A/N: Heyyyyyyy guys. I am so sorry we haven't updated in forever, it's five million percent my fault cause we had this chapter written and I was just too lazy to edit it. But here it is, chapter three! I actually wrote some of this chapter but it was mostly Smart Girl, so love both of us. In this chapter, we have really freaking complicated Jasico, angry Caleo, and shipper Percabeth, so get excited. And please review!
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Neither does Smart Girl.
Chapter Three
Nico didn't really want to be a doctor. He didn't want to do endless amounts of paperwork, or have to deal with annoying people who only theoretically wanted help from him. Not to mention the hours and hours of homework he had from school, followed by drinking his troubles away as he watched the love of his life spend every waking moment with his love of his life.
Jason was great. But he wasn't Percy.
Nico was still remotely hungover when he saw Jason's car pull up outside the building where Nico had his anatomy class- his last of the year, thank god. He took a shaky breath as he fixed the straps of his backpack over his shoulders, feeling like a teenager again as he approached the car.
"How was school?" Jason asked as Nico climbed into the passenger seat.
"Not horrible," Nico sighed. "How was work?"
Jason shrugged. "As good as it can be."
Nico nodded, then stared out the window as Jason pulled out of the parking lot. After a few minutes, he turned his head to ask, "Is Leo home?"
"I don't think so," Jason told him, "but I think we're headed straight to the bar. Percy asked us to meet him there." Nico's eyes lit up, but Jason immediately shot him down. "All of us."
Nico sighed. "Right. Of course."
A little while later, Jason parked in front of the bar. As soon as the car was off, Nico unbuckled his seatbelt, tossed his backpack into the backseat, and climbed over into the driver's seat, pressing his lips against Jason's and using one hand to tilt the seat back.
"What are you doing?" Jason asked, pulling back. "No one's watching."
Nico nodded. "I know. And… look, I know we're… complicated, but… I do like you. So can I do this?"
Jason didn't answer, but Nico leaned down to kiss him again and he didn't object.
Nico walked hand in hand with Jason to the bar. Rachel was already there (Nico made a mental note to show her his paper about the long-term effects of alcohol on the human body), drinking away. Leo wasn't actually bartending this time, so he was sitting on the other side of the counter, drinking a screwdriver. "Hey dudes." He said, raising his glass. "You know why Percabeth told us to meet here?"
"No clue." Jason said, sitting down next to Leo. Nico, as per usual, draped himself across the boy. "Two beers, please."
"I hope they're gonna buy some drinks." Rachel muttered. "Dad's getting on my back about it again."
"Gee, I wonder why." Thalia said, plopping herself down next to the girl. "My usual, please."
The rather tipsy-looking bartender, a boy named Dakota, nodded and plunked down a glass, and poured in about two inches of clear liquid. "Here you go." He hiccupped and grinned sleepily.
"Leo, how did this guy ever get hired?" Nico asked, worried the man would faceplant on the bar.
Leo held up his hands. "I don't hire them. I barely knew he worked here."
"Hello!" Percy burst into the bar, dragging his girlfriend along with him.
"Annabeth!" The group chorused. Even as his heart panged, Nico smiled. Sure, he was in direct competition with her, but Nico couldn't help but like the girl. Everybody did. He had even thought he had a crush on her at first.
"Hi guys. I missed you all. Didn't miss people throwing up on my shoes."
"It was only once!" Rachel protested.
"That doesn't mean it won't happen again." Annabeth said, before sitting down, setting her bag on the floor. "I'll take a Coca-Cola, please."
"Annabeth, have some fun. You never drink with us." Thalia protested.
"I'm good. Plus, we're not here to get drunk." She looked up lovingly at Percy, and Nico felt the familiar twist of jealousy in his stomach. "We have an announcement to make."
"We're.." Percy began, smiling broadly. "Getting married."
Nico felt his heart shatter. His friends were congratulating the couple, but Nico could only stare blankly at the bar. Married? That meant he had absolutely no chance anymore. It wasn't like he'd had much of one before, but there had always been that hope. Now, it was gone. His life goal for the past three years was no longer possible.
"Hey," he vaguely heard Jason say from next to him, as his boyfriend took his hand. "You okay?"
Nico didn't answer. When Jason started kissing him, his senses reactivated, but it just made the pain worse. He focused on kissing Jason, on blocking out the sounds of laughter and applause. He closed his eyes and tried to pretend he was kissing someone else.
"Annabeth, Perseus! I've missed you so much!" Calypso hugged the couple as she kissed Annabeth. "How are you?"
"We're great, Calypso. In fact…" Annabeth held up her left hand to show the ring twinkling there. Calypso squealed.
"That's wonderful! I love it!" The girls led the way to the baggage claim, giggling and bent over the ring. Percy dutifully hauled the five bags Calypso had brought to the car her dad had ordered.
At the entrance to her apartment building, Percy stopped. "Am I supposed to take these all the way up to the fifteenth floor?"
The girls turned around. They had clearly forgotten he was there. "Oh, no Perseus, I'll have Wilson take them up. Wilson!"
Wilson, who was basically Calypso's personal butler, walked up. "Will you be needing my services, Miss?"
Calypso smiled stunningly. "Yes, I need you to please take my things up."
Wilson bowed. "Of course, Miss. I shall see to it myself."
Calypso thanked the man again and the three twenty-somethings took the elevator up to Calypso's apartment. They were greeted by an enormous arrangement of flowers that took up an entire table. "My silly father. Thinking flowers will magically fix everything."
There was an awkward silence, until Percy's phone buzzed and he saw a text from Leo, asking them where they were. "Annabeth, we'd better go distract Leo. See you tonight, Calypso." They said their goodbyes and headed to Leo's apartment.
"You're in love with me?!" was all Nico could say as he paced back and forth, his hands gripping his hair.
"We've been dating for three years!" Jason protested. "You shouldn't be that surprised!"
"It wasn't that kind of a relationship!" Nico shouted.
"How would you know? It's not like we ever talked about it!"
A small part of Nico's brain screamed at him to shut the hell up because he and Jason had never fought before, and he couldn't afford to be alone right now, but a much bigger part of him was too angry to care.
"I made it clear when I asked you out, Jason, I don't like you," Nico reminded him. "This was only for Percy, and you agreed! What happened?"
"You're asking me to explain my attraction to you?" Jason asked incredulously. "I don't know! The acting got too real? You got better at kissing? You turned nineteen and suddenly got more attractive?"
The compliments were lost on Nico as a new subject entered the argument. "Nineteen?" Nico exclaimed. "You've felt like this for a year and a half?! Why didn't you say anything?"
"I thought you'd freak out!"
"Well, obviously, I'm freaking out!"
Eventually, Nico and Jason both got tired of yelling and started giving each other the silent treatment, but even that didn't last long.
"You should probably move out," Jason said from the bedroom doorway.
Nico was sitting on the bed, hugging his knees to his chest, looking all of fifteen. He nodded. "You're right."
"I mean, you can stay until you find somewhere else," Jason amended.
Nico shook his head. "No. No, it's fine, I'll… I'll go back to living with Hazel, or... I don't know, I've got a friend in New Jersey I can stay with. I doubt she'd care."
Jason fiddled with his hands nervously, trying not to feel bad. Nico hated Jersey. "Sorry this got so complicated."
"It was already complicated," Nico corrected. "You just made it easy."
With that, Nico started gathering up the few things he kept at the apartment.
"You still coming to the bar later?" Jason asked hesitantly.
Nico was already halfway out the door and simply paused to answer the question. "I'm not in the mood for alcohol tonight. I doubt it would sit well."
He slammed the door on his way out.
Leo was sitting on the steps outside the building when Percy and Annabeth found him. "What's up?" Percy asked.
Leo sighed dramatically. "The lovebirds are having a fight. I wanted to stay out of it."
"Who?" Annabeth asked, "Nico and Jason? What on earth could those two fight about? They barely even talk."
Leo chewed his lip for a moment in thought, then shrugged. "Don't ask me. I heard yelling as I was coming home, so I just turned around and waited for you guys. I figured, why not spend all my time with a different totally-in-love couple." He sighed bitterly, then forced a smile on his face. "Sorry, long day. Let's go do something that doesn't involve copious drinking for once."
Percy felt so bad for the guy he almost told him about Calypso then and there, but thankfully, Annabeth stepped in.
"How about ice cream? To celebrate." Annabeth suggested, "accidently" stepping on Percy's foot.
Leo shrugged. "Works for me. To the happy couple."
The three walked to an ice cream shop three blocks away, which was only slightly terrifying when every two seconds Percy thought he saw Calypso. Once, he actually considered tackling Leo to the ground, but before he could, Annabeth grabbed his hand in a vice-like grip, imperceptibly shaking her head. So, they made it to the shop with little incident.
"My treat, guys, so get cheap stuff." Percy announced as they walked in.
Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Too bad, I'm getting a sundae. With everything on it." Percy groaned.
"I'll take mint chocolate chip with coconut shavings." Leo said to the man behind the counter. At Percy and Annabeth's strange looks, he explained, "Calypso's favorite."
They sat at a table in the back, with Leo facing away from the window. They didn't want to risk a Calypso sighting.
"I really want her to come home. It's no fun hanging out with two couples. And then there's Rachel and Thalia, but Rachel's never sober and Thalia is scary." Leo said, playing with his ice cream. This time, it was Percy who had to stop Annabeth from telling Leo.
"I'm sure she'll be back soon." Percy offered, grabbing Annabeth's hand to get her attention.
Leo laughed bitterly. "Yeah right. But whatever. You guys started wedding plans yet?"
Grateful for the topic change, Annabeth launched into all their plans, about the food and the venue and five million other things that Percy had not been consulted on.
Four hours, Percy decided, had never passed as slowly in the history of the universe. They had gone from place to place, constantly worried about seeing Calypso. Annabeth had suggested they go back home and watch Gone with the Wind, but Percy had stopped that idea in the bud. "It would be wasting four hours, not spending them." He had said. Finally, Leo said he needed to get ready to go to work, and Percy could breathe again.
"I told you." Annabeth said as they walked home to freshen up, "We should've watched Gone with the Wind."
"Are you kidding me? Four hours with angsty Leo and a chick flick? No thank you. I'd rather be in a volcano during an earthquake."
"Well then," Annabeth said. "I guess we won't be watching our annual Star Wars marathon for our next anniversary."
"You did not just go there." Percy said. "We are too. The epic tale of one man's rise to awesomeness is too good to miss."
"If you're only watching for the 'rise to awesomeness,' why do you always get overly emotional about Han Solo and Leia?" Annabeth countered.
"I do not!" Percy protested. "I just feel very strongly about their relationship. It reminds me of us."
"And that just got you the marathon back." Annabeth said, kissing him on the cheek. "Now let's go to the bar. I don't want to miss the reunion."
Calypso had not showed up when they got there, so they settled in with Annabeth's coke and Percy's daiquri. The others trickled in slowly, except for, noticeably, Nico.
"He didn't feel too good." Was all Jason would say on the matter.
At nine thirty, Calypso walked in.
At nine thirty and two seconds, there was no bartender.
The couple kissed like they hadn't seen each other in three years, when it had only been a little over three months. All the stress of the day melted away for Percy as he saw the two reunited. It was so obvious that they were perfect together. Idly, he wondered if Leo would propose while Calypso was here.
Annabeth seemed to read his mind. "Wouldn't it be so cute if we had a double wedding?" she asked him.
"I don't know. Calypso's dad kinda hates all of us. I don't think he'd be too happy." Percy reminded her.
"Oh, Calypso wouldn't invite him. And it's not like he would come. The guy's so busy, you'd think he had the world on his shoulders. No, it would be great. All of our friends would only have to go to one wedding and one boring reception. Plus, Calypso's rich, so we could have it at a nicer place than either of us could afford." As usual, Annabeth was able to make it both adorable and practical (although Percy was appalled that she thought the reception was boring- it was the best part. It was the part with food).
"If I hadn't already proposed, I would ask you to marry me right now." Percy replied.
"Hey guys, drinks on the house!" Leo announced, looking happier than he had in weeks. "One glass of super expensive wine for my girlfriend, a beer for Jason, gin for Rachel, another gin for Thalia to steal from Rachel, a strawberry daiquri for Percy, and a Coca Cola for Annabeth. To Calypso!" The group cheered and girl blushed.
"Oh, Leo, stop it. You're embarrassing me."
"That's my job."
A/N: And everyone's cute, you're welcome. Please review!