There were many benefits to living in a secluded town in Northern Michigan. The summers and falls were utterly gorgeous. They were usually left completely to their devices. It was quiet, and it was comfortable. Unfortunately, all the benefits to living in Paradise, were offset by the snow. Springtime didn't actually exist in Paradise, at least not in Isabella's opinion. It was more of second winter, though usually not quite as brutal as the first. However, this storm was exceptionally bad. Hitting the small town in the early afternoon, classes were quickly cancelled for the day in the hopes that the buses could get the students back home before the blizzard got too dangerous.

Unfortunately, by the time that Cassidy and Isabella were only ten minutes away from home, the full effect of the storm had hit. The snow was falling hard, and the wind had picked up into what felt like damn near a hurricane. Snow was flying sideways across the windshield and it was all that Isabella could do to keep the car moving steady. Not an easy thing to do, especially when the wind was picking up the snow from the sides of the road and throwing it into the air.

She couldn't even see the road anymore. She guessed that there must have been at least eight or nine inches on the ground already. She was vaguely aware of where they were, but the storm was so intense that she couldn't see more than a couple of feet in front of her. She was cautious by nature, doubly so when her daughter was involved, so she was driving at most ten miles an hour. Keeping it as easy as she dared.

But as she followed the road around the next corner, she tapped down on the breaks. A strange, low-pitched grinding answered her and her heart stopped. She spun the wheel, but could feel it as the wheels lost their grip on the road. Thinking quickly, she slammed her foot on the accelerator and the engine snarled in response. But the wheels continued to spin as the car slid, ever more out of control. Cassidy let out a scream as the car jumped the curb and rammed off the road, diving into the tree line.

Luckily, because she hadn't been moving that fast, and because of the high volume of snow, the car didn't go very far. They stopped with a jerk, several feet from the trees, but well off the road. For a couple of moments, Isabella did nothing. She breathed heavily, adrenaline flooding through her.

"Cassy!" called Isabella, whirling around in her seat, her heart hammering in her chest. "You okay sweetheart?"

"I…I think so…" Her daughter's voice was painfully quiet. While they hadn't been in any physical danger, it was still horribly nerve-wracking to crash. Regardless of the circumstances. It was a jarring experience.

Her eyes scanned over her daughter's form for a minute. When she was satisfied that no harm had come to Cassidy, she unbuckled her seatbelt and set about trying to figure out if she could get out of the snowbank without having to pull her car free. But the snow was deep. Very deep, out where they had crashed, and it was getting deeper with every passing moment. She sighed, and didn't even bother getting out of her car. The snow was up around the wheel wells, and they were a solid twenty feet off of the road. She could get out and drag the car free, but she was hesitant to leave her daughter alone in the car.

She turned back around, and looked at Cassidy.

"Are you sure you're all right hon?"

"…that was really scary," said Cassidy, her voice heart-achingly soft. "I didn't like that."

"No…that wasn't really fun, was it?" Isabella leaned back and squeezed her daughter's knee gently. "I'm going to try and dig us out of this. Okay sweetie? Are you okay on your own?"

"Please don't go…" said Cassidy, her eyes wide. "I don't…I don't want to be by myself."

"All right sweetheart," agreed Isabella, "I'll stay right here for a couple of minutes." But sooner or later she would need to get out and drag them free from the snow. She jumped, as something knocked against the window. Swiveling in her seat, she nearly screamed as Percy Jackson's snow-covered face filled in her window. An odd sense of relief washed over her.

"Are you guys okay?" He asked, his voice muffled through the window. He had a worried expression on his face, and he glanced back to Cassidy in the back seat. Isabella rolled down her window, winter wind and snow smacking her in the face immediately.

"I was leaving the stables when I saw you go in," said Percy, an urgent intensity to his voice. "Are you guys okay?"

"We're fine," said Isabella. "Just a little dazed and more than a little wigged out."

"Understandable," nodded Percy empathetically. "I can try and dig you out, and I have a tow hook in my truck. Is the heat still working, or did the battery go?"

Isabella turned and held a gloved hand out to the nearest air vent. Warm air was still blowing into the car.

"All good in here," she confirmed, "Can you please just grab your truck and get us out of here? I'll get this thing towed in the morning."

"All right," Percy agreed, "I'll be right back." Then in the blink of an eye, he disappeared back into the blizzard.

"Momma…who was that?"

"Mr. Jackson," answered Isabella, "He's our new neighbor. You remember, the one I told you about with the horses?"

Cassidy perked up immediately, "Oh yeah!" She said excitedly, "You said he'd let me meet the horses!"

"And I'm sure he will," said Isabella distractedly, peeking around the window as she thought she saw headlights. A moment later, Percy Jackson reappeared near her window. She gestured behind her to grab Cassidy, and Percy nodded. The storm had gotten worse as she got of the crashed car. There was at least another inch of snow on the ground. Percy had opened the door and was in the process of both introducing himself to Cassidy and unbuckling her from her seat.

"Hey there sweetheart, I'm Percy," he was saying as he hoisted her into his arms. "Nice to meet you."

He turned and glanced at Isabella, silently asking if she wanted him to carry Cassidy to the truck. She glanced down at the thick snow that was already getting close to being overwhelmingly high and she nodded at him. He smiled at her, and tucked Cassidy a little closer into his shoulder and made quick headway towards the truck parked on the side of the road.

Opening the door, Percy quickly tucked Cassidy away safely inside and got her situated in enough time to open the passenger side door and help her up and inside. The truck was blessedly warm already, and Percy had been kind enough to turn the heated seats on for her, which were already beautifully warm.

"We can ride out the rest of the storm at my place," said Percy as he pulled himself inside. "If you're comfortable with that."

Isabella considered it for a moment. She'd only had a few interactions with Percy. Outside of the first couple of days he was in time, she'd run into him a few times and had talked when in town. Her instincts told her that he was someone she could trust. She didn't know why, didn't know why she felt that way, she just did.

"Mama!" Squealed Cassidy, doing her best to whisper. As much as an eight-year-old could anyways. "Horses!"

She turned her gaze to Percy, who winked at her.

She was weak willed.

"It's a short drive," she conceded, "And I would be more comfortable being home, but I'd rather be out of this mess right now." The beaming smile Percy gave her sent a pleasant tingle down her spine. She smiled back, feeling more than a little uncharacteristically shy. She turned around in her seat, and looked at Cassidy, who had the widest grin that Isabella had seen on her daughter's face in a long time.

It was normally only a three-minute drive from the corner to Percy's Ranch, but because of the storm and the state of the roads, it took them nearly twenty minutes. With each passing moment, Isabella became more and more grateful for Percy's intervention. This was the worst spring storm she'd seen since moving to Paradise.

"It always get like this in April?" He asked, breaking through the silence as the meandered slowly around the next turn.

"We usually get a second winter in the spring, but this is the worst one I've seen since moving here."

"Well…good thing I like snow I guess." Percy let out a low chuckle.

"Where are you from Mr. Jackson?" Cassidy's small voice asked from the back seat.

"New York, originally," he answered, glancing at the girl through the rearview mirror. That explained the slight accent that Isabella had thought she'd heard. "But I've lived all over. New York, California, Washington D.C., Louisiana…I've moved around a lot for most of my life."

Isabella whistled softly, "You've certainly been around the block. Work?"

"Eh a little bit," Percy conceded. "But I just moved around a lot. Didn't exactly do great in school so I was in and out of places all the time. Eventually I ran the gamut of schools in New York that would take me so I had to look elsewhere. After that it was working in D.C. for the government but…well…"

"You don't strike me as the governmental type," laughed Isabella. She tried picturing him in a cheap government suit, but the image just seemed to be such a ridiculous contradiction.

"Yeah, it wasn't…it wasn't me," agreed Percy.

The rest of the drive passed uneventfully, much to Isabella's happiness, and before long they were comfortably sequestered inside of Percy's blessedly warm and cozy home. The storm outside was seemingly growing worse by the minute, and she was concerned for a moment about losing power. But Percy was quick to tell her that all of the power to the buildings on his ranch were buried in underground generators, and he had a couple of backup generators in just such an incident as this.

Isabella and Cassidy were curled up together under a blanket on the plush leather sofa in Percy's small, yet comfortable living room. The fire in the hearth under the large mantel was roaring, and the strong heat of the flames was like a second blanket. It was all Isabella could do to not lean back into the sofa and fall asleep.

Cassidy was busying herself and whiling the time away with a book that she'd been trying to finish. Isabella was doodling around on her phone, when she heard noises coming from the kitchen. Curious, she disentangled herself from the couch and made her way back. Percy was bent over a large pot on the stove, stirring something together. A rich, chocolatey aroma danced her way, and her eyes fluttered closed for a moment. It smelled positively heavenly.

"Hot chocolate?" She asked, as she stepped up beside him and peered into the pot.

"Nothing beats a hot coco during the middle of a snow storm," explained Percy, as though it were the simplest thing in the world. He glanced over his shoulder towards the living room, then leaned down and spoke in a hushed tone.

"Plus, Cassidy still looked a little wigged out from the crash. This is what my mom always did for me when I was scared."

Warmth and gratitude flooded through Isabella. She'd been seeing the same thing. Her daughter was as headstrong and independent as she was. Isabella knew well enough to know that Cassidy didn't like burdening her mother with her worries or concerns. It wasn't that Isabella wanted it to be that way, but every attempt to try and get her daughter to open up a little…didn't seem to work.

As Isabella turned her head and glanced over at her daughter, she could see that Cassidy's hands were shaking a little. She hadn't turned a page in over five minutes, which meant that she wasn't actually reading anything. She was just trying to occupy her mind. Isabella worried at her lip for a moment. Then, without really thinking about what she was doing or asking, she turned to Percy.

"Do you think you could talk to her for me?"

Percy started a little. Clearly surprised by the abrupt question. Isabella had surprised herself with the question. She didn't know why she'd said anything. Why she'd asked. But…it had just felt right. She just knew, on an instinctual level, that she could trust this man. Could trust him with her daughter.

That opened an entire can of worms that Isabella was most certainly not willing or ready to begin unpacking here and now, but at the moment she just decided to run with it. Cassidy needed help, and Isabella knew that Cassidy wouldn't say anything to her about it…so maybe she'd say something to Percy. She didn't know how she knew, but she just knew that he would be good with kids.

"Sure," said Percy quietly. "I'll talk to her."

Isabella reached out and squeezed his arm gently. Percy smiled at her, and reached into a nearby cabinet. Withdrawing three large mugs from inside. He ladled large cup-fulls of hot coco into the mugs, and handed one over to Isabella.

He turned to leave, but hesitated. Then he turned back to her and leaned down. His hot breath danced along her ear and down her neck, and she shivered.

"There's brandy in the cabinet."

She beamed, and nodded her thanks. A little brandy in her hot chocolate sounded…exactly like what she needed after the afternoon she'd had. She busied herself with adding a healthy dose of liquor to her drink, then perched herself along the wall, far enough away from the living room where she wouldn't be seen. But, thanks to her inhuman sense of hearing, she could hear every word of the conversation as clearly as though she had been a part of the conversation herself.

"Hey Cass," said Percy quietly, approaching Cassidy. "You like hot chocolate?" Cassidy didn't respond, but Isabella knew that her daughter wasn't about to pass up free hot coco. It was one of her favorite drinks.

"Where's my mom?" She asked, and Isabella winced. She hadn't heard her daughter sound like that in a while. Vulnerable. Scared.

"She had to go to the bathroom," lied Percy smoothly. "She'll be back soon. How are you holding up?"

"…I'm fine." she answered after a long pause. Though the clear shakiness to her voice clearly spoke to the opposite.

"Doing better than I would have been," chuckled Percy. "Actually, you're doing better than I have been before. There was a shifting sound, and Isabella could imagine that he was leaning back into the sofa. "I remember this one time, I was like…twelve, I think. I was with my mom and we were heading to this beach house for summer vacation. It was raining and there was mud and stuff all over the road. Mom lost control and we ended up in a ditch. I'd never been more scared of anything in my life." He chuckled ruefully, "You're being very brave, Cassidy."

Cassidy didn't respond for a long moment.

"It was really scary," she whispered softly. "I didn't like that."

"It was very scary," agreed Percy. "Being in a car crash isn't fun."

"I was scared that mommy was going to be hurt…" Cassidy whispered, "I-I didn't want mommy to be hurt…I was really scared…and-and I keep thinking about it, and I don't like it."

There was more shuffling from the couch, and Percy and Cassidy's scents became a little more intermingled. Isabella assumed that he had shifted over to comfort her.

"And that's a very normal thing to be scared about," he consoled. "And there's nothing to be ashamed about. Being scared doesn't make you weak, and being vulnerable isn't a bad thing. It's part of being human."

"Do…were you scared? When you and your mommy crashed?"

"I was very scared," Percy repeated. "It was one of the scariest things I'd ever experienced, and you're handling this an awful lot better than I did, let me tell you that."

"I don't believe you," said Cassidy petulantly, and Isabella had to keep herself from groaning. Of course her daughter would go from fearful and vulnerable, to combative at the flick of a switch.

"Oh?" Asked Percy. He sounded more amused than anything.

"Yeah, I don't believe you. You're so big, there's no way that you're scared of anything."

"I wasn't always so big you know," he said easily. "There was a time that I was even smaller and shorter than you. My best friend used to love making fun of me for it. She was taller than me for forever, used to drive me insane." He paused, placing his mug on the coffee table beside the sofa.

"And I still get plenty scared."

"You're lying," said Cassidy.

"Am not," said Percy, mimicking Cassidy's tone perfectly. Isabella had to shove her hand in her mouth to keep herself from giggling too loudly.

"I get scared all the time. I was scared to move here at all ya know?"

"You were?" Asked Cassidy.

"I was," confirmed Percy. "I was terrified. Sure, I was also excited, but it was pretty scary. I was moving somewhere I'd never been to before. I didn't know anyone in town, didn't have any friends or anything. It was really scary and it scared me a lot."

"But you still moved here?" Asked Cassidy.

"But I still moved here," said Percy.

"Why?"

"Because while it's okay to be scared, it's not okay to let something scary control your life. The world is full of scary things. Scary choices. But I don't let my own fear control my life. If I let my own fear keep me from doing the things I want to do, then I'd never be able to do anything at all."

"So…so it's okay to be scared?"

"Of course it is,"

Isabella chanced a glance around the corner in time to see that Percy had gotten off the couch and was kneeling in front of Cassidy, running his hands soothingly up and down her shoulders.

"Of course it's okay to be scared."

"But it's not okay to let that scariness to control me?"

"That's right kiddo," smiled Percy. "It's completely okay to be scared, but it's not okay to not live your life because your scared of what might happen."

Cassidy nodded her head, and Percy's hands rose and wiped at the corner of her eyes with his thumbs. Soothing away her silent tears.

"And you've been very brave Cassidy. Very, very brave. Your mama is very proud of you, you know that?"

Cassidy nodded her head. Then, without warning, she shot forward, wrapping her arms tightly around Percy's neck. He looked stunned for a moment, then he matched the embrace, wrapping his arms tenderly around Cassidy. Isabella wanted to blame the brandy for the heat the washed over her, watching her daughter weep silently in the arms of the kind man who had welcomed them into his home.

But she knew she was lying to herself.

And then Percy met her eyes, and he smiled at her. His eyes dancing in happiness, and his face shining. That was the first time Isabella knew she was in trouble.

It was the first time she recognized that she was about to fall head over heels for Percy Jackson.

AN: Shoutout to Double for helping me with this idea and for being the best beta on the planet. Check out the link in my channel for the discord server I'm in. My upload schedule is there and you can come hang out with me a bunch of other really awesome and talented authors. Thanks for all the love, and hope you're enjoying the ride thus far.

Love,

LilDB