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Pairings: Jason/Nico, Percy/Nico

Disclaimer: Percy Jackson: House of Hades © Rick Riordan

Warnings: A little bit OOC (I hope not so OOC), contains SPOILER of House of Hades. I suggest you read the book first if you don't want to get nasty spoiler. This fanfic is also about boys love. If you have any problems with it, don't read. Consider yourself warned.

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It had been a month since his confession in front of the Son of Mars and Venus, Cupid, along with the Son of Jupiter, Jason Grace, about his feelings towards Perseus 'Percy' Jackson.

And really, in the name of all Gods and Goddesses—or his Father's, for a good measure—it was the worst confession in fourteen years of his life as a demigod.

No, scratch that. It was a DISASTER, that kind of worst.

Just look at the situation now. Jason preferred to be hanging out with the Son of Hades, rather than with his own sister, Thalia. And he was on the verge of breaking up with Piper McLean, his own lover, because the Daughter of Aphrodite was seriously beginning to doubt her lover's sexual orientation, as Jason really followed and accompanied Nico wherever Nico was. It was really suspicious.

Thanks to that damn confession (his own way of calling it while he cursed himself relentlessly), Jason had developed a new hobby of giving him any kind of advice and support, so he could confess his feelings to the Son of Poseidon. Soon. He even went so far as to bring him some crappy romance novel he got from the other demigod.

Nico snorted in irritation, furious at his friend's act—yes, friend, he admitted grudgingly. Jason was the only person he could trust other than Percy. Really, he would never let anyone else get near him, other than his beloved late sister, even more so because of this romance issue.

It was quite often to find him draw his favored Stygian Iron to Jason, to the point he'd summon a battalion of ghost army from the Underworld just to put Jason Grace at bay. But all of his effort was for nothing, Jason was very stubborn. It was his nature, he put too much concern for his friends and sometimes, more often than not, it was really troublesome for Nico. He was not used to someone's love and concern other than Bianca, his sister.

"Leave me alone!" It was the hundredths time Nico said that to Jason, he started to lose count at above a hundred and sixty.

"No way." was the usual response from Jason.

Nico ruffled his messy black hair, making it messier than what it already was. He clucked his tongue in disapproval, before he decided to just walk away from Jason—and Jason would be right on his heel after him.

The blond tried to start a conversation. "Come on, Nico. You've been having this crush on Percy for years! How long are you planning on keep it to yourself? Forever?" He sounded quite worried.

"Until I die," Nico answered without looking at his companion. "And I will say this one more time, leave me alone. It's none of your business."

"It will be my business once it has something to do with my friend," the Son of Jupiter remarked idly. He grabbed Nico's shoulder, consequentially halting his steps and forced him to turn around so they could face each other.

Nico glared angrily, he slapped Jason's hand away from his thin shoulder. "You may think of me as your friend, Jason, but I seem not to have any inclination to consider you as my friend," he gritted. No one had to know it was a lie. "And I swear to the name of Hades, my father, that I am SICK of this constant nagging of yours. Don't get near me again and talk about this so easily, as easy as how you talk about the way to kill Titans. I said that I had a crush on Percy, in PAST tense, or do I have to make myself even clearer to you, Son of Jupiter? It means that I DON'T love him anymore."

"You lied," Jason said levelly, his face serious. He understood perfectly that what Nico had told him just now was just a blatant and unconvincing lie. "If you don't love him anymore, why would you always be avoiding him whenever you see Percy is with Annabeth? Can you give me at least a decent explanation for that?"

"I don't like to be among mortals, I hate everything that lives. I'd rather be among the dead." His brown irises gazed right into Jason's blue orbs, as if he tried to make an impression that he meant everything he said.

Jason only stared at him incredulously. "I hope you didn't seriously think that those crappy excuse of yours was convincing, Nico, because it's not. I know you ARE lying." He sighed and ruffled the black strands of hair, earning a protest of discomfort from the owner and his hand was slapped away rather harshly. "I know that you still love him, deeper than before. And you know, more than anyone, why you love him, even though you're still in denial and refuse to admit it."

He left after saying that, leaving Nico all by himself on the edge of the forest—because they were too engrossed in their argument that they didn't realize they had been walking from their cabin towards the forest. Nico could only take a deep breath, feeling relieved but strangely exhausted as well.

He sat under an old Oak tree beside the river, leaning his back on the huge trunk. Unconsciously, he relived his conversation with Jason earlier.

Yes, he had lied. To Jason—and to himself.

He still loved Percy, up until recent. No one could ever change that, even he himself could do nothing about that particular feeling.

"…you know, more than anyone, why you love him…" He recalled what Jason had said, and it was circling in the head of his. He looked up, his brown orbs stared at the bright blue sky above. He reminisced his memory of the past with Percy, and he couldn't help but feeling wistful about it.

Starting from how he and Bianca met him for the first time four years ago, his pleasant feeling about having a brotherly figure, a tinge of hatred that clogged him with the death of Bianca and he thought he couldn't trust Percy anymore, until they met again and face all of the challenge together. A fondness was starting to bloom once more, up until the point it couldn't be classified as a platonic feeling anymore. He was in love with Percy, and he didn't think there were anymore words that could describe his feeling more accurately than what it was.

Love.

But what a shame, there was nothing he could do about the situation he was currently in. Percy loved Annabeth, not him. Percy was with Annabeth, not him. Percy was there for Annabeth, not him.

It was the fact. A damned fact, to say the least, but still a fact nonetheless. A fact that made the King of Ghost only buried his feeling, deep down to the bottom of his heart, or even further to the bottom of the Underworld.

'Why do I have to be in love with a person that's completely out of my reach?' Nico thought, he raised his hand, as if he was trying to grab the sun. To him, Percy was like the sun. It was big, it was bright, but it was too far for him to be able to reach it. He could never reach it.

Percy was a very responsible man. He would give his life with no doubt to save others, other people he loved. He was very stubborn. Sometimes he was stupid, sometimes he can be sweet and nice. He was handsome too. And he was a hero. His father was Poseidon, the God of Sea. He had a lover, a girl, Daughter of Athena. What was the flaw?

'Perhaps the sheer amount of stupidity of his that was the only flaw,' Nico muttered in his mind.

He could list so many things he liked from Percy Jackson. But even if he did that, it wouldn't make Percy returns his feeling now, would it?

He closed his eyes, mind was planning to add the list about why he loved Percy, until he felt there was a hand that had been linked with his own.

"Nico."

The voice was too familiar. He opened his eyes and found Percy Jackson was right above him, holding his hand. "What are you doing here? Trying to run away from the Camp again? I've lost count at how many times you've done it already," Percy said as his green eyes stared into the brown ones of Nico's.

"Go away," Nico said. "And let go of my hand."

"If I let it go, you'd be gone before I could have the chance to say 'Hades'. So you can say goodbye to the hope that I'm going to let you go until you get up and go back with me to the Camp," Percy replied easily.

Nico furrowed his eyebrows as he frowned. "How could you expect me to get up if you're right above and in front of me, Moron?"

"Oh," he seemed to pay no mind into the insult as he stepped aside so he wouldn't be in the way, still holding Nico's hand.

The black haired teen with his aviator jacket rose from his sitting position, his free hand that was not in Percy's hold, dusted his dirty pants of grass and dirt stain.

"Now, can you let go of my hand?"

"I'll let it go once we reach your cabin. Now, let's go home."

Go home.

Nico was stunned for a while. Go home. It was a beautiful word for him. He had no parents—his mother had died and his father was a God, remember?—and his only sister was also not here anymore. He had no one, or even a place to stay. That was why 'go home' had become such beautiful words for him.

He smiled a little.

Yeah, he smiled, even if it was just a little, and it surprised Percy quite a bit. He had heard from the other demigod that they had seen Nico was laughing over stupidity Jason did at training, but he didn't seem to be fortunate enough to witness it.

"Yes. Let's go home."

Percy didn't really get the way Nico said the word 'go home' was a bit different, but he just smiled. "Come on!" He pulled the hand with him and Nico followed him obediently like a little duck was following its mother.

Go home.

The other and the most important reason for him to be deeply, head over heels in love with the Son of Poseidon was, Percy gave Nico a 'place' to 'go home'.

And that was the only thing that mattered.

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~ F I N ~

A REALLY BIG THANKS TO RELOUDYPIE FOR TRANSLATING MY FANFIC INTO ENGLISH! T^T #hugs Really, thanks, Dear! You really help me with this! I'm not really good in writing, and I have no confidence to write some FFs in other languages except my mother-language /YOUDON'TSAY but she translated it just in one day—or less! You just don't know how much I owe her because of this! XD

I will say that this is a spoiler to whoever who haven't read HoH. Yeah, Nico had a crush on Percy. That's the truth. That's the big secret. And I was like, "AMG AMG AMG NICO, SO YOU— AND I THOUGHT THAT YOU WERE A— BUT BUT, AAAAAA NICOOOO! MY NEW HUBBY~" And bromance between Jason/Nico is too precious! XD Hahaha, I mean, this IS really a wonderful plot-twist ever from Uncle Rick!

Anyway, mind to give a review, people? :)

—Rui Arisawa, 2013. Translator : reloudypie