Archive of Our Own ^beta

He was eleven when he figured it out. There was an older boy at Yancy Academy, and (after talking to Grover about it) Percy realized that it's not normal for heterosexual boys to compare other boys to male models because of how attractive they were. He had no clue.

After the Yancy boy, he realized it again with Luke, then Beckendorf, even Jason. So yeah, whatever Percy was, it definitely wasn't heterosexual.

He stayed in the closet for years, due to Gabe being a shit stick and the subsequent internalized homophobia that came from growing up with him. None of his friends knew, except Grover. His mom didn't know. He figured if no one knew, no one could rat him out. But no matter how well he kept his secret, Gabe's casual homophobia and other forms of abuse started to get through to Percy.

After Gabe disappeared, he stayed in the closet out of pure fear. That his friends would hate him, or his mom. Even though he thought they'd never do that to him. He thought.

When he was eighteen, he thought that he was the only person at Camp Half-Blood (other than Nico) that wasn't straight. Boy, was he wrong.

Slowly, other demigods at camp started to come out. Will Solace was gay, and started to date Nico. Piper became open about her attraction to girls. Leo said that he valued someone's personality rather than their gender. Even Annabeth mentioned that she liked both boys and girls.

So why was Percy still so scared to admit it? Clearly everyone was supportive, but the idea of coming out still sent him into a state of panic.

He decided to do it slowly, then. He'd tell Annabeth first, then his friends, and then he could stop trying to hide it. But no matter how many times he tried to tell his girlfriend, he always ended up chickening out.

"Perce?" Annabeth's eyebrows knitted together, so Percy knew she was worried.

He sat up and looked to her, "Yeah?"

"Are you okay?" She took his hand, something she did when she wanted him to know she was there with him. It helped him stay grounded.

Percy rubbed his forehead. "I'm fine, I just-" He found it getting harder to breathe, "I have something to tell you,"

Annabeth gave him her full attention, setting aside the blueprints she'd been working on and adjusting so she was sitting cross-legged on the couch next to him.

Breathing got harder and harder as he tried to say what he wanted to. In just a few moments he knew a full on panic attack was coming, as he got tunnel vision and started to shake.

He felt Annabeth's hand on his and heard her voice trying to help him regulate his breathing. After Tartarus, they'd both learned how to help each other after a nightmare.

Thankfully the attack was over after just a few minutes, but the aftermath wasn't fun either. Annabeth held him tightly as he cried, playing with his hair and whispering quiet reassurances in his ear.

"M'sorry," Percy sniffled. He hated feeling vulnerable.

Annabeth ruffled his hair, and smiled softly at him. "It's okay, Perce," She placed a quick kiss on his head, "You don't have to tell me what it is if you don't want to anymore."

He shook his head. "No, I- I need to get this off my chest." He took a deep breath.

"Annabeth, I- I'm bisexual."

"Oh Percy, that's what this is all about? I thought you were gonna say you killed someone, or that you're a capitalist or something!"

Percy laughed. "Did you just compare capitalism to murder?"

"That's not the point. You're bi?"

Percy nodded, "Mhm."

"So, who was it?" Annabeth grinned at him.

"What?"

"Y'know, the guy that made you realize you weren't straight?"

Percy laughed. "It was a few guys actually,"

"Well, who were they?"

He loved that even though Annabeth was his girlfriend, she was still his best friend, too. "The first was this older guy at Yancy. Then is was Luke. Then Beckendorf. Who was yours?"

The blonde looked back at him, her gray eyes glittering with playfulness. "Actually, it was Rachel."

Percy gasped. "Rachel? Seriously? I thought you hated her!"

"I was jealous. But I kinda realized later that I wasn't really jealous of her, I was actually jealous of you because I liked her too." Annabeth laughed. "But of course I didn't figure that out until months later."

They kept talking for the rest of the night, and Percy was so glad he decided to tell her about his bisexuality.

In the end? He loved her, and she loved him. And that was all that mattered to him.