Just Let Me Leave (Jercy AU)

Chapter 13: Sidewalk Thoughts

HA YA GIRL IS GONNA GET A THOUSAND DOLLAR SCHOLARSHIP AND WAS TOLD BY MY ENGLISH TEACHER THAT SHE LIKED ME WRITING!

NOT A COMPLETE FAILURE, WHOOPEE!

Leo looked over and nodded. "Why not?"
*****

Leo, being the magical being he is, fixed the Graces' power within an hour before heading home. That left the two siblings alone, since Piper was out with Annabeth. She was still staying with them, and while Jason assumed her father had been back from set for a few days at least, he refrained from saying anything about it.

Jason did his homework while Thalia browsed her laptop, both working silently. There seemed to be a lot of that when guests weren't over at the Grace household. It wasn't that the siblings didn't have a connection--it was nearly essential for them to have one at that point--they just liked the silence. Some may believe it was to make up for the lack of peace earlier in their lives. Or maybe it's just because there's not always something to say.

The silence was shattered by the younger of the siblings. "Thals?"

Not looking up from her screen, Thalia muttered a small, "Hm?"

Jason sat for a moment, thinking of how to continue the conversation without worrying his sister. Noticing the silence, Thalia looked up.

"Is this about Leo?" She asked, closing her laptop.

Jason nodded hesitantly. There was Percy, too, but Thalia didn't know him well. The boy thought it might be better to exclude mentions of Percy until possibly later. "I just worry about him sometimes. Chris and Ethan target him, and he won't let anyone do anything about it."

"Is that why you were late?" Receiving a nod, Thalia continued. "You know him better than almost anyone else, Jason. You'll know when it's time to involve yourself."

Jason sighed, leaving the room in silence again. And while it stayed that way, the blonde could've sworn he heard a small comment from the room's other occupant.

"Don't make my mistakes, Jase."

*****

On the walk home, only two categories of thoughts ran through Percy's head. The first was, obviously, the reluctance to return home, as it was every day. He hated the fact that he couldn't go a day without something going wrong in his household. It'd always be him getting beaten to a pulp, or his mother (which to Percy was considerably worse), or it could just be your normal household misconvenience. Things were just so over-exaggerated by Gabe that Percy couldn't even tell what was important anymore. Five minutes later than planned, punish! Got suspended for a week, punish! Arrested for second-degree murder, punish!

Nothing was completely crystal clear to Percy anymore. He couldn't tell what was real.

He couldn't tell if any of his newfound friendships were real, he couldn't tell if the fact that he was pummeled in the hallway a few hours ago was real, and he really couldn't tell if his own self was real. He'd been putting on a mask for so long that Percy wasn't sure he even knew himself properly. Everything he did was a façade.

Nothing was real anymore.

The second train of thought that rolled across the broken railroad tracks that were Percy's mind was the recent hallway incident. Percy really didn't mean to get involved, it just happened. He wasn't sure if he'd never noticed Leo was a fellow victim of the two, or if he simply never cared enough to look for it.

Percy had realized over the years that he quickly attaches himself to people. It definitely isn't trust, but more so the feeling of protection that he barely knew between his mother's constant work schedule, his father's absence, and Gabe. Percy wasn't even sure he could properly trust anymore. He'd simply stick around until he got tossed the curb. It's always seemed to happen that way when it comes to Percy.

Whether it be because of his lack of speech and general disconnection, or because of his social status, Percy would be alone for a while. He had Jason and Leo and the rest of their friend group, but he already knew that his involvement with any of them would not last. Jason was perfect and didn't need Percy ruining that, Leo was thrown in a closet today because of Percy, Piper barely knew him, as well as Hazel and Frank, and Reyna was related to the therapist he stopped going to a week ago.

A great grouping.

Plus, Percy knew he wouldn't stick around if he was affecting people's lives. If Leo hadn't been tormented by Chris and Ethan before he began talking to Percy, he wouldn't forgive himself for that. If Jason's golden boy reputation was being ruined by who everyone thought was that freak who didn't talk, Percy would distance himself in a heartbeat.

He cared about people. Percy wasn't sure if he trusted or really knew anyone, but he still cared about everyone's wellbeing.

Yes, even Gabe.

Percy knew he should absolutely despise his step-father, and he was pretty close to doing so. There was still that part of him, though, that wanted his alcoholism to stop. He wanted Gabe out of his life, but he wanted the man to go fix his own. He had to have been a good person at some point, right? Everybody has to have done something out of the goodness of their hearts at some point.

Or maybe that was just Percy being too optimistic.

Maybe everyone put on an act. Maybe nobody was truly good. And maybe they were meant to be that way. Like many people say, there had to be darkness in order for the light to shine.

Or maybe there never was that light in the first place.

So the world is supposed to end on November 17th or something because of massive earthquakes caused by a plant that takes 3,600 years to orbit the sun?

I don't believe unless scientists do😂 These conspiracy theorists make me paranoid and then are wrong, and I hate end of the world theories.

Okay, bye.