"Back off Grace, he's mine," The small, dark haired boy blinked uncertainly as he was suddenly pulled into the older boy standing next to him's chest.

There was a sturdy arm wrapped around him, and all Nico could do was bury his face shamefully into the older boy's shirt.

He smelt like the ocean, which should have felt comforting, but it wasn't.

The arm wrapped around him should have made him feel safe and secure. It didn't.

It was more of a possessive challenging embrace, rather than an affectionate one.

Nico had spent his entire life dreaming about being held by the older boy-but now that he was actually in the moment, all he felt like doing was squirming.

"What are you talking about? He's a person, not an object. He doesn't belong to anybody," the blonde haired boy snarled, and stormed up to the black-haired boy until they were face to face. The blonde towered over Percy by about half a head, but the shorter boy seemed to hold all the power, gripping onto Nico like a hostage. Nico always felt Jason's height comforting, because he could always easily nuzzle into his shirt, but now, as he shadowed over him, he felt like whimpering. He never knew Jason could look this scary.

"What have you ever done for him?" Percy demanded, placing a hand over the smaller boy's head.

"He likes me, Grace. He even said it out loud. Do you know how much courage that takes? He risked all that to tell me he likes me. I think that's more than enough information." He pulled Nico even closer in, until his face was squished against his chest.

"Mmph, Percy," Nico said, squirming around uncomfortably. Being this close to the older boy should have made his heart pound like crazy, but all he felt was a surge of annoyance, but he didn't let it show on is face. Instead, he just stared at the ground, trying to avoid eye contact with the blonde boy in front of him.

"And what have you done for him? Got his sister killed, sent him away because you didn't trust him because he made you talk to his father once to know more about his mother, which is exactly what you would have done if you were in his place, and you told everyone on the Argo II about his betrayal, and not about the good things he's done for the war, and for you, Jackson," Jason said ferally, not even taking a moment's breath, and slapped Percy's arm off of the smaller boy. Nico let the words Jason said sink in slowly, and stared at the floor shamefully. The elder teen was right. Why did he even like Percy? Nico clutched at his heart, but he couldn't bring himself to think like that. Percy was his hero. His knight in shining armour. The one he looked up to. The one that tried his hardest not to get Nico's sister killed, and tried his hardest to break it down to him gently. It wasn't his fault. Sure, there were a lot of times, where Percy refused to trust Nico, or didn't even try to see things from his point, but Percy was caring. Honest. Loyal.

Only to the people he calls his friends. The voice at the back of his mind taunted.

You're obviously not one of them. He's never loved you the way you love him. Not even as a friend. And surely not as your knight in shining armour. Nico tried his hardest to ignore the voice, and gritted his teeth together angrily.

"And yet he still likes me for who I am. He would never turn on me. He will always love me," Percy stated boldly, and Nico looked up in cold, raw shock. His breath hitched as he let the words truly sink in. Was this the reason Percy was being so protective over him? So that one day, when he might prove useful, he wouldn't turn on Percy? The blonde standing across from Nico remained silent for a moment, before chuckling harshly.

"You disgust me, Jackson. How about do you like him for who he is? Have you always been there to pick him back up when he falls? Have you always tried to be there for him, and to try to understand and accept who he is?" Jason said with a fierce passion, which surprised Nico. He wondered to what limits Jason was going to defend him. Sure, he had spent the summer with Jason, fooling around and visiting all the amusement parks and feeding each other ice cream, but he didn't really consider them to be all that close. Well, at least, not for Jason to feel the same way about him as he did for Jason.

"All you've done is push him away and mistrust him." Jason said quietly to Percy, after a moment of silence, and Nico's soft expression turned hard, and his fists began to ball up.

"I've always been there for him, maybe not physically being there, but how do you think he got through Tartarus-"

"That's enough," Nico seethed, and the two arguing boys fell quiet. He shook Percy's arm off, and bored into him with searing black orbs.

"Nico?" Percy asked, surprised.

"Do you really love me?" the smaller boy fidgeted, his voice cracking slightly. He looked both upset, angry and doubtful, which was a dangerous mix for a son of Hades.

"Don't be stupid-"

"Answer me. Honestly." Nico looked up angrily. When he received no response, he shook his head furiously.

"I should have seen this coming. I can't believe how stupid I am. Of course you don't love me. Nothing should be so simple for a child of Hades." He buried his head in his hands.

"Nothing ever good happens to someone like me," he said bitterly, and shadows started shaking around him, as if shifting with his mood. Percy backed up a few steps.

"Nico, you're wrong, I do care about you. I know you'd never hurt me, because you care about me too," Percy said nervously. The way the son of Poseidon phrased the question really rubbed Nico the wrong way.

"That's just it. You're relying everything on my-my feelings for you, and you're taking advantage of that. You don't feel anything for me. You feel something for what advantages I might bring you. You need help in a war? I'll always be there," he spat with a certain kind of rage, which really shook Jason.

"Need help negotiating with Hades? Here I am. You die? I'd do anything to bring you back, even if it means trading in my own life." Nico said, and hung his head down devastatedly, tears dripping, splattering onto the pavement. He looked absolutely broken.

"Just who the hell are you to take advantage of me like that?" his voice cracked.

And before Percy could reach for him, he shifted and disappeared with the shadows.