Sugar glider ( Percy Jackson x Nico Di Angelo )

Chapter one ( alone )

Percy's pov

Being liked is great.

Not being liked is not so great.

It's pretty black and white, really.

Well, depending on the person. Maybe there are people who don't like being liked. Maybe they see it as a bad thing.

And maybe there are people who aren't liked and are satisfied with it.

Percy Jackson wasn't that kind of person.

He wanted people to like him.

In an ideal world, everyone liked him. He knew that wasn't possible, but hey.

He could try.

And when he learnt that Annabeth Chase didn't like him anymore, it basically felt like his world was caving in on him.

Dramatic, he knew, but he couldn't believe it. One second, his life and relationships felt perfect, the next, he was single, lying on his floor eating ice cream.

Alone.

That word scared him. Being alone was like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich without the jelly. Like a... yin without its yang.

He couldn't be alone. He just couldn't.

He was Percy Jackson for god sakes. He'd saved the world, what, like ten thousand times? He'd been to tartarus and back, swam in the river styx, and dealt with puberty.

And yet...

There he was, staring up at the ceiling of cabin three, the Poseidon cabin, blinking sleep from his eyes while the morning sun shone through the cracks of his blinds.

Alone.

I mean, really, he understood. Sometimes, you meet someone different. Sometimes that someone is a girl, and hey! Turns out you're lesbian.

Percy didn't understand being lesbian, obviously, but he understood that sometimes it just doesn't work.

He didn't blame Piper, or Annabeth.

He blamed himself.

If only he'd just been... better.

Stronger.

More... boyfriend-y.

He sighed, blowing hair out of his eyes only to have them fall back down and tickle his forehead instead.

But hey! Why be a pity party? Maybe being single wouldn't be so bad. Nico had done it for years and he was fine, right?

Mostly, at least.

It was just that everyone had someone.

Leo had Jason.

Piper had Annabeth.

Reyna had Thalia.

Frank had Hazel.

So was he weird? Would he feel like an outcast, hanging out with happy couples? This fall they'd all be sharing hot chocolates and Percy would be staring at his feet wishing the ground would swallow him whole.

"Stop, Percy", He chided himself. "You're being over dramatic. You're fine. Now get your lazy ass out of bed".

Nope. Not happening.

No matter how many times he tried to push himself up or roll over, his body disobeyed.

Knock knock knoc-

"Urghf" Percy managed slurring at the door, muffled by his octonauts comforter.

The door swung open with a bang, revealing a beaming Jason Grace.

"Goooood morning bro! How'd you sleep, man"? He asked, strolling in and ruffling Percy's raven black hair.

Percy let out an indignant "murmph" in response.

Jason rolled his eyes and glared down at him.

"You told me you'd start trying to get out of bed in the mornings, and there has been zero improvement".

"Get off my case. You're not my mom" Percy said pushing the blankets off of himself and sitting up.

Jason scowled, then smirked.

"Nice shorts" he nodded towards his torso.

"Hey, man, I don't care what you think. Spongebob is a classic" Percy said, though he felt his face get rather warm.

"Whatever. Anyway, we're all having breakfast together by the water. Chiron said it was okay".

"Everyone"? Percy asked.

Jason shrugged. "Yeah, you, me, Leo, Nico, Piper, Annabeth"-

"Nope. Not happening" Percy grumbled, shuffling towards his closet stiffly.

Jason sighed, and Percy didn't have to see his face to know he was obviously already pissed with Percy.

Though it had been... Percy glanced at the clock.

Only three minutes since Jason had came to wake him up. This was probably almost a record.

"Look, Percy, I know it's awkward with Annabeth, but if you don't come, she's going to blame herself and think you're like... ghosting her, man. And that's not cool".

Percy turned to face Jason to give him a falsely sweet smile.

"Oh gee, thanks, Jason! What great insight, I totally didn't think of that at all. You've made me change my mind! Of course I'll come, and it'll all be fine and dandy" he said sarcastically, batting his eyelashes just to piss him off more.

Jason scruched his nose and narrowed his eyes but didn't say anything.

There was an awkward silence as Percy searched through his drawers to pull out his camp half blood shirt and a pair of blue ripped jeans.

"Look. I'm sorry, okay? I just don't think I can do it", Percy said turning to face Jason.

Maybe if he played up a kicked puppy act Jason would let him go.

Jason laughed. A good, long, hard laugh.

"Oh, I see! You thought I was giving you an option. That's funny. You're coming to breakfast, Jackson. Get dressed, and if you're not ready in ten minutes I will barge in here and pull you by the ear even if you're naked".

"Gay" Percy mumbled.

"What was that"? Jason asked, turning back to look at him as he opened the door to leave.

"Nothin, just said okay".

"Hm" Jason replied mutely as he shut the door.

Well great.

Truth was, it wasn't completely Annabeth. Percy had been... confused.

Confused as in... questioning? Curious? He didn't know how to explain it.

Like when you're a kid and you first learn about a cool unknown kind of animal, like a sugar glider or something.

You kinda start thinking about it a lot, and getting curious about it.

Except Percy's sugar glider wasn't sugar gliders.

Percy's sugar glider was Nico di Angelo.

Nico and him had gotten closer ever since Nico had came out and even closer yet after Annabeth and him had broken up.

He kind of thought of Nico as a sympathetic friend, because obviously Nico didn't really give a shit, he just felt bad that Percy was lonely.

But Percy gave a shit.

He did, honest to the gods. And he never ever thought he'd say that.

That he cared about the weird emo kid with trust issues.

But he did.

Nico was his sugar glider. He couldn't help but care.