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

March 5th

Percy POV

I found myself watching the sun god more and more often. I tried not to notice the changes in my reactions towards him, but I couldn't help it. I may not have realized exactly when my feelings for Apollo had begun to change, but now I could barely focus on anything else.

After my talk with the son of Hades, I tried to do as he suggested. I tried asking myself if I felt anything more for the son of Leto. The problem though, was that my mind answered no, but my heart wasn't quite as sure. I tried avoiding him for a few days. Not only did it not help, but I could tell that the sun god was confused and bothered by my avoidance. I tried to make it seem like I wasn't actually avoiding him, but even I knew reading was a very weak excuse.

It was five days after my talk with Nico that I realized I had to stop avoiding Apollo.

ΩΩΩ

I had woken up much earlier than normal. I was hoping that I could sneak out before the sun god woke up. I quietly changed and grabbed my coat before tip-toeing down the hallway.

"Hello Percy."

I swear I jumped nearly 3 feet in the air. I hadn't noticed that Apollo was sitting in the kitchen, watching me. "Hey, I... I didn't know you were awake."

He gave me a look I couldn't understand, "Clearly."

I rubbed the back of my neck and cleared my throat. "Anyway... I was just about to head out."

"Where are you going?"

I internally winced. It was too early to try and think up excuses. "I was going to go spar in the arena for a while."

I heard him sigh. The resigned way he spoke caused my chest to tighten painfully. "And I take it you don't want me to come with you."

I tilted my head, confused by his statement. "What do you mean by that?"

He frowned. "You've been avoiding me." I opened my mouth, but he cut me off before I could speak. "Don't deny it Perce. We both know you have. I'm sorry for offending you; I can assure you it wasn't intentional."

It was my turn to frown. "What are you talking about? You didn't offend me."

The blue eyed man rolled his eyes. "You've been avoiding me ever since I ditched you to hang out with the archery club."

It took me a few moments to process what had he said. It hadn't really occurred to me that Apollo wouldn't know why I had stopped spending one on one time with him. Yes I was glad that he didn't know, but I did not want him to think that I was avoiding him because of something he had done.

"No Apollo... I swear on the Styx I'm not mad at you or anything." I could hear the thunder ringing in the background, but I wasn't bothered by it. I didn't want the sun god to think I was upset. "You can hang out with whoever you want to. I'm not trying to stop you from spending time with your other friends."

He gave me a look of disbelief. "So you're telling me that you're not avoiding me?"

I contemplated denying the truth, but I knew he wouldn't believe me. I just hoped he wouldn't push too hard to find out why. "No. I'm not saying that. I will admit, I... I have been avoiding you, but not for the reasons you think. I'm just, I'm trying to figure some stuff out."

Instead of the hurt and confused look that he had been wearing all morning, he now looked concerned. "Are you okay? Can I help you figure it out?"

I tried to stop myself from blushing at the thought of telling him, but I'm not sure how effective it was. "No, you can't. I just need some alone time but I promise... once I do, I'll tell you."

For a moment, I thought he was going to argue, but he seemed to grudgingly accept my answer. "Okay. If you do need me though, you know where I am."

I smiled at the son of Leto. "Thanks Apollo." I contemplated leaving, but avoiding him hadn't been helping anyway. I figured it was time for a new plan. "So, since you're up, do you want to do some sparing?"

ΩΩΩ

March 12th

In the last 7 days since I had quit trying to avoid the sun god, I had found more reasons than ever to suggest that I liked him. At first, it started small. Things that I wouldn't have noticed before, like the way doing something with him was more fun than doing it without him. It had also never occurred to me that it was strange for friends to spend so much time together and not get annoyed of each other. Hades, we even lived in the same apartment and yet we still spent nearly every day together.

There was also the fact that now that I was open to the idea that I might like him, I found myself watching him whenever I could. I notice how his smile seemed to make me want to smile. I noticed the way that he laughed more when it was just the two of us, and how that laugh made my heart beat a little faster.

Once I had quit trying to avoid him, we started watching movies together in his room again. Ever since our Star Wars marathon, our seating arrangement had changed too. Apollo would end up sitting in front of me so that I could run my fingers through his hair. Though it had seemed a little weird at first, it had become one of my favorite parts of our nightly movie. My heart always beat a little faster at the close contact with the sun god. I found myself treasuring every moment of contact.

Still, I wasn't one hundred percent convinced. It wasn't until denial became impossible that I accepted the truth.

I decided to blame Reyna.

After all, it was the daughter of Bellona who told me that my plan for a Battle Royal had been approved.

ΩΩΩ

"I still can't believe it."

The god of the sun chuckled and gave me an amused look, "Neither can I. I would have assumed that the Romans were smarted than you."

I gave him a fake pout but he just winked. "Why am I friends with you again?"

He smirked, "Because I'm awesome?"

I rolled my eyes but I couldn't stop the small smile that appeared on my face.

This was technically going to be a trial run. If it went well, then they would open the contest to the whole city. This time though, it was limited to 50 members of the Camp. The only reason that Apollo and I got in to the trial run was that it was my idea.

The rules for the tournament were simple. Our movement was limited to within the main park, which had been emptied of all non-participants. Powers were encouraged, but had to be used in a non-lethal manner, and no real weapons were allowed.

They took all real weapons before it started to be returned after each participant was knocked out. They then handed out blunted swords that were designed to leave chalk lines wherever they hit an opponent. For the archers, the children of Vulcan had designed arrows that worked like paintball guns. They could be used with any bow and exploded on contact.

We were all gathered together at the entrance nearest the river, waiting for all the weapons to be handed out.

Frank was going to be in charge of the tournament since Reyna had decided to participate in the trial. The son of Mars walked out to the front of the group and called everyone to attention.

"Alright. You've already been made aware of the rules, so I'll make this quick. Everyone will be given 15 minutes to spread out before the tournament begins. Once you hear the horn, then you can start. Anyone caught attacking another participant before the horn, or breaking any of the other rules, will face disciplinary charges. Any questions?" When no one spoke the Canadian nodded. "Okay, then you're 15 minutes starts... now."

The group immediately started dispersing into the park. I took one last opportunity to turn to the sun god, only to see him already watching me.

"Good luck Fred."

"You too Perce, you're going to need it."

I laughed, "Someone's over-confident. I bet you I get more 'kills' than you. Loser cooks dinner?"

The sun god playfully smirked. "You don't cook anyway. You'll just end up ordering us pizza, but deal."

Nearly everyone else had already disappeared into the trees. "I guess we should get going. I'll see you in the game."

Apollo nodded. He gave me a friendly punch in the arm before running into the foliage. I smiled as I followed him into the trees.

This was going to be fun.

ΩΩΩ

It was actually a lot harder than I had thought it was going to be. Since the 50 participants were handpicked because they were some of the best, it was a challenge to take out any of them. Plus, quite a few of them were excellent strategists. Several of them had found somewhere to hide until someone walked by and then they would attack. I had already been ambushed 3 times. Without my godly hearing and reflexes, I doubt that I would have made it this far.

I didn't think ahead enough to bring a watch, so I had no idea how much time had passed. All I knew was that I had knocked 7 of the others out. I was fairly certain that we were getting closer to the end. I still hadn't seen Apollo yet, but I had seen Reyna briefly. She was battling a group of three. I thought it was unfair that people would gang up on others. I would have gone to help her, but she seemed to be doing fine. In fact, she knocked one out, and disarmed a second as I watched. I decided to leave before she finished with the others and chose to take me out. I'd save fighting the daughter of Bellona until I was closer to the river and could use my gifts.

I was making my way though a clearing when I heard the unmistakable sound of a bow string twanging. I didn't even thing, I just dropped. If I had still been mortal, I wouldn't have been able to move in time. As it was though, I felt the wind of the arrow pass just above my head.

I sprinted towards the cover of the trees, dodging two more arrows before I made it. There was only one person who could shoot that quickly and accurately.

"I see you're still in the game Fred."

I could practically hear the smile in his voice. "I see you are too, though not for long."

I dove to the side just as the god of the sun stepped out from behind a tree, an arrow burying itself in the ground where I was a moment before. The son of Leto was about ten feet from me. Too far away for me to use my sword and considering my terrible aim, I hadn't bothered getting a bow. Instead, before he could send another arrow at me, I threw my sword. Its hilt slammed into his bow and his surprise over the action cause him to drop his weapon. Before he could pick it up, I rushed him.

With both of us unarmed, it became a fist fight. I must admit though, I didn't think that Apollo would be so good at unarmed combat. I should have considering he told me he once beat Ares in a boxing match, but I didn't think of it.

It was all I could do to block his attacks. He was fairly accustomed to his mortal form by now, so I didn't have the advantage that I used too. I couldn't even find a chance to go on the offensive. I made a mental note to start practicing unarmed more often. I was clearly too used to always having Riptide.

He continued to push me further towards the center of the meadow. I tried to go around him in the hopes of sprinting for my sword but every time I tried, a fist or a kick blocked my way.

One of my blocks came just a bit too late, and I got a fist to the stomach. It wouldn't have been long before I missed another, so I went with my gut. I grabbed the fist that hit me, and pulled his body towards me. He clearly wasn't expecting the move and ended up stumbling. I took advantage of his momentary unbalance and used my leg to knock him down.

The god of the sun grabbed my arm on the way down and took me with him. We fought on the ground, trying to pin the other, but clearly my counter attack had knocked him off his game because I was able to pin him.

I sat, straddling his hips, my hands pinning his wrists beside his head. He only struggled for a moment before he looked at me and went still. I had no idea what made him freeze, but it was his lack of movement that made me realize how weird it was to be sitting on him like that.

With me suddenly distracted, he was able to free one hand, but rather than using it to try and fight me off like I would have if I had been in his place, it went to my waist instead. I was expecting him to use his new freedom in order to flip us over, but he just left it sitting there. I looked into his eyes and I felt myself getting drawn in.

I had noticed in the past just how blue his eyes were, but I had never realized how deep they looked. I felt like I could stare into them and see eternity. They held more than one shade of blue. It looked like his eyes were made of every shade of blue the sky had ever been.

The close proximity between us was making my heart race and suddenly my throat felt incredibly dry. I didn't even realize that I was starting to lean in until I felt something hit me in the back.

I straightened up in surprise and looked around just in time to see and arrow hit Apollo in the chest. I followed the flight of the projectile to see the daughter of Bellona sitting in a tree on the other side of the meadow.

She gave me a smile. "Thanks for holding him still Percy. I wasn't sure how the Hades I was going to take you two out."

I felt my jaw drop, but before I could think of a response, she abandoned her branch and disappeared back into the trees.

The god of the sun cleared his throat and I looked down. I blushed when I realized I was still sitting on him. I quickly stood up. I rubbed the back of my neck and offered him a hand up. Apollo took it, but we both let go as soon as he was standing.

"I, uh..." He cleared his throat. "I guess we should get out of the park."

I just nodded. My voice was nowhere near steady enough for speech right now. As we headed to grab our borrowed weapons, I only had one thought on my mind.

Holy Hera, I have a crush on Apollo...

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Authors Note

*Clears throat*... so I was intending to update yesterday, but it seems that I was very tired. I haven't slept very well for the last couple weeks and apparently my body decided that I needed a solid 14 hours of sleep. I was working the night shift the last 3 days, so I got home from work and went to bed at 8 am and didn't wake up till 10 pm, when my alarm rung to go back to work.

Seriously, this chapter was hard to write. I re-wrote certain parts of it like 5 times. Also, as you may have noticed, this chapter was longer than expected. The quote I said I was going to use, now had to be pushed to the next chapter in order to get this posted today.

Also before anyone asks, I'm planning on posting another chapter yet before Christmas.

Next update will be December 27th

Next Chapter:

"You have a crush on Fred?!" I blushed and threw my hand over his mouth. I looked around, but no one seemed to be paying any attention to us. "Why don't you just announce it to the whole city..?"