Agent Jackson

Chapter 6

For a whole week, Percy rarely left his cabin. He didn't show up for meals or activities. Luke was getting worried. He thought at first that maybe Percy just needed some space, but this was going too far.

So, he grabbed a plate of food for his friend and took it to Cabin Three. He knocked hesitantly, unsure if Percy would even answer. After all, Luke hadn't even visited once in the week. It was likely that Percy didn't want to see him.

The door opened and Luke's eyes widened. Percy looked like he hadn't slept in the whole week he'd been in his cabin. "What do you want, Castellan?" Percy snapped.

Luke frowned and held up the plate of food. "You haven't eaten in a week, Percy."

"Why do you care?" Percy's tone was bitter and his expressive eyes were swirling with emotions that Luke couldn't place.

"You're my friend," Luke said, pushing the plate of food towards Percy. "I'm not going to let you starve to death."

Percy ignored the food and glared at Luke. "If you really cared, you wouldn't have left me," Percy said. "I suppose Chiron put you up to this. Tell him I'm fine."

Luke stuck his foot in the doorway when Percy tried to shut it, giving himself enough time to slip through. "Eat," he commanded.

Percy huffed but took the food and sat, slowly beginning to eat.

Luke took a deep breath. "No one put me up to this. I thought you wanted space, but a week was really pushing it, so I decided to come here and bring food."

Percy stared at him for a long moment, trying to determine if he was telling the truth. Finally, he sighed. "Fine."

Luke sighed in relief. "Finish eating and then get some sleep. I'll come back tomorrow, okay?"

Percy slowly nodded and finished his food under Luke's watchful eyes. Only then did Luke leave the cabin, allowing Percy to get some sleep in peace.

Luke skipped his next activity and instead trained in the arena. He slashed and stabbed at dummies and practiced his footwork. He might be the best swordsman in the past three centuries, but that was because he practiced and practiced a lot. He rarely used his free time for anything else... well, until Percy came along.

Luke would never admit it, but he had a small crush on the boy ever since he saw him for the first time. It was hard not to be attracted to him with his looks and charming personality. He knew for a fact that practically half of the Aphrodite Cabin had crushes on him. The other half was either too young or too old. However, his crush on Percy was far outweighed by his crush on Annabeth.

Annabeth was gorgeous, smart, charismatic. He always felt warm inside when she was around. She had been the one to take him in and help him. Annabeth and Thalia became his family those years on the run.

Luke sighed and pulled himself from his thoughts. He finished up his training before heading to the showers. He would need to shower before he went to sleep that night.

After his shower, he laid down in his sleeping bag and fell fast asleep.

The next morning, he got up and got ready, dressing in a pair of khakis and a Camp shirt. He then informed Jacob, the counselor, that he was heading over to Percy's cabin to make sure he was okay.

When he got there, he was happy to see Percy actually exiting his cabin. "Hey, Luke."

Luke grinned. "Hey, Perce! I was thinking we should skip lessons today and head to our spot at the beach."

Percy hesitated, as he usually did when Luke suggested they break the rules, but ultimately agreed. He followed Luke out to the beach, where they scaled a cliff until they got to their nest.

The nest was on the top of the cliff, overlooking the sea. It was made of blankets and had a tarp underneath and overtop to keep it dry. Inside the nest, they sat together and talked.

Luke was glad that they were still able to talk with such ease. He had been worried that their friendship was broken the day before, but it seemed that Percy had forgiven him.

They talked for hours about all sorts of things. Percy admitted that he was bisexual, which made Luke happy. He also told him about his friend, Piper, and his dad.

Apparently, he had known Piper since they were six and they'd been inseparable ever since. They had met at gymnastics and had won several competitions each. Piper often spent her summers with Percy's family, rather than with her own because her dad isn't available very often.

His dad was a doctor and was apparently very good at it. He worked in the ER and spent a lot of late nights at work, though he still made time for Percy. He was good at archery, though Percy said that was more of a hobby.

They finally came down when Jacob came to tell them it was time for lunch. He couldn't climb up, so they heard him shouting up at them to "get your butts down here and eat! You already missed breakfast!"

At lunch, Clarisse went up to Percy nervously and asked if she could sit with him. Percy smiled and nodded, so she sat at his table.

Luke couldn't hear what she was saying from his spot at the Hermes table, but he figured she was apologizing. Percy clearly accepted and the two shook hands. Clarisse stayed sitting with him throughout the meal and they talked.

Afterwards, Clarisse skipped lessons to spend time with them. Luke found that she was actually a good friend once you got to know her. She spent a lot of time calling them names, but it wasn't in a mean way, more like a friendly teasing kind of way.

Overall, the day was fun and they spent a lot of time repairing what had been damaged between them.