Between Sea and Sky -AAThanatos

Chapter 14: Realisations and letting go

Percy's POV

We had three months left till the babies were born, while I was still on the fence it seemed that I was leaning toward stepping up. Jason made a really great argument, it wasn't these kids fault this happened. They deserved a good home and to not be split up. I was offered a great job in the New Rome Aquarium that would help me finish my degree and Jason only had 12 credits until his degree was finished. We had been looking at houses big enough for a family, but we were still far from being able to afford one on our own. Nico and Will offered to stay with us to help with that, live in the basement and pay half the mortgage. They really were amazing friends, even going as far as wanting to help raise the kids. Will gave some long speech about how kids that are raised by a village turn out really well, apparently his mother lives on a commune and he was raised with over twenty adults and a litter of kids. I won't lie, he turned out good, smart, and very open minded. So the village idea wasn't off the table. I still had time to think about it, but the more I thought on it the more I wanted them.

Maybe I was freaking out because I still feel like I haven't experienced a lot yet. Sure I had my quests and adventures, but I was still young and wanted to experience my life without kids. Jason countered that with we could experience life with the kids, that kids didn't mean we couldn't travel or have a good time. We would just need a baby sitter, and talking with Anna's dad he offered taking them for the summers. All this stress was building up over this choice that was impending. I could feel myself getting the itch to be reckless. I wanted to do something stupid and fun. I needed it. Jason was on the same page and agreed with me, after all the big changes we needed a night out that we would either remember forever or can't remember at all. Luckily the chance came into play when Nicos 18th birthday was soon arriving. Since they were getting married that spring at camp half blood, we decided on his birthday we would double it as a bachelor party. Well, I guess it was a double one since Will was coming too.

(Timebreak)

It was only this past month that I truly came to terms with my sexuality. These feelings had been lingering in the back of my mind for years, I just never brought them to the forefront because I was in love with Annabeth. I had always found men attractive, looking through my past relationships with guys I started to see how they could have been mistaken as more due to the closeness. I remember being friends with a kid when I was five and we used to play the married game, it wasn't until someone enforced what Jason calls "toxic masculinity " on me that I stopped. The boys father got mad when the boy would kiss my cheek and then I wasn't allowed to play over there anymore. So I focused on girls. Yet when I look at the friendships around me, they didn't look like other male friendships. Hell, Jason and I used to flirt like crazy on the Argo II and I didn't even know it was flirting until he pointed it out. "Percy, guys don't normally grab eachother asses unless they are on a football team or trying to bang them. We have been flirting for years." We had been flirting for years, I was just to blind to see it. I had a crush on Luke, and didn't realize that was the reason I was so hurt by his betrayal. I wanted his closeness, I wanted that bond between us. I had just mistaken it for friendship. Now it was obvious, I'm bisexual.

Now that we were heading into My first gay bar, It's was amazing how blind I was. Apex was the hottest Gay bar in New Rome. Every guy inside was having the time of their lives, they were on tables and GoGo boxes dancing in flashing lights and smoke machines. They were all so beautiful. The music was blaring a hypnotic beat that made your hips automatically sway. Nico had wanted to come here for forever, so this was the perfect excuse. The drinking age in New Rome was 18, so Will went over to the bar and talked to the guy about a private booth area with bottle service. A guy wearing nothing but a neon blue jock strap and bow tie led us over to a roped off area that had a reserved sign on it, looks like he had called ahead. We all sat on the comfortable lounge couch as he mixed a round of shots and some mixed drinks in front of us. Another guy came over and laid down a plate of snacks, Nico whispered in the guys ear and he nodded, with a pull of the jock strap Nico shoved a 20$ in it and the guy winked at him.