How To Draw The Heart

by II PermaFrost II

Nico is an Art student who draws what he sees in all the shades of black and grey and white. Jason is a photography student who sees all the colours of the world through a lens. Will is a paramedic who gives everyone just a little more time and a little more hope. Percy is a life guard who is simply trying not to drown.

4. Chapter 4: Percy

A/N: Here's the Percy Chapter everybody! I feel like everyone's been waiting for this one. I hope it doesn't disappoint! Enjoy! :)

I can hold my breath for a long time. I could probably time it and find out just how long in minutes and seconds, but I don't really care enough about that sort of thing to do it. I just know that so far, I've been able to hold it longer than my dad could and that's good enough for me. How long could my dad hold his breath for? I don't know. I just know it wasn't long enough.

My breath does the familiar catch as I step off the stair and onto the diving platform and I feel my heart do its usual jump in my chest. I can hear its frantic question pumping through my veins, wondering if this is it; if this is the day everyone else finds out how long I could hold my breath for, if this is when it won't be long enough.

Then my legs are moving and carrying me quickly forward and my hands are arching up over my head and I'm throwing myself into the air. The ceiling, the stands, the lights; it's all swirling around me with the wind roaring in my ears, then the surface of the water is rushing up to meet my hands and then silence. Silence and bubbles and I'm being cradled in the most terrifyingly beautiful place I love to be and I have no idea when I started holding my breath in.

"You're such a show off Percy."

I finish pulling my t-shirt down and glance over my shoulder, grinning at the girl leaning in the doorway.

"And you're a friggen perv!" I grab my towel from the bench behind me and emit a high pitched squeal, holding the towel in front of my body. "Not supposed to be in here! Eek!" I can hear her eye roll as she snorts and retreats from the doorway, said door banging shut with a dull thud.

I grin and chuckle to myself, rolling up the towel and shoving it into my bag. I pull my hoodie over my head and then crouch down to pull my sneakers on. I throw my backpack over my shoulder, run a hand through my damp hair and then I am out!

Annabeth is leaning against the wall outside the change room.

"You were the only one in there, dork!" She sticks her tongue out at me.

"Annabeth!" I clap a hand to my chest. "I can't have you oogling my virgin body – Why are you laughing!?" We're both laughing now, the sound loud in the near empty building. Annabeth has fallen into step beside me as we head out to the main lobby area where the receptionist, is waiting to lock up.

"Everyone out?" He asked me, standing by the security panel.

"Yeah, Lou checked the women and neutral change rooms on their way out and I poked my head into the pool room quick. It's just us left." Castor nods at me and pulls down the door on the code panel, punching in the numbers. After everyone leaves and the building gets all quiet and echo-y, I always find the beeps from the security system to be unnaturally loud. I remember the first night I closed, I was pretty sure every hair on my body stood on end when those beeps broke the quiet.

It doesn't startle me quite as much anymore, but they are still a little unnerving. It just sounds so cold and artificial. Which makes total sense. It's a fucking security system, it's not meant to sound inviting.

The three of us walk outside into the cool evening, our breath just visible in the air. It gets pretty chilly now after the sun goes down. It kinda sucks. I always forget to bring a jacket cause my sweater is fine in the afternoon.

"Saw the dive Perce." I blink and glance at Castor. He pulls the key from the lock and gives the door a little tug, making sure it's shut. "Very nice." He grins at me and I smile. I don't know Castor that well, but he's a pretty quiet guy, so the praise was nice.

"Thanks man! I couldn't disappoint the kids, you know?" He just grins at me again and lifts his hand in a wave, heading towards the parking lot. I wave back and then Annabeth and I are walking down the stairs to the sidewalk.

"It really was a nice dive you know. What brought that on?

"You think so? One of the kids I teach begged me to do something cool before they left." I shrug, my hands snug in my hoodie pockets. "It was just a dive."

"Just a dive he says!" Annabeth cries, throwing her hands up. "I only twisted and flipped my body while willingly falling through the air from a height that makes most people cringe. But it was just a dive." Her laugh makes me laugh again and duck my head. I run another hand through my hair and smile down at the sidewalk as we walk. "When did you get so humble?" She pushes my shoulder.

"Hey, I've always been humble. That's me! Perseus Modesty Jackson. Yep." My hand makes a dull thunk as I hit it against my chest and I know Annabeth is rolling her eyes at me again without looking at her.

"I thought your middle name was Logan." She teased and we both share a chuckle, the sound making the air feel a little less cold around us.

"Eh, it might be something like that. IDK man, I don't remember."

"Percy!" Annabeth pushes me again, looking scandalized. "IDK? Did you actually just say that out loud?"

Oh man. I did. I totally did. She is never gonna let me live this one down. It's going right up there the famous BRB incident of ninth grade, the LOL of eleventh and my YOLO binge a few years ago.

"Seriously!?" She's looking at me like I've lit a stack of dictionaries on fire with my vocal text slang. It's not like I meant that to slip out. I am going to put the blame squarely on my little brother for this verbal typo.

"It's cause of Tyson!" I groan and grip at my hair, my cheeks feeling kinda hot. "Paul got him a new phone and he's so excited with it that he like..." I tap my forehead looking for the right word. "Rapid fire texts! Half the time it's a bunch of ana... Acro... Acrym -" I can feel my left eye start to twitch as I stumble over the word.

"Acronyms."

"Yes! Thank you! You know how he is when he gets a new thing he likes!"

"Insisting you do it too?"

"Mum tells me nothing makes him happier than getting a text from me. And if I can fit an ana.. acro... One or two of those things in there, he thinks it's bomb because it's full sentences made short."

"And you said it out loud because...?" How she gets that eyebrow to slowly go up in that way that says she's laughing at me on the inside, I'll never know. Both mine fly up into my hair whenever I try to do it.

"Cause I gotta say them out loud first you know? Make sure they make sense. Ugh." I bury my face in my hands as Annabeth bursts into laughter. "Apparently he's writing them down."

"Smart!"

"Course! It's Tyson, what did you expect?" My little brother is big and looks like the most uncoordinated, klutzy oaf ever. But he's actually very gentle and delicate and the nicest guy you could ever hope to meet. He's got a heart as big and open as the sky, a laugh so wonderful you've just gotta laugh with him if you hear it and while he's you know, not the swiftest, give him a sec and he understands things a lot better anyone else can.

A lot of people are afraid of him, but that's because they're too busy looking through the eyes of everyone else, instead of their own.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" I'd messaged Annabeth earlier today asking if she was free tonight. She said she had homework (she always has homework), so I told her to come do it at my place cause I wanted to talk about something. I'll bet she's been dreading the conversation all day. The last time I'd said those taboo words, there was some very unmanly crying involved, a lot of hugging and then an awkward silence that lasted roughly two weeks.

Yeah, that was when we broke up. But you know, that was five years ago, so eh. She's still my best friend and at the risk of sounding like a total sap, my soulmate. But just, not like that. You know? Annabeth is all academics and success and architecture and I'm all, swimming, surfing and cheeseburgers.

It's way better this way, trust me.

"Mmm..." I draw a breath and look up. The orange glow of the street and building lights somehow giving me inspiration. They suck as stand in stars, but it's what I've got to work with here. "You remember middle and high school?"

"Unfortunately."

We both cringe, cause really, who wants to remember the travesty that is middle school. Good god.

"And you... You remember Bianca?"

"...Yes?" There it is. The subtle voice change that I was expecting. We're not laughing and joking anymore. Annabeth is armed and fully ready to let fly an arsenal of reassurance that it wasn't my fault and that I'm okay and that it's okay to be upset and blah, blah, blah. It's fine. I'm fine and we've been through this so many damn times.

"Annabeth." I loop my arm through hers and tug her close. "Chill. It's not that." I laugh and I can feel her relax just a bit. We round the corner and my apartment building looms up ahead. "I'll tell once we're in. More comfy that way."

It took a long time before I came to terms with what happened. A really long time. It wasn't until I'd moved away for a short lived stint in college that I managed to get past it. I mean, it makes sense. Even as a thirteen year old with a childhood as rough as mine was, having a classmate and friend literally die in my arms was pretty fucking intense.

It was eleven years ago and as we walk into my apartment, I can't help my look at my hands again. I still wonder if there was something else I could've done. I might've accepted that it wasn't my fault, but I don't think I'll ever stop wondering that.

Annabeth makes herself right at home, as usual. I'd be insulted if she did any less. She dumps her stuff in the living room as I grab my dogs leash (its mainly for show) and get my overly happy to see me – "Down Mrs.O'Leary!" - pooch ready to go outside for her, you know. Business.

After a friendly chat with the guy who owns the down the hall (he was doing the same thing with Snuffles), Mrs. O'Leary and I head back up and find Annabeth standing in the kitchen, a can of coke in her hand.

"What's with the artwork?" She points at my fridge.

"Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Now I'm definitely interested." We both lean back against my counter and stare at my fridge. Mrs.O'Leary sits down and leans heavily against my legs and I absently scratch her ears. There's the usual things like grocery lists I never remember to grab, coworkers phone numbers I already have in my phone and a list of only the best Chinese and pizza delivery restaurants in my area. Then, there's a couple newer additions: there are two drawings on my fridge, both held up by smiley-faced magnets.

One is an adorable drawing of me standing by a pool filled with happy kids. I love this thing. It gives me a warm tingly feeling every time I look at it. It's been like, a week, but each morning since, I've drank my coffee while standing here, in this very position looking at it.

The other one...

"So yeah, you remember Bianca."

"Mmhm." Annabeth nods and sips her coke.

"Do you remember her brother? Nico?"

Her fingers tighten just slightly on the can, but she nods.

"Yeah?"

"I'm pretty sure that was him that drew that. Not that one. The other one."

We both look at the piece of paper hanging on my fridge. It's three different sketches all of me. One of my face, one of my hand holding the life preserver and one of me standing by the pool. I look all calm and way cooler than I actually am I swear.

"Really? He's gotten better."

"Yeah."

Nico hates me.

At least, he still did when I last saw him up close and personal six years ago. We never really talked in my last two years of high school and honestly, most of our conversations leading up to that silence consisted of me crying, "I'm sorry!" and him telling me to stay away from him as he stalked me around the school.

Yeah, it was weird. Nico Di Angelo was a pretty strange kid after I got his sister killed. He'd been a pretty enthusiastic, happy-go-lucky sort of boy before that and then Bianca's death changed him. I don't blame him for hating me, I really don't. But it was really hard to do as he said and leave him alone when he followed me around (from a distance mind you - but I'm not blind) on breaks and at lunch time.

He stopped like... stalking me in eleventh grade and actually elected to talk to me a little bit. Never had much to say, but I could never forget the look in his eyes. Maybe they weren't filled with malice and hate anymore, but he looked at me like I betrayed him. It messed me up for a long time.

When I was in my final year, Nico came up to me one day and asked if he could draw me. For art class and to be honest, at this point I was willing to do anything if it meant he might despise me a little bit less.

I guess we were all kinda strange back in grade school. Puberty and shit could have a weird effect on the brain. Anyway, I noticed after I moved away and didn't have my hateful little shadow anymore, things got a little easier. My hands started feeling warm again. I started to forgive myself and eventually actually did it. Mostly.

"You don't think he's...?"

"Nah, I don't think he's stalking me again." I wave off the question and sigh, pushing away from the counter. I walk out to the living room, Annabeth and my dog following me. I drop onto the couch, Mrs.O'Leary jumps up beside me and dumps her head in my lap and Annabeth gets to her homework. "I think it's just some weird coincidence."

I'd only started working at the pool when I moved back to the city about a year and a half ago. Pretty sure I nearly fell into the damn thing when I saw Nico in the stands with his sketchbook. I didn't think there was any way it could be him. The others working at the pool told me he was from the local art college and that he'd asked the director for permission to sit and draw. Said it was great practice and he'd been coming there for a long time.

I thought maybe I was wrong, that it wasn't him and usually pushed it from my mind, just some art student trying to get his grades up. Then Bianca happened. That adorable little kid who still shows up for swim practice with a busted arm (in her defense, her sister also swims at the same time). When I saw her sit next to him in the stands the other day, I just knew something was going to happen.

I saw his face when I said Bianca's name. He looked like I'd just slapped him. Then she pulled me up there to him and he seriously looked like he wanted to ground to just open up and swallow him then and there. Course, that might've been because Bianca was trying to show off his artwork. But, whatever. He booked it faster out of the pool area than I believed psychically possible. One minute he was there, totally mortified and then next he was just a dark shadow running around the corner and out.

But not without giving me the drawing.

I kind of remember the way he used to draw in high school and Annabeth is right, he has gotten better. Like, a lot better. My hands fall still on Mrs.O'Leary.

"Think he still hates me?"

Annabeth's pencil stops moving across the grid paper and I can tell she knows we've gotten to the whole point of this conversation. She looks at me.

"I don't know Percy." She smiles at me all sad like. I hate it when she has the expression, it makes my heart ache. "You'll have to ask him."

Right. Like that was going to happen.

"In other exciting news!" Things were getting a little deep and emotional and I didn't like seeing Annabeth upset, so I figured it was time for a topic change. "I have a date tomorrow!"

She smirked at me and looked back down at her homework and resumed drawing her building plans or whatever the hell she was doing. There was a pencil, an eraser and a ruler involved and it looked complicated.

"Oh really? And who is the lucky individual?"

"A booooy-!" I sang at her, grinning lazily. Her eyes flicked up to me. I can see her internal debate, torn between being concerned for my well being and excited that I'm going on a date. She's trying to decide the best way to approach this new information I've given her. I grin and she grins back and we silently agree to keep moving forward.

"Giving the 'stronger' sex another chance are we?" She actually used air quotes at me and rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, they can't all be dipshits." Her snort tells me she thinks otherwise. "You do realize I'm right here, yeah?"

"Mmhmm~!" I stare at her head in mock disgust for a minute.

"Annabeth, you wound me." I clap two hands over my chest and Mrs.O'Leary takes that as her cue to paint the side of my face with her tongue. While I fend off my dog, Annabeth just laughs that awful little superior laugh she does and picks up her coke, looking at me smugly. "It's not like you women are perfect either. Remember Kelli?"

We both cringe and decide we would rather not remember Kelli. Annabeth leans back on her hands gives me the look that says she's waiting for me to spill the beans on my new Prince Charming. Unfortunately there's not a whole lot of beans to spill yet.

"So, who's this guy, where'd you meet him? What's he like?"

"He's Thalia's brother. I haven't met him yet and I don't know. Thalia says we'd get along great." I grin, pulling my phone out of my pocket and open the conversation I have going with the mystery man.

"Thalia's brother?" Annabeth looks a little scared and I laugh again. "You sure you can handle a Grace?" She's looking me up and down and I know she's picturing the intense woman that is our friend Thalia.

"Pfft, please. I'm sure I can handle Thalia's younger brother."

I can't handle Thalia's younger brother. There's no fucking way.

Being the gentleman that I am, I decided to walk Annabeth to her first class this morning. I figured since she was kind enough to stay up late and chat with me and steal the blankets and take up like, ninety-percent of the bed and then wake me up to work my impossible coffee maker while she boarded herself up in my bathroom for fourty minutes, it was the least I could do. Super nice girl. No idea why she's single.

Anyway, since we were going out, I figured it'd be a great time to walk Mrs.O'Leary too. It was a nice morning, I was off today and walks are like, her favourite thing second to the dog park. After we walked Annabeth to school, Mrs.O'Leary and I decided to just meander about town for awhile, why not? So we walked about, went through a park, made a few new friends out for their morning walk and generally enjoyed the morning.

Then I decided I wanted a warm drink to walk home in. Not that my fall jacket and awesome blue scarf weren't enough. I just figured it's autumn, I'm wearing a scarf, I'm a bisexual twenty-something boy. According to internet I should be writing a novel, wearing sexy glasses and probably hooked up to a pumpkin spice latte IV. Not wanting to completely let the internet down, I figured I could partially do at least one of those things. Latte it was. Whether it'd be pumpkin spice or not, I hadn't decided yet.

And I still hadn't decided when my brain decided to derail and abandon me in the coffee shop I'd wandered into.

"What can I get for you?"

His name tag said Jason. Thalia's brother was Jason. They had to be the same guy right? I mean, how many Jasons could there possibly be?

Yeah, I'm not the brightest crayon in the box when my brain bails on me mid-thought. But to my credit, I did remember both Thalia and Jason himself saying he worked in a coffee shop on the corner of Tantalus and Titus. And I'm pretty sure this was that very corner.

"Jason?" Why did I say his name? He looked at me and blinked slowly.

"Yes?" Then he smiled a very friendly-barista type of smile. "How badly do you need a coffee this morning, sir?"

I'm sorry, it's just no one told me you were handsome!

"You're Thalia's brother?"

And then he blinked at me again, his eyes grew a little wider and I can't help it, I started laughing. I completely lost my head and just started giggling. I know. Not my best moment.

"I think I'm a little early for our date! Sorry!" Why am I still laughing!? It's okay, though, he's started laughing too.

"You think?" His laugh is deep and rich and throaty and I was not prepared to suddenly bump into him without warning. "You're only what, ten hours early?"

"Give or take five minutes."

I'm sure we looked like we were crazy. The two of us, one at the counter and one behind it laughing and giggling for no discernible reason other than we were both caught totally off guard. At least he looked put together and cleaned up being at work. I looked like shit.

"What's so funny?" Another voice cut smoothly into our chuckles and for an instant I felt like I do whenever I'm about to jump into the water. Is this my drowning day?

"Nothing Nico, nothing, it's just... Hoo ~!" Jason took off his glasses and rubbed a tear away from his eye and I looked at the counter, at my sneakers, at Jasons name tag, at the sweets dish on the counter. Anywhere but at Nico. Apparently they know each other. I wonder how. I wonder why.

"Friend of yours Jason?" I could feel him looking at me. My breath was still in my lungs. I'm not sure when I started holding it. He was wearing black jeans and a black t-shirt with a skull on it. He looked more like Thalia's brother than her actual brother did. There was a thick silver ring on his hand and he was holding one of the cafe's ceramic mugs. It was green with brown flowers bordering the top. It was very pretty. I'm only noticing these things because it's keeping me from looking at his face.

"Not exactly?" Jason sounded like he didn't know how to answer that question, neither did I. "He's um..."

"Thalia's." I took a breath with her name. I grinned at them both, my hands were sweaty fists in my jacket pockets. "I'm a friend of his sisters. Just thought I'd say hi!" I lifted one hand in a wave, hoping my left eye wasn't actually twitching as violently as I thought it was. I hid it by scratching at it real quick and running the hand through my hair. Smooth Jackson. Very smooth. They definitely saw nothing.

What was I so afraid of?

"So I'll uh, see you later!" I backed up a few steps, winked at Jason and killed whatever remaining chance I might've had at a good date later by doing the finger gun thing. Oh god I actually did the finger gun. Thalia was going to beat me with her skateboard. This is what happens when I get nervous!

My hands felt hot, my face felt hot and my knees felt like they'd melted all over the coffee shop floor. I had untied Mrs.O'Leary and we were at least three blocks away before I noticed my empty hand. I never actually ordered a drink.