I LOVE YOU SO || PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS¹

8.

"ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM..."

---¤☆¤---

CAMP HALF-BLOOD.

Keeping her hand on the hilt of her pocket knife, she chews on the inside of her cheek, her eyes scanning the cabins. So far, Chiron wasn't in the Arena. Or teaching the archery class. Nor was he in the pavilion. So where else could he be? Thinking hard, she tries to think of where else he could have been. Maybe in the Big House? Or maybe he's out of town? Passing by the Demeter cabin, the thick stench of herbs and smoke fill her nose.

Cringing at the smell, she doesn't bother to ask what the hell they were doing. She came here for one thing and one thing alone. Rubbing her thumb against the hilt, she doesn't see any sight of Chiron in the courtyard. Taking a deep breath, she goes to turn when a familiar voice calls out to her. Was that Travis? Furrowing her brows together, she doesn't get the chance to turn around, instead she lands face first into a pile of leaves.

"Ugh, motherfucker⎯"

"Your back! You beautiful beautiful she-devil! I missed you!" He rambles, "You left me with Connor! I was so lonely! Don't leave me again!"

"Get the fuck off me!" She groans, thrashing against him.

"Not until you promise not to leave me again!" He begs, "I didn't hear from you for weeks!"

Grunting as he locks his tight grip on her waist, she grasps onto his forearms, slowly wiggling her way onto her knees. Her head rests against the ground, her hair covering her face. Taking a deep breath through gritted teeth, she rolls the two of them to the side, Travis now lying on his back with her back to his chest. Putting all of her weight on his chest, he lets out a loud groan, instantly letting go of her. Not hesitating for a second, she scrambles away from him.

There was no way in hell, she was about to risk getting grabbed by him again. Jumping to her feet as fast as she can, she shoots a glare at the curly haired boy over her shoulder. Flattening out her shirt, she places her hands on her hips, was he being serious? Did he have to grab her like that? She gets it been a while since she saw any of them, but seriously? Shaking her head, she ignored the comments on the tip of her tongue.

"Where is Chiron, Travis? I can't find him anywhere." She asks, trying to stay on task.

"What?" He asks, a look of disbelief on his face.

"I asked, where is Chiron at? I need to talk to him. What's wrong with that? Is that a problem? Did you not understand me?" She questions, raising a brow.

"No, I heard you. But , why are you so..?" He asks, his voice trailing off at the end.

"So what?" She asks, shooting him a look.

Tucking her hands into her pockets of her jacket, she stares at him blankly, waiting for his answer. Was she maybe being a little mean? Yeah, but she wanted to talk to Chiron before anyone noticed her. The more people noticed her, the higher the risk of being interrogated came. The more likely she would get punched or worse. Feeling eyes drilling onto her, she steals a look out of the corner of her eye, trying to catch whoever it was. No one, yet. Turning her eye back to Travis, there was a mix of emotions brewing in his eyes, like a really bad storm.

"I haven't seen you in months and you're not at all phased. I was expecting a little excitement, just a little bit of something." He shakes his head, "I'm sorry, did I do something wrong? Did I accidentally say something mean? Did I offend you with something I did?"

"No, I just need to talk to Chiron. It's kinda important. Can we do this some other time? I've got to talk to Chiron." She deflects, ignoring the hurt look on his face.

"He's not here. He left. Happy?" He scoffs, rolling his eyes.

"That's all you had to say." She rolls her eyes, "You didn't have to be such a jerk about it."

As soon as the words tumbled out of her mouth, regret instantly sank in. Why did she say that? Why did she say that? Why did she say that? Opening her mouth to apologize, his face hardens at her words, an icy sneer forming on his face. The words die on her tongue as his glare harshens. Her face burns red from embarrassment. Why did she say that? She didn't mean it, so why did she say it? Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

"I'm the jerk? What is so important, huh? What's so important that you can't even seem a little excited to see me?" He asks, the hard look on his face slowly falling.

"That's⎯" She tries, but he cuts her off.

"None of my business? I'm your friend, Nat. I haven't seen you in months, I was worried. Why are you acting like that's the worst thing ever? Would you prefer it if I didn't care? If I just forgot your name? Nat, what's going on with you?" He questions, his voice trembling.

"I get that upset, rightfully so. But, if you wanna know why I left, feel free to ask Walter. Ask him why I left." She shakes her head, "Ask him because I don't have the energy to do it again and again. I'm tired of repeating myself, only for no one to listen."

"I don't give a shit about Walter. What I give a shit about, is you!" He argues, "I care about you. I want to hear from you, not from Walter."

Opening her mouth to speak, nothing came out, she couldn't even get out one single word. Fuck. What would she even say anyways? Something like, 'I'm sorry, but I literally told you last summer? It's not my fault you weren't listening to me!'. Lowering her eyes to the ground, there's an aching pain in her chest, this honestly hurt far worse than her fight with Walter. With Walter she didn't hold back. She lashed out. She made him take the lashing without any mercy. But, with Travis, it hurt. She felt guilty. She regretted lashing out on him.

"Travis, I really don't⎯" She argues, but he cuts her off again.

"Can you at least tell me why you came back? Why now was a good time for you to come back? Or is that too much to ask of you?" He questions, a harshness ringing in his voice.

"I had a dream, I don't know if it's an omen or if it's a sign of some kind from the Gods. Trust me, I tried to figure it out on my own, but I couldn't. The last thing I wanted to do was to come here. I was trying to avoid this." She explains, "It's the last thing I want. I just wanted to talk to Chiron and figure this out."

Letting out a small bitter chuckle, she knows that she should just walk away and let the conversation be over. But, she couldn't bring herself to do it. She didn't want to run away from the fight. She didn't want to run away from Travis. Travis was a good friend. He was there and she would regret walking away⎯especially during a time like this. She'd regret it a lot more than with Walter. Picking at the fuzz in her pocket, she rolls it into a small ball, playing with it.

"I am sorry for being a shit friend, but I am trying to get better. I'm talking to someone and all of a sudden, I have this dream. I thought if I figured this out, I could just..That I could move on to something else." She explains, licking her lips.

"That's why you left. Or was it because you didn't want to deal with Camp and everyone?" He asks.

"I didn't do it because of Luke or to join Kronos on his quest of destroying Olympus." She sighs, "I left so that I could get away from being 'the angry unclaimed kid'. I wanted to change myself..for the better."

"And have you? Have you changed for the better?" He questions, staring her down.

+++++

And I am done with the chapter! Stay safe out there guys!

I hope you all are doing okay emotionally and physically! I love you all!

I hope that you are enjoying the book so far! A quick reminder to comment below about the story of what you think so far.