Perfect Little Blue Boy (Percy Jackson)

Chapter Forty Seven

Percy

Taking naps together are amazing. I didn't think that when Patrick and Paige got home that they'd take photos and what not. But either way, it was a nice nap.

Patrick

Were we snooping in Percy's room?

Yes.

Were triplets. We can't have secrets from each other. It's virtually impossible. And so far we had found a lot of photos, some drawings (he wasn't into art when we were younger, but whatever, it was good) and a box that was labeled  'Camp.'

We opened the box, expecting cute little stuff in the box.

Yeah... Uh, no.

One of the first things I found in this box was a speech. A speech of which you'd give at a funeral. After somebody died.

Yeah, there was at least a dozen of these. If not more. And they were sob stories. And yes, I know of people that have died. Outside of Gabe and Paige. On the streets, before I was thrown into an orphanage and what not. My best friend from the streets died about two years ago. And that sucked. Grief is the worst thing to go through.

Yet this was person after person. I had no idea how Percy wasn't in devastation right now.

I had maybe gotten half way through the box before I decided it was best shut, and it was just weird. He knew all of these people. They were friends. And they were gone.

Percy woke up maybe five minutes after I closed the box. I knew he was awake because I smelled food being made and Percy was the cook of the family when Mom was gone.

Coming out of what I'm assuming was now the three of ours room, I saw Percy making up some chicken that looked amazing. He cooked, I played sports, Paige sang. Those were our things. The things that set us apart as kids.

So I'm glad he still cooks. And started to take care of himself. That's one thing I always worried about after I left. That Gabe took out everything in him and without therapy or anything. Without friends, he would fall apart. He would become depressed and have the same ending that Paige did.

But apparently not, and I'm happy about that. Percy looked like he had been up for a few minutes, whereas Nico had yet to get off the couch.

"You still cook?" I asked my brother, expecting him to jump. But he didn't, which seemed to be a first. He used to be really easy to scare.

"Of course," Percy told me as he put something on the stove. "Why wouldn't I?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. People change, man."

He agreed to that, and it was silent for a minute.

"How'd it go with Dad?"

"Good!" Paige perked up, lying. And Percy knew. Lunch with Dad was... He tried too hard. And I don't know if I wanted to trust him quite yet. But Paige might've not gotten that same vibe from him.  "He was super nice and really cool! He was a pretty cool dad. Right, Patrick?"

The pressure was on me.

"Oh, yeah." I agreed, being the worst liar out of the three of us. Percy was the best liar. I don't know how he does it. "He was cool. Yeah. Cool. That's dad."

Percy laughed.

"You don't like the guy?" He suggested and I nodded my head.

"I don't blame you." Percy told me as he started to mix something together. "I don't trust him anymore. He doesn't get the idea. I just hope he doesn't fucking force you through Camp and that bullshit."

"What's so bad about Camp?" Paige insisted, confused. "It didn't seem so bad there. Nice people, at least."

Percy had a look on his face that just... He's been through things. He's seen things. He's changed. A lot. And I'm not sure if it was for better or for worse.

"Yeah, they're nice there." He agreed to Paige's last comment. "Really can't afford not to be anymore. It's just a lot of bullshit that goes on there. It's really cool your first summer. But it's not worth going. It's not worth risking your life for some lazy asses that can't take care of their own problems."

Neither of us knew what to say for a minute. Percy seemed pretty set on that, and I had a feeling Dad was a part of that.

"Yeah, uh," I started off. "You've changed, Percy."

I don't think I like it.

And then found out that this wasn't always what he was like.

"Yeah," he snapped at me, suddenly a lot harsher. "Well blame yourself for that. You're the one that left."

And he just... He grabbed a sweater and walked out into the cold night. It wasn't more than 40° outside. He'd freeze with just a sweater.

This is why I never came home. I didn't want to deal with this. Knowing one of them would be mad with me. Either Mom or Percy. And today was going so well, I thought maybe that wouldn't be the case.

But no, he was pissed off. And now I felt even worse about what I did. About leaving.

Paige looked at me, confused.

"What happened after I died?" She asked. "he's pissed off. It's hard to piss any of us off."

"I uh..." I told my sister. "We went to your funeral and I slipped out and ran away. I didn't want to deal with Gabe. I tried to find Dad. Didn't work out. But I mean, an orphanage took me in and I made friends and this is why I never came home. Because somebody would get pissed off and I don't—"

And she pointed out the reason why Percy was probably really pissed off with me.

"You left him with Gabe?" Paige cut me off, turning off the stove top. "Percy had zero confidence our entire childhood. And you left him with Gabe? For Gabe to do anything he wanted to him? Were lucky Percy's not dead, Patrick. Of course he's pissed off with you if that's the case. We made a pact that unless we died, we'd never let the other go through what Gabe did to us alone. And you left him alone."

Okay, yeah. We did make that pact when we were little.

I realized Nico was awake. And he must've saw Percy leave. He looked confused.

"What happened?" Nico asked us, thinking about something.

"Percy got pissed off with me." I told this dude that I barely knew. "He left. Didn't say where he was going."

Nico let out a breath that showed he didn't want to deal with this right now.

"I'll be back."