Abused Percy Jackson

Chapter 39

Leo's POV:

I was genuinely surprised I had never come out to my friends. I figured they would have known. I guess not. As Annabeth, Jason and I were goofing off, I noticed Percy sitting quietly seemingly lost in thought. 

"Kids!" My mom called up. "Dinner time." 

"Okay Ms. Valdez!" Jason called back. He and Annabeth started racing down the stairs. 

"Hey, Perce," I said, before Percy could leave the room.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Is everything okay? You got kinda quiet," I said, worried we got to much for him. 

"Oh, yeah. I'm fine," Percy said with a small smile. I smiled back at him. We walked down stairs, joining everyone else at the table. 

"It smells good, Mom," I said. 

"Thanks," she laughed. "I'll leave you four be." She left the room with her plate, going to eat in the living room. 

"So, Piper wants to have the party at her house on Saturday. Everyone cool with that?" Jason asked. 

"Of course, we have no lives," Annabeth laughed. I laughed and nodded in agreement. I glanced over at Percy. He was watching us quietly, a small smile on his face. It was weird seeing him relaxed. Usually, he was tense and unable to make eye contact. 

I could hear the news from the living room. The anchors were talking about new evidence in a murder case that went cold years ago. I couldn't quite make out the name of the victim, but Percy seemed like he knew what they said.

"I'll be right back," he said. He walked into the living room, a worried look on his face.

"What was that about?" Jason asked.

"I don't know." Annabeth looked at me.

"I'll go check on him," I said, standing up. I walked into the living room, spotting Percy just a couple feet away watching the TV. They were showing a picture of a very beautiful woman. She had long brown hair and blue eyes. She was smiling at something behind the camera. If you looked carefully, she had a bruise on the base of her neck. It looked very similar to a hand print.

Percy stood with his arms crossed. His face was set into a look somewhere between angry and sad. His jaw was clenched as he glared at the TV. He stood next to the chair my mom was currently sitting in.

"Police say they found a set of fingerprints on the murder weapon. This is a new lead that they are currently investigating. Though, they haven't found any matches to the prints, they intend to catch her killer. Next up after the break..." The female anchor's voice faded into the background. 

"Did you know her?" I asked Percy softly. He shook his head. Before I could say anything else, he moved back into the kitchen with the other two. When I sat back down, the table was silent. Annabeth and Jason both gave me looks, silently asking me what happened. 

I shrugged, equally confused. I knew Percy was lying when he said he didn't know who she was. I had not clue who the woman was, but just based on the picture, she seemed like a kind and carefree person. 

We all finished our meals in silence. Jason's phone when off and he informed us Thalia was here to pick him and Annabeth up. While her father was working in San Francisco, Annabeth was staying with the Grace's. Soon it was just me and Percy at the table.

"Who was she?" I asked Percy. "If you don't want to tell me, you don't have to. But I know you knew who she was."

Percy stared at the table, trying to avoid my line of vision. I nodded and picked up the empty dishes and placed them in the sink. 

"I'm headed back upstairs. Do you have a ride home?" I asked.

"Yeah, but I'm not expected home for a couple more hours," he said.

"You're welcome to stay as long as you like." Percy nodded thanks and stood up, following me up stairs. I put in a movie for us to watch. I could tell Percy was lost in thought again, but this time he was on edge. 

"You know," Percy said quietly, still catching my attention. "I know who killed her."

I sat up, shocked. "What do you mean?"

"I was there, he made me watch." Percy was gripping his arms, knuckles turning white. I stood up and walked over to him, wrapping him in a gentle hug. "I tried to stop him, but I -- I couldn't-- everything I did just--"

His voice broke and I could hear him start crying. I tightened my grip, not sure how to comfort him. We sat there for a while, in silence. After about half an hour, Percy stopped crying, but he was still shaking. 

"I'm sorry," he whispered. I shook my head.

"You have nothing to be sorry about. You didn't do anything wrong," I said, softly. Percy shook his head, but didn't say anything. I let go of him and sat on the edge, looking at him. "Are you actually okay?" 

"I, I don't know." Percy was staring at his lap. "I want to be, but I don't think I am." 

"That's okay. Have you talked to anyone about this?" Percy shook his head. 

"How would I even bring that that up? 'Oh hey, did you know I watched my step-father kill my mother?'" I stared  at him shocked.

"That was your mother?" Percy looked at me, eyes wide. 

"I didn't mean to say that. I'm so sorry." I couldn't tell who he was apologizing to. He looked like he was having a panic attack. 

"Hey, hey, hey. It's okay," I said gently. I stood up to comfort him, causing him to violently flinch away. He kept whispering apologies to me. I grabbed his face to make him look at me. He looked like I was going to hurt him. "It's okay. You're safe."

I kept reassuring him, until he calmed down. He gripped my wrists as tears streamed down his face. I helped him through a couple breathing exercises to help him. 

"I'm sorry," he said once more.

"What are you sorry for?" I asked. 

"I dumped that information on you then had a mental breakdown. You didn't ask for that," Percy whispered. 

"Well, technically, I did ask," I said with a small chuckle. Percy cracked a small smile. I let go of him and sat down again. 

"I know this is gonna sound selfish, but can you not tell anyone?"he asked. I nodded.

"I wouldn't tell without your permission. It's not my place," I responded.

"Let's finish the movie," he said. I tried to figure out how I felt. I was thankful that he opened up to me, but I was hopeless when it came to making him feel better. I wish I knew how to help him because me not knowing how to could end up making everything worse. 

 I had a feeling that, based on what he told me, his step-father was the root of his issues. Not just the whole "killing his mother in front of him" thing. She was killed many years ago, yet a few months ago Percy mentioned how his step-father had a very strict curfew. It made me think that he was physically abusive to Percy all this time. I wouldn't put it past him. 

I decided I would talk to Percy about it later. He didn't really need to relive any past childhood trauma. Ever, but especially right now. 

Heyo my childs. This is posted a bit earlier than I would usually post, but I was bored. I'm also just gonna say that I can't remember a lot that happened in the earlier chapters of this story so I request that you only really take chapters 30 - current as "facts". 

I love you all so much! <3 

Also, ( @Beanqwer ) I feel like I am butchering this, so I'm sorry 🤣🤣