Chapter Text
Whenever Jason Grace had a nightmare, he would go visit Percy Jackson in Cabin 3. This was partly because Percy had insomnia, and was always awake whenever Jason knocked. It was also partly because he understood Jason's plights; Jason never had to explain if he didn't want to. It was enough for him to say Nightmare, and then Percy would tell him to come in and they'd watch Disney movies or listen to Percy’s CDs (on demigod-safe technology) until they both fell asleep.
It was a habit that Jason had grown rather fond of. For some reason, being around another person helped him fall asleep and stay asleep without nightmares. It seemed to do the same for Percy, too, even if the latter wouldn't fully admit he needed the help. Regardless, Jason was always satisfied when he woke up in the morning and Percy was still snoring next to him. Because of his insomnia, it took a lot for Percy to get relaxed enough to fall asleep, so it meant a lot to Jason that he was someone Percy could trust so deeply.
They never really talked a lot on those nights, but if they did, it was about camp stuff or their mutual friends. Rarely did either of them get into a super personal topic, which was why Jason was a little more than shocked when one night Percy asked him how he knew he was gay.
Jason looked over at Percy. They were sitting on his blue couch together, watching a VHS of The Little Mermaid for the umpteenth time. Percy had been talking a lot so far that night, which had already been unusual, but this question was completely out of left field. Maybe Jason had just heard it wrong. “What?” he asked, frowning.
Jason had never seen Percy like this. The fidgeting wasn't too out of the ordinary because of his ADHD, but he was also avoiding eye contact, almost like he was nervous. The son of Poseidon, nervous around him. This was the same dude who had fought in two wars and gone to Tartarus for his girlfriend.
“Um, how did you know you were gay?” Percy repeated quietly, his eyes focused on the TV.
So Jason had heard correctly. Not that Jason minded telling Percy, but…they hadn't talked about it at all since Jason had come out a couple months ago. It had been a little after the war with Gaea had ended. Percy’s eyes had widened, but then he'd smiled and said, Cool, and that had been the end of it. Jason had assumed that meant Percy was fine with it, but now here he was, bringing it up months later.
Jason hesitated. He'd only ever heard that question asked in a negative way, by homophobic people who didn't think you could know you were queer unless you were over 18. “Why?”
Percy uncomfortably shifted on the couch. “Um, sorry, man. I guess I've just been…questioning lately?” he visibly cringed and shook his head. “Never mind. We don't have to talk about it anymore.”
Oh. Now it was Jason's turn to be surprised. He and Percy had flirted on occasion, but Jason had assumed it was in a dudebro way, like, Man, your pecs look great in that shirt, you been working out more? and Bro, you could crush a watermelon with those thighs. Actually, neither of those were very straight, now that Jason thought about it.
He shook himself out of his thoughts, realizing he still hadn't answered Percy. “It's okay,” Jason assured him. “We can talk about it if you want, I don't mind.” He paused. “What about Annabeth? Like, you're not in love anymore?”
“What? Oh, no, no.” Percy shook his head vehemently. “I love Annabeth,” he clarified quickly. “I always will. I've just been confused, so I've been talking to her about it, and she said she didn't mind if I…‘discovered myself’?” He did air quotes when he said discovered myself. “As long as I tell her about it.”
That was also kind of surprising to Jason, but he had no room to judge. It wasn't his relationship, after all. He thought for a moment, watching Percy fidget with the corner of a throw pillow.
“Okay, well…” Jason hummed. “Um, I guess I figured out I was gay when I was with Piper,” he began. “I loved her, but didn't love her, you know? It always felt…wrong, holding her hand and kissing her. I thought that was maybe Hera’s fault, but then I realized I actually wanted to be with L — I mean, a guy.” Jason felt his cheeks get hot, hoping Percy hadn't noticed his slip-up.
Unfortunately, Percy had. He peered curiously at Jason, tilting his head a little bit. “Hang on, did you…like Leo?”
“What?” Jason's voice cracked and he looked away, silently cursing himself. He hated to bring up his best friend, because Leo wasn't even here. He had disappeared after the war, and no one knew where he had gone. Jason had talked to Nico, who had confirmed Leo was not in the Underworld — but he was still missing, and that information had been tearing Jason apart from the inside out for months.
“Shit, you did.” Percy leaned back in his seat, frowning. “Sorry, man. I…”
Jason shook his head, burying his burning face in his hands. “It's fine. You didn't know,” he mumbled. “I just miss him. And I never got a chance to say I…you know.”
They were both quiet for a couple minutes, listening to Ariel sing Part of Your World on the TV. When Jason trusted himself enough to speak without crying, he took a deep breath and straightened up. “Enough about me, we were talking about you.”
“Oh.” Percy shook his head, seeming uncomfortable. “No, we really don't have to —”
“Why do you think you're gay?” Jason interrupted, making eye contact with Percy. The latter’s cheeks turned pink and he turned back to the TV.
“I don't know,” he said weakly. “Um, guys are hot?”
Jason laughed. Well, he wasn't wrong about that much. “Is that it?”
Percy used his finger to start tracing patterns on the throw pillow in his lap. “I guess that's not…the only reason,” he mumbled. Jason gestured for him to continue. “There was this guy I knew once,” Percy said. “Charles. We were good friends, and I really looked up to him. But I was also super jealous whenever Charles would hang out with his girlfriend, because I wanted to hang out with him. Later I realized it might’ve been, like…a crush?”
Jason nodded. “Okay, valid reason,” he said.
Percy was blushing even harder now. “It was the same with a different guy,” he mumbled. “Annabeth liked him when we were twelve. At the time, I thought I was just irritated because she was being ridiculously obvious about her crush, but now I think I was jealous because I wanted him, too.”
“Another valid reason,” Jason said. “What are you confused about, then?”
“I feel like I still don't…know, you know?” Percy rubbed the back of his neck. “It's pretty much been Annabeth for me, so I've never, like, kissed a guy, or…” he trailed off, too embarrassed to continue.
Jason almost wanted to laugh, but he had never seen Percy flustered like this before. It was obvious that Percy was uncomfortable talking about it, and Jason didn't need to make that worse for him.
“I mean, I haven't, either,” Jason said. “You can still know you're gay without kissing or having sex with a guy.”
He was pretty sure that Percy was about to explode. The latter was digging his fingers into the couch cushions, avoiding all eye contact.
“Right,” Percy choked out. “I know you can know, I just…” he took a shaky breath. “Well, now I know you like Leo, so I understand if you don't want to, uh…I mean, Annabeth just suggested I ask you because we're close, and you’re, like, attractive? Not in a weird way, um. But if you don't want to, it's okay, I just —”
“Percy,” Jason said, interrupting his friend's incoherent rambling. Percy stopped talking immediately. “What are you trying to ask?”
It took several long moments for Percy to answer. His voice was so quiet Jason almost couldn't hear it. “If we could, like, kiss.”
Jason paused. He hadn't been expecting that in the slightest. “You…what?”
Percy still wouldn't look at Jason. “Just so I can figure out if I'm actually, like, bi? If not, it's fine, we can just forget it.”
It was surprising, but Jason couldn't say the thought had never occurred to him. Everyone except Percy knew that Percy was hot, with his swimmer's muscles, messy black hair, and crooked grin that could make the straightest of straight boys and gayest of gay girls feel butterflies in their stomach. What was more surprising to Jason was just how anxious Percy was to ask him. He was normally so confident (at least on the outside), taking charge when necessary and fighting whatever monsters were unlucky enough to get in his way.
But not now. No, now Percy was still staring at the TV, gripping the throw pillow in his lap so tightly his knuckles were turning white. It was sort of cute, in a weird way.
Jason thought about Percy’s proposition for a few more seconds. Jason liked Leo — loved him, even, and there would probably always be a Leo-shaped hole in his heart. But Percy had implied that this wasn't going to be a reoccurring or serious thing, plus…he was stupidly hot.
“We can kiss,” Jason finally said.
Percy whipped his head towards Jason, his green eyes wide. “What?”
“As long as Annabeth is cool with it, and it's not going to be serious, then sure,” Jason said, looking at Percy.
Percy’s mouth opened a little. “Oh. I wasn't — I mean, I didn't expect you to say yes,” he stammered, and placed the throw pillow behind him. He paused, hesitantly looking up at Jason. “You're sure?”
Jason nodded, scooting closer. “You need me to put it in writing or something?”
Percy grinned, and Jason’s stomach did a flip-flop. “Just checking, asshole.” Percy moved a little closer to Jason, but hesitated before Jason could lean in, as if he didn't know what to do.
Jason waited for Percy to say what was on his mind. When he didn't, Jason asked, “Do you want me to take the lead?”
Percy nodded, his shoulders slumping a bit in relief.
Jason got close enough to gently cup one side of Percy’s cheek. Percy’s breath hitched at the touch, and he stared with wide eyes at Jason’s lips.
Something like pride swelled in Jason's chest. He was about to kiss one of the hottest guys at Camp Half-Blood, and yet the hot guy was acting like it was a dream come true for him.
“I'm going to kiss you now, okay?” Jason said, waiting for Percy to consent one last time.
“Okay,” Percy breathed. That was enough confirmation for Jason. He leaned in and gently pressed his lips against Percy’s.
Jason had intended for it to be a simple little peck, but it didn't quite happen that way. As soon as Percy recovered from his initial anxiety, he was tugging Jason’s shirt, trying to get him closer.
“Shit,” Percy said breathlessly, when Jason had to pull away for air. Then Percy was pulling Jason back in for another kiss, and the latter happily obliged.
The one Jason really wanted to kiss was Leo, but he tried to focus on making it as good as possible for Percy. Jason pulled out all the things he'd learned during his brief make out sessions with Piper. Things like gently biting Percy’s bottom lip (which earned Jason an adorable little whine), squeezing his hip, and running his hands through his hair. Kissing Percy was completely different to kissing Piper, though. For one, Percy didn't have curves, and was much broader and tougher than Piper. It felt better, though, more right to Jason, to have Percy against him instead. If Jason had ever doubted he was gay before, he never would again.
Percy, to Jason's delight, was very much into this. He was grabbing onto Jason's arms, his waist, his shirt — basically any part of Jason that was in reach. His body was warm against Jason's, his skin heated like he'd been sitting in the sun for hours.
Jason pulled back for a moment, smiling when he saw Percy’s confused little frown. He pushed Percy’s back against the couch’s arm rest and carefully positioned himself so that he was in a kneeling position, with one of Percy’s legs in between Jason's.
He looked at Percy, who was breathing heavily. His black hair was messy, sticking up in random places, and there was a small red mark on Percy's bottom lip from where Jason had nibbled on it. Something felt like it was burning deep in Jason’s gut. He leaned back down to capture Percy’s lips in another kiss.
He kissed him harder than before. Percy made a small little noise, which Jason took as a sign that he was doing something right. When Jason leaned forward after a few more moments of kissing, his knee accidentally brushed Percy's inner thigh.
A couple seconds later, Jason felt a cold liquid splash his back, soaking into his t-shirt. He lifted his head and looked towards the middle of the Poseidon cabin. The fountain in the center of the room had sort of…exploded. Well, the structure was intact, but the water inside of it had been splashed all across the cabin, dripping from Percy’s dresser and soaking into his bedsheets and the couch.
Jason glanced back at Percy. He was still breathing heavily, his pajama pants tighter across the front now. “Fuck,” Percy said, his voice cracking. “Uh, yeah, I'm definitely gay.”