Abused Percy Jackson

Chapter 60

Amphitrite's POV:

Leo left soon after, not wanting to wake Percy up. I started cleaning the living room, Poseidon coming out to help. Tyson was in bed asleep and Triton was out with some friends. Once everything was cleaned, plates in the dishwasher and the empty pizza boxes in the trash, I sat back down on the couch. My husband sat next to me. 

I sighed and leaned against him. I was worried about Percy. Poseidon wrapped an arm around me. He rubbed his hand against my arm, not saying anything. It was hard to tell what he was thinking. We sat, watching the blank TV screen for a while. Eventually he had to go to bed for work. 

I stayed in the living room, not tired. I turned on the TV making sure not to wake anyone. I thought about what Leo said. He was right. I should be acting like a second mother and taking more responsibility for Percy. Ever since he came to live with us, he spent most of his time in his room. 

I was worried Percy would start to resent me if I acted like his mother, though. He never talked about Sally, but Poseidon said she would have been an amazing mother for him. I heard a door open down the hall. I glanced at my phone to see it was midnight. I realized Triton had texted, letting me know he was staying with his girlfriend tonight. 

I looked down the hall to see Percy. He stood in the threshold, looking nervous.

"Everything okay?" I asked. He nodded.

"Uh, yeah," he said. He looked like he was going to ask a question. "Yeah, everything is fine."

"You wanna sit?" I asked, pointing to an empty chair. He gingerly sat down. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he said. I frowned slightly. It was easy to tell he was lying, but I didn't want to push him about it. We sat in silence for a while, just watching the TV. It was some comedy I watched when I was younger. 

I glanced at Percy, noting he seemed lost in thought. I looked back at the screen, trying to figure out what I should say or do. 

"I'm sorry," he said. 

"For what?" I asked. I looked back over to see him staring at his lap. 

"You guys have been so kind to me, and I haven't really been showing much gratitude for it," he said. "I know it has to be hard dealing with me, and I'm sorry."

"Hey," I said, standing up an walking over to him. I leaned down on one knee, so we were face to face. I placed my hand on his knee, before speaking. He didn't look up. "You don't need to apologize. You haven't done anything wrong."

Percy shook his head. "Everyone needs to quick saying that. It's not true. I have been making things harder for people."

I sighed. "That's not true--"

"Yes it is," Percy cut me off. "I know that I make things harder. I know you don't know how to deal with me. I just wanted to apologize." 

"Except you don't have to apologize. You haven't done anything wrong," I said. Percy still refused to look at me. 

"Stop," he said, his voice quiet. "Please."

"What?" I asked, hoping he would explain more. 

"Stop telling me I did nothing wrong. It's not true," he said, closing his eyes and shaking his head.

"What do you think you've done wrong?"

"Everything. You and Poseidon let me live here, and take care of me, but I don't anything in return." I blinked. 

"You aren't supposed to do anything in return," I said. He shook his head, telling me 'no'. I gently pushed his hair out of his face, finally getting him to look me in the eye. "Our jobs as parents is to make sure you are safe and cared for. Your job as our child is to be safe and well cared for."