PJatO || Lukess || PJatO || Lukess || Charmed by a Siren || Lukess || PJatO || Lukess || PJatO

Title: Charmed by a Siren – How Luke first Noticed Thess

Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus; post both series

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, fluff, cheese, first love, shoujo-ai

Main Pairing: Luke/Thess

Side Pairings: Piper/Annabeth, Nico/Percy

Percy Jackson Characters: Perseus Jackson, Nico di Angelo, Piper McLean, Annabeth Chase

Own Characters of the Next Generation:

Nico/Percy: Hades Poseidon di Angelo, Sally Persephone di Angelo, Theseus Paul di Angelo, James Charles di Angelo, Laura Silena di Angelo, Jackson Tyson di Angelo

Piper/Annabeth: Theadora Tiphane Chase, Lucas Thomas Chase, Tristan Frederick Chase, Matthew Robert Chase

Malcolm/Katie: Amarilla Cage

Jake/Will: Elizabeth Mason

Lou/Miranda: Kathryn Ellen

Summary: Takes place half a year previous to the events of "Chasing Fireflies"! - Luke is bored and decides to do what legacies of Aphrodite do best. Seduce someone. He goes to the lake, set on flirting with some pretty nymph. He stumbles over someone far prettier. Thess di Angelo. And even after years of being friends with Thess, he now notices Thess as a cute boy for the very first time.

Charmed by a Siren

How Luke first Noticed Thess

"Spring is a very tiresome time", stated the exhausted daughter of Aphrodite.

"Yes, very tiresome indeed, love", agreed her blonde wife.

"Yeah, wouldn't want to force you to deal with your kids, huh?", teased their oldest son.

Luke rolled his eyes while his mothers grinned at him and nodded in agreement. Okay, so maybe Luke could somewhat relate to why it was tiresome for his mothers to have all four of them at home during break. His mom was the major of New Athens and his ma was one of the heads of the Demigod Protective Service. Their jobs were time consuming, even outside of office hours. And having fours kids running around the house all day must be draining.

"Mommy, can you play chess with me? Please, please, please", begged Fred.

He gave Annabeth the best begging puppy impression he could, which was pretty convincing considering the mop of brown curls he had on his head. Annabeth's eyes softened as she leaned down to ruffle said curls. Fred bumped his fist in the air in silent victory as Annabeth stood to follow her son out of the kitchen and into the living room. Piper sighed and stretched.

"You two need to take some alone-time", declared Thea while clearing the breakfast table.

"Your word in the ears of the gods", muttered Piper and yawned wildly.

"So you won't go to the playground with me, ma?", asked Matt with large, sad eyes.

Piper heaved a long-suffering sigh as she collapsed in her seat. "Mommy and I have to go to work soon, honeybee. In fact, mommy won't be able to finish that game with Freddy either."

She said the last part extra loud to gain her wife's attention. Thea smiled as she heard her mom and her little brother groaning from the next room. She took another plate from Luke.

"I could finish the game with Fred. And when we're done, we could all go to the playground together", declared Thea with a smile. "We could call the di Angelos and see if someone has time?"

"Jack!", yelled Matt eagerly, while at the same time Fred screamed. "Silly and Jimmy!"

"You're the best daughter in the world", groaned Piper and collapsed forward, hugging Thea tightly.

"Yeah, I know I'm great", grinned Thea, returning her mother's hug.

Luke groaned softly. He knew exactly that he'd be as much a part of holding that promise as his sister was. A day at the park with the little ones it was. So not now he had planned this day. Well, not that he has had any plans to begin with.

/break\

About an hour later had Thea and Luke dragging their little brothers to the park to meet up with the di Angelos. Donny had been very excited about the idea of hanging out with Thea. Four of the di Angelos were already sitting on a picnic blanket together; Donny being engaged in some card game with Silly and Jimmy while Jack laid cuddled up to Donny on his lap.

"Hey, guys. Where's the rest of the litter?", asked Thea teasingly.

"Percy ditched and Thess went for a swim", answered Donny and shuddered. "I personally find it way too cold for a swim, so I'm trying to keep Silly and Jack from catching a cold..."

She plunged down next to her best friend on the blanket, closely followed by Fred and Matt. Mattie crawled over to poke Jack and the two best friends instantly started babbling, while Fred and Thea joined the card game. Luke frowned as he watched them for a moment.

"Luke, would you mind go and checking on Thess?", requested Donny concerned. "It is only March and way too cold to swim so much... I don't want him to catch a cold. Mom will be disappointed."

"Sure, whatever", shrugged Luke and turned around.

The relationship between the di Angelos and the Chases was an odd one, to him. Percy Senior and Annabeth had been best friends since childhood, Nico and Piper had been very close friends since opening the DPS together, Thea was best friends with both oldest di Angelo kids, Mattie adored Jack. Silly and Jimmy were in the same circle of friends as Fred, though they weren't inseparable best friends like their siblings. And Luke and the other set of twins? He was somewhat hanging out with the both of them because ever since that fateful summer three years ago, Percy Junior and Kitty were very close. Luke kinda liked PJ too, she was cool, dark and kind of wicked. She totally fit into Luke's and Kitty's kind of people, but her twin brother Thess? Luke barely had any conversations with him, if he was being honest. Heck, he barely even knew a thing about the boy.

Apparently, he didn't even know what the boy looked like, because woah. Luke came to a sudden halt with a slightly dumb expression on his face as he reached the lake. There he was, Thess di Angelo. Only that he looked nothing like Thess di Angelo. Thess was that slightly awkward skinny boy who always wore too baggy clothes because he stole those of his mom. He had long hair that he always wore in a ponytail and really dark eyes. He was also ridiculously pale. Like, seriously. But right now he looked nothing like the awkward skinny kid Luke knew. He looked more like some mythological creature – a nymph or siren or something. His pale skin looked nearly luminescent with the water glistering on it and the sun hitting it. He also looked really good, when he wasn't hiding his body beneath layers of too large clothes. Sure he was skinny, but more in an elfish way or something and not in a sickly model way. His body had angles and curves and he was downright beautiful. And his hair helped too, because for the first time that Luke could remember, it wasn't tied together. The black silken strands clung freely onto his neck and collarbone, framing his face. There were two types of long haired guys; the ones that looked like homeless weirdos and the ones that looks like gods. Thess, clearly, fell into the second category.

"...Are you done staring at me like a creep, Luke Chase?", asked Thess a bit disturbed.

Luke flushed upon being caught staring and he found himself looking into Thess' eyes – properly looking into Thess' eyes. He had never really noticed them before, if he was being honest. He had just noted that Thess had dark eyes and that was that. But now that he noticing them, really noticed them, he could see that they were really intense. Not just dark, but more like those really dark corners of the ocean that Luke had seen in that documentary Thea had forced them all to watch last weekend. They were nearly black, but if Luke looked closely enough, he could see different shades of brown and even the slightest specks of blue now that they were so close – and woah, when had Thess moved out of the water and up to him? Thess was giving him quite the pointed look.

"Did you fall on your head today?", inquired Thess doubtfully.

"Uh, no, just... never noticed you were that pretty", blurted Luke out before blushing.

Thess' chocolate-brown eyes widened surprised and he blushed himself. "W—What?"

"You. You're pretty", repeated Luke, waving a hand to indicate all of Thess. "Why are you always wearing those baggy hand-me-downs from your mom? And why do you tie your hair back? It's really beautiful and all silken and stuff. Makes you look like a mermaid. Well, merboy. Whatever."

While his blush was intensifying did Thess hastily grab his towel and wrapped it protectively around his shoulders. "I wear mom's hand-me-downs because we're a family of nine and my parents both work very hard for the roof over our heads, the food on our tables and the clothes on our bodies. Silly is way too young to understand that everything costs money and she loves wearing pretty dresses, preferably blue and purple. She doesn't like the hand-me-downs from her two big sisters, because both Bia and Percy prefer black. So, I don't mind wearing the old clothes from my mom, if it means the money saved on clothes for me means making my little sister smile about getting a new gorgeous princess dress. We're older and we should be more reasonable and responsible so the little ones can get away with being little ones. It doesn't matter to me that my mom was more muscular and taller than me at my age so his clothes don't fit that well. They fit, they're not worn-out or torn or anything. I don't need to wear clothes to impress others, I wear clothes to keep myself warm and to be comfortable and my clothes are comfortable. The same goes for my hair. I didn't grow it out to impress others, but because I like it long. It just gets in the way at camp and school, so I tie it up to be practical. Not everything is about getting attention."

"...Right. Yeah", nodded Luke awkwardly and shrugged. "Kinda easy to forget when you spend your summers living at Aphrodite Cabin, you know?"

"I wouldn't know", shrugged Thess as they started walking back toward the others.

Luke's eyes wandered over Thess' profile, the cute button-nose, artfully curved jawline, long lashes and large, dark eyes. "You wanna go out sometime? On, like, a date?"

Thess blinked a couple times clearly stunned by this and the most impossible thing ever happened – a legacy of Aphrodite got rejected. "No way in Hades, Lucas."

"...What?", grunted Luke surprised.

With one eyebrow arched did Thess turn to give Luke a condescending look. "You only ask me out now because you just noticed that I'm attractive. As I just said, I don't need to prove myself to others, I'm not dressing and presenting myself for approval or attention. I'm not actively trying to attract suitors because I'm desperate for a girlfriend or boyfriend. So something as shallow as only asking someone out after noticing that they're good looking? That is not a quality I am looking for in a partner. I'm not that desperate, thank you very much."

Luke blinked a few times, ears burning hot with embarrassment. "...You're right. Sorry."

"You are?", inquired Thess suspiciously.

"Yeah. It's just... kind of a reflex, I guess?", shrugged Luke. "See someone pretty, hit on them."

"That's very pathetic", pointed Thess out, though making it sound like a casual observation.

Luke snorted amused at the blatant lack of judgment in the other boy's voice. No, the other managed to make it sound like a simple fact, as though he was saying the sky was blue, or the ocean was wet. You are pathetic. Luke also noted that this was probably the longest conversation they ever had. And he found that he kind of enjoyed it. Thess wasn't sugarcoating anything he said, he was very out in the open with his opinion and said what he thought. It was nice.

"I'm sorry", stated Luke cautiously. "You're right, it really is kind of pathetic. It's just... what comes natural? What I learn at my cabin, I guess. But you're right, it's really shallow. So... no date then."

"Mh", grunted Thess a bit surprised. "You're gonna give up that easily?"

Luke shrugged, hands in his pockets. "You said no. No means no. What good does it do either of us if I'd try to persuade you into agreeing even though you made your opinion very clear?"

"That is... very reasonable and well-mannered of you", noted Thess curiously.

"So, no date. But... you mind if we'd get to know each other better?", inquired Luke, cocking his head. "I never bothered to hang out with you even though we kinda have the same friends. But... I guess I'd kinda like to? You're fun to talk to, now that we actually do some talking."

"Just hanging out?", asked Thess suspiciously.

"Just hanging out", shrugged Luke. "Becoming friends. My best friend and your twin are practically inseparable, so why not? We spend so much time with each other, but never really with each other."

Thess was a bit hesitant before nodding. "Sure, why not? Let's hang out."

/break\

The next time the five of them were at Katie's Salad Bar, Luke and Thess were sitting next to each other and actually talking. Normally, they sat at different ends of the table, Luke talking mostly to Kitty or also Percy, while Thess stuck to himself and talked to his twin-sister and her best friend Amy. The main reason Thess didn't like to talk much or anything when they all hung out was because it kind of depressed him that his best friend lived all the way on the other side of the US.

"Though, seriously, I don't get it", stated Luke honestly as they shared a cucumber salad and a salami and peppers pizza – because apparently Luke and Thess shared their culinary tastes. "I mean, why aren't you... like, making an effort to make friends who actually live here?"

"I have my family here, that's enough", shrugged Thess. "I don't need to see my friends every single day. I'm okay IMing Lizzy, Thyl and Sammy or texting with them."

"You're really weird", snorted Luke before pausing. "Uh, no offense."

"How was that not offensive?", asked Amy Cage a bit miffed, pushing her glasses up.

"It's okay", laughed Thess and shook his head. "Besides, it's not like everyone can be quarterback and the beloved sweetheart of the entire middle school."

Luke grinned in a dopey way and shrugged. "What can I say? Curse of Aphrodite."

"You're not even a demigod", argued Kitty and threw an olive at Luke. "You're just a legacy."

"I know at least three kids of Ares who hate you for taking quarterback from them", added Percy.

Thess observed how Kitty and Percy kept trading parts of their meal, stealing from each other's plates. Sure, the two girls have been getting along very well since summer three years ago when they had all spent forced bonding time together at Camp Jupiter and Thess guessed it was due to that friendship that Thess was hanging out with Kitty Ellen, Luke Chase and Amy Cage to begin with. All that mattered to him was spending time with his twin-sister, after all.

"I am a gift to mankind", agreed Luke with a smirk, opening his mouth to catch the next olive.

"And so humble", snorted Thess and rolled his eyes.

"Quite so", agreed Luke and winked.

/break\

"You seem in a chipper mood, Thess."

Thess looked up from the plates he was cleaning to see his mother standing in the doorway. It was then that Thess noticed he was humming Disney tunes. Grinning sheepishly, he shrugged while Percy took a towel and came to stand next to his son.

"I guess there was... something I was missing?", offered Thess thoughtful.

"Care to share with your old man?", asked Percy with a teasing grin on his lips.

"You're not that old, mom", grinned Thess mischievously.

"I could have done without the 'that', you brat", huffed Percy and put on his best pout. "Well?"

"I'm getting to know Luke Chase better", started Thess slowly. "He insists that only having friends on the other side of the continent isn't healthy, so we started... talking. And getting along. So... I kinda started... like... participating in the conversations with PJ's friends too..."

"That's nice", smiled Percy pleased. "I know you're a very responsible young man, Thess. And I know you have your friends, but it always did worry me a little that you never quite... hang out with the kids from your class or anything. Online friends are nice, but a few physical ones are good too."

"Guess so", agreed Thess with a half-shrug. "Luke is actually pretty fun talking to. Amy's nice, she's sweet and all and so... not PJ. It's weird they're best friends."

"Opposites attract", offered Percy with a smile. "That applies to best friends too. Also to friends. Annie and I, I mean, we couldn't be more different if we tried."

"Guess so", shrugged Thess with a smile. "Anyway, I got homework to do. Can you finish up?"

"Sure thing, honey", smiled Percy and kissed the top of Thess' head.

A few moments after Thess left the room, Nico rounded the corner with a suspicious look on his face. "Did he tell you why he's so chipper? It's not a girl? Or a boy? Right?"

"It's actually both", said Percy, just to see the dangerous look on Nico's face, making Percy snort. "Seriously, Nico. Thess is thirteen. Stop always fearing that their love life is the cause. Not everything is about love. Apparently, Luke managed to convince Thess into making friends."

"He has friends", argued Nico confused and took the towel Percy had put aside.

Percy smiled while he continued cleaning the plates where Thess had left off. "He does. He made great friends in New Rome. But he doesn't really have friends around here. Sure, he hangs out with Junior's friends, but mainly so because he wants to hang out with his twin."

"He has a lot on his plate. And not every teenager is obliged to have an army of friends", said Nico.

"Of course that's coming from you", teased Percy and stole a kiss from his husband. "And I know that. It's just... with... with how little social contact Donny has, I worry about our other children. And Thess, he is... such a good boy. He is so responsible. He stepped up so much after... after Bia left to join the hunt last year. Donny... he fell... even deeper into his depressions and asking of him to be the big sibling was just... too much. But Thess, he did it. He took charge of his siblings, he led them and took care of them, all while still being such a good diligent student. His social life suffered, because you can't do everything. And I feel... guilty."

"Which is very silly", chided Nico and pulled Percy over to kiss his neck tenderly. "You and me, we are good parents. We love our children, provide for them, we pay attention to them. We never missed any parent teacher night, any play or game, we listen to their problems, we try our damn best to solve said problems, we never yell at them or gods forbid hurt them. We just can't be there all the time. And the thing with siblings is that you can expect the older ones to watch out for the younger ones. It's only natural, my love. And our kids love each other, so that's not a problem."

"I know, I know", sighed Percy dismissively. "I just worry. I just... want everything perfect..."

"I know", smiled Nico and caressed Percy's cheek.

/break\

Over the following month, Thess opened up far more and Luke and Thess even spent time with each other outside the group. They went swimming together, because Luke always looked for ways to improve his work-out and Thess loved swimming. They got ice-cream together, even went to museums together – well, together with Amy, who was more than happy to have someone interested in art. Luke learned so much about the other boy, it was ridiculous.

"Did you know that most the time, Thess is the one to drop Silly and Jimmy off at training?", inquired Luke in awe. "Or that he sometimes cooks lunch for his siblings when their parents' schedules overlap and neither is home. Or, oh, that his favorite artist is this... Paul Brill, who did amazing fantasy landscapes that would totally fit as illustrations for Lord of the Rings, which is his favorite book series by the way? He's totally obsessed with fantasy..."

"Okay, seriously. Stop it", grunted Thea unimpressed and looked up at her younger brother. "What's with the sudden influx on Thess-pedia here? Do you have pop quiz coming up about random di Angelo facts, or what? You normally rarely even say his name..."

"We're friends now", shrugged Luke innocently.

"Ye—eah, sure", snorted Thea in disbelief, eying him. "Now the truth."

"We are", argued Luke and stuck his tongue out. "Last month, I kind of... hit on him, because I saw him in the lake, swimming. And he pointed out to me that it's kinda pathetic and shallow to just hit on someone once you notice they're pretty. So... he made me realize that. And he's also brutally honest and I liked that, so I asked him if we could hang out. Become friends, you know? Which we did. He's actually pretty amazing and fun and sweet."

"And you fell in love with him", concluded Thea with a nod.

"I'm not in love with him", snorted Luke ridiculed. "I just really enjoy spending time with him, especially when I manage to make him smile, because he got a really cute and beautiful smile and—oh gods, I am in love with him... When... How... How did that happen...?"

"If I'd have to make a guess, I'd say it happened because you actually invested time and interest in someone for once and bothered to really get to know and like him", offered Thea amused. "Aw. You're actually pretty cute when you're speechless, for an annoying little dweeb."

She grinned broadly as she ruffled her shocked brother's hair.

/break\

"Look what I brought back from my visit in New Rome!"

Thess' head snapped around as he heard the unusually chipper voice of his dad. His dad was ever only that chipper when he came from a visit in New Rome, because he got to hang out with his three best friends – Jason, Reyna and Will – and with his beloved sister Hazel. Dad visiting New Rome included dad visiting Will Mason, which meant...

"Thess! I missed you!", exclaimed Lizzy Mason excitedly and jumped her best friend.

Lizzy was the adopted daughter of Will and Jake Mason and she was Thess' best friend ever since her adoption. Sure, it sucked that she was living in New Rome instead of New Athens, but Thess adored her. Grinning broadly, he hugged her tightly and whirled her around.

"I borrowed her for the day, but I had to promise her mom to bring her back by tonight", said Nico.

"Daddy says you need to stop calling him my mom", chided Lizzy with a frown.

"After years of enduring your mom, I am entitled to tease him", huffed Nico and stuck his tongue out. "I will be at the park with Silly, Jimmy and Jack. I trust you to behave yourselves. Well, silly me, I trust you to behave yourself far more than I trust your mamma, my boy."

Thess grinned at his dad before pulling Lizzy upstairs and to his room. Together, they sat down at the foot of Thess' bed while Thess got out basically everything new he got since her last visit.

"So, how are things with your new Greek friends?", asked Lizzy curiously.

"...Good", hummed Thess and tilted his head. "Kitty is kind of weird, but she and Percy are practically Siamese twins, so... yeah. I don't really think Kitty is the best influence on her though... but then again, I can't really tell if it's actually Kitty, or if Kitty is just part of that post Bia's leave phase that she fell into... And since, contrary to everyone's perception, Percy and I are actually two individual people, I can't order her what to do with her life, I guess... And I am very fond of Amy. She's a sweet bookworm and she's very responsible. Glad Percy's best friend turned out that way."

"And what about Luke?", asked Lizzy with a teasing tone to her voice.

"What about him?", asked Thess, cheeks a little pink.

"That!", exclaimed the daughter of Apollo excited and yelped, pointing at Thess' face. "You blush!"

Thess turned to glare at the blonde girl, but Lizzy just grinned brightly. "It's nothing."

"You talk about him like all the time when we IM", argued Lizzy while going through Thess' photo album starting from the last time Lizzy had been over. "And look at all the pictures of you two."

There really were a lot of pictures with Luke and Thess on them. Thess had always done this, taking pictures of everything nice or important that happened in his life, cataloging them with dates and details on what he was doing that specific day. He mostly did this so he could show his grandparents or uncle Tyson when he went to visit them, but since befriending Lizzy, they also served to update her on his life. He had also made her start her own photo book, because she wanted to remember all the beautiful moments with her new dads and life. Lizzy grinned up at Thess, her sky-blue eyes sparkling mischievously as she pointed at a photo of Luke and Thess in front of the Golden Gate Bridge, both grinning into the camera.

"You know Annabeth's family lives in San Francisco and the other week, when the Chases went to visit Annabeth's half-brothers and... when he heard I was never actually in San Francisco even though I visited New Rome so often, Luke asked his moms to take me along", shrugged Thess.

"And that?", inquired Lizzy, pointing down at one of Thess and Luke in Venice.

"He said he never left the US before, so I kinda borrowed Mrs. O'Leary and we went to Venice", replied Thess, cheeks heating up. "It's just really great spending time with him, you know? Now that he actually pays attention to me, he really pays attention to me. He's really interested in what I have to say and he's fun to talk to. We message like every evening before bed..."

"So...", drawled Lizzy out while browsing the photo book. "You rethinking your answer?"

"No", replied Thess and shook his head wildly while he started to braid Lizzy's long golden-blonde hair. "He made it very clear that he'd respect my decision and I... I can't just go back and change my mind like that, can I? We're friends now and I really like him and I... like that. I also wouldn't even know what to do with a... a... boyfriend, you know? I have no idea how to be a boyfriend."

"I like that one", declared Lizzy as she reached April, two weeks ago, when the twins had celebrated their fourteenth birthday. "You look so... genuinely happy and glowing."

Luke had given Thess a mermaid statue, a beautifully crafted thing, decorated with pearls and all. It had made him so happy, because it was gorgeous. He still spotted that genuinely happy smile when his mom had taken the photo of them. Thess smiled a tiny little bit as he looked at the photo.

"He just... He already knows me so well", whispered Thess, cheeks darkening.

"Maybe you should talk to him again", offered Lizzy, one eyebrow raised.

"Talk", emphasized Thess. "Just talk. Not actually do the getting together thing."

"Sure", snickered Lizzy with a broad grin.

/break\

It was about two weeks later that Thess was laying on his bed all alone, staring at his phone. It was already way past his bedtime, but it was hard to get offline if Luke was still on. They had been talking about DreamWorks' Rumpelstiltskin, which was going to hit theaters in a month and which Thess really wanted to see so badly. Luke was teasing him about his obsession with fairy tales.

We should go together, since ur sister doesn't wanna see it ;-3

Thess blushed as he stared at the text. Was it just in his head, or did it feel kind of flirtatious? Like Luke was asking him on a date? No. That was just in his head, thanks to Lizzy, right? The blush on his cheeks intensified as he gathered his courage. Lizzy was right, they needed to talk about this, before it blew up in their faces. If Luke was actually flirting with him, then maybe they should or could try perhaps? And if Thess kept ignoring the flirting if it was flirting, then the blonde would grow frustrated with it at one point. But if it wasn't flirting, Thess needed to get his head straight.

Wanna go eat breakfast tomorrow morning? Mom and dad have work and the little ones are in New York with grandma and grandpa. I don't feel like making myself a big breakfast though...

They occasionally did that, meeting up for meals because one of them didn't want to cook for themselves (or couldn't). Thess held his breath as he hit the send button and waited.

Sure. Katie's at 10? I'll be there

Thess smiled nervously before rolling together on his bed.

/break\

Thess was wearing the new pair of skinny-jeans and the shoulder-free blue shirt he had bought when Lizzy was last over. After all, Luke had made it pretty clear when first hitting on Thess that he cared a lot about physical appearance. Thess brushed a stray strand of his long hair out of his face. He sometimes wore it open, though most of the time he kept it tied together out of practical reasons. But ever since he started caring a little more about Luke, he started wearing it loosely open when he was around Luke. The blonde was already sitting at a table and he looked honestly stunned when looking up to greet Thess. There was a seriously dumbfounded expression on Luke's face.

"What happened with your clothes?", blurted Luke out surprised.

"You... don't like it?", asked Thess nearly shyly as he sat down. "I wanted to look... nice. Because I wanted to talk to you about... this. Us. And if you asking me to go see the movie together... if you asked me out on a date. If you... want to be... my boyfriend."

"Gods, I love your bluntness", muttered Luke stunned and shook his head, face dark red. "Uhm, well, yes. I mean, I wanted to ask you on a date, but then I chickened out and just asked to hang out as friends, because I didn't want it to look like I spent all this time getting to know you just to make you agree to go on a date with me, because I didn't. I really just wanted to become your friend, but then you had to be all cute and sweet and impressive and make me fall in love with you."

Thess' eyes were wide as saucers by the time the boys received the menus. "Uhm... L—Love..."

"You're amazing", whispered Luke, ears dark red to match his face, shrugging helplessly.

"So... You want to date me", drawled Thess out, licking his lips slowly. "And... And you managed to make me want to date you too. That... sounds... like there's an easy conclusion, right?"

"...No", frowned Luke as he looked Thess up and down.

"W—What?", asked Thess confused. "But..."

"You dressed up, because you want to date. But... I don't want to change you", argued Luke and took Thess' hand. "I liked what you said before. That you're not dressing up to impress anyone. Because you don't need to. I don't want for you to try and become someone else because now you're trying to... impress me. You impressed me plenty in the past two months. I love you the way you are, heck you could be wearing a potato sack and you'd look amazing."

Thess smiled softly and ducked his head. "That... That is sweet. And reassuring. But... I still wanted to dress up. I wanted that. Because I want our, my, first date ever to be special. And maybe in the past two months of spending time with you, you made me realize that I do deserve to look pretty too, that I'm worth spending some money on too and not just step back for the sake of others."

"Okay", nodded Luke and grinned a bit. "Then I gotta say you look gorgeous."

/break\

It wasn't actually that different from hanging out with Luke. Over the past two months, Thess had watched a couple of movies or cartoons with Luke already. After breakfast at Katie's, Thess and Luke had gone back to Luke's place to watch a movie. At first, this felt a bit awkward because Thess thought he had to act different from normally, with as the movie continued, Thess relaxed. He was laying curled together against Luke by now, with Luke running his fingers absentmindedly through Thess' hair, which felt really nice and helped Thess ease his mind.

"I never had a boyfriend", admitted Thess softly. "Or girlfriend. I'm not like my sister."

"Thank the gods. I mean, I love SP, she's great and all, but damn she's a bit of a slut", grunted Luke, earning an elbow to the ribs. "Ouch. What? It's true. Shit, she's only fourteen and already had like three or four girlfriend-boyfriend-satyrs or whatever?"

Thess heaved a slow breath, resting his head against Luke's. "She's just seeking attention."

"That so?", inquired Luke doubtfully. "I'm not spending too much time at your place, but even I get the impression that uncle Nico and uncle Percy are pretty doting."

"It's because of Bia", muttered Thess, turning to look up at Luke with soft eyes. "The family has been a bit of a mess since Bia left. Donny is not very good at taking responsibility, so I did. Which means I'm not paying near as much attention to Percy as I used to, while at the same time I'm getting a lot of praise from mamma and papà for the way I handle the little ones, you see."

"That's because you're amazing", grinned Luke and kissed the top of Thess' head.

Thess blushed furiously at that notion, but he didn't object. This felt very nice. Having Luke's arms around him, the blonde's chin on top of his head and generally all the Luke around him. Luke smelt sweet but not overly sweet, more like Thess' favorite flowers. It was an Aphrodite thing, as far as Thess knew. Smiling softly to himself, Thess snuggled up closer to Luke.

"So... now that you are my boyfriend, what are... we going to do?", asked Thess curiously.

"Anything we want", replied Luke with a shrug, pulling Thess closer. "Pretty much what we did so far, but maybe... more of it? Like, more you-and-me alone time. More of the cuddling we're doing now? Because it seems to me like you're enjoying this."

"I am", agreed Thess with a faint blush.

Luke grinned fondly, twirling a strand of black silken hair in his fingers. "No need to be embarrassed about that, Thess. We're boyfriends now, right? So... I get to do stuff you like."

"Then do more of the hair-thing", grinned Thess softly, tilting his head up.

Luke smiled very gently down at the boy in his arms. He couldn't believe that only three months ago, Thess had just been PJ's twin to him. Back then when he looked at Thess, all he saw was a shy scrawny kid. It wasn't like Thess had changed since then – and sure, right now he was wearing a bit more well-fitting clothes, but even without that, Thess would still be the prettiest thing Luke had ever seen. Because his bright and beautiful soul was so clearly shining through.

Right now, when Luke looked at Thess, what he saw was an Elf prince. With his long hair framing his pale, flawless face, that blinding smile on his rosy lips. And his eyes. Before all of this, they had simply been 'brown' to Luke. Now, now he could truly get lost in their depth.

"I always thought I had a type", mused Luke with a frown. "And I never thought you'd be someone I could fall in love with. But... you're so much more. And so amazing."

Thess blushed again, this time even brighter. "Papà calls it 'the Jackson effect'."

Luke laughed softly before he leaned down to carefully brush his lips against Thess'. For a second, the younger boy froze, but then he offered Luke the brightest smile possible.

~*~ The End ~*~