I love the rain. It's calming and weight-lifting. You don't have to worry about it hurting you or asking you for something. You don't have to run from it constantly, but instead just watch it from the side. Maybe even join in every now and then. My favorite place to watch the rain is the beach, especially when a storm is coming in the distance. The waves react with each boom and strike of lightning. I always feel insignificant yet powerful as it draws near. However, right not I'm standing under a black awning with my hood on, watching the clock carefully. The rain in the background calms my nerves as the seconds tick by. 10:45. Fifteen minutes until close. The few people, who are passing by at this time of night, pay no attention to me. Why would they anyways? They can't see my face so all they can tell is that an 18 yr old kid is trying to wait for the rain to die down. If only that was the case. They wouldn't think that this kid is actually waiting for the restaurant across the street to close and take out the trash for the night. They don't expect the same kid to then rummage through the trash for any food that was thrown out and put it in the pillow case that's in his back pocket. Calm down Percy. Breathe. Normally I wouldn't wait this long for food but compared to most, their scraps aren't as questionable as others. People aren't as curious either in this neighborhood, since it's mainly for the college students. With no one poking their head into my life no one will hurt me or my shadows. Technically they aren't my shadows. My little brother, Tyson, is 12. He can be very quiet and shy but he makes up for that in his smarts and personality. Nico, my half brother on my dad's side, is also quiet but definitely not shy. He just always observes first before he speaks, especially around strangers. He becomes a chatter box when it's just the three of us and a couple others. Unfortunately with his unusual social skills comes a lack of a filter thus causing trouble for himself. He has a twin sister, Bianca that is so opposite of him that it's comical. She disappeared a year ago though and we haven't heard anything else from her.

11:12. I begin to walk across the street headed for the ally next to the restaurant. It's a nice place for a corner lot. There used to be another store by it but when it went bankrupt the owner of the restaurant bought it and made his restaurant bigger. There is an illuminated sign that says Chiron's in bright red letters. During the day this is a family restaurant and café but when they made in addition the put in a late night bar which is open Fri-Sun and on game days. With the entrance on the corner, a low light can be seen through windows that cover the sides of the building. I can see movement going on inside, no doubt workers trying to close as fast as they can. As I walk buy I can hear music playing and people laughing. Focusing on the mouths I need to feed and the short amount of time I have to do it I make my way into the alley. It's a short ally. On the left is a small maintenance door for the apartment building. Looking up you can see the fire escape that leads to the top. On the right is the door to the restaurant and a city dumpster is place in between the buildings against the back wall. I moved toward the dumpster, flipped the lid and took the pillow case out of my pocket. They should have already taken the trash out. Trying to keep what I find dry from the rain I quickly begin to rummage through the trash. Suddenly a door opens behind me. I freeze. There is no where I can go as a man rolls the days scraps on a cart out the back door. I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do when he looks up. We watch each other, neither of us making any sudden movement. He's tall, maybe 4in. taller than my 6ft. He has a salt and pepper beard with hair to match. His hair goes way past his ears making it seem he needs a haircut, but I shouldn't really be talking. He's still fit because of his broad shoulders and stance. He wears slacks and a white button up with loafers. He pulls off the beloved uncle kind of look. When we meet stares again he finally talks.

"Hello," mystery man says. I remain silent. He begins to say something else only to reconsider it. We keep the silence for another couple of minutes. He lets go of the cart and takes a step forward. I take a step back in response.

"I won't hurt you okay? I have a hunch that you are the one leaving the trash slightly less full from what I've been told. I want to help. I understand what it's like to be where you are. I...um…made something this afternoon hoping you would like it." He jesters to the cart. I notice a to-go bag on top that I didn't notice before. It's defiantly full seeing how it's leaning slightly. I'm sure he sees the shock on my face but he doesn't say anything. Minutes have passed until I realize I haven't said anything back to him.

"Uh…thank you…sir," I begin but am cut short by a crack of thunder.

"Why don't you come inside and warm up before you get sick out there?" he says. I really should get back to Nico and Tyson before they begin to worry, I think to myself.

"I…I can't. I have to go," I say.

"At least let me get you an umbrella first. You can stand right her by the door and leave it open if you want," he argues. I begin to shake my head no but find myself saying a hesitant okay. What are you doing Percy! Get the food and get out! I ignore my brain though and head towards the door slowly. I think it has something to do with the look on his face. It screamed at me that I could trust him and the he DID understand. He was already inside when I stepped in the doorway. The warmth hit my face immediately. He smiles and turns to walk away before hi stops and hold out a hand.

"I'm Charles Delafront but everyone calls me Chiron," he says. I hesitantly bring my hand to shake his.

"I'm Percy Jackson sir. It's a pleasure to meet you and you have a very nice restaurant," I say out of politeness.

"Thank you. And the pleasure is all mine Percy." Chiron then let's go of my hand and walks off.

I'm standing in a hallway with a supply closet on my right. When the hallway opens up you can see the griddles and ovens on the left wall with fryers in the corner. What looks like a prep table is in the middle of the room. My view cuts off though because of the corner of the hallway. After debating with myself I decide to take a couple steps forward, placing myself at the corner of the hallway. Now I can see that the prep table is actually shaped in a "U" allowing someone to step inside the opening and help. On the wall opposite of the griddles in a serving window, and kitchen utensils and cookware are on racks beside the supply closet. On the far wall across from me is the fridge and freezer and a door that says pantry. The wall stops short because of two catty corner doors that lead to where ever. The one next to the window I assume leads out to the dining room but I'm not sure about the other. Suddenly Chiron walks out of the unknown door with two boxes in his hands. I can see that he's struggling and make my way toward him before he falls. Grabbing the boxes from his hands I walk towards the table and set them down.

"Thank you, son" Chiron says as he grabs the cane and umbrella from the top of the boxes. I only nodded my response.

"So, where's that younger boy of yours?" Chiron asks while opening the boxes. My head shot up. How'd he know about Tyson? I've got to get out of here now. I'm so screwed.

"Calm down Percy. I saw him with you a few weeks back. He looks just like you ya' know. He doesn't come with you anymore?" he said. Not after what happened so no he doesn't.

"He's with a friend." Was all I said in reply, trying to drop the subject. I decide that the silence has gone on long enough and take that as my cue to leave. I thanked Chiron again and walked out the way I came in. It was still raining but not quite as hard. I grabbed the food, opened the umbrella and began to walk back out of the ally.

"Percy wait!" I turned to see Chiron making his way to me. He doesn't have an umbrella so I meet him halfway.

"Sir?"

"I know you don't know me but I want to help. I understand how hard it is to be left alone with nothing on the streets. You seem like a hard working boy just trying to survive. I can help and your two friends can come too. I could use your help here and I feel like I can trust someone like you. You can stay with food and shelter." He said in one quick breath. Because he was taller than me I had to look up at him while he spoke. When it was my turn to reply I was speechless. "At least think about it Percy. Okay?" he asked while backing up towards the door. I nodded the turned and walked off.

All the way home I pondered it. I wanted to take the offer so bad. This would help so much especially for Nico and Tyson. It's hard enough on them as it is. I couldn't help but be skeptical though. No one is that nice without a catch. What if he's working for them and is just waiting for the right time to turn me in. Or maybe Chiron is nice and generous as he seems and they find out anyway. They'll kill him and destroy his name if he defends me. I keep trying to convince myself that it's better if I turn him down, it's safer this way. But my mind just kept going back to how much better this would be for all three of us. A fresh start. It's been almost six years since we had a normal life. I almost miss our turn to our hideout because I was too deep in thought. Our hideout is decent at best. There's trash everywhere it seems but it keeps most the rain out and the wind doesn't get in. It lies in the back of a low end subdivision and has overgrowth covering the walls. Once inside you can tell that there was fire at some point of time. The walls are black with holes and debris litters the floor. It's a one story house. Because of the holes weeds have weaved their way through the halls. There are holes in the roof allowing for the moonlight to seep through the house. Small dark remnants of furniture are randomly placed through the house. Unfortunately none of them are usable. I always wondered what happened. What was the history of this house and the family that was here? I never get the answers though so I don't tend to dwell on the thought. I make my way to the back room of the house. It's small and has to two windows in it. Only one of them being broken which is a plus. The roof is mostly in tact in this room except for the far corner near the broken window. A tree fell on it but still remains there so hardly any water gets in during a bad storm. Tyson is sitting on a makeshift pile of half-burned sheets that we found laying around the house and is using one of his sweatshirts as a pillow. Nico is lying next to him on his back using his arm as a pillow. Our stuff is lying on the other side of Tyson in a neat pile. I set the food and umbrella over there and then sit on the other side of Nico and take my shoes off. I take of my jacket and use it as a pillow. I check my surroundings in the dim light. Feeling sleep wanting to take over I lie down and close my eyes.

"Percy?" Nico says beside me. Saying I was calm was an understatement. It used to be worse when he did it. I'd jump straight in the air and be pissed once I calmed down. Now it's just a visible jolt.

"What Nico?" I replied irritably.

"You were gone longer than normal," he paused for a long moment then sighed, "When are we leaving?"

I could hear the disappointment in his voice. He didn't want to leave. And neither did I honestly. This place has been good for about a month and a half. Usually I'm a go with the flow kinda of guy even with the situation we are in but I can be a stickler about certain things. Mainly if you go out you come back on time. No more than 20 minutes tops. I look at my cheep kiddy watch on my wrist. 2:27 am. Crap! I told Nico I'd be home by 12:30. Kid must have been worried sick. I have only been late a few times in the past but when I was, each time we had to leave in immediately because I had been found and I need to throw them off my trail. Sometimes it would take forever to find a new place. I took a deep sigh pulling myself away from the memories.

"We're not leaving. I just lost track of time. I'll tell you about it later. Now go to sleep." I told him.

"Okay, but you are going to tell me all of it right Perce?" he asked. He sounded like a little kid again, cared but hopeful.

"Yeah I will."

"Perce...Percy?"

"Mhmmm"

"Percy!"

"Ahhh! I'm up! I'm up!" I yelled. It took a minute for my eyes to adjust. My brain however didn't even start to wake up. Tyson comes into my line of sight holding a piece of bread with peanut butter on it.

"Come on and take it before I eat it for you Percy!" Tyson all but yelled in excitement.

"Go ahead then. I'm not hungry anyway" I replied with a smile. He eyed me for a minute before taking a bite. Truthfully I was hungry but I could hold out a little while longer. I always worry that Tyson and Nico don't get enough.

"Hey sleeping beauty, you have a little drool on your chin." I turned a little to see Nico sitting next to me smirking. I would have hit him but he was holding out a cup of water for me. Smart kid.

"Thanks" I said dryly.

"So you ganna tell me about last night?" Nico asked.

"Can I wake up first?" I asked back.

"What happened last night?" Tyson asked now paying attention to our conversation.

"You've slept till noon and you already seem awake." Nico replied ignoring Tyson's question.

"Noon? You know you're supposed to wake me up earlier if I slept in. and don't worry about it Tyson. All it was was a traffic accident because of the storm last night. It was pouring down so hard you could barely see in front of you." I told the both of them. Nico gave me a look while Tyson just wandered about what I said. If he figured out I was lying then he didn't say anything because he just shrugged and walked away. I wasn't as lucky with Nico.

"Okay now what's the truth," Nico said with an annoying look.

"What do you wanna know," I ask with a glare.

"Everything from start to finish."

So I told him everything, from meeting Chiron to the offer he made me and why we are NOT excepting it.