Heyy! I'm back! Right. I've been a little busy recently, with all the projects and exam revisions. Okay yeah, basic summary (not the story): this a percico fic, a very, or quite OOC one at that. It's basically the development of the percico relationship in an AU/highschool setting. Percy is not going to be the shitty thickhead, but the charming, popular guy in school, and Nico isn't going to be the shitty depressed brat, but the socially awkward guy (I really hope this doesn't sound clichéd). But I'm still keeping some of the original characteristics of the characters. And I'll need some help from someone who is familiar with the American highschool setting and the average teenager in America's lifestyle, for as you can see (from my profile), I definitely do not live in America. I wish to get as many of the facts right (as well as the language), though. And if any of you, my darling readers, wish to help me, you can just PM me, or send me an email (on my profile).

Warnings: Hm… An awkward Nico with a Percy who loves to tease him? That's no warning. Pfft. This is basically a story with no actual plot. It's just some random thing I conjured up but felt like writing it so much.

Read this note please: Normal words normal storyline, italics Nico's thoughts/emphasis, italics and italics with underlines (they always come together) Inner struggle (without line is the 'devil', and with line is the 'angel'), ANs are in bold.

~ . ~ . ~ . ~

Chapter 2

Nico woke up as usual at 7am. He was to wash up, prepare his breakfast, eat it, clean the house, then go to school. And as for weekends, finish his homework. He didn't have much of a life, to be exact.

Automatically, without thinking, he got up and went for the door, still thinking that he was at home.

That he was expected to help with the chores.

That he was expected to be the quiet boy.

That he was nothing but just a boy lurking in the shadows, invisible, ordinary, and unnoticed.

But he forgot that he wasn't at home. He was having a sleepover (if you could even call it a sleepover) with Percy Jackson, someone he wouldn't expected to have noticed him. Stepping out, he fumbled around for his slippers, but to not find them anywhere. Giving up, he decided to make his way for the door, only to find himself slamming into the side of Percy's desk, disturbing the contents on the table.

That woke him up a bit.

Oh yes. Percy's house. I'm at Percy's house.

"Mm…? Nico? You're awake?" Percy mumbled groggily, sitting up in his bed which was next to Nico's. The room was originally shared with his brother,Luke, but he moved out later on as he wanted to stay closer to the college he was studying in. "What are you doing up so early?"

"I…" Nico began to get a little flustered. He was feeling nervous and awkward now, and he was pretty sure he was blushing for he could feel an unfamiliar heat rise up his neck and cheeks. "Um… I… I always wake up at this time."

"That's quite early, Nico. Why?" the older boy asked curiously, standing up from the bed. Nico could quite literally feel his blush deepen. Percy was wearing nothing but a shirt and his boxers. Maybe his aunt was more conservative . He was made to wear his pyjamas to sleep every night. And it wasn't like he had much interaction with anyone, much less hot guys who he had a crush on. Like for example, Percy. The younger boy could feel his own eyes darting about, then landing back on Percy, tracing down his face, his chest and his abs through the faint silhouette of his white shirt, and… His cheeks felt like they were on fire.

Though he was pretty sure he had whatever Percy had physically, in terms of some things.

But it still felt… awkward. It wasn't on him. It was on Percy.

Like it was Percy's.

Yeah, right.

"Nico. Nico. You there?" Nico felt a hand on his shoulder, tapping him lightly.

"Y-yeah?" Nico snapped back into reality. Did Percy notice that? I hope not.

"You were stoning. Do you do that often?"

Nico didn't answer. He was too busy watching the curves of his lips, the way Percy's lips moved when he spoke. They were slightly chapped, but still soft-looking when not under close scrutiny.

Staring at those lips, Nico wondered how it would be like to kiss those lips. Or for those lips to kiss his. Would he feel the 'butterflies in his stomach', or would he feel like 'fireworks exploding in his mind', or even as some people say, 'sensory overload'. Well, he didn't know until he tried, right?

Percy's lips were just that little bit away.

Just that little bit away.

Nico could lean forward and tiptoe a little to kiss Percy. They were just a little away. The thought was just so tempting for Nico's hormone-addled brain.

Just a second or two, Nico. It wouldn't hurt.

NO! Percy might be disgusted!

You never know till you try.

Tch.

Humph.

To kiss or not to kiss?

Before he could make a decision, Percy pulled away.

Aw man. There goes your chance.

Tch. There wasn't any chance to begin with.

Shut your trap up, goody-two-shoes.

"I think my mom made breakfast today. I'll go wash up. You should do so too," Percy suggested, walking out of the room and towards the bathroom.

"Uh, yeah, sure. Um… thanks," Nico said awkwardly, not knowing where to put his hands.

"It's nothing," the older boy replied before mumbling a soft, "I guess."

"I… I'm not imposing any trouble on you, am I?" Nico looked worried, and he didn't want to leave a bad impression on anyone. Especially not with Percy. It was an unexplored territory here, in which a wrong sentence, no, even word, would destroy everything, all the impressions Percy had of him before. He didn't want to lose Percy's friendship. He was the only one that seemed like he really cared about him.

Nico followed Percy out of the room, then re-entering the room and hastily grabbing his clothes and toothbrush before rushing out of the room again.

~ . ~ . ~ . ~

Breakfast was served.

And breakfast included a lot of blue food, which Nico had learnt later on that it was an obsession of Percy's. Blue pancakes, blue chocolate chip cookies (which was a secret recipe of Sally's – Percy's mom – as blue cookie batter usually turned brown after being baked, leaving only the insides coloured), blue plates, blue everything. The only things that weren't blue and was on the dining table were the silverware, the milk, and the tea and coffee.

The boy did know that Percy loved blue, but to eat blue food every morning… Now that was a little overboard with the blue food obsession. Nevertheless, he tucked into his food after saying a short prayer of thanks, a habit in which his aunt had instilled in him (his parents were apparently atheists).

The food was delicious, Nico had to admit. Sally was a great cook, and a very capable woman and mother. Percy's father was always working overseas, and though he tried his best to come back at least once a couple of months, but that almost always never worked out, for Poseidon was always caught up in his work.

An emergency has cropped up, I have to go.

That always seemed to be what he said, as Nico heard from Sally.

She loved him, yeah, but he was always busy. She could say they have drifted apart quite a bit, but she still loved him. Percy loved his dad a lot too, and used to go fishing with him every weekend when he had the time when he was younger. Now, he still chats with his dad over the phone through Skype or Google+. They still maintain quite a strong bond, though Percy does comment on the fact that he feels that there is something incomplete about every conversation that they have over the phone or computer.

Every conversation they have is missing the comforting warmth of the other person's. A simple gesture of hugging, putting your arms round someone's shoulder, or even just a simple pat on the back would do much more than that of a million words, Nico thought. He honestly missed those times where his mom and Bianca were all around, and they'd read books together in the cold winter evenings, huddled near the heater in his room. He could fondly remember that Bianca loved Greek myths, and his mom had once commented on her love for Greek myths must've been from his, no, their, father, for he was a History professor, and showed particular interest in the ancient Greek civilization.

A shred of warmth passed through him as he watched the scene in front him, of Percy and Sally eating and joking, bringing him back to those times which he could remember his family at the dining table, eating. He couldn't remember much of his father. All he knew was that suddenly, one day, he wasn't there at the table anymore, and his mother didn't seem as happy as before. Things went back to normal though, but all the spirit that was once present in the air didn't seem to be back.

And he never knew why.

After the accident, his mom began to fall sick, and her condition deteriorated with the passing of each day. He was forced to move to his aunt's house, and his aunt was now his guardian until his mom got well.

Which sadly never happened.

He wondered how many of those lonely breakfasts he had alone, the times he came back to an empty apartment, and the times he hoped that his mom, or even his religious aunt would be there to greet him, hug him, welcome him home, ask him how his day was, little things like that. That feeling of warmth, such a simple yet abstract concept was lost over the many days, months, and years, until it became a foreign concept to him.

But now, coming back to the present time, with Percy, Sally and Nico sitting together at the table, he thinks he had found that feeling of warmth again, that simple yet abstract concept.

Warmth.

And Nico finally smiled a genuine smile at the thought of that.

~ . ~ . ~ . ~

Okay. It's something I wrote over a span of an hour, and I hope it's not too short. I hope you guys liked this. And if it's unsatisfactory, or you would just like to leave a comment, there's the review box down there, so feel free to comment on the story!

This was written in the midst of Geography revision, so I hope you don't come hounding after me if you spot an error here or there. I try my best to keep my works more towards quality than quantity, but some (or actually quite a bit) of errors actually slip through all those checks that I attempt to make.

I hope you liked this anyways, and yeah, see you soon. Ta-ta!