Bewitched || P. Jackson

𝔻ocks: take 2

A blonde hunter stuck her head out of the cabin door. She looked Nicki up and down. Nicki waved awkwardly.

"Bianca!" The girl called, disappearing. "Your uh... friend is here."

"Thanks, Noami." Bianca appeared in the doorway, waving at someone Nicki couldn't see. "Be back soon."

"Hi." Nicki breathed, taking in Bianca.

"Hi. So, I was thinking we could talk at the Canoe Lake. So no one interrupts us."

Nicki tensed her argument with Nico still fresh in her mind. She felt herself nodding despite what her mind was telling her to do.

Bianca smiled graciously, leading the way through the snow-coated grass toward the lake. Nicki trailed behind her. Her hands were stuffed in the pockets of her aviator jacket. Her mind was screaming at her more and more with every step she took, but still, she continued trudging along behind Bianca.

The water was completely still when the girls reached the docks.

Nicki's mind wandered to Percy. A small ball of anxiety nestled itself in her for him. He was risking a lot to sneak along on the quest with them, but Nicki knew it was just to save Annabeth. She also knew this was not the furthest the boy would go for her.

The anxiety ball twisted gain, although Nicki wasn't positive it actually was anxiety.

Bianca patted the space beside her as she hung her legs over the edge of the wooden dock. Nicki lowered herself down, drawing her knees to her chest.

"That was pretty scary today." Bianca laughed breathily. "I thought for sure you'd be unconscious when I reached you."

"Yeah, Nico was great at keeping me present. Thalia was a star too."

Bianca smiled stiffly. "Yeah, Thalia's great alright."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Nicki questioned.

"Well," Bianca said. She shrugged her shoulders lazily. "She seemed pretty keen on swiping you away from everyone and acting as if you belong here."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Don't you think it's a bit suspicious that the blonde girl disappears and she's super upset about it for all of two minutes?"

"Why are you acting like this?"

"Like what?" Bianca said, "Like this isn't normal? Because it isn't, Nicki."

"Are you saying I'm not normal?"

"No! I know you're mad at me..." Bianca began, staring out into the darkness. "I just couldn't spend the next gods know how many years babysitting my little brother 24/7. I want to live my own life, Nicki."

Nicki forced out a laugh. "Do you want me to feel sympathy for you?"

"You don't know what it was like, I—"

"You did it alone for a couple of months, Bianca. I'm not saying it was easy but then you had me for 3 months and now I'm doing it instead of you!"

"Just because you're ms perfect and you have a mom and a dad doesn't mean you get to lecture me!"

"No, Bianca. I have a sense of humanity for your 11-year-old brother!"

Bianca scoffed, rolling her eyes as she faced Nicki. "Oh come on Nicki. Cut the crap."

"Okay, how about the fact you were too selfish to think about a single person other than yourself for two seconds! You threw yourself at the first attempt to get rid of your responsibilities that waltzed on by you."