Boys Like Boys [Nico di Angelo]

chapter thirteen

"Are you hungry?" Nico inquired softly, breaking me out of my daydream. I turned to him. "Breakfast is gonna start soon. After that, I figured you and I could try to figure out a way to control your power," Nico said, but it came out as more of a question.

"Yeah...yeah, okay," I agreed and he gave me a soft smile, before we both took turns changing in the small bathroom that only had a toilet and sink. I slipped on a bright orange Camp Half-Blood shirt and some jeans that were too small for Nico that he'd given to me. Then, I brushed my teeth and ran a hand through my wavy brown hair that was beginning to get too long. I met Nico at the door and we started walking to the Dining Pavilion, where Jason and Percy were busy throwing food at each other. Nico rolled his eyes at the two, before sitting down, me next to him. I willed a bowl of Cheerios to appear in the bowl and they did. Nico just laughed.

  "You can will anything to eat and you chose Cheerios?" he asked, a joking tone behind his words.

  "Keeping it simple," I said with a grin and he just smiled, before turning back to his plate. I looked up to see Jason staring at the two of us.

  "What?" I questioned, eating a spoonful of the cereal.

  "Nothing. Nothing at all. Ignore me."

  Nico rolled his eyes again and turned to the pomegranate in his hands. I stifled a laugh at the irony, before I felt a presence beside me.

  "Calum, I'm sorry," Alice said softly, causing me to look over at her.

"It's okay."

"No, it's not. I shouldn't have gotten angry and I hate that we're avoiding each other."

"We're avoiding each other?" I asked, genuinely curious, and saw Nico stifle his laugh by biting his knuckles.

"Yeah, I thought...I thought that's why you haven't talked to me in a while."

  Truth be told, I'd forgotten all about Alice. It was rude of me to do, considering she'd been my friend since the beginning, but I had been occupied with other things. Like Nico's pretty eyes and the dreams I'd had of Atë.

  "Uh...yep. That's what I was doing. Haha, you got me," I lied and scratched the back of my head. Nico chuckled and I threw him a small smile, before Alice sighed.

  "Well, I'm really sorry for snapping at you like that," she apologized and I told her it was okay, watching as her eyes lit up. "So, do you wanna hang out after breakfast?"

  "Actually, uh, I was going to do something with Nico," I said and she raised an eyebrow.

  "You live with him," Alice dead panned. Suddenly, I felt Nico throw his arm over my shoulder.

  "We just can't get enough of each other," he said, nuzzling my cheek. My face felt like it was on fire, and my heart beat quickened to an impossible pace. Was he being serious?

  "It looks like this is the first time Calum's heard that," Jason commented with a laugh, before he spit out an "ow!" and glared at Nico. It was obvious the son of Hades had kicked him under the table.

  "Right. Maybe tomorrow then?" Alice asked through clenched teeth and I nodded, not quite trusting my voice. She glared harshly at Nico, before getting up and leaving angrily. Suddenly, the three other boys burst out into laughter. I didn't get what was so funny.

  "What was that for?" I asked Nico, noticing his arm was still around my shoulder.

  "Alice gets jealous really easily. Why not have a bit of fun with it?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "Are you kidding me?" Jason asked incredulously, raising a blonde brow. "She's head over heels for you."

  "So you make a joke out of it?" I asked softly and shifted my shoulders so Nico's arm fell off. He looked over at me, his eyes hurt. I turned away from him, staring at my food. 

  "Cal, I was just messing around," Nico said, a frown on his face. 

  "Well, I'm sure Alice doesn't quite appreciate being the laughing stock. I sure didn't."

  "What do you mean?" Percy asked, but I shook my head and stared down at the table.

  "Cal..." Nico trailed off.

  "Well now I feel like an asshole," Jason commented and Percy whacked him upside the head.

  "Good."

  We finished breakfast and Nico and I headed towards the strawberry fields. I refrained from looking at him, because I knew my silent treatment wouldn't last long if I did.

  "Cal, I'm sorry," he said and I halted. "She's your friend, and I shouldn't have done that."

  "It's not just that," I said quietly and he walked in front of me, our eyes meeting. I quickly looked away from him. 

  "Then what is it?"

  "Don't act like you don't know," I whispered, wrapping my arms around myself. It was obvious by now, wasn't it? My crush on him that increased by the minute had to have been obvious by now

  "No, I-I really don't know," he said and I peeked up at him, feeling my cheeks flush.

  "Never mind," I murmured and his eyes widened. 

  "You can't just leave the conversation like that," he argued, and I felt a smile slip into my face.

  "Well, I'm going to."

  "Just as long as you promise you'll tell me eventually," he compromised, a small smile on his face. I grinned back at him.

  "Deal," I agreed, before I smirked mischievously. "If you beat me to the training center!" I called and took off, running towards the arena. He called out a, "hey, not fair!" before chasing after me. I beat him by a long shot, ignoring the odd looks from people as I laid down on the ground, staring up at the sky. Nico fell down next to me, before grinning.

  "I would've totally beat you if I wasn't so out of shape," he said and I rolled my eyes.

  "In your dreams."

  He just laughed and sat up, before helping me up.

  "C'mon, we've got work to do."