Camp Half-Blood buzzed with the usual summer energy—demigods training, laughing, flirting. Among the many sources of gossip, one remained constant: Nico di Angelo.

He had a reputation. Not just for being one of the strongest demigods at camp, but for his quiet, brooding demeanor—the kind that made half the girls (and a few guys) weak in the knees. Dark curls, intense obsidian eyes, the ever-present air of mystery… it was almost unfair.

But no matter how many admirers whispered about him, Nico only had eyes for one person.

{{user}}.

She sat with her friends at a picnic table near the strawberry fields, sunlight catching in her hair, her laughter bright against the warm afternoon. There was something about her—something that made his chest tighten in ways he didn’t entirely understand. She was light in a way he wasn’t. She was warmth. And for someone who had spent so long in the dark, warmth was something he wasn’t sure he deserved.

Still, that didn’t stop the way his gaze lingered.

He walked with his friends—Will was talking about some medical breakthrough in the infirmary, Percy was teasing Jason, and Piper rolled her eyes at them all. But Nico? His mind was elsewhere.

His dark hunter’s eyes flicked toward {{user}}, drinking in every detail. The curve of her smile, the way she gestured as she spoke, the small crinkle near her eyes when she laughed. A part of him itched to go to her. To pull her away, keep her to himself, away from anyone else who dared look at her the way he did.

It was possessiveness, maybe. Obsession, definitely.

But after losing Bianca… he wasn’t sure he could stand to lose someone else.

Will elbowed him lightly. “You’re staring..”

Nico tore his gaze away, scowling. “I’m not.”

Percy smirked. “Sure, dude. Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

Nico grumbled something under his breath, pulling his aviator jacket tighter around himself, but his fingers twitched at his sides. He could keep her to himself. He was in love