(A/N: I DUNNO HOW I GOT 7K BUT THANK YOU HAVE A CHAPTER!!)
The next day, Apollo woke Percy up right after he came back from raising the sun. Percy had grumbled.
"'Pollo, no," He groaned, burying his face in his pillow.
Apollo surpressed a smile at the sight.
"Percy, come on, waking up early would be good for you," Apollo nagged.
"I'm tired, I don't care," Percy mumbled, slurring his words.
Apollo sighed, sitting down on the bed.
"I'll let you hide in your cabin all day. Just get up now, and we can walk around camp before anyone wakes up," Apollo tried, running a hand through his hair.
Percy groaned, weakly pushing himself up into a sitting position and heavily leaning on Apollo. Apollo chuckled and wrapped an arm around Percy.
"See? That wasn't hard. Come on, now," Apollo said softly, getting up and helping Percy up.
Percy yawned and gave a small sigh, reluctantly and weakly getting up. He shivered at the harsh cold of the morning, and Apollo quickly handed him a sweater.
"Don't get sick," He reprimanded, watching Percy slowly put it on.
"Don't wake me up at the crack of dawn," Percy shot back, sluggishly walking toward the door.
Apollo grumbled under his breath as he followed him out. Percy wrapped his arms around himself, shivering as they walked around camp. With a yawn, he put his head on Apollo's shoulder, walking slowly. Apollo wrapped an arm around him and frowned slightly when he noticed how thin Percy was, and how much he was shivering.
"Perce," he began, "when was the last time you ate?"
Percy paused, looking up at Apollo.
"Uh... the coma... I- I dunno? A little over two weeks, I guess?" Percy winced.
Apollo gaped at him.
"Perseus Jackson, how the fuck are you even alive right now?!" He exclaimed incredulously.
Percy gave a tired shrug.
"Don't you realize how bad this is?! Percy, you're on the verge of fucking dying!" Apollo yelled.
Percy flinched, looking down.
"It's fine-"
"Perce-"
"It doesn't-"
"Percy-"
"It's not-"
"Perseus!"
Percy shut up, shifting and fidgeting anxiously. Apollo softened at the sight, giving a small sigh, making Percy flinch again.
"I'm sorry. I'm just worried, okay?" Apollo murmured, slowly and gently putting a hand on Percy's shoulder.
"Don't be. I'm fine," Percy waved off, rubbing his left arm.
Apollo noticed, and despite not wanting to make a comment, he decided to try.
"Have the scars faded?"
Percy recoiled, stepping away from Apollo with a flinch.
"N-no," He mumbled, looking down again.
Feeling guilty, Apollo gave a small nod.
"Would you do it again?" He asked quietly.
Percy nodded hesitantly. Apollo's heart broke for him.
"Not that- not that I will, you know. It's just... I didn't think the Gaea-battle plan would end up with me in a coma," Percy forced himself to admit.
He looked up at Apollo, sighing shakily.
"You mean you did it because it would kill you?" Apollo asked with dread.
"No, I just didn't know if I would survive, and I decided to take the risk. I wouldn't have minded either way, dying or living, but here I am, and I... I do mind."
Apollo wrapped his arms around Percy, tears filling his eyes.
"Percy. Perseus. No. Please promise me you won't do anything like that," Apollo begged quietly, tears falling down his face.
Percy smiled a broken smile.
"I can't lie to you, Apollo."
Apollo gave a quiet sob, holding Percy tighter.
"Please, love, please, don't, please, for me, please," Apollo pleaded desperately, his body shaking with sobs.
"I'm sorry," Percy choked on a sob, speaking in a whisper.
"Don't be sorry, just stay alive, please," Apollo mumbled, sobbing silently.
"F-for you. I will. For you," Percy managed to choke out, holding onto Apollo tightly.
Apollo just held Percy tighter as the two of them sobbed. He flashed them into cabin 3 and tried to calm himself down, trying to be there for Percy. Apollo gently wiped Percy's tears, keeping him in his arms.
"Shh, it's alright, love, it's gonna be okay," Apollo whispered.
Percy took a few shaky, deep breaths before laughing.
"I've got to stop melting down," He murmured.
"It's unhealthy to bottle it up," Apollo reprimanded.
Percy rolled his eyes.
"Now, I'm going to go get you some nutricious food, alright?" Apollo told him quietly.
"Alright. Could I have some coffee, too, though?" Percy asked, looking up at him.
"You can have water," Apollo retorted fondly, summoning a glass of water.
Percy stared at him with a deadpan expression as Apollo laughed before flashing out. A short while later, he flashed into the cabin, and handed Percy a plate of scrambled eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers, and some green stuff that looked nasty. Percy raised his eyebrows.
"Eat," Apollo told him, pushing the plate into his hands.
"It looks disgusting," Percy commented dryly.
"It's healthy. Now come on, eat," Apollo repeated.
Percy groaned, reluctantly picking the fork up and taking a small bite of the egg. He cringed as he swallowed it.
"Could you at least not watch me like that?" Percy asked pleadingly.
"Oh, yeah, sorry," Apollo mumbled, looking away.
With a small sigh, Percy returned to taking tiny bites of food and playing around with most of it. He had finished a quarter of the food when he set the plate down.
"I can't, I'm gonna throw up if I eat more," He explained quietly, rubbing his stomach.
Apollo looked at him with concern as he nodded.
"It's alright. You tried your best, and at least you ate something. It's probably best to ease you back into eating anyway, to get you used to it. It's dangerous to make you eat so much food after not having eaten anything in a long time," Apollo explained.
Percy gave a small nod, sighing quietly.
"I'm proud of you. It's not like you ate a small piece of food either, you ate a good amount for now. Don't worry, Perce," Apollo comforted quietly.
Percy gave a small smile.
"Thanks, 'Pollo," He mumbled.
Apollo gave a small smile, rubbing Percy's back comfortingly. Percy sighed and leaned against him. He pulled the sweater tighter around himself with a small shiver. Apollo frowned and wrapped an arm around his boyfriend. Percy gave a small smile and yawned, struggling to stay awake.
"Do you need to rest? It's not even 8 yet, it would be fine if you got more sleep," Apollo offered in concern.
Percy shrugged tiredly.
"I'm just tired. Not sleepy," Percy replied quietly.
"Do you want or need anything?" Apollo asked instead.
"I don't know," Percy mumbled.
"That's alright. You can tell me if you think of anything," Apollo reassured comfortingly.
Percy gave a silent nod, considering it for a few seconds.
"I have an idea but you might not like it," Percy began hesitantly.
"I never like your ideas. Does this idea consist of something lethal?" Apollo groaned.
"Not particularly," Percy answered after a few seconds of consideration.
Apollo sighed, sitting up straighter.
"That's better than nothing. What's your idea, love?" Apollo asked, running a hand through Percy's hair, which had gotten longer in the past few months.
"Some training for once? I'm tired of not doing anything. I miss fighting monsters," Percy admitted quietly.
"You mean risking your life?" Apollo scowled.
Percy bit his lip.
"It's not even dangerous, Apollo," he replied eventually.
"Not dangerous? Percy, you could die. You could get injured," Apollo argued incredulously.
"I'm a fucking mortal! I'm going to die anyway, Apollo, I'm going to get injured, there's no way to avoid it!" Percy exclaimed irritatedly.
Apollo stiffened, something different in his eyes.
"You won't," he replied quietly.
"What?" Percy snapped.
"Any of those. It won't happen. I will go to Zeus and beg if I have to, just so you can be immortal," Apollo whispered.
"What?" Percy recoiled. "I- what- Apollo! I've already been offered immortality before, why should I accept it this time?!"
"Me," Apollo answered, but there was a slight unsure hesitancy in his eyes.
"You," Percy repeated, staring at Apollo.
Apollo bit his lip anxiously.
"You're not asking me if I want immortality. I don't want it. But you would force immortality onto me, wouldn't you? Because of your own needs and reasons," Percy said accusingly.
"Don't tell me I'm selfish," Apollo growled suddenly.
Percy looked taken aback by it, but he neutralized his expression quickly.
"You know you are. It's not only me who thinks it, either. Artemis does, Athena does, fuck, even Ares does. If you don't want to be called selfish, then don't act like it," Percy snapped.
Apollo got up, glaring at the ground.
"I haven't been selfish for a long time, Percy. Not since you," Apollo whispered before flashing out.
Percy felt guilty as he curled up on his bed. It had been ungrateful of him. Why had Apollo ever bothered helping him? Pity? He nearly laughed at that. Why would the all powerful sun god, creator of all illnesses, killer of Patroclus and many other Greek heroes, good and bad, pity him?
Percy laughed hysterically, tears coming to his eyes. He wasn't sure if they were tears of laughter or pain. He shivered again, breaking his laughs off.
Why would Apollo bother? It had been a burden on him, and Percy didn't understand why he would willingly do this.
With a groan, Percy wrapped his blankets around himself and stayed curled up, sighing numbly. He stared off into the distance, dimly aware that he was hyperventilating, and he couldn't breathe. His vision darkened as he felt like there was no oxygen in his lungs. With a strangled gasp for breath, he coughed, choking slightly.
He took shaky, deep breaths as he became aware of his state. He weakly pushed himself up, feeling a headache throb painfully. He felt his pulse in his veins. Percy tried not to panic, trying to think of something to do. He glanced at the clock and let out a breath of relief when he saw it was nearly nine. The campers would be awake.
Percy got up, stumbling slightly and feeling weak. His breaths still shuddering, he shakily did his best to stand, barely managing to keep himself from collapsing. He quickly stumbled to the infirmary. His vision blurring and darkening, he rushed into the infirmary.
"WILL!" he choked out.
The last thing he saw was the blonde rush into the room as he passed out.