I know many of you love this story and you'll never know how amazed and grateful I am but honestly I am so sick of it. I am so over this story. I have a hundred story ideas I want to write that I can't because this story is in the way. So I'm finishing it. I would have stretched this chapter out into like three chapters but I just don't have the patience anymore. I just want to be done with this. And there's a lesson here: don't wait too long to finish your stories, because you will get sick of them. The feeling passes and the ship sails and there's nothing you can do. So here it is: the end, the last chapter

Percy glanced up to see Nico slip around a Greek column.

"Hey Nicki! You missed the ice cream they were giving out at lunch. But don't worry I saved you some."

"Did you just call me "Nicki"?" Nico quirked an eyebrow while taking the cup of vanilla ice cream offered to him.

"Yeah, I've been toying with nicknames," Percy enthused.

"Mm please don't."

Percy dug into his own cup of ice cream with a plastic spoon. "Jason and I chose chocolate of course, the best flavor. We are so chocolate; dark, rich and sweet." He licked his spoon and smiled. "But you're vanilla; pale, creamy… pure."

"And of course, we know you don't like chocolate," he added dismissively. He went back to shoveling his ice cream.

Nico studied him from beneath his lashes for a while, then looked down to carve his spoon into his own ice cream. "I like chocolate," he remarked offhand.

Percy froze at the quiet voice. "Uh, what?"

"I like chocolate," he repeated ever so casually, still not glancing at Percy. He paused to swallow a spoonful then looked up at him contemplatively. "But you know," he mused slowly. "The best flavor is chocolate and vanilla combined."

Percy could only stand there dumb with his mouth hanging open and ice cream melting in his hand. Did-did Nico really mean what he thought he meant? Was this actually happening? "Or Neapolitan," he choked out. For some stupid reason that was all Percy could think to say.

Nico stuck out his tongue in cute disgust. "Blegh, who likes strawberry?"

Percy laughed shakily, the ice finally melting from his bones. "Yeah, nobody."

...

The dinosaur roared on the TV screen as Nico sat transfixed, slowly bringing a popcorn to his lips. Jason and Percy exchanged a long suffering look over his head. Annabeth tilted her head thoughtfully at the screen from where she lounged in the armchair off to the right. Her eyes narrowed critically, probably calculating the probability of genetically engineering dinosaurs. Leo sat on the carpet in front of them, laughing unexpectedly at random, inappropriate intervals.

Jason's arms were crossed over his chest as he chewed his lip. Percy propped his elbows on the back of his mom's couch and sighed.

Then Nico stretched, back arching deliciously as his shoulders popped and the black shirt raised to expose his skin. Jason's breath left him in a sharp little exhale and Percy's mouth went dry, eyes fixed to the place where there had been an exposed sliver of trim waist.

Nico got up casually and went to the kitchen to deposit the now empty popcorn bowl.

Percy immediately looked at Annabeth. Glared. She raised an eyebrow, smirked, then got up, pulling Leo up by the arm to his feet. The boy protested, looking between her face and the screen as she pushed him towards the door.

Jason tapped his fingers impatiently on the arm rest as they walked past him, to the door, and then finally, finally the sound of it closing shut behind them.

Nico emerged back into the living room a minute later, a fresh bowl of popcorn in his arm. Placing it down on the coffee table and grabbing one, he queried, "Where's Leo and Annabeth?"

"They left," answered Percy.

"Oh." Nico stared at the movie a second longer before realization hit him. His eyes widened and in a second flat, he was bolting down the hallway with Percy right on his heels and Jason jumping over the couch.

He made it to the bedroom- Percy's bedroom- and managed to slam the door shut and lock it just as a hand began jiggling it from the other side. Another hand pounded on the hardwood door as Nico reached the window.

"Open the door, Nico," Jason ordered.

"No!" he pushed the window up and scrambled onto the fire escape.

Eventually the door was pushed open as the teen boys nearly fell inside. By that point Nico had reached the bottom of the fire escape and jumped down the last few feet from the ladder to the ground. He took off running into the narrow alley.

Percy jumped over the windowsill onto the fire escape first, peering over the railing into the dark streets. Jason swung himself over the windowsill behind him as Percy turned to the ladder, clasping both hands then feet on the outside of it and choosing to slide down instead of climbing. Jason, for his part, chose to fly into the sky, soaring high above the apartment buildings to get a bird's eye view.

Nico ran down the maze of narrow backstreets, twisting and turning corners. He glimpsed a figure flying high overhead and ran faster, stopping only when he reached a dark alley. A homeless guy sitting against an overflowing dumpster observed him as he rested his hands on his knees and panted.

"Cops?" Homeless guy was nursing a nearly empty bottle of liquor in the crook of his elbow.

"Worse," Nico wheezed.

The man looked at him curiously. Nico straightened with a deep breath. "My boyfriends," he sighed.

"I found him!" The shout rang through the night, sending Nico sprinting again down the end of the alley. He turned a corner and ran right into Percy, the force almost sending them sprawling over before Percy steadied him in his arms.

Another force knocked into his back as Jason wrapped his arms around the both of them. "Got you," he breathed.

The boy was tossed over his shoulder, while Percy grabbed onto him from the other side and blonde lifted them into the air.

A squirming boy was restrained on Percy's bed while lips attached to his and other hands stripped him of his clothes. Nico sighed into the warm mouth as his wrists were pinned beside him.

He stared at the paint marked ceiling as Jason's mouth moved down to his throat and Percy removed his own clothes.

Really, he shouldn't be surprised.

...

Nico shoved open the door with his shoulder, arms wrapped around a large box while he looked around the space curiously. He'd seen the house before of course, looked at it with Jason and Percy but it was still so new. He wandered into the spacious living room and dropped the box at his feet while he heard Percy and Jason bringing more boxes inside.

He twisted his hands behind his back, stretching out his arms and stared out at the floor to ceiling windows facing the garden. They weren't windows, rather the entire back wall was made of glass, letting in the afternoon sunlight. He could imagine lounging in this room filled with natural light, curled up with a book or napping on the couch.

It was relaxing.

Footsteps sounded behind him. An arm wrapped around his waist while Percy kissed the side of his head.

"What do you think?" he asked.

Nico turned back to face the view. "It's nice."

"Yeah. Still think we should have gone for that house with the swimming pool though."

Nico rolled his eyes. He turned back with Percy to unpack the rest of their stuff.

Their house didn't look like a house. Or not like what Nico pictured when he thought of a house. It was more like an apartment, a two story apartment. A townhouse maybe. It was squished alongside a row of similar houses on the New Rome street. Anyway they didn't have pointy tops like Nico had always drawn his crayon houses.

But it was nice. Spacious. Surprisingly cozy. He liked all the empty rooms and the scenic views, the garden. There were many windows, letting in lots of natural light. It was the opposite of his dad's palace in the underworld.

Nico had settled in surprisingly quickly. All their stuff had been moved in and set up within a week. Reyna had been generous, providing them with couches, tables, dressers, beds…. Picture frames lined the walls. Photos of Nico with Percy and Jason that he hadn't even known they'd accumulated. He'd expected more of a transition, expected having to get used to sleeping in a strange bed and hearing strange creaks at night and moving around strange corners and arches. But it wasn't like that at all. He was falling into it easily, naturally; domestic life.

He was walking down the street when he bumped into someone.

A dog barked. For one second, a cloud blocked the sun.

He steadied the arms of the person he'd walked into and looked up. Eyes widened. Recognition.

"Marcus?"

Two blocks away they now sat in a little coffee shop. It was an open air café and little round tables sprawled out into the street. This place, more than anywhere else, reminded him of Venice.

"After I got kicked out of Camp Half-Blood, I wandered around for a little bit before finding this place," he waved his hand, indicating Camp Jupiter. "Now I come here during the summer when I'm not at University."

Nico hummed, taking a sip from the cup in front of him. "I moved here, just recently… with Percy and Jason." Nico lowered the cup looking awkward and guilty. "Sorry about that by the way…"

Marcus waved his worries away. "It turned out being for the best. Say, they're not here now are they?"

Nico shook his head. "No don't worry, they're meeting with senators so it's going to be a while…" Nico trailed off as he looked at the dark haired boy. He was giving him that look.

"What do you say Nico?" The boy grinned. "One more time?"

Nico opened his mouth, stalling. He knew he shouldn't. Percy and Jason would have a cow if they knew he did but… It was what he had wanted for so long. How many times had he wished he could see the boy sitting in front of him again? Could feel his hands and his belt again? But things had been going good, he shouldn't jeopardize that right? He remembered the sick satisfaction he'd always felt at the end though. And what were the chances of this happening again? This could be his last opportunity. He should take it.

Nico met his eyes. "Okay."

Percy and Jason returned to their place, feeling an ominous chill hanging in the new house. They met eyes. Anyone else would have ignored the strange feeling but the teens had learned to trust their instincts by this point.

Jason led the way to their bedroom upstairs. A sick feeling rose in his gut as his hand rested on the doorknob and he really hoped he was imagining everything. Slowly he turned it and the door swung open silently.

There was nothing inherently wrong about the picture that greeted them. To an outside eye, it was just a boy laying on the bed while an older boy stood at the foot of it a few feet away. Staring at him. No one would think there was anything remotely bad going on here, if they weren't Jason and they didn't know what a manipulative, sadistic piece of garbage the older teen was and what a lost, confused, broken boy the younger kid was. Oh Nico.

It was that little smile hanging on Marcus' lips that did it. That small, self-satisfied twist of the lips that snapped any self-control that Jason could have had in that situation.

He was standing in front of him, punching his smug face in the next second. The boy fell to the floor bleeding.

Nico's "Oh shit!" rang through the air, snapping the world out of that slow motion, angry haze thing it'd been trapped in. Color and sound bled back into reality.

A torrent of water pushed the bleeding boy forcefully out the window. No, through the window. The smashing of glass sounded as the boy fell with the water and glass fragments out the two story window.

Nico raised skeletons, quickly, to catch the falling teen. A low moan still sounded outside and Jason lifted himself into the air and flew out the window. Nico silently raised more skeletons and ordered them to protect Marcus. He could hear running footsteps. Nico wasn't too worried, knowing Jason would be back soon.

Percy dropped his hands and walked up to him by the side of the bed. He looked bursting with righteous fury but also despair and concern. Honestly, Nico didn't know an expression could hold that many emotions. He managed to hold his tongue while Percy looked over Nico, taking his wrist and cataloguing his injuries.

Long bruises across the abdomen and back, deeper ones on the backs of his thighs.

Nico smartly held his tongue as Percy lifted his shirt and pulled down his pants, turning his body and inspecting his skin every which way. But there was still a disgruntled air about his silence.

Percy sat down on the bed next to him staring intensely at his face but Nico didn't meet his eyes, knowing his own would shine with defensiveness.

Jason flew back in. "He got away," he clipped out. Then he focused more intently on the boy still reclining on the bed. "Should I get a healer?"

"No," Nico protested. "Just... get some ice and I'll be fine." He ran a hand through his hair.

Percy stared at him. Hard. He spoke without turning his head. "Get the healer."

Nico bit his lip in frustration as Jason flew back out the window. Of course Percy would see through him. Of course he would know that Nico wanted the bruises to last and fester, have something to poke and prod over the next few weeks that would give him a shot of instant pain.

Percy took his hand. "We're not going to talk about this now. Not when we're all worked up. But we are going to talk about this."

Nico kept his eyes lowered, feeling very small all of a sudden. He'd been ready to yell back in their faces and defend himself to his last breath but Percy's quiet, desolate voice stole all his resolve. He sounded… hurt.

Percy hummed. "And there will be punishment. Make no doubt about that."

Nico brightened. He tried not to show it externally but Percy must have seen something in his face because he smiled. "Not that kind of punishment."

Nico frowned, confused.

His punishment lasted one week.

That might not have seemed very long, but what matters is what happened within that one week.

It didn't seem like a punishment from the outside. It took Nico even a few days to understand what it was. Their sexual activity did not decrease in the slightest but there was one thing different about it: Nico got off alone. Hand and mouth and well yes, even sex toys but no actual penetration by either of them. Nico didn't get the point of it. It seemed more like a punishment for them. Until…

Percy and Jason staring down at him lovingly, joined hands bringing him to completion.

Jason caressing him in his lap while Percy licked over him.

Both of them on either side of him watching as his breathing stuttered and he came.

It made him extremely uncomfortable to be the only one getting off. To feel their eyes on him. All the attention now being focused on him.

But it was more than that. In the past, their little arrangement had worked because everyone got something out of it. Jason was satisfied and Percy was satisfied and Nico, even though he couldn't admit it at the time, was satisfied too. That arrangement made sense because everyone benefitted. But now?

The only one benefitting was him and it made him feel…

You don't deserve it.

It was too intimate. This wasn't business as usual, this wasn't an exchange of services anymore. It was affection and it was unselfish devotion.

Plain to see, he couldn't pretend it was anything else. Not anymore.

"How is this a punishment?" Nico whispered as Percy covered him in gentle kisses.

"The point of a punishment," Percy kissed his jugular. "Is to teach you something." He removed his lips, watching a pretty bruise bloom beneath him. "And this punishment is a lesson on feeling good. On letting yourself be happy. Hell, even selfish."

"And," Jason added with a sly grin. "You don't get the pleasure of us inside you."

Nico blushed and tried to keep a straight face. Truthfully, that was something he was missing.

Nico had learned something about absences and how they revealed what you craved. The son of Hades would never have known how much he needed them if it wasn't for that week they weren't touching him.

And there was something else he was learning about himself this week. This week that was filled with nothing but tenderness, with slow lovemaking.

It was that he liked the ropes, he liked the chasing and the tying and there was something thrilling about being pushed down into the mattress. Something exciting about being restrained, something that made his blood boil.

He wondered where those desires came from. Percy and Jason had always claimed he liked it from the beginning. Were they right? Did they see something inside him from the beginning? Or did they cause those desires to grow in him? From their constant dominating. Did he learn to like the things being done to him? Or did it stem from farther back then that- from Marcus?

Is that why his body always gave into them, when his mind rebelled? Even from the beginning. Why it fell apart under their controlling touch?

Nico was still disciplined over the knee, as part of his punishment. He would've expected no less. On the first day of the week, Nico had urged Jason to hit harder. Goaded him really because he was still smarting from Marcus' leave. But Jason had only smiled and bent down to kiss his heated cheek. Never, he'd told him. They were never going to hit him any harder than this. They were never going to hurt him.

And there was one more part to his punishment…

"No! I don't want to wear it," Nico whined.

"You need it."

"I don't need it!"

"Nico," Percy admonished sternly, looking down at the thrashing, squirming boy on his lap. "This is part of your punishment. You are going to wear this plug for a week."

Nico opened his mouth to protest but Jason cut him off. "Or we are going to tell Reyna and all the camp healers about your mental state and how you really got those bruises," he said.

Nico glared at Jason but the son of Jupiter only stared back impassively from where he stood leaning against the dresser with his arms crossed in an impenetrable stance.

"And," Percy continued. "We'll enlist all of our friends to help us keep an eye on you. So, your choice."

Nico scowled but reluctantly lay down passively over Percy's lap where he sulked.

Jason watched as Percy worked. See this was no ordinary butt plug. Unbeknownst to Nico, it had the ability to track his boyfriend's location at all times, given he was wearing it.

So yeah, while making Nico wear it was part punishment, it was also part safety precaution.

"Okay," Percy announced. "All done." He let Nico slip off his lap then went to wash his hands while Jason approached the son of Hades who shifted his weight uncomfortably from one foot to another.

"It's only during the day," Jason tried to soothe him. It was true, during the night Nico slept safely wrapped in between the two older heroes' arms. But this fact didn't comfort the son of Hades.

"Come on," Jason said cheerfully as Percy returned. "Our friends are waiting for us." Nico blanched at the thought of having to see his little sister while wearing a butt plug. Maybe Percy guessed what he was thinking because he laughed and slung an arm around Nico's shoulders as he pulled him towards the door.

...

"Independence Day."

"Jaws."

"Avatar."

"Jurassic Park and I win." Percy slapped the table for emphasis. Jason shook his head disapprovingly before his face brightened as his eyes landed on the person behind him.

Percy turned and grinned. "Hey cutie," he greeted reaching for the boy approaching them. Nico sat down on his lap and leaned over to kiss his cheek.

"Good morning," he murmured.

"Isn't it?" Jason quipped.

"The best," Percy agreed.

Nico grinned. A full on eyes softening, heart-melting grin. The rare kind that had only revealed itself in the last week.

Jason reached for his hand and raised it to plant a kiss. "What's the plan today, my dear?"

Nico hummed thoughtfully. "Reyna wants us to look at more schools and then we're meeting my sister and Frank for lunch and then I thought we could watch a movie tonight."

Percy kissed him. "It's a date."