[ annabeth all but winces at nico's words. she hadn't wanted to do this, she hadn't wanted to bring this up at all, really, but she can also recognize that moment that she wants that and understand the cowardice to it. nico, of everyone here, deserves to know.

which is probably why it's the hardest one for her to say. it's so easy, here, to forget about what happens back home. to ignore the fact their lives are still the same, still dangerous, still bad.

the silence that follows is telling, and annabeth tells herself to do better. to say something. but grief is hard, annabeth knows better than anyone, and she still remembers that phone call. still remembers how helpless she'd felt. the fuck pulls her out of her thoughts, and as annabeth looks up, that's when nico lashes out, angry, upset.

she takes it, is honestly fine to let him be as upset as she wants to be. he needs somewhere to be angry, and this is her fault. she should have said something, and she didn't. ]

Because I couldn't. [ he deserves honesty at this point. ] Because I felt helpless finding out about it back home, and I didn't want you to have to deal with that here. It was a mistake, and I'm sorry.