The next morning, Nico wakes up to find Percy right next to him. Exactly where I left you. He thinks briefly before snuggling up next to him and sighing contentedly. He leans in and holds his lips over Percy's. Percy surprises him by closing the distance. Nico pulls back after a few seconds with wide eyes.
"Hey, no fair! I thought you were asleep!" Nico protested, blushing.
"Well, it's not a bad way to wake up." Percy says with a grin. He finds Nico's hand and just holds it for a while.
"Percy? What are you thinking about?" Nico asks to break the silence.
"Oh, nothing really…" Percy trails off, averting his gaze with a light blush on his cheeks.
"Nothing eh? Then why can't you look me in the eyes?" Nico teased.
He should've known better than to challenge the son of the sea god. He is suddenly looking into dazzling sea green eyes that aren't wavering.
"I was just thinking that was our first kiss." Percy admits, holding his gaze.
Now it was Nico's turn to blush and look away. "Are you disgusted now?" Nico asks worriedly.
Percy just grabs Nico's chin to pull his face closer. He kisses Nico with more feeling and chuckles. "Not at all, Nico."
They lay like that for gods know how long before Percy's stomach growls. Nico pulls away laughing and Percy is caught up in how melodious it sounds. Nico realizes this and quickly drops the smile from his face, looking away.
"Hey, Nico, don't be like that. I love your laugh. Why do you shy away from being happy?" Percy asked gently, sitting up and pulling Nico up with him.
"Well, because Perce. Children of Hades just aren't supposed to be happy." Nico replies, looking away. "Besides, it reminds me of…before Bianca died..." Nico continues quietly.
Percy feels the guilt of letting Bianca sacrifice herself slam into him again. Great, as if I didn't already feel guilty for that, Percy thinks before answering. "Hey, I don't believe that about Hades' children. It's your right to be happy, and now it's my personal mission to get you to believe me. And about Bianca…I'm really sorry. I should've stopped her somehow. I should have tried harder." Percy says, tears forming in the corners of his eyes.
Nico places a hand on Percy's face and wipes away the tears before they fall. "Hey, Percy, listen to me. It wasn't your fault. No one blames you for that."
"Not even you?" Percy asks hesitantly.
"Especially not me." Nico replies confidently, lowering his hand. "Now come on, let's get you fed before you start eating me."
"Hmm…not a bad idea…" Percy says, moving closer. Nico's eyes widen at the innuendo and he blushes furiously. Percy just drags him up from the bed and leads him into the kitchen, chuckling and shaking his head.
"What am I going to do with you?" Percy mumbles, almost to himself.
When they get to the kitchen, Sally is sitting at the table with a cup of coffee.
"Percy, I'm going to need to go to the store for some groceries. Will you be okay here with Nico for a while?" Sally is looking between them with a soft smile on her face.
Percy nods his head and reaches for a cup himself. He's pouring the coffee when Nico speaks up.
"You drink coffee now?" He asks hesitantly.
Percy lowers the pot and seems to think over his answer before turning to Nico.
"We spent a lot of time on the road, so I started to need it." Percy shrugs "I don't mind the taste anymore." He adds a lot of sugar as he says this.
Nico stands there and mulls this over. He changed Percy's life so much. Percy must see where his brain is going and stops stirring his sugar-laced coffee to stand in front of Nico and put his hands on his shoulders.
"Hey, this is not your fault. I didn't have to look for you. I wanted to. I wanted to find you." Percy reassures him softly.
Nico nods and pulls Percy in for a hug. He's been around him for barely a day and he's already craving his touch. Percy just wraps his arms around him and holds him tight.
Sally clears her throat and they startle apart. Percy retrieves his coffee and sits at the table, leaving Nico to stare at the ground awkwardly.
"I'm heading out." She announces before doing just that. The place seems so much quieter with just him and Percy. Suddenly, he feels nervous. He sits in the spot Sally had abandoned, and waits for Percy to fill the silence. He doesn't have to wait long.
"So, what do you wanna do?" Percy seems nervous too. That makes Nico feel a little better.
"I've been on the run for two months. Anything would be nice." Nico admits. "Maybe a movie?" He suggests.
Percy brightens up at that.
"We have lots of movies! C'mon, you can pick one out." Percy grabs Nico's arm with one hand, the other clutching his mug. He drags him into another room, adjacent to this one, which holds a TV, couch and bookcase full of movies. Percy points him to the bookcase while he veers towards the TV. Nico walks to the case but just watches Percy for a few seconds. Percy's fiddling with some device and looking around for something. He seems to find it as he holds a remote in his hand. He sets down his coffee, how had he not spilled that yet, and rearranges the couch. Nico suddenly remembers his task when Percy turns towards him expectedly. Nico quickly turns towards the movie selection, hiding his blush.
"Get distracted?" Comes from right behind him and he jumps nearly a foot in the air.
"Jeez, Percy! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?!" Nico turns, clutching a hand to his chest and eyes wide.
Percy's laughing his ass off and stuttering out something unintelligible.
"So high-didn't mean to-" Percy gets out between chuckles "Sorry, sorry." He wipes his eyes and looks at Nico. "I didn't mean to scare you so much."
Nico is too caught up in his amazing smile, he almost didn't hear what he said. He shakes his head.
"Whatever." He mumbles "Help me pick a movie."
"Oh no, this is all you. I've watched these all a hundred times. I want to know your taste." Percy nudges his arm and leaves it so their shoulders are touching. Nico leans into him and scans the shelves. I haven't watched any of these. How am I supposed to know my own taste?
"I haven't actually watched any of these." He admitted shyly "We didn't have movies when I was a kid, and when I was pulled from the casino, we didn't have the time for that…"
Percy is silent for so long, Nico almost thinks he must not have heard him. He tilts his head to see Percy's face. It looks thoughtful, but also sad.
"That's a shame." Percy mutters "Pick something that pops out to you then. I'll tell you what it's about and we can go from there."
Nico ends up picking Mulan and after a brief summary from Percy, decides to watch it. They settle in and Percy pulls Nico to his side, draping an arm over his shoulder. Percy's mom comes back 20 minutes into the movie and Percy gets up to help put away groceries, saying not to bother pausing for him.
Percy POV
Percy glances over his shoulder when he doesn't hear a response from Nico. He has to cover a grin as he notices Nico's entranced by the movie. I bet he hasn't even noticed I left. Percy's still grinning like a maniac when he enters the kitchen and his mom raises an eyebrow in question. He just shakes his head and starts unloading bags.
"Where's Nico?" Sally finally asked.
"He's watching Mulan. Mom, he's totally into it, it's so cute." Percy gets a dazed look in his eyes before continuing "He said he's never watched any of the movies we have…He's been through a lot for someone so young."
Sally can sense he's not finished, so she stays silent as they finish putting away groceries. Percy finally turns to her and whispers.
"He told me why he ran away. It's worse than we thought. What if I'm not good enough to help him through this? What if he needs like real help?" Percy looks up at her with wet eyes. Sally pulls him into a hug and runs her hand through his hair like she's done since he was young.
"It will be okay dear. We'll help him. Even if we have to get him the help he needs. He will get better. It will be okay." She reassures him softly "Get back to Nico, and I'll get started on lunch."
Percy wipes his eyes and nods "Thanks Mom." He takes a deep breath and heads to the living room. We will get through this.