Disclaimer- I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Heroes of Olympus Series. (One can dream though) All rights go to the proper parties.

Note***- Will be boy x boy. (I promise, it is coming) Don't like? You don't have to read.

ΩΩΩ

December 28th

Percy POV

"Oh come on Apollo... It will be fun."

The God of music looked at me in disbelief, "You're kidding right?"

"Please?"

"For the last time Percy, it's not going to happen."

"Don't be such a pansy. A little cold never killed anyone."

The god of the sun raised an eyebrow and scoffed, "I beg to differ. The cold kills people every year."

I rolled my eyes, "You know what I mean. You're not going to die. As long as you wear a sweater, you won't even get cold."

"I am not an idiot Percy. I know that it won't kill me. I simply do not see the appeal in strapping blades to ones feet and sliding around a freezing surface."

I sighed and crossed my arms. We were standing in Apollo's apartment while I tried to convince the god of the sun to come with me.

I glanced out the window towards the river. Since it was so unusual to have a white winter in New Rome, the children of Vulcan had decided to take advantage of it and built an outdoor arena. Everyone was getting together to go skating. The only reason that I hadn't joined them yet was that I was trying to convince the god of music to come too.

I couldn't understand Apollo's reluctance to go skating. I mean, who doesn't like skating?

"How exactly can you not enjoy skating? It's one of the best things about winter."

"I cannot see one reason as to why it would be fun. Slipping around on the ice hardly seems entertaining to me."

I felt my eyebrows pull together and I tipped my head to the side. "Wait a minute. Have you ever even gone skating?"

The god of music rolled his eyes. "No. I think I've made it perfectly clear that sliding around a frozen puddle does not seem entertaining to me. Why would I waste my time?"

"Well if you've never tried it how can you say that it's not fun?"

"I haven't tired teaching an angry grizzly bear ballet either and yet I know that it wouldn't be fun."

I rolled my eyes. "You have to try it at least once."

He sighed, completely exasperated. "I fail to see why you are so preoccupied with getting me to go skating. I'm not stopping you from going. I just don't want to do it."

The argument I had mentally prepared to try and convince him with was wiped away by his response. Why am I trying so hard to make him come skating with me?

I hadn't even thought of that. I could leave him to go and do his own thing. Annabeth was coming skating too. By spending time debating with Apollo, I was actually cutting into my highly limited time with my girlfriend. Plus it wasn't like I never saw the god of the sun. I was staying in his house. I hardly got to see my other friends anymore since they were so busy. I couldn't explain to myself as to why I hadn't just accepted that Apollo didn't want to come and left to go spend time with my other friends.

I furrowed my eyebrows. Even now that Apollo had pointed out that I could leave, I didn't want to. I wanted him to come with us. I had a lot of fun with Apollo. I wasn't certain as to why, but I never had as much fun without Apollo as I did with him.

I shook my head to dispel my thoughts. I couldn't force him to come with me but I could try one last time to persuade him. I bit my lip as I planned out exactly what to say.

As soon as I had my wording down, I gave him my best puppy dog look. "Please come Apollo. Skating won't be as much fun, if you are not there."

The sun god ran a hand through his hair. He was silent for a minute before he finally sighed in defeat. "Fine, whatever, I will come skating. If I hate it though, I'm leaving."

My face split into a wide grin, "Deal."

Apollo chuckled and shook his head. "You know, using poetry against me is a low blow."

I shrugged, completely unrepentant. "Hey, it got you to agree didn't it? Now come on! We're going to be late."

ΩΩΩ

Apollo POV

This was ridiculous. Why in Hades name did I agree to come?

Standing next to the outdoor arena, I watched as people made a fool of themselves. Slipping and falling as they tried to maintain their balance. Percy had gone to go and get us skates. As if this wasn't already an idiotic enough experience, we were actually going to borrow skates that only Zeus knows how many other people had already worn. I had heard about mortals renting shoes and such before, but I had always found it to be a strange practice. Who wants to wear someone else's shoes?

"Here you are Fred."

I looked over my shoulder to see Percy giving me a blinding smile, holding out a pair of black skates. I hesitantly took them. "How did I let you talk me into this?"

The young god laughed, "It's too late to back out now. Come on, this is going to be fun."

We went to a bench and put on out skates. I had thought that wearing someone else's shoes would have been the worst part, but I was mistaken. Walking in them was the worst part. I had to balance all of my weight onto a thin strip of metal an eighth of an inch thick. I nearly fell three times before I even reached the ice.

This was going to be humiliating.

Percy had already reached the rink and was waiting for me to catch up. I reluctantly joined him at the edge of the ice. We were clearly the last of our group to arrive. The other 10 of Percy closest friends were already here.

The daughter of Athena smiled and waved when she noticed that her boyfriend had arrived. She skated over and came to an elegant stop right in front of us. I could stop the slight hint of jealousy at how easy she made it look.

"Hey seaweed brain," She leaned in and gave the young god a quick kiss on the cheek. "You're late."

Percy gave her a sheepish smile and rubbed the back of his neck. "I know. I'm sorry wise girl."

Annabeth shook her head at his apology. "No problem. Come on you two, let's skate."

The son of Poseidon turned to see if I needed help but I waved him off. "Go, I will be fine."

"Are you sure?"

I nodded, "Of course."

Percy smiled at me as Annabeth took his hand and they skated off together. Somehow I was unsurprised to see that Percy was an even more graceful skater than the daughter of Athena.

I took a deep breath as I looked at the ice.

I can do this. After all, how hard can it really be?

ΩΩΩ

Apparently, very hard...

I could hardly keep my balance for more than a few seconds and when I fell, it took me forever to regain my feet. I saw a few people clutching the wall to help themselves balance but, as they were pretty much all young children, I refused to sink to that level. If there were nine and ten year old children skating without the assistance of another object, then I could do it.

I discovered that if I turned my toes in towards each other that I could stand without falling. The downside was that I wasn't actually doing anything, just standing there. I sighed and shook my head as Percy skated up beside me, a bright smile on his face.

"So are you having fun yet?"

I glared at the young god. "It's even worse that I thought it would be. I cannot see why anyone would choose to do this as a source of amusement."

Percy's smile faded slightly, "Oh."

I felt strange just standing in the middle of the rink so started going forward again in my hobbley fashion. Percy kept time with me, even though I was hardly moving.

I looked over at the son of the sea god just to see him biting his lip.

I narrowed my eyes at the son of Poseidon. "What?"

Percy scratched the back of his neck and shrugged. "Well, I can kinda see as to why you're not enjoying yourself. That doesn't really look all that fun."

I rolled my eyes, "Trust me, it's not."

"I could help you if you'd like."

I was reluctant to accept Percy's aid. Not because I thought he would be a poor teacher, but because I didn't really want to take up all of his time. I was well aware of the fact that their relationship had been strained of late. Skating would be the perfect time for them to try to work it out.

"It's fine Percy. I don't want to cut into your time with your girlfriend. You go and have fun with Annabeth."

The son of Poseidon shook his head, "Annabeth is fine. Besides, she wants to hang out with her other friends too. I'm not the only one she hardly ever gets to spend time with. Now come on, let me help you."

He reached a hand out to me and I gave it a blank look. He laughed as he spun around so that he was skating backwards in front of me. Before I could react, he had reached down and grabbed both my hands.

I was quite surprised by the action, but that didn't stop me from teasing him.

I smirked and raised one eyebrow suggestively. "You know Percy. If you wanted to hold my hand, you could have just said so."

The son of Poseidon chuckled. "This is the only way I know how to teach someone to skate. It's how my mom taught me. Now straighten you feet."

I looked down to where my toes were still pointed inwards. "If I do that, I will fall." I spoke with absolute certainty.

The young god shook his head, "Don't worry. I've got you, I won't let fall."

I was hesitant to believe him, but I couldn't really see a point as to why Percy would lie over something so small. I reluctantly straighten my feet. The instant I did, I began to sway. I instinctively tightened my grip on the son of the sea god.

I nearly pulled us both down before Percy managed to steady us. "Don't try to stand up perfectly straight, lean towards me a little."

I did as he suggested and instantly felt a bit of difference in my control. I no longer felt like I was constantly on the edge of falling backwards. He made a few more tweaks to how I was standing before we were able to start moving.

ΩΩΩ

I wish I could say that I was a natural, but I was far closer to a natural disaster. Even with Percy's help, I still fell at least once every five minutes. I couldn't understand as to how the son of Poseidon could be so relaxed while skating.

It took me a couple hours, but I finally started to get the hang of it. I was able to skate beside Percy rather than having to clutch him like a life line. Skating was definitely never going to be my favorite pastime but I could begin to see the appeal. It was a unique experience.

The son of Poseidon didn't stay with me the whole time. After an hour or so, Annabeth came to kidnap her boyfriend back and Frank and Hazel came to skate with me. At least by that point, I didn't need to hold hands with anyone. Holding onto Percy was a little strange, but it wasn't as weird as it would have been to have to rely on people that I hardly knew. I had spent some time with Percy's friends, but they were often busy so I never really got to know them as well as I had gotten to know the son of the sea god.

Even if I had known them though, there was something about Percy that set him apart from everyone else. I couldn't see myself willingly trusting anyone else enough to let them teach me how to skate. I was the closest to Hermes and Artemis but even then, I don't think I would trust them enough to either not laugh or deliberately let me fall for amusement purposes. Then again, I wasn't certain if anyone else could have even convinced me to try skating in the first place.

Whenever Percy gave me that baby seal look, I had a hard time not agreeing to whatever he wanted. He was simply far too adorable to ignore. I was really curious if he even knew how cute he looked when he did that.

Honestly, how many 18 year olds still use the puppy eyes? It was such a childish thing to do and yet, it suited him perfectly. For all that Percy had accomplished, he was incredibly innocent.

Either way, as much as I like Frank and Hazel, I was pleased when Percy came to skate with me again. I was rather glad that he had convinced me to come.

Percy was clearly mirroring my thoughts, "You look like you're having fun."

I forced my face blank of all emotion. "What makes you say that?"

The son of Poseidon snorted and shook his head, "Ya right. Just admit it Fred. You're enjoying yourself."

I winked at the young god, "Never."

I wobbled a bit and Percy automatically reached out to steady me. I took hold of his arm and was able to find my balance before I fell. I could have let go of his hand, but I was rather enjoying the stability that it gave me. He raised an eyebrow in question but didn't pull away, willing to help me with my balance if I thought I needed it.

We made a few laps of the rink, still holding hands. Skating together, hand in hand, felt strangely intimate to me all of a sudden. I don't know why, considering it hadn't when he was teaching me. I was tempted to let go since I knew that he had a girlfriend, but I was loath to lose the comfort it gave me. Besides, if he was uncomfortable, I knew he would claim his hand back.

As I saw him smile at his girlfriend, I began to wonder if he even realized how it would look to others.

To the best of my knowledge, the son of Poseidon had never shown any interest in men before. If he had never thought about being with a guy, than he probably wouldn't even understand about how others would take it. As soon as I realized that, I felt guilty. I knew I shouldn't be thinking about the romantic aspect when I knew he only meant it in a friendly manner.

I instantly let go of his hand. He gave me a confused look but I just smiled in response. He shrugged and dropped it, clearly accepting that I simply felt confident enough again to skate on my own.

ΩΩΩ

I was glad when the sun set and we all left the arena. I was sore from falling all day. Everyone went their separate ways for dinner. The son of Poseidon asked if Jason and I wanted to join him and Annabeth for dinner, but we both declined. Neither of us wanted to interrupt their date.

I headed back to my apartment. I was tired and I really didn't feel like cooking, so I just reheated some leftovers before I collapsed on the couch. I ate my dinner and thought about the day. It had been far more fun than I had expected. The only part of the day that really threw me off was holding hands with Percy.

I couldn't understand as to why it felt so different at the end of the day. It had just been friendly help when he first started to teach me. I had been noticing more and more stuff like that around Percy as of late. Where, regardless of the fact that he was my friend and that he had a girlfriend, I couldn't stop thinking about him in a decidedly non-platonic manner.

I knew that I found him very attractive, but I found a lot of men and women good looking. I couldn't figure out what made him so different from all of the people that I had been attracted to in the past. None of them had ever held my attention the way Percy did. The biggest difference I could see was that I truly enjoyed his company. I liked doing almost anything with Percy. It didn't matter so much what we were doing, simply that I was spending time with him. I couldn't understand that aspect of it. It was downright bizarre. No one else could have ever made me try ice skating. So what made Percy so different?

I sat in my living room for hours, but all I could come up with was that there was just something about the son of the sea god that made him stand out.

ΩΩΩ

Percy POV

I was happy that I got to spend time with Annabeth, I really was. Spending the day at the arena with everyone was great. Yet, she wasn't the main reason that I had such a good day. I had enjoyed skating because I had been able to spend time with all of my friends. That was how it felt with Annabeth lately though, like I was spending time with a friend that I hadn't seen in a while.

Ever since our fight, I could sense a change in our relationship. The talk we had on the 23rd hadn't fix things like it was supposed to. I was still waiting for things to go back to how they were before we came to New Rome.

That's why I had really been counting on Jason and Apollo joining us for dinner. I wanted to spend some more time with Annabeth since she had unexpectedly taken the whole day off, but I didn't want it to be just us. The atmosphere when it was just the two of us seemed strained, but maybe it was only me.

We decided to go to some Italian place I had never eaten at before.

Once the waiter had walked away with our orders, pizza for me and some fancy pasta I couldn't remember the name of for her, Annabeth took my hand.

I found my eyes drawn to our clasped hands. Every time she took my hand or kissed my cheek lately, I kept waiting for the butterflies that had always been present before we came to Camp Jupiter. They were suspiciously absent.

"So, I have an exciting announcement."

I looked up in surprise, "Really, what about?"

The daughter of Athena gave me a mysterious smile, "Guess."

I tilted my head as I tried to figure out what it could be. I was drawing a blank. I shook my head. "I don't know."

"You could have at least tried." She smiled and shook her head fondly. "Fine, I'm finished designing Kymopoleia's temple. I sent the final blueprints to the goddess yesterday and she loved them."

I sat up straight and smiled, "Congratulations Wise-girl. I'm sure it's amazing."

She blushed. "Thanks Percy. Anyway, that's why I decided to take today off. I decided that every time Jason and I finish a temple, I'm going to take a full day off."

I did not know how to respond to that but she was waiting for some form of reaction. I cleared my throat, "Really?"

She nodded. "Yes. I have to work hard if I intend to finish the temple designs in my lifetime, but I can't overwork myself either. I miss seeing you and all of our friends."

I took a deep breath and looked down.

"Listen Percy," I looked back up, trying to keep my face blank. The daughter of Athena was giving me a serious look. "I know that the occasional day off is not what you were hoping for. I just don't want to promise one day every other week and not be able to keep my word."

I took a deep breath and rubbed the back of my neck. "I understand Wise-girl. I'm just not sure what to say. It's hard not being able to spend time with you."

She winced. "I know, but I don't know what else to do. I am going to try to take more time off but I need you to bear with me. Just trust that we will get through whatever is going on between us lately. Our relationship survived Tartarus, it can survive anything."

I nodded. We did survive Tartarus together.

I took a steadying breath and smiled. I must just be imagining problems where none exist. I guess I wasn't used to peace.

ΩΩΩ

Apollo POV

I was still sitting in the living room thinking about earlier when Percy got home. He told me that he was tired and wanted to crash early. I was fairly certian he was lying, but I also knew that if Percy had been ready to tell me what happened, he would have. If he wasn't ready, I wouldn't pry.

It was a lot less cold then it had been over the last few days so I took my blanket and pillow back to my room. At least, that's the reason I gave the son of Poseidon. It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't my biggest reason either...

I couldn't sleep. The only thing that kept me from pacing the room was that I knew Percy would be able to hear me. Instead, I sat on my bed and forced myself to stay still.

Something was changing between Percy and me. I wasn't certain what it was, but skating hand in hand with him earlier had felt far too natural. I had accepted my attraction to the son of Poseidon weeks ago but I was beginning to question if it was only a simple matter of desirability.

It would be foolish to develop a crush on the boy. I would not ruin our friendship for a fling. I would just have to keep myself in check, to avoid anything that might accelerate my feelings for the youngest god. I was the god of the sun; I was stronger than my desires.

I sighed and shook my head. I knew that it would be easier said than done. I lay down, closed my eyes, and tried my best not to think about how right it felt to have the sea prince's hand in mine.

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Authors Note

I've had this chapter mostly done since back when I posted chapter 18. I wrote the first 2500 words before I decided it didn't fit there and would be better saved till later in the story. Now, I finally have a place to put it. :-)

Next update will be July 19th.

Next Chapter:

I groaned quietly to myself and rubbed my forehead.

This was a disaster.