Nico's PoV

Same Time

I had no idea what I was doing. It was like someone had taken my brain, filled it up with fog, and then put it back into my skull. It only cleared when Hannah shoved me off of her, looking half utterly shocked, a quarter like she couldn't breathe, and a quarter like she had been slapped.

"What the fuck?!" I said. "Piper... what the fuck?!" Not many other words were working at that moment- I had just fucking kissed Hannah. 'What the fuck' just about sums it up. Hannah was staring off, looking utterly startled and in shock while I cursed out Piper. Half because I was pissed she manipulated me into doing that and I was mad at her. Half because...

Half because I had enjoyed it and was mad at myself.

Even though I hadn't known what I'd been doing, I sure as hell knew what it had felt like afterwards.

And holy fucking shit.

I didn't expect pleasure from kissing Hannah. Hannah. Not fucking Percy. Hannah.

I stopped cursing out Piper for a second to catch my breath, some weird type of shocked panic muddling my thoughts. Holy fucking Hades, I'd kissed Hannah.

Piper stood smirking, as if proud of herself as she studied our faces.

"You enjoyed it," she accused.

"Wha- what?" I stammered. Fuck- she's the daughter of Aphrodite. Of course she'd know. She probably knew I liked Percy, too. Or at the very least, had the misguided assumption I liked Annabeth.

Suddenly Hannah jolted back into reality, practically hyperventilating.

"Holy fucking schist, Piper!" she exclaimed. "What the fucking... what?!"

Piper just continued to grin. "I'll leave you two alone," she said smugly, and fucking swaggered back to the campfire. I turned to Hannah, who's eyes were wide and glued to the place Piper had been standing.

She was silent a moment. "The fuck!" she exclaimed again. I nodded.

"We'd established that a while ago," I couldn't help but say. She stared at me.

"You... fucking... kissed me," she said. I nodded again.

"Fucking charmspeaking piece of schist..." I started. "She's probably been wanting to set us up since the minute you got here," I decided.

Hannah, finally regaining her wits, nodded. "Holy shit."

I cleared my throat awkwardly. "Um... so..."

She looked at me, and I could tell from the look in her eyes that we were asking each other the same question: Was she right? Did you... like it?

I tried to tell myself I didn't- that I'd only met her a few days ago, even if she is a great friend- but I couldn't. I like her, not Percy.

What the fuck did I get myself into?

I couldn't see the answer to my question on her face, but evidently she could see the answer in mine. The honest surprise at it was plain on her face. She just stared, her gray, Athena-like eyes not leaving mine. I saw many things: surprise, mostly, but sadness as well. The sadness was deeply buried- like mine. But she was obviously broken. A broken child, with a broken past and a broken will. Just like me. We were both so hopelessly broken.

She whispered something next, so quietly I almost didn't catch it.

"We both had a question," she said. If I hadn't been able to read lips, I probably wouldn't know what she was saying. "Both of our answers... were yes."

I had two words spinning through my head.

Holy.

Fuck.