Alone Again (Percico/Pernico AU)

Chapter 24

WE HIT 2K READS AYEEEE. I LOVE AND APPRECIATE ALL OF YOU, THANKS KIDS❤️

Also this chapter is shit, I'm sorry.

"Well, I guess come in before we get caught then, dumbass."
*****

Percy stood for a few seconds, slightly confused by the remark. He hadn't expected Chris to actually let him in, much less invite him. Chris sighed, gently grabbing Percy's wrist and silently urging him to walk through the threshold. Percy's eyes flicked down to the physical contact as he struggled not to pull away from the other boy's grip. He stepped inside the current habitat of Chris Rodriguez, scanning the room after Chris let go of his wrist and went to sit back down on his bed. There really wasn't much to look at, considering it was almost the exact same area that Percy was just in moments ago.

"Now can I ask why exactly you're here?" Chris spoke, leaning against the wall as he looked at Percy.

"I, uh, just....just," Percy took a breath, sorting his thoughts out as he exhaled, "can I just, like, talk to you about something?"

"What's up?" He inquired, patting the space next to him and waiting for Percy to sit down.

Percy did so, taking another breath before answering, "Do you remember the last time I was here? How I never slept and Connor always scolded me about it?"

A small smile formed on Chris's face as he replayed the memories in his mind. "Yeah, and then you'd complain because of the night ter-," his smiled disappeared and he looked up to meet Percy's eyes. "Are you okay?" He asked with concern dripping from his words.

Percy shrugged, breaking the eye contact. "I just....needed to let someone know."

Chris continued to look at the boy, trying to form comforting statements in his mind. "Spill," he finally said, knowing Percy enough to where he figured that he actually needed to talk, no matter how much he despised doing so.

Percy let out of a shaky sigh, his composure slowly falling apart in his weary state. "After Travis mentioned everything....I just can't get rid of the memory. I just can't stop hearing her pleas...her scream. I just keep asking why I did it." Percy stared at his lap for a moment before continuing, looking up at Chris, "Why the fuck did I do it?"

Chris knew very well that the current subject was touchy for Percy, and it still haunts his sleeping, and now waking, hours. He wasn't exactly sure how to help, either.

"Percy?" Chris got the boy's attention. "When are you gonna tell him?"

**to reduce confusion, this is the same night as the Percy/Chris thing, but earlier**

Nico laid on Jason's bed, watching some random show on Netflix that Jason had forced him to watch. Apparently Thalia got into it and made Piper watch it, and Piper made Jason watch it.

"Jason, I hope you know I'm not paying attention," Nico informed the older blonde, scrolling through his feed.

Jason rolled his eyes. "I know, but you can just miss out."

Nico yawned, putting his phone away. "Would you be offended if I went to bed and left you here?"

Jason turned his head towards Nico. "Tired already?" After receiving a nod, Jason sent Nico off to bed like the mom he was. Nico entered the Grace's guest room, which he had invaded for the time being, and plopped down on the bed. He sighed as he remembered that tomorrow was Monday. He just really didn't want to go to school. Nonetheless, he made himself comfortable and eventually dozed off to sleep.

**there's a lot of these recently lol I apologize**

Nico groaned and rolled over, practically slapping his alarm clock and falling out of bed. He quickly stood up and made his way towards the apartment's very small kitchen. Thalia, who had apparently already gone to work, left a note for the two. Nico read it as he waited for his toast to pop up. He wasn't much of a breakfast person, but since Jason was his official food monitor, he usually ate something small every day. Speaking of which, he came out to the kitchen a few minutes after Nico and ate his own breakfast. Jason definitely wasn't a morning person, so Nico avoided speaking to him until his weariness wore off.

Once they were both ready for the day, they headed to the corner to wait for the bus. Jason's morning frustration had faded away and he was back to his normal go-with-the-flow personality. They bus arrived after about five minutes of them standing there and chatting carelessly. They walked up the small amount of steps, and Jason greeted the bus driver before the two started walking down the isle.

"Jay! I saved you a seat!" Drew Tanaka called from one of the seats.

Jason sighed heavily. "I'm not getting out of this one. I'll see you at some point today, probably," he said, giving a wave before going and sitting next to Drew.

Nico made his way towards the back, sitting in an empty seat. However, this empty seat just happened to be next to Luke and Ethan. Nico almost forgot that Ethan had been hospitalize until he noticed the crutches leaning against the side of the bus.

Luke gave a slightly mischievous looking smile, but Nico came to realize that it was just his natural smile. "Hey, di Angelo."

"Hey," he responded, tapping his foot against the metal floor. "How's the, uh, leg, Ethan?"

Ethan grunted with an eye roll before shrugging. "Would be better if your boyfriend hadn't fucked it up."

Nico's eyes widened. "My what?"

Ethan chuckled, shaking his head. "I'm just joking, man."

"Right," he muttered, slouching further into his seat.

"Kid, I gotta talk to you at lunch. Meet me at the senior courtyard at lunch," Luke explained, grabbing his backpack as the bus pulled into the school parking lot.

"I'm not a senior," Nico reminded him.

He sighed. "Yeah, but I am. Plus, nobody eats out there anyways."

Nico nodded, waiting for the older two to clear out before taking a deep breath and leaving the bus, heading to his advisory.

He really didn't want lunch to come.

AGH SORRY. ALSO, BE PREPARED FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER.

Bye, kids.