FINALLY UPDATED! You may now preach the gods.

I had the first part of this chapter written for so long and just forgot about it... I think that I thought I posted it, but I didn't? Idek.

ANYWAY, ENJOY THIS CHAPIE AND I LOVE YOU!!!!

Chapter #37; Part 1 : Who Are You Now?

~Don't wake me up if I'm sleeping this life away
Tell me that I'll never be good enough
Sometimes it hurts to think it could really be that way
It won't be that way.
I'm tired and I'm lost
I don't wanna be found
I put my heart and my soul
And strength in this now.
So forgive me 'cause I won't forget that
Yeah, this world has changed me
So you know when you ask me.
Who are you now?
Did you say what you want?
Don't go back to the start
I'm asking, who are you now?
Did they break you apart?
Won't you fight back for what you want?
Sometimes you gotta fall before you fly
We're gonna work it out.
Don't, don't, don't wake me up
'Cause I hate who I am today
So come on, come on
And just take, take, take what you want
Is it now what we're living for?
We're always wanting more.
You made me hate my own reflection
Question every choice I make
So I could try to be perfect
But I will try to be fake.
So forgive me 'cause I really could care less that
This world has changed me
So you know when you ask me.
Who are you now?
And sometimes you really live, you've gotta try
We can change it all together, in the end you're gonna find
That what we felt in our hearts was real the whole time
When you open up your eyes, I hope that you find
Who you are?
Who are you now?
Sometimes you gotta fall before you fly
We're gonna work it out.~

NICO POV

"But did you see her face, Perce?" I grumbled miserably. "What if she hates me now? She may not have said anything, but-"

"Neeks, Hazel doesn't hate you. It's okay, let's just focus on what's ahead of us and worry about that later, yeah?" Percy suggested with an almost pleading tone, his piercing green eyes staring deeply into mine.

My shoulders slumped as I fastened my black leather sword belt. Percy was right (which I hated to admit); we had to focus on what was ahead of us and push our personal life out of the way. I just hated to be left wondering if my sister hated me for my sexuality or not. I was called down to the Big House by Chiron along with Percy before I received any positive or negative answers from Hazel. And that, believe me, left me frustrated and desperate and fidgety to no end.

I sighed and stared up at the clear blue sky, trying to calm myself down. "Okay... Thank you-" I glanced behind me to face the green eyed man, and froze in disbelief.

I instantly rolled my eyes. Percy was tugging at his breast plate, attempting to fix his armour and tie it up securely, which he was obviously failing at. He spun in circles, nibbling his lip in concentration and frustration, fumbling with the leather ties. I threw my head back and groaned quietly in amusement. How could this guy be a hero? How could he be my hero?

"Perce," I called out, approaching him. "Do you... Need some help there?"

"Uh... No, I've got it. I can handle a simple t-" He spun in another circle and huffed in aggravation. "Yes, please."

I smirked, crossing my arms. "You know, we don't even need our battle armour. We're trying to blend in. On a scout. Through town."

"Wait, seriously?"

I nodded.

The son of Poseidon groaned and slid off his breast plate, letting the shinning bronze metal hit the ground with a metallic ring. "That was a waste of ten minutes of my life."

I chuckled and grabbed his wrist. Now that I knew Percy sort of reciprocated my feelings for him (which was beyond satisfying and absolutely the best feeling in the world), without being too cheesy, I easily picked up the slightest hint of pink that dusted his cheeks at the contact my hand made with his skin. I have never noticed it before, due to my constant worrying about if or if not Percy even liked me, meanwhile he was blushing right beside me. I bowed my head with a blush of my own, shielding myself behind my long bangs, and pulled Percy along towards the Big House with me.

Even though Percy finally liked me back, I was not going to allow myself to explode into cheesy loved up teenage girly fangirl hormones. Not in public, anyway.

Not even a minute later, Percy had stopped walking and started fiddling with something else. I sighed in exasperation and allowed myself to watch him wrestle with a leather belt around his waist. After a few minutes of me waiting with my arms crossed and basking in Percy's struggles, the raven haired man glanced up, his eyes pleading with me for help.

"Alright, alright," I sighed, my lips betraying me with a small smile.

I kneeled down beside Percy and, with my nimble fingers, began fastening his leather belt properly. I was working on correcting the size he had tried adjusting it to before, when he finally broke the silence.

"You know," Percy began with a sheepish chuckle, "this is just like back when we were first becoming friends. You were always tying up my equipment when I couldn't..."

I smiled, hiding my face because of the blush. Yeah, I remembered when he couldn't tie his own freaking armour in the battle arena months ago. I had hesitantly and reluctantly asked him if he needed me to help him out, and he was all awkward and adorable. It was when we both had that connection for the first time, I think. It was the closest we had ever been at that time. Literally.

I chuckled, feeling giddy. "Why are you wearing a knife belt, anyways? Since when did you fight with knives?"

Another sheepish smile and an awkward scratch at the back of his neck. "I was thinking that I can't always fight with a glowing three foot celestial bronze sword in tight situations when I'm supposed to be incognito, and Jane from the Ares cabin said I had good aim, so... Y'know... Might as well give it a try."

"Good luck with that," I chuckled breathlessly, shaking my head.

Percy seemed mildly offended. "What? You don't think I can pull it off?"

"No, it's not that," I shrugged nonchalantly, pushing my fringe out of my eyes, "It's just that I think you're a better close range fighter, with a sword or hand to hand. I've never seen you with any throwing knives or arrows or anything. So, I guess we'll just have to see, Baby Blue."

"Mmhm, you done with the belt yet, Death Breath?"

I grunted and stood back up. "Yeah. You know, even after all these years... You still can't tie your own gear without my assistance."

Percy smirked and stepped closer to me. "Maybe you just love helping me." His green eyes flashed with cheeky mischief.

"Uh," I gulped at the sudden closeness and change in the once playful atmosphere. Dam, he moved in quick.

"Am I still not your type?" He whispered lowly, almost a coo. I could feel his warm breath on my ear, the smell of the ocean paralysing my body.

I sputtered. I sputtered like a really old antique car from, well, around when I was born. I was at a total loss for words. I couldn't believe that Percy, out of everything that has happened to him, remembered me spitting that out in anger after the Giant Battle when Percy's friends began implying that I was warming up to him, or they were just simply teasing us of having an attraction to each other. I had grumbled out in a white hot fury that he was not my type, that's all that need be said, like the sassy bitch I was, and stormed away. Nobody said another word afterwards, forgot it all, and returned to avoiding me because I was strange and dark and scary and the son of Hades. Typical.

So, yeah. I was hella befuddled.

"Uh," I coughed and spun around on my heels scuttling away stiffly, "Chiron needs us, we should get going- I-I believe it's important?"

Percy caught up to me with a smug expression, a smirk pulling at his thin lips.

"Mmhm, very important." He ducked his head towards me until his sparkling light green eyes met mine, then he winked, sending my stomach and chest into a frenzy.

I tried regaining my cool and stop sputtering and turning red and actually breathe as Percy strutted beside me with an air of absolute joy and accomplishment - freaking smugness - while we made our way to the Big House with multiple demigods and trainees staring at us with a mix of curiosity, confusion, and interest.

PERCY POV

Nico and I sat side by side on a packed city bus full of loud citizens travelling smack dot to the middle of Dublin, Ireland. We were dressed casually to fit in with the teenage crowd: I was wearing a plain pale blue V-neck with blue skinny jeans and Adidas sneakers, and Nico was sporting a black checkered shirt with black skinny jeans and runners. Nobody glanced at us twice (except for a couple thirteen year old girls, but we paid no attention to them considering our change in teams and probably the pedophile age difference, too). The Mist helped cover up any tiny glances of our leather belts or weapons, but our aura would give us away to any monsters nearby. Two children of the Big Three were most likely to catch the attention of a nasty axe wielding snake woman. We didn't need that.

"Centre City Dublin; this is our stop, Perce," Nico leant over and whispered in my ear.

I snapped out of my thoughts and gave him a small flustered smile. I stood up from my seat, stretched from the two hour bus ride, and pulled Nico out of the bus with me. Even though the first rule for every quest was to stay on track and to complete the mission without any distractions or delays; we couldn't help but to take in the scenery and notice how different it was from Manhattan, New York. In my opinion, Dublin looked rustic in a sort of modern-ish way. Lots of buildings, people walking the streets, some really old shops and bars, lots of room for pedestrians to walk freely, and it was overall quaint, colourful (except the greyish sky), homey, old, and fun. Not many cars were in the streets, and kids were out having fun playing soccer (or football, since we were in Ireland now). It was different in a nice way.

Nico nodded to himself, hair falling into his eyes. "It's nice, but we should get going."

I agreed and rubbed my hands together. "So, where do we start searching?"

"Well," Nico sighed and pulled a map of the city from his navy blue carrying bag, "we have to find this fourteen year old Roo-ah-ree Radcliffe O'Connor - hopefully I pronounced his forename properly - somewhere near the east side of Dublin hidden away down an alleyway in a townhouse probably swarmed by disgusting beasts setting off red smoke flares and destroying his house and attacking the fourteen year old boy and killing everything in its sight, totally full of danger, so."

I raised my eyebrows.

"So let's go this way."

Nico took off down a random street with the map in his hands and a backpack on his back, turning a corner under an old lamppost. I sighed. Not out of annoyance or reluctance to follow, but out of a weird corny fondness. Nico was Nico, and that was all. So I followed after him without complaint and observed my surroundings with an excited curiosity. It was nice to get out of camp for a while, not that I was getting tired of it, but the new air and atmosphere sent a sort of adrenaline through my veins and an excitement of rescuing another fellow demigod.

Walking the streets of Ireland alone with Nico was honestly the most relaxing thing ever. No one knew who we were, none of our friends were around, we trudged side by side, hands occasionally brushing together. My stomach churned with butterflies and my heart pounded in my chest but my mind and body were totally at ease. Nico's aura was comforting in a way and every few seconds I would glance at him from the corner of my eyes and gaze at his cute thoughtful expressions. What were we now that we've kissed and expressed ourselves to each other? I didn't really care, as long as he stayed next to me. But... I also did want him to be mine and I be his, so I decided to make a more obvious move. It was about time to turn on the charm, am I right?

Nico crumpled up the map slightly and huffed in annoyance, coming to a stop under an old black lamppost. His forehead creased and his bottom lip jutted out in an adorable way. My stomach leaped. It was now or never. Pedestrians walked the streets and it was just like any other city, really, so we were out in public for everyone to see. But that didn't stop me from muttering a breathy 'Fuck it.' and pressing my lips to Nico's in a surprise kiss. I leaned down, gently cupping his cheek in one hand and grasping his neck in the other. I moved my lips against his, sighing at the amazing feeling of his plump lips and the taste of pomegranates. It sent me into a frenzy (blame it on the hormones). Nico squeaked into my mouth at first, and then eagerly responded by leaning into my body and moving his lips roughly on mine.

Not a minute later, Nico was shoving me away. Hard.

"Percy!" He exclaimed, his cheeks bright pink, his eyes sparkly and wide, his lips beautifully pink and swollen. "We're in public, you can't just do that!"

I pulled his small figure to my side and smirked down at him. I brushed his hair away from his eyes with my index finger and gazed into his bright brown orbs full of a hidden timidness and uncertainty. "I just did."

"W-what if we get caught?"

I sighed and placed my hands on Nico's small shoulders, staring deeply into his cinnamon-gold eyes as he blushed under my sincere green gaze. He couldn't seem to meet my eyes and played with the rim of his black checkered shirt. Dark brown fringe hid his face. His cheeks were ablaze even though I knew I wasn't looking any better and that made me extremely happy and giddy to have that effect on him. He made me feel the same way. Like a thirteen year old school girl around her first crush. But Nico was obviously more than just a simple childish crush to me.

"Nobody here knows us. It's just you and I. Stop worrying about what other people think and just do what you feel is right; what your heart feels is right. It may sound overused and overall ridiculous, but trust me, I would know. I'm not saying that I still don't worry about what others think of me, not at all, because I do, but... I-I like you, so I show affection because I don't care what others think when I'm with you, Neeky, I just care about you right now and that should be enough." I scratched the back of my neck, feeling awkward after that confident-non-confident speech. I was such a cheese-ball underneath the cool normal teenage boy exterior.

Nico's dark and hesitant features softened up. His eyelashes fluttered and it seemed as if my words had really touched him. I was glad. A tiny smile tugged at the corners of my lips and Nico lifted his head up, his cheeks tinged an adorable pink and his eyes sparkling. Time seemed to be moving in slow motion, just us two, and I couldn't help but feel as if something were about to happen between the two of us. Indeed, the Italian boy reached up and took hold of one of my hands, holding it delicately in his own cold pale hands, and he began playing with my fingers as a big grin spread across his porcelain face. A beautiful grin with nice white teeth. His hand slipped into my palm and our fingers linked, intertwining. My breathing sped up and shots of electricity were just exploding up my arms and through my veins. Heat, even though Nico's hands were a surprising ice cold, had burned in my stomach, chest, and fingers. I loved it.

Nico giggled under his breath and lent forward, leaning his forehead on my chest to muffle the sounds and hide his goofy grin. My body tingled and fondness filled my heart. He was so small... In an instant, I had my arms wrapped securely around him, protective and possessive of Nico. I felt a chin lift up and rest on my chest. I glanced downwards and stared at the little angel in the eyes, smiling down at him as he stared up at me with a soft brown gaze. Small yet muscular arms wrapped around my torso. I felt amazing, I felt loved, I felt happy, and I just couldn't believe Nico was in my arms to this day. I lowered my head down and nuzzled my nose against his small pixie nose affectionately.

"My heart is telling me that whenever I'm with you, Perce... I'm in the midst of having a heart attack." Nico breathed with a tiny giggle and lifted up onto his tip toes.

He pressed his lips to mine and I responded immediately, kissing him back. It was slow, and sweet, and innocent. I tasted pomegranate on his lips and couldn't help myself as it drove me insane. I nibbled on Nico's bottom lip and a low yet high pitched sound escaped his throat. I chuckled into his mouth because I knew he was embarrassed about that slightly feminine moan. I found it attractive, honestly, as it made my stomach tingle. My hand gripped his waist and pulled his body closer as my other hand cupped his warm cheek. Nico's arms pulled my neck down to his height and his hand played with the small black hairs at the back of my neck. A content shiver ran up my spine.

He raked his tiny fingers through my hair and tugged on it slightly. I moaned in surprise and pleasure. With that, I ran my tongue along the smaller boy's bottom lip, asking for entrance into his mouth. He hesitantly opened his plump red lips and I stroked his soft cheek with my thumb in quiet reassurance. We didn't get too physical or naughty with our, uh, as you say 'tongue work'. Our mouths moved together perfectly and our tongues collided in what would usually be cringe worthy or disgusting, but turned out to be enjoyable, sweet, and somewhat innocent. He tasted of fruit and vanilla and his touches were feather light unlike his once hard demeanour. I smiled against his lips, feeling weightless.

I pecked his swollen lips a couple more times then gave him one last lingering kiss before unwillingly pulling away. He was like a magnet. I was drawn to him and I always had ti be touching him in some way.

"Fucking hell, Percy Jackson." Nico breathed, catching his breath with wide eyes. "That was... Now that... Kiss... Shit."

I threw my head back in hearty laughter. "Yeah, I could say the same, Neeks, but I won't," I chuckled with joy.

"Whatever," grumbled Nico with a tiny pout.

I wrapped my arms around him in a hug. His cheek was pressed against my chest and I leant down to rest my chin on top of his head.

"I like this."

I blinked. "What?"

"I like this..." Nico uttered quietly, "This whole 'being affectionate' thing... I really, really like it, Baby Blue."

I blushed, smiling. "Me too, my little Shadow Prince."

There seemed to be another meaning to our words and what we were confessing. There was a second meaning behind it all. It gave me hope, like a promise that something was going to happen between us in the future. I wanted that badly. I never realised how much I had wanted to be open with Nico, to show him my affection in public - even at camp - and to be more than friends with him. I wanted to show everyone, whether homophobe or friend, that I was going to love Nico like he was meant to be.

I absolutely love kissing him in public, not hidden away. By the twinkle in his eyes and the pink tinge to his cheeks, I knew Nico felt the same.

Why did that mean? Did it mean I had to come out, too? Does that mean we have to come out? Did that mean to be open with our relationship? Our relationship... Would we be more than just friends? I wanted all of that. I wanted to be open, I wanted to come out with Nico and watch as everyone envied our relationship. I wanted a boyfriend, I wanted Nico... It was selfish, but maybe Nico had wanted it, too.

One of us just had to make the first formal move.

My eyelashes fluttered as Nico's gentle finger tips brushed across my cheek. With a hum in contentment, I opened my mouth to speak my thoughts. I needed to ask him. I had to know if he wanted to be more for sure. He was so perfect... I had to make him mine.

"Nico," I muttered softly, my voice smooth and deep, "I-"

BOOM!

CRACK!

POW!

... Fizzle.

My eyes widened and Nico spun around in my arms, jumping in surprise. We immediately tensed, ready for any type of attack. The sound was extraordinarily loud and the earth trembled under the rippling atmosphere and explosion.

"Over there!" The son of Hades exclaimed.

My heart beat sped up and I pushed myself in front of a fearless Nico, frowning up at the purpling sky. What the hell was happening?

It was definitely an explosion. Of what kind, though? I wasn't at all sure. The sky was lit up with purple and light blue flames, ashy smoke wafting in the breeze. Sparks spit from the middle of the purple explosion and the smell of burning shoe insoles suffocated me. The impact of the explosion wasn't at all far away, maybe a few blocks or so. What surprised me even more than a sudden purple explosion that smelt of disgusting shoe insoles were the mortals nearby walking in the streets.

"Wow, look!" A middle-aged man with greying hair exclaimed while pointing at the sky. "Fireworks!"

I frowned as other nearby pedestrians 'oo'ed and 'ahh'ed. Mortals saw some odd things through the Mist. What Nico and I saw definitely weren't fireworks...

"We have to get over there." I stated. "Following the purple explosion's ashes and smoke definitely seems like the most strategic thing to do at the moment."

Nico nudged his backpack and smirked at the purple sky. "Ten quid that's the O'Connor kid."

I chuckled and nodded my head, gently elbowing the smaller lad in the ribs. "You're on."

NICO POV

The first thing we saw when we arrived at the right destination (we were certain because everything was abnormally purple), was a massive screeching beast with bat-like wings circling above a two story townhouse up in colourful flames. I couldn't mistake the beast as anything other than a bloody Fury. Its talons were at the ready and its razor teeth were bared. A scaly T-Rex looking monster staggered out of the front door of the house with its tail in flames, belching out black smoke, and spinning in circles. Another creature came shooting out of the second story window, howling in pain as it came tumbling down to the ground. A hairy mole-wolf hybrid (ugly looking thing) stood on the roof of the place, unsure whether or not he was going to attempt jumping off to get away from the fire. When he finally did jump from the roof, one of his canine legs caught the balcony's railing and he came crashing down to the concrete, disintegrating on the spot. I wrinkled my nose. That was unfortunate.

"We should check inside, see if anyone's still in there." Percy suddenly said beside me.

I glanced over into his deep sea-green eyes and nodded in agreement, feeling my dangerous exterior and cold demeanour instantly return. I started towards the front door of the house and froze in step. A teenage boy came sprinting out of the flaming house seconds before the front door's archway came crumbling down. The boy had a lanky body, wavy electric blue hair, pale Irish skin and blue eyes from what I could make out. He was an odd sight with black skinny jeans and a bright pink hoodie. What bothered me and what will most likely always bother me, was the fact that he was taller than myself and was obviously younger than me.

When he finally took notice of us - he almost ran me over while he was stumbling away - he grinned a goofy smile, white teeth showing and all, and exclaimed, "Did ya see dat?!"

I frowned in confusion, taking a closer look at the guy that almost got himself killed. A trail of blood ran down the side of his head, matting down his electric blue hair on the right side and turning it a sickly mucky purple. I wrinkled my nose.

"Uh... Roo-ah-ree O'Connor?" I asked the guy with narrowed eyes.

Percy snickered beside me and I shot him a confused look. He just smiled and shook his head. With a frown, I turned my attention back onto the bizarre and colourful teenager.

"Ya mean Ruari?" The guy asked in a thick Irish accent, an amused grin playing on his lips. "It's pronounced Roar-ree, mate."

My eyes widened in embarrassment.

Percy burst into uncontrollable laughter and I smacked him in the stomach with a death glare.

"Ow, Neeks, what was that for?" Percy exclaimed with big green eyes.

"For allowing me to mess up the kid's name more than once without correcting me so I could embarrass myself, you fish stick!"

"Oi, 'lil creepy Emo dude?" The boy with blue haired poked me in the shoulder. "I'd lof t'keep watchin' ya spazzin', but there're massive creepy things comin' after meh."

Percy jumped to action immediately. "Oh, right! Just give me a minute, yeah? Nico, stay with Ruari-"

"What?! No, I'm going to fight!" I argued with disbelief.

Ruari cleared his throat and lifted a finger. "Uh, mind if I interject a wee bit... I can take care o' meself unless ya wang s'more man power." With that he demonstrated a boxing punch.

I sighed. "Just stay here and don't... Die."

"He means stay put and let us protect you." Percy added with a polite smile. "You did almost die, so..."

The younger boy threw his head back and barked out a laugh. "Man, those things almost chewed me head clean off! If I hadn't of died by those beasts, it'd be the fire that had swallowed me up! I'm just some luckeh bastard, ain't I?"

"Right." I murmured.

With that I unsheathed my black Stygian iron sword and approached the few monsters left alive from the still unexplained purple explosion. There were only over half a dozen left who hadn't burned up. I skewered two easily and the third I beheaded with an arc of my blade. It felt good to be back out on quests, yet somewhat a painful memory. I continued slaughtering and barely noticed Percy join me out of the corner of my eye. Three were left, I hacked one of them apart with a small growl. Behind me I faintly heard a small shout. I spun in a whirl, my blade passing through the stomach of a hairy monster as I turned to see what had happened behind me. Worry suddenly pooled inside of me. What if Percy had been hurt? What if the seaweed brain had been distracted by me or even the blue haired guinea pig and had been injured? I couldn't live with that.

I squinted my eyes and couldn't believe what I was seeing.

"Oi, ye fat monster hide reeks of rotten meat and blue cheese!"

My mouth fell open in exasperation as the O'Connor kid wrestled with a vicious hairy beast as it snarled and growled down at his judgemental remarks about the beast's backside. The thing seemed to have already taken a swing at his arm. Three deep gashes ran down his shoulder, across his bicep, and through the pink hoodie's fabric on his chest. Thick red blood oozed from the wounds. It was a serious injury that needed tending to immediately, yet Ruari was still taunting the beast, joking around, laughing, and spitting rude Irish cusses. Percy was sprinting over to the fourteen year old boy with his sword ready. I followed after him.

"Stupid boy... Can't listen, can he?" I grumbled under my breath while jogging.

Ruari grunted under the weight if the monster, sweat dripping down his brow yet he still wore a cheeky smile. "Damn, yer one hell of a fecking beast!"

"O'Connor!" I growled at the top of my lungs. "Stop fooling around!"

The blue haired boy ignored me with a chuckle. "Ah, he ain't goin' do nothin', am I right, lardo?"

The beast growled, saliva spitting out of its mouth and dripping from its long fangs. The beast's eyes glowed a deep blood thirsty red, a dangerous glint shinning in them that I knew would know the best from my encounters with monsters from all over the world. It craved blood. Blood of a demigod's corpse. The monster's giant mouth unhinged itself and lowered down above Ruari's head. The fourteen year didn't even flinch. My stomach twisted as his fangs snapped together.

But, just before the beast could decapitate the electric blue haired teen, Percy had brought his celestial brings sword, Riptide, down through the creature's skull. It disintegrated onto Ruari's clothes in a pile.

I reached the group and nobody said a word.

Everything was silent except for the crackling purple fires of the townhouse burning down behind us.

"Damn," Ruari O'Connor spoke up with an unrealistic amount of energy, "gettin' me head bit off by a big hairy beast tree times me own size would have been a great way to die, hm? Much better than dying in a ditch in soiled trousers like me great uncle Harris."

I stared the guy void of emotion. "The fu-"

"Your wounds, Ruari," Percy interrupted, gesturing to the boy's arm, chest, and head, "we to get those checked out and healing right away. They look terrible-"

"Eh, it ain't nothing but a scratch. A little sting, but it only gives me a kick of reality of what just happened."

I frowned at the boy, leaning on my sword as Percy sat down beside the boy, checking his wounds and searching my bag for ambrosia or nectar. "What did happen, O'Connor? How did you attract the monsters in the first place, and what was that purple explosion we saw earlier? You must have an explanation. You seem to love talking."

"Indeed," Ruari smirked cheekily, his impish face resembling an elf and a... well... an imp. "To answer yer questions... While I was microwavin' some popcorn, I realised that 'lil sparks were just springin' from the bag, and when I moved on closer... It was comin' from meself! I was so impatient about waitin' for me popcorn, that me eyeballs were poppin' it with microscopic purple laser tings for meh! Now dat, me friend, was som'f'in I was not expectin' on a dreary Friday night-"

"So popcorn attracted the monsters." I stated more than asked with a deep sigh.

Percy wrapped his arm around me, entwining his large tanned hand with mine causing my whole body to erupt with tingles. I smiled and leant into his warm and comfortable touch. I could get used to that. Ruari either hadn't seen the exchange or just didn't give a shit, which I was completely fine with either way.

"Now, now," he flipped his wavy blue hair to the side and grinned, "it probably wasn't the popcorn, but the many tings I experimented with after that had attracted them. I just discovered I had powers! Feck yeh I was goin' to test out some 'arry Potter spells! After a while, you see, I found out dat the spells didn't work very well in reality and dat massive purple explosion was confirmation dat the gods wanted meh to stop.
Moments later, a huge bat librarian crashed trough me bedroom window, attacking me curtains and nipping at me feet! Dozens of hairy and scaly beasts followed after. And then two very odd looking Americans showed up to save me arse. Dat's you lads." He pointed and Percy and I.

I grit my teeth, annoyed and exasperated with this guy's personality. "I'm not American, vlacas."

"D'you just call meh an idiot? How'd I even know dat? What language was dat? Damn, I'm bilingual and I didn't even know it?"

"It was Ancient Greek, you idiot, and you knew that because you're not a wizard, you're a fucking demigod, a son of a-"

"Greek god." Percy finished for me, unconsciously tucking me into his side. I instantly curled up into him with a content purr, closing my eyes and smiling. "I can only assume, with what you've told me and what I've witnessed myself, that you're the son of Hecate, the goddess of magic, sorcery, darkness-"

"Me Nan always told meh I was special." Ruari murmured under his breath, wiping his forehead with his hand, in the process smearing his own blood all over his face.

"We should leave before he loses all of his blood. I don't feel like giving up a pint for this loon." I suggested, nudging Percy with my elbow.

He glanced down at me, his green eyes shimmering in the sunlight and burning purple flames. "Yeah, we should bring him back to camp, ASAP. Think you can shadow travel?"

I pursed my lips in thought. "Yeah, I might."

"Great," breathed Percy.

The air suddenly grew a lot tenser and I found it extremely difficult to look away from Percy's captivating eyes. His tanned skin was so smooth. His thin pink lips just in sight.

"Y'guys goin' tah snog already?" The blue haired fourteen year old snickered in front of us.

I shrugged my shoulders and turned my full attention back onto Percy's lips. "Why the hell not?"

I smashed my lips on Percy's and held his face in my hands. His arms hugged my waist and attempted to pull me as close to him as possible. My stomach twisted and fluttered and my body temperature rose. Kissing Percy was doing some major damage to my health considering I couldn't breathe and my heart was racing a hundred miles a second. I could faintly, just faintly hear an annoying child wolf whistling in the background and snickering, meanwhile I was just focused on moving my lips against Percy's, trying my hardest not to moan or worst of all... drool. Nasty.

~

"Tanks, lads, for saving me arse and bringin' me to this American paradise that smells of cow manure and baking strawberries." Ruari grinned as we dropped him off in the infirmary.

Percy smiled back. "No problem, buddy. Just don't get into any more trouble."

"Trouble?" The blue haired boy asked innocently, his blue eyes wide. "Oi, since when have I ever been in trouble?" He winked.

I rolled my eyes, fighting off a smile that tried to make its way onto my face.

Once outside, Percy turned to me with a boyish grin. "That was fun. I'm glad we got O'Connor back safely."

"Same." I leaned into Percy's side with a happy sigh.

"You know... That was probably the first time you and I weren't ambushed or attempted to be assassinated by a mega beast while on a quest or something."

I pursed my lips in thought, sucking on my lip rings. "I think it was, Baby Blue."

"Quite a success then. It feels good." The son of Poseidon chuckled and I smiled with him, adoring his almost musical laughter. It was one of the many things I absolutely adored about the raven haired man.

I glanced over at him fondly, my cheeks pink. "Yeah. Quite."

Not five minutes after my cheesy moment, I smirked up at Percy.

"You owe me ten quid."

Percy grinned nervously. "... Right."

I laughter wholeheartedly and reached up on my tiptoes to peck Percy on his rosy cheek, not caring if anyone was watching or staring. They could stare as long as they pleased, because there were definitely more kisses to be seen that night for sure.

"Nico?"

I turned around as I heard my name and my blood instantly pumped faster with nerves.

"Can we talk for a moment in private...?" Hazel asked, running her fingers through her curly hair while staring at the grass.

I predicted I was going to need a lot more Percy kisses to last the night.

~

End of Chapter

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Love you so much :3

Xx, Curly

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-Blue Haired Guinea Pig