I am so sorry this took so long, but it is longer than the last chapter so that's an accomplishment.

I've just been super busy with school and AP tests and being sick and catching up and binge watching Attack on Titan (which is incredible, go watch it right this moment people). But yeah...I'm back!

Hope y'all enjoy and drop me a review to tell me how I'm doing!

The darkness was almost all encompassing, despite how bright it was outside. The windows, which had almost always open to let in the perpetual, salty sea breeze, were closed tightly, giving the cabin a stuffy feel. The blinds and curtains were drawn too, letting in nothing. The only light in the room came from the glowing collection of sea plants lining his dresser. The bronze hippocampi figures hanging from hair thin wire cast strange shadows on the walls with such a small light source.

It was very strange. The Poseidon cabin had always had this effortless, airy feel to it. Just glowing abalone walls and white-washed bunk beds and flowing white bedding. Even if it was filthy most of the time, the floor covered with dirty clothing and food wrappers, it always seemed so clean and pure and serene. It matched his personality, really. Messy and bright and cheery.

But now? It just reminded me a little too much of my own cabin, shrouded in darkness and shadows. The air was stale and stagnant instead of pleasantly salty, and the curtains were, for once, still. The weak multi-colored lights created creepy shadows, so similar to those created by my own Greek fire torches. Everything seemed heavier, weighed down by the depressive air.

It just wasn't right. Something felt off.

Well, I supposed the cabin matched his mood at the moment.

I leaned in cautiously and closed the door behind me, my eyes adjusting to the darkness quicker than they probably should have. I glanced over to the corner, and saw a rather large, motionless lump in the lower bunk of one of the beds.

I walked closer, knowing it was obviously Percy heaped under all the blankets. Why all the blankets too? It the middle of summer, and Camp Halfblood was always a comfortable temperature, if not hot.

He had yet to move by the time I crossed the room and knelt at the side of his bed in precisely the same spot as before.

I started to reach my hand towards what was presumably his blanket-clad shoulder, but immediately shot back when a harsh but quiet rasp split the air.

"What?" Percy all but whispered as he shifted himself slightly to even further cover his face, blankets rustling together.

I was shocked into silence for a moment, but I thankfully managed to regain my wits, "Percy...I'm sorry. B-but you don't know what's going on. I was going to leave...but I decided not to. Because of you. Jason told me what was going on, and I know I can't leave you like this."

I could see the form under the blanket tense at my words. "Like what?" he replied, still barely a whisper.

My eyes narrowed. Did he think everything was alright? Was he really trying to convince himself that he was fine?

He definitely was. Last night, he'd gone straight from a terrible nightmare to apologizing and saying he was fine. He thought he was fine...thought he would be fine even though he had no idea how to deal with this situation.

"You're not okay Percy. I know you want to think that this is fine, but it's not. You can't shut people out like this and lock yourself away and still be considered normal," I whispered softly, placing a shaking hand on his shoulder.

"I don't know. How...how are I supposed to...to," he asked, voice stuttering and cracking before he could finish his thought.

"You just need to let us help you," I told him, much firmer now.

"What can they do? They don't get what it's like...to- well, you know..." he mumbled, voice muffled as he pulled the blankets tighter and tried to shrug off my hand.

I sighed, "They want to just help, you can't blame them for not understanding. And I'm here, I understand. All you need to do is talk to me, and just try. It won't be easy but...but you've got to get better."

This time around though, Percy stopped trying to shrug my hand off, and I tightened my grip on his bony shoulder to keep him from moving away again.

The room was silent for a while. No breeze coming through the windows, no crashing waves and bird calls flowing through the open winds. Just the trickle of the salt fountain in the corner and our breathing, his finally evening out to slow and calm.

But, slowly, Percy started moving again, and I realized dimly that he was turning towards me.

When he finally got around, all I was met with was his face cocooned in a mass of blankets, raven hair falling in his red eyes. He looked like he'd been crying, quite a lot actually, and the usually beautiful sea green orbs had the look of shattered glass. He look exhausted and utterly spent, like he couldn't find the energy to try anymore.

It was such a departure from this morning. He'd seemed so at peace, bathed in golden morning sunlight. It was almost as if he'd been his old self, stretching lazily after a good sleep.

His eyes slowly came up to meet mine, and the way he looked at made my heart break a little. It was almost like he was hopeful. There was like this teeny, tiny glimmer again.

That little glimmer made me hopeful.

"So you aren't leaving?" he asked, biting his lip nervously and refusing to meet my eyes again.

I felt the corners of my lips twitch into a smile, "No, of course not."

And before I knew it, his long arms were wrapped around me in a hug with such force that it would put Tyson to shame. He had his face buried in my neck, and I could actually feel my face going red and hot. I probably looked like a tomato, but I couldn't help but like the way his head fit in the crook of my neck and how his arms wrapped perfectly around me. It was like we were made to fit together, but that was ridiculous. We weren't meant to be. He had Annabeth for all that. Gods, even Aphrodite shipped it.

But I didn't find myself pulling away from the hug like usual. Hell, I pulled away from most physical contact in general. I hated it when Jason playfully slapped me on the back or pushed my shoulder, and Annabeth had once tried to kiss my cheek until she realized that was a good way for her to get punched involuntarily. Hazel probably had the best chance, being my sister and all. I'd let her hug me for a few seconds before I got uncomfortable and squirmed away. But nobody ever got to hug me like this. Not since Bianca, anyway.

And for the first time in forever, physical contact felt nice.

It felt right.

The progress was slow going. I mean, that had to be expected. People didn't just bounce back from such a deep depression so easily. There was a lot wrong that couldn't easily be fixed.

But progress was made, and I made him promise to try.

I got him to open up and talk to me to an impressive degree. We spent so many nights together, sitting cross legged in his cabin or lying out on the beach, just talking. And while he still wasn't ready to share his experiences with anyone else, but he really started to open up to me and it was both heartwarming and absolutely terrifying. He shared things with me that he hadn't even shared with Annabeth. All about his past, all the schools he'd been to and all the people he'd been bullied by and how the teachers (with the exception of Chiron) had treated him like an idiot. He even told me about his old stepfather, the one before Paul. The whole story, even the parts with Gabe.

He shared with me all his feelings, unloaded all the stress he'd even been under and all the things he'd ever been self-conscious about. He'd been the prophecy child for years, bearing the weight of the gods needs ever since he was twelve. He'd been used by them, and he'd never turned bitter. He'd saved them so many times without fail, often without complaint. But still, he felt like he was an idiot. He felt worthless and stupid like he could never do anything right.

(He was, of course, wrong. He was incredible and not an idiot where it really counted.)

He'd never shared these things with anyone though, not even Annabeth. They were supposed to be best friends, the kind of people that shared everything together. They were supposed to be the golden couple, but Percy still had so many secrets from her.

Maybe they weren't the golden couple anymore. It looked like they were crumbling, tearing apart at the seams.

But that didn't mean I still had a chance.

And for the longest time, I'd never been able to accept just friendship with him. Being around him had always been painful, reminding me that I could never have him the way I wanted. It hurt knowing that he could never, ever be mine, and I ran away to deal with that. I'd stopped going to Camp Halfblood. I'd stopped seeing him even though I knew he'd probably thought of me as some sort of friend/little brother combination. I'd always mattered to him, at least a little bit.

But now? I found myself being almost okay with just friendship. I felt nice being the only one to know things about him. It made this feel real and special and precious, like he trusted me with all his deep dark secrets despite the fact that I'd betrayed and lied to him on multiple occasions. I could go and blab all those secrets to the whole camp, and he'd be probably be mortified.

But he trusted me, and that felt really nice for a change amidst all the suspicion I faced.

So, since he finally started talking to me, he was finally able to start getting better.

He started leaving his cabin more often, braving the sunlight so that his ashy skin got back it's glowing appearance.

He started going to activities again, shocking the other campers with his sudden appearance. He started out sparring with Jason and I, getting back into practice and building his wasted muscles back up, but he eventually got to the point where he sparring with all the other campers and besting them easily.

It was like having the old Percy back. With all the wild laughs and the good looks and the goofy smile.

We even managed to hang out outside of those nights spent in his cabin unloading repressed emotions. He got me to laugh, and we always had an awesome time binge watching TV shows on Netlfix and acting like morons. Just doing normal things like that.

It was nice, having a friend when I'd never really had one before.

But there were still bad days, of course. That much was to be expected.

There were days when I had to drag him out of bed when he didn't have the energy to so much as move in the morning.

There were days when I had to remind him to eat or all out force him to fill his plate despite claims of "not being hungry".

And there were nights when he screamed, when the nightmares were too much to handle. And on those nights, I would always wake up in an instant and jog over to his cabin. I would push past Jason, who always guarded the door when he woke up to the shrill screams next door. I would just walk in a kneel next to his bed, run my fingers through his hair and rub circles in his tensed back muscles. Sometimes I would just talk, murmur in his ear. Sometimes I would even sing. Always the same lullaby my mama used to sing to me when I was little and the one Bianca had always sung to me when I was scared of thunderstorms. He would wake up, and I would stay there as long as he wanted and even let him hug me and cry into my shoulder.

It took forever, but things finally felt normal again.

It was looking like Percy would be alright after all.

NOT THE END PEOPLES!

It might look like the end, but no! We've still go some Percico to go!

Hope to be back around soon, and tell me what you think.

Also...anyone catch the Frozen reference? Virtual cookies to anyone who does XP