Percy

It took me a moment to realize what he was doing. But that wasn't because I'm dense. It was because I was in shock.

I don't know when I had realized that Nico meant more to me than just being a little brother, but it was a while ago. Probably along the time when I had realized that I was gay and stopped denying myself.

Yeah, I'm still not out to anyone. Well, Nico. That's about it. A friend did get me that badge as a joke. He said it was like 50¢ and he thought it was funny.

It wasn't funny. I had a panic attack because I thought he found out I was gay once I got home. Lucky that my parents weren't home. They don't know, either.

I don't know why I was so calm about telling Nico. Maybe because he knew what the badge meant and he just... Seemed okay about it.

But I've had this dumb crush on him for a while now, and I was so far gone when this happened. In a good sense, somehow.

Once it clicked, though, it clicked. I wrapped my arms around his waist and leaned into the kiss.

Despite what you may want to hear, that's all that happened. We kissed. We didn't have sex or anything. I'm not... Not ready for that. Hell no. My anxiety would never let that happen.

For reasons unknown, I think maybe the levels of happiness, both of us started giggling. Like, I couldn't help it.

After our little giggling fit, we sat there for a few minutes. Nothing was said, nothing really needed to be said. His head was rested on my shoulder as our fingers interlocked. I've thought of this moment in a lot of ways. This was never one of them.

That's okay, though. I'm okay with how it happened. I'm really glad that it wasn't like what happened with Annabeth. Had he been homophobic...

It'd be weird.

My heart was in my throat for a few minutes, so it took me a while to actually ask him.

"Hey, Nico." I suggested, a little nervous. Which I think he noticed. "Do you want to go out for lunch? I'll pay."

"I..." And then he looked up at me. "Are you asking me out on a date?"

"...maybe."

Nico rolled his eyes.

"I'd love to." The son of Hades informed me, and I smiled. "Do you know where we're going to go? Because we won't get out of here without getting weird looks unless we Shadow Travel."

Yeah, no, we decided that we're not coming out yet. Nope. Not happening.

"What kind of food do you like?" I asked him.

"Surprise me."

I'm uh... I knew he was Italian.

So we ended up outside of the Olive Garden that's a few miles away from my mom's apartment. I brought my bag with. It was small, being I went to camp sort of last minute. Just a few changes of clothes, deodorant, and then some ambrosia and nectar. It fit in the booth next to me.

"Olive Garden?" Nico asked me, getting some humor out of it after we were seated.

"You're Italian," I defended my reasoning to choose Olive Garden. "Olive Garden is just amazing, okay?"

Nico kind of chuckled, and it was cute. He hasn't been smiling too often even since Bianca... When she died. Much less laughing.

I'm really hoping that I can change that.

We ended up splitting an appetizer and getting our own entrees. Which were fucking huge, by the way. Then again, considering we haven't had much to eat this last week, we both are all of our food. And I knew the perfect place to go for dessert.

"Where are we going?" Nico asked me as I dragged him into the place where my mom works. She has the day off, but it's a nice place. It's an ice cream place, mainly. But they have a lot of toppings so sometimes they let you just get candy.

"We have to have dessert," I insisted as we headed inside. "You're not lactose intolerant are you?"

"I love ice cream too much to be lactose intolerant."

We both ordered our ice cream and sat down to eat it. I snuck a photo for his contact photo, and he was trying to get ice cream off his nose with his tongue, and it was kind of cute.

And then he caught me after I took the photo.

"Are you taking a photo of me?" Nico asked, as if I had betrayed him.

"It's already in my phone," I confirmed his suspicions. "It's okay, you look cute."

I got the ice cream off his nose with a napkin I had next to me. Not even realizing that my mom's coworker got a photo of us when I gave him a kiss on his nose.

Sally

We we're back at home, waiting for Percy. He told me he'd be home after lunch.

I got a text from my friend, Anna. We work together, she was probably on lunch or it's just dead right now.

Anna: Hey, Sally, question. Where's Percy right now?

Thinking it was weird, I figured maybe she got him a present or something. It's his birthday, after all.

Me: He should be home in a little way, on his way back from Camp. Why?

It took her a minute to respond.

Anna: Oh, just wondering. Thanks!

Not wanting to question what that was about, I pulled out the birthday cake we made for Percy. He's 16 now.

It's... I'm getting old. This isn't okay. He can't grow up.

It was probably ten or fifteen minutes later when Percy got back. Rachel and her parents were here. They got back from vacation early, so they decided to stop by and wait for him to get home.

He seemed really happy to be home, though. And I was happy that he was home. He's my baby boy, I missed him.

We all had cake, and then he had presents from us. We all had driver together before the others left.

Once they were gone, we asked about camp. As much as Rachel knows, her parents don't. Not yet, that is.

I left his love life alone. I guess my fiance didn't.

Percy

My anxiety had been sitting there ever since I had gotten home. I know that I would have to tell them, but I don't know how.

A few days went by, whatever. I was getting used to being back home. Mom worked today, so I figured maybe I could tell Paul. I don't know why, but I figured it'd be easier to tell him and then tell my mom rather than tell both of them at once.

It's been bugging me. Nico and I were texting when I got up.

Nico 🖤: Are you sure you want to do this? You don't have to if you're not ready.

Me: No, I do. I want him to know before the wedding, and that's in a few weeks. If it goes bad, I'll tell you.

Nico 🖤: It'll be fine, babe. Just relax, okay? Good luck 💕

I smiled, shoving my phone in my pocket before walking out into the living room to come out to my soon to be step dad.

Paul was in the living room, sitting on one of the chairs we had. Reading a book that my dyslexia wouldn't let me figure out the name to, he seemed calm. Noticing my presence, he marked his spot with a piece of paper and put the book down.

"Hey, kiddo," Paul's been there a lot lately. Something I've been grateful for. He's never questioned the stuff stuff my actual dad, either. He just goes with it. "What's up?"

I was a nervous wreck, I was stumbling over three fucking words. Hell, I was terrified as I stood in front of him, my hands trying to do something or another to let out my nerves.

"Can uh..." I couldn't bring myself to make eye contact as I felt my stomach do a flip and my heart just stop. I've never had to do this before. I don't know what I'm doing in the first place. "can we talk?"