You felt apprehensive and began to feel a little jittery. 'Fudge, what did I just do?' You thought to yourself as Nico came near you. Butterflies began to flutter around your stomach again. "Y/n, do not look at his abs. You look, you're dead.' You scolded inside your brain.

"Nico! Let me out of this room!" You shouted as you tried to break open the door. Nico chuckled as he leaned against his wall. "You know, you can be perverted when you want to." You hissed at him as he smirked. "How am I the one being perverted when you're the one in my room?" He asked playfully. You rolled your eyes at him and tried to think up of different ways to get out. "Because you're the one who randomly pulled me in here and you're also the one without a shirt on." You stated as you folded your arms across your chest and looked him in the eye, not realizing that you just pushed your boobs up. . .and that you're wearing a tank top.

Nico's gaze lowered from your face and you snapped your fingers at him and told him to look up. "You're cute when you're flustered." You heard Nico whisper in your ear. Shivers ran through you as his breath tickled your neck. "Thanks for the compliment. However, if you ever look below my face again, you'll see what happens next," you growled out. "You're no fun." Nico said as he blew in your ear gently. Heat rose to your face as you fought back a gasp of shock. "And you're perverted." You answered venomously. Nico chuckled as he brushed your arm with his hand. "Why so harsh?" He asked huskily. You pushed his hand off of your arm and stepped back from him. "Nico, just open the door please. ." You sighed as he eyed the space between the two of you unpleasantly.

His gaze met yours and you looked into Nico's deep brown eyes pleadingly. "Please?" He sighed and groaned quietly. You watched as he raked his hand over his face and pondered about what he would do."Fine." He replied after what seemed like hours. You squealed and hugged him as you went out of the door he opened for you. You ran to the living room and saw Annabeth finishing up Nico's horror movie. . .and finishing up his popcorn. 'This is going to be interesting,' you thought to yourself.

'Wait, I didn't get to find out why Nico ran out of the room like that! Darn it!' You scolded yourself as you felt Nico's presence behind you. "Aren't you going to go in there?" He asked as he grabbed your hips and walked towards the living room. "Well now I don't have a choice, do I?" You retorted as he continued to walk you into the living room.

"Why are you eating my popcorn and watching my movie?" Nico asked as he emphasized the word "my" when he spoke. 'Here were go. . . ." You thought as you rolled your eyes. Annabeth turned around and glared at Nico. "Why are you holding onto my sister and not wearing a shirt like a decent human being?" Nico's grip on my hips tightened as he clenched his jaw. 'How can someone so lanky and short be so strong? I feel like my hips are being crushed!' You cried in your mind as the two seemed to be in an intense staring contest. "Uh. . .can you please let go of me?" You asked Nico. His grip on your waist loosened, but his gaze on Annabeth never wavered.