A/N: Short one-shot based off chapter 21 in the story Sometimes, Drama's Actually A Good Thing which was written by lovedoesn'thurt.

This one-shot is written by me, BarrelRacer13.

Nico's POV

"Nico, I'm really, really sorry, but I just don't...feel the same way."

I visibly flinched. That hurt…a lot more than I thought it would. I've heard people say how much it hurts, and I've seen the effects –ehem, Travis was rejected a while back, and he refused to leave his cabin for a few days- but I never knew that it hurt this much. "Nico, gods, I'm sorry. It's just—"

"It's okay," I said quietly. Liar, I told myself. It wasn't okay. It was terrible, and it hurt so badly…

"Nico, I'm so, so sor—"

"You know what's the worst part in all of this?" My voice was bitter, as it had been when I yelled at Percy for letting my sister die. I didn't wait for her to answer.

"I thought there was a possibility, a slim chance of you feeling the same. I knew I couldn't have you, but there was that little part of me that imagined what it would be like if you were mine, and I was yours. It was stupid for me to think that that would ever happen. But I let myself dream. Every time you said, 'I love you,' I hoped and prayed that you meant it the way I did because dammit, Arabelle, I love you, but you don't love me, and it hurts like hell. All your little hugs and all your affections led me to believe that you could've possibly felt the same way about me like I do with you.

"But I guess we're just really good friends, aren't we, Arabelle? Friends who say, 'I love you' to each other. Friends who hug every single fucking day. Friends who hold hands, who sneak out at night, who watch sunsets together, who have one day, every single damn week, where the whole world would just disappear, and it'd be just us. All of those shit we did because we were just friends.

"I can't fucking help who I chose to fall in love with. It's just my luck to fall in love with my best friend. As cliche as this is, I sort of knew that I would fall for you, but then all those books you read..." I couldn't help but chuckle coldly, and I knew though that if I didn't, I would probably start crying.

"You'd rant on and on, how these two characters were so perfect for each other, and that they would never find someone else. Well, does that shit apply to us? Huh, Arabelle?"

"You don't understand..." she said. As if. She probably planned it all and was just making it seem like there could actually be a chance…

"Fuck this shit. Fuck love, but most importantly, fuck you, Arabelle," I grumbled, getting up and leaving. My eyes were burning, and I felt terrible. Not for what I said, but just that feeling you get when you're so depressed, let down, and stressed that you feel sick. My night had been ruined. This day had been so perfect, so unbelievably perfect, that I should've known it was going to end so horribly, that it would end and leave me with such an ache in my chest.

I didn't return to my cabin. If anyone decided to look for me, that was where they would go, and I didn't want to deal with anyone right now. So I went into the woods, and just stumbled through the darkness, tears running down my face and my whole being just wishing I could drop dead because it hurt so much. People would say I'm over reacting to this. They would say 'oh, get over it. It was only one rejection.'

Well, to those people, let me ask you how many times you were let down by someone you love? My mother was killed by my uncle. My father thought I was a failure. My sister left me on my own to join a bunch of immortal girls who got her killed. I had no one left. For a while, I thought that Arabelle would be there forever, at least as a really close friend. But no. Aphrodite had to go screw things up and make me fall in love with her, and then have her break my heart and ruin my night.

I collapsed by the roots of a tree and curled up, crying my eyes out and clawing desperately at the ground to keep myself from screaming. I didn't want people to find me. They would only pretend to care anyway. I wanted to suffer alone, and not have to worry about other people getting in the way and letting me down again.

Of course though, it didn't work. I must've not noticed myself being followed, because I was so lost in my depression…I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I nearly jumped out of my skin at the sudden touch. I couldn't see clearly who it was at first, but then as I listened to the steady breathing of two people –other than me- I knew it was Travis and Conner. They had treated me like family while Bianca was on the quest, which I had been grateful for, despite all the trouble they got me in.

Neither of them said anything. They simply sat there and held me while I broke down completely. That's one thing about the Stoll brothers that not many people know. Despite their pranking and stealing, they're ready to sit there and listen to you, ready to comfort anyone, and willing to have someone cry on their shoulder, no matter how disgusting or strange or mean that person is.

I must've fallen asleep at some point, because I opened my eyes and I was back in my cabin. It was around 3 in the morning, and I felt horrible. My head was pounding, I had a stomach ache, and I wanted nothing more than to go crawl into a hole, curl up, and wait for my life to start going on the right path again, and not down this horribly steep hill.