Chapter Text
The following days went by in a blur while Jason tried to come to terms with his feelings. He'd never felt particularly attracted to guys before, and still didn't. Then again, he hadn't exactly been actively chasing girls either. Jason had never really needed to chase anyone. He was the son of Jupiter, powerful and fairly good looking, which seemed to be enough to get most people to like him.
Nico was different
If anything, being all those things had just made it harder for him to befriend Nico. For once Jason actually had to fight to gain somebody's trust, and he had fought, he had tried so hard to be there for Nico. As a result, Nico probably knew Jason better than some of the people Jason grew up with, and Jason finally knew for sure that someone accepted him for what he was, not what they expected him to be.
Falling in love with Nico felt like a betrayal of that hard-won trust, and yet, the more Jason thought about it, the surer he became that this was something he wanted. He was also sure he had no chance whatsoever. It was slowly driving Jason insane.
Jason spent a few more days at Camp Half-Blood, trying to act as normal as possible, and then returned to New Rome. In order to avoid thinking too much, he kept himself busy. Considering he had somewhat neglected his duties during Nico’s stay (gods, how had he not realized?) finding things to do really wasn’t hard. Everybody seemed to want his help with everything, and Jason was happy to comply. Hazel looked worried when he met her about a couple of weeks later.
“You look exhausted,” she said. “Are you eating enough?”
Jason wanted to laugh. Now Hazel was starting to force him to eat more as well. He thought about Nico and him eating cookies during the last war game. He wondered if Nico was starving away in the underworld again.
Chasing the thought away, Jason just smiled at Hazel. “I’m ok, I just have a lot to do right now. Have you heard anything from Nico since he went back?”
She shook her head. “No, but I expect he’ll turn up soon. I gave him a three week time limit, after all.”
“And if he doesn't show?”
“I threatened to send you after him again,” Hazel said. “But you look like you’re heading to the Underworld anyway. You should take better care of yourself.”
Jason promised her that he would, and then continued working as he had before. Two days later day he left for Camp Half-Blood, to oversee ten exchange students from the legion, the largest exchange yet. Annabeth gave him approximately the same speech as Hazel had when he arrived, and Jason ignored her as well, smiling and telling her he was fine. Even Percy seemed unconvinced.
After three days of coordinating, shouting and cleaning up messes, someone knocked on the door just as Jason was going to bed. Wondering who in Hades needed his help this time, Jason threw the door open. And froze.
“Wow, Hazel wasn’t kidding. You look terrible,” Nico di Angelo said, standing outside the door, shivering in the increasingly cold weather. “Can I come in?”
“You’re back,” Jason said, walking forward and throwing his arms around Nico without a second thought. Nico tensed immediately, as usual, but he did briefly hug Jason back. Jason couldn’t help but smile happily.
“Nice to see you too,” Nico muttered, flustered, when Jason finally let go of him. “I went to see Hazel yesterday, and she told me you were here. I figured I’d come visit.”
“I’m glad you did,” Jason said, closing the door behind him as Nico walked into the cabin. “I’ve missed you.”
“What, you missed me so much you stopped eating and sleeping?” Nico teased, but he was blushing, which took the edge of his words. Also, he was kinda right. Not that Jason was going to tell him that.
“I’ve been busy,” he said dismissively. “Calypso and Leo went on a trip two days ago. You just missed them.”
“I know, I sent her an Iris-message,” Nico said. “She seems happy with Valdez.”
“He’s a good guy,” Jason agreed. “And I think we’re way past the point when you should start calling him Leo.”
Nico just shrugged and sat down on Jason’s bed like he had before. Jason did his best to remain casual about that, but he left a good foot of space between them when he sat down beside Nico. Nico didn’t seem to notice.
“Hazel said I should return the favor and force you to take some kind of vacation.” he said, looking over at Jason. “After seeing you, I agree with her. You look like shit.”
“Gee, thanks,” Jason said. “But I can’t just leave. I’ve got responsibilities...”
“That’s what I said, remember?” Nico grinned. “If I wanted, I could just grab you and shadow travel to China, you know.”
“You wouldn’t,” Jason said, though the part of him that didn’t think about responsibilities kind of hoped he would.
“Not unless I have to,” Nico said. “You need a break, whether you want it or not.”
Jason sighed. Going on a vacation with Nico was a really tempting, really bad idea. He’d worked so hard to form this friendship, and he didn’t want to lose it.
“What do you have in mind?” Jason asked anyway, because he was a weak, weak person.
“Your call, unless it’s Vegas. Then you’re on your own,” Nico said, making a face at the very thought. Jason hesitated.
“I’d feel guilty just leaving like that. Isn’t there a quest we could go on?”
Nico snorted. “Asks the guy who has spent the last month delegating everything even vaguely resembling a quest to mixed teams from both camps. I doubt we could even find a shopping list.”
“Point taken,” Jason said, leaning back against the wall. “I’ve never really been on vacation before. I don’t know where to go. I don’t suppose you’re the sunbathing type.”
“What gave it away?” Nico drawled. “Still, your choice. Where do you want to go?”
“I guess I’d want to see Thalia,” he said after thinking about it for a while. “I haven’t seen her since after the battle. I don’t know where she is right now, though.”
“Ask her,” Nico suggested, getting up from the bed. “Then go to sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow.” With that he turned around and left. Jason watched the closed door for about a minute before throwing himself down on the bed again.
Talking with Nico hadn’t been nearly as awkward as he had feared. Still, he had to constantly keep himself from staring too long into those onyx eyes of his, and suppress the urge to move closer and touch him. He suspected he would fail sooner or later. Jason sighed deeply. Maybe he should reconsider telling Nico. At least then the other would see it coming.
It wasn’t really that late yet, so Jason got back up to send an Iris-message to his sister. He wasn’t sure if she would answer, but soon her face become visible before him. Thalia smiled widely when she saw him.
“Jason, hi!” she said. “How is it going? You look really tired.”
“Yeah, I hear that a lot. Nico is dragging me on vacation,” Jason said. Her eyes widened.
“Nico di Angelo? Hades’ kid?” Thalia asked. “Now there’s a surprise. I didn’t know you two were friends.”
“Well, you and I haven’t really seen each other for a while,” Jason said. “Are you guys anywhere where we can visit?”
“I’d have to ask the group, but I think they would be okay with it, as long as you bring your own tent,” Thalia said. “I’ll message you tomorrow morning with details.”
“Sounds good. I’ve missed you.”
“Missed you too, little brother. See you soon.”
Thalia’s face disappeared as the message ended. Going back to bed, he wondered if he should talk to Thaila about Nico. She was his sister, but on the other hand asking the Hunters of Artemis about love was probably a bad idea.
Jason was walking to breakfast after talking to Thalia the following morning when he saw Nico and Percy standing outside the Hades cabin, apparently in the middle of a discussion. Nico only seemed mildly irritated, not flustered and furious as he usually was when talking to Percy. Curious, Jason walked over to them.
“Morning,” Nico greeted when he noticed Jason. “Percy have just agreed to cover for you while we’re gone.”
“Sending Nico to negotiate for you was really low, you know,” Percy complained, but he was grinning. “You’re gonna owe me big for this.”
“I didn’t send… Are you sure?” Jason said, surprised by the situation. “Those exchange students are really green.”
“Don’t sweat it, man,” Percy said. “I can handle it. You go hang out on some beach watching girls in bikinis while I work two jobs.”
Jason resisted the urge to laugh loudly at that. “The only girl I’m interested in seeing is Thalia,” he said. “I talked to her, they will be expecting us tonight.”
“Tell her hi from me,” Percy said. “And to come visit the camp sometimes. It’s been way too long.”
Then Percy’s smile faltered, and he looked uncertainly at Nico. “Are you okay with this?” he asked. “I mean, after what happened...”
“I’ll be fine,” Nico interrupted, eyes blazing. For a moment Jason wondered what they were talking about, then it dawned on him. Bianca, Nico’s older sister, had joined the Hunters of Artemis and died. That was before Jason knew him, but he should have remembered it anyway. Jason mentally slapped himself.
“I’ll be fine,” Nico repeated, looking at Jason this time, like he had read his mind. “I don’t particularly like the hunters, but I have nothing against your sister.”
His tone didn’t allow for further discussions.
Jason spent the day explaining the situation to a variety of different people that relied on him. Some were encouraging, some tried to talk him out of it. The worst thing was the looks of disappointment they gave him, like he wasn’t all they expected him to be. Jason really didn’t like disappointing people. However, when Jason sent an Iris-message to Frank, the praetor just seemed relieved.
“Finally!” Frank said. “You’ve been working harder than me, and that should be physically impossible. I’m glad Nico managed to talk some sense into you.”
“He said it was Hazel’s idea.”
“She suggested it, but you know Nico never does anything he doesn’t want to.” Frank shrugged. “I think he needs a break as much as you do.”
Jason felt stupidly happy Nico had opted to spend vacation with him, if that was true. He kept trying to tell himself not to hope, but he was unable to stop the wide smile that spread on his face anytime he saw him. Especially now, when he was walking towards Jason with a backpack in one hand and a rolled up tent in the other.
“What?” Nico asked when he noticed Jason’s expression.
“Nothing.” Jason shook his head. “Are you ready?”
Nico nodded. “Give me your hand.” he ordered, taking a firm hold when Jason did as he said. The world disappeared and reappeared before Jason’s eyes as they shadow traveled away from Camp Half-blood. Jason tried his best to steady himself when they finally reached the northern pine forest where the Hunters of Artemis were currently residing.
“You can let go now,” Nico mused beside him, and Jason realized he was still holding Nico’s hand.
“As soon as I’m sure I won’t topple over,” Jason said, smiling at him, then reluctantly letting go.
“The hunters should be close by,” Nico said, not sounding very enthusiastic about it.
“If at any point you feel you want to leave, just tell me, okay?” Jason said, concerned, but Nico just rolled his eyes and didn’t answer. They started walking forward into the forest.
“You must be Thalia’s brother,” a voice from nowhere said a while later. Jason jumped, but Nico seemed unsurprised. He nodded towards a tree, and a young girl stepped out from behind it.
“Yes, I’m Jason Grace. This is Nico,” Jason introduced them, ignoring how unimpressed the girl looked. “Is Thalia around?”
“Follow me,” she said. She lead them through the forest to a clearing where a couple of tents stood raised. Thalia was sitting by the campfire, talking to some other girls, but she looked up when they approached.
“Jason!” she said, walking over to give Jason a big hug. “Good to see you, little brother.”
“You too, sis,” Jason said happily. “Thanks for having us.” Thalia smiled at him, then turned her attention to the boy at his side.
“Nico di Angelo. It’s been a long time,” she said, still smiling but sounding slightly uncertain. Nico nodded towards her.
“You guys hunting something specific?” he asked in lieu of a greeting. Thalia frowned.
“There are rumors of griffins hunting in these woods, but we have yet to see any,” she answered. “Things have slowed down a lot since the war ended. Not that I’m complaining.”
“You better not be,” Jason laughed. Thalia showed them around camp, and introduced them to her hunters. Some of them Jason vaguely recognized. A couple of them were smiling shyly, but others didn’t seem very thrilled about them being here. One of them was eyeing Nico, looking thoughtful and a little frightened.
“I don’t supposed I have to tell you two that my girls are off limits,” Thalia joked, but there was an air of seriousness to her.
“You have nothing to worry about.” Jason smiled, glancing at Nico, who just rolled his eyes. ”What have you been up to lately?”
They sat down by the fire, and Thalia told them how the Hunters had spent months tracking down the remains of Gaea’s army, the ones that ran away when it was becoming clear they were going to lose. At first they had been really busy, but things had been pretty slow lately. It had been a month since they last saw anything more threatening than a moose. One of the reasons Thalia had agreed to have them over was to liven things up a bit.
“We could use some sparring practice, if you two are up for it,” she said, and Jason agreed, not realizing until later that meant Nico and him against all of the hunters. About a dozen girls looked up at them with murder in their eyes. Jason gulped.
“You ready for this?” Jason asked Nico, who shrugged, though he looked a little paler than usual.
“You cover the air, I cover the ground?” he suggested. “And if things get ugly I shadow travel us the hell out of here.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Jason smiled. “Don’t kill anyone.”
The hunters attacked first, and Jason took to the air as Nico opened up the ground. Most of the hunters ignored his skeletons, concentrating on getting to Nico himself instead. Jason flew over to intercept them, while Nico blended into the shadows and reappeared behind the hunters, forcing half of them to turn around and come after him instead. Meanwhile skeletons kept appearing everywhere. Divide and conquer. Jason could work with that. Surrounding himself in wind, he made himself hard to land a hit on as he led the hunter away from Nico.
Thalia was the biggest threat. She was as powerful by herself as either of them by herself. Both Jason and Nico seemed to have the same tactic when it came to her, namely to move out of the way as soon as she got near. If the match had been one-one-one, Jason would have been happy to test his strength against hers, but with all the other girls around that would have been suicide. He could tell by the look on her face that she was becoming increasingly irritated with them.
At the end of the day it was impossible to say who’d have won if it had been an actual battle rather than a practice match. Jason and Nico had managed to hold their own, but the moment Thalia called stop they both sunk down to their knees, exhausted. The Hunters of Artemis were in much better condition, but then again there were five times as many of them.
“Good work, everybody,” Thalia said. “Now let’s get dinner ready.”
Jason’s legs were shaking of exhaustion as he walked over to Nico, who didn’t even attempt to get up.
“You okay?” he asked, sitting down beside him. Nico gave a strained laugh.
“As long as no more girls attack me, I’ll be fine,” he said. “I could fall asleep right here.”
“That was quite a show, you two,” Thalia said, smiling as she walked over to them. “I think you’ve officially earned the respect of the Hunters. I’m still disappointed we couldn’t take you down, though.”
“Five more minutes and you would have,” Jason laughed, and she made a face at him.
“Go put up your tent, then join us at dinner,” she ordered. “No time for sitting around.”
“Yes, ma’m,” Jason said, getting on his feet again, and looked down at Nico, who still seemed to be trying to catch his breath. Because he stayed on the ground, Nico had been the easier target, and had taken the brunt of the attack. Not to mention he had shadow traveled around a lot. No wonder he was exhausted. “You rest, I’ll get the tent up.”
Nico didn’t argue.
After putting the tent up a little outside the actual camp, at Thalia’s request, Jason returned to find Nico in the same spot, talking to two of the girls. He looked slightly distressed, and strangely sad. Jason hurried to his side.
“...the way you fought today, she would have been proud,” the larger, more muscular girl said. Nico seemed at loss for words, and looked up at Jason for help when he approached.
“We should go get something to eat,” Jason said, as if he hadn’t overheard anything. Nico nodded, and allowed Jason to help him up. He gave the girls a quick look before starting to walk towards the campfire.
“Who’d have thought that irritating little kid would become so powerful?” Jason heard one of the girls say behind him as he followed. Watching Nico sit down in front of the fire with a plate of roasted meat and vegetables, Jason wondered who Nico might have been if Bianca di Angelo hadn’t died. Would he have been happier? Probably, but probably not as strong. And without Nico’s strength, wouldn’t the world have fallen twice already?
“What are you staring at?” Nico asked him irritatedly after a while. Jason blinked.
“Sorry, I didn’t realize,” he said. Nico shrugged and returned his attention to the food. Despite the earlier exercise, he didn’t really look like he wanted to eat it. Jason frowned at him.
“Hazel would kill me if I didn’t make sure you ate enough during this trip,” he said, and Nico scowled.
“Using my own sister against me. How low is that?” he muttered, but he did start eating. Jason smiled and followed his example.
It wasn’t until they were heading off to sleep that Jason realized this could get complicated. He hadn’t really thought about it, but they would be sharing a pretty small tent. Jason wasn’t sure he’d be able to handle that. Nico didn’t seem too happy about it either.
“I hate sleeping outdoors,” he said as they entered the tent, closing the entrance behind them. “If I wasn’t so tired I’d shadow travel back to camp for the night.”
“It’s not that bad,” Jason said, glad Nico wasn’t complaining about the company. “At least we’ll have cover if it starts raining.”
“Such luxury. I’m overwhelmed,” Nico said dryly as he zipped himself into his sleeping back and closed his eyes. Jason forced himself to look away and do the same. Some time after he heard Nico’s breathing even out, Jason lost the fight and looked over anyway. It was dark, but he could clearly make out the boy’s features. Nico was frowning slightly, like he knew Jason was studying him and didn’t approve, but all in all he seemed peaceful. His lips were slightly parted, and Jason had never wanted to kiss anyone so much. He sighed, tearing his gaze away and turning to face away from the sleeping boy beside him. Jason closed his eyes and was thankful the practice match had left him exhausted, otherwise he’d have no hope of getting any sleep tonight.
He woke up a few hours later, not sure why until Nico gave a whimper beside him. The boy was tossing and turning, and his face held an expression of pure terror. He whimpered again, and it was the most heartbreaking sound Jason had ever heard. Freeing his hands from the sleeping bag, he moved closer to Nico and put a hand on his shoulder.
“Nico, wake up!” he urged, shaking the boy gently. Nico opened his eyes, his body going rigid. He stared like he had no idea who Jason was and was going to attack him any second.
“It’s okay, Nico. It’s just me,” Jason said gently. “You were having a nightmare.”
Nico blinked uncomprehendingly a couple of times, then recognition seeped back into his eyes. He slowly sat up, Jason’s hand still on his shoulder, steadying him.
“Jason,” he said weakly. “Sorry. Did I wake you?”
“Never mind about that. Are you okay?” Jason said, concerned, but Nico shrugged, shaking off Jason’s hand in the process.
“I’m fine. It was just a bad dream,” he said, bringing his knees up to his chin. Jason moved a bit closer.
“A memory?” he asked. “Do you want to talk about it?”
Nico scoffed.“What is it with you and talking about things?” he said, but there was no edge to his voice. “It was just a nightmare. All demi-gods have them.”
“All demi-gods haven’t been through what you have. You shouldn’t have to deal with it alone.”
“There’s no one else,” Nico muttered, sounding dejected.
“I’m here,” Jason said, putting his hand back on Nico’s shoulder. “I’m not leaving.”
Nico looked at Jason with wide eyes, and for a moment Jason suspected the boy was about to punch him. Instead Nico drew a shaking breath and allowed himself to lean on Jason, resting his head against Jason’s shoulder. Jason put an arm around him, and Nico didn’t protest. Neither of them said anything for a while.
“It was Tartarus,” Nico finally murmured. “I may have gotten out of there, but it just won’t leave me alone. I don’t think it ever will.”
Jason wasn’t sure how to answer that. Saying something like “it’s gonna be okay’” seemed way too small. He simply pulled Nico closer to himself instead. Nico was almost in his lap now, and Jason tried to ignore the fact that he could feel him breathing against his neck. They remained like that, until Jason realized Nico had fallen asleep. He smiled as he looked down the younger boy, who seemed peaceful now. He wasn’t even frowning anymore.
Jason would have liked for them to stay like that, but there was nothing to lean against in the tent, and he knew he needed sleep of his own. Gently not to wake Nico Jason eased both of them down into a lying position, draping the sleeping boy over his arm rather than his chest. Jason was glad he’d been able to help Nico out, at least for tonight. Who knew how often the boy had nightmares like this, and had to face the nights alone. Protectively pulling Nico closer, Jason closed his eyes and went to sleep.
The tent was empty when Jason woke up. He hadn’t really expected it to be otherwise, but he was still disappointed, and a little worried. Nico had involuntarily shown Jason a very vulnerable side that night, and Jason wasn’t sure how he would handle it now that he was fully awake. Hopefully he would still realize that Jason sincerely wanted to help. And hopefully he wouldn’t realize Jason had more than one reason for wanting him close.
Sighing, Jason got dressed and exited the tent. Nico was nowhere to be seen as Jason walked down to the campfire, but Thalia was sitting there, sharpening a blade.
“Good morning, sleepyhead,” she said. “I was just about to wake you. Have some breakfast.”
“Where’s Nico?” Jason asked as he sat down. Thalia smiled.
“He woke up hours ago,” she said. “He joined a scouting party looking for signs of the griffins.”
“The girls didn’t mind?”
“Not after the skills he displayed yesterday, no,” Thalia said, testing the sharpness of her blade against her thumb. “Though you should probably take him away from here soon, or the newer ones might fall in love with him.”
Jason could see how that could happen. He laughed nervously. “What, and not me?” he joked.
“In case you didn't notice, he completely outshone you yesterday, little brother. Though that may be the wrong word when it comes to him.” Thalia smiled. Jason shrugged. Nico had been amazing, he would have had to be blind not to notice. He was smiling slightly to himself at the though.
Thalia frowned at him. “I just realized something. Can we talk alone?”
“Sure,” Jason said, confused, and followed his sister back to the tent he shared with Nico. There was no one else around.
“How long has this been going on?” Thalia asked, sounding amused. Jason didn’t understand what she meant.
“What, Nico outshining me?” Jason asked, trying to backtrack but apparently ending up in the wrong spot.
“You not minding that he does,” Thalia laughed. “You were always competitive, but him you just smile and congratulate. You like him, don’t you?”
Jason stared at her, wondering if he should try to deny the whole thing. Then he crumbled. “Is it really that obvious?” he asked.
“I don’t think he’s noticed,” Thalia said, smiling gently. “Why haven't you told him?”
“It’s a long story,” Jason answered. “Complicated.”
“You think he wouldn’t accept you?” Thalia said, raising an eyebrow. “Because I’m pretty sure he’s not interested in girls, at least.”
“That’s not...”
“And he’s single, isn’t he? I think you’d have a pretty good chance,” she continued, paying him no mind. “You’re not that bad looking.”
“Thalia, stop!” Jason begged her. “It’s not going to happen. Nico likes someone else.”
“Who…? Oh, gods!” she said, eyes wide. “It’s Percy, isn’t it? I should have known. That’s just...that’s just really sad.”
“Listen, you can’t...” Jason trailed off, looking behind her. Nico was standing there, and if looks could kill Jason would have been as dead as the grass by Nico’s feet. The son of Hades spun around without a word, heading for the shadows beneath the trees.
“Nico, wait!” Jason yelled, and ran after him at full speed. He grabbed a hold of Nico’s shoulder the second the boy reached the shadows, and Jason's intestines turned inside out as they unexpectedly travelled.
“Get off me!” Nico screamed the moment they landed, violently shaking Jason’s hand off. Jason grabbed a hold of Nico’s arm instead, to keep him from running away.
“Nico, please. I don’t know how much you heard, but...”
“I heard enough. You had no right to tell her. No right!” Nico yelled, his eyes blistering with anger. “You promised.”
“Nico, I swear on the river Styx, I didn’t tell her,” Jason said, pleading. “I only said you liked someone else. She figured out the rest on her own. I swear I didn’t mean to expose you.”
“Yeah, well, you did,” Nico bit angrily. “Wait, what do you mean somebody else?”
Jason hesitated. Nico was never going to believe him, but he couldn’t lie about this. “We were talking about me.”
“What about you?” Nico said, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. Jason took a deep breath. Nico was never going to forgive him anyway. It was now or never.
“I think I’m in love with you.”
Nico froze. The world stood still. For a few seconds nothing happened, then Nico’s fist connected with Jason’s face and he flew backwards, hitting the ground hard.
“How dare you?” Nico yelled. “After everything...How dare you patronize me like that? I thought you were...”
“Nico, please...” Jason said, slowly getting on his feet again, but when he looked up Nico was gone. Jason swore loudly, tasting blood in his mouth. Apparently his nose was bleeding. Jason didn’t particularly care. He kept staring at the spot where Nico had been standing moments before, hoping against hope that the boy would come back. He wasn’t sure how much time passed, but at some point he realized he wasn’t in the forest anymore. Nico had shadow traveled them to a city, and Jason had no idea where he was. He didn’t even have his sword. Slowly he sunk down against a wall and sobbed.
It was evening Jason finally made it back to Camp Half-Blood. In his emotional turmoil Tempest had been hard to summon, but thankfully he had appeared in the end. When Jason’s feet touched the ground all he wanted to do was get to his cabin and sleep, but today clearly wasn’t his day.
“Jason, you’re okay!” Percy appeared from nowhere. Jason resisted the urge to punch him in the face for just existing. “Right, so maybe not okay. Thalia sent us an IM earlier, wondering if we’d seen you. Something about a fight with Nico?”
Jason made a face. “I really don’t want talk about it right now. I just want to go to sleep.”
“Right. But is Nico okay? Where is he?” Percy asked, and Jason took a deep breath.
“I don’t know. The underworld, probably,” Jason snapped. Finally he reached the Zeus cabin. He quickly walked in and shut the door in Percy’s face. He would probably regret it tomorrow, but right then it held a certain satisfaction. Jason fell down on his bed without bothering to take of his clothes.
Percy and Annabeth were standing over him when Jason woke up. He groaned. Why couldn’t the cabins have locks?
“Go away, I’m sleeping,” Jason said into his pillow.
“Jason, it’s 12 am,” Annabeth said, sounding worried. Jason hated it when he worried people. Slowly, he sat up and attempted to smile at her, but judging by her frown he wasn’t very convincing.
“I’m fine, really,” he said. “I was just really tired.”
“Jason, what happened with Nico?” Percy asked, because he just couldn’t keep his nose out of other people’s business. Jason glared at him, fully aware he was being unfair.
“A misunderstanding. We had a fight,” he said simply. His friends weren’t buying it.
“Why would Nico break your nose over a misunderstanding?” Percy asked. “Here, by the way.”
He handed Jason a bottle of ambrosia, and Jason took a deep gulp. It tasted like chocolate chip cookies.
“It was something I said,” Jason muttered. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Can you fix it?” Annabeth was looking at him, her eyes full of concern. Jason hung his head.
“I don’t know,” he whispered. “I really don’t know.”
Jason tried to behave as normally as he could during that day and the one that followed. Percy and Annabeth tried to help him, but they only made it worse. They asked too many questions, and he didn’t want to answer. He wasn’t ashamed of his feelings, but to explain the situation meant giving Nico’s secret away. Jason couldn’t do that.
He didn’t want to return to Camp Jupiter yet. He’d never had anything against the noisy barracks of the legion before, but right now he preferred the solitude of the Zeus cabin. Even if he was seriously considering covering up the statues face. It looked like his father was disappointed in him, and it was driving Jason insane.
Two days after his fight with Nico he woke up to find someone standing over him again. Thinking it was Percy or Annabeth, he growled. “Leave me alone.”
“I just wanted to talk to you,” said a familiar voice, and Jason sat up so quickly he almost fell out of bed. Nico di Angelo was standing by his bedside, looking very uncomfortable.
“Am I dreaming?” Jason asked stupidly. Nico snorted, but he sounded a bit nervous.
“Do you usually dream about me?” he asked, fiddling with his rings.
“Sometimes,” Jason admitted, figuring there was no use denying it. “Why are you here?”
“Like I said, I want to talk,” Nico said, and Jason motioned for him to sit down. Nico hesitated for a moment before complying. For a while he just stared down at the floor, then he took a deep breath.
“I had a fight with my father,” he said. “About you. He said you were just like his brother; fickle, violent, untrustworthy and with a too high opinion of yourself.”
He glanced over at Jason, who listened quietly, wondering where this story was going.
“I disagreed,” Nico continued, his hands nervously grabbing the edge of Jason’s bed. “You’ve never been like that, except maybe the last part. Sometimes. And I realized I was being stupid.”
He paused, turning his gaze on Jason again. “What you said… did you mean it?”
Jason nodded. “Every word,” he said. “Is that okay?”
Nico laughed. “What kind of a question is that?” he said, then sobered up. “I overreacted. Sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Jason smiled. “You’re here now."
Nico looked away, apparently still nervous. "Why me?" he asked quietly. "I'm not the kind of person someone like you should be interested in."
"Have you even seen you? Properly, I mean." Jason said, struggling to keep down the urge to put his arms around the boy. "You try scare people away, telling them you don't care, but looking at all the people you've saved, the things you've accomplished? You care way more than you'd like to, but you're afraid of letting people down."
"I always do." Nico said, barely audible. "Sooner or later you'll realize that."
"I doubt it. I honestly think you're amazing. Besides, everybody makes mistakes. Nobody expects you to be infallible. Except maybe you." Jason said, putting his hand on Nico's shoulder, and silently rejoicing that it wasn't immediately shook off. "I mean, look at me. I'm not exactly...wait, what did you mean, someone like me?"
Nico snorted. His cheeks were bright red and he was starting to grin as he looked up at Jason through his bangs. "Someone with too high an opinion of himself, and an unfortunate tendency to give embarrassing speeches."
"Hey, it's true. I honestly like you. You should know that." Jason said, blushing slightly. Nico's grin disappeared, replaced by a thoughtful expression. Jason met his eyes, wondering if Nico had finally realized Jason was being serious. Neither of them said a word.
After a while Jason cleared his throat. "So, are we still friends?”
Nico rolled his eyes. “I don’t have a crush on Percy anymore, you know.” he said, and Jason’s heart stopped.
“Really?” he asked breathlessly.
“Really,” Nico said, smiling shyly towards him. He seemed almost scared, like he expected Jason to tell him to leave any second. “So...If you want...I mean...”
“Nico.” Jason said moving forward to touch his face. He wanted so much to just lean in and take what was offered, but he had to make sure. He had to know. “Are you okay with this? I know I’m not your first choice, but I...”
“Just shut up.” Nico growled, grabbing a fistful of Jason's shirt and violently pulling him forward. For a split second Jason thought he was going to get hit again, and then Nico’s lips clashed into Jason’s, so hard his teeth almost hurt. Jason didn’t need another invitation.
He pulled Nico towards him, burying a hand in his hair and kissing him with everything he’d got. Nico moaned appreciatively into his mouth, and Jason suddenly realized it was probably Nico’s first kiss. He moved his hand to Nico's chin, gently urging him to open his mouth. Nico complied, then moaned again as Jason's tongue touched his. Nico finally wrapped his arms around Jason, certainly not complaining, and Jason could have burst into song, had his mouth not been otherwise occupied.
After a while he pulled away, though he still held Nico in a tight embrace. Nico was breathing heavily against him, laughing slightly.
“Never talk to me about first choices again,” he said. “You moron.”
“Sorry,” Jason muttered into his hair. “I just wanted to make sure. I think I love you, you know.”
Nico looked up at him, blushing furiously. Jason thought that must be the most adorable thing he’d ever seen. He leaned down for another kiss.
“Do you want to tell the others?” Jason asked later, when they were laying under Jason’s blanket, about to go to sleep. No clothes had been shed, save Nico’s aviator’s jacket. They were taking it slow, by mutual agreement. Besides, the giant statue of Jason’s father was still looking at them.
Nico was lying on Jason’s arm, looking sleepy. He frowned slightly at the question. “If you’re serious about this, then we’ll have to, won’t we?” he said hesitatingly.
“I am very serious about this,” Jason said, kissing the corner of Nico’s eye. “But we don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. If you want to keep it a secret, then we will keep it a secret.”
“I can’t really deny it anymore, can I?” Nico sighed. “It wouldn't be fair to you. You would want to tell them.”
“Yes,” Jason said. “I’m not ashamed of it, so I don’t think there’s any reason to hide it. Unless you want to.”
“I want to talk to Hazel first,” Nico said after a pause. “When it comes down to it, hers is the only opinion I care about.”
“She might be shocked at first, but it’ll be fine,” Jason reassured him.
Nico smiled brightly. “Yes, I think it will be.”
THE END