Annabeth's still in love with a dead child of Hermes. There's a part of Percy that already knows that, so when she pecks him on the cheek and says, "I don't think we're working out," he just nods in reply.

There's a part of him that's already known it was coming.

He can't deny that there's another part of him that's also glad that she's finally broken up with him. He's not been attracted to Annabeth – or in love with her, really – for so very long now, and he's noticed the way his eyes so frequently seem to drift towards Nico recently. Percy's not an idiot. Just because he's spent so much time unaware of it, doesn't mean that when he's finally realised his feelings, he's going to deny them. He's learned that much from his relationship with her.

He's crushing on Nico di Angelo, and he's going to make sure the other boy knows about it.

(When he tells Annabeth about his newly discovered feelings, she just laughs and pats him on the cheek.

"You were always a bit too obsessed with his well-being," she tells him. "I should have realised earlier."

He may not be in love with her, but in that moment, he remembers why he still loves her.)

Nico's been avoiding him ever since the fiasco with the Doors of Death. Percy's hoped that things would return to normal after the Giant War – while it had been going on, he hadn't exactly had the time to talk to Nico – but they haven't, and Percy's been too busy being broken up with to ask him why.

He finds the child of Hades with Jason and Piper. It seems that when he's not with Hazel, he's with them – they lost their third musketeer to an immortal who had finally escaped her island, but it seems they've gained Nico in return.

(And that only reminds him that he needs to clear things out with Calypso too, but maybe that can wait for another time. As it is, she's having the time of her life exploring the modern world and making Leo chase her all over Camp Half-Blood.)

He knows the other boy isn't looking forward to having a conversation with him – the panicked look in his eyes when Percy asks Jason and Piper if he can borrow Nico says it all – but Percy isn't letting him go right now. Not until he's actually spoken to him, in a way that they haven't done since before Hera decided to make him an amnesiac.

Nico looks nervous, so very nervous, and Percy's reminded rather uncomfortably that he's just a boy, three years younger than him. He may chronologically be older, but he hasn't truly aged for all the time he was in the Lotus Casino. And then he remembers exactly what Nico's had to go through in the years since the Furies freed him from the casino, and he's overcome by an almost uncontrollable urge to wrap the other boy in his arms and protect him from anything that the world can throw at him.

But he restrains his protective instincts, at least for the moment. The first thing he needs to do is make sure that everything has been sorted out with Nico.

"Why did you need to talk to me?" Nico asks, jerking Percy's concentration away from his thoughts. Of course, they were on the boy in front of him as it were, so it didn't really make a difference in the long run.

"I'm sorry," Percy replies, shaking his head. "I was just lost in thoughts."

"That doesn't answer my question, you know," Nico says sullenly.

Percy sighs. "You've been avoiding me ever since I returned from Tartarus," he says. "I want to know why."

Nico just glares. "I haven't been avoiding you," he says stubbornly. "If that's all you need, then I'd like to get back to the conversation I was having before you kidnapped me."

"Nico, come on!" he exclaims softly. "I don't know what I've done to have you this upset at me, but can't we at least work through this?"

"And that's the problem, isn't it?" Nico mutters, "You don't know. Trust me, Percy," he says, "You're happier being oblivious. You don't want to know."

"Nico…" Percy starts, reaching out a hand towards Nico.

Before he say anything else, there's a flash, and he's not in the middle of Camp Half-Blood anymore. For some reason, his mind flashes back uncomfortably to the battle of New York, where it felt like the gods took way too much pleasure in putting images in his head and transporting him halfway around the country.

There's a handsome young man standing in front of him, one who reminds him just a little too much of Thanatos. But Percy's had some experience with godly beings by now – and the first thing a half-blood learns is that said being usually isn't the person they expect.

"Very good," the man says, grinning widely. "You're the first half-blood to realise I'm not old Death."

"You're Cupid," Percy says, remembering something Annabeth had told him, long ago. "Eros' Roman form, the god of love."

"Guilty as charged," he replies. "I believe there's something you need to see."

And suddenly he's standing in the middle of a Roman villa, with Nico and Jason beside him. Nico's screaming something at Cupid, about having had a crush on –

And Percy stops. Suddenly, it all makes sense. Nico is rarely one for direct confrontation, especially with him – it's no surprise that he had taken to avoiding him instead.

But just because he understands doesn't mean he's about to accept it. In another blink of an eye, he's back in front of Nico, who is still staring at him.

He doesn't know what he's doing. He has no idea why he does it. But the images of Nico and Cupid are still flashing through his mind, and he can't help himself.

"Percy, what's wrong wi-" And then Nico's quiet, Percy's mouth on his being a bit of a distraction to him.

It's only for a moment, and then he pulls away, but that says everything he knows he might never have been able to articulate.

And the faint smile on Nico's face, and the way the younger boy touches his lips disbelieving tells Percy everything he needs to know.

They still have things to talk about – so much air to clear out between them – but Nico is the one who makes the next move and hugs him, and Percy knows that no matter what, everything will be okay. Somehow, they'll work out.

If, right after Kronos' defeat, someone had told him that Annabeth and he breaking up would be the best thing that could ever happen to him, he would never have believed them. But with Nico in his arms, Percy cannot see how it could have been anything else.

I hope you guys liked it! As always, please don't forget to drop a review on your way back :)