Alone Again (Percico/Pernico AU)

Epilogue

He was happy.
One Year Later
*****

Never in a million years did Percy think he'd be where he is now. With a boyfriend who loved him regardless of his many flaws, a best friend to keep him on top of his life, and a place he could finally call his home, he could hardly believe it was all real.

He'd started online classes about three months back after much persuasion from both Grover and Nico. His AHDH and dyslexia did him no favors, but seeing Nico's eyes light up whenever he told the boy about a recent success helped him work up the will to continue.

Even as the boy's life got busier, he always set aside time to visit Clarisse and Travis, and he was often pleased to find Connor, Chris, Silena, and Beckendorf there when he arrived. When Nico didn't accompany him, Clarisse still teased Percy mercilessly about his boyfriend, seeming to forget that they'd been together for more than a year. The green-eyed boy quickly found that he didn't mind as much anymore, though. With every retort Percy shot at her, he also felt his stomach flutter at the mere mention of the boy. The boy that was now his.

The boy that refused to give up on Percy, the boy that managed to break down Percy's walls and help him open up, the boy that made Percy the happiest he'd ever been.

Nico di Angelo was not exactly who Percy had envisioned falling in love with. With both his own parents' and his mother's marriage being complete wrecks, he wasn't particularly sure how he'd end up when it came to romance. Hell, he didn't even fully accept his own sexuality until the year prior. He always thought that he'd end up with some girl he could never truly love, or who could never love him.

With Nico, however, Percy's vision for the future changed. Of course, he hoped that Nico would be the one, someone who he spent much of his life with. Even if Nico wasn't, though, Percy's perspective would be forever altered. He was no longer unlovable or unworthy. He could conquer the demons and his past. He could do anything, really.

After all, if someone like Nico could love him, he was surely worthy of something.

Regardless, Percy wondered what he had done to deserve Nico every now and then. He was smart, caring, considerate, understanding, and so much more. He was persistent, determined, ambitious, and even if he was more of the quiet side, Percy easily saw those traits shine through. His schoolwork was well-done, although he struggled to keep some grades up junior year (there was a lot going on, cut him some slack); he never missed a beat when it came to comforting his friends; and he had, obviously, bothered Percy until the boy returned to his academics.

Percy had no intention of letting the boy go anytime soon. After all, he fell more in love with Nico whenever he saw him. Nico taught him how to really care, how to love. Cliché as it might be, Percy owed him everything he had.

With the time Percy Jackson spent with Nico di Angelo, he had finally discovered that he'd never truly be alone again. He was loved.

And that's a wrap. Five hundred words of Percy being absolutely lovesick by yours truly.

As always, I just want to say thank you for everybody that has made it with me this far. Even though it's a massive mess, I've spent a long time with this story and I'm glad to see it finally all done. (Approximately 1/4 of my lifetime thus far, if you were wondering.)

I'm going to be doing some aggressive editing at some point, but for now, I will be marking this as completed. I'll notify y'all when I start publishing chapters for my next percico fic.

Love you all. Thank you, and have an amazing life.❤️