Nico knew that now was as good a time as any. If anything it was one of the best opportunities he could have wished for. He was just a bit nervous that's all. You know, proclaiming your love for someone who clouds your thoughts all the time (even during fights with monsters, which is anything but helpful). Someone who has conquered your mind and your heart simultaneously, shadowing his every waking moment…Okay maybe he was a tad more than nervous. Well actually he was completely freaking out, especially with no way to break him the news. Sure, they've known each other for at least 4 years now (5 and half including the incident at the lotus casino when nico was 10 and after all it was only for a few hours (an event Nico wants to keep to himself until the right time considering what happened)). One thing that Nico does know is that he doesn't want his confessions to be in front of any other campers, especially if he is denied, that could end up atrociously. This kind of thing needs to be intimate. No other campers need to see this never mind them accidently firing arrows near him so they can hear what's going on. He was drawn away from his thoughts from a rather loud sister of his.

"NICO!" the older son of hades (well and Pluto) looked up, dazed from drowning in the worry and fear his emotions left him. "Seriously Nico, what does go on inside that funny little head of yours?" Hazel looked at him with a funny little expression that was somewhere between exasperated and hilarity.

"Sorry, I was just….thinking about things..." he replied quietly

"What about? It must be something important for you to not hear me shouting your name for the past 5 minutes with no response" hazel said while turning to look towards nico. "You looked like you were about to pull an Octavian on your pillow there" she gestured towards the pillow which looked almost about to burst from Nico's death grip around it. Quickly he let it out of its grasp.

"Oh um…yeah" nico stuttered and took to looking down to his hands where the pillow once was.

"Oh I know that look, that's the you know who glare. Please enlighten me with what brought you to think about him this time" she laid down her book beside her before taking up a position teen age girls do while on sleepovers. She went to open her mouth again but was interrupted by a pillow hitting her face.

"Stop…now…" Nico growled

"Only because you don't want to admit it to yourself, never mind me"

"No it's just that I want to…you know… be alone in my thoughts. I just want to figure it out"

"Oh…okay, I'm here if you need me, okay?" with that she went back to reading a book her and frank chose as some mushy couple reading idea they had.

Nico went back to his thoughts on the matter at hand, which was of course him. Even if he was gay or bi, Nico knew there was no way in Tartarus that he would fit his metaphorical type. So far the only people he's been interested in have been Annabeth, the blonde daughter of Athena, Rachel, the red-headed oracle, and the titan's daughter calypso. All in all not much hope for a black haired, death-eyed son of the underworld. But it's not really that nico cares, does he? He has already become enchanted by his sea green torrents that everyone else calls eyes and the mess of inky, black hair that never seems to stay in one place. Or his lips, they must taste like the sea and all other lovely things, oh how they must feel wrapped around Nico's- All these thoughts are going way too fast.

Nico understood by now that he needed to get the feelings out and that holding on to them for any longer would make him unable to even be within 100 meters of him or his cabin. He decided that he would go over to the Poseidon cabin, like how he would most days, and try to talk to him one on one. Quickly he jumped from his bed, told Hazel he would be back later and ran out the door of the Hades cabin. He sprinted towards the Poseidon cabin with more power than he would use in training sessions on a good day. He arrived at the ocean scented doors by stopping as if he had turned to stone. That's when realisation struck Nico. What if Percy turned him down? What if Percy laughed in his face? What is he never wanted to see Nico again? Too many what ifs ran through his head for him to notice the door opening in front of him to display a sleep ridden son of Poseidon.

When Nico looked up he met dazzling sea green eyes that were still a bit clouded over with sleep. The somehow windswept, atramentous hair fell above his eyes, acting as a shade from the mid-morning sun. All he wore was a ratty, old t-shirt and a pair of aquaman pyjama bottoms but still Nico remained breathless at the sight of him leaning against the door frame. His expression on his face was one of both confusion and surprise.

"Hey Nico, whatcha' doin' here so early?" Percy said in his signature deep, husky morning voice that Nico just so happened to adore.

"Percy, you do know it's like 11am right? Most of the camp is already up." Nico stated with one of his now common eye rolls. "Is it okay if I come in, I just…need to talk to you…in private?"

"m'okay, 'm sorry if there's any mess but you know…" He moved back and let Nico inside. Percy then returned to his bunk and sat down. "Nico what are you doing over there, come and sit down" he moved along the bed slightly, indicating for Nico to sit beside him. With a quick gulp for air the younger demigod did so and sat down about a foot or so away from the sea prince.

"What is it you wanted to talk about Nico?" Percy said in a tone that showed he was slowing waking up. He reached up and wiped a bit of sleep dust from his eyes before letting out a silent yawn.

"Well um…remember when we met and…well the whole thing with my…my sister" he took to twiddling his thumbs "well I...I just wanted to say that...well…I, um…I'm sorry about being so angry. I was just a little sad and frustrated for a while, but now I realise I shouldn't been. So…yeah" Nico's voice had gotten progressively quieter and more croaky by the end so he took to twiddling his thumbs once more.

"Nico, thanks for saying that but I already knew" Percy put a hand on Nico's shoulder "You didn't have to tell me. Are you sure that's all?" he turned his head to the side just slightly, another trait that Nico fell head over heels for.

"No um…no that's all" He went to leave only to be pulled back down by Percy's hand still resting on his shoulder.

"No, there's something you're not telling me" the older demigod's eyes filled with concern.

"I can't…just let me leave" Nico went to go up again and managed to escape his grasp. He strides towards the door and went to open the door. Just as he touched the handle his whole body was turned by 2 firm hands.

"Nico, tell me. We've known each other for what, 3-4 years?" Percy's hands pressed into each of Nico's shoulders and their faces were mere inches apart. Being so close yet so far was almost too much for the son of hades and tears started to form in his eyes. "Please" Percy said quietly as to not distress his younger friend. The older of the two then closed his eyes.

Nico took this moment as a go ahead and grabbed Percy's face. Their lips collided and Percy inhaled sharply before relaxing into it, the older boy's hands removed themselves from Nico's shoulders and wrapped themselves around the ghost king's waist almost as if it were a default position built into Percy's mind-set. The pair just embraced each other's presence, making sure that this was what they both wanted.

"Are you sure?" Nico looked deeply into Percy's eyes looking for hope in them that he had dreamed about for years.

"I think me not backing way means yes" He let out a huffed laugh and dipped his head down again to meet Nico's face. "Shall I?" Nico just nodded and that was all Percy needed to re-join their lips.

It started with Percy stumbling backwards and then Nico following in suit. Both the half-bloods copied each other's motions and eventually walked backwards onto the son of Poseidon's bed. They fell back onto the bed, remaining entangled with each other. Percy's tongue started pushing against the prince of darkness' teeth. Nico was not one for looking a gift horse in the mouth (heh Poseidon pun!) so agreed to the enticing taste that was Percy. The older demigod's tongue found itself teasing Nico's, twirling and licking his way into the younger demigod's mouth. It's taste was just so much like Percy himself, it was like salt water and the sea and everything that nico had dreamed of and so much different to what he assumed he tasted like to Percy (which he later found out to be a mix of dark chocolate and pomegranate according to Percy). Gently at first but then the pair found a rhythm and soon Nico's hands found themselves in Percy's muss of obsidian hair. Even though this was the first time either of the pair had actually gone anywhere further than comfort hugs it felt like they had been kissing each other for eternity.

Soon their intense make out session became something more. Percy's hands left Nico's shoulder blades and worked their way down his sides and tugging on the hem of his shirt. The slightly calloused hands from years of sword work reached under the younger demigod's shirt. Understanding what that meant Nico lifted his arms slightly as a way of saying he was okay with this. He playfully bit Percy's lip before parting to make way for his shirt which was almost ripped off by the older yet eager boy. Once it was pulled off Percy rushed getting his off just so they were on equal grounds.

Somehow synchronised by recent events, Percy and Nico pulled away and look deep into the other person's eyes. The pair was stunned by the contrast, Nico's deep and Tartarus brown eyes against the swirls of blue, green and turquoise opposite him.

"Not yet" it barely came out as a whisper but Percy knew what the younger boy was trying to say.

"Not until you're ready" Percy's words held compassion and truth, Nico was so close to saying he was just by his tone of voice.

Nico then leaned in close to Percy again but ended up just resting his head against the older boy's chest and looping his arms around his waist. The son of Poseidon followed suit and wrapped his arms around Nico's shoulders and placing his head on top of the long ebony curls that coated his head. The pair soon fell asleep wrapped around each other, leaving all the talking for later.

The pair awoke a few hours after their intense make out session. Nico woke first only to find himself wrapped in a sea scented blanket called Percy. The second thing he noticed was that he wasn't wearing a shirt or any clothing on the top half of his body. When he looked around the room he was blinded by the mid-afternoon sun seeping into the room via gaps in the curtains. This led to the realization that he wasn't in his cabin, when does Nico let sunlight even go near the insides of his cabin? He tried to get up to close the curtains but was kept down by a pair of strong, sun kissed arms.

"Mmmm…no…"He heard a very much still asleep Percy mumble from underneath the pillow beside him. The arms around him tightened just enough so he was more comfortable than before yet made it so he sure as hell wasn't going anywhere any time soon. The ghost king snuggled in closer to the prince of the seas and rested his head on his shoulder. They stayed like that for what felt like forever in Nico's mind. There was a comfortable silence that filled the room until Percy opened his mouth once more to speak.

"What is it you wanted to tell me about earlier? … You know, before all this?" His hand motioned between them. His sea torrent eyes looked down into Nico's obsidian orbs.

"Well…um, it was…about...this" The younger boy's eyes blinked slowly and a faint blush rose to his cheeks.

"What exactly?"

"That I may or may not…havelookeduptoyouinmorewaysthanoneoverthepasthowevermanyyears-and-IwouldreallreallylikeforyoutolikemebackbecauseIthinkI'mtoofargoneinlovingyoutooevergoback"

"Say that again, but you know, in English and at a normal speed?" A smirk started to grow on Percy's face.

"I've looked up to you since the day I met you. Then when you told me Bianca died I had no idea what to do with myself. That's why I ran. While I was away though I realized something, that all that hate and betrayal was gone, well replaced. That's when it hit me. It was never hero worship. It was so much more. I could go and quote all these songs and books and whatever but basically I think I really like you. Like seriously like you. Possibly something more but I don't really want to go much further into this right now because you look like you're about to laugh in my face." Nico blushed furiously at finally letting out his inner most thoughts to someone other than Hazel or Jason. He tucked his head back into Percy's chest only to look up at his face when it started to vibrate. This made Nico start to panic and next thing he knew he was hyperventilating. Percy realized this and put a hand into his ghost prince's hair as a way to turn his head to face upwards.

"Nico, look at me" his eyes looked directly at Percy's face "what has gone on here, like right now and a few hours ago, is my answer to all the questions I know you are going to ask me. Look into my eyes and tell me that I'm lying." He looked down straight towards Nico once more and the younger demigod knew that there is truth in his eyes. The older boy leant down and pecked Nico on the nose and then once again on his lips.

"I know it's just…what if you wake up tomorrow and…" Nico was interrupted by Percy being all reassuring.

"Of course I want this you dork. Why'd you think I broke up with Annabeth?" The pair then broke into a fit of laughter and slung their arms around each other, content with each other. Frozen in each other's happiness.