Percy was confused.

And annoyed.

How could he not be when all of his belongings kept randomly disappearing?

At the start, it had been fine. Percy just assumed he was misplacing his possessions.

But then it started getting out of hand.

All of his clothes were gone, and due to it being Summer, he wasn't allowed to leave camp.

He'd been stuck wearing Jason's clothes for the past week, all of which were too big.

Despite only being an inch taller, Jason had a much bigger build than Percy, therefore causing his clothes to hang loosely off of Percy's frame, the fabric of the t-shirts often slipping off of one shoulder.

After Tartarus, Percy had lost a lot of muscle, something both he and Annabeth were trying to work back.

Nico, too, was struggling to gain the weight his body needed to survive.

Tartarus wasn't made for mortals. Mortals weren't built for the horrors of the pit.

It caused their body to fight against itself, letting them know what true pain felt like.

In short, during their stay, Tartarus was destroying their bodies.

Due to the muscle and weight loss, Percy looked like he was swimming in the material of Jason's clothing, his jeans rolled up and short sleeves pulled up to his shoulders.

To Percy, he looked ridiculous. To everyone else, he looked heartbreaking.

No matter how cute it was to see him in the oversized clothing, it only proved to show how much Tartarus had affected their beloved hero. How much it had broken him.

Percy groaned from his spot on the grass, a dark purple hoodie sprawled out around him.

His hood was pulled up, his arms crossed over his chest as he stared up at the sky, the ground oddly soft under Percy's sore back.

He'd returned to his cabin earlier that day to find the shield Tyson made him, gone.

His eyes watered, his bottom lip trembling slightly.

He wanted nothing more than to break down, right here on the oddly soft ground that soothed Percy. Grounded him.

He wanted nothing more than for the oddly soft ground to split open, swallowing his frail body whole.

He wanted nothing more than for his problems to disappear, just like his possessions.

But that would never happen.

He was Percy Jackson, the boy who suffered in silence and didn't get a happy ending.

As a child, he tried to chase after it.

It was like a game of Hide and Seek, except Percy's happy ending was never found.

Feeling disheartened, Percy gave up. He decided he sucked at the game. How could he find actual people if he couldn't even find his own happy ending?

At first, Percy assumed his happy ending was like that one kid. That one kid who hid behind the seeker's back, hoping to not get caught.

Usually, they were found straight away.

Usually. Not always.

Percy's happy ending was that one kid who hid behind the seeker's back, never found. It was the kid who the seeker gave up on finding.

It was the kid who wanted to prove exactly how good they were at the game, so even after the game had ended, they continued to stay hidden.

They came out eventually, ages after the game had ended, the other players having forgotten about them.

Out of sight, out of mind, they said.

Except, it was always on Percy's mind.

He was that one kid in school that didn't know what they wanted to be when they grew up.

Even before finding out he was a demigod, Percy was never quite sure he'd live long enough to carry out his plans.

He had to listen to the other kid's answers.

Teacher!

Footballer!

Hair dresser!

Youtuber!

Dead.

Princess!

Knight!

Dog walker! I like dogs!

Whatever my mommy does!

Dead.

Superhero!

Superhero?! Well then, I want to be a villain!

Babysitter!

(That's when you sit on kids right?)

Dead.

Percy was never asked to join them, join their conversations.

But in his head, Percy liked to pretend that they cared. That they listened to him just as he did to them.

~~~

Connor and Travis Stoll were horrific when it came to emotions.

They could make people laugh, definitely. They never failed to cheer someone up. But deal with a crying child, ew! Get it away already.

And due to this, they failed to notice the consequences of stealing a banged up, old, shield.

They'd been sat in a bush for well over two hours now, watching Percy Jackson stare at the sky in wonder.

Neither missed the odd tear that slipped down his face, going unnoticed by the boy as he stared at the sky, entranced.

After sharing a quick glance, they made their way over to Percy, their feet making no sound as they walked.

Just as they sat down, Percy turned to look at them, looking exhausted.

Connor smiled softly at Percy, reaching out to hold his hand.

It was a rare thing, to see either brother smile. Sure, they laughed, they smirked, they joked. But to get a real, true smile out of one of them...

Percy's eyes widened slightly, shocked that someone like Connor, never serious, could show such genuine compassion.

It was when he felt Travis' hand on his shoulder that he broke, all of his suppressed emotions rising to the surface.

They sat like that for a while, Connor and Travis comforting Percy as he cried.

Time seemed to stop for the both of them as they listened to Percy speak, certain parts standing out more than others.

How did they not realise they were only causing him harm?

With guilt thrumming through their veins, they listened, already planning ways to make it up to Percy.

~~~

Percy blinked confused as he woke up in his cabin, unsure of how he got there.

His breath caught in his throat as he caught sign of his shield on the wall.

He jumped up immediately, his tired limbs working hard just to get him across the room.

He felt tears spill over as his hand delicately touched the cold metal, his heart thumping loudly inside his chest.

Percy turned around, catching sight of the mirror he usually kept covered.

The mirror that went missing last week.

His eyebrows furrowed as he looked down at himself, noticing the clothes he was wearing weren't Jason's.

Upon further inspection, Percy realised they were his own, feeling stupid for not knowing that in the first place.

In his defense, even his own clothes were too big for him.

All he currently had was his clothes from before Tartarus, none of which fit.

Despite the war being almost a year ago, Percy still hadn't bought himself new clothes. Clothes that fit.

He'd been in the mortal world, of course he had. But that had been only once or twice.

He'd visited his mom after the war, to see how she was.

After that, he stuck to Iris Messages, not wanting to risk her getting hurt.

He didn't like it, but it meant that she was safe.

Percy jolted slightly as he heard someone clear their throat, turning to find the Stoll brothers smiling sheepishly at him.

Percy tilted his head, his eyebrows still furrowed.

"I- we... We found your stuff."

At Percy's confused stare, Travis elaborated.

"We, we wanted your attention. We know this probably wasn't the best way but we didn't know how else to do it. What you said yesterday, in the meadow, made us realise how stupid it was. How stupid we were."

Percy wanted to get angry. He wanted to shout at them until his throat felt sore. He wanted to hit something, to release the pent up anger he held inside.

Instead, he dropped to his knees, his head in his hands.

He ignored the pain in his knees as they collided lightly with the floor, too busy sobbing into his hands.

He wanted to get angry. He wanted to tell them to get out and that he never wanted to see them again.

He wanted to tell them about all the pain they'd caused him.

He didn't, instead he just cried harder, his head beginning to pound.

He ignored it, simply adjusting to the new ache.

Slowly, carefully, Connor made his way over to Percy, Travis following close behind.

They kneeled next to Percy, wrapping their arms around him.

Travis allowed Percy to cry into his shoulder, soaking his t-shirt.

Percy sniffled, feeling exhausted. He didn't think he could cry anymore.

It was funny, he'd thought the exact same thing yesterday.

Percy thought he should probably do something, react in a way someone should to such news.

But Percy was unpredictable. Instead, he leant up, his lips softly pressing against Connor's.

He didn't know why he did that. He assumed it was just that he was touch starved. His body craved human contact, something he didn't get often, what with him and Annabeth broken up and his friends all busy.

As if in a trance, Percy pulled away from Connor, turning his head to kiss Travis too.

The kiss was just as soft, both just a light press of lips.

Percy pulled away, his breathing heavy, something that happened quite often.

The poor boy looked destroyed. His hair was a mess, his eyes half-lid, and his face blotchy. Tear tracks ran down his cheeks, his face painted a glossy red.

Just as he leaned in to kiss Connor again, his eyes slipped shut, his body going limp.

Soft snores filled the cabin, shocking the two other boys.

They sat in silence for about a minute until they carefully picked up Percy, frowning at how light he is, and carrying him over to his bed.

They tucked him in, both placing a gentle kiss on his forehead.

Just as they turned to leave, they caught sight of Percy's troubled expression.

Unable to leave him, they both kicked off their shoes, slipping into bed on either side of him.

They cuddled up to him, mindful of his fragile body.

They lay in silence, thinking over what they did wrong.

They were filled with regret, unable to put their actions into good light.

What they'd done had simply been horrible. It was a pathetic way to get their crush to notice them.

They just hoped that maybe they could help Percy get over it.