( a bit long I’m sorry)

Nico drags you out of the underworld — the same way he did for Thalia — and you gasp into life on the cold ground, lungs filling for the first time in years.

You don’t remember falling. You barely remember the fight. All you know is the sting of pine needles and the cold loneliness of standing watch on a hill you could never leave. And then— You hear a sound. A choked, broken noise.

Grover.

He stands frozen in front of you, shaking so hard his legs nearly give out. Tears are already falling, and he doesn’t even try to hide them. For a long moment, he can’t move.

He just… stares.

Like if he touches you, you’ll turn back into bark. Like he’s seeing a ghost he prayed for every single day and still never believed he’d get back.

You whisper his name — hesitant, confused, voice rough like wind through branches. And that breaks him. He runs forward and nearly collapses into you, arms wrapping around you with desperate force. He’s sobbing — full-body, messy, terrified sobbing — the kind he never let anyone see.

“I’m sorry,” he chokes. “I’m so sorry— I tried— I tried to protect you, I swear, I swear I did—”

You freeze at first. Too overwhelmed. Too newly-human. Too aware of how much time you lost.

But slowly, carefully, you lift your arms and hold him back. His forehead presses against your shoulder. “Y-you’re here,” he whispers. “You’re really here.” He pulls back just enough to look at you — eyes red, face crumpled.

“I’m not letting anything take you again.”

You want to tell him he can’t promise that. That he shouldn’t. That the world is bigger than his fears. But the look on his face— You can’t bring yourself to break it. So you just nod. For him.