I'll be here forever

chapter 33

I slowly came back around when Percy was lying me back down in our tent, gently placing me on my side. I sighed a little and let him.

"You okay?" he asked me, his voice low as he rummaged through the backpack for the ambrosia.

"Mhm. Fell asleep," I told him.

"I know," he replied softly, brushing my hair aside to get a better look at the wound on the back of my head. It must've been worse than I thought it was, because he didn't make a sound, but clenched his fist in anger, before letting it go.

"Here," he handed me a square of ambrosia, and I ate it without complaint. It was the first time I'd tried it; it tasted like blueberries and the blue cookies we'd eaten on our first day together. It made me smile.

I felt a warm feeling spread throughout my body, like someone had lit a fireplace inside of me. I could actually feel myself beginning to heal; the back of my head knitting itself back together, the ugly purple bruises on my back and arms fading.

I drifted in and out of sleep for a while. Sometimes Percy would be there, sometimes he wouldn't. When I woke up for the seventh time, though, I felt that the wound on the back of my head had closed. It still needed quite a bit of time to fully heal, but at least it wasn't bleeding anymore. I wondered if ambrosia helped with concussions.

I shifted a little, and noticed Percy wasn't next to me. Instead, I spotted his silhouette leaned up against the side of the tent, as far from me as possible.

"What're you doing?" I asked him, my voice muddled with exhaustion.

"Sleeping," he replied quietly.

"Doesn't look like it."

"Yeah, I guess not."

"Why are you all the way over there?"

He was silent for a moment.

"I figured you wouldn't want me close to you," he admitted. "I wouldn't want to be anywhere near me."

"So you're over there?"

"Yeah."

"That's stupid."

I think he took a second to process that.

"What?"

"I said, that's stupid. Come here."

"What-"

"Come. Here," I insisted, and although I couldn't see very well, I felt him pause, and then move, gingerly lowering himself down to lie a few feet away from me.

I groaned in annoyance. This boy did not get what I was trying to tell him.

"You really are dumb," I grumbled, rolling over so that I was pressed up against him. I felt him tense in surprise; I grabbed his arm, pulling it around me, avoiding the back of my head, nestling myself next to him and into the spot that felt like it was made for me.

It took him a second, but Percy relaxed, sighing quietly in relief, pulling me closer. I smiled against his chest.

"I'm sorry," he told me, again.

"Listen, I don't give a shit about the dracaena. Sure, watching it was scary, and I needed a second to process, but they deserved it anyways. You need to stop beating yourself up over it," I mumbled.

Once I'd gotten over the shock factor of the whole thing, it was actually really touching how far he was willing to go for me. Terrifying, yes, but touching.

"I- I need to tell you something," he said. I hummed in response, letting him know that I was listening.

He told me about the very first nightmare that he'd had, how he knew he could do what he did. He explained that when him and I were in that place, the place that appeared in our nightmares, the goddess of misery tried to kill us. He said that he was able to control her poison and turn it on her, but I stopped him before he could really kill her. He told me that the question that he had been wondering about for weeks was whether he could control other water-based substances. He said he'd answered his question.

"This misery goddess sounds like a bitch," I mumbled, and Percy laughed softly, agreeing.

No wonder he'd been scared to tell me about that one, and no wonder he was taking this whole thing so hard. It sounded like I was terrified of him.

I resolved to be better than I was.

He was quiet for another moment, and I could tell he had something else on his mind.

"What is it?" I asked him.

"It doesn't... it doesn't freak you out? You're not afraid of me?" he was barely audible. I nestled in closer to him.

"Of course it freaks me out. It was scary, Percy. And... and I couldn't do anything but watch. But I- I know you'd never do it to me, no matter how mad I made you."

"Never," he swore.

I hesitantly slipped my hand into his, seeking some comfort. He accepted it, our fingers threading together. His touch was familiar and welcome.

And I finally knew what home felt like.