Okay let's see how cheesy I can make this chapter! ^>^

Percy puffed, looking at himself in the mirror.

He scowled, fiddling with his tie, and then trying, for like, the fifth time, to button up his shirt.

He stomped his foot in frustration and grabbed a piece of pen and paper, quickly jotting a word down onto it.

"Percy?" Nico opened the bathroom door and Percy stopped, staring at him.

His hair was... well it... it was his hair... but it... how he had it... it... whatever- Nico looked good.

Since Percy's foster parents were being a bit too much at the moment Nico had invited Percy over to get ready for prom, a thing that Percy really didn't want to go to. But alas, having friends was now... sort of a thing for him, and they were dragging him along. Plus he had literally no idea how to do anything and was incapable of anything involving formal wear.

Nico meanwhile was having a hard time staring but not staring. If... that makes any sense. Percy had this cute little pouty/frustrated look on his face and it was adorable. His hair was all messy, which sort of just added to the look. Oh yeah, and his shirt was open.

Percy held up the paper he had written on before, which read, 'Help.'

Nico snapped out of his trance and chuckled, smiling. He swung the door open and walked in. He helped Percy button up his shirt, moving closer so he could try to just focus on the buttons. The buttons. The buttons. Only the buttons. Only the buttons.

He moved his gaze up slightly when he was at the last button, and his gaze was met with Percy's bright green eyes.

Nico's grip tightened on Percy's shirt and the two just stared at each other for awhile, the only audible thing being their heavy breathing.

Nico's eyes flickered down to Percy's lips. Should he kiss him? Probably not. 

He cleared his throat and took a step back, quickly finishing up the last button. Percy looked down to the ground and no form of communication was made between the two as Nico did Percy's tie.

"U-um, there." Nico murmured as he finished, his cheeks practically on fire. Sheesh, it probably looked like he had a fever or something.

Percy gave a small smile of thanks and Nico nodded, heading out and closing the door behind him.

Nico took in a deep breath, leaning back against the door and staring up at the ceiling.

God, what was he doing? This was Percy. Sweet... perfect Percy.

Well, he had been a little flirty before, but...

Nuh uh.

A loud knock on his bedroom door jerked him from his thoughts and he quickly jumped away from the bathroom door.

Bianca opened the door, grinning. "Hey, you two lovebirds ready yet?"

"One, not lovebirds. Two, you could've easily walked in on us naked!"

"Hot."

"No- I- get out!" Nico puffed, throwing a pillow at her.

Bianca just laughed and shut the door.

"Are they making out!?" Leo exclaimed from the other side of the door.

"SHHH we said be quiet!" Jason said.

"WHICH NEITHER OF YOU ARE BEING!" Calypso's voice broke through, silencing all of them.

Nico facepalmed and the sound of mumbles and shuffling feet slowly moved away from the door.

He sighed, walking over to the mirror in his room, fixing his hair. Then his clothes, then his watch. Then his jeans. Then his hair again- maybe he was just being paranoid...

Well he probably just subconsciously really wanted to look good- for the student body of course. He was obviously going to get King so... he had to look good...

"MAKE SURE TO USE PROTECTION!" a shrill voice shrieked from downstairs.

"OH MY GOD YOU GUYS!" Nico swung his door open. "I'LL KILL YOU ALL!"

He slammed the door shut and spun around, right in time to watch the bathroom door slowly slide open.

There stood Percy in the doorframe, sheepishly scratching the back of his head with one hand. He had a light blush across his cheeks- but he looked good.

"They're... such a handful, aren't they?" Nico said, giving a nervous smile. He subconsciously started messing around with his tie and his collar, his eyes looking over Percy.u

Nico coughed and cleared his throat, "Oh, um, uh. You ready?"

Percy nodded. He took in a breath, "Y...y... y-yo-ou... l... loc- look...good." he smiled sheepishly. His voice still had a bit of a... troubled... raspy... accent to it. It was clear he didn't really like hearing himself, but Nico didn't mind it.

"Speech therapy been working out well for you these past few weeks?" Nico smiled, walking over.

Percy scowled, shaking his head.

Nico laughed, "I know you hate them, but I'm the one paying for them, and I really like seeing results."

He opened his mouth, then closed it. He grabbed a pen and paper, quickly jotting something down. Both Nico and Percy had gotten really good at writing really fast- and really neat. Plus Nico had about a million notepads lying around now.

'You didn't have to do that.'

Nico smiled, looking at him.

"But I did."

'Well... then, I.. thank you.'

"I'd do an- I mean, of course, whatever... helps."

'I still hate speech therapy. If the girl was like... our age and had a british accent maybe I'd be more into it.'

A flash of doubt seemed to cross Nico's mind. Was Percy straight? Or was he just... no, but... he had no indication as to what... sexuality Percy actually was. Maybe he was actually asexual. Or bisexual. But.. could he be straight? Why was this a matter of importance? They were best friends, nothing more, he shouldn't be worrying about this.

He cleared his throat (for the second time so far in the conversation) and just smiled. "But then you see, you'd probably get a british accent yourself."

'Ah yes, a real way to bring in all the ladies.'

Nico blinked.

Percy pursed his lips, 'Kidding, kidding.'

"O-oh." Nico chuckled. "You know for a kid who didn't have much to say you.. sure talk a lot."

Percy smacked him on the head with the notepad.

'Whatever smart-ass. Let's get moving.'

"See there you go again!"

Percy dropped the pen and notepad, grabbing Nico and pulling him into a headlock before casually walking out of the room and walking downstairs.

"Looks like I was wrong guys, common courtesy is trying to kill your date before-hand." Leo hummed.

"Oh, liked this?" Calypso grabbed Leo's arm and pulled it behind his back in an arm lock.

"Ow ow ow ow- okay UNCLE WOMAN UNCLE!"

Calypso let go, grinning.

"Jesus." Leo whined, rolling his shoulder. "You hurt mee."

"Get over it you big baby."

Calypso had ended up asking Leo to the dance- not vice versa because, frankly, as said by Leo, 'She kinda scares me, a lot. She's really hot, but really scary.' But he seemed happy with the results, and so did she. They really seemed to have connected over the past few weeks.

Meanwhile Selena had been swept off her feet by that Charlie guy, and she couldn't be happier.

Hazel was testing the waters with this dude named Frank- who got an extreme interrogation from Nico and Bianca and... well, everybody.

Piper and Jason seemed to be hitting it off as well. But they weren't going together to the dance officially because... complications? Whatever.

Bianca's phone rang.

"Oh! Reyna and our rides are waiting for us." she grinned.

"Did we get limos?" Jason asked.

"Nope, courtesy of your date, we are..."

She opened the door to reveal freaking /horse drawn carriages./ The horses were beautiful, and really tall for that matter. The carriages were absolutely stunning, and... terribly shocking.

"What the fuuuuuuuuuu-"

Selena covered Leo's mouth.

Reyna popped her head out from one of the carriages. "Get in losers we're going to prom."

They all laughed, everyone grabbing their dates and heading out.

Bianca smiled and Nico and Percy.

"Single pringle?" Nico tilted his head.

"Yeah. But I don't care, that means I get to be the photographeerrr." she sung, holding up a camera. "Plus Thalia and I are gonna just hang."

Thalia grinned.

"Now go- take your date-" Bianca started.

"Notmydate."

"-and get in those carriages!"

Nico looked at Percy smiled, who smiled back and shrugged.

Nico took Percy's arm, bolting for the carriages.

"Ugh I wanna ride one of the horses!" Leo exclaimed. "Like, how badass would that be?"

"You, getting bucked off of a horse in front of the entire student body... yeah that's pretty badass." Calypso hummed.

"....shutup."

"EVERYBODY LOOK HERE!" Bianca exclaimed, giggling. Everyone poked their heads out of their carriages and Bianca snapped a picture- with the flash on and practically blinding everyone because they had not been informed that the flash was on.

Bianca had managed to swoop in the frame selfie style so about 3/4s of her was in the picture on the side.

"Perfect!" she laughed, quickly jumping into one of the carriages. "TO PROM WE GO!"

--

"I swear to God that horse had it out for me!" Leo exclaimed.

"Leo this is a horse we are talking about." Jason deadpanned, "How mad could you have made it?"

"Well it just kept farting in my face!" Leo puffed.

"I'm sure it just had something bad to eat." Calypso said, patting his head.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Probably had to poop and it thought your head was the prime target to go on."

"...That was so almost sweet." Leo blinked.

"Well you didn't necessarily sign up for sweet with her now did you?" Nico joked.

"King or not I can still bash your face into the wall." Calypso hummed, heading for the doors.

"...She's definitely a little intimidating." Jason blinked. "And she lectured us on beating up people."

"See!? I told you!" Leo said.

Thalia nudged his side, grinning. "Ah, you love her."

"...I call it highly like." Leo hummed, skipping to Calypso.

"Well, anyhow..." Nico looked at Percy. "Ready?"

Percy smiled and nodded.

The group all went up to the doors, catching up with Calypso and Leo. They handed their tickets to the ticket person, dropped off their jackets, and walked in.

Immediately a bunch of colorful lights hit their face. The entrance to the dance was a gigantic flowery, ribboney archway, lined with flowers and with a red carpet going straight though it.

"I'm too tallllll." Jason puffed.

"Oh- boo hoo." Piper pushed him through and Jason yelped, stumbling and tripping into the dance, landing face first on the red carpet.

Silence.

After a few seconds Jason popped up, grinning. "ALL GOOD!"

Percy snickered along with some other people, and some other people just laughed light-heartedly. But it was fine, because Jason was cracking up himself.

They got a lot of hi's and mock bows, but everyone seemed moderately chill. 

Over the past few weeks everyone had been working on trying to change a few things around the school. They got to know people better, and the 'popular' group would run around doing things for people who used to always scramble to do anything for them, and they were always happy to do so. They talked to everyone more, learned more stories, even joined clubs (last minute mostly- course with some extra coaxing from Thalia and Jason Zeus eventually let them all join in on the clubs. They... helped people, or tried to. And while it got difficult, and while they obviously couldn't totally get to know absolutely everyone in the school, they definitely did try. 

Plus they even learned there were some other kids like Percy there. Not exactly mute, but. There was a kid in a wheelchair- paralyzed from a car accident. Some down syndrome kids, some kids with some mental disorders, a blind person, actually, two, and some deaf people. Bianca was so fascinated after talking to the blind guy she started learning braille from him, and a few people were trying to learn sign language. Turns out Percy already knew how to sign moderately good already, he just never got to use it at school because no one really knew it, so he dropped it.

Of course there were still the skeptics and the haters, but like, f.uck them.

No, no, not really. Some people just understandably take time. Can't change the whole world in a day.

"Wow the prom committee did a really good job on the dance this year." Leo murmured, looking around.

"Thank you!" Piped most of the girls, grinning.

"...dudes, dudes. DUDES I LOVE THIS SONG!" Jason yelled.

"What song is it?" Selena tilted her head.

"One hint. Matchbox Twenty."

"...I'm gonna need a bigger hint..." she smiled sheepishly.

"ITS HOW FAR WE'VE COME!"

"Oh, jesus." Piper laughed.

"COME ON!" Leo grinned. "DJ TURN IT UP!"

"YOU GOT IT!" yelled a voice. Huh, Nico kinda recognized that voice...

The volume turned up and the group all clapped along to the song, laughing. The nerds who knew the song (so, a lot of people) started singing along, dancing and clapping in a circle. Soon most of the student body had made their own circles, singing along.

"Alright losers!" Jason jumped into the middle of their groups circle, taking a couple of steps before doing a- not a single, but a double backflip before casually moonwalking out of the circle.

The song came to an end, and a few disappointed groans followed until a new beat picked up on a familiar song.

"Oh my god it's this song!" Selena squealed.

"Um. What's this song?" Frank blinked.

"It's a little song called 'I think I'm in love.'" Piper grinned.

https://youtu.be/UfwPbtHeOKY

She looked at Jason, "Think you can keep up with my dance moves?" she help out her hand.

"Obviously." Jason grinned, taking her hand.

"Oh fine show all of us amateurs up." Leo muttered.

Nico glanced at Percy- who had also been looking towards him.

They both quickly turned their heads away from each other, their cheeks burning.

Crap, I got caught staring didn't I?

Meanwhile Jason and Piper were having a blast showing everyone up, spinning, twirling, and just... looking actually incredible.

♪♫I'm trying hard to trust you when you say 'give me your hand'♪♫

They took each other's hand before pushing away.

♪♫Baby I'm fallin'♪♫

♪♫I hope you catch me when I la-and♪♫

Piper ran towards Jason and leaped into the air. Jason caught her waist and hoisted her up above his head, spinning in a circle with a large grin on his face.

He quickly transitioned his hands, dropping them down and catching her bridal style.

They stared at each other, smiling.

"...Jesus that was beautiful!" Bianca laughed.

Percy smiled, nodding in agreement with the others.

Piper and Jason didn't seem to hear each other. They were just kind of looking into each other's eyes, breathing heavily.

"Thanks for catching me."Piper whispered.

"Anytime." Jason murmured, leaning in and crashing his lips against hers.

"FREAKING FINALLY!" Nico exclaimed, laughing.

"Alright who had 'beginning of prom'?" Leo blinked, taking out a piece of paper.

"I believe that was me." Thalia smirked.

"Gosh I was way off." Nico blinked. "I thought right after prom for sure..."

A few more songs went by, Piper and Jason finally stopped kissing, and everyone was practically deaf by how loud the music was. Did anyone particularly care that they might lose their hearing? Not really.

Nico quickly noticed though that Percy had ditched off to somewhere else. After quickly yelling his departure to Bianca he bolted off, looking around the room for him.

"Looking for anyone?" a voice asked.

Nico spun around- half expecting to see... well he didn't really know he expected to see, but he certainly didn't think he'd see Miss. Chase standing there.

Miss. Chase smiled, "Hello Nico."

"Oh, hi. Hi." Nico smiled back politely.

"Reminds me of my prom..."

"The... decorations?"

"No." she shook her head. She looked at him, "The feeling."

"I... oh."

"You've done well, Mr. Di Angelo."

"I... thank you, I guess." he smiled. "We're trying."

"Trying is the best anyone can do."

Nico went quiet for a second, glancing at the ground before looking back at her with a smile. "You're pretty smart, aren't you Miss. Chase?"

"Clearly not smart enough to choose a different career path- or to say no to chaperoning this dance." she chuckled.

Nico laughed and nodded, "I guess so."

She patted his shoulder, "Keep up the good work. Also... bathroom."

"What?"

"Bathroom." she smiled before heading off.

Nico blinked.

Oh, Percy. She meant Percy was in the bathroom.

Wait- how'd she know? He spun around to ask her, but she had already disappeared into the crowd.

The music blaring in the background slowly faded to a softer, quieter tone.

A spotlight was aimed towards the stage and Calypso walked onto stage, a microphone in hand. She grinned, staring out at the crowd.

"How'd everyone doing?" she exclaimed and everyone clapped and whooped excitedly.

"Good to hear that!" she grinned. "But now is the time you've all been waiting for. This past month you have all come together and voted, as a community and student body, for your Prom King and Queen. And I mean I think we all know who the King is gonna be." she winked and the crowed laughed- almost as if... they all knew something. Odd. 

"Now I'm gonna do this untraditionally sort of. We're not gonna go through the nominees this time because it's like a sucky participation award and I also don't feel like doing it. Cool? K, cool? I'm just going straight to the winners. Everyone cool with that? Of course you are."

Nico's eye caught a sudden movement from the entrance and he spotted Percy coming back in.

Nico quickly tried to make his way to him- but there were just too many people.

"And the prom King is...."

So... close...

"Obviously- Nico Di Angelo!"

Clapping and cheering came from all sides of him and the spotlight swung over to him.

Nico froze, blinking. He gave a sheepish smile before slowly inching his way to the stage.

Calypso gave him his crown, his fancy sash, and his scepter.

He slowly walked over to the microphone on the stand, smiling.

"Thank you, all of you, for this." he smiled. "A few months ago I didn't feel very worthy of being the supposed 'King of Highschool.' I... didn't think I earned it- I still don't think I deserve it. All I knew was... I wasn't the best person in the world- but I also didn't care. But I met some people- or more particularly to start out, I reconnected with someone, who showed me. They showed me a better me." he smiled, his eyes meeting with Percy's in the back. A large smile spread across Percy's face and he leaned against the wall.

"I am honored to be your King, and I will hold my position high and proud. Thank you all." Nico grinned, another round of applause sounding off.

Nico stepped to the side and took in a deep breath. Well, this was it. Who would finally win the Queen race? Perhaps-

"OH LOOK AT THIS!" Calypso exclaimed, half mockingly. "Wow, huh, wooow. How interesting."

"What?" Nico blinked.

"Ladies and gentlemen through total accident..." Calypso grinned cheekily. "Our other prom King is Percy Jackson!" she flipped the card over, showing Percy's name as kIng.

A roar of applause flooded the room and the spotlight swung to a very shocked Percy, who just kinda stayed frozen and in his place.

"Hey bud didn't you hear!?" Leo ran over, grinning. "You're king!"

He and the others from Nico's group crowded him, hoisting him up onto their shoulders.

Percy yelped, grabbing onto them and holding onto them for dear life.

The student body quickly parted, letting them get through, all of them clapping.

Percy looked a little overwhelmed- and a little scared, like this was all one big prank. Like someone was gonna dump... pig's blood on him like in Carrie. But... another part of him seemed to be... kind of happy. Of course still surprised, but a happy surprised.

Their friends quickly hoisted Percy up onto the stage next to the mic and then proceeded to join the clapping, grinning up at them.

"Way to go bucko." Reyna smirked, placing the crown on Percy's head. She handed him his scepter and gave him his sash. 

Percy blinked, a smile appearing on his face.

He pulled her in for a hug, beaming. She chuckled and hugged him back.

Nico looked at his friends, staring at them in surprise. He pointed at them, 'You?' he mouthed.

They grinned and gestured to everyone around them, 'All of us.' they mouthed back.

Percy quickly ran over to the mic, grinning.

Calypso tilted her head.

Percy let out a long, calming exhale.

"Thank you." he said into the mic before pulling away.

More applause.

Calpyso pushed Nico towards Percy, grinning.

"And now..." she hummed. "The King and King's first prom dance!"

She pushed them off the stage.

Percy yelped, grabbing Nico's hand, but their friends caught them, so no danger.

They all laughed and set them down, the student body making a circle for them to dance in as a slow song came on. Or... slower song.

Calypso smiled, putting her mic away before her and Reyna joined the others on the floor.

https://youtu.be/_e_BabRpm9E

Nico blinked and looked at Percy.

"I... guess they had everything planned out." Nico said, smiling.

Percy nodded.

"Um... you don't... mind, right?"

Percy smiled and shook his head, gesturing to their hands- which were still clasped tightly together.

"Right, I see." Nico chuckled, grinning. He took Percy's other hand, pulling him closer. Percy put one hand on Nico's shoulder and Nico put one hand on Percy's side. Guess Nico was leading.

The two didn't do anything really fancy, just the classic box... 1,2,3,4, thing, whatever that is. They didn't really need any fancy moves, anyway. They just kind of... danced. About maybe halfway through the song they finally kept their eyes locked on each other's, a smile spreading across both of their faces.

They moved as one, their eyes connecting them. Felt like they were the only ones in that room- everyone else just kind of faded away. But... something didn't sit right with Nico.

The lyrics of the song... listen to the lyrics. He...loved hearing Percy's voice, and...

Suddenly he was very aware of everyone around them, and very aware of how close he and Percy were.

Percy meanwhile was an emotional wreck inside. It had taken all of his self control to not kiss Nico, and... well they were dancing, as Kings of the dance no less. Perfect timing, world.

Nico was just... a safe thing for him. He could listen to him talk all day, he loved hearing his voice. He cared for him, a lot. Percy just felt safe around him, and... Nico was the thing that he felt was best for him. Nico helped him become a better him. Gosh, those lyrics were too true. Nico... was his guardian angel that heaven so graciously blessed upon him.

The music began to fade out and Percy gently pressed his forehead against Nico's.

They both took in a shakey breath, staring into each other's eyes.

Slowly both of their eyes closed and they learned in, holding each other.

Suddenly Nico took a step away, leaving Percy's grasp.

Percy's eyes snapped opened and he stared at him.

Nico swallowed. As he stared at Percy a cloud of sadness crossed his eyes, and all of their friends fell silent.

"I'm... I'm sorry." he whispered before bolting off.

Song 1: Heaven Knows by Five for Fighting [Nightcore Vers]

Song 2: I Think I'm In Love by Kat Dahlia [Nightcore Vers]

Song 3: My Escape by Ravenscode [Nightcore Vers]

Mentioned Song: How Far We've Come by Matchbox Twenty