Nico
I'm going to keep dropping hints until he man's up and does the job Grover assigned him.
Bianca is also dropping hints. For me.
It's been over a week, and he's said nothing about it. He'll give me a weird look here or there or roll his eyes. But he won't get the hint!
Also, Grover sent me everything three days ago.
I've kept Grover updated because Percy insisted he tried and I turned him down.
A lying little bitch he is. Well, a chicken.
Now, I've restrained myself from being cuddled up by him when I fell asleep. My mom and Bianca were in on this. Sally and Paul were in on it. Everyone is. Half of camp is waiting.
Percy doesn't know they know he's bisexual. Most of them already figured it out.
Then again, Grover told Percy he didn't send me anything. So Percy doesn't know I know, either.
He didn't think anyone aside Grover and Jason knew.
So Annabeth showed up today. We knew she was coming. She had stuff here, she wanted it. Her and Percy still seem to get along. Just... They can't date.
Especially if he has a crush on somebody else.
Percy had everything g boxed up when she got here and Bianca was home. Wanted to see Annabeth.
We let Annabeth inside and she said hi to all of us, gave Bianca a hug, and whispered something to Percy.
"I'm straight, Annabeth." Percy told her, as if he wasn't lying. "You, of all people, should know this."
"Um," the daughter of Athena started. "Grover, your best friend who you tell everything, says otherwise?"
"Like what?" Percy questioned. "Where's the proof?"
"Well," Annabeth started off, as if she was waiting for this question. "First of all, the phone call with Grover and Jason? That was in Jason's cabin. Thalia overheard. So there's that. The text messages between you and Grover. I just don't want to be a complete asshole about it and say everything. For reasons you know. Grover had to send those texts, right?"
"He didn't," Percy promised. "He said it was a bluff to scare me. He never sent those texts."
"What texts?" I asked them. "Because Grover sent me a shit ton of messages a couple days ago. A two sided conversation about me."
Annabeth's jaw dropped, a fake shock.
"Good luck," she told him as Bianca walked over. She was going to go to camp for a day or two, back with Annabeth. "You're screwed now."
And with that in mind, Annabeth and Bianca left. With the adults at work, Susan at daycare, and Percy not having anything to do, he really was in some deep shit.
If you thought he started to immediately apologize, he didn't. He didn't say anything. Hell, he didn't move. Didn't move, didn't say a word.
Because he thought I would get pissed off. And sure, I was a little upset that he didn't tell me knowing that I'm gay. Possibly knowing that I like him.
But he still kept his mouth shut.
Now if he was that terrified to come out, that could be. I don't know why he would be. Sally and Paul could care less. He's openly heard my mom say that she's happy that I'm gay because now I can married and we can adopt. It's more chances of adoption. My mom said that she would've adopted once we were a little older. But she died. She still wants to adopt. She just can't afford it yet. And we aren't in our own place yet, either.
But eventually.
So I don't know if it's him afraid to come out or he just didn't want to say anything.
Because he was pretty quick to deny it when Annabeth had said something. He was casual about denying it, too.
So yeah, he stood there. He crossed his arms after a minute. And it wasn't a stubborn thing. It was a support thing. Crossing your arms is a lot like hugging yourself. And that's what he was doing.
"If it helps," I wasn't going to yell at him about it. I'm not even that mad. Just a little disappointed. "I knew before Grover sent me everything. You sort of left your phone unlocked and Bianca looked at it and the texts were already left open. She showed them to me and to my mom when you were the shower like a week ago."
"No," he told me, sounding just about as tense as he looked. "No, it really doesn't help."
Suddenly he sounded pissed off. And I just... I got it but I also didn't. It was the easy way to come out. To not do it yourself. To just have word of mouth spread.
That's how I eventually was out. I told a couple people. Hazel, Jason, Leo, Piper, Clarisse, Thalia. I told them. And it spread. I also told Frank. He was there as the voice of reason when I told Hazel, just in case.
He came out to one person. Grover brought Jason into it to help. Thalia overheard, Bianca accidentally found out. And word of mouth spread.
That's how it happens.
"Hey," I tried to explain to him that I wasn't pissed off, "I'm not mad about—"
"Yeah, well I'm fucking pissed!" He cut me off, and the rage came. And he looked pissed off, he looked betrayed. Like he lost his faith, probably in Grover. "Thalia had no right, no fucking right, to go around Camp and tell everyone! I admitted to nothing in that conversation. Everything said was hyoithrticsl. She had no right to do what she did, and Bianca had no fucking right to read through my texts and then proceed to show them to your mother. I could care less if she showed them to you, especially if they were about you. But neither of them had any fucking right to do what they did. I kept my mouth shut, and I really didn't want to open it up."
He looked like he was considering crying. Now becoming frustrated.
"Why, though?" I asked him. "You're mad, I get that. You're right, Thalia had no right to open her mouth. Grover kept his word and texted me. That's just whatever. But I mean, why not come out, Percy? Life is so much easier when you do! Especially if it's done by word of mouth because you don't get questioned every time somebody finds out. you don't repeat the same stuff every time. You know my mom and Bianca don't care. Your parents could care less. You know that."
None of that seemed to sink in, apparently.
"So why not?" I asked him.
"You've..." He started, as if he was going to go hysterical. "You've never gone to a public high school, have you?"
"No..." I started, confused as to why he'd bring up school. I'll be going this fall with him, Bianca will, too. "What does school...?"
"If anyone," Percy explained to me. "And I mean anyone, in that school finds out I'm not straight, finds out that I have had crushes on guys, or finds out that I've been in relationships with anyone that isn't a girl, I'm ruined. I have one year left. I was going to wait that one year. But if Rachel finds out, she talks to people there. She used to go there. If they find out, I'm the school's personal punching bag. And there's no way out of that."
"You're Percy freaking Jackson," I told him, thinking that was bullshit. "You can protect yourself and beat them up in return. Self defense. It's legal."
"Not with my record it isn't." The son of Poseidon continued to freak out. "Ive been kicked out 10 school already. If I get in any sort of trouble that I have to talk with the principal about it, I have no chance. No chance of graduating in time. No chance of getting into college. No chance of probably ever getting let into another school ever again. Which means I won't graduate. I won't get to go to college. I won't get a decent job. I won't be able to have a family unless I marry someone who makes $40k a year and doesn't care that I won't make more than 15. I won't—"
"You won't bullshit." I cut him, believing very little of that. "There's security cameras. They can do their jobs and look at it. And even if you don't go to college, there's still some good jobs that you can get, I'm sure. And plus, being a stay at home dad, assuming you wanted kids, wouldn't be so bad, would it? I mean, wouldn't you have loved that as a kid? That's all in your head, Percy."
"Yeah," he remarked. "Because it's happened before."
