This was inspired by a lovely fanfic by amoleofmonsters called "Shutter" on AO3.
I do not own PJO, HoO, or the characters in them; Rick Riordan does.
NICO POV
It's August and you're fighting the Giant War. Percy is beautiful, a whirlwind, slaying monsters left and right. You, Jason and him team up, the children of the big three together, and use your powers to win the war; Annabeth, Piper, and the others watch in awe as Percy utilizes his control of water to choke the giants, Jason uses his power over air to suffocate the titans, and you singlehandedly stop Gaea from rising, earth against earth. The three of you look up at them, elated, expecting them to congratulate you and rejoice- but they look shocked and nervous, not proud. Annabeth and Piper exchange a look and shudder. You frown- shouldn't they be happy?
It's October now, and things have finally settled down. Camp Half-blood and Camp Jupiter are both running normally. Everyone and everything is fine- or is it? Piper and Annabeth keep whispering secretively to each other, and their respective relationships with Jason and Percy seem strained. You, Leo, Percy and Jason start hanging out more as Piper and Annabeth start avoiding their boyfriends. You secretly love the extra time with Percy, although you don't show it; and it turns out that Leo isn't so annoying after all. Jason raises his eyebrow at you the first time Percy lays his head on your shoulder. You glare back at Jason, but inside you're ecstatic.
December rolls around and Percy is becoming more depressed by the minute. Annabeth stops sitting with him by the campfire and you notice that whenever she looks at him, she sighs sadly and Piper puts a hand on her shoulder. Late one night, someone knocks at your cabin door; it's Percy and it looks like he's about to cry. "I think Annabeth is going to break up with me," he half-sobs. You awkwardly pat him on the back. "I think- I think that she's scared of me or something. Of my… power?" It's like a question. He looks up at you, his eyes red and brimming with tears. "It's okay", you console him. "I kind of noticed it in Tartarus too… I was going to choke Misery, and she couldn't… handle it…" He buries his head in his knees and he's full-out crying now. It breaks your heart that he loves her this much, but it completely crushes it to see him so miserable. Sigh.
The New Year is here, and Annabeth breaks up with Percy (and Piper with Jason). "I'll always love you and we'll always be best friends," she says, as if it's scripted. "But I don't think we should be a couple. I just don't think it's right like that." You don't need anyone to tell you, even though everyone's gossiping about it; when Percy barrels into your cabin and falls onto your bed, sobbing into your pillow, you know immediately. You wrap your arms around him and his tears wet your T-shirt, and you stay like that for a long time.
February comes, and the four of you- Jason, Percy, Leo, and one heartsick son of Hades- spend Valentine's Day together, walking around Manhattan. You're surprised that Chiron is okay with you guys leaving camp, but he (walks?) up to you and whispers: "Distract him, Nico. He needs it," and you realize that he knows too. You walk past a couple making out and you steer Percy away. Jason sees them, though, and Leo gives him a bro-hug; you realize that Leo's been helping Jason the way that you've been helping Percy. "Do you miss her?" Leo asks Jason. He nods. Leo turns away and you catch a strange look on his face- not just sympathy, but something more. Oh. Oh. You decide to talk to Leo later.
It's March. During one of your many late-night talks with Leo, he admits that he likes Jason. "And you… you like Annabeth, right? Hazel said something about that…" Leo looks away. You chuckle softly to yourself. "Do you really think that, fire boy?" Fire boy thinks for a minute. After some halfhearted guesses of various girls around the camp, Leo purses his lips. "Percy?" You nod and smile, melancholy. Leo scratches the back of his neck. "I've been helping Jason… with Piper and all… and it kills me, you know?" Oh, yes. You know. You definitely know.
June comes, along with sweltering weather, and you four have become so close that you're actually referred to as 'The Four' by all the campers. You sit by the lake with the rest of The Four, and you notice something- as Leo rambles animatedly about one of his new projects, hands moving everywhere, almost smacking Percy in the face- Jason is staring at Leo. And even when he stops talking, Jason is still staring at Leo. And when Leo trips on a tree root as they leave the lake area and falls on Jason, Jason blushes furiously and stays tangled with Leo for a bit longer than necessary- and still stares at him. What you don't realize, though, is that Percy has been staring at you in the same way.
Finally, it's August. On the Feast of Hope, there's a party at camp, and you eat more than you ever have before; admittedly, you never eat very much, but still- you're absolutely stuffed. You plop down by the campfire, barely able to move, and dimly notice Connor and Travis passing around a bottle of wine. You hold out your cup, and beside you, Percy does too; you all end up refilling, and refilling, and refilling, until everyone is completely drunk. In your peripheral vision you see Annabeth and Piper making out against a tree, and Percy, Leo, and Jason see it too. "Well," Leo mumbles, perhaps the drunkest of you all, "That's interesting." Jason shakes his head. "No," he says; he actually seems pretty sober. Jason leans in to Leo, their faces inches apart. "But this, this is." And all of the sudden Jason is kissing Leo and Leo is kissing back and no one is noticing because everyone is making out now really and you look at Percy and smile and Percy smiles too and you lean in, maybe because you're drunk, you don't know, you don't care, and then his lips are touching your lips. And everything is perfect. Because hope is new beginnings, and whatever is beginning here is beautiful.