Percy Jackson

They let me leave the facility three weeks after Travis' initial visit, meaning that he visited me one other time, and was there with my parents to pick me up, since he was originally going to visit that day until we found out that that's when I was getting sent home.

Trying to explain my situation with Travis to my therapist proved to me difficult after his first visit. I don't know if it's because he's the first person who wasn't my parents to visit or if it's something another worker saw or heard, but she originally asked me if Travis was my boyfriend, which...

Yeah, he was. In the past.

But then we broke up and had some time apart to grow as people, and now we're friends again but we both know that we still each other so it's...

Friends with benefits, I guess? Friends plus?

I'm just a very physical person, especially when I'm not doing great, and Travis is great at handling it and he's also very physical, so like... It maybe isn't the wisest thing I've ever done, to kiss him while I was still in the hospital, but...

I don't know. Like I told Travis, it just felt right.

After all, I don't think I'm ready for the stress of dates and the different milestones and the other expectations that come with dating, but I like being able to just lean against Travis and not worry about it being weird.

Getting back home, Mom and I taught Travis how to make the pão de queijo (cheese buns, basically) that I'd talk about wanting as a few others showed up than I'd been warned about: Rachel, and then Luke and Thalia.

Annabeth was going to come, apparently, but things came up so she sent me a letter, which was still cool.

I appreciated it, because sometimes I worry that we're like... Not actually friends. That she doesn't like me or something like that.

But we are. We are friends, and this letter proves that.

Oh, Grandpa and Mr. D also came over with a 12 pack of blue coke as a welcome back gift for me.

I'm not sure where they found blue coke, or if it was even edible, but... I appreciated it. I've had half of a can so far, and it hasn't killed me yet.

Not that Grandpa D is the god I'm most worried about killing me.

That would probably be Ares. Maybe Zeus.

Not him, though.

As we were sitting down and eating some pão de queijo while the stew we were having for dinner was cooking, though, there was a knock on the door.

Which was weird, because this was all of the people my parents warned me about. The people that they said would be here today.

"Did Annabeth make it after all?" Thalia questioned.

"No, she told us yesterday that she couldn't be here." My mom said as I got up to answer the door, squeezing Travis' hand under the table before getting up. "It could just be a neighbor, or maybe Poseidon swinging by."

It better not be my sperm donor. I thought to myself. Or else I'm losing it.

Opening the door, I didn't know who to expect on the other side. Honestly, I was kind of hoping it was just like, Eddy or somebody like that. Maybe a neighbor asking if we needed anything from the grocery store or wondering if they could borrow an egg.

What I wasn't expecting— who I wasn't prepared to face, was my ex-boyfriend, holding a bouquet of flowers.

You know, the ex-boyfriend who's been out of state and out of reach for the better part of like four months now?

The one that I broke up with just over a month ago?

Yeah, that ex-boyfriend.

"Grover!" I said, shocked by the fact that he was... Here.

"Oh, thank the gods, you made it home." Grover said, pulling me into a hug, his horns poking the sides of my face since I wasn't expecting it, so I didn't move my head to make it more comfortable. "When I heard that you were in the hospital, and then I got your letter... I don't know how long you've been back, sorry, but I just got into the city and I just... Was worried that something happened or that they weren't letting you come home so I ran back as soon as I could and like... I mean, I can't stay super long because the counsel would probably pull my job, but..."

The satyr held out the bouquet of flowers. Irises.

"I tried to find something blue, but these were the closest I could get. Sorry. Forgive me? I know I said... Some not great things. I just... It's prophecy, right?"

That last line caused my expression to drop, though, because I...

As much as I've more or less moved on from Grover in these last two months, I still wanted to be his friend. Or quest buddies, at the very least.

Now here he was, giving me flowers after coming back to New York after seeing me, but still telling me that he didn't believe in a future where I would get to graduate high school.

The two actions effectively cancelling each other out. The flowers making it awkward.

"Yeah, um..." And, unprepared, I didn't know how to respond. "Thanks. I'm glad that you like... Got my letter and stuff. Make it here okay. But we're still, um..."

I took a breath, reminding myself that it's okay to reinforce my boundaries.

"We're still broken up." I clarified for the satyr. "I'd love to hang out like, as friends, but... That's it. Just friends. I don't know if the flowers are supposed to be romantic or not, but if so... No."

"Oh!" Grover said, retracting the flowers. "O... Okay, then. Um... Yeah. Friends."

"Friends." I agreed, even though I knew that that might take a while to actually happen. "Do you want to come in? We're just in the middle of eating, um... Well, it's not vegan, it's a stew, but..."

The satyr, one of my closest friends, seemed to consider this idea. Maybe trying to decipher the meal from the smell or determine who's inside with his crazy satyr nose.

"I... I can't stick around long, sorry." My ex boyfriend apologized, looking down at the floor, and I wondered how long he'd been planning this for. If he'd planned some amazing date for the two of us tonight when i said I forgive him and took the flowers and... "I have to meet Gleeson before sunset. I'll uh... I'll send you a postcard. There's still a lot of places to look for Nico. Assuming he's still alive, which... Hopefully. It's... Weird. I can swear I'm like, so close to him or Pan sometimes, I can sense it, but then it... Just disappears. But I should... Get back to it, so."

Grover put a hand up, to wave.

"See you round, Perce."

I simply nodded a response, feeling my vocal chords tighten at the awkwardness of our current interaction.

Once he was gone, I closed the door behind Grover, and heard everyone exhale at once, reassuring me that I wasn't making up the tension between us just then.

It was... Definitely there.

And I expected it. Not today— not right now, but whenever it was that we interacted next, I knew there would be some tension. I thought I was ready for that, but...

I'm not going to have any friends at camp this summer.

"Kiddo?" My dad's voice cut through my sudden anxiety spike. He carefully placed a hand on my shoulder, making me tense before I reminded myself that it's fine. "You okay? Or do you need a minute?"

I forced a breath, trying to explain to my nervous system that I wasn't about to die, even though it thought I might and was reacting accordingly.

"I'm..." I exhaled. "Fine. Just... Please tell me the food is ready."

Nodding, Dad told me that Mom had just gone to check on it since it should be ready to eat.

And thank the gods that it was, because I needed to shove something into my mouth so that way it would seem normal that I wasn't able to say much.

Wandering back to the table, I sat back down next to Travis. My mom would sit on my other side once she sat back down (as would Luke diagonal from me, who refused to let my mom carry the heavy pot because she's going to be giving birth any day now).

Travis, sensing I needed it, put his hand on my leg, rubbing his thumb back and forth for comfort.

As my anxiety started to wash away, a wave of tiredness hit me. Not knowing, but also not really caring what others around the table thought or knew, I leaned against Travis, closing my eyes for just a moment.

It's fine. I told myself. Even if things with Grover are weird all summer, you still have Travis and Annbeth and a few other people who are probably your friends even if you don't hang out much outside of camp, like Clarisse or Beckendorf.

It'll be fine. I insisted. It'll be fine and then eventually things will stop being weird.

Things like that just take time and also like, exposure. And while it's been a while now, even though we definitely weren't on the same page about it, Grover and I haven't had the exposure we need to each other for things to stop being awkward.

Hearing (and smelling) the pot be set down on the pot holder on the table, I opened my eyes to see Mom sitting down and passing the silverware and bowls around for everyone. Luke walked back to seat, sitting between Thalia and Mr. D.

"Feeling alright, sweetheart?" Mom whispered to me as everyone began to serve themselves. I nodded. "Tired?"

Once again, I nodded. "Kinda, yeah."

With that, the ladle got passed to me, so I dished myself up some stew and Dad even refilled my coke, which was nice, before Grandpa D raised his glass.

"A toast," my godly grandparent announced as the rest of us raised our glasses. He looked at me the same way he looked at his kids or at grandpa— like I was somebody be might actually care about. "To being more alive than ever— welcome home, kid. Cheers."

Clinking our glasses together, we all took a sip of our beverages before digging into the meal.

It was delicious, obviously, and with warm food in my belly I was both less tired (since the food gave me energy) but also much more tired (it was warm food in my belly), so it's needless to say that I didn't have a ton of energy once we were done eating.

"Hey, don't eat too much, there's still more." Dad informed me that this was indeed a three course meal as the people on both sides of me got up and went into the kitchen, which was... A dangerous combination of people to go into a kitchen.

Travis definitely can cook up some things, but I'm not sure any of it is edible.

He can make like... Anything that will blow up on purpose probably. Or anything that isn't actually edible, but he would do it on purpose.

As she sat on the other side of Travis, I looked at Rachel, but she just shrugged.

"Okay, so I know you said you didn't want a party and you didn't want a big cake or anything." Travis prefaced as he came up behind me, holding something in his hands. "And originally I was going to get you some candies or something, but yesterday when I got here your mom was stressed and I still wanted to do something nice for you to enjoy tonight, so..."

Very carefully, Travis reached over my head to set down what was indeed not a large cake, as per my request.

Instead, it was a small cake, and while Mom was definitely in charge of making the frosting and getting the icing, Travis was definitely the one who put it on the cake.

How do you know that for sure? Not only was the frosting not completely smoothed like it always is when my mom does it, but the message he wrote on the cake was in Ancient Greek.

And my mom is only one of three people here that can't read Ancient Greek.

In Ancient Greek, Travis wrote you're home now!!! now we can cuddle without the bourgeoisie listening in <3 proud of you

It made me smile. I was also kind of glad that the two people next to us couldn't read Ancient Greek, so it was like the message was just for me.

I've said it before, and I'll probably say it time and time again: Travis is so sweet that it brings me to tears sometimes.

Like right now.

"Your mom baked it, but I put it all together." Travis said, sitting back down next to me. "Sorry that it's not the prettiest, I don't have the experience that your mom does, but—"

Not really wanting to cry in front of everyone, I pulled Travis into a hug.

"It's perfect," I insisted, taking a breath and getting a waft of strawberry from the son of Hermes. "I mean, you definitely couldn't sell it in a bakery but..."

I looked at the cake again. I smiled.

"It's perfect."

And even I knew at that moment how obviously it probably seemed to everyone else at the table that Travis and I were a little bit more than friends.

Because at that moment, I'm sure that my expression provided a clear painting for how loved I felt by the son of Hermes next to me.

It's one thing to love another person. Or to care about them at all. It can be draining at times, emotionally and mentally, to try and make sure that you're at least trying to show them that you care about them. To be with somebody who you think loves you and cares about you because they say it.

But it's a completely different thing, in a good way, when you're not even entirely committed to a person, and yet everything they do reminds you of the fact that they care about you.

It's not that Travis is constantly telling me that he loves me or that he cares about me. Sure, sometimes, he does. When I'm feeling overly anxious or get paranoid about friendships and relationships and stuff like that, then he will tell me directly that we're okay, he cares about me, he visits and stops by so much not just because he worries, but because he likes being around me. He hasn't said that he loves me, though. Probably because we're not... Together.

But for as rarely as he says it, I'm still always flooded with this feeling of love in the things that he does for me.

Every time he comes over when he expects me to be in a bad mood, and he's constructed some sort of basket or goody bag, I can't help but smile because he not only did he bring me a gift, but he bought all the right things. The right kind of candy in the right flavors and the right brands of pens or highlighters.

When we go out to eat— either just us or in a group, and I see him take physical notes of what I order at different places in the notes app on his phone, and then use those very notes later if we ever get takeout from somewhere when I don't know what I want to eat or if I don't have the motivation to cook.

I don't understand how he has that phone, if I'm being honest, but he has one and can use it regularly. It baffles me.

To be loved is to be known, and Travis knows me well.

Not because he naturally observed everything. Not because I told him everything or because of some empathy link that we share. We don't have that, and while some things he notices on his own, and some things I have told him, that's not what makes the difference.

Travis knows me so well because he puts an effort into knowing me.

He doesn't just talk to me about these things— he talks to my mom and dad and to Luke and Annabeth and Rachel and Thalia and even my grandpa, all of whom know slightly different things about me, and he gathers the information he has from all of them and shows it to me in ways that make me feel seen.

In ways that make me feel loved, even if that's not a word that either of us are ready to say out loud right now.

After all, one of the presents I've cherished the most from Travis thus far was when he gave me a sketchbook, and on the first page there was a bunch of attempted drawings of the different characters in MASH— one of my favorite TV shows, but one that I almost exclusively only watch with my grandpa.

Kind of like the cake, the drawings were far from perfect in the technical sense, but it made me so happy that I wanted to melt when I saw it.

Giving my mom a quick hug as well, I let everyone take a photo of me with the cake before we cut it into equal parts and finished our last course for tonight's larger than usual meal, migrating to the living room to do the only thing we could ever do when I'm this tired and Grandpa Gio is here: put on MASH.

It was a nice evening, and after two episodes almost everyone left the apartment besides the people who lived here, and then Travis, because these plans were predetermined.

"By the way, kid," Mr. D said as him and Gio were on their way out. "I'm not gonna make you do it tonight because I can tell you're exhausted, but whenever you're ready to talk about what happened, swing on by and I'll have a diet coke waiting for you— Gio will probably feed you, too. I ain't any good at that. But I can give you a cold diet coke— I'll even make it blue."

I gave my godly grandparent as much of a smile as I could muster. "Sounds good."

Having nothing else to say, I waved my grandparents goodbye and led Travis back to my room, choosing to ignore the look I saw my parents share when they saw us go back.

Going back into my room was... Harder than I thought it would be, but I was about to do it without Travis needing to talk me through it. I just hesitated before opening the door, suddenly remembering that the last time I was in my room, I was going through the motions of ending my own life.

Once we were in my room and the door was closed behind us, Travis seemed to notice my slight hesitation to enter. He tilted his head. "You okay?"

I nodded my head. "It's just... Been a while."

He smiled at me. "Do you want a hug?"

But duh, of course I want a hug, I almost always want a hug. So, once again, I nodded, allowing the skinny brunette to pull me into a hug. Or maybe it was an embrace, I'm not sure.

When does a hug turn into an embrace? Because as I relaxed into his touch, Travis and I stayed there until we got a knock on my bedroom door a few minutes later.

"Boys?" Dad's voice came from the other side of the door. "Can I open the door?"

"Hm? Yeah, it's open." I responded, taking a step back as Travis sat down on the edge of my bed, my dad opening the door. "What's up? Mom's water didn't break, did it?"

"No water has broken yet— we have a week a half before the baby gets evicted." Dad reminded me, which was actually a good reminder because I knew that Mom was near her due date, but since I've been in the hospital I didn't realize just how near it was. "You're staying the night Travis, right?"

Travis nodded his head. "Yeah, that was the plan. The harpies would definitely eat me by the time I got back if I left now, so."

"Good, I don't want you fighting those harpies off— had a friend do it once after he fell asleep at his girlfriend's place. That scar never healed." Dad commented, providing me with the obligatory monthly reminder that he used to attend camp as well. "Do you need any extra blankets or pillows or anything like that?"

"Um... A pillow would probably be good— I think blankets are okay, though." Travis insisted as Dad popped back into the hall before Dad returned seconds later, throwing him a pillow. "Thanks. This should be more than fine. And if not, Percy and I will figure it out."

"You sure?" Dad asked, both of us nodding. He put his hands up in defeat. "Alright, if you say so. If you need us, Sally and I will be in the living room for just a little bit longer before we go to bed." Dad looked at me. "Do you need or want anything for tonight? Any breakfast or brunch requests for tomorrow?"

"Um... Pancakes?"

"Aye aye, captain," Dad told me with a two finger salute. "Get some rest, kiddo. You look exhausted."

Insisting that that was the plan, Dad let us to be after that, and I took this chance to get one more hug from Travis before he reminded me that he's no son of Athena by asking me the dumbest question in the world.

"Where do you want me to sleep?" The son of Hermes who I've kissed multiple times this month questioned. Although no longer hugging, Travis held my hands as he looked up at me. It was cute, if not a little tempting. "As you may recall, my cabin has prepared me to sleep anywhere. Couch, floor, bed—" he paused. "Desk, dresser. I'm not sure I could pull off the nightstand, though. I would probably roll off in the middle of the night."

I'm not sure if it was his goal, but that still got me to laugh.

"I'm not subjecting you to the floor, much less an even harder surface than the carpeted floor." I reassured the slightly older boy, kissing the top of his head because the current height difference (of me standing and him sitting) made it awfully tempting to do so. "I would suggest the bed— with me in it, of course— but the final decisions is yours to make."

He raises an eyebrow. "And reject a chance to cuddle with the most amazing boy ever? I'd have to be stupid."

I rolled my eyes at his flattery. "Well now I know that you're just trying to get in my pants, Stoll."

"Pfft, what? I would never." It was stupid, but I smiled when he denied the claims with heavy sarcasm. Using me as leverage, Travis stood up and gave me a kiss. "I would try to get in your sheets, though— clothed... Well, Mostly. I usually sleep in my boxers or shorts, which you already know. Speaking of, I'm going to go shower and change. I'll be back."

Letting Travis escape the confines of my room with his shower bag, I changed into my own pajamas just in time for my mother to knock on my door as the water in the shower started to run.

"Sweetheart?" Mom asked. "Are you decent?"

Telling her that she could come in, Mom opened the door, her present more... All knowing than dad's usually is.

Which, being the mortal parent, is probably ironic, but it's true.

"What's up?" I asked Mom. "I'm just slowly getting ready for bed— Travis is showering."

"I know, don't worry," she reassured me. "Your dad told me that you guys are all situated for sleeping tonight as well, so I won't bother asking. But can I ask you something else?"

I paused. "Can my answer get me in trouble?"

"Percy, you just got home, you're not in trouble." My mother reminded me. "It's nothing you can get in trouble for with me or your dad. It's simply a curiosity. An observation I made, if you will."

"And I... Will?" I responded, confused. "What's your question?"

Mom leaned against the door frame of my bedroom, crossing her arms. She smiled a little, as if she knew something.

Which was honestly terrifying, because she probably did know something.

"Is there something going on between you and Travis?" Mom questioned, and I tried to play it off.

"Something like... What?"

Rolling her eyes, mom walked over and sat down on the bed, patting the spot next to her for me to join her.

"Sweetheart," Mom said as I hesitated to join her. "I love you, I hope you know that— but you're really bad at hiding when you like somebody."

"I—" and I guess Travis was the one who initiated things this time around, so I hadn't thought about that. After all, I wasn't worried about him finding out that I like him. "I am?"

She nodded her head.

"It's not a bad thing— I think it's sweet," my mom continued, rubbing my back for support. "But if you don't want Travis knowing you like him, then it could be an issue." She paused. "Does he know? Is there something going on between you two? I know it's only been a month since you and Grover broke up, but... You hardly got to really see Grover after summer."

"Yeah, we barely got to talk after summer," I agreed with my mom there, thinking about how I wanted to explain us. "As for Travis, um..."

I shrugged.

"We're not... Dating." I began as Dad poked his head in. "He's not my boyfriend, there's nothing official, but..."

"But?" Mom asked.

"But we do know that we like each other." I continued, noticing my dad raise an eyebrow. "So we're not dating, but we're... More than friends, I guess? Travis told me about it during my meltdown before going to the hospital, or... Technically after the meltdown when I was still not doing great, before the hospital. He was super chill about just being friends, though, because he knew that I just needed a friend and I agreed because I needed to be single for a little bit. When he visited me in the facility is kind of when I realized that I wanted a little more than that, but not the... Pressure that comes with dating, I guess? We might start actually dating this summer, but until then we're... Friends with benefits, I guess?"

My parents smiled.

"He seems like a sweet boy— even though I'm pretty sure he steals stuff from our pantry to bring back to camp with him." Mom commented, which made me smile because it was probably true. "He was so excited to help with the cake last night— and for your release, obviously."

"Oh my gods, you would've thought your mom was offering him a million drachma when she asked if he wanted to helped decorate the cake." Dad added on. "Definitely a little nervous once Rachel left, though— I think your mom and I make him nervous."

Mom nudged me. "Probably because he likes you."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, maybe. He is sweet— he always brings me things when he thinks there's a chance that I might be in a worse mood than usual."

"Does he pay for it?" Mom asked as she stood up, hearing the water in the bathroom turn off.

"I don't know— probably not." I figured, glancing at the basket he gave me that I never got to actually look at when I had my meltdown before looking back at my mom. "His dad is Hermes, so... The chances are low. Unless it comes from a small business— he usually only steals from corporations."

She sighed. "I suppose I can excuse that." She squeezed my shoulder. "Dad and I are going to head to bed— sleep well, kiddo. Love you."

"Love you, too. Night."

My parents leaving allowed me just a minute to actually look at the basket that he put together for me a month ago when he rightfully supposed that I'd be having a bad time when he stopped by.

It wasn't a big basket by any means— technically, it was just a gift bag. But he'd gotten me some snacks: blue sour candies, blue corn chips, and a small container of blue m&Ms in different shades of blue. Then there was a set of skateboard wheels with a cool design on it, and the last thing was a gift card for the arcade down the street from here.

Meaning that, yes, he paid for at least something in here.

"I forgot how nice it is to shower without 12 other kids yelling about towels and dibs the whole time." Travis announced his entrance as he closed the door behind him, wearing a loose tee and shorts. He smiled at me, walking over. "The gift bag! Oh my gods, I almost forgot about it, you never got to open it. Do you like everything? I hope I got the right kind of wheels—" as he stood besides the chair I was sitting in, I looked up at the son of Hermes as a warmth rushed through me. "I'm assuming you ride a trick board, but if they're not the right—"

And, because I really wanted to and it's a boundary that we've both established were okay with, I stood up to kiss the brunette before me, pulling him into me by cupping his face.

The spotenanity of it caught Travis off guard, taking a half second to realize what was happening, steading himself by placing his hands on my waist.

Which, arguably, is kind of what I wanted him to do.

"W— hi." Travis said, recovering from the surprise of our kiss.

"Hi," I smiled, my voice calmer than his was. It was so damning and so gay, but I couldn't help but rub my thumb along his cheeks, just... Looking at him. "I love the gift bag, thank you."

"Of course, I'm glad— otherwise the crime wouldn't be worth it."

Cracking my smile even wider, I found myself drinking in Travis' presense, the warmth that Travis often times brings with him slowly spreading throughout my body after flooding the pool in my stomach.

So I did the only thing I knew how to in order to convey that feeling to Travis: I gave him another kiss.

This time he was able to return the kiss, both of us smiling into it. He placed a kiss on my forehead as well before pointing out the obvious.

"Somebody's very smiley today." The son of Hermes commented, as if he wasn't smiling as well.

I placed a kiss on the corner of his mouth. "I'm happy." I told the slightly older, slightly taller brunette. "Or at least, I'm pretty sure I am— it's been a while, so I forget sometimes, but..."

Once again, I kissed Travis— this time resting my forehead against his instead of pulling back.

"I'm home." I began to list the things that seemed to contribute to my good mood. "And I got to have my comfort meal for dinner with everyone, and then I got to have an amazing cake that almost made me cry and we all got to watch one of my favorite TV shows and I was finally able to open one of the most thoughtful presents I've been given, and now you're here."

"And all of that made you happy?" Travis asked in a hopeful tone.

"Yeah." I nodded. "Especially the last thing."

I got him to blush.

"Aw, come on, now you're just trying to get in my pants."

I cracked a smile, wrapping my arms around his neck, leaning in for yet another kiss. "You're not even wearing pants." I pointed out before our lips met. "But maybe, yeah. Just not tonight."

"Oh? Is that so?" Travis raised an eyebrow, kissing me. "I have to admit that I'm not sure we'd be able to convince others that we're not officially together or that we're just friends if we had sex. Just saying. That one might cross that threshold."

"Yeah?" I asked, looking at the rest of him and running my hands down his arms, then back up, resting them on his chest. I met his gaze once again. "This isn't very just friends of us— even with clothes on."

"Well... You have a point, but the door is closed, so the others don't know that." The son of Hermes insisted as I felt his thumbs trace my skin between my shirt hem and waistband. "We're alone now."

It took all of my self control to not shove Travis back onto my bed and rip his clothes off at that moment.

The feeling of his skin against mine... It was such little contact, but it was addictive, and I needed more. It provided me with this high that I can only imagine coming with Travis.

"We are alone," I agreed, backing both of us up a few steps until I felt my desk behind me. "What are you doing tomorrow?"

"What am I doing tomorrow?" Travis asked in return, giving me a kiss before I hopped up just enough to sit on my desk. "I'm fairly certain that you're my only plans tomorrow, Jackie," and oh my god I usually hate nicknames but Travis calling me Jackie made me want to melt into him. "So I'm not sure because we haven't talked about it. Why, do you have something you want to do?"

I nodded. "We should use that gift card to go to the arcade, and then maybe we can grab a bite to eat or something. Walk around together."

"A hang out outside the apartment?" He questioned, sounding intruiged. "Exotic."

Feeling myself soften, it so went against what I just told my parents, but Travis and I had an agreement: to do what felt right.

And for me, this felt right.

"No," I corrected Travis, keeping his undivided attention. I slid one of my hands up to his neck, keeping the other on his chest, wondering if I'd ever get enough of him. "I was thinking more like a date— if that's okay."

Being it was me who set the boundary of just being friends for a while, my suggestion surprised Travis, but in a way that I could see excited him (even if he tried to cover it with concern).

His eyes did nearly pop out of his head when I mentioned it, though.

"A date?" The son of Hermes asked, making me the tiniest bit nervous because a date is what ended things the first time (well, not really). "I... Are you sure? You just got home, Percy, we don't have the rush anything if you want or need time to adjust."

I smiled, wondering how I got so lucky that the fates gave me somebody so considerate.

"Travis, I'm sitting on my desk because I'm secretly hoping that you'll take my shirt off." I confessed, looking the brunette up and down. "We agreed to do whatever felt right, and this feels right to me. I'm happy because you make me happy, Travis— even when you're not trying to. I don't want to dance around it anynore, I want to take you on dates and be able to kiss you in public and hold your hand without everyone giving us the side eye. If it's too much, I'll tell you," I promised him, knowing his wordy. I gave the son of Hermes one more kiss. "But honestly, Travis? I don't think I'll be able to get enough of you."

"If you insist, then I'd love to go out on a date with you." Travis swallowed, this time checking me out. "You're awfully tempting right now."

I put my hands over his, guiding them underneath the hem of my shirt and up.

"Then give in."