Shattered

Nico

The son of Hades didn't know who he wanted to hit first: this "Sam" or Percy.

He knew the moment the guy sat down something was up. His questions had started innocent enough, but the guy had some kind of gleam in his eye that he was after something. So when he had dropped the question, Nico wasn't surprised. Angry, yes. Surprised, no.

He knew that eventually he would be faced with a moment like this, and after watching those terrible television shows a few nights back he had already decided on his course of action: he was going to lie through his teeth.

Was it cowardly? Maybe, but the truth was he didn't plan on staying here for long. At most he would stay until graduation, which was only a few short months away. As a demigod though it was highly unlikely that they would be staying at Demeter's that long. Something always came up.

Besides, Will was still too fresh to even think about finding someone new. Yes, he was worried that he would never find someone else, but he believed Jason and Percy's reassurances that he would find someone again.

Percy...

What did the son of Poseidon think he was doing? He just nodded and went back to eating his lunch like it was no big deal! Why would he lie about that? Didn't he know how big a deal it was to be gay? Was this some kind of joke to him?

Am I some kind of joke to him?

"Wait, for real?" the red bearded stranger asked, his eyes bulging from their sockets. "You really are gay?"

Percy dipped one of his chicken nuggets into his mashed potatoes before nodding yet again.

"Is that a problem?" Nico growled. He hadn't meant to say anything, it just slipped out before he could stop himself.

Percy set down his spoon and glared at the redheaded stranger, daring him to say something.

The large redhead looked at the three of them quizzically a moment before shaking his head. "No, not a problem at all," he chuckled, as he set down his fork. The potbellied boy turned around in his chair, smiling like a man possessed. "Hey Aaron! Looks like you might have a prom date!" he yelled across the small cafeteria.

Nico's fork clattered onto his plate. "What?" he gasped. There is no way I heard that correctly.

Then a loud whooping filled the cafeteria, as all the boys on one side of the room suddenly sprang up from their chairs and began to pat another redheaded boy on the back. The redhead, Aaron he figured, hung his head down, clearly embarrassed by his classmates' display.

"Oh that's Aaron, he my younger brother, and well, he's gay," Sam explained before shoveling mashed potatoes into his mouth. "We're a small community and he there isn't anyone else around for him to get to know. Then you guys come here from California and well, I hate to stereotype, but I was kind of hoping one of you could potentially be more than friends with him."

"So you think just because... Percy's gay," it felt as if someone had stuck an icicle into his heart saying those words, "that he'll just date your brother?!" his hands were clenched into fists. "That's not how it works! They have to have stuff in common! Just like anyone else!" he growled. Jason looked like he was going to say something, but he shut him up with a pointed look.

Sam waved absently. "Of course I know that Nick!"

"Nico."

"Sorry," the redhead apologized. "But I thought I could at least point him in the right direction if possible." He pointed his fork at Percy. "And if you have a boyfriend back where you're from don't worry about it. Someone who understands can make a world of difference." With that the large teen stood up from the table and grabbed his now empty tray. "Give it some thought, introduce yourself, and welcome to LaMoille. Maybe tomorrow you guys would be willing to sit with the rest of us?"