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Percy liked to think he was a friendly person. Sure, some might consider him intimidating every now and then (for reasons he definitely, really did not understand), but he had been told he was pretty easy-going most of the time. He enjoyed joking around and making sarcastic comments that usually made people smile (read: mortals. Gods? Not so much).
Which then leads to the problem at hand, Jason Grace.
The golden boy of New Rome. The son of Jupiter who had managed to sneak his way into Nico’s heart just like a brother. His counterpart in Camp Jupiter. Jason Grace with whom Percy once had a blooming bromance according to his best friend, Annabeth. They had spent the whole of last summer trying to prevent the rise of Dirt-Face. So, imagine Percy’s bewilderment when he moves to New Rome for university along with Annabeth just to find himself completely and utterly ignored by the said boy.
Percy shuddered as an unwelcome memory decided to invade his mind. His first official day after moving into his apartment. Being far from home was unfortunately not unfamiliar to him but this was the first time he by himself had decided to move away from his mother, from New York, so he decided that he could use some encouragement in the most sugary form possible. Which led him to the bakery in the middle of New Rome, right next to his soon to be university. Air was crisp, the sun was shining and Jason Grace was waiting in line to get a drink. It had been some time since Percy had seen him and he wanted to be a good friend, so he did what any good friend would do. Made sure his hair looked right, his clothes had no stains (they had been on a long quest together but come on quest hygiene is not an excuse to be unpresentable when you see your good buddy afterwards) and joined the son of Jupiter in the queue.
“Hey!” Percy flashed a smile, seemed like a casual enough way to start a conversation after almost dying together in battle. Jason seemed startled but it did not last long. He looked at Percy for a second, made an uncomfortable sound that sounded awfully like a squeak and then started to look around as if he expected an overly bubbly TV host to jump out saying he had just become the next person to be made fun of, nationwide, “When– I mean what…uh,” he then cleared his throat, “Hi.”
Deciding he would ignore the awkward reaction Percy just gave the blond boy’s shoulder a fist bump, “Long time, huh?” Jason Grace had just nodded and combed through his now a bit more grown out blonde hair with his fingers. After that it had all gone to Hades. Any attempts Percy made at small talk had been brushed off by awkward laughter or nervous answers until Jason’s phone rang (yes, demigod proof phones exist now, get with the times, geez) and the said boy ran off saying Leo had an emergency, just as it was finally their turn to order without even getting anything.
He didn’t get it. No, that would be a lie. He had a sneaking suspicion as to why Jason Grace might have wanted to stomp on their bromance before it fully blossomed. He was quite sure that he was right about the reason and that’s what made him feel horrible. It was entirely his fault.
His nosebleed.
His nosebleed had been the final push Gaia needed to rise, leading to Leo blowing himself up temporarily to put her back to sleep. Leo had came back to life (with Calypso by his side as well), but he was Jason’s best friend. Of course the boy would hate him. It was all Percy’s fault.
The worst thing was that he had no idea how to fix it. Whenever he tried to approach Jason, the blond boy would flush with anger and look away. Even when the seven had their weekly movie night, Jason would make sure to sit as far from Percy as possible and not even make eye contact with him. One time, they had reached for the popcorn on the middle of the table at the same time, their hands had touched briefly, but if Jason was not the son of Jupiter, Percy would have thought someone had electrocuted him with how fast he had moved his hand back.
Then, there was the thing that happened last week at Hazel’s birthday party. (Okay, it wasn’t exactly a party, more like a small get together with alcohol and pizza. But, still.)
It had been a few hours since the party had started, and Percy was getting tired of third-wheeling as Piper and Annabeth shamelessly flirted with each other. The smell of alcohol was never something he particularly enjoyed, so he decided to venture out of the living room, where all the drunk couples and guests were, and into the kitchen, where he would be able to find more food.
Instead, he stumbled upon Jason and Leo perched on the counter with a slice of pizza in hand each, laughing about something he did not know. He wasn’t even sure he wanted to know, if he was being honest. Leo was leaning towards Jason, a bit too much for Percy’s comfort. The awkwardness of the situation reminded him of the sensation of drowning.
He wasn’t an idiot. He knew the two were close but Percy thought Leo and Calypso had had something serious going on. He wasn’t sure how he felt about Leo being so close to Jason, of all people, when he was supposed to be dating someone.
Suddenly, he felt a spark of… something. Yes, it must be anger.
Why did he feel angry? Because they were being disloyal. Percy’s brain happily supplied. Both of them. Jason knew Leo was dating someone. Why would he do this when it might hurt the other person involved? Same with Leo, of course.
The two laughing demigods had now stopped and were only looking at him curiously. Percy decided he shouldn’t jump to conclusions, so he started, “I thought you were still with Calypso?” He hoped it sounded more amused than snarky.
And that relates to this situation, how, exactly?” Jason asked, leaning back with his arms stretched behind him.
Suddenly Percy felt like an idiot, standing there watching the two on the counter. He popped his knuckles while Leo looked at him quizzically which made him clear his throat due to discomfort. He was stalling and he knew he was stalling which made him feel even more stupid because he didn’t even know what he was stalling for, “Just saying.”
Not the brightest excuse he came up with, and no he would rather not be reminded of the bathtub incident he made up trying to get to the underworld for the first time, but it would have to do.
At that, the blond boy jumped off the counter. It seemed like Jason might finally make eye contact with him but instead he averted his eyes and flushed with irritation again, “Leo and I are just friends, you know.”
There it was again. Who wouldn’t know about the two’s friendship? Still, the weight of Jason’s words seemed to hang in the air. Once again, reminding Percy of the stark difference between their relationship compared to the two in front of him.
Percy took a step back, “Yeah, I know. Just teasing.” He hoped that he didn’t sound as hurt as he felt about the clear implications of that statement. Leo was one of Jason’s friends, Percy was not.
He smiled and turned around to leave. He heard something that sounded similar to a slap and the disappointed voice of Leo, “Dude-”
It had been a week since that happened. Percy was sure there was no cheating going on now. He wasn’t even sure why he assumed the worst. He was also quite touchy with friends. He eventually decided it was most likely due to the heavy feeling he had due to being surrounded by the smell of alcohol. It usually made him feel defensive.
Anyway, that had been a week ago. He was now sat at a coffee shop with Annabeth and Piper, asking them for advice on how to make Jason hate him less. Jason Grace was a nice guy, after all, he always helped people during training and was careful not to hurt anyone too badly during War Games, he was kind and he smiled a lot.
To everyone, except Percy.
He had explained all of this to the two girls sitting in front of him but the only reply he had gotten had been them making eye contact, taking a deep breath and reaching to take a sip of their iced coffee in sync.
“So?” He asked, expectantly.
“Percy, how have I tolerated your oblivious ass for so many years?” Annabeth said finally after putting her coffee back on the table. Piper snorted.
“I am not here for you guys to make fun of me,” Percy rolled his eyes. “Just tell me what I can do for him to forgive me?” This earned another snort from Piper which Percy took as a sign that that notion was impossible. So he opted out to rephrase, “Okay… maybe not forgiveness. Then for him not to hate me as much?” He tried not to sound as desperate as he felt but from the amused looks thrown his way, he likely failed.
Piper must have felt pity for him as she sighed, “Give it time. I have a feeling that this will get sorted out soon.” She said mercifully.
Of course, the two girls made eye contact and snorted once more for good measure.
-
Jason liked to think he was a person who was relatively easy to read. Apparently, he was not. What he was sure about, though, was that he had ruined all of his chances with the one and only Percy Jackson.
He was certain that he was being obvious enough. He is not so sure anymore, with Piper sitting in front of him and laughing in his face while Leo told her what happened last week at Hazel’s.
“Wait, wait. Tell-tell me again,” Piper said in between her wheezing. Leo took this as a cue to stand up and reenact the scene for the third time. He finished this one with a bow as Piper gave his impression of Jason a standing ovation.
“Fine! Fine. I get it.” Jason took off his glasses to massage his temples. Actually no, he didn’t get it.
“Actually, no. I don’t get it.” He started abruptly. Jason shrugged helplessly, “I made it clear that Leo and I were just friends so that he wouldn’t misunderstand, how is that wrong?”
Piper stared at him blankly for a second and then slowly put a hand on his shoulder, “He said you hated him so much that you couldn’t even look at him. He told me and Annie that you told him you guys are not friends.” She promptly started laughing again.
“Dude, you’ve got to talk to him. While looking at him. At his face.” Leo sat back on the couch. They were all sat in Jason’s apartment after Piper called them and said they needed to talk ASAP.
“I know, but every time we talk… I just– aghhh.” Jason buried his face in his hands before he continued, “He is just so pretty. Like it’s intimidating and–and I’m pretty sure I ruined it already.
“Can’t hear you when you are being a baby.” Piper said in a melodic way.
“I am not being a baby!”
“Bro, you were one of the Praetors of the Twelfth region. How did you do all the public speaking when you can’t even look a boy in the eyes.” Leo rolled his eyes.
“He is not just a boy though!”
“Jason Grace, I do not care what you do but you have to fix it by the next weekly movie night. We cannot have any more awkward tension in the group because Percy thinks you hate him. We all went to war together for gods’ sake!” Piper said as she stood up with her hands resting on her hips as if she was scolding a small child.
Jason puffed and leaned back, “Fine, I’ll figure it out.”
-
Jason did not figure it out. Tomorrow was the movie night, meaning he had to talk to Percy today.
He did not want to talk to Percy today.
He knew the demigod was bisexual. They had talked about celebrity crushes while on the Argo II and Percy had told him about a demigod boy he had had a crush on a while ago. He knew Percy was not dating anyone either. So, why was he so terrified of actually talking to the boy? He had no idea.
Confessing to Percy Jackson was scarier than facing down a Titan with his bare hands.
Jason had started liking the boy sometime after they defeated Gaia.
He had been having a late night brainstorming session for Temple Hill in the training area when the other demigod walked in. He was wearing blue jeans and a simple navy hoodie since the weather was a bit chilly. His hair was messy in a way that made him look adorable, the waves of his black hair almost curled up like a halo. His eyes were glossy with exhaustion. It was obvious that he had not been able to sleep. The training area was open 24/7 so it made sense for him to come over for distraction.
When he saw Jason sitting on the floor with one leg bent up, surrounded by blueprints and papers he came over. Jason could see that the boy was hesitant. They hadn’t spoken much after the war so there was almost an invisible wall between them. Still, he had crouched down next to him, tilted his head slightly and asked, “Need any help?” with a small smile.
That was the first time Jason noticed his heart beating just a little louder. Percy looked like he could drop down from exhaustion at any moment but still offered help because he had noticed how important this was for Jason. That had done it.
Jason had hesitantly accepted the boy’s help. They spent the rest of the night putting together ideas for temples and action figures (as he had promised Kym) and Jason found it harder and harder to look at Percy.
They finally stopped when the sun started rising. Percy got up from where he was sitting next to Jason. The son of Jupiter followed along, still unable to make eye contact. Suddenly the awkward tension was back.
Jason felt himself flushing when he finally looked at Percy. The other demigod brought a hand up to rub his nape in an embarrassed way, “I get that this is your project, uh– didn’t mean to take over like that. Sorry if it made you uneasy.”
No. No no nono. That wasn’t it. Jason had to say something, but his mouth suddenly felt dry.
“It’s not because of the project. I mean– the problem is not the project. No, I mean–”
“No, I get it. It’s okay, you have every right.” Percy’s shoulders sagged for a moment. Jason was about to ask what he meant, but the black-haired demigod had just nodded curtly, turned around and quickly walked off.
That was how he got into the whole shitshow in the first place. Tomorrow was the movie night so he would sort this out today. Annabeth had already told him Percy would be in the training area for the whole day, so Jason was now also on his way to the training area. This gave him a horrible sense of deja vu.
It was around lunch time, so the sword arena was completely empty, except for Percy fucking Jackson of course. With his wavy black hair bouncing with every manoeuvre he performed as he destroyed the dummy in front of him. Slight precipitation made his tan skin look like it was glistening against the last bit of sunlight left for the day, and the colours in his eyes swirling around with focus. He didn’t know if Percy knew his eyes did that but Jason had observed him enough to know. He took a deep breath, steeled his nerves and cleared his throat. The son of Poseidon jumped slightly and turned back with his sword raised. He looked ready to charge until he recognised Jason and (thankfully) capped Riptide.
“Hey.” Jason started. Percy coughed and echoed a greeting back.
“Well, I wanted to talk to you. About last week I mean, thought I should be clearer.”
Percy nodded and gestured at him to continue. So far, so good.
It would mean a lot to me for you to know that what I meant to say was I don’t just want to be your friend.
“It would mean a lot to me for you to know that what I meant to say was I don’t want to be your friend.”
Jason took a step forward as Percy flinched back.
“I was already aware of that, I don’t know why you though it would be a fucking good idea to speak to me about this when we’re meant to see eachother again tomorrow.”
It was Jason’s turn to flinch, Percy had never spoken to him with this tone of voice, “I don’t think you get what I meant-”
“No! No, I get it. What I don’t get is why you had to say it to my fucking face.” Percy continued just as venomously.
“I come here to set things right and this is the reaction I get. If you don’t feel the same you just had to say so, no need to be a fucking dickhead.” Jason shot back, feeling his anger rising along with the shame at the unexpectedly rude rejection he was facing. Deciding there was no point arguing over it anymore, the son of Jupiter turned around on his heels and walked away.
Tomorrow is the movie night.
This whole situation is so fucking stupid.
-
This whole situation is so fucking stupid. Percy was supposed to see Jason again after the argument they had just yesterday. He had gone straight to Annabeth’s after Jason left. He had to talk to someone. He just had to. Coincidentally, Piper was also there (they were most definitely not hooking up), so he got to vent to two people.
“Oh my gods, you guys are actually idiots.” Piper smacked her forehead. Annabeth rested her elbows on her thighs and leaned her head in her hands, “I–I have no words. Literally. Nada.” They had shooed him out afterwards and told him they had a snack list to do for the movie night, which Percy found weird because they never do a snack list. Although, it certainly sounded like an Annabeth thing to do.
Percy was at Piper’s door. He had not rang the bell as he had received a message (on his monster proof phone, Valdezᵀᴹ, thank you very much) from the said girl that precisely read, ’The doorbell’s broken, don’t ring it, just text when you’re here. Jason’s not here yet so come quickly if you want to pick your seat first xoxo’. Percy quickly sent a text notifying them that he had arrived.
The door was opened by Hazel who seemed to be giving him an apologetic look for some reason. Before he could question it, he was dragged in by Piper. From the looks of it, only Jason was missing.
Or so he thought. Before Piper continued dragging him past the living room, where they usually watched movies at, towards the kitchen, “Pipes, where–ow,” Percy was interrupted as Piper hardly shoved him into the kitchen and the door slammed behind his back. Percy heard the door lock as he looked up to see Jason.
Jason?
“You two are not getting out before you talk it out properly and we are not starting the movie before that so hurry.” Annabeth kicked the door for proper dramatic effect.
“Hey! You said he wasn’t coming.” Jason crossed his arms.
Percy scoffed, “At least I can still tolerate you around people despite what you did yesterday. I wouldn’t complain if I were you.”
“What I did!?”
“Obviously!”
“I wasn’t the one who started cussing in the middle of a serious discussion about how my friend felt!”
“I wouldn’t have cussed if you hadn’t said that!”
“I didn’t say anything that warranted that kind of response.”
“Oh, you know what you did.”
“No. I don’t actually.”
“I knew you hated me but not that much!”
“Where the heck is that coming from!?”
“You said it wasn’t because of the project.”
“That has nothing to do with this!”
“So you don’t even care to remember what you said.”
“I care!”
“You said you didn’t want to be my friend, Grace.”
“I don’t just want to be your friend!” Jason finally shouted.
Oh.
“Not just friends.” He echoed once more, his voice cracking at the end.
Oh.
“So… so you don’t hate me?”
“I’ve had a crush on you for months, Perce,” Jason sighed exasperatedly.
Percy thought back to the anger he felt when he saw Leo and Jason being close. Jealousy. It was jealousy. He thought back to the desperation he felt to be friends with Jason Grace. He wanted to hang out with Jason. He wanted to be his friend. He wanted to make him smile. He wanted, he wanted.
Percy slowly approached Jason who was now holding his hands up, elbows bent over to top of his head. He grabbed the blond boy’s hands and slowly brought them down. Jason hesitantly looked at Percy’s face which now had a small but sincere smile plastered. Percy placed a kiss on the blond boy’s cheek and opened his mouth to speak, just to be interrupted by Frank’s apologetic: “I tried to hold him back!”
The door unlocked and five other demigods barged in, Leo being the first. “So, you’re telling me we had to plan this whole thing because of ONE word?” The boy said, looking around as if he'd find a hidden camera.
“You two,” Annabeth gestured between Jason and Percy, “are idiots.”
Jason shoved Leo jokingly, “Shut up, just get the snacks.”
All the demigods grabbed their usual movie snacks and drinks. They all filed out of the kitchen but Percy grabbed onto Jason’s elbow before he could follow the others out. The blond boy looked at him curiously. Percy liked to think he was a sociable person so he gathered every bit of confidence and spoke up, “How about a date next wednesday?”