Percy shoved his hands in his pockets as he walked into the mess hall where the others had already gathered. He searched the room for Annabeth, but his smile faltered when he noticed she wasn't there. Must be in her cabin studying that map again, he thought to himself.
"Hey, Percy," Leo called from the table where they all sat. Piper and Hazel waved in greeting, but the others seemed focused on something else. "We're playing poker. Wanna join?" Percy froze mid stride at the mention of the game. He glanced at the small round plastic poker chips scattered across the table, and the playing cards in each of his friends hands. Piper studied him as his shoulders tensed an odd expression flashed across his face, one she couldn't quite place.
"N-nah. I'm good. I'm going to just grab some food and maybe take something to Annabeth. He grabbed a bagel and quickly left before the others could even reply. Jason and Piper exchanged a confused glance as the door slammed closed behind him. Piper shrugged it off, and they returned to their game.
Later that morning, Piper walked up to Percy who was leaning against the railing, staring at the ocean as if he wished he could throw himself into it.
"Hey," he said with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.
"Hey, yourself," she replied as she studied his face. He usually didn't have to try this hard to smile; it was one of the things she liked about him. She had heard different stories about the quests he went on and the friends he lost, but he still managed to be optimistic and cheerful which she found amazing.
"Where've you been? I haven't seen you much today."
"I, uh, I was trying to talk to Annabeth," he replied. He glanced at her for a second before he looked back at the sea. "She's busy."
"Are you okay? You look upset," she said. She knew Percy would probably open up more to Annabeth, but seeing as she was poring every extra second into studying the map from Charleston, Piper figured she could give it a shot.
"I'm fine," Percy replied. His tone told her quite the opposite, but he honestly scared her a little and prying didn't seem like a good idea. They stood in silence for a few moments before Percy left to go below deck, probably to his cabin.
That afternoon, as Piper finished eating her lunch, she realized she hadn't seen Percy in a few hours which was unusual. He was always hanging around in the lounge or mess hall with everyone, joking around or chatting. She walked to Percy's room and peered in, frowning when she saw it was empty. She found herself outside of Annabeth's room, and she gently knocked on the door. She received no answer, so she slowly opened it and looked in. Annabeth was sitting on her bed, the bronze map sprawled out on the comforter along with Daedalus's laptop.
"Hey, Annabeth, do you know where Percy is?" she asked the blonde.
"Sure, go for it," she replied not looking up. Piper sighed as she realized Annabeth probably hadn't heard a word she said. She walked down the hallway, thinking of where Percy could possibly be on the ship when she accidentally bumped into someone.
"Hey, Piper. I've been looking all over for you," Jason smiled down at her, the tiny scar on his lip stretching a little.
"I've been looking for Percy. You wouldn't happen to know where he is would you?" Jason frowned a little at the mention of Percy, and he shook his head.
"Haven't seen him. I'll help you look though."
Piper was beginning to think Percy had flung himself over the side of the ship after their chat. They had checked with Leo, Hazel, Frank, even Coach Hedge, but no one had seen him. They checked the mess hall. They checked the lounge. Nothing. Then she remembered something. Percy and Annabeth had been caught down in the stables together one morning. She opened the doors and the two stopped in their tracks as they saw the hunched over figure of Percy Jackson. He had his knees pulled up to his chest as he stared at the wall with dull eyes.
"Percy," she called, walking closer to him. He didn't even acknowledge that she said anything. Piper placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, but he still didn't look at her. "Percy, look at me," she said, using her charmspeak a little. He turned slightly, and she plopped down next to him. Jason sat on the other side of him, leaning forward so he could see Percy's face.
"You've been acting weird all day. Tell me what's wrong." Percy bit his lip as he struggled against her charmspeak. He glanced over at Jason who smiled at him in reassurance.
"Why did it have to be poker," he mumbled to himself. Piper shared a confused glance with Jason before returning her attention back to Percy.
"What do you mean, Percy? What's wrong with poker?"
Percy clutched his head with a groan. "No fair. Stop it. Stop it!" he shouted as he jumped to his feet. "Please, don't make me." Piper had never heard Percy sound this desperate before. She felt terrible about using her charmspeak but the more she pried the more she was convinced that he had something he needed to get off his chest.
"Percy, sit back down," she said firmly. He plopped on the ground, but from the look on his face, the others could tell he really didn't want to.
"Tell me. What's wrong with poker?"
"Gabe used to play it," he stated simply.
"Who's Gabe?" Jason asked. Percy looked at him and shook his head. Piper could tell her charmspeak was beginning to wear off.
"Look, Percy, I understand you don't want to talk about…whatever it is that's bothering you, but you need to. You're obviously upset."
Percy stared at her for a few moments before replying. "It's done. It's in the past." Piper waited patiently for him to say more. He sighed before continuing. "Gabe was my stepfather before Paul. He, uh, he was kind of a jerk. He used to… he used to hit me." Piper felt her heart stop. She glanced at Jason who looked as white as a ghost. Piper never ever expected this from the brave joking demigod. From what Annabeth had told her about his mother Sally and his step-father Paul, she just assumed he had a great childhood .
"It got pretty bad. One night he had a couple of his friends over to play poker. He loved playing poker almost as much as he loved his beer. My mom was working the night shift. He never hit me when she was around. I think he knew she'd leave him on the spot. He asked me to grab him a beer. I had a pretty rough day. I had just gotten kicked out of another school, so I told him to grab his own beer. He didn't like that." Piper could tell from the shudder that ran through her friend's body that he was thinking about the results of that comment. She placed a gentle hand on his arm but immediately regretted it when he jerked away as if her touch burned.
"He grabbed me and threw me on the ground. He had a couple of the guys hold me down. He grabbed a beer bottle from the table and broke it. He used the edge to...to cut up my stomach. Nothing too serious though. He didn't want my mom to know. He, uh, he kicked me a couple times. I'm pretty sure he got me in the head because I blacked out for a few seconds. When I could see clearly again, he was on top of me, wrapping his fingers around my throat." Percy's fingers subconsciously brushed against his neck as he remembered the feeling. "I couldn't breathe. He didn't stop until one of his friends pulled him off me. Eddie was always nice to me. He helped me get cleaned up before my mom got home. She was obviously concerned when she saw the bruises. I always blamed it on bullies. After that, poker night turned into 'beat up on Percy' night." He paused for a moment as he struggled to bury his emotions. "That night, I thought... I thought he was going to kill me." Piper wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a hug. She felt him tense for a second, but he quickly relaxed.
"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Jason asked.
"I told Annabeth. I was going to talk to her today but… she didn't have time." Percy sat up, giving him a small forced smile. "But I'm fine. I've dealt with it for most of my life. I can handle it. Plus I don't want anyone thinking I'm weak. I was chosen to lead Camp Half-Blood. I can't lead if they think I can't handle myself, especially against a mortal. "
"Dude, you are not weak. You were just a kid. You still are. We all are. Just because you fight mythical monsters doesn't mean you should have to deal with monsters at home," Jason said.
"You shouldn't have to deal with this alone. We're here for you. All of us. Me, Jason, Leo, Hazel, Frank, Annabeth. You don't have to keep this all to yourself," she told him. He stood up, stretching out his arms.
"Thanks, guys. I really appreciate it." He held his hand out to her. "I've had enough heart to heart talks for the day if it's all the same to you." She smiled up at him as she took his hand.
"I'll see you at dinner," he said.
"Percy, wait," Jason called after him. "What happened to your father." Piper could tell Jason wanted to pay the guy a visit when they got back from Greece. A smile spread across Percy's face, and Piper got this weird feeling in the pit of her stomach.
"An art museum in New York," he stated simply. Jason opened his mouth like he wanted to say more, but Percy was already out the door.
Jason slipped his arm around her shoulders as he watched the son of Poseidon leave. "There's a lot more to that guy than I thought," he admitted.
"I'm never playing poker again," she told him as they left the stable.
That night at dinner, Percy was back to his normal self, or so it seemed to everyone else. Annabeth joined them at the table, and Percy sat with his hand intertwined in hers. Piper kept a close eye on Percy as he nibbled on his piece of pizza. She glared at Jason, who was sitting next to him, and flicked her gaze over to Percy. Jason looked over and saw he hadn't really eaten much. He brushed his shoulder against Percy's and subtly gestured to his pizza. Percy's cheeks reddened as he looked away from Jason. He took a bigger bite of his food and Piper nodded to herself. She chewed on her salad as she kept replaying the conversation over and over again in her head.
"You three are awfully quiet," Hazel said, glancing between Jason, Percy and Piper. "Did something happen?"
"Nah, just tired," Jason said. Piper and Percy looked at each other and nodded.
"I know what you need!" Leo exclaimed. "Let's play poker."
Jason spit out the water he had just tried to drink and Piper's eyes immediately darted to Percy. His shoulders tensed, and he let out a nervous laugh.
"I honestly don't think that's what we need right now," Piper said, as she patted Jason's back. He was still coughing after almost drowning himself in his glass of water. "What I think we could all use is a nice simple game of go fish." Percy narrowed his eyes, and Piper smirked. The game had fish in the name. How could he say no?
"I'm in," Frank said, a small smile spread across his face. After a few rounds, Piper started to see the signature Percy Jackson smile, and all she could do was hope he wouldn't keep anything like this bottled up inside again.