Nico hated the 'waiting' process in glee club. Since Kurt liked to get there early, they normally ended up waiting for ages until the others showed up. Thalia, on the other hand, had taken to hanging out with Quinn and Annabeth, who surprisingly got on well. Nico thought they wouldn't - the two girls were completely different, but he supposed they had the mutual friend that was a certain huntress of Artemis. Also, the realisation that Annabeth could sing had really pissed off Thalia, who had in retaliation dragged her over to glee club.

Nico felt as though his thing was being taken over by his friends. He was the one who found out about it, and Thalia was told to join, and now Annabeth was here. He was almost expecting Percy to magically develop musical skills and join, too, which he really didn't want to happen. Glee was his second family - he didn't need the others there, too.

Currently, Nico and Kurt were sharing a phone, texting Blaine and stealing the phone, resulting in a tickling match which Kurt ended up winning, and claimed the phone smugly as Nico wiped tears out of his eyes.

Thalia had taken her usual seat next to Quinn, though Annabeth was on her other side instead of Tina. The three were talking in hushed voices, every now and then glancing at him and Kurt and smiling their smug 'I know something you don't' smiles. Nico sort of wanted to punch them.

Mercedes had taken the other seat next to Kurt, looking at his phone as though it had personally offended her. Nico admitted that Kurt had spent more time on his phone than he normally did, but Blaine...well, he and Kurt were made for each other, and Nico wasn't going to deny Kurt his one shot at happiness.

When Mr Schue walked in, Nico could immediately tell that he wasn't well. Like, at all.

The teacher looked at Annabeth for a few minutes. "You're…"

"Annabeth Chase." From her tone of voice, Nico knew that she, too, was concerned about the teacher's wellbeing. "I'm joining, I guess. Because Thalia said I should."

"She can sing and she said she couldn't. She lied." Thalia muttered. Mr Schue just sighed.

"Ok, welcome Annabeth." He turned back to the board. "Ok, uh, time to start thinking about songs…" He sounded as though his nose was blocked, his throat sore and Nico winced because he knew that being sick sucked. Mr Schue turned around, and his jaw went slack and his eyes grew wide. Nico figured that he should go to the nurse because he looked awful.

"Uh, sir?" Nico spoke up, one eyebrow raised. "Are you ok?"

"You do look a little green." Mercedes agreed, leaning forward slightly as though to inspect the shade of their teacher's skin.

"I think you should go to the nurse." Annabeth added. "You know, because we don't want to get sick, too."

"Agreeing with Chase." Puck leaned back in his seat. Mr Schue rubbed his temples, before pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I think...that would be best." He managed to get out. "Although, I feel like I should get you guys a sitter."

Nico and Kurt exchanged looks and Nico snorted loudly. He regretted it when Annabeth gave him the look.

He hated the look.

XoooX

"I think that Rachel is being over dramatic." Nico said when Kurt placed his tray on the table with a bang. He sat down, shoving at it with a fork. "Please tell me I'm not going insane. She actually did announce that she was going to do songs that were primarily for her, right?"

"She did." Kurt sighed. "I knew it was only a matter of time before she tried that."

"It's terrifying." Nico agreed. "But, hey, bowling with Mercedes tonight. That'll be better than the horror of Rachel - right?"

"Oh, I forgot about that." Kurt looked sheepish, pushing his food around his plate. "I...I told Blaine I'd hang out with him." Nico pursed his lips.

"We were looking forward to it." He said. "Wait - you two aren't going out, right?"

"No!" Kurt said defensively, before pouting when Nico burst out laughing. "Oh, shut up!"

"You two were totally having non-platonic eye sex, though!" Nico retorted, still laughing. "It was like reading teenage fiction!"

"Shut up!"

"Twilight style!" Nico cackled, and Kurt made an attempt to stab him with his fork, before registering what Nico said and freezing.

"You've read or watched Twilight?" Nico blanched and Kurt grinned, looking positively evil. "I don't believe it!"

"People said it was good." Nico muttered, his normally pale face growing red. "When it got to the sparkling part I quit. I tore it up!" Kurt wouldn't stop laughing. Nico groaned. "You're never going to let that go, are you?"

"Never!" Kurt announced. Nico sighed, finally unwrapping his lunch and taking a bite of his sandwich - peanut butter and jelly today.

"I'm just saying, you two are so obviously in love with each other, that you should just get the whole song and dance out of the way and get together." Nico took a bite of his sandwich and somehow managed to achieve a smug smile while chewing as Kurt spluttered. He swallowed. "It will save you so much pain in the future."

"How would you know?" Kurt raised an eyebrow. "You've been single forever, as far as I know. Hi Mercedes!" Kurt was saved from Nico hurling a grape at him by the arrival of Mercedes, who slammed her tray down on the table and glared at it as though it had personally offended her.

"Uh...are you ok?" Nico tilted his head.

"I'm going to kill Rachel." Mercedes muttered and Nico blinked.

"Everyone shares the sentiment." Thalia had joined them, for once leaving Quinn with the Cheerios. "She's the most annoying person on the planet."

"'Hi Nico, how are you?' Oh, I'm fine Thalia - why have you graced me with your presence instead of hanging off Miss Fabray? You know, as usual." Thalia elbowed Nico in the side. Hard. "Honest question! Stop the violence!"

"I am going to kill you and no one will ever find the body." Thalia replied, and Nico noticed her freckled cheeks were tinted pink. "And she's discussing cheerleading stuff. Which I don't get."

"You have a crush." Mercedes seemed happy to change the subject off of Rachel, and Kurt was just glad he wasn't the topic of discussion anymore. "You are both ridiculously touchy feely." Thalia scowled, her face more prominently red.

"I do not!"

"Your voice increased in pitch." Kurt leaned in closer. "You're lying."

"I have a pen. I will use it. In, you know, a stabbing sort of way." Thalia hissed. "Besides, she's straight. If I did have a crush - which I don't - it wouldn't work."

"Bisexuality is a thing!" Nico sang, before returning to his lunch, easily ignoring Thalia's glare of doom.

XoooX

Nico pounced on Kurt outside of the Spanish classroom before glee club. Kurt somehow managed to retain his balance. Nico only then noticed the teacher, watching them with a raised eyebrow.

"And you are…?"

"Oh, hi, I'm Nico di Angelo. Don't worry, I normally attack Kurt."

"It's a complex thing." Kurt managed to break free of Nico's hold on him. "As in, he's tiny."

"I am not!"

"You're nearly the same size as Rachel." Nico scowled and the teacher laughed.

"I don't think I've taught you - Miss Holliday."

"You're substituting for Mr Schue?" Nico guessed and she nodded. "That explains why - I already speak fluent Italian, so I got out of Spanish. Like how Kurt can speak French like he was born with the genes to speak it."

"I just practised." Kurt rolled his eyes. "Miss Holliday is gonna do glee club while Mr Schue's off."

"Brilliant!" Nico perked off. "No more Rachel dominating! Come on!" Nico was off, dragging Kurt along after him. He was pretty sure Miss Holliday was following, probably wondering what was wrong with him.

He was used to people thinking like that, anyway.

Thalia was waiting outside the club room when they arrived, fixing her eyeliner in a handheld mirror. "Puck's buttered the floor." She warned. Judging from the annoyed sounding whine from inside the room, Puck had done exactly what Thalia had said. She beamed, before strolling in, managing to not slip. Miss Holliday followed, gliding across the floor elegantly.

Nico and Kurt ended up clinging to each other in an attempt to remain upright, laughing as they did.

Miss Holliday was talking as Nico and Kurt made their way to their seats, Annabeth flashing them a smile. Nico returned it, albeit slightly awkwardly.

"Now, I've seen your regionals one where you came in last and it may have been because the songs were, like, thirty years old -"

"Those songs are classics!" Finn retorted.

"Those songs are great, I'm just saying, they didn't seem like your favourite songs."

"What songs?" Annabeth asked, raising her hand like she was in a lesson. "Also, we have video footage of you performing?"

"Journey songs." Quinn answered, Thalia physically lowering Annabeth's hand with her own. Nico had a vivid image of Kurt with long hair and singing Don't Stop Believing and it took all of his restraint to not burst into hysterical laughter. "And I did not know we had video footage."

"Look, I'm not your average substitute teacher. I want you guys to have fun while I'm teaching. Do what you want to do." Nico took this as a sign that Miss Holliday was not a monster, which was a good thing. Also slightly worrying, because of the lack of monsters. He wondered if the lack of them might have something to do with the energy source and concluded that it probably was. "Have class outside, but it's raining...take a field trip to taco bell. I don't know, just be able to enjoy yourselves." Everyone was looking hyped, except from Rachel.

"No, guys, we have a set list to work on." Rachel said and Miss Holliday nodded.

"Alright - what songs do you guys want to do?" And Thalia was rambling on about the amazingness that was Green Day, basically scaring and confusing the rest of the glee club who seemed rather taken aback by Miss Holliday's suggestion. The substitute let out a laugh. "Well, we have a lot of suggestions - but what about the rest of you? It doesn't appear as though you guys get asked that question a lot."

"Correct." Kurt sighed. "Mr Schue sometimes compiles set lists which make it seem as though he hasn't listened to the radio since the eighties."

"Dude, I pity you so much right now." Nico sighed. "You are so under educated in music!"

"It's like, he doesn't listen to what you want to do!" Puck complained. "Like Cee-Lo!"

"Oh my gods, Cee-Lo!" Thalia gushed, eyes bright. "I see you riding 'round town with the girl I love and I'm like forget you!"

"Ooh, ooh, ooh!" Annabeth and Quinn finished in unison, laughing as they did. Miss Holliday clapped.

"That's what I'm talking about!" She exclaimed. "So, why don't you guys put some songs together, and we'll see what ideas you have?" Nico and Kurt exchanged a look.

"Let me guess - something from a musical?" Nico raised an eyebrow and Kurt rolled his eyes, but he did look slightly sheepish.

"Am I that predictable?"

"In your music taste? Sometimes, Kurt. Sometimes."

XoooX

Thalia and Nico had skipped glee club today, joined by Quinn, Kurt and a hesitant Annabeth.

"Won't we get in trouble?" She asked as Thalia bought everyone coffee from a vendor in the mall.

"Nah. People ditch all the time." Quinn took the vanilla latte Thalia gave her with a beautiful smile and Nico swore that Thalia would've swooned if she were a weaker girl.

"A cappuccino for Annie, Nico's disgustingly sweet caramel latte, a grande non-fat mocha for Kurt and normal black coffee for me." Thalia stated as she handed out the coffee.

"Black coffee is not normal." Nico protested. "Black coffee is what demons drink. Demons!"

"Well then, maybe I'm a demon." Thalia flashed Nico a wink and Quinn laughed. "Come, let us enjoy our break from glee while we can because we know Rachel will kill us when we return."

"So true." Quinn sighed. "I'm actually amazed Annabeth condoned this."

"I'm right here." Annabeth pointed out. "And Rachel annoys me and I think the entire lesson was literally going to be just her performing a number from Chicago. As much as I love that musical, I can do without her hogging the spotlight."

"Preach!" Kurt and Annabeth knocked their cardboard coffee cups together to signify their agreement. That was when Nico heard a very familiar voice.

"Is that Nico and Kurt?" Wes. That was definitely Wes. Nico turned and waved when he caught the sight of the familiar face, along with twins. The twins who had shown him the way to the commons.

"Who are you waving at?" Thalia had turned, along with the rest of the group. Kurt seemed to recognise them, too, and was waving just as enthusiastically.

"Prep school boys." Nico replied, lowering his hand as the boys came closer. There was a face he did recognise, but couldn't put a name to it - a boy with strawberry blond, curly hair - and one he didn't recognise, one with dark hair and dark eyes, reminding Nico a bit of how he must have looked like after his longer stints in the Underworld. "Hey, guys."

"Hey di Angelo." David winked. "Thought we wouldn't see you guys again until Sectionals."

"You thought wrong, then." Nico replied. "This is Thalia, Annabeth and Quinn - they're in glee with us."

"Should I be concerned you know our rivals?" Quinn asked, eyes sparkling with humour. Wes laughed.

"Don't worry - they didn't give away any secrets." David added. "Oh, you don't know Reed and Dwight."

"I'm Reed." The smaller boy said, smiling. "Reed Van Kamp." Kurt's eyes went wide. Like, ridiculously wide, and Quinn blinked in shock.

"As in, Hilde Van Kamp?" Quinn inquired and Reed nodded.

"She's my mum."

"Is everyone at Dalton rich?" Nico asked. "Seriously, you go to this huge private school and actually have uniforms."

"There is boarding there, too, Dinah." One of the twins - Ethan, Nico guessed wildly - said. Then he caught the nickname and let out an indignant squawk.

"I am not a cat!" Kurt snorted in amusement at that.

"Well, Alice was taken." The other twin shrugged. "Because you didn't follow the White Rabbit into Warblerland." Kurt, who was laughing, froze when he realised the implications of that statement.

"...I'm Alice?" The twins nodded and their friends looked slightly helpless.

"It's their thing." Reed explained, sounding apologetic. "They name anyone they find...well, interesting."

"I'm interesting?"

"Well, you did try to spy on us." David shrugged, but answered Nico's question, which he supposed was fair enough. "Anyway, shouldn't you be in school?"

"We ditched." Thalia shrugged, absently leaning against Quinn. "Shouldn't you be in?"

"I like her." Evan decided. "Nope, we've got a free period."

"Speaking of which, we should be heading back." The other boy, Dwight, spoke for the first time. Nico was highly aware that his eyes had never left him, but not in a 'he's pretty hot' kind of way - more in a frightened animal sort of way, like he expected Nico to...hurt him. It made him feel unnerved - he'd gotten similar looks from some people at camp, but Dwight...he'd never met him before. So why the look?

"Dwight is right." Reed nodded. "We should be heading back - it was nice meeting you guys, anyway."

"Same." Nico managed a smile. "See you soon."

The groups split, and Nico could still feel Dwight's gaze burning into him, as though he was still looking at him, eyes full of fear and worry.

XoooX

Nico had to admit that he was surprised to see Annabeth sitting in front of the glee club when he walked in late. He hurriedly took his seat next to Kurt. "What did I miss?"

"Not much - Annabeth's going to sing, at Rachel's insistence. Miss Holliday agreed."

"Oh." Nico blinked. His gaze shifted towards the daughter of Athena, who looked calm and collected.

"If you don't mind, Tina and I worked on something together." Annabeth smiled beatifically, and Tina nodded. "If we could perform that, would that be ok?"

"Yes, that's fine." Miss Holliday beamed. "Come on up, Tina." Tina did, pulling up a chair and taking a seat next to Annabeth. The blonde smiled at the pianist, who began to play.

Those hardest to love need it most

...

Do we take that risk?

Annabeth's voice was quiet, sweet. It rivalled her personality, which was loud and almost intimidating in a way. Nico found himself recognising the song - Fools. Annabeth had been singing it to herself around the house, but it had never sounded as nice as this. Tina took up the next verse.

And so it all boils down to this

...

That's human nature at its best.

Tina's voice, too, was pretty. Nico wondered why she didn't sing solos as much as the others, though it was probably because her voice was so sweet. The others in the group were much louder than Tina, and Nico figured that wasn't fair. Just because Tina was quiet, didn't mean she should stay quiet. The two sung the chorus together.

What if we ruin it all, and we love like fools?

...

So tell me what we choose

Their voices together melded perfectly, not one outshining the other. They sung the last line together once more, before the group applauded, Rachel looking accepting of the fact that Annabeth was in their group. Nico was still a bit annoyed that his friends were joining glee club, but they hadn't stolen away his friends, so he could accept it, he guessed.

"That is what I'm talking about!" Miss Holliday grinned. "I think you've all explored music that suits you more than your teacher, which is what I wanted you to do. So, you can head home and do whatever - homework, tv, sleep!" Kurt and Nico exchanged looks.

"Want to marathon some tv show?" Nico asked. Kurt beamed.

"I thought you'd never ask."

XoooX

When Mr Schue returned, Nico found himself missing Miss Holliday.

It wasn't that he didn't like Mr Schue - it was more the fact that he missed being able to choose the songs he sang. Listening to those few who wanted to show their tastes in music. He would never be able to get over listening to Kurt sing songs from musicals before anyone else was in the choir room out of his head.

So when Mr Schue announced that they would be performing songs from 'Singing in the Rain', most of the glee club members were disappointed. Nico was, too - he wanted to perform more modern songs, more songs of their own choice. Quinn and Thalia exchanged a look, before Thalia raised a hand. Mr Schue took notice.

"Thalia?"

"Me and Quinn put something together. We didn't get to perform it - would you mind?" Thalia inclined her head and Mr Schue shrugged, moving to take a seat.

"The floor is yours, girls." Thalia and Quinn stood up, taking their places, and Nico was aware of how different they were - Quinn light where Thalia was dark, Thalia more tomboyish than Quinn was, but then again Quinn was in her Cheerios outfit.

"Alright, this is a mashup of two pretty cool songs." Quinn said.

"They're both a bit...well, different. You'll see...or, well, hear." Thalia added.

The music started and Nico couldn't recognise the song off the top of his head, which annoyed him a bit. Thalia started singing.

Well you dawned me and you bet I felt it

...

I reckon it's again my turn to win some or learn some

Nico found himself mouthing the lyrics along with Thalia, but it wasn't much of a mashup. Quinn and Thalia sung the chorus together.

So I won't hesitate no more, no more

...

This is our fate, I'm yours

Then Quinn started singing in her beautiful, lullaby like voice. It suited the lyrics of Somewhere Over the Rainbow perfectly, and Nico understood why they chose Quinn to sing that part.

Someday I'll wish upon a star

...

Once in a lullaby

The next chorus was a combination of lyrics. Thalia sung the I'm Yours part, and Quinn layered Somewhere Over the Rainbow on top of her lyrics and, somehow, it worked beautifully.

So I won't hesitate no more, no more

(Somewhere over the rainbow)

It cannot wait I'm sure

(Skies are blue)

There's no need to complicate

(And the dreams)

Our time is short

(That you dare to dream)

This is our fate, I'm yours

(Really do come true)

And once more, their voices merged to sing the last verse together.

Please don't please don't please don't

...

This is our fate, I'm yours

They finished, smiling at eachother and Nico could almost imagine they were in love until the moment was broken by the applause from the group, Mr Schue grinned and ushered them back to their seats, but a thoughtful look was now on his face.

Mr Schue had a plan.

Nico hoped it was a good one.

XoooX

"If I never see water again, I will be happy." Nico said as they left the auditorium, after changing from the clothes they'd performed in into their actual clothes. His hair was still dripping, though, and Kurt was attempting to fix his hair in a mirror he'd borrowed from Quinn.

"I wish you luck with that." Annabeth laughed. Thalia rolled her eyes.

Nico, Kurt, Annabeth, Thalia and Quinn were the last to leave the auditorium, planning on marathoning Lord of the Rings back at their house. Thank the gods it was a Friday, or they'd be exhausted the next day.

"I have never been more relieved to get out of my Cheerios uniform than I am right now." Quinn added, fixing her hair. She was wearing a simple, floral print dress with brown flats. Her hair was in loose curls and she looked stunning.

"Tell me about it." Thalia rolled her eyes. "Uniforms suck."

"When did you wear a uniform?" Nico raised an eyebrow.

"I am part of a club, Nico." Thalia pointed out.

"You can't really call them a club."

"It's the only way to describe them."

"What club did you join?" Quinn asked, now curious.

"Archery." Thalia shrugged. "Although it's more like a...a camp, I guess."

"Oh. Ok." Quinn blinked. Nico noticed it was quite dark out, his element. Though the hairs on the back of his neck rose up, and he fiddled with his skull ring. Anxiety thrummed through him - something was wrong. He could tell Annabeth felt the same, and Thalia's hand kept twitching.

That was when the growling started.

"What was that?" Kurt started slightly, instinctively moving closer to the rest of the group. Quinn had grabbed the crook of Thalia's elbow, as if that would be safer.

"A dog?" Annabeth suggested hopefully and Nico just knew it wouldn't be an ordinary dog.

Quinn's scream when the Hellhound, the size of a small car, appeared from the shadows, red eyes glinting like rubies in firelight pierced the silent air - no one else was there, they were alone. Also, Quinn could see it. Judging from the way Kurt scrambled backwards, he could too.

"We just can't get a break?" Thalia muttered.

"Thalia, when do we ever get a break?" Annabeth raised an eyebrow.

"You know what that thing is?" Kurt's voice was even more high pitched than usual and, yeah, his shock and terror probably wasn't aided when Nico's sword manifested in his hand, the black blade glinting under the street lights. Quinn let out a sort of choking noise.

"That is a Hellhound." Nico replied, watching as Thalia's bow an arrows appeared in her hand, and Annabeth had pulled her knife out of where it had been previously concealed.

"Guard dogs of the underworld. Formed from shadows. We've got this." Thalia hummed, notching an arrow into her bow.

"This is insane." Quinn murmured, moving closer to Kurt. Nico couldn't blame her - what she thought was myth, legend, had been shattered into a million pieces. "We're going to die."

That was when Nico charged forward. He knew he was less at risk - the hellhounds came from his father's domain, so it was a bit of a surprise that it had decided to attack them. Although, the fact that Thalia and Annabeth were also here, and the killing of them may have outweighed the risk of getting sliced up by a very pissed off son of Hades.

Idiot.

He was pissed off that the Hellhound had managed to claw his arm, but Nico reminded himself that Werewolves hurt more. Like, much more. It was Thalia who finished it off, though, with a perfectly shot arrow right to the eye. The hound let out a yelp, before it dissipated into the shadows.

Then Nico registered the pain and ow, that stung. He also registered the fact that Kurt had moved so he was next to him, eyes wide with fear and...worry?

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Kurt replied, eyeing the cut. "You're the one who got hurt."

"We need to get home." Annabeth said, voice urgent and eyes worried. "There'll be more."

"Home. Well, yours." Quinn said, no indecision in her voice. She was eyeing the three of them, one eyebrow raised. "You have some explaining to do."

XoOoX

Merry Christmas y'all!

Ok, so I am hoping to update The Lucky Seventh and possibly Nightlife tonight primarily because both chapters are nearly finished but it may not happen. So I figured I'd post this now and wish you all happy holidays in case those two don't get updated.

Anyways, thanks for reading! - Jazz xx