Jace Jackson

I am such a bottom sometimes it's not even funny.

He just kissed me!

And then proceeded to give me a surprise from the zoo!

I melted, naturally. Between the kiss (he uses chapstick, thank gods) and the seal that was super soft, I was vulnerable as hell.

Crawling into bed, I learned that Nico was a cuddler. And like, I'm not complaining whatsoever because I'm a sucker for cuddling at any given time. But I didn't expect him to be for some reason.

He was.

We had been talking, though, and our foreheads were basically touching and he was right there and things were going well and he seemed to be in a good mood and so like, I put my big boy pants on and told my anxiety to fuck off for a minute before just kissing him in a moment of silence.

And after doing that, he smiled a little and he's just attractive. Like what... Who allowed this man to look so nice?

"Hm?" I asked, of course worried that like, even though he kissed me a few minutes back, it was too much and I crossed a like I shouldn't have and he didn't like it.

"Just you," Nico told me, which explained nothing. "you're cute."

"Oh yeah?" I asked.

"Mhm," the son of Hades confirmed as we shared another kiss.

And then like, a few more.

And some more.

And then we were making out and kissing along each other's necks and jawlines.

Bottom line, his lips were soft and he was an amazing kisser.

I slept really well that night and he walked me to the train station, as I was still in his sweater that was mine now. It was a sweet moment.

"Did you have fun?" Nico asked me as we walked up to the station that was a while from camp.

"I had a lot of fun," I insisted, smiling as I answered the question. "why do you ask?"

"Would you care to do it again?" Nico asked me, which... Was a faster turnaround rate than I expected. Again, I wasn't complaining, but it was fast. "on a day where you're not too busy?"

"I'd love to," I told him, giving him a peck on the lips. "I'll look at my schedule when I get home for this week. What uh... What are we telling everyone? Aka, the like four people that knew."

He smiled, rolling his eyes.

"Mmmm, what do you want to tell them?"

And was it a bit sooner than normal to ask? Yeah. But he also just asked me out for a second date.

Which is a good sign.

"Could I tell them that you're my boyfriend?"

And for a solid two seconds? My anxiety?

Through the roof.

"Only if I can tell the others you're mine."

I gave him another kiss.

"Deal."

•••

Leo Valdez

He was like... Really happy come lunch. Which, most people sleep in for breakfast in Saturdays so I wasn't even sure if he was there or not. But he was in a good mood for lunch.

"Somebody's happy," I insisted as Nico sat down next to me for lunch, the others not here yet.

"Yeah."

"So it went well?"

He nodded his head.

"How good are we talking?" I asked out of curiosity. He looked like a nice guy. They seemed cute walking back to Nico's cabin last night.

"Well," Nico told me, just seeming to have a lot of energy in general right now. "were going out again, probably sometime later this week, depending on his schedule."

"Really!?"

"Really," Nico told me as he was smiling, which was nice to see that he's relaxed a bit about it. "And like... So there's that. It was also established that he's my boyfriend."

And honestly, the happiness was kind of infectious because I got really excited for him. That's amazing! He was kind of nervous about it the other day at the mall but it went really well. That's good.

I think it'll help his confidence a lot. Help him be okay with the fact that he's gay.

Thalia joined us next, wanting to hear everything.

So Nico told us a little about the date. Overall, it sounded like a lot of fun, I was a little jealous because like, Calypso just... Left camp when we got back and so I guess we're not together?

But it was nice to hear that I mean, it obviously went well if they decided to officially put a label on it and try for another date.

"Hey, you're here!" Jason remarked as him and Will joined us for lunch. And I saw Nico debated if Jason should be told. Or Will, for that matter. Break his heart. "where'd you go yesterday?"

"Me?" Nico asked, and Jason nodded his head. "oh, I uh..."

He thought about not telling him.

"I had a date."

Jason lost it.

And I don't mean in a bad way, either. He just had this really strong reaction to it.

"You..." Jason started off, just floored by this idea. Shocked. "with who? I completely missed that!"

"Well yeah, there was only like two people that knew besides Mr. D." Nico insisted, shrugging. "I didn't want to make a big deal out of it if it ended badly."

"So?" Jason asked, basically asking how it went.

"So...?" Nico returned.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" Will reworded Jason's question with the wrong word.

"Mmm... No."

"So it wasn't that great?" Will figured, and they were worried that this date was bad.

"No, it was a lot of fun!" Nico insisted before correcting the son of Apollo. "were going on another date, I just have a boyfriend instead of a girlfriend. I'm gay."

Jason was so excited that I thought he might combust because the date went well and Nico just came out like it was nothing.

Probably because Will was the only one who didn't know. And he's gay? Bi? He likes Nico.

"Wait so," Thalia brought up as we were all eating. "Leo, you said that Percy knew about the date, right?"

"Yeah?"

Thalia looked at Nico.

"Why does he know if you didn't tell him?"

"Well," Nico explained to the rest of us. Well, I already knew. "You see. The date was with his younger brother, who isn't a demigod, but knows about it anyways. So that's how he knows. I haven't been threatened yet but it's also been one date and apparently Percy was really pushing for him to suck it up and ask me out."

"So you're telling me," Jason figured. "that you went from liking Percy, to moving on to his little brother?"

"I mean... Yeah." He was honest. "we're also the same age, which is nice."

•••

Jace Jackson

After a few more dates, it was a month, which was really exciting! We went out for a date, lunch and wandered around for a while before we uh...

His dad wanted to meet me. Like, you know, the god Hades? And Persephone also apparently? So that's our dinner plan.

"What if he doesn't like me?" I asked Nico, because this is a little nerve wracking on my end. "Like... He's a god, Nico. What if he doesn't like me and remembers that when I die?"

My boyfriend rolled his eyes.

"Again, sweetie, he manages the dead, he doesn't kill them and decide their fate. There's a council for that, and it changes daily so... He might see you in line for judgement, but that's probably going to be it. Also, he knows that you're not a demigod, so I don't think he's going to be that intense. If anyone, Demeter will be the hardest if she's even there because people need more fiber in their diet. It's not even about you as a person, it's about the fiber in your diet."

So he shadow travelled us down there to the outside entrance and it was... Insane. Being Mom's kid I can like, see everything, I guess? Apparently dad can't, but whatever. I can.

It was a little scary, I won't lie.

There was a three headed dog but like... Really, really big?

"Nico, what..."

"Cerberus!" Nico exclaimed, and I had to rack my brain for that one. Hades pet? "Don't worry, Jace, he's really big, but he's nice."

Was I worried about losing my hand when I pet him? Yes.

But I did it anyways because I'm a big boy.

Going inside, the place was gorgeous, of course. And I could hear a number of adults from the other room, but Nico looked a little confused.

"What?" I asked him.

"A visitor...? One second." He told me as he peaked his head into the next room, and he saw somebody in there he wasn't expecting and then called Persephone over.

Why Persephone, I wasn't sure.

"Hey you made it!" Persephone exclaimed, and I knew tonight was a big deal for Nico because he also was going to come out to his dad like, officially. "What's up?"

"Are they... Staying for dinner?" Nico asked Persephone.

"Yeah!" Persephone told him, nodding her head, and I was just wrapping my head around the idea that a goddess is like, in the same room as me. "It's a late birthday present after everything you did for your dad last year. Surprise!"

She noticed that he wasn't super excited.

"Is something wrong? Did your tell your girlfriend that your mom..."

Nico motioned over at me.

"Surprise," he told her, and Persephone immediately got it. "The point of this was for me to tell you guys that I'm gay, but if they're here..."

"I'll be right back."