Here take this piece of crap off my hands. Thanks -_- .
Jason P.O.V
It seemed stupid. Being this helpless without him. It seemed like something that would happen in the story books.
Yet somehow, It's happening and I'm sadly not in a story book.
I keep replaying his words, 'Weak', 'Hell', 'Fuck'. The thing is, it shouldn't have hurt as bad as it did, It shouldn't have stung like that. But it did.
I don't know what happened, I lost control, I wasn't in control. The hospital brought back a thousand memories, all of which are dreadful. It temporarily made me someone else, my temper was spiked, My energy lowered. It was a miracle I didn't end myself in the E.R.
It isn't the first time it's happened, that I've been triggered like that. But it's the first time I couldn't control myself.
"Jase? Bro, Phoenix made Shepherds pie." I lift my head gradually keeping one eye on the video game,
"Shepherds pie?"
"Yep."
"... Bring me some?"
"Only if you swear to stop playing video games for half a second." She folds her arms and leans against the wall,
"Yeah, Yeah. I promise and all that shit." She smiles and disappears into the kitchen.
I miss him, But I also missed Phoenix's Shepherds Pie. Not as much of course. Not even fucking close.
But it's a comfort food. I try not to think about the fact that both of the girls know it's my comfort food. I try not to think about the fact that I'm probably acting like a mopey teenager after a breakup.
Screw that. I'm a mopey teenager after a suicide attempt.
"Hey Sparky." A plate of steaming Pie was placed on my bed,
"Hello Nixxy."
"I'll kill you." She smiled down at me and the room turned honey sweet. Phoenix had a nice smile. One you automatically trust. Those kinds of smiles are dangerous, you don't always want to know all the secrets of the universe. Sometimes you want to be innocent. But with a smile like that Phoenix will never be.
"Do you wanna talk about it?" Thalia sat down next to me. I smacked her hand away as she went to steal my food.
"I don't know." I sighed.
It was the truth, I didn't know. I knew it would help. Talking with Thalia and Phoenix always helped. But every time I thought about it, thought about Percy suffocating in those small dark rooms, I just can't. I'd been there, I'd been forced into the pristine life before I was ready for a messy one. It was impossible. It was insane.
"Have you talked to him?" Nix asks biting into her own plate.
"No. I can't call, and he hasn't called me. Grover won't tell me anything."
"Do you miss him?" This was Thalia, she didn't like this romantic stuff. She much rather ignore the whole ordeal. But she always talked to Jason about it, she always bit her tongue and pretended not to blush.
"Miserably."
"Do you want to go see him? We'll take you."
I could see him. I could surprise him. But how do I know he wants to see me? How do I know he ever wants to talk to me again? He thinks I'm weak for being depressed. Maybe he'd be glad to see me, maybe he'd jump into my arms and apologize. Or maybe he'd spit in my face and tell me to go to hell.
"I-I don't kno-"
"Just think about it Jace. We have time." Thalia patted my arm comfortingly, "You don't have to decide yet."
"Yeah... Yeah, alright."
Percy was destined to be in rehab for two weeks. Somehow those two weeks felt like three months in hell.
Gods I missed him.
It's unhealthy really. Only five months and I'm already so dependent.
"Jason!" Thalia yelled loudly whilst walking into my room.
"Thalia!" I shout back, barely looking up from my school work.
"Your friends are here."
And that's when I realized the biggest mistake of my life.
"Sup!" Leo Valdez dramatically falls on top of me,
"Boy's boys, chill out!" Piper McLean shrieks falling on top of him.
The biggest mistake of my life is being friends with touchy people.
The second biggest mistake of my life is being best friends with people that are sent away every summer for being evil kids. Six months. Six fucking months. They were sent away earlier this year because of a fiery car issue.
"So what's happened while we were gone?" Piper sits up and steals one of my chips, "Talked to Reyna lately?"
And then the third mistake is flung at me around a million miles per hour.
"No... But I did meet this boy named Percy Jackson..."
They don't know a fucking thing.
Literally.
"A... Boy?" Leo asks skeptically.
Not a thing.
"Yeah. He looks like he was created by a top hit author..." Anxiety bites through me. I knew I should have told them earlier, I know I should have come out smoother. But It's pressure. Somehow I know I'm overthinking this, of course they will accept me. But half of my mind is still screaming the possibilities.
They smile at each other.
"Fuck yeah!" Piper tosses a chip in the air and Leo catches it in his mouth, "So, explain it all. Do you like him? Does he like you? Oh my gods have you kissed?" She tosses another chip.
"Uh, Yeah I like him... A lot. But as far as I can tell he's straight. And actually were in a fight as of currently. It's a long story." She smiles at me and grabs my wrist loosely.
"Start from the beginning. We may have to go on a walk. My ADHD isn't going to tolerate this." Leo pipes up dramatically.
"True." Piper and I answer in unison.
So I tell them all of it (Almost). I leave out my own thoughts, How he's made of stardust, how he always smells like sea salt, his smile.
Some things are secrets not to be shared, but admired from afar.
Thalia P.O.V
The phone stirred me from my dreams. At first I thought it must be one of the Hunter of Artemis (The editing team I work on), but from answering it I gain knowledge I didn't think I wanted.
"Percy." I try to sound bitter. I probably succeed.
"Thalia. Is Jason here? I really need to talk to him." I could hear every note in his voice. His smile, his anxiety, his empty room, his depressing state, his mildly insane joy, his dimly crazy fear.
"He's actually gone to a friends house. You'll have to call again."
He had left about a half hour ago, Piper and Leo invited him, he didn't want to go.
I don't tell him that Jason has been moping around since there fight, I don't tell him that Jason cries louder now.
"Oh?" He asks timidly, "Do you happen to know when he'll be back?"
"Nope. You should really call more. We all miss you. I gotta go, I'm already late for work."
"Last I checked me going to rehab didn't change the whole time thing."
"Night shift." I supply dryly.
Her sounds more at home chatting like this. More like the Percy I grew to know. Less like the Percy who is in Rehab.
We chat quickly before I go, I'm usually not a chatter, but I make accept-ions. Sometimes.
"Bye Seaweed brain."
"Bye Pinecone Face." He snaps his voice effectively, but I can feel his smile through the cords.
God this house missed him, God this house missed having a real family.
The dark night is lit only from the moon, barely shining around the clouds. My breath catches in the cold, Automn. School stared just last week, Jason was yet again sent to a public boarding school down the road. It isn't a far run, so he still spends most nights with me cooped up against the cold. But some nights he isn't home. He isn't here to fight the memories.
It was only two simple days. One night. But she couldn't take it. She couldn't take care of him. Not even then. The cold nights always bring me back to the moment I realized I had to leave. The exact moment I knew I wasn't going to be able to protect him on my own.
It was a simple plan, we didn't have a phone, and we lived miles off the grid. But I needed help. I wanted to take him with me, but he was so young, only seven. He wasn't going to make it in the cold, he wouldn't have been able to make the dreadful walk.
I made him food for three day and helped him hide it in our closet, I showed him how to lock the doors and I packed a small bag in case he needed to escape to our safe place. I hid it all in our shared closet and told him not to talk to her. Reminded him I'd be back before the next night.
From what I can gather he was good. He stayed in the closet playing with his toys and eating PB and J sandwiches. But for some reason whether it be to piss or to drink water. Maybe his mind got the better of him and he thought it was safe. He left his hideout and she caught him.
That wasn't the only time I found him mangled and bloody. That wasn't the only time he almost died. But it was the worst because it was my fault.
Jason P.O.V
The night is lit only from the untouchable galaxies. Her face warms when she sings, his face falls when he hears it. There close. So fucking close. Her voice is honey, his is a fire popping, she dances like late summer nights, he dances like cold winter mornings. She giggles slightly between verses, he just stares, looks at her with something most people don't have.
They swing together, their voices tracing across the land. Loud and beautiful, stunning and soaking in joy.
Her hands grow greasy from touching his, her hair flies wild from the wind. A smile never reaches his eyes, a slight escape from the pain he hides. She spins slipping slightly from the wet grass. So fast, so slow that you can almost imagine the dress twirling around her, the summer light dancing off her tan shoulder.
They fall onto the grass, he finally allows the laughter to over flow him and they lay in the wet grass breathless and dizzy from joy.
"We learned that one this summer." Piper says wiping her now greasy hands on his shirt.
"Aren't we fantastic." Leo smiles covering his sores.
"Wonderful." I answer smiling like a madman.
And it was true. They were fucking beautiful dancing together, like a ocean with a breeze.
"Come on Sparky, let's show her what we learned from Thals." Leo sits up and holds out his hand still greasy from some small project of sorts.
"Right, Yeah sure." The truth is I would never dance in front of anyone but them, and Thalia. Perhaps if he will ever accept I could show Percy. Perhaps I need to take Piper's advice and take a break from thinking about him. Just for the night of course.
Then were spinning, my feet moving involuntarily, he plays the boy, I play the girl. He spins me again and again, then lifts me slightly. My feet land firmly on the ground but I still feel like I'm flying. I can feel the breeze pick up and my arms spread out, I twist quickly, falling back into a speedy four step. And then just like that he spins me one last time and were on the ground again.
Just as quickly as it started it stopped. A longing fell over me. A longing that was bigger than dancing. A longing to be apart of something bigger, to be more than small town Jason Grace. To get away, not just away from this shitty town. But to get away from this shitty world. Away from the depression, from the love.
To get away to the Galaxies. To become a king of the sky, a warrior of the night.
RIGHT. So here's some of the Grace Siblings. Also fucking amazing idea, I'm embarking on a dancer A.U. Do you guys dig it? Should I ruin my life on a twenty chapter Dancer A.U?
~I don't even know what to write here anymore.