Long time no see, huh?
Hope you enjoy whatever I just wrote.
His walls had finally fallen.
*****
Now, Clarisse normally let people do their own thing and live how they wanted. Percy, however, was a different story. Clarisse thrived upon annoying the boy, as any good frenemy would. And, admittedly, she had grown to care about Percy, regardless of how she might've acted around him.
Not that she'd ever tell him that.
Clarisse was sitting at breakfast the next day, alone. She wasn't too concerned about Percy, since it wasn't uncommon for him to skip breakfast, but the absence of Chris, Connor, and Travis did make for a lonely time.
During lunch, she was alone again, which was odd. Percy missed breakfast, but hadn't missed a whole 24 hours of food since he was 15. She was about to leave and go harass Percy for answers when Mr. D walked in.
"Where's Peter?" The man asked, glancing around the room.
Clarisse rolled her eyes at his forgetfulness. "Not here. Want me to tell him something?"
"Just tell him that his friend--what was it, Nick?--is coming by this afternoon."
"Nice try, but it's Nico."
He shrugged. "Whatever."
Mr. D started to leave when Clarisse called out his name. "What now?"
"Is it alright if I bring Percy food, so he eats something today?"
"Was he not out here earlier or something?"
Clarisse shook her head. "Nope."
Mr. D sighed, waving his hand in classic I-don't-care fashion before returning to his post. Clarisse quickly took the other plate that was made, heading out to Percy's cell. She power-walked down the hall, slowing when she reached her destination.
She knocked twice and waited a few seconds before taking a verbal approach. "Jackass, I brought you lunch!"
"Not hungry!"
"Sucks for you, I'm coming in!" She warned before entering the room. She had expected it to be locked, and was genuinely surprised to find it not be that way.
Percy was just sitting on his bed, pillow (if you could even call it that) laid over his lap. He didn't appear to have been doing anything beforehand, so Clarisse didn't see the difficulty in walking out to get lunch.
She walked over to him before shoving the plate into his general direction. He flinched at the sudden movement, but grabbed it nonetheless.
"You're welcome, dumbass," she said, taking a seat on the opposite side of the bed.
He muttered a half-hearted, "Thanks, bitch," back at her.
Clarisse squinted at his reserved state. Normally, they'd insult each other without a second thought, although it had been just a bit different since all that had happened recently.
"Oh, by the way, your boyfriend's coming to see you later," Clarisse said nonchalantly.
Percy nearly choked on his food. "My what?"
Clarisse rolled her eyes. "Don't act like you don't like him, Jackson. I've been avoiding the subject because of certain...events, but it's written all over your face."
All Percy did in reply was stare at the girl with a facial expression that was some mix of disbelief, annoyance, and dare she say it, bashfulness.
"I'm surprised he hasn't figured it out yet. He's, apparently, just as oblivious as you," she continued, partially speaking to herself.
"You mean...Nico's coming by today?" Percy clarified.
She shot a small glare. "Who else would it be? Luke fucking Castellan?"
At that, Percy broke the eye contact. Realizing her mistake, Clarisse tried to apologize. "Shit, sorry, Percy. I wasn't thinking."
He shook his head. "It's fine, I just...," he thought about the night before, "want a break from him."
Clarisse nodded her head, aware that she had most likely killed the conversation.
She was surprised when Percy re-initiated their previous topic. "Why is Nico coming? Isn't he only supposed to visit, you know, yesterday?"
Clarisse shrugged. "Mr. D seems to not hate him...although he still doesn't know his name."
"I've been here over five years and he still calls me everything but Percy," the boy said with a breathy laugh.
Clarisse smiled a bit before answering, "Guess he just wants to see you or something. Wouldn't say visiting your lover in prison is exactly romantic but-"
"Stop talking," Percy groaned, burying his face in the pillow.
Clarisse's smile widened. "Are you blushing, Perseus?"
Her reply was a muffled, "No."
The girl rolled her eyes. "You're impossible."
"I am not!" Percy exclaimed, lifting his head.
Clarisse looked at him incredulously. "Right."
After a few seconds of quiet, Clarisse spoke again. "So if I told Nico you liked him..."
"I don't like-"
"Let me finish. Would you murder me?"
Percy gave her an eye roll. "No, but I would tell a certain Chris Rodriguez the same thing."
The girl's eyes narrowed. "Jackson, I swear to-"
"Calm down," he cut her off, "I'm not that mean to you."
"So you haven't told him yet?"
Percy nodded as confirmation. "I can keep a secret, Clarisse. Trust me."
*****
Nico was just about to die of complete and utter boredom because of the events of the long, dreadful eight hours of school before the final bell rang. He hurriedly made his way to Jason's car and waited for the blonde before getting in and driving out to see Percy. Jason, thank the gods, had agreed to drive Nico.
About halfway through the drive, Jason verbalized his thoughts, "I don't understand why you insist on constantly coming back here."
"I don't know why everyone else gave up on him," Nico stated with a shrug.
Letting out a light chuckle, Jason replied, "Nico di Angelo, you never cease to confuse me."
With a smirk, Nico gave a simple, "Good," before staring out the passenger side window.
When they arrived at their destination, Jason dropped Nico off before deciding on a departure time and driving off to "run errands for Thalia."
Nico entered the building, passing by Dionysus, or apparently Mr. D, with a wave. The man pointed in the general direction of the cells before sending Nico off and returning to whatever he might've been doing beforehand.
The boy walked down the hallway and gently knocked on the door he remembered as being Percy's. He heard a faint, "Come in!" before entering.
He saw Percy and Clarisse sitting around, and he assumed they were talking about something amusing because of the slight smile on Percy's face as he greeted Nico.
And oh, was it a beautiful smile.
Okay, so...I finally updated!😂 I don't know how that last line really sounds, but I assume you all get the point of whatever the heck I was trying to say.
Anyways, I don't have much else to say, so goodbye, children!