Author's Note: Again: I'm apologizing now for how similar Will's and Percy's personalities seem to be. If it doesn't seem that way to you, then that's even better.

Note: Thanks to Pleonastica for editing my stories!

Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, I don't own any of the characters and et cetera in this fanfiction. Credit goes to Rick Riordan.

Percico New Year's Two-Shot

Author: Loving Healer

Chapter Two

Percy Jackson

I cracked my eyes open. I was expecting sunlight to appear in my line of vision, and then I suddenly remembered that Cabin Thirteen didn't have any windows for natural sunlight to seep through.

I exhaled lightly, burying my nose into the softest and silkiest hair I have ever felt. I inhaled deeply, smelling the extravagant scent of pomegranates and vanilla. Gods, I loved it so much. I need someone to get pieces of Nico's hair and make a pomegranate and vanilla perfume. I mean, I'd wear it. Maybe the Aphrodite kids could do something about that.

My arm tightened around his waist as I pulled Nico closer to me. I lifted his thin shirt up and slid my hand along his back, feeling his smooth skin that seemed absolutely free of scars no matter how many battles he had endured. I ran my lips across his ear with my eyes shut. And just a reminder: don't tell Nico that I molest him like this while he is sleeping. And yeah, I do this to him every morning. It was a fortunate thing that Nico was a heavy sleeper, or I would've been caught much earlier.

I lifted myself up with an elbow and hovered off Nico's sleeping form. I placed a hand along his cheek as I turned his head toward me, rubbing slow, invisible circles along the surface. Gods, Nico's angelic face always made me want to take him on the spot. I mean, just imagine that angelic face contorted in pleasure as I thrust deeply into his entrance while tongue-kissing him at the same time. And whenever he moaned my name...

Okay, the last time I thought further than that, I had to run to the bathroom and take care of my boner. I was a bit too lazy to run to the bathroom again.

I mean, yeah, I have never had sex before with anyone. However, I had never felt so passionate about a person before. With Annabeth, I did experience feelings of love, but not as strongly as when I was with Nico. Damn, Aphrodite seriously got her revenge against me. I thought I was going to be with Annabeth for the rest of my life. Hell, we would've both been residing in New Rome by now if not for our little fight that happened all because of Misery. You could say that I was a bit... Miserable.

I blinked momentarily, drawing myself away from my thoughts. My line of vision eventually found Nico again with his red, plump lips slightly parted as he breathed lightly.

I sighed, lying back down on the bed and running a hand through my hair that was identical to the color of my boyfriend's clothing. Did I regret not being with Annabeth? Well, a little, I guess. It's only been a few weeks since my relationship with Nico began, so of course I still wasn't completely accustomed to being with him. I was still recovering from the break up that I had with Annabeth. We experienced so many battles and endured multiple enemies together. I even snuck on a quest so I could save Annabeth from Atlas's grasps.

I turned my head to look at Nico, who was now snuggled comfortably against my arm. Whenever I looked at Nico, all I could remember was how much I envied Nico and how much stronger he was than me. He still continued to say that I was stronger and braver and more courageous then he would ever be, but that wasn't true. To me, Nico lost everything. His only true family who ever cared about him. His personality disappeared when he was only ten years-old, and he endured the great Labyrinth that Daedalus built with no one but a ghost who ended up betraying him. He saw Tartarus at its most fearful form since he was the son of Hades, yet he still faced the terrors and obstacles in there all alone. Everything and everyone was an enemy to him, but he ventured through alone to find the Doors of Death. He even continued to support me through both wars even if I was the one at fault for taking Bianca away. I still couldn't believe I actually thought Nico despised me.

My hand maneuvered itself toward his hips. Holy Hera, he probably possessed smoother skin than Annabeth. Nico was just so addicting to touch. I could never keep my hands off of him.

I mean, seriously, I endured two great wars against immortals while fighting with the actual gods of Olympus, yet I was most likely the most hormonal teenager alive. Why did Nico have to be so much like a drug?

I desired to kiss Nico so badly, but I was afraid that he wouldn't be ready. Nico always seemed to pull away whenever I got too close and intimate for him outside of either Cabin Three or Cabin Thirteen. It made me feel... abandoned as if Nico didn't actually love me as much as I loved him. I always convinced myself that he pulled away because he just wasn't accustomed to physical contact still. Yet, Jason and Will could touch him perfectly fine, so why couldn't I? Did they have some kind of advantage over me or something? I never bothered to ask Nico about it; I was always afraid of those wretched words coming out of Nico's mouth:

"I don't love you, Percy."

Tonight. Tonight at midnight I'll find out his true feelings for me. At the New Year's party, I planned something special for him. Annabeth had told me that if you kissed someone within the first minute of New Year's Day, you would spend a long amount of time with that person. At least, I hope that was what she said. I couldn't recall Annabeth's statement very clearly. Anyway, I was hoping to spend an eternity with Nico, so I demanded myself time to share a passionate kiss with Nico once it was 12 o'clock on January 1st to ensure my eternity with the stunning son of Hades.

I continued to slide my hands against his back and waist while lightly sucking on the skin near Nico's collarbone. Nico whispered his sleep, sending jolts of electricity and pleasure toward the area underneath my waist. I mentally cursed to myself at the feeling of a slight erection. Great, I just had to do this to myself, huh? Now what was I supposed to do?

Nico began to stir and I ripped my hand and face away from his body. My face heated up at possible scenarios that played through my brain. What if Nico caught me with my hand up his shirt while practically giving him a hickey? I didn't feel like thinking about how embarrassing of a conversation it was going to be. I mean, I saved Olympus twice and I worried about my boyfriend catching me molesting him in his sleep! And people thought I was some perfect, good-looking Greek god. Please.

I could feel my erection pulsing against Nico's inner thigh as his eyes opened halfway, revealing soft dark brown eyes. My heart pounded rapidly against my chest at the conversation that might, unfortunately, make an appearance.

I pretended that what I had previously done never happened, for I smiled sincerely and pecked Nico on the tip of his nose.

"Good morning, my Ghost King," I chuckled deeply. I wrapped a careful arm around him, frightened I would molest him again. The only difference would be that he was awake.

He stared at me for awhile, as if processing what I just stated. I surmised that he was still half-asleep.

Soon enough, Nico returned the smile. Even if he just woke up from his slumber and he wasn't quite used to his surroundings, Nico was still the most gorgeous angel I had ever laid my eyes on. Also the most gorgeous angel that will get laid by none other than me, but that wasn't the point at the moment.

"Good morning," he replied, groggily sitting up and swiping a hand across his face.

I chuckled from how adorable he seemed as I joined him upright on the mattress. "Tomorrow is going to be New Year's, you know," I reminded him, hoping that the event hadn't slipped his mind.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I know," Nico said like a malfunctioning robot.

"You're coming down to the beach to celebrate, right?"

I was hoping he hadn't changed his answer he told me on the day before. Annabeth had told me some time ago during the days when I was still infatuated with her that if you kissed the person you loved seconds after New Year's Day took place, it was said you would spend a long time with that person. Even if it seemed to be some sort of stupid myth, I still want to try it with my one and only boyfriend, Nico di Angelo. Well, technically Annabeth said that it usually happened when people watched the New Year's ball right here in New York's drop, but that didn't matter to me. I mean, I would still kiss him when the ball drops; the New Year's ball will just drop some other place while I'm at the beach, right?

"You mean you're going to make me come with you," Nico corrected, resulting in laughter to resonate throughout the cabin.

"Come on," I patted his thigh, resisting the temptation of what is known as Nico di Angelo.

"Okay." Nico chuckled under his breath. I was about to set my feet on the cool floor of the Hades Cabin until his voice interrupted me.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" Nico questioned me in a hushed voice. I could feel his gaze burning my back.

I nervously stuttered, "U-Uh,sure."

To be truthful with you, I was plenty nervous. I was afraid he changed his answer about the New Year's get-together. Or maybe something even more horrible than that, but I didn't want to think about... About losing him.

What was on Nico's mind, anyway? I was too afraid to turn back and search Nico's expression for answers; I was frightened to find something that would confirm my horrifying suspicions.

I caught the sound of Nico clearing his throat from behind me.

Here it comes, I warned myself, steeling myself for the question that was yet to come.

A silence followed after my thought, and I was beginning to feel impatient. I was about to whirl around and ask Nico what in Hades he wanted to ask me, but Nico beat me to it.

"Were you just touching me when I was sleeping?"

Now here's where the awkward silence began. Many thoughts were running through my brain at a million miles per hour, such as how he even figured that out. I swear to the gods up in Olympus I pulled away on time!

The only reasonable thing I could do was bolt to the bathroom and slam the door behind me before Nico could spot my ridiculous and horribly embarrassing blush.

Nico di Angelo

After I laughed for an eternity—I probably could've laughed myself all the way down into the deepest part of Tartarus, but why would I want to do that?—about how Percy reacted to my sudden interrogation, I dragged him out of the bathroom and forced him to confess the entire thing to my face. Turns out that he has been harassing me in my sleep for weeks now. What a horny child...

Anyway, I bet you're wondering how I even found out about such a thing. At first, I thought perhaps I was imagining things. The facts that the hem of my shirt was pulled a bit up to reveal a good portion of skin to the person adjacent to me and that my neck felt tingly for some reason as if someone, such as the person I was in bed with, recently touched me, added to my imagination. I had my suspicions at first, but I pushed the ridiculous idea out of my mind. However, the thought kept bringing itself back to the front of my mind, and it bothered me so much that I had to question Percy about it. Percy was so silent afterwards I thought Percy must have been thinking about how crazy I sounded until he made a break toward the bathroom as if he just really had to go or something.

He continued to hide himself in the bathroom afterwards most likely to take care of something he caused himself. During that time, I managed to dress myself after leaving my bed. It was unbelievably dim in the cabin, so I was quite shocked to find Percy sprinting toward the bathroom without tripping or hitting his leg on anything. I mean, to be truthful, I wasn't a very immaculate being.

I was still waiting for Percy to exit so I would be able to brush my teeth properly. You could say I wasn't very patient either, and after some contemplation, I gave him mercy and came to the conclusion that perhaps I should give him a few more minutes to take care of whatever problem that I'm assuming he has. I didn't want to walk into that. Oh gods no.

He finally came—as in exited the bathroom, although I surely hope he took care of his problem and tidied up afterwards—out of the bathroom with his facing possessing a light tint of red to it. I smirked and chuckled at him as I passed by, and when I peeked over my shoulder, I could faintly detect the slightest darkening of his blush. Typical of Percy...

...

Despite the rules set for Camp Half-Blood, Percy still insisted on taking a seat next to me at the Hades table during breakfast at the Dining Pavilion. I still wondered why Camp Half-Blood would spend money on getting tables for each god of the Big Three if there would only be literally one person sitting at the table, unless they were for free and the wood nymphs constructed them or something. I mean, if they were complementary, then I'd totally take a bunch of tables. Actually, are these tables even made from wood? Maybe I would question Annabeth or Leo about it later on. Someone else from the Athena or Hephaestus Cabin would work, too.

"What are we doing for New Year's at the beach anyway?" I decided to ask Percy once he took his seat next to me. "I don't know if your dad will even want me there."

Percy chuckled, shrugged nonchalantly and took a bite into his food. "Just hang out, I guess. I know Leo wanted to make some fireworks to celebrate. And don't worry about it. I'm sure my dad wouldn't want Annabeth or Jason stepping all over his territory, either."

"Like that makes me feel so much better," I grumbled, rolling my eyes.

"It should!" Percy grinned innocently, swinging an arm around my shoulders and pulling me closer. "At least you're not the only one, right?"

"I'd rather not be any part of it," I retorted.

Percy rolled his eyes and huffed. "But that'd mean you wouldn't even be part of the Big Three! You probably wouldn't even be who you are now, and we wouldn't be dating."

"Well why's that?"

"Because I love you for who you are." Percy smiled affectionately in my direction. "I wouldn't love you if you were different now, would I?"

I glared at him, but I already knew that I was blushing. "You idiot," I grumbled with gritted teeth.

"Love you too, Nico." He chuckled and pecked me on my cheek.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Hurry up and eat. I want to train for a bit at the sword arena."

Percy laughed softly. "Okay, okay. But what about you? Aren't you going to eat?"

I shook my head in order to answer his previous question.

"You know, Will might get mad at you," he nudged me in the side and gestured toward the Apollo table where Will currently sat with his other half-siblings.

I glanced up at Percy's face with an expression that read, "Does it look like I care?" However, I became mildly shocked at the expression he held. I mean, sure he appeared happy in a teasing kind of way, but I could faintly detect something else in his sea green eyes. Something... I couldn't tell what until I arrived at the realization that I used to have the same kind of look in my eyes.

Jealousy.

"I'm so exhausted!" Percy exclaimed as he collapsed onto his bed after swinging the door of Cabin Three open. "Since when did you get so good at sword fighting?"

I shrugged. "At least you don't have to deal with sweat," I countered, taking a seat on the edge of his bed adjacent to Percy, my breathing still ragged from how much energy I exerted toward the duel against Percy. Of course, as always, Percy was the best sword handler.

"I still have to deal with Mrs. O'Leary's saliva though." Percy laughed, moving his eye sight toward me.

"Better than having to deal with everything else," I remarked. "The only thing that you have to deal with is her saliva but half the time she isn't even here!"

A long silence followed. I was preparing myself for some kind of retort from Percy, but nothing stroke back. I raised an eyebrow at Percy, but he seemed to be in some type of trance.

"Percy?" I neared his face and he blinked blankly up at me before practically colliding his forehead against my own.

"Ow!" We both exclaimed, rapidly backing away from each other. I was now on my feet while Percy toppled onto the floor.

"What the actual hell!" he cried, jumping up from the floor.

"You didn't even see me coming?" I questioned him suspiciously with narrowed eyes.

"I kind of wish I did." Percy chuckled, rubbing the back of his head where it painfully made contact with the ground. He smirked at me as if he made some kind of joke.

My eyebrows continued to stay narrow as Percy plopped himself back onto the bed. I rewound the previous conversation in my mind, trying to figure out if Percy meant anything. Considering the way he suspiciously stared up at me with that adorable innocent look on his face, I figured he made a joke or I said something and he made a joke about it. Either way, I was still perplexed.

All of a sudden, it dawned on me as if I were in the Hades cabin and someone miraculously installed windows when the sun was just beginning to rise.

I punched him in the shoulder and Percy yelped at the surprising action. My teeth were clenched tightly together, but an enormous amount of the hue red was clearly evident across my face.

"Percy!"

"What?" Percy whined longingly as if imagining the appalling scene of me masturbating in his mind. "It'd be nice to watch you come, you know."

"You..." I growled out. I ended up sighing in mere defeat. "I still can't believe you saved the world twice."

He shrugged nonchalantly. "Me neither. Me neither..."

I rolled my eyes and glanced out the window. The sun was setting now; half of it was most likely underneath the horizon. The sky burst with gorgeous pictures of colors containing blue, orange, red, pink, and the occasional purple. It was such a stunning sight to witness, I couldn't help but marvel at the work of art Apollo presented.

"It's almost time to meet up with everyone else, you know." Percy pushed himself up from the bed. "I'm going to go shower, okay?"

I nodded, mumbling a hushed, "Alright."

"You should too." I hadn't even noticed how close Percy was to me until he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled my body even closer to his. "I mean, even if you look sexier while sweating, which I didn't think was actually possible, you should go take a shower."

I rolled my eyes once more before bidding my goodbyes and exiting the cabin. I scanned the vast sky above me. Even if Zeus hated children of Hades, especially since he murdered my mother and attempted to drag Bianca and me down with her, the sky gave me peace. The translucent clouds moved so slowly across the sky. It moved just as slowly as life. However many people say life was too fast, I've always thought life was too slow. You could experience so many emotions and experiences, and by the time you took a glance back at the calendar, it has only been a week. Imagine reflecting back on your life after a year.

I chuckled under my breath. I guess that was the magic that people decided to name "life."

I tore my gaze away from the sky and continued toward the darkest cabin out of all the other cabins that formed a U-shape. I couldn't even believe how much I had changed. Imagine a bubbly little ten year-old being a son of Hades. I still couldn't believe I thought being a demigod was the most exciting thing that had ever happened in my lifetime.

"Hey, Nico!"

I sighed exasperatedly at the voice that originated from behind me. I pivoted on my heel to find the very being who gave me the worst flavor of gum ever. Don't ever trust him if he offers you a stick of gum. It's horrible, trust me. It doesn't matter if this certain stick of gum will save your life. Just don't take the offer.

"What do you want, Solace?" I questioned with an unamused gaze directed toward the guy who had "sun" as part of his last name. I mean, he was a child of Apollo, too. It worked out so well it also appeared to be kind of creepy.

"Is it wrong to want to greet my friend?" He raised an eyebrow.

I tiredly shrugged. "Maybe you can do it when I'm not busy."

"You're admiring the sky," Will deadpanned. "Are you sure you're busy?"

"I am a very busy person," I stated firmly.

"Then," Will drawled, "what were you doing staring at the sky if you seem to be so busy?"

"I'm just a bit tired, okay?" I muttered, shoving my hands into the front pockets of my black leather jacket. "I promised Percy that I'll celebrate the New Year's with him tonight. I'm just a bit exhausted from my sword fight with Percy."

"Please tell me this sword fight took place in the sword arena and not in a bed." Will pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed as if he were done with all of my shit.

"It was in the sword arena, thank you very much!" I shouted with a blush adorning my features.

Will put a finger to his chin. "Going public huh, Nico? Didn't know you were so confident about it."

My teeth were so clenched tightly together I thought they would shatter. My fists were shaking so badly in my pockets I just wanted to wipe that stupid smug look off of his face.

I exhaled deeply in a failed attempt to calm my nerves. "I will publicly kill you if it's fine with you, Solace," I stated with a dangerously calm tone.

Will held his hands up in surrender. "Alright, alright," he said with an annoying smirk still on his face.

I rolled my eyes. "Are you coming tonight?"

He shook his head in response. "I still have to help the campers that just came back from their quest."

I nodded slowly in comprehension. "Okay, well, see you later."

I pivoted on my heel and headed toward the direction of my cabin once more after hearing Will's goodbye.

"You ready to go?" Percy pulled me toward his body as I snuggled my face into his chest.

I shrugged nonchalantly. "Whenever you want to go. I personally don't feel like going."

Percy pulled away, but he kept his hands on my shoulders. "Well why not?"

"Don't you know?" I asked like it was the most obvious fact in the world. Actually, it really was the most obvious fact in the world.

"Is it because you hate people?" Percy knit his eyebrows together before I answered his question with a simple nod.

"But you know these people!" Percy retorted. "Wouldn't you like being with people that you actually like?"

I shrugged nonchalantly once more. "It's such a bother having to deal with people. I just... Feel more peaceful whenever I'm alone or just with you. Whenever I'm around other people, I don't feel like myself."

"Do you act all of your feelings to them or something?"

I shook my head. "It's hard to explain. I do act myself around others. With you... I feel peaceful and better and... I have no idea where I'm going with this." My shoulders slumped in defeat while Percy laughed softly out of sheer amusement.

"It's okay. I get it. I'm just better and more special than everyone else. Thanks for telling me Neeks." He smirked down at me, pulling me back against his chest.

I rolled my eyes, but I didn't deny it. I snuggled deeper into his chest, hoping that this feeling wouldn't disappear anytime soon.

"It's the same with you, you know," Percy said with his lips against the top of my head. His voice was muffled by my extremely messy hair, but Percy became very defensive whenever I picked up a brush. This one time when I was going to comb my hair, Percy pulled out his Celestial Bronze sword and sliced the brush in half at such a superior speed that I didn't even have the time to breath.

"What's the same with me?"

"I feel happier when I'm with you instead of with other people," Percy answered in a soft and soothing voice that could've coaxed me to sleep while standing.

"Happier, huh?" I repeated into his chest. "I feel happier when I'm with you... Yeah, I guess that makes more sense than what I said."

Percy chuckled deeply. "Don't worry; yours just sounds like a more in-depth kind of version than mine. It makes you sound smarter."

I rolled my eyes once again. "Are we going to go or not?"

"I don't know. Do you want to go?"

"I know you want to. So yes, we're going."

Percy groaned. "But you don't want to go."

I sighed. "Why do you care if I don't want to go? I'm dressed up already so I might as well go."

"I just feel bad for dragging you to some place that you don't even want to be at." It was Percy's turn to sigh now.

I offered him a small smile. "It's fine, Percy. As long as I don't have to meet new people."

He laughed. "Yeah, yeah. Are you sure, though?"

I nodded firmly. "Yeah. Let's go."

We exited the cabin, and I was surprised when Percy intertwined his fingers with mine. We usually never did anything in public. I guessed that maybe since it was a special occasion, he decided to do something special.

It was dark by the time we got to the shore. The waves swiftly flowed down in smooth hills against the sand that was as flat as paper. I never remembered the beach here being so stunning, but I guessed it was because I never really paid any attention. The beach always reminded me of a certain someone, so I never wanted to even glance toward this direction.

Percy squeezed my hand tightly. "Are you sure you want to go? We can ditch them right now if you want. I'm pretty sure they haven't seen us yet."

I shook my head. "Percy, it's fine. Just forget it."

"Forgetting that my boyfriend isn't having a great time..." Percy mumbled. "Well that's a good thing to do."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not going to be under immense torture or anything like that. Don't worry; it's not like I'll be super miserable."

"Yeah. You'll just be miserable. That's good too," Percy remarked sarcastically.

I punched him. "Stop being so negative."

"Oh, I'm negative. I see now." Percy offered me a lopsided grin as I rolled my eyes once more.

"Let's just go okay?" It was weird that I was the one pulling him toward the mob of people this time instead of Percy trying to get me to be more social, but I didn't really mind that much. I just wanted Percy to stop worrying so much. However, I guess that was a good thing. I mean, it portrayed how much Percy loved me right?

Percy still appeared extremely unsure, but he went along with me anyway.

Once the rest of the seven along with Reyna and Calypso finally noticed our presence, the first thing I realized was Hazel's arms that were wrapped around me.

Yeah, I never actually told you guys about Leo. A month after everyone thought Leo died and blah blah, he came back flying on Festus's back along with Calypso while screaming at the top of his lungs: "I'M BACK BABY. WHO'S THE MAN? LEO VALDEZ IS THE MAN! CHILD OF HEPHAESTUS COMING THROUGH!" We even had a funeral for him and everything but it turned out that Leo was actually alive. At least it wasn't like Percy's case where he actually came back and interrupted his own funeral.

"Hey, Hazel," I said once I finally recovered my voice after being surprised by her. I released my grip from Percy to return Hazel's embrace.

"Hey!" she greeted, offering me a huge grin. "You made it."

I shrugged as we separated and Frank grabbed her hand. "I promised Percy I'd come with him."

"If everyone's here, then does that mean I can shoot the fireworks now?" Leo asked hopefully, glancing between Percy and me.

"I told you to wait until a few seconds before it's twelve," Piper huffed while Leo groaned exasperatedly.

"I worked forever on these babies and they're getting pretty impatient to show you guys how beautiful they are!" Leo exclaimed, gesturing wildly to the already-prepared fireworks behind him.

Piper laughed. "Well your babies will have to wait a little longer."

Leo groaned once again, and everyone laughed. Oh, poor Leo.

"Calm down, Leo." Annabeth sighed. "It's only for another few minutes or so."

"Count those few minutes wasted then!" Leo cried. "You know, my little babies could've used those few minutes to show off their true beauty to us."

Annabeth only rolled her eyes and huffed at Leo's response.

"So," Jason began to say. "I see you and Percy were holding hands on the way here." A smirk soon graced his features. Hah, graced his features. I am on a roll.

Percy and I exchanged glances, and I already knew what he was attempting to portray through his expression: Why haven't you told him yet?

"Uh, yeah, we were." I was attempting to avert my gaze, but I had no idea what to look at.

"Would you like to explain, Mr. di Angelo?" Jason questioned me as if he were a teacher asking a student the same question before the student got scolded for doing some kind of prank or whatnot.

"We're dating," Percy put bluntly, slipping his muscular arms around my waist and pulling me closer toward his warm body.

"Wait, seriously?!" Leo and Jason cried simultaneously.

"Yeah, seriously." Percy furrowed his eyebrows and glanced down at me. "Why didn't you tell them earlier?"

I ground my teeth together in frustration. I couldn't just tell Percy I thought he wanted to keep our relationship a secret because I didn't know if he was ready to tell the whole world that he was in a relationship with a guy. I mean, especially since he was hugging me in front of everyone else, I couldn't just say that I didn't think he wanted our relationship to be public.

"It's nothing," I mumbled. I knew Percy enough to know that he would've protested, but Percy knew that I would tell him later.

Jason arched an eyebrow. "You know, Nico, I told you you'd win. Does Will know?"

"More like he forced the answer out of me before I had the chance to tell him properly," I muttered, resulting in laughter resonating from the son of Jupiter.

"Sounds just like him." Jason cleared his throat in order to regain his composure.

"I'm happy for you two." Piper grinned at both Percy and me. "I had no idea you had an interest in guys too, Percy."

Percy shrugged. "I don't think I really did. I guess I just loved everything that Nico did so much that I ended up loving him anyway."

"It sounds like something my mom would do," Piper grumbled, shifting her weight onto one leg and placing her hands upon her hips.

Percy laughed. "It's okay, though! I love Nico and I haven't regretted it at all."

"Yet," I corrected nonchalantly, even though on the inside it felt as if my heart were suffocating at the mere thought of not being with Percy anymore.

"Oh, come on Neeks, don't say that," Percy whispered into my ear, sending shivers down my spine from his warm breath contrasting with the cool winter air.

"It's true though, isn't it?" I turned my head to the right to face him.

"No it's not and it'll never be," Percy said so certainly and confidently that I almost believed him.

"I bet you all your gold drachmas you said the same thing to Annabeth," I pointed out, and I could faintly hear Leo somewhere in the back yell: "Oooh, burn!"

Percy narrowed his eyes. "That may have been the case, but if I'm in a relationship with you as long as I was in a relationship with Annabeth, then it'd go on until I die. I mean, I'm eighteen now; another three or four years and I'm dead."

"We're all dead," Annabeth corrected him, making Percy chuckle.

"Yeah, we're all gone and hopefully meet back in Elysium," Percy said. "In other words, I'll be with you for the rest of our lives. Doesn't that sound nice?" He whispered the last sentence so quietly that no one else could hear but me.

"I guess I have no objections to that," I said quietly under my breath.

He smiled so sweetly at me that I wouldn't be surprised if he was smiling at someone else behind me. "That's good to hear. So, why don't we just celebrate New Year's now, huh?"

I nodded. "That sounds like a good idea to me."

The New Year's party was actually pretty great even though we didn't do anything. Frank complained a bit about the amount of work he was assigned to complete as the new praetor of Camp Jupiter while Jason kept patting his shoulder and repeating the same phrase: "I feel you, man."

Leo and Annabeth sometimes quarreled over when his "babies" would be fired off into the night sky. Leo mostly butted into conversations and made jokes that would make everyone laugh though.

Jason and I had a short conversation where he told me, "I told you you'd get Percy!" And, of course, I snapped at him which made Percy laugh behind me for some reason, but at least I earned a kiss on the cheek from him. It was probably the closest kiss to my lips I'd ever get for awhile, but I guessed that was okay.

Reyna came over to me and congratulated me on finally finding happiness. That was when Leo butted into our conversation and said how out of character that was for Reyna before his face was almost shoved into a nearby tree. I admit I almost laughed at that. I kind of felt bad for Leo though. Reyna could be pretty violent whenever she wanted to be.

We also talked about stories about our trip across half of the world with the Athena Parthenos. The only person missing was Coach Hedge, but he had to help his wife take care of his child. If he was taking part in our conversation, he would probably have some crazy stories to tell that probably didn't even happen. I also explained to Reyna how I got my Hawaiian shirt as a replacement for my aviator jacket. As soon as I got back to camp after the war against Gaea and Octavian's fires and all of that, the first thing I did was get a new aviator jacket. I could not live with a Hawaiian shirt for the rest of my demigod life.

Percy and Annabeth had a short and awkward conversation. I had no knowledge of how Percy even ended his relationship with Annabeth, but I was still glad I hadn't gotten in the way of their friendship or anything of the sort. I didn't really listen to what their conversation revolved around mostly because I didn't want to appear like an eavesdropper or a stalker. And anyway, I could always ask him later on.

Once I heard a voice yell, "It's finally time!" I realized two things: 1) Leo was just being weird as usual and 2) it was a few seconds before it was going to be January 1st of a new year.

The first firework went off, and I had to smile at the beautiful sight that Leo made for us. The first firework were letters making up the words CAMP HALF-BLOOD AND CAMP JUPITER. Of course, Leo just had to color-coordinate them so that "Camp Half-Blood" was in orange and "Camp Jupiter" was in purple. The words exploded in the air with a loud bang before the colors dispersed moments later and smoke withered through the air.

"Hey Nico," I managed to hear through all of the commotion. I whirled around to face the person who called my name, but I didn't have the chance to respond to them as a warm pair of lips silenced me.

My eyes widened at the sudden action. Was Percy actually kissing me? Like an actual kiss on the lips? Didn't I just say that the kiss I received on my cheek would be the closest kiss I'd get for a long time?

The wind was knocked right out of me when Percy pressed his lips against mine and caressed my cheek. It was the first kiss I'd ever experienced, but even though it was, I still kissed him back. I just kind of hoped I wasn't too awkward at it because I had zero experience with kissing others.

His hands slid down to my waist and pulled me onto his lap, so I was guessing I was doing something right. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him into a deeper and more passionate kiss. Our lips moved sensually against each other as if we've shared kisses multiple times. His hands slipped underneath my dark shirt and started to lightly run his fingertips against me. I let a soft moan escape through my lips before we, unfortunately, separated for air.

I was panting as if I had just fought the strongest being in the world, and so was Percy. His sea green eyes that lit up each time a firework went off were filled with lust, and I had no doubt in my mind that my dark brown eyes held the same thing. I also could definitely feel a slight erection where I was sitting which was obviously Percy's.

"What was that?" I finally managed to say after catching my breath.

"Annabeth told me once that if I kissed the person I loved the first minute it was New Year's Day, then I'd spend the rest of the year with that person. And," Percy blushed, "I wanted to try it with you."

I gave him a genuine smile. I didn't know where I got the courage to do such a thing, but I pecked his lips quickly before saying, "I love you, Percy."

Percy returned the genuine smile. "I love you too, Nico. So, so much."

My smile stayed intact when we embraced. I never thought I would ever feel so happy in my entire life. My mind was swimming in Elysium at the moment. The tremendously loud sounds of the fireworks Leo made seemed to have disappeared, and the only thing that existed was Percy and me. Frankly, it was the best holiday I will ever experience.

"By the way," Percy began once we pulled away. "Are you going to tell me why you didn't tell Jason or Leo or Piper that we were dating?"

I sighed. "It's stupid, really."

"Oh, come on," Percy said. "Don't worry. Just tell me. I won't make fun of you about it or anything like Leo."

I rolled my eyes. "I just... Thought you weren't ready to show that you were... In a relationship with a guy. So, I didn't tell anyone. I'm sorry, Percy, for not asking you about it earlier. Hazel said you weren't the kind of guy to be afraid about it for a long time, but I was still scared to ask you."

"I'm guessing that was why you always pulled away from me whenever I got too close to you, right?" Percy questioned after a moment of silence excluding the fireworks.

I nodded. "Yeah. I'm sorr—"

I was interrupted by another blissful kiss. Gods, I was never going to get tired of Percy's lips against mine. I had always fantasized about it, but I had never thought it would become a reality.

Before I could respond to Percy's kiss, he pulled away and offered me a smile. "Hey, don't apologize so much. I get what you're trying to say. It makes sense to me, so I can't really blame you. We're all afraid to something, right?"

I nodded slowly in comprehension. "What are you afraid of?"

Percy was silent for awhile. His eyes became clouded, and I regretted asking him such a personal question. I opened my mouth to tell him that he didn't have to say anything, but Percy beat me to it.

"I'm afraid of losing you..." Percy whispered, and I wouldn't have heard if not for the fireworks stopping to let the large amount of smoke disperse through the air.

"Percy..."

"So don't leave me, okay?" Percy grinned at me, and I returned the grin.

"Alright. You better not leave me either, Percy."

"I'd throw away the whole world for you." Our lips met again in another long and passionate kiss that seemed to be pulled right out of my very dreams.

When we separated, Percy was still grinning. "Happy New Year, Nico."

I wasn't surprised by the fact that I was still smiling as well. I mean, why wouldn't I be happy?

"Happy New Year, Percy."