Well, my first Nico/Leo, or Leo/Nico, depending on how you look at it... Well, yeah.

It Started With a Meeting

He wasn't very tall. No, he was barely reaching my height and, well, I wasn't very tall either. It was to be expected, though. He was only thirteen. And, damn, was he a cute little thirteen year old. With those deep brown eyes that looked a little lost, most likely from losing his best friend, and that little dimple that keep popping up whenever I throw out a joke to try and cheer them up.

I didn't get why everyone was afraid of him. I mean, all the other campers told me he was dark, that he'd shun everyone. They said whenever he would stay around too long, they would get depressing thoughts, like suicide and thinking about dead siblings. How could they look at the cute little kid like that.

I'll admit it, when I first meet him, I was scared out of my freaking mind! Everyone had said that he was this dark, depressing child of the death lord. So, when I saw a little kid standing in the center of camp in tattered jeans, a dirty aviator jacket, and black knock-off converses, the first thing that I thought was "You've got to be kidding me." The next thing I thought was "Awe, this kid is adorable.

Annabeth sniffed then put on a fake smile when I walked up. "Leo," she nodded to me. "This is Nico di Angelo, son of Hades."

I bite my cheek to keep my adoring words to myself. "Leo Valdez," I nodded to him. If I'd said anymore, I'm sure I would have embarrassed the crap out of the kid.

Nico nodded before turning back to Annabeth, completely ignoring me. "Any new leads with the Percy search?" He asked. I could tell from the softening of his eyes that he was really worried. I thought Percy was Annabeth's boyfriend. Did Nico have a thing for this famous hero?

"Yeah," this time, Annabeth really smiled. "We think he's at this Roman camp that Jason Grace went to." She nodded to me. "Leo here is working on a flying ship that will take us there."

Well, finally she acknowledges me. Nico's deep brown eyes fell on me. "Can you show me?" He asked. "I'd like to know we were getting to this Roman camp safely."

I nodded, a little surprised. This guy was suppose to scare me, right? "Sure," I offered him a grin. "Wanna go to Bunker 9 now?" He nodded. "Just, follow me." Which he did.

I didn't talk again until we were walking through the woods, toward my own personal safe haven. "You have a thing for this Percy guy?" I asked. I didn't expect him to answer, so when Nico did, I was beyond surprised.

"Yeah," the adorable son of Hades shrugged. "I guess I have since I realized I didn't actually hate him."

I nodded. So what? Nico's a little crazy? I am too, after all. "Okay, okay," I agreed. "Well, you have a thing for a guy you used to hate, that's cool. Totally normal, you know?"

Nico's mouth twitched, trying not to smile. That was the first time I saw his dimple appear. Just one dimple, on the right cheek. But still, totally adorable.

As I went over the blueprints we had for the Argo II, which wasn't much, both of us didn't talk more than necessary. After about five minutes, I'd told him everything.

Nico nodded. "I'll come back in a few days to see what new things you have." Then, he stepped back into a shadow and disappeared.

I didn't see my adorable new friend until two weeks later. He surprised me by stepping out of a shadow again. I didn't even hear him walk up behind me as I leaned over my work table and tried to book math formulas together. Gods, why did building involve math?

"Have something new to show me?" Nico had asked. I jumped, throwing my pencil into the air and off under a table. Hell, I even let out a girly scream. As I turned, hand clutching my heart, I saw Nico laughing. Like, actually laughing. Even that adorable little dimple was back. "Did I scare you Leo?"

"No!" I tried to protest, but only made him laugh more. "Okay, maybe a little." I loved seeing that smile on his face. "Why don't we get to those new blueprints now?"

"Yeah," Nico said, still smiling. "Let's get to them."

That was the day he told me about his past, and I figured out why everyone was afraid of this adorable little boy.

"So you lost your big sister?" I asked, looking down at my hot chocolate. We were taking a break and Nico said I wasn't allowed to have coffee from the machine in the Bunker.

He nodded. I had a feeling Nico would cry if he started talking.

At looking at that face I loved, I decided I'd tell him my tragic story. "I caused my mom's death," that caught Nico's attention. So I told him, told him about my little superpower.

We talked until it was dark and he had to go. I went back to my cabin while he disappeared into the shadows, which Nico had explained to me was shadow traveling.

I didn't sleep much that night, or the nights following. I spent most of my time thinking about everything I knew about Nico. He'd told me about his sister, Bianca, who he loved and missed a lot. He'd told me about how his father had put him and his sister in the Lotus Hotel and Casino, some magical place in Las Vegas that stopped you from aging, so he was over seventy. I'd thought it was really cool but apparently no one else had seen a thirteen year old that was actually over seventy as a turn on. Whatever.

I also thought about that face I'd come to love. Especially that adorable dimple. Plus the smile he always seemed to have about me. Everyone said he was glum and doom, but whenever Nico was around me he was always grinning. Even if I hadn't known the kid long.

We didn't meet up again until another two weeks had passed. Again, it was in the Bunker, only this time it was at night. Like, right before I was going to leave.

The son of Hades appeared in front of me with a big fluffy blanket and two soft looking pillows. "I thought we could work through the night," Nico said sheepishly. "So I brought some stuff for us to sleep with. Is that okay Leo?"

Of course, I'd nodded and we went back to work. I had him doing easy things, just passing or finding tools when I needed them. We were quiet for a long time, then, Nico spoke up.

"I've been thinking about you a lot lately," he muttered. Nico tossed another screw into a jar.

"Oh, really?" I raised my eyebrows. I should tell him the truth. "You're the reason I've been losing sleep lately."

I saw the edges of Nico's mouth twitch as he fought a smile. "That's interesting," he mused. We were silent again. "I really like you Leo."

I froze. "What?" Was all I managed to get out. I meet Nico's eyes.

"I said I really like you," he repeated. "You get my mind off Percy. Plus, no one has made me smile this much since Bianca, including Percy."

"Oh," for once my mouth decided not to say something.

Death's child sighed. "Sorry if I made you feel awkward," he shrugged. "I just figured you'd know my intentions from now on."

"So," I tried to come up with something smart to say, "you, like, like me like me?" You've got to me kidding me! There was like, three likes in that sentence!

"Yeah," he tossed another screw.

"How do you like me?" I asked, feeling stupid for not getting it. "As in, we're best friends like or you wanna make out with me like?"

The side of Nico's mouth came up. I saw my dimple, and just loved it. "The second one," he said. For some reason, I didn't feel awkward at all. "But I won't do anything you don't want."

I nodded. "I'd like to try," I admitted.

"Really?" I nodded. Nico smiled and set down his mixed bowl of screws. He walked up to me and got on his tip toes. "You sure 'bout this?" He breath, centimeters from my lips. I just nodded, what was it to hurt. "Okay," then he brushed his lips against mine.

My hands reached out for his waist as his hands wrapped around my neck, gripping my hair. It was weird at first, kissing a guy, but I liked Nico. Even if I didn't really understand it yet, I really liked Nico.

Thanks for reading!

~Goddess of the Multiverses