Author's Note

So sorry it took so long, but I had to wait for the contest winners to get back to me and then had to figure out how to put it all together. Then I had finals... This is going to be kinda sad, but I hope you enjoy it.

*IMPORTANT A/N AT THE BOTTOM!*

Thanks MyLittleBigBangSwitchAtOlympus, XxanimegrimreapergirlxX, Water-an'-Wisdom, solangelolover, The 379th Hero, May A Chance, InfinityFieryFox, ink2parchment, HBofPoseidon'ndaughterofHermes, Sandrine21, Spelldawn, ARandomFangirler, Bruce, The Titanical Cup, littlebear62007, ChocolateWriter, Applesnapp, guest, and KendraPJO for reviewing.

The contest winners were: MyLittleBigBangSwitchAtOlympus, XxanimegrimreaperxX, The Titanical Cup, ink2parchment, May a Chance, Spelldawn, ARandomFangirler, and Chocolate Writer. I hope you guys enjoy your reward one-shot!

Disclaimer: I don't own Percy, Thalia, Grover, Nico, or Will. They belong to Rick Riordan. Cass Williams is from the Seven Wonders series, which I have never read so sorry if he is OOC. One of the winners requested I put him in, so I did my best.

One Shot #21: The Day I Found Out Who Nico Truly Is

Aurelie Savant's P.O.V.

Hi everyone! My name's Aurelie Savant and I have a pretty normal life with a pretty normal family. I have a mom, a dad, and a three years younger sister. My dad's a consultant and he is always away visiting the owners of the companies he works for. Mom works at home; she's an author and she normally shuts herself in her office for hours at a time to write. Because our parents aren't around a lot, my little sister Arianna and I are attached at the hip. We both love romance and we used to go to restaurants just to people watch and ship random couples.

I'm going to be a senior in high school come fall and last year was the first year I paid attention to Harley Lee Jacobson. Harley is the most popular guy at Rocky High School and his family is filthy rich which makes him pretty arrogant. He always wears brand stuff and he drives a jet black Harley Davidson motorcycle to school. Harley has the coolest yellow-green eyes that go perfectly with his chestnut brown hair. He is buff, lean, and slightly tall, but not too tall. He's on the swim team, but also plays basketball and hockey.

Harley's also a player. He has a different girlfriend every week and most of the time it's the pretty, spoiled, little rich girls. He has everything any teenage boy could ask for, but he's never happy.

This summer I have a job babysitting a little boy named Cass Williams. Cass is ten years old and the sweetest boy ever. He has curly hair and is very tiny. Cass is also very interesting; he only speaks Backwardish. I mastered the language in a couple of weeks so that I could understand him when he is being stubborn. I watch him once a week and I take him to the library and nearby museums.

Today I am taking Cass to a Colorado Rockies and New York Yankees baseball game. It starts at seven o'clock, but I got Cass at five-thirty so that we could go out to eat for dinner. I also forced my friend Nico di Angelo to come and he brought a few friends from his summer camp.

Nico is an epitome. He has really pale skin, almost deathly pale, black hair that always looks like he just got out of bed, and dark eyes. Everyone is afraid of him; he gives off this aura of fear. Nico also wears black clothes every day, a silver skull ring, and most of the time wears an aviator's jacket. He was also my best friend.

He brought four of his friends from camp with him. He brought his cousins Thalia Grace, who's a punk girl with jet black hair and icy blue eyes and Percy Jackson who I've been told is an amazing swimmer. Percy has sea-green eyes and jet black hair. I remember hearing about him on the news awhile ago. Something about him being wanted for his mother's disappearance and possible murder? Percy's best friend Grover also came. Grover has curly brown hair and a goatee. He wears this green cap all the time and walks with a limp.

Then last person Nico invited is Will Solace. Will has a surfer-body, shaggy sun-kissed hair and blue eyes, and athletic build. Will is also HOT. When Nico introduced us, he told me Will was his boyfriend which I didn't believe until I saw them kiss.

Anyway, we went to dinner and Harley was there. Apparently he was a waiter at the restaurant we went to. I'd let Cass pick the place and he told me he wanted to go to Clown House which was a burger joint type thing. I'd agreed and when we got there, Harley showed up to take our drink orders.

"Hey Harley," I greet him. Then I frown. "Why is your suit orange, pink, and white?"

"That's the uniform," Harley replies. "The boss said it'd make the kids happy. It's nice to see you, Aurelie. And you too Nico. Who are these?" Okay, Harley isn't being arrogant. Something's up.

"This is Cass Williams, Will Solace, Grover Underwood, Thalia Grace, and Percy Jackson. We're heading to the baseball game," Nico answers.

"Fun," Harley's expression is wishful. Something is definitely up. Like I said, I'm a people watcher. I notice the small things about people that indicate how they feel and what's going on in their lives. Harley is fidgeting and his eyes seem… sad? Something is bothering him. "Anyway, what do you guys want to drink?"

"Blueberry lemonade," Percy answers immediately.

"Kelp Head," Thalia sighs. "I doubt they have blue lemonade."

"Actually we do," Harley speaks up, jotting down Percy's order. "What else?" Thalia and Grover order Cokes, Nico and Will get lemonade, and I order hot chocolate. Then it's Cass's turn.

"Selknirps dna maerc deppihw fo stol htiw etalocohc toh tnaw I," Cass informs him. Harley doesn't even blink an eye before jotting it down.

"Great, I'll be back," he then walks away, whistling a tune.

"You know him, don't you?" I ask Cass suspiciously.

"Sey," Cass replies.

"Cass, could you please speak forwards so that the others can understand?" I sigh. I love Cass, I really do, but having to translate gets annoying.

"Sorry, Aurelie," Cass says sheepishly. "I do know Harley. He used to babysit me before something happened and he couldn't come over anymore. He's the only other person that bothered to learn Backwardish. He's really nice!"

"Here are your drinks," Harley tells us. He's walking up to us with a tray of drinks balancing delicately on one hand. "We have blueberry lemonade, two Cokes, a hot chocolate, and a hot chocolate with lots of whipped cream and sprinkles. Do you know what you want to eat?" We all say yes and then order, but before Harley can leave, Cass speaks up.

"Emag llabesab eht ta su nioj ot ekil uoy dluow ,yelraH?" Cass asks shyly. "Thginot eerf s'ti dna reverof ni uoy nees t'nevah I." (Translation: Harley, would you like to join us at the baseball game? I haven't seen you in forever and it's free tonight.)

"I'd love to little man," Harley replies. "As long as your friends don't mind." He adds.

"Of course not," I respond brightly. I'm going to find out what is going on! Harley returns fifteen minutes later with our food and a banana?

"Why do you have a banana?" Nico inquires suspiciously.

"I already ate lunch, but I wanted a snack," Harley explains.

We are soon at the game and taking our seats. We have an hour until it starts and so we decide to play twenty questions.

"I'll go first!" I volunteer. "What's your favorite place? Like, where you've gone on vacation or something like that. Mine was Cancun."

"I liked the Hoover Dam," Grover is the first to speak up and Thalia and Percy crack up.

"What's so funny?" Cass asks, not even bothering to speak backwards.

"It was just so dam fun and I loved the dam french fries," Percy replies. The three of them won't stop laughing and Nico rolls his eyes.

"Ignore them," he informs us, wrapping one arm around Will's waist. "It's an inside joke that has been going on for awhile and they won't tell anyone what it means. Anyway, my favorite place was probably Rome. I wasn't there for long, but it was beautiful."

Harley opens his mouth like he's about to say something, but all of a sudden his phone rings. He pulls it out of his pocket and his face pales.

"I have to take this," he whispers. "It's my mom." He gets up abruptly leaving us to stare after him.

"Do you think he's okay?" Percy asks.

"I don't know." I reply. Harley returns fifteen minutes later and we all look at him curiously. He looks as if he'd been crying and Cass stands up to give him a hug.

"I'm sorry," he mutters.

"Don't be," Will replies. "What's wrong?"

"It's just…" he breaks off. "My sister died. Sh-she had leukemia and we thought she was going to make it but…"

"But she didn't," Percy finishes softly. "How old was she?"

"She was only nine," a tear finds its way down Harley's cheek. "She died last summer which is why I stopped hanging out with Cass. A few months later, my parents announced they were getting a divorce. And a few weeks after that, I told my parents that I was bisexual and that I had a boyfriend. My dad he-he disowned me. Mom says she's fine with it, but she's been treating me differently."

"Do you have any other siblings?" I ask softly.

"I have an older sister, Heidi," he replies, nodding. "She's my dad's daughter from his first marriage and is ten years older than me. She lives with her husband and their twin daughters who are three in Tennessee where they own a farm. Heidi has been supporting me, but it's hard, ya know? She never really knew Hannah and she tries to support me the best she can, but she has her own family."

"It'll be okay Harley," Nico promises.

"How do you know that?" Harley asks. "You don't know what I've been through!"

"Actually I kind of do," Nico replies, a serious look on his face. "My mother was murdered and my dad left my sister and I alone in a hotel. Bianca was thirteen and I was ten when we finally left the hotel. Bianca left me to join an all-girls group that travel around the country and she died while away. I never really got the chance to tell her goodbye. I fell in love with the guy that I blamed for my sister's death. He eventually got a girlfriend and it took me forever to get over my crush. Now I'm over my sister's death; don't get me wrong. I miss her everyday, but I don't blame him for it anymore and I don't have constant depression. I have a boyfriend, a family that loves me. It'll get better Harley. It hurts now, but trust me it'll get better. You just have to have a little faith." I'm shocked into silence. I never knew Nico had been through so much.

The rest of the game goes smoothly. Harley talks a little more about his family in between innings and we win the game in the end. Later, there are fireworks and as I look at Nico curled up next to Will, a small smile on his face, I realized that even though I watch people, I never really know what's going on. After that, I started paying more attention to Nico. I asked him about his family, his past. There were some topics he was touchy about, especially his scars, but he answered most of my questions and we became closer that way.

And that's how I realized that Nico di Angelo had been through much more than I can imagine.

Author's Note

Okay, so bad news. I'm not going to update this story frequently, or as frequently as I update stories. I'm starting to lose my interest in this. I know many people have had requests and when the mood hits me, I'll write some more, but I've seriously lost interest. It's getting hard to write them and I feel like they have gotten worse or have the same plotline. I'm also trying to focus on my other story. I'm truly sorry. I'll update every once in a while, but don't expect constant updates. I'm so sorry!

Until next time (whenever that is),

Malec's Daughter