Saving a Hero

CHAPTER 6

I could feel Annabeth turning my arm over in her hands. Touching my scars tenderly, gently, and with love. Her soft hands caressed over my bumpy healed scars and up to my light red scars. I could hear her crying softly. She pressed a kiss to my healed scars. I opened my eyes and looked into her gentle gray eyes. Instead of them being hard and fierce, staring into people's souls. They were soft and glazed over, leaving the door open for me to read her soul. She didn't have a tiny bit of anger in her. Her shoulders were slump and she was hunched over my arm. A tear slipped out of her eyes and down her cheek, I wiped it away, she really didn't need to cry for me. She reached her hand out to my other arm. I watched her, she was moving slowly and hesitantly, scared of what she might see. She tenderly grasped my hand and turned it over to see the identical marks of my other arm. A few more tears slipped out of her eyes and I again repeated to wipe them away with my thumb. She kissed my arm and looked at me. 

"Percy,"

Her voice was sad and cracking, just that one word help so much emotions. Sadness, pity, reassurance, love. I cupped her face and stared into her eyes.

"I'm here for you, if there's anything you ever want to talk about, I'm here." 

Her voice was soft, it was exactly what I needed. I nodded my head and slipped my arms out of her embrace. A tear rolled down my face that I quickly wiped away. 

"Thank you Annabeth, I know your here for me." 

My voice betrayed me, and cracked. I didn't want her to worry about me, I didn't want to burden her with my problems. I mean, we're demigods, we already have enough problems on our own, I didn't want to pile mine on hers. We both got up from the table's bench and stood there, staring at each other. Annabeth hugged me and pressed her lips to mine in a gentle reassuring kiss. It made me think of her as a friend not a girlfriend. She pulled back, her eyes were still glazed but she was smiling. She put the book in my hands and walked away. The pavilion was empty, I put my plate in a tray with the other dishes that the harpies would pick up later, and walked up to my cabin. I unlocked the door, threw the book on my tsble, and jumped onto my bed, laying like a starfish on the covers. Nico stepped out from a shadow in the corner. 

"Percy!" 

He called with his eyes covered by his hand. 

"Are you decent?" 

He called again into the dark room. I sat there and looked at him, not answering. The anger I had for him this morning seeped back into me, I began to shake slightly. I balled my fist and sat up waiting for him to uncover his eyes. He finally did and looked at me sitting on my bed. 

"Oh, hey Perce, why didn't you ans-" 

"What the actual fuck Nico?" 

I cut him off, my anger seeped out of my mouth, my voice was harsh and filled with rage and venom. His eyes widened. He stepped out of the corner's shadow and stopped in front of me. He was wearing an orange camp T-shirt, black ripped jeans, black converse, and his stygian sword straoped to his side. I stood up in front of him, being about 5 inches taller, I towered over him. His eyes were still wide and he looked up at me with 'O' shaped lips. 

"Huh? What's a matter Percy? Did I do something?"

He was genuinely confused and it annoyed me. 

"What a matter with you, Nico!? I don't need you to be a hero, I don't need you to save me! I'm not a damsel in distress, Nico!" 

I was talking wildly with my arms. Words were just pouring out of my mouth. Nico was holding his ground, I was sure, if he wanted to, he could take out his sword and skewer me in less than five seconds. I was so mad, the thought didn't even phase me. 

"I don't think your a damsel Percy, but you needed to be with someone last night. All I did was stay with you, like you needed." 

His voice was cautious but hard. He was tiptoeing around me, choosing every one of his words carefully, like I was a ticking time bomb. His words already blew me up,

"I don't need you, you thought I need you, but I don't! I was perfectly fine with what I was doing. It wasn't hurting anybody! You don't know what I need, Nico! You hardly even know me!" 

My rage was making me say things that I didn't want to say. Or did I want to say them? Were these feelings bottled up in me about Nico all this time? Are these things what I've always wanted to say to him? I was full blown yelling at him now. 

"You didn't even stay with me Nico! You left in the morning. Like it would be hard to wait until I woke up, or leave a note for me, I was worried! I didn't know where you went! You don't even give a shit!"

Tears were pouring out of my eyes. I was yelling and running my hands through my hair, making it turn and stick up in every which way. I felt exhausted and sad. There was no more anger left in me. No more rage, or energy in me, not an ounce. Nico was staring at me still. He wasn't mad, his eyes were reassuring to me. He grabbed my sides and lead me over to my bed. We faced each other and held onto each other. Our bodies intertwining, silence engulfing the cabin, the only sounds were my sniffles and gulps for air after crying. Nico treated me like a delicate glass cup. He held me tight and tenderly, wiping rolling tears off of my cheeks. His dim chocolate eyes locked onto mine. He parted his lips and got closer to me staring me in the eyes. 

"Percy, I know I'm not the first person that you would think of to comfort you, but I have no problem doing so. I hope we get to know each other better, Percy, it truly an honor to be called one of your friends," 

Nico smiled, his words were genuine, and his voice was soothing. I soon became trapped in his eyes. The way his lips were moving made me feel a way that I never felt around Annabeth. In the pit of my stomach, I felt bad about Annabeth, but I wanted Nico so bad right now. He continued talking, I continued listening with my eyes locked onto his lips.

"I'm always here for you Percy." 

He finished. His hand was now cupping my face and caressing my cheek. My breaths were shallow. I wanted to kiss him so badly. The thought of Annabeth went out of my mind and so did my sense of loyalty to her. My eyes locked with Nico. I knew what I wanted. I pressed my lips onto Nico's. His lips were soft and plump. It felt so good. I'd never had a kiss like this with Annabeth. It was too good to be true, Nico yanked away from me. This time, he did look angry.