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BINGO night, which involved a lot less BINGO than its nickname suggested, started fairly normally. Reyna, their chapter president, gave some boring reports about what was going on in the other city chapters and what events were coming up for their group. Spring was always a slow season, so the most they had to look forward to was a bake sale.
Jason did his best to pay attention, well aware that more than one pair of eyes was on him. Sure, it was his first time being back since he'd been dumped, but it wasn't like that had just happened. It had been almost a month, but the full moon and the flu had impeccable timing to keep him out of meetings, at least until tonight.
Reyna wrapped up the new business and said something Jason didn't quite catch, because Piper whispered something to Leo and Leo laughed and he couldn't help but wish he'd sat between them like he used to.
His attention was pulled back to the stage when a woman with bright pink hair took the microphone from Reyna.
"Hi all! My name's Lavinia, and I'm working on my Master's in social psychology at Carter University. As part of my research, I'm studying how different types of conversation can bring people closer together and promote connection! Your chapter president was kind enough to let me hijack one of your meetings, so I thought we could do a little activity. Does that sound fun?"
Her question was met with a couple half-hearted "woo"s, which seemed to be enough for her.
"Great! So we'll get started by splitting up into pairs. If you can partner up with someone you haven't met, that's awesome, but if you already know them, this will still be fun for you to get to know each other better."
Jason tensed as everyone around him paired up with the people next to them. Piper and Leo made a group, which was fine, it would have been awkward for her to work with him, even if he was over her.
No if, he reminded himself. He was over her. He had no choice but to be.
Lavinia's eyes caught on someone. "You, in the back of the room."
Jason turned to see a curly-haired blond frozen in place, looking like he was about to leave. "Yes, ma'am?"
"You can come partner up with the young man on the end of the front row here." She pointed to the empty chair next to Jason, who had to wonder why she'd called him young man when she didn't look much older. Too used to working with college students, he supposed.
The blond in the back— what was his name? Jason couldn't quite remember— looked like he'd rather die than come to the front of the room, but he did so with a smile.
"Go ahead and introduce yourselves, even if you already know each other," Lavinia instructed the group.
"Jason Grace." Jason stuck his hand out, doing his best to ignore Piper and Leo already joking around.
"Will Solace," his partner replied, the faintest hint of an accent still clinging to his vowels.
"Where do I know you from?" Jason asked. "Besides here, I mean. I swear I've heard your name before."
To his surprise, Will’s cheeks went pink. "Your, ah, your sister doesn't like me."
"Wait, are you being serious? You're the guy she can't stand?" But you're so nice, he wanted to add, before reminding himself he'd only known this guy for thirty seconds.
Thalia— and Reyna— had never really explained why they disliked Will Solace, giving a different petty reason each time Jason had asked. Eventually, he'd stopped asking and just assumed the guy was an asshole. They'd gone to the same high school and been attending the same BINGO night meetings for years, but Jason had never imagined that Thalia's " Will fucking Solace " and this guy were one and the same.
He'd also never expected the asshole he'd heard about for years to be so good-looking. With warm eyes and a smile that seemed to live on his face, even when he relaxed, everything about him seemed approachable and sweet, not the "nightmare of a person" Thalia had described.
"Unfortunately, yes." Will sighed. "I can't say I blame her, but I can say you might like me more than she did, considering I'm not a fourteen-year-old jackass anymore."
Jason half-laughed. "I'm a little more forgiving than she is, so you should be alright."
Lavinia had finished setting up her slideshow, which consisted of list after list of questions. "What we're gonna do today is go through as many of these questions as you can, giving both partners a chance to answer. I want you to be as honest as possible and think about how these questions make you feel."
The questions started out a little hokey— Which celebrity would you want as a dinner guest, What constitutes a "perfect" day for you, Would you like to be famous , and other similarly surface-level icebreakers. At about the tenth question, though, the activity took a hard left turn from being light and fun to being way too deep.
If you could change one thing about the way you were raised, what would it be?
"I think I'd choose not to be abandoned in the woods as a kid," Jason said, three seconds before his brain caught up to his mouth. Maybe Lavinia was on to something; that was not the kind of thing he would ever share with a stranger. Or maybe it was Will, and the way he looked at Jason, like he was staring straight through him to his soul, willing the answer out.
Will's eyebrows shot up. "Oh?"
"My dad didn't want to— to deal with me when I started turning that young, so every month he put me where he wouldn't have to deal with me at all. I wouldn't recommend the experience."
"Damn." Will looked stunned, which was an appropriate reaction. "I won't pretend like mine is anywhere close to that bad, but I wish my mom had taught me to be proud of who— what I am. I don't— I didn't like the whole vampire thing," he confessed, lowering his voice. Jason noticed the change in tenses, but decided not to mention it. "I used to kind of take it out on the people around me, because I didn't know how to deal with what I was feeling." Will laughed quietly. "That's why your sister doesn't like me. She was there for that."
"I don't see why she still holds it against you, after all this time," Jason remarked. "I mean, it's been years , and clearly you've changed. There's no need for her to hold on to all of that."
Will shrugged. "I'm not about to tell people what they can and can't stay mad at." He smiled, and it made something in Jason's chest go sideways. "Besides, I've heard her brother is a little more forgiving."
Lavinia changed the slide, reassuring the group that it was okay if they hadn't finished all of the questions, only to reveal more questions for them to ask and answer. These were deeper, the kind of thing middle schoolers would ask each other in hushed whispers after the lights went out at a sleepover.
If a crystal ball could tell you the truth about yourself, your life, the future, or anything else, what would you want to know?
If you knew that in one year you would die suddenly, would you change anything about the way you are now living? Why?
Although it should have been awkward beyond belief, Jason found himself sharing a lot of his thoughts and feelings with ease, though not all of the questions were easy .
What roles do love and affection play in your life?
Jason was surprised that he managed to tell Will about his most recent breakup without breaking down, a sign that he really was getting over it. Slowly. Will, in turn, admitted that his own actions in high school had kept him from forming many close friendships, a problem that had persisted into his adult years. He had human friends, of course, but there was something different about being friends with someone who understood what it was like to not be human, and he'd been trying to attend BINGO nights to fix that, albeit unsuccessfully.
The more they talked, the longer they spent on each question, branching off into conversations about anything and everything. They'd made it through almost all of the first slide's questions, but only half of the second slide, much to Jason's relief, because he'd seen a question at the bottom that mentioned " ...relationship with your mother " and there were some topics that were just too touchy, no matter how much he was enjoying himself or how genuinely interested Will seemed or how invested in learning about Will he'd become, to the point of almost forgetting about Piper and Leo next to them.
They'd hardly made it through the first few questions of the third and final slide before Lavinia took the stage again.
"Alright, that is all the time we have tonight! I appreciate your willingness to take part in my little project, and I'd like to encourage you to fill out the survey I have up here." On the board was a link to an online survey, with some basic demographic questions along with a few asking Jason to rate on a scale of one to five how close he felt to Will after answering the questions. Jason's finger hovered over the screen, and he wondered briefly if the answers were anonymous.
"Hey."
Jason looked up. Will, it seemed, had already finished his survey, and was standing to leave. "I didn't get to answer our last question, and since you did, I figure it's only fair."
Tell your partner what you like about them; be very honest this time, saying things that you might not say to someone you’ve just met.
Jason opened his mouth to stop Will before he could start. He was tired, he was emotionally drained, and he didn't know what hearing a genuine compliment fall from Will’s lips would do to him.
"You're really good-looking." Will smiled, keeping his voice low. "I wouldn't normally say that kind of thing to someone I've just met, but the question did ask for it, so I may as well."
He shifted his weight onto the other foot, the movement bringing them ever so slightly closer together, and Jason's mind was immediately filled with things that would make a drill Sergeant faint.
"I— uh. Thank you," Jason managed.
"You're welcome." Will shouldered his bag and turned to leave. For a split second, Jason considered calling out to him, but that would cause a scene.
He opted instead to weave around two people who'd gotten between them and tap Will on the shoulder. "Hey. Um. You, too."
Jason's words came out breathless. Will beamed . "Thanks! See you around, Jay."
Jay .
A nickname, from someone he'd just met . From the first man he'd ever called good-looking out loud, or at least tried to. Jason thought he might throw up, but the trash can was all the way at the other end of the room, so he had no choice but to swallow hard and watch Will leave, hoping he wasn't imagining things.
The weight of his phone in his hand reminded him that he hadn't completed the survey. Jason looked down, selected " Five- Very Close ," and left.
---
Jason knew vampires didn't have any kind of long-term mind control powers. They had to be very close to influence people, and the effect only lasted as long as they stayed that close. So it was something else entirely that kept Will Solace on his mind all week.
He found himself looking forward to the next BINGO night, which was a pleasant break from the dread he'd felt a week ago at the thought of seeing Piper again.
He'd only just sat down when Will dropped into the seat next to him, the same one he'd sat in last week. "I don't know how you sit all the way up here," he remarked. "It feels...exposed."
Jason fumbled for a response. "I guess that's kind of the point. You have to be willing to be vulnerable if you're going to get anything out of it."
Will grinned. "Didn't know you were a motivational speaker, Jay."
Jay . Even after a week, the nickname still had the same effect. A small voice in the back of his mind told him he should discourage Will from calling him that, but a much louder and less rational voice urged him to see what would happen. Was this flirting? It had been years since he'd been single, and getting together with Piper had been more thanks to a series of fortunate events than any attempt at flirting from either one of them.
Will was different. If Jason was interpreting things correctly, which he couldn't let himself believe, he was being pursued for what felt like the first time ever. It was a good feeling. The way Will looked at him, like he always wanted to hear more of whatever Jason had to say, made him feel warm inside, almost to the point of wondering if he had a fever. It was new, and it was exciting, like the first time he'd flown a plane solo.
The new business was even shorter this week, and the group was soon dismissed to go play whatever games people had brought.
"Jason!" Hazel waved him over from a table near the edge of the room. "You, too, Will."
The two of them joined Hazel and Frank around their newest board game, and after making sure it wasn't a team game— Hazel and Frank were unstoppable when they played together— agreed to play.
"Alright," Will said once they'd read the instructions, somehow missing both the L and the R in that word.
Hazel's eyebrows shot up. "Texas?"
Will blinked, startled. "Not for over a decade, but yeah."
"I'm good at picking up on accents." She smiled. "Especially from the South."
"Yeah, no kidding." Will grinned. "Can I try?"
"Go right ahead."
Will asked Hazel to say "porch," which she also eliminated the R sound from, and correctly guessed she'd been born in New Orleans— Nawlins ,— while Jason and Frank looked on in confusion. Once they'd finished their Southern bonding, the four of them settled in to play the game, and it struck Jason that maybe Will was just this personable with everyone. Maybe he was just nice , and Jason had been misinterpreting things the whole time.
Frank won their game fairly quickly, inspiring some colorful (and heavily accented) language from both Hazel and Will. Jason still wasn't entirely sure what he was supposed to be doing, so he didn't mind that it was over. Hazel and Frank excused themselves, going home after making Will promise that he'd stop by for dinner sometime.
Everyone who was still left was neck-deep in a game of some kind, leaving Jason and Will to meander towards the exit. Jason almost didn't want to go home. Talking to Will was nice, and he wouldn't have minded if they'd stayed out all night.
"It's getting pretty late," Will commented, and Jason resigned himself to a boring drive home and an even more boring evening.
"I actually only live a couple blocks away from here, and I've got some truly awful wine left over from a party, mind helping me get rid of it?"
"What?"
"It's not that bad," Will backtracked, even though that was not the part that had caught Jason off guard. "I mean, it's mediocre, but it does its job."
Jason had been trained to withstand G-forces that would make the average person pass out. He'd jumped out of (and been thrown out of) more planes than he could count, and he'd managed to land more than one plane with malfunctioning landing gear, but none of his combat or flight training prepared him for how fast his stomach tied itself in knots at being invited back to Will’s place.
"Sure. Wine is wine."
"That's what I'm saying!" Will grinned. "My little sister is a total snob and disagrees, which is why I ended up with the bad stuff."
Will's apartment really was only a few blocks away, tucked behind a couple of stores. It was clean, but not to the point where it felt like nobody lived there. Jason's own place had been a disaster until very recently, when he'd built up the guts to clean it and put all of Piper's stuff in a box to give back to her...soon. He'd do it soon.
The wine, surprisingly, wasn't all that bad, though Jason would never claim to have good taste in that kind of thing. After the garbage he'd drunk during basic training, even boxed wine tasted good. Even if he'd hated it, Jason would have kept drinking, purely so he could keep listening to Will talk.
After three or so glasses, Jason rubbed his temples. "I should probably get home."
"Why?" Will didn't look half as flushed as Jason felt, even though they'd had the same amount. Maybe vampires were heavyweights.
"Starting to get sad," Jason admitted.
"You live alone, right?" There was no way he could have known, but Will’s question was a cruel reminder that Jason would have been packing his things to move in with Piper right about now, if it hadn’t been for… everything.
"Yeah."
"Alone and drunk is the worst place to be sad. You can crash here."
Will really was pretty. His hair looked soft . Jason wanted to run his hands through it. When he talked, his lips moved, which would be a dumb thing to point out while sober, but after maybe a little more wine than strictly advisable, Will’s lips were all Jason could think about.
Shouldn't think about.
The nagging feeling that he was getting this all wrong, that Will wasn't flirting with him, only grew stronger.
"I'm not even hung up on her," Jason mumbled, staring somewhere into the middle distance. "I just miss when things were normal ."
Will poured himself another glass. Jason held his own out, too. "I know what you mean. Sometimes you just wish things could go back to how they were, and it's not even because you're not over them, you just got used to the way your life was with them in it, and things are different now."
"Mm-hm."
"My ex and I split on pretty good terms, honestly, but it still took me ages to get over how much I missed my life with him."
Him.
Shit.
Jason was doomed.
"...and I think the only real way to deal with it is to move on on purpose." Will was still talking. "I don't necessarily think that the best way to get over someone is to get under someone else, but that kind of thing— throwing yourself into something new, even if it's your job or a hobby or whatever— can really help."
Will paused, studying Jason's face in a way that made him flush even more, if that was possible after this much wine. "Not that I have anything against a good rebound."
His eyes moved down to Jason's lips and back up again, way too slow to be anything but blatantly obvious.
Wine-drunk and full of foolish courage, Jason slid off of the bar stool he'd been sitting on, stumbling a little as his feet hit the floor. They'd been sitting so close their knees almost touched, so the moment he got to his feet, they were face-to-face, and his stumble was all Jason needed to cover the inches left between them.
Will's hands, which had gone to Jason's shoulders when he'd tripped, dropped to his waist, pulling him in even closer. God , his hands felt good. Jason's skin practically burned where they touched, and he wanted more . He hadn't wanted anything this bad in a very long time.
It occurred to him that he, too, had hands, and he could now run those hands through Will’s hair, like he'd been wanting to all night. He'd been right , it was soft, and the quiet noise Will made when Jason's fingers tangled themselves in his curls was enough to drive him insane.
Jason couldn't remember the last time he'd felt like this, had felt this much heat and passion from just a kiss. It had been too long, much too long, and now that he had it back he didn't want it to stop.
Will let his hands drop, curled his fingers into Jason's belt loops and pulled , bringing him in hips-first. Jason gasped, breaking the kiss and immediately regretting it.
"You alright?" Will asked, loosening his hold.
Jason answered by leaning back in, both hands on Will’s face.
Will had the audacity to laugh , his smile warm and comfortable against Jason's lips. His grip tightened on Jason's belt loops once more, and Jason drank the feeling in, marveling at how good it felt to have Will’s body pressed against him, Will’s mouth on his, Will's hands keeping him firmly in place while Jason's hands were left free to explore as much as he wanted.
His exploration was halted when he slid a hand up the back of Will’s shirt and Will pulled away. "Hang on."
Jason froze, terrified he'd done something wrong.
"You're drunk," Will pointed out. "I'm not sober, either, though I doubt I'm as far gone as you are."
Jason almost pointed out that they'd had the same amount to drink, but Will really did look a lot steadier on his feet. "So, as much as I would love to keep going," he continued, wrapping his arms around Jason's waist as he said it, "I don't want you doing something you'll regret tomorrow."
What Will was saying made sense to Jason's brain, but his brain was not even remotely in charge of his actions at the moment. Still, he allowed Will to untangle himself and guide Jason to the couch, where he very nearly pulled Will down with him in his efforts to get just one more kiss.
There was no guarantee he would ever get to feel this way again. He could wake up clear-headed the next morning and, like Will said, regret everything. Worse, Will could wake up and regret everything. The chances of this ever happening again were close to zero, and Jason wanted to savor whatever he could for as long as possible.
Will went along with the just one more kiss , bracing himself on the back of the couch so Jason couldn't completely drag him onto his lap. It ended up being a lot more than just one , but Will did eventually pull away for good, leaving Jason to slump against the pillows, too drunk to get comfortable and too tired to care.
"Goodnight, Jay."
Jason mumbled his very best attempt at "goodnight" back, wishing he'd been just a little more sober so he could leap off the couch and kiss Will senseless for what that nickname did to him.
---
The following morning came with one of the worst headaches Jason had ever had in his life. The thought of wine made him want to hurl, and so did the sight of the empty bottles still sitting in Will’s kitchen. It took a moment for him to remember why he was on Will’s couch in the first place, but the memories of what had happened— and almost happened— right before came back all at once.
"Morning." Will's voice came from somewhere in the kitchen, a little too far for Jason to see without his glasses, which he'd been smart enough to take off before falling asleep. Where they were was another question.
The blurry figure that had to be Will looked at the clock on the stove. "It's eleven. That's still morning."
"Fuck," Jason mumbled. It was rare that he slept in past eight.
Will laughed, approaching the couch where Jason lay with something in his hand. "Here."
His glasses. Jason put them on, Will's face coming into focus at last. He was smiling, no trace of regret for last night's actions visible in his expression.
"How'd you sleep?"
"Like a rock." Jason pushed himself to a sitting position. "I'm normally a pretty light sleeper."
"Considering just how hammered you were, I'm not surprised."
"...Yeah." Jason got up, wandering towards the kitchen in search of water.
"How much do you remember?" Will asked, following him.
Jason gave himself a few moments to down his glass of water before answering. "All of it." He couldn't bring himself to look Will in the eye.
"A couple regrets, I take it?"
Startled by his tone, Jason looked up to see Will, his arms folded across his stomach, watching him from the other side of the kitchen.
"None."
Will looked genuinely surprised. "Could've fooled me."
Shit . "I'm sorry," Jason said, wishing he could re-start the day. "I just— I've never—"
" Never ?" Will asked. Jason shook his head. "You're pretty good at it for never ."
"Well, I—" His brain wouldn't work with him. "With Piper, obviously, but not— I haven't— you know." He gestured to Will, hoping it would get his point across. Kissing guys and other, well, related things hadn't ever crossed his mind. He'd had Piper, and he liked Piper, and that was all the introspection into his own identity he needed, at least until now.
"You really do have a way with words, don't you, Jay?" Will smiled and moved to join Jason on the other side of the kitchen. "Luckily, I do know what you're talking about."
Jason managed a smile, though his nerves were making him start to feel nauseated, unless that was all the wine.
Will pulled two coffee cups out of the cabinet, setting them both on the counter. "I wouldn't recommend it hungover, but if you want to get some practice with that sort of thing, you now know where I live."
"Seriously?" Jason hadn't ever considered the idea that he could just do that, not without a serious, long-term relationship.
"Duh." Will reached around Jason to pull his phone out of his back pocket, and Jason did his best to ignore how much the gesture affected him. "And now you have my number, so you can get in touch with me without having to wait for BINGO night."
"That's it?" Jason asked, taking his phone back. "It's that easy?"
"I mean, I wouldn't call myself easy, but yes." Will grinned. "Anything you want to know, or do —" he added, smiling even wider when Jason went bright red— "just call me, and I'll be happy to teach you."
"I'll. Uh. I'll keep that in mind." Jason knew it was going to be very, very hard to keep that out of his mind for the foreseeable future. He wasn't sure he cared.
---
Piper was the first to find out. Jason knew that as long as he lived, Piper would be the first to know about everything, no matter where they stood. Even though it still kind of hurt to look at her, she was his confidant, and nothing was going to change that.
He called her before he’d even made it home, spilling his guts as soon as she confirmed nobody else was in the room.
As usual with any exciting news, she interrupted him about six times before he could get his first sentence out, practically shrieking with joy. Jason had to yank his phone away from his ear at one point, her thrilled squeals still perfectly audible from a foot away. Even though his heart was still going about a mile a minute, Jason found himself smiling; his ex-girlfriend’s excitement for him was contagious.
“Oh my god, okay,” Piper said once she’d calmed down a little. “Who all knows? Who should I keep this a secret from?”
“Nobody,” Jason said quickly. “Everybody. I mean— nobody knows, and it’s a secret from everybody.”
Before he’d left Will’s apartment, they’d had a very necessary conversation about who was allowed to know— which was basically nobody. Vampires couldn’t be canonized, but Will may as well have been a saint for how well he’d reacted to Jason’s plea for secrecy.
“How about this,” he’d offered, leaning back against the kitchen counter, “You can tell… whoever you feel like, and I won’t tell anyone.”
“But… that’s not fair,” Jason protested.
Will waved him off. “Nothing’s fair. Fact of the matter is, I’m out and you’re not .”
Jason bit his tongue, fighting the instinct to tell Will that he wasn’t ever going to be “out,” because he was—
He was—
He’d never had to question that particular label before.
Will, still a prime candidate for sainthood, noticed the way Jason had tensed. “You’re… figuring stuff out. Regardless, I don’t stand to lose anything if you tell people about me, but you’re better off if this is a secret, right?”
Jason nodded.
“So you can tell people, and I won’t.”
“Are you okay with that?”
Will smiled. “I wouldn’t offer it if I wasn’t willing, Jay. I am perfectly capable of keeping my, ah, private life private. ”
Jason felt his cheeks redden, and made his goodbye a little hastier than usual, for fear of what he’d do if he stuck around.
On the phone with Piper, he explained their agreement, and she echoed his sentiment that Will was so genuinely nice it was infuriating. Jason wondered to himself if that was what had gotten him on Thalia’s bad side. He loved his sister, but she could be abrasive, and someone like that was bound to frustrate her with how endlessly easygoing he was.
“...So what are you going to do about it?” Piper’s voice crackled through the phone Jason had almost forgotten about.
“I don’t know.” Jason took a deep breath, the weight of the decision bearing down on his lungs. “I don’t know.”
“That’s okay. You don’t have to decide now.” Piper’s words made him feel lighter, just like they always had. Jason hoped they always would. “But, for what it’s worth, I think you should go for it. Try something new.”
“Yeah?”
“Absolutely.” There was a sound on the other end of the line, like Piper was fidgeting with something— probably the zipper on her jacket, if Jason knew her, which he did. “I’m, uh. I’m thinking about trying something new, too.”
Jason knew what Piper was like when she was nervous. They’d been together through senior year of high school, three years of college (he’d graduated early), and Air Force basic training. He’d seen her show every emotion under the sun, but this sounded different. She almost sounded fearful, like the new thing she was trying— or the idea of telling him— scared her.
“What is it?” If it scared Piper, Jason wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to know, but admitting that would mean she would hang up.
“I think I’m gonna ask Annabeth out.”
In a kinder world, Jason would have hung up the phone. He would have gently reminded his ex-girlfriend that they’d only been broken up for a month and change, that they’d been together for almost five years before that, and that she’d done the dumping. He would have explained that Will was a rebound, not a sign that he was over it, and that the wound was very much still fresh, so telling him she’d already moved on felt about the same as having his heart, lungs, and stomach ripped out of him, thrown on the ground, and stepped on with combat boots she’d always joked looked better than his own.
But the world was not kind, so Jason Grace did not hang up the phone, and instead did his best not to let himself cry in his car while his ex-girlfriend explained that Annabeth and Percy had an open relationship, that Annabeth was bi, and that she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it since Annabeth had told her about it.
Jason did not want to know how long ago Annabeth had told Piper all of this.
It had been more than a month and change since they’d had a girls’ night.