"They ask too many questions," Percy grunted as he dug his hands into the pocket of his hoodie. Nico stood next to the taller teen, he offered to go to the store with him after Percy needed an escape. "Not something I like."

Nico shrugged, "Annabeth is just naturally curious, she always has been. Jason just wants answers, Thalia got into some similar shit and he's still mad."

Percy didn't ask further about Thalia, he knew better. "Still, they come to my apartment and dig into my past. It's bullshit."

  "Technically, it was my apartment. My dads, anyways." Nico raised a brow, "I didn't know you knew him. Did he ever talk about me? Or Hazel?"

  Percy pursed his lips, "Sometimes. He never said your names. He did tell me about Bianca."

  Bianca. Nico hadn't heard her name said aloud in a long time. Part of him was starting to forget the way her smile always reached her eyes, or how she loved to play with Nico's hair when she was nervous.

  "Oh," he mumbled, "I see."

  "Sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up."

  "No, it's fine. It's been years, I should really start getting better about hearing her name." Nico rubbed his hands together and put them in his pockets. "I-Uh.. what did he say about me?"

  Percy chuckled, "He said something about your liking of dark clothes. Also said you lived with your aunt who works for a boarding school."

  "Aunt Hestia, I've been living with her ever since my uncle Don passed away. She was really close with him, so she wanted to watch after me since my father was always so busy."

"I never connected the dots when I got to the school, but you look a lot like your dad." Percy chuckled and grabbed a pack of gum from one of the shelves of the store. "Hazel on the other hand, I can't find one similar feature."

  "She has his eyes, but that's about it." Nico smiled at the thought of his half sister, he missed her. "Look, Part of the reason we came here was to ask if you wanted to come with us and stay at Piper's house for a bit. Most of us are gonna be staying there for break and Annabeth was worried about you."

"Oh," Percy mumbled, "I don't know, I wanted to spend time with my mom.."

"Your choice." Nico didn't say anything else, just walking beside Percy and staring at the isles.

Percy sighed, complexity wasn't something he enjoyed.

———

Percy didn't like rainy days, but that day seemed to be one. The cement was covered in puddles as Percy arrived at his apartment complex. Nico immediately went inside his fathers house, but Percy had other plans. Gabe wasn't home, nor was his mother. He could peacefully go inside, and he planned on it.

The only problem was that Annabeth approached him.

"Hey," he spoke softly, an apologetic tone in her voice that made Percy aware of what the conversation would become. "I uh, can I come inside?"

Percy held the door open for her and sighed, he was still upset, but he couldn't just say no to Annabeth.

"It's a bit messy, so try not to trip over anything." Percy watched as she scrunched up her nose against the foul smell. Alcohol and nicotine, not the most pleasant of scents. "So, talk."

Annabeth nodded, following him down to his room, the only room that didn't reek. "I just wanted to apologize for yesterday, it was invasive of me and I should've known better."

He didn't say anything, just stared at her. He watched her sit down on the edge of his bed, but he remained standing.

"Listen, I should've known not to pry. I knew your situation wasn't an easy one to talk about, and yet I still pushed it. I just- I can't help myself. I need to get better about it."

"Okay," Percy sighed.

"Do you- Um- do you forgive me?" She asked. He realized that she needed his verbal answer. Yes or no? Did he forgive her? He couldn't quite say for sure. He brushed his hand through his hair and looked over at his desk, his suspension papers sat atop.

"Do you believe me about Luke?" He asked. That was the only thing he wanted to hear.

"I- well, I don't know for sure," Annabeth began, now biting the fingernail on her thumb. She was anxious, she was conflicted. Percy could tell that much, but he wanted to know where her view of Luke was. "I want to believe you, I do. It's hard to believe though, he was my boyfriend and I trusted him for so long."

"Is there any way I can get you to trust me?"

Annabeth looked up and stared at him, she lowered her hands to her lap and then looked at the floor. "Thalia knew Luke the longest, she used to be really close to him. They were like siblings, but one day they stopped talking. She never told anyone why, so I just figured it wasn't important."

"And Thalia is still at the school?"

She nodded, "Maybe you and I should go back and talk to her. She's known Luke since she was a child, she wanted to stay with her aunt in New York to get away from her parents. She used to be closer to Luke than she ever was to Jason or her parents."

Percy nodded, but that's when he heard the front door open. He frowned, staring at the open doorway and listening to the footsteps closely. Annabeth stared at him with concern, even some fear. He put a finger over his mouth and walked out, closing the door behind him.

He knew the heavy sound of his step-fathers feet. His mother's steps sounded quiet and organized, but Gabe's were always easy to identify. Percy gulped as he approached the living room, staring at the man with uncertainty.

"You never came home last night," his voice was rough and slurred. He was already drunk, it was only noon. "Where is it?!"

"I left it on the counter earlier, I counted it and it's the right amount." Percy pursed his lips, he stared at the bare counter. Gabe definitely already found it when he was more sober, but his drunken mind couldn't even count to ten.

"Bullshit!" Percy backed away, making sure he wasn't standing in front of a wall. He knew cornering himself was already a shitty idea, he didn't want to make such a large mistake. If things went south, he could at least run.

But Annabeth was in his room, so he was basically screwed.

"Gabe, it's probably already in the safe. Come on, want me to show you?" Percy didn't know the code to get into the safe, only Gabe did. It was probably a bad idea to even mention it.

Meanwhile, Annabeth was terrified. She'd never seen Percy's stepfather, but she knew he wasn't a good person. She already discovered that he was abusive, so watching through the crack of the door was frightening. She wasn't sure what would happen, but Percy was trying to avoid conflict.

She knew it probably would be a better idea to get out of there, but she couldn't bring herself to move. She was scared, for both her and Percy. Her father married a bitchy woman, but she never thought to even lay a hand on Annabeth.

She'd seen the scars on Percy's body, that day in the river. Everyone saw, no one said a word. It was something that was just unspoken; you see scars, you don't ask. She wasn't sure if the scars came from his stepfather or his apparent life of crime, but she had a feeling that both options were correct.

  "You tryna trick me, kid?"

   "Gabe, you know I know better. I wouldn't steal from you. You can even check, I'll stay right here."

  Annabeth frowned at that. Gabe grabbed Percy's neck tightly, "If I find out you're lying..."

  He released Percy's neck after a moment of silence and walked away. Percy's eyes met Annabeth's through the crack in the door, he widened his eyes and motioned for her to go. All she could do was close the door quietly.

  It wasn't for another ten minutes that Percy would enter his room, Gabe now gone again. She was happy to see that he wasn't hurt.

  "You alright?" She asked, he sat down next to her. "He didn't hurt you?"

  He shook his head, "He knows it's better not to. It worked to keep me in line when I was a kid, but I'm smarter now. He knows that if he goes too far, I won't hesitate to leave. His little drug ring would be ruined."

  "So, why don't you leave?"

  He was quiet for a moment, hesitation. "The same reason I let him hurt me, my mom. She's stuck with him, she doesn't have the money to leave. If I leave, I'm scared of what'll happen to her. He used to hurt me because he knew I wouldn't tell, he knew I wouldn't ruin it for my mom. She knows now though, so the situation is tough."

  "Come stay at Piper's house with us, please." Annabeth moved a piece of his hair from his eyes, "I don't wanna be there knowing what you're dealing with here."

  Percy stared her in the eyes, Grey and mysterious. She was a puzzle he wanted to solve, he wanted to know why she cared so much.

  "Alright," He sighed. "I'll go."

———-///

Hope everyone had a good holiday, no matter what you celebrate. Here's to a new year I guess, haha.