Percy Jackson

When my father arrived and it was Mom, Paul, and Poseidon, all I wanted to do was scream and jump out the window.

My father tried.. tried to be nice and I guess it's an effort.

But I wanted him out. I wanted to be done.

Mom and Paul still haven't officially told me that they've broken up. All mom told me was that things happen in life and Paul's moving.

I was exhausted, though. I just hit a point where I couldn't cry, I couldn't feel anything.

My whole body just went numb.

Poseidon was saying something, I don't really know what. I didn't want him there, though. I knew that much. I didn't want my father there, being with my mom and holding her and while talking and...

I wanted that to be Paul. Who's here, but not...

But he's leaving soon.

Maybe I'll just jump out of the window tonight or slit my throat or something.

It sounds a lot easier than this bullshit.

I could hear Poseidon's voice, though, after my mom went to start dinner for us and while I didn't process what he was saying, it just made me feel like shit.

Everything I've ever lost can be traced back to my dad or the gods.

Fuck them.

"Hey, Poseidon," Paul suggested. "Why don't you be quiet for a minute, it looks like you're starting to get on his nerves a little. Just leave him alone, he looks tired."

Poseidon didn't want to believe him though, so he just went on anyways.

I don't think I wanted to know what he was saying, so I focused on the numbness. On not being able to feel anything positive anymore.

It just hurts or it's numb. That's it.

I lost any sense of time, but after what felt like 5 or 10 minutes of him just talking at me, I pulled what Thalia did. Sort of.

I snapped and I told him the truth. I told my father that I didn't need or want him in my life. That I just wanted something normal for once in my life.

We almost had it with Paul.

But my father ruined that, too.

•••

Sally Jackson

I figured that maybe either the boys or food would get through to him. So I was minding my business, making his favorite for dinner, when Poseidon walked out into the living room. He looked... Overwhelmed, almost.

"Hey, is he any better?" I asked my lover, who redirected his attention to me. "It's he calmer or...?"

"Yeah, he kind of hit his limit," Poseidon told me, a bit anxious. "He... He kind of leveled off and I was talking to him and he just..."

Poseidon stopped.

"Sally, this is a bad idea for right now."

"What? Dinner? It'll make him feel a lot better, he's probably hungry." I insisted, but Poseidon shook his head, looking troubled.

"No, not... He is probably hungry, but I wasn't referring to that," he explained to me. "I mean us getting together."

He wasn't saying that when this started a month ago.

I'm just saying.

"Poseidon, what are you talking about?" I questioned. "That's kind of out of nowhere. Why... Why?"

Poseidon sighed.

"Percy's broken, Sally," the father to my only child told me. "He doesn't want me here."

"What are you talking about he doesn't want you here? It's not like he said—"

"Sally, he just finished telling me that he doesn't want me in his life anymore." Poseidon corrected me as he walked over, closer to me. "And I love you, and I want to make this work. But we waited 17 years, and if he doesn't want me around for the sake of his mental health right now, I'll leave. He's taking the break up harder than we thought he would, and he needs some time. I'm sure that, in a few years, he'll change his mind and we can start this when he's better. It's about him just as much as us, Sally. He's asking for space, so I'll give it to him. For now, alright?"

I couldn't really... I mean, all I could do in response was nod my head and accept it.

Percy always comes first and he always will.

Sometimes the sacrifices with that are harder than other times.

•••

Paul Blofis

Poseidon left, and a few minutes later, he was calmed again. A little out of it, but he could talk.

So he told me his side of things. How he overheard Sally and I talking about the break up and...

Now that I've put some stuff in the new apartment, I've realized that I don't really want to do this anymore. To move out and officially not be with Sally anymore.

But she's with Poseidon, I'm not a homewrecker.

Maybe I do love her, I just don't... I've never really been in love before, I don't know how it feels. It's weird and different for everyone.

It's not easy, either.

It's been a weird week, that's for sure.

"I just..." Percy tried to explain to me. "I don't know. I wanted something normal, something constant in my life and being able to come home to you and mom was that normal sort of thing for me and now it's over and uh... Things are just... I mean I tried to kill myself a few days ago so there's that. That's about as good as I am right now."

Hearing that made me feel terrible.

He just wanted... He just wants something normal in his life. And he had it.

But it's over now. I'm basically moved out.

And we didn't give him time to prepare for it.

He fell asleep, though, not long after Nico came back into the room and I left the room, letting them talk a little before he passed out.

"Hey, how's he doing?" Sally asked me, looking slightly out of it.

"Uh, bad," I told her. "He looks like he's about to pass out, though. He wore himself out."

I looked around for a second. It didn't take long to notice.

"Where'd Poseidon go?"

"He left," Sally told me, and suddenly I felt bad again. "I guess Percy told him that he didn't want him around and he wanted to respect that. So we're going to hold on again for a while. Let him heal. What's another year or two after 17 of them, right?"

I gave her a sad smile.

"Aw, I'm sorry," I apologized. "That kind of sucks. It's a long time..."

"Yeah," she agreed. "It is. I don't..."

Sally stopped.

"We'll figure it out, though." She told me, sounding content. "As always do."