Hey y'all. There's gonna be an author's note next chapter that I think you should definitely check out after reading this. Thanks a lot, and sorry about this chapter bc it's bAD.
All he knew was that he didn't want to feel either again.
*****
Percy woke up the next morning to several texts shown on his phone's lock screen. He squinted as his eyes were met with the light. A small smile crossed his face as he read the oldest ones from Nico.
Nico: hey how are you doing?
Nico: let me know if you got home okay
Nico: I'm gonna go to sleep, I'll talk to you tomorrow
Nico: goodnight
He responded to Nico to let him know he was still alive before checking the remainder of his messages that were all from Jason.
Jason: oh my gods Percy I'm sorry
Jason: I wasn't even planning on drinking or anything and I wasn't thinking
Jason: I didn't want to bother you and Nico or anything like that
Jason: if it helps any Thalia's pissed at me for you
Jason: feel free to yell at me when you see me next
Jason: and Leo for bringing me in the first place
Jason: I'm really sorry again, hope you enjoyed the night before I ruined it
Percy sighed, letting Jason know that everything was fine and that he wasn't mad. He wasn't, truly, he was just unnerved when he saw Jason stagger through the door the same way his former stepfather had done so many times. Jason couldn't have predicted how Percy had reacted, although he definitely could've not broken the law at some random party. He had a feeling that was primarily Leo's doing, though.
Groaning, Percy rolled out of bed and made himself presentable for the day. Right after he'd put a new shirt on, his phone vibrated against the wood it was sitting upon. The boy snatched the device, smiled at Nico di Angelo's caller ID, hit the answer button, and held the phone to his ear.
"Why hello," Percy spoke, just a tad unsure why Nico was calling.
Through the faint background noise, Percy heard the other boy say, "Hey, do you have plans for tonight?"
"When do I ever?"
"Oh, hush," Percy could hear the lighthearted tone coming from the other side of the call, "do you want to go, uh, go get dinner tonight? Just you and me."
Percy was absolutely baffled to think that he was in juvy just days before, and now he was going on what definitely seemed like a date with the guy he'd kissed even fewer days before.
"Sounds great," Percy kept his unusual amount of excitement contained, "I'll be at your place at six?"
"Wait, wha—no, this is my thing. I'm coming to get you, Jackson," Nico immediately replied, "Also, I have a car, so I'll be there at six. Anything else?"
Percy was a bit surprised at his assertiveness. "Nope, looking forward to it. Where are we going and what am I supposed to wear? My wardrobe is limited, and I gotta let Grover know that I might have to steal his clothes for the night."
"Uh...," Nico responded intelligently, "it's like a five out of ten on the 'wow this place is nice I gotta dress up' scale. It's Italian, too."
Percy nodded. "Creative name."
Nico bit back his smile. "Whatever. I'll see you later?"
"It's a date," Percy said casually before quickly bidding his goodbyes and hanging up before Nico could say anything.
The younger of the two sighed in relief. He wasn't looking forward to the awkward conversation about whether the dinner was meant to be a romantic setting or not. As he thought about it, Nico realized how ridiculous that sounded. (As did the author, but she was too lazy to change the whole part before this.) They had kissed, Nico thought it was obvious they both liked each other, and he had specifically mentioned it being for the two of them. He shook off his thoughts about the evening ahead of him and walked out of his room, ignoring Thalia's teasing as he went to get some sort of food.
"Just let me know when I need to give him the obligatory 'break his heart, I'll break you' speech to him," Thalia called out, obviously amused with herself.
Nico rolled his eyes. "Please don't do that, he probably already thinks you're crazy anyway."
"Nico," she shook her head, "I have to or I'm morally not allowed to let you stay here anymore."
The boy looked up at her taunting grin and couldn't stop the hint of a smile from grazing his features. "Whatever, Grace."
*****
"Oh my gods, Grover, please help me," Percy said as he gently knocked on his roommate's door. Said roommate complied and made his way out to the couch, waiting for Percy.
Percy sighed as he made eye contact with Grover. "I have a date."
Grover smiled at him. "So I heard."
The other boy was confused momentarily before remembering that he did, indeed, share an apartment with Grover. He shook off his moment of slightly ridiculous forgetfulness before continuing with the problem at hand.
"What do I do?" He asked helplessly, "I've...uh, never done this before. Kinda missed out on this sort of thing."
Grover nodded sympathetically. "Where're you two going? Dinner?"
"At six," Percy confirmed.
"Did he say where you were going?" Grover tried to recall all the places Nico had mentioned that were anything close to date-worthy.
"Just that it was a somewhat nice Italian place," Percy shrugged. Grover paused for a moment before grinning and meeting Percy's confused eyes.
"To my closet, we go!"
(Hi this chapter was literally the worst I'm so sorry)
Hello again. So school's about to start and I just made the volleyball team at my school. Updates may take a hot minute, but just like beat me up if it ever takes more than a month.
Also, remember to keep scrolling, beautiful people. It's just a little thing about the book and, you know, something in the future you might wanna check out. Have a nice week and a smooth transition back to school if you haven't already, everyone! I believe in youuuuu!
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Alone Again (Percico/Pernico AU)
Fanfiction[DISCLAIMER: I do not own the characters in this story. All rights to Rick Riordan, the brilliant mind behind all of this.] Percy had changed. He lost himself years ago. He was on his own now, and he wasn't sure anyone or anything could help him. Bu...
