HI GUYS IM ALIVE IM SO SO SO SORRY THAT IT TOOK SO LONG IK IM AN IDIOT HERE'S A BIG CHAPPIE FOR YOU ENJOYYYYYYYYYYYY

Penny

"I'm fine." I murmered,not looking at anyone. My dad made some sort of gesture as the doctor left. It was a miracle that they didn't throw me out after I disrupted the entire building. I didn't look up at my father as he sat down next to me.

"So he was your friend?" he asked simply. I nodded,letting my uneven bangs cover my face. It couldn't mask up my shame and guilt. I expected dad to start bolting out some lecture about discipline. Instead he stayed silent.

"It's okay." he said softly,pulling me into his chest. I felt like a little girl again,safe and snug. My eyes welled up with tears as I shook gently.

"What's wrong with me?" I whimpered,the sound of my hand on Leo's face echoing in my ears. He stroked my hair.

"Nothing is wrong with my daughter."

I tried thinking straight. What would my mom say if she saw me fly into a rage like that? Would Percy have backed me up,or gotten mad at me for hitting his friend? I really didn't know and a part of me didn't want to find out.

"Did they say anything about Percy?" I asked,sniffling. I could feel my dad tense.

"They said they'll inform us about him today."

I closed me eyes. One way or another,we'd know before nightfall. Then I can focus on what's to come next. Dad held me at arm's distance,pushing my bangs aside so that he could see me properly. My eyes felt swollen and puffy and I was pretty sure that they had turned red too. My nose was runny as well. Despite all that, he smiled.

"You certainly get your rage from my side rather than your mother's."

I rubbed my nose "Is-is that good?"

He shrugged "In a way." he didn't sound mad or resentful. I remembered the picture I had seen back at home in France. My father and two other men who looked like him.

"We never talked about your side of the family." I simply stated,trying to sound casual. I saw a barrier go up in my dad's eyes.

"True,there was never any time wasn't it?" he said with a sad smile. I had to play this off just right.

"Did you have siblings?"

"No,I was an only child." he chuckled "My father always said it was a good thing too,I was quite the troublemaker."

I smiled faintly, confused. So they weren't his brothers? But they looked so much like him...unless he was lying to me,which I don't understand why he would do so. Just then I heard a gentle knock on the door,Apollo's head peeking in.

"Am I interrupting?" he asked. His face looked weary and tired. Guilt filled my insides as my dad chuckled "No,but now I am. I'll be back." he kissed the top of my head and left. Well they certainly bonded. I passed the next few seconds adjusting my bedsheets as he sat down next to me.

"Hey." he said,his hand slipping into mine. The gesture almost made me burst into tears again. Swallowing back the rising feeling in my throat,I tried for a smile. "Hi."

A few seconds passed in silence. I cleared my throat "My dad said they'll inform us about Percy today."

His head snapped up as his eyes met mine for a second,only for them to look away the next. It felt my heart compress itself into a tiny jewel. "Well..at least we'll know."

I nodded,looking down at our hands. I studied his long,thin nimble fingers. He was insanely talented at musical instruments,to the point where it was shocking. A distant memory resurfaced,when he helped me get revenge on Percy by plugging his electric guitar next to his bedstand and hitting a sharp chord. I remembered how Percy screamed and nearly wet himself. I let out a startled sob and slapped my hand against my mouth.

"Penny," he scooted closer and hugged me,holding me tight. I let myself fall into his arms,crying for so long I lost track of time. I could feel his own chest heaving and a few of his tears fell on the side of my face,which resulted in me holding him too. Just two souls trying to hold each other up.

"I didn't mean it," I cried,pulling back to look at him "I swear-"

"I know you didn't." his eyes were tinged red too. "I know that's not you."

I almost burst into tears again,this time out of joy that he didn't see me as a monster. "How's Leo?"

He pressed his lips together in a tiny smile "Okay." I looked down, ashamed of myself. He saw my expression "He'll understand Penny. It's Leo,we know that he-" he stopped himself from finishing that sentence. We know that he values friendship. We know that he'll forgive me. We know that he loves me. I know that he'll never look at me the same way again too. I nodded,understanding.

"I have an idea," he said,pulling me closer to him "After this is all over,we'll go back to all the stupid stuff that we used to do."

I frowned,brushing my wet eyes "What?"

"Percy is going to be okay. He's alive,I can feel it. He's going to come back to us,we'll all go back to being one big happy family. It'll be just like old times. Remember the car ride all the way to Maine?"

I smiled. It was one of those days when Percy disappeared. Me,Apollo,Piper and Jason took a one day road trip,driving non stop for 7 hour to Maine for no reason at all. Of course,it was before me and Apollo started dating,but we were so oblivious; the way our eyes would travel to find each other,our shoulders brushing,his pinky finger intertwining with mine. "Of course I remember."

"We'll do that. Take a long ass trip to wherever you want. Just us." He said,brushing my bangs aside. I could almost picture it,the windows rolled down and the radio blaring,Apollo singing along with his impossibly amazing voice,except that he would make up inappropriate lyrics. I heard another knock on the door,this time my dad. He was smiling,but his eyes narrowed a little when he saw us sitting so close. Oops.

"You have visitors." he said,backing out. My jaw dropped and I jumped out of bed so suddenly it hurt my bones.

"Leo," I rushed forward,but then stopped at the last moment,my arms lingering in mid air. Leo looked just the same as ever- the side of his face looked normal. He probably put some ice on it. He wet his lips.

"Penny,I'm-"

I lunged forward and hugged him so hard I probably cracked his ribecage in the process. If he was going to push me back and chew me out for what I had done,I had to make it count. "I'm sorry Leo,I'm so sorry." I said,my eyes watering for the umpteenth time today. I placed my hand on his cheek,vowing to never do something like that again. He wrapped his hand around my wrist,smiling.

"Hey, I did deserve it. Make me some of your famous dip and we'll call it even?"

I burst into tears, laughing at the same time. Piper came forward and hugged the two of us. "I forgive you too, just make double of that and we'll call it even." I nodded, knowing that she was only forgiving me because Leo did. For a moment, things felt alright. I glanced over at Apollo, who looked at me as if I had suddenly cured cancer and saved the world. I hadn't but it was enough for me.

"We get news about Percy today." He piped in. Piper and Annabeth exchanged worried and relieved glances as Leo gave me a side hug.

"Well, we'll find out today huh?" he said quietly, while the others quickly started talking. His warm, dark brown eyes met mine, just as they had done years ago right before he had gotten on that train. I nodded, looking away. I had a feeling that he would never look at me the same way again. Not gunna lie, it hurt a little. We let go of each other.

"Wait..what about-" I turned to Jason, but he silenced me with a quick look.

"She-she's fine. We made a quick stop at her room before coming here." he said shortly. I looked at Piper for context, but she shook her head in silence. Apollo came forward and put his hand on my shoulder. "Anyways, we should probably get you some breakfast Penny."

...

By 'get me some breakfast', he meant head back to the apartment and order something. I argued that I wanted to make sandwiches because momma loves her sandwiches. Leo insisted on helping me in the kitchen.

"Leo you shouldn't be using that much mayo."

"But it's delicious!" he squirted on a floppy mustache for himself and licked it straight off of his face. "See?"

"I wish I didn't." I snorted. It felt like things had gotten back to normal, except that everyone was still tense about Percy. Even Nico popped up and was cheering everyone up. He and Jason were chumming it up, which was a nice change, seeing the kid happy. Leo licked his fingers.

"Wash your hands before touching the bread."

"Yes ma'am." he put up a huge show on looking frightened, washing his hands quickly while splashing water all over the kitchen counter. "Oops."

Smirking, I passed him the kitchen cloth. I was stacking up the sandwiches on the plate when he cleared his throat. "But for real Penny...I'm really sorry that I never told you." he said, his eyes bouncing everywhere. I pursed my lips.

"And I'm sorry for beating the shit out of you." I replied, wishing that I could go back in time and fix things. He leaned against the counter.

"Still, the day...it was one of the worst days ever. And I've had a lot of bad days," a shadow emerged on his face "But it was also one of the best days." he added hastily. I felt my face burn up a little.

"Yeah..yeah it was." I met his eyes again, recalling how little we were. I was about to comment on that,but he gave me a small smile before leaving, his shoulder brushing mine. A wave of nostalgia erupted inside as the side of his hand brushed mine. For a minute I stood there in the middle of my kitchen, alone. I knew he loved me, and truth be told I loved him too. For years I had always envisioned him swooping back into my life. I had even regretted not getting on the train with him. But my life turned out different. When I pictured my future, I could see Apollo. Someday he would fall in love with someone who gets on the train with him. Shaking my head, I took the plate to the living room.

"This doesn't look like a breakfast for yourself." Apollo frowned at me. Grinning sheepishly, I gave him a swift kiss on the cheek before helping myself to the sandwiches. I felt a pang hit my gut as I imagined Percy happily eating them. I went back into the kitchen to maybe pack some more for him, just in case. Apollo followed me.

"Everything okay?" he asked lightly. I stared at him. He probably noticed Leo's sad eyes as he left the kitchen. I pictured me and Apollo, years into the future, maybe with a kid or two. I even imagined Percy playing with them, being the cool uncle. I smiled.

"It will be."

...

Annabeth

While everyone was distracted, I snuck into my room and piled up the notes I had made, putting them under my laptop which was half open. I would have to get back to it later. One way or another, I would find out what happened to Percy. I steadied my breathing and envisioned his crooked smile and perfect sea green eyes. He's okay, I just know it.

When we walked into Penny's hospital room, seeing her in Apollo's arms hurt. It just kept reminding me that I couldn't barge into Percy's room and see him there, waiting for me with that stupid playful smirk. I could almost hear his voice saying- 'Miss me?'

"Annabeth?" Piper asked, knocking on my door which was half open. I pushed the laptop further down. "Yeah?"

"Are you okay?" she asked, her eyes glittering with concern "You know, with what's about to happen?"

"What?" my mind still on plane tickets. I shook my head "Oh, yeah. Yeah I am. At least by tonight we'll know."

Piper's eyes bounced from my laptop to my eyes "You need to leave, don't you?" I sighed "For now, no. It can wait for a few days." I sat down on my bed. She took the chair, pulling her knees up to her chest.

"It has something to do with your mom, doesn't it?" she asked, eyebrows furrowed. I nodded. "But it can wait." I repeated in a flat tone.

Thalia

"Thalia, you need to eat-"

"No, I need Luke."

Marinette sighed sadly, her dark brown eyes tired. "Thalia, I'm so sorry love, but-"

"He's not." I croaked. My throat was dry and my lips were cracked. I refused to drink or eat anything. I didn't want it, I didn't need it. Marinette put her hand on my forehead, her bottom lip trembling. She had dark black hair and round dark brown, almost black eyes. Apparently she's the new nurse transfer nurse taking care of me. She even had a French accent. To be honest, it looked as if I needed to take care of her. She was clearly new to her job.

"He's not dead." I said, squinting at her. My eyes were burning and I'm pretty sure they were bloodshot and swollen up too. Marinette pushed my damp hair back and toweled my forehead.

"Please eat something Thalia, you will starve."

"I don't care. Just let me die." I said stubbornly. My body felt completely numb and I couldn't think straight. "Please." I begged. Marinette smiled weakly at me. The French probably had some really good skincare techniques because I couldn't witness a single pore on her face.

"You will not die," she said calmly "You will be strong and live on."

French lady was starting to get on my nerves. Even Penny didn't have much of an accent; compared to Marinette's, hers sounded like a perfect American. Fortunately for her, I couldn't even move so I stayed silent and closed my eyes.

Time went by. Thirty minutes. An hour. Two hours. I could hear the second hand of the clock go 'tick tock tick tock', like some kind of sick rhyme. With every second that passed, I envisioned a part of myself dying. Marinette came and went every now and then, simply sitting next to me. I didn't have the energy to tell her to ;leave me alone and go eat a croissant or something.

After what felt like a million years later, I started to hear commotion outside. Doctors rushing around, faint voices screeching. Marinette seemed to have understand something I didn't and she kept her hands together and prayed. I was no professional like her but I thought that I understood something; someone was dying.

Until I heard a very familiar voice, a voice with a slight French accent as well and she seemed to be screaming hysterically. I heard several footsteps, a pair of them probably belonging to my dear little brother. I closed my eyes, a part of me waiting for the sobbing and crying for the loss of a loved one. Poor Percy Jackson.

But instead I heard something else-

"HE'S ALIVE,HE'S ALIVE!"