Day 6: Saturday, 6th of December

At 7 am in the morning, Nico was already wide awake, going through his new photo album. He had added the pictures the night before, after the others had already left for their cabins.

His gaze travelled to the camera on his bedside-table.

He loved that thing – though he definitely had to go print out some more pictures later.

At this rate, the photo album would be overflowing with photos long before Christmas.

Maybe he should think of a nice way to organize them.

He definitely wanted some pictures of Hazel and Reyna in there, after all.

He looked towards the two new items on his bedside table.

He had already read the note and opened his gift.

He grinned to himself, picking the note up once more and rereading it.

[Dear Nico,

I love your eyes.

At first, they seemed so cold, but in truth, they are full of emotions, the warmest eyes I've ever seen.

I could get lost in those eyes forever.

I hope you like your camera. The pictures you took were amazing.

You have real talent.

Today's gift makes for a nice, relaxing day in your cabin.

Hope you got the snacks ready.

I love you, Nico.

I love you and I want you.

Want to kiss you, want to touch you, want to make love to you.

Have a nice 6th day of December, my Riddle Master.

I can't wait to hear your answer.

I love you,
Your secret Admirer

P.s.: Good job against Annabeth yesterday ;) You rock!]

Nico put the note down again, smiling to himself.

Yes, he was proud of his stand off against Annabeth, as well.

Though he was also thinking of what his admirer wrote.

'The pictures you took were amazing'

So, he had seen the pictures Nico had taken. Nico must have seen him yesterday at some point, then.

Now he wished he hadn't given out his camera to pretty much everyone and taken pictures of everyone and everything.

'I love you and I want you. Want to kiss you, want to touch you, want to make love to you.'

He blushed.

Really, that was going a bit far, right?

He didn't even know who that person was, yet.

How could he just tell him something like that?

Nico fidgeted and picked up the gift of the day.

It was a Christmas DVD.

Nico wasn't much of a Christmas person, but this one actually didn't sound half bad.

It was some sort of comedy and he knew his friends would love to watch it with him.

Though he wondered once more how it would be to actually watch a film with this mysterious admirer.

Would it be awkward? Most likely.

Would he enjoy it? Probably.

Would they make out? He blushed and refused to think further.

Seriously, he always scolded himself for thinking one of his friends was pretty or cute, but he actually allowed himself to picture himself making out with a person he didn't even know yet?

Well, he supposedly did know the person.

But he simply didn't know that the person liked him, yet.

Same difference.

Whatever.

He flopped back into bed, grabbing Mrs. O'Leary Jr. for comfort.

His mind began going through all the people he had seen yesterday.

Damn.

He had pretty much seen the entire camp.

Great.

Couldn't that person have written something a tiny bit more detailed?

Couldn't that person simply write his name down instead of 'Your secret Admirer'?

Just once?

Nico swore he wouldn't laugh or whatever.

He just so badly wanted to know!

He hated guessing and then scolding himself for guessing.

He didn't want to be disappointed.

But, by now, he was wondering whether he even could be disappointed.

That person really cared about him.

Really, genuinely seemed to hold some sort of romantic affection for him.

That person actually seemed to love him.

Nico didn't know how well he knew the person, but he instantly felt bad for being ignorant to their feelings.

He knew from the way Percy had been with him that that could really hurt.

If only he knew who it was, then he could change that…

There was a knock on the door.

He sighed and got up, glad he was already dressed.

He had also tried to do a ponytail himself, but had failed miserably, so his hair was out and about as usual.

"Morning, Neeks. Yay, today I'm your first." Will cheered and rushed inside.

Nico blinked at that choice of words but didn't say anything other than a mumbled 'Good morning' and closed the door again, though leaving it unlocked.

No point in locking it, the other two would show up in no time again, anyways.

"Oh, so you've already opened today's gift? Sweet, a DVD. We got to watch that. Actually, I've never seen this one before. But I bet it's good. So far anything that guy gave you was awesome, after all. Oh, and there's the note. May I?"

Nico nodded quietly, though inwardly he was in an inner conflict.

The notes seemed to get more intimate by the day.

He wasn't sure whether he even wanted his friends to read today's note.

What, with the 'I want to make love to you' part and all.

He wasn't necessarily embarrassed about it.

Truth be told, he actually found it surprising, if not even arousing, that another guy – whoever it was – thought of him in a sexual way.

That at least indicated that the person had given them some actual thought and was not some weird straight person thinking he was in love with Nico just to then flee at the first notion of sex.

Will's eyebrows shot up.

"Whoa, somebody is pretty open about wanting you in their bed, Neeks." He commented and read on.

Nico flushed and looked away.

There came a knock on the door.

Nico hurried over and found Jason grinning down at him.

"Good morning, Nico."

"Morning…" Nico muttered quietly and let him in, though leaving the door ajar so Percy could just walk in.

"You okay?" Jason asked, worry clearly audible in his voice.

Nico nodded. "Yeah, it's just…"

"He's probably nervous because his admirer wants to have sex with him." Will called and Jason's eyes widened for a moment, looking down at Nico.

Nico hissed.

"It's not like that." He said defensively and wondered vaguely who he was defending.

Jason raised an eyebrow and walked over to the bed, taking the card from Will and reading it himself.

Nico sighed.

Well, at least he knew his secret admirer wasn't among his best friends.

Not that he had ever thought that.

Maybe imagined it a couple of times, but he wasn't going to admit to that.

Like, ever.

"Aww, Neeks, no need to be nervous about it. You're so sexy, I'm surprised nobody else has made a move on you yet."

Nico blushed a deep shade of red.

What?!

"Will. Don't scare him. I've been trying to protect him the best I could from molesters." Jason said quietly.

Hello?!

"Aw, man. You know you can't protect his virginity forever."

"E-Excuse me…" Nico put in, purple in the face.

Where the hell was this conversation going?

They both laughed.

"Don't worry, Neeks. We're just-…"

"Who said I'm a virgin?" Nico cut them off.

They both stared at him.

Then they both blushed.

Nico put his hands to his hips, raising his eyebrows cockily.

"Whoa, Nico, I never knew you could make them blush like that. Pro move." Came Percy's voice at his ear.

He squirmed and jumped away. "Percy! Don't sneak up on me like that!"

The dark-haired hero smirked at him, admiration in his eyes.

Will and Jason cleared their throats.

"So, who has something to say about Nico's virginity? Lemme see that note." Percy demanded and walked over to the bed.

Nico was still rather flustered.

Of course, he was still a virgin. But that didn't mean he was going to say it out loud to his friends, much less let them assume something like that as if he was completely innocent.

Percy chuckled. "Well, I can tell this is going to be one lucky guy if he gets to make out with you, Neeks. I think you'll be quite a handful to handle."

Nico blushed a dark shade of red.

What?

Jason nodded and leaned back. "After that statement, definitely."

"I want my cute, little, innocent Nico back." Will wailed.

They laughed.

"He's still cute. But didn't yesterday's riddle-battle show you not to underestimate him?" Percy asked, grinning at Nico, who only looked away, pressing his lips tightly together.

"I always knew he was awesome." Jason muttered, winking at Nico.

Nico rolled his eyes, though he also smiled and went to get the TV.

"Let's watch that DVD." He announced and Will immediately went and collected snacks.

Nico vaguely wondered how he knew where they were.

But he let him, anyways.

...

The movie was awesome.

It was really funny and in a way that all of them could laugh.

This time, Jason and Will were on the left and right of Nico, with Percy next to Will to pull him away in case he overstepped his boundaries again.

But he didn't.

Which Nico was inwardly glad about.

"Seriously, that admirer got pretty good taste." Will commented as the credits started rolling on the screen.

"We already knew that when he picked Nico." Percy said, grinning at Nico who blushed and looked away.

Will rolled his eyes. "True. But who could resist Nico, in the first place?"

"Please, not this again…" Nico muttered quietly and dropped his face on his arms.

They chuckled and Jason pulled him closer.

"Though it certainly will be weird if you two work out. Who are we going to spend all that time with then when you're busy?"

There was silence.

"No! Nico, you can't leave us!" Will started wailing and there was rustling.

Next moment, he felt Percy drop on top of him, wrapping his arms around him.

"No way! Nico has to stay with me! What am I going to do when he's gone?! Nico, I'm sorry, but you have to stay single forever. I need you."

"Dude! Get off him. You two only realize that now?" Jason exclaimed, pushing Percy sideways as he tried to get Nico out of his grip.

"G-Guys…" Nico muttered, feeling himself pulled, pushed and thrown around.

"Nico~!" Percy and Will wailed, tugging on Nico and he found one hand at a rather dangerous place.

Jason grabbed Nico out of their clutches and pulled him out, pressing him against his chest before letting him go slowly.

"Seriously, you're mishandling him."

"Guys…what the hell…" Nico muttered as he jumped off the bed, looking utterly disheveled.

"He's right. We don't even know who it is, yet. Who knows, maybe we'll actually get along with him as well and-…"

"What the hell, who of you opened my pants?" Nico interrupted Jason's speech as he felt his pants sliding slowly but surely down. He pulled them back up and fixed them, though he still glared at all three of them.

"Not. Funny." He said in his best Ghost-King-voice.

"Eh?" Jason asked, looking around at the other two, joining in on the glaring.

Percy looked dumbfounded for a moment, then glared at Will.

Will frowned thoughtfully…then his eyes widened.

"Oops. Hehe, sorry, sweetheart."

"Solace!" Both Percy and Jason growled – then they jumped at him.

Nico could only stare.

Seriously?

The three were like a bunch of street cats growling and hissing and all over each other.

For some reason, he started laughing.

It all was just too stupid.

...

They went outside that day again, building snowmen and capturing them on Nico's camera.

By now, he did decide he would really get himself a laptop and printer at some point.

Some point soon, judging by the amount of actually decent photos they had taken so far.

Nico found himself looking around at fellow campers, maybe a tiny bit looking for somebody who could be that admirer.

But other than his three friends, there was nobody around to really indicate any particular interest in him.

"Let me take some pictures of you, Nico. You always capture everything but yourself." Percy complained and took his camera.

"What do I want to do with pictures of myself?" Nico asked, confused, but Percy was already clicking away.

"Smile."

"I don't do smiles."

"Yes, you do. Really sexy ones, didn't you read your notes?"

Nico blushed.

"Ah, that's good, too. Now gimme more of that sassy Nico. Hands on your hips and head high."

"What in Hades…" Nico muttered, crossing his arms in front of his chest and looking flustered.

"Haha, fine. How about you hug your snowman instead?"

"I am NOT hugging a snowman so you can snap a photo of it."

"Aww, please?"

Nico stared at him.

Percy stared back, baby-seal-eye-mode activated.

Damn that Jackson.

Nico hugged the snowman.

Percy chuckled and happily snapped away.

He also got a good shot of Nico being whacked in the back of the head by a snowball fired by Will.

And some pretty amazing photos of Nico taking up arms and throwing them at Jason and Will, each and every single on hitting their mark.

But mostly, Percy took pictures of Nico's expression, his stance, everything about him.

As Nico zapped through the pictures on his camera later, he could only shake his head.

"And what am I supposed to do with those now?" He asked Jason, who stood next to him.

"Well, print them of course."

"But what do I want with pictures of myself?"

"If you don't want them, I'm sure your admirer would love some." Jason said, shrugging.

Nico blushed.

For a moment, he thought of deleting the pictures.

But then he decided against it. Not because of his admirer of course.

But if anybody ever had to send a search group for him and people didn't know how a 'scrawny, weird, little kid' looked, the pictures might come in handy.

...

He went to bed that night, wondering whether he had met his admirer today again without knowing.

For all he knew, it could be anybody. Yet it also couldn't.

The person had claimed Nico knew him.

But the people Nico knew weren't gay.

What if the person thought Nico knew him but Nico actually didn't?

He wished there was a sign or something. Some sort of hint that would let him narrow it down a bit.

Then he thought of Will, Jason and Percy.

Guilt filled him.

Was it fair to date somebody just because they gave you nice gifts, when you still had feelings for somebody else?

He had said he was over Percy, but he wasn't really over him at all.

Jason was an amazing guy and Nico knew he could also picture more with him.

And then there was Will. He really liked Will, even if he was a bit pushy. Maybe he liked him especially because of that.

If the stranger knew him so well, did he know about these feelings as well?

He had never actually mentioned Nico's friends in any of the notes.

Maybe he simply didn't care? Maybe he hoped Nico would choose him over his friends, knowing that he knew that they were straight.

Probably.

Nico wasn't sure.

As he fell asleep, however, he found himself imagining once more how it would be if it was one of his friends.

Entirely impossible.

Yet he liked the thought.