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Nico falls in love for the first time.
Nico falls in love for the first time, and he ends up falling in love with a boy.
No, not just a regular boy, but Percy Jackson.
Nico’s not used to this, as a child he had been told that being attracted to the same sex was wrong, back when Bianca and his mother had still been alive.
Back when he still lived in Venice, Italy.
But, Nico runs, he runs far, far away, far from camp, far from the other demigods, far from Percy and Annabeth.
Percy is still off somewhere, and Annabeth is still looking for him, Nico can’t handle it, he feels guilty, he doesn’t want to see them anytime soon.
He feels guilty over being in love with Percy, Percy who has everything Nico could possibly want, a loving partner, a healthy support system, a loving mother and stepfather, none of which Nico has.
And worst of all.
Percy doesn’t even like boys.
—
Nico falls in love for the second time.
Nico ends up falling in love with another boy, this time it’s much more different.
No, he doesn’t fall for a regular boy, Toby Rogers is no regular boy.
This time, Nico’s used to it, he knows that he was simply taught the wrong things growing up, back when he still didn’t know he was a demigod, a child of Hades.
Nico doesn’t end up running away again for loving a boy, he already ran once, and ended up finding what he had longed for, he doesn’t need to run again.
He’s far away from camp, far away from the other demigods, far from the gods, and most importantly, far from someone like Percy.
The second time he falls in love with a boy, Nico doesn’t feel guilty, he feels warm and surprisingly giddy inside, and most importantly, he feels loved and safe.
It happened when the two of them were out in the lake, right outside the mansion. It's a nice day out, the forest feels lively, but not like at camp, where that meant something was wrong, something was lurking.
Nico feels the cold lake water splash him a bit, mainly thanks to Toby and Jeff who are too busy fighting in the lake with water guns.
“Nico! You sure you don’t wanna get in the lake with us? C’mon, it’s so lonely without you!” Toby says to Nico, getting out of the water for a second, and despite his intimidating appearance, in Nico’s mind he simply looks like a wet wolf puppy.
“I’m fine Toby, but thanks.” Nico responds to Toby with a soft chuckle.
He doesn’t miss how Jeff snickers between their convo, calling them ‘idiots’ under his breath.
“Aw man, too bad you don’t wanna join our water fight… you could’ve been like… my sharpshooter! And I’d be carrying you in my arms!” Toby says excitedly.
“Like Toby’s little princess, heh.” Jeff teases them in response to Toby’s words, sounding highly amused.
For around half a second, Nico seems to be offended by Jeff’s teasing comment, but he ends up letting it slide.
“Says the guy who can’t get any dudes or chicks to dig him.” Toby teases Jeff in return, an extremely smug smile on his lips.
“Hey! Watch it, jackass!” Jeff yells at Toby, offended to hell and back.
Toby just laughs, blowing a raspberry on Jeff, and Nico fails to hide a quick little giggle at the duo's dumb, childish antics.