The One That Got Away

Percy sat the last box down in their new home. Annabeth strode by, as she talked to someone on the phone. Percy sighed as he watched her retreat into the back of the house. They had just bought a house together, after being engaged for two years. She finally got Percy to set a date, and then they had set off to look for the perfect house. He passed by a few pictures of the couple that she had already set up. They had been together for three years now. Everything seemed so right back then.

He sat down on the couch, and turned on the TV, which his father had been nice enough as to have come out early to make sure it was working for them. He flicked through the channels, until one caught his eye. On the screen was a happy young man with black hair that hung down into one his eyes. He had beautiful dark eyes, and a bright smile. Behind him stood a slightly taller blonde man, who made no secret of being the smaller man's boyfriend. The story was about a local artist who had gotten discovered for his paintings. The black haired man smiled brightly at the reporter as he spoke about each of his paintings.

Percy let his face fall as he watched the TV. He stood and made his way upstairs, not even bothering to turn off the TV. He silently made his way into the bedroom, and grabbed a box he put in the closet earlier. He pulled the box from the closet and sat down on the bed, with the box between his legs. He opened it to look at its contents. He pulled out a piece of paper, as the memories started to flood back to him.

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There was a new kid in school, Percy noticed. The new kid was attempting to open his locker, but wasn't having any luck. The dark haired kid huffed in frustration. Percy chuckled and made his way over to the new student. "Here, let me help," Percy said as he smoothly opened the locker. He tossed the kid one of his famous smiles, who seemed to brush it off. "So, you're new here? My name's Percy." Percy extended his hand for the new guy to shake.

The slightly shorter of the two eyed him for a moment, before he took Percy's hand and shook it. "Nico. Yea, my dad just got a job here in town." Something dropped out of Nico's locker. Nico and Percy both went to pick it up, and they brushed hands when they did. Nico began to blush slightly, but he hastily picked up his book.

"You draw?" Percy asked, as he took notice that it was a sketch pad. Percy fumbled with the edges of the book, before he placed it in his backpack.

"Yea, a little. It's nothing really that special."

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Percy sat the sketched drawing of his old high school aside. He heard yelling from downstairs. Annabeth seemed to be complaining about something with the wedding. Percy sighed as he reached back into the box. This time he pulled out a print from a photo booth.

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Percy sat down in the photo booth, and pulled Nico into his lap. The younger one laughed as Percy inserted the money. They both wore big smiles for the first flash. Next, they decided to swap to silly faces. Percy licked Nico's face in time for the third flash, as Nico's face was forever captured in a shocked expression. Nico playfully hit Percy as the camera flashed again.

Right before the next flash Percy turned Nico's head and pressed his lips to Nico's, to capture their first kiss forever. Percy lost himself into the kiss as the camera flashed again. The kiss was simply electric, and he didn't want it to end. Nico pulled back and smiled at him as the final flash went off. Nico laughed, grabbed the printed out strip, and dashed away from the booth. Percy chased after him, and grabbed him from behind. He spun them both around as they both laughed. As he sat Nico back down, he turned Nico and kissed the boy. He laced their fingers as the two of them walked back to Percy's house.

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Percy ran a hand through his hair as he sat the strip of pictures on top of the sketch. Annabeth came into the room, but didn't pay attention to what Percy was looking at. "So, that was the catering company. They said there were some complications and now they can't do the wedding. Do you think we could go to that other one I was talking about? I mean, I know they are a little more expensive, but I really think they are the better choice anyways," she rambled, but Percy didn't really pay her much attention. He nodded silently. She gave him a quiet stare, but left without another word. He reached back into the box and pulled out a folded piece of paper.

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Percy sat at the foot of his bed as he attempted to finish his homework. He felt Nico's gaze on him, and looked up at the younger male. Nico's eyes were intense as they kept glancing from Percy to his sketch pad. He sat against the headboard with one of his legs up to prop the pad against. He saw that Percy was looking at him, and smirked a little. His hands brushed over a spot on the page, and then brought the pencil back to the paper. Percy loved when he drew, he was just so in his element. Nico rubbed his nose, which left behind a smudge. Percy laughed and attempted to wipe at it, only to be stopped by Nico's other foot. He smiled back at Percy, while he wiped the smudge with his sleeve. "Don't move, I'm almost done." Percy went back to his homework to let Nico work in silence.

He looked back up when Nico put down his pencil. Nico was biting as his lip as he glanced at Percy nervously. Nico was amazing, but he always sought Percy's approval on his work. Percy got to his knees and made his way up the bed to sit in front of Nico. He pulled the pad from Nico's hands and looked at the new masterpiece. It was an almost life like drawing of Percy, the detail was just amazing. He looked at Nico who bit his lip as he waited for Percy's opinion. A smile broke out on Percy's face as he sat aside the drawing. He crawled between Nico's legs and kissed the boy. "I love it. It's beautiful."

"Just like you," Nico whispered. Percy smiled as he kissed Nico again.

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Percy felt his heart break as he looked at the drawing of himself. He carefully folded it back up and kissed it, before he sat it aside. He looked back at the bedroom door, but nobody was there. Part of him just wanted to put all of this back in the box and try to forget it all, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He sighed heavily and reached back into the box. He pulled out a photo. It almost brought tears to his eyes as he looked at it.

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Percy woke as the morning sun shone in his eyes. He glanced down at his chest to find Nico curled up next to him, he used Percy's chest as a pillow. Percy had to get to class, unlike Nico, who got the day off. Percy gently raised Nico's head and laid it back down on the pillow. The boy mumbled something in his sleep, which brought a smile to Percy's lips. He pulled the covers back to take a quick peek at his lover's naked form. Part of him just wanted to stay in the bed with his dark haired beauty, but he knew Nico would give him hell if he missed class.

He noticed Nico's camera on the nightstand. He wanted to capture the sight of Nico in peaceful sleep, so he could have to look at always. He grabbed the camera, and snapped a picture. Unfortunately, the flash was on. Nico's eyes scrunched, and he brought a hand to rub at his right eye. "What are you doing, Perce?" Nico mumbled. He blinked his eyes a few times, and then opened them to stare at Percy. Percy's heart began to beat faster. Nico hated being seen before his shower, but Percy thought he looked adorable.

"Just wanted something to remember you by."

"I knew it, leaving me for some whore. Don't forget to use a condom. Oh, and I'll take a dozen roses when you come back tonight to beg for my forgiveness," Nico said as he rolled over. He loved Nico's sense of humor. Percy laughed as he crawled back on the bed, and laid on top of Nico. He kissed Nico's lips, and then made his way down to the younger boy's neck.

"I'll never leave you, baby. I love you. I love you so so so so very much," Percy said as he placed a kiss to Nico's lips with each 'so'.

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Percy felt the first tear fall from his eyes. It landed on the photo of a sleeping Nico. Percy sat the photo down, and stood up. He walked over to the window and opened it, he needed some air. He rubbed at his face as he watched the sun set for a minute.

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Percy held Nico's hand as they walked along the beach. He pulled Nico's hand to his lips, and kissed it gently. The waves lapped at their bare feet as they made their way along the shoreline, back to their towels.

When they got back Nico sat down in the sand. Percy sat behind him, he pulled the smaller boy to his chest. Nico turned his head and gave Percy a quick kiss, before he began playing in the sand. Percy laughed when he noticed Nico was building a small sandcastle. He kissed Nico's ear, and watched the boy craft his creation. He had been attempting to build a tower, but the sand crumbled on the castle. Nico pouted and kicked the sand, which caused Percy to laugh. He stood up, and yanked Nico up with him. Percy led them back to the water to go swim.

A water fight soon erupted, one that Percy won. He tackled Nico into the water, but quickly stood them back up. He kissed Nico as the smaller one brushed his drenched hair out of his eyes. He wrapped his arms around Percy's neck, and pulled the taller boy back into a deeper kiss. "I love you," said Nico in almost a whisper. "Forever."

"I'll always love you too, Nico. Nothing will change that." They watched the sun set with Percy's arms wrapped around Nico as they stood in the water.

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Percy, out of anger, shoved a flower vase off a nearby table. What the hell was wrong with him? He fell back on to the bed, staring at the broken vase. He reached down to pick up a piece, but cut himself on a sharp shard. He wiped the newly forming blood on his shirt, and reached back to pick up the piece that cut him.

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Nico had tears in his eyes. He brought his hands up to his head, as he listened to what Percy said. Percy had met a girl, and he was head over heels for her. He had told Nico that he thought that the boy might just have been a phase, and that he was sorry for hurting the boy like this. Nico shook his head as he bit at his lip. Percy went to put a hand on his shoulder, but Nico smacked it away.

Nico began yelling. He told Percy not to be stupid. He told Percy he was making a mistake. He said that he needed Percy. Percy tried to reason with Nico. He still wanted to be his friend. Nico just shook his head. He just yelled at Percy to leave. Percy started yelling back, about how Nico was just being selfish. Nico stormed back to the bedroom, and brought back a framed picture. He threw it at the ground at Percy's feet, the glass shattered. Tears streamed down Nico's face. He asked if Percy ever did really love him. Percy didn't know how to respond, he didn't want to talk about his internal battle over the whole thing. He had just wanted a normal life. He wanted a family, and to settle down with a girl. The girl part was mostly to please his parents. He had told his parents about Nico, and they just told him he was in a phase of exploring.

Nico said he didn't want to see Percy again. He grabbed his keys, and headed for the door. He told Percy to have his stuff gone when he got back, and slammed the door. Percy let out a long scream of frustration. He crumpled to the floor, not even caring when he cut his hand on the glass. He sat and cried for a long time.

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Percy dropped the piece from the vase back to the floor. Annabeth came in to see what happened. Percy just said he accidentally knocked off the vase. His answer seemed to satisfy Annabeth, as she just spun and left. He reached back into the box, and pulled out the picture that Nico had thrown at him that day. Nico's face shone back at him. He lay against Percy's chest, with his arms up around Percy's neck. Percy had his arms around Nico's waist, and had placed a small kiss to Nico's cheek. He had tried to call Nico a little over a year ago, but the boy had changed his number. It turned out he had moved as well, he had vanished from Percy's life. Now, Percy had no way of getting in touch with him. He would just settle, and go along with what his parents had wanted.

He walked back down stairs, still with the picture in hand. The Tv was still on. The dark haired male was still on camera. Percy held the picture up to the TV. Nico hadn't changed much in the past three years. He fell back on to the couch. He knew this had been a mistake, he had known for the past year and a half. Not a night had gone by that he didn't dream about the dark haired male. A final tear fell down his cheek. "You weren't the phase."