Nico woke with a groan, the ear-splitting sound of his alarm shattering the breezy silence he required to rest.

Pushing himself up until he was fully seated on his bed, the black-haired boy removed his soft quilt blankets reluctantly, knowing it was Saturday morning, and that he had to wake up.

Still dizzy with sleep, Nico stumbled to the bathroom, grabbing his clothes with him on the way. A quarter hour later he walked back out, sobered up by the warm spray of morning shower water.

Sitting back down on his bed fully dressed, he held his head in his hands, still feeling a faint trace of yesterday's headache.

He pressed the heels of his hands in his brown eyes as the daily thought of Percy came flooding back in him, the image either making him cry or smile.

Today, he was confused which, and it was like this for at least a week now. Because the green-eyed boy wasn't ignoring him anymore. In the school hallways, Percy was gazing at him intently with a sort of watered-down awe and newfound curiosity. And Nico had no idea why he was acting like this.

He was glad the guy didn't seem mad at him anymore, but he hated receiving only such small amounts of attention. He still wasn't talking to him, and that just drove him insane. Nico knew it was selfish, and he felt guilty about it. But he missed him so much. He missed him to the point that nothing was enough anymore.

Nico sighed. It was one of those days where he was needy for one special thing he could never acquire. He felt blamed and awkward when he thought about Percy, not really sad anymore. He had grown accustomed to the teen's divergent motives, and now, he just wanted to know why.

He felt like he was going crazy— crazy about him, crazy about the simple lack of him, crazy about almost everything.

Standing up, Nico walked down the flight of stairs that led to the first floor and headed towards the kitchen, snatching a cereal bar up.

He then grabbed some of his belongings and opened the door swiftly, leaving the house before anybody could realise he was gone. Clutching his fist tightly, Nico ran a series of coordinates in his mind before closing the front door behind him, hoping nobody had heard that.

It was his fifth appointment today, and he was internally praying everything would go well and according as planned. Because if not, his case was lost.

"Welcome back, Mr. di Angelo."

*    *    *

"Where were you?" Bianca practically screeched when Nico arrived back home a few good hours later, his slightly lifted spirits now sinking back down. "You could have died for all that we knew! Waking up, no note, no keys, no nothing!"

The girl was standing in front of the tall house, her slick worry shining behind the fire of anger blazing in her obsidian-black eyes. Her sleek dark hair was framing her freckled face, and her hands were formed into fists as she glared anxiously at her brother, awaiting an answer.

I was out to see a friend, he lied, curling both of his index fingers and hooking them together back and forth twice, making the sign for 'friend'.

Bianca just grunted, obviously unsatisfied with the answer, before heading back to the door, her stress seeming to radiate off her.

She opened the door slightly and looked behind her, her black eyes meeting Nico's brown eyes directly with a hybrid mix of angry worry and silent encouragement. "Someone came to see you."

And that's when he saw him: his jet black hair looking as windswept as ever, his bedraggled deep indigo blue hoodie, his sun-kissed skin, his slim jeans, his sparkling sea green eyes and most important of all, his smile, the misplaced warmth of it seeming to lift him off his feet.

"Hi, Nico."

Too stunned to speak, the brown-eyed boy stared at Percy, drinking in the sight as if his life depended on him, which in a way, did.

Bianca closed the door behind her, which meant that they should probably stay outside. Looking awkward, Percy opened his mouth to speak, averting his gaze. "Uh... we should probably sit while we talk."

Seeming like in a daze, Nico nodded and walked over to the front porch where he sat down, Percy doing the same adjacent to him at a reasonable distance. They were at least three feet apart, and that was perfectly fine with him.

He glanced furtively at the green-eyed boy next to him, but the guy was staring into the distance. "You're probably wondering why I came to see you, since I left and everything."

Nico nodded, unsure what to make of this, but his eyes never left Percy's face. He was still processing the fact that he was here, even after almost a month of being ignored and tortured with static silence. He was taking in every feature of Percy he had never noticed before, relishing the way his lips moved as he talked more than he should.

"It's me. It was wrong, what I did. I should never had done it." Percy looked at Nico with a sort of wistful smile, his green eyes seeming even more empty than before, with some sort of restrained hope. "And that's why I came to you. To say sorry."

Nico's eyes widened as he processed the sentences spilling out of his lips, a smile creeping up at his lips without even meaning to, because this was Percy, and the boy could make him do impossible things. 

"I took it the wrong way." Percy's gaze met Nico's, and when he realised he didn't get a word that had left his mouth, quickly clarified. "That day, you know... I said I knew, but I didn't. Everything was a misunderstanding. I—"

The boy was clearly struggling to continue, so Nico placed a hand on his shoulder reassuringly despite the action seeming alien to him. Percy flashed him a quick grateful look. "I love you, Nico. But I thought you didn't. I—" He swallowed as he waited for him to finish the sentence. "I thought you loved another, and that I could never be good enough."

Nico gulped as he realised the meaning of his words, a small smile pulling up the corner of his soft lips.

The words seemed to come naturally to Percy now. "I saw what you said. And I thought my worst fears had came true. I had tried to overcome them, but my insecurities were destroying me and taking hold of me. I-I... that's why I left. That's why I shut you out. Because you were seeming to tell me I could never be enough, and I believed it. I knew deep inside that I... I couldn't be enough, in some way or another."

Percy's shoulders slumped as tears fell out of his eyes. "And now..."

"I love you, Percy." he whispered.

His voice was raspy and ragged, but that immediately straightened the green-eyed boy's back. "Nico, y-you— you spoke!"

Nico smiled bashfully as he collapsed into Percy's arms without awaiting his consent. Tears welled in his eyes as he pressed tightly, feeling Percy enfold him in his arms as well. The warmth that connected both of them seemed stronger that ever, and the bond that held them tight strengthened as he shed silent tears of pure ecstasy into his chest.

"How did you— what—" Percy sputtered, looking as if he was trying to choke down his words. 

Nico left the tight embrace almost regretfully and smiled up at him. I can't talk a lot now, but I'll explain later, he signed, being more comfortable with this type of communication. I believe we have some things to discuss.

More tears welled up in the corners of Percy's eyes as his lips stretched into a huge smile. "I can't believe it, Nico, it's perfect, you're perfect—"

He never was able to finish that sentence, because he was leaning into Nico almost involuntarily, the pull dragging the both of them like a magnet, the love burning bright in their eyes. Their foreheads and noses touched, and the small gap between the both of them was almost unbearable, the state of everything just being so overwhelming. Nico had the perfect view of Percy's bright sea green eyes until his eyes fluttered shut and he closed the distance between them.

It felt too perfect to be real. The warmth that swallowed him whole seemed inhuman, and Percy's lips were beautiful, the touch having a sense of delicacy and tenderness, and it was the best thing he could have ever hoped for. Their mouths fit perfectly together, like they were meant to be. He could sense Percy's long eyelashes full of unshed tears fluttering at his pale skin, but he was so lost in the sheer bliss of it that he couldn't even feel it.

They released too soon for Nico's liking, but as soon as they pulled away, he inhaled the air he required to not feel like he was dying from asphyxiation. When he opened his eyes, Percy was wearing the broadest smile he had ever seen, and Nico just didn't care about dying anymore.

He lept into Percy's arm and entangled his body with his as their lips collided into another blissful kiss, needing each other to continue. Nico placed one of his hand against Percy's strong, sturdy chest, listening to the fast heartbeats, and he felt a surge of gratitude as he silently thanked the boy for letting him see this sheathed part of him. He placed his other hand behind Percy's head, running his fingers through his tousled black hair, smiling into the kiss.

It felt like heaven on Earth, just being able to hold him like this. Percy's lips moved on his as he slid his nicely toned arms around his waist, pulling him even closer into their interlock. His lungs were screaming for air, but if this was how he died, he was totally okay with it. He felt like drowning in perfection as he ran a thumb over Percy's damp cheeks.

When they pulled away, Percy was gazing into his eyes, looking so full of love Nico wanted to kiss him for a third time, because in all sincerity, he couldn't get enough.

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

But that was okay, because when he fell into Percy's embrace once more, he knew he would be fine, that he would be taken of, and that the promises of the worst things to happen were just empty, because he was going to be with Percy through it.

Nico retreated from the hug as he inched away from him, leaving the distance that had kept them so close in the first place. Because even despite the worst, the simple whispers of truth can only strengthen their bond until they are whole once more.

∆    ∆    ∆

aaaaa i'm gonna cry i have never written something so cute AAAAAA

hey guys, this book is like almost done and i sincerely hope you liked it!

i hope you are all safe and sound at home!

-drakonator