and the Camp was absolutely cramped and full with the summer campers arriving from everywhere. Nico didn't like the amount that tripled in such a short notice but he was already used to this. Nico would have already left for a vacation, or a visit to his father in the underworld, or a visit to Hazel, but instead for the first time in a while, he stayed.

He mostly just stayed in his cabin since he had no particular schedule, and only went out to train Treya and demigods younger than thirteen. He wondered why Chiron asked him to train children, but he now knew that while he had no patience for people- adults, he had patience for children.

Treya stood out like a sore thumb whenever they trained because she was the only teenager amongst the campers who trained with Nico. She'd often get teased by Leo who occasionally passes by the armory, but Nico would shoo him away eventually.

And finally, after consulting Piper about Treya's condition, and receiving an answer from Aphrodite herself, Piper told him that the reason why Treya's curse faded away over time was because he already felt the same for her.

Nico was afraid. He previously had a crush on Percy Jackson and Will Solace, so liking a female was new to him. It dawned on him that it was probably the reason why he couldn't distinguish how he felt towards her, because it was different.

Although he was afraid of his newfound feelings, he couldn't seem to stay away from the bubbly daughter of Hecate. He tried, because he was wondering what effect it would take on him if he just slowly slipped away from her like how he did with Will, never eventually telling him how he felt until his feelings of infatuation slowly faded away.

But he couldn't stay away from Treya. They spent so much time together, from training to playing Mythomagic and just talking to each other during their spare time. She was just, always there.

He also knew how Treya felt for him. He was happy, ecstatic and wanted to tell her immediately. However Nico took notice that Treya never crossed the line of the boundary called beyond friends.

Nico wasn't blind. He may have been dense, but he was certainly not an idiot. Their current friendship was already going beyond the line. He couldn't properly explain it, but would friends often have heart to heart talks that went overboard? Would friends hold each other while muttering words of serenity as sparks flew all over? Maybe but Nico's never had a friend like Treya who was already so close to be his significant other.

Their relationship was in constant limbo. And Nico knew they were definitely more than friends.

"Hey, what are you thinking about?" Treya asked, breaking him out of his trance as she neatly tied his hair up into a low ponytail and stood up to put on her armor on.

"Nothing," Replied Nico

They were training together again, and the children lined up in an organized manner, with huge armor hanging around them made Nico think that they were cute and looked like tiny soldiers heading off to war.

Treya would eventually cast magic on their armors that would fit them, and they'd have light training. At least, Nico thought the kids had light training, Treya would always end up looking like she joined a triathlon.

"If you're thinking about how I'm gonna beat you for today's sparring, you are totally right," Treya chortled, putting her own hair in a ponytail and grabbed her short sword.

Although Treya was becoming better with her sword, her main choice of weapon were her small knives. Nico always took notice how massive her growth was with her knife throwing skills, her skills were honed and her throws were around 90% accurate and precise, making her a difficult opponent in Capture The Flag.

Lucky for Nico, he wasn't the one who trained her with knives.

"Oh?" Nico mused, "Is that a challenge I hear? A challenge you're about to lose for the seventieth time?"

Treya glared at him as the kids around them snickered quietly.

"Treya's such a loser," One muttered

"I can't believe she trains with kids," Another said

Although Nico knew that they were only kidding, he wanted to jump in defense, and tell them that Treya was trying her best and was actually improving quickly. But he shut his mouth, he'd end up arguing with kids.

When they started sparring, Nico thought that it was going well. But as they fought, today was different from the rest. Nico wondered if it was his thoughts eating him up from earlier, but Treya was swifter today.

In only five minutes, Treya managed to hold Nico's hair with one hand and her short sword threatening to wound his neck on the other.

"That's not fair, you used the mist on me," Nico grumbled as he took Treya's hand before she pulled him up.

Treya frowned, sheathing her sword, "No I didn't,"

Nico rubbed the nape of his neck, "Then what was...." He trailed off when he finally got the idea that he was distracted by Treya to the point that he lost his focus and was not able to have the upper hand in the entire spar.

Clenching his fists, "I'll leave them to you Treya, I'll just go get some fresh air," Nico muttered before walking away to the shadows.

Nico found himself sitting under a tree by Zeus' Fist, but in a nick of time, Treya was able to find him, concern showing through her face.

"What's wrong?" Treya asked, panting

Nico looked at Treya, "Nothing. I need time alone,"

Nico expected Treya to argue back, to tell him that he needed to teach those young demigods how to handle a sword, and to just bug him until he gave up because he had grown a soft spot for her, and would often fall into her trap of bugging.

But this time, Treya stood there silently before opening her mouth, "I swear I didn't trick you with my illusions or anything,"

Nico's eyebrows crossed, "I know, I just want to be alone. I need to think," His words and the tone of his voice came out rather harshly, and he immediately regretted it.

"'Kay," Treya muttered, "I'm here for you, if you're ready to talk you know where to find me," She said before running off.

Nico wasn't exactly pissed. He was confused. What should he do? He's reached a level wherein he sees Treya as very distracting to the point that Nico would stick a bright yellow warning sign on Treya that said 'WATCH OUT, HIGHLY DISTRACTING'

Nico didn't want to sound sappy, or as Leo Valdez would say, corny and cheesy but Nico was ultimately distracted with Treya as a whole. Not just because her smiles made his stomach feel funny. Not just because whenever they bickered, Nico suddenly gets the urge to kiss the living daylights out of her. But because Nico thought of Treya as his anchor, not someone who held him back, but kept him afloat and to prevent himself from drifting away.