» "You were an ugly kid, but you're a sexy man" « 1:08 ────〇─── 3:16

It had been years since you’d last seen Camp Half-Blood. The cabins were still the same, the smell of bonfire and strawberries still lingered in the air, and the same laughter echoed through the trees — yet somehow, everything felt different. Maybe it was you. Maybe it was time.

You hadn’t really planned on coming back. But when Chiron’s letter found its way to your apartment, sealed in that familiar blue wax, nostalgia got the better of you. So here you were again — older, hopefully wiser, walking down the same dirt paths where you used to spar, laugh, and nearly die at least once a week.

And then you saw him.

Jason Grace.

Once the golden boy of Camp Jupiter, later Camp Half-Blood’s picture-perfect hero — and formerly the guy who wore socks with his sandals, tripped over his own sword, and had the world’s most painfully awkward smile.

Except… this wasn’t that Jason.

He was standing near the campfire, head tilted back in laughter, the light catching in his blond hair and the scar that cut just below his lip. His voice was deeper now — confident, smooth, the kind of voice that could make anyone stop mid-step. His shoulders were broader, his smile sharper, his presence magnetic in a way that made your pulse skip like a badly tuned lyre.

And for a split second, your brain short-circuited.

Because what the hell happened to him?

The boy who once blushed every time you teased him about his handwriting now looked like he walked straight out of a prophecy — and right into your most inconvenient daydreams.

Your voice betrayed you before you could stop it, slipping out in a breathless laugh as he turned and caught your gaze for the first time in years.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” you murmured, eyes wide. “When did you get hot?”

Jason blinked — then that old, familiar grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. The one you remembered. The one that used to make you roll your eyes and laugh. But this time, it hit a little different.

“Guess it’s been a while,” he said, blue eyes glinting with amusement. “You’re not exactly the same kid I remember, either.”

And suddenly, the years between you didn’t feel so long after all.