By the next week the rumors had spread. Their friends had promised to keep quiet until they decided to come out publically, but everyone at camp had noticed the difference in the boys' relationship. They were always together, always brushing each other with slight touches they thought no one else noticed, and ALWAYS glancing at the others lips. It would be a disappointment to their mother if the Aphrodite kids DIDN'T start rumors. Anyways, it had been a week since the two had returned to camp, and everyone was gearing down for the end of the summer. Percy had woken up Nico early for breakfast (much to Nico's displeasure), and were now heading down to the dining pavilion. Before they were in sight of everyone else, Percy spun him around to give him a quick peck on the lips. Nico blushed tomato red and before he could say anything, they were back on their way to breakfast. Percy had the day all planned out: they would eat, train for a couple hours, then go swimming and sneak off to the bottom of the lake for a quick cuddle/make out session. If only the day had gone as planned. You see, some of the campers were starting to believe the rumors, and a few of those were not in favor of gay rights. So this morning when Percy went to go get seconds, he was caught off-guard whilst he was sneaking a glance at his boyfriend sitting all alone at the Hades table. A shove sent him tumbling to the ground, followed by a gruff, "Watch were you're going, fag." Percy looked up to see a kid from the Ares cabin glaring down at him with hate in his eyes. Behind him his friends snickered.
"Maybe if you weren't too busy drooling over your emo boyfriend you'd be able to see straight. Or are you too gay to do that as well." Another kid added, earning laughs from most of the Ares table and a few chuckles from some others. Anger welled up in Percy's chest as he tried to stand up, only to be pushed back down. He rolled to the side quickly and leapt to his feet. The kid came after him, now even more pissed ff. Nico stood up abruptly, afraid to see Percy get hurt.
"Awwe, your little bitch is coming to help you. I bet you're on top when you fuck, aren't you? I mean you're both pussies but he's even weaker." He sneered, but every expression except pain was wiped off his face as Percy delivered a strong uppercut to his jaw. The other boys surged forward to avenge their brother. Percy leapt onto a table and stood there, Riptide drawn and ready to attack. Percy glanced at Nico, sending him a question.
Now? He asked.
Now. Nico replied with a nod of his head.
"Listen up!" Percy yelled at the top of his lungs, getting the attention of anyone who hadn't been watching the scene. "You know what? Yeah, I'm gay. I am so fucking gay for Nico DiAngelo that I can't even say it with a straight face." He said with a smile that stretched across his face, making Nico blush again. Everyone was wide eyed in shock (except for the Aphrodite kids, who were exchanging drachmas from their bets), so Percy took this as an opportunity to leap down from the table and stride over towards the Hades table to give Nico a long, passionate kiss. However, this action resulted in Percy being dragged off of him and punched in the stomach. As the beatings continued, Percy pulled out Riptide to hold them off. "Nico, run!" Percy yelled at him. Nico suddenly felt a hand grabbing his, leading him off into the forest. It was only when they were hidden in the safety of the trees that Nico saw who had led him away. "Annabeth." He said, surprised. That's when he broke down and started crying. She enveloped him into a hug, as he mumbled "I didn't think it would be this bad…" She stroked his hair and soothed him. He let himself trust her and melted into her embrace.
"Oh Nico," she cooed, "how could it have gone any better?" He froze.
"Annabeth…?"
"Just because I used to love him," she whispered in his ear, "doesn't mean I'm okay with two fags being around me." Before he had time to comprehend this, he felt a sharp pain in his side. As she pushed him away with a sinister grin on her face, he looked down to see his shirt becoming increasingly redder with blood. He stumbled backwards, and she knocked him down with a punch to his cheek. As his vision swam and black dots obscured his vision, he saw her leaning over him. "Goodnight, fruitcake." She said with a sickly sweet voice, the last thing he heard before he blacked out.
Back at the pavilion Percy looked around him with pride, seeing all the campers who had tried to fight him backing away, groaning from their minor injuries. Suddenly his smile faded as a pull in his gut told him something was wrong. "Nico…" he whispered to himself before setting off running towards the forest. He had no idea where he was going, but his heart seemed to know. What he saw stopped him dead in his tracks. Nico was lying on the ground in the fetal position, blood seeping from his side and a cut on his face underneath a black eye. Percy sank to his knees beside him, trying to wake him up. "N-Nico? Please…you have to wake up." He choked back tears. Only the slightest breaths escaped Nico's mouth, and they were getting fewer and in between. That's when he noticed that not only was the shirt bloodstained, but it was also burned like someone had poured acid onto it. "Oh gods." Hastily, Percy picked him up, slung him over his shoulder, and ran as fast as he could to the infirmary. Tears now streaming down his face, Percy burst into the infirmary and screamed for someone to come help them. Immediately three Apollo kids appeared and took him from Percy's arms. One of them had to stay behind to tend to Percy as he collapsed to the floor, blacking out. His mind flashed through so many different scenarios of Nico dying that it felt like his head was going to explode. He sat up suddenly, screaming. He realized he was now laying one of the infirmary beds, gripping the sheets so hard his knuckles were white. He stumbled out of the room until he finally found someone, who then directed him to where Nico was. Before he entered, one of the campers stopped him. "Let me in!" Percy yelled.
"Percy, you have to calm down. He's okay, we managed to treat the poison and clean the wounds, but it'll be a few days before he regains his strength." Percy sucked in a deep breath.
"Okay, can I go see him now?" The girl smiled at him and gestured for him to enter. Instantly he ran over to the small boy who looked so frail laying there helpless. "Nico…I'm here. I'm here now; everything's going to be okay." Nico mumbled something incoherently. "What?" Percy asked.
"I said, I know that everything is going to be okay. I was more worried about you." Nico sat up in the bed. "You've been out cold for hours." Percy grinned at how selfless this young boy could be. He wrapped him in a hug and kissed him everywhere he possibly could above the shoulders. "Percy!" Nico giggled as Percy kissed his neck, "That tickles!" Then Percy kissed his collarbone and Nico let out an audible moan, covering his mouth with his hands right after. His cheeks reddened as he stared at Percy with wide eyes. Percy smirked and made a mental note of this for when Nico was released from the infirmary. Going to sit beside him, Percy put his arm around Nico's waist and turned to him with a serious expression.
"Nico…" he started, "Who did this to you…?" Nico hung his head and hunched his shoulders, trying not wanting to see Percy's reaction when he told him.
"ItwasAnnabeth." He said quickly and quietly.
"What?" Percy asked, confused. Nico sighed deeply.
"It was Annabeth. She said…even though she loved you…she didn't want to be around to, um, fags." And that's when Percy got up and stormed out of the infirmary, ignoring Nico's yells for him to come back.