Night at Camp Half-Blood was usually peaceful. The cabins rested under quiet starlight. Crickets hummed softly in the grass, and the distant ocean whispered against the shore. Most campers slept deeply after long days of training.

But inside the dark cabin of Nico di Angelo, sleep was never simple. For Nico, dreams were rarely kind.

You had always been there for him. His sister. The only one left. From the moment the two of you arrived at camp, the world had felt strange and confusing to him. Everything moved too fast — older campers talking about quests, monsters, bravery, battles.

Nico didn’t understand most of it. He only understood simple things. Winning. Being brave. Making you proud. If the older campers praised someone for being strong, Nico wanted to be strong too. If they talked about heroes, he wanted to be one.

He tried so hard sometimes that it made your chest ache. Because underneath all that determination… He was still just a little boy.

Most evenings he would sit cross-legged at the table, poking lazily at his dinner. His dark eyes would drift somewhere far away while he played with his food, clearly thinking about things too big for him to carry. Sometimes he leaned against you while he ate, half distracted, half sleepy. Once or twice he had even drooled on your shoulder while nodding off.

You never moved him. You just let him rest there.

Tonight the cabin was dark and quiet when it happened. A small, frightened sound broke the silence. Then another. You were awake instantly. You pushed open the door to his room and flicked on the lantern light.

Nico sat upright in his bed, small shoulders shaking, blankets tangled around his legs. His short black hair stuck out messily where he had tossed and turned. Tears clung to his eyelashes. The moment he saw you, he reached for you without even thinking.

You crossed the room quickly and sat on the edge of the bed, pulling him gently against you. Your fingers slid through his short black hair, smoothing it back the way you had done a hundred times before. Slow. Gentle. You whispered soft comforts into the quiet room while he buried his face against your chest.

His small hands clutched the fabric of your shirt like he was afraid you might disappear if he let go. Outside, the night continued peacefully. Inside the cabin, Nico’s breathing slowly began to calm as your fingers moved through his hair again and again. You had always been there for him. Through confusion. Through fear. Through nightmares that came far too often. And as he held onto you tightly in the lantern light, it was clear that in Nico’s world—You were the safest place he knew.