His Door Is Always Open For You
…and one day, you will walk through it.

Main Pairing: Percy/Nico

Side Pairings: Annabeth/Reyna, Jason/Will

Summary: No couple lasts forever, and during eleven years, many things can change. Especially feelings.

Warnings: Mentions of sex and nudity, not beta-read by anyone

Yeah. My first attempt in writing a second person narrative story. I think it turned out quite well, but what do you think? Let me know! Hot chocolate and staying up too long might be fuel for my brain cells, but reviews are fuel for my passion! With this said… go ahead and enjoy this story!

And, as much as I feel flattered about follows, this story is complete. It's a oneshot, and there will be no more chapters.

Disclaimer: Percy Jackson and the Olympians and Heroes of Olympus are the intellectual property of Rick Riordan. I own nothing but the plot.

You've always thought Nico di Angelo hated your guts, but suddenly, everything makes sense, and he leaves you, gawking and dumbstruck. Of course. It makes so much sense, how could you have never noticed it before? Of course, you'd heard the rumours that Nico supposedly had a crush on Annabeth – after all, before he met Jason, she was the only person Nico was more or less comfortable around – but on you? You want to slap yourself while Annabeth is laughing her head off. You've never been very good at the whole feelings-department, but you feel guilty for not noticing Nico's feelings before. You want to make up for it.

Yet, during the next months, Nico avoids you. You don't know why – you didn't react badly and you never could or would, why would you be freaked out by the fact that he is gay? You aren't exactly straight either – the fact that you've been staring at Luke's sweaty abs at sword training during your first year at Camp is proof enough of this, even more if you consider how nice you think Jason's ass looks. You are fifty percent Greek god, all of your friends are, it is common for you not to be limited to like one gender.

But Nico either doesn't know that, or doesn't want to acknowledge this. Maybe it's because his past. You've never been as much of a smartass as Annabeth, but you do know that back during the last world war, the Nazis liked to murder homosexual people. Maybe that's why Nico is so afraid. But you really wish he would understand that you are sincere. His confession did shock you, yes, but not because you're not okay with it. Because you now see how much hurt Nico must have been carrying around over the past years. You really wish you'd understand why Jason is the only one who is allowed to be near Nico. You'd assume that there is something going on between them, if it weren't for the fact you've seen Jason and Piper fiercely kiss during yesterday's campfire. So, if you'd hazard a guess, you'd say Jason knows that Nico bats for the other team.

As the months pass by, you can see the blossoming love between Nico and the guy from the Apollo cabin, Will Solace. Admittedly, you only saw it after Annabeth all but spelled it out for you, but that's beside the point. The point is, Nico is moving on, and you're glad you didn't unknowingly fuck up all his chances to be happy. You wouldn't have been able to bear the knowledge he'd never love anyone but you, a feeling you're unable to return. Your smile widens as you hear that Nico and Will are going to leave Camp Half-Blood together and attend the same high school. You are wholeheartedly happy that Nico is going back to school. He's way too young to have already fought at the age of ten years – by the definition of the UN, he's a child solider – and, honestly, so were you.

Four years later, when you're in your last year of college, Nico and Will move to New Rome to attend college as well, and they move in together. For the first time, you notice that you're feeling sick, but you brush the thought aside. Maybe you've had too much of the blue brownies. You blame Jason. He's addicted to this stuff, though not blue dyed. You try to keep up your happy smile and laugh about the jokes Will makes, but the urge to punch him square in the face definitely doesn't come from the brownies. You leave before you give in to the urge. You don't want to ruin Nico's first day at New Rome.

One year later, when your finals are coming closer, you walk in to find Annabeth crying on the couch. You try to comfort her, but she just breaks down. In the end, she says, in tears, that she wants to break up with you, and that there's someone else. Oddly, you aren't half as angry or sad as you should be. To be honest, you have caught yourself thinking about calling it a quit more than once before. You assure Annabeth no hard feelings and wish her best luck with whoever she wants to be with. Admittedly, you're quite surprised when you find her making out with Reyna the other day, eyes still swollen from crying, but you're glad she's happy. Nonetheless, you make sure to point out to Reyna where exactly you'll stick Anaklusmos if she dares to hurt Annabeth, and judging by her hard swallowing, she's understood you.

You join Jason for two years, and travel the world with him. It is quite fun – though you now know that Minor Gods are not your favourite negotiation partner. But you like it, and the time with Jason helps you to get over the breakup and finally come to terms with what you feel, and maybe have felt for quite some time, for Nico. You don't tell Jason, though – he might want to keep you away from Nico to protect him from further heartbreak. If the increasing intensity of his protectiveness during the past years, and the glances he's been sneaking at Nico, are anything to go by, he is also harbouring feelings for Nico. You know that Jason would be a much better match for Nico than you yourself could ever be. And thus you stand back and give him time to make a move. But he doesn't.

When you finally decide that a life on the move isn't what you've dreamed of, you return to New Rome to find yourself a job. You're twenty-four, it's time you do something useful with your life. Sure, if you wanted, you could lean back for the rest of your life – being the Saviour of Olympus does have its perks – but you're not the kind of guy to do so. You consider to rejoin the ranks of the Legion – it would give you ten years to think about your future – but you decide against it. In the end, you find a job at a bakery – ironically, it's the same bakery Hazel bought you a snack at on your first day at Camp Jupiter.

Now that you haven't seen him for two years, you decide to pay Nico a visit. It's his third year at college, and you're anxious to know how he's been doing. Based on the expression on his face when he opens the door, you can tell he's surprised to see you, but you can't ignore the fluttering of your heart when you see him. During your absence, the pale teenager he once was has grown to an attractive young man with black curls and a well-shaven beard – which reminds you that you definitely need to shave your own beard. You should have done so before visiting him; what will he think of you now, looking like that?

You wonder why Will isn't there, and you say this out loud. The sour look on Nico's face is like a punch in the guts; have you said something you shouldn't have? You're shell-shocked if you hear that Nico and Will have gone parted ways shortly after you left with Jason. All the couples which seemed to be made for eternity have broken up – Jason and Piper, because they didn't make it with the long distance, Annabeth and you, and now Will and Nico? You can see that it still hurts, so you don't pry, but you can't help but to hug Nico, and to your surprise, he doesn't fight it. He has truly changed. If you would have hugged him after the war, he would have stiffened – or impaled you with his sword, depending on his mood.

You didn't pry, yet you find Nico telling you the story of their breakup after dinner. Maybe he needs to get it out of his system. And when Nico tells you, without mentioning any names of course, that he could never completely love Will because there was someone else, you inwardly hope that he's talking about you. But you know he isn't. He said he's over you, after all. You thank him for the dinner, and there's a strange look in his eyes when he answers that his door will always be open for you.

During the next four years, you date a few people, sleep with some of them, but it's never more than a short fling, because you love Nico. You don't know when realisation hit you, but by now, you're sure it is love. Not feelings, not a crush, infatuation, fondness, whatever word you'll come up with, you always end up with thinking that nothing but love describes the feeling. Sometimes Nico comes into the bakery to buy something for breakfast, and every time, you regret that this isn't a cheesy romance film. If this was fiction, you two could make it work. But you highly doubt that your boss, or Nico, would appreciate it if you'd write your number onto the bill. You don't have one, anyway, and Nico knows how to IM you if he needs you, so what for? But Nico doesn't need you. He's still single, but he isn't looking for someone. He says he's fine without a significant other, and you inwardly cringe at this, because it means your chances are precisely zero.

One day, the two of you go to have a beer. You're not even sure why – maybe it is an anniversary? In the end, it turns out that you have drunken far more than one beer. You're not sure what you've been rambling – probably confessing your undying love for him. Fact is, even though your memories are dizzy and your head hurts when you wake up the next morning, you're pretty sure that you don't lie in Nico's bed, naked and arms wrapped around Nico, because you needed sleep to cure your hangover. If anything, you did anything but sleep. Thus, when Nico wakes up, he is both embarrassed and furious, but as much as he pleas you to pretend that it never happened, you refuse. You know that you'll never be more, but you want to remember this night – as much as you can still remember – and this glimpse of what might have been, and that's what you tell Nico. You are about to leave when he calls you back, and as if you were a puppy, you obey. And this time, when Nico demands to know what you meant with this, you drop the façade and outright tell him what you feel for him, even if it means that you'll ruin your friendship. Because your head is hurting like shit, and you feel like shit for sleeping with him when the two of you were drunk. You need to get this sorted out.

And then Nico drops the act as well, the act you didn't know he was playing, because he pushes you against the wall and crashes his lips onto yours. Your head is throbbing like there was a hot knife stuck in your brains, but all your brain cells start a firework when you part your lips and let Nico's tongue slip inside your mouth. You keep kissing, and you have to admit to yourself, you like it that you are being pushed against a wall, for a change, and you are just about to sneak your hands under Nico's shirt when you hear someone clear their throat behind you. Nico and you all but jump apart, and find yourselves face to face with Jason. The hurt and betrayed look he flashes you makes it very clear what his intentions towards Nico were, and you have half a mind to step back and let Jason take your place. But Nico has also seen Jason's face, and judging by the way he pulls you closer and looks at Jason apologetically, he wants you and not Jason. And although you feel like shit again, this time for hurting Jason, something inside you growls possessively as you wrap your arm around Nico's waist.

Jason soon overcomes his surprise, and although he flinches every time you two overdo it with the PDA, he does his best to support you. You once tried to tell him you're sorry for snatching Nico away, but he beat you up and told you to make Nico happy and not ever feel sorry for finally being able to love Nico back, so you just dropped the subject from this day. You hope that he'll eventually get over it and find someone whom he loves. You've tried to set him up with a few people you thought he'd like, but after he threatened to break your jaw if you keep feeling guilty, you just stopped. You're not responsible for your best friends love life.

The time passes by, and you only realise it's been 15 years since the war when Annabeth suggests to have a huge reunion party. That's when you realise that you've been together with Nico for almost three years now. You decide to considerate of Jason's feelings and don't propose on the party but a month before the party, and you can tell that you've never been happier before than when Nico says yes. You do, however, announce it at the party, and everybody cheers. To your surprise, even Jason congratulates you, wholeheartedly, as it seems, and you understand why when you walk outside in search of a toilet, and walk in on him and Will Solace making out like no tomorrow. You're the first to congratulate him, and Nico is the second, because he went after you when you didn't come back after five minutes as you said.

At first, Percy di Angelo sounds strange, but it also sounds so right. Of course, your father isn't happy – he would have rather heard Nico Jackson, you guess – and Zeus suspects Poseidon and Hades plotting to throw him over by marrying you and Nico, but after everybody explained the situation to him, he calms down, even more when Hera herself blesses you and Nico. And you don't ever regret the decision to marry Nico, because now that you're old and grey, after a long and happy life at the side of your husband, you have countless happy memories to look back at. You don't feel like dying, but you aren't afraid of Death either. You've met him once and got along with him just greatly, and in the Underworld, Nico will be with you to guide you. It's his home court, after all. And as much as you and Hades dislike each other, he sure as Hell won't throw his son-in-law into the depths of Tartarus. You have nothing to fear. You never have, as long as Nico is with you.