Daddy Issues

My birthday boy(ish)

Nico's POV) 

I woke up to Hazel knocking on my door. "Five more minutes." I grumbled. 

"I made birthday pancakes!" She chirped. "They've got sprinkles in them." 

Oh, crap! I forgot it was my birthday today! "Coming!" I called out, going down the stairs while still rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. As I sat down at the counter, I noticed a box on the counter, wrapped and tied with a ribbon. "You... You got me a present?" 

"Of course I did, it's your birthday, silly!" She tapped my nose. "I wasn't really sure what you like... But I went out to Hot Topic with Piper, and we tried to pick something nice. Eat your breakfast first, though." She pushed a stack of pancakes toward me, layered with white frosting instead of syrup, with 17 spelled out in rainbow sprinkles. 

"Thank you." I started eating with her, but even though she ate all of hers, I was only able to finish about halfway before I had to stop. I was totally stuffed. "I think I'll have to save the rest of this in the fridge." I stood up and put it down in the fridge. 

"That's ok. So, I know you don't normally like being around people, but I figured we should do something special today. Whaddya wanna do?"

"Not sure... Maybe call Percy over." Honestly, I wished my dad was here. But he was where he needed to be, so I didn't bring him up. 

"Oh, are you two like, together or something?" She asked. 

I shrugged. "I... Guess." 

"You mean you're not sure?" She asked. 

I shrugged again and opened the box.  It was a Ramones T-shirt, black with the white circle emblem. I think I may have actually squealed, I know I hugged her. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! I'm gonna try it on right now... Thank you!" I ran up to my bedroom and took off the shirt I was wearing to put it on, looking at myself in the mirror. It was a little loose on me, hanging off the shoulder, but I didn't mind. I wanted to show it off, even if I'd be cold in it. I got a different shirt of mine, a dark grey collared shirt that I rarely wore, and put it on under the shirt I just got, then my trench coat. I changed out of my sweatpants too, into my black jeans, then my red converse. I even slipped on the skull ring necklace passed down to me before looking at myself in the bathroom mirror.

For the first time in years, I wasn't disgusted by my reflection. I was actually proud of myself for putting effort into my appearance. Although... Some color would be nice. No, contrary to popular belief, I'm not repulsed by color. 

I looked over at her side of the bathroom, laden with all sorts of products, makeup, hair gels... Nail polish. 

Red nail polish. 

Would... Would she be mad if I took some? It would only be the tiniest bit. 

But what if I look ugly and it ruins the one day I don't feel like shit? 

Well... I have those black leather gloves in my drawer. If it looks bad, I can just put them on so I don't have to look at them until they rub off. 

I'll probably wear the gloves anyway, I don't want her to know I'm doing this. I mean... What if she get mad at me for a different reason? 

I doubt that. She took my being gay in stride, why would she suddenly change her mind if I painted my nails? Just once? Just to see how it looks? 

I sighed and took the bottle into my hands. I may never have the nerve to do this again. 

So I unscrewed the cap. 

-

Percy's POV) 

I woke up to the sound of my phone ringing. "What the hell? It's so early! Probably like... 5 in the morning or something." 

When I open my eyes, though, it's 11. "... Oh." I groaned to myself. Yet another Friday night spent playing video games. I really need to pull myself together if I'm gonna make it through the rest of this school year, let alone community college. Oh man... I was gonna have to apply and everything, and I'm gonna be living by myself, and... Oh shit, someone's calling me! 

I answered the phone. "Yeah? Who's there?" 

"It's Hazel... Um, so it's Nico's birthday today. And... I was wondering if you'd like to come over. He suggested I call, so.. I did." 

"Um, yeah, yeah, I'll be right over there! I just need to get ready. Bye!" I scrambled up and darted to the shower. I had to make sure I looked the best I could. I put on the clothes I got from Paul's... Dad's... Side of the family. Jeans, a dark blue sweatshirt, and one of those big black puffer jackets. Mom was at work, so I just darted out the door, driving over to his place. 

The way he came down from the stairs, with his trenchcoat behind him like black feathery wings... He didn't even need to do anything special to make my heart skip a beat. Yeah, I'm in love. As if I needed any more proof. 

The moment was gone too soon, as he stopped just shy of me. "H-hi... Um... Thanks for coming." 

I sat on the couch. "No problem, it's not like I had anything going on. And even if I did, I'm not gonna miss your birthday." 

He sat next to me, and Hazel on his other side. They were discussing what to do for today. I suggested the skate park, but it was too snowy, and he didn't know how, and there would be people there who could judge him. 

We decided to stay in and watch movies, which was kinda disappointing to me, but this was his day. I'll let him do whatever he wants today. 

-

We ordered pizza for dinner, and since we told the pizza guy it was his birthday, we got a free tin of brownies. After a while, he took off his trenchcoat, and... "Holy crap dude, you listen to them too?" 

He blushed a little. "I mean, yeah. I listen to a lot of stuff... Do you wanna come up to my room and we can, um... Listen together? I'll show you my favorite album of theirs." 

By now, I was grinning like a madman, and agreed immediately. He took me up to his room, and we each shared an earbud, listening to his favorite album while sitting on his bed. About halfway through, he started pulling at his leather gloves, like he was uncomfortable. "Hey... You can take those off if you want to." 

He bit his lip. "... I know. I..." He looked down at his hands, then up at me, then pulled them off. 

His fingernails were painted red. Sloppily, too, like his hands were shaking when he applied the polish. He looked away, like he was ashamed, but I took his hands into mine and loked down at them, so small and graceful, and leaned down to kiss them. He's so, so perfect. "Y'know... I think green would be more your color." I smirked. 

His cherry red lips gaped open, and my hands went up to hold his face. "You don't... Mind?" 

I shook my head. "You look cute like this. Maybe sometime soon, we can go over to my place and I'll paint them properly. I've got a steady hand. For now... You wanna kiss me?" 

He nodded, and without hesitation, I locked lips with his. Soon, I was tangling tongues with him, laying him on his back. 

"Hey y'all, pizza's... Here..." 

I popped my mouth off of his. "Hazel! I, um, we..." 

His face was now as red as his nails. "We weren't gonna do anything, I swear!" 

She took the scene in for a moment, and then started laughing. "'I guess' my left foot." She jerked her head to the door. "C'mon, the pizza's gonna get cold."

(A/N sorry for wedging this in here it's just that I had the idea too late LOL)