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Grover Underwood and Percy Jackson were in Cabin three. The satyr sitting on the floor, the demigod beside him except on the bed. It had been a long day. Lately, Grover had been coming to the Poseidon cabin to hang out with Percy even if it was already night. Though, on this night, something was on underwood's mind. He had noticed that earlier that day, Jackson seemed to be more sluggish and his movements and reaction time was lacking. 'Was he not getting enough sleep?' Grover thought. He wanted to be there for his friend, to be able to help him in times of need. With all that on his mind, his hand unconsciously lifted up to his small horns and roughly picked at them: it was a habit for when he got stressed.
Sitting on the bed meant Perseus got a view of the top of the satyrs head. Meaning he could see how he roughly picked and scratched at them. Him and Annabeth had noticed Grover's habit. Well... mostly Annabeth but Percy noticed a couple times too. Jackson frowned, it almost looked like a pout, and grabbed Grover's hand and put it to his side. "Dude, don't do that..." he muttered
Grover snapped out of his thoughts. "Yeah... sorry..." he mumbled apologetically. Percy sighed and relaxed against his bed. "Something on your mind?" He asked Underwood, getting cosy on the blanket. The satyr looked away and fiddled with his thumbs. "Have you been feeling okay, Percy?" Grover's voice was nervous but filled with concern. "Hmm? Yeah? Why?" Perseus asked. Well he hasn't been feeling okay but Grover didn't need to know that, even if he could probably tell. "...you were... kinda more slow today and looked sick..." underwood said. "Nah I'm fine don't worry-!" "Percy... please don't lie to me... if anything's wrong I want to help you!" Grover saw right through his excuse.
"Have you been eating properly? Sleeping right?" Underwood couldn't hide his growing concern in his voice. "Uhh... I've been sleeping, like I normally do? And... I mean I haven't been that hungry lately-" "Percy?! When exactly have you been eating each day?" The satyrs eyes were wide and he reached his hand up to rest on the edge of his friend's bed. The demigod gulped.
"Oh you know uh... like I ate this morning!" "Percy you had an apple this morning!" Grover's face was pale with horror. "Come on! You need to go eat!" Underwood got up but Jackson shook his head. "Hey hey! Don't worry about me. Also you can't really eat at night time" Perseus chuckled but it didn't bring the satyr any closure. If anything, he seemed more nervous. He twirled a strand of hair around his finger and pulled it out. Percy winced when the strand got ripped out but, before he could speak, "Percy, you have to promise me you'll start taking better care of yourself! You train every day that...that can't be good for you!" Grover got up, his eyes simmering with concern and worry. "Woah woah! What about you?" The demigod asked, sitting up: his face now inches from Grover's. "M-me? What about me? I eat food, I drink water, I'm healthy!" "That's not what I'm talking about!" Percy muttered, he grabbed Underwood's hand that still had the pulling out hair in it. "Dude you just ripped out your hair!" He accused before grabbing the sides of Grover's head and tilting it down so he could see if the other boy had bald spots or something!
"Woah! Percy!" Grover squirmed slightly, his hooves scraping across the floor. Percy ran his fingers through underwood's hair, checking for bald spots. "You're lucky you still have hair dude!" Once Perseus like go of the satyrs head, he lifted it back up and fixed it. "You didn't need to do all that..." Grover grumbled. "Well I guess we both have problems we need to fix." Percy sighed and underwood nodded. "Yeah..." he said and sat beside Percy on the bed.
"Is there... anything else you want to talk about..? Like to vent about?" "Not sure... you?" Percy asked. Grover thought for a minute "what's your opinion about me?"
"My opinion? Well... you're pretty cool and you're my best friend! You're nice and you don't make me feel stupid" Jackson laughed at his own joke. The satyr chuckled as well but his eyes didn't meet Percy's. "Is that it?" He mumbled "is that it?" Percy repeated. "No no! I'm not fishing for compliments I swear but... am I just your best friend?" "Grover, what do you mean by that?" Underwood looked away and sighed. "No... don't worry about it..." "don't worry about it? You can't just say stuff like that and expect me to forget it!" Percy argued. He didn't want to raise his voice at his best friend but he was curious now! What did Grover mean? "Dude I won't make fun of you! You know me! We literally like, share emotions! Since we were 13! You can tell me anything!" "Do you think of me as just your best friend? Has there ever been a moment where you thought we were or could be I don't know... more?"
Percy opened his mouth before closing it again. What exactly was he asking? Why was Grover talking like this? "Grover... are you saying you... like me?" Jackson asked. Underwood looked away. "well... does that change how you feel about me?" The other guys voice was so small, like he wanted to run. Percy slowly scooted closer on the bed until their knees touch. Then without a word, he leaned forward and wrapped both arms around Grover in a tight hug. The satyr yelped at the contact but melted into it, his body was shaking and the demigod could hear sniffles coming from him. Without letting go, Percy gently pressed his cheek to the top of Grover's head and tightened the hug even more. Like if he held on hard enough, nothing bad could ever happen between them again.
"Hey... hey," Percy whispered softly into his hair. "It's okay."
One hand slid up to cradle the back of Grover's neck while the other rubbed slow circles over his back. Grover buried his face in Perseus's neck and quiet sobs wracked through his whole body. He muttered 'sorry' over and over, ashamed about his feelings. Jackson's jaw clenched. Not in anger, but in hurt. Hurt that Underwood was apologizing. Hurt that he felt ashamed for liking someone who'd been right there with him every single day. Then he leaned back just enough to cup both sides of the satyrs tear-streaked face. His thumbs brushed away the wetness under his eyes. "Grover," Perseus said gently, firmly, but so genuine it almost didn't sound like him at all. "Don't apologize... You have nothing to be sorry for."
"I didn't mean to, Percy!" Grover cried, pulling the demigod back into another bear (or goat) hug. "I promise I didn't mean for this to happen!" Underwood mumbled in the other boys shirt. "You didn't do anything wrong," Percy murmured against his hair. "If anything... I should've noticed sooner." "You're not angry? You're not gonna yell at me?" The satyr questioned like it was normal, like he was expecting Percy to scream at him. Percy's expression softened. Really softened, the way it only did for Grover. He pulled back just enough to look into his eyes, and cupped his face again.
"Grover," Percy said quietly, "why would I be angry? You like me. That's... that's not a bad thing." He frowned. Not at underwood, but at how scared he sounded. Like liking someone was some huge crime you’d get sent to Tartarus for. "You think I'd yell?" The satyr looked away. "Well... you're a... powerful demigod and I'm just... a satyr so..."Percy's stomach dropped.
Oh.
That was it. That was the reason Grover thought Percy would be angry, because of status. Because he wasn't some big-shot like Annabeth or Clarisse, but just... a satyr. And suddenly everything made sense: the insecurity, how scared he was, how he thought his feelings were invalid. "Grover," Perseus said sharply, not unkindly, but with fire behind it now. "Shut up." His hands tight against both sides of underwood's face and made him look directly into his eyes. "W-what?" Underwood yelped. His gaze nervous. 'Was Percy angry? Oh no... was he gonna blast me with his water powers!?' Grover thought, gulping at just thinking about that. The demigod didn't look angry. He looked furious! But not at Grover. At the stupid world that made his best friend feel like he was too small, too unimportant, just because he wasn't a demigod with godly blood or some epic legacy. "Grover. I don't care if you're a satyr, I don't care if I'm a demigod! I just want you here! We've been friends for so long! Why do you think I could ever be mad at you?" Jackson actually sounded hurt that underwood thought that about him. Percy moved his face closer to the satyrs, making his breath hitch. "I... I'm sorry..." underwood mumbled but his mind seemed to be somewhere else at the moment. Percy didn't give him time to spiral. One second they were staring at each other. The next, Percy closed the small distance between them and pressed his lips softly against Grover's. The satyr flinched and froze, his whole face turning beet red. Of course, being rather inexperienced, the kiss between wasn't great, but to eachother? They might as well just cooked up some Gordon Ramsay type dish!
(More like Golden Ramsay. Yknow like the Golden Fleece? No? Okay whatever party pooper)
When they finally pulled apart (just an inch). Percy kept his hands gently cradling the satyr's face. His eyes searched Grover's: wide, shocked... still processing what just happened. "You-! Percy you just-!" Underwood pulled back a bit, nervous and flushed but that didn't hide the small wobbly smile slowly appearing on his face. Percy grinned: wide, crooked, the kind that only came out when he was genuinely happy. He didn't say anything. Not yet. Instead, he leaned back in slowly and kissed Grover again. softer this time. Gentler. The satyr tried his best to kiss back, even as a few giggles escaped him. He put his hands on the demigods waist like he didn't exactly know where else to put them. Percy laughed against Grover's lips. He found it stupidly funny that his best friend could be kissing him and still manage to laugh. The way Grover's hands rested awkwardly on his waist only made him laugh a little more. He tilted his head slightly to deepen the kiss just a tiny bit before pulling back again with that same dopey smile. "Does this mean-" Grover started. "Yeah," Percy whispered with a smile. "It means we're... y'know." He trailed off awkwardly because boy, this was new territory for both of them and neither had labels ready yet.
This time, Grover was the one who initiated the kiss. He gripped the front of Percy's t-shirt and pressed their lips together. The satyr had always been shy about physical stuff. Hugs were fine. But this was a real, intentional kiss from Grover? He kissed back eagerly now, lips warm and slightly clumsy but full of feeling, and let one hand slide up to tangle gently in underwood's curly hair. The satyr pressed his face harder against Jackson's, he didn't want this to end, and he definitely didn't want to half-ass it! Percy kissed him back with equal enthusiasm, one arm wrapping tightly around Grover's shoulders while the other hand stayed tangled in his curls. He tilted his head again, deepening the kiss naturally like they'd done this a thousand times before. Percy, being the one closer to the pillows on the bed, gripped Grover tightly before falling backwards onto the sheets. The impact broke their closeness for a second, underwood a bit surprised but he smiled nervously. For a second, they just stared. No words. Underwood laughed nervously at being literally on top of Perseus. His face was bright red and he looked away. Jackson reached up and gently brushed a stray curl from the satyrs's forehead."You okay?" Percy asked quietly, voice warm. no teasing in it for once. Just care. "Yeah..." there was an expression on Grover's face that Percy had never seen before. He heard satyrs could be... odd, at times (sometimes all the time) but he never seen that on Grover until now. Underwood looked away, his expression back to normal. Jackson smirked and pulled Grover into a hug. "I love you..."
The satyr yelped before he relaxed and muttered
"I love you too, Percy"