Work Text:
Percy Jackson was your average campus crush. He's dating a brilliant girl. He's captain of the swimming team. He gets average grades and he has a normal family.
Everyone like Percy Jackson. Everyone, including the campus goth, Nico Di Angelo. In fact, he loves Percy too much he hates it.
Nico Di Angelo is your average misunderstood boy. He's best friends with his only childhood friend Annabeth. He's an owner of a well known Mythomagic blog. He gets perfect grades without trying. He has a deceased mother and a father who's too busy with work. He wears black all over and has an impassive face at all times. Everyone sees him as mysterious and scary so they stay away from him. Which is fine with him.
'At least people who approach me are people who really care for me. Not some superficial friends who're only there when you're up.'
Percy and Nico are like two sides of one coin, polar opposites, yet they attract. They have some kind of link where they understand each other even without words. There's something about them that makes them not want to leave each other's side.
Everyone thinks that Annabeth was the only link connecting Nico and Percy. Oh how wrong they were.
( ´・ω) (´・ω・) (・ω・｀) (ω・｀ )
"Nico." Percy grunted as he came inside the smaller teen.
"P-percy..." Nico let out a strangled moan as he came all over their stomachs.
Percy fell on Nico's side and he wrapped an arm around the half Italian.
They cuddled for a while, totally content.
How Nico wished time would stop so they could relish that moment forever. But Alas, it breaks too soon.
The sound of waterfall came from Percy's cellphone. He didn't want to answer it and just cuddled Nico more.
Nico sighed and looked at the caller i.d. as the desk was beside him. At the sight of Annabeth's name, he felt cold. His heart ached to the point that he thinks he couldn't breath.
He gulps and tries to stable his voice. "I-it's Annabeth."
At the sound of his girlfriend's name, Percy quickly got up and snatched the phone.
Nico sits and pulled his knees to hug them.
"Hey. Yeah. No, I-uh" Percy looked at Nico "No, I'm buying something with Nico. Yeah. No, it's a secret. K, bye. I love you too." He quickly shut his phone and sighed.
"Gosh, why does she have to call every day? We see each other from Monday to Friday. Just this Saturday can't she let me have my peace."
"Well she is your girlfriend." Nico grumbled.
Percy smiled at this and hugged Nico. He smelled his hair and smiled. "I wish you were my girlfriend Nico."
Nico felt tears forming behind his eyelids. He gulped and tried to will them away.
Annabeth Chase was Nico's childhood friend. She's his only friend. His best friend and he's cheating with her boyfriend.
The guilt eats up Nico every time Percy subtly touches his hand behind Annabeth's back as they walk.
He feels guilty everytime Percy's legs get all tangled up with his as they eat their lunch.
He's ashamed of himself every time he lets Percy make love to him.
He wants to die as Percy does everything he should do to a girlfriend to him instead of Annabeth.
And he hates himself for feeling jealous as Annabeth gets all of Percy's declaration of love.
Nico smiles painfully. "But I'm not a girl, Percy."
( ´・ω) (´・ω・) (・ω・｀) (ω・｀ )
Percy felt like a cold bucket was just dumped on him. He feels time stop and all he could do was stare at Annabeth with disbelief.
"He what?"
"He left. To Italy."
"And he never thought of mentioning it to me?" Percy couldn't help but raise his voice. How could Nico do this to him? What about everything they went through? Sure what they had was complicated but they were still friends.
"He didn't want to make a big deal of it. I thought you knew."
"Do I act like I knew?" Annabeth had enough of Percy yelling at her so she snapped back.
"What's the big deal? I'm his best friend and you don't see me acting like the world is collapsing."
Percy scoffs. Oh this girl has no idea. Percy almost snaps at her but holds himself.
He goes off to the rooftop, where he and Nico first made love.
"I like you." Nico whispered, hoping the wind would carry the sound away.
But Percy hears it. "I like you too, Nico." He turns around to face the boy clad in black.
Nico frowns in disbelief. He felt Percy's hand cup his cheek. He blushes and blushes more as Percy kisses him on the lips.
Percy lets tears fall from his eyes. He kneeled and cried hard. His heart shattered into pieces.
( ´・ω) (´・ω・) (・ω・｀) (ω・｀ )
Percy was eating alone, seeing everything in gray. Ever since Nico left, everything became dull. He's still dating Annabeth but now he knows that what he has for her is nothing but sisterly love. Sure he finds her endearing but he can never imagine himself having sex with her. Why didn't he realize that before and prevent the cause of his and Nico's heart ache.
Nico. He thinks of him everyday. Before he goes to sleep, as he wakes up, between classes, as he walks, in the air he breaths. His train of thought gets interrupted as he hears Annabeth approaching.
"Percy, look!" Annabeth layed down her laptop at the cafeteria table. Percy sees the familiar red of youtube and his eyes widen.
"It's Nico!" Annabeth exclaimed as she clicked play.
"Come on Nico it's a dare!" The voice behind the unsteady camera urged Nico to get started.
It was Nico. He could see him grumble as he pick up his guitar.
'Nico plays?' Percy thought. 'I never knew that.'
"Just this once Jason Grace." The teenager took a deep breath and started strumming his guitar.
I'm thinking about him holding you
There's nothing much that I can do
The seconds into minutes
The minutes into hours
The future is his and the past is ours
They tell me I should just move on
It's easier said than done
The only thing left keeping me company just me and my jealousy
Lying awake at night
You keep running through my mind
Jealous of the hand that you hold
The city in the winter never seemes so cold
Nothing left of me just me and my jealousy
Just me and my jealousy
You said there really isn't much to say
But we'll be better off this way
So tell me is it better while you're lying in bed
I wonder if you ever think of me instead
Then I got nothing left to prove
When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose
The only thing left keeping me company just me and my jealousy
Lying awake at night
You keep running through my mind
Jealous of the hand that you hold
Chicago in the winter never seemed this cold
Nothing left of me
Just me and my jealousy
I'm jealous of the pillow where you lay your head
The only thing you're lying with is my regret, my regret
And I'm jealous of the way he says your name
I should of held you tighter but I let you walk away
I lie awake at night
You keep running through my mind...
Days turn into nights
I can't get you off my mind
Jealous of the hand that you hold
Chicago in the winter never seemed this cold
Nothing left of me
Just me and my jealousy, my jealousy, my jealousy
Me and my jealousy
Nico looked at the camera and he feels the pain that the black eyes convey. He almost thinks that Nico would cry but then a laughing voice from the video came. The camera was layed and a blonde guy appeared beside Nico. Nico glares at this guy but he doesn't move away. Percy feels jealous. 'Nico is fond of this guy.'
"Hi, everyone. I'm Jason Grace and this is Nico of the Angels."
"Nico Di Angelo." The smaller teen grumbles.
"Same, same. Anyways, thanks for watching this video. If you liked Nico's voice please press the like button below and subscribe if you want to see more. You can also comment a request and I'll find a way to make this guy sing again." He picked up Nico's wrist and waved it. "Bye~!"
Percy was speechless. Who was this Jason guy? Why were they so close? Wasn't Nico in Italy? He felt his head ache from confusion.
Annabeth's squeal didn't help.
"I wonder who's the girl Nico's singing for."
"That's just a song Annabeth." Percy massaged his temple. He didn't want to handle Annabeth right now.
"Nuh-uh. Can't you feel how heart felt that song was, and that look! Oh my God, the look! At the end! Did you see it? He was singing his heart out."
He knows. Percy knows. Percy felt it. Ask him why he's so sure. He sees that look in the mirror as he washes his face in the morning. He sees his reflection on the glass of the stores as he walks by the street.
The face of heart ache. Of longing.
( ´・ω) (´・ω・) (・ω・｀) (ω・｀ )
Percy couldn't believe his eyes. Nico was in front of him, drinking something from Starbucks with a tall blonde guy beside him. Nico shakes his head and rolls his eyes. A smile almost forming in his lips.
A sure sign that the guy was telling him a joke. Not that the huge smile the guy has is not an indication.
He blinks hard afraid that this was just another illusion. But Nico doesn't disappear. He felt his feet pick up the pace and he's standing right in front of Nico.
The blonde guy stopped, frowning at Percy but he doesn't mind the guy. Nico looked at Jason as if asking why he stopped and followed his line of sight and saw Percy. Nico tenses. The air between them was almost suffocating.
No one says anything.
The silence was deafening.
Percy raised his hand, almost touching Nico's cheek when it was grabbed by the blonde.
“You must be Percy Jackson.” The blonde with blue eyes smiled but not in a friendly way. He could see that glint in his eyes, challenging Percy.
“I'm Jason Grace.” He shakes Percy's hand tightly then drops it. He proceeded to wrap his arm around Nico's shoulders.
“J-jason-”
“Percy!” Annabeth ran towards him. “Nico?” She looks at him and Jason.
“Why are you here, I thought you were in Italy?”
“Uh-oh.” Jason gulped and he grabs Nico's hand. “Run!”
“Wait- no. Jason!” Nico let himself be dragged by Jason.
“What was that?” Annabeth wrapped her arm around Percy's arm.
Nico looked back at them. From Percy's eyes to the hands wrapped around Percy's arm.
Percy could see the look of hurt in Nico's eyes before the said boy turned his head away and pulled his hand from Jason's grasp and ran faster.
( ´・ω) (´・ω・) (・ω・｀) (ω・｀ )
Percy decided to stalk Nico's tumblr blog. It's been two weeks since they met. They haven't heard anything from Nico. Not that they could get a hold of Nico's contact information.
Percy scrolled down his tumblr dashboard. In attempt to ease his boredom, he clicks refreshes the browser, bringing him at the top of the dashboard. His eyes widened and he brought his face closer to the monitor. Nico reblogged something about Truth Hour and telling Anon everything. He sees a tag saying “meh” and “not that I'll receive any”. Percy grinned mischievously at this. Oh Nico, naïve Nico.
He goes to Nico's blog and goes anon.
He contemplates for a while then typed.
“Have you ever been in love?”
He then went to Nico's blog and kept on refreshing the browser.
Finally, he sees a reply.
“Yes.”
Percy swallowed hard. His hands were shivering, he went to the ask box again.
“Maybe I should act like someone else.” Percy blached and typed.
“OMG! TELL US~ TELL US~ <3” Percy shivered then clicked send.
He waited for five minutes but to him it felt like an hour.
“Well, there's this guy. He's the boyfriend of my best friend. I... kind of always loved him even before they were together. (Yes, big news, I'm gay) I kind of accidentally confessed my love to him when we were alone at the rooftop. He told me he liked me back then he kissed me. After that we kind of went out with each other. But this guy, he...he never broke up with my best friend. I felt used. I felt cheap. I felt like I was worse than trash. That went on for months until I decided to give up on him. I tranferred to this private school with dorms which my dad totally favored. So yea. That's it. I have been in love. Before. Now I'm trying to move on.”
Percy's vision became blurry. At first he was confused then he saw tear drops on his desk. “Oh.” Percy was crying.
He didn't know Nico felt that way. He didn't mean to do that to him.
He was confused with his sexuality. He wasn't ready for the world to know that he was gay.
He was conflicted. At the surface he was this normal jock but behind closed curtains he was this man who loved a guy. Sure being gay is okay but he wasn't ready for that. Thinking about it now, he wants to kill himself. How could he do that to Nico? He was so blind. He was a coward.
He gripped his hand and his eyes were alight with determination.
That Sunday morning he met with Annabeth.
“Hey.” Annabeth was wearing a dress and her golden locks were laid down. She was very pretty and Percy couldn't help but think that he's a cruel man.
“Hey.” He greeted back.
The went to the movies and ate lunch. Now they're walking through the park.
“Percy.” Annabeth cut the silence between them.
“Hn?”
“I read Nico's blog.”
Percy quickly turned his head to face her. She was almost crying but she held firm.
“Honestly-” her voice broke and she looked up hoping the tears wouldn't fall just yet.
“I never had any idea in the past few months. I just thought you got along very well. After he-, After Nico left you weren't the same anymore. Something was off, I noticed it. Now that I've read that. I know now. And surprisingly, I'm not even mad.” She let out an awkward laugh then it broke into sobs.
“I'm just sad.” Percy hugged her.
“I'm sad for me, for him, for you.”
She cried harder and Percy let her.
The sat on the bench as Annabeth tried to calm down.
“Percy.” She held his hand. “Do you realize we've never even kissed on the lips?” She smiled.
“We were never meant to be.” She looked serious. “Percy, I need you to promise me something.”
He nodded. “I want you to make Nico your proper boyfriend. God, you're such a prick doing that to him. Nico has the saddest life story. His mom is dead. His sister is dead. His dad has some issues and he feels unloved. Please, Percy, please. Nico deserves a chance at happiness. Do everything you can to save him. He is so strong, holding on. You know I caught him once trying to cut his wrist? I was horrified. I made him stop wearing long sleeves and gave him a baller. I asked him to never remove it. For me. So take care of him, seaweed brain.”
Percy felt like a hundred arrows were shot at his heart. He wanted to find Nico and kiss all his worries away.
“I promise.”
( ´・ω) (´・ω・) (・ω・｀) (ω・｀ )
“Nico Di Angelo, you have a delivery.” The dorm leader paged their room.
“What could it be?” Jason queried. Nico shrugged and got up from the bed.
“I hope it's chocolates!” Nico rolled his eyes fondly.
He went down and saw a bouquet of roses and a card.
He looked for other things that might be his. Seeing nothing else he asked the lady at the counter.
“Where's the delivery?”
“It's in front of you boy.” She smiled at him.
He took it tentatively and looked at the card. There was a drawing of a fish kissing a skull with a heart on top between them. Below the picture was a message saying “I'm sorry.”
'Could it be?' Nico thought with disbelief. He sighed. 'Better not get my hopes up.'
He went back to their dorm room.
“What is it?” Jason exclaimed excitedly.
“Well, it's what comes with chocolates during Valentine's.”
“Oh. Who's it from?”
“I don't know.”
“Does it have a card?”
“Yeah.”
“Can I see it?”
Nico handed the card.
“It's that Jackson guy, right?”
Nico didn't answer.
“I don't know.”
Jason sighed.
“I hope he got his shit together, pal. If he hurts you-”
“I'm sure this is nothing Jay. Maybe he just wants to apologize.”
“Apologize my ass. There's a heart here and a fish kissing a skull. He wants to make amends.”
Jason stood up and started pacing the room.
“So what? It means nothing. He hasn't broken up with Annabeth. I'm not going to settle for second.”
“That's right! You aren't. You deserve better.”
“I do.”
“Okay.”
“Okay.” They were both serious until they broke into laughter.
Various gifts kept arriving every day. There were always cards accompanying it.
Messages from “I'm sorry.” “I miss you.” “I hope you forgive me.” “I need you.” and in the fifth day the card says “I love you.”
Nico was frowning. 'What does he mean by this.'
“Maybe what the messages says.” Jason licked crumbs of brownies from his fingers.
“Thanks for that very insightful comment Grace.”
“No probs!” Jason gave him a thumbs up right after licking it.
“Yuck.”
The next day, the gift was a ticket for the movie 300: Rise of the Empire along with a message.
“Meet me.”
Jason went there together with Nico.
“Hey, I'm not gonna let him hurt you again, Nico.”
They spotted Percy sitting on a bench. Percy was wearing a blue gradient polo-shirt and jeans with converse. A date get-up while Nico was wearing same old black t-shirt with skull except Jason at least made him wear a chaleco and then he wore jeans and same old chuck taylor shoes.
Percy's eyes were wandering then they landed on Nico's eyes.
He brightened up and then frowned when he was Jason with Nico. He went to them.
“Hi Perce.”
“Hi Nicks.”
They were still uncomfortable but at least the tension was gone.
“Hello.” Jason said to nobody. Just declaring his presence.
“I think I can handle this myself, Jason. Thanks.”
“Anything for you, dear.” Nico rolled his eyes and punched him lightly on the shoulder.
Jason turned to Percy. “If you hurt him. I swear to all the Gods out there. I will hunt you down and I will kill you.”
Percy saw the seriousness in his eyes. 'He isn't joking.'
Jason laughed “I just really wanted to say that. Enjoy yourselves, youngsters. I'm going on a date with Leo.”
“Alright, alright.” Nico waved him off.
He was left alone with Percy now.
“Shall we go?” Nico raised his ticket.
The whole time they were at the movie they were silent.
Percy held Nico's hand and they both smiled.
“I broke up with Annabeth three weeks ago.”
Nico turned his head abruptly to Percy.
“How is she?” Typical Nico, worrying about others before himself.
“She broke up with me. She saw my anonymous messages to you in your blog.”
“You were that anon?!” Nico exclaimed and was shushed by the neighbouring sits.
“Before she saw that, I wanted to break up with her. I realized I never really loved her that way. “
He kneeled down before Nico.
“Nico Di Angelo. Look up.” Nico did as he was told and was greeted by the words “Will you be my boyfriend?”
He felt himself tear up. Percy held his hand and kissed it tenderly. Nico was nodding wildly with tears in his eyes and a smile on his lips.
They hugged each other tightly.
And then they kissed.