There's Always You and Me

Chapter 6

"Hey, how come Percy's not at school?" Elena looked around, searching for the teen.

"He's, uh, on sick leave," Stefan said, careful of the people close to him in the hall. In a quieter tone, he whispered, "He got hurt. Damon's with him."

"Damon's with him?"

"I know it sounds like a bad idea-"

"'It's a terrible idea."

"-But Percy wouldn't let anyone near him."

Elena crossed her arms, "I still don't think Damon should be near him when he's hurt."

"Me neither but Percy won't change his mind. He looked close to murdering me when I even came close to him."

"You guys talkin' about me?"

Stefan and Elena both jumped at the voice, the vampire a bit surprised that he didn't hear the person. They turned around to see Percy grinning at them, one hand on the strap of his bag as he leaned against the lockers.

"Percy!" Elena looked surprised, "I thought you were sick!"

The teen raised an eyebrow at her, "Yeah, but I really was just dehydrated."

"Damon said you were really sick," Stefan spoke up.

The green-eyed boy waved him off, "Damon is such a mother hen. I'm fine, see?" He spread his arms out, a lopsided grin on his face, "Nothing to worry your pretty little head about, Salvatore."

The vampire nodded, "You look completely fine."

"Told you. Now, what's my first period?"

"History," The Gilbert supplied.

"Ah, right," Percy nodded before looping his arm with hers. "Shall we go, milady?"

She giggled slightly, "We shall."

Stefan bit his lip as he watched the two walk away, a weird feeling inside of him. Something about Percy seemed off when he came near him, like he was tense.

—

"Stefan says you're acting different," Damon says when he sees his friend, pulling out of the school parking lot. "You're making him nervous."

"I know," Percy watched the youngest Salvatore walk across the football field to where Elena was waiting for him. "I don't see the problem in that."

The vampire grinned, "He does need to lighten up."

"Everyone's terrified of something at one point. Why not make him afraid of me?"

Damon gave a small bark of laughter, "You're amazing. Crazy, but amazing."

"I know."

—

Percy never smiled with his teeth, Damon noted one day as he watched the teenager translate some Greek text for him. He didn't know why that was but the Salvatore knew not to ask about it. It was an unspoken thing between them. The teen had a nice smile though but it felt fake somehow, like if he smiled with everything he had, everything he had would break into nothing more than a mess no one would want to clean up.

Maybe that was just Damon's thoughts.

And maybe Damon would be the only one to clean the mess for him.

"You alright there?" Percy was looking at him with a raised eyebrow, absentmindedly chewing on he end of his pen as his other hand pointed at the last word he left off on, "You spaced out for a minute."

Damon shrugged, "Just thinking."

The teen hummed, nodding a bit as his gaze lowered to his book once more, "You want to stop before we go into verbs, right?" He highlighted something on the pages, circling another word in pen on the other page.

"Yeah, what do you have so far?" The vampire leaned forward in his chair, attempting to peer at what the other was writing.

"Hellos and goodbyes."

"That's good for now."

—

"Ah, man," Percy sighed silently to himself as he pushed open his front door. He toed off his shoes, leaving them by the entrance, before tossing his bag onto the couch. Making his way over to the bathroom, he opened the door before moving to stand in front of the mirror. He lifted up his shirt, studying himself for a moment. On his stomach was the a mostly-healed slash wound. He quietly poked it, hissing slightly, before dropping his shirt, "Hades."

The teen moved out of the bathroom and to his kitchen before he remembered that he was out of food. "Great, He murmured, running a hand through his hair and returning to the door for his shoes. "Just great."

Percy was barely down the stairs to his apartment when a soft growl sounded behind him. The green-eyed boy seemed to sigh before turning around slowly, throwing his hands up in exasperation, "Perfect."

—

"What's the matter with you?" Elena eyed the teen with concern.

Percy was slumped in his desk with his head down, the hood of his jacket up to shield the sun from his eyes. He was out of it, barely responding to anything anyone said, including the teacher. With the way he was mostly leaning on his left arm, one might think that he was favoring his right him, keeping as much weight off of it as possible.

He looked up slightly, his black hair falling in front of his eyes, "M'tired, 'Lena."

"Did you get any sleep last night?"

"No," Percy's eyes were dropping again. "M'tired."

"You should go to the nurse then," Elena said, looking close to helping him get there, running a gentle hand through his soft hair for a quick moment.

The fact that the teen didn't argue with her said how tired he truly was, "M'kay..." He sat up and raised his hand, "Sir, can I got to the nurse?"

"Is it important?" The history teacher asked.

Percy arched his eyebrows, the hand still raised in the air giving a small, barely noticeable snap, "Can I go to the nurse?"

The teacher blinked and a strange feeling went through the air, passing over everyone. "Of course," The man smiled, gesturing to the door.

"Thanks," The teen stumbled to his feet, waving Elena off when she reached a hand to help, and left the classroom without another word.

"You felt that, too, right?" She turned to Stefan, who was silent the entire time, but the Salvatore was focused on the door.