8:00 pm, Wednesday, November 9th, 2010
Annabeth knocked lightly on the bedroom door.
"Come in!" said Percy from inside.
Annabeth walked inside and sat on the bed. She felt Percy sit next to her and wrap an arm around her, pulling her close.
"Everything okay?" he asked, "You've seemed kinda out of it since we got back from the park. You've barely paid attention to anything the past couple days."
"Can I talk to you, Perce?" She said.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Percy's face widen in surprise and then scrunch in confusion. He took her hands in his, "Yeah, what's wrong?"
"Can you promise me that you won't get mad?"
"Why would I get mad at you, Annabeth?" he laughed.
"Can you just promise me, please?" She said, looking at him.
"Okay, okay, I promise to not get mad." He sat back on the bed. "What's your idea?"
"The idea is related to counselling. I was thinking-"
"No.," he said, his voice suddenly flat and emotionless.
"Percy, can you please just listen to me?"
"No!" He barked out, hands clutching the sides of his head.
Annabeth sat next to him and attempted to take his hand in hers, but he pulled away. "Percy, honey, I'm just trying to help you."
"I don't need help!" He shouted.
"Could you just, listen to me?" She said quietly, as she gently placed her hand on his arm.
"I-" he turned away from her, "Sure, whatever."
"I was thinking it might be helpful if you git a service dog. Hear me out, Here me out!" She said, adding the second part when Percy scowled.
"I'm listening." He muttered.
"A service dog may help you calm down when you feel something coming on. I know how much you hate talking about what happened, so I think this may help." She said.
Percy moved so he was sitting on the edge of the bed, back to her. She could barely see the way he was wringing his hands and the deep groove that had been etched between his eyebrows.
"Percy, can you tell me what your thinking?" Annabeth asked quietly, sitting next to him.
"I-I-" he deflated. "I don't know what to think."
Upon seeing the confused glance she sent his way, he explained, "Part of me thinks, part of me knows, that this is the best option. But the other part-" his words died, off and Annabeth could see him starting to shake.
She put her hand on his back, "Percy it's okay. It's just you and me, okay? Can you tell me what you are thinking?"
"I hate feeling like this," he said through gritted teeth.
"Like what?"
"Like I'm a burden, something that needs to be fixed. Like I'm broken and I can't be normal until I'm fixed. And I want to be normal, I do, but I hate feeling like a broken table that needs to be set right. I'm tired of people thinking that I'm some fragile kid, who's not okay." Percy said.
"Percy you aren't broken, okay? You're not fragile, you're ridiculously strong and resilient. But you aren't okay, you and I both know that." Percy looked at her. "Don't give me that look Perce. I'm saying this because I love you."
"I'm saying this because I want you to be okay. And the first step to that is addressing that, no you aren't okay. And then you take steps from there to get better." Annabeth said, looking at him.
Percy slumped forward, landing between his arms; which were propped up on his knees. She could hear him struggling to take in breaths, see the tears that streamed down his face.
Annabeth moved so she was crouched in front of him. His head moved up so his eyes met hers, and she traced the side of her face. "Percy, please." she said, wiping off the tears that kept coming, "I want you to feel okay again. That's all I want."
Percy looked at her, his green eyes swirling with emotions. Exhaustion, Sadness, Fear, Regret, many more. Annabeth smiled a sad smile at him, "I would give the world for you to be happy, Perce. I want to be here with you every step of the way, and this is one of them."
"Neither of us is okay, whether or not you admit it. It isn't normal to have nightmares on a regular basis, and if we don't get help, it's only going to get worse. I will get a dog if you do. I just need you to walk this road with me."
"Can you do this with me?" she asked him.
He frantically shook his head, his chest hitching every time he took a breath. "I-I-I-don't know!" he cried, hugging himself around his waist.
Annabeth sighed, before reaching out to cup his face in her hands. She pulled his face close and briefly met his eyes before she pressed her forehead to his. "You can do this, I know you can," she said, her voice thick with emotion.
"No, I'm fine!" he said for what had to be the hundredth time.
Annabeth bit back her anger. He was lying, quite obviously. He knew it, she knew it. But getting angry and yelling at him would only send him spiralling farther down.
It was a delicate process. There's a level to which she has to be honest-brutally, mercilessly, honest. But she can't be cruel in her honesty, because Percy will only get worse, and everything she's been trying to do will fail.
She met his eyes, his wild and unfocused eyes. She shakes her head slightly as she runs a hand down the side of her face, and she lets out one last desperate plea, "Percy, please. If not for me, for your mom."
His hand wraps around her wrist, pulling it away from his face. He tears his eyes off her, turning his face away, but she can still see the tears that leak down his face.
"Percy, I'm asking you one more time, can you do this with me?"
And slowly, he nods.
Annabeth grins a slightly sad grin at him, wrapping her arms around him. He clutches her tightly as he starts to sob onto her shoulder. He's accepted he needs help, a small step in the road to recovery. They've got one hell of a mountain to climb, but with each other, everything seems possible.