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It was never Percy and Nico.
It was always Percy and Annabeth, going on cute little dates and holding hands in Central Park, Annabeth laughing at his stupid jokes and Percy laughing unsurely at her smarter ones. Their happiness was evident from the shared kisses and fond looks, Percy’s constant rambling about her, Annabeth’s nonstop complaining about and/or admiring of every part of Percy, the way that Percy brushed his girlfriend’s hair behind her ear and told her how beautiful she was.
It was never Percy and Nico.
It was always Percy and Jason, coming up with their stupid best friend handshakes and laughing endlessly at the other’s expense. Percy and Jason, forming the Big Three table so they could have an excuse to sit together, to talk about how annoying or adorable or amazing their girlfriends had been that day. Friendly competition that was sometimes taken a tad too serious, a barely prominent height difference Jason still (quite literally) held over Percy’s head.
It was never Percy and Nico.
It was always Percy and Leo, teasing Jason until his head was sure to implode, battling as the elements of Water and Fire, making stupid and sexual jokes that were sure to make a nun blush. Leo, calling Percy when a prank involving fire went terribly, terribly wrong, and Percy calling Leo when he needed help with a fire-involving prank. Percy who was always willing to hear Leo’s spoken admiration of his girlfriend, Calypso, and who gave Leo hints on how to handle her, love her, make her laugh, what to do on dates, and all the other stuff he needed to know.
It was never Percy and Nico.
It was always Percy and Piper, sharing inside jokes no one understood, but they’d nearly die giggling because of. Percy and Piper, always making blonde jokes that got their significant others fired up, high-fiving to greet each other instead of hugging or shaking hands. They planned double dates, dragging somewhat unwilling partners that eventually realized having another couple around relived some pressure of a perfect date, so they’d all wind up hammered drunk by the end of the night.
It was never Percy and Nico.
It was always Percy and Hazel, sitting in the Hades cabin and drawing until Hazel’s self-set curfew, watching Frank or Annabeth train and giving silly commentary, showing that brother/sister affection that Nico could never seem to easily give. Hazel sharing fond stories of her childhood way back in the 20th century, and Percy giving ones of his much more normal childhood, the two of them asking Frank to change into a kitten, a puppy, a snake, a rabbit, anything that he could, even if Frank started to find that annoying, he always did it for the two of them.
It was never Percy and Nico.
It was always Percy and Frank, training together, hanging out together, and chatting when Percy was in his college years at Camp Jupiter. They’d go out for coffee every day and Percy would grimace the bitterness of Frank’s black coffee whenever he got it. Asking Frank to change into a spider so he could spook Annabeth and Frank would refuse every time, not wanting to end up being squished or making Percy sleep on the couch for a week.
It was never Percy and Nico.
It was always Percy and Reyna, who saw each other as friends and not allies, unlike most of their camps. Percy and Reyna who could tell stories about Jason until they were giggling uncontrollably, and then they’d deny they’d even been talking when Jason eventually asked them what they were laughing about. The two of them who would never be good for training together, because they’d always end up taking things just a little too far.
It was never Percy and Nico.
It was always Percy and Calypso, who he apologized profusely to multiple times, and she’d have to forgive him gently each one. Calypso, who never got bitter about anything that Percy had done (outside of her rants to Leo, which the two of them kept quiet), and who gave cooking lessons to him because she knew he was going off to college, and no way in hell was she about to let him live off takeout. Percy, who didn’t ever really requite feelings for Calypso, and likewise Calypso had gotten over hers for him. With- admittedly slightly jealous- significant others, they’d both moved on for the better.
It was never Percy and Nico.
But it was Nico and Will. Will Solace who’d held him overtime in the infirmary for injuries that didn’t hurt so much anymore, Will Solace who’d never been scared or intimidated by Nico’s upbringing, who his father was, or where he came from, Will Solace who was always there when Nico’s dreams were too much to handle, a soothing, loving figure Nico came to recognize as his friend. William Solace who despised his real name, and Nico would often call him that to annoy him, Will Solace who’d shown so much more affection in a span of weeks than Nico ever expected from anyone.
It’d never been Percy and Nico, but that was alright, because now it was Nico and Will.
(And, to him, that was even better.)