Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson or ant of it's characters. I only own the plot and my OC's which have yet to be introduced.

Camp Jupiter:

Reyna watched the camp from her favorite spot, and didn't really notice when the old oracle walked up behind her. Though the voice surprised her, she didn't jump like she would have if she hadn't had so much battle training.

"You know, Piper mentioned something her mom said to you. And I was wondering if you wanted to talk about it." The redhead sat down next to the praetor, a small smile creeping its way onto her lips. It was almost the end of the summer and they had finished a lot of the work. Well, more than they'd hoped for at least.

Reyna looked at her new friend with a pained expression. "I know you have come to help me get over this, but as far as my knowledge goes you have no understanding of what or how I'm feeling." In truth? She had been battling some feelings for a while now and Aphrodite's words had just made that battle harder. She wanted to be a good praetor, a good roman. But sadly, her heart and feelings weren't with the program.

Rachel shrugged as she looked out over the landscape of New Rome. "I might not, but I know how it feels to try hard to fit into the outline that's created for you and have someone's words turn that upside down. Piper was the one to tell me, but...She was the one to help me come to terms with it."

Reyna looked at the other girl in surprise as she let her guard down a little. It was a pain, but it usually happened around Rachel. "What do you mean, come to terms?" This was the girl who had everything she could want, she had Percy but gave him up to become the oracle. She had money but she didn't want it so she did whatever she wanted.

Rachel stared out the ground, clearly more interested in the plants then the topic. "Well, my dad was very conservative. Men were the leaders, woman did the work in the house. People couldn't change gender, or like certain people. It was against his rules. So when I started to like this person, he shot down any idea of me ever dating someone. All because the person I liked, was a girl. So until Piper talked to me, I had never really opened up about the fact that...I'm bisexual."

Reyna stared at her this entire time as Aphrodite's words clicked into place. 'You will not find love where you wish or hope'. That referred to it being anyone she had like previously, and what Rachel was mentioning. 'No demigod shall heal your heart'. And it was true. Then who was left? The clear sighted mortal. The clear sighted girl mortal before her. And then all the feelings she had pressed down since she met her came out in the form of a blush, and the whisper of, "Me too..."

When Rachel turned, Reyna saw the same thing that she was feeling in the other girl's eyes. Not just the hatred of feeling like you weren't anything because of something you can't change, no. It was something different, something that made people look at her with pity during meetings and Jason was talking. But this time it was mutual, this time it was okay. The redhead leaned forward, glancing at Reyna's lips and then her eyes. You can't exactly kiss the praetor of the twelfth legion without permission. That permission came in the form of Reyna closing the distance.

Quebec:

Calypso laughed as her boyfriend stumbled towards her with their hot chocolate. She was currently leaning on Festus, wrapped up in her warmest clothing. She played with the necklace he had gotten her when they went to Paris, a habit she had picked up as a reminder that it was all real. He had taken her to every country he could think of, for as long as they could they explored every inch they could reach. Until they got bored and went to the next one, somewhere different and vibrat. They went to Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Ireland, England, Turkey, Japan, China, Russia (almost got shot down on the way there though), Brazil, India, Australia and Africa. Not specifically in that order. Now, they were at their final stop before going to Camp Half Blood. Canada.

Leo handed her her mug before sipping his quietly for a few seconds, relaxing into the warmth of Festus's hide. "You know, the snowflakes make your hair shinier." Since they were so close to the northern wind, it was lightly snowing with no real effects to the ground.

Calypso rolled her eyes at his flirting, but kissed his cheek anyway because at the very least he made her smile. But that wasn't helping the anxiety that was bubbling in her and the reason for the impromptu hot chocolate stop. "Leo, I'm scared about going to the camp. What if they don't except me? What if the gods send me back and take you to the underworld for disobeying the laws of nature for coming back? What if Percy and Annabeth...?"

Leo pressed a light kiss to her forehead to let her know everything was okay, not matter how much it wasn't. "I'm sure they'll understand and at the very least will just be polite around you, just not friends. The gods won't do either of those things, considering I saved the world and sacrificed my life to do it. Plus, they were already supposed to let you go but they didn't listen." He took a deep breath to collect himself before continuing. "And if Chiron or Mr. D do anything to try and force you out of camp, I will realise bloody tartarus on them." He smiled as he took another sip of his drink, savoring the moment before finishing his thought. "You know why I would do all this? Because I love you Sunshine."

Calypso smiled happily, before saying, "You know what? I think I know why I didn't like you in the beginning. The curse was lifted, so neither of us were forced to fall in love with each other. So the reason you could come back was because you really did and do feel something for me. It wasn't just the curse."

Leo's smile was so big they could probably see it from the bottom of Mexico, he was always surprised when she hinted at loving him. It wasn't at the saying it stage, no but that was okay. She could wait. "I think it's time we head home. There's a lot of making up for lost time we have to do. Besides, the summer is almost over. I couldn't miss school!"

Calypso laughed as she shed her winter gear into a pack and climbed onto Festus like she'd been doing it for years. "You coming, Leo?"

Camp Half-Blood:

It was a week before the end of camp and two before the start of school, the bus to take kids to either the airport or home depending on what was closer. Will had decided that enough was enough, he had to do something before he was driven away so he could see his mom. "Hey Cecil, can you do me a favor?" Even if he wasn't in the room, that boy just knew.

The goofy son of Hermes popped up from behind one of the infirmary beds that was unoccupied; and grinned widely like he'd found Connor's peanut M&M stash. "Hey Will, what do you need? I mean, obviously you don't want me to take over since I would do more harm than good."

Will rolled his eyes at his best friends antics and sighed because of course that's what he would say when asked for a favor. "Go get Lou. I want her to take over my shift, so I can go hang out with Nico...And you know, confess." When those words came out of his mouth, there was a whoop from Cecil and a cloud of imaginary dust where he was once standing. It was a long standing bet between almost everyone in camp over when he would finally get the courage to stop hiding in his work and start talking like he told the person he needed to confess to to do a long time ago.

Nico had spent three days on full time bed rest in the infirmary in isolation, with Will fussing over the slices taken out of him from his fight with the werewolf. The sun of Apollo couldn't even think the name of that beast without waiting to smash one of the beds into pieces. Did I mention he hated violence? All his life, Will had been a pacifist but one thing he would defend was the people he cared about.

"The queen has arrived, you may now go off and get some tongue from the boy you are madly in love with. Go find Nico." Lou Ellen grinned as she quickly set to work looking over people's injuries and making their day.

Little did Will know, there was an extra shadow in the room. Ignoring everything around him, Will went off looking for the younger boy. He finally spotted him walking into the woods towards Zeus's fist, hiding himself like he always did. He ran off after him and surprisingly they reached the clearing at the same time, though he was sure the younger boy had the ability to out run him even without shadow travel.

Nico was acting weird. He was redder than usual, he wasn't demanding to know why Will followed him, and he wasn't smirking. Then, he spoke and his voice was like something important broke. Something Will had been trying to mend. "You know, leading people on is cruel. Especially when you lie to other people about it too."

Will gave him a look before flat out saying, "What do you mean?" And then his mind connected the dots. The slight blushes on Nico's cheeks, the glances when he caught Nico looking at him while he worked, how he asked to stay another day since he wanted to make sure the scars were healed properly...the extra shadow when he was talking to Lou.

"I heard what Lou said to you. I really thought you liked me for a few seconds, but I guess I was wrong. I mean, it just felt nice to be on the receiving end of a crush. I didn't like you..." Nico was a good liar, and both of the boys knew it. Just one problem. He couldn't lie to Will. No matter how hard he tried. The sun of Apollo could hear his heart rate increase, his blood running to his neck and a lot of other tell tale signs. But he never said anything.

Will couldn't help it. He laughed. He bent over, held his stomach and cried. That was how hard he was laughing. When he finally calmed down, he saw Nico sitting on top of Zeus's fist, glowering at him. "I'm sorry, let me explain why I was laughing." He walked closer so he didn't have to yell. "What you just said, was complete and utter bull shit. I mean, you heard Lou right of course, and I'm not in love with you. But, I do have a crush on you." He moved so he was sitting next to Nico. "I have since that day on the hill. It just kind of got bigger after that. I mean, I made up excuses to see you. Not the three days in the infirmary, that was to keep you alive. But I would check your bandages more than I needed to, or ask if you wanted anything to much, I did a lot of that. And it wasn't just to show you that I cared. It was for me too..."

Nico looked at him in surprise before gently laying his hand on top of Will's. "I'm sorry...I should have trusted you, it's just..." And that's when Will saw how tired he was. There were black rings under his eyes, he looked thinner than when he was in the infirmary...

Will in one quick motion grabbed his arm and rolled up his sleeve. "Nico..." There were only a few, but it was enough. "You look me in the eyes right now." And when he finally did, there was an expression no one had ever seen on his sunny face. It was dead serious, and completely protective. "You are going to start eating whatever I give you during meals, and will have to since I am now going to sit at your table with you. If you still haven't finished by the end, I don't care. I'll sit with you til you do. Got it?" When Nico nodded, he continued. "Another thing. You are going to have a roommate. I am going to make sure you go to sleep at a reasonable time, and wake up at one. Any nightmares at all and I'm up to help. Got it?" Again, but this time more reluctant. "And finally. If you ever feel like you need to do this then you come to me. I won't say a damn thing to anyone else, in fact I will help you heal them in your cabin if you want. But before you even look at something to self harm with, you find me. I will drop everything...for you."

"On one condition." Will waited for some big favor, or maybe even better a date. "The only thing you don't drop everything for is helping a camper that could die if you leave them. I'll go to Jason, or Percy if you are. Deal?" Nico looked so serious. It was nerve wracking. But his blush was gone and so was the anger in his eyes.

"Deal." Will smiled lightly, and pulled his hands away as to not overstep the boundaries they had laid out. "Now, it's almost lunch. Let's head back, without shadow traveling. I don't want to have to sing to heal you again since it's for emergencies only. I hate when you are so badly hurt you're an emergency."

Nico smiled shyly before whispering, "Will? I'm not ready to date anyone yet. I want to get back to the way I was before I left camp before any of that. At least, better than I am now. But, if you want...we can see what happens next after that."

Will smiled so brightly that the shadows that clung to Nico disappeared. "I'd like that. Now come on." They started heading back. At the tree line, Will felt a cold pressure touch his palm, and found that Nico was holding his hand. He squeezed it lightly as they walked, and understood when Nico pulled his hand back when they got to the edge of camp. It was going to be a long road.

Jason watched as Nico and Will walked in together. He waved, and actually got one back from both of them. To his surprise, both sat down at the Hades table. Chiron didn't seem to care where any one sat, and nodded at Jason who smiled thankfully. He jogged over to sit with them and slung an arm around Nico. "Hey, looks like I can sit with you now cuz!"

Percy sat down next to Will with Annabeth and Piper right behind them. "So. Is this our new seating arrangements from now on?" Percy had an arm around Annabeth, who was playing with a ring on her right finger.

Nico groaned as he slide to slouch in his chair, resting his chin on his arms like he could meld into the table. "Guys, it was bad enough with Will. Now you're going to give..." As if on cue, his other two friends at camp showed up to take up most of the room left. "Oh great. Can we get food now?"

Will whispered something to Nico, who stayed at the table while everyone else went to go get food which wasn't that surprising considering the son of Hades never really ate at meals. After everyone had sent a tribute to the gods, the rest of the group returned.

Suddenly Juniper and one of her friends came in with two plates full of food. The giggled as they placed them down in front of Nico. "Will sent in a special order for you, so here you go. I added some italian stuff too, like the Hazelnut cinnamon rolls." She blew Grover a kiss, who was over by Chiron, before heading back to the trees before she got sick from being so far away from her home.

Jason watched as Nico tried one of the cinnamon rolls, and grinned as he watched his 'little brother' turn into the kid Percy always talked about again. He started eating his own meal after a few seconds of watching the years of grief and sadness.

Nico was stuffing his face like there was no tomorrow and kept licking his fingers after he finished off one type of something, almost as if he was distracted enough to let his guard down. Suddenly he said something in italian, the most childish look on his face you could imagine. "Oh mio Dio, è così buono ... Ancora, ancora! Per Favore."

Will shook his head, laughing slightly. "You cleared both plates Death boy. Ma solo per quello sguardo vostro darmi, farò in modo che sia questo ogni giorno. Ok?"

"Grazie! E come fai a sapere italiano?" Nico looked at him confused before blushing. "Lasciami indovinare. Parlo nel sonno e preso su di esso?" When Will nodded he groaned, clearly either extremely annoyed or embarrassed. "Io odio Will Solace." Before Will could retort, Nico's eyes widened. "E '..It can't be. No, he...I knew it wasn't normal!" He looked towards half blood hill, making everyone do the same. "I'm gonna kill him."

"Who?" Jason asked before the smell hit him, and he bolted from his chair towards the hill. There was only one reason there would be tabasco sauce and oil in the air, was a dragon. And that dragon was Leo's.

Piper charged right behind him. Suddenly they spotted Festus, landing by the volleyball court. What they failed to notice was there were two riders. As soon as Leo was safely on the ground, his best friends attacked. Punching and kicking and hitting, Piper was crying...Finally they stopped and just stared at him.

Leo now had a split lip, and a few bruises. "So I take it you guys aren't happy to see me? So I guess I'll just.." In two seconds all of his friends were crushing him in hugs. Annabeth and Piper were bawling and swearing at him as they kissed his cheeks.

"Never, ever. Do that again." Percy was giving him the most terrifying glare of all time, that almost everyone would have shied away from. But Leo stood his ground.

"I won't have to. The only reason I left was because someone needed a ride. I think you'll recognize her." Leo held out a hand, and a beautiful girl climbed down next to him before sliding herself under his arm. "This is my girlfriend, Calypso."

Everyone stood there in shock before Percy started apologizing over and over, and then realization set in. "You cursed Annabeth." When she nodded, and stared at the ground mutely..all he said was, "You couldn't have known it would be taken out. Just like I couldn't have know the gods would go back on something they swore on the river styx to do."

Leo rolled his eyes. "They only partially didn't. I mean, the curse was broken. But they just didn't take her off the island. I mean, she hated me at first. So curse gone!" He grinned before pressing a light kiss to his girlfriend's temple. "Now I need to iris message Camp Jupiter so I don't get the crap beaten out of me again when they visit next."