Today was my first day back at camp. After all that had happened over the years, I felt like this was my first real summer break in a long time. Things were okay, well as okay as things could be anyway. I came down the hill of Camp Half-Blood after saying goodbye to my mom, dragging my duffel bag along with me. Most campers had already arrived, so it looked like any other summer day; satyrs playing volleyball, Apollo kids doing archery, Aphrodite kids by the lake checking themselves out in their reflections, Ares kids practicing sword fighting. I breathed in deeply, stopping for a moment, inhaling the scent of strawberries and fresh grass. I loved living with my mom and Paul, but camp had always felt like home to me.

I kept walking, saying hi to old friends and even people I didn't know who greeted me, and came to my cabin. Tyson wasn't there yet, the cabin looking just like it had last summer, and come to think of it, I didn't even know if he'd be coming to camp. I set my bag on my bunk, looking at all of the pictures I'd taped up of me and my friends. My eyes fixated on a particular picture; one of me and Annabeth, my arm around her, her kissing my cheek. Without thinking, I yanked it down and crumpled it up. I didn't want to be reminded of our relationship. I thought about how she was probably already at camp, and how I'd probably be seeing her a lot. I figured I'd deal with that when the time came. I threw the crumpled picture on the floor and walked out of my cabin, hands shoved into my shorts. I was going to head to the Big House to see Chiron and Mr. D, but as I started walking, I noticed someone sitting at the edge of the woods, back against a tree. Even though I couldn't see them well, I knew automatically who it was and I headed that way instead.

Nico looked up as I approached. "Long time no see, huh?"

He smiled slightly, which was unusual since he was always frowning or had an unreadable expression on his face. "Hi, Percy."

I sat down across from him. We'd been through a lot together, so much you'd think we'd be pretty good friends, but the thing was; Nico was impossibly brooding and self loathing, the most anti-social person I'd ever known. He didn't really have many friends at all. On top of that, last summer he'd confessed to having a crush on me, swearing up and down that he was over me. I hadn't known quite how to react at the time, so I'd just acted like a total idiotic. He'd avoided me for the rest of that summer. This summer, though, I was determined to make things better between us.

"When you'd get back to camp?" I asked him.

"Just yesterday. You just get here?" he messed with the hem of his t-shirt, averting his gaze away from me, like he was still embarrassed around me or something. I didn't know why, he had nothing to be embarrassed about.

"Yeah, I did."

"You about to meet up with Annabeth or something? I saw her in her cabin earlier."

I sighed quietly, looking out at the rest of the camp. Everyone seemed so happy, and normally I would've been too, but with the mention of Annabeth my mood turned sour. "No. If anything, I want to avoid her as much as possible this summer."

I heard Nico sit up. "Why? You guys having problems?"

I looked back over at Nico and laughed. "Does that make you happy?" I didn't know why I said that.

Nico blushed bright red and stammered, "No! Uh, of course not!"

I shrugged. "Annabeth and I broke up, Nico."

"But why? You guys were like the 'it' couple."

I picked at a hole in my shirt. "I think we were always just better as friends."

"I'm really sorry, Percy."

"It's okay, I mean, it was for the best anyway." I looked up at Nico again, his brown eyes intense and full of worry. "I just couldn't be with someone like her anymore...someone who I knew would always love someone else more than me."

"You mean Luke?" Nico asked. I nodded. Even though the guy was dead, I still didn't stand a chance. I'd always known Annabeth had had strong feelings for him, but I figured after he died they might've gone away. If anything her feelings for him just got stronger. She became sullen and depressed at first. Then things got better. Or she just got better at hiding her feelings. Things were okay between us again, but the longer our relationship had lasted, the more I knew those feelings she had for him would never truly go away. Maybe it hadn't been fair of me, but I was selfish and wanted someone who wanted me and only me.

"She really did love you too, Percy." Nico said.

"I know, I did too." my eyebrows furrowed. "But I don't know if I was ever in love with her really, I think maybe we were just too good of friends, like the romance part was too forced or something."

"You'll find another girl." Nico promised, and I could tell it was hard for him to say that.

"Thanks, Nico. But I've been keeping my options open." I said that last part a little quietly. After Nico had told me about his little crush, it'd made me think a lot. Sure, I knew I liked girls. And I obviously knew what being gay was, but I'd really just never thought about it much. Finding out that Nico was gay was sort of...eye opening for me. Him being the first gay person I knew, it made it all seem more real. When I'd broken up with Annabeth, I'd had flings with both girls and guys.

"What do you mean?" Nico asked in confusion.

"Sure, a girlfriend would be nice." I said, looking at him straight in the eye. "But I'd be open to a boyfriend too."

Nico's eyes widened, and before he could say anything, Connor Stoll walked up to us. "Hey, Percy!"

I smiled. "Connor! Good to see you man. Hey, is your brother back from college yet?"

Connor smirked. "I bet you can't wait to see him, huh?"

I couldn't help but blush like mad. "Shut up, Stoll! I can't believe Travis told you!"

Connor laughed. "He's coming tomorrow. You gonna get him a welcome home present?"

"Like I have money!"

"Oh, please. I bet you can think of a present that doesn't involve money."

I smacked his leg. "Bye, Connor." and with that, he jogged away.

Nico seemed to be at a loss for words, he stared at me in disbelief for a couple of seconds. "What was that about?" he managed.

"Travis came to camp for winter break...so did I."

Nico still looked confused.

"We just...you know." I could feel how hot my face was getting. "Hooked up."

Nico just sat there, staring at me still.

"What?" I asked. "You thought you were the only one around here that was into boys?"

I got up and left to go to the Big House without another word, leaving Nico with his mouth hanging open.

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