I know I haven't updated in ages. Kill me if you want! But I'll warn you now, no one else will write this story if you do kill me. So it'd be in everyone's best interest if you kept me alive. Did I ever say what time of the year it was? If I did, let's say we flashed forward to the future, and everyone is still at Camp Half-Blood for the winter. If not, it's February, and every camper is getting ready for Valentine's Day!

Also, if you stuck by this long you get a blue chocolate chip cookie! ( :: ). Percy's mom made it fresh for you!

…

Percy's POV

…

I loved Valentine's Day. That probably sounds ridiculous coming from a boy, but it was true. I loved all things red and lovely and, gods forbid, Cupid (just don't tell him that). I was currently busy decorating my cabin for Valentine's Day, which was roughly six days away. I'd gotten a string of red roses tied together for the fountain, red steamers for the ceiling, and pictures of Nico and I to hang up in various places. I set pink and red tulips in a vase on top of my dresser, tossed the steamers through the rafters, and draped the roses around and over the fountain. I hung up the pictures of Nico and I above my bunk, and finally, I spread small, paper hearts all over the floor.

"Whoa," Jason said, peeking in. "Did Cupid throw up in here?" Before he could duck, a stream of salt water from the fountain hit him in the face. "I kid! I kid!" he sputtered, using his shirt to mop up his face. Leo chuckled as he let himself in, squeezing passed his now soggy boyfriend.

"I think it looks great," he said with a kind smile. "I wish Hephaestus did this. Our cabin is cool and all, but I'd like to see it all Valentined out. Or for that matter Jason's cabin. That Zeus statue would look cute with flowers in his hair." Jason glared at his boyfriend and settled down on one of the many bunks in my cabin. I'd dragged them back in after the slumber party, because let's face it, seven demigods on the floor was a disaster waiting to happen. "Oh, you know that the statue of your dad is a little creepy," Leo continued.

"I'm not denying it," Jason said hesitantly. "I'm just saying that dad probably won't appreciate getting decorated with flowers and hearts. I might be his son and get some leeway, but not much. He won't take kindly to his name being soiled by something so girly. No offense," he shot my way. I rolled my eyes and dug around in my dresser, finally emerging with mounds of Valentine card making stuff.

"Card time!" I sang to the boys on the bed, who both groaned and looked at me. "Don't pout. It'll be fun! We have red, white, and pink paper. Regular glue and glitter glue. Sparkles, frills, lace, buttons, stickers… What?" I turned to look at Jason and Leo, who were busy staring at me.

"Even I think that's gay, and I'm a gay demigod," Leo chided gently. I stuck my tongue out at him and pulled out three pairs off scissors, which, keeping up with the theme, were red, white, and pink. I chose pink for myself and Leo and Jason each grabbed for red. But Leo got it since it was his favorite color. Jason took white. "Now you've reached maximum gayness," Leo decided as he cut miniature hearts out of a pink piece of paper.

"Says the boy cutting out pink hearts," I shot back. Leo looked up, went crossed eyed just for fun, and stuck his tongue out for good measure.

"Point taken," he replied. "Hey Jason." When the Latino's boyfriend turned to look at him, Leo left a trail of red silver glitter glue down his cheek. "Aren't you darling?" he gushed, ducking as Jason attempted to stick red hearts to his forehead. It then became a contest to see who could outdo the other, glitter glue vs paper hearts. I think Jason won when he floated Leo in the air and covered him head to toe in red, pink, and white hearts with happy smiley faces made of buttons. Leo sputtered when Jason set him back down and I roared with laughter, nearly falling off my bunk.

"Game, set, and match," I said in an announcer voice. "Point, Jason Grace."

"What do I get for winning?" he asked with a smirk, turning to me. I shrugged and motioned to the Valentines stuff, keeping his attention while Leo snuck up behind him. He wrapped his arms around the blonde's waist and stuck a heart on his nose. He then kissed the blonde until both boys couldn't breathe. "Take it outside ya lovebirds!" I cried, throwing a pillow at them. It bounced harmlessly off their tangled arms and dropped to the floor like a dead flappy bird. Jason grinned over his shoulder at me.

"You're just in a sour mood because Nico had to go back to the Underworld until Valentine's Day and you're missing your favorite toy." Another stream of water hit him in the face. "Can't you ever take a joke Jackson?" he asked, wiping the water off himself. Leo laughed and kissed him again. "That was for?" Jason questioned.

"The first was your prize," Leo responded. "The second was because you're cute when you're stupid."

…

It was Valentine's Day, which was good because I don't think I could stand myself with Nico gone. If he had been gone any longer, I think I would've slowly lost it. Be that as it may, Jason, Leo, Annabeth, Piper, Frank, and Hazel quickly got sick of me and my excessive whining and told me to beat it till he arrived. That was four days ago. Now, I'm glad it was The Day. I got up early, showered, and dressed. I was wearing dark jeans, a red muscle shirt, and a black hoodie only zipped up half way. I was wearing black to appease Nico, but I wanted to be in the spirit. And red was definitely a Valentine color.

"Oh barf," Jason said, lounging around on my personal bunk with his orange Camp Half-Blood shirt and white washed jeans. He told me he didn't believe in the spirit of Valentine's day. Yet he insisted I hide his gifts for Leo in my room. Basically I had to hide a huge ass box of chocolates that Leo would have a heart attack over when he saw it, a small white bear with I Love You written in white on a red pillow that seemed a little too girly for Leo's taste but Jason claimed he'd love, and a rose in a red vase that I had to miraculously keep alive for five days. I'd kept them all hidden though. Now I handed them to Jason, who took them and spread them out of the card table Chiron let me kidnap. I set the big ass stuffed dog I'd gotten Nico on the bunk above mine and set the two Reece's peanut butter hearts I'd managed to keep secret on his paws. "What up with the dog?" Jason mocked. I turned and glared at him.

"His name is Valentine," I said in a mock serious voice. "And he's Nico's gift. Don't mock him or you're going to gargle salt water again. Though I must say I'm getting tired of wasting my fountain water." Jason held up his hands in mock surrender and laughed. "Besides, you're one to talk. What about that little bear of yours." I motioned to Leo's gift, and the blonde boy just grinned at me.

"I don't know what he's called and I don't care what he's called. Thanks for letting me come over today and help get things ready for your awesome Valentine's Day party slash dance." I nodded and set the bowl of blue punch on top of my dresser. Today at nine till tonight at eleven would be Camp Half-Blood's first Valentine's party/dance. Everyone was invited to come, but only VIPs were allowed to stay the entire time. That was Nico, Jason, Leo, Annabeth, Piper, Frank, and Hazel. Against Jason's whining complaint, I added our two newest members to the short list. After all, they were every bit a part of our group.

"Speaking of that," I said, checking my watch. "We have five minutes until we open the doors for the party. Any last minute decorating you want to do, do it now. Also remember, the gift exchange has to happen before you have any refreshments or dance. So you must show Leo his presents before he pigs out on food." I grinned at that as Jason shot me the evil eye. "Let's open early," I decided. "Our two boyfriends are the only one's allowed in though." I opened the door and nearly fainted. It seemed all of the camp was right outside my door. I closed it partway and called through, "Nico and Leo please!" Leo shouldered his way through, dragging Nico behind him. They entered the cabin and gazed around in awe.

"You did a great job Percy," Leo said with a whistle, gazing around admiringly. Nico looked at all the red, his eyes resting on the giant dog on the top bunk. He gazed at me questioningly, and when I nodded, he clambered up and cuddled with it. The dog was almost bigger than he was. Jason led Leo over to the table and presented Leo with his gifts. "Candy!" Leo cried, digging right in to the box of chocolates. "Oh, here," he added, pulling a small box out of his pocket and handing it to Jason. Jason gazed at him for a moment before opening it. I climbed up top with Nico and watched Jason's face go from white to pink to red back to pink.

"Wow Leo," he said breathlessly, pulling out a little charm bracelet. "Is this a Pandora bracelet?" he asked. Leo nodded and hugged the little bear to his chest. Surprise of all surprises he liked it. "How much did this cost you?" the blonde boy accused.

"Enough, the Latino replied with a shrug. "Nico helped. His daddy is the big and powerful god of money." Nico grinned at him and nodded. "Anyway, that little heart? That's the first charm. The second charm you'll get tonight. If you're a good boy." He arched his eyebrows and Jason giggled. I covered Nico's ears.

"No sex talk tonight," I scolded. "Jason, be a dear and let in our guests. It's party time!"

…

"This is a great party Percy!" Will called out, loping arms with his boyfriend Jake. He raised his glass in the air and about fifty more followed, praising the party and the decorations and the generally welcoming atmosphere. In addition to this being Camp Half-Blood's first Valentine party, it was the party that everyone seemed to want to come out at. Which was fine by me. That meant everyone was comfortable with one another. Even Clarisse behaved herself. Then again she was busy sucking face with Chris in the corner by the bathroom. Not the most romantic place ever but hey, it worked. I nodded his way and toasted him, floating between the party guests.

"I can't believe it's five and everyone is still partying hard," Jason said to me as I approached him. A few couples had claimed bunks and were busy making out or doing other unmentionable things. Lucky for me, it appeared he and Leo were just cuddling. No one was actually paying the bunk couples any attention anyway. "When do most of the guests leave?" he asked.

"If they haven't left yet, they're getting booted out at eight," I replied. "After that is a special after the party after party for the VIPs and their quest of choice. Seeing that all the VIPs are couples, we won't really have any other guests." I smiled at that. I'd skillfully planned so only a few people were left after eight. If anyone wanted to, they could crash if it got too late. That's what all the bunks were for.

"Percy!" Nico called from his bunk. He'd stayed up there most of the party, watching and listening as guests floated in and out. Being a son of Hades had perks. Like not being noticeable when you wanted to be. I climbed up beside him and wrapped my arms around his waist. "Happy Valentine's Day Prince," he said softly, handing me a little box. I peeked in and found not jewelry but a little folded piece of paper. He kept glancing at me anxiously.

"What is it my Prince of Shadows?" I asked, taking it out and opening it.

"A promise," he said, hugging his dog to his chest. I glanced at him quickly before looking down. I scanned it and smiled at him.

"Forever," I echoed, pulling him closer and kissing him deeply. "I promise that too."

…

Dun dun duuuuuuuuun! I'm going to let you guys imagine what could possibly be on that note. And on that happy note (ha ha) I will end this chap. Next one will be the after party. Happy late Valentine's Day!