I promise y'all I've been writing on this chapter almost every night. I just happen to only get like 80 words every night. Sorry for the wait, but hope you enjoy!

He'd never hear the end of this.
*****

Percy was under the impression that he'd be left alone at school after punching Chris Rodriguez's lights out. Apparently, someone didn't get the memo.

Octavian was a senior, and a hated one at that. He was the only person that Percy had ever carelessly made an enemy of. He couldn't stand the boy, not when they had one of his sophomore year electives together and certainly not past it. Octavian lacked any kind of empathy when it came to Percy's speech patterns, or lack thereof, and constantly felt the need to comment about it. Lacking in both friends and a will to live, Percy just let him most of the time. It wasn't like anything he said was technically false.

Towards the end of the semester though, Percy was finally fighting back. He did what he could to provoke Octavian without any words—a quick roll of the eyes, pretending he couldn't hear when Octavian tried to speak to him. It wasn't anything harmful, but it was certainly a blow to the boy's ego. They failed each other on peer reviews for group projects pretty much every time, refused to work together if they could help it, and regularly spent the class glaring at each other. When the class ended for the semester, Percy never saw him again other than a few fast passes in the halls. Octavian's name had left his vocabulary.

Unfortunately, now it seemed as though the news of Percy's sexuality had worked its way into Octavian's ear. Percy was living in ignorant bliss, thinking that the knowledge had just briefly passed over without anybody caring. Hardly anyone did anything about it beyond the first couple of days, and he believed the first few days were bound to be the worst.

Surely, the situation was dealt with and ended.

Octavian had other plans.

Percy received an email from him in his third period class and chose to ignore it, deciding that the boy would bring him no good. He had no reason to be contacting Percy for anything besides trouble. Percy had learned his lesson after the day he tried to meet Chris in the bathroom to keep the boy from texting him. Not even opening it and giving Octavian the benefit of the doubt, Percy deleted the message from his inbox and carried on with his day. If Octavian had something to tell him, he could find Percy and say it in person.

Unsurprisingly, that was the day that Percy learned to be careful what you wish for.

He was waiting outside with Leo after school. Since Thalia pretty much destroyed Jason's car, Percy had been walking him and Piper home. The blonde clearly wanted the roles to be reversed, but Percy pretended not to notice. Sometimes, like that day, Leo tagged along to do homework with Jason and occasionally Piper or Percy. The latter two weren't exactly the most helpful when it came to schoolwork, though.

Supposedly, Jason had gone to talk to his English teacher about an essay they had to write, and Piper had exited with Annabeth a few minutes earlier. This left Percy and Leo, who rambled about the test he'd taken that morning and—according to Leo—aced. Percy smiled; Leo was one of his favorite people to listen to.

"Perseus," a disgustingly familiar voice called out from the entrance they were near, "I need a word with you."

With a heavy sigh and a confused look from Leo, Percy turned his head towards Octavian reluctantly. The lanky boy realized Percy didn't plan to leave Leo and made his way towards them.

"Dude, what's happening?" Leo muttered to him, watching Octavian closely as he approached.

"Is it true I was sitting next to a disgrace last year?" Octavian held out his hands in a questioning manner. He'd always been a straightforward guy, pretty much the only thing Percy appreciated about it him. Beyond that, Percy couldn't stand the boy's fake cockiness, aggressive words, and self-centeredness.

"Percy," Leo urged from his side, gently pressing a hand to his shoulder when he didn't listen, "Percy, we should go."

"Calm down, you imbecile. Perseus and I are old friends," Octavian rolled his eyes as he came to a stop in front of them.

Leo frowned at the blonde. He'd heard of Octavian but never had the "pleasure" of interacting with the boy. After listening to some of the things he'd said or done, Leo quickly decided he was okay if Octavian never even knew his name. Of all people, Leo hadn't expected Octavian to know Percy.

Leo's eyebrows bent sharply towards his nose, anger passing over his face. "He goes by Percy."

Octavian didn't seem to be very impressed with Leo or his small size. Percy knew better, though. If it came down to it, Octavian's bony frame held nothing against the fire that could burn inside of Leo Valdez. Truly, Percy wasn't in the mood for another fight regardless of whether he was in it or not. He'd had enough fighting to last a lifetime, so he placed a hand on Leo's shoulder in an attempt to calm him down. If they were peaceful, Octavian would eventually go about his day and leave them be.

Octavian seemed to realize Leo had no plans to leave and sighed, obviously turning himself towards Percy. "I've been hearing some interesting stories about you recently. Did you actually get into a fight with Rodriguez, Perseus?"

Percy shrugged, surprisingly earning a nod from Octavian. "Impressive," the blonde told him, "I didn't think you had that much courage, quite frankly."

"Don't even try to talk to Percy about cour—," Leo spat out, only managing to hold himself back when he saw Percy glare at him. It was a silent message to shut up.

Leo reluctantly settled for sending vicious glances in Octavian's direction while the blonde carried on talking to Percy.

"The Rodriguez boy told me about your...interesting romantic preferences," Octavian informed him.

Leo scoffed. "The only interesting romantic preference is one for you."

"Who are you?" Octavian shot back, diverting his attention to Leo again.

"Leo Valdez," the boy smiled charmingly, "I'm surprised you didn't know—I'm pretty famous, actually."

Leo grinned as he heard Percy sigh from his side. The green-eyed boy was very fond of Leo, of course, but he was quite the handful sometimes.

"Valdez," Octavian spat the boy's last name, clearly thinking Leo wasn't formal enough. It certainly wasn't an Octavian or a Perseus, but the name suited Leo well. "May I ask why you've befriended Perseus? Surely you'd seek better company because of your fame, as you claim."

"Percy's cool," Leo shrugged. "You're the one missing out, really."

The blonde scoffed, looking back at Percy. "I'm not sure how you deal with it. I'm feeling tainted even being with him now."

"It's mutual, man," Leo reassured him, accompanying his words with a thumbs-up.

Octavian pretended to ignore him. "Have you tried anything to make him normal?"

Leo shook his head. "Nah. I can help you out, though, if you want. Could use a nose job, to be honest with you, bud."

On that note, Leo shrugged his backpack off down to his hand and abruptly swung it at Octavian's face, knocking the smug look right off of it. He didn't respond, probably in shock from Leo's sudden change of attitude. Truthfully, it was only Leo paying his debt to Percy, who'd helped him with Chris weeks ago. Quickly, Octavian took a swing with his own bag. Expecting nothing else, Leo ducked, but apparently Percy wasn't as lucky and got knocked in the face, stepping one foot back to regain his palace. Octavian took a deep breath, seemingly preparing himself to lecture Leo and Percy, but he was interrupted by the voice of another familiar blonde.

"What in the world is happening here?" Jason called out curiously as he stepped through the exit. Octavian begrudgingly fled in the opposite direction, knowing Jason had more influence than Leo and Percy combined.

"My knight in shining armor," Leo grinned as Jason approached before concernedly glancing at Percy. "You good, Perce?"

Jason sighed as he stopped near them, tenderly reaching out to grab ahold of Percy's chin and inspect his face. Percy couldn't help but roll his eyes, despite his appreciation that Jason cared. He did feel a little dizzy after taking a couple textbooks to the skull, but he'd certainly felt worse before. Seemingly decided Percy was in good enough shape, Jason swiped a gentle thumb over his cheek before retracting his hand and looking at Leo. "Why were you talking to Octavian?"

"He just learned my name thirty seconds before I clocked him," Leo shook his head, "Percy's the one he was striking up a conversation with."

Seeing Jason's inquisitive look, Percy mouthed Class at him, which seemed to get the point across. "So what'd you say to him?" He asked Leo, knowing his friend too well.

Leo feigned shock. "I've never said a hurtful thing in my life. I was doing him a favor."

"Which was?"

"I told him it was a free nose job, and—"

"And then you hit him in the face?"

Leo sheepishly nodded. He wasn't much of a fighter (mostly because he had a tendency to lose), but Octavian was on his last nerve. His friends deserved better than however Octavian treated them. "Turns out he wanted to return the favor. Sorry, Percy."

Percy gave him a shrug. Leo couldn't have done much besides take the hit in the first place, but Percy didn't expect him to do that. Jason, once again, sighed at his boyfriend's nonchalance. "We'll go to your place first to let you get some ice."

The boy in question didn't seem to be a fan of the idea. Percy had been walking home last every day with Piper and Jason. He could make it with a bruising face. Jason read him like a book, though, and tried to reassure him.

"We'll be fine, Perce," Jason told him, "Apparently Leo's a professional fighter—"

"Hell yeah, I am."

"—so we'll be safe coming back to my house afterwards." Percy nodded but didn't seem convinced. Jason was very much aware but decided not to comment.

Regardless, Jason smiled at him before the three left the parking lot and headed to Percy's apartment on the sidewalk. Jason and Leo were both watching Percy and his slight stagger every once in a while, making sure he didn't collapse on the side of the road. Jason was really channeling his mother hen instincts, checking in on Percy way more than necessary until Leo called him out, effectively shutting him up about it for the rest of the walk.

They strolled for several more minutes before arriving at Percy's apartment complex. Percy reluctantly let Jason walk with him up the stairs, leaving Leo alone on the first floor.

"What class did you have with Octavian?" Jason asked halfway up the first flight of stairs.

Percy grimaced at the memory of the class. "Classic lit. Not my best decision. Don't take it."

Jason chuckled lightly. "Consider me warned. Why'd he come talk to you today?"

"He knows I'm gay," Percy muttered quickly, not surprised when Jason sighed.

With a very clear eye roll, Jason responded. "He wasn't, like, hitting on you, right?"

"Well," Percy shrugged, "he did hit me, but that's about it."

Jason gave a relieved nod, ignoring the smirk on Percy's face. He wasn't jealous, since it was Octavian and all, but he found that he didn't particularly like the idea of the other blonde flirting with Percy for several reasons.

A comfortable silence settled until they walked into the Jacksons' apartment. Percy made a beeline for the couch, practically flopping onto it with a groan. Jason laughed to himself as he went to the kitchen and got some ice ready for Percy, since the boy would clearly not be doing it for himself.

"Put this on your face," Jason said, dropping it onto Percy's back and grinning when the he jumped from the sudden chill.

Percy shot him a playful glare. "I hate you," he muttered as he readjusted himself and let the ice sit on the side of his face.

"I like your face a lot more when it's not all bruised," Jason told him as he reached down to fix some of Percy's hair.

With a smile, Percy absentmindedly responded with, "You, too."

Jason sighed, bidding Percy goodbye after he forced him into an agreement to call Jason if he needed anything. Jason knew he wouldn't be receiving any calls because Percy would think it's inconvenient, but the concept calmed him. Right before he left, he spared Percy a soft forehead kiss and a brief scolding for letting Leo start a fight. Percy waved him off at the second part, blaming Leo while he couldn't defend himself. With a bag of ice placed awkwardly on his head, Percy gave Jason one last smile before he disappeared through the doorway.

Percy could gladly spend hours with that boy.

I sure do love adding to my repertoire of antagonists, apparently. I even started a fluffier chapter and then said "hm, better not."

I'm definitely not the biggest fan of this chapter, but I'm glad I could get something out. I hit another block, and I think getting this chapter done and published will be good inspiration ahaha

Hope you enjoyed regardless!! Have an amazing weekend, lovelies.