This is dedicated for my best cuz, Smiles Burn in the Styx! Happy Birthday. Sorry that this is so late though. Hope you like it and enjoy it :)
Disclaimer: I'm not Rick "Troll" Riordan. Strictly a daughter of Poseidon.
It Finally Happened
I stared at the couple watching along the shore. Percy Jackson and Nico di Angelo. Percy had his arm over Nico's shoulder and they were both laughing probably having the time of their lives.
I sighed as I say them, how could measure up to the great Percy Jackson who Nico has been in love with ever since he saw him. With that depressing thought, I got up from where I was sitting and walked to Bunker 9 where I could get some comfort from Festus.
Alright, I should tell you how I am right now and provide a backstory to this life of mine. I am Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus and hopelessly in love with Nico di Angelo, son of Hades.
I know I have no chance with Nico. Nico di Angelo might be the gloomiest kid alive, but he is the bravest and most loyal person I have ever met. He always puts his needs second and never complains.
When we met, he was all gloomy and dark but we spent some time together when Percy and Annabeth were in Tartarus and I got to know something about the real Nico. When I rescued Calypso and came back, I thought I might've had a chance with him.
But then, he goes on to tell Percy about his crush on him and now they are together every time I see them and I have no idea what to do. Percy is the golden boy. Everybody has a crush on him, male, female, god!
I mean, how do I contest with that? So, yeah, that's my miserable story. Back to the present. I was sitting on Festus and brooding when Jason came over. "Hey, why are you here? Nico's looking for you," he said.
I looked at him, "Yeah right. He's probably busy cozying up to Percy," I replied bitterly. Jason looked utterly confused. "Percy? What in Hades are you talking about?" he asked. "I saw them walking along the shore. They were laughing and their arms were around each other," I said.
"What? No man! They are strictly bros. Percy is still with Annabeth," he said and now it was my turn to get confused. "What? I thought they broke up," I said. "What? No! They are still going on strong as ever man. And believe me, Nico is definitely over Percy."
"How would you know that?" I asked him. "He told me and Percy," Jason replied with an eye roll. "Wow! Really. I thought Percy and Annabeth broke up. I didn't see Annabeth after I came back," I replied.
"Annabeth's gone to New Rome so that she can be the architect of New Greece. So stop your sulking and come on," Jason said. I got up with a grumble and followed him.
"Anyone caught your eye yet, Nico?" Percy asked me. I had told Percy a few weeks ago that I was gay and had had a crush on him. He took it surprisingly well and has made it a point to hang out with me whenever he could and it was actually really nice to have a friend to be with. We were on the beach when he asked me this question.
I blushed a deep red as he asked that question and scowled and shook my head. He saw through me as I if I were a shadow. "Nico, you and I both know you can't lie to me. Tell me, who is it?" he asked and I gave in.
"Perce, it doesn't even matter. It's only a crush and he already has a gorgeous girlfriend," I replied trying to sound nonchalant, but somehow he saw through that too. He raised an eyebrow at me. I huffed and folded my arms, "It's Leo, okay? You happy now?" I asked him.
Percy was taken aback. I could see that in his eyes and then he started to laugh. That hurt a lot. "Yea Percy, pick on the gay kid," I said and shoved him a bit. Percy's eyes widened yet again.
"Wait what? I'm laughing because you said Leo's got a girlfriend," Percy replied and I looked at him in confusion with scrunched eyes. "Dude, Calypso is definitely not Leo's girlfriend. Believe me when I say that," Percy said.
That left me even more confused. I was about to open my mouth to ask for more information but Jason and Leo came barging in. "Hi guys," Jason said giving me a fist bump and giving Percy a bro hug.
Their bromance was growing day by day and it made me feel like the straightest person ever when I was around them and that's definitely saying something. Leo, who had tagged along with Jason looked so uncomfortable.
Not that I blame him. He was probably put off by my presence which reeked of death and darkness. He gave me a small uncomfortable smile which I returned as I felt my chest tighten and realized that he'd never want to be with me.
Percy and Jason looked at both of us and then at each other and smirked. I groaned. I hated it when they did that cause that usually means that they were going to do something that I didn't want them to.
"Percy, would you like to spar," Jason asked Percy. Percy smiled, "I don't know, Jason. I don't really want to leave Nico alone," he replied. Oh come on, bro. I'm pretty sure Leo would be more than willing to look after him," Jason said and Leo froze.
"Oh no, you don't—" he started but was cut off by Percy saying, "Yeah, you're right. Leo, look after my little bro, will ya," he said, ruffling my hair and turned to leave with Jason. "Percy, don't you dare do this to me!" I yelled at him, "Come back here you little shit!"
But he didn't pay any attention to me and left me standing awkwardly with a stunned Leo. "Umm. . . hi," I said. "Uh . . . hi," he replied, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand, "So what do you wanna do?" he asked.
"You don't really have to stay with me. I can handle being with myself," I said, but crossed my fingers and hoped that he would stay. Tyche was on my side apparently because he shook his head and said, "Its fine. I'm not really busy anyway. What do you wanna do?" he asked again.
"I don't know. Whatever," I replied.
My heart was racing because I was near Nico and I tried so hard not to show out how nervous I was. I was really gonna kill Jason when he comes back. Nico and I were basically just walking along the shore talking randomly and it was kinda nice.
So maybe I won't totally kill Jason. Maybe maim him. We sat down after an hour of walking under a tree. "So, how are you and Calypso?" he asked me. "Calypso's fine. She's so much help in the Hephaestus cabin," I replied.
"So she makes you happy?" he asked me and I was absolutely confused right now. "She makes me happy as much as any of my friends, I guess," I said, wondering where he was going with this.
I saw him do a double take, "You and Calypso are friends?" he asked me. "Of course we are. What did you think?" I asked him. "I thought you two were a thing," he said and his face looked kinda relieved, but I was sure that my eyes were just playing tricks on me.
"What, no! I don't really swing that way, anyway," I replied. His eyes widened once again, "You're gay?!" he yelled. "Keep it down," I said, my hand reflexively closing his mouth. I blushed as I saw where my hand was and quickly removed it.
"You're gay?" he asked again, in a whisper. "No shit, Sherlock," I said. "But you hit on every girl you see!" he said incredulously, his eyes looked like they were gonna come out of his sockets.
"I know. I just wanted to make sure what I was going through wasn't just a phase and make sure that people never knew that I was gay. I wasn't very accepting of it until recently," I replied.
"Who were you attracted to first?" Nico asked and I answered very honestly, "It was Jason, of course. He was the first person who looked really good and was really nice to me." "And now?" Nico asked.
"Now, not so much. I have my sights set on someone else," I said, looking at him full on. "Oh, Do I know him?" Nico asked but I didn't really answer. I was looking at him and taking him in.
The sun was setting and he looked beautiful against the backdrop. His pale skin glowed and his hair blew away from his face. His jaw was perfect, sharp and well defined. I could see his mouth moving. Those perfect full lips. How I longed to feel them on mine while holding him to me.
"Leo! Leo! Earth to Leo." Nico was waving his arms in front of my face and looking absolutely gorgeous. But the crazy arm wave took me out of my stupor though so I snapped back to reality.
"What were you saying?" I asked. "What? In fantasy land with your someone?" he asked me, his voice bitter. Why is he sad? "Who is he anyway? Do I know him?" he asked me. "Yeah you do. You probably know him better than anyone," I replied. Nico groaned, "Please don't tell me it's Percy. He's not even gay."
"What! No! Of course I might've been attracted to him when I first met him but I'm definitely not into him," I said and then felt a little braver. I didn't know why I felt that way or what made me feel that way.
It could've been just talking to Nico or it might've just been my stupid, filter free brain, but whatever it was, I just told him, "I like you," and I held my breath and waited for what seemed like a long time.
What the? I didn't really expect that to come out of his mouth. I thought he'd be talking about Percy or Jason or Will! Not me! I could see Leo was turning white and realized that he was holding his breath. I really didn't know what to say and sat there stunned.
He finally let go of his breath. "Please say something," he said, his voice was small. He looked at the ground and was ripping the grass. My mouth was opening and closing like a fish when he looked up at me.
His eyes were all glassy like he would cry anytime soon. "Gods, I'm so stupid," he said, running a hand through his hair, "Just, just forget this happened alright. I'm so fucking stupid," he said and a tear made way down his cheeks.
And that made my chest hurt. How stupid was I? Here he was, my love confessing that he liked me and I'm making him cry by not accepting him. The grass around me turned brown and wilted.
Unfortunately, he noticed that. "Does it really disgust you that much to know that I like you?" he asked me, his voice breaking. "NO! No, of course not! Leo, I like you too! This was just so sudden I didn't know how to react! I really really like you! I've been crushing on you for some time now," the words came out like word vomit.
I put a hand over my mouth and stared at Leo in horror. That was the worst case of word vomit that I've ever had and probably will ever have. "You like me?" he asked. "No shit, Sherlock," I sassed, repeating what he said and slid closer to him.
Leo looked into my eyes and I felt like he was staring into my soul and then he came in close to my face. I was nervous. It was my first kiss and I didn't even know what to do. Thankfully, before I could embarrass myself, his nose caught on fire and I yelped.
"Holy Hephaestus, Leo! Your nose is on fire," I said and he hurriedly patted it and put it out. "Now that's just great," he groaned. I smiled and pecked him on his lips. A small chaste kiss. Just a peck. His eyes opened wider and he pecked my lips.
The pecks turned into small kisses and then we were kissing. Like, fullout kissing. It all felt so natural. His lips were so soft but firm and felt great against mine. I threw my arm over his head and brought him closer to me.
Leo's arms went around my waist, going up and down my back. When we came up for air, I continued to kiss down his neck and then went back to his lips again. His hand went under my shirt and I shivered.
Leo smiled against my lips and took his hand out. Then he ended it with give me a soft kiss and opening his eyes to look at me. I was breathing heavily and so was he and I was dumbstruck. That felt great. It felt so real, so raw. So natural.
"That was great," he said, but I wasn't getting enough of him so I went back to claim his lips. I shifted on to his lap and we had a make out session against the tree Leo was leaning against.
"Oh great! Alright, you love birds, that's enough. Break it up," we heard a new voice which startled us. It was Percy and Jason looking at us with huge grins on their faces. They gave each other a high five and looked even happier than we were.
"Does that mean you both are together now?" Percy asked. I looked at Leo and he grinned at me, nodding. "Oh thank the gods, I was getting tired of Leo going on and on about how you were cozying up to Percy and how you'd never accept him," Jason said, letting out a sigh of relief.
Leo blushed, "I wasn't that bad," he replied. Jason looked at him with an eyebrow arched. "Alright, fine! Maybe I was that bad. I couldn't help it. Now would you guys clear the place? My boyfriend and I are going to make out some more," he said.
"Oh no, you don't," Percy said, pulling me away from my boyfriend. "Hey!" I pouted. "You can have him tomorrow at six and you better swing by to pick him up. Come on, Neeks. You are giving me details," Percy said, pulling me towards the way of his cabin.
I went unwillingly, but I was still overjoyed that I finally got together with Leo. I told Percy everything and he laughed when I told him about Leo's nose. "I can totally imagine that happening," he said.
"Alright, you are having a date tomorrow. So go to sleep. You need your beauty sleep," Percy said. "Dude, it's like you are more excited than I am," I said, smiling. "I can't help it. You have been so down for so long and it makes me so happy to see you happy and all drunk in love," Percy said, giving me a hug.
"Thanks," I said, hugging him back. Then I shadow travelled back to my cabin. When I woke from the nap I took the next morning after lunch, I was greeted by Aphrodite kids outside my door along with Percy, Annabeth and Reyna.
Though I was annoyed a bit, I was kinda happy at how much they cared and let them all in, bracing myself for the makeover I was gonna get.
Hope you liked it cuz :) And I hope all you guys who read this like it as well. Give me some love and leave a review.
Jen Cullen
Daughter of Poseidon