To be honest, I don't really the start of this chapter LMAO. Like, I think the second half is pretty nice and heartfelt, but the first is sister struggling. Just so we're all on the same page, whoops. Enjoy!

Jason did make him happy.
*****

"Oh my gods, Jason!" Piper shouted as he walked through the front door. Her illness had passed obnoxiously quickly, and now she was back and better than ever.

"What?" He asked, slightly fearful of her loud and overly excited state.

She gave him a grin. "You spent the night there, you sly dog!"

Jason sighed at her, rolling his eyes as he made his way upstairs to change clothes. He was very aware of Piper's impending footsteps behind him.

"You're just not gonna tell me how the date went?" She asked, laughing to herself as she followed him.

"It was good," Jason told her, stepping into his room and shutting the door in her face.

"Come on, dude," she called out from the hall, "That's all you're telling me?"

There was no more dialogue exchanged while Jason quickly changed into different clothes and swung his bedroom door back open. "How soon is too soon to make a relationship official?"

Shock flashed across Piper's features, convinced she'd have to pry a lot more to get Jason to tell her anything. "Oh my gods, Jase, you're fucking whipped."

He groaned in response, pushing past Piper and practically flying down the stairs. He should've known Piper wouldn't have any helpful advice, especially since the only person she'd ever dated was Jason himself. As the two teens headed downstairs, a car door slammed from outside. With a dangerous smirk, Piper rushed out the front door with Jason hot on her trail.

"Your brother needs relationship advice," Piper told Thalia as the older girl handed her several bags of groceries.

Thalia spared a glance in Jason's direction, who looked hilariously embarrassed with the situation. "What'd you do?"

Jason sighed, making sure to glare at Piper before answering, "I didn't do anything."

She gave him a doubtful look, telling him they'd continue the discussion once they got the groceries inside before stuffing the rest of the bags into his arms and closing the trunk. As promised, she sat down at the table with her brother after everything was put away and Piper was sent elsewhere.

Jason explained his question to her. He told her about their date the previous night, as well as how natural everything felt with Percy. There wasn't the awkwardness that came with most initial dates. They were very comfortably affectionate with one another, despite only going on two official dates. Plus, they'd already spent months together as friends beforehand, with several mornings waking up together and comforting hugs shared. Jason knew it was fairly soon, but he felt he'd be perfectly fine making his relationship with Percy official. His only problem was the other boy in question.

Percy's life had been very busy in recent weeks. His abusive stepfather had been arrested and found guilty in court, he started using his weakened voice more often, he had his first kiss as far as Jason knew, he partook in a fist fight just days earlier, and probably even more that Jason didn't know about. Additionally, he knew Percy wasn't having the easiest time with coming out. Percy was clearly trying not to talk about it, but Jason could see his nervous glances whenever he was at school, his tenseness when Jason came close to touching him when other people were around.

Jason couldn't imagine him wanting to be in a relationship with everything else going on. He needed time, most likely. Jason was more than willing to allow him that time and wait until Percy was ready, but he found himself selfishly wishing things could be different.

Thalia listened to his rambling patiently, occasionally nodding along to what he was saying. She understood where he was coming from, disappointed to find herself unable to come up with a good answer for him.

"Jason," she offered once he'd wrapped up his thoughts, "I don't want to be that person, but have you considered talking to him about it?"

He frowned at her, partially expecting the answer but disappointed nonetheless. "What would I even say?"

"Just be honest with him," Thalia advised, "It's obvious that he trusts you a lot, and the worst thing that happens is he says no."

"No, the worst thing that could happen is that he thinks I'm an idiot and never talks to me again," Jason countered, knowing he was being overdramatic yet unsure how else he was supposed to respond.

Thalia rolled her eyes, making sure her brother saw it. "Percy wouldn't do that, and you know it. That boy adores you, Jase. He wouldn't stop talking to you forever because you want to date him."

"Well, I sound stupid when you say it like that," Jason muttered.

Thalia offered a small smile. "Glad we agree. Now, what are you going to do next time you see him?"

He sighed, sparing her an annoyed glance as he responded with a mocking, "Talk to him about it."

On that note, Thalia stood from her seat, patting Jason a little harder than usual on the head as she passed by. She told him she'd be upstairs taking a much-needed nap after only sleeping for a couple hours the night before but that he could wake her up if he needed anything else.

He watched her go with a frown. Getting everything off his chest certainly helped, but he still wasn't sure how to approach the issue with Percy. Jason was just glad he had other things he could focus his energy on, like schoolwork or his lunch with Percy.

Percy.

He was always in Jason's thoughts one way or another.

*****

Percy was in Jason's car almost as much as his head. He greeted the blonde with a kind smile as he opened the door and climbed in, ready for their lunch together. Jason, of course, complimented the way his shirt brought out his eyes, feeling smug when Percy looked slightly flustered.

At the restaurant, they were seated in the back corner, face-to-face with each other from across the booth. They were at a cute little pizza joint that Jason had been to a few times, and Percy seemed entertained enough by the fun posters with pizza puns that lined the walls. He pointed out a couple of his favorites to Jason. "You are my home slice" and "Take another little pizza my heart" seemed to be popular with the green-eyed boy.

Jason ordered a simple pepperoni pizza for the two of them, and they chatted as they waited for it to come out. There was discussion of music, something that neither had gone in depth about with one another, and Jason wasn't very surprised to find out that Thalia and Percy listened to many of the same bands and artists. He chose not to tell Percy, unsure if he was ready to listen to him and Thalia spend all their time together talking about the best Green Day album or which Fall Out Boy music video had the best aesthetic.

Jason's conversation with his sister from the day before crossed his mind a couple of times, but whenever he considered bringing it up, he saw Percy's relaxed and pleasant demeanor and couldn't bring himself to do it. They could discuss it later, and preferably not in public.

Soon enough, their food was brought to the table. Jason thanked their waiter, and Percy gave a polite nod. Percy grabbed a piece and took a small bite, evaluating the taste. Jason watched him curiously, his smile growing when Percy noticed and gave him a thumbs up. With a quiet laugh, Jason took a slice for himself.

Their conversation easily flowed, even if a good amount of Percy's dialogue was through his phone. Every once in a while, he'd mutter a witty remark for the sake of comedic timing, but usually, Jason had to patiently wait for Percy to type out a reply with his non-greasy left hand. It gave Jason time to eat his pizza, though, so he was perfectly okay with the arrangement.

Only a few other people occupied the restaurant, excluding the small staff. They were mostly seated on the other side of the dining area, but a group of three old women were a few booths away. Thankfully, neither group could see each other from their seats. Jason just happened to notice them while he and Percy walked to their own booth. The building had dark red walls with a thin white trim and several of the silly posters Percy had pointed out earlier. The lights were dim, which only made the atmosphere gloomy and dark when combined with the incoming clouds.

Jason didn't think it was going to rain. When he'd briefly watched the news the night before, the weather was supposed to be perfectly fine. The menacing and heavy clouds seemed to say otherwise. Regardless, they finished up and waited for the bill, complaining about the absurdity of their newest English essay. Neither of them had started it, naturally.

After paying, the two boys began their decently lengthy walk to the parking lot. The restaurant was stuffed in a line of buildings. The very few parking spots available along the busy street were taken, so Jason was forced to park the car several buildings away. The walk to the place was fine, but the walk back became miserable when rain started pouring down a quarter of the way through.

Raindrops pelted against them, the downpour choosing the worst time to commence. Seeing Jason's less than amused face, Percy laughed softly at him and hesitantly grabbed his hand before leading them under the awnings of some of the buildings. Jason expected him to let go once they were shielded from the rain, but Percy merely held on and interlocked their fingers, stuffing his free hand into his pocket.

Jason didn't mind the rain. Actually, he found it rather comforting to listen to the pattering of rain drops on his window at night. He liked the way lightning could brighten the entire sky within seconds, and rolling thunder distracted him from his common feelings of stress and concern. Back when his father wasn't a disaster of a man, he'd sit with Jason by the window and tell him stories about storms in kingdoms, villages, forests, the whole shebang. It was one of the few good memories Jason had left of him.

"My dad loved storms," Jason told Percy quietly. He couldn't talk to Thalia about their father, as she got upset nearly every time he tried, so he thought telling Percy was a good alternative. He knew he'd be listened to with Percy.

"He'd have me watch them with him," Jason smiled at the thought, "My mom always got mad because he'd stop me while I was doing homework."

Percy gave his hand a gentle squeeze, not sure how Jason felt when it came to talking about his parents. Since Jason's last breakdown after seeing Hera, the two hadn't discussed it much.

Percy was hesitant as he asked his next question, "Do you miss him?"

Jason nodded, thankfully not seeming bothered at the inquiry. "I guess I do. He's not the same person I looked up to when I was a kid, but he's still my dad. I don't really want to see him anytime soon, though. Maybe I just miss who he used to be."

Percy didn't respond, just pulling Jason closer to himself in a futile attempt to get them both completely out of the rain. He was so preoccupied with getting to Jason's car mostly unscathed that he barely processed the next thing the blonde said to him.

"What about your dad?" Jason asked curiously, knowing he wasn't exactly pertinent in Percy's life but not having much more information.

When Percy was silent for a few seconds, Jason finally processed that he might've hit a sore spot and tried to apologize, but Percy just shook his head.

"Never met him," he stated plainly, "Don't think I want to at this point."

Jason was unsure how he was supposed to respond. Percy, to Jason's relief, decided to elaborate, "My mom used to tell me how much he wanted to meet me, but I...obviously he wasn't too excited."

It was no wonder Sally meant so much to the boy. She really was all Percy had for a long time, apparently.

"She says I'm a spitting image of him," Percy told him weakly, a quiet and bitter laugh following. Jason decided not to comment, just imitating Percy's comforting gesture from before and squeezing the boy's hand. Percy gave him a sad smile but didn't continue.

Jason could already tell Percy didn't talk about his father very often, and he felt honored that Percy told him anything at all. He felt a little bad for asking, truthfully, but Percy didn't seem angry with him. A little disappointed in the subject matter, yes, but not upset.

Finally, the stepped into the parking lot, letting go of each other's hands so Jason could fish his keys out of his pocket. They were both drenched from the rain, and Percy was colder than he cared to admit. Percy was about to walk around the car to his door when Jason caught his wrist and gently pulled him back.

"It's not a rom-com without the kiss in the rain," Jason said, earning an eye roll from Percy.

Still, Percy wrapped an arm around Jason's neck and closed the space between their lips. Percy felt Jason's arms slide around his waist as he returned the kiss. It was only a few moments, short and sweet. Jason would've gladly held the boy there in his arms for more time, but he could see the goosebumps lining Percy's arm and ushered him into the passenger seat while he opened the trunk and dug out a clean hoodie he'd left back there months ago.

Jason's car was organized to the naked eye, but he had miscellaneous items placed all throughout the interior, including his navy blue hoodie that got tossed at Percy when Jason climbed back in the car.

Percy raised his eyebrows quizzically at it, but Jason just shrugged. "You looked cold."

With a faint but genuine smile, Percy slipped on the sweatshirt over his, unfortunately, very wet shirt and relished in the slight warmth it brought him. Even after their more serious conversation earlier, the two were easily able to fall back into cheerful conversations, the previous kiss providing a segue to their shared experience of watching rom-coms with the women they lived with. They'd both started out claiming they were annoyed by the films, but eventually the two boys admitted that neither of them actually minded too much.

Jason, with reluctance, parked his car in the lot outside Percy's apartment. The latter tried to offer Jason's hoodie back, but the blonde merely shook his head and sent Percy on his way.

"You can hold onto if for a while," he'd told Percy. He wasn't sure how Percy felt about the matter, but Jason himself was rather fond of the idea of Percy wearing his sweatshirt around. Call him cheesy, but it was true.

The rain had let up on the drive over, Jason's windshield now only occasionally being covered by the thin layer of raindrops. With a kiss on Jason's cheek and a quick goodbye, Percy got out of the car and jogged up to the front doors before disappearing completely from Jason's sight.

Jason smiled, refreshed by the time he'd spent with Percy. He certainly lied to his sister about telling Percy about his dilemma, but the thought wasn't the first thing on Jason's mind, in his defense. He was much more focused on how Percy's eyes had shined in the dark lighting, or how his hair perfectly flattened across his forehead in the rain, or how much Percy's voice had been improving recently, or just generally how Percy was so unbelievably amazing to him. With those thoughts plaguing his mind instead, there was one thing very prominent in his head. He sighed at the thought.

Piper was right. Jason was absolutely 'whipped'.

@ me wanting to wear my nonexistent boyfriend's hoodies like I don't already own about eight billion of my own

I'm a sweatshirt addict, y'all, please help me LOL

Also, I was half-asleep when I wrote the ending and this a/n, please spare me.

Anyways, did y'all like the chapter??? I was a personal fan of the more casual interactions this time, but that could just be a me thing.

I'll see you all soon! Have a nice day week until then!!