Percy wasn't in the garden when Frank finally went out again, and he tried not to panic.

He probably went to go get groceries or something, he'll be back soon, Frank told himself. But it stills unnerved him to lose Percy after spending so long trying to find him.

It'd taken a bit longer than anyone liked to admit to realise that the postcards Percy had been sending told everyone exactly where he was,or at least what country he was in They said quietly clearly that he was in Greece, far out of the reach of the gods, which made sense. Now that Frank thought about it, it makes sense that Mercury had (after some bribing) told Frank exactly where Percy was, all the way down to the address, without even needing to think about it. Frank came thought that Mercury's Greek counterpart had a bit of a soft spot when it comes to Percy, and probably wanted someone to go and check on how Percy was doing.

Frank wondered if he'd be asked to send a report on how Percy is to the others, or if they just expected him to do it as soon as he found Percy. He knew that he probably should have let everyone know that both he and Percy are, at the very least, still alive, but he didn't want to risk everyone coming over to check on him, and overwhelming him. And Frank certainly didn't want Piper to either purposely or accidentally report all that back to Annabeth. That was unlikely though considering how desperate Annabeth was to push away everyone from both camps; even if Piper did tell her, she'd probably just ignore it all.

"I know they say you should smell the roses, but I think doing that for five minutes straight is a bit extreme, don't you think?"

When he came back to the real world, he saw Percy in front of him, holding groceries. He was not smiling, but there was a certain fondness to his words, and a warmth in his eyes.

"S-Sorry, I kind of fazed out for a second."

"Don't worry, I do that all the time," Percy shrugged, "I sometimes can't snap out of it for hours..."

Frank didn't give him time to think about that.

"Need some help with those?"

"I wouldn't mind some, thanks."

He wondered if Percy would have answered that way when he was twelve, or whether he would have been determined to carry them all himself. Frank liked to think that Percy would have asked for help, or at least let other people help him.

So he took half of the groceries and helped put them away too. And then he was lost on what to do, and what to say.

"Do anything interesting while I was gone?" Percy asked, no enthusiasm in his voice. Frank appreciated the effort nevertheless.

"...I called Hazel."

"How is she?"

Percy sat down on the sofa, and Frank sat down beside him. He was kind of hungry, and he hoped that they're eating soon, but he didn't want to seem rude, so he waited.

"Good. She's getting one of her paintings put up in Rachel's new gallery."

"Rachel was talking about that when I was living with her," Percy mused, "I'm glad she got around to it."

He didn't sound glad, but Frank decided not to point that out.

"Piper told me that Drew's getting some dresses she'd designed put in there too."

"I thought everyone hated Drew."

"Everyone did. But she changed."

"...I didn't hate her."

"You didn't?"

"She only got that way after Silena. She just wanted to protect herself and the others, and her way just happened to be the wrong way... besides, she was pretty nice to me when I first came to camp. She was close to William, and I spent a lot of my time in the... hospital bit in camp, so I knew they both quite well."

"William? Don't you mean Will?"

"...Shit."

Percy groaned and covers his face, folding in on himself. Frank didn't hesitate to hug him this time.

"What?"

Gods, he was so skinny, Frank realisesd with horrifying clarity, he could feel this ribs...

"I can't even remember my friend's name properly, I'm such a fuck up Frank!"

"It was just a mistake Percy," he insisted, "I forget people's names all the time."

"Yeah, of people you don't know well. I can't remember fucking Will's proper name, and I've know him for years! I can't even fucking remember his last name!"

"Percy! It's okay! Calm down!"

Too late. Percy was hyperventilating, he was crying, he was screaming, he was kicking.

He was having a panic attack.

Frank immediately let go of him, and tried to work out how he can help without making things worse. He knew a lot of people don't like being touched when they're having panic attacks, so that was out the window. Gods, he'd had classes on this. He should remember what they told him!

"Percy. Do you need me to go?"

Percy didn't answer, so Frank stayed despite the fact that he had no idea what he was doing.

"It's okay. Breathe. It's okay Percy. These things happen. It's not your fault. Will wouldn't care. It's fine."

It felt like centuries before Percy calmed down enough to speak again, and when he did, Frank almost wishes he hadn't. His voice was hoarse and his words were drowning in sadness.

"It's not fine. It's not okay. And it hasn't been for a while."

"...Can I-"

"Yes."

Frank once again wrapped his arms around Percy and held him close. He quite liked this, because it reassured him that Percy was still definitely there and definitely alive. If he could, he didn't think he'd ever let go.

"I-I'm sorry you had to see that," Percy sniffed.

"Please don't apolgise, it wasn't your fault."

"Yeah, it's the fault of my fucked up head instead... ADHD, dyslexia, PTSD, anxiety, depression... Fuck. I don't know. I haven't been officially diagnosed. I didn't want to know..."

Hearing the list only makes Frank hug him tighter. Gods, Frank knew he has his problems (bad body dysphoria, and the likes) but Percy... He was quite astonished that Percy is still alive. He was not quite sure that he could fight to keep alive if he was going through that hell storm of a life.

"How can I help you Percy? What can I do?"

"I don't know... I'm getting better though."

"Really? This doesn't seem like you're getting better. This seems more like you're spiralling into-"

Frank cut himself off before he says something he regrets.

"Trust me, I'm better than I was."

Percy rubbed the inside of his wrist, and Frank could feel anger and sadness bubbling up inside him. He wondered why he didn't come sooner, or why no one ever bothered to go after Percy. Maybe if they had, this wouldn't have happened. Maybe Percy would be okay.

"...Is there anywhere nice to go for dinner around here?" Frank found himself asking.

They both need to eat after all, but he couldn't cook well (Hazel is the queen of their kitchen, and he's not allowed in there) and he didn't want to make Percy cook for him again, so it sounded like a good option.

"There's this small place," Percy says said, "It's more of a 'kid friendly' bar then anything, but it's nice... the owners are Australian so it's Australian themed, and they serve nice milkshakes."

"Great, we should go there."

Percy gave him a hard look, like he didn't know quite why Frank was suggesting such a thing.

"It's lunchtime Percy, we need food... or at least I think it is."

There were no clocks in the room so he checked his watch, and Frank discovered that he's right. It was definitely time for food.

"Okay," Percy sighed, "I'm not hungry, but I guess I'll come with you. Should we shower first though? We both don't smell the best."

Percy showered first, and he came out fully dressed in a sky blue silky shirt, rolled up at the sleeves, with white shorts and Frank thought he looked gorgeous.

"Your turn, Panda Bear."

The nickname made Frank blush and incredibly confused.

"Panda Bear?"

"You're cuddly and sweet like Pandas," Percy shrugged, "And Panda Bear sounds better than just Panda."

"O-Okay."

Frank practically ran into the bathroom, far away from Percy and his confusing yet sweet nicknames. The hot water helped him relax, but not as much as he'd like and all too soon he was drying himself off and getting changed. He put a little more effort than he should into his look, and convinced himself that it was just because he wanted to try and look as good as Percy.

When he came out, he's struck still by the casual way that Percy's eyes ran over his body. It made his heart beat faster, and he couldn't tell whether it's out of embarrassment or... something else.

Finally, Percy's eyes met his, and Percy smiled. But it felt like it's just to reassure Frank that he saw nothing bad, and not because he didn't like what he saw.

"You clean up nicely Frank. I didn't really take you for one to dress all posh like."

"It's a special occasion."

And he was being honest, so he could say that without feeling too uncomfortable.

But they stood there and looked at each other for a while longer, and Frank noticed some things he didn't before. Like the piercings in Percy's ear and tongue (he tries to avoid thinking about that one), the tattoos which were just barely visible beneath his clothes, and the longer, curlier style of his hair. Before, he had it cut too short for it to really curl out, but this style suited him better Frank believed. Frank thought he was... beautiful. It was a strange word to use for a man, but it was the only one that fully justified how Percy Jackson looked in just one word.

"Should we go then?" Percy asked.

"Okay."

The walk is casual was slow - Percy would stop to say hello to lone people he obviously knew, to pet the abundance of cats that seem to be following him, and to point out random landmarks to Frank - but it was nice. Frank felt more like he was on a tour then walking to a restaurant to get food with an old friend, but he knew it was going to feel this weird between them for a long while. They had both changed too much for it not to.

Eventually they stopped outside a fairly busy place called Crocodile Dundee. Frank shot Percy a curious look, to which the reply was a shrug as the doors were opened.

To be fair, it was quite a nice place with a good atmosphere, and the owners seem to know Percy well.

"Perseus!" The woman behind the bar exclaimed. "Hello!"

She was speaking perfect English, which Frank couldn't help but appreciate, and she brought a (fake) smile onto Percy's face.

"Hey Donna, how's life?"

They chatted for a bit before the woman - Donna - realised that she should take their orders and did so. Percy tried to get away with ordering nothing, but Donna wouldn't have any of that.

"Perseus, I am making sure you eat if it's the last thing I do!" Donna yelled before suddenly becoming nice and sweet again. "And that milkshake love, are you sharing that with your boyfriend?"

Frank was the one to go red and dramatically insist that he wasn't dating Percy, while Percy was the one to take it casually.

"We're not dating, but a bigger milkshake would be nicer, so sure. We're sharing."

How someone can be so easy about it, Frank didn't know, especially if that person is Percy 'I'm So Straight' Jackson. But of course, Frank knows that was far from the truth.

"Coming right up, sweetie!"

When she left, Percy immediately turned to Frank, and gently placed his slimmer, darker hand on top of Frank's lager, paler hand. It was a nice contrast, Frank noticed, and Percy's hand felt quite nice. His palm was rough and no doubt scarred, but his fingertips felt smooth and warm.

"Relax; Donna didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable. She just assumed that we were dating because the last person I brought here was him, my ex boyfriend... I think she thinks that I'm gay."

"R-Right."

"Are you sure that you're okay?"

"Yeah."

Percy removed his hand, and Frank tried to work out why that made him feel so disappointed.