A New Discovery

Chapter 5

     Percy opened his eyes and found himself trapped between Jason and Nico. Leo was on the floor tinkering with some scraps from his toolbelt and Percy was definitely confused. Had they all ended up falling back asleep? What about their camp chores? He knew that since it was wednesday Jason usually taught sword classes with Clarisse and Nico was supposed to help the demeter kids with control over their abilities.
    Leo must have noticed that Percy was awake because he looked over at him and said, "Stop worrying so much Perce'. I got all of the classes covered for the day so we have the day off to do whatever we want."
    "Oh, thanks Leo. What time is it?" Percy asked and he felt Jason stir beside him.
    "Its—" he looked at his watch, "one thirty six." He said looking back at Percy and noticed a fully awake Jason beside him.
    "Hey sleeping beauty, thought you would never wake up." Leo said jokingly to him and Jason just laughed at him and turned to Percy.
    "Hey Perce, how are you feeling? Sorry we crashed here, that was definitely not the plan." Jason asked him nervously and put a hand to the back of his neck.
    "It's really no problem man, it does get lonely here after all." He laughed before replying to his earlier question. "And I'm fine I guess. It's a relief that you guys are okay with it. It's nice to have support from the people you care about." He said the last part quietly while looking down to his hands remembering what had happened only the day before.
    "Yeah man totally, if you need it, we've got it. Right Leo?" Jason looked at him and Leo nodded back.
    "Yeah for sure Percy. What she did was messed up and we're here to make up for that. No one ever deserves to be thrown out because of something that they were born with." The words had flown from his lips smoothly and even though the words could have been small they had had a great effect on Percy and on Leo.
     Leo knew all about being thrown out for something that wasn't his fault and he hated to see someone as awesome as Percy go through it too. Especially by one of the people he had respected and trusted the most. He really did think it was crazy because they had gone through literal hell together and actually survived. To have that kind of connection get thrown away by something like this is rough.
While they had been talking, Nico had finally woken up from his dead sleep and he was at the perfect angle to be able to see Percy's face and still half asleep, he reached up and cupped his face gently.
    "Why you sad 'ercy?" He said lazily with half lidded eyes and he was just able to see a light blush form on Percy's face.
    "J-just thinking of stuff you know?" Percy responded softly and put his hand on Nico's head, letting it brush through his hair. Nico just closed his eyes and sighed happily.
     Leo and Jason just looked at each other knowingly and decided that it was time to go. They might as well enjoy their surprise day off together and leave those two alone so they could figure their feelings out.
     After a few minutes of sitting and enjoying each other's warmth, Nico opened his eyes, finally coming to a more aware state and stared at Percy's face.
     He had little eye bags under his eyes and his hair was still messy and uncombed. His hoodie had shifted to be almost falling off of his left shoulder and his eyes were closed still just focusing on what he was feeling in the moment.
     Nico looked around them and noticed that Jason and Leo were missing from the room and decided that they had just snuck out of the room together.
    "Hey Nico?" Percy said suddenly and Nico looked up to see Percy's sea green eyes staring down at him. "What should I do?"
     Nicos eyes widened. "W-what do you mean? Like today, tomo-" Percy cut him off.
    "Now. What should I do with my life Nico? I had everything planned out. We were going to school in New Rome, we were going to live there and start a family, but that's all gone now. So what the h e l l am I supposed to do?" Percy asked him desperately and wanting so badly to just be told what to do.
      Nico wanted desperately to be able to make his negative feeling just go away and he wanted to make him feel normal again. He knew how hard it was to feel like the world was going to crush you for being different and he knew that that was what Percy was going through now.
     Percy really did look so vulnerable to Nico in that moment and he realized that this was Percy laying his whole soul out for him and he could either destroy it or mend it.
    'That's right darling. What he is feeling is not so different from what you feel. My gift to Percy Jackson is only getting started and you will be the first push that it needs.'
     Nicos eyes widened but Percy looked almost frozen in place and Nico realized that he wasn't even breathing. It had to be the power of a god or monster but Nico had a feeling that he knew just who it was. 'Aphrodite?'
    'Yes. Everyone thought that my goal was to have Annabeth and Percy get together, but that was just the beginning to the love story that I had planned for him. You, Jason, and Leo are the key ingredients in this gift of mine and now it is time that you shall act upon those feelings that you have held within for so long.'
     The voice had faded away and whatever magic that had been used seemed to lift because suddenly Percy was moving again and Nicos body had moved on its own. He suddenly flipped over onto Percy and was kissing him and all of sudden it was like nothing else mattered. All he knew was that he was kissing Percy and Percy was kissing him and he wanted more.
     Percy had no idea what to do but the feeling of elation that was coursing through him reassured him that whatever guilt he had for doing this the day after Annabeth and his break up could fuck off.
     They both split apart for air and then dove back into the kiss wanting more from one another and they both gave and gave for what seemed like hours until they had both had enough.
     They separated and were panting heavily with half lidded eyes and just barely loosened their holds on each other.   
    "W-what's wrong with me? Why is that okay? I've never felt like that with Annabeth before." Percy said close to tears again and Nico was shocked but then realized. This was normal. He knew all about mental illness and he knew that being autistic would mess with your feelings and could make you very disconnected or feel overly connected. He guessed that Percy was feeling a huge disconnection to Annabeth, but that part of his brain that thought reasonably was struggling to find this okay. Now that they knew it was easier to tell.
    "It's okay to feel conflicted, Percy. You don't have to be all happy about the fact that we kissed or all sad about it either. This doesn't suddenly mean your feelings towards Annabeth have just gone out the window. It just means that you are moving on and are feeling more strongly towards something else now. You can do this, you know that right? You can kiss people who you want to kiss and feel how you feel." Nico said to him earnestly from where he sat, still sat on top of Percy's midsection.
    "I-i just hate how weak I feel right now you know? I mean, I've fought and won two wars! I've saved the world countless times and most monsters have heard of and fear my name. Yet here I am breaking down over a break up and a stupid mental illness!" Percy let out angrily, finally getting his thoughts out properly and feeling a sudden relief go along with the words.
    "Of course you feel like that Percy. It's because you are strong and you've never had to confront any of your problems. Heck it took Chiron this long to hire a camp therapist for all of the schist we've been through. I think that says enough about the kind of life we have lived up to this point."
     Percy practically melted underneath Nico once he said that. Just being in the comfort of someone who he wasn't scared of disappointing was so nice and new to him that he just wanted to hold onto the feeling and stick with it for as long as he could.
     With Annabeth he always felt like he had to be perfect and even with his school he felt like he had to impress her, almost like she was an overbearing parent. But with Nico it felt so much more like talking to a peer, or just someone who actually cared about him, not just what they looked like or what their legacy looked like. It wasn't even just Nico either, it was Leo and Jason too, and he was thankful for all of them, more than they would ever know.
    "What does this mean then, Nico?"
    "What does what mean Percy?" Nico asked him, smirking despite the heavy atmosphere that there had been seconds ago.
Percy blushed at his comment and looked frustrated and embarrassed as he asked.     "What are we?"
     "Haha, your so stupid! Oh my gods, don't be so embarrassed by it. We can be whatever you want us to be Perce." Nico said laughing teasingly at him which just made him blush more.
    "Shut up you jerk!" Percy shouted and shoved Nico sideways off of him and onto the bed. Nico took that as confirmation and settled it in his mind.
    "Oof you ass. Do you want to get up and chill around camp or something? Or could just stay here all day though if you want." Nico asked and Percy pondered it for a second before nodding his head and going to get out of the bed.
    Together they got dressed. Nico just borrowed some of Percy's clothes because they were decently close in size with Nico being just a tad bit smaller. Nico had actually stayed in Percy's cabin while they were renovating the Hades cabin because of how dreadful the first design had been so he had a toothbrush here still and they both brushed their teeth before finally heading out just in time to hear the lunch horn go off and so they both headed to the dining pavilion for lunch.
     Percy was starving as was Nico since he hadn't really gotten to eat his breakfast this morning before Jason and Leo had dragged him off.
     Once they got to the dining pavilion they spotted Jason and Leo and headed their way. They were sitting at the Zeus table away from the others which was unusual.
    "Hey guys!" Percy called out happily to them. Jason and Leo both smirked at them.
    "Sooo, how did it go?" Leo asked them mischievously and Percy and Nico both blushed lightly and glared at him.
    "Shut up Leo!" They both shouted at him in unison which made him and Jason burst out laughing.
    "You guys are so obvious!" Leo.
    "And your blushing so bad too!" Jason.
     They both got chills though after a wave of shadows rolled over them and then Nico and Percy were laughing too, unable to control themselves.
     Nico had not forgotten his conversation with Aphrodite but he would just see how things worked out. He didn't know if he should tell Jason and Leo but for now he would let them enjoy their day off.
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