Yes, yes, they kissed. Good for them. Not like our little Tavy is all that happy about it. You'll see why this chapter.

Also, I'm glad people like the ship choice. I was a little iffy of it myself starting this, but I rather like it.

…

Octavian's POV

…

I was growing close to Percy, which scared me. I didn't want to grow close to him. I certainly didn't want to depend on him to take care of me. I'd been doing just fine for two years before he butted into my life. But back to the whole getting-close-to-him thing. It scared me for multiple reasons, the first and foremost being this: Every person I got close to left. I'd been really close to dad before he beat me and left. I was close to Toby before he moved out to Cali. And mom… I was always a momma's boy. I was her little baby boy, the one who could do no wrong. Having her here and incapable was almost worse than having her leave too.

So I did the logical thing; I skipped school. I hid in my room and finished The Fault in Our Stars. Percy was right. It did make me cry. A lot. I finished it and laid on my bed and cried for twenty minutes. Though I didn't believe it was fully because of the book. It was also probably a little bit of my own conflicted feelings. I mean, I wanted to get close to Percy. Hell, I wanted to date Percy. And he seemed more than eager to do so. But I also didn't want to get too close to him for the fear of him leaving me too. I'd already lost my family. I couldn't lose the one person that meant the most to me too.

I should've taken into consideration Percy would be worried about me, but I never thought of it on the spot. But, after school ended, the thought began to dawn on me. I hoped he hadn't worried too much. I'd left my phone downstairs locked in the pantry. I didn't want to be bombarded with questions, especially from the Y. Speaking of that, it was about time I got going to take my shower. I gathered up the necessary supplies, stuffed them in my bag, and hefted it over my shoulders. I retrieved my phone from the pantry and found I had three missed calls from Percy. I didn't remember giving him my number. But I shrugged. He was Percy Jackson. I didn't doubt his abilities to get whatever he wanted. I walked the few odd blocks to the Y and punched in my number.

"Hello Octavian," Mildred said when she saw it was me. She handed me the usual candy and soda. "You look like you've been fed recently," she commented. I looked down. I didn't look like I'd put on any weight. "You don't have that hungry look in your eyes," she added. "Whatever happened, make sure it keeps happening." I pondered that while I wandered into the locker room. I hung up my towel and stepped into the stall, undressing. I turned the water on and pressed myself against the wall while it warmed up.

"Do we have to practice?" My eyes widened when I recognized Jason's voice. "We practice enough as it is, and it's the first day we haven't had an actual practice or a game."

"Hush," Percy replied. "I never tire of swimming. I just tire of the smell. But yes, we do need to practice. Coach would be proud of us." The voices were getting closer, and I shrank against the far wall. Why today? Why him? "Hey, it's Tavy's towel!" Percy exclaimed, and I could picture him smiling. "Tavy, little Tavy, come out will ya? Come swimming with us. I have extra trunks if you need them."

"They'd fall right off him," Jason reminded him, and I cheered the other blonde on. "He's so skinny. Mine might fit him. Be back." Curse you Jason! A pair of blue swim trucks sailed over the top of the shower and touched down in front of my feet. I picked them up and let them hang from my fingertips. Someone moved off.

"We'll be in the pool," Percy said softly. "If you want to join us, you're more than welcome. But if not, that's fine. Jason's stuff is on the bench by the second set of lockers. You can put his trunks there." He left, leaving me with the decision. Should I join them? Or should I continue on like the exchange never happened? Then again, when would I get another opportunity to swim with the two best swimmers at school? I shut the water off, put the swim trunks on, and tore my towel down. I set all my stuff in my locker here, and made my way out into the pool. But I paused at the door. Did I really want to do this? Yes, yes I did. I pushed my way out into the pool, and looked around. Percy and Jason were each taking turns diving after…octopi? Interesting. Percy noticed me first, and a smile broke out on his face. "Tavy!" he exclaimed, climbing out of the pool. "Come on. Come play Catch the Squid."

"Um," I replied, hesitating at the edge. We were still at the shallow end of the pool, but I wasn't all that confident in the pool. Percy wrapped his arm around my waist.

"It's okay Tavy," he whispered in my ear. "It's not that bad. You'll see. We'll jump in together." He unwrapped his arm and instead took my hand in his. "Count us down Tavy."

"One…" I said softly. "Two… Three!" Percy jumped, hauling me with him. We hit the water, and Percy wrapped his arm around me to keep me from sinking. He waited until I was steady on my feet, then released me. "That was fun!" I said, pulling the swim trunks back up. Jason's didn't fit me. I'm pretty sure even extra, extra small wouldn't fit me at this point. I probably could get away with wearing child sized large, if I was lucky.

"Nice of you to join us," Jason said, coming over. "That means we don't actually have to swim laps. This is all fun! Catch the Squid!" He hurled a little plastic dive squid to the other side of the pool, and instantly Percy dove under the water, chasing it. Jason hurled another one close to the first, and after about fifteen seconds Percy emerged with both clutched in his fist. He held them up in triumph and swam back over to us. "Do you want to try?" Jason asked me as Percy handed them back to him.

"Er," I began. "I don't see very well underwater." Jason took the goggles off the top of his head and handed them to me. "Thanks," I mumbled, putting them on and blinking. Everything was blue. Jason lightly tossed the squid away, and I dove after it. Underwater, the goggles made everything look crystal clear. I had no trouble locating the little blue and yellow dive squid. I snatched it up and surfaced, grinning in satisfaction. Percy swam over to me and practically tackled me in a hug.

"Good job!" he praised. "Tavy, you look like you belong in the water. You have grace under there." I glowed with pleasure, momentarily forgetting that I didn't want to grow attached to him.

…

"That was much better than laps," Jason decided after swimming, drying his hair with a towel. "Can we bring him more often? Playing is better than practicing." Percy grunted in agreement and packed away his toys. Boy, did he have a lot of them. The dive squids (their favorites), underwater torpedoes (my favorite), dive rings, even a couple plastic sailboats. When they said play, they really meant play. This was supposed to help them learn better control in the water, but to me, this was just plain fun. "Next time bring the beach ball," Jason added. "We can hit it around."

"Noted," Percy said, zipping his bag closed. He was already dressed. So now all he had to do was get everything packed. "There," he said, shoving his swim suit into the pack. "Anything specific you want Tavy?" he asked, turning to look at me.

"Torpedoes," I replied automatically. "I love those things." Percy grinned.

"Me too," he said. "And the squids. Catch the Squid is probably my favorite game to play when we come here. It's basically us calling out 'Catch the Squid!' and throwing it as far as we can so the other person has to chase it." Jason nodded happily. He grabbed his clothes and disappeared into a stall. I sat on one of my towels, watching the two of them. They were so comfortable around each other. Almost like…

"Are you and Jason a couple?" I blurted out. Percy looked kind of stunned. I guess it was the first time someone had asked him that question. Then he laughed.

"Jay!" he called. "Tavy thinks we're a couple!" From the stall, Jason laughed. I flared red. How dare they laugh at me? All I did was ask a simple question! "No, Jason and I aren't a couple," Percy said, probably taking pity on me.

"Though wouldn't we make a cute one?" Jason asked, coming out of the stall. He tossed his clothes onto his backpack and slung an arm over Percy's shoulder. "This one here doesn't want a relationship with me though. Pity. He is a cute one." Jason pecked Percy's cheek, and the brunette shoved him away.

"You know I only like you as a friend Jay," he said. His tone suggested it wasn't the first time he'd said it either. "We work better as friends. If we broke up, I wouldn't be able to stand losing my best friend." Jason turned and waggled his eyebrows at me. I covered my mouth with my hand and giggled.

"See how sweet he is?" Jason said to me. "Better act fast Tavy. He could very well be gone tomorrow." I scowled at him now, and Percy punched his arm.

"Quit pestering him," he said heatedly. "I'm fine being his friend. Now go make yourself useful and buy us all sodas." Jason grumbled as he gathered up his stuff and headed to the lobby. Percy sank down beside me and pressed his lips to my temple. "Sorry about Jason," he whispered against my hair. "He seems to think I need help getting a date."

"That I find hard to believe," I said, staring at my hands. It was hard to think with him so close to me. He chuckled lowly.

"Me too," he responded. "That's why after he tries to set me up, I make him buy me things. Never anything expensive. Normally it's candy or soda. One time I managed to get him to pay my way into the movies." He chuckled at the thought and rested his head on top of mine. I looked up at him, and he looked peaceful. Like he'd been doing this kind of thing for years. He snaked an arm around my waist and kissed my temple again. "Say Tavy, I know it's kind of last minute, but do you want to come spend the night again?"

"Sure," I replied before I could stop myself. "I'd love to." Percy moved so he was staring me in the face, and he was grinning. He brushed his lips against mine, then snatched up his stuff and went to the lobby. I forced myself to stand and forced my legs to work. I got dressed quickly, tying Jason's swim trunks in a plastic bag after I'd removed them. I got dressed in the clothes I had on before, then joined Percy and Jason in the lobby. They were sitting at a little round table, munching on doughnuts and sipping orange soda from a can. Percy handed one to me, and I sat down between the two of them. Jason gave me a package of peanut butter M&Ms, and I began popping some in my mouth. Percy took the package away and grinned devilishly at me. I sighed. "Really?" I asked him. I reached for my snack, but he pulled it away. "Fine," I huffed. I opened my mouth, and he popped a blue M&M in.

"Oddly cute," Jason commented, taking a swig of his soda. "Here." He shoved a plate of doughnuts at me, and I took a glazed one. I no longer felt sick at the prospect of eating, but I did have to be careful still. I couldn't eat a lot at once. So I nibbled on my doughnut and waited for Percy and Jason to finish up whatever they were doing. They rose at the same time. Jason disappeared back inside the Y, while Percy steered me outside.

"What are we going to do now?" I asked, looking over my shoulder to stare at him. He grinned.

"Nothing too exciting," he replied. "Go home. Shower and change. Have dinner. Do homework. Bed. That's about how all of my nights go."

"Sounds heavenly," I pointed out. "I'd give anything to have running water again." Percy pulled me close and kissed my temple. "What was that for?" I asked him. His eyes crinkled at the sides when he smiled at me.

"Just cause you're you," he replied. "Now come on. We have a fun night ahead of us." I couldn't tell if he was joking or not, but I trusted his judgment, so I let him lead me to his car. He unlocked it, circled around to the passenger side, and opened the door. I giggled and slid into the seat. He closed the door and climbed behind the wheel, smiling at me. I found myself smiling back. So much for not getting close to him.

…

Aww Tavy, don't deny the love. I love the Percy/Jason bromance lol. And no, Jason doesn't always try to set him up. Every once in a great while. It keeps things interesting, does it not?

Also, if you don't know from my other story already, my uncles Mark and Joe welcomed their twins Frankie and Sammy into the world about a week ago. They've been waiting for this for about five years. Mark says he's found his calling (being a furnace for his boys).