I LOVE YOU SO || PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS¹

17.

"NO, END OF STORY..."

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THREE DAYS LATER, THE SUMMER SOLSTICE.

Tense. That was the only word she could use to describe how the entire camp was feeling. If Percy didn't return today, war was sure to come. Everyone was just tense. Some kids had even camped out at the Camp border, waiting for him to come storming to the Big House. She wasn't going to lie and say that she was tempted to join them. This was a big deal.

Staring at the clock with narrowed eyes, Luke plays with her hair, braiding then unbraiding it. Percy had three minutes to go. Her lips trembles the slightest, her nervous smile now turned into a tight frown. Leaning forward slightly, her knee bounces up and down, her heart visiting. There was a thick silence that filled the air. She was never this quiet. Ever.

"Three more minutes." Luke states, her heart spiking.

"He's not coming, is he?" She asks, her voice cold.

"He's coming." He argues.

"Don't lie." She argues, the coldness rolls off of her tongue like honey.

Playing with her fingers, her face falls slightly as the time darts down to two minutes. Two minutes to go. He had two minutes to go. Watching her carefully, Luke could see the changes in her already, her eyes no longer shining as bright. Her body tensed. She hadn't been like this since ever. Covering her mouth with her hand, she blinks slowly, her mind darting back to Clarisse's words about picking a side.

"Everything is going to be fine. He'll come, Nat." He argues, patting her shoulder.

"He's not coming." She shakes her head, "There's no way he can make it back in time."

"Nat, he'll make it." He argues, with a seriousness in his voice.

Somewhere it sounded like a warning, a faint call to not do it again or harm will come to you. Like the growl that a dog would make. Shutting her eyes, she shakes her head as a storm of emotions begins to brew up. He wasn't going to make it. He wasn't going to make it. He wasn't going to make it, a soft voice whispers inside her.

Picking at her bottom lip, she opens her eyes, watching as the clock ding. He was out of time, Percy was out of time, he was out of time. Any moment now a declaration of war would come. The Ares cabin would sound the alarms. Sides would be picked before anyone could get a word out. Things would change any second now.

"He's out of time. Do you⎯Do you think he made it?" She stutters,

"We'll just have to wait and see." He pats her back.

"Are we still gonna be friends? I mean⎯If he didn't make it, that means we're gonna go to war. Will we still be friends? Even if I don't want to fight? Even when we're forced to pick sides?" She questions, her voice trembling.

"What? There's not gonna be a war, Percy could have made it! Just calm down." Luke orders.

He was right. Percy could have made it and was just taking a while to get back to Camp. Why was she getting so upset over nothing? She was sure by tomorrow this whole thing will be a funny memory! Blinking away the tears, her mind wanders to her Dad, back at home. Totally oblivious to everything that was happening. Oh, gods. Her Dad was totally oblivious to everything that was happening.

Wiping her eyes clean of tears, she knows that if worse comes to worse, she'd have to tell her Dad of what was gonna happen. He'd freak out⎯reasonably so. She had purposely tried to avoid picking sides. She had gone out of her way to avoid being involved with the war. But, a war amongst the Gods would spill over into the mortal realm. She'd get dragged into it no matter what.

"Oh my gods, my dad.." She whimpers out, "He doesn't⎯What gonna happen to my Dad?"

"Hey, hey, don't cry. This is nothing to worry about. We're gonna be fine, Nat. He's gonna be fine." Luke argues, offering her a small smile.

She doesn't nod. She doesn't do anything. Taking a deep breath, her knee starts to bounce up and down from the anxiety that washes over. Counting to ten under her breath, she forces herself to block everything out. All the emotions. She was cold. She was unreadable, she tells herself.

"I know that I'm freaking out over nothing, but it's scary, you know? Like nothing as bad as this has ever happened before. It's scary." She rambles, "It doesn't help that Chiron is trying to act like nothing is happening. I'm just freaking out."

"That's reasonable enough. Just take a deep breath." He soothes.

"I can't. I just...Sometimes I wish that I wasn't a demi-god." She sighs out, her shoulders sagging.

"Don't blame you. It sucks." He agrees, nodding his head.

Shifting in her seat for a second, she flops down onto the couch, staring up at the ceiling. Her head resting on his knee. Playing with her fingers, she picks at the few specs of nail polish that remained on her nails. Shifting her gaze from her nails, Luke looking down at her, his lips curling up into a wobbly smile. The scar on his face now, more noticeable than ever before.

Holding back the urge to trace it, she takes a deep breath, chewing on the inside of her cheek. In this light he was beautiful⎯not that she was saying that he wasn't beautiful normally. It was just that he looked soft and delicate. The only thing that made it seem off was the scar on his face that brought a kind of darkness to him. Like a reminder that he was forced to grow up a lot sooner than he should've.

"I thought⎯When my Dad first took me to camp, he said this was my second home. Said that this could be my safe space, you know?" She rants, "He told me that this place would be where I'd get answers about my Mom. About my ancestry."

"And you're still just not getting answers and this place is growing more and more less likable?" He suggests, making her sigh in relief.

"Yeah." She nods.

"I feel you..in a way." He sighs, "When I came to camp, it wasn't the best circumstances. We lost Thalia and we were just kinda shoved into things. I got answers, but also gained a bunch of questions."

"How has this place become less likable for you?" She asks, making him hum.

"When I went on my Quest, I was so excited and everyone just put this pressure on me. When I came back, I got so many looks..one of disappointment. Then, Chiron stopped the quests." He pauses, licking his lips. "People grew bitter towards me, saying things like, 'Look what you've done! You've screw us over cause of your fuck-up!'. That's what gave Camp a bitterness in my mouth."

She pauses, letting his words linger in the air. Then she wondered, why hadn't left? Why hadn't he gone home? If truly felt the same way that she did, why hadn't he gone home yet? She wouldn't have blamed him. Hell, she would have defended him for leaving. At times Camp had a toxic mentally. The whole 'worship your absent parents' thing got old after a while. She wouldn't have blamed him for wanting to get away every once in a while. But, why hadn't he done it yet?

"Have you ever wanted to leave?" She asks, biting on her bottom lip.

"Can't. I don't really have anywhere to go. Camp's all I got.." He sighs, a sadness in his voice. 

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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.