The smile on my face caught me by surprise. But how can anyone help it when Joel is having so much fun? He gripped my hair with chubby little hands and laughed his head off like nothing was better than to sit high on my shoulders and look over the crowd of armed demigods we walked through. Swords sharpened to deadly points, spears as thick as my arm, plumed helmets and flying arrows- none of it seemed to bother him.

I made sure to walk carefully with my crutches, so as not to drop the little guy. Nico was currently giving us a tour of Camp Half-Blood. The demigods we passed turned to look for the sound of the laughter, and ended up smiling themselves. Joel was more at home than I was; things were a little too hectic for me. But Nico kept looking at me when he thought I didn't notice, checking to see if I liked it with nervous dark eyes. So I took special interest in the forest trail he pointed out- "Perfect for running," he made sure to mention with enthusiasm- the eating hall, the sword practice ring, the moving-target practice… I will say, I did like the look of that. The arrows strapped over my shoulder were itching to fly.

Then he took us to the Apollo cabin, which is apparently where I would stay if I did stay. But that's where I felt the most uncomfortable.

I ducked as low as I could with my crutches to make sure Joel didn't hit the doorframe. When I straightened, I took in the large, open space and bunkbeds lining the walls, each with its own laurel wreath hanging from a nail in the wood. The smell of the laurel was permeating and calming. In the middle of the room was a sort of living area, with well-used couches, a comfy looking reclining chair, and some extra folding chairs centered around an old TV sat on a woven rug depicting Apollo conquering some anonymous soldier. In the recliner lay a kid about my age, wearing some khaki shorts and an orange t-shirt. His shaggy yellow hair covered half-asleep face as he peered at us through the bangs.

"You must be the new guy," he said cheerfully, standing up to shake my hand. I did so as best I could with the crutches, immediately feeling warmer and more welcome. He smiled widely as he reached up to shake Joel's little hand gently. "I'm Will Solace, head councilor of the Apollo Cabin. Nico talks about you all the time. Glad you could come see the place! It's a bit of a mess right now-" he gestured behind him to a pile of clothes at least four feet high that I hadn't noticed before- "but we haven't done the laundry yet." He chuckled and scratched the back of his head embarrassedly. "But hey, it happens sometimes."

"I know the feeling," I replied, thinking of my own room… "You couldn't find my floor if you dug with a shovel."

He laughed like he meant it, which is something I haven't seen often. Everyone here is so relaxed, so easy-going. I was a little jealous of what I've been missing out on. "Well, you let me know if you need anything," he said when he stopped laughing. "I'll leave you to look around. See you at the dining hall?"

"Sure." Joel waved bye as he walked out, and Nico followed, saying he would give me some time to examine the room.

I sat myself down on the lumpy couch, struggling with the crutches and a teetering Joel. I should've waited to come until my leg was healed. It would only be a day or two more anyways. Once on the couch, Joel tumbled off my head and somersaulted onto the cushions, laughing like no tomorrow. I chuckled with him, bringing my good leg up to rest on the couch. "How you liking the place, little man?" I asked, smoothing his hair back into shape out of habit.

"It's much fun!" he giggled, reaching up to grab my hand.

I absently mumbled a correction, "'A lot'", and he repeated it over and over after me. I sighed heavily, leaning my head against his forehead to look him in the eyes. He stared back wide-eyed, waiting for me to talk like he knew I would. "Do you like where we are right now?" I whispered.

He blinked, not looking around. "Yes." Only staring at me.

"Would you like to live here?"

"Yes." He smiled happily, immediately relaxing me.

"But Daddy couldn't live here with us."

He frowned. "Why?"

I sighed again, closing my eyes. "We could only live here because I have something special. You could live with me because you're my little brother. But Daddy couldn't because he doesn't have something special like I do."

I thought back to the conversation I'd had last night with Garret, about coming to the camp. "We're just visiting for the weekend," I had said, scratching at my neck guiltily. We didn't speak about the camp because we knew I couldn't leave with Joel. He needed a father at least. "Nico is taking me. It's just to meet people."

He looked so tired and frail, and it made me feel even worse when he just consented without any objections. "Yeah, sure," he said as enthusiastically as he could. "You should at least get to know some people like you. You know, so you don't feel… left out of everything." And then, to top it off with a cherry of self loathing, he went on to apologize to me for how he wasn't able to make me feel like a real part of the family and that he hoped I wasn't upset with him for anything he did, or in this case, couldn't do. I wished I could shadow travel like Nico.

Joel's touch on my nose brought me back to the present. I opened my eyes and looked at his little fingernails thoughtfully. "I think we're gonna wait on moving in for a while, OK? Let's just stick with spending the night."

He smiled at me, and I felt so much better. "You're gonna make a great therapist one day," I said as I hefted him onto my shoulders again, giving his stomach a squeeze. He giggled and threaded his fingers into their positions in my hair as I put my crutches into place and slowly stood.

"So," Nico began nervously as I entered back into the sunlight. He shoved his hands into his jacket and stared at me expectantly. "How do you like it?"

"It's nice," I answered, nudging Joel with my head. "Joel likes it even more than I do." It felt nice to be out of the cabin. I almost dreaded sleeping there tonight. "My favourite parts so far are the running trail and the basketball courts. They're full size, too. Automatic win for me."

He smiled like he was proud that he'd shown them to me, like he made them himself. "Cool! So you think you're gonna… visit more often?"

I shrugged, adjusting Joel's weight on my shoulders. "Maybe. I like the place." I wasn't sure that was entirely true.

We walked to the dining hall in the dimming orange light of the dying sun. Apollo making his last rounds. Nico talked to fill the silence, I think. On our way up I met a Percy and an Annabeth, apparently very well-known around the camp. Nico had talked about them on the way here. I did the little awkward around-the-crutch shake thing. Percy seemed pretty chill, and Annabeth- I liked her. She was the most normal person I'd met here yet, besides Nico. They walked with us, Joel being the center of attention all the way there. I was so glad I had him there to make friends for me.

People are friendly here. Over-friendly. But it feels nice, to an extent. With Joel spreading his contagious laugh and Will and Percy and Annabeth introducing me to absolutely everyone there and even throwing our food into a communal fire pit to offer to parents that some of us haven't even ever met, and Nico's eyes on me- I felt at home. Genuinely happy.

I noticed with surprise that I didn't even want to smoke.