You sneak into the Nemesis cabin every night to sleep beside him. You’re careful. Quiet. Smooth. Precision worthy of a child of Aphrodite who’s learned deception out of necessity.

Ethan never says it, but the stillness in his shoulders when you slide under the blankets is proof enough that he waits for you.

You always leave before sunrise. Always.

Except one night.

Sleep catches you harder than expected— warm sheets, Ethan’s steady breathing against your neck, his arm unconsciously curling around your waist like he’s anchoring you in place.

You don’t even feel morning arrive.

Until sunlight stabs through the blinds and you wake up to Ethan blinking at you, hair sticking in ten different directions, whispering a groggy, horrified:

“…we overslept.”

But it’s too late.

You walk out of the Nemesis cabin at sunrise— hair a mess, Ethan’s hoodie on you, Ethan following behind you half-awake, rubbing at his face like he’s in a nightmare he can’t escape.

Campers stare. Not just stare— freeze.

Strawberries drop. Swords clatter. A satyr does a double-take so hard he stumbles.

Your sibling steps forward, eyes wide:

“…Why is he with you?”

Ethan answers with the exhausted misery of a man who already knows this is about to ruin his entire day.

“I’m going back inside,” he groans, turning away—

—but not before he tugs you closer by the hoodie strings, so quick and habitual it betrays everything he refuses to say out loud.

Gasps ripple through camp like someone just announced a prophecy.

Someone whispers, “Are they dating?” Someone else whispers, “That’s Ethan’s hoodie.” And your siblings are looking at you like you’ve just performed a miracle or committed a crime.

Ethan stands there for half a second, hoodie strings still wrapped in his fingers, face flushed with equal parts sleepiness and regret.

Then he mutters something under his breath, turns around, and disappears back into the Nemesis cabin like retreating will somehow undo the whole incident.

But the damage is done. Everyone saw. Everyone knows.

And you? You’re still wearing his hoodie— and smiling.