-I-
It was Annabeth's idea.
That was something that surprised most people when they found out (other than Percy, who shrugged and reminded everyone that most of the best ideas were) but none of them were half as surprised as Nico Di Angelo was when the grey-eyed Demigod first approached him that night, three days after his eighteenth birthday.
"Taking off already?" The blonde asked him in a would-be casual tone as she cut off his escape route. Nico couldn't help but grimace a bit at the sight of her.
"Uh, yeah." He said uncomfortably, glancing out a window so he wouldn't have to look at her. "I've heard some rumors in the Underworld about some monsters plotting something in Texas. I figured I'd better check it out and see if I could do something to stop it." Technically this was true, but the gathering was mostly minor monsters that any newly awakened Demigod could handle with relative ease. Certainly nothing worth the attention of the Son of Hades. Still, it was an excuse to bow out and escape before he did sometime stupid and exposed himself. He hated staying so close to Percy for periods of time longer than a few hours. Three days of near constant exposure to the green eyed hero was almost too much for Nico to handle. The only reason he stayed that long was because Percy wanted to throw him a big party to celebrate his eighteenth birthday, and Hazel kept begging him to remain since he hadn't been by in nearly a month.
He felt a little guilty about that, since he knew better than anyone what it felt like to have an older sibling leave you behind, but being around Percy was painful. Especially when he had to see him with Annabeth. And to make matters even worse, Jason was there. While he respected the Roman and appreciated the fact that he hadn't blabbed his secret to anyone, that didn't lessen Nico's urge to punch the blond in his perfect face every time he caught him giving Nico that look when Percy tried to talk to him. It was this weird combination of pity and constipation, which only made Nico feel more like a freak then he usually did.
Three days, he figured, was long enough to appease Hazel for a while without feeling too bad for ducking out on her again. He'd been planning on giving her a quick goodbye and sneaking out, but that plan was apparently shot now that the perfect Annabeth Chase had him in her sights.
"I see." Annabeth said, her tone calm and level as she studied the young man before her in a way that kind of made Nico nervous. He didn't like having Annabeth look at him like that. It made him feel like everything that made him a failure was written all over his face in sharpie, and she was memorizing every single one of them. "Mind if we talk a bit before you disappear again?"
Feeling a little helpless, Nico shrugged in response and followed Annabeth as she lead him into the Library of New Athens, the island city that The Seven had founded after stopping Gaea and establishing the first tentative steps towards peace between the Romans and the Greeks. While the two sides were no longer after each other's throats, neither felt especially inclined to welcome the other with open arms, either despite the best efforts of the heroes who defeated Gaea. This was a bit of a blow for the Demigods. Especially Percy, who apparently had big dreams about a peaceful future in New Rome and now found that, while he himself was still welcome as a savior and hero, most of his Greek friends were not. But as always, the Son of Poseidon wasn't one to be kept down long.
It took some serious string pulling and every one of the Argo II crew, but eventually Percy ended up getting just what he wanted; a peaceful settlement for demigods and their families. One which welcomed Romans and Greeks alike, and served as a beacon for the future while connecting them to their past. New Athens was a sprawling oasis of schools, homes and shops where demigods and their families could proper without fear of being found by monsters thanks to the protection of Poseidon and Athena, who had buried their grudges with great reluctance in order to bless the land for their children.
And just like that, over two thousand years of hatred and animosity were gone. Because of Percy.
(It was things like that that made Nico love and hate the guy at the same time).
"Nico?" Jolted out of his thoughts, Nico's attention was drawn back to Annabeth, who was frowning at him a little. Belatedly, Nico realized she had asked him a question.
"Um, sorry? What'd you say?" Nico asked, shuffling from one foot to another. He felt a little anxious, alone in the library with the Daughter of Athena. This was Annabeth's kingdom here, and he was at her mercy.
"I asked if you enjoyed your party." Annabeth repeated herself patiently. Oh.
"Uh, yeah. It was awesome." He probably sounded ungrateful, saying that in such a tired and unenthusiastic tone, but too much attention from his 'friends' always made Nico a little anxious. It wasn't that he didn't care about the others, but the gap between him and them felt too wide to ever hope to cross, and all their attempts to draw him into their circle were just ropes thrown across the chasm that were too short to land on his side. "Thanks again for the shield." Whatever Annabeth had wanted him to say, that wasn't it, since her frown deepened at those words.
"We don't see you very often here in New Athens, Nico." Annabeth commented. "We keep offering you a home, but you keep turning us down." Great. This again.
"This isn't the place for me." Nico insisted. "You want peace and acceptance here, right? The son of Death only brings fear and discomfort."
"Hazel fits in fine." Annabeth reminded Nico, crossing her arms. "If you'd just stay here for a while, you'd have plenty of friends here who accept you just the way you are."
"Yeah right." Nico couldn't help but laugh bitterly at that. Turning, Nico started for the exit. He wasn't in the mood to have Annabeth give him this lecture. He'd heard it enough from Jason, Percy and Hazel. He didn't need it from her, too.
"Staying means you'd have Percy too, you know. If you love him as much as I think you do, then that alone should be reason enough to try."
Nico froze. Suddenly, it felt like all the air had been sucked out of his lungs. He could feel Annabeth watching him, but he was too afraid to turn around and face her. A hundred excuses and denials flew around his head, but none of them made it to his lips. This was a hundred times worse than a virtual stranger like Jason finding out his secret. Annabeth was in the top three on the People Who Must Never Know list, right behind Hazel and Percy himself.
"I… how…" Swallowing, Nico tried to figure out how to talk again. As he struggled to remaster this fundamental skill, Annabeth closed the distance between them until she was by his side, her hand touching his arm so lightly that Nico couldn't even feel it through his jacket.
"I figured it out." Annabeth told him quietly. "Not as quickly as I should have, but… I know you love him, Nico. Just as much as I do." Nico wanted to scream. To tear his arm from Annabeth's grasp and push her away from him. What did she know about how he felt? What could she possibly know about his feelings for Percy, and the way they made him feel tainted and unnatural and even more unlike the other Demigods?
"I don't know what you're talking about. I hate Percy! I hate him!" Nico hissed out angrily before trying to escape. Annabeth held him fast though, not even batting an eyelash at his denials.
"You don't have to be afraid, Nico. I just want to talk. Please? For Percy's sake? I need your help." Nico bristled a bit at that, his instincts still screaming at him to keep denying his feeling for the green-eyed Demigod, but those last four words ignited his curiosity.
"What could you need my help with?" Nico asked bitterly. Annabeth was perfect, after all. Beautiful, intelligent, a born warrior and a girl who had no trouble getting everything she could ever want. Including Percy Jackson.
"I told you, Percy." Annabeth sighed. "You know what he's like, don't you, Nico? Percy's strong, but he keeps trying to do everything and bear the weight of the world on his shoulder. He wants to protect everyone, and make everyone happy, but he can't and someday he's going to realize that and it'll tear him into pieces. I do my best to remind him he's still human, but…" Nico frowned in confusion as Annabeth shook her head with a troubled look in her eyes.
"And? What does this have to do with me?" Nico asked with no small amount of suspicion.
"Percy's an idiot, but if there's one thing he understands, its love." Annabeth told him quietly. "He would never want to hurt someone he cares about, and knowing that he'd loved and that people will miss him if he dies gives him a reason to survive against even the most impossible enemies. I…" Annabeth hesitated for a moment as if to find her words before bravely plunging on. "I want him to have more reasons to live, other than me. Demigods… we don't have the best survival rates, even in a place like this. Especially when they're too reckless and selfless and loyal. Percy needs more then I can give him on my own."
Now, Nico was just starting to get confused.
"What are you trying to ask me to do?" He demanded with a frown. "Stay here and be his friend?" Sulk in the shadows as he made eyes at Annabeth, more likely. Nico was a lot of bad things, but he wasn't that masochistic.
"No." Annabeth told him, drawing a deep breath. "I want you to love him. And I want him to love you, too. Like he and I love each other." Nico stared at her for a second. No way was she asking what he thought she was asking.
"…What?"
"I know you love Percy, Nico." Annabeth insisted, not looking repulsed or angry or anything else she should've been over this fact. "And I know he could love you too, if you actually stuck around for once and let him get to know the real you. For a long time now, he's been really worried about you, but every time he reaches out, you pull away and hide in the shadows, or do one of your disappearing acts. That's why I haven't really said anything until now, but like I said, I'm really starting to worry about Percy. I want you to stay here with him. With us."
"Us?" Nico choked. It was hard enough for him to wrap his mind around the fact that he was gay, but… "You mean…?"
"It's not exactly the weirdest thing on our family tree, you know." Annabeth reminded Nico dryly. "Not by a long shot. But yeah. I mean you, me and Percy. Together. Like, together together. I know it's unconventional, but I've been thinking about it for a while now and I'm about 74% sure it'll work. Besides, they say three is a sacred number, right? That's why quests of three people are more likely to succeed. Considering how many gods, demigods and monsters all of us have pissed off between us, I think we could use all the divine luck we can get." For a long time, Nico could only stare at Annabeth, slack jawed. Finally, the son of Hades found his voice once more.
"You're insane." He croaked out.
"Comes with the territory when you're in love with Percy Jackson." Annabeth scoffed. "Better get used to it, Casper."
"Okay. So you want to… share Percy? But… why me?" Nico asked. "I mean, there has to be other people. Better people." Reyna sprang to mind. As well as that Amazon Hazel had mentioned to him, and a few dozen other girls who'd trade vital organs to be with Percy Jackson.
"No one else has been willing to sacrifice half as much as you have for Percy." Annabeth said, wrinkling her nose. "No one else deserves this chance half as much as you do. This isn't a joke, Nico. I want you with me, by Percy's side. But if you still don't think you're ready to step out of the shadows, then I'm more than willing to do what I can for Percy on my own. I'm not going to share him with someone who hasn't earned it."
She's serious. Nico realized, staring dumbfounded at the blonde. He could scarcely believe it, since what she was suggesting was considered very inappropriate for this time, to say nothing of the era he hailed from. True, their family tree had more messed up relationships in it, but 90% of that was the gods, and they got free passes to act like wild animals and have sex with anything that stood still long enough. Demigods were still technically mortal, and still living in a mortal world with its rules and propriety.
Despite that though, Nico couldn't tell her no. He couldn't say yes, either. That wasn't right, wasn't appropriate. But he couldn't say no, like he should have.
"I'm not just offering you Percy either, Nico." Annabeth told him as he struggled to make sense of the life he was living. "I'm offering you a home. A real home you don't have to run away from all the time. And a family that cares about you, flaws and all. A place you can be yourself. Be happy, or angry or safe or anything else you want to be, but you're scared to show the rest of the world. A future, and everything that comes with that. And I'm offering myself, too. If you'll have me." Nico couldn't help but blush a bit at that, the weirdness of the situation really settling in with that line.
"This is really messed up." He told Annabeth. She had to know that. She had to know this wasn't right.
"So?" Annabeth shrugged. "I don't care, so long as it keeps Percy coming home alive. Besides, the people around here are used to weirder things happening then three consenting adults in a relationship together."
"Percy's okay with this?" Nico asked, having a hard time swallowing that. Even if Percy was gay like him (Which anyone who saw the way he looked at Annabeth would tell you wasn't at all possible) he wouldn't fall for skinny, pale, annoying Nico Di Angelo.
"He will be." Annabeth assured Nico with confidence that only a daughter of Athena could have. "But only if you're in too." Shaking his head, Nico wondered if this was some sort of bizarre dream. It didn't seem possible that the girl would want to share her boyfriend with him.
He should say no.
Images floated through his head, unbidden. Percy fighting, scowling, grinning, staring out at the sea with that expression that took Nico's breath away.
He should most definitely say no.
He could hear Percy's laugh, a loud, free sound that washed over him like the tide, threatening to knock him off his feet. He could hear him teasing, shouting out words of defense for his friends, whispering words of encouragement.
There was no way this could work. Annabeth was mad for even suggesting it.
He remembered the way Percy's hand felt in his own. The addicting warmth that radiated from Percy's body whenever Nico got too close to the Son of Poseidon. The scent of salt water and sandy beaches that lulled him into lowering his guard. Everything about his presence was like an oasis in a hot, dry desert. It promised things Nico was sure he could never have. Things he convinced himself were only a mirage, an optical illusion.
"Okay." Nico said, almost against his will. He was already going to be damned to Hell anyways. He wasn't strong enough to deny the temptation Annabeth was offering him. "I'll do it."
Annabeth smiled at him, looking grateful and relieved.
"Excellent." She said, looking pleased. "I'll send the Connor Twins to Texas to deal with those monsters. I got an apartment set up for you on Nightshade Street. It's fully furnished and paid for in advance for the next month. We'll move you in there for now, until we've had time to work on Percy a bit then after that you can move in with us. It'll be best to start wooing Seaweed Brain right away. Can you meet me and Percy tomorrow for lunch at The Deipneus Diner?"
Uh, sure…" Nico said, a little confused. Annabeth had already set up an apartment for him? What had made her so sure he'd say yes?
"Great! Make sure you actually make conversation tomorrow at lunch. No lurking in the shadows like you usually do. When lunch ends, we'll make plans to meet up again for a movie this Friday, just the three of us. Percy's been wanting to see that new spy movie starring Piper's dad. Make sure you dress a little different for that, okay? We'll talk more later to iron out the details, but that should be fine for a basic plan for now. It'll probably take Percy a week or so to catch on, so we got time to figure out the specifics. We'll discuss more tomorrow night, after we see how lunch goes." And, with that decided, Annabeth pressed a light kiss to Nico's cheek before turning and strolling out of the library, leaving the son of Hades gaping after her.
Annabeth was definitely insane alright.
But if it meant that he actually had a shot at Percy, then he wasn't going to complain about that.