Touch

The Zeus cabin was hollow and dark, as it usually was. Hollow, dark, and empty but for the two demigods who sat on the lonesome bunk in the back of the room. The spot where they sat, or more like lolled, was the only spot in the whole cabin where the excessively large statue of Zeus couldn't see with his terrifyingly stern eyes. Naturally, the two demigods were doing exactly something that Zeus likely wouldn't want to watch. Especially not if one of those demigods was his son and another was a petite, yet powerful, daughter of Aphrodite. Jason and Piper took the precaution to avoid his gaze as they lazily draped themselves over the comforter.

It was the beginning of September, the summer heat was fading but present. The war with Gaea was over at last and it seemed that the camp was freed of all negative energy. As if there had been dark storm clouds brewing and they finally dissipated with victory. So Jason and Piper celebrated the last week of camp by being together. Once the school year started, Jason would be off building temples for every god and goddess imaginable. And more. He'd been so preoccupied the last month with Annabeth, making blueprints and figuring out where to place each shrine Piper had to remind him to take a breath every once and a while. Piper leaned against Jason's side, feeling every deep inhale he took and the warmth that radiated off of him, thinking about what obstacle The Fates would throw at them to try and make them fall.

"I'm going to miss you," Piper bit her lip as she buried her head into his tee-shirt, her voice was muffled when she spoke again, "When you leave me to build stupid temples."

Jason chucked, "I already told you that you could come with me."

"I know, just let me be annoyed," Piper shifted up higher so her head could rest on his shoulder, "I want to but I have to stay here, I need to keep up with my studies or I'll never be able to go to a normal school again."

All Jason wanted to do was stuff Piper in a suitcase and carry her with him everywhere he went. It pained him to go as much as it pained her to stay. He was able to work out a decent schedule so he would be able to visit both camps a lot, luckily a lot of shrines were being built in Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter. But he was starting out in Houston, Texas, an odd request from Kym, but a promise he would have to keep.

"I'm going to Iris Message you every night," Jason assured her, "That's a promise."

"Good," Piper said, "But I still hate the fact that I won't be able to touch you."
Jason swallowed thickly as her nimble fingers traced unidentifiable patterns onto his chest. He wanted to say something but didn't know what. All he could do was feel. Feel her warm breath on his collarbone and her hands raking up and down and eventually under his shirt. She hesitated once her hand rested on his bare chest, his shirt still on. Her soft eyes met his, wanting permission to continue. Being a new couple, almost everything they did was new. New touches and new places to touch. Jason's pulse raced faster than what wouldn't have been humiliating but he nodded and let her pull his shirt higher. Piper decided she didn't have the best angle to fully make her boyfriend blush so she placed two hands next to each of Jason's forearms and pushed herself up so she could sit down on his thighs.

Jason could only try as hard as he could not to get an erection as Piper leaned down and kissed him. He tried to let the familiarness of her lips wash out as much of the discomfort he felt. They'd kissed before, many times. They'd kissed for a long periods of time, on top of the roof of the cabin. But this was different. This wasn't just kissing, this was girl-straddling-boy, hands-roaming-free, oh-my-gods-her-tongue-is-really-far-into-my-mouth kissing. This was making out. Jason wanted to like it, he did like it. But one pressing concern was pinching his brain. He told himself to ignore it. To just feel. Feel how soft her fingertips were against his stomach, how good it felt to run his hands through her hair. He tried not to think about her sitting on his legs, or how it might feel if she were to shift her hips just a few inches forward.

Jason buried his thoughts in Piper. He felt his body temperature rising every time they pressed their lips back together. Her gorgeously plump lips, slick and now on his neck. Jason took in a breath as deep as he could and tried even harder not to embarrass himself … down there … as much as he could. He felt as Piper's hands gingerly removed his from her hair and then he felt the warm, thereness of her waist. He loved Piper McLean and that was a fact. She was whole, solid, and she was there in every sense. Jason told himself to relax as he gave a gentle squeeze. At this, Piper shifted forward so she was almost on top of the place most guys would've wanted their girlfriends to sit, but not Jason. He jumped.

Piper flinched and looked at him with concern. Her cheeks were flushed and her chest heaved deeply. Her hair was a perfect bird's nest. Jason silently cursed himself for being so jittery. Especially around such a beautiful girl who was in love with him and who was literally throwing herself on top of him.

"Sorry," she said immediately. Then, after studying his face, "Is something wrong?"

"No, everything's cool," Jason lied, "I guess it was … this might be … you just surprised me is all."

"Alright," Piper didn't seem to fully believe him, "Just tell me if you want to stop."

"Yeah, of course," Jason breathed and caught her lips with his. Piper didn't kiss back at first, still unsure, but soon complied.

Piper was more cautious after that. She let her hands circle his back and up into his hair but didn't move any other part of her body. Jason lost track of time. He had been so lost in the taste of her tongue that when she tugged at his shirt, it felt completely natural to lift his arms and let her pull it over his head. She carefully took his glasses off his face, too, since they were completely fogged up and served no purpose for their current activity. She placed them on the nightstand and turned back to Jason, brushing his hair up out of his eyes. Everything she did, every move she made was swift and precise. Of course, her mother was the goddess of love, this was her territory. Even though Zeus was known for getting it on with mortals, nymphs, and goddesses galore, Jason unfortunately didn't inherit his skill there.

Piper leaned back and absorbed the image of her half-naked, sweaty, flushed boyfriend. As she caught her breath and drunk in the sight of his bare chest, Jason realized that he was pitching a tent. It was very prominent and also would be very difficult to hide. But, strangely enough for Jason, Piper either didn't notice or didn't care.

"What did I do to deserve you?" she said instead, "A hero, kind, and painfully attractive."

Jason would've replied but all he could do was smile as she kissed him again. She shifted forward again, but this time not fully on top of his bulge. This made him pause for a moment, but he was able to swing back into his groove within seconds. Piper firmly placed her hands on his shoulders then ran them down until she reached right above the waistband of his shorts. When she tucked her fingers under to pop open the button, Jason's pinching concern chomped down hard.

"Stop!" he said a little too loudly for his liking as his hands retreated to his sides, pressing into the mattress and causing his shoulders to raise awkwardly. Piper had moved so she was sitting cross-legged right behind his knees, her hands in an almost-surrender position.

"Damn it, Piper, I'm sorry," Jason apologized and put his face in his hands.

"Don't be," she said, "Please."

"No, that was … I shouldn't have done that."

"Jason, seriously, if something made you uncomfortable, I wouldn't have wanted to continue."

Jason felt humiliated. His erection had already began to fade. Here he was, this huge hero of Olympus, scared to be intimate with his caring, loving girlfriend.

Piper snapped him out of his self-loathing haze, "Jason," she untangled her legs so she could kneel closer to him, "I'm not going to charmspeak you into saying this, just tell me, what did I do wrong?"

"Nothing," he said miserably, "That's the problem, you did nothing wrong, it's me."

"This sounds like you're about to break up with me," Piper half-joked.

"No! Gods, no. It's just … I have this thing," Jason wanted to fast forward through this conversation more than anything else he'd ever wanted before, "Not, like, an STD or anything, oh gods, that's what this sounds like, isn't it?"
"Breathe," Piper laced charmspeak into her words this time, "Relax, and then speak."

Jason took a deep breath as he felt stress lift off of his shoulders, "Okay," he cleared his throat, "Sorry, I'm just really embarrassed right now."

"It's just me, Jason."

"Okay, uh, well, here it is," Jason shifted uncomfortably, "I feel like … I just don't want …"

He sighed and gathered all of his confidence, "I want to wait. To have sex. I don't want to do it until we're both eighteen."

"Okay," Piper nodded and resumed her position from before, laying on her side, leaning up against him.

"Wait, really?" Jason blurted without thinking.

Piper rolled her eyes at him, "What did you think I was going to to? Break up with you?"

"I was at least expecting you to laugh."

"Jason! How horrible of a person do you think I am?"

"I'm sorry," Jason cringed, "So, do you feel the same way?
"About waiting to have sex? Honestly, no. But if you want to wait, I'll respect that. Because I love you."

"I love you, too. And if you want to do it sooner then I can -"

"No. Later is better than never. You just told me you wanted to wait. Don't consider what I might want right now. If that's really how you feel then we'll wait."

"Sorry."

"Can you please stop apologizing?"

Jason almost apologized again but Piper thankfully kissed him to shut him up. When she pulled away she seemed more delicate.

"Do you feel like we're moving too fast?" Piper inquired, "Was I moving too fast?"

"No," Jason shook his head, "Like I said, it's me. Obviously you weren't thinking that we were going to have sex today, I just got nervous. I'd really like to do other things with you, uh, below the belt. Just with an itinerary."
"You dork," Piper giggled and swung her leg over so she was sitting directly on top of Jason's half-boner. He felt blood rush from his brain. Piper attached her lips to his neck and teased the skin there with her mouth as she grinded down into his lap. Jason groaned at the perfect friction and Piper let a wave of pleasure wash over her.

"That okay?" she breathed.

"More than okay," he sighed.