PJatO || Nicercy || PJatO || The Prince of Atlantis High || PJatO || Nicercy || PJatO

Title: The Prince of Atlantis High – Of Teen Love, Friendship and Secrets

Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus; all-human High School AU

Disclaimer: All rights reserved to Rick Riordan for he created the awesomeness that is Nico di Angelo. And everything else related to Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus. Aside from the Gods, they belong to the old Greeks. This fanfiction and its OCs on the other hand are entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.

Warnings: shounen-ai, explicit intercourse, anal, masturbation, toys, fluff, h/c, self-esteem issues, domestic violence, child abuse, alcohol abuse, threesome, shoujo-ai, hetero

Main Pairing: Nico/Percy

Side Pairings: Percy/Annabeth (beard), Nico/Drew (one-sided), Piper/Annabeth, Frank/Hazel/Leo, Ethan/Alabaster, Jake/Will, Luke/Octavian, Thalia/Luke, Charles/Silena, Chris/Clarisse, Jason/Reyna, Malcolm/Katie, Grover/Juniper, Shane/Lacy, Gleeson/Mellie, Chiron/Lupa, Hades/Persephone, Paul/Sally

Football Team: Luke Castellan, Jason Grace, Frank Zhang, Travis Stoll, Connor Stoll, Chris Rodriguez, Charles Beckendorf, Jake Mason, Shane McNabb, Leo Valdez, Grover Underwood

Swim Team: Perseus Jackson, Will Solace, Katie Gardner, Mitchell Logan, Austin Barton

Misfits: Nico di Angelo, Lou Ellen Torrington, Alabaster C. Torrington, Ethan Nakamura

Student Council: Annabeth Chase, Malcolm Cage, Octavian Simmons, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Ella Dare, Hazel Levesque, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Clarisse la Rue

Cheerleaders: Silena Beauregard, Drew Tanaka, Piper McLean, Lacy Hunnigan, Zoe Nightshade, Phoebe Burge, Thalia Grace, Bianca di Angelo, Hylla Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Kinzie Cohen, Nyssa Black, Kayla Hein, Miranda Gardner, Juniper Hedge

Staff at Atlantis High: Principal Chiron Brunner, Counselor Lupa Brunner, Paul Blofis, Howard Claymore, Mellie Hedge, Gleeson Hedge, Janitor Bob, Small Bob

Percy's Family: Gabe Ugliano, Sally Jackson, Tyson Jackson, Mrs. O'Leary

Nico's Family: Hades di Angelo, Persephone di Angelo, Thanatos di Angelo

Summary: Percy Jackson is the Prince of Atlantis High – he's new at school and the captain of the football team and king of school, Luke Castellan, had taken him under his wings. Luke is one half of the Golden Couple, together with the cheerleader Thalia Grace. Finally, after all the schools he has been to, he finds a place where he seems to fit. He finds friends and feels at ease.

But nothing is perfect. Thalia is part of a purity club and since she won't put out, Luke is screwing one of the nerds behind her back. The friendly cheerleaders are not all that friendly, at least not all of them. There are the outsiders, who call themselves the Misfits, and wow, their leader is smoking. So while dealing with his own very dark secret, as well as the other secrets this school seems to harbor, Percy also has to deal with his attraction to the rebel Nico.

In a school where being gay translates to being bullied, Percy finds himself in a cover-relationship with the Princess of Atlantis High. Annabeth Chase. Now that Luke and Thalia are close to graduation, there is a lot on pressure on the future Golden Couple. But of course his bad grades give his teachers the amazing idea to make antisocial Nico his tutor, so Percy learns and Nico may make more friends. How is Percy supposed to deal with his attraction to Nico and how is Nico supposed to deal with the things he notices about Percy? Like the bruises he tries to hide from everyone.

The Prince of Atlantis High

Of Teen Love, Friendship and Secrets

Chapter 1: Humans See What They Want to See

Long, golden curls bounced with every step, framing her body and making her look like an angel. Her dark, gray eyes sparkled with amusement as she shifted the books in her arms. Her stride was determined as she descended the stairs and left Atlantis High. Everyone she passed smiled at her and greeted her friendly, some whispered in awe. She knew what they whispered.

Girls wanted to be like her, wanted to be her friends and boys wanted her.

Annabeth Chase, the princess of Atlantis High. Head of the student council, best student in all subjects, beautiful and charming. A kind-hearted leader who always had an open ear for everyone.

When she had been new at Atlantis High, the two first friends she had made were Luke Castellan and Thalia Grace. Sometimes she wondered if she would have befriended them knowing what it would entail to befriend the king and the queen of this high school. The quarterback of the football team and the gorgeous, strong-willed cheerleader. The golden couple of the school. They had taken her under their wings, which had brought her the nickname 'Princess of Atlantis High'.

Luke and Thalia were the perfect couple with the perfect smiles. But they would graduate this year.

"Hey, Annie. How was the meeting?"

Annabeth gave the boy waiting for her at the foot of the stairs a brilliant smile and practically melted into his arms. He was perfect. She knew he was perfect. Perseus Jackson. The perfect boy. He had transferred starting this year, only a couple of months ago, and just like her, he had been taken under the wings of Luke and Thalia. He had the most amazing, open and emotional eyes in the most mesmerizing shade of bluish green, his smile was so radiant, it could light up a whole room and his skaterboy charm that screamed trouble also made everybody love him in that 'he's a good boy at heart'-kind of way. He had everyone wrapped around his little finger the moment they looked at him. He had soon become the captain of their swim team – making it just as successful and trophy-winning as the football team under Luke's leadership. It had not been a surprise when within months Percy had become the golden boy, the so-called Prince of Atlantis High.

"It was wonderful. If only Reyna and Clarisse wouldn't argue that much", laughed Annabeth.

She placed a chaste kiss on the corner of his lips, more so for the bystanders to coo over. He gave her a small smile and laid one arm around her waist, steering her off the school property. The problem with being the prince and the princess was that everyone had high expectations of them. Even though they had a student council (which Annabeth was the leader of, after all), everything of importance was still run by Luke and Thalia first. Nothing happened without their heads-up. But with Luke and Thalia graduating this year, most of the student body expected Annabeth and Percy to take over. Being Luke's and Thalia's little darlings, the kids they had helped getting settled, had guided and taken under their protection, they were expected to be the next Golden Couple.

Percy was a strong athlete, Annabeth was the smartest girl around. Both were stunningly beautiful and known to be compassionate, helping newbies with their problems. Annabeth knew that they could easily be the perfect Golden Couple others saw in them. If only they had feelings for each other. Well, Annabeth had feelings for Percy. He was like that adorable little brother she always wanted. That was the problem. Her home-life had always been a little strained, with her strict stepmother that had never really warmed up to her. So Thalia and Luke had become like a second set of parents to her, as they had taken care of her and made sure that she had a place in this school, had not become the nerd outsider she used to be in Junior High. And Percy, her Percy, was like the little brother she giddily tried to guide after Thalia and Luke had taken him into their 'family' too.

Still, people expected her and Percy to be the next perfect couple. And the fear of what would happen if they disappointed the masses was what had driven her into his arms. As the couple left, they passed the dark corner of the parking lot where the so-called Misfits always hung out. Annabeth's eyes swept over the four teens. They were weird loners, as most simply put it. Wearing black and leather, smoking, only sticking to themselves. Their inofficial leader was Nico di Angelo, a lanky, olive-skinned boy with dark eyes, always wearing a skull-belt-buckle to keep the black skinny-jeans up, a skull-motive also on his black shirt. Next to him stood Lou Ellen, the black and purple dressed (and dyed, if looked at the hair) punk glaring daggers at Annabeth for staring at them. Shuddering slightly, Annabeth turned to look at the last two members. The reason why Annabeth was dating Percy. The only openly gay couple at their high school – Alabaster and Ethan. They had lost all social status after they came out, lost all ties to their former friends and had been on the receiving end of more beatings than Annabeth cared to know about.

She was gay. Annabeth was a lesbian. But she could never lose what she had gained here. The respect, the influence, the adoration from everyone. If anyone was to know of her sexuality, she would be dropped like a hot coal just like they had been dropped. But unlike them, Annabeth never wanted to end up with the Misfits. Everybody knew they didn't care about anything. They were crude, impolite and according to some rumors also involved in some illegal stuff.

"How about we have pizza today?", asked Percy with one of his bright smiles. "My treat."

"Well, when you're paying, always", grinned Annabeth back, turning her full attention back to him and ignoring the Misfits. "How was your day anyway? Was training good?"

The sound of his happy voice was more like a background noise, the fearful buzzing in her head, sounding an awful lot like a chant of theycanneverknow, in the forefront of her mind.

Being high school royalty was amazing. She bathed in the attention, she loved being a role-model to others and the proud way Thalia and Luke looked at her made it all worth it. Even if it meant giving up who she was. High school would only last two more years and once she was out of it, once she would be away from the prejudiced, narrow-minded teens, she could finally be who she wanted to be, who she truly was. Sometimes, she felt guilty for using Percy like this. As her safe cover. But the boy was so innocent, she doubted he had ever even thought about any kind of sexuality. Which also made him the safe bet. With him, it was only holding hands and chaste kisses and he never questioned her. He never wanted more. It sometimes made Annabeth question if perhaps, he was like her. Gay. Or if he was truly that oblivious to sexuality. Whatever it was, Annabeth was grateful for it. Because she was safe and he was nice and together, they were perfect. She had to be perfect.

/break\

The black leather coat was hugging Nico's frame perfectly. Not that it made all that much of a difference, what with his black shirt and his black jeans. Most didn't look at him twice anyway, he was like a black blur in the corner of their vision. Not that he minded. It was his intention, after all.

When he had first come to this school, he had started out as a bad boy. Black leather, dark smile. His hair was always wild, untamed. Olive-skin and the fitting Italian accent, a modern mafioso they had called him. The cheerleaders had swooned over him, he had joined the football team and was well-liked. It was easy making people like him. Everyone wanted a piece of his bad boy image. There were only few who he truly cared about and one of them had been Ethan Nakamura. But after Ethan came out as gay, with his boyfriend Alabaster, the Japanese boy had been bullied out of the football team by the sheer pressure of nearly the whole school. A silly prank had ended with Ethan losing an eye, which had been the reason for him to drop out of the team and out of all social contacts. The only ones he still let close – and also the only ones who still wanted to be close to him – were his boyfriend Alabaster Torrington and Alabaster's younger sister Lou Ellen Torrington. And Nico. Because being liked by a group of bigot jerks was not worth losing his best friend.

Now it was them against the world. Or, well, at least them against the high school. Then again, for teenagers like them, the high school was the world. The four of them kept away from anyone, not caring about the 'highly important' social order of their school. They didn't care about Castellan, Grace, Chase or Jackson. And how dare this bunch of misfits defied their cherished leaders.

So that was what they had become. The Misfits. Nico liked it. It had a nice ring to it – and it was his favorite TV show. He had never really cared what others said about him, as long as they stayed away and didn't dare hurting him or his friends.

"Fucking golden couple", snarled Lou Ellen and elbowed Nico before stealing a cigarette.

"Hey", grunted the Italian with a glare before following her line of sight.

The Juniors, as Nico had dubbed them in his head. The next Golden Couple. A student council president that turned two blind eyes on the fact that Ethan had lost an eye to an ill-intentioned prank. Nico gritted his teeth and glared at her spitefully. He hated Annabeth Chase with a passion. The head of the student council could change things, but if anything, she made sure that things stayed the same, that every decision the council made was still first approved by Luke and Thalia. His nearly black eyes wandered from Annabeth to the boy she was clinging to and without his consent, his eyes softened a bit. It was an impossible thing to hate Percy Jackson, regardless of how much he tried it. But Percy hadn't done anything different from Nico, he had joined a sports team, made friends. And unlike Nico, Percy never had a reason to doubt Luke or this school in general. In a perverse way, Nico hoped Percy would never get a reason to doubt. Because the honest innocence in those quite amazing, bright eyes should never shatter. Nico mused that Percy was what he could have become, if he had stuck with the masses and not abandoned them for Ethan's sake. All the pressure, all those people hanging off his every word, adoring and worshiping him. Nico shuddered. He didn't even want to imagine a life like that. That was not his style. But it suited Percy well.

Perhaps there was more to Nico leaving his social contacts behind to stay with Ethan, because he was just as gay as his best friend. And he was sexually attracted to Percy Jackson. Lou Ellen called it a crush. Alabaster teasingly called it 'love at first sight'. Nico didn't believe in such a thing. Someone couldn't just fall in love by seeing another person. He deeply believed that love depended on the personality and all those to others annoying quirks that only the partner could adore. He knew of no such quirks. Well, aside from how Percy pushed his hair out of his face whenever something got uncomfortable for him, or the way his eyes were more blue than green when he was happy and more green than blue when he was sad. Or how his lips twitched into a crooked half-smile whenever he was feeling guilty for a prank the Stolls had gotten him involved in. But that was nothing and he was certainly not in love with the captain of the swim team. He was not in love with the golden boy, the pride and joy of the school Nico hated so much.

/break\

Percy winced slightly as he stared wistfully into his now empty wallet. There went this month's pocket money. And it was only the fifth of the month. But Annabeth was his girlfriend and if he got the gist of it right, he was supposed to go on dates with her and invite her to dinner and such. Besides, she deserved it. She was slaving away for the school in the student council and she still had the time to spare to be with him. She was kind and sweet and listened to him. She never made him feel stupid, even though she sometimes called him that, but when she did it, she did so in an affectionate voice and that was okay. He was used to being called stupid. He had ADHD and was dyslexic and generally not all that keen on learning, so he had always been a bad student. Had always been called stupid. By teachers, by other students. But when he was with Annabeth, she made him feel like he was clever too, she always told him that, in his very own way, he was brilliant too. He was still trying to figure out in which way that may be.

Annabeth was sweet and she deserved to be treated like a princess. Not because of any stupid nicknames they had gotten from their fellow students, Percy couldn't care less about these weird traditions of the school. No, solemnly because she was genuine. She was nice to him, she had accepted him into this school and for the very first time in his life, he had found a place where he belonged. With Annabeth and Luke and Thalia. And Annabeth had introduced her friends to Percy. Out of all the schools he had been kicked out of already, this was the first where he had found friends, friends who liked him and who he could hang out with. Friends who made him feel like he belonged, like he was worth something. Like he wasn't a freak.

Taking a shaking breath, he took his keys out and unlocked the door, praying to every deity of every religion that may be listening that his stepfather wasn't home. The day had been so nice and if perhaps Smelly Gabe won't be home, then Percy could just be home and pretend the man didn't exist and that his life was nice. Just once. Only for a couple of hours.

"Look what the cat dragged in", snarled a nasty voice. "Where have you been, freak?"

Percy dodged the empty beer bottle with years of training. For a fleeting second he thought how if beer bottle dodging was an Olympic discipline, he would get gold in that for sure.

"I was in school", answered Percy timidly, gripping the strap of his backpack tighter.

"Don't be a wiseass", snarled his stepfather irritated and stood slowly. "We both know you're dumber than dirt, brat! I know your schedule. You were supposed to be home in time to make me dinner, you useless shit. You better get started, I'm starving."

Percy averted his eyes and walked past the man that had been his stepfather for more than ten years now. Without another word, he walked through their small, dirty living room – empty bottles of beer and remains of dips and chips everywhere, Percy knew he had to clean Gabe's mess up before his mom would be home – he entered the tiny kitchen. His mom worked, practically all the time. She took every opportunity to get extra hours, trying so hard to earn enough money to bring them through. But Gabe spend most on booze and gambling. Which only made Sally Jackson work harder. Percy smiled slightly at the thought of his mother. She was the kindest, most generous and wonderful person on this planet. And she was the only reason he had never tried to run away from home, because he couldn't leave her alone.

"Big brother! You're home! I missed you!"

Percy grunted slightly at the force of his little brother hugging him tightly. Technically seen, Tyson wasn't his brother. Percy had found the boy in the streets about two years ago. Bureaucracy took quite some time, checking for relatives and where he had come from. An orphan. The only reason Gabe allowed him to stay was the money they got from the state for taking in a foster child. Tyson was both, a blessing and a curse at once. He was such an adorable child, only eight years old. Percy liked taking care of him, liked having someone who looked up to him. With his mom working all the time, it was nice to have one friendly face at home. But as much as Tyson relieved the pain Percy felt within, as much was the boy a hindrance. Just another reason why Percy would never be able to get out of this shithole. Another person he couldn't abandon. And Percy hated when he had to leave Tyson alone with Gabe, fearing for the small child. So far, Percy had managed to protect Tyson. As long as Gabe's focus was on Percy and as long as Gabe was satisfied – with beer in one hand, the remote in the other and a plate of hot food in front of him – he didn't care what the kids did. It meant more work for Percy and less time to himself, but he would do anything to protect Tyson. He gladly took what Gabe dished out, as long as it never hit Tyson.

"Hey, Ty", smiled Percy softly and went onto his knees. "How was school?"

"Boring!", exclaimed Tyson with a broad smile. "But now it's over and you're here!"

"What are you brats so loud for?! Do I need to come over and shut you up?!", screamed Gabe from the living room. "I'm trying to watch my fucking game, you little shits!"

Percy flinched, and so did Tyson. It was more than mimicry, Percy knew that. The smaller boy had seen Percy getting beaten by Gabe often enough by now to know what that tone of voice meant. Staring teary-eyed up at Percy, Tyson hugged him again.

"Go to our room and play some, Ty", whispered Percy softly. "But play silently, yes?"

"Okay, big brother", agreed Tyson obediently and left the kitchen.

Taking a deep breath to keep it together, Percy straightened his back and got to work. This was something he could do, something no one could take from him. He knew how to cook. With his mom's long shifts, he had learned his way around the kitchen at an early age. Because one of his earliest lessons had been that a satisfied Gabe was a Gabe that won't beat him.

While working on Gabe's dinner, Percy tried to distract himself with thinking about other things. About school. School was a good distraction from home. Whenever he was at Atlantis High, he felt as though home was just the fleeting memory of a nightmare. He loved Atlantis High with all of his heart, it was the first place that made him feel safe and like he belonged. He loved Luke and Thalia and Annabeth for being the protective, big siblings he had never had. For accepting him and giving him a place in their little, perfect world. There were things he still didn't understand about this school, even after half a year of attending it. He had understood the most important parts, the parts that had applied to practically every school he had attended so far. The cheerleaders and the jocks ruled the place, especially so the captain of the football team, Luke Castellan. And his girlfriend, the cheerleader Thalia Grace. Not head of the cheerleaders, which had highly surprised Percy at first – how dare this school broke the cliche like that! It had made Annabeth laugh softly before she explained that the head cheerleader, Silena Beauregard, was the girlfriend of the co-captain, Charles Beckendorf. That relieved Percy at least a bit. Still with a jock, then. Not defying the natural order of high school. Another one of those soft, amused laughs from Annabeth. He liked that she laughed about his stupid jokes and wasn't condescending about how flat they actually were. He liked a lot about her. Especially that he could cuddle with her and hold her and be her 'boyfriend' without her demanding more from him. All he wanted, all he craved for, was human contact and comfort and even without knowing, Annabeth provided that by being his girlfriend. After the first couple of months, Percy had started to believe that Atlantis High was where he could be himself. But then Annabeth had explained to him about the Misfits – and what was it with this school and their stupid labels and nicknames? How two of the boys had become social outcasts just for being gay. Percy knew he could never be gay at home. Gabe would downright kill him for being a 'dirty, little fag'. So it wasn't hard to adapt. Just another thing more that he couldn't tell people about. He was good at keeping secrets and even better at lying to people. Plastering one of his brilliant smiles on and telling people that he was fine. He knew there were things he could tell no one.

That he was gay. That his stepfather was verbally and physically abusing him. That he felt worthless and useless, because not even his own father had wanted him, had abandoned him and his mother before he had even been born. That he hated all the responsibility of others constantly asking his opinion on stupid stuff at school, just because he was their 'Golden Boy'. That all he really wanted was a strong guy to hold him and tell him that everything was alright, that he was alright and that he was loved. That even though everybody saw him as the gold-medal winning captain of the swim team and Prince of Atlantis High, he really just wanted a knight in shining armor to waltz in and rescue him from the monster known as Smelly Gabe.

"Your dinner is ready", whispered Percy barely audible as he placed the plate in front of Gabe.

"Took you long enough", snarled Gabe viciously. "Now get out of here."

Nodding hastily, Percy was relieved that the smell of food had managed to distract Gabe from him. Fleeing to his and Tyson's bedroom, he practically threw himself onto his bed right away. Curling together in himself, he closed his eyes and tried to think of nothing for a change. Not thinking would be nice, it would mean he wouldn't have to think bad things either. A small body pressed against him and he opened his arms to hug Tyson close. A whiny sound followed and Percy could feel the wet nose of Mrs. O'Leary, their pet dog, press against his ear. The three of them curled together to a huddled mess of limbs, but it was okay. Because Percy loved them.

/break\

Luke loved his peers. They had a game tonight, out of town, so only the football team and the cheerleaders had tagged along. Not that he minded too much, his ma never had the nerve to come anyway. Crowds freaked her out and made her... delicate condition worse.

When everybody cheered for him, their star quarterback who had just won the game for them, the team lifting him up onto their shoulders, the cheerleaders running over to them, squealing delighted, his eyes caught with dark crystal blue ones. They stayed locked, even as he was put down.

"You were amazing, Luke", whispered Luke's girlfriend and he reluctantly broke the gaze.

Instead, he looked deep into hers. Blue too, but not so cold and calculating as the others, not, hers were warm and like an electric shock. Her messy, black hair was pulled back into a ponytail. Thalia Grace, his best friend ever since he could remember, his childhood sweetheart. The love of his life.

"Only thanks to you and your girls cheering us on like that", grinned the jock, pulling her close.

She leaned in and kissed his jaw and his eyes trailed past her once more. Locking with crystal blue ones. A smirk, amused and ridiculed, tugged on the lips of the owner of those eyes, before the eyes closed briefly. The other vanished in the crowd, not bothering to even join the celebration and congratulate Atlantis High's Giants, as their football team was called. Luke didn't even bother scanning the crowd again, he let his friends, his team, tug him along as they went to celebrate their victory together with the cheerleaders. Not that anyone had doubted their success. They always won, because Luke never failed. He was the perfect leader. He led them to victory. He'd never let anyone doubt him. He was strong and determined. Crystal blue eyes followed his retreating form.

/break\

"I can't believe you're really dating two jocks", sighed one of the cheerleaders – Drew.

She sounded pretty jealous as she glared over at a golden-eyed beauty with chocolate skin. They were in the locker room, getting changed and showered before heading out with the team for the proper celebration of their victory. The golden-eyed girl shrugged casually.

"I can't believe they're not bashing each other's heads in in jealousy", pointed Lacy out.

"They're best friends", shrugged Hazel casually. "Leo and Frank have no problems sharing."

Because they love each other too – but that was kept silent. Everyone saw her as some kind of great seductress, having two hot jocks at her beck and call and not even in secret, no, the boys knew of each other and wow, she must be good in bed to hold them both. She smiled a little to herself. No one needed to know that when she was too busy to hang out, Frank and Leo were more than happy to keep each other company. And by 'company' she meant things got dirty and heavy.

"What about you, Pipes?", asked Silena, their captain, curiously. "We can still break Reyna's jaw?"

"It's not like she stole Jason from me, Silly", counted Piper, a gorgeous native American girl with blue strands in her hair. "They had been together first, broke up because they're idiots and now they're back together because Jay and I didn't work out. That's the end."

"Right", snorted Drew and rolled her eyes. "I'd break that girl if I were you."

"Well, I just want Jason to be happy and we weren't a good match", shrugged Piper casually.

"I'm sure there's another hot blonde around for you", offered Juniper sympathetically.

"How about Will?", suggested Kayla eagerly. "He's cute enough and sweet."

"Yeah, I... don't know. He's not really what I'm looking for", muttered Piper embarrassed.

He liked them blonde, yes, but... Jason was lacking some serious things. Like curves. Especially up above. Her face heated up at the thought of one gorgeous, blonde princess with quite the curves.

"I think Piper already has someone in mind", teased Nyssa with a grin, causing the others to laugh.

Author's note: I wanted to put a new spin on the social-outcast!Nico and golden-boy!Percy plot that had already been done dozens of times. I hope my version will be appreciated. ;)

Next chapter will have Nico being assigned as Percy's tutor because Percy's grades are gradually getting worse and if he doesn't change it, he'll have to quit the swim-team. Which is not happening. Even if it means having a tutor. Both parties are not very happy about it (but the story is set on changing that ;3).