Piper sat up straight. She had no idea where she was. But one thing for sure, it was a dream. A demigod dream. Great, she thought before taking in her surroundings. She was in an apartment, old beat-up furniture scarcely scattered throughout the place. It dingy; dull. A faint glow was coming from a television in the apartment. A baseball game was on, the commentary barely audible. The curtains were drawn by the windows, leading Piper to assume it was night. She took a couple steps forward, exploring the scene a bit more. A digital clock on a table said 1:37 in red, florescent lighting. A sudden noise made Piper jump. The pop of a beer can. A middle-aged man with a pot-belly stumbled into the room she was currently in. He belched loudly, causing Piper to wrinkle her nose in disgust. Who was this man? He settled himself in front of the television, immediately engaged in the game. She took a moment to really take this man's figure in. He was wearing a singlet, with more stains on it than the original white fabric. He had roughly three hairs on his head and a pair of sweats on his legs.

Piper sat in the dream, bored and uncomfortable until the digital clock said 2:06. She heard the apartment door jiggle. The man stood up as the door swung open, revealing an eleven or twelve year old boy. He had a mop of black hair and sea-green eyes.

"Percy?"

Piper knew he couldn't hear her, but the shock was all the same. The facial features were almost the same. It was definitely him. But it wasn't the Percy she knew. Her Percy was lean, yes, but he was still a little muscular. Her Percy was tall, confident, radiating happiness. This Percy was short, scrawny and meek.

"Well, what took you so long?"

The sordid man grumbled, making his way towards little Percy. Percy looked the man in the eye, a loathing glint shining through. It was a look Piper had never seen on him before.

"Your mother is almost off her shift." Gabe growled while fisting Percy's hair, making Percy wince. Piper flinched, unaccustomed to seeing something like this. If this flash back was real, that meant that Percy wasn't lying.

Percy brought out a brown paper bag from his hoodie.

"Harry was dealing with another customer. Something about needing more," he said while the man snatched the bag from Percy. The man started to walk away, opening the bag. The bag irked Piper. It was really early in the morning, why would Percy need to get a bag?

"Gabe?"

Percy started, looking angry. Gabe tore open the bag to reveal small bags of… drugs? The man Percy called Gabe reached in and tossed him a package of a white looking powder; cocaine. Percy caught it with ease, but didn't do anything. He just stood there, looking at it. The next few words that came out of his mouth shocked Piper more than when she brought Jason to life when Hera killed him.

"This is only half. What about mom's share?"

Gabe rolled his eyes and threw another package of cocaine to Percy. Percy disappeared through a door and Piper woke up.

It was true. Percy did do drugs. Hazel wasn't lying or seeking attention. Piper sat up slowly, blinking back a few tears. In the still of the night, the house was quiet. Only heavy breathing could be heard. Piper stood up slowly, careful to not awaken the others, and padded softly to the kitchen.

A glass of water. The cool, clear liquid felt amazing as it slid down her parched throat. This… everything was shocking. It was scary.

Piper went back to bed. And as soon as she had fallen asleep again, someone else sat straight up in bed.

Leo knew that life was hard. It was in no way fair. He didn't believe in karma, because whatever goes around doesn't fucking come around. When Leo suddenly appeared in Camp Half-Blood, Leo wasn't sure what to think. It was a beautiful day; crystal clear blue sky. Leo was on the porch of the Big House. A gentle breeze ruffled his hair. The sound of hooves could be heard and Leo turned around to come face to face with Chiron. Well, sort of. Face to… chest?

"Hey, look, I'm sorry I spent the weekend at Percy's, but I'm back and-"

Chiron ignored him. In fact, he passed right through Leo, and Leo immediately realised it was a dream.

A faint horn sounded and a bunch of campers made their way out of their cabins. Breakfast.

Leo jogged to the pavilion, unsure of what to do. A tall boy with blonde hair passed through him. He was maybe nineteen? He would have been handsome if it hadn't been for the scar that ran down his right cheek. Following him in a line was a string of campers.

"Is that… Travis?" Leo wondered aloud. No one replied. Obviously.

A boy of about twelve was in the line, but he sure as heck looked like Travis Stoll, a camper that Leo was good friends with. He had no idea where Connor was, but listening with rapt attention to everything that Travis was saying was a scrawny boy.

When Leo said scrawny, he was not exaggerating. In fact, he was stretching the term 'scrawny' a bit. This boy was incredibly thin, with bony arms and knobbly knees. He was incredibly short, even for his age. He was maybe five feet? He had a Mediterranean complexion, messy jet black hair and sea green eyes. Wait, was that Percy? Leo actually listened to their conversation.

"-Man, I'm telling you. The way you totally pummelled Clarisse-"

"I did not pummel Clarisse. She was picking on Katie so I stood up for her!"

"You threw a boot at her head."

"Travis-"

"Fine. How's Annabeth?" Travis asked, wiggling his eyebrows. Leo expected Percy to blush, tell Travis that Annabeth was the most beautiful being in the world. Instead, he got-

"Ugh. A stuck up, bossy, rude bird brain."

Travis threw his head back and laughed, gaining some odd looks from the rest of the camp. They walked up to the food and each grabbed something to eat. Leo noticed Percy only got a small amount. The Percy he knew would probably eat the whole buffet.

"Travis, can I ask you a question? Like, brother to brother?"

"Sure Perce, what's up?"

Leo's eyes widened. Brother to brother? But Percy wasn't… oh. Leo realised that they were both sitting at the end of the Hermes table. And Travis looked so serious… they thought they were related via Hermes. Oh gods…

"Why does everyone hate me here?"

Travis looked down at his plate, looking for the right words to say.

"Well, your arrival was… unexpected. I mean, you show up in the middle of the night, a freaking Minotaur trying to kill you. You defeat it and you're in the infirmary for days. You come out and destroy the girl's bathroom plumbing and beat Luke in sword practise."

Percy blushed. They ate breakfast in silence, and Leo started to realise what Percy meant by 'everyone hated me.'

The whole Ares cabin throwing Percy dirty looks, which was intimidating as there was a lot of them. When they left the pavilion, someone tripped Percy, and had it not been for the blonde scar dude, Percy probably would have broken his nose.

The dream shifted. He was still in Camp Half-Blood, it looked like breakfast, but something was different. The entire camp was throwing nasty glances at Leo. When Leo realised they weren't at him, he turned to see twelve year old Percy sitting alone at a table. He was picking at his food, not looking at anyone. Oh.

Leo always envied Percy and Jason, being powerful children of the big three. But, looking at Percy, it just looked pathetic. While Leo had known Percy, Percy had friends hanging off his arms, always there. He realised now it was never always that way. It was quite degrading, actually.

The dream changed again, and this time Leo was in an apartment building. No, a boarding school. A bunch of kids were everywhere, and Leo assumed it was a weekend. A group of girls were surrounding someone, and Leo made his way over. On the ground was Percy. He was glaring at them all.

It changed again. It was a different school again, and this time everyone was in uniforms at an aquarium. All the fish were following someone. Percy. The kids made their way up to a walkway and an aquarium worker asked Percy to push a button. Wrong button. The whole class fell into the shark-infested water. The dream fast forwarded to Percy standing alone with the teacher, the teacher yelling at him, ensuring Percy would be expelled.

The dream kept shifting. Each sequence was Percy being bullied or expelled. It never showed any friends or family. Leo was getting scared. He couldn't take it.

He woke up with a gasp. A cold sweat had covered his body. Seeing Percy's life like that… if it had been him, he would have run. Every single time. But Percy had stayed. Why?

The sound of a door opening had caught Leo's attention. Percy was on the balcony. Leo went out to join him.

"Why didn't you run?"

Percy jumped. He turned to face Leo, who sat on the railing. Percy sighed, raking a hand through his hair.

"Because I couldn't. I could never leave my mom. It would've been so easy to run. But I guess, I guess it felt like I was letting people down. I don't know. Why do you ask?"

Leo looked Percy in the eye. Despite the ungodly hour, New York was still bustling with life. Leo could see lights shining, hear the sounds of cars and buses. It was amazing, no wonder it's called the city that never sleeps.

"I had dreams," was his reply.

"Why did you run?"

Leo sighed.

"Well, I had nothing to stay for. I had not many friends. A few here and there. But otherwise, my family hated me and my mom was long gone."

Percy nodded.

"Did you hear about John?"

John Gilberto… the son of Athena that committed suicide.

"It's so horrible, don't you think? Ending your life just like that. Barely having have lived. I mean, it's so stupid! The concept, I mean. It's so sad that people do it. Honestly, it's a bit selfish. I mean, he had a father, half and step siblings who cared about him! And he just put them all in grief and guilt because…" Leo trailed off, noticing a change in Percy's demeanour. He had stiffened and looked away.

"Percy?"

Let me start with one thing. Please no flames. I am NOT calling suicidal people stupid. Don't twist my words. I am calling the concept stupid. Ending your life seems selfish. People claim that no one cares, but family and friends do. You make them feel guilty because you 'had no way out.'

If you are suicidal, I'm sorry. Is there any way you can see a psychologist? A professional knows what to do and how to help

Also, some of you will be glad to see that there is no Hazel in this chapter. I have had some delightful PM's and a couple reviews saying my Hazel is a bitch. Thank you for those kind words. She is a character that I am trying to portray. She is fourteen and someone she sees as a big brother had done something illegal and dangerous as well as being put through so much abuse.

Sorry, I'm not trying to be angry. Also I'm sorry it's been a while. P.S I have no idea why, but I love jealous Leo :p

Thanks for reading guys, gals and non-binary pals :3