Going Viral

Chapter 1

May 14th

"Thank you, London!" He shouted over the sound of the screaming fans. His voice was hoarse, his throat would be in agony tomorrow but it didn't matter. This was it, their last night of tour.

World Tour. It was over and it still felt surreal.

Percy turned to his band mates. Thalia and Nico were somehow less sweaty than he was but looked equally as exhausted, both grinning widely. Grover was in the wings dressed head to toe in every piece of merch that hadn't sold out. Even Chiron, their manager, was beaming at them from backstage.

"Goodnight!" The three of them called in unison as the lights went out. They darted off stage in the darkness and the audience roared.

Grover clapped them on the back as they passed and Chiron offered Percy a bottle of water which he took greedily. The stage crew were surrounding them, removing their earpieces and mic packs quickly so they can be packed away.

"That's it for another year, folks." Chiron smiled, a proud twinkle in his eye.

The bottle in Percy's hand was snatched by Thalia but he only rolled his eyes. After touring with the two of them for the last three month, he wasn't particularly grossed out by anything anymore. She handed it back and he just shrugged before he took another swig.

"Take a breather." Grover smiled, heading off to help sort through their instruments. "But then shower. You all reek. The plane's in three hours."

~~~

It's 9pm the next day when they land back in Manhattan, though it doesn't feel it from all the travelling through time zones. Percy could've cried when he realised the flight was 16 hours but he was beyond tired and stayed peacefully passed out for most of the journey. It's been 24 hours at least since Percy last checked his social media but he's in not bothered at the moment, not with the knowledge that his mom will be at the airport when they land. (Yes, he's a rockstar but he loves his mom more than anything, screw his 'bad-boy' reputation.)

Sally isn't a particularly short woman but in the last few years Percy has grown to be a head taller than her. Still, Percy feels just as safe in her arms as he did when he was only up to her knees. She holds him and tells him how proud she is of him (and that she's got a freshly baked batch of cookies waiting for him in the car - he's not sure which makes his heart swell more).

The night is pretty uneventful. His mom treats everyone to homemade macaroni at her apartment and offers her guest room to Thalia who recently announced her plan to down every bottle of vodka her dad sent while they were away. Will, Nico's boyfriend, arrives just after midnight and the two of them say their goodbyes. When the buzz of excitement in the air suddenly wears out, Paul ushers Grover and Percy into his Prius and gives them a lift back to their apartment. It's 3am but neither of them have any plans for at least a month so they allow themselves to crawl onto the couch and put some trash on the TV.

Percy's eyelids are just beginning to feel heavy when he slides his phone out of his back pocket and opens twitter. The fans have gone mad again, he thinks with a smile as he scrolls through the #thehalfbloods tweets.

hxlfbloodddarci had the best time at the concert tonight. the halfbloods are a dream, so much energy in one room and i finally got to meet some of my ibfs! lots of love <3 #thehalfbloods

There's a photo attached of three teenagers outside the O2 arena, each of them with crazy hairstyles, ripped jeans and a HalfBlood world tour shirt.

thaliagseyeliner best night of my life!! can't believe i got to see this with my own eyes!! #thehalfbloods

The video attached is of Percy, drenched in sweat, leaping across the stage with his guitar over his shoulder. He chuckles.