You groaned. "Wait, but he's been ignoring me all day. He even ignored me at target practice when the arrow I shot almost hit his shoulder. Who ignores that!?"

Annabeth gave you a look. "Just try."

You glanced around the room at the five demigods watching you.

"Fine."

~(Y/n)'s POV~

You managed to corner Nico at the climbing wall the next day. "Nico, I get that you're mad at me, but-"

"I'm not mad at you. Who said I was mad at you?" he said, not looking you in the eye.

You raised an eyebrow at him. "Right, sure. You're not mad at me? Okay, then why did you storm off yesterday, and why aren't you looking at me in the eye right now? Got an explanation for that?"

He glared at you. "See, I'm looking at you in the eye. Happy now?" He grunted.

"No."

Obviously, he was trying to prevaricate in order to get away from you.

"Just forget about it," he ignored you and tried to walk away. You stepped infront of him, making sure to keep him in the sunlight so that he wouldn't be able to shadow-travel away.

"Maybe I don't want to forget about it," you said sardonically.

He forced a smile, "You know what, I forgive you. It's all behind us now. It's okay."

You could tell he was lying. "Are you sure?" He nodded, "Absolutely," he said, still not looking at you.

The two of you had reached an impasse. And well, desperate times call for desperate measures.

"Okay, then hug me," you stretched out your arms. He didn't make a move to hug you. "If it's really all okay, then hug me."

He clenched his jaw and hesitantly moved closer to hug you. It was barely even a hug, because 1) it lasted about half a second, and 2) he was barely touching you.

You were super frustrated by now. "See? You're still mad at me. At least let me explain the whole 'Hunters of Artemis' business."

He rolled his eyes and tried to get past you. You jumped infront of him. "Seriously, you're actually still ingnoring me now? I said 'no' to immortality for you!" You exclaimed.

Does he have any idea what I gave up for him? And now he still has the nerve to ignore me, You thought, in anger.

His eyes softened, "You said 'no' to her offer?"

"No duh, Sherlock. But I guess that was a stupid mistake. Maybe Artemis will still let me join if I ask her," You said and turned away, setting out to go find Artemis, hoping that she and her Hunters haven't left Camp Half-Blood yet.

He grabbed your arm before you could leave. "Wait! (Y/n), I'm sorry. I thought you actually were thinking about joining. I just- I don't want to lose you. I guess losing Bianca makes me think that way. But, I mean, I care about you. And if you still want to join the Hunters because of how badly I was just treating you, I don't blame you. I'm sorry," he said. His head was hung low.

You sighed and smiled softly. "It's okay. And don't worry, I'm not going to join the Hunters. That means I wouldn't be able to hang out with you anymore," you smiled softly.

He smiled back. "And it also means, that I wouldn't be able to ask you what I'm about to ask you."

You were confused. "Huh?"

He laughed. "Will you go on a date with me, (Y/n)?"

"No."

He coughed. "Oh."

"Not until you give me a proper hug," you grinned.

His head snapped up to look at you, and he grinned back. "Fine with me," he shrugged, still smiling. He wrapped his arms around you.

It was arguably the best hug you ever had.

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Cute, huh? -