Previously...

You gasped. The grin slid off his face.

"(Y/N)?" he whispered.

"Percy?"

Neither of you could force out a word.

You stood frozen in place by the shock of being face to face. You stared at his eyes, expecting to see the iconic bright, sea-green colour, yet you were instead greeted by a weary, dull green that bordered on grey. His were as wide as your own, and his mouth opened and closed many times without a sound coming out. His black hair was no longer dishevelled in that handsome, bad-boy way, but messy and matted like he'd been lying in bed for days. He didn't look like Percy Jackson, the brave, funny, cheeky demigod who'd risk his life for his friends. He looked like he'd been battered mentally for weeks on end. He looked frustrated and fed up with the world. He looked like somebody who'd seen it all and wanted so badly to forget everything.

He looked... tired.

The timeless atmosphere that had enveloped you broke when Percy swallowed thickly. He opened his mouth and finally choked out some words. "Hey, (Y/N)," he croaked.

You were snapped out of your daze instantly by his voice. Realising that you were literally only half a foot away from him, you scrambled away to put more distance between you. In your hurry, your crutch caught in one of the floorboards and you stumbled, falling backward. Percy's hands immediately shot out and grabbed you before you could hit the ground.

However, you wouldn't let yourself be consumed by his gaze again. You fumbled with your crutches until they were in a position where you could stand up, and pushed yourself out of his hold. He stepped back immediately, sensing your increasing discomfort with your proximity to him. Once you regained your balance, you tried to stand up straight as best you could, crutches be damned. You refused to be perceived as weak. There was no way you would be parading around camp (and facing Percy Jackson) looking like a hunched over, broken little girl.

Despite your attempts, they were countered by the fact that you were trembling all over, though you didn't know whether it was from fear, sadness, shock, or anger. Your emotions were in a jumble right now. After all, it had been months since you first woke up and saw everybody surrounding your paralyzed form- the last time you saw Percy. Now, all of a sudden, you were slammed into meeting him (literally) after telling yourself that you didn't need him and all those old emotions were rushing back.

You shoved them all down. Well, you tried to. The feelings were way too strong. You were breathing heavily and shakily, although you couldn't tell if it was because of the anger or if you were trying to hold back tears. Maybe a mix. Probably a mix, actually. You wanted so badly to stay angry at Percy for all the worry and pain he had caused you, but the relief and shock of finally seeing him with your own two eyes was too prominent to ignore.

Deciding to figure all that stuff out later, alone, you refocused on his face and was surprised to see a big grin stretching across it. His eyes were suddenly brighter and greener, and the previous cloud of exhaustion that surrounded him had lifted. He looked like his old self again. "(Y/N)," he breathed. "You- you're- you can walk?"

Your response was out of your mouth before you could stop it. "Yeah, no thanks to you."

Percy flinched back, the grin dropping. You almost felt guilty for what you said, but the part of you that was angry overtook that thought. He deserves it! it shouted. Don't you remember all that pain he caused that you worked so hard to bury?

He reached out a hand apologetically. You dodged its grasp and backed away. "Don't touch me!" you shrieked. Now, he looked genuinely hurt. Gone was the bright look that shone on his face a few seconds ago. You were in too much of a rage to care about whether or not you hurt him. You were seething in anger. Percy must have taken the hint because his arm dropped limply and he slumped forward in a resigned way.

You stared at him for a few seconds, attempting to reel in your rage, but when that appeared to be fruitless, you simply left. Even though you wanted to scream at him and yell about how furious you were, the rational side to you was screeching that it would only serve to hurt him even more. It was so powerful that it pushed through the haze of anger in your mind and brought back the inkling of guilt you felt earlier. You wouldn't shout at him. Not now, not on your first day out of the infirmary.

No, you would just ignore him.

(~)

The second you stepped into your cabin, the rage disappeared. You breathed in deeply, closing your eyes as the relaxing twinkling tune played in the back of your head. You were finally back in your cabin, in a place that felt like home. Back to your own bunk, which looked even comfier than the feather bean bag chairs in the middle of the room. The black swirls on the walls had never been more inviting. Sunlight shined on you from the domed glass roof, something that had always annoyed you but was now a warm feeling you craved.

All of a sudden, something slammed into your stomach. Your eyes opened wide in surprise. You stumbled back a few steps and would have fallen had it not been for the arms that had circled around your waist. You glanced down. A mop of bright red hair filled your vision. "Rex!" you laughed.

He lifted his head from where it had been buried into your stomach and grinned up at you. "You're finally out!"

You laughed, letting go of one crutch and tousling his hair with your hand. His joy was just too contagious. "I-I am! Isn't it grrrreat? I've missed having you around."

His grin quickly gained a mischievous spark. "Oh, really?"

"Don't m-m-make me regret saying that!" you threatened, but it was half-hearted. Your own grin was stretching your mouth painfully, not that you cared. You were too happy to finally be back with your brother and out of that godforsaken infirmary.

Rex gasped and broke away from the tightly wound hug. You were worried for a second until he said, "Charity! I have to get Charity! Wait here," he told you. He sprinted out the door.

Seconds later, Rex was back with Charity in tow, who greeted you in the same fashion as Rex. "(Y/N)!" she exclaimed right before she crashed into you. Her platinum blonde hair was dripping wet along with the rest of her, though you weren't sure why considering she wasn't wearing a swimsuit. You ignored how the water soaked into your own clothes, only wishing to be able to hug her back. Unfortunately, if you let go of your crutches, you would collapse to the ground.

No words were spoken between you two until you separated. Charity was smiling, her eyes looking directly at you yet in that way showing that she was looking at something far deeper. Her head was tilted and her eyes sparkled with a dream-like shine. "You've been let out," she stated. "You can go back to how it was before, now!"

You ignored the stab of pain in your chest when she said that it could go back to normal, opting instead to grin brightly and nod. In reality, it wouldn't be able to go back to normal. At least, not for a long, long time. You were limited to what you could do thanks to your paralysis. Many camp activities were off the list for you, leaving only a few boring ones. What would you do all day? Charity and Rex will be going through their schedule for the day, leaving you with nobody to hang out with. You'd be all alone until lunch and then dinner.

Not only that, but the you before the incident was way different than the you now. Before, you were totally fine being a 'behind the scenes' kind of person. Now, the whole camp knew who you were. Everybody knew what had happened all those months ago and how you had saved Percy's life. Nobody would look at you the same anymore. Even when leaving the infirmary earlier today, there were stares and whispers that you couldn't help but be painfully aware of.

The most noticeable change, however, was something that nobody would be able to see except yourself. It was your feelings about Percy. You used to adore him. You had the biggest crush on him, one of the contributing factors to why you agreed to help. You thought he was one of the most selfless, amazing demigods there was. Now, your thoughts have been completely turned around. You were furious at him. You wanted nothing to do with him, at least until you'd calmed down. Although, you didn't know when that would be.

Charity was looking at you weirdly, as though she knew exactly what you were thinking. You pushed all those thoughts away. Today was supposed to be a day of celebration! Of fun! This marked the day that you got your strength back after nearly complete paralysis. You should be focusing on the pride and happiness of this accomplishment, not wallowing in the fact that nothing would ever be the same again. So, you ignored all that and tried to stay in the moment.

"You guys have n-n-no idea how relllllieved I am to leave that place. I'm sssso sick of seeing those same walls and b-b-beds day by day- there's no way I'm gonna land myself in there ever... again!" Rex giggled at your declaration and you joined in after a few seconds. Charity snorted and you both looked in shock at her own surprised face. Once you made eye contact, you couldn't hold it back anymore, and you burst out laughing.

Gods, you thought, watching as you all collapsed in fits of laughter, I'm so happy to be back.

(~)

Sunlight illuminated the room, encompassing everything in a warm, happy colour. You cracked your eyes open blearily, then after figuring out where you were, you smiled and stretched under the sun. Waking up in your own bed was like a shower after a game of capture the flag- refreshing and embraced. Compared to the one in the infirmary, your bed was the coziest surface you'd ever laid on.

You checked the time- 8:30. Sighing, you mentally cursed your siblings for not waking you up (though you didn't really mean it). You'd slept through breakfast. However, since it had only been half an hour, the food could still be out. The thought of being able to eat any sort of food you wanted fueled you. Swinging your legs over the bed, you grabbed your crutches and stumbled over to the bathroom to prepare yourself for the day.

Twenty minutes later, which was ten longer than it would normally take you, you were dressed and out the door. Trying to pay no attention to the stares and whispers that followed you, you hobbled over to the dining pavilion. Damn, you thought, huffing a little with the exertion, using crutches on the sand is hard. I keep sinking in! You suddenly realised why Will had refused to give you a wheelchair instead. The wheels would never slide over the sand.

By the time you reached the eating area, the wood nymphs were clearing away plates. As quickly as you could, you lunged for a stack of grapes right before someone took the plate. She gave you a dirty look, but made no move to take them back. You sighed, relieved. Sitting down at a random table, you silently ate your grapes, happy to have even a little food in you body.

The spark of joy all of a sudden disappeared. Someone had been staring at you since you sat down and you were getting annoyed. At least the others would look away after a quick glance and not flat-out gape at you. You twisted in your seat, ready to give the mother-of-all-glares to this dimwit.

The annoyance died down and shifted into surprise the second you made eye contact. It was Percy. He was sitting at Poseidon's table, all the way on the other side of the pavilion. He still looked as horrible as yesterday, with hair sticking up in all directions and the deepest bags you'd ever seen under his eyes. Once he saw that he had your attention, he stood up with an air of determination and started walking over.

Your annoyance came back full-force and you gritted your teeth. The last thing you wanted to do was talk to this jerk, but you were kind of trapped. Percy was walking quickly enough to be next to you in a few seconds and it would take too long for you to get your crutches out. Even then, you would be too slow and he would catch up to your hobbling. Your hands curled into fists then relaxed. No, you thought. I'm not gonna let this ruin my day.

Just as you predicated, he was by your side a few seconds later. You didn't look at him, opting to instead focus on plucking off a grape from the vine. You heard him take a deep breath. "Hi, (Y/N)," he said.

Still not looking up, you simply said, "Hi."

Percy's uneasiness projected in waves over to you. You could tell that your indifference had unsettled him. "I-, uh, I wanted to apologize."

You pulled off another grape and chewed it slowly, letting the silence and his nervousness grow. You swallowed. "Oh?" you said.

He cleared his throat. "Yeah, uh, you seemed pretty mad yesterday, so I wanted to say sorry."

You turned your head slowly until you were looking him in the eyes. "Okay," you said simply. You started to gather up your crutches.

He seemed surprised. "So, you accept my apology?"

"No." You positioned them on your arms and stood up.

Now, he looked surprised and taken aback. "But you just said-"

"I rec-c-cognize that you've made an ap-p-pology for-for something you don't even know you've done. I don't... accept it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have s-s-somewhere to be." You pushed by him and started to your cabin.

"Wait- (Y/N)!" He grabbed your arm. You wrenched it back. "Don't touch me," you said calmly, but with an underlying tone of warning. "And d-d-don't you dare follow me." You left.

Had you looked back, you would have seen the broken look on his face.