Sacrifices

Among Friends And Lovers

Percy was bouncing in anticipation. He couldn’t stay in one part of the large ballroom for too long, anxiousness flooding his veins as he paced the entire house, and then the entire perimeter of the house, biting at his nail buds in suspense. 

    While he was busy worrying, Annabeth was busy ordering people around for the big event. Streamers were hung all around, by the doorways, from the ceiling, in the most absurd of places. A large cake had been wheeled in earlier, and was currently sitting in the kitchen, having the final details added on. 

    It was a rather formal event, which meant Percy had to wear something more suitable than his usual ripped jeans and hoodie to match with a pair of mucked up blue sneakers. While his hair went untouched by any jel of sorts, his outfit had changed into something more suitable for the circumstance. 

    Now he wore a brand new pair of black dress shoes to match his fitted black dress pants. He was wearing a blue dress shirt that had a black dress coat to cover it up. Percy wasn’t a big fan of it, but Annabeth had commented on it earlier, before she was dragged away to get dressed herself. 

    He hasn’t seen her since then, but knowing her, she was probably trying to order people around and nag about every little detail. Percy chuckled to himself as he thought about it, letting a small gleeful smile slip from his practiced stoic face. 

    “Percy!” Someone had called out from across the courtyard, causing him to turn towards the source. 

    There stood Jason, his blond hair slicked to the side perfectly, framing his face just right. He wore the almost the same thing Percy himself had been wearing, if it wasn’t for the lavender dress shirt he was wearing instead. His glasses were perched on his nose, creating a small glare from the sun beaming upon the glass. 

    Behind Jason stood Frank, who was wearing deep violet slacks, a black tie, and a white dress shirt. If Percy had seen anyone else wearing that, he would think they were crazy, but it fit Frank well, almost as if the design was meant for him. 

    Leo walked to the front, his usual large grin plastered on his face. He was wearing skinny dark brown cargo pants, which were attached to suspenders that firmly held the red dress shirt to his thin frame. His boots were the usual worn work boots that Percy had learned Leo was fond of. It suited him well. 

    And while everyone’s appearances was amazingly surprising, Nico had taken his breath away. 

    The sight of his ghostly pale skin made him look more angelic than ever. He was wearing tight black jeans that made his legs look skinnier than they probably were, and they matched his black dress shirt that hung at every angle just right. What surprised him was the sprintz of color. His dress jacket was the same shade of blue of Percy’s dress shirt. 

    It caught Percy off guard. He was left breathless at the sight. He hadn’t seen Nico in days, becoming too occupied with the preparations for the party to visit him in secret like they had for the past three weeks. And this was something new. Never in his life had he seen Nico in a tux, and he would never imagine it would look this good on him. 

    Percy hadn’t even realized they had been walking towards him until Jason closed in on him, giving him a hug that burst his lungs. His gaze hadn’t bothered to waver from Nico the entire time, who looked as sheepish as he was confident in his looks. The small pink blush dusting his cheeks made Percy want to kiss him right then and there. 

    Reality only then seemed to slap him in the face. Out here in the garden, he couldn’t do those things. People would get suspicious real quick, and rumors would spread all the way back to Gabe. It was hard to get past the big obstacle that was his step-father, but they managed to get by.