Someone in the reviews (The first one! Thanks!) mentioned a continuation of this story. I never thought I would continue it. It was meant to be a one-shot, and nothing more. I tried to figure out how I would do it, though. How COULD I make a continuation in order to please this lovely Guest?

I'm not sure if this is what you wanted or not, but here goes.


It hurt.

It hurt, not having a shoulder to cry on. But Jason couldn't tell anyone.

Who could he tell? Piper? No. she definitely wasn't an option. Jason hadn't actually broken up with her yet. How do you tell your girlfriend that you're gay for someone who's taken?

Leo was...well, Leo, so he was out of the question, too.

He couldn't tell Frank. Frank would tell Hazel because, despite his awkward friendliness, he never knew how to handle situations like this. So, he would go to his girlfriend. Despite Hazel actually having a boyfriend, she wouldn't know what to do either. She would tell someone. Ask for advice.

Jason couldn't tell Percy, for obvious reasons.

He definitely couldn't tell Nico.

So he cried alone. He would sit on the mast and sob, where no one could hear him. He sobbed about his feelings that would never be returned. He sobbed about not knowing what to do.

And he would sob about being alone.

Then Nico found him. Nico went to the top of the mast one day because Percy was on a mini-quest. And he saw Jason crying. Nico wasn't good with emotions. He wasn't good with comforting people. So, because Jason was there for him, he did what he figured Jason would do. He sat next to Jason on the mast. He watched the son of Jupiter, who had apparently given up on hiding his saddness, as he continued to sob.

Then he took his hand and shadow-traveled them to Nico's room.

They landed on the bed. Jason was still sobbing. So Nico held Jason in his arms, a comforting hug. He just sat there and hugged him, staying silent, offering no advice. He didn't pry. He never asked why Jason was so unhappy. He was just there, a comforting presence.

But it hurt.

It hurt, being so close to him. Having Nico hug him, usually an affectionate move, was now almost meaningless. All it meant was: I'm socially awkward, so I don't know what else to do. It had lost all the affection, all the love. So it hurt, being so close, yet so far to Nico's loving embrace. The loving embrace that seemed to be reserved for Percy and Hazel. But he savoured it anyway. It was the closest Jason would ever get, so he made sure he would remember it.

It happened more then once, though. Because Nico never pried, Jason figured that it was okay to go to Nico when he was breaking down. So Nico comforted him at least once or twice a week. They would sit on Nico's bed. Nico would just hug the son of Jupiter, and Jason would cry into his shoulder until he fell asleep. He would wake up in Nico's bed, wrapped in the blanket the day after. He would lay there, breathing in Nico's scent, until he felt like he could get up.

But it hurt.