The Demigod and The Robin

Chapter 17

------------ Percy's POV: -------------

I got up soon after Jason and Dick left. My eyes settled on the door as I laid against the cold yet comfortable sheets of the bed. 

I'd woken up sometime on the way over to the room. I didn't want to freak Jason out though so I kept quiet and pretended to be asleep. I used to do it often at Gabe's apartment as well so he wouldn't bother me and usually it'd work half the time so I knew I was good. 

I turned over, the crinkling of the sheets filled the silence of the room before coming to a stop as I stopped to look out the room's window. 

It was strange how large these rooms were. This room alone had to be the size of the entirety of my cabin give or take. Is this really how Jason's been living?

I sunk into the softness of the bed as I let myself relax as much as I could, the cool air of the room was light against my skin as it slowly sent chills through any exposed part of my body. 

I let out a small breath as I watched the window carefully, the setting sun now making way for the darkness of the night. I could see the beautiful clouds up ahead and the air planes as they passed by, disappearing and reappearing as they went through the cotton candy shaped clouds. 

My lip quivered lightly as I watched the scene. It was so nice. 

I was cut off by the sudden appearance of Annabeth, a kind smile on my face. My eyes widened as I quickly sat up, pulling the sheets up with me in a fake scared act but I really was making sure there was no tears in my eyes. 

"Hey seaweed brain, how're you?" I dropped the sheets and put on a bright smile as I looked over at her, noting silently how she was at camp, the cabin behind her empty. They must be out doing nightly activities. 

"I'm great as always Beth, how about you?" She looked at me with a warmth that seemed to linger in my heart making my stomach flutter as she opened her mouth to speak, displaying her perfectly white teeth. 

"I'm doing good, dad let me come down for the end of the week since I was doing so well in school." I smiled at the thought of a break, but the idea came with the sharp realization that I wouldn't ever be allowed to do that. "We miss you at camp Percy."

The sentiment seemed to come from no where but my smile turned genuine at the sentiment.

"I miss you guys too, more then you could know." I mumbled the last part but Annabeth smiled none the less. 

"Where are you by the way?" She asked, her eyes looking behind me. I turned to see that this looked nothing like Gabe's apartment, the walls were too different. 

"Oh uh, Mom and I went on a trip, so this is the hotel we're staying at." Annabeth nodded, her eyes glancing briefly behind the IM before flickering back to me. 

"I see, where at?" I paused for a second before saying the first name that came to mind. 

"Georgia." I said quickly, watching her eyes widen slightly.

"Wow, what for?" 

I shrugged. "Mom figured it'd be nice to get away for a while so she took me with her." Annabeth nodded, something in her eyes told me she had questions she desperately wanted to ask me. 

"I have to go Percy, can I call you later?" She asked suddenly. I paused, a bit of whiplash hitting me at the sudden change of subjects before I nodded. 

"Yeah, of course. Stay safe Beth." 

"Always, you stay safe as well." I nodded, but I knew I couldn't assure what she'd told me.

The IM suddenly went away and I was left back in silence. I sighed as I plopped back onto the bed, the outside now turning a dark yellow- bluish gradient. I allowed myself to shut my eyes as I slipped into unconsciousness. 

-----------Annabeth's POV: ----------

Percy disappeared in an instant, Grover, who was standing behind where she'd previously been, held a look of sadness. 

"She was lying wasn't she?" He nodded, his arms going up to hug himself. 

"She's hurt, I can feel it. But it's getting better I think, or it was a few minutes ago." I nodded, feeling myself deflate as I walked over to my bed, dropping onto it as I ran a hand through my hair. Grover walked over and took a seat beside me. 

The whole reason we'd done this was because I'd caught Grover after dinner crying in the woods, he was turned in on himself as if he were trying to hide from the world. I'd gone over to help him, but when I asked him what was wrong he could only say Percy's name. I had to calm him down for a while before he told me that strong feelings of sadness were pouring over the empathy link and they'd overwhelmed him.

In truth I'd known that something was wrong for Percy for a while, it was clear the way she seemed uneasy whenever I referenced her home life. It reminded me of me when I had a bad relationship with my father, and the thought scared me. Percy was dealing with something and she wouldn't open up about it. I'd been trying to get her to open up about it for months but nothing was coming from it.

I felt a hand on my back as I turned to Grover, a small smile on his face. 

"She'll be okay. You know how she is, we'll have to let her come to us." I nodded, pursing my lips as I tried to reassure myself. Admittedly it wasn't going well. 

"But she's hurting Grover, how are you-" I turned to look at him to see a brim of tears lining his eyes. He was hurting. He was hurting just like me and then some because he could feel Percy's emotions physically. He knew what she felt like and couldn't ask her or comfort her. I shut my mouth as I wrapped my arms around him, feeling his arms wrap around me just as tight as small wet spots appeared on my shoulder. 

"How do we fix this?" He asked quietly, his body shaking slightly. I rubbed small circles into his back as I pulled him in closer. 

"I don't know." I said quietly. For any other camper the methods would be simple, I'd have them talk to Will or if they didn't feel comfortable with a peer then with Chiron, but Percy was different, she'd done much more than the average demigod, so much so that I'm not sure what methods to recommend her. My knowledge was failing me and it scared me that I couldn't think of anything to help her. 

We sat like that for a while after that, Grover eventually stopping crying as he mumbled that Percy had fallen asleep. 

I wish she'd open up to me. 

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