Percy slammed his heavy duffel bag onto his new bed. Luke had given him a quick tour of the house but Percy figured it was easy to tell he was exhausted. The older boy had set him up with sheets and blankets and even helped him make the bed before returning to his own side of the room. Compared to Luke's side, Percy's was depressingly bare. Luke had posters, and trinkets, hell, the room looked more lived in than the one Percy had lived in his entire life.

"Y'know out of all the placements, Delphi is the best one you really could get." Percy hemmed as he continued to unpack. Nothing would be better than being somewhere with his mom but he wasn't going to say that out loud. He didn't want to be the kid that whined about his mom. That really was the easiest way to get picked on. "It's supposed to be for special cases, sibling sets, or known emergency placements like you."

After unpacking, he climbed to the top of the bed. Luke had given him a rundown of the house's schedule, and currently, they were in a free time of sorts, he figured he could just use it to cure his exhaustion. Luke must've sensed he wanted to be left alone because he didn't bother him again.

"Percy, c'mon." Percy woke up to see Luke waving at him from the doorway. He wasn't sure how much time had passed, but he could tell it'd been a decent amount by the darkness outside.

"What time is it?" He asked untangling himself from his sheets. Vaguely he could make out a scrawny blonde kid hovering behind Luke peeking.

"Time for dinner man, let's go."

At the table, Percy found out it was 7:30, that there were 6 other occupants in the house, and that one of them really hated him. The girl from earlier who had been staring at him intently continued it during dinner. The other kids seemed to notice it too, a couple of them snickering, and a couple trying to ignore it all together.

He was sandwiched between the quiet blonde kid from earlier and Luke. His roommate seemed to be the head of the social construct of the house. He spoke to each of the younger kids about their days, paying good attention to each and every anecdote they told. The man in the wheelchair, Chiron, sat at the head of the table, opposite another man everyone called Argus. A blonde guy with the face of a surfer guy but the body of a sumo wrestler.

"Hey, Luke." The smallest boy out of all of them called across the table while shoveling mounds of food in his mouth. "How come your roommates are so quiet?" Percy tried not to let any annoyance show as the rest of the table turned to look at him.

"Just don't have much to say tonight," Percy grumbled. The same girl kept looking at him as if trying to dive deep into his soul, and it was really starting to grate on Percy's nerves. "How about her, what's her deal? She doesn't seem to talk much either."

The girl rolled her eyes hard at being called out and the rest of the table laughed.

"Well, that's Annabeth. She stares at all the new kids and only talks about stuff she likes. When she does most times you'll wish she- Ow!"

"Ahem. Mr. Valdez, do we need to discuss using kind words and behaviors?" Chiron asked, "And Ms. Chase, do we need to be reminded to keep our limbs to ourselves?"

Both kids grumbled out no's, and the rest of the dinner continued without much else. In total, Percy found all of it odd. The end of the night was spent following Like around the house. At first, he assumed everyone would treat him oddly, but except for the Annabeth girl, all the other kids integrated him easily. Like didn't seem to mind him following either, offering tidbits of information about the house, rules, and people in it.

"This house is way better than others' cause it has loose privileges as you go instead of earning them. One of the homes I stayed in made us earn it. I couldn't do anything fun for my first three weeks there." Percy forced a chuckle, not sure what to say. Everything still felt so unreal.

Curfew for bed was supposed to be 11:30. Luke said it was only like that on weekends or days when they didn't have school the next day. But around 10:00 Mrs. Gleeson came back with a sullen-looking girl with an expensive-looking suitcase. The moment she was visible to the rest of them Leo rushed over to her, followed closely by Jason.

"Dad must've relapsed." A girl with dark spiky hair Luke had introduced as Thalia whispered. Luke frowned, looking more angry than concerned.

"Probably even OD'd this time. But they keep sending her back." Luke sighed, reaching over to ruffle Annabeth's hair. Of course, she didn't say anything, peeking out at the trio in the foyer. "Poor kid, let's give them some space."

People in this house seemed to follow Luke's word like it was the only option. And they all did it without a problem, something Percy found odd, but understood with Luke's charm. He was, however, grateful for the slightly early bedtime, still exhausted by the day's events. When they got to the room Luke didn't seem phased by him climbing back into the bed, just turning the brightness down on his computer screen so it wouldn't light up the room. This time instead of falling into a dreamless sleep he found himself trapped in a familiar nightmare.

"Run Percy. Go-" His mother screamed as Gabe dragged the both of them to his car. It didn't matter how hard he or his mom fought to get out of the stinking man's grip. Percy had long ago learned that when Gabe was drunk like this he was near invincible.

"Get in the goddamn car." He roared, roughly shoving Percy and his mother against the door. There was fear coursing through his body. No matter how much he wanted to react it felt like he was watching all of it go down from a seat in the back of a movie theater.

"Percy- Percy, I need you to run baby-" His mom was shaking him, trying to get him to listen. He didn't know when she'd gotten into the car, or why. There were tears streaming down her face. He'd never seen his mom cry before. Gabe had plenty of fits but his mom had never cried. And she was shoving him away. The car was starting. Gabe was screaming. The car was moving.

Everything changed again. This time he was in the car as Gabe zipped between cars and pedestrians. His mom held him tightly. Her eyes were closed and her mouth was moving. Percy figured she seemed to be praying, not that he could hear her over the sound of the sirens chasing the car.

The car was spinning. Way out of Gabe's or any god's control. His mom squeezed him tighter, wrapping her entire body around him. They both screamed and instinctively he knew the impact was coming. When the car slammed into something he jolted awake.

Percy felt bile rise up in the back of his throat and scrambled to the bathroom sticky with sweat, unsure if would make it or not. He made it to the toilet stall just in time, blinded by the beaming sunlight. He hadn't even realized that he'd slept through the night, his body just as exhausted as before.

"The harder you fight it the worse it feels." A voice behind him said. Percy whipped around to see Annabeth, the girl with the braids and a staring problem from earlier. "Seriously, if you're gonna vomit just let it happen." He felt the nausea subside as he turned around to face her.

"Who asked you?" Annabeth didn't seem to be deterred at all, crossing her arms and looking at him like he was the dumbest thing in the world.

"Chiron wants you in his office," Annabeth said. Percy spit a little remainder of the bile in his mouth as he stood up, feeling a whole new wave of sickness. He'd only been at the house for little over 24 hours and they were already prepared to kick him out. He wasn't even sure what he had done or what he was being blamed for but he quickly decided whatever it was he wouldn't fight it. Whatever made his life easier until he got back with his mother.

"Relax. It's probably just something about school or placement-wise." Percy looked up to see that Annabeth's usual glare had softened a bit and he followed her down the stairs.

"You sound like you know a lot about this kind of stuff." Annabeth took so long that Percy almost didn't expect her to. He realized it was morning, from the daylight and the occupants milling about. Leo was lounged out on the couch watching TV and Luke was huddled over Jason and some papers that looked disgustingly like math.

"Well, I've been here since I was seven. I've seen a lot." He didn't get a chance to respond, Annabeth pushing open the big brown door to Chiron's office. "Good Morning Chiron."

"Well, good morning . I assume you've slept well." Chiron spoke loudly and had it not been for Annabeth's beaming smile he would've thought there was no sincerity behind the words. But the two of them engaged in light genuine conversation until Chiron dismissed Annabeth to breakfast. The whole interaction was warmer than any portrayal of a group home he'd ever seen.

"Ah yes, Percy Jackson, have a seat." Chiron motioned to the big armchair in front of his desk. The office walls were covered in various books, diagrams, and pictures he assumed had stayed at the house. It was easy to pinpoint a younger Luke where the rippling scar on his face was fresher, Jason with big geeky glasses, and even a toothless Annabeth. Around the wall were countless pictures of kids he'd never seen, those who he assumed had already left the home.

"How was your first night settling in?" Percy blinked at the man. Annabeth had said Chiron had wanted him down here. And he doubted it was to ask about his sleep.

"Uh fine…I guess." Chiron chuckled to himself, shuffling papers around on his desk.

"Well, that I highly doubt. No one truly sleeps well on their first night in a new place. Especially after the situation that you've been through." Percy still wasn't sure what to say, or if he even wanted to respond. "Now there are some things that need to be discussed before we continue on with the day." Percy indeed for the man to continue, half trying to decipher any of the titles on Chiron's shelves. Which was near impossible, his dyslexia and cursive never mixed.

"Firstly, there's the matter of school. You've been enrolled in the local middle school, the same as all the other younger children. The van will take you there and back." Chiron pushed him to a folder which he assumed had a bunch of information in it. Not like he really cared about school.

"Next is our legal requirement to try and contact any other relatives you may have. And right now we're in the process of trying to find your father."

"I don't have a father. It's just me and my mom." Percy said, scratching at the leather on the armchair. He saw indents in the same spots and wondered how many before he had done the same.

"Everyone has a father ."

"Well if I had one he lost his right when he left. I don't have a father." Chiron didn't seem impressed or surprised by anything coming out of Percy's mouth, opting instead to continue shuffling papers around. He could've said something else but Percy was too busy fuming with thoughts about his father. A man his mother still spoke about like he was a god. A man he had never even met.

All the nights he had spent barricaded in a room as a protection from Gabe's rage. Or the nights spent hungry and knowing that he wouldn't get a meal until school or until his mom came home from one of her long shifts. Or all the secret ass-kickings he'd had to lie to his mother about. There was never any 'father' there to help him. And he didn't need one now, all he needed was his mom.

"When can I go back to see my mom?" Percy asked, standing up out of the chair. If Chiron wanted to hunt down a deadbeat that was fine. But it wouldn't keep him from living his life.

"As long as there is time available, and someone to supervise, I don't see why not." Chiron dismissed him with a somber nod, and Percy didn't hesitate to scramble out.

The kitchen was easy to find. All he had to do was follow the chaotic noise. The table was crowded with the same kids from last night with the addition of the girl that had come late. Luke was leaning against the counter talking to a punked-out girl with pins all over her vest. Some of which were even bands he recognized, and he secretly hoped she'd be as chill as his roommate.

Jason, the quiet kid, sat huddled next to the new girl. Percy couldn't get much of a grasp on their two personalities. But by Jason's wear of grandpa sweaters and the girls' ratty clothes, Percy really couldn't see how much they would have in common. Leo, dressed in nicer than usual clothes, was bouncing around the entire room between Jason's side and Annabeth's sprawled-out papers, constantly getting in the way of a man in a hideous tiger pattern shirt. Even despite the man's ridiculous attire, Percy could see he was getting irritated with having to swerve around Leo to dish out breakfast.

"Why're you dressed like that?" Percy asked, taking a seat far enough that he wouldn't bother any of the other groups. The small conversation he'd had with Annabeth didn't necessarily mean she liked him, but he didn't want to get on her bad side either.

"Ah, I like to go to church on Sundays. Repenting and stuff really helps the soul." Leo grinned and slid over to drape his arms around Jason and Piper, this time actually bumping into the Leopard Man.

"Liam! Would it kill you to sit down?" Percy flinched at the man's voice raising, but nobody else seemed to pay him any mind.

"Mr.D you know my name."

"I really wish I didn't." The man, Mr.D sneered back. Leo still didn't react, unphased by the man's behavior. Luke cleared his throat and Mr.D's attention snapped up to where Percy had been watching the entire thing go down. "Oh god, there's another one of you." The man sounded so upset it almost made Percy care.

"I'm here too Mr.D!" Piper chimed up waving from her spot at the table. Her presence didn't seem to make anything better. He rolled his eyes even harder. Exasperatedly putting a pancake on Jason's plate.

"I know who you are Petra, I'm talking about the new one." Percy felt his mild annoyance turn to anger. He really didn't like how this guy was treating the other kids.

"Do you have to be such a" Luke cut him off with a tight arm slinging around his shoulder.

"Percy, this is Mr.D, he works here on the weekends. Daytime, mostly." Luke said, swaying himself and Percy left and right. He turned his head to see the older boy clenching his jaw and decided to let Luke handle it. "Mr.D, this is Percy, he came in last night, and he's my new roommate."

Mr.D didn't seem to give a shit. Rolling his eyes again and placing a carton of milk on the table. "I don't care who Peter is. The both of you sit down so I don't have to be bothered." The kids all moved to the food as the chunky man made to leave the room.

"Dick," Luke called at the retreating man's form. Once he was clearly out of the way Luke released him and they sat down with everyone else, Percy even got a high five from the punk-rock girl.

Authors Note:

This story is being cross posted on AO3, and I'll probably update this one every other day in order to catch it up with the other one.

Also, I really see Percy as a mama's boy and I'm doing my best to portray that. Hope everyone is enjoying, staying safe, and I'd love to hear from yall.