Percico

Chapter 23: Percy

 PERCY

"What the fuck was that about?" I asked myself as I pulled out of Nico's driveway. This was starting to be total bullshit; maybe I should just cut my losses and not chase after him anymore, my stamina is starting to run out.

My thoughts were interrupted by a phone call from my mom.

"Hey Mom. What's up?" In all reality I knew what was up, I didn't go home last night and she was probably worried. She always got like this when I didn't at least call and tell her that I wouldn't be home that night.

"Percy, are you alright? Where were you last night? You never came home. Me and Paul have been worried sick all night." I knew it. My mom and Paul got married around the time I reached seventeen, the wedding was a year after we had some crazy weather in the US. In my opinion it was pretty poor planning to have the wedding so early, but I was the one that gave my permission to get married so I can't really complain about anything.

"Mom, it's chill. I just spent the night at one of my friend's house. No big deal. I'm sorry, I should have called you though. I went over there after school because he didn't come to class and it ended up that he was really upset about something. I spent the whole night comforting him. So it's not like I was doing anything too reckless." None of that was "technically" a lie since Nico was a friend, maybe a little bit more than a friend, and he was upset about something and didn't come to class. But I wouldn't call what we did "comforting" at least not in the strictest definition.

"Well alright. But next time call me if you're gonna be out past ten o'clock. I understand that  you are at your Dad's house throughout most of the week, since it is closer to your school, but I would at least like to get to see you sometimes on the weekends."

"Alright, sure. No problem, Mom. I'm on my way home now so don't worry anymore. I'm pulling into the driveway right now."

I spend most of the week at my dad's house because it's closer to my school, and he is barely ever there so I don't have to worry about him showing up at unexpected times. I basically get all the freedom of living on my own without any of the fiscal responsibilities. It's not like I don't like my mom and Paul, it's just that when I'm alone I don't feel like I have to keep up the "perfect son" attitude.

I walk into the apartment and tossed my keys on the counter and my bag in my room. I walked into the kitchen and watched in the doorway as my mom cooked dinner and Paul stood behind her with his arms wrapped around her waist. They looked so good together, I wonder if me and Nico could ever look like that. Which reminded me, I needed to talk to them about being gay.

"Hey mom?" I called nervously.

They turned around to look at me and my mom asked, "What do you need, Percy?"

"This is all hypothetical, but I was wondering. What would you guys say if I was gay?"

Paul and Mom looked at each other for a second, kind of like they were using some type of telepathic communication to decide how to respond. But it was just a second before they responded with, "We would love you either way, honey. Although I'm not gonna say that I would never want grandchildren, but there are options now that could help with that if you and whoever your partner was decided that you wanted children. The person you should be asking is your father. You know he's Greek and their beliefs are a little bit more concrete on topics like these than we are." I nodded in response and walked away silently. It wasn't like I was expecting anything different, my mom and Paul both would love me no matter what. I just needed the confirmation that it was my dad that I had to worry about.

I walked into my room and shut the door, I pulled out my phone and texted my dad. I asked him when was the next time he was gonna be home and waited for a response. I didn't expect one to come right away. My dad was always busy, he was the founder and CEO of a large fishing agency. They focus a lot on making sure that they don't overfish any type or any location in order to preserve the biodiversity of marine wildlife, plus he was a patent on a net with an opening at the bottom, which only opens when dolphins or sea turtles are caught in the net. He does this in order to avoid bycatches which could cause the sea life to die. Despite his career in killing fish, he is actually really concerned about the welfare and survival of endangered marine wildlife. But since he is always away at meetings, and supervises most of the fishing expeditions, I never really see him face to face.

Fifteen minutes later I got a text saying that he would be back on December 20th, in time for Christmas with Mom and Paul. That means I have nine days to find out how to tell him.