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.

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February 13th

Percy POV

I knew that there were different styles of fighting. I did my best to teach Apollo, but my style was very Greek. He seemed to be slowly getting the hang of it but I knew that if he wanted to be able to truly hold his own in a fight, then he would need to practice against others too.

It hadn't been too hard to convince Jason to take an afternoon off to help teach Apollo, nor was it hard to convince the god of the sun that fighting against another style of swordsmanship would be good practice. The only part of my plan that sucked was the timing. I didn't think anything of it when we made the plans, but now I regretted it. I contemplated heading to the arena to watch or even possibly spar, but I didn't want Jason to feel like I was questioning his teaching methods or anything.

Still walking around New Rome alone, being faced with multiple reminders of the upcoming holiday, sucked. Everywhere were signs and decorations making sure that no one could forget that tomorrow was Valentine's Day.

I wasn't sure what I was feeling. I didn't really feel the ache that I did in the beginning. I still missed Annabeth, but now that our friendship was starting to heal, I didn't miss her as much. I think I mostly just missed having her in my life as opposed to missing her being my girlfriend. Still, the 14th of February really made people remember that they were alone. Ya I had friends, but it wasn't the same. Valentine's Day was for lovers, no one wanted to spend it by themselves.

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Eventually I had killed enough time to be able to head home without feeling like I had completely wasted the day. True I hadn't really accomplished much but I had cleaned up Poseidon's temple, so at least I did something.

On the way back I tried to avoid thinking about all of decorations. I got back to the apartment just after Apollo. He looked tired from his training. Judging by the dirt all over his clothing, I was fairly confident that Jason hadn't gone easy on him.

He waved when he saw me and I gave him a smile. I hadn't seen Apollo flirting with anyone recently and judging by the fact he hadn't mentioned anyone, I was guessing that I wasn't going to be the only one without a date this year.

I suddenly wondered if he too was feeling lonely over the upcoming holiday. He hadn't mentioned anything to me about it but judging by how many kids he had, I found it difficult to believe that he spent too many Valentine's Day's alone.

If I spent the day sitting at home watching movies, I was pretty sure I would feel even worse than if I went out by myself. I wondered if Apollo might want to go do something with me. Spending time with ones friend was a lot better than sitting along.

I nodded my head as I thought about it. It was a good idea; I'd have to ask...

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Apollo POV

I had just walked through the door when Percy came home. I gave him a wave as I headed to the kitchen. I was worn out from sword practice.

I grimaced and grabbed a water bottle from the fridge. As much as it killed me to admit, my half brother wasn't half bad. He wasn't as talented as Percy, but he was still more than a match for me. I lost count of how many times I had ended up on the ground with a sword point at my throat. My ego was still stinging from the bruising it took.

I was so wrapped up in my musing that I didn't even realize that Percy was acting weird. If I had, maybe I would have thought to ask what the matter was before I took a big sip of water.

"Hey Apollo? Will you be my Valentine?"

I started choking on the glass of water. When I finally was able to breathe again, I looked at Percy in shock. "I'm sorry. Could you repeat that please?"

"Well... since Annabeth and I aren't together, I don't have any plans tomorrow. I figured that if you were free, we could do something rather than just sitting at home.

"You want to spend Valentine's Day with me?" I felt like one of my sacred cows, slow, dumb, and bright red. My mind was still stuck on him asking me to be his Valentine.

He nodded and shrugged. "Why wouldn't I? We could go out to dinner or something. You know, celebrate our bromance."

I wasn't even aware of my heart soaring until it dropped like a rock. "Oh," I took a sip of my water as an excuse to delay my answer. That was not at all where I thought he was going with the conversation, but I guess I should have known. Half of me wanted to refuse. I couldn't remember the last time I hadn't had a date on Valentine's Day but at the same time, spending it with Percy as friends still sounded a lot better than going out and finding some random person I didn't even care about. I mentally sighed and forced a smile. "Sounds like a plan Perce."

The brilliant smile he gave me in response already had me regretting my answer.

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I made an excuse to leave the apartment again after our conversation. I was tired and normally I loved nothing more than sprawling on my bed watching movies with the son of Poseidon, but I needed to think.

The young god was driving me crazy. I wasn't used to not taking the one I wanted. All of his innocent remarks were beginning to make me lose my mind. How could anyone live with an unrequited crush for years? I had only discovered my feelings for him a couple months ago and I could barely contain it.

I somehow found myself on temple hill. I decided to visit my own temple, just to see what it looked like, but for some reason my feet led me to a different one. Looking at the pink marble, there was no denying whose it was. If the colour alone wasn't enough to identify it, the columns engraved with hearts and doves would be.

I felt my face heat up at the fact that my subconscious had brought me to visit the love goddess's temple. I nearly turned around, but something was drawing me to enter it. I contemplated ignoring the feeling before I decided to give in. If anyone caught me visiting it, I'd just tell them that Reyna sent me to make sure it was being taken care of properly.

I took a deep breath and stepped through the doorway. My senses were immediately assaulted by the smell of thousands of flowers. I grimaced at the overbearing fragrance. For the first time, I was glad I was human. I could only imagine what this many flowers smelt like to an immortal. There were vases upon vases filled with roses and myrtle on every flat surface in the temple.

"How can anyone breathe in here? I feel like I'm suffocating."

"That's not very nice." I spun around in surprise. There was a stunningly beautiful woman standing next to the door. She had a slinky red dress on that really didn't leave much to the imagination. As I watched, her blonde hair shifted to red and her blue eyes became an even lighter shade.

I may have been turned into a mortal, but I had no trouble recognizing the goddess of love's roman form. I gave her a slight nod in acknowledgment, "Venus."

She smiled, "Apollo." Her red hair darkened to black and her eyes changed to a sea-green color. I tried very hard not to blush at the obvious resemblance to a certain young sea god. "Or should I call you Fred?"

I shrugged. "It's up to you, there's no one else here so I don't really care what you call me." She just giggled before she fell quiet. I waited for a few moments before it became obvious that she wanted me to break the silence. "Is there something you wanted?"

"No. Actually I came to talk to you about something that you want."

I suddenly had a strong desire to flee. I knew I wasn't going to like where this was going, "Oh really?"

"Indeed. I thought we could talk about the young son of Poseidon."

I felt my shoulders tense. Yep, definitely didn't like where this was heading. "What about Percy?"

She gave me a satisfied smile. "You want him, don't you?"

I hated direct questions. I may be the most awesome of the Olympian gods, but sometimes I really hated not being able to lie. I tried to avoid answering instead, "What makes you think that?"

She rolled her eyes and gave me a look that told me to stop playing dumb. "You do remember who you're talking to right?"

"I..." as much as I did not want to talk to the goddess about my love life, especially since she was the biggest gossip on Olympus, I couldn't deny it any longer. "Yes."

"Yes what? You need to speak in complete sentences." I glared. I just knew she was enjoying this.

I made the mistake of looking into her eyes. They looked exactly like Percy's and I found myself blurting out the truth. "Yes, I want him." She looked immensely satisfied with my answer. I did what I could to salvage the situation. "I'm not in love with him though, it's just a crush."

Venus simply raised one eyebrow. "I never said anything regarding love, one way or the other. I just asked if you wanted him."

I could feel the blood starting to rush to my cheeks. I couldn't believe I had just admitted that. "Why are you here? I'm sure you already knew I liked him."

She giggled again. "Of course I did, but I wanted to hear you admit it."

"Why?"

Instead of answering, she just gave me a mysterious smile. "I want to offer my help."

I was fairly certain that my jaw actually fell open in shock before I was able to suppress my expression. Venus offering actual help was just about as common as my sun travelling from west to east. "Why would you want to help me?"

She shrugged, "I have my reasons. Consider it a Valentine's Day gift. So what do you say?"

I knew better than to just say yes to such an open statement. After all, she had once made a girl fall in love with a bear just because she didn't want to fall in love. It was very dangerous to underestimate the goddess of love. "What exactly are you offering?"

She gave me a bright smile. "You want the son of Poseidon? I am offering to give him to you, no strings attached. One arrow and pouf, he's yours for as long as you want him."

I felt a shot of desire go through me at the thought. It was a very tempting offer to be able to call him mine, but I had some major concerns. "That wouldn't be real though. The arrows of Eros force people to fall in love. That's why they never wear off, because it's not real. It takes away their ability to choose."

She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Who cares? Percy would be yours, for all eternity if you wanted. Why should it matter if it was his choice?"

I frowned and shook my head. "No deal."

Her eyes narrowed. "Be careful Apollo. I am not going to offer this again. This is your only chance. All you have to do is say yes and Percy will be yours for all time."

As much as I wanted the son of Poseidon, there was no way I would force him to pick me. I cared for him so much because he accepted me just as I am. Not for my gifts, or my godhood, or my looks, unlike everyone I had ever dated, Percy liked me because I was me. Even if he never wanted me like I wanted him, I wouldn't force him. If he ever chose me, it would have to be his decision.

"Thank you for the offer, but I'm not interested. If Percy decides he wants me, then that will be his choice and his alone. I'm not going to throw away his friendship and trust wishing for more than he can give. If all he will ever see me as is a friend, then I shall count myself lucky to have such a good friend."

For half a second I could have sworn that Venus gave me a look of approval, but I blinked and then she was giving me a look that told me she thought I was an idiot.

"Very well, if that's really what you want." She walked past me, further into her temple. She leaned down and smelt one of the countless bouquets. "You know, the reason I have so many flowers is because it's Valentine's Day tomorrow. Everyone who has a date likes to sacrifice to me for luck. Is that why you came? Do you have a date?"

I frowned at her sudden change in topic. "I didn't mean to come here. I just..." I shook my head, not knowing how to continue. I decided it would be easier if I just answered the second half. "No I don't have a date. Percy and I are planning on hanging out."

She raised one eyebrow in what I expected was fake surprise and smiled, "You have a date with Percy?"

"What? No, we're going out to dinner to celebrate our 'bromance'." I tried not to wince at the word Percy used but judging by the look of pity she gave me, I failed.

"I take it the 'bromantic' dinner wasn't your idea."

I sighed. "No but as I said, if all Percy can offer is friendship, then I will gladly take it."

"Really? You're more honorable than I am. If I was you I'd turn the dinner into date, you know, show him what he's missing."

I frowned, "What do you mean?"

She gave me a devious smile. "Well, it is Valentine's Day. The atmosphere is already going to be romantic. It should be easy enough to convince him that you're not doing for anything, that it's all part of the celebrations here."

I blinked in shock as a plan began to form in my mind. "That... is actually incredibly clever."

She shrugged. "I know." I couldn't help but laugh, false modesty was not her thing.

The idea definitely had merit. I didn't know if Percy would ever agree to go on a normal date with me, this could be my only chance.

I nodded to her in gratitude. Whether she would admit it or not, it was obvious to me that she intentionally gave me that idea. I had no idea why she wanted to help me, but I wasn't about to question it.

"Thank you. Now if you'll excuse me, I think I have some last minute planning to do."

I gave her a wave and headed towards the exit. Right before I got to the door I heard her speak. "Good luck Apollo. And who knows? You might even be able to woo him."

By the time I turned around, she was gone.

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Authors Note

A special thanks to DearlyFictitious for reminding me about that wonderful quote from TLO regarding Apollo's cows. :-)

Sorry. I was going to write about their non-date date, but that's going to be longer than I expected so therefore it shall have to wait till next week. One a plus note, it means that we get to have a romantic scene between our boys. I wonder how Percy's going to react... ;-)

Next update will be November 29th

Next Chapter:

The waitress sighed in disappointment. "I guess it's true. All the hot ones are taken or gay..."