Archive of Our Own

“You realize this is nobody’s fault but your own, right?” Annabeth asked dryly.

Percy glared at his ceiling, hand gripping his cell phone tightly. “Yeah, Annabeth, I’m not an idiot.”

“Why’d you do it in the first place?”

“I don’t know! I didn’t want my mom worrying about gas money for Thanksgiving! How was I supposed to know she’d invite me and my significant other home for Christmas?”

“I mean, are you really surprised? You refused to tell her anything about your supposed ‘special someone’, she’s gonna want to have you home and meet them at the same time.”

“Okay, well, I’m surprisingly single and don’t want to spend two weeks dealing with people tiptoeing around me because I supposedly got my heart broken,” Percy replied. “Can you pretend we’re dating or not?”

“First of all, I have a family too, who I’m still repairing my relationship with. I can’t skip this holiday. My cousin’s showing up and everything. Second of all, you’re gay,” Annabeth pointed out.

“Point one is valid, but point two? So what?”

“You came out as gay. Coming home with a girlfriend will send mixed signals. It’d be one thing if you realized you were bi or pan or actually liked a girl or something, but it’s a bit disingenuous otherwise, don’t you think?”

“This whole thing is fucking disingenuous!” Percy snapped back. The door to his dorm opened, and Jason quietly entered, shooting a concerned look Percy’s way. He took a deep breath and then said, “Look, I’m sorry, Beth. I shouldn’t have snapped at you.”

“You shouldn’t have,” she agreed. “But I’ve snapped at you plenty, so we’ll call it even. Why don’t you ask Jason?”

“I can’t ask Jason!” Percy squeaked out, voice raising an octave or two.

“Yes, you can. I talked to Thalia earlier, and she’s working most of December, so I doubt he has any plans. Just ask. What’s the worst that could happen?”

What’s the best that could happen, Percy thought to himself, when you fake-date your best friend who you’re half in love with? 

But instead he said, “Fine, fine. I’ll ask him.” But only because he’s staring at me now, and 

I can’t really get out of it anyways. Besides, who would Percy ask if he didn’t ask Jason? Leo? Yeah, hard pass.

“Good,” Annabeth replied smugly. “I don’t think you’ll regret it. Anyways, I gotta go finish an essay for class. Don’t be a coward, Jackson!”

A beep signified the end of the call, and Percy dropped his phone.

“So what are you asking me?” Jason asked, nearly immediately. Percy turned his head to stare back at his friend.

Taking a deep breath, Percy said, “I, uh, skipped Thanksgiving with my family this year by telling them I had a boyfriend who I was spending it with. Obviously, I don’t, but now they’re expecting me to bring someone home for Christmas, so I guess I was wondering if you could pretend… to be… my boyfriend?”

Cringing as he finished his explanation, Percy squeezed his eyes shut so he didn’t have to face Jason’s undoubtedly weirded out expression.

But then Jason said, “Yeah, okay.”

“Wait, what?”

Percy dared to open his eyes, and Jason was grinning at him. “Yeah, okay. I don’t have any plans this holiday, anyways.”

“Oh. Okay. I wasn’t, uh, expecting it to be this easy to convince somebody. Thank you, honestly,” Percy answered, blinking a few times. “Um, so, I’m planning on driving down on Saturday. Would that work for you?”

“That sounds swell,” Jason said. “How long are we staying down there for?”

Each word made the situation more real, and made the nerves in Percy’s stomach double.

“Er, ah, I was planning, uh, to stay until break was almost over, but obviously, um, we can come back sooner. They only live a couple hours away, so…”

“No, that’s fine! Like I said, I don’t have any plans. None. It’d be a privilege to spend any amount of that time with you and your family. As long as you don’t feel like I’m intruding, I’d be glad to be there.”

Part of Percy felt overwhelming relief to have such a willing partner- no, to have such a willing friend to assist him in this scheme. The other part of him felt an overwhelming amount of terror at the thought of spending so much time pretending to be dating Jason. It’s one thing to pine after your roommate quietly for the better part of three months, and a completely other thing to spend three weeks pretending to be dating him, only to go back to a normal, platonic relationship when you returned to college.

But Percy didn’t voice his concerns. Instead, he said, “Oh. Okay. Yeah, they’d all be glad to have you. Um, I’d… be glad to have you…” It came out sounding softer than he intended, and he cleared his throat awkwardly, waiting a moment before adding, “So, uh, we should probably… come up with some backstory, right?”

“What do you mean?” Jason asked. There was an excited glimmer in his eyes. “Like, a get-together story?” And it was decidedly unfair how cute Jason looked, all excited, leaning forward and pulling out his phone.

He seemed very excited. It was almost suspicious to Percy, but then he thought about it. He didn’t know the particulars, but he could guess that Jason’s homelife before college hadn’t been great. Jason was probably excited about having a nice Christmas, and about getting to go along with a goofy plot with his buddy. Because that’s all they were. Buddies.

“Okay,” Jason started, tapping at his phone screen. “I’m writing this down in case we need it for reference later. Obviously, we’re roommates. Because we are, and that’d be the easiest way to catch us in a lie. What if…” he trailed off, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose as he thought. Percy would’ve contributed, but he was caught up watching Jason get swept away with his brainstorming. Jason seemed to think of something, because he perked up and his smile grew impossibly wider. “Your best friend is Annabeth, right?” Percy nodded. “Okay, what if Annabeth and my sister Thalia set us up on a blind date?”

Percy thought of all the blind dates Annabeth had tried to push him into. The ones he turned down because of the boy in front of him.

“That sounds like something they’d do,” Percy agreed. “So we were roommates, we were set up by Annabeth and Thalia…”

“The date went well, we’ve been dating ever since,” Jason finished, holding his hands out. “How’s that sound.”

“Good, great,” Percy agreed. “Um, what if our first date was at that cafe by the library? Knowing my mom, she’s gonna ask that sort of question.”

“Perfect, I love that place. Perfect first date spot. Hmm, did you tell your mom how long we’d been dating?”

“No, but she made the assumption it was serious, so it’s probably best if our relationship has been going on as long as possible.”

“Okay, our first date was on September 3rd, then,” Jason supplied, nodding to himself as he typed down more notes.

Percy felt a pang in his stomach as he looked around their dorm room, imagining they’d shared it the last three and a quarter months as a couple, instead of as friends. The whiteboard on the back of their door that they left notes on, the notes taped to each other’s furniture, the pillows that have gotten mixed up from throwing them for no good reason. It had a very different feel in the context of two college boys falling in love- Percy halted the thought. The word love hadn’t even entered their fake relationship yet. He needed to slow down.

“That sounds perfect,” he told Jason.

Perfect. How would he survive till the end of break?

“Yep. Uh-huh. I know. Yes , Mom, I know. I love you. See you soon. Yeah. Bye,” Percy said into his phone, before finally ending the call and putting the phone in a cup holder. Then, he gripped the steering wheel and flashed a smile at Jason. “Alright! I called my mom, it’s too late to back out, she knows you’re coming.”

“I would never back out on you this late in the game,” Jason swore solemnly, though he cracked a grin back at Percy.

So, with a fluttering heart, Percy turned on his car and started the drive to New York City. At first, he racked his mind for conversation topics, but as snow began to drift down, he decided he’d break the silence in a less distracting way.

“D’you wanna play music?” he asked Jason. “I have an aux cord, as long as your phone has a headphone jack.”

“Okay! Any music in particular?” From the corner of his eye, Percy could see Jason fumbling with his phone and the cord as he asked the question.

“No, I’m good with anything,” Percy said. “Just no Christmas music, we’ll hear enough of that at home.”

“Roger that,” answered Jason, and in his peripheral, Percy saw him salute. 

“God, you’re a dork,” Percy huffed, amused. And then, as music began to fill the car, he redoubled his efforts on driving through snow, and tried not to let Jason’s presence and quiet singing distract him.

A few hours later, Percy parked his car in the parking garage down the street from his mom’s apartment.

“You ready?” he asked Jason as he grabbed a backpack and a suitcase from his trunk.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” was Jason’s response, sounding somewhat timid as he pulled out his own duffle bag and backpack. Then, as they began to make their way out of the garage, he added, “I mean, I’m only meeting my fake boyfriend’s parents. How stressful could it be? I don’t even need to actually impress them. If they don’t like me, it’d be fine. Right?”

Percy stopped walking, turning to Jason. They were standing right by the exit to the garage, almost out in the street. Almost starting their performance. And then Percy thought to himself, why not start now? So he grabbed the top of Jason’s jacket, the part he hadn’t quite zipped, and tugged lightly.

“Look at me,” he said seriously. Jason, face red, stared at Percy with wide-eyes. “You’re gonna do great. My mom will love you, my step-dad will approve, my sister’ll probably be all over you before break is over. The moment we step out of this parking garage, we’re supposedly dating, so before it starts, I just want you to know: you’re gonna do great. You can’t possibly mess this up.”

Then Percy’s fingers uncurled and he released Jason, fussing momentarily with Jason’s jacket before turning around and grabbing his suitcase once more.

“Thank you,” Jason said slowly, after a considerable pause. “Thank you. Let’s do this.”

Together, they walked out onto the street and walked down the sidewalk. Not long later, Percy realized with a startle that his hand had been grabbed by Jason’s.

Face already flushed, Percy managed to sputter out “Uh, what’re you doing?”

Jason dropped his hand quickly, like it burned. “Sorry, you said in the garage that… you know, that whole thing. I thought it’d be appropriate to hold your hand.”

“Oh. Um, that is true. I, uh, didn’t mind. Honestly. My fingers are kinda cold, so…”

Jason grabbed on to Percy’s hand once more, and Percy bit down a grin.

They were still holding hands when Percy knocked on the door to his mother’s apartment.

“Percy!” his mother cried out as she threw the door open. "I've missed you so much!" She wrapped her arms around her son, pulling him into a tight hug and through the doorway. Jason, still holding Percy's hand, stumbled forward too before letting go and stepping back.

Percy's mom didn't miss the action, though, because she stepped back, freeing her son from the hug, to look at Jason appraisingly. "You must be the boyfriend," she said at last.

Jason, beet red, nodded. "Yes, ma'am, that'd… be me… I'm Jason."

"I'm Sally."

Percy watched the two, partially wishing it were actually happening, wishing Jason was actually his boyfriend who he took home for the holidays. At the same time, he just felt bad for forcing his friend into this scheme.

"Um, so, Mom, we have my room, right?" Percy asked, shifting the backpack on his shoulder in an attempt to let his mom actually let them in further than the welcome mat .

"Oh!" she said. "Yes, of course. Hm. I meant to tell you, Tyson is staying with us through the 26th. Then he goes to his dad's. So he'll be taking the bottom bunk. Will you two be fine to share the top bunk? Your aunt is already taking the air mattress, so there isn’t really another bed available.”

Shit, Percy thought. He was about to start confessing to the lie and beg for another bed when Jason piped up with, “That works fine! Thank you so much for having me for the holidays.”

“Awe, we’re so glad to have you! I just wish Percy had brought you home sooner!” Sally said with a sincere smile. “Now, why don’t you two go put down your bags? Tyson and Estelle haven’t been able to sit still all day, they’ve been so excited.”

All the Jason-related nerves began to melt away as Percy thought of getting to see his siblings again, and he gave his mother another short hug. “Alright. I love you, Mom.”

Then, leading Jason through the living room and down the hall, Percy opened his bedroom door, revealing Tyson and Estelle, bickering over a game of Go Fish. The moment the door was open wide enough to see in, though, the game was forgotten, cards thrown to the floor in excitement.

“Percy!” they both cried, running forward to hug him.

“Hey, guys,” he laughed out, stumbling under their weight. “I missed you!”

“I lost a tooth!” Estelle said, stepping back and pulling back her lip to show the missing tooth.

“So I heard! Did the Tooth Fairy come?”

“Uh-huh, I got a dollar,” she answered proudly.

Tyson was still hugging his brother tightly, only stopping after he looked over Percy’s shoulder and looked at Jason. “Who’s that?”

Percy stiffened, face heating up. “Um, that’s my boyfriend, Jason.”

He turned back, and saw Jason flushed red and smiling timidly at Tyson. “Hello.”

Tyson studied Jason, looking thoughtful. “Are you nice to Percy?”

“I’d like to say I am. Percy, any input?” Jason asked, looking more and more nervous by the second. Percy laughed, as if this were all just part of the plan, or as if there wasn’t a plan at all. He laughed as if Jason were actually his boyfriend, nervously trying to give the right answer.

“Definitely,” Percy said, wearing a smile he couldn’t quite dispose of.

Estelle wrinkled her nose. “You guys are gross, like Mom and Dad.”

Percy made a concerningly choking-like sound in his throat. “Um, sorry, I guess. Any ways, do you guys want to join us out in the living room? I want to catch up with Mom and Paul.”

“And Aunt Beth,” Estelle supplied.

“Naturally,” Percy agreed, though Estelle was already running out. He gave a huff of amusement and put his suitcase down by his old desk. He wrapped an arm around Tyson’s shoulders and, after Jason put down his bags as well, walked back out toward the living room.

“Hey, Percy,” Paul said, clapping Percy’s shoulder as he entered the room. “And I presume this is the boyfriend?”

“Yeah, this is Jason,” Percy answered, Jason waving awkwardly from behind.

“Hello, Jason. I’m Paul, Percy’s stepdad.” Paul reached out to shake Jason’s hand, who complied.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir,” Jason answered. Paul gave a loud laugh.

“No need to call me sir, really.”

And then the tension was broken. Jason and Percy took their spots on the couch (with just an inch of space between them, Percy could feel his body tense and electrified as he tried to remain calm ), with Beth sitting nearby, while Paul and Sally sat in armchairs and Tyson and Estelle sat on the floor at Percy’s feet. Jason still seemed to feel awkward (he certainly wasn’t speaking as much as he normally would), but otherwise, conversation drifted easily throughout the family, from discussing their school years so far to summarizing the Christmas traditions they would be able to partake in this year.

“Do you want something to drink?” Percy quietly asked Jason after conversation was less pointed his way.

“Oh, that’d be really nice, thank you,” Jason answered, matching Percy’s volume.

“Hot chocolate?”

Jason’s eyes widened and he nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, please.”

Unfortunately, Tyson and Estelle heard, too. “Can I have some, too?”

“Me, too! Me, too!” Estelle cheered.

Percy, mouthing ‘ sorry ’, looked at his mother questioningly. She gave an exaggerated groan. “I suppose,” she said, standing up. “I’ll help you make it, Percy.”

Protests leaving his mother undeterred, Percy admitted defeat and joined Sally in the kitchen to make a batch of hot chocolate.

“Percy,” she said, quiet and serious as she started boiling water and her son took mugs down out of cupboards, “I just want to make sure you and Jason feel comfortable. I don’t want you guys to feel like you have to… censor yourselves.”

“Um, I’m not sure I follow,” Percy replied, closing the cupboard.

“Well, if it’s how you usually are around each other, or if it’s how you feel comfortable acting, it’s totally fine, but you and Jason seem to be staying very… pointedly separate. I don’t want to sound in any way shame-y, I just want to make sure you guys are comfortable acting however you want to act while you’re here,” Sally explained.

Oh, fuck, Percy thought. Firstly, he was thinking, why on Earth is my mom concerned about this . Secondly, he was thinking if we’re pretending to be a couple, we should probably act like a couple, huh? So aloud, he said, “Thanks, Mom. I guess I’m just getting used to having my boyfriend and my family in the same room.” And even though he kept reminding himself that none of this was real, his heart swooped as he called Jason his boyfriend.

Sally smiled, gripping and lightly squeezing Percy’s shoulder. “I get it. Do whatever will make you two most comfortable.” Then, she started distributing hot chocolate to the mugs. “Now, go take one of these to Jason. And take one for yourself. I’ll serve everyone else up.”

“Alright, Mom. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

So when Percy sat back down, having handed Jason his mug, he allowed himself to grab Jason’s hand. Jason turned to him briefly with a smile as their fingers entwined, but otherwise didn’t react. Taking that to be a go-ahead of some sort, Percy hesitantly began to lean against Jason’s side, and when Jason didn’t react negatively (or really react at all), Percy relaxed and continued talking to his family.

At some point or another, Jason became comfortable enough that he began to talk by his own accord to Percy’s family, discussing some classic novel with Paul and listening attentively to Tyson’s rant about different types of ships. Perhaps it was Jason coming out of his shell that led to Sally beginning to ask questions about their relationship, right around when dinner arrived (in the form of pizza from the restaurant down the street that Percy loved).

Percy counted his lucky stars that he remembered all the details of his and Jason’s backstory, and that Jason remembered, too, because all the questions, and all the conversation that took place after, went without a hitch.

It was after dinner that the hitch occurred. Tyson and Estelle had gone to bed pretty close to immediately after dinner, while the adults (though admittedly, Percy didn’t consider himself an adult) stayed up a bit later to laugh and chat. Eventually, Percy and Jason retired to bed as well, retreating to Percy’s childhood room.

The room was dark, the lights off and curtains pulled tight, while Tyson slept peacefully in the bottom bunk of Percy’s old bunk bed. Percy directed Jason towards the restroom, and they both quickly got ready for bed. That is where the hitch happened. Percy was settling down in the top bunk, and made a sudden realization while Jason plugged in his phone, took off his glasses, and climbed up: the bed was very much twin-sized, which meant the nights would be very cozy until Tyson left, which would be… a whole week. Seven nights of being trapped in a very small bed with Jason.

With much awkwardness, they eventually settled into a back-to-back position, and then waited for sleep to come.

Percy slept awfully. He’d fall asleep only to wake up again minutes later. When he did finally fall asleep for the night, he woke up in the morning to find Jason had just about rolled on top of him in his sleep. So Percy, having woken up early, earlier than Jason at least, was stuck with the mass of his friend laying half on top of him. It was, given Percy’s current situation, hell. 

Perhaps there was some good to it too, though, because a little while after Percy woke up, there was a knock at the door. His mother walked in, and, upon seeing Percy trying to sit up, said apologetically, “I’m just here to wake Tyson up, sorry.” Then, approaching to nudge Tyson lightly, she stifled some laughter. “Looks like you two are more comfortable sharing a twin than I thought you’d be.”

Percy felt his face flush. “Um, it’s really cozy up here, for sure,” he said hesitantly.

“Looks like it,” Sally replied, an amused smile on her face. “We’re gonna start making cookies pretty soon, here, so if you or Jason are gonna want any, make sure you come out and help.”

Percy mumbled out a “mmkay” as she woke up Tyson and then left the room. He entertained Tyson’s light morning conversation (‘good morning. I slept well, how ‘bout you? Oh, really? I’ll be out in a few minutes, why don’t you tell me about your dream then?’) and then, as the door was once again closed, blew out a long stream of air. Jason was still asleep, was still heavy, and most importantly, was still on top of Percy.

Grumbling to himself, Percy started trying to shove Jason off of him, only stopping when Jason’s eyelids began to flutter. Slowly, Jason blinked and began to wake up, shifting slightly before freezing.

“Oh, my God, did I-”

“Roll on top of me?” Percy guessed, his voice only slightly sardonic. “Yes, you did. It’s okay, my mom saw and only lightly made fun of me.”

“I’m so, so, so sorry!” Jason said frantically, scrambling to sit up and put distance between the two.

“It’s all good, dude, serious,” Percy replied, mustering all his sincerity. Then, voice dropping in case eavesdroppers were near, he continued, “Besides, the more comfortably intimate we are, the less my mom will suspect something’s up. God forbid she thinks we’re having relationship problems. Or worse, she figures us out.”

Jason nodded. “True, true. Do you want, like, a codeword? In case someone crosses a boundary?”

Percy thought for a split second before nodding. “That’s really smart. I didn’t cross any boundaries last night, did I? When I leaned on you and all that.”

“No, not at all. It was nice, actually,” Jason admitted, looking embarrassed. “I… codeword! Yes, codeword. We should use a word that isn’t used too often in conversation, but can be brought up casually without getting weird looks.”

Percy was mostly distracted, desperately trying to come up with where Jason could have possibly have been going with the sentence he started before his abrupt change in subject. “I” what, Jason? he was thinking desperately. Aloud, he said, “Very good point. Maybe… stink bug.”

“Stink bug?”

“Yeah, stink bug. You aren’t gonna legit be saying woah, check out that stink bug while we’re here or anything, so if I cross a line, you can say something like hey, Percy, did Leo tell you he got a stink bug for Christmas? ” Percy pointed out.

“That’s true. Alright. Don’t hesitate to use stink bug, then, Percy. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.” The way Jason said it sounded so achingly sincere to Percy, and he felt his heart twist. He hadn’t realized just how dangerous playing pretend was going to be; if this was how Jason was to a friend, and if Jason thought they’d do more than hand holding over winter break (that certainly seemed to be the implication to Percy, considering hand holding was already cleared as not crossing a boundary), Percy wasn’t sure he’d survive their fake dating adventure.

But then the smell of baking cookies reached Percy’s nose, and he remembered what his mom had said.

“Oh, right! It’s cookie day, and Jackson rules say that if you’re gonna want to eat any, you have to help make them. I don’t know about you, but I’m planning on eating plenty of cookies over the next couple weeks, so we better get cracking,” Percy said, scrambling to get out of the bunk.

“Roger that,” Jason said, following behind.

And so once they were dressed and ready for the day, Percy and Jason joined the cookie-making quest, being led by one frankly terrifyingly efficient Sally. There was an assembly line down the kitchen counter and dining room table, with cookie dough balls being made, passed, cooked, and cooled with help from every member of the family.

It was nigh noon when a flaw with the efficient system was pointed out by Tyson: how were they supposed to make lunch?

With that flaw pointed out, suddenly several members of the family were unable to concentrate due to their hunger, leading to Percy offering to pick food up from one of the nearby restaurants with Jason.

“Yes, please,” Sally agreed, washing her hands to clear away the cookie dough and flour. “I’ll grab you some money from my wallet. Why don’t you two go to that Chinese place a block away?”

“Ooh, that place is good,” Percy agreed. “Sounds good, I’ll grab a piece of paper to take orders.”

He didn’t get any further than entering the hallway when Estelle called out a smug, dissenting, “Uh-uh!”

“Well, what would you rather have?” Percy asked, exasperated, as he turned to face her. But she was pointing above his head.

“Daddy put up mistletoe this morning!” she explained, giggling.

Oh holy shit, Percy thought to himself as he glanced up at the mistletoe. Then, he thought how didn’t I see Paul do that? And then, he thought, wait, fuck, they’re all waiting for Jason to kiss me. His rapidly devolving train of thought ended with I never should’ve come home for break.

That’s when he realized Jason had been staring at him too, not looking as freaked out as he did confused, like he was waiting for Percy to make a move. When Percy met his eyes, Jason awkwardly finished shrugging on his jacket and walked over to where Percy stood, trapped by a stupid tradition and his siblings’ uncanny memory of that time Percy joked that not following through should be worthy of a fine (in his defense, they were watching a stupid Hallmark movie, and he wasn’t being serious) (in additional defense, his family had never even put up mistletoe before, and this whole set up was very suspicious) (and yet it came up every damn year).

Jason was standing in front of him now, and while it felt like an eternity had passed since Percy noticed the mistletoe, he knew it had only been about a second or two. Percy’s heart was racing as Jason stood so close nearby, leaning down to whisper, “Do you know what Leo wants for Christmas?”

After a moment of confusion, Percy realized that Jason was basically giving him an excuse to use their codeword. If he was being honest, he was completely alright with the direction this was headed (well, he wished less family was present). Percy quietly said back, “No, do you?”

There was a tug at the front of his shirt, compelling Percy to stand on his tiptoes as Jason leaned down and pressed their lips together. It took a moment for Percy to relax and close his eyes, having expected a verbal response first. But as soon as he relaxed, able to enjoy the kiss for what it was, Jason pulled back. And, well, Percy was pretty sure this was his one chance to kiss Jason, and he didn’t want to squander it on a feeling of shock, so his arms, which had gripped Jason’s shoulders for balanced, tugged him back down, and Percy resumed the kiss for just a moment more before letting go.

In the aftermath, things were quiet for a second, Percy and Jason just staring at each other wide-eyed. And goddamn, Percy would need to ask sometime if Jason ever considered majoring in theatre, because he was good at acting . The way he was looking at Percy, and the small smile growing on his face, almost tricked Percy into thinking he had feelings for him.

“Well, I want an order of orange chicken,” Tyson piped up. “Please.”

A bit embarrassed, and feeling so exposed to his family, Percy just cleared his throat and said, “Ah, right,” before ducking into his room and grabbing one of the papers strewn on the desk. Returning with a pen and the beginnings of a list, Percy quickly made his rounds, gathering orders while pointedly avoiding eye contact with Jason.

Still, when it was time to leave and the list was folded in Percy’s pocket, he silently grabbed Jason’s hand, still looking away, and left the apartment with a heated face.

“Sorry, should I not have kissed you?” Jason asked when they were on the street. Neither let go of the other’s hand. “Wwhen I mentioned Leo, I-”

“No, I know,” Percy interrupted, cringing. He sneaked a peek at Jason, who was looking straight at him. “I, uh, caught on, so, you were completely fine. I just…” he trailed off, knowing his sentence more or less ended with I just really, really like you and don’t know how to cope with having kissed you for the first and last time .

“You just…?” Jason prompted.

Percy stammered out various sounds along the lines of “um”, “er”, “uh”, and “well”, never quite going anywhere with what fragmented sentences he started. He hated to think what his English teachers would think of him at that moment. “You wanna go ice skating with my buddy Grover tomorrow?”

He cringed at the switch in topics, and at his inability to give Jason the direct answer he deserved. But Percy wasn’t ready to confess to that just quite yet, knowing he’d be shot down and would be left with a very awkward semester of dorms.

Jason must have taken mercy on him, because without addressing the previous topic, he said, “Yeah, sure. This the guy you and Annabeth talk about a lot?”

“Yeah,” Percy confirmed. “The one working at the environmental nonprofit in Seattle.” He couldn’t help but grin at the thought of his friend, a swell of pride growing in his chest. “You know he spent over three days on a Greyhound to get here?”

“Really?” Jason asked, grinning as well, though he seemed more amused than anything else. “He seems really important to you, I can’t wait to meet him.”

“He is,” Percy agreed. Then, somewhat abruptly, he turned into a doorway, hand tugging Jason along with him. “Here’s the restaurant, I knew we were close!”

Percy and Jason were still holding hands when they returned from the restaurant.

Percy slept a little better that night, knowing Jason would tell him if he needed to back off, but still, he felt too tense, too stimulated with Jason just centimeters away, with overlapping ankles and an arm thrown over Percy’s side.

The next morning was  a relatively early wake up, though. Percy bolted up and instantly, his thoughts were of Grover and their plans. He did a mental tally; if it’s nine now, I have three hours until I have to leave. That means I should wake Jason up now so he has time to wake up, shower, and eat before we leave.

And so Percy woke up Jason, and they both went through their morning routines before sitting in the living room for the half an hour of extra time they had before needing to leave, just chatting with Paul before heading out.

It took a short walk, a subway ride, a transfer, another subway ride, and one last slightly less short walk to get to the ice skating rink Percy, Annabeth, and Grover had frequented as kids. Percy was never the best at ice skating, but he wasn’t bad at it; he could stay upright for the most part, but Annabeth could skate circles around him and Grover. How she got so good was beyond Percy, but it felt odd to be meeting up with Grover for ice skating with a very different blond by his side.

Still, the moment Percy spotted Grover’s dark head of hair, he yelped with excitement and dropped Jason’s hand, running over to tackle Grover with a hug.

“Oh, my God, dude, I’ve missed you so much,” Percy wailed as Grover stumbled under the sudden weight.

“Yeah, I missed you too,” he said, getting his balance back. He had a giant smile on his face. As Percy backed off, Grover studied Jason curiously. “And this is…?”

“Jason, my roommate,” Percy explained, turning to smile at Jason. But as he turned, he froze. “Oh shit, oh God, oh shit.”

“What?” Jason asked.

“My mom’s friend is here and she just saw me.”

“Oh. So?” Grover asked. Teasingly, he added, “Don’t tell me you had to sneak out for this.”

“No, no,” Percy said. The friend was approaching with her two kids, though, so he made no efforts to explain his predicament. “Hey, Mrs. Smith.”

“Percy!” Mrs. Smith gushed out, enveloping him in a hug. “How’s college treating you?”

“Good,” he answered, managing to escape the embrace.

“Good!” she said. Then, excitedly and slightly gossipy, she continued, “And is this the boyfriend?”

“Yep.”

“I fucking knew it!” Grover yelled before slapping a hand over his mouth. His eyes grew wide and horrified. “I’m so, so sorry.”

Mrs. Smith gave him a withering glare. “You watch your mouth around children, young man.” She turned to Percy. “I’ll see you later, dear. I’m glad you’re doing well.” Then, with one last glare at Grover, she turned and walked away.

Snorting, Percy turned to Grover. “Dude-”

“You asshole!” Grover cut him off, though he didn’t sound particularly angry. Rather, he seemed mostly excited. “Annabeth told me you wouldn’t introduce Jason as your boyfriend! I owe her twenty bucks now, do you think I have that kind of cash laying around?”

“Sorry, what ?” Percy asked. “Were you betting on whether or not I’d say he was my boyfriend?” 

“Yeah! I’m your best friend , you’re supposed to tell me these things!”

“I’m sorry!” Percy said back, waving his hands emphatically. “But did she include that he’s my fake boyfriend?”

Grover stared at him skeptically. “And that’s why you were holding hands as you frolicked through New York?”

“We weren’t frolicking !”

“We kind of were,” Jason said. “Sorry, babe.”

Percy flushed and Grover gave a bark of laughter. “Et tu, Brute?” He shook his head sadly but turned to Grover. “We’re not really dating, I just told my family I had a boyfriend to get out of Thanksgiving dinner.”

“Jesus, man, you’re a mess. Say you have work or a lot of homework or something next time.”

“For all of break?”

“Okay, be honest next time.” Grover began to imitate Percy, pitching his voice up. “ Sorry Mom, I can’t make it to Thanksgiving break, I just can’t be damned. ”

“My voice is not that high pitched. And I could too be damned! Gas is freaking expensive, dude.”

“Okay, are you guys just going to bicker or are we going to ice skate? I’ve never been before, so I kind of want to get started before it’s too late,” Jason said before Grover could reply.

“You’ve never been ice skating? Percy, what kind of fake boyfriend do you have?” Grover asked incredulously.

“Back off, man, I’m from California,” Jason said defensively, though he was smiling. 

“Mmm, fine, you get a pass this once.”

Conversation halted there as they each rented a pair of skates and paid for entrance, and then it gradually picked back up as the trio changed shoes out for ice skates and wobbled their way onto the ice. Percy only took a minute or two to warm back up (he was determined to be able to compete with Annabeth next time they skated together, so when he wasn’t skateboarding, he was likely rollerblading), Grover took a little longer, and Jason very quickly established himself as hopeless at skating.

Ten minutes into skating, he was still clutching the wall and hobbling along the edge of the rink as Percy began to speed up. After lapping him a few times, Percy took mercy.

“Come on, dude, take my arm,” Percy offered, holding out his arm. “I’ll help you balance.”

“Oh. Thank you,” Jason replied, tentatively reaching out and linking his arm with Percy’s.

Even if he technically asked for it (literally asked for it, he supposed), Percy’s face flushed and he felt his heart begin to race as he felt Jason’s elbow against him, his hand grabbing onto Percy for extra support. Desperately fighting to cover up his internal panic, he said, “No problem. Didn’t want you to be a safety hazard for other skaters.”

Jason laughed. “Ouch, man. Cold-blooded!”

Skating was good. Percy could goof with Jason and Grover, and he could pretend Jason wanted to be hanging on to his arm as much as Percy wanted him to be, and he could ignore Grover’s light teasing and subtle threats to send pictures to Annabeth.

They returned home after eating dinner with Grover, laughing and holding hands as they came in through the door. Percy’s family was in the middle of watching a Christmas movie and didn’t spare them much more than a glance as they entered, which Percy appreciated. Instead, he and Jason settled on the couch and half watched a movie, half played with their phones (at one point even just texting each other).

Things took a turn for the worse for Percy after the movie ended, though, when Sally asked Percy to help her out in the kitchen. He wasn’t immediately alarmed, but when he entered, she turned to face him with a look in her eye that told him she knew something .

“I got a call from Jane Smith earlier,” Sally said as the next Christmas movie started in the other room.

Percy furrowed his eyebrows, trying to see where the topic was headed. “Yeah, I saw her at the ice rink.” After a brief pause, he quickly added, “Uh, Grover didn’t mean to curse in front of her kids.”

“What?” Sally looked genuinely baffled, and slightly concerned before continuing with, “No, she didn’t mention Grover. She overheard you three talking at one point or another though. You and Jason aren’t dating, are you?”

Percy felt a gaping hole of horror grow in his chest as he quietly and shamefully said, “No, we aren’t.”

Sally didn’t look mad, or disappointed, or really anything other than somberly curious. “Why’d you lie about it?” she asked.

“Well,” Percy started, cutting himself off. He was wordless for a moment. He wasn’t prepared for the guilt that would come with such a seemingly fun and harmless lie. “I... first lied about it to get out of Thanksgiving. I couldn’t afford to drive down for more than one trip with all the time I’d be taking off, and I didn’t want you guys to pay for my gas. Besides, most of my friends were staying, so I could at least have dinner with them, I wasn’t alone or anything. But I couldn’t think of a good enough excuse to stay home. So I said I was spending it with my boyfriend. I didn’t expect you guys to invite him home for Christmas, and I didn’t actually ever have one. I was gonna say that we broke up but then you all would be pitying me the whole time I was here, and I didn’t want that, so I was gonna pretend Annabeth and I had started dating, but she said no, so I asked Jason and that led us to this moment, I suppose.”

“Percy,” Sally said quietly, shaking her head as she exhaled. “I love you, but you really should’ve just told me. It’s not fair to mess with Jason’s feelings like that-”

“What?” Percy interrupted, forgetting his bad feelings in the confusion. “I told you, Jason knows we aren’t actually dating. I asked him if he’d be okay with it. He doesn’t like me like that.”

“Honey.” Sally huffed, shaking her head with a smile. “That boy most definitely likes you like that.” Before Percy could so much as open his mouth to argue, she started to list off examples, “I mean, you guys have been holding hands everywhere. He’s been playing with your siblings each day. The mistletoe kiss-”

“Wait a minute,” Percy said, waving a hand. “Why did you put up the mistletoe? We never do that.”

Sally looked a little ashamed here as she said, “Annabeth may have reached out.”

“Ex cuse me?”

“Jane’s call was just extra affirmation, but Annabeth gave me the basic idea of what was going on. I decided to take some action, because I know you and I know you wouldn’t ever tell Jason you liked him if you weren’t encouraged, and I thought it might have worked. You two seemed very comfortable around each other after, and I shouldn’t have gotten involved in the first place, so I decided that that would be all of my involvement, but Jane’s call told me otherwise. So I guess this is a pep talk.” Each word made Percy’s brain more and more befuddled. Sally placed a hand on her son’s shoulder. “I’m almost one hundred percent positive Jason likes you, Percy, and you deserve to be in a relationship if you want one. So what I’m saying is, go take him on a walk, and tell him everything.”

“I really don’t think-”

“I do, though. You haven’t seen the way he looks at you when your back is turned. He likes you. Go for it."

Percy was taken aback; he didn't expect his mother to find out they weren't dating at all, much less encourage him to ask Jason out. He nodded firmly and turned to go, but Sally grabbed his wrist before he could.

"And Percy?" He turned back. "I love you."

"I love you, too," he replied, pulling her into a quick hug. "Thank you."

Filled with energy, anticipation, and nerves, Percy briskly strode into the living room. He faltered and nearly tripped before continuing over to Jason, where he leaned down and whispered, "Hey, wanna go for a walk? I need to talk to you."

Jason looked up immediately. "Oh. Yes, of course."

So after announcing that they were going for a walk, Percy and Jason quietly slipped on their shoes and coats and snuck out the door, holding hands but not talking until they left the apartment building.

“Goodness, it’s cold,” Jason said after a few steps, hunching his shoulders slightly. “So, what did you need to tell me?”

Percy glanced around before tugging Jason into a nook between buildings. He had misjudged the size of it, and they ended up mere inches apart, and it reminded Percy of the moments before and after their kiss.

“My mom found out,” he said quietly. “That we aren’t actually dating.”

“What? How?” Jason asked, moving closer in his shock before rapidly moving back to his original spot.

“Apparently, there’s not one but two snitches in our lives,” Percy grumbled, narrowing his eyes as he looked off to the side. “Mrs. Smith overheard us talking at the ice rink and told my mom, but she already knew because Annabeth told her .”

“ Annabeth ?” Jason echoed. Percy nodded, huffing.

“Yeah. But my mom was pretty chill when she told me. I don’t think she’ll tell, like, my siblings or anything,” Percy added, the twists in his stomach quadrupling as he approached his second topic.

“Okay. Do we have a game plan or anything?” Jason asked. “What are we supposed to do now?”

“Um.” Percy cringed before he even began his spiel. Already, he could feel himself sweating bullets. “Well, we could… start… dating…?” Jason froze, staring at Percy, and instantly, he started to backpedal. “I mean, obviously I-”

Jason held his hands softly to each of Percy’s cheeks, and Percy stopped mid sentence. “Are you serious?” he asked, softly and genuinely, not at all in the incredulous tone the question is usually given in.

Percy stared up at him. “Um, maybe.” He gave an airy, nervous chuckle.

“Because I really like you, and I really want you to be serious right now.”

Percy’s breath hitched. “Y- uh, you do?” Jason nodded. “So then… does that make us… boyfriends?”

Jason replied, “I’d like it to.”

Overwhelmed by the moment, Percy gripped Jason’s jacket and pulled him down into a kiss, accidentally pushing Jason into the wall behind him. He felt Jason’s hands slide from his cheeks to his neck, and the reality hit Percy. Then he was smiling into the kiss, a feeling of pure euphoria burning in the center of his chest.

When Percy and Jason returned to the apartment some minutes later, gripping each other’s hands and smiling widely, nobody noticed much. Except Sally, who caught their smiles, and smiled back. And if there was any doubt as to whether or not she noticed, they were put to rest not long later, when Annabeth texted i told you you wouldnt regret it .

And he didn’t.