Found Family (HoO, Mortal AU)

JASON GRACE

The first day, Jason tried to hide away and not talk to anyone apart from Thalia. He got ready for his date with Leo, still trying to think of a 'perfect' fake girl. He couldn't ask Annabeth- she's the kid that Thalia looked after when she ran away. His dad knew that. All of his other friends weren't 'acceptable' in his father's eyes. She had to be white, straight and cisgender. It was embarrassing to be related to him.

He slipped out the door making no noise, even though his father knew he was going on a date. Jason just didn't want to answer questions. He had to walk, but eventually got to the restaurant- one of the more posh ones, because Leo insisted that they were posh, even though they were far from it.
"Hi," Leo said, standing outside the restaurant. "I didn't want to go inside and sit alone-"
"Hi. It's good to see you. C'mon."

Everything was going fine. Amazing, actually. Until Thalia texted him.

Thalia: Jason
Thalia: Jason
Thalia: Jason answer

Jason: what?

Thalia: dad and that bitch are going out for dinner
Thalia: idk where they're going

Jason: find out.

"Will you get off your phone," Leo rolled his eyes.
"I will in a minute- sorry."

Thalia: he said somewhere nearby

Jason: there's plenty of restaurants nearby it's fine.

He set his phone on the table. "Sorry. Thalia was texting."
"Hey, it's alright. So anyway, if we leave on the last day of June and stay for a week and a half, we'll be there for both our birthdays and-"
Jason listened to Leo ramble on about their summer plans, feeling relaxed for the first time in a while. Between the exams, graduation and his dad, he'd been pretty stressed recently. Leo automatically fixed all that by existing.

The restaurant was pretty empty, so Jason looked over when he heard the doors opening. "Fuck."
"Eh- what?" Leo tilted his head.
"We have to go."
"We can't leave without paying. And we're still eating."
"Leo- my father is here."
"Oh," his eyes widened. "What do we do?"
"Too late."

"Jason?"
His leg was shaking under the table as his father approached him. "Dad- I didn't think you were going to be here."
"I didn't think you were here," he turned slowly to Leo. "And you are?"
"Leo Valdez, sir."
"Where's your date, Jason."

He already knew. There was no point in lying anymore.
"Uhm. Leo is my boyfriend. I've been dating him for over six months now."
Jason couldn't read his dad's expression, but he knew it wasn't good.
"I am not paying your college fund."
"Father-"
"I am not your father."
"I'm sorry I-"
"We can talk about this elsewhere."

Jason quickly slipped Leo some money to pay for the food. "I have to go."
"Jason," Leo whispered. "You're not g-"
"Get outside, Jason," his father demanded.
He shook his head at Leo, telling him to not say anymore before walking outside.

[LEO VALDEZ]

He left the money on the table and pulled out his phone, ringing Thalia.
"Who is this?" She said, answering the phone.
"You seriously don't have my number saved to your contacts? Anyway- problem."
"Is Jason okay?"
"Your dad found out," he walked outside. "I- they're getting into the car. I think they're just talking."
"Oh fuck. Shit. Okay, I'm at home, he won't be able to do anything but talk in the car," she sighed. Leo could hear her pacing back and forth. "I'll get him out, don't worry."
"Tell him to call me as soon as possible, okay?"
"Yeah. Yeah, okay."

[JASON GRACE]

Thankfully his father was driving, meaning he couldn't do much more than yell. Jason sat in the backseat, trying to think of some way to escape. They got back to his dad's house, Thalia standing outside for some reason, motorbike helmet in her hand.
"Get out," his father demanded, leaving the car.
Jason stepped out. "Thalia?"
"Leo rang," she whispered. "I'll take you home."
"Did you know about this?!" Their dad asked Thalia.
"No," Jason answered for her. "No one knew."

Thalia sighed, but didn't argue. There was no point in her getting into trouble, too.
"Why? Why do you have to be like this?"
"There's nothing wrong with me liking Leo-"
"Nothing wrong?! You are an awful son."
"Dad-" Thalia stepped in. "Look, I'll drive him back to Beryl's and-"
Her stepmother glared at her, the hatred towards Beryl obvious.
"Where he belongs-" his father took a step closer to Jason. "The screwup, useless son with his screwup, useless mother."
"At least she was there!" He snapped back, having enough. His father was the reason he took so long to accept himself. His father was the reason that he had deep rooted homophobia. His father was the reason that he was so, so awful to Leo. His mother was far from perfect, but she was there. Most of the time, anyway.

His answering back was quickly diminished when his father hit him.
It hurt. Mentally more than physically. He held onto his nose, knowing it was bleeding. He could barely remember the next few minutes- Thalia shoving her helmet onto his head, his father yelling unforgivable names while his wife tried to stop him, his father pledging to cut him out completely. His college fund, his phone bill, any Christmas or birthday presents, his will. He made it clear that Jason was no longer his son.

[THALIA GRACE]

She dragged Jason onto the back of her motorbike.
"Hold on, J. It's gonna be okay, okay? Just hold on."
"You two come back here!" Their dad shouted.
Jason's head dropped onto Thalia's shoulder, slipping in and out of consciousness. All she could do was drive, at least until she got away from there. Anywhere but there.

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Word Count: 1705

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A/N: sorry lol, this chapter was getting too long so I decided to end it now 😍😍😍

Anyway, I know I've not been talking about the rewrite, but summer is coming so I'm gonna have more time (even though I'm away for 3 weeks in July-August lol), but I'll definitely be working on the rewrite over summer!!
I made a Google survey that I'd love for y'all to fill out, obviously you don't have to!!

There's not many questions, but for the one about the boarding school one, I'll explain

So, either, all the students in the highschool go to boarding school so they'll have more time to develop their relationships (both platonic and romantic) and just generally be with each other more (plus cute nighttime shenanigans sneaking out of boarding school at 3am yes pls 🤔)
HOWEEVRR this will mean we'll see less of their home life (so less Sally x Paul, less Sally in general, less Jules Albert 💔, less of their home life such as Jason's mom, Percy's abuse and Leo's homelessness)

So while a boarding school could be fun, I'm not 100% sure. Feel free to comment any extra things you'd like/dislike, this is all about readers' preferences!!!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeSAMZHB25QUV8DNfL-tOakmVt72q79UZVmPa34zbqkGw0r4Q/viewform?usp=sf_link

If you cannot access it, comment pls :)))