Inspired by a couple of headcannons I read, and I absolutely LOVE this idea.

-oOo-

It wasn't the lightning that woke her; nor was it the ground shaking thunder or the loud pitter patter of rain against the roof and windows. Storms didn't threaten her at all anymore. Rather, it was the low, hardly detectable sounds of his whimpers and moans from next to her as he tossed and turned in discomfort, which roused her out of sleep.

She was shooting upright the second her eyes burst open. She didn't know what it was or why it happened- neither did anybody else. No one understood why it is that when Jason Grace is hurt, or damaged, or in agony or even upset that Piper McLean always knows. Of course, the idea that it was her mother who alerted her had crossed all of their minds, but Piper had a feeling it was more than that. It was a built in automatic reaction. Something which linked her to him. A little like Grover and Percy's empathy link.

She instantly leaned over his shaking body, letting one arm wrap around him to steady him. On his back, his hands were fisting the sheets, twisting and crumpling them. His lips were parted, releasing quick, shallow breaths as his chest rose and fell rapidly. Eyebrows knit together, he seemed desperate for something, and panicked. It terrified Piper.

He was trembling profusely in her arms; she felt as if he was a bomb waiting to explode. Sleep still weighed heavily on her, threatening to drag her back down, to push her back onto her side of the bed and curl up and make her forget about her suffering boyfriend. So she fought against it, as she did every single time this happened.

Leaning down, she pressed her lips against his cheek, trying to hold him still. Bringing her mouth to his ear, she spoke directly into it.

"Jason," she crooned gently. "Jason, baby, it's okay." Lighting flashed outside of the window, but Piper didn't let the fear of a bolt striking the house override her.

He moaned and whimpered something unintelligible. Piper felt her heart shatter in her chest, and didn't know if it was his actual pain affecting her or if it was seeing him in so much agony. At least he wasn't shouting, or shaking the entire bed like he sometimes would. Nightmares didn't come often to Jason, but when they did, they really hit him hard. She knew what he would dream about: her, their friends, his sister, more of her, New Rome, the quest, some more of her... It was a whole repetitive cycle- a constant pattern. Death, destruction, fear; it was like a plague. It haunted him, so much so that sometimes he refused to go to sleep at night, choosing instead to watch Piper as she slept with her head in his lap.

However, this time, Piper felt as if something was different. She didn't know what it was that he was dreaming about, but whatever it was it scared her too. But she didn't let that show- her only aim was to somehow get him out of it.

Rubbing his bare, warm shoulder with one palm she kissed his sweaty forehead. "Jason," she whispered against his skin. "It's okay- it's okay, sweetheart, it's just a dream. You're dreaming."

He wouldn't stop shaking. Piper shut her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath to steady herself: if she got scared, it wouldn't do anything to help him.

Another flash ripped the sky open. A bead of sweat trickled down the side of his face.

Suddenly, his hands shot up, and he clutched blindly at her. Piper winced at his tight grip but didn't shake it off, remaining exactly where she was.

"Jason?" She asked tentatively. He didn't reply, so she slid into a laying position with his hands still clutching her arms; she placed herself so her mouth was right against his ear, almost brushing it.

"Hey, remember that time Leo dragged all of us to Walmart and made that really lame racist joke?" Piper asked, smiling at the memory despite the circumstances. "And he didn't notice that huge guy was right behind him who got super offended and looked like he wanted to freaking murder Leo, and we spent the next hour hiding in aisles from him? Or remember when you guys threw me that surprise party for my 17th birthday- that was awesome. Or when we had that campfire, just our group, and then a sleepover straight after in Percy's cabin after a Disney marathon? I remember Chiron was so pissed when we all overslept till like three-"

And Piper continued like this, her voice warm, low and soothing, never too high or too excited. Gradually, his rapid breathing began to slow, and the trembling of his muscles began to reduce. But his expression was still pained, so Piper didn't stop.

Abruptly, Piper jumped as a particularly blinding dart of lightning flashed across the sky and deafening thunder shook New Rome. His eyes shot open, and the profound horror and alarm buried within his sky blue irises caused Pipers breath to catch.

His mouth opened and then words were tumbling out of his lips in a hurried cascade of sentences. He was speaking so fast Piper couldn't understand, couldn't get her sleep riddled mind to catch the words.

"Shhh," she said soothingly, leaning over him, one hand stroking his cheek. "Slower."

"It was her- she was saying all this stuff to me and- I just- Piper, how she looked at me-"

"Wait, wait- who?"

"-it was like I was there, like the whole past was replaying and I saw how she treated Thalia and what she used to do and-" he paused for a moment to catch his breath, and Piper didn't say anything but simple took his clammy hand in her own and twisted their fingers together, squeezing reassuringly.

"You saw your mother."

He didn't reply; he just stared right past the side of her head at the ceiling. Biting his lip, he squeezed his eyes shut, and Piper knew it was to push the tears away. He had cried before in front of her, but she knew he wanted to avoid the tears for himself. To make himself stronger.

Leaning down, she tenderly pressed her lips to his sweaty forehead and threw her leg to the other side of his waist, encasing him. Carefully resting her weight on his thighs, she leaned down to place her forearms on either side of his head and weave her fingers into his hair. Wrapped around him- protecting him.

"Breathe, Jason," she reminded him gently as the images came flooding back, causing his breathing to quicken. Slowly, he unsteadily lifted his hand, searching for hers. She immediately gave it to him, allowing him to intertwine her fingers with his own. He clutched them tightly. The other hand travelled to her waist. Her eyes swept over his tensed features, one hand still smoothing through the blonde strands of his hair. "Water?" She asked, glancing over at the glass by his bedside.

"No," he murmured, voice deep and raspy but shaky. "I just-" he trailed off, inhaling unsteadily, trying to slow his hammering heart rate down. "You."

Only the slightest tug pulled on her lips, and she nodded in understanding. Leaning down, she lightly brushed her lips against his clammy forehead, reminding him that she was here. "Go back to sleep, Jason," she whispered against his skin, knowing he wouldn't want to talk about his dream. Not yet.

"Did I wake you?" He asked abruptly, ignoring her. She pulled back slightly to stare at him, not allowing any of her sudden alarm to seep through her kind expression.

"Well..." She began hesitantly, knowing he would see straight through any lie of hers, despite her impressive acting skills.

His face crumpled up, and he looked about ready to cry. "There was a storm, wasn't there?" His voice cracked.

"It wasn't bad." Piper brushed a hand through his hair again, trying to prevent the guilt from gnawing away at him. As it always did. "It's okay," she reassured him again, but knew it made little difference.

"I probably woke all of New Rome again," he whispered, horror crossing his face. His gaze flitted back to her. "Piper, I-" He broke off, swallowing thickly.

"Jason, I said it's okay," she repeated, a little forcefully. "It doesn't matter."

"No, it does." He sounded exhausted. "You stayed up late last night anyway, didn't you?" Sighing, he pushed his thumbs under the hem of her shirt, drawing gentle, smooth, tender circles on her skin. "I'm sorry, Pipes. I never mean to, it just-"

Then he wasn't talking anymore after a muffled sound, as Piper's lips were pressed against his own. His hand instantaneously gripped her waist tighter, and Piper waited for his soft lips to start moving against hers. But they didn't.

She pulled back. Pressing her forehead against his, one hand encased in his large one, the other buried in his hair, she gazed softly at him. Studied the blue in his eyes. "Listen." Her voice was gentle. "I don't care, okay? You could wake me up a hundred times each night and I still wouldn't care. I don't care about anything but you when you're hurting, okay?"

He was silent. Then his face morphed into pure adoration as he gazed into her eyes, and this time, he was he who pulled her down to smash their lips together with so much force it was almost painful. Where their usual kisses were gentle and protective, this was every bit as passionate and hungry. He felt his skin burn through the fabric of her shirt as his hand brushed up, up, into the hair at the back of her head. He pulled her impossibly closer, deepening the kiss, and Piper felt a whimper escape her mouth only to be swallowed by his. She felt his moan vibrate against her lips.

When she finally realized that neither of them were exactly breathing, she pulled back with a gasp. But he barely let have her a moment before he was pulling her down again, whispering a few words against her swollen lips before engulfing them.

"Thank you."

-oOo-

Piper's eyelids fluttered open to the sunlight filtering through the blinds on their bedroom window. Groaning quietly, she winced against the blinding glare, throwing a forearm over her eyes. It wasn't usually this bright.

She heard a chuckle from above her, and her pupils flitted upwards, met by Jason's grin. He was sitting up with his legs stretched out in front of him, his laptop on his lap, chest still bare from their- uh- adventure in the middle of the night. Piper lay pressed against the side of his thighs, and a soft touch to her scalp told her Jason's fingers were gently threading through her brown hair.

Stretching tiredly, Piper yawned. "Morning," she mumbled.

"You mean afternoon," Jason repeated pointedly, his fingers smoothing over her forehead.

Piper groaned. "Whatever." She paused, looking down at Jason's shirt on her torso. He must have slipped her into it at some point after she had fallen asleep so she wouldn't get cold. She smiled as a rush of affection surged through her. Even after almost four years of dating, it was the soft, sweet gestures like these which made her heart melt. Tilting her head, she cracked a sly half smile as their gazes met. "Well, after how you absolutely wore me into the bed through last night, you can't exactly blame me for sleeping in late."

An adorable blush instantly crawled into his cheeks, and Piper laughed lightly as she grabbed him by the back of his neck and pulled him down to her, brushing her lips against his.

One thing was for sure: Piper had absolutely no problem with waking up each night for Jason if it ended the way last night did. And especially if a guilt-plagued Jason let her snag a few extra hours well into the afternoon too.

-oOo-

Review? :)

Sorry for any mistakes or typos. I had this saved forever but never found the time to go through it and upload it. Hope you liked it!

There's also this really important quote I wanted to share with you guys which I absolutely love, and means a lot to me. Thank you so much for your support :))))

"No amount of regret can change the past- no amount of anxiety can change the future."