Octavian's POV

…

I've always admired Percy, no matter what he did. And there was a lot to choose from. Percy played football, basketball, baseball, and tennis. He wrestled, ran track, and swam. How he did all those things at once, I won't ever know. And he was a straight A student, a bit like myself. He was also the junior class president and the head of half our clubs.

Translation: Percy Jackson was very popular.

Don't get me wrong, I loved that Percy had so many friends. There always seemed to be a small group of fans around him wherever he went. And I always had a dream of approaching him and carrying on an extended conversation with him, but I knew as soon as I started I would get tongue tied and flounder. I guess you could say I have a celebrity crush on Percy. Considering he was some sort of local celebrity, it wasn't as far-fetched as it sounded. My mother and absentee father both knew about my little crush on Percy, but they didn't really give a shit. It hurt sometimes. I often envied Percy's easy life. He seemed to have everything, while I'd been handed the short stick in life.

So, I mentioned my father above. Well, about two years ago he decided he didn't love my mom and me anymore and moved in with his twenty-something girlfriend. Mom got super depressed for a long time, and she is now a recovering alcoholic. She's been sober a couple months, but she was still unstable and never around. So I've basically been taking care of myself for two years. I had an older brother, but he moved across the country and rarely checked up on me. I missed Tobias (aka Toby) but since I didn't have his phone number, I couldn't very well call him for support if I needed it. I wasn't very popular at school, and didn't have many close friends, so I was left alone most nights. Next to my life, Percy's seemed downright cheerful.

Sighing, I set my stuff in my locker and gazed around the small, cramped space. Some of my more expensive and breakable items I kept stored in my school locker so mom couldn't sell them, trade them, or break them. Not that I had a lot anyway. I smoothed down my wrinkled orange polo, gazing down sadly at my rumpled appearance. Last night, the water company shut off our water, so I hadn't gotten to shower this morning. I was going to the Y later to shower. They let me do that sometimes. I think the old ladies there felt bad for me, so when I brought my shower stuff with me, they always gave me a soda and some candy to take home. I didn't have the heart to tell them that would be what I had for supper that particular night.

"Octavian." I glanced sideways and nearly leaped through the ceiling. Percy was beside me, leaning against the lockers. "Do you have the chem notes from third hour? I was in the nurse's office most of the morning." Wordlessly, I nodded and extracted my chemistry notebook from my locker, handing it to him. "Thanks Tavy," he said, wandering off, tucking the notebook under his arm.

"Tavy?" I questioned to no one in particular, gripping my locker door tight. "Why the hell did he call me Tavy?" I knew he had nicknames for most of his friends, but I wasn't lumped into that group. I was just the lanky kid he had some classes with. I shouldered my schoolbag, which held a change of clothes, some shampoo and conditioner, body wash, and a brush. I was going to the Y directly after school. I just hoped that I didn't run into any of my classmates. It was embarrassing enough as it was. I made my way down to the Y, only a block from the school, and sighed in using the keypad.

"Hello Octavian," Mildred said, looking up from her computer. Her tan, wrinkled face softened considerably when she saw my schoolbag. "Are you here to shower?"

"Yes," I said softly. "The company shut off my water again. I clutched my backpack closer to myself as I made my way to the locker room. I went back to the showers and strung the towel I used for privacy across the open doorway. I slipped inside and shed my clothing, feeling exposed as usual. The towel didn't provide much privacy, and I was aware that at any moment some snotty kid could rip it down. I applied turned the water on and waited for it to get warm, hugging my arms to my torso.

"Ugh, Jay, I'm sick of the smell of chlorine." I froze when I heard Percy's voice. He must've been talking with Jason Grace, another ultimate athlete. "I swear, if I smell chlorine one more time, I'm going to vomit. Hello, what's this?" I glanced down and saw a set of feet outside my stall. I shrunk against the wall and prayed that Percy and Jason didn't get to curious. "What do you make of this Jay?" Another set of feet materialized out of nowhere.

"Hmmm, not sure Perce," Jason replied. "I wonder if anyone would mind if we tore it down." The towel began a slow decent, and I gulped.

"Oh, knock it off Jay," he said. "Whoever is in there obviously doesn't want to be seen. Go get changed. I'm going to shower up." A set of feet disappeared, but one set remained. Percy was still standing outside my stall. The water was boiling hot, but I stepped into it all the same, sucking in a breath as the hot liquid hit my skin. "Tavy, is that you?" Percy asked. "Do you mind if I peek in?" I thought about not answering him, but Percy was persistent and saying nothing wouldn't do anything.

"Yeah Percy, it's me," I said, stepping out of the water and wrapping another towel around my waist. "Sure, you can peek in if you really want." The towel was tossed aside and Percy stood there, damp hair clinging to his head, in nothing but blue swim trunks. I blushed and looked down. But not before I noticed the faint coloring of Percy's cheeks as well.

"So," Percy said, shifting from foot to foot. "What exactly are you doing here? In nothing but a towel?" I sighed and shut the water off. Maybe coming here was a bad idea. I gathered up my things and went into a bathroom stall, closing the door behind me. Percy trailed me, and Jason looked at us curiously, but he said nothing. Percy waited patiently while I changed, and when I emerged, he flanked me like the Royal Guard. I gazed at him questioningly. "Jay, let's say we take Tavy here to our game with us."

"Tavy?" Jason asked, looking at me. "What's his real name Perce? I don't even know the kid." I looked down at my bare feet and said nothing. I didn't catch the hard look Percy was giving Jason.

"Octavian," he said through gritted teeth. "His name is Octavian. You know him. Freshman year his dad…" He stopped abruptly and set his jaw. A flicker of recognition sparked in Jason's eyes. But I said nothing. So this is how they both knew me. My bastard father. Goody. I snatched up my bag and went to leave, holding my shoes by the laces.

"Thanks for the offer Percy, but I think I'm just going to go home." My voice caught on the word home, but I said nothing further. Percy snatched at my sleeve, halting my progress. I turned to face him, and his pleading sea-green eyes were on me. I sighed. "Percy, what?" I asked sharply, and he actually took a step back.

"Just come with us, please Tavy?" he said softly. "Don't play games with me." He took my elbow and led me away from Jason. He pitched his voice low so only I could hear. "I know you don't have much of a home to go to. Everyone does. Why don't you accompany me as my special guest to the game, then sleep over at my house." What he said stung, and I had tears in my eyes before I could stop them. "Aww Tavy, don't cry," Percy soothed.

"Quit calling me Tavy," I spat at him. "I don't want the nickname. Please don't pretend to be nice to me." Percy looked genuinely hurt when I said that.

"I'm not pretending Tav…Octavian," he said. "You just seem a little lonely by yourself all the time, that's all. And why can't I call you Tavy anyway? I like the nickname. It makes you cute." Anything I'd been about to say died on my lips as he said that. I blushed. "Aww, that's cute. So Tavy, what do you say?" He slung an arm over my shoulder, and I could've gladly melted to a puddle on the spot.

"How can I say no?" I said to him, letting myself be dragged along to whatever game they were talking about.

…

I know it's kind of a slow start, but this will eventually be Percy/Octavian, told mostly from Tavy's POV. I want to give them a proper ship name, but the only thing that sounds good is Pertavian. I'm curious to see what you guys could come up with. Any suggestions leave in a review.