Thalia

I fucking hate small talk. But someone had to bring it up. And it wasn't even Leo.

It was Bianca.

"So," she remarked, and it was already awkward. Jason, Leo, and Piper were next to me. "You died?"

Please just stop. I don't want to talk about it. I hate talking about it. I'm happy Percy's never asked me. Grover told him about it, I guess. So he never asked me. He never questioned my death, I never questioned his depression.

I did know about it, yes. Grover, Percy, and I kept each other updated. We were really good friends. We still are. Sort of. When Jason showed up... It's weird.

When Jason was taken I was terrified and I just wanted him back. But he showed up and... I mean, he's kind of ignorant and doesn't seem to care about me as his sister. I'm just another demigod to him. Which... It kind of bugs me.

"Yeah, what the hell." Jason remarked to me as Grover, Tyson, and Percy walked over. Nico was already over here. Everyone was here. Just not right here. "You never told us about you dying."

Percys face screamed shut up.

"I just assume that everyone knows." I told them, shrugging. "Shit happens, okay?"

Things I don't like talking about: my death, and Luke.

When Luke showed up again... I wasn't wanting anything to do with that. Like I get the gods were assholes and whatever. But he didn't need to do what he did.

All it did was mess shit up.

"Okay, then..." Jason remarked, having an attitude he always has around me. "Somebody doesn't want to talk."

Percy was tired of it, too.

"If she's here, alive," Percy added on, tired of Jason's attitude just as much as Grover and I were. "Does is matter that she told you?"

"Well it would've been nice to know!" Jason snapped at Percy. Which was... Unexpected. "I know you guys think I'm a asshole. But you're no better, Jackson. You're not as high and mighty as you fucking think you are."

Nico was ready to become the defensive boyfriend. Ready to beat Jason in.

"I'm not as..." Percy scoffed. "Jason, I've never thought that about myself. What makes you think that I... What?"

Percy has depression. You don't say shit like that. It just makes him feel worse. It makes him think even worse about himself. And he was just... He was just about to start a happy life with Nico. A life he fucking deserves at this point in time.

"Oh, don't bullshit me." My little brother snarked, seeming disgusted. Hazel and Frank walked over, confused. "You're the Perseus Jackson. That whole Good Kid thing? Bullshit. Your depression? Bullshit. All you want is attention, and you'll do anything to get it. Right? You selfish bastard."

And then I realized something.

Jason was raised at Camp Jupiter. Which is a place that... If you get hurt, you suck it up. If you have an illness you keep your mouth shut. They don't think depression is a legit thing. Or anxiety. It's just an excuse to not train. To not fight. To not talk. They think it's a lot of bullshit.

Well, not everyone. Reyna came late enough and so did Frank and Hazel that they think it's bullshit that Jason thinks that. That camp works that way. But I don't know... Jason was raised that way. If you have depression, you just want attention. Anything like that is just you wanting attention.

Not an actual problem.

And Jason saying that blew out Percy's little flame. It made him feel useless. Like he didn't matter. It just made him feel, how he's always described it to me, as ugly. Gross. Bad.

Percy looked down. We all knew that something was going to happen.

"I'll be right back."

And he wandered off. After giving Jason a hard glare, Nico went off after him.

One thing Jason does believe in, though, is suicide prevention. That you don't have to kill yourself.

Everyone sort of stared at him.

"What?" Jason asked as a few of them walked away in attempt to find Percy. It was Jason, Leo, Bianca, and myself.

"Jason," I tried to explain. "What's the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear that somebody committed suicide?"

My brother shrugged.

"I don't know," he told me, thinking about that. "They had problems they should've taken care of or talked about. Like, you shouldn't kill yourself. That's a last resort thing. Why?"

"Because," Leo knew where I was going with this. "If Percy's just left to kill himself, Jason. You're held accountable for that. If he even tried to kill himself, his parents, Nico, and Percy can all press charges if they want."

"For what?" Jason questioned, not getting the idea. Bianca walked away.

"I know that Camp told you different your entire life." I tried to explain to Jason, a bit frustrated. "But mental illnesses are a real thing, Jason. When Percy told everyone that he had depression, that was a big deal. Trust me. Grover told me about it years ago. And depression, when mixed with anxiety, which he also his, is a nasty thing. It's the conflict of why should I care and I should care more. About everything but himself. That's why he's so selfless. That's why everyone else comes first to him. Because he doesn't know what it means to take care of himself. To make sure he's happy. You just called him a self righteous asshole. Do you see where that might be a problem? Where it might go to his head and mess with him and make him want to do things to himself such as make himself bleed or not eat?"

And a wave of realization suddenly smacked Jason in the face. And you could just see the guilt come over him. He felt bad. He felt like an asshole.

"I..." He started off. "Why is he depressed, though? Like I get that he is and now k feel really bad. I don't think he'll listen to me if I try to apologize right now. But why like...?"

Leo and I both shrugged.

"There's not always a reason, man." Leo told his best friend. "Sometimes you just hate yourself. Want life to stop. His step dad abused him as a kid, that might play into it. If not, it probably affected it a lot. Made it worse. It's a hell of a thing, dude. And it's not easy to tell what it looks like. Because half of the time, it looks like nothing."

"He was abused?"

That was need to Jason.

"How did you miss that?" I asked my little brother, and he shrugged.

"I don't know." He seemed honest enough. "I might've been zoned out or something? I don't know. I feel bad, though. I'll talk to him later. Shit."

Nico

I took me a while to find him. But he was in his dressing room, which took me a while to find. But he was in his dressing room, and kind of looking at the desk he had blankly. He arms uh... There was a pair of scissors in his dressing room. And there as blood on it. Also, his arms.

"Oh my gods, Percy!" I sighed, knowing he wasn't dead or anything. But his arms... "Percy, what happened?"

"I'm..." He managed, just frustrated. "I'm sorry. It... It... Was... It was..."

I grabbed his by his shoulders. Knowing that his wrists would hurt like hell. And I made him look at me.

"Hey," I cut him off. "Don't worry about it, okay? You've been doing really good lately an I'm proud that you've gone this long. What Jason said wasn't true and he was an asshole for it. I'm going to wrap this up for you, okay?"

Percy nodded his head. And I wasn't lying. I was proud that he's gone so long without cutting. It's been over a month. And now it's only when shit like this happens. The last time him and his dad got in a fight and... You know how those end.

I quickly found the first aid kit and cleaned the cuts before putting on the gauze.

"There." I commented, after finishing up bandaging everything. "Now, what do you want to do?"

"Um..." My boyfriend thought about that, seeming just a bit all over the place. "Could we like get something to go? I'm hungry but I don't want to cook. And I don't want to sit at a restaurant. I just want to go home and eat some food. And sleep. I'm kind of tired."

"Of course!" I assured him, helping him get his stuff. I could tell he felt a little bad for not saying we should go back with the others. But after this, he knew that if he did that, it wouldn't help anything. He's starting to learn that he needs to come first sometimes. That he can't keep hurting himself.

As we walked out to the car, I sent a text to a group of everyone that we were heading out and just don't stop by, it's not a good idea. He's in a shitty mood and just wants to have some food before going to bed. They can stop by tomorrow if they want.

We ended up ordering from KFC before going home and doing a little drawing before going to bed. Drawing always seemed to calm him down.

It must've been close to midnight by the time we got into bed and he was really cuddly. But I won't complain. He came up with a sort of odd question, though.

"Hey, Nico."

I tilted my head down to look at him. "Hm?"

"Do you think we'll get married?"

I kind of let out... It wasn't a chuckle but I kind of found that humourous. Like in a way that... It was a nice, fun thought.

"Well," I told him, thinking about that. "Yeah, eventually. I haven't thought too hard about it. I turn 18 in a month. We can actually get married after that. Why do you ask?"

He shrugged, rolling his up towards me.

"I don't know." Percy replied, pondering something. "Hazel mentioned it once. When we were in Culver City. She said I could propose but I told her that we just moved in and you were still 17. Rings are expensive, too. And Leo built like half of our house. I feel bad asking him for stuff. I don't know. We've talked about wanting a kid eventually. But we've never talked about getting married."

I smiled and rolled my eyes. Of course Hazel told him that. She keeps telling me to do it, too.

"Yeah,"I agreed. "But hey, we're still young. Don't worry about it. Worry more in a month when I'm 18. Just get some sleep, alright? I love you."

"Love you, too."

He managed to pass out in 30 seconds.