Really sorry for this chapter, y'all.

He was ready to face the world with Jason.
*****

Jason was not excited to face his sister or either of his friends again. He already knew they'd be absolutely treacherous, and he didn't need them ruining the good mood he'd been put in since Percy Jackson was officially his boyfriend.

The thought still seemed fake to him. He genuinely did not expect to ask Percy that day, but he was very glad he did. Not only would his friends stop bugging him to do it, but he also got an amazing boyfriend out of it. A win-win, if you will.

Unfortunately, he did have yet to get through the embarrassing part of actually telling his friends and Thalia. He wouldn't hear the end of it for days, he already knew. Percy had returned home with Jason for moral support, though, so at least he had that going for him.

Jason hesitantly walked into view of the living room, seeing Thalia and Piper as they'd left them and Leo working on some math homework. Surprisingly, the only gaze that traveled towards the two boys was Piper's, even though Jason could clearly see the knowing glint in Thalia's eyes. Leo was too engrossed in the work to care much about their entrance, his hands flying across the paper and his mind seemingly running one thousand miles per minute.

"How was your walk?" Piper asked innocently, the corner of her mouth quirking up at the end.

"It was good," Jason told her, stone-faced, "We stopped at a park a few blocks away to hang out for a bit."

Piper didn't look amused with the game they were playing, deciding to give up and look at Percy. "Hopefully Jason didn't complain about us the whole time you were there."

Percy shook his head, smiling as he exchanged looks with Jason. They were too preoccupied with one another for either of them to do much complaining. There was a silent understanding between the two that it was okay for the others in the room to know about them. It wasn't like it'd be a surprise, anyways. He gave Jason a subtle nod, encouraging him to continue.

"Just came back for some water before we left again," Jason said, jabbing his thumb in the direction of the kitchen, "I have a boyfriend to walk home."

Leo nearly gave himself whiplash by snapping his head towards Jason, finally looking away from his work. "Are you serious?"

Jason was fully prepared to be nonchalant about it, but the idea was abandoned as he laughed at Leo's reaction, sparing Percy another affectionate glance.

"Hell yeah," Piper exclaimed from the couch, aggressively pointing a finger at Leo, "You owe me five dollars, good sir!"

"Guys!" Jason looked embarrassed that his friends were most definitely betting on his relationship.

Leo shrugged. "We got impatient waiting for one of you to make a move."

One of Percy's hand moved to cover his reddening face, not ready to also be targeted by the two. Jason, on the other hand, just rolled his eyes, expecting nothing less from his friends. He noted Percy's slight discomfort and began to lead them back to the front door, though. Piper and Leo complained that they hadn't received enough details, but Percy and Jason were already halfway out the door.

The large piece of wood shut behind them, and after a few quick moments, their eyes met and smiles broke out on both of their faces. Ever since their time at the park, time had been only a blur of blissful moments. Jason didn't care that his friends would certainly tease him for the rest of the week, or that his sister would probably feel obligated to start making embarrassing comments whenever he mentioned going out with Percy. Rather, all his thoughts were set on the boy in front of him, his boyfriend. The mere idea still made his heart skip a beat.

"I hate them," Jason chuckled as he spoke, half-skipping down the front steps with Percy on his trail.

Percy shrugged in partial agreement. He found it hard to complain too much about their friends when they took him into their group so readily. Before he met the trio, he felt lonely almost constantly. Besides his mother, Percy lacked people to confide in, to spend time with. He hardly remembered what the feeling of being totally alone was like anymore.

It was a mutual decision to walk the whole way to Percy's apartment, even if neither admitted it was just to spend more time together. They strolled along the sidewalk, passing lighthearted conversation between each other. There was a slight debates over the superior fruit, a fun conversation about Percy's adoration of dogs, and a couple embarrassing stories about Piper in retaliation for her bet with Leo. He explained the multiple times she'd fallen down the stairs already, as well as how she melted the outside of their toaster. The girl was an interesting person to live with, to say the least.

Jason absentmindedly intertwined his hand with Percy's as they chatted, ignoring but definitely seeing the hint of a smile that settled on Percy's face. The less he acknowledged it, the more he got to see it.

When they finally arrived at Percy's apartment, Jason expected nothing more than a quick goodbye and a lonely walk back to his own house. Percy didn't go inside though, his hand still clinging to Jason as he stayed frozen in his place.

"You okay?" Jason asked him softly, giving the boy's hand a comforting squeeze.

Percy looked as though he was thinking much too hard about his answer before turning to Jason. "Can you come with me to tell my mom?"

"Percy," Jason frowned, "you don't have to tell her so soon if you don't want to. We only told everyone at my house because they've been waiting for it to happen."

"No, I do," Percy sighed, "I'm just scared."

"Of what?" He asked. Jason had learned throughout the months that the best way to get Percy to open up was to listen and encourage. If he was patient, Percy would eventually tell him what was wrong.

"I-I don't know," he admitted, staring blankly at the glass entrance in front of them, "Forget it, it's stupid."

"It's not stupid," Jason reassured him gently, "I just don't want you doing something you're uncomfortable with because of me."

I'd do anything for you, Percy thought to himself, opting not to say it loud in fear of sounding creepy or obsessive. It was true, though, for multiple reasons, the saddest of them being that Jason had more people that'd worry for him if he got hurt than Percy.

Instead, he nodded and gave it one final thought. "I'll tell her another time," he decided.

Jason seemed to understand and offered a warm smile. Percy, as always, was more than okay with spending extra time with Jason and asked if he wanted to stick around. Jason agreed, telling himself it was because he was worried for Percy but knowing it was really because he didn't want to hear it from his friends and sister. They'd be insufferable enough later.

Unsurprisingly, Jason stayed longer than expected, and Percy had practically banned him from walking home alone through the dark streets. He did offer to drive Jason back home for the sake of not being clingy, but the blonde was more than happy to stay over. Now that Gabe was gone, Percy's apartment was a much calmer place to be. With only Percy and Sally, the atmosphere was comforting, relaxed. The mother-son duo deserved the peace after everything Gabe put them through.

Sally was working a late shift that night, apparently, and left around nine, leaving the two boys alone again. She'd dropped by Percy's room to see the two sitting on the floor, going through an old yearbook of Percy's. Jason seemed to find one picture especially amusing, and Percy shoved him away while the boy laughed. He looked up at his mother, slightly embarrassed. By what, exactly, he wasn't sure. She smiled at the moment before telling them she was leaving and closing the door behind her. There were a few seconds of silence before Percy heard the front door close and abruptly grabbed his pillow, whacking Jason in the side of the head.

"What?" Jason broke out into a grin, reaching to fix his hair, "You can't show me cute pictures of you from the first grade and expect me not to laugh."

"No, it's not that," Percy told him, smirking at the confusion that donned on Jason's face, "This is revenge for earlier."

"Oh, dear gods," Jason said to himself before rolling out of the way of Percy's next hit. He lunged for the only other pillow in the room, getting smacked in the arm by the cushioned weapon.

With both boys fully armed, a war ensued. A few loose papers flew out of their places, and Jason was this close to breaking his nose at one point. The apartment was filled with sounds of hysterical laughter and hits from the pillows. They were absolute children.

Towards the end of their fight, Jason had thrown a dangerous blow that disarmed Percy. With little hope left for his life, he tackled Jason onto the bed behind him, seemingly taking the blonde by surprise. Despite Jason's resistance, Percy had him pinned down within a few moments.

"I win," he whispered, grinning at Jason.

The blonde playfully rolled his eyes, a little afraid of the mischief held in Percy's smile. "You're an idiot."

"It was an act of justice," Percy told him, "Where's my prize, blondie?"

Jason really needed to stop challenging Percy. It brought out not only absurd amounts of confidence, but also comments like those that made Jason weak in the knees. He blushed furiously, trying and failing to stutter out a witty response. Percy spared his dignity, leaning down and pressing their lips together. Jason's tenseness disappeared, wriggling an arm out from under Percy and placing it on the back of the boy's neck to pull him closer. Percy shifted his legs to straddle Jason, as their previous position was much too awkward to be comfortable. With both his hands now free, Jason shifted his first one from Percy's neck to tangle it in his hair with the other one snaking around his waist.

Impulsively, Jason decided to get just slightly more adventurous, gently biting Percy's bottom lip to see what reaction he got. Percy was a bit surprised, clearly shown by his quiet gasp, but he had no complaints. They separated to breathe for a couple seconds, Jason smiling as he looked into Percy's eyes.

"Gods, you're hot," Percy muttered, mostly unintentionally before moving to kiss the side of Jason's neck, much like the blonde had earlier that day.

Very quickly, Percy found a more sensitive spot at the base of his neck, stopping when he felt Jason tense. Afraid he might've been hurting the boy, he looked over to examine Jason's face, which betrayed any attempt Jason was making at stopping him. Jason nodded, a quick gesture for Percy to continue what he was doing.

Smiling, he kissed the spot again before a dangerous idea crossed his mind and he froze. "Do we have school tomorrow?" Percy asked, receiving a wordless shake of the head from Jason before the blonde realized what was about to happen.

"Percy, I swear to—," Jason's breath hitched as Percy bit down on the spot and began to suck on the skin. He wasn't sure what had come over him, but the way Jason was reacting certainly didn't help to stop him.

Jason tilted his head to the side, begrudgingly giving Percy more access. He did not need to explain a hickey to his friends and family, but he quickly decided that was another problem for another day. He could tell that Percy was definitely aware of what he was doing; he could almost feel the boy's smirk. The competitive side of him wanted to kiss the dam smirk off his face, but he was too busy relishing in the feeling of Percy attached to his neck.

Soon enough, Percy was apparently satisfied with his work and pulled away, turning to give Jason a final peck on the lips before moving to lay at Jason's side.

"Uh," Percy whispered, suddenly embarrassed by his actions as he traced a finger over the red spot on Jason's neck, "sorry."

Jason hummed in response, smiling at the ceiling. "Don't worry, your time will come eventually."

"Dear gods," Percy sighed, earning a laugh from the blonde.

Jason rolled over to look at Percy. "So, do you have extra clothes, or are you gonna make me sleep in jeans?"

With a nod, Percy quite literally climbed over Jason to get off the bed to search for clothes. They were fairly similar in size—Jason was just slightly broader than Percy and a couple inches taller—so he assumed he wouldn't have trouble finding anything.

He tossed a pair of sweatpants that he thought would fit Jason, along with a hoodie tucked away in his closet. He figured Jason might need it as protection for when he went home the next day. With the clothes in Jason's possession, Percy left the room to let him change and to get them both some water.

He returned to find Jason laying down with his phone in his hands. Looking up at Percy, he smiled and reached out to take one of the glasses, thanking him before taking a sip and setting it on the bedside table. He moved his legs to let Percy get to the other side of the bed, earning a curious look.

"You always say you don't care," Jason explained, waiting for Percy to set his own water down before gently pulling the boy over, "but I know you like that side more."

Percy didn't respond, but his heart warmed immensely. How did he manage to win that boy over?

Based on the way Jason laid down, it was very obvious that Percy would be the one holding him that night. He supposed it was the least he could do before sending Jason off to be slaughtered in his own home. With a content sigh, he wrapped his arms around Jason, intertwining their legs together.

"You could've just told me you wanted to be the little spoon," Percy said quietly with a hint of a teasing tone, brushing Jason's now-messy hair out of his eyes.

"Shut up," Jason chuckled, grabbing one of Percy's hand and kissing his knuckles. "This is you repaying your debts."

"Sure," Percy smiled, telling Jason to turn off the lamp next to the bed, allowing darkness to settle in the room.

There was a brief silence before Jason spoke up, "Night, boyfriend."

"I hate you."

"Didn't seem like it earlier."

Percy had to physically restrain himself from shoving Jason off the bed.

Y'all I'm so ready to write about Jason getting absolutely FLAMED for that hickey next chapter omg

Hope you enjoyed the chapter! And the literal 500 words they spent making out, sincerest apologies about the awkward writing that came with it LMAO

See you soon!