Death and Water

JADE’S POV
Whoever was screaming and crying must have seriously lost something really important because they were driving me mad, I thought, before slowly realizing that it was me screaming so loud I was annoying myself.
I had collapsed to the floor at the same time as nico, expect for josh had been there to catch me, and I hadn't been there for nico. He had returned to his domain, and there wasn’t much he was left to bargain with to get back out.
I don’t know how long I sat there for, crying my eyes out. everyone tried to talk to me, josh, piper, leo, even the monsters, but I yelled at them to go away, and they do, except for joshua piper and leo. Josh doesn’t stop holding me for one second.
It must have been hours since I had watched my cause of hatred and my cause of love burn up and crash at the same time, because josh tells me we still needed to get to the feast.
I didn’t see how I could do it now, without nico. I couldn't see how I could do anything without nico. But it was that exact kind of attitude that repulsed nico, so I brushed myself off, stood up, ignored the blood rushing to my head, and started walking towards the city. Chiron had given us the exact address, and told us to ask for the Greek Gods suite. I bit obvious I had thought at the time, looking at the famous picture of the famous hotel with the famous actress in front of it doing her famous pose. But that’s just how Greek gods did it I guess. Didn’t ned to the directions, I knew how to get there anyways.
We hitch a ride to the bay, none of saying a word, strain stonily ahead. I could feel josh stirring next to me, antsy to talk to me, but I couldn’t, I couldn't think about anything, I needed to finish this, and he's right back to Hades.
At the harbor, we buy our tickets for the ferry. I loved ferries, but I couldn't enjoy it. I stood at the very edge, leaning over so far I could feel the water on my face, refreshing me. I feel a hand on my back, and I stand up quick, thinking it's nico. I feel bad when I feel disappointed it's just josh. For the past three weeks, ever since i left him, I had been hopping for nothing more than to be with him, but under these circumstances, I couldn’t.
“leo and piper are getting sandwich, you hungry?” he asks. I shake my head and look back over the edge. He cups his hand around my chin and forces me to stare at him, his blue eyes shocking my senses back to life slowly, and making my heart beat quicken. “I know how you feel jade” he says, and I feel even worse because I know I did this to him.
“how could I do this to you” I say, my chest heaving. He wraps his arms around, holding me so hard, as if he held me hard enough he could stick my broken pieces back together again. “how could he do this to me” I keep sobbing, I had been crying to much lately.
He doesn’t say anything, just gently pats my back, soothing me, running his fingers through my bloody dirty hair. Piper had helped fix me up so I didn't look like a lunatic, but that didn’t mean I looked very good. not piper good at least.
“we’ll get him back, all right. I mean, I got you back, we can get him back” he says. I breath in and move my head back so I can see him. He gives me a sad smile and wipes my tears of my face.
“i'm surprised you like him so much” I laugh sadly. He chuckles a little too and plants a kiss on my forehead.
“I hate him, but he loves you, and so I can't.” Is all he says, and walks away. I blink for a few moments, shake my head, and sit down on a bench, the wind still carrying the sea breeze towards me.
“I brought you some coffee, you look like you haven’t slept in ages” piper says, after I don't know how long, I had almost fallen asleep. I smile and thank her as I drink the caramel latte. I felt good as it burned down my throat.
“he's still alive you know” she says, after we've sat in silence for a while. This surprised me.
“how do you know?” I ask, turning my head to look at her, gods she was gorgeous, and she was a genuine kind person, if I could get over the good looks part, I think we would be good friends.
She smiles sadly and looks out towards the water, “when someone you love dies, even if you don’t know it, something just breaks. The sparkle in a person's eyes is gone, you can just a tethered string, and as broken as you might feel right now, that string is still strong, I know, trust me. better than that” she says, looking at me again, smiling sadly, “you have two. And we share one for the same guy” she says, looking over to where leo and josh were messing around, punching each other and threatening to throw each other over the edge.
“piper-“ I try to start, but she puts her hand up and stops me.
“trust me jade, I know a lot more about this then you do. We will both be happy, I know I doesn’t look like we will. But we will, I don’t know who we’ll be with at the end of the day, but I can sense that we are going to be happy” she says smiling sadly at me again. I smile back.
“and I can sense that we are going to be good friends” I say. She laughs and spits a piece of her hair out. the act of seeing a girl as gorgeous struggling with something as normal as getting hair in her mouth just makes me more sure of the notion.
“really? I don’t sense that all” she says, and I widen my eyes in shock. “I know it” she says laughing at me, mimicking my expression. I jab her shoulder and drink the rest of my coffee as she keeps laughing. Josh and leo head over to see what's so funny, and piper just recalls the last part of the conversation. I watch carefully as I see josh watch piper, his eyes light up when she smiles like they don’t when I do, maybe because I don’t smile much, but still. His face just shined in pure happiness around her, which he didn’t around me. with her, it was almost like a clean break, they could start their new life together away from the pits, it was the same freshness that attracted me to nico.
Leo makes some joke, and they both laugh, and josh holds out his hand and squeezes hers as it lays on her lap. She smiles up at him, taking another piece of hair out of her mouth, and closes her eyes as he leans over and kisses her. I have to look away and chug the last part of my coffee. It was cold and thick by now, and it left a bitter sweet taste in my mouth.
“-right jade?” leo asks, I turn around, holding my hair with one hand so it doesn’t get n my face.
“huh?” I ask, and leo and josh chuckle, piper just looks worried.
“I was just saying convincing the gods will probably be easier than that, and I was asking for your opinion” he says again, his face etched in a permanent grin that instantly made one feel better.
“lets hope so leo” I say, “can you show me where you guys got a sandwich? I'm starving!” I ask, standing up. Leo looks surprised but smiles, offering his elbow out to escort me. josh tries to follow, but I push him back and follow leo as he tells me about his history, which was for the most part very amusing.

Notes

Hi guys! I'm back! I'm sorry I've been gone so long it's crazy. I will try to end the story this summer but endings are so hard! Please vote, comment and subscribe! all that good stuff ;)