Hello! Just so everyone is aware, this story is not on hiatus by any means. I am very sorry for how long it has taken me to update this story. Life just happened to blindside me and I am sure each of my readers can understand that. I hope that you all enjoy this update though :) I will be doing another very soon to make up for my long absence. Please review and let me know what you all think :)

Chapter 7: How Many Times do I Have to say; I care about you

Nico watched with curious eyes as Percy made his way up the hill with Hazel. Will handed him a bag with everything they had asked for before wrapping Nico into a tight hug.

"Tell Jake that I miss him," he told Nico before leaning in closer and whispering in his ear; "and let him know that when I get there I will make sure everyone knows he is mine."

"You pervert!" Nico jumped back from the feeling of Will's breath as the blonde laughed against his ear.

Hazel looked worryingly over at Percy as the two of them walked up to Nico. She knew now that Percy had basically broken up with Annabeth because he had realized he hadn't been true to himself through the wars. Everything was equal between those two and yet she hadn't been able to bring herself to tell Percy that he had it wrong between Will and Nico. Some deep down part of her had to remain loyal to Nico and make sure that Percy truly cared for him and wasn't just in shock from her brother's confession.

But watching him now she was starting to see that there may be something true here. His face fell as he watched Nico and Will engage in their rough housing and had the decency to look away from them. All he really wanted was for Nico to be happy, and perhaps it was too late for him to be the one to cause Nico to smile anymore.

"Have fun you guys," Will gave an encouraging pat on Percy's shoulder as he left Nico at the hill, "and let me know if you need anything," he gave Percy a look that was obvious he knew that Percy had something going on but offering help just made Percy realize how perfect the blonde was. It was impossible for Percy to dislike Will regardless of how jealous he was of the son of Apollo. He smiled as Will left them all together on the top of the hill, waiting for Nico to say that it was time to go.

"Come on Nico!" Hazel looped her arm through his and smiled at her brother; "time to bounce!" Her hair moved as she jumped up and down next to him and he smiled at her enthusiasm.

"Well," Nico hesitantly shifted his gaze to Percy who was standing awkwardly off to the side. Perhaps Nico had said something to him last night and now Percy couldn't even look at him. Hazel reached out before Nico could do anything though and pulled Percy towards them.

"You have to hold onto Nico if you don't want to be left behind," she laughed as though it was some big joke and Percy gripped Nico's forearm. Nico looked up at him but shrugged off any nerves so he could focus on getting the three of them to New Rome.

Break

Jake had been hoping that the blonde doctor from camp would have joined the two children of hades but he was still happy to see Percy and Nico standing with each other, actually touching one another. He had spent enough time around Will and Nico to desperately want the boys to go through some sort of breakthrough. Over half of the time that the son of Hades spent with Will was him going on about Percy this and Percy that; it got annoying because Will saw Nico as a little brother and put all his energy into helping the younger boy.

But he tried not to hold that against either Nico or Will. If anything he had grown attached to Nico and found it annoying that Percy couldn't see what he was missing by not going after the boy always lurking in his shadow. Though he knew that it was not fair if Percy were straight, Jake had been around and seen how Percy adored Luke before the war. He had seen the fall of Percy after Luke died, and it was hard to say whether or not he was jealous of how close Annabeth was to the damaged son of Hermes because he was in love with her or in love with him. Percy was too much of an open and honest person to care about genders and such, even if he was straight he wouldn't cut Nico out of his life simply because the boy was gay.

So when he saw Percy storm away from Nico the moment they were steady he had to glare at the green eyed boy before he approached Nico. "What the hell is his problem?" Jake huffed and looked back towards Nico.

"He hasn't been feeling well," Hazel's golden eyes gazed at Percy as he retreated, maybe seeing how he had reacted to Will and Nico had been a bit overdone but she knew he cared. But how was he going to get past it?

"Maybe he should look at removing the pole from his ass," Jake snorted and turned back to Nico; "any news on when Will can join us?"

Nico shook his attention away from Percy's retreating figure and back to the tall, dark skinned son of Hephaestus before him. "He doesn't know when he can make it to New Rome," he admitted, "although he is trying to get over here next week, ha had a few… ideas, of things the two of you could do." A shudder ran through Nico as he remembered the whisper of nasty things that he wanted relayed to Jake but Nico couldn't force the words out.

Seeing the bright red blush on Hazel's and Nico's cheeks Jake laughed; "Well I can't wait to have my boyfriend back. Him and you really have no boundaries, do you?"

Another shudder ran down Nico's spine and he started across the construction site towards what was serving as Reyna's office. "I'm going to go check in with boss lady," he called back at them and heard Jake laughing.

"Tell her we all want lunch!"

Being back in New Rome made Nico feel both uneasy and ecstatic at the same time. New Rome had been the place he had found Percy, been the safe haven he brought Hazel to, was a home for him when he needed it even if not everyone wanted him there, and most importantly had been where his family was staying these past few week. He had been looking forward to the idea that Annabeth had of New Athens but all of them knew that before making a new city they should fix the one that had been destroyed. The cities were something that Nico found hard to grasp, a permanent place for him to live was like a fantasy.

As he got close to the hut that Reyna had assembled for himself he laughed; she was standing outside talking with a few of the workers and noticed him. Without even letting the workers finish explaining she ran from them to Nico, wrapping him in a hug and smiling. He went frigid at the touch but eventually relaxed. They had fought side by side and slept together as Coach watched their backs on the trip to bring Athena's statue home, he could not find a way to have stayed distanced from her.

"Oh Nico I am so glad you are here, I love seeing you especially now! I need all the help I can get with this reconstruction!" She let him go and was already dragging him towards the inside of the tent where her desk was.

"Is that why you kidnapped half of Camp Half Blood under false pretenses of easy school experience?" he chuckled and collapsed in a chair in her 'office'.

She laughed at him and took her own seat, crossing one knee over the other and smiling at him; "You are going to be entertaining the idea of school as well Mr. di Angelo," she brought out a folder and handed it to him. "I think starting you off as a junior is fair?" once he lowered his eyebrow and rolled his eyes she continued; "I figured your history is fairly advanced but you still need to finish up those last couple years."

"Oh thanks," his voice was thick with sarcasm but he signed the papers inside and handed the folder back to her. "I brought Percy along," her face filled with worry but he waved away her concerns; "he is already heading over to the fifth cohort's bunks. But I figured putting him into classes would be a good idea as well. He won't go for it but his mom will force him," he chuckled at the thought of Sally Jackson marching across the country to wake her son up for classes. The scary part was that he wouldn't put it past her, ever since Percy got back from the wars Sally was adamant of making sure that she didn't act as though everything was different. She didn't want her son to think she felt he was too broken.

Reyna smiled at Nico; "look at you taking care of big shot hero Jackson," she joked but Nico leveled a smirk of his own.

"From what I have heard you are caring for a big shot hero yourself," he chided and dodged a pen she threw towards his face. "Just pointing out the obvious!" with a pout he leaned back in the uncomfortable chair, "but really I am offended Reyna, I had to make sense of the grapevine to figure out that Annabeth was with you! Falling for another blonde I see," he wagged his eyebrows while Reyna found another pen to throw at him.

Once three pens failed to his the dark clad boy Reyna huffed and brushed a few strands of hair from her face so she could glare down her nose at Nico. The air of regality that surrounded her was powerful and Nico thought for a moment that he should bow. "I am allowed to have a personal life Nico," her voice was flat as she spoke to him and Nico knew that she was pushing him back from her. "I am not just Praetor."

Agreeing Nico nodded, "You're my friend as well," he reached out and took her hand in his, the fabric of his fingerless gloves rubbed over her fingers, "just remember that." Nico of all people knew how hard it could be to let people in, and the fact that the few that had been a part of Reyna's life left her was hard to handle. Though Nico was friends with Jason, there were times when he wanted to hit the son of Jupiter over the head with a two by four. What he had done to Reyna, choosing a relationship built of false memories, had not only been stupid but it had nearly lost them a war. Relationships should be built gradually, not forced together out of fear of being alone and Nico knew that was what happened. Before leaving Nico pulled Reyna into a hug and held her tight, she shook underneath him but he just gripped her tighter and hold her together so she wouldn't fall apart. It reminded him of a hug he had gotten once, one where it felt like if the other person had let go he would have just burst to dust.

Break

Shadow traveling was something that Percy figured he had forgotten about. He had traveled with Nico once before on Mrs. O'Leary's back, and even that had been exhilarating. But it was nothing like actually holding onto Nico while they were consumed by shadows and felt like they were flying, when he had his hellhound with him Nico and Percy didn't have to touch the way they did now. He hadn't realized how powerful Nico felt when controlling his realm that way, or how protected Percy had felt in the dark with the one person who was capable of taming its shadows.

And all of that, all the rush he had felt and the comfort he had taken in being held by and holding Nico. None of it could mean anything. Nico had acted like their kiss never happened, and Percy had been impulsive and not thought about Will when he forced the kiss on Nico. Now all he felt was guilt for what he had done, and to a happy couple. At least Nico didn't seem like he was going to rat Percy out to Will.

But did Percy really want that? Why was he still so unhappy if he had gotten to kiss Nico?

The bunks of the fifth cohort loomed over Percy. It was one of the few remaining bunks, and he knew that he could stay somewhere else but he almost didn't want to. The crumbled end of the bunks was little more than crumbled brick but it was still the first place that Percy had stayed when he came to New Rome the first time. Aside from these bunks the only place that would feel like home might be the Neptune temple, but that was out of the option.

"Hey!" a familiar voice called out and Percy was jumped from behind by a man with two large arms. "Good to see you coming back!"

He turned and clapped Frank on the back before laughing; "Well I realized that you guys can't function without me so I thought I would swing by."

"Good to see your still down to earth there," Frank smiled and brushed some rubble from his short cropped hair before turning back to look at the wreckage. "We are rebuilding as fast as we can. Reyna thought that it would be a good idea to do the bunks first, then the temples, and then the other buildings. Annabeth is designing most of it; the barracks and all student living will be more like dorms, and I know she has been having a hay day with the temples and the rest of the city. The school was rebuilt already, done with the student housing before Reyna wrangled a bunch of the younger demigods to help with the rest of the city."

Percy cringed, "Time to rebuild and you start with a school? Sounds like something Reyna would do. How has Leo been handling all of the rebuilding since he got back?"

"Well Calypso is here with him, but I have no idea how that ball of fire keeps up with everything Reyna is dumping on his plate. He spends a lot of his time working on ideas with Annabeth and while he does that Calypso explores the 'Roman camp' as she keeps calling it."

"At least he is staying busy. That kid's ADHD is off the radar even for a demigod," Percy chuckled and silently thanked the fact that Frank was acting normal around him. Ever since they had been back from the war people either treated him like some great hero or like he needed to be tip toed around. He wasn't sure which was worse though; the tip toeing around was annoying but there was at least a caring thought behind it. The kids who ran up to him and wanted to hear about his 'amazing' or 'epic' tales bothered him. A generation of children were looking forward to the next war, looking forward to possibly being the next Percy Jackson, and they had no idea that all he had done was let people down and hurt inside himself.

Even Annabeth cringed when people asked her what it was like fighting titans and Gaea, she was still tormented by the curses left on her. Percy was able to handle what the curses entailed, but Annabeth had seen the pain she caused and hated it. Now she faltered with her dagger, not enough to notice all the time but enough for Percy catch. He was too worried about her to think about what would happen if she went out on another quest, but lately Chiron had left quests to other campers and the seven focused on training and rebuilding. It was a good change even if it made Percy restless.

He and Frank walked in absolute silence, making Percy feel comfortable as the sun bled through the clouds above them. His skin was pale from all the time he had been spending holed up in his cabin, and he hadn't realized how much weight he had lost until the wind hit his shirt and the fabric swayed away from him like it was two sizes too big. If he wasn't able to start keeping some food down he was going to wither away to nothing…

As they reached the top of the hill between the temple area and the city Percy caught sight of the new building that they were doing. Some of the city was still intact, and they had a few people working to clean those few buildings up. A rickety apartment complex casted a shadow over the area where Percy had shown up with Nico, and tents dotted the grass like white balloons. He knew they were probably set up for various assignments but most people seemed to be crashing in them when it got too hot. Behind all that, in the center of the wreckage was a brand new building with gleaming white marble columns and a red brick façade walls with tall open windows and high towers. It was as though gothic fairytale architecture and roman structures clashed and formed something perfectly Annabeth. That was all it showed him, a beautiful castle with Greek and Roman influences that screamed Annabeth and all her brilliance. He stopped and gaped at the structure and the nearly finished dorms that encompassed it.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" Frank hit Percy on the arm to wake him from his daze. "Annabeth is quite the architect, her mother should be proud."

Break

How Percy could be more adorable Annabeth would never know. She caught sight of him as he stood with Frank on the top of the hill; if there had been a tree beside him it would have reminded her of the sight she saw before the wars when she had left him to stay with her father. All of it was heightening her mood; the buildings and the fact that Percy had finally joined them. Reyna nudged her to go and see the boy, laughing at the bright blush the rose up in her cheeks. She knew that Annabeth and Percy talked nearly every day and they had a bond that could never be broken.

"Percy!" Annabeth cried and threw her arms around Percy. "Why didn't you tell me that you were coming? I've missed you so much!"

Percy coughed and wrapped his arms around her in response. "I have had a lot going on," he let himself smile and pressed his lips to the top of her head. "I figured this would be a good surprise."

"Oh it is!" Annabeth felt a tear fall down her cheek and hastily wiped it away. "You have lost weight," before she could stop it the words slipped out and both of them let go of one another. Her mind instantly went to where it always goes when the thoughts of Tartarus started to darken her mind. "It's been getting warmer so your body is probably just getting rid of all its winter weight."

"But fall is coming," Frank stated the obvious and received a glare from Annabeth as she tried to find something else to say. Her face was nearly panicked and her brow furrowed as though her mind wasn't coping with the statement.

Before she could have a breakdown Percy came to her rescue with a laugh. "I'm sure you're right Annabeth," he patted Frank on the back, the two of them sharing an understanding to not push farther. "I'll meet you down there Frank? We can catch up."

"You got it," Frank smiled and ran down the hill towards the work.

Annabeth and Percy stood in silence for a while before he finally reached out and touched her again. She flinched away from him and he shoved his hand back in his pocket. "How have you and Reyna been?" he asked tentatively, not sure how much an ex was supposed to ask about their ex's new relationship.

As always though, Annabeth set him at ease with her laugh and smile. "Don't be so stiff Jackson," she chided him and linked her arm through his before leading him down to the field of tents and workers.

Break

Jason hugged Nico as they finished up the final touches on the dorm rooms before leading him to the room he would be staying in. After hooking up the electricity all of them were excited to see the light switches actually do something because despite the hope they had all put in Jason the boy didn't seem to be an electrician. At one point he had gotten frustrated and overloaded the circuits. It caused them an extra two hours of work but no one was all that upset with him.

After talking to Nico and then getting a report on Percy from Frank, Reyna decided to let the son of Poseidon have the day to himself. It also kept her girlfriend busy so that was good.

"The rooms are large," Nico commented as he looked around. They were designed for students of course, but they had large beds on each side of the room and windows over each headboard that looked out to the courtyards. The beds were comfortable and a long yet low bookcase divided them like a nightstand would. On the outer sides of the beds was an individual nightstand and then along the wall each had their own dresser. Bathrooms were shared between the rooms so four people would be sharing, and then there was a closet and two desks per room. "I guess Annabeth was tired of people ending up on the floor after seeing the Hermes cabin," he laughed and slid the books he had picked up for school onto one of the shelves.

"That would be my guess, and she also didn't want the whole dorm sharing one bathroom," Jason laughed, "Although the public baths are already open again."

Nico licked his lips at the thought of catching Percy in the public bath but he quickly hid the action by collapsing on what he was deeming his bed. "So who is my roommate? And bath mates? I couldn't stand sharing with a bunch of dirty people Jason, you know me so I hope you hooked me up."

He could hear Jason take in a sharp breath and he sat up on his bed to look at the other boy. "This is kind of funny but umm-," Jason had a smile on his face that Nico desperately wanted to smack off but before he had the chance there was a knock at the door.

Percy walked into the room with blush on his cheeks. Jason hesitantly waved his arm over the other boy to usher him towards the rest of the room. "Nico I believe you and Percy have met?" Jason earned himself a glare from both Nico and Percy before he nervously chuckled, "You two will be rooming with each other from now on. Hope you two get along," before he could be yelled at Jason ran out of the room and shut the door behind him. He wasn't sure what Reyna had been thinking when she stuck Nico with Percy but right now he just didn't want to be around when the shit hit the fan.

"Sorry to intrude," Percy muttered and tossed his bag onto the bed opposite Nico. "I hope this won't be a problem."

Still glaring at the closed door, Nico only caught part of what Percy was saying. "What?" he asked as he tore his attention away from the wood and looked at his new roommate. Percy was wearing a pair of workout sweats that didn't quite fit him anymore and hung low on his hips. The shirt that was loose as well showed just a hint of his stomach as he stretched and the dip of his v and hipbones was prominent enough for Nico to want to drool. Despite the weight that Percy had lost he still had muscle definition and Nico could see what used to be as he gazed over Percy's body.

Letting himself collapse on the bed Percy looked up at the ceiling while he spoke. "I just mean that I hope I won't bother you."

"You're not enough to fluster me Jackson," Nico huffed and tore his gaze away from the smooth skin that showed the flexing of muscles with every movement Percy made.

That made Percy sit up straighter than Nico had ever seen. The two boys locked eyes and Nico thought of how soft Percy's lips were, as if some part of him already knew their textured and how they would be forceful to dominate a kiss. "I hope you brought some pomegranates or other fruit so you won't be taking up the bathroom. You share this one with people." Nico tried to hide his blush as Percy looked him up and down.

"I should apologize," Percy sighed and Nico raised an eyebrow at him. "For last night. I shouldn't have done what I did but I really wish that you would quit acting like it didn't happen."

Nico blinked at that and thought for a moment. He had been sure that he had done something to upset Percy the night before, so why was Percy apologizing? In fact Nico had made sure to give Percy his space to cool off, was this all about the storm? "Percy, it isn't like you were really in control of your powers last night, there isn't a need to apologize to me. Although I must admit that you're powers are very interesting."

"Interesting?" Percy wasn't sure what Nico was referring to.

"Well yeah, I mean I didn't realize that you could control the water in a person's body. Though it isn't as surprising as Jason controlling electromagnetic waves inside the human brain."

Panic filled Percy as Nico spoke and he shifted on the bed. "You- you saw me controlling-," he was stuttering but he couldn't believe that Nico was being so calm about this. "I- I am so sorry Nico. Gods I thought everything else I did to you was terrible. Did I hurt you? Gods no wonder you pretended like nothing happened."

"What?" Nico got up from his bed as Percy started to hyperventilate. "Isn't this what you were apologizing for? Percy you didn't hurt me at all… Calm down."

"I can't calm down if I did that to you!" Percy had tears gathering in his eyes and he flinched away from Nico. "There is no apologizing for that! I- I- oh gods now I have done that horrible thing in front of both of you. Gods, I can't- I shouldn't let anyone get close to me."

A hand came down on Percy's cheek at that. He turned and saw Nico glaring at him as though he had just killed Hazel. "Percy, don't you dare talk like that. If you do, I will- I will beat the crap out of you and then drag you around so everyone else can beat you up. You are not allowed to say that you aren't worth people caring about you. What would Annabeth say? What would your mom say?"

Still in shock Percy lifted his hand to his cheek. "My mom would probably cry," he admitted, "Annabeth did to, but I scared her. I scared her in that hell hole, and I scared myself."

"You were in Tartarus," Nico growled, "Of course you are going to discover your inner most power down there. Especially with protecting Annabeth. My powers came protecting someone I cared about, Jason's came out when he was protecting someone… That's how we find out just what lengths we will go to for people."

Percy paused and looked at Nico; "You can do something like that too?"

Another sigh came from Nico and he scrunched his eyebrows together like he wasn't sure if he should tell Percy or not. "It was a long time ago—

"I promise I won't judge," Percy swore, he didn't know why but he needed to hear what Nico had done.

"I-," he sighed again and closed his eyes, he would never be able to look at Percy when he told him this; "I can control bones. Even the skeleton of a live being… When I was eleven I saved someone from drowning because I couldn't let them go." He could feel his cheeks heat up while he spoke.

An odd silence filled the room until Nico finally opened his eyes to see Percy staring at him with disbelieving eyes. They were so large, bright and yet broken as he looked at Nico. "Can you please stop staring at me?" he begged Percy but Percy just blinked at him.

"You, you saved someone? From drowning?" Nico nodded as Percy spoke. "That is so sweet Nico… You said they were important to you, who was it?"

Nico couldn't believe this. Was Percy really that dense? His face must have shown how dumbstruck he was because Percy was quirking an eyebrow in a way that made him look even more adorable. "I'm sorry, it is probably personal. I didn't mean to pry."

"That isn't why-," shaking his head Nico laughed. "Never mind, it is just that I thought you would have figured it out. I mean I didn't have many people in my life by then so it isn't hard to realize who was important to me…" Gods Nico hoped he didn't actually have to come out and admit that it was Percy.

"Yea…" Percy blushed and looked away from Nico, "You weren't around camp much though. Or me," his smiled slipped of his face and Nico instantly felt sorry for all those years, "I guess it was probably someone you met on your travels. Or Will…" there was something nearly guilty when he said Will's name that Nico didn't understand.

"Gods Percy," Nico groaned, "I didn't meet Will until years after that, and it isn't like I had friends outside of camp. That would have just put people in danger. Come on what happened when I was eleven?" Percy still looked lost and Nico sighed, "There was more reason to you nearly burning away after you were pulled from the river than you think that year. Someone had to pull you out," Nico rolled his eyes and looked away from Percy.

He heard Percy scoff and felt the boy adjust on his bed; "I guess I should have figured it was me," Nico refrained from any comments he had, "You were always saving me, weren't you?"

Regardless of how the words hung in the air Nico still refused to look at Percy. "What were you apologizing for earlier then?" he asked hesitantly. He wanted to know what had happened that night but Will had already told him he would need more rest for the memory to return.

"Oh," Percy started to fidget with his hands and neither of them made eye contact. "I guess I just felt bad," he paused like he expected Nico to say something there. "I shouldn't have pushed you the way that I did, I don't want anything to happen between you and Will but I figured you deserved to know… Especially after everything we had talked about…"

Great, that told Nico next to nothing. He knew that he had no chance finding out now without flat out asking Percy so he turned and caught Percy's eye. "I really feel stupid," Nico admitted, "but I am guessing that I was so exhausted that I don't remember half of what happened last night… Will told me my memories would come back with some rest but I've been working all day. The dirty little bastard wouldn't give me anything to force them back either, he is being all moral conscious since he got with Jake. So would you mind explaining to me what happened?"

"Wait," Percy held up a hand and looked at Nico; "Will and Jake?"

"I tell you about memory loss and you want to gossip about my friend and his lover, whose love life I know far too much of and it hasn't even started?" Nico gave him an astonished look and crossed his arm. "Damn it Percy just tell me what happened last night!"

A small smile found its way to Percy's lips against his will. He had been so devastated that Nico had Will that he couldn't help but feel as though he had won a marathon looking at Nico now. Knowing that his crush was available and the two of them were bantering almost as they had last night. "Well I guess it is only fair that I am oblivious since last night I kissed you and you still didn't get the message that I care about you apparently."

Nico was stunned to silence as Percy looked him over. Then all of a sudden Percy was on him, cupping his face gently and pulling the other boy towards him before swinging a leg over to straddle him. "This time I will make sure the message is clear," Percy spoke in a hushed voice and his lips barely left Nico's to speak as he worked his hands underneath Nico's black bomber. How the guy could wear that thing all through summer was beyond Percy.

The kiss was so intense and sudden that Nico went still for a moment. When he got his will back though Percy was already slipping his jacket from his shoulders, his hands working their way down Nico's arms until they found skin. The coat fell back behind Nico and his mind started to race.

Percy couldn't believe what he was doing, he was touching Nico! Once he was rid of the jacket he was surprised how fast Nico's arms shot around him, not even giving him the satisfaction of looking at the toned muscles that adorned Nico these days. He was glad to feel hands in his hair though, and he wondered how far Nico wanted to go. Cautiously Percy lifted the hem of Nico's shirt and traced a finger over what felt like a scar on Nico's abdomen. Nico quickly pulled his shirt down again, cutting off access to his six pack.

"I never knew you had your appendix out," Percy moaned against Nico's lips. "Is the scar ticklish?" but Nico slipped his tongue into Percy's mouth before responding. He moaned against Nico's lips, relishing in the fight that they were having with each other's mouths. Without even meaning to his hands found Nico's and moved for the boys wrists so he could pin Nico's arms over his head.

To keep the upper hand Percy leaned Nico back onto the bed and pinned his arms up before the other boy knew that what happening. But when he broke the kiss and saw the boy underneath him, open and exposed, he stopped and looked again. Taking in all of Nico's beauty, all of his perfect flaws, and all of his pain.

That seemed to have been when the blood returned to Nico's brain because he instantly threw Percy off of him and made a grab for his coat to leave.

Break

Annabeth was ecstatic. Reyna and her had just finished the final planning stages for a temple for Artemis and neither of them could be happier. The temple had been Annabeth's main design project for the past few days, and after talking to Hazel she had thrown all her time into completing it before she left to find the hunters. To Reyna the entire project had brought that much more life into Annabeth, and the final sketches and blueprints she had were amazing beyond belief.

"The hunters won't be able to say no," she said before kissing Annabeth and pulling her into a hug.

"Are you sure?" Annabeth asked nervously but buried her face into Reyna's chest. She felt safe, and sheltered, and she loved the rosy scent that her girlfriend wore. Ever since Tartarus Annabeth loved to surround herself with fresh and flowery scents, the burning smell that had filled that pit still haunted her. "I want Thalia to like it," she admitted.

"Thalia will love it," Reyna told her confidently, "she would love anything you built."

At that Annabeth blushed and she was thankful that Reyna couldn't see it.

Note: There you guys go :) Let me know what you guys think is going to happen, or not happen. And let me know what you guys think of Nico and Percy's relationship build, and what you think will happen between them now. Thank you guys :)

-Megara aka TheLastHeroesDaughter