Don't judge a book by its cover.[Percabeth]

Chapter 7

Percy's POV

It was weird, I was actually kind of annoyed I had to leave early. Plus I left my dam cookies there, I'd have to make my own. Well, get my mum to make me some. I ran home, it was obvious my mum needed me or she wouldn't have text me to come home. Instead of taking the elevator, I sprinted up the three flights of stairs to my floor. The instant I turned my key I realised why my mum needed me.

The curtains were ripped down from their rails, pillows were thrown all around the place and a high pitched wail filled the apartment. As I moved deeper into the apartment I could a soft, soothing voice murmuring beside the wail. After dropping my jacket off, I moved into the lounge. Behind the sofa, I could see the shape of a young boy curled up and the shape of my mum sat a few metres away from him. Every time she tried to reach out to him his wail became louder. I went and crouched by my mum.

"Hey, what happened this time? And, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay Perce," she clearly wasn't, she had tears running down her face, "I don't really know what happened, he was just watching tv then I don't know, I think his favourite cartoon character died or something but the next thing I knew he was screaming and tearing the place up. And of course I couldn't speak to him or touch him or anything."

"Okay, you go and make yourself a drink. I'll sort him." I kissed her cheek as she nodded and headed towards the kitchen.

I scooted over to where my seven year old brother was curled up and slowly put my hand on his shoulder.

"Tys, buddy come on. You need to get up now. Stop crying, you don't need to cry." It was a simple thing to say but almost immediately the wailing stopped.

"Perce, he died. Why did he die? It wasn't fair he was just playing but they killed him dead anyway."

"Hey, it doesn't matter now does it. Because you'll turn on the tv next week and he'll be back." I didn't have a clue who he was talking about but I prayed to the gods they'd bring the character back.

"Tys, do you want to make cookies? I had some before but I lost them. I could really use your help to make some more."

He sniffed and sat up. He had a dazed look on his face. I stood up and held my hand out to him, he grabbed it and pulled himself up. Without drawing attention to the mess he'd made, I led him into the kitchen and sat him on a chair. I noticed my mum had slipped away, probably to her bedroom.

"I'll be right back, bud. Okay, you just stay here and wait for me." My words were lost on him, he was staring at the clock, an absent expression on his face.

I made my way over to my mum's room, picking up some of the thrown cushions as I went. Paul could fix the curtains later. As I came to my mum's door, I could hear a muffled sobbing. I knocked and walked in. She was sat on the edge of the bed, her head in her hands.

"Mum, please don't be upset. He's fine now, honestly."

She looked up. "I know he's fine now. Of course he is, you've spoken to him. I just don't get it. I see him get worked up like that and I want to help my baby but I cant. Why cant I help him?"

I moved over to her and gave her hug, "Its not your fault, you know Tyson loves you. Gods know why he only responds to my voice. Its probably just my general air of awesome."

I heard my mum chuckle, "Your probably right, Percy. I assume your making cookies now?"

"Uh, duh. Obviously I'm making cookies." I laughed at my mums exasperated expression.

"Okay, I'll be through soon. Please try not to make too much of a mess with the flour."

I gave her one last hug before making my way back to the kitchen. I felt bad for her, no one really knew why my voice alone helped snap Tyson out of his dazes and tantrums. It was down to this though that I didn't get out much, usually if I went out I'd get a call saying he'd gotten worked up by something and they needed me to come and calm him down. We'd tried using recordings of my voice but for some reason it never worked. It was a type of autism he had, or something like that, I wasn't 100% sure I understood what they were going on about when they told us. But anyway, I didn't resent him or my mum for it, it wasn't like it was anyone's fault.

I reentered the kitchen to find Tyson exactly where I'd left him, staring vacantly at the clock. I sighed but then put on a cheery smile. I placed my hands on his shoulders and a large grin split across his face. Thank gods, sometimes after a incident he could stay in his weird mood for days. But luckily this time he came out of it quickly.

"It's cookie time!" I shouted and he giggled in reply.

We made the cookies (blue, obviously) without making too much of a mess and then sat down to watch our favourite film, Finding Nemo. I knew the ending of the film so I wasn't worried about setting him off again. We watched until he fell asleep. I then carried him into his room and put him in his boat shaped bed, tucking him up with his favourite teddy, Rainbow.

I went to my own room, took off my jeans and t shirt and got into bed. For some reason, as I drifted to sleep the image of Annabeth laughing entered my head. It was nice.

~So I know this was like zero percabeth but it was important to the story, okay? Leave me alone. I just want to get this done before I have to go back to school, otherwise I'll end up forgetting about it like the goldfish I am.

see you laters alligators