Percy Jackson

It sucked that Dad didn't come over, he just sent me the tickets. Didn't say anything about it in the email, just sent them.

Yeah, that didn't make me feel the best.

Grover came over around 5, and he looked like shit. But then again, I probably looked worse.

"Have you heard?" He asked me when I let him in and I nodded my head.

"Piper called me last night around midnight after Nico told her, bring she was the one Annabeth saw." I assured him. "I tried tapping in, I can't get it. But it's also been a while, and one hell of a day."

"Sugarcoating, yeah," he agreed. "Camp doesn't know what to do because everyone there knee Annabeth pretty well because she used to be there all year. I mean, it's... It's weird. I've recruited like 4 people. Half of them are dead."

Grover looked at me.

"You're not allowed to die."

"I wasn't planning on it until I'm like, old."

"Good." He told me. "because I'm over this death bullshit."

"We all are."

It was silent for a while before Paul got home. Mom making dinner being it was 6:30, Grover and I were watching some old videos Annabeth had taken my first few summers because she wanted my parents to know what we were doing because I was supposed to die. She gave it me when she showed up the summer of the Second Titan War.

There was a lot of the tapes. But we did a lot in the summer. Quests and new kids and just trying to be kids. We weren't good at it, but we tried.

"Hey, is Percy home?" Paul asked immediately, not paying attention to the living room. "he skipped his last class and he didn't go to practice. His coach texted me and asked if he was sick."

"Um... Yeah, he's on the couch." Mom said and noticed his tone, which I didn't like. It... I don't skip school. I wasn't planning on leaving.

But I hit my limit and if my teacher told me I should go home, I should probably go home.

"Paul," Mom stopped him. "Don't, please."

"He can't just-"

"We have company," Mom tried to at least put it off. "Talk to him later, okay?"

My step dad just scoffed and rolled his eyes, though. Because it's Grover. He's basically my brother, it's not like it's Leo or somebody.

He turned around and just turned off the TV. Didn't bother to pause it or ask us to turn it off. He just turned it off.

Like, thanks. I'm really not in the mood for your pissy attitude towards me.

"Where'd you go?" He asked me.

I shrugged.

"Home."

"What made you think it was okay to skip?"

I shrugged again.

"I mean..."

"Did you throw up?"

"No..."

"Then you should've stayed for your classes, Percy," Paul started to lecture me and I get that he doesn't know. He hasn't heard about what happened. But it didn't make it hurt any less. It didn't make me feel any better about my life right now. "you know you're on close watch from the office right now and if you keep this up, you're going to get in a lot of trouble and end up getting expelled. All I ask you to do is go to school and-"

"Try! I know!" I snapped, which made Grover jump. "Sorry that it was a shitty day and I didn't get out of bed soon enough to ask mom to call me in! I tried to get through the day, but when Ms. Willows asks me why I thought it was a good idea to go to school today, I figured it justified going home because we had a work day my last hour. It's not... I tried, okay? I tried and it didn't work, so I went home."

Paul was taken back

I've gone through this so many times and every time it seems to just get harder.

"Percy-"

"What!?" I yelled, not meaning to and I covered my mouth because I really can't lose it again. I could feel the tears, and they were hot.

Yelling is my least favorite thing to do, because it scares people. I've been told that I can be scary, and I don't like that. I got it from my dad. It's one of the worst things I inherited from him.

Paul took a step back.

"I... Sorry," Paul apologized. "I didn't think you... What happened?"

I looked at the photo album sitting on the coffee table that was filled of photos with Annabeth, Grover, and I.

"Annabeth uh..."

I stopped.

"Did she break up with you?" Paul asked me, figuring I was just heartbroken.

I shook my head and sniffled.

"No, she didn't..." I started off, trying to stay calm. "Didn't... She's dead. I found out after you guys went to bed last night."

•••
Paul Blofis

Somebody should just slap me next time I open my mouth.

I shut my mouth, apologized, and gave him some space. I could bring a note in for him tomorrow that he won't be at school. Sally filled me in on the funeral and that he's leaving tomorrow night to fly out and help get ready for the funeral. Help her parents with a lot of the camp stuff that they don't understand what to do with.

After packing, Percy went to help Grover pack at camp and so he was gone for the next week or so.

And I felt really bad, because Sally and I have been talking when he hasn't been around lately and we've come to a few different decisions. Of which I'm hoping he won't freak out when he find out what they are.

Sally and I are breaking up.

There's no big reason, just... We rushed our relationship and didn't wait to really see if we could actually do the whole forever thing that came with marriage, and we can't.

We knew that when we got married that we shouldn't have the vows be official in the name of the law. Technically, Sally is still Sally Jackson. She goes by Blofis, but that isn't true on paper. We figured that, in a few years, after Percy was moved out and out of the demigod lifestyle, and we still wanted to be together and make something together, we'd get the vows renewed.

But we don't. We lost that spark. That feeling that we want to be together.

Don't get me wrong, Sally's an amazing woman. I love her to death.

Just... Not like that. She's an amazing friend.

We don't need to force something that isn't there anymore. For a while, we had interest in each other, and that's gone. Both of us have talked it through and come to terms with what happened.

Hell, she's going on a date tonight. I don't know who it's with, but it's none of my business.

We live together, that's it. We're roommates.

And that's alright.