Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot.

They were in the Argo II's meeting/dining room. The war had been over for quite a while, and they were returning from a special quest: rescuing Calypso. They'd been successful, of course. After all, six out of the Seven, plus Nico, had helped Leo get back to Ogygia to fulfill his oath. The astrolabe he'd gotten on his way to Greece along with the crystal he'd acquired on the island resulted in an infallible GPS system that led straight to the place that no man should be able to find twice.

It was unusual to have so many demigods in one quest, but after stopping Mother Earth from rising and almost dying a couple of times in the process, they'd bonded. So when Leo proclaimed he was leaving on a self-appointed quest to the mythical island to find the daughter of Atlas, everybody else volunteered. Who knew what they'd find on the way?

Everyone had been excited to aid the tinkerer on his journey, with the exception of Nico. But he knew he'd be useful, if anything as an emergency escape plan. Shadow travelling with so many would probably make him very tired, but he wasn't about to let his only sister go by herself without a backup plan. So he went with them, but that did not mean he was talkative, friendly or social at all. The only people he interacted with on a regular basis was Hazel and, oddly enough, Jason.

The Ghost King was rather affectionate towards his sister, hugging her and kissing her forehead frequently. With Jason it was more like he tolerated the son of Jupiter, begrudgingly accepting his friendship and advice. The former praetor even had the added privilege of being able to criticize Nico's choice of meal, convince him to eat more and live to tell the tale. But every so often they would have a falling out and the son of Hades would pointedly ignore the spawn of Jupiter. Like right now, for instance. They hadn't really spoken in the last few weeks, and no one knew why.

On that particular evening, they had just finished dinner and seemed to be content with sitting on the long picnic table style benches and talking about nothing in particular. Well, all of them but Jason, who was on the deck, standing watch.

He was pretty much over his breakup with Piper: they had realized that they had only really gotten together because of the fake memories Hera gave them, and they weren't comfortable with that. So they decided to end it, a couple of months after the war ended. There was also the matter of Jason's… doubts. After his encounter with Cupid, after what the god had asked him ("Do you still doubt yourself?"), the son of Jupiter began to question a lot of things, his sexuality included. He wasn't sure of anything at the moment, but Piper had been nothing but supportive. The reason she hadn't come with them for this quest was because she was out on a mission of her own, something to do with the horn of plenty and the food banks in New York.

He had managed to befriend the grumpy son of Hades, although it had not been easy. Nico still feared that Jason would spill his secret to everyone, and it took him a while to accept that he was being offered genuine friendship. The former praetor had tried, many times, to talk about the Ghost King's sexuality, to make him more comfortable with it, but none of his (many) attempts were successful. And his last attempt apparently had triggered the latest silent treatment he was enduring.

Back at the meeting room, Percy had his arm around Annabeth's shoulders, Hazel was resting her head on Frank's chest while Leo and Calypso stared into each other's eyes in an almost sickening "new-couple" manner. They were all cuddled up…with the exception being, once more, Nico. He had no one to cuddle with, and the one that took his fancy was…otherwise engaged.

The son of Hades took notice of the situation rather quickly. He tried, for his sister's sake, to endure a few more minutes so he could pretend he was making an effort. But when Percy started trailing kisses down Annabeth's neck, he decided to call it a night.

"I'm going to bed" he announced to no one in particular, doubting anyone would hear him or care about what he did.

He got up and turned to leave, when someone stopped him:

"Wait, Nico! Why are you going to bed so early? Stay with us for a while!" Percy pleaded.

"What for? Look around you Percy, you are all taken with your significant others, and that is just fine, but there is no room for me right now. I am tired and I'm going to bed. Good night."

Percy did look around and realized everyone was divided up in couples. But he didn't think it was such a big deal, so he said:

"It doesn't really matter, we enjoy having you here!" he insisted

"Oh, really? I suppose I really was overwhelmed with all the attention you were giving me" Nico said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

That seemed to piss Percy off. His eyes hardened, and he lost his patience:

"Really, attention? Is that what you want? How old are you, seriously? We were all having a good time, or so I thought, so why do you have to act like a child? You don't really let anyone get close to you, only gods know how Jason managed to do it! If you stopped pushing people away and didn't waste all of your energy being as unpleasant as possible, maybe you'd have more friends. Stop trying so hard to be an asshole, because you're not! Stop running away from people, what the hell do you have to hide?"

His voice had progressively risen throughout his little speech, until he all but yelled the last phrase. It stunned everyone else in the room into silence, the son of Hades included. The last words were still echoing in his mind, bringing up so many memories he did not want to think about right now. He wasn't about to break down in front of all these people. So he wiped his face clean of emotions and replied, voice deathly quiet and devoid of any inflection.

"Last time I checked, I was around eighty-seven years old. You know, due to being locked away in a magical time freezing hotel for seventy years. And thank you for reminding me that I don't really have any friends. Was that all you wanted to say, Perseus? Because I'd like to leave now."

The change in demeanor was not unnoticed by the son of Poseidon. The usage of his full name did not bypass him either. In all honesty it gave him the creeps. Nico looked and sounded like his father at the moment. That sent a shiver down his spine, and he felt the ridiculous impulse to draw his sword and defend himself. Yet there was no need for that, as Nico had already turned around and left.

The Ghost King didn't go to his cabin – it'd be way too easy for people to find him and pester him. He decided to go to his favorite spot on the ship, the crow's nest. Perhaps it was just as predictable as going to his room, but from up here he'd be able to see the intruder first, and that gave him the chance to step into a shadow and leave.

The wind was merciless, and soon enough Nico was shivering. He hugged his jacket closer to his body, running his hands up and down his arms trying to get warm. He looked around, and upon verifying that he was indeed alone, he gave into the thoughts that he had put off earlier.

He thought back to his horrid encounter with Cupid, and relived all the rotten feelings he'd had in Croatia. Shame still burned him through. What did he have to hide? He didn't want to think about it. After losing a sister and going through two wars, he'd become an expert in denial. His reasoning was quite simple: if he didn't acknowledge something for long enough, it would go away. Flawless logic, right?

The wind had picked up, almost blowing him off the ship. He didn't notice, though. Percy's words had hurt him, more than the green-eyed demigod would ever realize. Tears blurred his vision, and he told himself they were caused by the harsh wind. He hugged himself tighter, closing his eyes and letting the tears fall. He had no one to hold him, no one to tell him everything would be fine. It didn't matter, he could comfort himself. He unconsciously began to softly rock back and forth in his seat, whispering reassurances to himself.

Jason looked up and noticed there was something on the crow's nest. As was his duty, since he was standing watch, he flipped his golden coin and grabbed his gladius, ready for a fight. It seemed the thing hadn't noticed him yet. Good, surprise attacks were always fun, albeit short.

He summoned the winds and flew until he was just behind the creature currently inhabiting the crow's nest. He raised his sword and… recognized Nico just in time to avoid skewering him. He put away his weapon and frowned. It was nearly impossible to sneak up on the son of Hades (the Stoll brothers never stopped trying, though). He looked closer, and saw the reason for his success: the boy was curled into himself, whispering something over and over again, completely distraught. He closed his eyes and listened harder, trying to make out what Nico was so insistently telling himself. He finally caught it: I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine…

Jason felt his heart break a little for the kid. No, not kid. The son of Hades had just turned seventeen. He was pretty much a grown man. That didn't make things any better. The son of Jupiter had heard screaming coming from the dining room, but thought nothing of it. Percy had been the one screaming…what had he said to upset Nico so much? That clueless idiot! Jason wanted to punch him in the face, for all the hurt he caused without even realizing it. He forced himself to swallow his anger and focus on the demigod that stood before him.

"Hey, Nico?" He said, gently. Nevertheless, Nico was startled and turned to face the flying demigod with a wild look. Tears were still streaming down his face, and he wiped at them hastily, trying to hide his situation.

"What do you want, Grace?" his voice was still thick with tears, but Jason knew better than to mention it.

"Hm, are you ok?" he asked, stupidly. He felt like slapping himself. What an idiotic question! He used to be a lot closer to the son of Hades, but lately they'd drifted apart. He didn't know why, simply assuming it was something he'd said. He hated the silence and awkwardness, yet had no idea how to stop it.

"Just peachy. You can leave now"

"No."

"No?" Nico's tone was low, dangerous. Jason felt a chill go down his spine that had nothing to do with the icy wind.

"No." He repeated, hiding his unease "you are obviously upset, and I want to help you. I heard Percy screaming, so what did he do this time?" the thought of the feelings the son of Poseidon stirred on the younger demigod made his stomach churn. It felt awfully similar to jealousy. Weird. He didn't use to mind Nico's… infatuation with the son of the sea god.

"None of your business"

"Did he find out about your crush? Did he disrespect you? Do I need to beat him up?"

Nico turned a few very interesting shades of red, and after a few seconds of dumbfounded staring managed to answer indignantly:

"No! I already told you, I'm over him! And as for beating him up Grace, if I think he needs it I'll do it myself. He just said some nasty things to me, none of them unjustified, but still. I'm fine. And don't ever mention my… private business so carelessly. If somebody finds out because you couldn't keep your mouth shut, I will gut you. Got it?"

Jason nodded, speechless.

Nico melted into a shadow and disappeared.

This time he actually went to his room, uncaring whether it was predictable or not. He lay down on the bed and sighed. He didn't want to be so mean to Jason, but he had to keep him away. He couldn't go through the pain of falling for another unattainable hero. He felt the sting of tears again, but refused to cry. He rolled over on his bed, facing the wall.

Suddenly there was a soft knock on the door. Whoever it was didn't wait for him to tell them to come in, and Nico was ready to make them regret stepping into his chambers without being invited. He turned to scream some choice curse words at the intruder, but the foul words died on his tongue. The intruder was none other than Hazel.

She stepped closer to him, hesitantly, as if expecting him to tell her to leave. He didn't, and she felt encouraged to go sit beside him on the bed.

"Nico, what's wrong?" she could see that he'd been crying, his face was still a mess "is it what Percy said? He was rude, but he wasn't wrong, you know? You need to stop pushing people away, me included" she said softly, taking his ice cold hands into hers.

Nico looked at her with tear filled eyes and whispered "If I told you, you'd hate me"

"Of course not! You are my brother; I'll love you no matter what. What are you keeping from me?"

"I-I can't!" He took his hands away from Hazel and buried his face in them, crying.

"Yes, you can" she said soothingly, enveloping him in a hug and running her hands through his hair "Tell me, Nico. It'll make you feel better"

Finally, he gave in "Hazel, I'm…I'm gay" he said in a tiny voice.

Hazel's eyes widened and she was glad he wasn't looking at her. It had surprised her, that's all. She hugged him tighter.

"Thank you for telling me." He got out of her embrace, facing her. His eyes were wide with fear, and that made her heart ache. "It

changes nothing. You are still my brother, and I love you just as much" she hugged him again, and he cried into her shoulder.

"Nico, what's wrong?"

"Nothing" he said, straightening up to face her, a huge smile on his lips "I'm just so happy. You have no idea how many nightmares I had about you finding out and… and" the smile faded, and he seemed troubled.

"And what?" she prompted gently.

"Calling me awful names, laughing at me or never speaking to me again. It varied a bit, but they all ended similarly: My only living sister, abandoning me because I'm a freak."

"You're not a freak! And I would never leave you, not by choice! You are my only brother too, Nico, and I would move continents just to keep you safe."

He looked up at her, looking vulnerable but hopeful.

"Really?"

"Really."

"Thanks, Hazel. And I would do anything to keep you out of harm's way"

"I know, Nico, I know."

Percy felt horrible. He had lost his patience and yelled at one of his friends. He wasn't wrong, but he was definitely out of line. He decided a good old apology was in order, and so he headed for the Ghost King's room. The door was open, so he just went in.

At first, he blushed a bit: Nico wasn't alone in bed. But then he got his mind out of the gutter and saw that the girl he was laying with was Hazel. The Underworld children were hugging each other fiercely, even while sleeping. They were both laying on their sides, Nico closer to the edge of the bed, Hazel closer to the wall. The son of Hades had his head near Hazel's chest, while she had her head buried in her brother's hair. Their legs were tangled together. Nico was quite taller than her, but they made it work.

Percy almost let out a very manly squeal: they looked utterly adorable! But then he realized that it seemed like she had been comforting him. He looked closer and saw tear tracks on the younger demigod's face. It seemed like the Ghost King had cried himself to sleep. His heart clenched. He felt about ten times worse.

He decided he'd apologize in the morning. He quietly left the room, shutting the door behind him.

When Nico woke up everything was purple. He soon realized he was staring into Hazel's shirt, and slowly crawled upwards until he was facing his sister. She was already awake, smiling softly, and he recalled the events of the night before. He felt so much better, having actually told someone about his secret. He felt like a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders, knowing that even if everything else went badly, he'd have his sister's support. He smiled widely and kissed her forehead.

"Let's get breakfast?" he asked

"Sure!"

She had to go back to her room to brush her teeth and go through her morning routine, and since Nico got ready faster he met her in her room. They went to the dining room together, hands entwined.

Hazel kissed Frank's cheek, greeting him, but did not let go of Nico. The shape-shifter seemed to realize they were having a sibling bonding moment and did not interfere. They sat and ordered their breakfast from the self-refilling plates. Nico was so happy he didn't even need Hazel to scold him into eating more.

"Wow, he can actually smile. I'm amazed!" Leo joked.

"Shut it, Leo." Hazel immediately jumped to his defense "Don't antagonize him!"

Leo was struck dumb, as was everyone else. Hazel never told anyone to shut up, she was usually very mild-mannered outside the battlefield.

Nico chuckled, amused "It's ok, sorellina, I'm fine".

Hazel glared at Leo one last time before going back to her breakfast. Nico's confession yesterday had kicked her protective sister instincts into overdrive. She'd have to be careful not to snap at people for so little.

Someone tapped Nico on the shoulder. He turned to see who it was and came face to face (actually face to stomach, but still) with the son of Poseidon.

"Can I talk to you for a bit? In private?" Percy asked, tentatively.

"Hm, sure. We can go to my room"

"Lead the way"

Nico walked to his room and wondered what this was about. They got to his cabin and sat down on his bed. Then it hit him: Percy Jackson was in his bed. And that didn't affect him at all. That proved, once and for all, that Nico was over his childhood crush.

"Why are you smiling?" Percy's voice cut his self-congratulating short.

"Nothing, I just realized something. What did you want to talk about?"

"Oh, I wanted to… apologize for last night. I was kind of a jerk… I wanted to do it yesterday but when I came in you and Hazel were already asleep. Also, you seemed to be in a really bad shape, and it was because of me, so I feel terrible about…"

"I wasn't in a bad shape just because of what you said, asshole!" Nico interrupted, blushing in embarrassment at being seen in such a vulnerable moment "Don't give yourself so much credit. I was upset about… other things."

"What other things?"

Nico thought about a dozen different curses, in four different languages, to throw at the son of Poseidon. But he remembered how good it felt to tell someone. And if Percy reacted badly he'd have a pissed off son of Jupiter and a livid daughter of Pluto to deal with. So the son of Hades swallowed his curses and said instead:

"I suppose I'm ready to tell you now…" he began "Percy, I'm gay. Let me finish" he held up a hand, stopping the green-eyed demigod from interrupting "After I'm done you may say what you like, but until then, be quiet, please. I'm gay, and for the longest time I had a crush…on you. That's why I tried to hate you, and pushed you away. It was unfair to you, sure, but you have to understand that it was very hard for me to accept who I was, how I felt. I didn't want to admit it, so I wanted to hate you, the one that brought out the unacceptable feelings in the first place. I say 'unacceptable' because back in the 30's being what I am was not only morally wrong, it was considered a disgusting and shameful disease. I'm over you now, and I'm starting to understand that the times have changed, but I needed to tell you this to get closure. Yesterday I told Hazel, and that made me feel a lot better. So I got the courage to tell you. Ok, now I am done."

Percy's jaw had dropped impossibly low, and his eyes were as wide as they could get. He just stared for a while, and then managed to close his mouth and choke out a response:

"I… I didn't know."

"Well, duh. Tell me something I don't already know. You were so oblivious it hurt. And I wish I meant that in a metaphorical sense."

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I should've paid more attention, gods, it was so obvious! It makes so much sense!"

"That's what Jason said. Not the 'sorry' part, the 'it makes so much sense' part."

"Wait, you told Jason before you told me? Not fair!"

"Calm down, Percy, I didn't tell Jason. He happened to be there when a certain love god beat it out of me."

"Oh. When did that happen?"

"When you were…gone. We had to go to Croatia to get the Diocletian scepter. Cupid wouldn't give it to us unless I confessed my deepest, darkest secret: my crush on you."

"Oh. What an asshole."

"Yup."

"How did Jason take it?"

"Pretty well, actually. He was very supportive, and insisted no one would really care. He got very protective too, saying he'd fry whoever made fun of me for being… different."

"If he took it so well then why aren't you talking right now? Why are you pushing him away too?"

Nico blushed. The reason he was pushing Jason away was exactly the same reason he had pushed Percy away.

"Wait, are you blushing?" Damn his pale skin!

"N-no!" Nico stuttered, trying to keep his calm, but blushing even harder.

"Yes, you are! Oh gods, Nico, do you have a crush on Jason?"

"Ok, we have talked, you apologized and now you are overstaying your welcome. Good bye!" Nico was pushing the other demigod towards the door, his face completely red.

Percy was in the hallway now, and Nico returned to his bed. Before leaving, though, the son of Poseidon poked his head in and said, grinning:

"You know, I could be your wing-man!"

Nico threw a pillow at him.

Jason was happy for Nico. From Hazel's and Percy's behavior towards the Ghost King Jason guessed they now knew The Secret. And from the looks of it, both of them had taken the news quite well. He wanted to say to a certain someone "I told you so", but sadly he still wasn't on speaking terms with the younger demigod. On a different note, Percy kept looking at him weirdly, as if he knew something, or as if he was sizing him up. Whatever it was, it made him uncomfortable.

In any case, he felt miserable. He missed Nico's company, his sarcasm and quiet laugh. He hated feeling like he was being avoided. But it was impossible to make the son of Hades do anything he didn't want to, that kid was as stubborn as a mule. So he waited. And he waited. He had thought the extension of the already existent silence treatment was due to him stepping out of line that night at the crow's nest, but his punishment wasn't really fitting his "crimes". So he was being avoided for some other reason. Great, he didn't even know what he had done to deserve this!

He racked his brains for reasons Nico could be avoiding him. He came up empty.

Finally, one afternoon, five days since the Crow's Nest Incident (as he took to calling it in his head), he got sick of waiting. He found Nico having a snack, alone in the meeting room. Perfect, no one to interrupt. Jason sat beside the boy that was eating brownies and said:

"Hey."

"Hey." Nico answered, not looking up from his plate.

"So, why are you avoiding me?"

Nico choked on his piece of brownie, and had a coughing fit. When it had subsided, he answered:

"I haven't been avoiding you." He still wasn't looking up.

"Nico, come on, I thought we were friends. You know you can tell me anything, right?"

The son of Hades got up, threw away the rest of his brownies (apparently he'd lost his appetite) and washed the plate. He took his sweet time doing it too. Jason let him have that excuse, as long as he didn't try to leave before they'd finished this conversation.

Nico sat back down, and for the first time in days looked the other demigod in the eye.

"Jason…" he started "I'm sorry, I have been avoiding you."

"A-ha! I knew it! But why? What did I do wrong? Whatever it was, I'm sorry!"

"You did nothing wrong, it's just that I couldn't…"

"Couldn't what?" he prompted, trying to be patient when all he wanted was to downright shake the answers out of that boy.

"I couldn't fall in love with another hero!" Nico said, sounding a bit panicked "There, are you happy now? And I failed miserably, in case you were wondering, apparently avoiding you wasn't enough"

Jason was stunned into silence.

"Well?" the black haired demigod asked, asking for an answer but dreading it at the same time.

"You… like me?"

"Yes, Jason, try to keep up, will you?"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Why do you think?"

"Oh."

"Yes, 'oh'. Now are you going to give me an answer this century or…"

Nico's little rant was interrupted by Jason's lips. He was so surprised he didn't respond to the kiss, and the son of Jupiter pulled back, stuttering an apology:

"I'm sorry, I thought…"

The Ghost King finally registered what was happening, and joined their mouths again. Strong arms pulled the skinny demigod onto the blonde's lap, and Nico let out a squeal of surprise. Jason chuckled, and they broke apart.

They both wore matching stupid grins. The son of Hades was now straddling the other demigod, but neither really cared. They kissed again, this time more passionately. Jason tasted the brownies the other had eaten, and he must say it tasted ten times better than usual.

Nico boldly snuck a hand under the older demigod's shirt, running his cold fingers up his spine and enjoying the shudder that followed. Jason trailed kisses down the younger boy's throat, and bit down on the juncture between his neck and shoulder. Nico moaned softly, and the son of Jupiter smiled against the Ghost King's skin. The son of Hades was just about to return the favor, when a quiet "Oh" brought them back to reality.

Nico looked over Jason's shoulder, and saw that the other crew members were standing at the door. Hazel was fanning herself, embarrassed. Percy was smiling widely. The rest stood with their mouths agape. He murmured their current situation on Jason's ear, and then proceeded to hide his blushing face in the former praetor's chest. Said demigod turned to face the door, with the son of Hades still on his lap, and said awkwardly:

"Um…hey?"

"Hey yourself, lover boy" Percy teased.

"That was…unexpected" Leo said, and the others nodded.

"Jason, I'm happy for you, but if you hurt my brother… let's just say I'll make the Fields of Punishment seem like Elysium to you." Hazel warned after her own blush had died down.

Nico then seemed to remember he had the power to not be in this situation, so he reached under the table and melted into the shadows.

They landed on Jason's bed, with Nico still straddling his hips.

"Now, where were we?" the Ghost King said conversationally.

The blonde pulled him down for a kiss, and no other words were needed.

[A/N] Hello!

First of all, thank you for reading! Feedback is highly appreciated, criticism (as long as it is constructive, not offensive) included.

Second of all, please take into consideration that English is not my native language, so if you spot any typos or grammar mistakes, let me know!

Lastly, I hope you guys liked it!