AN: I don't know what exactly I thought when I wrote this chapter. Must have been something like wanna torture your audience a bit? Sure, why not? Yeah, too soon for a happy end. Anyways, enjoy reading, please review, and please don't hate me for keeping you on tenterhooks *hiding behind the sofa and hanging my head low in shame*

Disclaimer: Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus are the property of Rick Riordan.

Nico

Our lips met once again.

Like last week, it was the most wonderful feeling I had ever felt, but this time, it felt right. So right. We were both crying, tears of happiness. Hesitantly, I stretched out my hand and wiped Percy's tears away, as he had wiped mine away. I looked into those sea-green eyes and never wanted to see anything else.

He stroke my cheek when we pulled away. Our foreheads and noses touched when we leant towards each other. Percy smiled. "If I may finish speaking: You sure suck at kissing, but I am so willing to practice with you." I playfully shoved him and he toppled over backwards, but grabbed my collar while falling, resulting in me lying on top of him, our lips connecting once more. I felt my face heating due to the easy-to-mistake pose, causing Percy to chuckle. "You're so adorable when you blush" he whispered between two kisses.

After around half an hour of senseless kissing, I sort of regained my composure (or maybe my old-fashioned manners, who could tell). I shouldn't be kissing the hell out of Percy (and vice verse), we weren't boyfriends (though that could be changed); we hadn't even been on a date or something. It was… don't know, inappropriate? Did people do such things nowadays?

Percy seemed to notice how uncomfortable I felt, and instantly pulled back, his eyes full of worry. "What is it, Neeks? Did I do something wrong?" His voice sounded so genuinely concerned, it almost broke my heart. I shook my head. "You didn't do anything wrong. I just thought about something." I didn't want to look like the old-fashioned idiot I certainly was, so I didn't intend to tell him what I had thought about. But Percy immediately crossed that plan, cupping my face with his hands and looking into my eyes. "What did you think about, Nico?"

"We- we shouldn't be doing this" I muttered. "I mean… we're not even dating yet, are we? Isn't that how such things work? People ask somebody out, and after that, they kiss?"

I wasn't sure what I had expected, sure enough I hadn't expected Percy to burst into laughter. Apparently, I had made an idiot of myself. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me to my feet. "You're right, we're not dating. But we can change that, can't we?" Unsure if I could trust my ears, I gave him a quizzical look. Insecurity was writ all over his face when he said "Nico, will you be my boyfriend?"

Shame on me, but my brain-to-mouth-filter failed me, because the first words that I said were: "What will the others think?"

I could see that I had hurt him. He pulled back from our embrace, a painful expression on his face. "Fine. If you care so much about other people's opinion, maybe you should ask every single camper if you may date me. Wanna ask for a written down permission to kiss me?" I could see that he was barely holding back his tears. "Percy-" "No. You know where the door is. Good night, Nico."

Slam! The door shut behind me, and I could him turning the key and locking it. I had screwed everything up again. Back to square zero.

Percy

Our lips met once again.

It was the most wonderful thing I had ever felt. And this time, there was no sign of reluctance or uncertainty on Nico's face. Nothing but pure happiness. It didn't matter that we were crying, all that mattered were his lips on mine, his eyes looking into mine, and my hand stroking his cheek. In other words: I was utterly happy.

"If I may finish speaking: You suck at kissing, but I am so willing to practice with you." He shoved me, and we ended up on the floor, kissing the hell out of each other, Nico's face blushed with a dark shade of red. But then I felt Nico stiffening, obviously uncomfortable, something bothering him.

My thoughts were racing. Had I done something wrong? Had I crossed a line, or violated some unwritten rule? "What is it, Neeks? Did I do something wrong?" Nico shook his head. "You didn't do anything wrong. I just thought about something." He might have not noticed his unlucky choice of words, but that sounded like a phrase for breaking up. My heart was racing, he couldn't mean what I suspected. My hands found their way to his face.

"What did you think about, Nico?" "We- we shouldn't be doing this." he muttered. No, no, no, no! "I mean… we're not even dating yet, are we? Isn't that how such things work? People ask somebody out, and after that, they kiss?" Relief washed over me, and I burst into laughter. I had worried he might want to break up before we even got together, and he just thought about some 20th-century ideas of good manners. "You're right, we're not dating. But we can change that, can't we?" He looked at me and a questioning look was in his pretty eyes. I pulled him to his feet. The next moments would decide whether I'd be the happiest person alive or not.

"Nico, will you be my boyfriend?"

And the next moment, my whole world fell apart.

"What will the others think?"

No. He couldn't possibly care more about the others opinion than about me. That couldn't be, mustn't be. "Fine. If you care so much about other people's opinion, maybe you should ask every single camper if you may date me. Wanna ask for a written down permission to kiss me?" I spat out. "Percy-" he began, but I was too upset to let him finish speaking. "No. You know where the door is." I shoved him out of my cabin and locked the door.

I woke up from my nightmare, covered in cold sweat. Since Nico had left my cabin three days ago, I had dreamed of it every night, just to wake up around 3am, cry an hour, and go back to sleep. Every morning, I was barely able to look at myself in the mirror. I was the biggest idiot the world had ever seen. I had hurt Nico thrice now. Maybe I should just jump off a cliff or something.

Then again, the sleep deprivation was clearly written into my face. I had bags under my eyes, my hair was a mess, and the first signs of a beard that had grown during the past months really needed to be shaved. I looked like I had slept under a bridge like some homeless guy.

I had run out of snacks and thus left my cabin for breakfast and dinner again. People had pestered me with questions, but I had simply ignored them. I had evaded Jason's hug, ignored Leo's questioning look, cut off Piper's questions, and pretended not to hear Clarisse laughing at me.

I hadn't seen Nico in these three days.