Ah Paris. The city of love. And a happening spot for our boys right now. Let's see what happens, shall we?

…

Percy's POV

…

"Mio Ragazzo Cervello, wake up," Nico whispered in my ear. I gave a little noise of protest and swatted at him. "Come on Percy," he continued, a smile in his voice now. "It's time to get up. There's a lot of Paris to see, and not a lot of time to see it." While that was true, my bed was so soft and comfortable. I didn't really want to leave it. Suddenly, Nico yanked the covers off me.

"Hey!" I protested, propping myself up. "What was that for?" He smirked at me. "I was comfortable," I complained jokingly, smiling in turn. "Good morning, mio Ragazzo Ricco. How are you?"

"I'm good Percy," he replied, coming to sit beside me. I wrapped my arms around his waist and squeezed. Being here, in the City of Love, was absolutely unbelievable. I'd never imagined I would actually come here. The fact I'd come with Nico just made it all the more special. Aside from my mom, if there was one person I would want to go with Paris with, it would be Nico. He began to twirl my hair around his fingers, staring off into the distance. I looked up at him. Sometimes, I could hardly believe I had someone like Nico. "You know Perce," he said. "I was thinking about Christmas…"

"Christmas?" I interrupted. "What about it?" He twirled his ring on his finger, but I doubted it had anything to do with that. "What is it Nico?" I asked. "Talk to me. Tell me what's on your mind." He gazed down at me and smiled softly. Then he leaned down and brushed his lips against mine.

"I was thinking about how I really don't deserve you," he answered, and anything I'd thought to say disappeared. This again? This definitely wasn't the first time we'd discussed something like this. "And I don't. How did I get so lucky to fall in love with a guy like you?" he asked. I blushed.

"Aww Neeks," I replied, sitting up. "I'm the lucky one. I think I've said it before. Getting to know you was great; getting to love you is even better. I will never love anyone the same way I love you." I wrapped my arms around him and held him close. Nico. My Nico. The boy I fell in love with over and over again, and would never stop falling in love with. I would love Nico until my dying breath. After years of guilt and loneliness, I never wanted him to feel that way again. "Thank you for bringing me to Paris," I whispered to him.

"It's the least I can do for you," he said. "Percy, you've done more than you could ever imagine. I will never be able to repay you for it." These moments, like the one right here, were what I loved best. Saying corny things to each other for no reason other than to say and hear them. Holding Nico close to me, so I could feel his heartbeat as well as mine. Nico swiped a hand under his eyes and laughed lowly. "Getting a little teary-eyed talking like this," he said, looking up at me.

"That's a good thing," I said to him. "I love talking abo this stuff with you." That wasn't a lie. That was so truthful, it was ridiculous. "I'll never tire of moments like this." Nico bowed his head. "I'd go anywhere with you, Nico di Angelo, so long as you stayed by my side."

"Aww Perce," he said thickly, and when he looked up, there were more tears in his eyes. "You just want to make me cry, don't you?" he jokingly asked. I laughed and shook my head, kissing him softly. "And then do that," he said. "God Percy, I think it's me who's the lucky one." I wasn't about to get into a playful argument over this again, so I let him have this one. I smiled. Paris could wait. Right now, I wanted Nico all to myself. That wasn't a lot to ask for, but it was better than any physical gift. At least in my opinion, it was. Probably because I'd grown up in a relatively poor home, where we didn't have much in the way of gifts. I'd come to love what was handed to me. And Nico's time and love was worth a thousand store-bought gifts. "You have that thoughtful look again," Nico said. "Penny for your thoughts."

"With your wealth, it better be more than a penny," I joked, and we both laughed. "I was just thinking about…a little bit of everything," I answered at last. "What all do you plan to do today?"

"Well, it is cold out," Nico replied, taking out his phone and checking the weather. "So if we walk anywhere, warm clothing." I nodded. I wanted to walk around a little. It was chilly, but it wasn't freezing. Already, people were milling around on the street, holding steaming drinks. Their breath came up in little puffs of white. I smiled. Paris was so picturesque. I hoped we could get a postcard in a gift shop somewhere. I gazed at the Eiffel Tower in the distance, dominating the skyline. We had to go there. That was a must see.

"We'd better go to the Eiffel Tower," I said, voicing my last thought. "It's a must see if you're in Paris." Nico looked up from his phone, grinning.

"Of course," he said. "After all, this is your day. Whatever you want to do, we'll do." He leaned over and kissed me. "Happy Valentine's Day Mio Ragazzo Cervello." I smiled and held Nico a little tighter.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Mio Ragazzo Ricco," I replied to that. I squeezed him one last time, then released him and rose. I wanted to get dressed. We had a busy day ahead of us. So much to see, so much to see! And all with the boy I loved.

…

Our very first stop was a little café for breakfast. We had braided pastries and strong, black coffee. I added some sugar to sweeten mine up a little, but Nico drank his black. He was probably a little more used to it than I was. He travelled a lot more than I did. The braided pastries were sweet and light and fluffy and perfect. I ate about four of them, which Nico and the waiter both laughed at. I just grinned at them. I was enjoying my breakfast, and their laughter wouldn't spoil that.

After that we walked to the Eiffel Tower. Nico used his rich boy status to pull some strings and get us a private ride up to the top. The view of Paris, and France in the distance, was amazing and left my breathless. The snow glistened on the top, giving everything a nice, cozy feeling. The streets of Paris twist and wound their way around. Nico leaned against the rail and stared out, a smile on his face.

"Paris is one of my favorite cities," he said, startling me. He'd been quiet so long, I thought he'd forgotten how to speak. "Everything about it is so big yet so small all at the same time. And the views. Well, this one practically speaks for itself." I gazed out at all the buildings, sighing happily. I could spend the rest of my life up here, just enjoying everything Paris had to offer. Nico came over, wrapped his arms around me, and kissed me. Right there. In front of the tour guide and a small group of people. The French didn't find it nearly as odd as the Germans did, because a few of them cheered and all of them smiled. I blushed when he pulled away.

"You certainly know how to pick the moments," I said to him, and he grinned. Then he grabbed my hand and led me back down the Eiffel Tower. At the bottom, we stood around and wondered what to do next. "Can we go souvenir shopping?" I asked, turning my puppy dog pout on him. He laughed.

"Whatever you want to do," he replied to that. I led the way down Paris streets, searching for just about anything that caught my eye. Nico waited with his debit card ready, and if I so much as looked at anything long enough, he bought it. The first thing was this really cute snow globe with a mini Eiffel Tower in it. Next were a couple of Paris t-shirts, one with the Eiffel Tower on it, the other with our hotel on it. He bought dozens of postcards, both for us and for my mom. We also got some pastries for her, because she loved baked goods.

"Let's put one of the postcards in the scrapbook with a picture," I said, taking a sip of hot chocolate. I'm sure the tip of my nose was red, as were my ears, but today had been so perfect. "It's a good scrapbooking thing after all."

"Good idea," Nico said, swallowing down the last of his sandwich. We'd stopped for lunch. He took our postcards out of their bag and spread them out on the table. They were all so pretty. I set one aside for my mom.

"Seine River?" I asked, holding up a beautiful shot of the river cutting through Paris. Nico laughed and shook his head.

"It seems to go with the theme of our book, which would be water based." I chuckled. I supposed it would. But it wasn't my fault I'd spent a lot of time in the water. "We need to choose the perfect picture to go with this perfect postcard. I don't want us on the plane. We can get that shot any time. After all, this won't be out last trip." I nodded. I hoped it wouldn't. I loved travelling. It made me feel free, and not stuck in New York for the rest of my life. I mean, getting to swim for Olympics would've allowed me to travel, but not like this.

"Did we take any pictures throughout the day?" I asked him. I hadn't even considered it. Maybe we should've asked one of the locals to take our picture. Nico shrugged. It looked like he hadn't thought of it either. A couple tables over, a couple talked to each other in rapid fire French. I glanced at them curiously, but French was beyond me, so I ignored them.

"Excuse me." Nico and I jerked to attention as one of the locals came over to our table. "We saw you at the Eiffel Tower." It took me a moment to decipher what he was saying around the thick accent. "We got your picture. Here." He handed us a picture. Nico took it and studied it curiously. It was us by the railing, studying Paris. Well, Nico was studying Paris. I was studying him. Slowly, he began to smile.

"I think we have our picture, Ragazzo Cervello," he said. I nodded in agreement. That picture was perfect. So was the boy in it. I decided I would tell him so. I leaned over and brushed my lips against his. Then I pulled back and pressed my lips to his ear.

"Perfect day with a perfect boy," I whispered. Nico blushed right down the collar of his coat, and the French couple smiled. Really, this couldn't get any better.

…

Nico's POV

…

Our day in Paris was officially over. That fact saddened me. I really did love Paris, and Percy shared my love of the city. I was so glad I'd gotten to show him around. After lunch, al we did was walk around and admire the buildings, artwork, and scenery. We'd found a little park nestled into one corner and sat around and talked for an hour. I couldn't do that with many people, so Percy was really special in that sense. Right now, he was drinking water and watching a movie on our portable DVD player. I wasn't sure what he was watching, but he was happy enough, so it hardly mattered.

"Did you enjoy yourself Nico?" I glanced up when Jesse came back from the front. He was dressed in black dress pants and a light blue, long-sleeved shirt. So he was off duty. "Did you guys have a good trip?"

"It went better than I imagined it to go," I said to him, glancing at Percy. He was starting to nod off watching that movie. He was fighting to stay awake, though. His eyelids would drop, as would his head, but then he'd jerk awake, shake his head, and go back to the movie. Only to repeat the cycle all over again. He was so cute. "We didn't fight, which is a very good thing. I hope he's forgiven me for that little prank."

"Ah, Anders told me about that," Jesse replied, and I made a face at him. "That wasn't very nice."

"It was just a harmless prank," I insisted. "I didn't mean for him to get hurt. I certainly didn't expect him to leave the apartment and not talk to me for a couple days…" I trailed off and shook my head. "No, I'm not going to think about it. Not while we've had the best Valentine's Day ever. Oh, that reminds me." I got out scrapbook out and flipped to the next blank page. Then I taped in the picture Percy and I picked out in addition to the postcard. Jesse watched, squinting in concentration.

"Is that the scrapbook Bianca gave you guys for Christmas?" he asked. Nodding, I tapped my pen against my chin. What would be a good caption for this one? "How about 'Exploring the City of Love?'" Jesse suggested.

"That's not bad," I said, jotting it down in my notebook. I kept thinking. This caption had to be special, just like Percy. "Oh!" I exclaimed. I began writing. Jesse tried to read over my shoulder, but I kept shoving him away until it was finished. "A special place with a special guy," I said out loud to him. The best part of that caption was that no matter who read it out loud, it was true for both of us. I set the book aside. I'd show him when he woke up. For now, I was going to enjoy watching him sleep. It really had been the best Valentine's Day ever. And it wouldn't be the last best one either. Every day would be Valentine's Day as long as Percy was by my side.

…

Fluffy ending to our Valentine's chunk. Next chapter should be Nico's birthday. Then probably Percy's birthday. Or something in between. I haven't decided yet. Well, we're that much closer to the final chapter of this story (which is still a mystery to you all).