**Author's Note: Hey, you guys! First thing, this story has gotten much more feedback from than I'd ever expected, so thank you all very much! You're wonderful readers. Second, do you guys think this is getting too long? I still have many more ideas for how their relationship could progress, but I don't want it to get repetitious or boring. You can give me suggestions on anything you'd like to see improved on, or if I should end it, or little scenarios you'd like me to include. Thanks, and enjoy!**

Knock. Knock.

"Uh, hello?" Frank waited outside Leo's door, not eager to open it and barge in uninvited. "Leo, are you up yet?" No answer. "Maybe I should just go get Nico, first..." he muttered to himself, glancing at Percy's room, but he figured that Nico needed his rest more than Leo did.

Of course, Hazel had insisted—really, really insisted—she had to be the one to wake the boys up, but Frank could see how tired she was in her eyes. "Go on to bed," he told her, despite her protesting, "I'll get them up, don't worry."

Nico's eyes shot open, and he knew they were screwed as soon as he heard Frank's voice. "Leo!" he hissed, "Leo, get up!"

Slowly, the mechanic's eyes fluttered open, and he mumbled, "Nnh... what is it, Nico? Just ten more minutes, man..." He started to doze off again, until he heard more knocks at the door. He sat up in his chair, cursing under his breath. "Who's out there?" he whispered to Nico. Before he could answer—

"Leo, I swear I'm gonna..." Frank was getting more and more frustrated as time passed, because he was exhausted from a long day, too. "C'mon, Valdez. Time for you and Nico to take over for the night."

Leo's eyes widened. 'Frank? It really had to be Frank?' he thought to himself, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, I-I'm up!" he answered nervously, trying to figure out how to hide Nico. Put him in the closet? Yeah, that would work, minus the fact that he was missing something important: a closet. 'Idiot, why didn't you build these rooms with closets?' he scolded himself, but figured he could redesign the bunks another day.

He thought for a moment, before pointing under the bed hopefully. That wonderful suggestion earned him an I'll-kill-you-if-you-even-think-about-it glare from Nico, who was still sitting silently on the bed, before his eyes widened in horror. He mouthed two words: the door.

Leo turned to see that Frank had started to open the door, just a bit. "About time you got up..."

"Crap—uh... don't come in here!" Leo shouted, putting his hands against the door to keep him from opening it any more. "I... I'm..." He fumbled over his words, looking for an excuse, before blurting out, "...indecent!" On the list of all the stupid things he'd said (and it was a rather long list), he had a feeling that this ranked very, very high.

Frank turned red and backed away from the door like it was about to explode. "Okay, geez," he muttered, "why didn't you just say so?" He shifted uncomfortably, before saying, "I'll go get Nico while you... you know, put on some clothes."

"No wait!" Realizing he was out of options, he threw the door open and grabbed Frank by the arm to stop him from leaving.

"LEO!" Frank screamed, covering his eyes. "Are you crazy?!" He didn't dare to peek through his fingers. "I—I thought you were getting dressed!"

Now, there were a lot of things that Leo could have said in response, like maybe, 'I'm already dressed, you can open your eyes,' but instead, he just doubled over, busting into a full-fledged laughter fit.

"What are you doing?" Frank demanded, still holding a hand over his eyes. "Please tell me you're dressed..."

"F-Frank," Leo stumbled over his words, suppressing chuckles, "yeah, man. I'm dressed." He let out a long sigh, stomach hurting from laughing so hard.

The shapeshifter pulled his hand away from his face, and much to his relief, Leo was in an orange camp t-shirt and shorts. Still beet red in the face, he mumbled, "You change fast."

"Sure I do," was all Leo said, before glancing back into his room uneasily. "Don't wake up Nico, seriously. I'll do it." He bit his lip, hoping that for once, things would go his way and Frank would just go to bed.

No such luck.

"Why should I trust you?" he asked, turning in the direction of Percy's bunk. "You probably just want to play a prank on him, or something. You know he'll kill you if you do."

"A prank? I would never!" He scoffed, as though he was thoroughly offended by the accusation. "I just want to let the kid get some more rest. Is it that hard to believe I'm trying to do a nice thing, Zhang?"

"Actually, yes." He would have said more, when out of the corner of his eye, he glanced into Leo's room through the open door. "What's that on your bed...?"

Nico muttered a curse under his breath when he heard that. He was hoping Frank wouldn't notice him, since he was curled up, hiding under the blankets. 'Leo, don't screw this up,' he thought, trying to stay as still as possible in the sheets.

"My what?" Leo asked, desperately trying to steer Frank in the other direction. "Oh, that's nothing. Don't worry about it. Now get to bed! Can't have you losing beauty sleep over something like this—gods know you need it."

"Hey!" Frank huffed, crossing his arms. "Seriously though, you're a worse liar than I am. And that's saying something." He took a step back, opening Leo's door a bit more. "There's... something really huge on your bed. Whatever that thing is, it doesn't look like it could be a good idea."

'That thing?' Nico thought to himself, slightly offended.

"J-Just a new piece of machinery for the ship!" Leo shut the door quickly, a wild look in his eyes that screamed, 'guilty!'

"Oh, sure," Frank said sarcastically. "That's why you hid it underneath your blankets, in your bed. How dumb do you think I am?" He paused for a second, before frowning and saying, "Don't answer that." Before Leo could stop him, he opened the door and ran in, stopping at the bed.

Nico's heart beat quickly in his chest. What would it look like if Frank found Nico in Leo's bed? It was one thing for Hazel to find them in the same room, but... this was totally different. No amount of explanation would be able to cover for them this time.

With lightning quick speed, Leo dashed in and stood between Frank and the bed. "Don't look there! It's a... okay, you caught me! Haha, it was a prank. I'll dispose of all of this junk later, thank you for teaching me a valuable life lesson about not playing practical jokes on others. I'll remember it. Now leave."

"I don't think so," he said. Leo, being much shorter and much lighter than Frank, was pushed aside rather easily. He gripped the blankets and pulled at them, ready to unveil whatever Leo was hiding, when... the blankets pulled back. "Gah, what?" He jumped back in surprise. "What's under there?" But he had a feeling he already knew.

Leo just stared at him, unable to form an answer this time. Nico, under the sheets, held his breath.

"Oh, gods." Realization hit Frank like a tidal wave, and it left an uneasy silence in the conversation. "You—You mean... You guys... All this time he's been... And you..." He felt heat rise to his cheeks, and he let go of the blanket. "Nico?"

Nico bit his lip. What was he supposed to say? "Uh... hi," he mumbled, pulling the blanket off his face.

"Gods, why do I always have to find them?" he muttered, shaking his head. "Did you guys, like..." Frank didn't even bother to finish that thought, because the idea was just too wild. "No. No, of course not... right?"

"Gods, no." Nico looked absolutely disgusted, but a little flustered, too. "Leo and I were just talking, and I fell asleep here. Nothing more."

"Oh... So, Leo, I guess you weren't lying when you said you didn't have feelings for Hazel." Frank shrugged.

"No, of course not, man," Leo said. Honestly, he wasn't sure of his feelings for her—it was complicated, to put it in the least. A few seconds of silence passed, and then he realized what Frank was getting at. "Wait. I don't—Dude, I don't have a thing for Nico, either!"

Frank just snickered.

"Zhang, get out of here." Leo pointed to the door. "You're at least 50% less annoying when you're asleep."

"Alright, but I'm guessing you don't want Coach Hedge or Jason to know about this, huh?" he asked. "Don't worry, I won't tell them. And I won't tell Piper—that daughter of Aphrodite would love this, but I'm not that cruel." He smiled, and the awkwardness in the atmosphere eased up a bit. "Hazel already knows, doesn't she?"

"Yup," Leo answered. "But I swear, it's not like we're..." He cleared his throat, trying to figure out how to place his words.

"I know," he said, "Well, anyway, good night you two. See you in the morning." And with that, he left, glad to see that Nico had finally found a good friend—even if it was the person he least expected it to be.

"Well that was a wonderful way to start of the day," Leo joked. "Er, night." He chuckled lightly, before getting quiet and glancing at the other. "Oh, your sister told me to tell you that she loves you."

Nico nodded, lips curling upward in a slight smile. "Thanks for telling me. Well actually, thanks for everything."

"Yeah, same. Thanks for everything, buddy," Leo answered, remembering the feel of a warm blanket on his shoulders. "Now, how's about we go get some breakfast?"

"At seven in the evening?"

"Of course."