Hey Fanficers (is that a word?). Okay, so I know I suck at updating. But I'm gonna try and make it up to you and update EVERYTHING I've written that's not a one-shot. Hope this makes y'all happy!

Percy's POV

I awoke with a sense of Euphoria. I hoped that I hadn't just imagined laying my head in Jason's lap and falling asleep, my head only inches from…well you get the idea. Sending a quick prayer to whichever god would listen to me right now (I don't know if being gay is a bad thing or not, but I try not to make a habit of pissing off the gods), and turned my head slightly. To my immense relief, it wasn't just some dream I'd had in my half-sleep state. Jason's head was lolled back and his mouth was slightly open. He'd tucked the only blanket we had around me, so he was left to face the semi-cold of our air-conditioned apartment.

"Jason," I mumbled. Debating the best way to wake him up, I decided on kissing him awake. I sat up and began leaning in. Just inches from his face, he cracked open one eye, then sprang up and backed away.

"Morning sleepy head," he said with a smile. "You were so tired when I arrived you didn't fight when I said to go back to bed." I smiled at him even though I wanted to bawl. He really didn't want to kiss me? I know we'd only been dating a day, but I wanted to kiss him so bad, and I had a feeling he wanted to kiss me too.

"Jason," I said again, the hurt obvious in my voice. That wiped the smile off his face as he circled his arms around me, pulling me close. "Jason, please be honest with me. I only want an honest answer." I felt him nod on the top of my head. "Why won't you kiss me?" There, I said it. Now all I had to do was wait for his answer. Abruptly, he shoved me away. I kept my balance this time, but I was still startled nonetheless.

"Percy, please don't make me answer that," he pleaded. "I…I can't explain why. I mean, I want to kiss you, but…" He trailed off, leaving me more hurt than ever. He wanted to kiss me, yet he didn't? Who the fuck thinks like that? Who dares mislead an eager boy who'd never had a boyfriend before!

"Jason," I said, the hurt being replaced by anger. "Maybe you should just leave." I stalked to the other side of my living room, arms crossed and facing away from him. I heard the sound of pounding feet, then the sound of a slamming door. It was for the best anyway.

Jason's POV

"Jupiter's fucking fist Percy!" I screamed when I finally stopped running. I had no idea where I was (this neighborhood did not look like any other neighborhood I'd seen), but I didn't care. "Why is this so fucking hard Percy?" I sank to my knees and doubled over, finally letting the tears fall. They soaked the front of my shirt, but that was the least of my problems right now. "I want to kiss you, you big oaf! Can't you tell? Can't you tell how insane you make me?" Have I mentioned I love this city? Not one single person even looked at my funny, if any happened to pass by at all.

"I bet I could tell," a voice behind me commented, making me jump. Leo never stuck me as a sneaky guy, but man can he be fucking sneaky when he needed to be. He gave me a smirk and jumped down off the landing he was on. I took a swing at him, simply because I could, but he ducked and grabbed my wrist. "Venus's hair dude, calm the fuck down. It's just me, fun old Leo Valdez." He smiled as he released my wrist. While I was still fuming, I took a couple deep breaths and managed to get my reluctant racing heart back to normal.

"Leo, as I told Percy yesterday, don't sneak up behind an experienced warrior. In the time you could blink, I could've had my sword on your throat ready to slit you like a turkey." Leo grabbed his throat in mock horror.

"No please," he cried around a laugh. "Not my beautiful throat. Without it, how can I woo the ladies?" Even I had to smile at that. Even if I was being serious.

"You better have a damn good reason to be sneaking around like that," I said, back to the previous topic. "Is Pipes still mad at me?" He winced and reached down to protect himself.

"Mad doesn't begin to cover it," he whimpered. "But, eventually, she'll get over it. So who's Percy?" Damn it! He caught that!

"My soul mate," I replied, only half joking. "Leo, you've known forever I swing for the same team. So this shouldn't surprise you." Leo nodded his agreement.

"It doesn't," he said matter-of-factly. "What surprises me is the Great Jason Grace saying he may have found a soul mate. Dude, you've swung for the same team so many times, you're MVP. With you it's a fling here, a fling there, maybe a week or two of phony commitment there." I felt my spirit slowly drop to my feet.

"I know Leo," I said, cutting him off. "But with Percy it's different. We only met once before, on a minor quest, for about five minutes. But Jupiter above Leo, for months I haven't been able to get him out of my head. He gives me a hard on just looking at him." With Leo I actually felt comfortable saying that. Leo was like that; he didn't ask questions if you didn't want to elaborate on your own. He nodded like he understood, and waited for me to keep talking. "I want this to last for more than a week or two. And gods Leo, I want to kiss those pouty lips so bad I can taste it."

"Then why don't you?" he asked me, catching me off guard. "Look, you clearly have deep feelings for this Percy guy. I can't say I approve, but all the same, give into temptation just once in your short, miserable life and kiss him!" I've never seen him this worked up before. "Jason, what if…what if I help you practice kissing him?" My eyes widened.

"Leo, I couldn't make you do th…" I began.

"You'll never grow the balls to do it yourself," he replied flatly. "I know for a fact you've never had a passionate kiss with a guy before. What if I helped you practice that? If you practice beforehand, maybe you'll get the courage to do it for real."

"Gods Leo, I don't know what to say," I said, rubbing the back of my head. "Well, okay, I guess." He pulled me into a side alley way. I gulped. This should prove interesting.

"Wow, just…wow," Leo said as he flopped back onto the stained mattress we found leaned against a dumpster full of rotting fish. "Dude, you could make the straightest guy bend to your will, couldn't you?" I smiled a tiny bit and shrugged.

"Not really," I said. "It's just a matter of finding the hidden gay in every guy. Some people, like Percy, know and make it easier. Others, like you, don't know and if you hang with me long enough you become aware of it." Leo smiled and propped himself on his elbow.

"I deem you ready for your first kiss with Percy!" he exclaimed, collapsing into giggles.

Percy's POV

I don't know how long I cried for. All I know is, when I finally lifted my head off of my pillow, my throat was on fire and my eyes stung like I'd rubbed salt into them. Jason didn't even know how hurt I was by all of this. I'd recently discovered my preferences, and then I met him. So I'd never, ever had a boyfriend before. And I was excited to finally have one. But then that…that…jerk had to ruin it by refusing to kiss me, refusing to explain why, then actually leave when I said, even though I'd wanted him to stay. A small knock at my door brought my attention back to the present.

"Percy," my mom called softly. "I made taco meat that we can have with either blue hard-shell taco shells or blue tortilla chips." I smiled a bit but didn't move. Mom had a thing for blue food. And while my stomach groaned in protest, and didn't want to face her or Paul. I just wanted to sleep or bawl or lay there doing nothing. "Okay, food is ready when you are." I heard her footsteps retreat to the kitchen. I sighed and rolled onto my side.

"Miss you baby," I said softly to the air, images of Jason flashing through my mind. "Miss you like Aphrodite would miss her mirror." I laughed out loud at my own joke. I loved to do that. The crazy thing was, Aphrodite would miss her mirror, if she ever looked away from it. I rolled over to look out my tiny window. The stars were out already (always a sight to see in the city that never turned out their lights) and I could see them faintly twinkling. They seemed to be feeling the opposite I was at this point. At least they had hope.

I didn't necessarily want to drag this chapter out. Maybe next chapter they will finally kiss and this story will be over….or maybe not. I know I'm evil. If you want to know, guess you'll have to wait.