Teach Me

Fandom:Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus

Pairing: Leo Valdez / Nico di Angelo

Characters: Leo Valdez, Nico di Angelo, Percy Jackson, Jason Grace

Genre: Romance, Humor (I guess)

Time-Setting: none in particular

A/N: This is my second Leco fic and I really hope you like it. Some of the sentences still sound pretty awkward, this piece just wouldn't flow correctly. But oh well, enjoy :) x (btw first word spoken is Leo, if this isn't clear, it's also in his POV)

Disclaimer: I do not own anything you may recognise in this OneShot.

"Seriously?"

Nico looked at me sideways, eyebrow raised.

"Yes. We can't have you dying 'cause you don't know how to handle a sword, right?", he said.

I rolled my eyes playfully.

"We'll see."

I've told Nico enough times that I am completely useless with a sword but he won't take a no. And now here we are, in the Amphitheater, and he's going to try and teach me.

"Alright", he said, "Take the sword and stand still."

I wondered how I was supposed to fight while standing still but I didn't say anything.

I sighed dramatically.

"The things I do for my friends."...that I secretly have a crush on.

I did as he asked.

Now he was standing in front of me, eying my grip on the celestial bronze sword and correcting my stance, explaining all the details to me.

I didn't grab them though, I couldn't concentrate on anything else beside him.

But could you blame me?

I silently watched how his silky black hair fell into his dark eyes and he absentmindedly brushed it behind his ear, and nodded here and there when he said something that seemed important.

Suddenly he looked up and shook his head, grinning.

"Are you listening?"

I smiled apologetically.

"I'm no good with theory."

He chuckled.

I love how much I can make him smile and laugh, no one else seems to be able to do that, at least that's what Hazel says.

"Then we'll start with practice."

He took his Stygian iron sword out of his belt and held it up.

"You know what to do?", he asked.

I shrugged. "No."

He shook his head again, an amused little smile tugging at his lips.

"I'll try not to kill you", he said and attacked with a speed and agility I wasn't prepared for.

Well, he's not the second-best sword fighter at Camp for nothing.

I tried my best to fight back, only ending up with a few scratches after the first round.

We sparred for a while, him obviously going easy on me.

I was sweating and panting heavily after almost two hours of intense training.

The sword felt like lead in my hand and my muscles were aching.

"Dude...let's take a break, okay? A long one", I said.

He nodded.

He was just as exhausted as I was, okay, maybe a little less.

Both of us plopped down onto the ground, ignoring the heavy chest plates.

He groaned.

"What?", I asked, chuckling.

"One of us has to stand up and get the water."

I huffed.

"Let me guess, I?"

He grinned up at me.

"Yep."

I shook my head but stood up and got our water bottles anyway.

"Thank you", he breathed as I threw the bottle at him.

I sat down again.

"So, let it out. Was I just bad or incredibly terrible?"

He raised an amused eyebrow.

"I expected worse."

Now it was my turn to raise an eyebrow.

"You totally kicked my ass", I said, showing him the huge, slowly coloring bruise on my left arm for emphasis.

Maybe I should've worn more than just a chest plate over my normal clothes.

He laughed, a short melodic sound.

"Well, yeah. But still, it could've been much worse. You need lots of practice though."

I groaned.

"Can't I just use my hammer and stuff and fight'em off like that?"

He shrugged.

"Just trying to help."

"I know, and I appreciate that, but come on, I'm shit at sword-fighting."

He looked at me with a small smile.

"Yes, you are, I admit it. But-", he paused,"I just want you to be...save, okay?"

I smiled softly back at him.

"Thank you."

I didn't say more, I didn't need to.

Nobody ever cared about me getting hurt that much.

I'm not saying Piper and Jason didn't care at all but Nico's just...different.

He always seems so gloomy and cold, as if he doesn't care about anyone, but truth is, he does, he just hates showing it.

And that's why I'm even more amazed at him telling me something this personal.

After a while, he asked: "So, are you ready for another round?"

"If I have to."

He grinned.

"Leo?"

"Yeah?"

"You need your sword."

For a moment I was confused, but then I noticed that my sword was still lying on the ground, innocently gleaming in the hot afternoon sun.

"Oh."

I wasn't any better than I was the first time, so he had kicked the weapon out of my hand again in less than ten minutes.

I laughed.

"You sure took some responsibility on yourself. I'm useless with this."

I gestured towards the sword.

Nico shrugged.

"Yes. Now pick it up."

"Gods, Nico", I groaned, bending down to pick up the weapon.

As I came up again, I was standing much closer to Nico than I remembered.

He was a few inches shorter than me, causing me to look down slightly.

He shifted his weight, fidgeting a bit, but he didn't move away.

And neither did I.

We just stared at each other, breathing heavily.

"Ni-", I started but I was cut off by his hand on mine, carefully taking the sword from my grip, letting it fall onto the ground again. This was becoming a habit.

He looked up at me, his bottomless eyes unreadable.

I tried to say something, anything, but having him so near to me, his nose mere inches from mine, I was unable to.

"Leo?", he whispered.

His voice sounded choked, nervous, but his eyes were staring into mine unabashedly.

I nodded slightly.

"Yes?"

I didn't dare to talk aloud, I didn't know why, but this moment seemed intimate. I was scared that it would end if I talked normally.

"I-", he said but interrupted himself by inhaling sharply.

I shook my head slightly, signaling that I didn't understand what was going on.

He smiled, a small shaky smile, barely visible, and said: "I want to tell you a secret."

We were still standing so close to each other, dangerously close.

"Go ahead."

I felt his breath ghost over my lips as he leaned even closer.

After a moment of hesitation, I pressed his hand tightly, encouragingly.

His skin was burning cold, a welcome contrast to mine, which was constantly warm.

"I like you", he said.

His voice was barely a whisper, I wasn't sure whether I had heard right or my mind was playing tricks on me.

"Nico", I said, "Talk louder."

I had to be sure, I didn't really feel like getting rejected today.

He took another deep breath and glanced down at his feet, so very close to mine.

"I like you", he said again, louder now.

I bit my lip.

"Like friends?", I asked.

He shook his head, causing his hair to fall into his eyes.

He didn't bother to brush it away this time.

"No. Like...more than friends."

I let out a breath I didn't realize I had been holding.

I laughed, relieved and happy, I would never have dared to think that Nico might feel the same.

No one ever did. But he did. He did.

He must've taken the delighted laughter as mocking because he took a step back, trying to free his hand.

I immediately stopped laughing, even though I couldn't keep a cheesy smile off my face, and gripped his hand even tighter.

My other hand found its way to his chin, forcing him to look up at me.

He seemed confused, his eyes were gleaming and he was biting his bottom lip anxiously.

I just shook my head again and leaned in, kissing him.

As my lips met his I could feel the so called butterflies going crazy.

I was dizzy and nothing else mattered but the feeling of our lips pressed together.

He didn't react though, I think I caught him off guard, he just stood there, frozen.

I pulled away slowly and looked at him.

His cheeks were burning red, which looked extremely cute, and his eyes were wide as dinner plates.

I chuckled.

"I like you too, you know?"

And then I felt those lips on mine again, hesitant and firm and soft and real.

I smiled into the kiss, loosening my grip on his hand and pulling him closer by the waist. His arms found their way around my neck, hands running through my hair.

Our chest plates clashed together as I opened my mouth slightly, deepening the kiss.

"Well", I heard an amused voice say, "That was unexpected."

We pulled away just a bit too fast, causing me to stumble and painfully fall onto my ass.

Nico, the cheeky bastard, kept standing, though his expression was just as shocked and slightly embarrassed like mine probably was.

I stood up and saw Percy and Jason just a few feet away from us, grinning.

I rubbed my neck awkwardly.

"Uhhh...what are you doing here?"

Percy raised an eyebrow and looked back and forth between Nico and I.

"We could ask you the same."

Nico coughed.

"Well...yeah, did you want to train here now?"

Percy shook his head, still grinning like he just won the lottery.

"Yeah, if you don't mind."

"Oh, I'm sure they have better things to do", Jason added with a wink.

Both Nico and I blushed, picked up our swords and left the arena as fast as demigodly possible.

We didn't talk at all until we had reached the Hades cabin, where Nico stopped walking and leaned against the door.

"They're never gonna let us live that down, huh?"

Nico shrugged.

"No, probably not."

"Uhh...I...we..."

"Leo?"

I sighed in relief, not knowing what to say anyway.

"Yes?"

He leaned the sword against the cabin's wall and wound his arms around my neck, pulling me farther towards him.

He bit his lip.

"Are we like...you know..."

I laughed lightly, lacing my fingers through the loops of his jeans.

"Together?"

He nodded and opened his mouth to add something, but I leaned forward and captured his lips once again.

I liked kissing Nico, no, I loved it. I always thought it would be awkward to kiss another guy, or to kiss anyone at that, but with him it just felt so natural, so exciting.

My stomach flipped and my heart was racing, it was pure ecstasy.

I pulled away after what felt like minutes and leaned my forehead against his.

"Does that answer your question?", I asked.

He smiled, his lips cherry red and slightly swollen.

"I guess."

He was still leaning against the door, his hands tangled in my hair, so I took advantage of that, placing my hands on the door on each side of his waist, cornering him.

He raised an eyebrow. Confused, challenging, amused?

I winked at him, causing him to laugh, and kissed him again.

Yeah, I could definitely get used to this.