This is an older fanfic that I wrote a while ago. I'm sorry I haven't been updating any of my other fics very fast but life is crazy and I have 4 days in between sports. Anyways I rly like Paul and Percy's relationship in this one! Enjoy!
I do not own PJO. If I did I would've already met Walker Scobell and the rest of the cast!
No One's POV
"Hey, Percy, congrats on making team captain!" Lakyn pats Percy on the back as they all move to their respective lanes.
"Thanks Lake!" Percy says. Choruses of congratulations ring throughout the crowd of swimmers.
"You see the board! Get to it!" Coach Taylor commands. The kids in lane eight line up behind the block and one by one they dive into the pool to start their warm up. The lane assignments go by times, the fastest kids swim in lane eight and the slowest (usually the younger kids) swim in the first lane. Percy is the second to last person in his lane and the pressing behind him is his best friend Henry. They've known each other for three years but this is only Percy's first year on the swim team.
"Why does coach feel the need to kill us the day before a meet?" Percy groans, hoisting himself out of the water.
"I don't know, but he needs to change his ways. Anyways, are you ready for your first meet?!" Henry asks Percy excitedly. Percy looks at him with an unsure look.
"I dunno. Maybe." He says, rubbing the back of his neck.
"You'll do great. You're literally the best swimmer on this team." Henry reassures him as they walk out of the locker room and out the doors of the pool.
"Yeah right. Bye Hen." Percy waves as Henry walks to his car and Percy starts his short walk home.
"Bye Perce." Percy's walk home is only 3 blocks so by the time he gets home Sally and Paul are waiting for him at dinner.
"Hey Percy, how was practice?" Paul asks.
"Good. Coach tried to kill us but it was good." Percy replies.
"Are you ready for your meet tomorrow?" His stepdad asks.
"I guess... Maybe… I don't know! I'm scared, like what if I don't do well and my teammates get mad at me because I let them down!" Percy sighs, leaning back in his chair.
"You'll do great!" Sally confirms, "Oh, by the way Paul and I are coming to your swim meet after work."
"What?! No, no, no! You don't need to do that!" Percy yelps.
"Why wouldn't we?" Sally exclaims. "I don't know…" Percy trails off.
"Exactly! We're coming." Paul starts, "Now eat. How many events are you swimming?"
"Um, eight I think." Percy gives in, "Three relays and five individual events." They nod in response and finish off their dinner with a little light small talk about their days. Percy doesn't eat much of his food, he just shovels it around his plate, eating just enough to make it not look suspicious.
"Hey guys I'm gonna shower then head to bed." He pushes himself away from the table and makes his way back to his room.
He shuffles through his drawers to find a comfy blue t-shirt, blue boxers and gray sweatpants. Percy grabs his pile of clothes and heads to the bathroom to take a quick shower before bed. He undresses and throws his clothes in the hamper before jumping into the rejuvenating shower. The water hit his shoulders and his tension instantly drained out of his body and he slumped over, looking down at his very well disguised, malnourished body.
"How long do you plan on hiding this?" His mind thought. "I don't know… as long as I need to. I just need them to think I'm okay till I'm actually okay." His other side responded, "Oh really?" His mind started defending itself, "Yeah, I'll start eating more and my appetite will come back… I need it to." The other side disagrees, "You sure about that?" The irrational side confirmed, "Of course! Fake it till you make it! Am I right?!" Finally it agreed, "I'm you, so I guess."
Percy hopped out of the shower and got dressed in the bathroom before heading back to his room for the night. He slept with a dreamless sleep, thank the gods, and woke up in the morning extremely nervous about his meet. He gets dressed in a comfortable light orange t-shirt, multi-color wave shorts, an AHS swim team sweatshirt, a blue watch, Nike socks, and blue crocs. Now leaving his room, his mom hands him a blue, blueberry muffin before kissing him on the forehead and him leaving for school. Percy exits his apartment building with his breakfast, backpack, swim bag, lunchbox, water bottles, and house keys.
Walking to school is short and once he gets there, his day goes pretty quickly until after lunch during sixth period when they're dismissed for their swim meet.
"Ok, Charlie, Berkeley, Henry, and Percy, you can leave for your swim meet. Good luck." The four gather their things and head out of the classroom to the locker rooms in the pool. Once they get there, everyone else follows their lead and changes then moves out to warm up and get their event numbers.
"16, 28, 46, 68, 98, 120, 130, and 152. I'm gonna die." Percy states, comparing his numbers to his best friend's.
"You're gonna be fine. Besides, if you die I'm just gonna die along with ya." Henry reassures.
"Percy!" He spins around trying to find the source of the yelling. "Percy!" He's drawn to a spot in the bleachers where his mom and Paul are yelling and waving at him. He waves back and walks up to them.
"Hey guys, watcha doin here?" Percy asks, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck.
"We told you we were coming to watch!" Sally explains giddily, hugging her son. "Now, get next to Paul so I can take a picture!" Paul stands up and puts his arm around Percy. They both hold their thumbs up and smile for Sally's phone camera. Paul is still dressed nice from work and Percy's hair is wet and untamed above his wet shorts and tan swimmer's body.
"Perfect! Now come here and Paul will you take our picture?" She asks, not waiting for an answer before handing her husband the phone. Percy puts his arm around his mom's shoulders and she hugs his back in response. They smile and once the picture is taken and Mrs. Jackson approves, they all sit down and take a quick selfie before Percy's first number is called to the ready area.
"Event number 16 please report to the ready area. Event 16 please report to the ready area." The announcer commands.
"Oh, gotta go." Percy informs Paul and Sally. "I'm swimming the 400 IM." He says, answering his mom's unasked question, while running down the bleachers to get his goggles and swim cap.
His time spent in the ready area was short but thorough as Henry gave him a decent run down of what had to go on. Percy's nerves are spiked as he prays finally to his dad to help calm him down. Now at the blocks, Percy makes one final shake of his body and jumps up onto the blocks on command.
"Swimmers to the back of your blocks. This is event 16, boys 17 and 18, 400 meter IM. Swimmers take your marks, get set… BEEP!"
Percy's reaction time is lightning fast and he dives into the freezing cold pool, shocking his body. He goes out fast and sprints the first 50 of his 100 butterfly but then drops into a fast but sustainable pace for the rest of his race. That is until he gets to the last 75 of his freestyle. He breaks out into a full on sprint and finishes first in the fast heat. Henry isn't too far behind him but he's far enough behind so that Percy wins by 10 seconds. He pulls his cap off of his head along with his goggles. Henry finished second and Percy is right there to congratulate him when he does.
"Dang! Nice job Hen!" Percy says, high-fiving him and checking his time on the scoreboard. "4:43.27!" Henry looks at the scoreboard to check his and Percy's times.
"Oh my gosh! 4:33.56?! Percy!" Henry exclaims, jumping out of the pool. Everyone is finished with the race and now they're allowed to get out of the pool. Henry walks towards Percy and engulfs him and a big bro hug.
"Henry, that was a great race! That's the fastest I've ever seen you swim!" Percy pats him on the back, still in a hug.
"Percy, do you even realize what you just did?!" Henry asks, confused on how Percy can still be thinking about him.
"What?" Percy asks, oblivious.
"You just broke the New York state record for the 400 meter IM! Nobody's broken that record for 27 years, and you broke it during your first meet!" Henry says, putting his hands on his best friend's shoulders.
"What was the record?" Percy asks.
"4:40.78. You beat it by 7 seconds." Henry exclaims. They move towards the bleachers to see Paul and Sally running down the bleachers towards them.
"Hey mo-" Percy starts, before Sally wraps him in a bone-crushing hug.
"Percy! I'm sooooooooo proud of you!"
"Mom, can't breathe." Percy wheezes.
"You're fine." She declares as she pulls her son in harder.
"Sally, let the boy breathe. He just swam a race where he probably didn't breathe much." Paul says, winking at Percy.
"Fine." She says, releasing her trapped son. "How was it? Your first race and you got first place!"
"It was hard. I'm so tired and it's only my first event." Percy responds. He grabs his long sleeve blue tie-dye shirt out of his mom's bag and pulls it over his wet body. Suddenly he notices that all races have stopped and the PA sounds.
"Ladies and Gentleman, as you may have noticed all races have been paused for the time being because of this very important announcement. Just in this last race, the boys 17-18 400 meter IM, the standing record of 27 years, has been broken by one of our very own first year senior athletes!"
"Oh no." Percy thinks.
"Perseus Jackson, come down to the podium to receive your plaque!" The announcer says. Everyone in the room starts clapping enthusiastically as Percy stands up very unwillingly. Sally gives her phone to Henry and he follows Percy down the bleachers to the podium across the gym.
"I hate this. I hate this. I hate this. Why did I have to break that stupid record? Ok, new rule: no more breaking records for the rest of the season unless completely necessary." Percy thinks to himself. Once they're there, Percy lives to the first place spot on the podium, shakes the guy's hand, and claims his plaque all while having to look good for pictures. "I hated every second of that." Percy tells his mom and Paul when they reach their spot on the bleachers. Sally takes her phone back and looks at all the pictures Henry took.
"Aww! These are so cute!"
"Nothing about that was cute." Percy says. In the span of 7 more events and 4 hours later, Percy had won first place in everything he swam, got eight medals for it, won a trophy for first place overall, and two more plaques for 2 more broken records: the 200 butterfly record, standing 32 years, of 1:40.39, and the 200 freestyle record, standing 13 years, of 1:32.18. Coach Taylor decided to take everyone out for pizza to celebrate a great meet.
"Hey Perce, why aren't you eating your pizza?" Henry asks, confused.
"I'm just not very hungry. You know, snacking on stuff all day." Percy plays it off. Henry doesn't believe him because he was with him all day and saw him eat maybe two things but he decides not to press it until later when he's driving Percy home.
"Percy are you okay?" Henry asks, concerned for his friend.
"What're you talking about? Why wouldn't I be?" Percy questions.
"You never eat anything. You told me you were snacking all day but I was always with you and I only saw you eat a sandwich and a granola bar and even that looked like it was forced. Are you… are you sick, are you making yourself…" Henry suggests, not wanting to hear the answer. Percy is confused as to what he's asking but catches on at the end, and he's suddenly horrified that his friend would think that he did that.
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no." Percy denies. "I hate being sick. I hate the feeling of throwing up. I would never do that to myself on purpose… it's just, bad things happened over the summer, I lost my appetite and it hasn't come back yet."
"Perce, you need help. It's been eight months. If your appetite was going to come back it would've already." Henry says, already planning his course of action. Percy tenses at the mention of getting anyone else involved. He starts visibly shaking at the thought.
"Henry, please. I don't need anyone worrying about me again. I just got them all off my back." Percy resists.
"Percy, I can't just stand here and watch you starve to death. In the right mind I can't not tell anyone." Henry pushes.
"Hen, please, I'll start eating more and my appetite will come back, I'll get my stomach back to normal. I promise. Just give me two weeks. If I'm not better by then you can go to whoever you want." Percy pleads. Henry contemplates his negotiation while his best friend sits in anticipation for his answer.
"Fine. You have till qualifiers. After that if you're not better I'm getting you help." Henry states.
"Thank you!" Percy exclaims. He lets out a sigh of relief. They pull up to Percy's apartment, say their goodbyes, and they fall asleep both worried about what the other was gonna do.
(Line Break)
Henry kept very close tabs on Percy for 2 weeks and three swim meets before it came to qualifiers. Henry was ready to go get Percy help the second he said he wasn't better, but Percy was struggling to gain weight and his hunger. He has been trying and trying to make himself eat more but even his body has limits. Eventually, through all the forced hunger, he just ended up making himself sicker than he already was. Oftentimes he had to excuse himself after dinner to try not to cry from excruciating pain and contain his nausea, even at school. Henry, of course noticed this so when the qualifying meet was over and they both qualified for regionals, state, and junior Olympics, he was quick to ask Percy what the plan was and if he was okay.
"I hate to admit it, and if I lied you would probably find out and be mad at me, but no. No I'm not." Percy says.
"Percy…" Henry starts.
"I just want you to know that I tried. I don't want you to think I didn't, but I tried really, really hard, it just didn't work. I actually think it kinda got worse." Percy says, tearing up. That morning he knew Henry was gonna ask and that he would take him somewhere to get help, so he wore his comfiest outfit because he knew it was going to be a long day. "So what's the plan? I assume you have one." They grab their bags and head out to Henry's car.
"Yeah I have one. The best place I could think of to take you is the hospital. They can help and if it's nothing, which it's not, we don't have to tell anyone and we'll never have to talk about it again." Henry explains. They throw their bags in the back and jump into Henry's Ford explorer. They buckle and Percy looks down at his hands, avoiding eye contact. "You ready?" He asks, looking at his best friend with a worried expression.
"No, but go before I change my mind about letting you take me." Percy says. They make the short drive to the Emergency Room and Henry almost has to force Percy out of the car. They walk in and it's not very busy and there's a young looking nurse as the receptionist. She looked up and she was extremely surprised to see two teenage boys (without supervision) who looked fine.
"Excuse me, can I help you two?" She asks.
"Y-yeah actually could you help my friend," Henry gestures to Percy who's looking down at his shoes. "I think he might have an eating disorder."
"Of course, come with me!" She jumps up from her chair urgently. "Brenda, can you cover for me?" She asks and Brenda nods. She leads them to a bed in the middle of many and instructs Percy to sit back on it. She has him take one arm out of his sweatshirt so she can take his blood pressure. "Your BP is normal but a little elevated, I'm sure you're just nervous." She looks at him and he's playing with his hands and then she looks at Henry and he's staring worriedly at Percy. "What's your name?"
"Percy Jackson."
"How old are you?"
"17."
"Do you do any sports?"
"I swim and play basketball." She motions for him to come with her and he hoists himself off the bed. She leads him over to a scale by the wall, he takes off his shoes and steps onto the scale.
"Hmm? 120.7. Is this accurate?" Nurse Sonya asks herself and partially him. "Hold on, step off then we'll redo it." She says. Percy knows it's accurate but he didn't believe it had dropped 5 pounds since the first meet. Anyway, he does as he's told and it turns out to be the exact same. She jots the information down on his chart after leading him back to his bed. "Ok, I'm going to go get the doctor and we'll go from there." Sonya walks away, leaving Henry and Percy to think.
"She's going to get a psychiatrist." Percy states, not moving.
"Per-"
"No, she's gonna think I'm a psych case because you said the words eating disorder. They're going to get a psychiatrist, and automatically assume that I'm depressed and suicidal and doing all of this on purpose, but I'm not. I just wanna get better." Percy says, waiting for Henry's response. Henry looks at him with surprise and confusion at how he knows this.
"How did yo-"
"I did my research before letting you take me here. It's not like I haven't thought about coming here myself." Percy explains. He takes out his phone and begins furiously typing who knows what. Fifteen minutes later Sonya comes back with a doctor from psychiatry.
"Hi, I'm , but you can call me if you want. So I hear you're having some trouble eating." says.
"Why don't you come with me to the waiting room." Sonya says, grabbing Henry's shoulders and guiding him away.
"Yeah." Percy confirms.
"Do you know when your loss of appetite happened?"
"About eight months ago." The doctor's eyes widened at Percy's answer.
"Was there anything that you remember that triggered it."
"I was- uh- I-I was kidnapped over the summer and-and they held me hostage and starved me for a couple of weeks. I thought my appetite would come back but it didn't and then when Henry noticed, I tried forcing myself to eat more but it didn't work and it got worse. After that I just kept dropping weight and he took me here after our qualifying meet earlier today." Percy explains.
"Can you describe how it feels? Like do you not want to eat because you're scared? Or do you feel like you need to save your food for later?" He asks, giving examples.
"No, I'm just not ever hungry. My stomach just feels messed up. Like when I eat it's excruciating pain and I can't handle it anymore. I tried to push through the pain and deal with it but I can't anymore." Percy says, voice shaking.
"Ok, ok Percy, we're going to help you." promises. He goes through all the normal tests and protocols but finds nothing wrong with Percy other than his extreme malnourishment. "Ok, Percy, nothing was wrong in my initial testing but we're gonna figure this out okay. I'm not stopping and I'm not leaving." Percy is left on the bed while goes to consult someone. He enters the waiting room to find a very distraught Henry sitting in the chairs.
"Henry Huxley, are you that friend of Percy Jackson's?" asks.
"Yeah yeah I am." Henry jumps up. "Is something wrong?"
"We did our normal work up but we found nothing out of the ordinary other than extreme malnourishment. We're going to call his emergency contact, whoever that may be and take him up to the psych ward to see if there's anything wrong there. You can come say goodbye to him because once he's up there you won't be able to see him." Dr. James explains. Henry follows him to the ER and to Percy.
"Percy, how ya doing man?" Henry sits on the bottom of the bed. "Not great Hen. Not great. What's going on? Why are you here? I mean I'm glad you are but why?" Percy questions. Giving Henry a bro hug. Henry looks at him with a sad face. "No, no, no, no, no, no…" Percy lets his hands fall and he turns to with a pleading look. "No, please."
"I'm sorry Percy. We have to do all the tests, including psychiatric. I couldn't find anything in your testing physically, but we're gonna figure this out. I just need you to trust me."
"Okay." He turns to Henry and pulls out his phone. "Henry, you know my password. Just hit send on all three of my typed out messages and respond if they text back. Please, make sure Annabeth doesn't come here. Make sure she's okay." Henry takes the phone and puts it in his pocket. They bro hug once more and Henry whispers into his ear.
"I love you bro. Don't give up on me. Let them help you. Please. For me. For Annabeth."
"Ok, okay I will. Thank you… for getting me help." They let go of each other and Percy is taken away to the psych ward.
(Line Break)
" um, you know how Percy told you we both went to my house after the meet?" Henry asks.
"Yeah." Sally replies.
"He lied. He's been having trouble eating for the past couple of months. I took him to the emergency room to get him checked out and we're here right now. They told me to call you because they can't find anything wrong in his physical exam so they just took him up to the psych ward because they think he has an eating disorder. You or Paul or both should come here. The doctors need to talk to you." Henry says.
"O-okay. We-we're coming now." Sally says. She hangs up the phone and rushes out with Paul right behind him, not questioning anything. They speed to the hospital and show up in 10 minutes.
"Henry! Where is he?!" Paul shouts.
"He's up in the psych ward being evaluated." Henry says.
"How long did you know?" Sally asks.
"I questioned him about it a couple weeks ago but after the meet today it hadn't gotten better so I took him here because I was scared for him." Henry explains.
"Thank you!" Sally says, tightly embracing him. Paul pats him on the back and they walk up to the nurses station.
"Hi, we're here to see Percy Jackson. We're his parents and this is his friend." Paul states.
"Ok, looks like he just got admitted to the psychiatric ward upstairs. They're checking and examining him for an eating disorder." Brenda looks up from her computer at all of them. "I'm so sorry. You won't be able to see him until they clear him. I'll have come and talk to you." She smiles at the family then walks out of sight. They walk back to the uncomfortable chairs and shrink into themselves, Sally clinging to Paul for dear life.
Sitting in the chair, Henry feels a vibration in his pocket. He looks down, confused because his phone is in his shorts pocket but the shaking is coming from his sweatshirt pocket. He pulls out Percy's phone from his pocket to see 17 missed texts from Jason, Annabeth, and their group chat. Some including:
"What?!"
"Percy! Are you ok?!"
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Why didn't you tell us?"
"Does Chiron know?!"
"Does your dad know?"
"Call me. Right now!"
"Call me! We need to talk!"
Henry decides to respond to Annabeth and Jason.
"This is Henry, Percy's friend from school, he asked me to respond to his texts while he was admitted. I just took him to the ER today and he was admitted to the psychiatric ward. He wasn't eating and I got worried and asked him about it but he said he was okay so I gave him a couple weeks to prove it. He wasn't. Sally and Paul just got here so I'll keep you guys updated."
"Hey, Henry they're not gonna let us see him tonight and they said they'll call us when they figure out what's going on so you can go home. We'll call you if they call us." Henry rises from his chair at Paul's statement.
"Henry, thank you for taking care of Percy. You're a great friend and Percy's lucky to have you." Sally compliments him, hugging tightly. Henry leaves the ER and walks back out to his car to go home.
(Line Break)
"Ok Percy," sits on his stool next to the bed and puts an IV in Percy's wrist. "Sorry if that hurt. This IV is gonna give you the vital nutrients that your body has been lacking. In the meanwhile we need to discuss this possible eating disorder."
"I know what you're thinking. I'm not crazy. I'm not making myself do this. I just wanna get better, but I don't know how. Eating anything but water is excruciating pain." Percy explains.
"Okay, we'll see what we can find." promises.
(Line Break)
"Hey Perce! How ya feeling?" Paul asks, trying to cheer up his teenage stepson.
"Like I'm ready to get outta here." Percy replies from his spot on the bed. Paul sits down in the chair next to it.
"Yeah I know. Today's the day. I'm actually here to pick you up. Your mom is signing discharge papers right now then we'll stop by the pharmacy and get your stuff."
"Ugh! I hate this. It's awful."
"I know bud. But hey, you get to go back to school next week." Paul attempts to lighten the mood.
"So excited!" Percy exclaims, sarcastically. A nurse who he'd grown to like a lot walks into the room.
"Hey, I'm here to take out your NG tube and then you're good to go!" Nurse Aria states excitedly. She moves next to his bed and snaps on her gloves to then pull the tube leading down to his stomach, out of his nose. "Sorry!" She yelps as she pinches his nose to help the stinging.
"Agh! That was terrible!" He shouts in pain. Aria moves out of the room and Percy and Paul are free to leave. They find Sally in the waiting room standing in anticipation. "Mom!" Percy greets, wrapping his arms around her. They walk out of the hospital holding each other.
The ride home was silent but comfortable as they headed to the pharmacy then home. Once home, Percy was under strict orders to 'take it easy' So he was restricted to either his bed or the couch. He chose the couch because he couldn't stand to be in bed for another full day. So Percy sat on the couch and watched TV until someone was there to see him at 4.
"Percy, you have a visitor!" Paul called from the kitchen. The son of Poseidon was about to jump off the couch at that, but Paul stopped him in his tracks. "Don't get up though! She'll come to you!" Suddenly, a blonde headed girl walked into the living room and wrapped the boy in a hug. "Annie?!" Percy exclaims, "What're you doing here? Don't you have practice for something?"
"Shut up! You're more important, plus we didn't have practice today." Annabeth explains, snuggling into the couch next to her boyfriend.
"Now you shut up and stop lying to me!" Percy chastises, eyeing her intensely.
"I'm not lying to you!" Annabeth protests. Clearly lying through her teeth, she tries to sell it.
"Annabeth, I know you. And I know you're lying to me." Percy stares.
"Okay fine! Worth a shot." She mumbles. "Maybe we did have practice today. But I did wanna see you. I'm so sorry I couldn't while you were in the hospital. I tried one of the first few days but they said they hadn't figured anything out yet so I couldn't see you. And then I was gonna come yesterday but we had our state qualifier game and a lot of people from camp came and I couldn't bail on my team. And then after that, it was late and I figured you'd be sleeping so I didn't come…" Annabeth rambles.
"Wise Girl, calm down! I'm just happy you're here now. I missed you. And I watched your game. You did amazing! Now, I don't know much about volleyball but you looked super hot saving everyone's butts on defense… and I know you have practice today, but I also know you didn't just come to see me." Percy pauses to see if his girlfriend will come clean on her own. When she doesn't, he continues, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "Why didn't you tell me you hurt your knee?"
"I-I uh, I didn't think you knew. I didn't know you watched the game." Annabel looks down and starts playing with her watch.
"Annabeth, I love you, and I can tell when you're hurt, even if I didn't watch the game, I would've known something was off."
"Okay, I shouldn't have tried to hide it. I'm just worried about you. You were in the hospital… for a week Percy… 3 days in the psych ward and 4 regular, you couldn't eat, and I couldn't see you, and I found out through a text after you were admitted. Hurting my knee is the one of the very last things on my list of worries right now."
"What did your AT say? What did Will say?"
"The AT said I sprained it pretty badly. Will said the same thing but used a little of his healing to make it so I could walk. He told me to take off practice for the next few days and wear a brace once I go back."
"Okay. How is it right now? How much does it hurt?" Percy questions.
"Right now, pretty bad after being on it all day. But, I didn't come here to talk about myself. How are you doing? Does your stomach hurt? Are you hungry? Have you taken your meds yet?" Annabeth asks rapidly.
"Aagh." Percy sighs. "I'm fine. I'm okay. And I'm gonna go take my meds right now…" the boy shifts to the end of the couch only to be stopped by Annabeth's hand.
"No, no, no, let me go get it for you. You're not supposed to be up." Annabeth tries to get up but is quickly pushed back down by Percy.
"I'm okay. I can do it myself. Stay here and rest your leg." Percy walks to the kitchen with his angry girlfriend close behind him. On the kitchen table is his bottle of pills. He grabs it and pours one into his hand then grabs his water bottle off the counter to swallow the pill. "Ok done." Percy turns to Annabeth. "You happy?"
"No, you're not supposed to be up. I mean thank you but go back into the living room." His girlfriend orders.
"Ok, ok, ok, I'm going." Percy heads towards the living room and towards Annabeth when he throws her over his shoulder and she screams.
"Agh! Seaweed Brain! Put me down! What're you doing?! No, you're not supposed to be- you're supposed to be resting!" The daughter of Athena shouts. Percy walks over to the freezer and bends down to grab an ice pack out.
"You are too! I'm helping you. I'm fine now. You're not." Percy makes his way back into the living room and shoves Annabeth onto the couch. She tries to drag him down with her but she just helped him situate the ice pack in her knee. "Stop moving and let me hold you."
(Line Break)
"Bye Seaweed Brain." Annabeth says, kissing him then exiting the apartment.
"Bye Wise Girl." He calls before the door shuts. Paul gets up and starts clearing the dishes. When he gets to Percy's almost half-eaten plate, he stops.
"Are you done?" Paul asks. The boy nods.
"Honey, are you sure?" Sally questions, concerned.
"Yeah. I'm sorry mom. I'm trying, I really am." Percy apologizes, sinking into his chair, covering his stomach in the process.
"Percy, you heard what the doctor said. You need to start eating close to normal before you go back to school and swim." Sally reminds him. He starts fumbling with his fingers.
"I know. I-" Percy starts.
"But Perce, remember not to push it." Paul pressures.
"I kinda think I already did. I feel sick." Percy states. His mom rushes to his side and Paul kneels next to his chair.
"What? Honey, why didn't you say anything?" Sally asks.
"Say the word and we'll get you back to the hospital for help." Paul expresses at the same time.
"No, no, I'm okay. It's not like an excruciating pain when I eat again sick, it's like an, I ate way too much sick." Percy sighs. "I'm okay. But I'm gonna go to bed now."
"Okay. Do you need anything?" Paul asks. Percy just shakes his head in response.
"Goodnight baby. I'll check on you before I go to bed and right away in the morning okay. Wake me up or come get me if you need anything, got it?" Sally states. Percy nods and hugs his mom tightly.
"First day back, don't push it, be careful, call me if you need anything, and I love you. You're gonna do great!" Sally assures her son. Percy is standing by the door, ready to leave with all his bags and his lunch. Paul is right next to him and waiting for Sally to let them leave.
"I know mom. I love you but we have to go. I can't be late on my first day back." Percy moves the conversation along.
"Okay, okay, I know. I love you." She hugs him then plants a kiss on Paul's cheek then they flood out the door of the apartment. Paul and Percy ride to school and they bid farewell until after swim practice late in the day.
"Hey Perce you good?" Henry asks, not wanting to leave unless Percy's okay.
"Yeah. Yeah I'm good. Paul's right outside so…" Percy reassures.
"Okay. Bye. Good first day back." Henry says, exiting the locker room. Percy gathers his bags and follows suit only to find 3 guys who despised him because of how much leeway the teachers and coaches were giving him when they had none. "Guys, I'm really not in the mood for this, what do you want?"
"Oh, we just wanna, y'know, show you what real pain feels like. So maybe then you'll have a reason for the teachers to give you leeway." The biggest one named Alex says.
Oh shit. Percy thinks. They quickly corner him and push him against the wall. Alex's two buddies strip Percy of his bags and throw them in the pool behind them. Alex approaches him but Percy attempts to hold him at a distance by sticking his hand out.
"Hey, stop. Please. Just leave me alone." They didn't listen and Alex moves Percy's arm out of the way by twisting it to the point of almost breaking. "Aagh! Aagh! Stop! Please!"
"Yeah no." Alex answers. His friends move back to Percy and pin him to the wall. Percy, it being his first full day back, couldn't do much against the team of guys on him.
Alex starts by punching Percy in the stomach, waiting for him to double over, then kneeing him in the groin. At this point one of the guys thinks it's enough so he tries to get Alex to stop but to no avail. Instead, he continues to punch Percy in the stomach, chest, and upper arms.
"Okay! Alex, stop! That's enough! Let him go!" His friends pull him off Percy and they leave him in a heap on the floor. His breath is chopped and uneven. In the back of his mind he knows Paul will get suspicious if he waits too long so he finds the strength to pull himself off of the floor and over the water's edge. He wills the water to bring his bags to the surface, completely dry, then picks them up and makes his way out of the pool.
"Hey Perce. How was practice?" Paul asks.
"Um, pretty good." Percy responds while Paul starts driving away.
"Percy, you're not left handed are you? What's wrong?" Paul asks, snapping him out of his pained trance.
"Wha- no. Why? What?" Percy replies. He sees the concerned look on Paul's and his mother's faces.
"You're using your left hand to eat. Is something wrong?" Paul says.
"Hm? No, I'm okay." Percy tries to assure them.
"Let me see your hand." He commands. Percy gives it to him, reluctantly. Paul inspects his wrist and finds that it's swollen and slightly bruised. He squeezes his fingers lightly around Percy's wrist.
"Mm!" Percy winces. Paul looks at him then tests how far he can rotate his wrist, which isn't far. "Agh! Please stop!" He exclaims, squeezing his eyes shut. Paul drops his wrist slowly and Percy takes it back to cradle it.
"Percy?" Sally questions, worry flooding her face.
"Mom, I'm okay. I just slipped earlier. It's not too bad." Percy states, clearly not convincing anyone.
"Honey… Paul, why don't you go get the car started and Percy and I will come down so we can take him to the ER." At this Percy panics.
"No, Mom. Paul, stop. I'm okay. I'm serious, at worst it's just a sprain. I promise." Percy halts. Sally and Paul have a silent conversation but soon come to a negotiation.
"Are you sure?" Sally asks. Percy nods. "Okay, fine, Paul is still gonna run and get you a wrist brace."
"Mom." Percy whines.
"Percy. Would you rather us take you to the ER?" Sally sasses. Percy shakes his head slowly. Paul gets up and leaves the apartment, grabbing his coat and wallet on the way.
"I'm gonna take a shower and head to bed. The water might help." Percy states before leaving the room. He jumps into the shower and it helps take away the pain for a little bit but the second he hops out he's back to the agonizing ache in his whole body. He wraps a towel around his waist and inspects his injuries in the mirror. His entire chest and upper arms are littered with black and blue bruises, his stomach is swollen somewhat and his groin is still swollen and extremely painful. He walks out of the bathroom in pain and moves fast toward his room so his mother would avoid seeing what happened. He quickly gets dressed in a sweatshirt and shorts then collapses on his bed and falls asleep immediately.
(Line Break)
Paul shows up about 30 minutes later with the wrist brace. "Hey, I got the brace for Percy."
"Good. Good. He went into his room a while ago. I think he fell asleep." Sally says.
"Should we wait until the morning to put it on him?" Paul asks, not wanting to wake up his stepson.
"No, he could hurt it further if he rolls on it or twists it wrong. We're just gonna have to wake him." Sally explains. Percy's parents make their way to his room and his mom slowly shakes him out of his fitful sleep. Even in his sleep he's cradling his wrist and a grimace is plastered across his face.
"Hmm?" Percy mumbles. Paul helps him sit up and Sally talks to her son while Paul slides his wrist into the brace then he tightens it to a comfortable stability.
"Paul got your brace." Percy nods at her obvious statement. "Now, wake me up if you need anything. We'll ice it in the morning before school and then after school. I'll call your coach and tell him you're not quite ready to jump back into it." Sally explains.
"Mom!" Percy protests.
"Percy." Sally retorts. "Go back to bed. We'll see how you feel in the morning." She stands up and hugs him passionately before leaving. Paul follows suit and follows her out of the room after a swift pat on the back.
Percy's door was shut and he was left in the dark to suppress a coughing fit. "No, no, no, no, no. Please." The boy leans over to the nightstand, ultimately causing himself more pain, to grab his glass of water for a drink. Before he can swallow, coughs wrack his body and he is forced to spit his water out onto the wood floor. Tears threaten to spill and for once, he lets them. His aching body gives in to his emotions and he falls asleep with tear stained cheeks.
(Line Break)
"Paul, I'm worried about Percy." Sally declares. "He acted like he wasn't gonna tell us about his wrist. I don't think he would've if you hadn't caught it."
"Me too. He's hiding something. He was hurting." Paul says.
"What do you mean?" The couple jump into their bed.
"I don't know. He's just different. He seemed more tired and scared than usual." Paul explains.
"I know what you mean. He hasn't been like that since after the war. After Tartarus." Sally elaborates. "One of us can ask about it in the morning or tomorrow night." She rolls onto her side and they fall asleep together.
The pain the son of Poseidon felt when he woke up was nearly paralyzing, to the point that he didn't want to get out of bed or even walk. Percy mustered up the courage to get dressed but it took him longer than usual factoring the bruised ribs, kneed groin, and punched shoulders, chest, and stomach. His outfit was a comfortable one consisting of a hot pink volleyball t-shirt sporting Annabeth's last name and number, gray sweatpants, a black AHS swim hoodie, white nike socks, and blue tennis shoes.
Walking to the kitchen was painful, to say the least, but his mom was quick to meet him at the table with a bag of ice for his wrist.
"Okay. You have school. There's your brace, and here's your lunch." Sally hands him his blue lunchbox and he walks to the car with Paul for a long day of school.
(Line Break)
On Percy and Paul's drive home, Paul starts questioning Percy about what happened to his wrist.
"Um, I told you I fell." Percy lies. Paul drives around the city aimlessly, wanting to get the truth out of Percy.
"Percy, we both know you didn't fall." Paul pushes, "So what happened? Really?"
"I-if I tell you, will you promise not to tell mom?" Percy stutters while Paul gives him a questioning look. "I don't want her to worry."
"Okay. I promise not to tell her unless you want me to." Paul promises.
"Thanks. After swim practice yesterday, some kids from my class were mad about all the leeway the teachers were giving me since I just got discharged, so they told me they were gonna show me what real pain was like. I tried to stop them, but the first full day back had me exhausted and I couldn't. Alex was the one to do all of it. He sprained my wrist by twisting it too far. He, um, he started by punching me in the stomach, and then, uh, waited for me to double over before kneeing me in the groin. He had his guys hold me against the wall by my arms while he continued punching me in the stomach, chest, and shoulders." Percy slowly and quietly explains.
Paul is shocked by this news and he pulls the car into their apartment parking lot.
"Let's go inside and I'll help you." Paul commands.
"But Paul, Mom's ho-" Percy attempts to protest but Paul stops him.
"She's still at work. She called me earlier and told me that she'd be working until about six." The Jackson-Blofis men climb out of the car and into their apartment.
Once there, Percy drops his bags at the front door and Paul follows suit. "Shirt off." Paul says.
"Paul, I'm fi-" Percy starts.
"You are not fine, so take your shirt off so I can help you… unless you want me to tell your mom." Paul asserts. Percy sighs and hisses in pain as his shirt and sweatshirt are taken off. Soon enough all of Percy's bruises and swollen ribs are visible to Paul and he is in denial of what he sees.
"Percy…" Paul sympathizes. "How long were you going to hide this?"
"Until it was healed. What are you gonna do to help?" Percy asks.
"We'll wrap your entire torso and I'll give you something for the pain but that's the most I can do. If it isn't better in a couple weeks, we'll go get you checked out." Percy's step dad makes his way to the bathroom and back with many ace bandages and ibuprofen. "You know, you're lucky your mother didn't find out." Paul sets the things down on the table then begins wrapping Percy's midsection. "She would be a lot more dramatic than I'm being. But the fact is, I'm freaking out. I don't know how to deal with this and it hurts me knowing that you've had to deal with this for 5 years now."
"Paul, I'm okay. I can deal with it now. I've learned to deal with it. It sucks, but I've never been given any other choice." Percy explains.
"But now you do. Look, your mom is an amazing woman, but I get that there are just some things you don't want to tell her. Maybe to protect her, maybe to protect yourself, I don't know." Paul pauses at Percy's sudden hiss of pain. Percy moves his hand in a 'go on' motion.
"I know I'm not your dad. I've never been your dad and I will never be your dad, but I'm here and I want you to feel like you can talk to me."
"Ow. Mm that hurts." Percy claims. He finally opens his eyes after Paul finishes. "Paul, I know you're not my dad but I still know I can trust you. I love you Paul. I just still have trouble letting people help me handle my problems." Percy states.
"I love you too, Perce. I'm here if you need me." Paul moves to leave toward the kitchen, leaving Percy with the bottle of ibuprofen. Percy takes one out of the bottle and dry swallows his pill.
Oh my gods! I just got done telling Paul I trust him and I'd let him help me yet I'm over here feeling like I'm about to throw up and I didn't say anything?! Gods, what an idiot! Should I tell him? I mean I have to now, right? Yeah… yeah…
"Um, hey Paul?" Percy calls, suddenly really nervous.
"Yeah?" Paul asks from the kitchen.
"Can you grab a wet washcloth for my head, please?" Percy requests. Paul pops his head into the room.
"Are you alright?" Paul questions.
"Um, I just kinda feel sick." Percy answers. His step dad gives him a questioning look. Paul walks over to the couch and feels his son's forehead.
"You're burning up…" Paul states. "How do you feel? Like, what kind of sickness?"
"Like, um, I'm really hot right now but the second I take my sweatshirt off I'm freezing. And I feel like I'm gonna throw up, sick." Percy elaborates.
"How about you go take a shower, we'll see if that helps the fever and then we can go from there, okay? Water usually helps, right?" Paul suggests. Percy nods and walks off to the bathroom.
Percy feels bad undoing the bandages Paul just wrapped around his torso but his shower is very much helpful and rejuvenating.
That is, until he hops out and all of the 'feel-good' energy and color drain from his body. With the added paleness, Percy's bruises seem much more prominent and dark. He walks to his room and gets dressed in black sweatpants and a spare CHB Swim Team t-shirt. Percy's hit by a dizzy spell and stumbles into the living room. Paul is soon there to catch him.
"Woah, okay, okay, to the couch." Paul directs. Percy is leaning heavily on Paul while they make their way to the couch. "I'm guessing the shower didn't help much." Paul suggests.
"Mmnm." Percy mumbles. Paul presses the back of his hand against his son's forehead once again. He quickly pulls back, concerned at how truly burning it is.
"Holy Hades! Stay here." The older man commands. He walks to the bathroom and comes back with a thermometer. He sticks it into the young boy's mouth and slowly removes it when the small device beeps. "102.7. Not good. How do you feel now? Did the shower help at all?"
"It did for a little bit, like the time when I was actually in the water but the second I stepped out I felt worse than I did when I got in." Percy states. Paul has him lay down on the couch and quickly makes his way to the bathroom.
Once there, Paul grabs a washcloth from the cupboard and soaks it under the sink. He wrings it out and walks back into the living room.
"Here, this should help a little for comfort." Blofis sets the cloth on his step son's forehead as Percy groans in discomfort.
"Paul…" Percy croaks, breathing heavily. Paul gives him a concerned and confused look while trying to decipher what's wrong. "Bucket."
The adult receives the urgent message and reaches for the bucket he previously brought out while the boy was in the shower. Paul shoves the bucket under the boy's chin just before Percy heaves. His stomach angrily rolls and more of his previous meals are thrown up.
Paul, being a first-time father figure, had no idea what to do. Sally usually helps in this kind of situation. Taking a wild guess, he takes his free hand and rubs circles on Percy's back. After a while of gagging uncontrollably and bringing up nothing, Paul asks if Percy is done. The teenager just nods in response.
"Thanks Paul. That was really helpful." Percy thanks. Paul's heart warms at the statement, finally knowing he made the right calls. "Glad to help, Perce." Paul gently lays the long forgotten washcloth back on Percy's head. "Go to sleep. You look exhausted."
(Line Break)
"Paul. Percy. I'm home." Sally announces as she walks through the door. Seeing and hearing no one, she suddenly begins to panic. "Guys. Paul… Percy!" She sprints into the kitchen and runs into the living room after finding neither of the men.
"Sally, calm down. We're here." Paul assures, getting up from his chair and rushing towards her. He engulfs his wife in a hug and they lightly kiss.
"Was Percy tired?" She questions as she looks over the shoulder to her son.
"Um, actually he came home and said he felt pretty sick. He has a fever and has thrown up a couple times." Paul informs Sally.
"Really?! Poor Percy. Why didn't you call me?" Sally moves to Percy and feels the back of her hand against his heat red cheeks.
"I handled it. He's been sleeping for a couple of hours now. He's woken up a few times but other than that he's been out cold."
"Good. I'm glad you were here to help him." Paul's heart warms once more at Sally's comment. "I'm gonna go make some calls and cancel the trip."
"What?! No?! This is your book signing! This is important. I'll stay here and take care of Percy. You've worked so hard to get your book published, to go to California and sign your books! You can't just give that all up now. I'll call you if anything happens." Sally has tears in her eyes and she hugs her husband tightly.
"Go." Paul commands. "You don't want to miss your flight. I'll keep you updated. I love you." Paul kisses her gently and she pulls away to say goodbye to her son. She lays one hand on his cheek and the other to lightly shake his shoulder.
"Percy. Percy, honey. Wake up." The teenager stirs awake and groans. His eyes flutter open as he sees his mom in front of him.
"Mom. How was work?" Percy asks, completely disregarding his own health state.
"Good honey. I'm just about to leave for my writers conference. Paul said he'll stay here and take care of you but I'll stay or come right home if you ask me to." Sally explains.
"No. No. Go to your conference. I'm okay. You've worked too hard for this." Percy quickly responds. Sally's eyes flood with tears at her son's words.
"I can't even express how proud I am of the young man you've become." Tears roll down her face as she continues. "I love you Percy." They embrace each other tightly and Sally walks away to collect her bags and catch her flight.
"I'm gonna go make some calls, see if I can find a sub for tomorrow." Paul states.
"Why? I might not be sick tomorrow. And if I am I can-" Percy swallows thickly, not trusting himself to speak without bringing up vomit. "I can take care of myself."
"That right there," Paul starts, referring to his refrain from being sick. "is the precise reason you are staying home tomorrow, sick or not. You need a day off." He walks into the kitchen to retrieve his phone from his bag.
