Haha, sorry about the almost kiss... That seemed to really upset all of you. LOL I promise I have a plan. It will be worth the wait. Trust me. :-)

Important thing to note... This will be yaoi (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.

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Percy POV

For some reason it seemed as though I was always working with Nico. Even when we were not working together, it seemed to be one of our breaks so we could still hang out. I wasn't certain as to how it had happened but I was glad. I definitely wasn't complaining about spending extra time with the son of Hades. I had learned so much about him over the last two days.

I was incredibly happy that Nico seemed to finally be letting me in. I wasn't sure what had changed his mind but it made me happier than I could put into words. He had told me all he could remember about growing up in Italy and in exchange I told him about growing up in New York. He had even told me about all the time that he spent in the underworld. I had learned more about him than I could have ever imagined I would.

I had found myself laughing more freely than I had in years. Nico brought out a side of me that I had thought died the day I learned of the first great prophecy. What pleased me even more than uncovering a hidden side of myself was finding the hidden side of Nico.

It seemed that the longer we spent together, the more his walls fell. I was seeing glimpses of the nerdy, happy, over exited kid that he had been when I first met him.

I found myself thinking more and more about him every day. The more I discovered about him, the more I wanted to learn. I found myself wanting to know everything about him, from the places he's been to the movies he hated and everything in between.

I would have felt rather self-conscious about how curious I was about him if it wasn't for the fact that he seemed just as curious about my life. He seemed just as excited to ask questions as I was. It was like he had kept a list in his brain about what to ask me.

I found I could no longer imagine what my life would be like without him.

As unusual as me and Nico's relationship had become, what we even odder was how none of our friends seemed to comment on it. I wasn't certain as to what had gotten into Jason in the last two days. Ever since me and Nico had started our fake relationship Jason had been giving me dirty looks, like he wanted me nowhere near the son of the underworld. I had grown used to them even if I didn't understand his reason behind them. Over the last two days however he seemed to have had a complete turnaround. Instead of the dirty looks, he seemed to be trying to help Nico and I spend even more time together.

He wasn't even the strangest one. I had Frank offer to steer the ship for a few hours so that Nico and I could spar and Hazel and Piper came and tell us that they had set up a picnic for the two of us in the stables. Nico's face when they said that was priceless. He looked like he was seriously contemplating jumping over the side of the ship.

I was really curious about the changes in behavior but I decided as long as I didn't mind the outcome, I could live without knowing the reasons.

The only one on bored who still seemed to want to get Nico away from me was Ryan. I had expected that though. I was pretty sure if he started trying to help Nico and me it would be the first sign of the apocalypse.

On the few occasions that Nico and I were not able to work together it seemed that Ryan would stop whatever he was doing to go spend time with him. I tried not to let it bother me but it was difficult to focus on whatever I was doing knowing that the son of Apollo was flirting with him.

The only thing that allowed me to keep on task was the knowledge that Nico would only put up with Ryan for so long. The proof of this came out the second day of our quest. Nico and Ryan had been cleaning together and Ryan had apparently tried to kiss him. When they came up to dinner Ryan had a black eye and a busted lip and Nico was looking incredibly smug. Ryan hadn't tried that since.

ΩΩΩ

Nico and I were on night watch together. Frank was steering the ship so Nico and I were simply sitting in the crow's nest on the lookout for monsters. With the exception of a large herd of griffins, the monster attacks had been easily defeated small groups of monsters. We didn't really need to have two people on watch but if I was the only one who was questioning it, I wasn't going to say anything. I enjoyed the excuse to be cuddled up under a quilt with the son of Hades.

The weather was a lot cooler than it had been when we had left for our quest. We had been having an in ordinarily warm winter thus far but, from the chill in the air, I had a feeling that the warm weather was at an end.

I felt Nico stretch and sit up. I looked over at him in time to see him beginning to rub his eyes. No matter how many times I saw him wake up, I still thought that he was the most adorable thing since puppies. I loved the way he would rub his eyes, look at me, and then lean back onto my chest.

Almost like clockwork his eyes met mine and he looked away. I felt my arm tighten around him as he relaxed his head back onto my shoulder. Whenever I saw him with all his defenses down like that, I had to use all of my self control to keep from breaking the promise I made to myself.

No matter how much I wanted to kiss him, I knew that it wasn't right. I wasn't sure how I felt for him and if it was only a crush then it would be cruel of me to get his hopes up. I didn't think I was even capable of being in love with someone other than her and it wouldn't be fair to Nico if I was to pretend that I was. I couldn't forgive myself for kissing him again if I would never be able to give him my heart.

Besides, I hadn't forgotten the confession that I had overheard. Nico's heart belonged to someone else too. There was nothing that I would be able to do to make him forget whoever he or she was. I wanted to ask him about it but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

We were both content with each other for now but our hearts belonged elsewhere.

My musings were interrupted by a question.

"So how long was I out?"

I smiled at the boy in my arms. "Not long, only around 20 minutes. Don't worry; I would have woken you if anything had happened."

Nico smiled at me with amusement in his eyes. "Ya right. We both know I can wake up on my own. I'm not the one who slept through that harpy attack last night."

I blushed and tried to defend myself. "You make it sound way worse than it was. There were only four and Jason and Hazel had it completely under control."

Nico laughed and sat up a little straighter. "True, but everyone else still heard it. Then there's you," he adopted a mocking tone, "What attack? I didn't hear anything."

I scoffed, "I don't sound like that and you know it."

Nico just shook his head, "That's not the point. You sleep like the dead. Trust me, I would know."

I shrugged, "There are worse problems to have."

I smiled at him and our gazes locked. Ever since the first day of our quest, I've found myself being drawn into his eyes more and more frequently. I've tried to figure out exactly what shade they were but it was unique to him. They were as dark as coffee but had a warm hue to them.

I saw Nico begin to blush. He broke the eye contact and looked down. I nearly groaned. I was trying my best to restrain myself but he wasn't doing me any favors. In my opinion, Nico blushing was one of the most beautiful sights in the world. Forget the great wall, forget the pyramids, the innocent beauty of the son of the Hades topped them all.

I blinked. Wow... did I really just think that? Since when did I become a poet? I shook my head and tried to focus my mind. My ADHD seemed to have only gotten worse during our quest.

I cleared my throat and looked away. I may have not been able to control my mind but at least I had been doing a better job of keeping my thoughts to myself. I hadn't said anything that made me want to crawl into a hole and die in days.

Out the corner of my eye I saw Nico reach out and grab my free hand. I let him take it and he began drawing abstract shapes with his fingers. Or at least I assumed they were abstract. For all I knew he could be writing out the secrets of the universe. I was having a hard time focusing on what he was doing.

I sighed and leaned back. I was in complete bliss. The wind blowing all around us seemed insignificant. With Nico wrapped up in our quilt beside me, I was plenty warm.

I allowed the hand around his shoulders to snake through his hair. I loved the feeling of his silky locks slipping between my fingers. I felt Nico lean his head back onto my chest. I smiled as I continued to play with his hair. I would have been content to sit there all night.

The son of Hades was the only one in the world who was able to both, make my ADHD worse and make me completely unwilling to move. The only time other than our quest when I had felt so utterly at peace was during out non-date.

I loved her, I really did, but Nico was the only person who could create this tranquility...

I thought made me pause in my movements for a moment. I couldn't help but wonder as to why that was. As to why no one else was able to give me the same sense of contentment that the son of the underworld could.

I felt Nico move and I once again started running my fingers through his hair. I smiled and leaned my chin on top of his head. It was just another thing I would have to try to figure out.

I wouldn't have minded if we could sit there all night but naturally some idiotic monster was drawn to our scent. That was the biggest problem with having 7 powerful demigods on one ship.

I saw a shadow move across the moon. From the way Nico stiffened I knew that he saw it as well.

We stood up and drew our swords, "So much for enjoying a peaceful evening."

ΩΩΩ

The sun was just beginning to rise.

I was exhausted. Last night had been surprisingly busy. I was grateful that we had an extra person on watch. Between Nico, Frank, and I we hadn't needed to wake anyone else up.

Six harpies, two griffins, and eight storm spirits later and we were all ready to hit the sack.

The fourth day of our quest was shaping up to be an interesting one. All three of us were immensely grateful to Piper and Hazel for relieving us fifteen minutes early.

Frank went directly to bed while Nico and I grabbed a quick bite to eat first. We didn't stay long as Ryan came in shortly after we arrived.

If it wasn't for the fact he was hitting on Nico, I would have felt bad for him. Try as he might, the two of us were both too exhausted to care what he was saying.

We cleaned our plates and headed to our cabins. I ended up walking right past my door without noticing. It was already behind me so I decided I might as well walk Nico the 10 feet to his room.

I smiled as the son of the underworld gave me a sleepy wave. I watched as he yawned and stretched. When he started to rub his eyes I felt my resolve weaken. He looked up at me and froze. I felt myself bite my lip and he started to blush.

It was like he was purposely trying to convince me to kiss him. I took a deep breath but I found myself unable to walk away. I refused to break my promise but the urge to hold the son of Hades was more than I could resist.

I stepped forwards and wrapped my arms around him. I made sure that I didn't hold him too tightly; I wanted him to be able to pull away if he wanted. When I felt his arms wrap around me in return I tightened the embrace. I had wanted to hug him like that for years but I was always afraid that he would push me off.

He fit perfectly in my arms and I leaned my head into his hair. I could smell the scent that was distinctly Nico. It was earthy with a slightly fruity undertone.

I smiled as I took a deep breath. I didn't want to pull away as he was still holding me but I didn't want it to get awkward. I debated with myself before I broke down to temptation.

I pulled back and smiled at him. "Sleep well ghost king."

I leaned down and kissed his cheek. I saw him blush as I took a step back. I smiled at him once more before I turned around and headed back to my room. Right before I closed my door I heard him respond.

"Sweet dreams sea prince."