Highkey living the writer's block life right now. This chapter is a hot mess, I apologize.😂

Whether Percy wanted him to or not.
*****

"Dude, where were you first period? I awkwardly sat around the library alone like a total loser until Hazel came in," Leo complained to Jason upon sitting down at a lunch table.

The blonde rolled his eyes. "I'm sure nobody cared that you were by yourself. Probably thought you were studying or something."

"Everyone in this school knows I don't study," Leo shook his head.

"Well," Jason shrugged, "you're alive."

"Uh, fuck you, Grace," Leo said, "you never even answered my question."

"How about the answer is 'none of your business'?"

"Come on," the shorter of the two whined. "The whole 'don't tell anyone' thing doesn't apply to me!"

"This time it does," Jason tried to end the conversation.

Leo rolled his eyes. "What secret is so important that you can't even tell one of your best friend? Really, Jase, unless you were, like, making out with some closeted gay guy in-"

"Oh my gods, Leo, that's not what happened!" Jason rubbed his temples.

He shrugged. "You've just been full of surprises lately, just made sure I didn't put it past you."

Jason sighed, knowing Leo was referring to his recent, more negative behaviors. His fight with Chris, although nearly all of the school's chatter had died down, still left a bitter taste in his mouth whenever someone even hinted at referring to it. Plus, Jason had always told Leo, quite literally, everything. Piper also shared in this information, but unlike Leo, she never really asked Jason for it. When Jason hid something from Leo, both of the two knew it was something serious, regardless of how the latter may joke about it.

While Percy's bruise wasn't exactly too serious, Jason still felt there was a bigger picture that he wasn't seeing properly. It was quite obvious Percy had some kind of trust issues, and Jason didn't want to ruin the friendship they'd recently been building by telling Leo everything he did when the two were alone.

Jason couldn't help by notice how differently Percy responded to Jason than everyone else. As expected, the responses weren't always reassuring for Jason's concerns for Percy's wellbeing, but they varied regardless. Even seeing Percy communicating with Jason's friends exhibited a noticeable difference.

Around both Reyna and Annabeth, Jason tended to pick up on a constant stiffness and lack of eye contact when those two spoke to him. The blonde couldn't really blame him for that one, though. The two were already pretty terrifying on their own, and were even more intimidating when together.

Around Frank and Hazel, he seemed a lot more physically relaxed, especially around the latter.

Thinking about it, Jason realized that Percy sort of mirrored how many of those around him acted. Relaxed and pleasant around Frank and Hazel, stiff around Reyna and Annabeth, and laid-back around Piper. He never really reflected Leo, which actually didn't surprise Jason at all. The Latino was a bit outrageous for a majority of people. People fed off his never ending supply of energy, but never really lived up to the level of obnoxious that Leo Valdez enjoyed reaching.

Around the group as a whole, Jason was a bit saddened to admit that Percy seemed nervous around his friends. Like he thought he may do something wrong. Jason assumed it was the what seemed to be common bullying, which he still hadn't found a reason for. Yes, Percy didn't talk and never really defended himself, but many of the things that he'd heard about Percy from Chris and Ethan had nothing to do with that. Jason thought there had to be something else he was missing that stirred up so much hatred.

Gods, Jason wanted to fix it.

The blonde was typically laid back, but when something or someone affects his friends and sister in even the slightest way, he's on the case. Leo dealt with Chris and Ethan as well, but theirs were never really physical, except when one of the two was having a terrible day. Just rumors and bitter comments in the hall, maybe the occasional report of each other to the office, who never disciplined students in the first place.

Jason snapped back into the conversation with a quick few blinks to stop his train of thought. Leo was rambling about everything he needed to do before that weekend, likely for himself. Jason was aware that Leo probably knew the blonde was paying almost no attention to what he was saying.

"Have you seen Percy?" Leo asked when he was sure Jason had tuned back into reality.

Jason didn't give a yes or no. "Why?"

"We have English together, and apparently there's some project thing we need to pick our partners for in class," Leo explained, "I need to talk to him beforehand so I don't end up being asked by some random person and can't say no."

"And why can't you just say no, or a variation of it?" Jason asked him.

The shorter of the two rolled his eyes dramatically. "Because then I'll be an asshole."

"Percy!" Leo suddenly shouted, standing up and tripping around the table with his lunch tray in his hands. Percy had the next lunch period, which meant there's was ending. Jason followed Leo over to where Percy was limping into the cafeteria.

Percy looked slightly confused upon seeing Leo power-walking towards him, but surprisingly enough, smiled a bit when the Latino spoke.

"Please be my English partner, Jackson!"

So this was very much a filler chapter, sorry 'bout that! I just don't know how to work up to bigger plot points, so this is a thing that happens. Really digging in the character thoughts and interactions category.😂

Whoops.

Y'all I literally never have time to do anything. Also every teacher I had gave me extensive homework for this weekend and I have a VB tourney and I need to get my homecoming dress still and it's just not a fun time.

But goodbye beautiful readers! Stay in school and stay hydrated or something like that.