A/N: I figured if I'm stuck with writer's block for all my longfics, I might as well try and write some generic band AU romance... this fic happened. I wrote most of it before the whole corona mess escalated (February, I think?), then stuff happened, had an internship, went back to working on my album and got ready to put out a single, yadda yadda. Anygays, I finally finished it! Probably a bit rushed near the end, I got stuck on the last few hundred words for a while.

Content warnings for smoking, mentions of drug use, brief references to past underage sex, past abuse.

The wind swept through Luke's hair, and he grinned. The forecast had promised a storm for today, and they hadn't lied, for once. Someone had brought up the question whether this weather was suitable for skateboarding, and drunk as they had been, it hadn't been long before they had been out to try it. A dozen metres ahead, Nakamura led the way, tailed by Torrington, and Luke spread his arms to offer more surface for the wind to push in an attempt to catch up with the two. The highway was deserted, something about an official weather alert, and no car was going to ruin this.

He didn't see the pothole in the tarmac, not before it was too late.

Luke grimaced as he dragged himself out of the hospital. Thalia had yelled at him over the phone, his boss had yelled at him over the phone, and he doubted his mother had understood a word of what he'd been saying, but no amount of yelling was going to unbreak his arm. Three months at least, the doctor had said while the nurse had attached the cast. Three months or more, no heavy lifting, no putting any sort of strain on the arm, and worst of all, no music. He might just as well sell his bass and start looking for a job that didn't require use of his right arm.

He hailed a cab and told the driver the address of Thalia's parents. They had scheduled a rehearsal for today, before his accident, and so far, nobody had cancelled it.

'So you're saying it's my fault?

'What I'm saying is you are a short-sighted, unreliable, irresponsible, drunk idiot! So yes, Luke Castellan, it absolutely is your fault!'

To be fair, Luke couldn't exactly argue with Thalia. It was his fault.

'I don't suppose you could have waited until April before breaking your arm? Argh!' She angrily flung a drumstick across the room before pulling him into a hug. He winced as she brushed against his injured arm.

'I'm glad you're ok', she mumbled into his shoulder. 'But I swear, the next time you pull something like this…'

'Yeah, yeah, I know.'

From behind, their hug was joined by Annabeth, the third member of their ensemble, and the three remained in a group hug for a few moments before pulling apart.

'We'll have to cancel the tour', Thalia decided. 'I hate to throw away this opportunity, but since you're out of commission currently, seems we'll have to.'

'Whoa, wait!' Luke protested. 'You gotta be kidding. We worked for this, Thals!'

She turned around. 'Yes, we did, but someone decided to go skating in a fucking hurricane two weeks before tour.'

'Maybe we could, I dunno', he gestured helplessly, 'find a substitute? Just for this tour, I mean, someone's gotta—'

Thalia rolled her eyes. 'Charlie is in Hawaii with his girlfriend, Connor left for LA to get settled for uni last week, Rachel is setting up that new gallery on Rick Avenue whenever she's not busy with the café', she counted on her fingers and Luke could see Annabeth grimace behind Thalia's back at the mention of Rachel, 'and your friend Tavy is probably in some shithole basement tripping on god-knows-what. We're out of options, Luke.'

Annabeth cleared her throat. 'He's right though. I mean, New Athens Fest is the best gig we've gotten this year, we shouldn't give it up this easily.'

Thalia sighed and flopped down on her stool. 'Fine. What do you have in mind?'

Percy wiped the sweat off his forehead. The temperatures had been through the roof for the past few days, but even if they hadn't, he would be sweating. He took one last deep breath and pressed the doorbell. The house was fancier than any place Percy had ever lived at, and that did nothing to ease his nervousness. Inside, he could hear footsteps, and a young man, maybe a few years younger than Percy, opened the door. He was blonde, a bit taller than Percy, and had a plain, boring sort of look about him.

'Jason Grace. Can I help you?'

'Uh, hi, I'm, eh, Percy', Percy stuttered. 'I'm here for the audition.'

The man nodded and turned around. 'Thals! It's for you!'

He gestured for Percy to enter and led him into the kitchen before excusing himself. A woman about Percy's age sat on the counter and talked to someone on the phone, a radio in the corner played some alternative rock station. Percy listened for a moment, but he couldn't figure out the song.

'…listen here, I didn't ask you to tell me why I should buy a new one, I told you to fix it, alright? No—no shut up, I don't pay you for talking, I pay you to fix the fucking car, alright? I need it next week, period. Yes, you too.'

She flipped the cellphone shut and chucked it towards the couch opposite the room, hopped off the counter and extended a hand towards Percy.

'Thalia Grace, nice to meet you.'

'Percy Jackson, likewise.'

Thalia Grace was slightly shorter than him, and if punk had had a face of its own, it would have been hers. It wasn't the snakebites, or the eyeliner, or the green-and-black mohawk, or the nose ring. It was the snakebites and the eyeliner and the mohawk and the nose ring. The cargo pants and tank top only served to complete the look.

'We phoned', Percy added helpfully, and she waved him off.

'Yeah, I remember. The others are running a little late, have a seat or whatever.' She gestured at the couch and produced a pack of cigarettes from somewhere. 'Want one, too?'

He declined and put his gig bag down to sink into the surprisingly soft pillows while she lit a smoke. The song on the radio changed again and the screaming of Wayne Static filled the room while they waited.

'So, any previous band experience?' Thalia suddenly asked.

'What? Oh, eh, a bit', Percy stammered. 'School band and stuff. A few gigs on parties and all that.'

She took another drag and exhaled. 'Know any of our music?'

'I looked at your MySpace, you got some songs there', Percy confirmed. Relief flooded through him and he silently congratulated himself on having come prepared.

He was spared further questions when the doorbell rang and Thalia hurried to open the door. It wasn't long before she returned, now in the company of another woman and a man, a smaller red-headed woman and a tall blonde guy with one arm in a cast. Neither of them looked as alternative as Thalia did, but the man caught Percy's eye. His hair had streaks of grey dye in it and a curious scar ran down his face, giving him a bit of a weathered, dangerous appearance, even in casual clothes, and if the eyes weren't captivating enough, the smile he flashed at Percy sure was. It wasn't often that Percy found himself looking at another boy this way, but this one? Ten out of ten.

'Annabeth, Luke: Percy', Thalia introduced them. 'Everyone ready?'

The Graces' souterrain seemed to be where the band rehearsed. The air conditioning hummed quietly, the floor had been covered in a wide variety of different rugs, and someone had put up what was obviously an old bed sheet, with the band's name, No Actual Heroes, spray-painted on it. In the middle of the room stood a drum kit, and a bunch of amps along one of the walls.

Percy thought it was pretty cool.

'This is my rig', Luke gestured at the bass amp. 'Plug yourself in, there's a power socket behind if you brought any pedals.'

The other woman, Annabeth, picked up a guitar while Thalia disappeared behind the drums. Percy leant his bag against the wall and began unpacking—tuner, cables, then the actual bass. As he plugged his instrument in, he couldn't help but feel a spark of envy at the obviously expensive gear these people played on. It did make him feel inadequate, running his second-hand equipment through a stack that was probably worth three months of his mum's salary, and he quickly pushed these thoughts aside as he started tuning up. He imagined he could feel everyone's eyes on him while he stared down at the display, feeling for the bass' tuning heads, and he spent twice as long as usual on it before daring to look around. Opposite him, Annabeth was adjusting the controls on her amp, and between them, Thalia was impatiently twisting the sticks between her fingers.

'Everybody set?' Luke called, and Percy nodded.

The bassist fetched a few sheets from one of the shelves near the door and handed them to Percy, who quickly glanced over the chords scrawled down on them before placing them on the floor where he could see them. He had spent the week listening to a bunch of songs on repeat and trying to play along, hopefully it would pay off. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the drummer, Thalia, adjust a mic near her seat and he quickly wiped his sweaty hands on his shirt before gripping the neck of his bass again, a little more tight than necessary.

Luke seemed to sense his nervousness and gave him a reassuring smile. 'No worries, nobody's expecting you to do a perfect job, alright kiddo? Just try and keep up, we're gonna help you through this.'

'Alright, less talking, ladies!' Thalia yelled. 'Percy, just play along as good as you can. Let's rock this shit.'

Without further ado, she counted them in, Annabeth strummed the first riff and took to the mic…

Everybody dancing, Saturday night
But I ain't trying to live this life
Forcing these chains with all of my might
I ain't living this kind of life

Percy stared down at the sheet with the chords. His fingers moved over the fretboard, trying to mimic Annabeth's guitar playing. The rhythm wasn't too complicated, but just when he thought he had figured it out, a drum roll from Thalia announced the beginning of the chorus. He frantically scanned the paper for the correct part… D minor, B flat, no that was the verse… he hoped his face wasn't as bright red as it felt.

'Well, what do you think?'

Annabeth shrugged. 'He seems nice, not like that other guy. And he did okay. Fast learner.'

'I don't know', Thalia doubted. 'No stage experience and all that, I don't think it's a good idea… you're sure you can't', she gestured at Luke's arm.

'No can do, sorry.' He sighed. 'Look, I think he was alright. We still have a week and some, I'm sure we can work something out. It's better than cancelling.'

Thalia rolled her eyes. 'Fine, whatever. I hope you're right about him, then.'

Across town, Percy was in the middle of preparing dinner when his phone rang. He cursed and almost dropped the pot he was holding before putting it down to answer.

'Percy Jackson, who's there?'

'Hey Percy, it's Luke. You're in. Meet me tomorrow and we can start going over the songs again.'

'Do you have to drive this slow?'

Thalia sighed. 'It's raining, Luke. I'd rather not hit a lamppost, thanks.'

Luke squinted through the windshield, trying to make out the street signs. They had been supposed to arrive 30 minutes ago, but the weather had delayed them.

'We're too far', he noted. 'I'm fairly sure it said Regent Street two blocks ago.'

'Why thanks for telling me', Thalia snapped as she turned the van around. Behind them, Annabeth was reading a book and Percy had fallen asleep. Luke marvelled at how he could sleep while the two of them were bickering like that. Outside, the world was barely more than a blur through the rain.

'There', Luke pointed past the traffic lights. He unfolded the map and searched for the directions he had written down the day before. 'Uhh, left here and right after the junction.'

Once they had arrived, Thalia shut off the engine and climbed out of the driver's seat. 'Luke, tell them we're here. Annabeth, wake Percy and help me get the stuff ready to unload.'

The place they had parked in front of was a small club, the front covered in stickers, neon lettering above the door. With his healthy arm, Luke pushed open the door and stepped inside. After his eyes had adjusted to the dim lighting, he strolled towards the bar.

'We don't open until seven', he was greeted.

'Luke Castellan, from No Actual Heroes', Luke answered. 'Sorry we're late. I phoned a Mr Garm Spencer, is he in?'

The bartender shook his head. 'Not yet. You're the band? Stage's over there, you can get set up. I'll send Frank your way once he's here.'

'Our tech man', he added upon Luke's questioning glance.

When he walked back outside, Thalia and Percy had already unstrapped most of the gear from the van's back compartment.

'We're good to go', Luke called. 'Percy, Annabeth, get the amps, we're gonna get the kit.'

'You aren't taking anything', Annabeth cut him off. 'You have a broken arm. We'll manage, don't worry. Percy, give me a hand here, please?'

He rolled his eyes at her protective attitude, but judging by the look on Thalia's face, he was outnumbered. Raising his hands in mock surrender, he grumbled a 'fine' and retreated to the passenger seat. The rain, slowly letting up, drummed against the glass while he watched the others carry their equipment into the club. His eyes followed Percy as the bassist hauled his, Luke's, amplifier head piece in one hand and his own bass in the other. The water had Percy's hair clinging to his face, but to Luke, it almost seemed like the other man was happier in the pouring rain than he had been in the car, dry and warm as it was.

Outside, as if he had sensed Luke staring at him, Percy turned around. He met Luke's eyes and almost dropped his gig bag, cursed, and hastily hurried into the pub.

'Luke?' Annabeth called and motioned for him to follow. He slid out of his seat again and locked the car before making a dash for the door through the remaining drizzle. Inside, Thalia was adjusting her drum kit, tentatively doing a drum roll, adjusting the pitch of the drumheads, then doing it again. Percy stood a few metres away, tuning his bass.

'I'd like you to help out with tech. That's their sound guy', she nodded towards a pale teenager at the far side of the room, besides the controls for light and sound, 'just look over his shoulder and make sure he doesn't fuck up, okay?'

'Sure.'

She hopped onto the stage and picked up her guitar while Luke headed towards the slightly elevated place where the mixing desk was installed.

'Luke', he introduced himself and awkwardly put out his healthy arm to shake the guy's hand. He couldn't be much older than 17, maybe 18, probably got paid a pocket money for this, he mused.

'Frank', the other one replied and briefly shook the offered hand. He coughed. 'You guys ready, or…?'

From where she was sitting, Thalia gave an enthusiastic thumbs up, and Luke nodded.

'Okay, can we get the guitar, please?'

Annabeth strummed a few chords, Frank adjusted the volume a bit, she strummed again. They went through it a few times until he was satisfied, before moving on to the drums. Luke insisted he turns the snare down and the kick up a bit, before they turned their attention to the bass. Percy picked it up, played a few notes, and—nothing. He frantically turned up all the knobs on the instrument, again, nothing. Luke frowned and squinted at the effect pedals at Percy's feet.

'Percy… Percy!'

'Yeah?'

'The tuner's still on. It mutes the signal during tuning.'

'Oh.'

It would have been an understatement to say that Percy's face lit up. Luke felt kinda sorry for him—not that he hadn't messed up his first gig too, years ago—but it wasn't really that big of a deal. Percy plucked a string, the sound filled the venue, and Luke turned back towards the mixer.

'A little less treble on the bass, Frank…'

'Ok now all of you together. Just play anything whatsoever, I just need to dial you all in to proper volume.'

Annabeth grinned, a mischievous grin Luke knew too well from their past days of pulling pranks together, and struck the first few chords. Luke immediately recognised the song and groaned, and he could see Thalia trying to contain her laughter as she and Percy joined in while Frank adjusted the volume levels.

'IT'S JUST ONE OF THOSE DAYS, WHEN YOU DON'T WANNA WAKE UP…'

It wasn't until a while later, during a break between two songs, that some remote corner of his mind was hit with the realisation that an embarrassed Percy seemed to be a pretty cute Percy.

'HOW ARE YOU FEELING TONIGHT, SPRINGFIELD? WE'RE NO ACTUAL HEROES AND THIS SONG IS CALLED RADIOS & RAZORBLADES, LET'S GO!'

Percy gripped the pick tighter and let muscle memory take over when the song began. His fingers moved over the fretboard while Thalia drove the beat and he allowed himself to let his eyes roam over the audience. About three-hundred people had turned up for tonight's gig, and the place was pretty crammed. He couldn't see much against the stage lights, but he knew Luke was somewhere near the bar, working the tech once again, like it had become their habit over the past two weeks of tour. Percy imagined he could feel him looking his way, and even though it was just his imagination, the thought brought about a giddy and excited feeling and he almost missed the transition to the bridge of the song.

An hour and a half later, the last sound faded, and before the crowd had stopped cheering, they had already started to disassemble their gear.

'Percy', Thalia called, 'could you handle merch tonight?'

She threw the key to the cash box his way. Usually, the merch booth was Annabeth's realm, but Percy shrugged and hurried to where they had set up a table with CDs and shirts. A handful of people were already waiting and he quickly unlocked the till. A shirt here, two CDs there, one shirt and a CD please, no I'm sorry I can't give you a discount, yes we have a website, sorry I think we're out of size S, can I offer you a size M? No? Alright, here's your CD.

'Are you the bassist?' The question had come from a young woman after only briefly glancing at the merchandise on display.

'Huh? Oh. Kinda, I'm just filling in, the actual bassist broke his arm', Percy explained. 'Can I interest you in a CD or a shirt?'

She waved him off. 'So, do you have to guard this stuff all night or do you get off later? If you're looking for someone to show you the town, I could help.'

Ah. Percy tried to keep the grimace off his face. 'Sorry, no can do.'

Unfortunately, his newfound admirer wasn't as easy to shake off. While he answered her increasingly annoying questions—how was band life? Did he have a girlfriend? Was their drummer a lesbian? Did he work out?—with increasingly short answers, too shy to just tell her to get lost, he spotted a familiar blonde head in the crowd and shortly after, Luke emerged from between two groups of people and made his way over to them. He walked around the table and bowed over Percy's shoulder to whisper into Percy's ear, with his good hand supporting him on Percy's other shoulder.

'Annabeth and Thalia are done loading up and are gonna take a look at the rooms, they'll be back in twenty to pick us up.'

Luke's breath tingled his skin and Percy wondered why the bassist hadn't just told him out loud. He was standing unusually close, not that Percy minded, not at all, actually—

'You know, you could have just told me so', the woman across the table snapped before she strode towards the exit. It didn't help Percy's confusion, quite the opposite actually, and as Luke untangled himself from Percy, he swore he could have seen a satisfied smirk on his face. It was hard to tell with the venue lights, but he awkwardly returned the smile he thought Luke was smiling at him. The crowd seemed to have lost interest in the band anyway, so he started packing up, put the shirts and albums back into the cardboard boxes, and started stacking them. A few minutes later, Luke came back, and they began carrying their merch to the back door where Thalia and Annabeth were waiting with the van.

'Step on it', Annabeth urged as Percy climbed into the driver's seat. 'It's past time for some sleep, we need to check out tomorrow by seven.'

Luke quietly closed the door of the room behind him, careful not to wake Thalia, and hurried down the corridor. It was not even past three and they would all need some more rest for the next leg of the journey the following day. After their gig earlier—as opening act, this time, for a larger, local band—Thalia had been out within minutes of hitting the bed, and he couldn't blame her.

He took a few wrong turns, but eventually, he found a sign that pointed towards the rooftop terrace. After a few hours of restlessly shifting in his bed, he had decided he might as well get some fresh air. Stargazing, he thought to himself, what are you, twelve? But with so much on his mind, a little cooling down would do him good, or so he hoped, especially with all these thoughts about Percy.

Luke's initial instinct to trust the guy had proven great. They had been driving and playing for three weeks now, and Percy had fit right in. Oh, he had messed up a few times during the first two or three evenings, but he was a quick learner, quicker than maybe Luke himself, and he seemed to have a natural talent for being on a stage. But that wasn't what was troubling Luke, his thoughts were of a more personal nature. Like about the way Percy's dorky nature seemed to be able to brighten any however gloomy day, or about the smile that tugged at Luke's lips any time Percy cracked some joke or said something uplifting.

Luke Castellan was not in love, not at all, absolutely not; but had he been in love, purely hypothetically so, he would have had it bad for Percy Jackson.

He pushed open the doors to the rooftop and fumbled for a lighter in his pockets, hands already holding a cigarette. The place was dimly lit at best, barely more than a silhouette, and he briefly took shelter in the entrance to light the cig before venturing further out. He inhaled the first breath, exhaled, grimaced at the bitter flavour it left in his mouth. He had always found them helpful to ground himself, and when he was stressed or exhausted, their gross taste served as an uncomfortable reminder that he was still very much alive and capable of feeling things. He took another drag, blew the smoke into the cold air, and leant against the railing.

So. Percy Jackson.

Well, it doesn't matter, he tried to convince himself. Even if he was actually having feelings for the man, and even if he could somehow bring the topic up and not screw it up, there was still the slight issue of them being supposed to work together as colleagues, more or less. Of sharing cramped quarters and a van. They wouldn't be home for another two weeks—the longest tour they had done, in all the years Thalia, Annabeth, and him had been playing together—and he wasn't about to make things awkward, not when they had to get along as a band, as a team. Hey Percy, he imagined himself strolling up to Percy, great job onstage, and also, I wanna bone you and every time you smile at me I have to fight the irrational urge to kiss you. Yeah, sure, not happening. The other day, he'd seen Percy being hit on by some fan at the merch booth, and he had felt more jealous than he cared to admit to himself.

'Fuck that's col—oh sorry, I didn't know anyone was gonna be here.'

What are the chances, Luke inwardly cursed as he turned around. Percy Jackson, speak of the devil.

'Percy', he nodded. 'Shouldn't you be in bed?'

'Says you', was Percy's reply. He walked up to Luke and briefly glanced over the city before noticing the cigarette in Luke's hand. 'I didn't know you smoke.'

'I don't', Luke shrugged and even though it was dark, he felt his face flush. 'Not usually, anyways.'

Percy turned around so his back faced the edge, similar to Luke, and for some time, the two of them stood in silence as Luke smoked up his cigarette and Percy waited for… for what, actually? Whatever he had come here for, he seemed content enough just staring at the sky. Eventually, Luke crushed what was left of the smoke on the handrail before flicking it away. It disappeared into the air below and he was headed for the door when Percy's voice stopped him.

'Nightmares. I couldn't sleep, that's why I came here… I dunno, I thought some fresh air might help.'

Oh. It wasn't that Luke never experienced nightmares, quite the opposite, he'd had his fair share, but for some reason, hearing about it from Percy was… different. He ignored the unwelcome part of him that tried to direct his attention towards the realisation that he felt more protective of Percy than he had any right to.

'Ah. Sorry to hear that.'

Percy shrugged. 'Happens. What about you?'

'I, uh, couldn't sleep', he tried to evade the question. He couldn't exactly tell Percy he had been too busy swooning over him to sleep, could he? 'Too much on my mind, just… stuff. This and that.'

He pulled out a second cigarette and lit it—he held the pack out towards Percy but the bassist declined—and he was halfway into his third when Percy spoke up again. A light rain had set in, and Luke was fairly sure they had been standing there, him smoking and Percy stargazing or whatever it was he was doing, for at least half an hour. Okay, maybe less, but it had felt longer.

'When I was a kid, my stepfather—I mean, I don't even know why mum married him, but he… he was very unpleasant. Yelled a lot. He'd throw bottles at me if he was drunk, or if he lost, he gambled a lot, and he never won… when I was in highschool, he—' he interrupted himself. 'Sorry. Don't even know why I'm telling you this.'

Luke grimaced at the unwelcome memories Percy's words had brought about and hoped Percy hadn't seen his pained expression. 'It's okay. Do you, I don't know, need a hug or something?'

It wasn't a perfect hug. It wasn't even a good hug. Actually, Luke thought, it was about as far from a good first hug as could be. It was cold, both of them were wet from the rain, for one awkward moment it seemed like their faces were going to meet, he almost dropped his smoke from his free hand, and he hoped that through his coat and Percy's hoodie-over-PJs, Percy couldn't feel his pulse quickening. Nevertheless, fact remained that here he was, on the rooftop terrace of some cheap hotel, hugging Percy Jackson while the younger man let go of any and all restraint and started to cry into his, Luke's, shoulder. A raindrop hit the cigarette and he dropped the wet remains to the ground and wrapped his other arm around Percy too.

'Sorry', Percy mumbled as they eventually pulled apart. 'Shoul'n have', he unceremoniously wiped his face with his sleeve, 'shouldn't have dumped all that on you.'

'It's okay, really', Luke assured him and gently steered him towards the door. The wind was picking up, and he really didn't want to be out here when the rain got worse. 'It's alright. Promise.'

'Ok, take a left here, and then just follow the road for, uhh… the next few billion miles or something.'

'Aye aye, skipper!' Percy gave a mock salute at Annabeth's vague directions and drove the van around the corner. Behind them, Luke and Thalia were asleep, Luke's head leaning against the window and Thalia slumped across two seats in what was clearly a violation of safety precautions, with her head resting in Luke's lap. How she had even managed this against the seatbelt, Percy had no idea, but he felt a trace of jealousy at the obvious familiarity and comfort between the two.

They hadn't had much opportunity to talk since their unexpected heart-to-heart two nights ago. The day after, they had driven most of the day and gotten lost more than once because Thalia had misread the map, the day after that, Annabeth had used the free time until the evening to drag all of them into a museum. And now Percy was in charge of getting them to their next destination, the last stop before New Athens Fest at the end of the tour.

Luke was nice, and very likeable, and, Percy hadn't failed to notice, quite attractive. A lot of guys were. But something had changed, and Percy wasn't sure whether he liked the obvious conclusion. He wasn't going to fall for a guy just because said guy had let him cry on his shoulder once, but he was definitely feeling… something. If he was being honest with himself, he hadn't quite felt this way about a guy since junior year in highschool, not since secretly meeting a certain, dark-haired, punk-loving sophomore behind the bicycle shed during recess, sneaking out after dark to roam the streets behind venues neither of them was old enough to be allowed into, and having his mind opened to a whole new world of things two guys could do in their free time. A hint of regret tainted the memories, and Percy briefly wondered what the boy—Nico, that had been his name—was up to these days before quickly thinking of something else. Luke. Right. He had been thinking about Luke.

A few dozen miles later, after taking two wrong turns and almost running the car into oncoming traffic after picturing Luke's lips on his, Percy concluded that yes, he absolutely had caught The Feels.

Well shit. Never let a nice guy offer you a hug, apparently.

'These things are gonna kill you, you know?'

Caught by surprise, Luke coughed on the smoke. Behind him, Percy let the door fall shut and jumped down the stairs that led from the venue down to the street, if one could even call it a street. Back alley, more like it.

'Annabeth sent me to go looking for you', he explained. 'We can go in for soundcheck in a few minutes.'

He eyed the cigarette in Luke's hand. '"Not usually" smoking, eh?'

Luke felt his cheeks redden and quickly threw the incriminating item down and crunched it with his sole. That they were bad for his health weren't the issue—he knew that, and some small, morbid part of him even appreciated that. No, it was that for some reason, Percy seemed to have the unique ability to make him feel embarrassed for being caught smoking out back, like some kind of highschooler hiding their cigarettes. Odd. It had never used to bother him when Annabeth would chide him for it. Behind him, he thought he could hear Percy chuckle.

'We, uh, we should go in', he quickly said and hoped his face wasn't as bright red as it felt. 'They're probably waiting for us.'

'Right.'

They hurried up the stairs. Percy reached for the door the same time as Luke did, their hands briefly bumped into each other, both of them blushing now. Percy was close enough that Luke thought he could smell him, a mix of sweat and something akin to salt water or an ocean breeze? His shampoo maybe? Or perfume, even? He wouldn't have put it past Percy.

'Uhm. After you.' Percy coughed, seemingly just as flustered as Luke was.

'Right.'

Somehow, moving seemed like an impossible task, the thought of leaving already pushed away into some remote corner of his mind. Percy's eyes were green, he realised, and he briefly wondered how he had not noticed before. Somehow, the realisation hit him that his pulse had quickened, and that Percy's face seemed to have gotten closer, and just maybe, if he wasn't imagining it, Percy's breathing had sped up just like his own. They were standing really close, or maybe one of them had taken a step to close the distance between them. He could see Percy swallow and briefly glance at his, Luke's lips, and if he was going to say something, now really would be the moment, he assumed. Saying something. Right. Percy cleared his throat, Luke took a deep breath, and—

'Uhm, I think I really', Luke began, at the same time as Percy began speaking.

'Think I really—'

'Not going to—'

'Like you, like—'

'While you smell of—'

'Feelings for—wait, what?' Luke cut himself off.

'I said', Percy repeated, 'I'm not going to kiss you while you smell like an ash tray.'

'Wait—what—kiss—I mean—WHAT?' Luke spluttered.

Percy frowned. 'You were going to kiss me, right? I assumed—'

'No, I mean yes, I mean—argh', Luke stammered. 'Yes. I thought—I mean', he coughed, 'I like you. Like, feelings, a crush. Ahem.'

'Yeah, I figured as much.' The other man let out a nervous laugh. 'I, uh… same. You too.'

Whoa.

'Can we', Percy fiddled with a guitar pick, 'talk about this later?'

Percy. Talk. Later. The idea made something inside Luke giddy and excited and he nodded. Percy reached for the door, and Luke quickly reached out with his healthy arm and intercepted Percy's hand to lift it up and press a small kiss to it.

'For good luck', he explained, before falling in line behind Percy as they went to join the others.

Knock-knock

Percy slid off the bed and opened the door for Luke. In his pyjamas, he looked oddly domestic, compared to his usual appearance.

It was kind of cute, really.

'Hey.'

'Hi.'

How did this conversation thing work again?

'You're, uh, still awake?'

'Yeah.' Obviously.

'Couldn't sleep', Percy added. 'Kinda nervous about tomorrow, I mean, I never played on a festival…'

'Oh. Right.'

Awkward was hardly enough to describe the silence that followed. Percy was fairly sure his excitement and nervousness about the elephant in the room was impossible to hide as he wrung his hands to keep them from shaking. The again, Luke seemed equally anxious. His hands drummed a rhythm on the headpiece of Percy's hotel bed. They were nice hands, Percy thought. Everything about Luke was nice, if he thought about it. Especially his hair. It looked way too fluffy, and more than once, Percy had found himself wishing he could touch it.

'I brushed my teeth', Luke eventually broke the silence.

'Oh?'

'No more cigarette smell', the blonde clarified. 'If you, eh, still wanna kiss me, that is.'

Oh. Percy swallowed and nodded. Luke took a step forward and Percy thought he could smell his shampoo. He was slightly shorter than Luke, and oh god so close, close enough to rest his head against the taller man's chest if he had wanted to. Another smal step and they stood chest to chest. Luke's hand found Percy's chin and Percy's hands wandered up Luke's back, even closer now, close enough, oh shit this is happening, their noses briefly bumped together and then, finally, their lips.

And then Percy's hands were in Luke's hair and Luke's other hand on Percy's back, and the thoughts left Percy's head because Luke's lips and tongue and all of Luke.

'Ok. Talk.' Luke eventually managed to say when they briefly parted.

Ahh.

Right.

Uhhhhhh.

'Rachel's', Percy eventually spoke up.

The look of confusion on Luke's face was priceless. 'Rachel's?'

'The café', Percy clarified. 'Behind the mall? Opposite Brunner's Books? We should go there some time. If you want to.'

He swallowed hard. 'Like a date.'

Luke's face lit up and it did something very warm and very good to Percy's insides. 'Like a date', he confirmed.

A grin spread over Percy's face as he pulled Luke closer for another kiss. Tongues explored, teeth bit, hands roamed, and he could all but feel the pent-up tension from the last weeks ease out of his body. Before too long, they had grown more passionate, with Luke backed up against the wall and one of Percy's legs between his. Before things could get out of hand, however, Luke broke the kiss.

'Alright', he panted. 'One step at a time.'

Percy smiled and pecked him on the lips. 'Sure thing.'

'You two', Thalia decided, 'are absolutely gross. Proper disgusting. If I see this kind of shit in my house ever again—'

'Technically', Percy interrupted her, 'we were in the garden, not the house. And we didn't eactly know it was gonna be such a big load!'

'And it has educational value, too!'

'Oh shut up', Thalia snapped. 'I fail to see what is educational about this—this!'

She threw her hands up in the air at the sight in front of her. Percy exchanged a brief glance with Jason and burst into giggles. The Graces' garden table, various ingredients scattered across the porch, and parts of the facade, were buried under a huge mountain of goo and grease of an unknown variety—blue, of course—under which the tip of a paper maché volcano was just poking out.

'Look', Percy coughed into his hand to overplay the laughter, 'it's not like we planned for it to go off like that.'

Jason nodded. 'It did say "small burst" in the tutorial.'

'You—argh!' Thalia looked like she was about to dunk them in the mess nose-first, like puppies. 'You belong back in kindergarden, both of you! I swear, if this isn't clean by the time Luke comes back—'

She stormed off and left the threat hanging in the air, unfinished. The pair of mischief-doers burst into another fit of laughter before stumbling up the stairs to the kitchen to fetch some cleaning utensils. They had barely just finished removing most of the mess from the table when the sound of the front door opening and closing announced Luke's return.

'Jeez, what did you do now?' was his greeting as he poked his head out of the kitchen window.

'You know, if you keep pissing her off, I'm not gonna be the one to explain your mysterious disappearance to the cops.'

Percy stuck out his tongue in response. 'Oh shut up, as if you would ever let her murder me.'

Luke waggled his eyebrows.

Percy threw a chunk of baking soda-goo his way.

There were worse ways to spend a Sunday afternoon.