The day I kiss my Angel
HashtagMC
So, I wrote this on my phone, back in March, and I just thought I'd publish this, so I copied it onto my computer and edited the typos out of it. Aside from that, I didn't really beta-read it. Hope someone likes it anyway. Remember, reviews make my day!
— Hashtag
Disclaimer: Percy Jackson and the Olympians and Heroes of Olympus are the intellectual property of Rick Riordan. I own nothing but the plot.
Jason had long ago stopped to curse the queen of Olympus. Hera, Her Asshole-ish Majesty, Goddess of Perfect Families and None Else, had fucked his life up enough. He wouldn't have minded if she'd just disappeared again, and this time, He wouldn't ride to her rescue. He already regretted saving her.
Not only she'd ruled his life ever since he'd been taken from his mother, but she'd only taken him from his home and wiped his memory, as well as giving his friends fake-memories. Fake-memories that had led to a relationship with Piper McLean, the daughter of Aphrodite. A relationship that hadn't worked out.
They'd broken up a few months ago. Without a war going on, they just didn't work out, neither did their ideas of the future match. Piper wanted to settle down, found a family. Jason had grown to like the idea of keeping travelling, never staying in one place for too long. His job as 'Pontifex Maximus' was exactly that, and exactly what Piper didn't want.
And, he couldn't deny that he didn't really love her. Not anymore.
When he was fed up with negotiating with minor gods and lay in his tent, sometimes fuming, the face of Nico di Angelo tended to come into his mind. He had, in spite of Cupid's statement that he'd found 'true love', kept doubting himself after Croatia. And since he was not as oblivious as Percy, he had eventually come to the realization that he liked Nico di Angelo. 'Like' with the same 'L' as in 'Love'. As far as Jason's feelings for the son of Hades were concerned, it was capital L. It had been the final nail in the coffin of his fucked-up relationship with Piper.
During his regular visits at Camp Half-Blood, he had happily noticed how Nico had begun to loosen up a bit. Under the positive influence of his new-found friends, those being Will, Lou Ellen, Cecil, he had begun to relax. He no longer assumed that people felt obliged to like him, and he no longer pushed people away. As the months went by, Jason smiled more than once when he witnessed Nico genuinely smiling, even laughing.
He kept trying to convince the son of Hades that nobody would judge him for his feelings. Percy and Annabeth hadn't bit his head off, now had they? So why would anybody else do so? The blonde kept assuring Nico that nothing would happen, and after maybe a year, he succeeded.
In retrospect, he thought that he should have known.
Once the black-haired teenager had come out, boys kept throwing themselves at him. Not literally, of course. But though Nico had thought that he was nothing special, the dozens of boys asking him out prove him wrong. And who would Jason be to blame them? If he wouldn't have valued their friendship so high, he would have been the first one to ask the handsome, brave, strong son of Hades out. And he had a very hard time to suppress the spark, no, the firework of jealousy that lit up in his stomach when he saw guys wooing and courting Nico.
'What's wrong, Jason?' Nico's voice sounded genuinely concerned. The son of Jupiter shook his head, as if he'd want to shake the depressing thoughts off. 'Nothing,' he replied. 'Nothing you could help me with.' What a lie: To be precise, Nico was the only one who could help him. Not that he ever would.
'Don't lie to me, Jason. Everybody can see that you're bothered.' He scooted closer. 'Please, Jason. Tell me. You've always helped me with my problems, so why won't you confide in me now?' Jason was painfully aware of the close proximity between them; and everything inside him wanted to close that distance and hug Nico. The son of Hades would probably even be okay with this, he didn't hate physical contact anything as much as he had months ago. But he would if he knew Jason's feelings and intentions.
And there Jason scolded Nico about pushing people away and bottling his feelings up. What a hypocrite he was, he thought.
'I can't' he mumbled, and if he would have looked up, he would have seen the hurt expression on Nico's face. The black-haired teen had, ever since after the war, considered the son of Jupiter his friend, and it stung to see that his so-called 'friend' didn't trust him with his problems.
'Fine' he grunted. 'But if you ever want to talk this out... I'll be here, Jason.' He smirked. 'Or I'll talk Piper into charmspeaking you to spill it.'
Jason paled. Piper wouldn't even have to charmspeak him to know about his problem. Fact was, he had been avoiding her during the past few months for that exact reason. The last thing he needed was his ex telling him what he should do, regarding his crush. Hypocrite he was, he was afraid that anybody might find out, despite the fact that he had told Nico that nobody would judge him.
He fought the urge to run after Nico when the younger demigod left. Nico would get suspicious when he'd suddenly become all touchy-feely; even more than usual. Even under normal circumstances, he liked hugging his friends and such stuff, let alone when he was lovestruck, like he was now.
'You see, Hazel, that's why I'm worried about Jason. He used to stick around and lecture me about pushing people away, and now he barely talks to me. It's like I've done something to him, but I don't know WHAT. It's like he doesn't want to be my friend anymore, and I have no idea why. And it doesn't... doesn't help that... that he's so freaking attractive. I – I think I'm crushing on him, and I really don't want to add another item to my "unattainable heroes I've fallen for"-list.'
Nico's words echoed in Hazel's head as she marched towards Cabin One, and everybody with two eyes in their heads could see that she was fuming. Literally. After the events in the House of Hades, Nico had taught her how to shadow-travel, even if it originally wasn't one of her abilities, and right now, her skin seemed to emit darkness and shadows.
'JASON GRACE!' she screamed when she stepped inside the marble building. Jason flinched, and his instincts told him to draw his sword and get ready to defend himself. The Daughter of Pluto had a look in her eyes that could only be described as murderous. Zeus Almighty, the sight was outright terrifying.
'Don't kill me' he winced. 'Ugh. Can't believe I said that.'
'How DARE you to avoid Nico?' If glares were weapons, Hazel's would be an intercontinental ballistic missile. 'He's sitting in his cabin and tries to think of a reason why you hate him!' Her hand was dangerously close to the hilt of her sword. 'Explain yourself! You'd better have a damn good reason!'
Jason didn't waste his time by trying to say something clever to escape the situation. It would be fruitless anyway. So, he cast his eyes down and prayed to the gods that he'd be alive after their conversation.
'Um... I'd be extremely grateful if you wouldn't tell Nico about this, okay?' His look was almost pleading, and reluctantly, Hazel nodded. 'Maybe.'
The son of Jupiter took a deep breath. 'Try not to behead me, okay?'
'I think I'm in love with your brother.'
The reaction was absolutely nothing like what he'd expected. Instead of cutting him in two, yelling at him, or anything, Nico's sister burst into laughter. Though it didn't last very long.
'You're straight.'
Jason made a face. 'Yeah, that's what I always thought, too. But – I guess I'm not. I mean, besides Pipes, I've never been with anybody. So I just assumed I was... straight I mean.'
Hazel's expression sobered, and the son of Jupiter prepared himself for a heated argument about his sexuality, but once again the Daughter of Pluto surprised him.
'Are you sure? Because, I swear, if you hurt him...' She didn't finish her sentence. Not that she had to.
Jason nodded. 'Yes, I am sure. Actually, I've been sure fore the past few months.' He snorted. 'And I'm pretty sure that it's one-sided, so it's not like I'd ever get to hurt him.' He thought about that last sentence for a second. 'No, that came out wrong. What I meant was: We'll never be together, so the risk that I'd hurt him will never appear. Yeah, that sounds better.'
Hazel shook her head, chuckling quietly, before her expression hardened in an instant. 'One: You'll go an apologize to Nico, right now. Two: You should tell him. Maybe not right now, but some time soon. You didn't ditch him when you learned that about his feelings, and he won't ditch you because of yours.'
Long after she'd left, Jason still sat in the same stance, even though she had ordered him to apologize immediately. He wasn't sure whether it would be such a good idea to face Nico right now. He might blurt out and confess his undying love for his fellow demigod, and that was the last thing he wanted to happen right now.
Nonetheless, the decision was made for him when Nico stepped into his cabin. Jason guessed that Hazel had send him, and his suspicion was confirmed when Nico said, 'Hazel said you have something to tell me?'
Alright, Jason. Get a grip and apologize. 'Um, yeah, I mean... I'm sorry. For avoiding you, I mean. I've treated you unfair, and... yeah. Sorry. It's not like you've done something wrong or so.' Being yourself is enough, he thought.
If Nico's surprised face was anything to go by, Hazel hadn't told him what it was that Jason had to tell him. For a few moments, none of the boys said a word, before Nico sat down next to Jason and said, 'I guess you're not going to tell me why, now are you?' He ran his fingers through his hair absentmindedly.
'You're beautiful when you do this' Jason blurted out, and immediately bit his tongue. Fuck. Why had he said this out loud? Nico instantly stood up and glared at him.
'I – what? What the fuck, Jason?' Alright, now it was official: He was screwed. He trusted Nico to send him to the Underworld for Eternal Punishment if he'd say one wrong word. Sometimes, the son of Hades was outright scary, and now was one of this moments.
'You better have a damn good reason.'
Funny, Hazel had said the same words a few hours ago.
'Um, Nico... try not to freak out, okay? Because... I think – I might – no, I am in love with you.'
Nico was stunned. Jason, Mr. Jason 'Zeus is my dad and I'm everyone's golden boy, I'm fucking perfect superman' Grace was in love with him? 'Him' as in 'Nico 'everybody flinches when they notice me' di Angelo?' That was absolutely not what he had expected. It seemed to be too good to be true.
He stuttered, 'R-Really? I mean – you're sure? You're not joking?' Jason shook his head. 'For months now. I—I didn't dare to tell you in case you wouldn't feel... not like me like that.'
'I do.'
The son of Jupiter all but jumped to his feet. 'Really? You—you like—like me back?' Nico nodded. Before he could say a single word, Jason had leapt forward and wrapped his arms around the younger boy's lean frame. Their faces kept coming closer—
'No.' Nico had put a finger on Jason's lips when their faces were mere inches away from each other.
'Not yet. I don't want to... rush things. I—I'd rather do this the old-fashioned way, like – like you ask me out, and we go on dates, and then we kiss.' He looked at Jason with his irresistible brown eyes, and reluctantly, Jason nodded. If it meant he'd eventually be allowed to kiss Nico... And though he couldn't relate, he accepted the fact that Nico wasn't used to 'modern' customs. He guessed that in the 30's, kissing before the first date would have been inappropriate.
'So, Nico – will you be my boyfriend?'
He'd have to mark this day on his calendar (he'd have to buy one first): He'd coaxed a genuine smile out of Nico.
'I think I already am, Jason.'
And with that, the son of Hades finally wrapped his arms around the taller teenager's chest.
Jason could hardly wait for it, but he knew, when the time would come that he'd be allowed to kiss his angel, he would be the happiest person alive.
Unless Nico would be even happier than him.