Things really get going in this chapter. Oh I'm so excited... :-)

Important thing to note... This will be yaio (boy-boy). Don't like? You do not have to read.

Disclaimer- I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Heroes of Olympus series. (One can dream though) All rights go to the proper parties.

Percy POV

I was late to breakfast. For the first time in just over two months Nico had not come in to wake me up. I hadn't been able to sleep a wink. As I waited to see if he would show, I couldn't seem to decide if I wanted him to. I knew I needed to apologize but I didn't think I could face him. I could only imagine what he would say. I had no idea as to why I had kissed him in the first place.

Part of me was mortified. I knew that this relationship with Nico was supposed to be pretend. Last night he had looked so stunned, I couldn't even understand as to why I had done it. He ran away before I could even respond, not that I had any way to justify my actions. I felt terrible; I figured that he must have been disgusted with me. He didn't want to use my plan in the first place, and then I had to go and kiss him.

When I entered the dining pavilion, I couldn't even bring myself to look at him. I knew it was cowardly but I was unable to force myself to face him just yet. How can I justify myself to him when I can't understand it myself?

I had spent a sleepless night racking my brain. I tried to figure out what would make me decide to kiss him. It hadn't been a conscious decision, but something had clearly made me do it. I tried to think logically but all I had come up with was that I had a great time yesterday on our non-date. But how could that translate into kissing him? I have had fun with both Frank and Jason before but never felt the urge to kiss either of them.

What made Nico different from any of my other friends?

I couldn't even bring myself to think about the kiss itself. I felt my gut clench at the very thought of it. The embarrassment I felt was immense. He didn't even react. I shook my head. Did I even want him to react? I didn't think so but I couldn't seem to keep my mind from coming back to that point. I ran my hands through my hair. I had never been so confused.

I took a deep breath and left the dining hall. I hadn't finished my breakfast but I couldn't force myself to eat anything else. I was immensely thankful that Nico and I were not working together. I usually enjoyed spending time with the son of Hades, but I couldn't do it with the kiss hovering over our heads.

That kiss... I shivered at the thought. I couldn't understand my body's reaction to it. As much as I tried to focus on other things, my mind kept coming back to the feeling of his cool lips against mine. I felt my pulse quicken and my stomach clench. I was mortified, but I didn't usually react this way to humiliation. But what else could it be? I was definitely embarrassed, possibly more than I ever had been before. Perhaps that was how my body reacted when I was beyond humiliated. It made a certain degree of sense but I wasn't positive that was the whole reason. I had a feeling that I was missing something. I had never been very skilled at deducing my own emotions.

ΩΩΩ

I was basically useless the entire day. I had so many things on my mind that I couldn't focus on the task at hand.

By the time we stopped for the day I had come up with a plan. I may have never been very good at figuring out emotions but Piper was. If anyone could help me it would be her.

I went to the Aphrodite cabin to look for her. I knocked and a familiar face opened the door, "Hey Percy."

"Oh hey Sarah, is Piper here?"

The blonde shook her head. Her normal smile faded into a frown. "Percy what happened? Didn't the date go well? If anything you and Nico seem to be avoiding each other even more today."

I winced. I really did not want to get into it with her, "No the date went fine, really well in fact."

She furrowed her brow, "Then what happened."

"Please, I don't want to get into it."

She raised an eyebrow at me. "If you want me to tell you where Piper is then you'd better tell me what I want to know."

I shook my head, why do Aphrodite's kids always resort to blackmail? I sighed, as I tried to think of a way to phrase it without telling her everything. "I did something idiotic and now I don't know how to fix it. I was hoping Piper would be able to help me. She's better at this kind of thing than I am."

Sarah nodded and looked at me with sympathy in her eyes, "You really love him don't you?" I had no way to respond. I'm not in love with Nico, right? I didn't think so, but the fact I wasn't positive surprised me. "Piper is hanging out with Jason. I think they went to the woods." I nodded at her and walked away. If anything, talking to Sarah had only served to confuse me more.

When I reached the woods I tried to listen for voices. I could hear someone who sounded like Jason so I followed the voice. I couldn't hear what he was saying, but I could hear someone answering. I figured that he must be talking to Piper.

I had gotten close enough that I could hear them clearly. I intended to go up and speak to them but the next sentence stopped me in my tracks.

"I know I shouldn't have these feelings, but I can't stop myself. I know that my feelings will never be returned. But the fact of the matter is I'm in love."

The second voice belonged to none other than Nico.

ΩΩΩ

Nico POV

I didn't know what to do. Percy kissed me. I would have thought that I would be on cloud nine, but he clearly regretted doing it. I could not imagine as to what convinced him to do it in the first place. He hadn't so much as glanced at me today.

That kiss... I shivered at the thought. It had been the most wonderful moment of my life. I hadn't slept a wink last night. I had played the scene over again and again in my mind. I had resigned myself to a life of never knowing the feeling of those perfect lips against mine. It had been a glimpse of Elysium. If I had died in that instant, I don't think that I would have minded. For a moment I had know the true meaning of the word happiness, but now I had to pay the piper.

I frowned. I knew that the cost of such bliss would be high. It was only logical that Percy would want to back out of the plan. This was supposed to be pretend. I did not want it to end so soon. I had no doubt that the moment Annabeth returned, he would rush back to her arms but I had hoped that I would be able to keep him until she returned. The thought of losing him so soon was even more painful than I had anticipated. I could not bring myself to go to his cabin this morning. As long as we didn't speak, he couldn't tell me that he wanted to end our fictional relationship.

I knew I would not try to force him to stay. No matter how amazing it had been, I would not throw away Percy's friendship over a kiss. Even if I was to confess my feelings it wouldn't change anything.

I shook my head. I needed to talk to someone and the only one who I could speak to was Jason.

I spotted the golden boy walking hand in hand with Piper. I felt my gut clench at the thought of walking around with Percy like that. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. I didn't want to disturb them. I knew that it was hard for them to find alone time together.

I was about to walk away when they spotted me. Everything I was feeling must have been pretty clear on my face. Jason took one look at me and turned to Piper. I saw her smile and wave him away. She looked at me with concern in her ever changing eyes.

I nodded to her in thanks and she walked away.

"Hey man. You look terrible."

I scoffed, "Thanks Grace. That's exactly what I wanted to hear."

Jason smiled, "Your welcome. Do you want to talk about it?"

I bit my lip and looked around. There were too many campers around for this conversation. "Ya, but not here okay?" I walked in to the woods. I didn't feel like fighting monsters right now but as long as we didn't go in to far, they wouldn't bother us.

I sat down and leaned my head against a tree. Jason sat down next to me and waited.

There were so many thoughts racing through my head I didn't know where to start. I ended up blurting out the thought that was most frequent. "Percy kissed me."

Jason face fell open in a perfect 'o' of surprise. "Wait, what? When did this happen."

I sighed, "last night." I looked at him and told him everything that had happened since the sword fighting class two days ago. He stayed silent the entire time I spoke.

When I finished he just let out a low whistle. "You've had an exciting 48 hours. So that's why you guys haven't spoken today?" I nodded. "That makes sense." He shook his head. "I don't know what to say man. You have no idea as to why he did it?"

"No. We haven't spoken since it happened."

Jason looked pissed. "He shouldn't have done that to you. He has no right to mess with your head like that."

I rolled my eyes. He never seemed to get that I could defend myself, unlike Percy. I shook my head to dispel the thought. "I would agree with you, except for the fact that he has no idea. If I choose not to tell him, then I can't exactly get mad when he does the Percy thing and acts without thinking."

Jason frowned. "I just don't like the fact that he's hurting you. You shouldn't have to put up with it."

I shrugged. "It's not intentional."

He looked at me seriously. "Nico, you deserve better than someone who hurts you. I really wish that Percy could be the one for you, but we both know that he is going to tear your heart out." I winced. "There are plenty of nice guys at camp. You should find someone who can love you back."

I hated the fact that everyone knew I wasn't the one Percy really wanted. I snapped. "I know I shouldn't have these feelings, but I can't stop myself. I know that my feelings will never be returned. But the fact of the matter is I'm in love." I shook my head. I needed to get out of there. I pulled the shadows around me and was gone before Jason could even respond.

ΩΩΩ

Percy POV

I was shocked. I would have thought that my body could not handle any more surprises. I have no idea as to how I made it back to my cabin.

Nico had a crush, no, that's not right. Nico was in love with someone.

I couldn't believe it. When I looked back on everything it was obvious. Nico's hesitation to agree to my plan, his reaction to Sarah suggesting that we kiss, his lack of response when I kissed him. I should have figured it out sooner.

I felt a stab of jealousy.

I ran a hand through my hair. Why would Nico talk to Jason about this? I had thought that we were getting along so well last night. Then again I had probably ruined everything that we had achieved when I kissed him.

I started to wonder as to who it was. I could think of dozens of girls that had shown interest in him but I had never seen him show interest in anyone. Then again, he had said that she would never return his feelings. Maybe she was with someone? I tried to think about who is in a relationship that he spends any time with. The only people I could come up with were Piper and Hazel. Obviously it couldn't be Piper as he was talking to her boyfriend and Hazel was his sister. I frowned and shook my head. For some reason the thought of Nico with some faceless girl really aggravated me.

I couldn't figure out as to why the thought hurt me so much. Suddenly Sarah's words came back to me, 'You really love him don't you?'

I frowned. I didn't love him. I was fairly certain of that.

I forced myself to think about him. I had really enjoyed spending time with Nico lately. I enjoyed his company more than anyone else, but he had been my friend for longer than almost anyone else so that kind of made sense. I loved making him smile and laugh, but since he so seldom did it I was sure everyone felt that way when he did. I hardly ever found myself thinking about her when I was around him... that one I couldn't explain. Around everyone else, a slight mention and my thoughts went into the past to her. But with him, my thoughts remained fixed on the present.

The more I thought about it the more things I could see, the way that Nico always managed to catch my attention in a crowd, the way I couldn't stop myself from watching him when he ran his hands threw his hair, the way my heart beat a little faster whenever I thought I saw him blush, even last night when we were on the beach, I had thought about how cute he looked. The way my stomach tightened when I thought about the touch of his lips...

I felt my eyes widen. Oh My Gods!

I may not have been in love with him... but I did have a crush on Nico di Angelo.