The Set-up

Percy was gay.

That was it.

He didn't make a big deal out of it. He didn't advertise it. If you asked he would answer honestly.

But gay or otherwise he was never really into the whole dating scene. His best girl friend, Annabeth, blamed this on the fact that he couldn't get a date even if he tried.

…

Which was sadly true.

But he wasn't going to tell her that.

xxXxx

"Single again over summer vacation," Annabeth sighed. Thalia gave an understanding nod.

"I know what you mean. All the boys worth dating already have girlfriends or just don't notice us," the raven-haired girl whined.

Annabeth shot a stony glare in my direction. "Or are gay," she added.

I awkwardly scratched the back of my head and gave a sheepish smile. Annabeth and I have been friends for years. For a number of those years Annabeth has admitted to having a crush on me.

And for a while I thought I liked her back.

That was until I realized I like guys.

xxXxx

Percy, Annabeth and Thalia sat in the seats in the direct center of the movie theatre and watched the screen as the advertisements played.

Percy threw popcorn at the other two 13-year-olds. What could he say? His ADHD didn't appreciate sitting through the long, boring ads. What type of person who comes to see an action movie would actually care about a 40% off sale on homewares?

Thalia retaliated by throwing some more popcorn back. Soon they had a little popcorn war going. Annabeth steadily ignored the snacks being flung over her head.

After about 10 minutes of wasting time, and popcorn, Annabeth grabbed a flying kernel in midair and crushed it.

Thalia and Percy stared at her in awe. That was pretty badass.

She then pointed to the screen and the two cousins noticed the movie had started. They halted their salty and delicious war and settled in their seats.

It was about half an hour into the movie when Thalia and Annabeth giggled as the male protagonist removed his shirt. Percy shot them an unimpressed look.

Annabeth whispered, "What? He's hot." To which Percy scoffed.

"Awww is little Percy jealous Annabeth is looking at another guy half-naked?" Thalia smirked.

The other two blushed a very bright red. The boy in question replied, "No, of course not. I just don't think he's all that hot."

Thalia laughed at that before she was shushed by a fellow movie-goer. "Duh, seaweed brain. I'm sure you've been checking out the blonde romantic interest. And no, not Annabeth, I meant the one in the movie." She finished that statement with a wink.

Annabeth returned with a glare.

And Percy just resolutely stared at the screen.

Truthfully?

He had found the male lead character to be extremely attractive. Perfect muscles, tousled hair and a charming smile. He hadn't even given the blonde companion (in the movie) a second glance.

But just like Thalia and Annabeth's eyes were raking in the sight of the shirtless male, so was Percy.

But he certainly did not enjoy it.

At least he tried to tell himself that.

But Percy continued to deny it. He wasn't gay. It was probably just because he liked Annabeth so much that he didn't look at the woman. And he was just wishing he had abs like that, which is why he was staring.

Yeah that was it.

That had to be it.

…

As you can probably tell by now, that was not it.

Percy was not jealous of the man's abs. He didn't truly like Annabeth. It took him a long time to accept it. He remembered seeing a gay couple on the street one time a while later.

They were huddled close, battling off the cold December air. There was nothing abnormal about them. Just two males who smiled as bright as the sun when they looked into each other's eyes.

Percy was confused. They were gay, why would they show it in public and smile like that?

When one man pecked the other on the lips playful and smiled again Percy understood why.

They were happy.

They were happy being gay?

So why couldn't he?

From there, it didn't take too much to get used to being gay. It came naturally he guessed.

When he came out to his mother she was extremely supportive and immediately gave him a huge hug. Sally also insisted that if he ever had any boy troubles, she had been through a few herself, and would be more than happy to help.

His then-stepfather, Gabe, had not been as accepting.

Let's just say, Sally had to work late one night, Gabe had far too much to drink, a couple of his mates were over and punches had been thrown and leave it at that.

Not even a day after that incident had Sally Jackson filed for divorce.

ccCcc

Coming out to Annabeth had been…

Well, heartbreaking.

For the both of them.

Because unfortunately Annabeth had decided to confess her feelings for Percy just after he had identified himself as gay.

There were tears. And yelling. In the end, Percy hugged her and refused to let go until she calmed down.

Now they were ten times closer than ever, so he guessed everything turned out okay.

When he told Thalia…

She laughed, said 'I always knew it' and walked away.

xxXxx

Thalia laughed. "So Seaweed Brain, you got anyone this summer?"

Percy shook his head. But Thalia and Annabeth refused to accept that as an answer apparently.

"But you have to!"

"Even you can get a date."

Percy blinked at them in confusion. "Why? You two are single as well."

Thalia decided to answer that, "Because this is the first summer vacation since you came out of the closet!"

Annabeth continued, "And we want you to experience what it's like to really be gay. Y'know, having a boyfriend."

"Hugging him," Thalia contributed.

"Kissing him," Annabeth added.

"Other things involving him and a bed," Thalia smirked deviously.

Both Annabeth and Percy choked when she said that and blushed furiously. Percy because he did not want to imagine himself doing that and Annabeth because she didn't want to imagine the boy she used to almost-love doing that with anyone else.

Percy seemed to regain the ability of speech first, "Thalia! I'm only 15!"

Thalia just winked in reply.

Percy face-palmed at his cousin's antics.

xxXxx

"We should get him a date."

"Agreed."

Percy had left the lunch table they had been chatting at to go to swim practice. He was amazing in the water and was considered the school's fastest swimmer.

Thalia remarked, "We need to find a suitable victim."

xxXxx

As mentioned before, Percy was diagnosed with ADHD. He was a good kid though, just with problems keeping still for too long.

Because of his ADHD he spent the last period of every school day in Learning Support.

It was a class, a normal class, just with special teachers who fully understood the various conditions of his classmates.

Besides him there were a few others with ADHD, but he never really talked with them. They would all get distracted and the conversation would die off.

It was in this medium-sized class that he the following exchange happened.

"Hey Percy!"

Said boy looked around for who called his name. He saw tall sandy blonde haired student waving him over.

Mildly confused, Percy walked over to the guy's desk.

"Uh, hey Luke," Percy greeted awkwardly. The two hadn't actually talked before.

Luke smiled, which caused the scar on his face to stretch a bit. No one knew how he got that scar as it seemed rude to ask.

"Excited for summer vacation tomorrow?" Luke asked, still in his seat.

Percy considered himself a social person so he continued the conversation, "Yeah, I'm just more excited about school ending."

Luke laughed. It was an awesome laugh that just rang with his happiness. He was a cool guy, and all the girls in the grade loved him.

"I know right? No more reading insanely long script passages. Speaking of which… mind helping me out a bit, buddy?"

Percy now understood the ulterior motive behind the (rather awkward) chat.

Luke Castellan, ever the opportunist, was diagnosed with dyslexia.

And the teacher had instructed the class to read 2 full pages of text.

But with that charming grin still on the older boy's face, Percy couldn't say no to him.

When he sat down, Luke's smile turned to a slight playful smirk. You could just feel the 'victory' vibes emanating from him.

"I'll read the passage for you, I guess."

"Thanks, I owe you one."

ccCcc

After class Percy met up with Thalia and Annabeth outside his classroom.

"Hey guys," he greeted, slinging his backpack on.

Their greetings were cut off by a blonde senior's shout.

"Thanks again, Perce. You're the best," Luke laughed running out of school.

Annabeth and Thalia didn't even get a look at his face the older boy sprinted out so fast. They blinked then asked simultaneously, "Who was that?"

"Luke Castellan. We're in the same class and I helped him out a bit."

Percy started to walk out of the school – at a much slower speed than the previous boy.

Thalia smiled deviously at Annabeth. It took the blonde a moment to realize the meaning behind it but when she did she smirked as well.

Seems they had found their victim.

xxXxx

That was start of it all. Little did I know that that one moment would change my life. It sounds corny and cliché but it's true. That and I'm writing this story to be a tad dramatic.

But the principle remains the same.

That was the day I met Luke Castellan.

The next day was the day that Thalia and Annabeth started scheming.

xxXxx

"How are we supposed to know if Luke is even gay?" Annabeth asked while examining the purple ceiling.

Thalia chuckled. It was a fake chuckle, just to show that she found Annabeth's question amusing. "Who wouldn't go gay for Percy? Besides that guy just radiated gay to me."

Annabeth thought about that for a moment, and then had to agree. She may not have known Luke, but she wouldn't blame him for being attracted to Percy.

"So next question: How do we get them together?" Annabeth knew the raven-haired girl would have some plan.

The two teenagers were relaxing after school at Thalia's house. Annabeth was lying on the bed staring up at the ceiling while Thalia was on her back on the floor with her legs in the air. She was examining her black Dr Marten boots for damage. They were a couple years old and since the school year had officially ended she was wondering if she would have to invest in a new pair.

She found 6 holes, about 17 scratches and a lot of scuff marks.

Yeah, they could survive another year.

Thalia stared at the ceiling. It was painted a dark purple color and the walls black. The entire room was decked out in a sort of punk style, with an army green bed quilt and a gray desk.

Annabeth waited for a reply.

And waited.

. And waited.

.. And waited.

… And waited.

Thalia blanking looked up at her. "I have no idea."

Annabeth face-palmed. This was going to be harder than they thought.

Then she snapped her fingers.

"I know!"

xxXxx

"So Percy…" Annabeth said slyly.

"Seaweed brain…" Thalia said also.

"Um, hey Annabeth? Thalia?" Percy replied, a little thrown of by the creepy tone of voice the two girls had.

"Y'know that summer festival by the beach on New Years Eve?" Annabeth asked through the phone.

"Yeah, the one with all the park rides and food and fireworks," Percy replied into the three-way phone call.

"Annabeth and I are going! You should too!" Thalia threw in.

Percy was still suspicious but he agreed regardless.

"Great. We'll all meet there at about 5 in the afternoon, agreed?" Annabeth, ever the organizer, supplied.

"Okay then. So what're you two doing?" Percy asked casually. The three would talk on the phone for hours sometimes.

"We're having a girls night. So see you, cuz," Thalia said shortly before hanging up. Annabeth said her farewell and then all Percy could hear was dial tone.

Apparently tonight was not one of the times they would chat for hours on end.

Although, to be truthful, Percy was kind of glad they didn't stay on the phone. He did not want to deal with another girls night.

He shuddered at the memory.

The two girls didn't seem to understand that just because he was gay that did not mean he wanted to spend all night talking about hair, clothes and boys.

Percy was still confused over the strange behavior during the conversation. Something about the two's voices just spelled trouble.

But he brushed that thought aside and continued to read his comic book.

xxXxx

"So how are we going to get Luke to come?" Thalia turned to Annabeth.

They were both still at Thalia's house, but Annabeth had decided to stay the night. She had borrowed a pair of Thalia's pyjamas and now both girls wore black shirts and shorts.

"Got a phonebook?"

It had taken a couple of awkward calls to find the right number.

"Hello?" an unknown voice answered the phone.

"Hi, we're looking for Luke Castellan," Thalia said in a professional voice.

"Speaking. May I ask who's calling?" the speaker – now known to be Luke – enquired in a puzzled voice.

"I'm Thalia and my friend is Annabeth. We're friends with Percy."

Luke laughed a bit. "With the little man? So to what do I owe the pleasure of this phone call?"

So Thalia and Annabeth kept it simple. They told him how they would be meeting up at the summer festival and thought that he should come.

"Not to be rude, but I just met Percy today, why the sudden invite?" Luke's voice was charming as he said this. He didn't hate the idea. Far from it. He thought it would be… interesting… to get to know the kid better.

Thalia smirked in that way that says 'I know a secret you don't' so it was a good thing the conversation was over the phone, otherwise Luke would have been at least a little creeped out.

"Didn't you say you owe Percy one? I think this is the perfect chance."

Despite the strange way in which that was said, Luke ended up agreeing to go.

Foolish, foolish boy.

But I suppose eventually everything ended up for the better.

xxXxx

So that's how it started. I unknowingly had a date for the New Year's Festival. Our schools start vacation early December; so it was around three weeks until said date.

I spent the holidays like any other teenager. Sleeping, eating and video games. And since the two had forgone their creepiness I had hung out with them quite a lot.

Since I don't particularly want to narrate such a boring three weeks, and you guys are probably more interested in the not-quite-a-real-date, so let's skip it shall we?

xxXxx

I rolled out of bed on December 31st at 9:00 in the morning. Quite literally rolled. Straight onto the floor. Surprisingly that was not what woke me.

The harsh ringing of his mobile phone was. The tinny rendition of Beethoven's 5th Symphony rang loudly in his room.

Drearily he felt around his bedside table to pick up the phone and hold it to his ear.

"It's the last day of the year!" Annabeth's voice came over the phone.

"Thank-you for informing me of that fact that I cared so little about?" Percy deadpanned. He was snarky even when he was wide awake. What did the blonde girl think he would be like just awoken?

But Annabeth wasn't offended in the slightest. "Well sorry I thought you wouldn't be lazy and might actually be doing something productive with your mornings."

Percy pushed himself up off the floor and rolled back into bed. "You're forgiven if you let me get back to sleep."

He could just sense Annabeth poking her tongue out at the phone. So he poked his tongue out too and blew a raspberry. Immature? Yes.

"Aw, c'mon. You don't want to talk with me?" Annabeth sounded like she was pouting. She wasn't. She was just messing with his head. Percy knew her well enough by now.

"Okay, okay, fine. Hi Annabeth. Excited for the New Year?" Percy tried to sound jovial.

Annabeth snickered. "Sorry Percy. I'd love to chat but I'm a little busy. See you at 4 o'clock at that café by the beach!" And with that she hung up.

Percy listened to the dial tone disbelievingly. Eventually he put down his phone and got out of bed.

"Good morning!" his mother greeted Percy as he walked into the kitchen.

"Morning, Mom. Blue pancakes for breakfast?" Percy asked, spying the stack of strangely colored breakfast food on the table.

Sally beamed at him. "Of course! It's New Year's Eve! Time to party!"

Percy laughed and dug into the pancakes. "So what are your plans for today, mom?"

A stupid grin formed on Sally's face. "Paul and I were going to go on a date. Fancy restaurant, romantic movie and topping the night of by seeing the fireworks." She sighed dreamily.

Paul Blofis was Sally Jackson's boyfriend. Percy's dad was a mysterious person. He was a fisherman who died at sea while Sally was still pregnant.

Paul was genuinely surprised at how calmly Percy thought about the fact his mom was dating again. Percy was completely and utterly fine with it.

Which made Paul happy. Happy at the thought he might actually be able to have a family with these two. But that was a while away.

"So what are your plans, Percy?" Sally asked her son.

"Going to the carnival with Thalia and Annabeth." Percy had forgotten about his unease when the girls had first brought up the idea. Now he was somewhat looking forward to it.

Sally had a face that could only be described as the emoticon :3. Seriously.

"Any boys going? Hmmm?"

A faint tinge of pink grew on Percy's cheeks. "No, Mom."

Her smile dropped into more of a :3. "What about that Nico boy? He's a lovely kid, if not a little on the creepy side."

Percy blushed even more. Nico lived with his father and sister in the apartment two down from Percy and his mom. He was almost always seen wearing black and had been spotted hanging around in graveyards a couple times.

Despite the initial eerie impression you get from him he was pleasant enough.

"Aren't he and I, like, almost-cousins?" Percy spluttered.

"I don't judge, sweetie," his mom replied.

"MOM!" Percy was mortified.

Percy quickly finished his breakfast and cleaned up. His mom still sat at the table reading a newspaper, but her face had returned to :3. Percy rushed out of the kitchen and into his room to avoid further awkwardness.

With a sigh he willed his blush away and began to prepare for what was sure to be an interesting day.

xxXxx

"The eagle has landed. I repeat: The eagle has landed."
"I'm right next to you, Thalia. And there's no need to speak in code – we're not spies."
"I can dream, can't I?" A resounding thwack was made when Annabeth smacked the back of her companion's head.
"Focus!"

The two girls were currently peering over the back of their booth seats. Other patrons of the moderately-priced restaurant ignored the suspicious behavior and continued with New Year's Eve celebrations and lunches.

What was with the code, you may ask. Thalia had spotted the subject of their 'spying': Percy. The two had concocted a plan to set him up on a date. They did this because they care about him… And for their own personal amusement. Mainly the latter.

Percy had entered the restaurant. He was dressed nicely in jeans and a short-sleeved sea-green button up. Annabeth flashed Thalia a thumbs-up. He looked presentable enough.

The two had told their gay best friend to wait for them in the corner table, which was where Percy seated himself now. Thalia had dragged Annabeth over 20 minutes previously to a booth that had a good view of the entire eating establishment. So they could keep an eye on things.

They were playing matchmaker.

Now they just had to wait for their colleague- cough, victim- to arrive.

"Whoa! Hottie off the port-bow!" Thalia exclaimed, nudging Annabeth in the side.

"I said focus! We're here to- Wow… he is hot!" Annabeth whistled in appreciation.

What? They were teenage girls. Attractive guys distracted them. It was a part of nature.

A tall teenager, probably a few years their senior, had walked in. His cropped sandy blonde hair glowed in the setting sun. He possessed striking blue eyes and a scar on his face. The scar did not detract from his beauty however, it made him seem adventurous.

His apparel consisted of dark-wash jeans and a white long sleeve collared shirt rolled up to his elbows. Even covered with clothes the girls could tell he was well-muscled.

Annabeth and Thalia, who had both already forgotten their purpose for being there, followed the man with their eyes.

The dopey looks on their faces soon melted into shock when the extremely handsome teen took a seat.

Across from Percy.

Which is exactly what they told Percy's date to do.

Their jaws dropped in shock.

Simultaneously they despairingly asked, "He's Percy's date?"

They could do nothing but stare. After a short conversation in which Percy looked very confused, the two boys stood and linked arms. Strolling out of the restaurant, to enjoy the carnival together, the taller teen winked at the two girls as he passed.

Annabeth and Thalia watched despondently as the immensely gorgeous man left with their friend.

The crestfallen protagonists of this story turned to the waitress, that had come to serve them, and asked a question. In answer they received a knowing, sympathetic smile.

The question…

"Why are all the hot guys gay?"