WPOV:

Nico freezes, staring at me in horror. I raise my hand up to my cheek, which is stinging. Nico suddenly bursts into tears, dropping to his knees.

"I'm so sorry!" He wails, covering his face. "I'm so, so sorry!" He continues to cry as I watch him, conflicted. Did that really just happen?

"I'm as bad as him..." Nico whispers. I realise that he means Percy.
"No!" I kneel beside him. "No, Nico. You're not. Don't ever say that." He looks up at me through his tears.
"I am." He says, his voice quiet. "I-I hit you. This is how h-he started hitting m-me, and n-now I've done it t-to you! I'm as bad as Percy!"

"You are not as bad as Percy. You just lost your temper, I understand." I go to pull him into a hug, but he moves away, shaking his head, his eyes wide.
"Don't go near me!" He shouts desperately. "I might hurt you!"
"You won't hurt me." I say gently.
"I will!" He sobs. "I'm a monster!"

"You're not!" I insist, moving closer. When I'm close enough, I grab his wrist, which is covered in blood, then quickly let go; I don't want to hurt him. I cup his face with my hands and stare into his eyes, dark pools of despair. How can somebody carry so much pain?

"Nico, you're not going to hurt me." I say gently. He shakes his head slightly.
"I-I might-"
"You won't." I tell him. "I'm not mad at you. You had every right to be angry, and I know you didn't mean to hit me." Nico sobs. "It didn't even hurt!" I lie.

"B-but-"
"You are not as bad as Percy. Do you know how I can tell?" I ask. Nico shakes his head, looking down. I gently tilt his head up again, making him meet my eyes. "You're sorry." I remind him. "You just made a mistake, but you regretted it right afterwards, which Percy never did. You're not a bad person, you're human. We all have flaws."

I press my lips to Nico's, wrapping my arms around him. I pull away quickly and he leans his head against my chest. "I love you, okay? That girl... She kissed me. I actually hate her."
"Okay." Nico says quietly. "I-I love you too." I kiss his forehead.

"I'm really sorry about your sister's box." I tell him. "I just lost my temper. I hate to think that you would hurt yourself, especially because of me."
"I forgive you." Nico tilts his head up to look at me.

I kiss his nose and he gives me a small smile, wrapping his arms around my waist.
"Thank you."