WHISPERS • A PERCICO AU

• Chapter 9 •

"Goodnight."

Closing the door gently behind him, Percy Jackson let out a breath he hadn't even realised he was holding.

The night air was already cooling his sun-kissed skin, the soft wind battering against his ebony black hair. As he looked up, the grey clouds already covered the full moon that once shone on the city of Manhattan. The moonlight faintly illuminated Percy's delicate face, but he ignored it.

As he walked away from the angelic Nico di Angelo's dwelling, he faintly heard the soft whispers of Bianca, along with her light footsteps.

He ignored those as well.

Biting his lip, Percy felt a blush rising to his cheeks. The events of earlier played back into his mind, distorting the truth and messing with his head.

The soft voice of Clary Fray filled the dark room with emotions.

As the hours passed, Percy's eyelids fluttered restlessly, passing from the screen to Nico's alluring features.

He glanced down at him, fantasies clouding his mind as his eyes rounded with feelings. A split second later, the brown-eyed boy turned to face him as well, his eyes full of curiosity. 

Soon enough, Nico di Angelo blinked sleepily as he inched closer to Percy. The green-eyed boy shuddered as their bodies came in contact, igniting his skin. The ghost king was laying his head on Percy's right shoulder, his soft even breaths going loose.

Percy smiled as he came to realise the petite boy was asleep. Leaning down, he placed his lips on his forehead, giving him a kiss for reassurance. As he sat back up, Nico inched closer, his nose furrowed in the crook of his neck. It tickled, but Percy didn't mind. He wrapped an arm around his narrow waist as he pulled him in closer. 

Looking down, he brushed the falling bangs away from the brown-eyed boy's forehead with his nimble fingers. 

As he became eager for a night's slumber as well, Percy bored his green eyes at the boy underneath him. When an hour later passed, Nico's eyelids fluttered open, his brown eyes gleaming with a strange light. Percy had to stop himself from eyeing his slightly parted lips once again. His lips formed a delicate smile.

"Hey..."

Opening the door to his house, Percy quietly fumbled with his keys. He placed his hand on the door painted blue, his fingers rubbing against the polished, glazed wood. Pushing against the front door, he stepped into the entrance of the house, his eyes flickering around for any living creature.

"Percy!" a soft voice hissed faintly. Spinning around, the green-eyed boy found himself face to face with his worried sister. 

Her features were barely noticeable in the dark, was beneath the shadows, he could perceive her brown hair falling to her shoulders, curling into confetti. Her blue eyes sparkled in the barely illuminated hall.

Guilt weighed down in Percy's chest. How could he have left her alone after all these hours? His time with Nico had made him forget everything else. "Estelle, I—" he started, his eyes widening.

The smaller girl huffed, her lips pouting. Looking up at the her brother, she seemed very angry for a kindergartener. "I'm sorry, baby. I lost track of time." Percy admitted, gathering the blue-eyed child in his strong arms. As he kept her close to his chest, he counted her breaths, her heartbeats, trying to focus on anything else than the scolding he was going to get from his parents once they get home.

A soft rumbling started in his stomach, and soon enough Percy realised Estelle must be as hungry as much as he was.

"Want food?" he asked, boring his emerald gaze into his younger sister's sapphire ones. Her lips curled into a smile. The blue of her eyes seemed to lit up at the mention of food.

Percy laughed and turned on the lights. Bringing out his phone, he realised it was already 8:30 PM, and that Estelle should probably already be asleep. Poor thing, Percy thought, his skin prickling self-consciously. He led her to the dining room right before going to the kitchen by himself.

Quickly preparing a meal for Estelle, Percy's thoughts drifted elsewhere. Had he really spent hours cuddling with Nico under the covers while his sister stayed home alone? He suddenly felt really lucky he had came home to see Estelle safe and healthy.

"Here, for you." Percy smiled, holding out a plate for the brown-haired girl. The grin she had on her face resembled so much Nico's, Percy's heartbeat faltered for a second.

After a few minutes of quiet munching, Estelle broke the silence that hung in the night air by yawning. "Where is Mommy and Daddy?" she inquired, giving her brother those cute baby seal eyes she had already mastered.

The green-eyed boy gave her a lopsided smile. "They're out for the night. When they come back, you'll already be asleep."

"Aww," Estelle pouted, her gaze drifting aimlessly from her plate of food to the floor. 

Once the meals were devoured and the showers finished, Percy carried his sister to her room full of knickknacks and other objects such as toys. 

He placed her in her gentle bed, covering her with the quilt mattress that smelt like their mother. "Good night." Percy whispered, placing a small kiss on top of his Estelle's brown locks of hair. He caressed her cheek in a reassuring manner before turning off the lights of her bedroom and closing the door to the corridor, the last thing he was hearing from her being her gentle snores and yawns.

*   *   *

Returning to his room, Percy couldn't stop thinking about everything that had happened. It was so fast it had seemed like a blur of events and emotions, but Percy knew it had been more than that.

He hated to realise it, but his soft spot for Nico wasn't just a 'soft spot'. There had been much more detail in their encounters, in their hugs, in their feelings.

Percy just wasn't sure if he wanted to know it or not.

As he lay down on his quilt mattress, the black-haired boy shuffled with the bedsheets in an attempt to cover himself completely with his inexplicably soft comforter. Placing his head on his comfy cotton pillows, Percy wrapped his arms his blanket, trying to give himself warmth. He rubbed his left eyebrow with exhausting sleep and overwhelming feelings, the spot where right behind, you could find a pounding mess of jumbled emotions.

Percy didn't want to admit it. He had always thought of himself as a more selfless than other human beings, but right now, he felt like the most selfish man on Earth.

He didn't want to share his emotions with anyone right now. What he was feeling was for him and nobody else. What he felt for one specific person could make him the center of attention, the laughing stock. Percy didn't want to be that. He still had some pride to himself. He was not embarrassed, it was something else. But most of all, he was insanely confused. He couldn't quite open up about something he couldn't understand yet.

Because right now, the biggest mystery on the planet was his feelings towards the magnificent Nico di Angelo.

∆   ∆   ∆

oh gods i FINALLY finished this chapter, and i'm so so sorry it took me so long to write ;-;

it is kind of a filler chapter because i didn't want the twist to come too soon, if u know what i mean :|

anyways, have a happy chinese/lunar new year if you celebrate it!

have a good day!

-drakonator