"Percy?" Nico asked, squinting, determining whether or not it was Percy he was seeing.

"Nico! Hi! What are you shopping for?" Percy waved as Nico walked over and pulled up his sleeves.

A few months ago before school started, Nico had stood up and admitted his slight(ly huge) crush on Percy (What do you mean I'm not your type?), and the fact that he was over him. Annabeth of course had been supportive as well as the rest of his friends. It'd been a bit awkward between him and Percy for a while though (who wouldn't be?), but now, they were closer than ever. Over the past year, Percy (and Jason!) had made an effort to be "big bros" to Nico, especially since Percy was leaving for college in a year.

"Umm," Nico nervously laughed. "Graduation presents… for you and Annabeth." He was in fact getting presents for them since their graduation was next week. He definitely wasn't going to mindlessly waste his time at Target just to talk to Will…

"Aww, you're getting presents for us? How sweet of you!" Percy ruffled Nico's hair.

"Well, I mean, you deserve it. Your graduation is kind of a big thing. I have no idea how you even passed your classes."

"Why thank you, I- Hey! Excuse me, good sir, but I do have a brain inside my head! I am smart contrary to your belief." Percy scoffed.

Nico rolled his eyes. "Really?"

Percy huffed, defeated. "Fine. It was all Annabeth. She tutored me and everything."

"Exactly. So, what are you shopping for, Jackson?"

"Well for your information, I need cleaning supplies."

Nico looked at him with a deadpan expression. "You. Cleaning?"

"If I don't clean, I don't get to eat!" Percy exclaimed.

"Of course. It's all for food for you."

"Oh, hush, Nico. Just help me choose which spray works better." Thus, Percy and Nico contemplated over the multiple bottles of cleaning concoctions on the shelves.

"Dude," Percy lightly shoved Nico, "What's the difference between 'super' and 'ultra' clean?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know? I'm not even supposed to be helping you!"

"But, Nico! The shower walls need to be pristine! Heeelllppp meeeeeee!" Percy pouted and pulled on Nico's sleeve. Nico pulled his arm back, and glared at Percy.

"I am this close," he held up his thumb and forefinger less than half an inch away, "to leaving you behind and continuing my shopping in peace."

Percy didn't seem to care. His interest was now towards the Target employee walking past the aisle. "Hey! Will! Can you help me?"

Nico internally flinched. How did Percy know Will?

Will walked up to the pair with a small smile and a wave. "Hi, Percy!" He looked at Nico with a slight pink color on his cheeks, "Hi, Nico."

Nico, whose face was also dusted with blush, replied, "Hey, Solace." and smirked back in attempt to keep his cool.

Percy looked at Nico in confusion. "You know him?"

Nico did his best to keep the color off his cheeks. "Yeah, I know him. We go to school together. And he's helped me before."

Will scrunched his eyebrows. Was that all Will was to Nico? Just his classmate and a helpful Target worker? He thought they were more than that. Especially since they hang out more often when Nico came to visit (more like shopped) at Target.

Percy stepped back, put a hand on his hip, and gave his the look. "Mhmm?" And with a look of sudden recognition, Percy leaned down, grinning, and whispered into Nico's ear, "Oh my gosh, is he - you know - your type?"

Nico elbowed Percy in the gut. Hard. "If I were you, I'd stop talking right now."

Despite the pain Percy felt in his abdomen, he started laughing uncontrollably. "Oh my gosh, you should've seen the look on your face! Ha!"

"Shut UP, Jackson! How the hell do you know Solace, huh?" Nico glared.

Percy was still giggling. "Wait- heehee- what did Will help you with?"

"He," Nico pointed at Will, "helped me pick out a gift for Hazel."

Will nodded in approval. "Yeah, that was a few weeks ago." He wanted to add Oh, We also talk a lot and make fun of random products we find. But that would be insignificant to the conversation.

"You mean for her birthday? Bro, she totally loved your gift! I'm pretty sure she'd have loved it even if you didn't get really awesome art supplies." Percy stated.

"That's what I told him!" Will exclaimed.

"Pshh, I just wanted something practical for her to use. You never answered my question, Jackson. How do you know Solace?"

"Oh yeah, well- well he helped me too!"

"With what?"

Percy thought for a second to remember what happened. "Last week, I was over at Montauk for my dad's birthday, remember? And since I didn't know what to get him, I asked Will and he suggested to buy him blue jelly beans, and low and behold, he loved them! Thanks, man." Percy patted Will's shoulder.

He smiled shyly in return and replied, "No problem."

Nico stared at Percy like he was insane. "You didn't even know what to get your father?"

"Hey! You can't judge, you didn't know what to get Hazel, and she's your sister!"

"But your father's, like, the easiest to shop for! He's obsessed with the ocean and fish and stuff."

"Yeah, but he practically owns every single fishing rod there is in the world. And every boat."

Will's head snapped between the two. "I think I'm going to go now."

"NO!" both Percy and Nico shouted.

Will held up his hands as if to shield himself. "I'm sorry!" he squeaked. "Wait. Why was I called here in the first place?"

Percy frowned, disappointed in himself for forgetting. Nico on the other hand asked, "Percy wanted to ask, 'What's the difference between 'super' and 'ultra' clean?'. I think the better question would be, 'Which cleaning spray thing works best on shower tiles?'"

Will looked exasperatedly at Nico and Percy. "You do know that I don't actually know all the products in the store? I just shelve them and stuff."

"Yeah, yeah, what's your opinion though?" Percy looked at Will with hopeful eyes as if his thoughts on cleaning supplies would prevent the human apocalypse from happening.

Slightly freaked out about the amount importance Percy held for cleaning, Will took a small step back and picked something random off the shelf. "Ultra. Ultra is the best," he guessed.

Percy looked at Nico and gestured to Will, "See? This guy is a lifesaver!"

Nico had an annoyed look on his face. Thanks to Percy he'd just wasted 15 minutes of his life that he could've been using to buy a meaningful gift for the idiot and Annabeth.

Will, albeit glad that he could help out Nico and a sort-of-stranger/friend of Nico, had to get back to work. "Well, if you are ready, sir, I can check out your items for you in the front." Will looked at Nico and winked. "I said it right this time!"

Nico smirked. "You sure did, Solace."

Chapter two down! Sorry, it's a bit short. I tried to make it funnier with Percy. Thanks for reading! Consider reviewing!

-Phantomosolace