Title: Maria's

Author: Midnightinjapan

Edited by Lordsandladiesofthesilverscreen

Disclaimer: Characters, locations, etc are the property of Rick Riordan.

Summary: The way to a man's heart is through his stomach. A fluffy little ficlet.

Maria's was a nice Italian restaurant in New York. It wasn't too fancy but it was no Olive Garden either. You could make a reservation but they took walk-ins. The inside was rustic with lots of wood accents and the tablecloths were black and made of actual fabric. The wall to the far right was fitted with the biggest wine rack he'd ever seen and loaded with a huge selection. His mom and step-dad were sitting on one side of the table and he and Grover on the other. From where he was, Percy had a great view of the kitchen. They were out celebrating because his mom's book was being published. She'd worked on it for two years before finally working up the nerve to submit it to a few publishing houses and after three rejections, the forth one accepted.

So they were splurging a little. The adults ordered wine but he and Grover settled for soda. He ordered the gnocchi alfredo with grilled chicken and rolled his eyes at Grover and his meatless pesto choice. They chatted about school a little but mostly they were talking about mom's book and laughing as they threw out suggestions for actors if it were ever turned into a movie. He turned his head and looked into the kitchen where he saw a boy hard at work. He looked young but he was cooking like a master chef. Honestly, Percy couldn't say what kept his attention fixed. Maybe it was the boy's age -the sight of someone so young wearing a chef's jacket and working in a kitchen surround by adults who seemed used to working him with was odd.

It could also have been how focused the boy was. His hands moved lightning fast as he added cream, butter, and cheese and he never lost a stepped. He seasoned, tasted, and seasoned again –switched pans, added wine to another, and stirred a pot of boiling pasta. Of course, it could have been how cute he was. He had shaggy black hair that was busy trying to curl around his ears, his eyes were dark with that intense focus, but the rest of his features were soft. And even still, it could have been all of these things together.

"Percy!" His mind came back to the table and everyone was looking at him. "Earth to Percy. What are you looking at?" Grover asked.

"Oh, there's a boy in there cooking. He looks really young," he said thumbing them in the direction of the kitchen.

"He does look young to be working here," said his mother leaning over to get a good view. He didn't capture their attention like he did with Percy and soon they were back to talking while Percy glanced in his direction. When the waitress brought their food his mom asked her about the boy in the kitchen.

"He's the son of the late owner," she said. "His father owns the restaurant now but he and his sister keep it going."

"Wow, sounds like a hardworking young man," Paul said in admiration. Then he fixed Percy and Grover with a parental look. "You two could learn something from this."

They laughed and started eating and it took a second for him to connect the dots but Percy realized that his was one of the dishes cooked by the boy. It was amazing to say the very least. The gnocchi was fluffy and light and the alfredo sauce was so good he could just drink it. He looked over and the boy was looking back and for a second they stared at each other before Percy smiled –with his mouth full—and gave a thumbs-up. The boys smiled back and went back to work.

It was days later when he was walking with Grover from the movies that he decided to asked the question he'd been squatting on.

"Should I ask him out? The boy working in the restaurant?" Grover gave him a suspicious look.

"You like him?" He shrugged and Grover rolled his eyes and laughed.

"I know that shrug! You're crushing! You saw him for like ten minutes!"

"Well he's cute!" Percy said shrugging again.

"If you like him then I say yeah but maybe you wanna learn his name first?"

"No, you're right, it's stupid," Percy said deflating.

"No, you should," Grover encouraged. "You haven't been in a relationship since Jason. And then there was that whole thing with Annabeth…" Percy still didn't look convinced and Grover sighed.

"Look, let's go there right now for lunch. If he's working, you just ask him his name, tell him the food's awesome and make your next move from there, okay?"

"Umm yeah, okay. I guess that could work," Percy said nervously.

The restaurant was a little less busy for lunch and Percy was looking around nervously to see if he could spot a head of silky black hair. Grover was demolishing a basket of toasted bruschetta while Percy scanned the place with his foot bouncing under the table. When their waitress came back he was at a loss because he had not even picked up the menu.

"Buon pomeriggio, have you decided on what to have?" she asked.

"Umm…" Percy fumbled for the menu and Grover laughed.

"I can give you a few more minutes, if you need?" she said.

"Actually, we were here a few days ago for dinner and just wondering, who is the boy in the kitchen?" Grover asked. Percy tried to look politely interested.

"Oh, do you mean my brother?" The girl's face showed a little surprise and Percy could see the resemblance. Their hair was the same soft black mess of lazy curls, only hers was in a long braid over her shoulder and they had the same nose.

"Uh I guess, yeah," Grove said shrugging.

"Was there something wrong with the food?" she asked looking a little terrified.

"No!" Percy said frantically. "It was great and we just wanted to know how old he is? I mean he's so young and everything."

"Oh!" She relaxed and smiled at them. "Nico is my little brother. He's fourteen and he is amazing," she said affectionately.

"One of the waitresses said your father owns this place?" asked Grover.

"Well yeah, see he bought it for our mother Maria and then she passed and Nico and I wanted to keep it going for her," she said smiling sadly.

"Wow, we're sorry," said Percy.

"No, it's okay. Anyway, my name is Bianca di Angelo," she said shaking their hands. "My brother is in the back, I'll go get him."

She ran off to the back and Percy had to resist the urge to call her back and stop her. He knew he was just nervous. Asking people out was probably one of the only things he had no confidence in doing.

"Percy you're shaking the whole table," Grover said laughing. His bouncing foot was bumping into the table causing it to rattle. "You okay?" Grover asked.

"Yeah," he said forcing his foot to be still. Grover smirked and he ignored him. Then he saw Bianca heading their way with Nico behind her in his white chef jacket and black jeans.

"This is Nico," Bianca said happily and the she looked a little confused. "I'm sorry I never asked your names!"

"Oh, I'm Grover and this is Percy, my best friend." Percy had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. Grover always made sure to tack on "my best friend" around guys he knew Percy liked as a way of saying "hey, he's available!"

"Yeah I remember you guys from the other night," Nico said.

"They thought your cooking was good," Bianca said smiling.

"It was great actually," Percy said. Nico blushed and it made Percy smile.

"Percy said he wanted to take a bath in your alfredo sauce," Grover said laughing.

"Well, it was delicious," Percy said with a blush of his own.

"Thanks," said Nico with a small smile.

"So, what do you recommend for lunch?" Percy asked pointing to the menu.

"Oh, well what are you in mood for?" Nico asked and smiled wider. There was a moment when he and Percy looked at each other and Percy was sure, sure that Nico could read his intentions. Percy wasn't very good at hiding how he felt and so he was sure it was plainly spelled out that he liked Nico.

"Umm anything really," he laughed nervously.

"Vegetarian for me please," Grover chimed.

"The baked cheese ravioli is a good vegetarian option," said Nico.

"You had me at cheese!" Grover said grinning. They laughed as Bianca wrote down his order and Nico turned his attention back to Percy.

"I think you'd really like the Shrimp Parmigiana." Percy smiled because Nico actually said Italian words with an Italian accent.

"Uh yeah, if you think I'll like it," he nodded to Bianca and she wrote it down. "Um do you speak Italian?" he asked trying hard not blush and give himself away any more than he already had.

"Si," Nico said smiling. "Bianca speaks it better than me though."

"It's true," his sister said smiling.

They left so Nico could go cook their orders and Grover leaned in, grinning at Percy.

"So?" he whispered. "Are you gonna ask him?"

"I want to…" he said hesitantly.

"I think he likes you too," said Grover.

"Really?" Percy asked.

"Yep, he was giving you this look. Go for it!"

"Maybe after we eat? Then if he says no I can leave without it being awkward."

"He's cute…like really cute," said Bianca. "And he likes you." She burst out laughing at the way her brother's face turned beat red.

"How do you know?" he said turning back to the shelves. They were in the walk-in fridge getting ingredients and now he wasn't sure he wanted to come out.

"Come on, Nico! He saw you, he loved your food, comes back and wants to meet you! It's like something out of a romance novel!" she said giggling.

"You've been reading too many of those things. What if he just likes the food?" he said searching for more shrimp.

"Then he wouldn't be giving you that look. I know you saw it," she said with a sly smile. "And you like him too. You can't lie. He's the one you asked me if I saw the other night isn't he? The one with the green eyes?"

"Yeah," he said blushing and pushing past her with his arms loaded with containers.

"You should ask him out!"

"No!" he said putting everything down. "And don't you say anything! Now, let me cook in peace."

"Fine, grumpy," she teased and left.

Percy tried to concentrate on his food, which was great, but Grover kept pestering him about how he was going to ask. It was making him even more nervous and he was drifting closer and closer to not asking and bolting out of the restaurant.

"How is it?" Bianca asked when she walked back over to check on them.

"Your brother is fantastic!" Grover said. "Did he go to school for this?"

"No, he just inherited our mom's talent. She had us with her in the kitchen when we were very young but Nico is the one that really picked it up."

"Is he busy right now?" Percy managed to ask. Bianca's eyes lit up.

"If you wanna talk to him again you can come with me!" She didn't give him any time to answer, just grabbed him by the arm and hauled him out of his chair.

They walked back around the kitchen and into a dark office. Bianca flipped on the light and smiled at him.

"Wait here, I'll go get him."

"Wait-" But the door shut and she was gone.

A few minutes later he heard arguing and then Nico was shoved into the office only to have the door slam shut in his face too. He turned around and looked at Percy nervously.

"Your sister is…yeah," Percy said.

"Tell me about it," Nico muttered. "So, did you like the shrimp?"

"Yeah, it was great. You're really good at this," he said sincerely. Then they just stood there looking around awkwardly before Percy decided to put an end to it.

"Umm so I don't know if you'd want to do something with me sometime but I'd like to hang out with you."

"Well, I'm pretty busy around here and-"

"You are not!" Bianca yelled through the door.

"Bianca!" Nico said mortified.

"He's not busy! Marco can handle the cooking any time!" Nico slapped a hand over his eyes and Percy tried not to chuckle too loud.

"Since my sister can't mind her own business!" Nico said at the door and then turned around to face Percy. "I guess I can take a night off."

"Cool!" Percy snatched a pen from the desk and scribbled his number on a piece of paper before tearing off the section and giving it to Nico.

"Just call me and we'll figure the rest out," he said smiling.

"Okay," Nico said with a smile of his own. Impulsively, Percy leaned in and pecked Nico on his cheek.

"You promise you'll call?" he asked.

"I promise," Nico said blushing fiercely.

Percy walked out of the office past a grinning Bianca. He felt a thousand pounds lighter and now there was nothing to do except go home and wait for Nico to call.

End