Sign {A Pernico Story AU} ✔

Nico - In the Rain

I spoke to him. I spoke to the guy of my dreams for the first time.

And he ran away.

It's like he couldn't get away fast enough. I didn't know what I sounded like, I didn't remember, but was it really that disgusting?

I blinked away tears. No. I am not gonna let some boy make me cry.

By the time I packed up my stuff, I had failed at the whole "not crying" thing. 

I was full-on sobbing by the time I left school. I made my way down the sidewalk, thinking about nothing in particular (read as Percy Jackson). What was I expecting? For Percy to just fall in love with me after one tutoring session? He's the most heterosexual man I've ever met. Besides there's no way someone like him doesn't already have a girlfriend. I never stood a chance.

I remembered the day I had first met (and literally fallen for) Percy. I spent the whole day gushing to Reyna about him, and how it was love at first sight.

She had just sighed and signed. Nico, look. I know Jackson. He seems great but really? He's just a player. Leading people on until he can break their hearts. I don't want that happening to you.

I had completely dismissed her warning. I disregarded it as her big sister like over-protectiveness. 

Now, here I am. Lead on and heartbroken. 

Maybe Reyna was right and-

Holy crap, Reyna!

I left her! She's gonna freak when she finds an empty classroom since technically our tutor session ended in 20 more minutes.

Speak of the devil, my phone buzzed in my pocket. A text from Reyna. Please, gods above, let her go easy on me.

RARA 💜: What. The. Hell. I left for like 10 minutes and you're both GONE. Are you two together?? Please tell me you didn't ditch me to go make out with Jackson in a locker somewhere 🤮

Me: I'm not with Percy. He left. I messed everything up.

RARA 💜: ...

RARA 💜: So help me gods above I'm gonna track Jackson down and bury him alive for whatever he did to hurt you.

RARA 💜: Are you home? I'm going to ft as soon as I get home you're gonna tell me everything so I know exactly why I'm murdering Jackson!!!

Me: You're a awesome friend, Reyna.

RARA 💜: I know 💅

I was feeling a little better by the time I got home (just in time too, it had started to rain). Reyna would call me, I'd vent, everything would be okay, and I would never have to think about how Percy thinks my voice is disgusting again.

I went into the kitchen to find Hazel was already there, making a snack. She smiled as I entered.

Hey Neeks. Where were you?

My body tensed. Hazel didn't know about my crush on Percy. I never told her. Plus, they were friends. It'd only make things awkward. Nowhere, I signed back. Just hanging out with Reyna.

"Cool," she said. "Dad left a while ago. He said he was working a bit late."

She nodded and turned her attention back to her snack. She was currently mixing a huge bowl of cookie dough. "You're making cookies?" I asked.

"Nope. Just the dough. Cookie dough is better than cookies. It's science."

I laughed a bit. Hazel started to ramble, signing as she spoke. I watched her hands for a while, before eventually spacing out. Hazel was one of the people who didn't mind talking to me even though I'll never hear it. Sometimes she just spoke because she knew I liked watching, wonder what she really sounded like. It pained me a bit that all I'll ever get to do is wonder.

Hazel tapped my shoulder.

Hey, she signed. Are you listening to me?

The corners of my mouth twitched a little. I can't listen to you. I'm deaf

Hazel rolled her eyes. "Oh come on! You know what I meant!"

I was really smiling now. Hazel probably knew from the second I got home that something was wrong. Maybe it was her sister-superpowers. But, thankfully, she also knew that prying got us nowhere. I hated being forced to open up. It had to happen naturally. I'm glad she was okay with that. I felt her phone vibrate next to be. One second she signed. I caught a glimpse of the caller ID. It was her boyfriend, Frank.

I nodded, ate a spoonful of cookie dough, and went upstairs.

As soon as I opened my door, Ms. O'Leary was waiting for me. I smiled and pet her as I came inside.

Ms. O'Leary was my pet doberman. Legally speaking, she was a service dog. My father got her for me as a welcome gift after the crash and after learning about my condition. She was trained to do things that alerted me of sounds around me. Because she's a service dog, I could take her to school with me if I wanted to. But I never did. I didn't want more attention drawn to me than there already is. 

I went to the bathroom to change. I was still wearing Reyna's hoodie and my chili-stained shirt. Ew. Thank the gods Dad is doing laundry tomorrow. I pulled out a black hoodie from my closet that read "Some People Are Gay, Get Over It". I smiled remembering how the day after I came out, my dad and Hazel left to go buy it for me. I slipped it on and put on some shorts. I was ready to just get in bed and wait for Reyna to call, but Ms. O'Leary bumped her nose on my leg. It was a little signal we had that meant someone was knocking at the door. 

I went back downstairs. Hazel was gone, so I guess Frank came to get her (in the rain no less, what a gentlemen). Ms. O'Leary was still bumping me, so whoever was out there was getting a little impatient. I sigh. It was probably just Dad. He's always forgetting his keys. 

I opened the door. "Stop banging so hard, you're freaking Ms. O'Leary-"

I stopped mid-sentence.

Because it wasn't my dad at the door. It way Percy. Standing in the rain. Absolutely soaked. He looked up at me, wide-eyed and blushing.

"Hi"

...

I'm gonna start keeping track of how many Heartstopper parallels I can make in this fan-fic

You should watch Heartstopper on Netflix it's so good ❤

-Todoroni 🍝 🧀