Boys Like Boys [Nico di Angelo]

epilogue

  My last two days with Nico were the best days of my life. We danced like dorks in the strawberry fields, kissed whenever we wanted to, and told each other how we felt every other minute - or so it felt.

  After lunch on my last day at Camp; Christmas Eve, Chiron dissolved the weather barrier and let the snow fall. Nico let me borrow one of his old coats and even wrapped me up in a scarf. I just laughed and pulled him outside as we played in the snow, making snow angels and issuing snowball fights with the other cabins. I may or may not have fired a nice and hard snowball at the Ares kid who had picked on Nico - but that's a secret. For dinner, plates appeared with the traditional holiday meals you usually had. Mine was a honey-baked ham with sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, and a roll. Nico had a lot of fun looking food on his plate, so I snuck bites when he wasn't paying attention. He caught me several times though, but played it off as if he didn't see it.

  Percy and Jason flicked peas at us anytime we were affectionate, causing me to giggle and blush and Nico to give them a not-so-nice finger. After dinner, I took Nico to the beach, where we sat to watch the sun set.

  "Are you gonna kiss me like when we watched the sunrise yesterday?" he inquired, grinned and plopping down next to me, lacing his fingers between mine. "Because I liked it."

  "I'll remember that," I promised and squeezed his hand, watching him look over and give me a soft smile. A lump rose in my chest as the sun began its journey under the waves, illuminating the sky with pinks and purples and soft oranges. I briefly glanced at it a few times, but my eyes stayed locked on Nico, watching the way the wind softly blew his hair out of his face and snowflakes settled onto his eyelashes.

  Nico was more than beautiful. He was more than I could ever deserve - and yet here he was, watching a sunset with me, our hands clasped together. When I had met him, I was immediately infatuated with him - and that never changed, only growing and growing until it felt like my heart with burst for the love I had for him.

Love.

  Was that a proper word for the way I felt?

  I didn't know romantic love, but Nico showed me what it was like to want to give someone your everything, your life, your love, your heart. It was an exercise of trust, I realized. Giving someone the ability to shatter you and trusting them not to.

  I felt tears prick my eyes. Should I have told Nico about Atë? About joining her and the fact that I was leaving to be in her army? Should I have waited until Christmas to do that?

  He wouldn't have forgiven me at that point in time. He would've been so focused on fixing the problem, that I wouldn't have had any time to be with him. This was the best way to go about the situation, even though I wanted to curl up in a ball and hide for the rest of my life.

  I didn't know what awaited me, and I wasn't excited to find out. Nico had shown me nothing but compassion and kindness, so I decided to only live in the present until the night was over.

  His eyes flickered around the evening sky, catching the hues of blue and purple and pink, like a mosaic. I turned to catch the last glimpse of the sun dip beneath the waves and disappear. My eyes burned, but I held back the tears. I had to. For Nico.

  His eyes found mine again, so I leaned forward and kissed him like I had yesterday, hearing his breath hitch as he cupped my face and brought me closer until there was barely any room between us. His heartbeat thrummed against my chest, and I couldn't help but raise a hand to press my fingertips against it, the beat of mine matching his. He pulled away and watched my expression closely, his eyes soft and fond as he raised a hand to my head to run his fingers through my hair.

  "You're beautiful, Cal," he whispered and I felt my cheeks flush. I decided to tell him exactly what I thought.

"If you were a fruit, you'd be a fine-apple," I said, watching him tilt his head back and laugh, before bringing it forward and pressing a kiss to my nose. I flushed in embarrassment, but it was worth it to see him laugh one more time.

"You're a dork."