[MINOR TRIGGER WARNING: chapter contains some mentions of blood, injuries, and implied violence]
Breaking news: your shipping needs may or may not be fulfilled quicker in this book than in the percico one. We shall see.
But since Alone Again is at chapter twenty-something and nothing has happened, it won't be very hard to beat that😂
ANYWAYS, HERE WE GO.
What's another lie going to do anyways?
*****
Leo was beginning to get concerned about Jason's recent behavior. He was usually this lighthearted, optimistic guy who always managed to cause those around him to feel the same way. Recently, Leo noticed, he had seemed to be quite the opposite. He was a lot more quiet, and he was always scanning his surroundings. When Leo had tried to ask him what was wrong, he simply waved him off and left.
He also happened to notice a certain person that Jason seemed to be around with recently. Ever since the whole hallway incident, Jason had been spending more time around the boy, who he had, probably unintentionally, begun to call Percy. Jason just continuously talked about him. He'd wonder where he was, how he was feeling, he'd even ask Piper and Leo things about him that they obviously didn't know.
The only thing that may be important that Jason mentioned about him was that he didn't talk, which Leo found odd. He said that he wasn't mute, but he just didn't talk. However, if he can talk, Leo thought, why doesn't he just do that?
He didn't really understand people.
But then it stopped a week later.
And Leo was way more concerned about that.
Jason returned to his normal self. He walked Piper to her history class, which was on the way to his biology class, he laughed at Leo's stupid jokes and puns, he said stupid stuff to Thalia, he helped Hazel with her geometry class after school every Thursday, he visited Frank and ordered a pizza from him every week, he talked to Reyna about Roman mythology after his Latin classes, he happily listened to Annabeth go on and on about Greece, and most noticeable to Leo, the only time that his composure flickered was when he brought of the silent boy. He'd frown and pretend that Percy never existed.
To be honest, Leo kind of hated it.
Sure, he was a bit rattled at all of the mentions of Percy in their day-to-day conversations, but without him, Jason was simply wearing a mask. However, Leo knew exactly what Jason needed: a completely careless movie night where him, Jason, Piper, and Thalia sat around, ate food, and mostly just made fun of whatever movie they were watching. That night, Leo had picked an outrageously ridiculous shark movie to start them off.
At around midnight and halfway through their second movie, they paused their film so that Thalia could get up to make popcorn, which Piper had eaten excessive amounts of. After their microwave started malfunctioning, Jason had joined her in the kitchen to try and help. During this time, the doorbell rang throughout the house.
Thalia groaned from the kitchen, shouting to the younger teens, "Will one of you two get that?"
Leo and Piper exchanged looks before Piper spoke up. "It's fucking midnight, I'm not getting that."
In response, Leo rolled his eyes with a small laugh before standing up and heading to answer the door.
And there was no way in hell that he could've predicted what he saw when he opened it.
"Percy?" He whispered, scanning the boy. In the darkness, he couldn't really see him at all, but his form did seem relatively weaker.
He got a nod as a response before he stepped aside to allow the older male to enter, who almost collapsed after passing the threshold. Fortunately, Leo caught his arm before he could do so and hoisted him onto his shoulders. Surprisingly, Leo could easily transport Percy as he closed and locked the door before slowly guiding Percy to the living room. Upon arriving at the doorframe that separated the kitchen from said living room, though, Leo realized that the situation was more serious that he had originally thought.
His only light source was the light over the kitchen table, but that illuminated the room, showing several cuts and bruises littering the boy's body. He was extremely pale, his eye was swollen, and he just looked flat-out exhausted. His eyes widened in realization before he turned to the three on the couch, whose backs were turned towards Leo.
He re-situated Percy on his shoulders before getting their attention. "Uh, guys?"
"Leo, what now? We're starting the mo...," Piper's voice faded as she turned around. Noticing this, the Grace siblings both turned in his direction as well, earning Leo three pairs of wide eyes on him and the unexpected guest.
Thalia was the first to actually react. "Oh my god, get him out here, Valdez."
Piper evacuated the couch and Thalia and Jason did the same with their chairs, helping Percy get transferred from Leo's shoulder to the couch. They gently laid him down, and Thalia sent Jason to get their first aid kid and Piper to get a glass of water.
Leo sat down next to Thalia at Percy's side, who seemed quite unnerved in his current location. Piper returned relatively quickly, flicking the lights on as she entered. Blood dotted Percy's skin, and Piper left again to grab some type of towel or rag. Thalia had him drink the water, which made him look slightly better. Jason and Piper both returned at the same time, handing Thalia their items and joining the duo on the floor. Percy looked half-asleep, or rather half-dead, but they managed to keep him awake until all of his head injuries were cleaned and either bandaged or clotted. After that, Piper still tried to keep him awake by having a one-sided conversation with him while the two boys and Thalia continued to fix Percy up. He winced every time they touched him, and Thalia definitely noticed it. She had lightened her touch, but it hadn't seemed to make much of a difference.
After presumably patching Percy up completely, Piper finally let him doze off. Thalia waited to make sure he was, in fact, asleep before turning to the trio.
"Why the hell is there a teenage boy showing up at our door at midnight all beaten up like this?" She whispered harshly, getting a series of shrugs and incoherent answers as a response.
She rolled her eyes. "Do you even know him?" She inquired, looking towards Jason.
He shrugged. "For, like, two or three weeks now, yeah."
"What happened to him?"
Jason shook his head, silently telling her that he hadn't the slightest clue why Percy had appeared on their porch in his state. He looked at the slumbering boy, straightening out his frown ever so slightly as he realized how peaceful the boy looked. It was a good change from the pained expressions he had just seen from him moments ago.
Piper sighed. "Let's just...just finish the movie and wait for him to wake up, okay?" The other three agreed, Leo grabbing the remote and hitting play on the long, black remote. He made himself comfortable on the floor with Piper, since they had both given up their seats to the visitor.
"His name's Percy," Leo muttered to Thalia in the middle of a scene. She looked over and gave a nod of appreciation before they both returned their attention to the screen. And somehow, they all eventually fell asleep with some random movie quietly rolling on the TV in the otherwise silent living room.
And it was okay.
EW, IM SORRY. Also, I just realized that this is at 500+ reads, so thank you!💕
(Sorry for the slow updates on this book whoops)