Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The whole thing started because they were bored.

Jason had broken his leg, so there was no football practice, Percy was suspended from swimming because he and another swimmer had gotten into a fight and Leo wasn’t allowed in the chemistry lab after what he called a “small accident”, so there was nothing for them to do. Jason wasn’t entirely sure why Frank didn’t just leave their sorry asses to mope and go do something else. They spent more time trying to come up with something to do than actually doing something, and playing video games every evening was starting to get old.

“You know what would be awesome?," Leo said one day while they were lazily hanging out at Percy's home after school. "Starting a band!"

"I'm in," Percy laughed. "We need to make up a cool name."

"Do either of you actually know how to play any instruments?" Jason asked with an amused smile. This was still better than the last idea Leo had had, at least. Starting a band didn’t involve any explosives.

"That's where you and Frank come in," Leo grinned. "Percy and I can just sing or something. Or how hard can it be to learn the drums?"

"Real drums aren't Rock Band- drums," Frank pointed out.

"It'll be fine," Leo said dismissively. "Come on, let's meet in Jason's garage tonight and practice."

"You're serious?" Jason asked in surprise.

"I'm always serious," Leo said in mock offence. "Come on, it'll be awesome. The chicks will love it!"

"But my parents won't," Jason said uncertainly.

"You told me they were away this week," Leo said. "Come on, Jason. Please!"

"It'll be fun," Percy added, and Jason sighed.

"Fine. Just this once."

***

He should have known it wasn't just once. They met pretty much every night after that, because attempting to play music turned out to be surprisingly fun, and it wasn’t like they had something better to do. Leo started out with a pair of Bongo drums he'd nicked from his aunt, but eventually got his hands on a decent drum set. Percy brought an old guitar that used to be his mother's and hadn't been used for years, and Frank, who had been taken lessons since he was six, had a really hard time getting it tuned properly. Jason had little trouble convincing his stepmother to buy him a keyboard, since she was the one who insisted he'd get a proper musical education in the first place. He didn't think she'd approve of the music they played, though. Hell, it took a long time before it could even be considered music by any standards, but they had fun attempting to cover other bands in the garage.

Despite being one of the first things they discussed coming up with a name for the band was a long process, and the names got worse with each try.

“We need something classy,” Leo said after his third beer in half an hour. They were at a party at Piper’s house, and her father had provided the alcohol, because “then at least I know what you’re drinking”. Still, Jason made a point of keeping sober. Someone had to. Underage drinking wasn’t pretty.

“No, we need something funny,” Percy argued, handing Frank another can. Surprisingly Frank held his liquor better than either of them, though there had been an incident of table-dancing last year that they had promised never to talk about.

“Funny and classy,” Leo said. “We could be..um...Jason and the Argonauts! That’s funny because Jason!”

He pointed at Jason like the others wouldn’t get it otherwise. Percy scowled.

“That makes it sound like he’s the lead singer,” he argued. “We could just as well be Perseus and the Olympians.”

“You’re not the lead singer either,” Jason pointed out, not really sure he should get involved in this. “We don’t have a lead singer.”

“Maybe just The Argonauts? Or The Olympians?” Frank suggested. “Why are we having a Greek theme, anyway?”

“Boring,” Percy sang, lifting his can upside down to check it was actually empty. A few drops fell down on his pants.

“Argolympians?” Leo suggested. “That’s a totally clever combination. All the smart chicks will love it.”

“It’s terrible,” Jason said honestly.

“I want to be The Blue something. Can we be Blue?” Percy asked, looking around for more beer. Jason was pretty sure he’d had enough.

“Blue Argolympians?” Frank asked, sounding a bit confused.

“That’s awesome!” Leo exclaimed. “Blue Argolympians!”

“I like it,” Percy agreed, and yeah, he had definitely had enough. Jason went to get all of them some cold water.

Unfortunately, the name stuck. Jason still thought it was terrible, but he didn’t have any better suggestions. And considering how drunk they had been it could have been much worse.

***

It was almost strange how seriously they all took it, despite the stupid name. Jason was sure he spent more time on the band than he used to spend on football, hell, he ended up quitting football completely just to have more time for the band. The same was true for all of them. For some reason they were determined to make it work, so much so that Leo and Percy even started taking lessons. Still, there was something missing.

"We need another member," Leo said after practice one day, about half a year after they first started. "Someone who can play some sort of instrument that would make our sound stand out."

"We already stand out in that we suck," Percy laughed. "But yeah, why not? A new face could be fun. Got anyone in mind?"

Leo shook his head. "Not yet. I'll find someone."

"Hmmm," Percy said. "Nico plays the cello, I think. We could ask him."

"That goomy goth boy you hang with sometimes?" Leo asked with a groan. "I don't want to turn into one of those really depressing bands singing about death and stuff. Besides, isn’t he like twelve?"

"Fifteen, and he's not that bad," Percy laughed. "I heard him listening to Disney-songs the other day."

"I've seen him around, but I’ve never talked to him,” Jason said. “Guess it wouldn't hurt to ask."

***

They waited for Nico outside school the following day, keeping a lookout. Nico almost slipped them by anyway. He was already walking down the street away from them when Percy spotted him, and Jason honestly couldn’t believe it. The kid was dressed all in black, and it was a bright sunny day. How was it even possible that he’d passed them by unnoticed?

“Nico!” Percy shouted, and the boy jumped, looking startled as he turned around. He seemed vary, but waited for them to catch up with him.

“Did something happen?” Nico asked as they approached.

Percy smiled. “You always assume the worst,” he said. “We want you to join our band.”

"What?" Nico asked, looking at them in stunned disbelief.

"We're asking if you want to join our band," Percy repeated, though Nico didn't look any less confused.

"Your band? I didn't know you had a band."

"Well, we do. We're called Blue Argolympians," Percy grinned. "We're terrible. Please join us."

Nico frowned. "Why me? I play the cello, not the guitar or something like that."

"That's why we're asking," Jason said. "We already have two guitars."

"Look, just come with us to practice tonight at Jason's place," Percy said. "I'll come pick you up and everything. It'll be fun."

“I’m not sure...” Nico said, eyeing them like he suspected a trap. Well, they were trying to get him to join a band of horrible musicians, so maybe he was right to.

“Please,” Percy said, giving the boy the same puppy eyes that seemed to work on everyone. Except Annabeth. For some reason Percy’s girlfriend was immune, which Jason supposed was a good thing. Percy really needed a leash every now and then.

“Fine,” Nico scowled. “Just this once.”

Jason grinned. Famous last words.

***

It shouldn't have worked, but it did. Nico was good with his instrument, and was used to making covers of songs that were never meant for the cello, not to mention he seemed to have a knack for improvisation. They had never sounded better than they did that night.

"Okay, you have to join now!" Percy said afterwards, clapping Nico's back and causing him to blush deeply.

"I'm not sure it's a good idea. I'm not really band material," Nico muttered, and Jason handed him a drink with a smile. Non-alcoholic, of course, even though the others were having beers. They weren’t planning on getting drunk, though. A beer after practice had become a habit. Jason sometimes joined them, but not tonight.

"You don't have to be. We're doing it just for fun," he said. "Our goal right now is just to become good enough to dare play in front of our friends someday."

"Speak for yourself," Leo laughed. "I predict we'll take the world by storm, become filthy rich and extraordinarily famous."

There was laughter all around, and even Nico looked amused.

“So what do you say, Nico?” Percy asked, casually flinging an arm around Nico’s shoulders. “You’re joining, right?”

The boy seemed a bit flustered as he shrugged Percy’s hand off. “Fine,” he mumbled.

“Alright!” Percy shouted triumphantly, giving Leo a high five. “Band member gained. Achievement unlocked.”

“You don’t even own an Xbox,” Frank pointed out, but nobody really took any heed.

***

The whole thing was pretty strange.

Nico had never really thought he would join a band. An orchestra, maybe, but not a band. They weren’t even a rock band or a punk band or anything classifiable like that. Percy had said they were a “Hey that sounds good let’s play that”-band, and it was definitely the most accurate description Nico could find to describe them.

It wasn’t just the band-thing, though. The strangest part was that four guys, all older than if only by a few years, willingly hung out with him. Nico didn’t exactly have a lot of friends.

Not that Percy and the others were his friends, exactly. They only ever did band practice together. Still, it was probably more social interaction than he’d had in the last two years combined.

Hazel was so proud of him.

“Guys?” Nico asked after practice one day about two months after he’d joined. “Would it be okay for my sister to come listen to us next time? She keeps asking me.”

“Hmm,” Percy said. “We haven’t actually allowed anyone to listen until now, but we’re actually starting to sound like something, so why not? I could invite Annabeth. She's starting to think we just made the whole band-thing up.”

“Meaning Piper and Reyna and probably Rachel as well,” Leo surmised. “Alright! Sounds like a party!”

It wasn’t really what Nico had had in mind, but it was too late to take it back now. He was stupidly nervous when they gathered in the garage the following Friday. He doubted Percy’s friends expected them to sound good (the pretty girl called Piper had even jokingly brought earplugs) but he wasn’t used to playing in front of people. Having Hazel there calmed him a little bit, though.

“Okay, welcome to Blue Argolympians’ first performance for an audience,” Percy announced, spreading his arms wide.

“Blue what?” Piper asked, but Jason just shook his head.

“Don’t ask.”

“No wonder you always just call it The Band,” Reyna said, and Jason laughed.

“It grows on you.”

“As I was saying, our first performance,” Percy continued, not sounding like the interruption bothered him at all. “So buckle up and cover your ears or something. We’re making history tonight.”

“Or we are history after tonight,” Leo added. “One or the other.”

“Okay, first song. Possibly last,” Percy said. “'Enter Sandman'. Ready?”

They all nodded, then begun to play. Nico knew for a fact they didn’t suck nearly as much as they made it seem, but getting applause afterwards was still a relief.

“I hate you guys,” Piper said as they finished clapping. “You tricked me into thinking you were terrible, but that was actually really good.”

“No kidding,” Annabeth said. “Nevermind the instruments, I had know idea any of you could sing.”

As good as the praise felt, the was only one opinion that Nico was concerned about. Thankfully, Hazel was smiling.

“Could you play another one?” she asked, and they were happy to oblige.

***

Many songs later they were back at home, getting ready to go to sleep.

“Nico, do you know if the tall guy has a girlfriend?” Hazel asked him shyly, and Nico gave her a surprised look.

“Jason? The blond guy?” he asked. “No, he was dating Piper but I think they broke up a few weeks back. We haven't really talked about it.”

Hazel shook his head. “No, not him. The guitar player.”

“Frank?” Nico asked in disbelief.

“Why so surprised? He’s good looking,” Hazel said, and Nico considered it.

“Yeah, I guess. I haven’t really looked,” he said, blushing slightly. Talking about stuff like that out loud still felt strange, even if it was only with his sister. “No, he’s never mentioned anyone, at least. You interested?”

“I don’t know. He’d probably think I’m too young,” Hazel said with a sigh. “What about you? Are you really fine with hanging out with Percy again?”

Nico scowled, but it wasn’t her fault. “Most of the time, yeah,” he said. “I’m over him, I really am, but...”

“I get it,” Hazel smiled sadly. “For what it’s worth, you all sounded good tonight. Maybe you’ll become famous one day.”

Nico shuddered at the thought. “I hope not. That party Piper said she'll be forcing us to play at sounds scary enough.”

“Relax, she invited me as well so I’ll be there for you,” Hazel said. “It’ll be fine.”

Nico smirked. “And you have no ulterior motives for coming?” he asked. “Like, say, a tall, good looking guitarist?”

He laughed as Hazel blushed and lightly slapped his head.

***

Nico didn’t really care for large parties. He had a tendency to lose himself in the crowd, and feel more alone than when he was actually on his own. However, being in the band changed things.

Suddenly he had something to do, a purpose to being there, which he desperately needed because what was a freshman doing at a party like this, anyway? At least Piper seemed to have taken Hazel under her wing, so he didn’t have to worry about her feeling as uncomfortable as he usually did.

Having a live band seemed to be appreciated. They had chosen the songs specifically to get people dancing, which meant a pretty mixed playlist of nostalgic oldies and new beats. When Percy finally announced they were taking a break they got a pretty overwhelming applause.

Nico took the opportunity to sneak outside to get some fresh air rather than to try and socialize. He was starting to get tired from all the people, and they still had one more round of playing to go.

The cool nighttime air felt great after the stuffy heat inside. And it was so much more quiet, even though the sounds from the party carried through the wall. He closed his eyes to just enjoy it for a second.

“Nico. There you are,” a voice said behind him, and Nico sighed as he turned around, but it was only Frank, looking strangely nervous.

“Something wrong?” Nico asked, and Frank shook his head.

“No, no, I just… I wanted to ask you about your sister,” he said, and Nico was pretty sure his face had turned red, but in the limited light outside it was hard to say for sure. “How old is she?”

“Fifteen, like me. We were born the same year,” Nico said, smiling at Franks confused expression. “Same father, different mother. Complicated family, let’s not go there.”

“Right,” Frank nodded. “So, um...”

Nico sighed. “You don’t need my permission if you want to ask her out, you need hers,” he pointed out. “She was talking to Piper last I saw her.”

“Thanks,” Frank mumbled, sounding a bit relieved as he walked back inside. Nico shook his head with a smile. Who knew?

“That was pretty nice of you,” someone said, and Nico was getting tired of people sneaking up on him. Usually it was the other way around.

He turned to see Jason emerging from the shadows. “Is eavesdropping a habit of yours?” Nico asked dryly, and Jason just laughed.

“It’s not eavesdropping if the conversation is public,” he shrugged. “So Hazel and Frank, huh? I wouldn’t have thought you’d give your blessing. I guess he didn't, either. You're usually so protective of her.”

“She likes him,” Nico said dismissively. “But don’t tell him that.”

“The secret’s safe with me,” Jason smiled. “What about you? Anyone you like?”

Nico scowled. “No. What’s with the gossiping?”

“Just trying to get to know you better,” Jason said. “It just hit me that we haven’t really done anything together except band-stuff.”

“I think this counts as band-stuff,” Nico said, and Jason gave a huffed laugh.

“If you say so. Are you free tomorrow?”

“Why?” Nico asked, slightly suspicious.

“Everyone else is going to have a hangover, and I have nothing to do,” Jason said. “Maybe we could hang or something. You know, not doing band stuff.”

“...sure,” Nico said uncertainly, still wondering if there was something else to this. People didn’t usually ask to hang out with him, but Jason had always struck him as a very sincere person. Not that he could say he knew him after just a few months.

Percy called them from inside, telling them break was over, and Nico steeled himself as he walked to face their increasingly drunk audience.

***

Jason wasn’t really sure what to expect when he walked over to Nico’s house the following day. He had called him earlier, and they agreed to meet up at his house, mostly because Jason had a car and Nico didn’t, and maybe watch a movie or something. Jason had no idea what kind of movies Nico liked. It was sad, really, that after being in the same band for almost three months all he knew about the guy was that he was a good cello-player.

His family was apparently pretty well off, though. The house he lived in was basically a small mansion. Jason wondered whose idea it had been to paint it black. It kinda reminded him of the Addams family.

He rung the doorbell, and after a few moments Nico opened. He was dressed exactly as he always was, black from head to toe. Maybe it was hereditary.

“Come in,” Nico said, opening the door wider so Jason could pass. He looked around, surprised and a little disappointed. On the inside the house looked perfectly normal. It was pretty quiet, though.

“You home alone?” he asked, and Nico shrugged.

“Dad is traveling and my stepmother is visiting her mother,” he said. “And apparently Hazel has a date.”

“Frank really asked her, then?” Jason smiled. “Good for him. I honestly thought he would back out.”

“He did, but he went to talk to her. Hazel asked him.”

“And you didn’t give Frank the 'I’ll kill you if you hurt her'-speech when he came to pick her up?” Jason asked, and Nico just laughed.

“Like I’d need to. He was so nervous he actually stumbled on the doorstep and fell on his face,” Nico said. “Luckily he didn’t hurt himself.”

“Poor guy,” Jason grinned. “So what movie did you have in mind for today?”

“Nothing specific. I have a pretty big collection in my room,” Nico said, gesturing for Jason to follow him up the stairs.

Jason didn’t know what he’d expected Nico’s room to look like, but he supposed it should have been something like this. The walls were covered with shelves full of books, movies and video-games. There was a TV at the foot of his bed, and his cello stood in a corner of the room with a music stand in front of it. Curious, Jason picked up the sheet that was left on the stand.

“Ah, that is, um...” Nico said as Jason looked at the sheet in surprise. It was handwritten.

“Nico,” Jason said slowly. “Did you write this?”

The boy looked incredibly flustered as he nodded. Jason frowned.

“So we’ve been in a band together for months and you’ve never told us you write songs?”

“It’s not very good,” Nico said, sounding defensive. “And it’s mostly for the cello. And the lyrics are terrible.”

Jason put the sheet back at the stand and crossed his arms. “Let’s hear it.”

“I mean it. It’s really not good,” Nico tried, but Jason wasn’t convinced.

“Come on, Nico,” he said. “We played 'Ice Ice Baby' at the party last night. It can’t be worse than that.”

“I guess,” Nico muttered, moving to prepare his cello before starting to play. It was a slow song, and Nico softly sang the lyrics, not looking at Jason at all. It was about uniting to fight impossible odds and the words were a little crude, but somehow that just made it more powerful. When Nico stopped, Jason let out a breath he hadn’t really been aware he was holding.

“You’ve been holding out on us,” he said after a moments pause. “Seriously, Nico, that was amazing! How did you come up with that?”

Nico blushed and looked away again. “I, um, I finished the Mass Effect-games and may have been a little emotional,” he mumbled.

Jason let out a huffed laugh. “I get that. I went running for two hours after finishing the third game,” he said. “But anyway, next band practice you’re bringing that sheet with you, and any other ones you might have lying around. The others need to hear it.”

Nico visibly hesitated. “It’s not that...”

“It is that good. Stop it,” Jason said sternly, and Nico’s face was burning red as he gave a small nod. There was a silence for a while, then Jason sighed.

“Now I’m kinda in the mood to play video games,” he said. “You mind a change in plans?”

Nico shook his head, apparently happy about the change in subject. “Go ahead and pick something. If you’re looking for Mass Effect they’re on the third shelf from the bottom.”

“Why not? It’s been a while,” Jason smiled, picking out the first game in the trilogy. “So, paragon or renegade?”

Nico made a face. “Mostly paragon. I don’t like being rude.”

“I get that. And most of the paragon options are what I would have done, anyway,” Jason said, handing Nico the game. “Who did you romance?”

For some reason Nico’s face turned red again as he went to put the game into the console.

“What about you?” he asked, avoiding the question.

“First game Liara, then Tali. Beautiful alien ladies,” Jason said. “And I asked first, you know.”

Nico looked away before answering. “Garrus.”

“Huh,” Jason said, a little surprised. “I didn’t even know he was an option.”

“I played as female Shepard. She seemed cooler than the male version,” Nico shrugged, though he seemed tense, like he expected Jason to make fun of him for it. Jason couldn’t exactly blame him for that, he knew plenty of guys who would have.

“I’ve never done that before,” he said, choosing the female character as the option came up. “It’ll be interesting to see how the gameplay changes.”

Nico gave him a surprised look, and Jason just smiled.

***

The others were as excited about the song as Jason had been. When Nico finished, Jason could see them just itching to write something themselves. He was a little afraid of what Leo would come up with if given the chance.

“That was awesome, Nico,” Percy said. “Does it have a name?”

Nico blushed. “Not really,” he said. “In my head it’s just been 'That Song Where Everyone Probably Dies'.”

Leo laughed. “That’s a great name,” he said. “So songwriting workshop this weekend. Who’s with me?”

“I’m in,” Percy said. “Can’t let Nico steal all the glory, right?”

Nico ducked before Percy could ruffle his hair again. “We’re going to start making our own songs, then?” he asked.

“Why not? Could be fun,” Percy shrugged. “I’m getting tired of playing covers, anyway.”

***

Some months later they had their biggest and most important performance yet. Not for their own sake, but because Percy’s mother was finally marrying the guy she’d been seeing for years, and had asked them to be the band at the wedding reception. Nico was honored, and terrified. On the parties they usually played at screwing up didn’t really matter, but this was completely different. Not to mention Percy had asked him to play solo for the dance he had with his mother.

It was the first time in a very long time he was playing a classical piece, and the first time ever he was playing alone in front of an audience. He was doing his best not to panic as the rest of the band left their instruments behind to go join the other guests after playing the first dance. Nico’s hands were disgustingly sweaty, but thankfully they didn’t shake. He took a deep breath as Percy took his mother’s hand on the dance floor, then started to play.

Sally Jackson looked beautiful in her white dress as Percy begun leading her around. Neither of them were particularly good dancers, but they looked like they were having fun. Nico didn’t have much time to watch them, though. He was concentrated on the music sheet in front of him, trying not to screw it up. He was pretty sure any real musician would frown at his performance, but the wedding guests were all smiles as he finished, and gave him a loud applause.

“Thanks, man,” Percy said as the rest of the band came back. “Mom loved it.”

“Good,” Nico said, breathing out. “Because I’m not doing it again. I had forgotten how complicated those pieces can be.”

Percy laughed, and ruffled his hair. “You did great,” he said. “Now let’s speed things up!”

As they started playing songs Nico was more familiar with, he started to relax. Music was a lot more fun with the whole band around him.

***

Percy’s new stepfather, Paul, knew a teacher at a music school, and had convinced him to let the band use their facilities to record a demo for free. Percy and Leo was practically bouncing with excitement.

They had chosen three songs to record, all of which they had written themselves. “No Turning Back” (formerly known as “That Song Where Everyone Probably Dies”) was the first. “Birds Don’t Like Loud Music” was Percy and Leo’s brainchild and actually wasn’t as stupid as the name suggested. However, the third one was Jason’s personal favorite, and not just because he had helped Nico and Frank with the composition. It was called “Children of Gods” and told a story of a kid trying to break out of his father’s shadow. Jason could relate. They all could, one way or another. Leo had joked once that they should rename the band Daddy Issues.

It was pretty cool actually holding the demo in his hands when they were finished.

“We’re totally a real band now,” Leo laughed. “We should start demanding payment for our gigs.”

“I’m not sure playing at friends parties could be called ‘gigs’,” Nico said. “And I doubt they could afford to pay us anyway.”

“Buzzkill,” Leo said lightly. “We should start looking for people that can afford us, then. Since we have a demo now and everything.”

Jason made a face. “It’ll have to wait until after the exams. My stepmother would kill me if I failed.”

“Harsh, man,” Percy sighed. “If my mother did that I would have died a long time ago.”

***

"Umm, guys," Jason said uncertainly as they gathered in the garage for practice again. They stopped talking amongst themselves and looked up at him. Jason took a deep breath. "You know that demo we recorded for fun a few months back?"

They all nodded. Of course they remembered. It had been one of the coolest things they'd done, after all.

"Well, um, Piper knows this guy from a record company through her father, and apparently he came over for dinner or something and she showed him the demo and they want to meet us to discuss a contract," Jason said in one breath, watching all of their faces turn from shock to smiles and then back to shock.

"Wow," Leo finally said. "I can't even think of anything clever to say, just...Wow!"

"That sums it up pretty well," Frank nodded, and Percy laughed.

"Awesome," he said and the others started laughing as well.

Only Nico was quiet, which wasn't anything new, but still a bit worrying.

"You okay?" Jason asked, and his head snapped up like he'd been in a trance.

"You said we'd only play for fun, for our friends," he said, sounding angry. "It wasn't supposed to be more than that."

"Come on, Nico. You admitted yourself that we're getting good," Percy said. "Let's just talk to these guys and see what they say. We're not going to sell out or anything. It'll still be for fun."

"It's not the same," Nico insisted. "I can't get up on a stage. I just can't."

"Nico, relax. Nothing is certain at this point," Jason said. "I think Percy is right. We should hear them out and make our decision later."

***

They all took some time to consider it, but in the end the offer was too good to refuse. Nico was more or less pressured into agreeing, since it was his cello that gave Blue Argolympians their special sound. Jason felt bad about it, but on the other hand he was also excited. They were actually going to record a real album. Two years ago when they started he'd never would have thought it even remotely possible.

His parents hadn’t exactly anticipated the possibility either, and telling them he was planning on concentrating on the music rather than go to college was one of the scariest thing he’d ever done. The reaction that followed was a lot less violent than he had expected, even if he was forced to live with Percy and Leo for a few weeks respectively before his father calmed down enough to let him come home. Considering he’d expected to be disowned, it wasn’t so bad.

Still, the deal they had gotten wasn’t all nice. There were a lot of weird stuff the record company sort of sneakily worked into their contract. Among other things, they now had a manager/image coach/everything, a pretty woman calling herself Venus. Jason doubted that was actually her real name. Or her real hair color. Possibly not even her real teeth. Seriously, who had teeth that white?

"Oh, yes. I can work with this," she said when she saw them the first time, clapping her hands together in delight. "I can see it already, five cute guys with their own distinct quirks. The girls are going to fall all over themselves when they see you!"

"Sounds great," Leo laughed, though none of them were particularly happy when she more or less assigned them a personality trait to be used as their public image.

"You and Percy are both wild types, but we can't have two of them so he's the wild, dangerous type and you are the funny one," she told Leo, then turned to Jason. "You are the serious, dependable one and Frank is the sweet and gentle one."

Then she turned towards Nico, who looked like a caged animal at the moment. "I'm not sure what to do with you. The gloomy, depressed look doesn't really fit the pattern. I think we'll have to give you a complete makeover. Maybe make you the cute, innocent one?"

"Over my dead body," Nico said, really sounding like he meant it. Jason almost got shivers down his spine at the chilly tone. Nico could be a bit scary when he wanted to, and Venus apparently noticed as well, stopping dead in her tracks.

"Nico's right. There's no reason why we can't just be ourselves," Percy said. "We're all terrible actors anyway. Nobody would buy it if we tried to play some sort of roles just for the audience."

Venus sighed theatrically. "Fine, then, but I still think it would get you more fans," she said. "Let's take you down to hair and makeup for your first photo shoot. Just wait until you see the clothes I picked out for you..."

"Photoshoot?" Nico repeated, sounding terrified. "Can't we just, I don't know, get Rachel to draw us an album cover or something? Why would there need to be photos of us?"

"So people can recognize you on stage, silly," Venus said. "And you'll sell more if people see your handsome faces. Now let's go."

***

Jason had been a bit afraid she was talking about silly costumes of some sort, but they were met with stylish black designer suits.

“So is this a photo shoot or a business meeting?” Leo laughed, and the others seemed to relax as well. Except Nico. The boy looked increasingly uncomfortable.

“Everything okay?” Jason asked, and Nico shook his head.

“I don’t want to do this,” he said weakly. “I don’t want my face on an album cover.”

“Why not?” Jason asked. “I get hating to be photographed, but there guys are professionals, right? It’ll be fine.”

Nico just looked down on the floor. “You wouldn’t understand.”

He was right, Jason didn’t, but Frank seemed to have some clue at least. He handed Nico a pair of sunglasses from his bag.

“Take these. No one will recognize you.”

“Thank you,” Nico said, looking relieved as he accepted the shades. Venus wasn’t so happy about it, though.

"Nico, take the shades off," she demanded as soon as they got on set.

"I refuse. I hate being photographed," Nico said angrily and Venus sighed dramatically.

"The one who hates everything. That'll never sell," she muttered before returning with another pair of expensive looking sunglasses. "At least wear these instead. They match your suit better."

"Fine," Nico said, and Jason was glad he compromised at least that much.

Once the shoot started Nico didn’t say a word of complaint. Even Frank sometimes questioned the poses the photographer was asking for, but Nico just did as he was told. The only thing he refused to do was take off the sunglasses.

“Alright, great work everyone,” Venus said afterwards. “Now then, there’s the small issue of the name of the band.”

“What’s wrong with our name?” Percy asked, and Jason vaguely wondered what wasn’t wrong with it.

“Quite frankly it’s unsellable,” Venus said. “I’ll give you until tomorrow to come up with a better one. You can do that, can’t you?”

“Sure,” Percy said, sounding a bit angry. “We’ll think of something.”

***

Judging by Venus’ sour expression the following day she regretted ordering them to change their name.

“Was NOT Blue Argolympians really the best you could come up with?”

“Well, you said we had to change it,” Percy said innocently, and Venus sighed.

“Fine, I give in.You win. You can keep the name.”

“No, no, that wouldn’t be right. We’ve already changed it,” Leo said, somehow keeping his face straight.

“Yeah, I kinda like the new name,” Percy nodded. Nico was torn between laughing and being afraid of the face Venus was making.

“Fine, NOT Blue Argolympians. You’re stuck with that name,” she said. “It’ll do nothing to draw people to your concert.”

“What concert?” Jason asked, and Venus smiled.

“You are going to give a free outdoor concert at the town's music festival in a few months to promote your album. Another band cancelled so you'll be filling in,” she explained. “It’s just a small thing, but we thought it’ll be a good chance for you to show us what you’ve got. After all, you haven’t really had gigs before, right?”

“Not unless you count parties and my mother’s wedding, no,” Percy said, and Venus gave him a look saying that she clearly didn’t count it.

“How are we going to get people to come and see us, though?” Jason asked.

“Critics will rate your album, of course, so that’s one way of publicity, and ‘Children of Gods’ will be playing on the radio, though how much depends on how popular it becomes,” Venus said. “And there are interviews and the like to get through. You can promote yourself through social networks as well, of course, but read through the terms and conditions of your contract first.”

That seemed pretty vague to Nico, but he didn’t feel like he could complain if nobody but their friends showed up to the concert. Actually he might prefer it that way.

“Could we do a music video?” Leo asked, but Venus shook her head.

“Only if you can pay for it yourselves,” she said. “Until we know how the public will respond to you there isn’t enough resources to put into such a project. If you make one yourselves it’ll still need to be approved by the company.”

“Bureaucratic bullshit,” Leo muttered, and Nico was inclined to agree with him, even if he didn’t particularly like the idea of doing a music video. Unless he wasn’t required to be on screen.

“Rachel makes pretty cool videos on youtube,” Percy pondered as they walked out of the building that evening. “Maybe she’d help us.”

“Making a video isn’t exactly an easy thing,” Jason pointed out. “I doubt there’s enough time left before the concert. Especially since we have a lot of other stuff to do.”

“You’re spending too much time with Nico. You’re turning into a buzzkill,” Leo complained. Nico didn’t bother defend himself. Leo usually didn’t mean anything by it, anyway.

“You mean I’m starting to look before I leap,” Jason said, and Leo laughed.

“Like I said: buzzkill,” he said. “We could at least ask her.”

***

As it turned out, Rachel was really excited about the idea, saying it would be a merit when applying for the art school she was aiming for if they actually pulled it off. She vowed to make sure it would be ready at least a week before the concert. When they told Venus about it, she just smiled and wished them luck, sounding sincere enough.

Rachel’s plan was to make a very simple video of “Children of Gods”, cutting between scenes of the band playing the song and other everyday scenes that illustrated the story. They didn't have access to professional cameras or lighting, so part of the story was showing them with Rachel's camera as if they were filming the video themselves. Their friends agreed to help, despite the college application hell most of them were in the middle of. Somehow Piper convinced her already famous dad to play the father they were singing about (or at least his shadow, the deal was to never actually show his face), which effectively got Venus involved in the project on her free time. It was a relief, because it meant they didn’t have to worry about the project not being approved.

Nico was deathly tired of the song after spending an entire Sunday sometimes playing and sometimes pretending to play ‘Children of Gods’ over and over again to give Rachel enough footage to work with. It was still easier than the scenes in between, though. He has convinced Rachel to let him keep his shades on, or a hood up so you couldn’t see his eyes, but that didn’t mean acting the way she wanted was easy.

They barely had time to sleep for a month, in between finishing the album and doing interviews and practicing and filming. Nico suspected Rachel didn’t sleep for a week or so after that as well, considering how fast she finished editing the footage and cutting it together.

They all gathered at her home to watch it, and as much as Nico hated seeing himself on screen he had to admit she’d done one hell of a job.

“It’s pretty clear it’s not professionally made,” Venus said as they showed her the finished project the following Monday. “But the girl’s got a good eye for storytelling. Considering everyone worked for free on this it’s better than anyone would think.“

The video went up on Youtube the following day, roughly two weeks before the concert.

***

Nico was shocked at the amount of people who’d shown up to watch them. He knew the video had gotten a lot of views, but he’d assumed it was because someone had realized Tristan McLean was playing the shadow of the father, despite the credits only calling him "Piper's dad". Nico never expected there to be so many people interested in seeing them play. Neither had the security, apparently. Nico could see them hurrying around, looking panicked and shouting in their walkie-talkies.

“Wow,” Leo muttered behind them. “We should have had them pay for tickets. Imagine the amount of money we’d make.”

“Agreed. If I had known just how huge you’d be I wouldn’t have scheduled you for this kind of thing,” Venus said, dismayed. “I’m calling the company. We need to set you guys up for a real concert ASAP.”

“As opposed to this fake one?” Percy grinned as she walked away, then he looked over towards Nico. “You look like you’re about to shit your pants.”

Nico made a face at him. “Have you seen the amount of people out there?” he said. “This was supposed to be a small thing. Venus said maybe fifty people, but there’s a freaking army out there.”

“It’ll be fine,” Leo said dismissively, though he looked a bit nervous as well. “You can hide behind your sunglasses.”

“My sunglasses don’t hide sound, Leo,” Nico pointed out. He was starting to panic. He really, really didn’t want to go out on that stage.

“It’ll be okay, Nico,” Jason said, smiling reassuringly as he put a hand on Nico’s shoulder. It felt comforting, though it might just have been there to keep him from running away.

“Whenever you’re ready!” one of the stage guys said, and Nico really would have ran if Jason hadn’t been holding him back.

“It’ll be okay, I promise,” he said.

“Besides, Hazel’s down there,” Frank added, appearing on Nico’s other side. “You wouldn’t want to let her down, right?”

Nico scowled as he shook Jason’s hand off. “That’s cheating,” he told Frank, then sighed. “Fine, let’s go get this over with.”

“This is going to be awesome!” Leo said, then they walked towards the stage.

The crowed cheered loudly as they got on stage. Nico tried his best to tune them out and imagine Hazel and maybe some other friends were their only audience, but with all that noise it was really hard. He was ridiculously glad his sunglasses hid most of his face from the audience as he took a seat with his cello in front of him.

“Hello, everyone! We are NOT Blue Argolymipans, so if you’ve come to see anyone else, you’re in the wrong place,” Percy said into his microphone. “Of course, you’re welcome to stay around.”

“Yeah, if you’re somewhere in the middle of the crowd you might have a hard time getting away anyhow,” Leo added with a grin, getting a laugh out of the audience. They seemed to be in a good mood, thankfully.

“This is our first real concert, though our manager believes otherwise since it's free,” Percy continued. “But I think it’s time we started playing. Does anyone have the program? I’ve forgotten which song we were supposed to start with.”

The audience laughed again, then Jason announced the first song, “Birds Don’t Like Loud Music”. Nico vaguely regretted letting Leo name that song.

The audience was with them from the get-go. Gradually Nico started to relax and just enjoy playing, even if the applause were a bit overwhelming at times. Still, everything went without hiccups, and the final song finished perfectly. Nico let out a deep breath as they went to take their bows. It was over, and they had made it through.

Except that the audience didn’t stop clapping.

“What’s that? You want more?” Percy asked them, grinning widely and looking like he was having the time of his life.

They had already decided on an encore song before, on the off chance this might happen. However, when that was finished and the audience still wanted more, Nico was starting to panic. They had no more songs, and had already done the best one twice. What were they supposed to do, redo the whole concert?

“I love you guys,” Percy said happily. “But we only have that one album and we've run out of songs. Did you like them?”

The cheer was answer enough. It did nothing to settle Nico’s inner panic.

“Well, you know, I read a couple of reviews of it,” Percy continued. “Leo, what was it that guy said that made us laugh?”

“'All in all, NOT Blue Argolympians is just another boy band among thousands',” Leo quoted, and Percy laughed.

“That’s the one. Just another boy band,” he said. “Well, I think we’ve proven today that that is definitely true. So have one more song, a tribute to boy bands everywhere.”

When Percy begun the intro to Backstreet Boys’ “Larger Than Life” Nico followed along on habit alone, internally screaming “What the hell is going on?” Frank caught his eye at one point and just shrugged helplessly, probably just as confused.

Of course the audience loved it, singing along and dancing around so much Nico was scared someone might get hurt in the crowd. Getting off the stage afterwards was pretty hard under all that cheering. Percy and Leo looked like they wanted to continue, but Venus was throwing a fit in the backdrop of the stage and they could see her angrily waving her arms around at them.

“What the hell were you thinking?” she yelled when they finally got backstage. “Do you know what kind of legal dilemma you’ve put us in?”

“What was I supposed to do? They were screaming for more, so I improvised,” Percy said. “That was one of the songs we used to play at parties, guaranteed to get people dancing, so was the first thing that came to mind. And they loved it!”

Venus sighed deeply. “Fine, I’ll try to sort this out,” she said. “At least we didn’t make profit from this, so that might help. Maybe I could even get the permission to do an official cover...I’ll see what I can do.” She paused, looking sternly at them. “But don’t ever do anything like this again without informing me first.”

“Fine, promise,” Percy said. “Now let’s go party!”

Nico cringed. “Do we have to?”

“Definitely. It’s all about promoting yourselves,” Venus said. “So for once in your life, smile. Go mingle.”

“Oh, joy,” Nico muttered, and Leo laughed while putting an arm around his shoulder.

“Don’t worry, we’ll get you drunk and you’ll forget you hate everything,” he said. “I bet you’re a total lightweight.”

“What gave it away?” Nico scowled, shaking his arm off. “Frank, you’re with me right? No getting drunk?”

“Well...” Frank begun uncertainly.

“I’ll tell my sister.”

“Fine,” Frank sighed. “No drinking. I’m with you.”

Percy laughed loudly as they went. “Dude, you’re so whipped.”

“Shut up,” Frank muttered.

***

“I’ve got you booked in for a tour, and you need to start working on your second album. I brought copies of your extended contracts, so read through them,” Venus told them on Monday morning. “And I want you to have at least one song ready when the tour starts. Also we’re going to film a proper music video of “Siren Song”.”

Nico blinked. “What happened to not having that kind of resources?” he asked.

“Well, you were a wild card, but now it’s clear you have an audience, so spending money on you makes sense,” Venus said dismissively. “You’ll be meeting your director later today to discuss ideas.”

“Alright!” Leo said excitedly. “Can we have explosions? And car crashes?”

“Keep in mind that you’ll have a tight budget,” Venus said with a sigh. “Honestly, sometimes working with you guys is like working with children.”

“Nico is still a child,” Percy laughed, ruffling Nico’s hair.

“I’m sixteen,” Nico muttered, ducking under his hand, which only caused Percy to start chasing him.

Venus rolled her eyes. “He’s not the one I was referring to,” she said. “Jason, Frank, I’m counting on you two to keep those idiots in check.”

“Yes, ma’m,” Frank said.

Nico was just glad she hadn't asked him to do it.

Chapter Text

“I want to go back to working with Rachel,” Percy complained after the meeting with the director for their new music video. “Seriously, Rachel wouldn’t force us to dance.”

“And he didn’t listen at all,” Leo added. “We’re the artists, we should have some say in this stuff.”

“To be fair, some of your suggestions were pretty out there,” Jason said. “But you’re right. He clearly didn’t want our opinions.”

“It’s the beginning of the end for us, guys,” Leo predicted, making a show of it. “We’re becoming a product. Before long they’ll have us write happy, upbeat pop-songs and cheesy ballads about that one woman we’re all apparently in love with.”

“That’s not going to happen,” Percy said determinedly. “So how can we make him see things our way?”

“We could refuse to do it,” Frank suggested. “Though since it’s our first official video that’s a bit of a gamble.”

“We could be incompetent dancers,” Leo said. “Shouldn’t be too hard.”

“Except that we’d just make life harder for the choreographer, not for the director,” Nico pointed out.

“True,” Percy nodded, then sighed. “I guess we’ll go along with it for now, and see if we can spin things our way later. Venus usually gives in.”

“Because she doesn’t like to be inconvenienced,” Jason said. “That guy might be harder to crack.”

“We’ll do it. ‘Siren Song’ is our song, and we’ll make it the way we want it,” Percy said. “Who’s with me?”

***

They didn’t exactly have pretend to be crappy dancers. All of them had trouble learning the steps, even though the poor choreographer tried to make it as easy as possible for them. Leo was probably the best out of all of them, though Nico ran him a close second, saying dancing would be easier with a partner. Jason was undoubtedly the worst. He had never felt so clumsy in his life.

“What’s wrong, Jason?” Leo laughed when Jason turned the wrong way again and almost slammed into him. “Did you lose your grace?”

“Hilarious, Leo,” Jason said dryly.

“Yeah, Jason. I thought you were supposed to be graceful,” Percy said, and Jason rolled his eyes.

“Keep them coming. I’ve heard them all.”

“Focus, please,” the choreographer said. “Once more, from the top.”

Jason tried not to stumble on his own feet as they continued.

“This doesn’t even make any sense,” Leo said after training. “We all play our own instruments, so why would we dance in the video?”

“He explained it, remember? The sirens are making us do it,” Frank reminded him, and Leo made a face.

“Those sirens had better be hot.”

“He’s taking the song too literally,” Nico said. “It’s not even really about sirens.”

“Try explaining that to to him,” Percy said dryly. “Hot girls or not, I don’t want a video like that. It’s not us.”

They walked in silence for a while. Frank met Nico’s eyes and shrugged, and Nico sighed. They could use something else to think about, he supposed.

"This has nothing to do with the video," Nico said uncertainly. "But Frank and I kinda spontaneously wrote a song for Hazel last weekend. You think it could be included in the new album?"

"Depends on how sappy it is," Leo said. "We don't want to become one of those boy bands, remember?"

"Well, let's go back to the studio and hear it," Percy urged.

Nico got a bit nervous once they had gotten to the studio and he sat down with his cello. He exchanged a glance with Frank, then they started playing.

It was a slow song called “Golden Lady”, and had been the result of Nico and Frank hanging out together while waiting for Hazel to return from a nearby stable. For Nico’s part it was a thank you for always being there for him, for Frank it was a little more romantic, but the parts worked surprisingly well together.

"That was..."Jason said when they were finished. "Wow, okay, that needs to be on the album."

"Agreed," Percy said. "Guys, that was beautiful. Have you played it for Hazel yet?"

Frank shook his head. "No, we wanted to run it by you guys first. Think she'll like it?"

"Are you kidding?" Leo asked. "She'll love it! Come on, let's play it again. Let's see how it sounds with all of us playing."

“So we already have one new song for the next album,” Percy laughed as he picked up his guitar. “Venus will be so proud of us.”

***

Despite his fear of being on camera, Nico had to admit being on a real film set was pretty cool. It was their first day of shooting the new video, and they still didn’t really have a plan how to handle it. Percy said he’d talked to Annabeth about it and she’d given him some advice, but other than that they would improvise.

Five beautiful girls were waiting for them when they arrived.

“Hi, nice to meet you,” one of them greeted with a smile. “We’ll be your sirens today.”

“Awesome,” Leo grinned. They all shook hands and introduced themselves.

“Great, now that you all know each other, let’s move on,” the director said impatiently. “Choose a girl for your personal siren, and no fighting. There's enough girls for everyone.”

Nico frowned, feeling uncomfortable with the concept, but they paired off roughy in the order they had been standing before.

“Now then, let’s practice the scene where the girls are serving wine you guys wine and grapes, to see how the chemistry works. After all, we might have to replace...”

“About that,” Percy interrupted. “Wouldn’t it make more sense the other way around?”

“I agree,” Jason quickly latched on. “If they are the sirens and have seduced us we should be serving them, not the other way around.”

“Or we should be drowning,” Nico muttered. “Which would make even more sense.”

“But this is the way we agreed to do it,” the director said, sounding confused, like he wasn’t used to being contradicted.

“No, we didn’t,” Percy persisted. “Besides, it’ll be no more effort on your part to do it like this.”

“We’re certainly not objecting,” the girl standing beside him inflicted with a smile.

“But...” the director still tried, and Leo scoffed.

“Come on, if the sirens can make us dance they can make us do anything,” he said. “It’s not rocket science.”

“Fine,” the director gave in. “But this is the only thing you get to change about the concept.”

Percy gave him an innocent smile. “Understood, sir,” he said, and Nico hid a grin behind his hand, wondering if the concept would even be recognizable when the video was finished.

***

“You going to be okay?” Jason asked carefully, and Nico made a face at him.

“No. How many people did you say there were?”

“I don’t know. How many people fit in this arena?” Leo grinned excitedly. “And they have all paid to be here! This is awesome!”

“Yes. Awesome,” Nico parroted, trying to calm down his shaking hands. It was the first concert of their first tour, and he was a nervous wreck. Maybe he would have been calmer if they had started a little closer to home, where he knew the places and the people and Hazel would be in the audience. As it was, Hazel was miles away studying for a test, and Nico was about to face an arena full of strangers.

And the arena was full. Nico had caught a glimpse of the masses as they walked backstage. He supposed the new video was partly to blame for their increased audience. Like he had suspected, it had ended up the complete opposite of what the director had envisioned. Oh, they had still danced and there were still sirens, but they had turned into more traditional creatures and in the end the director had been more than happy to let the band drown. People on youtube seemed to appreciate that as well.

“Alright, time to go,” Venus said cheerfully, having no regard for Nico’s nerves. “Good luck out there. And no stunts like last time.” The last part was directly aimed at Percy, who laughed and crossed his heart before grabbing Nico’s arm and dragging him along towards the stage.

“It’ll be fun, don’t worry. Just let me do the talking,” he said, and Nico had no complaints about that.

The audience roared when they entered the stage. Percy greeted them happily and joked around, but Nico had no idea what he was saying. Between the thousands of watching eyes, the screaming, the loud noise from the loudspeakers and the bright lights Nico felt dizzy. It was like he wasn’t even there, like someone else was in his body, playing the songs and singing.

Still, the concert went fine. They all knew their songs well enough at this point that they could have done it asleep, though honestly Nico kind of felt like he was asleep, or at least not quite there. The last song they did was the new one, and the audience seemed to like it fine, judging by the high-pitched screaming. When they got up to take their bows there were dots dancing in front of Nico’s eyes, and he felt strangely light headed.

Percy and Leo were saying something as they started walking backstage. A moment of silence made him realize they were waiting for him to answer, but he had no idea what they were talking about. The walls seemed to be moving closer, and the room seemed blurry.

“What...” Nico started, his voice sounding strange and distant, then the world turned dark.

***

Jason was walking behind Nico down the stairs when he fell. Jason didn’t have time to react, but Percy managed to clumsily catch him before his face hit the stairs.

“What happened?” Frank asked behind Jason. “Did he stumble?”

“He’s unconscious,” Percy said, sounding a bit shaken. “Help me carry him down.”

Jason hurried forward, and together they got Nico down the stairs.

“Lay him down, and put his feet up on this,” Frank instructed, bringing a chair.

“What’s going on?” Venus demanded as they did so. “Should I call a doctor? Is he on drugs?”

“Definitely not drugs,” Percy said adamantly. “I’m not sure about the doctor. Maybe?”

“He did seem a bit out of it at the end there,” Jason pondered. “I thought he was just overwhelmed.”

“I know I was,” Leo said, then a sound like a whimper brought their attention back to Nico, who was blinking up at the roof.

“Is it my head or does it sound like a broken television in here?” Nico asked weakly, and Jason hurriedly sat down beside him.

“I can’t hear anything,” he answered. “Are you okay? Do you know where you are?”

Nico moved his head a bit to look around. “Backstage, probably. Did I faint?”

“Yup, at the stairs. Be thankful I caught you,” Percy said. “Do you need a doctor?”

“No, I’ll be fine,” Nico said, accepting Jason’s help to slowly sit up. He looked more embarrassed than anything else. “I was probably just because I didn’t eat anything today.”

“What? Why not?” Jason frowned.

Nico shrugged weakly. “Let’s face it, if there had been anything in my stomach to throw up I would have.”

“That is not healthy,” Venus said sternly. “I’ll get someone to speak to you about this. This can’t happen again. Understood?”

“Understood,” Nico nodded.

“Now, unless you’re dying you’ll still have to put in an appearance at the afterparty,” Venus continued. “But you have my permission to leave early. And for god’s sake, eat something.”

“Yes, mam,” Nico said with a small smile as he got on his feet. Jason hovered nearby to catch him if he fell, but he seemed steady for the time being.

“You scared the shit out of us,” Jason said.

“Yeah, dude. Don’t do stuff like that,” Leo added, while the others nodded. Nico looked a little ashamed.

“Sorry,” he said, and Percy patted his back as he walked by.

“Don’t worry about it,” he smiled. “How about we stop at McDonald’s before the party? We can get you a Happy Meal.”

“I’m not a child anymore,” Nico scoffed, but Percy just laughed.

***

Nico had a disturbing tendency to completely disappear when he was uncomfortable. Jason had made it his personal mission to keep track of the boy, but sometimes he slipped away. On parties it was a pretty common occurrence, but he never actually left without saying goodbye. However, when he wasn’t in any of his usual hiding places, like the balcony or some dark corner, Jason was getting worried. This may have been their party, but it was still a business party, and they were there to make connections. Being social and talking to so many people he didn’t know might have been too much for the boy. Besides, after what happened at the concert Jason would have preferred it if he stayed put.

Leo on the other hand was easy to find, always in the center of attention.

"Have you seen Nico?" Jason asked, but Leo shook his head.

"No, maybe he found someone to sneak away with for a while," Leo said. "These chicks are hot!"

"Nico wouldn't do that," Jason said, looking for a waiter to help him look, but he couldn't see any. He started walking in the direction of the kitchen, getting all the way to the door before he saw anyone. He hesitated and was about to turn back when he heard a familiar voice through the door.

"No, it's okay. Really. Don't feel bad about it," Nico said on the other side, and Jason curiously pushed the door open. Nico was standing by the sink, apparently in the middle of washing dishes manually while the waitress he was talking to was putting up little appetizers on trays, presumably to bring out to the party.

"Nico, what are you doing?" Jason asked, not surprised as much as amused. Nico shrugged and went back to what he was doing.

"Helping out. The washing machine broke, the repair man isn't here yet and they're seriously understaffed," Nico said.

"Two of our people had to go home sick," the waitress said. "We thought we'd manage, but with the machine broken..."

"I get it," Jason nodded. "You need help with anything else?"

"Thanks, but we'll be fine. People are starting to clear out, finally," the girl smiled. "Still, I need to get these out there. Thanks for the offer."

She hurried away with the trays and Jason sighed and grabbed a clean rag.

"Give me the clean ones, I'll dry them," he said. Nico smiled as he handed the dishes over.

"Sorry to get you into this as well," he said.

"It's fine. How did you notice they need help?"

"I just saw that the dishes weren't being picked up so I figured I'd bring them to the kitchen myself and found Sarah and the others kneeling beside the washing machine trying to get it to work. She was almost crying, so I asked how I could help," Nico said.

"And you enjoy it more than the actual party, don't you?" Jason grinned, and Nico made a face at him.

"I'm not good with people."

"And yet you managed to befriend the kitchen staff," Jason pointed out. "You're great with people when you don't try too hard."

Nico blushed and looked back down at the dishes, not answering.

***

While on the tour, they were also scheduled for various photo shoots and interviews in between the concerts. Mostly it was magazines for teenagers, wanting to know absolutely everything about them. If Nico had to dodge the question “What would your perfect girlfriend be like?” one more time the was going to throw the microphone in the reporters face.

Some of the interviews were more serious than others, though. The critic that had called them a “just another boyband” had invited them to be guests in his television show, which was apparently a really big thing. Venus was extremely excited over the whole thing, and gave them thousands of pointers and instructions Nico didn’t remember half of.

Strangely enough, being on television wasn’t nearly as nerve wrecking as a live concert, though he supposed there was still the studio audience to worry about.

“Our guests for tonight are every little girl’s favorite new band,” the critic announced as the show begun. “Please welcome: NOT Blue Olympians.”

Percy smiled warmly and waved at the studio audience, and the rest of them followed suit. They got a pretty loud applause, but the host himself didn’t seem all that pleased to see them. Not surprising, consider the review he’d given. They weren’t exactly popular with the music critics in general. Strangely enough it calmed Nico down a bit. He was more used to dealing with people who disliked him than the other way around.

“Hello, everyone,” Percy greeted with a big grin. “Thanks for having us.”

They sat down on the two row bench beside the critic’s desk. Percy, Leo and Frank took the front row, with Jason and Nico behind them. Nico was glad for it. The less the cameras saw of him the better.

“So, NOT Blue Argolympians,” the critic said. “Your first album has become an almost unprecedented success. How do you feel about that?”

“Better than you do, probably,” Leo laughed. “We liked your review. We even cited it at our first concert a while back.”

The critic still smiled. “I suppose I’m harder to win over than the average twelve year old girl.”

“Undoubtedly, but you got the album for free and they buy it, so we’re fine with that,” Percy said.

“You don’t think it’s unethical to trick young girls into liking you by looks alone?” the critic asked, probably hoping for some sort of violent reaction. Thankfully they had been warned this might happen.

“Nobody listens to music because of how the musicians look,” Jason pointed out. “While you may not agree with their taste, I’m sure those twelve year old girls are perfectly capable of deciding what they like by themselves.”

The critic’s smile stiffened. “You do realize you got the contract specifically to cater to little girls, right?”

“Possibly,” Frank said. “But I don’t see how that’s a bad thing.”

“Frank’s right,” Jason nodded. “We don’t mind if all our fans are little girls.”

“Although some older girls would be nice as well,” Leo added with a grin. “Still, we take what we can get. Less than a year ago we were a garage band.”

“We sounded terrible,” Percy laughed. “You would have hated it even more than you do now.”

“Still,” the critic said. “I remember commenting that none of you can really sing. Maybe you want to prove me wrong?”

“You’re right that none of us are that great,” Percy shrugged. “But sure. Why not?”

“Then I would like you to sing something a capella, here in front of this audience,” the critic smirked, then turned to the audience. “How does that sound?”

The audience shouted in agreement, and Nico swore inwardly. No backing out now, though Percy wouldn’t have done that anyway.

“Okay,” Percy shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal, then turned to the audience as well. “So we need a song to destroy. Any requests?”

Unsurprisingly, the shouts from the audience mainly consisted of “Children of Gods”. Nico was really starting to hate that song.

“Just the first verse and refrain is enough,” the critic said.

Leo grinned. “Come on guys! Let’s see if we would have been accepted to American Idols.”

“Children of Gods” was actually a pretty good song for this, since each of them had a small solo part before doing the refrain together. Still, Nico would have been happier singing anything else.

The critic was looking really sour when they finished, and Nico smiled. It must have gone well then.

“I suppose it’s decent enough,” he admitted begrudgingly, then looked up at Nico for the first time. “You’ve been silent so far. Tell me, how did a cellist end up in a band like this?”

“They asked,” Nico said simply, the critic frowned.

“And what’s up with the sunglasses?” he asked. “You’re obviously not blind or anything. Are you wearing them because you think they look cool or because you’re ashamed to be seen with the rest of the guys?”

“I just don’t like getting filmed. Or photographed,” Nico said, but it was obvious the guy didn’t believe him.

“What Nico’s trying to say is that he’s shy,” Percy teased him, probably to divert the critic’s attention. “He acts all cool and stuff but he’s really a big baby.”

“Hey!” Nico said, unable to stop himself, and the rest of them laughed. The attention of their host moved back to the others, and Nico took a deep breath. Still, he wasn’t able to get comfortable until they were on stage for the show’s finale.

***

“You know, Nico, that guy raised an interesting question,” Percy said when they were all hanging out in his and Jason’s hotel room afterwards. “Why do you insist on hiding your face?”

“I told the truth. I don’t like being photographed,” Nico said.

“Come on, man. We deserve more than that,” Leo said. “I mean, it’s not like you’re actually afraid to be seen with us, right?”

“Of course not, it’s just… I can’t look at my own face in pictures, okay?” Nico said. “I just really hate it! If I had realized we’d be this big I would have done a Daft Punk from the beginning and worn a mask.”

“Oh,” Jason said, sounding surprised. “I thought you just didn’t want anyone to recognize you.”

“There’s that as well,” Nico admitted. “Look, I know it doesn’t really make sense. I can’t help it.”

“Well, all artists are allowed eccentricities, right?” Percy laughed, clapping his back. “I should figure out one for myself. I don’t want to get left behind.”

“Don’t say that near Venus,” Frank warned. “She’d take it at face value.”

***

Being on tour meant spending a lot of time on the road, or in the air. It also meant boredom, and i Leo’s case that really wasn’t a good thing. Nico was almost scared when he approached Nico’s seat one day, grinning widely.

“I’ve got a brilliant idea,” Leo said, leaning over him.

“Not again,” Nico muttered as he tried to put some safety distance between them, just in case, but Leo just grinned.

“Aw, don’t be like that,” he said. “I think we should make a baby.”

Nico froze, staring at him. “What?”

“You and me,” Leo said. “We should write a song together.”

Considering what Nico had almost thought he meant for a second that didn’t seem like a such bad idea. “You think it would work?”

“Who knows?” Leo laughed. “But if it does it’s going to be the most epic thing ever.”

“Or a complete disaster,” Nico said. “Sure. What did you have in mind?

***

Sometime around the third or fourth concert of the tour Nico finally conquered his stage fright. Sure, he was still nervous before each performance, but once he started playing he could tune out the audience and just concentrate on the music. He found it wasn’t actually so different from when they started. A large audience or no, he was still just playing music with his friends. And that’s what they were; friends. They hadn’t been just a band for a long time, though Nico only truly realized it after the last concert of tour, when he ended up in the middle of a group hug backstage.

The tour ended on a high note, and they were more popular than ever, which of course meant Venus was on them like a hawk about making a new album. They had already written some new songs, though, so they managed to get it finished fairly quickly.

As the new album came out, there was a neverending amount of interviews to get through. Usually the others handled the talking, though. Nico didn’t say much unless he was asked a question directly.

“So one of your more popular songs on the new album is 'Golden Lady'," the one of reporters noted. Nico had forgotten which magazine she represented. "During the last couple of weeks there has been a lot of debate about the meaning of the lyrics. Nico and Frank, you two wrote that song, correct? I'm sure our readers are dying to know whether that song was inspired by any particular lady?"

Frank gave Nico an uncertain look, and Nico shrugged.

"Um, yes. It was," Frank answered.

"Oh, now I'm curious," the reporter said. "Someone you both were interested in, perhaps?"

Percy and Leo started laughing in the background, and Frank was stammering something nobody could understand. Nico sighed.

"My sister," he said, and the reporter fell silent for a bit.

"Rare of you to talk, Nico," she said, sounding excited. "Your sister must be a wonderful girl for you to write her a song."

"She is," Nico confirmed.

"Won't you tell us more about her?" the reporter urged, but Nico shook his head.

"I think the song speaks for itself," he said, and that was that.

***

Nico was bored.

He had long since realized that parities with the rich and famous were just as bad as parties with ordinary people, and here he couldn’t hide behind his instrument. Venus kept reminding him that “mingling” was part of the job, but Nico hated it. He would have much rather spent the day at home with a good book. Or video games. Or even just sleeping.

“You’re starting to look scary again,” Frank said quietly beside him. They had retreated to a corner of the room, out of the way for most of the people at the party. Frank was actually surprisingly good at mingling, but Nico was thankful he had opted to keep him company instead.

“Sorry,” Nico said, rubbing his forehead to get rid of the frown. “I was just thinking that I’d rather be somewhere else. And these sunglasses are giving me a headache.”

“Venus wouldn’t like it if you took them off and was caught on a photo,” Frank said uncertainly.

“I know, she thinks it’ll ruin my image, or something,” Nico sighed. “I didn’t want an image in the first place.”

“I know, but you’re stuck with it now,” Frank said. “People on the internet are curious about it, and apparently it’s free publicity.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen the posts. Apparently #angeleyes is a thing,” Nico scowled.

Frank laughed. “Well, it’s not really...”

“You can’t do that!” someone shouted, loud enough to be heard over the music and the crowds chatting. Like the rest of the guests, Frank and Nico went quiet, trying to assess where the sound was coming from.

Percy was standing in the middle of the room, facing an older man Nico had been introduced to earlier, some famous director or producer or whatnot. One of the waitresses was more or less hiding behind Percy’s back.

“Oh, shit,” Frank swore quietly, getting up from his seat. Nico did the same. Maybe they could still save the situation before it got out of control.

“I beg your pardon!” the director/producer/something said, sounding affronted. “I’ve done nothing wrong.”

“Nothing wrong?” Percy said angrily. “You were harassing her and telling her she would lose her job if she told anyone. I heard you!”

“It’s okay, you don’t have to,” the poor waitress said behind him, looking around with a terrified expression as she realized they had an audience.

“That’s preposterous!” the guy said. “How dare you accuse me? Don’t you know who I am?”

Percy’s answer was a fist in the guy’s face. Nico wasn’t exactly surprised. Or particularly sorry.

The waitress fled back into the kitchen, which was probably a wise decision. The guy forgot all about her as he shouted for security to throw Percy out. Nico didn’t stay to watch. He hurried after the girl to the kitchen instead. Nobody else seemed the least bit concerned with her fate.

He found her crying on the inside of the door. One of her co-workers was trying to console her, but the other’s were still running around the kitchen, working.

"This area is staff only," the co-worker said sternly as he entered.

“Sorry, I don’t mean to intrude,” Nico said. “I just wanted to make sure she's okay.”

“I’ll be fine. Thanks,” the girl said. “And, um, thank your friend for sticking up for me.”

“He could have handled it better,” Nico said. “Hopefully that guy won’t make any more trouble for you, but if he does...” Nico quickly scribbled down his email address on a page of his ever present notebook before ripping the page out and handing it to her. “If he does, contact me. I’ll try to help.”

“I’m...I’m sure it’ll be fine,” the girl said, looking really surprised. “But thank you.”

“I’m just sorry you had to go through that. I hope the rest of the night will be better,” Nico said, then turned to leave. He didn’t see any of the others among the guests anymore, so he stuck to the shadows and left the party without talking to anyone.

The rest of the band were waiting for him outside when he exited the building.

“There you are,” Jason said, looking relieved. “Good. I was afraid you’d already left.”

“Where did you go? Leaving as a protest only works if the whole band does it, you know,” Leo said.

“Is that what it was? I thought they had thrown all of you out,” Nico said. “I just went to make sure the waitress was okay.”

“Good. She seemed really scared,” Percy said. “And that asshole just kept touching her. It was disgusting.”

“She wanted to thank you for standing up for her,” Nico said.

“Venus is going to be really upset by this,” Jason warned them. “But I think we’ll all stand behind you if it comes to that. The guy deserved it.”

“And worse,” Frank agreed. “Let’s go back to the hotel, I’m freezing.”

***

"I wonder how much I could get for a picture of your face," Leo laughed and turned his laptop around, showing them that #angeleyes was still going strong. Nico groaned.

"Kill me," he muttered.

"Venus called a while ago. She's mad about the party but overexcited about the free publicity," Percy said, and Nico groaned even louder.

"Seriously, kill me."

"Not today," Jason laughed, gently squeezing his shoulder. "Come on, it's not that bad. They like you."

"They more than like him," Leo grinned. "Listen to this: I will give my virginity to the person who gives me a picture of Nico's face."

Nico sighed. "Screw it. I'm just going to take a photo myself and put it up to stop this madness."

"Actually Venus forbade you to do that. She said she knows it can't last long so she wants to make a thing out of it," Percy said. "So no removing your glasses until the next concert."

"Fuck my life," Nico said, throwing himself down on the bed.

“You should be happy,” Percy said. “You’re turning out more popular than I am, which is saying a lot.”

“Oh, please,” Leo snorted. “I’m way more popular than you. #teamleo is going to take over the world.”

“In your dreams,” Percy said.

“Leo may be right,” Jason pointed out. “You can’t count the #PercyNo-posts that always turn up when you do something stupid as popularity.”

“Of course I can,” Percy said. “But #angeleyes here still beats us out of the park. It’s not fair.”

“They are just curious because they can’t see his face,” Leo said dismissively. “That’s not real popularity. Unlike mine.”

“Guys, why does this matter?” Jason asked. “It’s not a contest.”

“You’re only saying that because you’ve already lost,” Percy grinned. “Even Frank is more popular than you.”

Frank frowned. “What do you mean,’ even Frank?’”

Percy held up his hands. “No offence man, but Jason at least has a twitter account. All you do is post pictures of cute animals on Instagram.”

“I like animals,” Frank shrugged.

***

Jason knew it was stupid to take it to heart, but he couldn’t help it. Percy had been right, according to the fans he was little more than background decoration for the others. Venus had warned them about googling themselves, but Jason did it anyway. It quickly became clear that the fans found him “handsome but boring” and “too perfect, nothing exciting there at all”.

That actually hurt.

Still, Jason supposed it kinda made sense. Percy and Leo were impulsive and unpredictable, entertaining for an audience to watch. Nico was calm and quiet, but Jason had to admit he was intriguing. Even without the shades to add to the mystery Nico would have been popular, partly because he clearly didn’t want to be. And Frank, well, the fans didn’t know how stern he could be when he wanted to. They probably thought of him as a huge teddybear.

Yeah, Jason could see how someone like him, who had taken it upon himself to be the responsible, professional one, could be forgotten, but he was still a valuable part of the band. Wasn’t he?

Suddenly Jason wasn’t sure anymore. He usually made sure everything worked, memorized the schedule and kept everyone in line, but Frank could easily take over that role. Jason was the only keyboard player they had, but it wasn’t as important for their specific sound as Nico’s cello was. He didn’t exactly contribute much to writing the songs, either. The others were a lot more creative than he had ever been, so what was his purpose, really?

Jason shook his head, not really knowing what he was doing anymore.

***

Venus came up with the wonderful (terrible) idea to reveal Nico’s eyes but keep his face covered, so on the promotional photo for the next tour, he was wearing some kind of gas mask-thing. And a stupid hat.

“Nico, you look like you’re going to kill someone,” Venus reproached him. “Smile for me.”

“I can’t smile, I’m wearing a mask,” Nico said, the sound of his frustration lowered by the mask. That was getting hot. And uncomfortable. And sticking to his face.

“Jason was wearing one as well, and he wasn’t about to kill anyone,” Venus said. “He didn’t even complain.”

Nico glanced over to where Jason stood, looking really good in his long military-inspired coat now that the gas mask was gone. He noticed Nico looking and gave him a brief smile.

“That’s what I’m talking about, Nico. Wonderful,” Venus exclaimed happily. “Not smiling, but looking all seductive and sexy. Oh, the girls will love it!”

Nico felt his face heat up. Seductive and sexy? Him? He had just been looking at Jason normally, right?

Nico shook his head, trying to concentrate on what he was doing. Venus seemed happy when he was finally done, so he must have succeeded well enough. Removing the mask was a relief.

Frank walked up to the set as Nico walked off. He was wearing a mask as well. Apparently Percy and Leo were the only ones lucky enough to avoid it.

“It’s uncomfortable, isn’t it?” Nico said, and Frank nodded gravely.

“Very,” he said. “Leo was laughing at us earlier. We should do something about it.”

“Agreed,” Nico said. “Percy was too. We should force them to wear these masks in public or something.”

“Vengeance will be ours,” Frank said, then went up to pose in front of the camera. Nico went to search for Jason, to recruit him to the revenge squad. He found him in the dressing room, sitting on a bench having already switched clothes, looking like he was miles away.

“Everything okay?” Nico asked, and Jason jumped, clearly startled by his presence. Nico hadn’t even been trying to sneak up on him.

“Nico, hi,” Jason said, collecting himself. “Sorry, I spaced out. Everything is fine.”

Nico frowned. “You’re a terrible liar,” he said, sitting down beside him. “What’s wrong?”

Jason sighed. “I’m having second thoughts,” he said. “I’m starting to wonder if doing this instead of college was actually a good idea.”

Nico blinked. That really wasn’t what he expected. “We’re one of the company’s most successful bands,” he said uncertainly. “You think we shouldn’t have taken the deal, after all?”

“Not we, just I,” Jason said. “I think you would do just as well without me, and I might do better somewhere else.”

Nico stared at him, trying to wrap his head around it. “I don’t understand,” he finally said. “Where’s this coming from?”

“It doesn’t matter. I just need some time to think things through,” Jason said, getting on his feet. “Don’t tell the others what I said, okay? They’d blow it out of proportion.”

“I won’t,” Nico promised. “But for the record, there’s no way we’d be where we are now without you.”

Jason gave him a small smile, then left.

***

"Aaand it's still trending," Percy said with a laugh. "That photo's gone viral, and everyone on Twitter is talking about it."

"I bet they were disappointed," Nico said, and Percy laughed.

"Oh yes, terribly," he said, turning his voice up in falsetto. "OMG he's so gorgeous. So much better than I thought. Can I get pregnant from this?"

Leo laughed loudly as Nico covered his face with his hands.

"I want to drown in those dark eyes," Leo read over Percy's shoulder. "Totally my future husband! Imagine waking up in the night and see this, #WetDreams. Oh, that was a guy!"

"I've had enough," Nico decided. "I need some air."

Jason and Frank exchanged a look, then Jason sighed and followed Nico out of the room and on to the balcony.

"You okay?" he asked. "You're not actually considering jumping, right?"

"No," Nico sighed, turning to face him. "It's just...Why me? Out of the five of us, I'm definitely the least attractive, so why me?"

Jason frowned. "Why would you think you're the least attractive? Your fans certainly don't."

"Jason, look at me!" Nico said desperately. "I look like a walking corpse, and you know it."

"Only in the mornings after a gig," Jason smiled. "Really, Nico, you're not ugly. Skinny and pale, yes, but never ugly."

Nico's face turned slightly red, and he looked down at city below them. "I just don't understand," he said quietly.

"Why they like you?" Jason smiled. "The whole mysterious, shy guy with a heart of gold-thing you got going is pretty attractive, you know."

"I've got no such thing. I'm the guy who hates everything, remember?" Nico muttered, and Jason laughed.

"No, you're not," he said, nudging Nico lightly with his shoulder. "I've seen you talk about the things you're interested in. You're not fooling anyone."

“Apparently not,” Nico gave in, then looked hesitated. “What about you? Are you still considering leaving?”

Jason’s smile faded, and he looked away, turning his gaze towards the dark city beneath them. “I don’t know. I like what we’re doing,” he said. “I just feel like I lack purpose.”

“If you enjoy it, isn’t that purpose enough?” Nico asked quietly. “You fought tooth and nail with your parents about this, didn’t you?”

“I did. I just wonder if maybe they were right,” Jason admitted. “I mean, what am I doing here, exactly?”

“I wonder the same thing every day,” Nico confessed. “Especially when Venus makes us put on those stupid outfits. But in the end I’m doing something I love with people I like, cheesy as it sounds.”

“And the audience loves you as well,” Jason said, but Nico shook his head.

“That’s not the point. Not for me,” he said. “I mean, I’m glad we have fans, but I wouldn’t do this for just them. If it had been me alone, I would have said no to the contract.”

“I’m not sure I would have, but you’re right,” Jason smiled. “Thank you. That really helped.”

“You’re staying, then?” Nico asked, sounding hopeful, and Jason nodded.

“Yeah, I think I will. It’s been a wild ride so far, after all,” he said, looking back out over the city. “Hey, Nico. Can I ask you a question?”

“Depends on what it is,” Nico said, looking uncertain.

“Do you think I’m boring?”

Nico snorted. “I don’t get how your mind works. Where did that come from?”

“Was that an attempt to avoid saying yes?” Jason asked with a forced laugh.

“No, I don’t think anyone boring has ever become a superstar,” Nico said, shaking his head, then opened his eyes wide. “Wait a minute. You aren’t being upset over something some fan on the internet said, right?”

Jason didn’t answer, which was probably answer enough.

“Huh. I never thought that would happen to you,” Nico said, sounding honestly surprised. “You’re not boring, Jason. You’re just a lot more responsible than some of the other idiots in the band.”

Jason gave him a smile. “Funny. Usually I’m the one trying to cheer you up.”

Nico shrugged. “That’s because I’m, and I quote, ‘an incurable emo-kid with self-esteem issues.’”

Jason made a face. “A fan said that?”

“Venus said that,” Nico said. “Welcome to my life.”

Jason laughed. “Thanks. I feel a lot better now.”

“I’m glad my misfortune makes you happy.”

Jason rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean. Seriously, Nico. Thank you.”

Nico looked away. “You’re welcome.”

***

Another day, another interview. Today’s topic seemed to be their new video, which had been a lot more fun to film than the last one. Leo had been especially happy, since he had finally gotten his way with the explosives.

“So the video for “Shadow and Flame” have gotten millions of views on Youtube in only a few days, and the song itself is selling like ice cream on a hot day,” the reporter said. “People are calling it the “Bohemian Rhapsody” of our age.”

“Funny. Most critics are calling it a disastrous mix of sounds, or what the hell were they thinking,” Leo laughed. “It was a fun experiment.”

“You wrote the song together with Nico, correct? Will there be more songs by you two?”

“Unlikely,” Leo laughed. “Nico takes himself too seriously.”

“He’s saying that because I refused to do a Blink 182 and run naked through the video,” Nico muttered.

“Oh? That sounds intriguing,” the reporter smiled.

“Also you shot down my suggestions for the last song more than once,” Leo said, and Nico scowled.

“You wanted the lyrics to be sung in Greek. None of us even speak Greek,” Nico pointed out. “And if you talk about smashing my cello against the stage again I’ll break your face.”

“Promises, promises,” Leo grinned, then tunder back to the reporter. “See what I mean? Way too serious.”

“Despite your differences, you all seem to get along really well,” the reporter commented.

“It helps that we were friends before we started the band,” Percy said. “Doesn’t mean we don’t occasionally hate each other. Except Frank. Nobody ever hates Frank.”

“True,” Leo nodded. “Frank is a cuddly bear. Nobody can hate him.”

Frank just looked embarrassed.

***

The hotel was a lot nicer than the ones they had on the last tour. They no longer had to share rooms, instead they had an entire floor to themselves, with rooms of their own and a shared living room. It was like a luxury apartment.

Nico thought it was a little excessive.

Still the couch was comfortable. He was sitting with his laptop resting on his knees and earbud in his ears when Jason sat down beside him. Nico took out the earbuds and looked up at him curiously.

“Just checking up on you,” Jason said. “You rarely speak at interviews. Is something wrong?”

“Why would something have to be wrong for me to speak?” Nico scowled, but Jason just raised his eyebrows, clearly not believing him. Jason knew him to well. “Look, it’s nothing big, okay?”

“Tell me anyway,” Jason said.

“I just...I always assumed this would be a temporary thing,” Nico said. “Fame is fleeting, as they say. I thought we’d be a one hit wonder, or a passing trend. But we’re touring in Europe in a few months, and we’re going to Japan after that, and we’re sold out everywhere!”

“I know, it’s crazy,” Jason smiled. “Does it scare you?”

Nico nodded. “Yeah, but not for the reason I think you mean,” he said. “It’s not going to stop anytime soon, is it? We’ll be doing this for years.”

“Unless something happens it sure seems like it,” Jason said, frowning slightly. “Do you regret it?”

“No,” Nico said, shaking his head. “I’m just worried. I mean, our luck will run out sooner or later. What are we going to do then?”

“Well, I’m pretty sure we’ve earned enough for a college fund,” Jason said lightly. “You’re thinking too much. Who knows what will happen tomorrow? Right now we’re a shining star in the music firmament.” Jason grinned, pointing towards the open twitter feed on his phone. “Says so, right here.”

Nico laughed. “You did not just quote Singin’ in the Rain at me.”

“You needed some cheering up,” Jason shrugged. “What are you doing, anyway?”

Nico turned his laptop so Jason could see. “I found this guy on Youtube who makes amazing covers of old songs from the forties,” he said, unplugging his earbuds and pressing play. “I just tweeted the link.”

Jason listened for a while, swaying his head slightly to the rhythm of the music. “You’re right, he’s really good. How did you find him? He doesn’t exactly have a lot of views.”

Nico shrugged. “I was looking for some old songs and stumbled upon the account.”

“Have you refreshed the page since your tweet?” Jason asked with a knowing smile, and Nico pressed the button. Suddenly the video had thousands of views.

“For better or worse, you might just have changed that guy’s life,” Jason smiled, gently patting his back.

“Well, if he wants fame, he deserves it,” Nico shrugged, though he kinda had a bitter taste in his mouth, especially when he refreshed again to see the number of views double. “But not because I recommended him, for his own sake.”

“Price of fame,” Jason said philosophically. “He’s either going to love you or hate you tomorrow. Possibly a bit of both.”

“I’m beginning to understand why all you do is tell your followers to study hard or drink enough water,” Nico said.

“It saves a lot of drama,” Jason laughed. “But don’t worry about it.”

***

A few day later they had another free evening, and Nico was aimlessly surfing the internet. He decided to try and see what the reaction had been to last nights concert. What he found was something completely different.

Nico stared at the screen in shock. What the...?

"Hey, Nico. What are you doing?" Frank asked from across the room, and Nico's first impulse was to slam his laptop shut.

"Nothing!" he said, cringing at the high pitched noise that that his voice turned into. Suddenly he had the attention of everyone in the room.

"Are you looking at porn?" Leo grinned, and Nico hated the fact that he blushed.

"I just googled our band name," Nico said truthfully.

"Really? Then why do you look like you've been caught with your pants down?" Percy said with a laugh, and Nico cringed again. "Come on, show us."

There wasn't really anything he could do to stop it now. Feeling his face burning, Nico opened his laptop again.

"Our fans are crazy," he muttered, not daring to look at the others as he turned his laptop around. On the screen was a pretty realistic photomanipulation of him and Jason caught in an intimate moment.

The whole room was silent for a while, then Leo laughed.

"Wow. Do you two have something you want to tell us?" he said.

"It's obviously photoshopped, Leo," Jason scowled. "I don't have a tattoo like that, and Nico is not that skinny."

"Seriously? That's what you focus on?" Nico asked in disbelief. "Doesn't it bother you?"

Jason shrugged. "It's a bit weird, but no, not really."

"Well, better you than me," Leo said with a laugh.

"Rule 34, Leo," Percy said. "I'm sure we could find some pictures of you out there."

 Leo made a face. “I’m good, thanks.”

***

It only became worse after that. Now that Nico knew the phenomenon existed, he started seeing it everywhere. Apparently #angelgrace had been a popular tag for a while now, and people were screaming of excitement on Twitter if Jason so much as touched him during an interview or on stage.

Nico really didn’t know what to do with it. The worst part was that the “shippers” weren’t entirely wrong, at least when it came to him. He and Jason had been close friends for a long time now, and Nico would never do anything to jeopardize that, but it wasn’t like like he hadn’t thought about. A lot. In private.

Having fans gush over something that could never be just felt like they were throwing the impossibility of it all into Nico’s face. Especially since Jason seemed so unaffected with it.

At some point he had enough. He grabbed Jason’s arm and dragged him off to talk in private, ignoring Leo’s comment to “wear protection”.

“I can guess what you want to say, but I really don’t mind all that much,” Jason told him when Nico closed the door behind them.

"How can you be so fine with this?" Nico asked desperately. “You took it hard when a fan called you ‘boring’, but this doesn’t bother you?”

“Because it’s not an insult,” Jason shrugged.

"But they think we're together, for god's sake!"l

"Actually I think they know we're not, but they want us to be," Jason said. "And it's pretty strange to have someone drawing us having sex, but it's not like it's actually us. Venus warned us about not taking things said on the internet to heart, remember? I’ve already made that mistake once, and I learned my lesson. From you, I might add."

"But...but they are drawing photorealistic pictures," Nico said. "I got one in the mail the other day."

"I've gotten a few too. Actually there was one innocent one that I really liked," Jason said. "Hold on, I'll show you. It’s on my phone."

Nico watched in stunned silence as Jason rummaged through his phone, then held it up so Nico could see. It was a digital painting of the two of them sitting side by side on the beach with the sun going down in the distance. Nico had to admit that it was really pretty, but the fact that they were holding hands made him a little uncomfortable. They had never held hands, let alone gazed longingly into each other’s eyes like that.

"Someone sure put a lot of effort into it," Nico said uncertainly, not really sure how to feel about it.

"Yeah, but it's nice," Jason smiled. "I got some pretty disturbing ones as well, though. They can like whatever they like, but I'm not sure why they think actually sending us pictures is a good idea."

"Don't forget these are the same people that went crazy over my eyes," Nico pointed out.

"It's not so strange, Nico. You have the darkest eyes I've ever seen," Jason laughed.

Nico could feel his face grow hot at that, and angrily looked away. It was ridiculous, really. It hadn't even been a compliment. Nico scowled, blaming #angelgrace for this sudden confusion. Things had seemed so clear before that.

"Hey," Jason said, and Nico could feel a warm hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently. "Don't worry about it, okay? It's probably just a fad, they will get over it soon enough."

"And then what?" Nico asked. "Are they going to pair me up with Frank or Leo instead? Or Percy?"

"I don't know," Jason sighed. "But I think it's pretty harmless. And you can't really do anything to stop it, either."

"I know," Nico said gloomily. "But I don't want to encourage it. The reason this thing exists is because we have a tendency to stay close. Could you just stay away from me for a while?

Jason frowned. “How do you mean?”

“I mean not stand so close to me or touch me,” Nico said, figuring it was for the best. “I’ll do the same.”

"It's not really a conscious thing," Jason said hesitatingly. "I don’t think we should let this affect how we behave around each other."

"Just...please," Nico practically begged. “If not for you then for me.”

"Like I could say no to that," Jason said with a smile. "Alright, then."

***

Jason tried to do, or rather not do, what Nico asked, but it seemed the universe was against the plan from the beginning.

"This is ridiculous," Nico said underneath him. Jason looked down, trying not to fall on him despite Percy and Leo pushing each other around half on top of him. All five of them were on the same bed for a photo shoot, more or less piled on top of each other for some reason. Nico had been placed on his back at the bottom of the pile, with Jason on top of him. The management weren't even being subtle about pandering to the #angelgrace fans anymore, apparently.

"Agreed," Jason said, doing his best not to crush the boy. "Let's just try to bear with it for a little bit, okay?"

“Fine,” Nico said. “Would whoever’s standing on my leg please move?”

“That’s probably me. Sorry,” Frank said from somewhere behind them.

“Okay boys, get ready,” Venus said from beside the photographer. “Jason, try to cover up parts of Nico’s face. We don’t want to break habit with that.”

“Can’t I cover up my own face?” Nico groaned, but Venus shook her head.

“No, that would make you look like you feel sick. Jason, if you please.”

Jason sighed, shifting his weight so his hand was free to cover Nico’s mouth. It felt really strange.

“So how is looking like we’re about to gang-rape Nico good publicity?” Percy asked. “I don’t really like this.”

“Then I imagine how I feel,” Nico said beneath Jason’s hand, sounding a bit muffled.

“Oh, find some other way to cover his face up, then,” Venus said. “Try a pillow.”

Leo laughed loudly. “Right, then we can look like we’re murdering him instead. Awesome.”

“Can’t he just lie on his stomach and cover up with his arms?” Frank suggested.

“Yes, please,” Nico said. “Get off me so I can turn around.”

They all ended up in a pretty tight pile anyway, but at least things were more relaxed now, even if Venus argued that the other composition looked more “sensual”.

“We don’t need to be sensual, the fanart takes care of that,” Leo grinned.

Nico made a face. “Let’s not talk about that. Ever.”

Right, the fanart. Not to mention the fanfiction. Jason had been curious enough to actually read a few when he had some time off and nothing else to do. The situations the fans put them into were ridiculous, and always seemed to result in sex no matter what. Jason was pretty sure that if he got stuck in an elevator with Nico it wouldn’t end in steamy makeout sessions on the floor.

The worst part was that the writers got their personalities so wrong. It wasn’t surprising, considering that they were both pretty reserved in front of the camera. The fics presenting Nico as some sort of S&M addicted bad boy were both hilarious and disturbing, but even the ones that came close never got it quite right. Okay, maybe Jason had read more than a few. He had been really bored that day.

That didn’t quite explain why he had some of the fanart saved on his computer, but there were a lot of really good pictures out there. Still, something was always off there as well. Maybe Nico was too bony, or slightly the wrong color, or the hair didn’t fall quite like that or the proportions of the hands were wrong. And nobody ever got his smile right. It was something of a revelation that Jason could always pinpoint exactly what it was that was flawed.

At first he’d thought it was just because they spent so much time together, but then Jason stumbled upon a drawing of Leo, and was just left with a feeling of something being strange without knowing exactly what it was. He had been friends with Leo for years before meeting Nico for the first time, so it didn’t quite make sense.

Except that it did, even if Jason didn’t fully understand it until some time later, after not being allowed to touch Nico in public for a few weeks. He couldn’t count the times he had caught himself reaching out for him, or forgotten himself only to have Nico shrug him off with a glare. It was driving him insane.

And slowly giving him a sense of clarity.

“I think I might have fallen for Nico,” he told Piper over the phone as they were heading home for a few weeks of vacation before heading to Europe. Nico and the others were playing cards over in the other car of the train, but Jason had snuck away for some privacy.

“You think?” Piper said with a laugh. “Jason, I could have told you this months ago. How are you only figuring it out now?”

For a moment Jason didn’t know what to say, then he groaned. “We’ve been busy. I haven’t had that much time to think,” he defended himself. “Besides, I didn’t think I’d fall for a guy.”

“Fair enough, but stranger things have happened,” Piper said. “Are you going to tell him?”

Jason hesitated. “I don’t know. Do you think I should? It might make things awkward.”

“Jason, I definitely think you should tell him,” Piper said. “Just… Make sure he knows you’re actually serious about it.”

“Okay,” Jason said. “I think I have an idea. Thanks, Piper.”

“Anytime. And come see me some time during your vacation, okay? I miss you.”

“Miss you too,” Jason smiled, then ended the call. He went back to the others to find some paper and a pen, getting started on his idea.

***

He almost changed his mind about it, but around a week into the vacation he decided to bite the bullet and call Nico.

“Hey, Jason. What’s up?” Nico said as he picked up.

"Nico, um, do you have time?" Jason asked uncertainly. "Could you come over?"

"Sure," Nico said. “Is something wrong?”

“No, I just have something I want to show you”, Jason said, feeling nervous already. But he had made up his mind to go through with it.

“Okay, I’ll be there in an hour or so,” Nico said.

“See you then,” Jason said, then ended the call, taking a deep breath. An hour. He was pretty sure he’d be a wreck by the time Nico showed up.

***

Nico really didn’t know what to expect. It wasn’t like Jason to sound so nervous, and when he opened the door to let Nico into his house he looked downright terrified.

“Are you sure nothing's wrong?” Nico asked, and Jason gave a shaky laugh.

“No, I’m just scared, I guess,” he said. “I’ve never really done this.”

“Done what?” Nico asked, confused. “What was it you wanted to show me?”

"I wrote you a song," Jason said, and Nico stared at him.

"You mean for me to play, or...?" he asked, but Jason shook his head.

"I'm mean for you," he said nervously. "Just...just promise you'll listen through the whole thing before you say something, okay?"

Nico nodded. He supposed it made sense for Jason to be nervous, then. He himself had been really scared before performing “Golden Lady” for Hazel the first time as well, and this was something similar for Jason, he guessed. Nico wondered why Jason had chosen him specifically, though. Maybe he was planning on making songs for all band members and Nico just happened to be the first?

When Jason moved behind his keyboard and begun singing, it quickly became clear that wasn’t the case. Nico honestly couldn’t believe what he was hearing. It was about a guy falling in love with his best friend. His best friend with really dark eyes.

There was silence for a while after Jason finished. He gave Nico a uncertain smile.

"Well?" he asked.

"I...I don't know. I must have misunderstood something," Nico said, trying to calm his pounding heart. "I thought you said it was for me, but..."

"It is," Jason confirmed. "That's how I feel about you."

"I don't understand."

Jason smiled sadly. "Yes, you do," he said. "You know exactly what I'm trying to say, but you refuse to believe it. I need you to know I'm serious, so I'll just go ahead and say it clearly. I like you."

Jason frowned, shaking his head slightly. "That doesn't really sound right. It sounds so weak. What I'm trying to say is that I'm in love with you."

"You don’t even like guys," Nico said weakly, saying the first thing that came to mind.

"I like you. I guess that means I’m bisexual," Jason smiled. "And that's not an answer, Nico."

"This isn't just for publicity, right?" Nico asked just to make sure.

"You know I wouldn't do that. They will never know unless you want them to," Jason said. "I mean, if you want to go out with me."

"If I want..." Nico repeated, taking two quick steps forward and grabbing Jason's collar to pull him down at eye level with himself. "You're an idiot."

Not giving himself more time to think about it, Nico leaned forward to push their lips together. Jason gave a surprised sound, then he responded, pushing against him with a desperation that made any doubts Nico had left disappear. He found himself with his back against the wall and Jason actually lifting him up in order to get closer, and he was really close now. Nico feel his chest against his own, his hands on his thighs and ass to hold him up, his...

Okay, that was a bit too fast. Nico gently started pushing Jason away. Jason protested slightly but obeyed, putting Nico down before taking a step back. His face was flustered, but he looked worried.

"You okay?" he asked, and Nico nodded, still trying to get his breathing under control.

"Yeah. That was just...just a little more intense than I had planned," he said.

Jason cringed. "Sorry. I was going to take things slow, but I guess you surprised me," he said sounding really regretful. “I didn’t mean for it to go that far.”

"It's okay," Nico smiled, walking back into his arms. "Slow sounds good."

Jason held on to him tightly, like he thought Nico might try to push him away again. Nico could feel him kissing the top of his head. "You have no idea how relieved I am. I really thought you might reject me."

"That's why I called you an idiot," Nico murmured against Jason's chest. Jason laughed a little at that.

"You're not exactly easy to read," he said. "Hey, um, do you think that song could fit on the next album?"

"Leo is going to say it's too sappy," Nico said. "And the lyrics makes it a little too obvious it's about me, but I liked the melody. If we tweak it a little, then yeah, maybe."

"We'll see. It doesn't really matter. You were the one it was meant for, anyway," Jason said. "Are you staying the night?"

"What happened to taking it slow?"

Jason chuckled as he ran his fingers through Nico's hair. "I didn't mean it like that. I was thinking video games, fast food and maybe some cuddles?"

"Sounds perfect," Nico smiled, feeling more content than ever when Jason leaned down to kiss him again.