Chapter Text
It was late one summer night when he was newly-turned-nineteen that Jason Grace finally decided that enough was enough.
Things had been busy, what with the way he’d been constantly moving between both camps and working to keep his promise to Kymopoleia, and for a while everything had been pretty hectic. Now though, things had fallen into as much of a routine as they ever did (minus ancient evil forces trying to destroy the world, thankfully), and a few things he hadn’t expected to happen had somehow just fallen into place, the most important of those things being Nico.
It had taken a few months and a lot of rest, but Nico had recovered from overusing his shadow travel abilities, which definitely came in handy when Jason needed to move between the two camps quickly. Hazel helped out there sometimes as well, but Nico did the majority of it, for another reason: Jason had recruited him to help with the action figures and playable trading card game aspect of his promise.
Percy and Annabeth had been the ones to thank--or to blame, depending on who you asked--for that. Annabeth had suggested that Jason ask Nico for help, and Percy had let it slip that Nico had been a HUGE Mythomagic fan once upon a time, though he glanced to the side a bit as he said it, something like guilt passing over his face. Annabeth had told him the whole story later, since talking about it in front of Percy only refreshed the other teen’s feelings of helpless guilt, but Jason had gotten the picture anyway: be careful how he asked, because it might be something of a touchy subject with Nico.
Until recently, he wouldn’t have been able to resist thinking what ISN’T a touchy subject with Nico? But the son of Hades had softened, if only slightly, after his return to Camp Half-Blood; at least at first. Even Jason could see that he’d moved on from a lot of what had held him back, particularly his conflicting feelings about Percy, but changing yourself wasn’t easy. Nico had been alone for so long, had been so used to shutting people out almost completely, and coming back from that would take time.
Jason had done his best to befriend the other demigod as much as possible, and working together on the Promise Project (as Percy had jokingly called it a few times, which led to everyone else using that name as well, for lack of a better one) had given him plenty of occasions to do just that, and really get to know what made Nico di Angelo tick.
Now, almost two years later, some things had changed, but some still hadn’t. There was still a sort of loneliness to Nico, and nothing Jason had tried so far had really put a dent in it. And while he might not have been nearly as perceptive about certain things as Piper, he was pretty sure he knew the source of that lingering pain and isolation.
Which was why he’d finally decided that enough was enough. He'd had enough of seeing Nico stuff his hands in his pockets, hunch his shoulders, and wander off by himself whenever his friends got too couple-ish. One way or another, and once and for all, he would prove to Nico that there wasn’t anything wrong with him, and that he wasn’t alone at all.
Approaching Piper about it was actually the easy part.
They were sitting alone on a high, grassy hill, looking out over the beach and the ocean, hand in hand and with her head resting against his shoulder when he decided to just go for it and ask her outright. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, and all that sort of carpe diem stuff, right? Besides, even if she didn’t agree to the idea, he didn’t think she’d hold it against him, or that it would mess up their relationship; they had been through way too much for that to happen.
Jason couldn’t really think of a romantic way to bring it up, so he didn’t end up saying anything particularly smooth. In the end, he’d basically just said, so uh, you know how you were saying that being a child of Aphrodite is about spreading the love? Well what do children of Aphrodite think about threesomes, if it’s for a good, spreading-the-love-type cause? And NO it’s not Reyna, please stop hitting me.
Once Piper knew the whole story, not only did she stop hitting him, she hugged him so tightly that for a second he had trouble breathing. She hadn’t known for certain what was up with Nico, but she’d been able to tell that he was in pain, and that the majority of that pain was some serious heartache. He needed this--needed them--even if he didn’t know that yet.
Which meant that Piper was totally all for it, even if it wasn’t quite the ‘nice steady life with a nice steady boyfriend’ that she’d originally had in mind. But hey, some things were important enough to be worth any minor complications, and Aphrodite had promised her an interesting love life.
Besides, who said no to a two-for-one deal anyway?
Approaching Nico about it was the hard part.
Considering how much time they’d spent working together recently, it wasn’t difficult to get him alone, but figuring out the proper way to broach the subject was more than a little tricky. If they said the wrong thing, Nico would simply whisk himself away via shadow travel, and that would only make things worse for everyone involved. And even though Piper was better with words, they’d decided that Jason had to be the one to extend the offer--he was the one who’d guarded Nico’s secret for so long, and it was his idea in the first place, so it was only fair.
Piper had done her part by helping to set up the situation. By all appearances, it was a just a day out and about in southern California for the three demigods: first a movie (that did NOT star Tristan McLean, thankyouverymuch), then a quick stop at a café that made the best authentic Italian gelato Piper had ever tasted, then relaxing in a quiet, out-of-the-way park in the fading heat of a late summer afternoon.
They’d all finished their ice cream and had fallen into a comfortable silence, content to wander down sun-dappled paths and just enjoy the stillness of the day together, when Piper gave Jason’s shoulder a pointed nudge. He didn’t have to look over at her to know she was giving him a meaningful now is the time to carpe that diem sort of look, so he cleared his throat and did just that.
“Hey, Nico?”
The youngest of the trio looked around from where he’d paused beside a trash can to dispose of his gelato cup, dark eyes slightly curious but not at all suspicious or mistrustful. Jason hoped that wouldn’t change because of what he was about to say.
“There’s actually something we wanted to talk to you about…”
Just as he had with Piper, Jason got straight to the point pretty quickly. He knew Nico well enough to know that there wasn’t anything he could say here that would simply and easily sweep the other demigod off his feet, so honesty was the best he could do.
Piper stayed supportively silent while Jason talked, though she’d nodded once or twice as she watched Nico closely for his reaction. And she definitely didn’t miss the way the dark-haired demigod’s hands slowly clenched into white-knuckled fists at his sides, his face staying coolly neutral as his eyes grew colder and more distant.
There was a heavy sort of silence in the air once Jason finished, and for a long while the only sounds were the birds in the trees, the musical bubbling of a nearby fountain, and the usual urban hum of cars and closely-packed people.
Not entirely unexpectedly, Nico was the first to break that silence.
“…You know, after working with you these past two years, I’d honestly let myself think that Jason Grace giving his word actually meant something.”
Jason blinked at that, visibly taken aback. “What do you—”
“You promised you wouldn’t tell anyone.” Nico’s glare was icy, his words slow and precise, which was somehow scarier than if he’d just blown up about it. “You promised.”
Jason, however, seemed oblivious to the chill in the younger teen’s tone. “Yeah, I did, and I’m sorry, but Piper was the only one I told.”
“Oh, I see. You’re sorry. You only told one person. Well that makes it totally fine to break your promise then.”
This time Jason unquestionably caught the dangerous note in Nico’s voice, though it would’ve been hard to miss, considering how clipped and cold his words had come out.
“Look, I didn’t want to break my promise, but I had to tell her or this wouldn’t work!”
“It isn’t going to work anyway because it isn’t going to happen!” Nico hissed, dark eyes flashing as he squared off with Jason, who was growing visibly frustrated at how this exchange was going. Piper took that as her cue.
“Okay, let’s just calm down for a minute,” she said, holding up in her hands in a placating gesture, though she didn’t inject any charmspeak into her words just yet. If possible, she wanted them to figure this out without having to resort to that sort of thing…though the venom in the flat stare Nico turned on her left her wondering if she’d made the right choice. He just looked so betrayed…
“Nico,” she began, though she had to pause for a second to find the right words. “Jason didn’t tell me because he wanted to make things worse for you. He told me because he wanted to make them better. And I’m pretty sure that we can do that, if you’ll just give us a chance.”
Nico’s frigid expression didn’t waver, but she didn’t flinch or drop her eyes, and it was Nico who looked away first.
“…You can’t make it better,” he muttered as he turned his back to them, the words just loud enough for her to hear. “No one can.”
“Maybe not. But let us try, at least.” Glancing over at Jason to be sure he was aware of what she was doing, just in case Nico’s reaction was a violent one, Piper reached out and gently settled a hand on Nico’s shoulder. A second later, Jason followed suit, resting his much larger hand on the smaller teen’s other shoulder, mirroring her, neither of them taking offense at the way he’d momentarily cringed at their touch. “…Please,” Piper added softly, giving his shoulder a squeeze. She half expected him to shrug them off, to pull away and shadow travel as far from their current location as possible.
…She didn’t expect to feel him start shaking beneath her hand, or for him to duck his head and bring an arm up to his face, clearly hiding a sudden rush of tears.
Mildly alarmed, she shot another look over at Jason, only to find him gazing down at Nico with a calm, steady smile. His expression was compassionate, and tender enough to make her want to feel jealous, though after everything he’d told her about Nico, she couldn’t really justify that emotion, child of Aphrodite or not.
(…Though maybe this whole situation made sense, actually, now that she thought about it. After all, Aphrodite herself had had more than one lover, so just because love wasn’t exclusive didn’t mean it wasn’t still strong or real. Piper wasn’t sure she liked that thought really, but things weren’t only true because you accepted them, and some things were facts whether you liked them or not. It was less confusing to simply decide that she didn’t mind the idea that love could be flexible, and accept it right away.)
“Nico,” Jason said, still looking (and now sounding) almost inexpressibly kind and warm. “We’re not trying to force you into anything, otherwise Piper would’ve just used her charmspeak on you from the start. And we’re not joking about this either. We talked it over, and we want to give it a try. But only if you’re willing to give it a try, too.” Reaching over, he slipped his free hand into Piper’s, turning those soft blue eyes on her now instead, his expression reassuring and grateful at the same time. “You don’t have to answer right away—”
“Yes.”
The word had come so soft and swift that they weren’t sure they’d heard him correctly. Piper and Jason both blinked in surprise, exchanging a startled glance before Piper finally, hesitantly hedged, “…What did you—?”
“…I said yes. Fine. I’ll…” Nico stopped, swallowed, and rephrased what he’d been about to say, though the first word of it seemed awkward in his mouth. “We’ll give it a try.” He suddenly raised his head, pulling away from their hands as he turned to face them, a fierce sort of defiance in his dark eyes as they darted back and forth between the two. “But if it doesn’t work—”
Nico hadn’t been expecting this sort of proposal from the two of them in the first place, but he definitely hadn’t expected their reaction to his acceptance. He especially hadn’t expected Piper to be the one to give a jubilant whoop of delight and leap at him first, her surprisingly strong arms clamping around his upper body, a dazzling smile on her face. Half a second later, Jason had swept them both up in a massive, expansive hug, laughing with a pure, unreserved happiness that Nico couldn’t even pretend to find the tiniest hint of mockery in, and spun them all around and around in celebratory circles.
It was unanticipated and bewildering and a little overwhelming, especially the close and prolonged physical contact, and half on reflex, Nico started to struggle…then stopped, and almost instantly found himself relaxing in their embrace. Regardless of that, part of him still wondered why--how--he’d agreed to this…this whatever-it-was. And yet, at the same time, another part of him knew that it was because he was curious and lonely and semi-desperate enough to belong somewhere that he couldn’t help giving in.
Those might not be the best reasons, especially since they were purely selfish ones, but Jason and Piper didn’t seem to care about why he’d agreed, so much as the fact that he’d agreed in the first place. And if it didn’t matter to them, then it shouldn’t matter to him, either. He’d take what they’d so freely offered; it had been so long since anyone had done something like that for him that somehow, he found that he simply couldn’t resist.