AN: Another chapter edited, please let me know if anything is incorrect, thanks again.


Nico laid awake that night for hours. He tossed and turned, shoving his face into his pillow but his mind was traveling too quickly to be quieted.

He had long battled with his feelings for the son of the sea god, but why should that night be any different? Why couldn't Percy see that being friends was too difficult for Nico, even if he didn't know the reason? And the way his eyes sparked when they gazed upon Nico, the color amplified by the nicely fitting aquamarine T-shirt.

Nico internally rolled his eyes at himself. Get a grip, di Angelo, he thought to himself. That boy was straight as straight could be. Besides, Nico, with all of his baggage and lack of confidence, could never truly be with someone. He had a hard enough time being with his sister. But out of all the people that Nico had known, Percy had been the one he cared for the most.

Finally coming to the realization that he was not going to get a minute of sleep, Nico decided to take a walk in the hopes of clearing his head.

He wandered around the camp, admiring the beautiful architecture of each cabin and how they all uniquely expressed the gods and goddesses they belonged to.

Nico quickly passed the Poseidon cabin without so much as a glance, knowing he would linger far too long if he looked.

After passing the numerous cabins, Nico found himself at the ocean's edge. He inhaled deeply, enjoying the salty scent that reminded him of Percy.

Before he could change his mind, Nico removed all of his clothing save his boxers and half ran, half dove into the water. He needed to clean himself of his thoughts.

The water was warm and cleansing. The slow waves calmed him with their steady rhythm and Nico allowed himself to wash back to shore. He knew he would now finally be able to sleep.

...

Percy was chasing Nico, sprinting as fast as he could down a seemingly never-ending tunnel. Every time he would get close to Nico, the son of Hades would turn back and smirk as if to say "yeah, keep dreaming, Jackson."

"Nico, wait!" Percy called, but the other boy had already disappeared around another corner.

The tunnel branched off into two forks, and Percy tried to listen down one to see if he could hear footsteps. Giving up and figuring his best bet was just to keep running, Percy chose one at random and sprinted down it.

He heard Nico laugh, a pleasant sound that Percy hadn't heard in years. He remembered a time when he could make Nico laugh like that.

Finally, Percy reached a dead end, and Nico stood facing him, his back a foot from the wall.

"I caught you," Percy said almost incredulously. Nico made an attempt to run around him, but Percy blocked his path and caught him with both arms.

When did Nico get so strong?

Percy shoved Nico against the wall and placed both hands next to his body so that the smaller boy would not try to escape again.

Nico looked down at Percy's shoes and lazily made his way up, looking at Percy's face beneath long, dark lashes.

"It appears you have," murmured Nico. Suddenly lifting his dark eyes to meet Percy's green ones, he said, "So what are you going to do with me?"

...

Percy awoke in a cold sweat, his body on fire it seemed, every nerve on full alert. He needed to get out of the cabin.

It was just before dawn when Percy jogged out of his cabin towards the sea. He needed to rid himself of the dream. "What in Tartarus?' he muttered to himself, shaking his head as he ran.

He finally reached the beach and leapt into the water, not bothering to remove his clothes since he could dry them instantly if he needed to.

Percy dove far beneath the surface, sitting on the wet sand at the bottom, trying to think through his dream.

He was glad he woke up when he did, he was afraid of what would have happened next, and even more afraid he might have enjoyed it. What was wrong with him? One moment he simply wants to be friends with this guy, and the next he dreams about almost kissing him?

He placed his head in his hands, rubbing his temples.

"It was just a dream," he consoled himself. Nobody had to know about it, it was his information and his alone. He nodded to himself, suddenly feeling better. He had had weirder dreams before, it didn't mean anything, though deep in his heart he knew he was lying to himself. It had meant something, it had made him feel something he had never felt before, though he was unsure if he wanted to feel it again.

His whole body and seemingly the entire ocean around him screamed "Yes you want to feel it again, it was the best thing you've felt before!" though his mind still held him back. Finally resolving that he would put the dream behind him and simply try to become better friends with Nico, Percy resurfaced as the sun just began to kiss the water.

The ocean helped him out onto the beach and immediately he was dry, giving his hair a final shake. He glanced down eyeing a small sea turtle, recently hatched, trying to make its way to the sea.

Percy looked up and spotted a sea gull eyeing the turtle, awaiting its next meal. Percy gently lifted the turtle and walked it into the water before setting it free. As he was bent over, a small shadow seemed to appear in the corner of his eye. He turned to look and discovered it was a dark T-shirt, one that Percy recognized immediately.

Nico.

The name scorched his mind, igniting a well of excitement that coursed through his veins. It was an excuse to see Nico. Trying and failing to stop the grin that spread across his face, the son of the sea god made his way up the bank to the Hades cabin.

...

The sun was now above the horizon, making its slow ascent into the sky, brightening the world as it went. Percy walked along the cabins until he reached the one he sought.

He climbed the darkly colored steps and knocked on the large, silver door. The sound seemed to boom and echo within, but no sound emerged from the cabin. The son of Hades must have still been asleep. Or unwilling to see visitors.

Quietly, worried about which Nico he would encounter today, Percy entered the cabin, gently closing the door behind him. The cabin was large, much larger than it needed to be, as its only occupant at the moment was Nico.

The young demigod was clearly deep in sleep on his side, facing Percy, providing a nice view of his lovely face and full lips. Nico breathed deeply, suddenly furrowing his eyebrows as if in thought. Percy wondered what he could be dreaming about.

Nico suddenly shook his head, a response to a conversation being had in the dream. He curled into a tighter ball, clutching his blanket more tightly, and as he moved, the blanket fell off one of his arms, allowing Percy to now see a scar on his arm the son of the sea had never seen before.

It was most likely yet another battle scar, Percy himself had too many to count, but something about this cut was strange. It almost seemed to glow a dull gold that brightened quickly as Percy slowly walked towards the other boy without even realizing he was moving.

The blanket had also uncovered his bare torso, exposing his large muscles and powerful arms from years of battles.

Percy reached out a hand as if to smooth the disturbed hair on Nico's head but just before he could realize what he was doing, harsh, dark eyes opened and gazed upon him fiercely.

"What are you doing in my room?"

The voice was deadly calm, scary calm, and Percy, now aware of how his hand was mere inches from the other man's forehead, quickly dropped his arm back to his side.

Gods, what was he doing here? he thought to himself. Right. The shirt.

The dark T-shirt was held tightly in Percy's hand and he gazed down on it thoughtfully.

"I'm sorry," he started, and the dark eyes betrayed no emotion. "I found this next to the ocean, I thought maybe it was yours?" He stated it as a question but the demigod was certain that the clothing belonged to the son of Hades.

Nico sat up in his bed, creating a bit more distance between the two and Percy, not knowing why, felt the loss. He tried to maintain his gaze on the other's face, but it was difficult with the tempting abs that lay tensed in front of him.

Tempting abs? What?

"Yes, that's mine," Nico stated factually. When Percy looked at the floor in embarrassment and what appeared was disappointment, he tried to amend the harshness of his words with a "Thank you."

"Yeah... you're welcome," Percy replied, reaching forward and handing him the balled T-shirt, their fingers brushing softly against one another, and Nico pulled back quickly as though electrocuted.

Percy stepped back at the action, scratching the back of his head nervously.

Nico suddenly felt a pang in his heart and the scar on his arm seeing how beautiful and powerful the man standing before him looked committing the action.

He looked deep into the sea-green eyes he loved and saw how they danced with excitement and a bit of mischief. He shook his head, breaking himself of his reverie.

"Well, uh, I'll leave you to it then," Percy said, breaking the awkward silence.

He began to exit the room but just as his hand was on the door, he heard, "Percy?"

"Yeah?" he replied casually.

"Nothing, just... thanks again."

"No problem. And Nico," he said, turning to look the other in the eyes, "next time you want to go for a swim, let me know. I'll show you around."

And with that and a hearty grin, the green-eyed demigod left the room.


AN: So what did you think? I know that there hasn't been anything of "adult content" yet but I think there will be in the next chapter. Just an FYI. Comment what you thought.

-Hope