Pretend;
He remembered a time when he couldn't have told a good lie to save his own skin.
As time passed by, he got better at concealing his emotions, his true intentions. Now he could pretend and no one would call him out on it.
Maybe that's what it means to grow-up. The older you get, the more of a liar you become.
Lying was easy, pretending was easy. Facing the truth was the hard part.
Percy knew that no matter how many times he repeated the words and played out the scene...it could never be true, real for him.
It was a facade he created for the others but most importantly, he created it for Thalia.
She didn't need to know how he felt. She couldn't know. God knows he would get electrified to death.
And somehow, that wasn't what terrified him the most.
Losing her friendship was.
So Percy pretened that Annabeth was the one he wanted all along to stand by his side and maybe in the beginning she was.
But not anymore, not in a long time. He valued her as he valued his friends but pretended he loved her as a girlfriend.
Sometimes, he felt like telling her the truth, sometimes he felt like breaking-up with her but Annabeth had been there when Thalia wasn't and he figured he owed Athena's daughter at least that much: happiness.
So Percy pretended to be in love with her and Annabeth pretended that she didn't notice the truth.
Belonging;
Honestly, he got confused, a lot and many people often questioned his hero status.
Then they see him fight and all the doubt is forgotten. Not that he is bragging or anything.
Naturally, Percy was bound to be confused when he was out looking for monsters and he found Thalia instead running through the woods, a mess in more ways than one.
There were no Hunters with her.
Her bracelet aka her Aegis shield was missing from her wrist.
Pine needles were all over in her hair...wait, that wasn't a rare sight.
But the most shocking of all was her aura.
He could no longer see the silver glow that used to be around her or her tiara, proof of her position as Lieutenant.
He was confused alright but he reacted quickly, took her by the hand and abandoned his mission.
Nasty monsters could wait because his mother and Thalia were always going to come first. Loyalty, his fatal flaw.
"Let's go to Camp." he had told her.
"No." she replied back, not walking any further.
"Why not Thalia? Look at you! Tell me what happened. Were you and the Hunters attacked?"
She laughed then, but not the kind who brightened her eyes or made his stomach flutter.
"More like they attacked me."
He almost tripped over his feet. "W-What? Why? And what did Artemis do?"
"Nothing. She did nothing. Just leave it alone Percy. It was my fault and I take full responsability."
She sounded tired, like she had run for miles or like she had wandered around the desert and whenever water would be near, it would disappear from her reach.
He tightened his fists in anger, looking closely at her injures.
"You aren't a Hunter anymore." he realized.
"I don't think I ever was."
And that was alright with Percy. Thalia belonged with them, with him. Always had and always will.
Home;
A few weeks passed until he had managed to convince Thalia to return back to Camp Half-Blood.
Everybody was happy but he was probably the happiest.
He didn't bother to hide that and not because he couldn't but because he didn't want to. He wanted Thalia to feel at home and at peace there. He wanted her to know there were people who were glad she was in their lives.
Of course there were still unanswered questions but he wasn't going to push her into telling him why the Hunters attacked her or why her status was taken away.
She didn't even tell Annabeth and Percy doubted she would open up to him first but he will be there to support her neverthless.
"Jackson, what is this about?" she had asked him when he blindfolded her on her sixteenth birthday.
"I told you already Thalia, it's a surprise."
He could almost feel her glare piercing him through the piece of clothing that covered her eyes.
"I don't like surprises."
"Well...just trust me with this one. "
"If you make me fall into a hole or something..."
Percy smiled at the familiarity of the threat. He hadn't heard that one in a while.
"No funny business, I swear on the River Styx."
Thunder boomed and the promise was sealed.
Thalia's shoulders relaxed then and she allowed him to lead her.
When they stopped, he took her blindfold away and watched her reaction.
"This...How?" she asked with awe in her voice, looking around Zeus' cabin at all the new details and new stuff. The walls were covered with posters of her favorite bands, the bed sheets were black with dark blue, there were a few albums of Green Day and a minifridge with soda cans and cheeseburgers.
"Everybody helped." Percy paused, taking out from his pocket the mystical bracelet and placing it around her wrist. "I also tracked down the Hunters and took Aegis from them. They owed you that much."
Thalia's eyes brimmed with tears and she pulled him in for a hug.
"Thank you Percy."
"Happy Birthday Thals."
His home was now complete.