Prompt by Marie_HoO_PJO 

Percy bumps into an old friend he's had a crush on for a while but just disappeared one day before he could say anything. He's been resentful of that friend ever since, anger overpowering the love he had for them.

It's a bit off track from the prompt but oh well.

Ethan Nakamura. Wow, it had definitely been a good while since Percy last heard that name. Out loud, that is, he heard it inside his head everyday.

After the Giant War, Percy had somehow convinced the gods to forgive all of the alive demigods out there who fought on the side of the Titan's in the Titan war.

This turn of events had been on Percy's mind non-stop, ever since the other demigods had been forced out of the mythological word. What had left a nasty feeling in Percy's throat and a pang in his heart was watching some of those demigods have their powers stripped from them too.

When it was someone else, anyone else, the gods were quick to pick up on the wrongdoings going on inside their world. When they were in the wrong however... of course, there was no need to worry about that as the gods are never in the wrong. They're gods.

With his request, Percy had - rather generously, coming from selfish, back-stabbing immortals - been given four months to aid every banished demigod the best he could.

If he could find any, that is.

Luckily, due to his wide variety of experiences, Percy had contacts in many places; from fish in the sea to a pink poodle out in the countryside. He had every creature and animal he knew keeping their eyes peeled for him, reporting back to him if they even think that they're close to something.

Coincidentally, Percy came across a camp of teenagers on the last night of his four-month agreement. Over the past months, Percy has been helping any banished demigods he comes across the best he can.

Some were rather keen on coming back to camp, a couple going as far as to majorly thank the gods for their generosity; some merely wished for a better weapon supply, others just some proper food. He'd had a few so far want a punching bag, taking him back to his middle school days. Somehow, he'd forgotten how tiring it was to be a means to release anger and stress.

Percy was hungry and cold, he hadn't gone back to either camp in almost three weeks. His thin hoodie didn't support him through the recent weather changes, he was on his last drachma and had run out of food after last night's dinner. He ran out of mortal money three days ago, too.

In short, he needed to help these teens quicker, hopefully before somethings drops off.

Percy took his first step into the camp, arms already held up in surrender, only to stop as a knife came swooshing through the air, landing at his feet and embedding itself into the dirt. The thing just narrowly missed his feet.

He looked up from the knife, his hands slightly lowered, only to let them drop completely when he caught sight of the person who threw the knife.

There, looking taller, thinner, yet just as handsome, was one Ethan Nakamura.

"Why are you here?"

Percy heard voice, but he didn't hear it. His brain didn't understand the spoken words, too busy trying to grasp the concept of an alive Ethan.

Percy stared across at the older boy, watching him take a single step forward.

"Percy, what are you doing here?"

Percy didn't respond.

"Percy. Jackson." There was true irritation discernible in his voice, not far from turning into anger.

Percy, quickly, crouched down, pulled Ethan's knife out of the ground and chucked it in Ethan's direction as he stood up.

Ethan, visibly unamused, caught the knife, by the handle, mere inches from his face.

He raised his eyebrows at Percy mockingly, looking at him directly in the eyes.

Percy, hating the eye contact, turned his head to stare at a spot on the ground to his left, his nose scrunching a little bit as he whispered, "I hate you."

Ethan's eyebrows furrowed. He looked very clearly bewildered, spinning the knife in his hand once, by the grip.

"You hate me?"

Percy nodded seriously, his eyebrows furrowed, making him look like an angry child.

"You left me." Percy reasoned.

Ethan blinked, long and tightly strung, pausing half way between another kinfe spin.

"I left you." He repeated, his stare cold, a lot colder than Percy has ever seen on a person.

"Yeah." Percy whispered, tapping at the ground with his foot to distract himself.

"I left you." Ethan's voice was flat, somehow conveying both the confusion and irritation that he currently felt. "You're such a brat."

Percy blinked, this weird one where his eyebrows furrowed and his nose twitched. He was feeling just a little bit angry.

"No I'm not." He didn't sound too convinced himself, gods knows how he reckons he could convince Ethan of it.

"You are. You are, and you know it."

Percy went to make a comment, a very snarky one, but decided better of it. Annabeth would be proud, he thought.

Instead of making the comment, Percy turned and left. He could feel himself slowly descending further and further into his anger; soon he'll reach a point where it consumes him and he does something irritational.

The next morning, after a calming journey back to camp, Percy regretted the way he had handled the conversation. Nothing had necessarily happened, nothing bad, but Percy hadn't even offered his help, let alone told them about the gods' agreement. All over some petty hatred that grew in his heart for Ethan after he died. Apparently still after he left him, but not so much because he died.

And that's a thought. Ethan, cool, handsome, unreachable Ethan (who Percy thought he lost) is still alive. Percy doesn't think he's fully digested that yet, as he hasn't had a major freak out over it.

Okay, so maybe Percy didn't know how to feel. There were a lot of thoughts swirling through his mind, a lot of emotions battling in his heart.

With a sigh, Percy placed the last item into his bag, a bag he'd packed for Ethan and his camp.

As he walked passed Chiron, Percy smiled a small smile before heading out of camp and starting his journey towards the general area of Ethan's camp.

A good few hours later found him wandering around, searching for the familiar set of tents.

So far, most of the area had been unfamiliar to him, but then he came across a certain point he remembered tripping at yesterday. He took a sharp right at the memory, stumbling slightly then stopping to stick his tongue out at the ground pettily.

He continued walking for about ten minutes, stopping just outside the camp site. He took the bag off of his back, crouched, and placed it at his feet. He saw a rock a few inches away on the ground, so he picked it up, threw it directly into the middle of camp, into some poor kid's soup, and ran.

Due to all of the commotion caused by a single rock, Ethan was sent out to the edge of camp to inspect the place.

All he found was a bag, the same as the one Percy had with him yesterday.

Bemused, Ethan crouched in front of the bag to unzip it. The first thing he saw was a piece of paper, the writing on it written in gold ink, spaced out and in all caps.

I  F O R G I V E  Y O U  : )

Ethan rolled his eyes, but brought the bag into camp.

Challenge: Toothpaste.