Hi. So, good news. I finally finished my other story, Never Two Late. That means that I can get back to writing this one. I my updates will still be slower than normal for the next three months or so but you can count on at least one a week, which is better than I have been doing. I wish I could promise more, but I'm just really busy.

As for Percy and Apollo's relationship, I know it's a slow build. I do apologize for that but I want it to be realistic. Don't worry though, changes are coming and it's going to be fun.

:-) Now, without further ado...

Starts as Percabeth, will eventually be Percy x Apollo.

Important thing to note... This will be yaoi (boy-boy). Don't like? You do not have to read.

Disclaimer- I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Heroes of Olympus series. (One can dream though) All rights go to the proper parties.

ΩΩΩ

December 12th

Percy POV

It took two days before I had a chance to speak with Hazel. She had been busy training new attacks with her cohort.

I had continued in my attempts to control the mist, but so far I had accomplished nothing. Apollo had tried to help but all he could tell me was that people see what they want to see. Needless to say, that statement helped me about as much as it had the first time he said it.

I frowned as I waited for Hazel to finish with her cohort. I had asked her for help and she told me that she would as soon as their training was over. I wasn't certain as to how much she could help me though. I had always been hopeless at mist manipulation. The last two days had only reinforced the idea that I might never master it.

I was shaken out of my thought when Hazel came jogging up to me with a smile on her face, "Hey Percy."

"Hi Hazel, all done?"

The daughter of Pluto nodded. "So what exactly did you want to know about the mist?"

"Well I'm trying to learn to control it, but so far..." I rubbed the back of my neck.

Hazel gave me an understanding smile, "Not very successful huh?"

I winced. "You could say that. Fred's been trying to teach me but it hasn't helped. I thought that maybe you might have another way of explaining it."

The daughter of Pluto frowned. "Well I can try but I don't know how much good it will do you. It took me quite a while to figure it out, but I can tell you what helped me. This first thing is what my dad told me. He said, 'The dead see what they believe they will see. So do the living. That's the secret.'" I gave her a blank look and she laughed. "Ya, that was my thoughts at first too. The other thing I figured out on my own when we were facing Sciron. Controlling the mist isn't about making someone see what you want them to see. You can't make them see the world as you see it. What you need to do is make them see what they desire to see, what they expect."

I sighed, "I think that's even more confusing than the way Fred explained it to me."

Hazel gave me an apologetic look. "I don't know how else to explain it. You have to alter the mist, showing them what they want to see. If they see that, then they won't bother questioning it."

I nodded, "I think I understand what you saying." Out the corner of my eye I saw Frank making his way towards us. I waved to the son of Mars. Hazel saw where I was looking and smiled shyly at her boyfriend, "Thanks for the help Hazel. I should let you go hang out with Frank. I know you guys don't get to spend much time together."

She gave me a grateful smile, "I'm sorry that I can't explain it any better. Trust me though, you do it once and you will understand what I mean."

I nodded as she turned and headed towards her boyfriend. Once she was out of hearing range, I sighed and rubbed the back of my neck. If anything, I was more confused than I had been before.

I was feeling rather hopeless.

Not only was I no closer to being able to control the mist but every time I saw Frank and Hazel together, I couldn't help but feel a small stab of jealousy. They may not have been able to spend as much time together as they would have liked, but they still saw each other far more then I saw Annabeth and we lived in the same house.

I let my mind wander as I started heading back home, trusting my feet to bring me where I needed to go.

I missed being at camp half blood. Thanks to Annabeth's new responsibilities, we never got to hang out. I was trying not to let it bug me, but I couldn't help it. We had been at Camp Jupiter for almost a month and a half and we had hung out precisely five times, three of which were as a group and one of which was cut short so that she could go back to work.

I couldn't really understand as too why she couldn't take a bit more time off. I saw Jason two or three times more often then I saw my girlfriend, and I knew for a fact than Jason had gone all the way to Camp Half-Blood twice just to visit Piper. If he was could do that, I didn't understand as to why Annabeth couldn't take an afternoon off now and then.

I knew that she was a hard worker and a perfectionist, but it was still hard to never see her. I could remember her being the same way when she was redesigning Olympus. The only difference was that this was not a project that would be finished within a year. The fact that they had made Jason an immortal so that he could ensure all gods were properly recognized said a great deal about the time commitment.

Logically, I knew that building temples was only the first stage in what Jason had to do. It wouldn't take quite that long to build all of the temples and statues, but the fact that they had been working on the same temple for a month and a half and had yet to finish the design said that it would still be many years. I tried to imagine spending the next twenty years hardly seeing her. It sent a stabbing pain to my heart just thinking about it.

I kept hoping that she would realize that she could take a few days off now and then but I wasn't sure she would. I wanted to suggest it to her, but how could I? She enjoyed what she was doing. How could I interrupt her just because I missed her?

ΩΩΩ

I wasn't paying attention to anything until I felt a hand wrap around my arm. I jumped in surprise and looked up to see a blue eyed son of Leto smiling at me.

I pulled my arm back and tried to smile, "Hey Fred."

Apollo raised one eyebrow in question. "Hello Percy. What's wrong?"

I bit my lip and looked away. I didn't really want to unload my problems on him, but I didn't want to say I was fine either. "What do you mean?"

The god of music scoffed, "Don't give me that. You look like someone just told you the world ran out of blue food coloring."

I winced, "That bad?"

He nodded, "So what has you feeling so melancholy?"

I sighed and rubbed the back of my neck. "I don't know."

Apollo rolled his eyes. "Yes you do." I looked up at him and he shrugged. "No one is ever upset without knowing what they're upset over. If you don't want to tell me, that's fine. I won't make you. Just don't lie to me."

I blushed and looked down, "Sorry."

He smiled, "It's okay." We stood there with nothing to say for a few seconds before he cleared his throat. "Well, I have to go grocery shopping. Want to come?"

I shrugged. I didn't really have anything better to do. "Sure."

ΩΩΩ

Apollo POV

I had never been particularly good at cheering people up. I wasn't even certain as to where I should start. I wanted to help Percy, but I didn't want to risk upsetting him further. I decided for now, the best plan of action was to ignore his mood and just focus on cheering him up.

If he really wanted me to know what had him so trouble, he would tell me...

"So naturally, I was pissed when I found out that Hermes had been the one to take them. You just don't go around stealing another god's sacred animals! So then I tracked him down. I will freely admit; I wasn't entirely certain as to what I would do when I found the kid. He was a son of Zeus and dad would not have been happy if I decided to kill my half-brother, but whatever. I show up and he is sitting on the floor of the cave, playing with a tortoise shell with strings on it. He looked up when he heard me come in and gave me the most sheepish look and said, 'This is about the cows isn't it...'"

Percy burst out in laughter after I finished the story. It was nice to see. I wasn't used to a sad son of Poseidon. That was more a child of Hades thing.

"No way, he really said that?"

I couldn't keep the smile from my face as I nodded, "Word for word. I was still angry but it was hard to stay too upset."

"The shell you were describing, that was the first lyre right?"

I flashed him a bright smile. "Wow, look who was paying attention in school." Percy stuck his tongue out at me and I chuckled. "Yes, it was. Long story short, I got my cattle back and the lyre. Hermes has been my best friend ever since."

"That is a pretty cool story." The young god flashed me a grin before he continued, "So since he has been your friend for so long, I bet he has a bunch of embarrassing stories that he could tell me."

I felt my eyes widen and I winced. I heard him laughing and I couldn't help but join in. "Ya, he has quite a few but if you really want stories, ask Artemis. She has enough blackmail on me to last a life time."

He winked at me, "Which is impressive considering she's an immortal."

"What can I say; I've made a few stupid decisions in my past."

The son of Poseidon shifted the groceries that he was carrying to his other arm. It was much easier to go grocery shopping when you had someone with you. Not only did it mean that you had someone to talk to, but it meant that you could abuse the powers of friendship and make them help you carry the bags back. I would have to remember to make him help me next time as well...

"Thank you for today."

I looked over and saw a serious expression in his eyes. "It was no problem Percy. Did you want to tell me what had you so upset?"

The son of Poseidon bit his lip in contemplation before he shook his head. "No it's okay. I think I was just getting bummed about the whole mist thing. It just made everything feel like a bigger deal then it really was."

I wasn't certain that I believed him but I nodded and decided to drop it. We got back to my apartment building and he handed me back my groceries.

"I will see you tomorrow Fred."

"Good-bye." He tuned and started to walk away, "Hey Percy?" I didn't know what compelled me to call out to him but as soon as He turned back to face me, I knew what I wanted to say. "Remember, you can always talk to me. You don't have to try carrying the world on your back."

He looked surprised for a minute before he smirked, "I've already done that once, but thank you. I will keep it in mind."