Jason Grace is freaking out.
There is no other words which can describe his frantic behavior right now. Or maybe you can just say that he is having a nervous breakdown. Well, it's basically the same though.
Everything seemed fine this morning. He woke up, took a shower, heading out from his cabin and had a breakfast with his beloved boyfriend, Nico di Angelo. And then he left to Camp Jupiter because Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano and Frank Zhang needed his help. Actually he wanted Nico to come with him but Nico couldn't because he promised Leo Valdez to explain about how his shadow travel thing works for Leo's big project, 'Saving Calypso'. So, he kissed Nico goodbye, told him that he would be back few days later and flied away with Tempest.
He had a pretty busy day at Camp Jupiter, and just finished his lunch with Reyna and Frank, but then he saw Annabeth Chase.
It may be didn't seem to be a big deal for you, seeing Annabeth Chase, but for Jason, it was a big deal. Because Annabeth was alone and his boyfriend, Percy Jackson, was nowhere to be seen.
Maybe Jason overreacted, but he still chased after Annabeth, left Reyna and Frank wondering where he went.
"Annabeth!" called Jason when he almost reached her.
The girl turned around and smile widely when he saw Jason. "Hey."
"What are you doing here? And where is Percy?"
Annabeth's smiles faded. "I'm moving here. And apparently Percy stays behind in Camp Half Blood."
Jason froze, but he still forced himself to speak, "Did you two…?" eventhough he couldn't finish his sentence.
Annabeth gave him a small smile and nodded. "Yup. We broke up this morning, sometimes after breakfast. Our relationship was already a bit off for few weeks and I told him my call. He seemed fine with it and also told him I'm moving to New Rome. We both have the same opinion that we better off as friends."
Those explanation left Jason speechless. Annabeth waved her hand in front of Jason's face, waiting for his response, and she was a little bit startled when Jason snapped, "You can't break up with Percy! Not now!"
And without even waiting for Annabeth's reaction, he rushed back to the camp, hurriedly packed his things.
When he was done packing his bag and ready to call Tempest, Reyna came to his room with one eyebrow lifted.
"We're not done here. Why are you going back?" she asked.
Jason told himself to hold back to not to snap at Reyna too. "Sorry, but I must leave right now."
Reyna crossed her arms in front of her chest, and intentionally blocked Jason's way. Apparently she wouldn't let Jason go easily. "I met Annabeth earlier and she told me about your frantic reaction when she told you that she broke up with Percy. And now you're going? What the hell is wrong with you?"
"Sorry, I can't explain. But I maybe in a pinch right now, if I don't go back to Camp Half Blood as fast as possible," said Jason, "Please, Reyna. I will finish my work here once my problem there is over. Okay?"
Reyna seemed like she wanted to keep Jason longer, but then she just sighed and nodded. Jason smiled happily, summoned Tempest and flied back to Camp Half Blood.
When he got back to Camp Half Blood, he rushed to Hades' Cabin and let himself in without even knocking. But nobody inside. So, he went out, scanning his surroundings, and he saw them.
Percy, and Nico. They both just went out from Poseidon's Cabin and now they were heading to the woods, while laughing about something.
Jason felt like his whole life falls apart.
"Jason, you should calm down."
"Tell me how, Piper!"
"Calm down," said Piper McLean again and suddenly Jason felt he was a little bit calmer than before. He then realized that Piper had used her charmspeak.
"Sorry," said Jason, while trying to maintain his calmness.
After he saw Nico and Percy, he went to Aphrodite's Cabin and looked for Piper. He just needed someone to talk to, and I think Piper was the person he could think of.
"I'm sorry I lost control," Jason spoke up, "I don't wanna lose Nico."
Piper reached Jason's hand and held it, tried her best to soothe the son of Jupiter. "You won't lose Nico, Jason."
"How can you be so sure about that? Now that Percy is no longer with Annabeth, it's just a matter of time before Nico finally realized that he doesn't love me anymore. He can be with Percy just like he wanted."
"It's just your assumption," responsed Piper. "You should talk to Nico about this insecurity of yours."
Jason bit his bottom lips. "I… I'm afraid of his answer, Pipes."
"Trust me. Go talk to him. Percy may be Nico's first crush, but you're his first boyfriend, his first kiss. And I personally believe that Nico had already over Percy since a long long time ago. I dare to bet."
Jason didn't seem so sure, but he took a deep breath. "Okay, I'll go talk to him now."
Piper gave him a supporting smile, but Jason couldn't reply it properly.
After wandering around camp, Jason finally found Percy and Nico sitting together at the beach. The view gave his heart a sting, but he kept walking toward them.
"Nico," he called.
Nico turned around and a bit surprised when he saw Jason. "I thought you would be back in a few days?"
"Can we, eh, talk? In private? Please?"
Nico seemed confused but stood up anyway. Jason just gave Percy a small nod and grabbed Nico's arm to make him follow Jason to the edge of the woods.
"What is it?" asked Nico. "You don't look well. Something happened?"
Jason looked at Nico's black eyes and encouraged himself to ask, "Do you know that Percy broke up with Annabeth?"
Nico nodded. "Yeah. Percy told me about it. Why?"
Jason took a deep breath before asked again, "Are you… are you breaking up with me?"
Nico's eyes widened when he heard that question. Jason already prepared for the worst…
But Nico snapped.
"Are you out of your mind? So you think I will break you up now after Percy's no longer with Annabeth?"
Jason opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
Nico sighed and held Jason's hands. "Of course I'm not breaking up with you. You know better than anyone that I already got over Percy."
"I-I'm sorry I just couldn't help it," Jason stuttered. "I'm afraid that you just got over Percy because he was with Annabeth, and now when he is no longer be, you will choose him over me."
Nico smiled softly. "You are the one I want, Jason."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
Jason reciprocated Nico's smile and pressed his lips upon Nico's. His worst fear didn't come true.
Disclaimer: Rick Riordan.
"If you are not breaking up with me, so why are you here? At the beach, just you and Percy? I even saw you out from Poseidon's cabin earlier."
"Oh, it's just because he needs someone to talk to. If you don't like it I can tell Percy that I'm busy. Sorry."
But Jason shook his head and smile. "No. It's okay. I'm the one who will warn him. If he dare to lay a hand on you, I don't mind having another world war."
Nico laughed. "Okay, but for now I think I'll leave Percy alone. What you said gave me an urge to take you to my cabin so we can talk about world war in more private place."
Jason grinned, and let Nico shadow-traveled him to Hades' cabin.
(Originally posted at Ao3. September 23, 2014)
