Because I Care

Better Now

MOA SPOILER ALERT. ALERT ALERT ALERT

Percy's eyes traced his son's features as he slept. Alex's blond hair was becoming darker as he aged, and at almost five years old, he was certainly one of a kind. Percy sometimes thought that he was biased, by he always pushed that thought away. His son was more powerful than any other mortal child in the history of ever. For him, it was settled.

"Percy?" It was Annabeth, and she was cracking Alex's bedroom open. Light from the hallway streamed in. " Is he asleep yet?"

"Yeah, finally," Percy whispered, and looked up from his spot on the little bed.

"I'm going to sleep then," she said, and looked at the clock on the microwave.

Percy was confused. "It's only ten," he protested. "Stay up with me?"

"Shh," she said, smiling. "Just don't wake him up."

He lightly kissed Alex's head in the darkness and got up, finding his way around stray stuffed animals. He closed the door behind him and looked at Annabeth, who had leaned against the wall. Her arms were wrapped around her shoulders. She wasn't smiling anymore.

"What's wrong?" he asked her, gently touching her elbow. She moved away. "Annabeth?"

"Nothing," she muttered, and walked away to the living room. Percy followed her.

"What is it? How come you're upset?"

"I'm fine. It's nothing."

She sat on the couch and brought her knees to her chest, hugging her legs. He sat next to her and pulled her to him. She snuggled against his shoulder.

"You can tell me," he whispered, then he realized what it was. "It's the nightmares."

She suddenly broke down, and her tears soaked into his t-shirt. "It was so long ago. Why do I have to remember that? I hated it down there. Hated it."

"It's okay," he murmured, and he started to remember Tartarus, too. Monsters were constantly attacking them, and with her bad leg, at one point it they had trouble fending off only one monster.

"Don't tell Alex about this," she pleaded, and looked up at him. Her tear-filled stormy eyes broke his heart. "Don't ever tell him about anything we've ever encountered."

"I promise," he told her, and rocked her back and forth, like how he used to do with Alex. "Please stop crying."

"Okay, okay," she kept saying, but she never stopped, and sometime that night, he carried her to their room, and she somehow feel asleep, even though it was a restless one. Sometimes she would whimper, and grab the front of Percy's shirt into her fists. But he was there through the whole thing. He never left. He never would.

I'M SO SORRY IT'S SHORT

this is the last chapter! :O ikr! but from the (few) comments I got, it's decided! Jiper for the next story!! YAY IM EXCITED TOO.

Sail, AWOLNATION.