TW - Implications of child abuse

Conceal the Past

Piper burst through the door, her leg slightly raised as if she had kicked the door open. Her crazed eyes searched the room, before letting out a frantic cry.

"Do either of you know how to use makeup!" Piper almost yelled. She stormed over to where they sat and dramatically dropped a small bag of what looked like expensive make up products on to the bed.

"Um, Piper, you're the Aphrodite kid here…" Percy said with a raised eyebrow.

"That doesn't mean I know how to use it!" she screeched. He winced at the desperate shrill in her voice.

Annabeth shifted on the floor and Percy scowled, burying his head back into her lap. "What's wrong?" She asked Piper, "And breathe."

The girl nodded and took a deep breath and calmed herself. "I have a dinner with my dad, and he asked me to introduce him to Jason."

"Well that's not too bad, is it?" she asked timidly.

Percy nodded his head in agreement, and let out a muffled, "I'm sure your dad will be happy with Jason."

Piper waved her hand, brushing off their comments, "Yeah, I'm sure that's okay. But the thing is…" she trailed off, her face burning as she glared at the ground, "Jason left a few hickeys on my neck."

He snorted while Annabeth hid a chuckle at the poor girl.

"And my dad wants me to wear this particular dress which exposes my neck!" Piper finished with a groan. So much for trying to keep her dignity intact. She glowered further as Percy continued to laugh.

"When is this dinner of yours?" Annabeth questioned, lightly slapping her boyfriend to shut up.

The child of Aphrodite sank onto the bed and covered her face with her hands, "My dad is picking me up in half an hour." She mumbled something else which sounded like 'I'm so screwed'.

"Can't your siblings help you?" Percy frowned.

Piper shook her head and sighed. "I sort of got upset at them yesterday. Besides, they're training right now."

Silence soon followed.

Finally, Percy sighed and crawled out of Annabeth's hold. He stalked over to where his friend sat and he dropped down besides her on the bed. "Show me."

Startled, Piper glanced up and opened her mouth to retort but she faltered at his expression. It was almost, pained. So she pulled back her hair and angled her neck, biting her lip as colour rushed up to her cheeks again.

Delicate fingers traced the red marks and she was almost tempted to ask what he thought he was doing until he exhaled loudly and said, "Where's that bag."

She faced him, her eyebrows knitted together and stared at him.

"I'll cover it for you. Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

"You sure you know what you're doing, Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth called out, snickering slightly.

"More than you, Wise Girl." He replied with a smirk.

"The makeup is in this bag." Piper said, reaching over and dragging the bag from the handles. "Knock yourself out."

Percy hummed as he pulled out different bottles, brushes and powders, ignoring the incredulous looks he was receiving. "Green… green… where is the green…" He grumbled under his breath.

Piper blinked in confusion, "Green? What?"

He paused and looked up, meeting her eyes, " I'm using concealer with a green base which helps to offset the redness of the bruise." When he saw that she looked at him blankly, he quickly added, "Sorry. Um. Green cancels out red… "

She let out a nervous giggle and nodded, "Okay then."

He shot her a grin and cracked open the lid. His smile faltered and he took in a sharp intake of breath, eyes glazing over. Piper peered at him, alarmed at the sudden reaction.

"You alright Percy?" she questioned but received no answer. Instead, his hand shook slightly, the bottle threatening to fall. She tried again, "Percy? Percy?"

"S-Sorry." Percy breathed, blinking owlishly. He stared at her, confusion flickering in both pairs of eyes. "What was I…?"

"Concealer?" the brunette prompted.

"The concealer… Oh yeah…" He said airily, clutching the bottle, his hand no longer shaking. Tipping the concealer onto the back of his hand, he searched for a makeup sponge that he could use. When he found one that he liked, he dipped the sponge in the liquid and carefully dabbed the green at her neck, his tongue sticking from the corner of his mouth in concentration. She was surprised at the light touches and the level of precision shown from the usually hyperactive boy."Right. So now that's done, we have to put foundation on. Which foundation do you usually use?"

Piper laughed, "I don't wear makeup. But I do remember Lacy telling me that there was this particular one that matched my skin tone. Here…" Piper rummaged through the bag before pulling out two identical foundation jars. She squinted at the numbers until she finally identified the correct one and handed it to Percy.

"Thanks Pipes. Well… we just have to apply a layer." He gently put some foundation onto his finger before patting down onto the area. He leaned backwards and examined his work. He cocked his head and added a bit more to where the larger bruise lay hidden and nodded in satisfaction. "Okay that's not too bad. We now just have to set it with powder."

Wordlessly, Piper handed him the pink container and he smiled. He opened the lid and pulled out the small brush. Mindful to not let the powder fall onto their clothes, he dusted the translucent powder over the marks.

"And you're done." Percy grinned, handing the powder back to her. "You might want to keep applying the powder once or twice during the dinner, just to make sure."

"That's it? You did it? Let me see." Piper gaped in shock. She hurriedly snatched up the mirror and inspected her neck, her eyes wide with surprise. "Thank you so much!" She threw her arms around him, who in turn nearly fell off the bed. He wrapped his arms around her and gave a tight laugh.

"It's okay. Don't worry about it."

"How did you manage to do that?" Annabeth said.

"Always the tone of surprise." Percy muttered cheekily.

Piper nodded, frowning slightly, "How did you know what to do?"

He recoiled at the question but managed to form the words, "I learnt to do it a while back. Don't worry about it."

Annabeth blinked at the response, "Why would you have to…"

Percy smiled softly and murmured, "Well you know… I got into fights and I didn't want my mum to worry."

An uncomfortable silence fell. He fidgeted under the calculating look of his girlfriend and the narrowed eyes of Piper.

Finally, he looked away and said, "Don't you have to go now, Piper?"

The Beauty Queen jumped and cursed. "Shit. You're right. I have to go get changed." She leaped off the bed and shovelled all the expensive products back into the bag. "Thanks Percy. You're the best."

"Good luck, Pipes." Percy called after her as she raced out the door.

"Have fun!" Annabeth yelled. His girlfriend turned around and faced him, arms on hips, while he determinedly looked everywhere but her. "Explain."

"Annabeth…"

"No Percy. Tell me. How do you know how to cover a bruise so well?"

"I told you already," he protested, searching her gray eyes, "I got into fights when I was little. I didn't want to scare my mum. I don't do it now, because I know I'm a demigod and mum expects the occasional scrapes and bruises."

She sighed, rubbing her arms, as if comforting herself. "Are you sure-"

"I'm fine Annabeth. Just leave it." Percy interrupted, standing up. He didn't know where the sudden burst of anger came from. He took a few calming breaths when he saw a look of hurt flash across her face. "Look, I'm sorry. But I don't want to talk about it. It's just… you know…" He trailed off with a fragile look.

She searched his face and swallowed thickly, "You can tell me anything, Percy. I'm your best friend."

"I know… I know…" He covered his face with his hands, "I got over it. It was years ago. Don't worry. I'm fine now… It's in the past… I'm safe…" Percy began mumbling under his breath, words lost to her ears.

Frowning, she reached out and gently placed her hand on his arm. The son of Poseidon flinched and jolted out of his daze, bringing his arms over his head, his eyes squeezed shut. Her hand hovered outstretched in the air.

After a few tense seconds, Percy opened his eyes and froze when they made eye contact. Neither of them spoke a word, too shocked to do anything.

He let out a small whimper before dropping his arms to his sides, as if horrified at his own actions. "I'm sorry…" he brokenly whispered and stumbled out of the room.

Annabeth was left alone in the room. The quiet breeze wafted in, dancing around her legs. But all she could see was the look of panic that crossed his face when she touched him. She glanced at her hand and felt her insides churn. This was wrong. So very wrong. Suddenly the room became too small, too closed off, suffocating her. Her breathing quickened and her legs became shaky.

Breathing deeply through her nose, she pushed herself forwards and all but staggered out the room, slamming the wooden door shut behind her. She took large gulps of air, and if she concentrated hard enough, she could smell the calming scent of Thalia's Tree, guiding her back to the present.

Forcing herself to calm down, she leaned heavily on the railings, watching her hands grip tightly at the cold metal. When she lifted her head up, she could just make out a figure disappearing behind the line of trees. It was times like these where she cursed her mind for rapidly processing the situation and creating conclusions instantly. This was wrong.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts. Annabeth slowly made her way down the steps and sighed. If he didn't want to talk, that was fine. She wasn't going to push it. Percy would tell her when he was ready. At least she hoped he would.

The daughter of Athena stalked off to her cabin, leaving the lingering scent of concealer behind her.

AN - And there you go.

Hope you enjoyed this one. This was a bit hard to write, so I hope it was okay.

Please review as that helps me to become a better writer, and if you have any suggestions, please feel free to leave a comment and I will try my very best to write it for you.

Until next time, stay safe.