Day 21: 4. Advent Sunday

When he woke up in the early morning, he was sandwiched between Jason and Percy with Will laying sideways over all of them.

Nico could only sigh exasperated and fell back into his pillow, just to start chuckling a moment later. This was just so bizarre.

Percy moved slightly, tightening his grip around Nico and muttering something beneath his breath Nico didn't catch. Nico turned his head to look at Jason, who was also fast asleep. He wondered vaguely when he had come up from the other side of the bed.

Nico sighed and looked back at Percy. He looked so peaceful sleeping. His dark, messy hair was all over the place, his face utterly relaxed and his mouth slightly open, a trickle of saliva running down. Nico smirked.

Then he found himself brushing a strand of hair out of Percy's face. He shifted, frowning and opened one eye sleepily, looking down at Nico.

Nico blinked.

Percy did, too.

Then he yawned and stretched, though he didn't let go of Nico.

Jason moved behind him, wrapping his arms tighter around him as well now.

"Why, hello there. Had a nice sleep?", Percy asked quietly, grinning down at him with only half opened eyes.

Nico vaguely wondered if this was how he'd be greeted every morning if Percy was his admirer.

The thought made his heart beat faster and his face flush.

"Y-Yeah, thanks.", he stammered, trying to get away again.

Jason instinctively reacted, pulling him away with a low growl and placing his face at Nico's crook of the neck.

Nico looked petrified.

Percy blinked, taking in the situation in front of him.

"Need help?", he asked quietly, propping himself up on his elbows.

Nico couldn't even collect himself to reply.

Percy chuckled and lifted his hand, pinching Jason's nose with a crooked smile.

Jason growled again, but immediately let go of Nico and turned around.

Nico blinked. How had Percy known that would help?

"T-Thanks.", he muttered awkwardly and sat up, checking his chances to get out of bed.

Percy also sat up. "Glad to help. Sorry that we fell asleep though. Now you didn't get to do whatever you're doing with your admirer, huh?"

Nico waved off, though he inwardly sighed disappointed. He'd have liked that.

Then again, one of them was his admirer anyways, so in a way they had just spent the entire night together.

Nico looked around to his bedside table to check the time, when he froze.

"Nico?", Percy asked, but Nico scrambled over Jason out of bed, almost falling face down onto the floor.

There, sure enough, laid a note and a red envelope with green bow.

"What the…", Nico muttered.

How could this be? They had been here all night, right?

Nico looked around at Jason and Will, still fast asleep, then at Percy, who had sat up and was looking at him, then at the bedside table.

Then he grinned. "What? You thought he wasn't going to give you anything?"

"How? When?", Nico asked, confused.

Percy shrugged, climbing over Will and Jason to get out of bed.

"Probably left sometime in the night?", he guessed.

Nico found himself gazing at Percy.

So it wasn't him.

It didn't surprise him, of course.

It couldn't have been Percy. Nico had known that.

With his dyslexia and impatient nature Percy was the least possible person to be his admirer. Not to mention the fact that he was straight.

Percy frowned, tilting his head slightly. "What's wrong?"

Nico shook his head and looked down at the table again. Then he picked up the note carefully.

[Dear Nico,

Sorry about this, it wasn't my intention to have all of us sleep over.

I'll make up for it tomorrow, I promise.

Though I do admit it's nice spending a whole night with you in your cabin, even with our friends around.

Next time, we're going to put them in a different bed though.

I love you, Nico.

Hope you enjoy today's gift. It's something for the whole group.

Have a nice 4th Advent Sunday, my Angel.

Four days left, then the mystery will be solved.

I love you,

Your secret Admirer ]

Nico sighed and looked around again.

The note would have made him smile any other day, but he still felt slightly…sad.

He scolded himself.

What the hell was he sad about?

That he didn't get to cuddle with his admirer?

That Percy wasn't the admirer?

Stupid.

He felt arms wrapping around him from behind.

"Are you ok?", Percy asked, his voice barely audible. Nico nodded quickly and passed him the note.

"Yeah, I'm fine.", he said, though he didn't look around at Percy, stepping out of his embrace.

Percy winced. "Nico, I'm really sorry for sleeping over. I didn't mean to…disturb…"

Nico waved it off. "I'm not upset, Percy. Don't worry about it."

He could still feel Percy's gaze on him but focused on the envelope instead.

Another letter?

He picked it up, though he didn't really feel like opening it right now. He sighed and put it back down.

"I'll…I'll be in the bathroom…", he muttered and walked past Percy, who was still looking after him worriedly.

What the hell was wrong with him?

.

When he came back, Jason and Will were also awake, sitting on the bed looking utterly disheveled, even worse than Percy when he woke up.

"He didn't even open his gift yet. I really think he's upset.", Percy muttered quietly before noticing Nico coming back.

"Morning, Neeks. We wanted to say we're…", Will started, but Nico held up a hand.

"I'm not mad at you guys. It's ok. I'm just…I wanted to wait until you're awake before opening it. It does state it's 'for the group' after all.", he explained and snatched the envelope from the bedside table.

"But we're still sorry. It's all because it's simply too comfortable in your bed.", Will stated and Nico raised an eyebrow at him.

"So you're blaming my bed for sleeping over?"

"Yes."

Nico rolled his eyes, but felt his lips twitch.

"Shame on you, bed. Really, I would have expected better of you.", he then scolded his bed and Percy chuckled.

"Still, I also want to apologize, Nico. I didn't want to interrupt your quality time with your admirer.", Jason muttered ruefully.

Nico sighed loudly.

"I'm not upset! Thinking about it, I just spent the entire night with him, didn't I?", he exclaimed and fumbled with his envelope, trying to open it without tearing.

"Well…if you look at it that way…", Will muttered thoughtfully.

Jason nodded towards the envelope. "What do you think is in there? 'For the group', it said. I would have said another love letter. But how's that for us?"

"Maybe it's a love letter to all of us?", Percy suggested, chuckling.

Nico rolled his eyes, though he was also smiling.

Then he finally managed to open it and looked inside.

"Well?", Jason and Will asked, eyeing him expectantly.

Percy came closer and looked over his shoulder. "A Christmas card?"

Nico pulled it out and opened it, just to flinch and hastily close it to hold the content before it fell to the ground.

He opened it slowly again.

"Tickets?", he muttered, more to himself than to the others.

"What tickets?", Jason and Will asked, now also getting up.

Nico frowned and took the tickets, passing them to the guys while trying to read what was written in the card.

But all it said on it was 'I love you! Have fun in the park!' followed by an address he didn't know.

Park?

"Nico! Those are tickets for an amusement park!", Will exclaimed and Nico looked up.

"What? But, when are we supposed to go there?"

Jason held out one of the tickets in front of his face. "Today, of course."

Nico stared at the date on the card. How the hell had his admirer been able to get these?

And why for all of them? And how had he paid for these?

Percy chuckled next to him. "That's actually really smart. He can't take you there alone, so he's inviting everyone along."

Nico blinked.

"Oh my, that's going to be so much fun! This one is actually supposed to be really cool.", Will exclaimed, excited.

Nico still blinked, staring at the card.

"We'll have to borrow your zombie chauffeur to get there, though.", Jason said thoughtfully.

Nico still stared at the card.

"Nico? What is it? You don't like it?", Percy asked him quietly.

The other two looked around.

"I…I…", he started, unsure what to say.

He looked up at them, lost.

"I have never been to an amusement park before…", he then muttered.

His friends looked at him surprised for a moment.

Then they laughed and wrapped him in a hug, ruffling through his hair or just holding him tight.

"It's going to be great, Nico.", Jason assured him. "We're going to try out all the rides. You bet on it.", Will exclaimed and Percy grinned broadly at him.

"Don't forget to pack your camera. This is going to be one memorable day."

.

They left right after breakfast. Since they'd be gone for the whole day and it was quite a distance away from Camp, they decided to tell Chiron, but he already knew for some reason.

Nico would have loved to ask who told him, but he doubted he'd get an answer, plus his friends were right behind him.

And he didn't want to spoil the surprise either.

Of course he wanted to know, but it was only four more days.

Only four more agonizingly long days.

They all packed some money, though Nico decided to at least pay for all the food and drink they were going to buy, since his dad WAS the god of riches after all.

Money was his least worry, so he saw no reason why they would have to pay for all that.

Plus, he wanted to make things easier on his admirer.

Seriously, none of his three friends had money to waste. If his admirer truly was one of them, that meant they must have really saved up for all this, and for a pretty long time, too.

His other gifts hadn't been the cheapest either, after all.

The whole ride long the others told him the craziest stories.

It was actually quite funny, though it gave Nico a weird feeling in the pit of his stomach.

He was nervous.

What was he to expect? He just hoped he wouldn't embarrass himself.

Will was sitting in the front this time.

Nico couldn't care less how they seated themselves, but somehow both Jason and Percy claimed this was the best way for them all and decided that they'd sit like this when going to Camp Jupiter as well – which was why Will was quite sulky right now.

Nico was too occupied with the oncoming task to really be of any help, though.

Then again, he wouldn't have known what to say, either.

.

The amusement park was gigantic. At least to Nico.

They stood in a long queue at the entrance, waiting to show their tickets.

Nico looked around in wonder.

Colors. Noises. People. Rollercoaster. Stands. Even more colors. Loud noises. Tons of people. Dangerous looking rollercoasters. So many stands.

And that was just what he could see from the outside.

"Tickets, please.", the lady at the counter said and Nico gave her the four tickets.

She scanned them and clicked something on her computer, then made a tear in each of them (which made Nico wince) and passed them back to them.

He pocketed his. This was so going in his photo album.

Together with all the photos they'd be taking.

Good thing he had decided to take all the pictures off his camera. Looking around the park, there was so much to photograph the camera would most likely be full by the time they left.

And he wanted to take pictures of as many things as possible.

Which was why he was already holding up his camera, taking random pictures of rides and his friends as they looked around and grinned at him.

"So, Neeks, what do you want to do first?", Jason asked and Nico looked around in terror.

"I…I have no idea!", he exclaimed, horrified that he'd have to decide.

They laughed and Jason put his arm around him. "Don't worry. We have time. Let's go down this way first and try out whatever catches your attention, ok?"

Nico looked around at all the rides. "Uh…but they kind of all catch my attention…", he then muttered.

Percy laughed and winked at him. "Then we're going to try them all."

Will grinned broadly. "Oh, this is going to be awesome."

.

It was.

They started down the left path and went into every ride they saw.

The queues were horribly long, but somehow they still got into the rides rather quickly.

Since all of them wanted to sit next to Nico, they had to play Rock Paper Scissor to determine who'd get to do it first.

It was Will's lucky day. After that, it would be Jason's turn and lastly Percy's.

He'd have expected him to complain, but he only shrugged and let them have their fun.

They decided to first go for every ride (except those for really small kids, though they did try out some sort of train for kids just to do something utterly stupid once) and then redo the ones they really liked so that Nico would be doing the good ones with every one of them.

Nico took tons of pictures and they purchased every single one from the rides that had them on it, no matter how stupid they looked.

They ate cotton candy (which completely freaked out Nico at first, but he did kinda like it, even though it was pretty sweet) and chocolate fruit and nuts and gods knew what, Nico forgot most things right after trying them, though he took pictures of it all as well.

They did some of the stuff at the stands, including a sort of dart-game that Will beat easily, getting Nico a plush teddy to his embarrassment – though he still took it nevertheless.

That made Jason and Percy throw Will glares and run off to the other stands around.

Nico inwardly hoped they wouldn't get lost.

Will laughed loudly, wrapping his arm around Nico casually and waiting with him as the other two disappeared into the crowd.

"They really like you, Neeks.", he stated, looking around for a sign of them.

Nico sighed. "I know. I just wish they would have stayed with us. I don't want to lose them here."

Will chuckled. "Don't worry, they'll get back any moment. Let's see what they win for you."

"But I don't really need anything. They should rather win something for themselves."

Will looked around at him bemused. "You're so clueless."

"Percy says that all the time. What do you all mean by that, anyways?", Nico pouted, looking away.

Will chuckled. "Someday, you will understand.", he said wisely and Nico shoved him slightly, though they stayed close together.

Percy and Jason came back a few minutes later, holding out their wins to him.

He had to summon all his self-control not to laugh.

Jason had gotten him some sort of plush eagle and Percy was holding out a whole bouquet of plastic roses.

It was pretty endearing, really.

Though it also made him blush and pull them on hurriedly so they could do the next rides.

Rollercoasters felt extremely weird. It reminded him a bit of shadow-traveling, but was luckily a bit safer. But not by much.

.

Then they got to the water-part of the park.

He thought Percy was going to freak out. He kind of did, but at least not as badly as Nico anticipated.

Needless to say, the whole order of who was allowed to go first was thrown into the wind and Percy grabbed him by the arm and off they were, leaving the others to hurry after them.

It was awesome, really, though there were quite a few times Nico feared for his life, especially since Percy was enhancing their rides to make it 'more interesting'.

Somehow, 'more interesting' seemed to resemble 'as dangerous as possible'.

But Nico knew Percy would never overdo it…on purpose.

Luckily, most of the rides they could do together as a whole group instead of pairs, else it probably would have led to quite some fighting since Percy was completely taking him for himself.

Not that Nico minded much. But he did want to be with his other friends too, after all.

Percy did his best to make every ride they were on the fastest, wettest and most dangerous experience as possible, even freaking out Jason and Will.

Which ironically made Nico laugh, causing Percy to continue.

But in the end, they all had tons of fun and Nico got a lot of good pictures by the look of it.

"Let's do the Ferris Wheel, too.", Jason said, pointing to it.

Percy made a face, looking up at the sky. Rollercoasters were one thing, where you were with a lot of people and rushed through the air at top speed.

Ferris Wheels on the other hand went slow and you were in the air for quite a while.

Nico pinched him in the side. "Hey, what's with that face? We've got Jason with us, after all. Nothing's going to happen."

Jason practically beamed at him, though he wasn't sure why, while Percy just smiled pained and nodded, letting Nico pull him towards the Wheel.

They managed to get into one compartment together without anybody else, because all the people came in bigger groups. None of them minded though.

As they rose, Nico admitted even he felt weird, watching the ground getting further and further away. But he didn't let it show.

Will and Jason didn't have any problems whatsoever, standing at the glass and looking down and at the sight of the amusement park spreading out beneath them.

"Want me to take some pictures?", Will offered as Nico sat down, feeling a bit dizzy. He gave him the camera and smiled, showing him he was ok.

Percy was sitting next to him, clutching the side and pale in the face. He wasn't ok.

"Are you ok?", he still asked, though he knew it was lame.

Percy looked around at him, trying for a pained smile. "I'm great."

Nico raised an eyebrow.

Percy chuckled quietly. "I'm not afraid of heights or anything, Neeks. It just feels weird right now. Don't you think we're shaking around a bit too much?"

Nico concentrated on the shakiness of the compartment. It wasn't really doing anything out of the ordinary, as far as Nico could tell.

He put his hand on Percy's thigh. "Don't worry. If we fall, I'll make sure you get a nice spot in the Underworld."

That got a laugh out of the dark-haired hero.

"Are you enjoying your day so far?", Percy asked him quietly after a while.

Nico smiled. "Yeah, I love it. I'm so going to get all those pictures printed. At this rate, I'll have to buy a new photo album and dedicate the whole thing to this visit. I know I'd have enough pictures."

Percy smiled at him. "That sounds cool. Make sure to show it to me sometime when you're done."

Nico grinned. "Of course."

Then the compartment stopped with a jerk as they reached the highest point.

Percy instinctively grabbed Nico's hand.

Nico looked around to Will and Jason who were still looking out over the park.

He glanced back at Percy. Then he placed a quick kiss on his forehead. "Don't worry. Everything is ok."

Percy looked at him, stunned. Then he smiled gratefully. "Thanks, Nico. Now get over to the others, else you'll be missing the best part of this...madness."

Nico reluctantly got up and let go of Percy's hand, moving over to the others while glancing back at Percy fast.

Will looked back as well and clapped Nico on the shoulder, passing the camera back to him and sitting down opposite of Percy, though being kind enough not to make fun of him.

Nico stood next to Jason, looking at the sight before him.

"Wow…", he muttered, amazed.

Jason grinned at him. "The height not bothering you?"

"Maybe a bit…", he admitted, looking down. They were so far up...

Jason smiled. "Understandable. But the view is great, isn't it?"

Nico saw the whole park from where they were right now, as well as the surrounding area. It truly looked stunning.

"Want me to take a picture of you?", Jason asked, pointing at Nico's camera.

Nico hesitated. "I don't really need..." "Yes you do.", Jason interrupted him sternly and took the camera from him, stepping back.

"Smile."

Nico was never good at smiling when asked to. Jason soon found that out as well, which is why he called over Percy and Will.

Percy actually came as well, though he looked slightly sick. He wrapped his arms around Nico and put his chin on Nico's head as if that would keep him safe.

Nico didn't really mind.

So while Percy was hanging onto him, Will took over his arm, clutching onto him and glaring at Percy as if he was jealous. Nico only rolled his eyes to that.

Jason chuckled and took some more pictures of them with the view behind them, then even got a snapshot of Nico laughing.

Then Percy took over the camera, glad to get away from the side.

All in all, they got some really beautiful shots.

After the Ferris Wheel, they went to redo the rides they liked most.

By the time they were done with everything they deemed interesting (which was to say: everything), it was already almost closing time.

So they decided to take a few more pictures together and grab some actual food to eat, though Percy bought him a bag of funny looking candy with his last change as well.

"Percy, you should really save your money...", Nico muttered, though he was quite flattered.

Percy only winked at him. "Nah, it's a thanks for the thing in the Ferris Wheel."

Nico blushed slightly, but took the candy nevertheless.

Back in the car, Nico noticed how he was slowly dozing off while they were driving back to Camp.

He tried to keep himself awake, talking to the others and all. Yet, he still fell asleep, slumping against Percy slightly, who only chuckled and wrapped his arm around him.

It had been a rather tiring day after all.

.

He woke up a long time later, wondering how Jules-Albert was making the car move so oddly, just to realize he wasn't in the car anymore. He was being carried.

Luckily not princess-style or anything, but piggyback.

He shivered against the cold and looked sideways at the person's face next to his own with half-closed eyes.

"Percy?"

Percy looked around and grinned. "Hey, you're awake. We're almost at your cabin, so no worries."

Nico frowned. "Why didn't you guys wake me? You didn't have to carry me."

Percy shrugged, which made Nico instinctively wrap his arms around his neck.

"Oops, sorry. Nah, you looked so peaceful we decided to carry you back to the cabin. We played Rock Paper Scissors to who gets to do it. I won."

Nico chuckled quietly.

That sounded just like the thing they would do.

"And I'd have guessed it would be the loser who has to do that."

Percy sighed exasperated. "One of these days you'll realize that you are a great person and that we all love you very much and would love to carry you to your cabin every day all day long."

Nico chuckled, drifting off into sleep.

What was he doing? He should hop off his back and walk himself.

Instead, he sighed against Percy's shoulder and felt his eyes falling shut again.

"It's been quite a day, huh?", he muttered barely audible.

Percy smiled at him. "Yeah. Looking forward to meet your admirer tonight again?"

Nico hesitated a moment. Then he smiled.

"Yeah."

Percy reached his door, but instead of putting him down, he grabbed the spare key Nico had put back in its original place beneath the pot and opened the door, holding Nico on top of him with one arm easily.

Then he kicked open the door and brought him inside.

"You know I can walk, right?"

"Shush. You're practically sleeping already. Want me to undress you?"

Nico blushed.

"Ok, I think that came out wrong...", Percy said sheepishly, a slight blush on his cheeks.

He let Nico down next to his bed.

"Nah, I know you don't mean it that way. But thanks, anyways. I'll be fine."

Percy smiled at him. "Ok, then...good night, Nico."

Nico flopped down on the bed, taking off his shoes and jacket.

"Good night, Percy.", he said quietly, grinning up at him.

Percy lingered for a moment longer, then walked over to the door.

There, he turned around once more, gazing at Nico. Nico had no idea what that expression stood for.

Then he smiled and waved, closing the door behind him. Nico could hear him halting outside the door for a moment, then hurry off.

He dropped backwards onto his bed, taking off his clothes and just crawling beneath his blankets.

With his double blankets, he highly doubted he'd catch a cold even if he just slept in his boxer shorts.

The moment he hit the pillow and grabbed Mrs. O'Leary Jr., he was already fast asleep.