Jason didn’t know how he had ended up in this situation.

A quest, sure. That part made sense. He and you had been the only ones available, the only ones who could handle it. It was supposed to be simple—two experienced demigods, a straightforward mission, nothing complicated.

But now, weeks in, after too many nights spent sitting close by the fire, too many whispered conversations when they should’ve been sleeping, too many times you had smiled at him like that—Jason felt like he was standing at the edge of something dangerous.

You weren’t just any girl. You were Percy’s girlfriend. His friend’s everything. That alone should’ve been enough to stop whatever was happening inside him.

But it wasn’t.

Because he noticed things. Had always noticed them, but never like this. The way you pushed your hair out of your face when you were thinking. The way you laughed—really laughed—when you weren’t holding back. The way you always knew what to say, what to do, how to make things feel lighter when the weight of the world pressed down on him.

And he was comfortable with you. More than he should be.

He caught himself watching you when you weren’t looking. Waiting for your reactions. Measuring his words because your opinion suddenly mattered.

He told himself it was nothing. A passing thing, just a side effect of the quest—too much time together, too much reliance on each other. It would go away.

But then, one night, sitting by the dying embers of a campfire, you leaned into him—just a little, just enough that he felt the warmth of you against his side—and his heart did something stupid.

Jason clenched his jaw.

He could not be here. Not with these thoughts, not with these feelings. Not with you.

But gods, he had no idea how to stop.