"I'm scared."

"Of what?"

"I'm scared of what's out there."

"There nothing there to be scared of."

"There is. Everything is out there. And I'm scared."

* * *

"Why do you like reading so much?"

The question came from nowhere.

Emmie turned away from her laptop. He was sitting across from her with his back to the bookshelf. His head was turned slightly towards her, but his eyes were trained on the old carpet.

"What?"

He looked up then, with just his eyes. "Why do you like reading so much?"

She suddenly felt self conscious. Her glasses felt too big and heavy on her nose. Her hair was floating aimlessly around her face and she resisted the urge to fix it a little. The simple question turned her bones to ice, but maybe it was the way he was looking at her. 

She wasn't used to him looking at her like that, with that inquisitive wonder in his eyes. Matt wasn't the kind of guy who usually asked deep, philosophical questions. He was more the sort of person who damned everything else and skateboarded his way through life. 

But then he smiled.  "Come on, it was an easy question."

"I don't know," she said. "You can't just ask someone why they like reading."

"There's gotta be a reason." Matt stretched out his legs in front of him and made himself comfortable on the pile of cushions he was sitting on.

"Okay, fine then." Emmie said. "Why do you like playing video games."

He shrugged. "The thrill of it. It's fun."

"Exactly."

He looked at her weirdly. "How can reading be thrilling? You just sit there, for hours, looking at words."

"Interesting words. Exceptional words."

"No, but really? Why do you like reading?"

She stared at him.

"Why," He clarified, sitting up now. "Why do you like fictional characters so much? Why do you like Percy Jackson?"

Emmie laughed. "You had to bring up Percy Jackson."

"The book series you've been into for," He counted on his fingers. "Five years, now. You even made me help you make him a blue cupcake on August the eighteenth." He reminded her pointedly.

"Yes, well I wasn't going to ignore his birthday."

"Exactly!" Matt cried out. An older girl standing nearby shot them a dirty look. Matt winced and lowered his voice. "You didn't have to make him a cupcake. He's a fictional character. Why do you like this fictional character so much that you had to make him a blue cupcake."

"What's not to like about him? He's brave and funny and sweet and- he's Percy Jackson!"

"Well, I'm brave and funny and sweet." Matt said, that lazy smile spreading over his face again. "You didn't make me a cupcake."

"Your birthday isn't for two more months."

"You didn't deny the sweet and funny bit."

She threw one of the cushions at him. He laughed and caught it with both hands. 

The girl looked at them angrily again. "This is a library. If you can't shut up," she whispered viciously. "Please get out."

"Sorry." Matt told her. "We'll be quiet."

He looked at Emma again. "Why not Harry Potter?"

"What?"

"Why Percy Jackson?"

"Are you seriously going to make me choose between Harry and Percy?"

He laughed. "You act like they're real people."

She glared at him. "They are."

* * *

"Can I read your story?"

"Which story?"

"The one you're writing."

Emmie shook her head. "No way."

"Why not?"

"Because I said so."

Matt leaned over and grabbed her phone.

"Hey!" Emmie protested but he stood up and held the phone over his head, way out of her reach.

She cast a nervous glance to the front of the classroom where her teacher was writing something. His back was turned to them, but any moment now, he'd turn around and he's see Matt standing up with her phone, and he'd ask him to read whatever it was out loud, and the entire class would hear, and her life would be ruined. 

She tugged on Matt's t-shirt and tried to pull him back down. "Sit down!" She hissed at him. Matt grinned at her in an evil sort of way. "Make me." 

Thank god they were sitting at the very back, or else everybody would've seen what happened next. 

Emmie stood up and lunged for her phone, but Matt just held it a little bit higher. The momentum carried her forward and she tripped.  Matt was there in an instant, holding her steady.

"You okay?" He whispered.  

Their faces were just a few inches apart. 

She nodded and pulled away quickly, eager to put as much distance between her and Matt. 

Oh god, did someone see that?

Mr Lawson chose that second to turn around. He frowned.

"Why are you two standing up?"

The entire class turned around to look. 

"Couldn't see the board, Sir." Matt said. His sparkling eyes suggested otherwise. 

Mr Lawson crossed his arms across his chest. "Really? And you, Emmie?"

Emmie stared at her teacher, shell shocked. "Um- I was- I couldn't see the board either."

Mr Lawson raised one of his monstrous eyebrows and looked at her carefully. 

"Oh please," someone said from the other end of the room. "They were obviously making out. I mean, look at them, they're falling all over each other." She laughed, like she'd made a very clever joke.

Jessie Ale, Emmie thought. That one girl every one bowed down to. 

"Perfect match, though." Jessie said. "Our quiet little nerd and the class clown."

Emmie felt her cheeks colour. Matt scowled. "Shut up, Jess."

Jessie smiled sweetly at him. "Can't imagine what you see in her. She's such a slut. So dry and bo-ring."

Matt surged forward. He probably would've re-arranged Jessie Ale's perfectly make-up-caked face if Emmie hadn't grabbed his arm to stop him.

"That's enough." Mr Lawson snapped. "Sit down, you two."

Emmie sat down. Matt didn't look very keen on dropping the subject but he did as he was told. 

Mr Lawson turned back around to the white-board.

"Aren't you going to do anything, Mr Lawson?" Matt called out suddenly. "She just insulted one of her classmates in front of your face."

Their teacher didn't turn around. "It's all under control now, Matthew. You just keep quiet and get back to your work."

Jessie grinned victoriously and blew him a kiss. Matt's fists clenched in anger over Emmie's long forgotten phone. 

She carefully freed the device from his fingers and slipped it into her pocket. Matt looked at her, and she smiled, trying to tell him that it was okay. Jessie's insults hadn't really bothered her. It was okay. 

But he didn't smile back. 

* * *

"Why were you so quiet?" He asked her after class.

"I didn't want to make a scene."

"You should've said something to Jessie." 

"You said it for me."

"You should've told her to shut up yourself."

"I didn't want to make a scene. She would've fired back at me with some other crap."

Matt was silent for a moment. "You have to stand up for yourself, Em. Don't be scared."

She scowled at him. "I wasn't scared." 

He left it at that. They walked to the bus, talking about how Matt's younger brother had tried to feed a cheese pizza to their dog, Mrs Marley, and how Mrs Marley had taken her revenge by chewing up all his homework. So - Matt said - his brother had to tell his teacher that his dog literally ate his homework, and he'd ended up in detention. 

By the time they got onto the bus, Emmie was in a fit of laughter. She loved the way Matt always managed to make her smile when she felt like she never would. 

They sat at their usually seat, at the front of the bus. Matt took the window seat and Emmie sat beside him. 

"Can you read me your story?" Matt asked. 

"It's just some stupid fan-fiction, Matt."

"Can you read me the stupid fan-fiction then?"

She hesitated. 

"Please?"

Emmie let out an annoyed breath. "Fine." 

She pulled out her phone, just as the bus set into motion. It took her while to find her story, and a little while longer to contemplate if this was really a good idea. But Matt smiled at her in that lopsided way and angled himself a bit to face her. 

Emmie looked around. The bus was full and everybody was talking loudly. No one would hear her read out her story, right? She started cautiously at first, "The night was cold and dark, and for the first time in what felt like forever, Percy Jackson was scared."

He looked around at the tall, eerie trees and the sharp, thorny ground and all he remembered was Tartarus. What it felt like in that pit. How hopeless everything had seemed. He remembered the ancient Primordial's face, all swirling darkness, and he almost collapsed. 

But then Annabeth slipped her fingers into his hand and gave it a reassuring little squeeze. "Just a little further." 

"Right." Percy whispered back, too tired to talk any louder. He kept walking, holding out for Annabeth. 

Emmie stopped. She looked across at Matt, feeling extremely self-conscious. But he had his eyes closed, head lopping over the seat. She wondered if he found her writing mushy and weird, cliche and overdone.

But she kept going anyway.

They got up to the river.

At the banks of the swirling dark water, Percy fell to his knees. He couldn't keep going. He couldn't do it. He'd stayed strong for far too long. He fell, and his hands gripped the grass, like they were the only thing keeping him steady. 

Annabeth knelt down beside him. "You okay?"

Percy nodded his head. "Fine. Just need to catch my breath."

"We can rest here a little bit." She told him. 

"Yeah." He mumbled. "That'd be good."  

Percy sat down against the closest tree. It wasn't very wise to stay there, out in the open, so close to the danger of the river, but they had to. 

Annabeth sat down beside him and curled up under his arm. They held hands and sat there, not saying anything for a while, just making the most of what little time they had left. 

"Annabeth?" Percy said suddenly. 

"Yeah?"

"I'm scared."

"Of what?"

"I'm scared of what's out there." He told her quietly.

"There nothing there to be scared of."  She said, tightening her grip on his fingers.

"There is. Everything is out there. And I'm scared." He was crying. He felt the hot tears run down his cheek. "I'm scared." He whispered. "So scared, Wise Girl."

"Me too, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth said. "I'm scared too. But we'll get through this together, okay?" She stood up. "Take my hand." 

Percy reached up and took her hand. 

"Together." She told him.

"Together."

When she looked up from her phone, Matt was staring at her. No, not staring. Just, looking at her, like she was the only person left in the world.

"What?" She asked.

"Nothing." He said.  "Is that all?"

"I haven't finished writing it yet."

"It was amazing."

"Really?"

"Really."

They were sitting really close. Their noses were just centimetres away. Matt's eyes flickered down to her lips, and a weird feeling started up in her stomach. It wasn't butterflies flying down there, it was something strange, like nothing that was ever described in the books she read. 

Matt leaned in a little closer, and Emmie froze.

He smiled crookedly. "You're not scared, are you?"

She tried to say, 'No' but her mouth wouldn't work properly.

They were so close that if he just moved his head to the side a little, he'd have been kissing her. 

And that's when it happened.

The bus gave a sudden lurch and everyone fell out of their seats. Emmie was flung forward. She heard screaming, the screaming voices of twenty-eight kids, and she wondered very briefly what had really happened. 

Then her head hit something, she heard Matt shout  - her name, she thought. The world went completely black, and she fell into what she thought was sleep. 

* * *

Emmie woke up in a long, stretching, hospital room. 

There were multiple rows of beds, all seperated by white and green curtains. The place didn't feel cold and lonely like most hospitals did, and she wondered if it was in fact a hospital. There were flower pots full of colourful flowers on the window sills and the sky outside was bright and blue. 

The lights were yellow and soft, and she was staring up at the wooden beams that made up the ceiling.

There were a few people walking around in scrubs and shorts and flipflops, tending to the patients. The scene felt so familiar, but Emmie struggled to remember.

It took her a while to realise there was someone sitting on the chair beside her bed. At first, when she looked, she couldn't believe her eyes.

Maybe a trick of the light? She thought weakly.

It wasn't Matt. No, far from Matt.

The boy sitting on the chair had sea green eyes and black, tousled hair. He smiled when she sat up. "You're awake."

"You-" Emmie tried. "You're-"

"Percy Jackson." The boy provided.

She tried again to speak, but found that she couldn't. 

Emmie had imagined meeting Percy Jackson before, fully aware that he was a  fictional character, but in her imaginations, she had always been cheerful and chatty and loud, and well - fan-girly. But now that he was actually here - at least, she thought he was actually here - she couldn't seem to find the right words to speak. 

"You okay?"

"What?"

Percy laughed. "Just, you were kinda staring."

Emmie shook her head. "I wasn't- I wasn't staring. Where am I?" She asked him. 

"Well, actually, you're at the camp infirmary. Technically, anyway-"

"Technically?" 

"You're really at West-mead Hospital, but here, you're at the Camp Infirmary."

"So this isn't real?" Emmie asked, disappointment creeping into her voice. "It's a dream?"

Percy grinned at her. "I never said that." 

"But you-"

"Don't worry about it. For now, you're here. And that's all that matters." He smiled at her. Emmie remembered how she'd described him to Matt. Brave, funny, sweet... but his smile was more. Kind, compassionate, understanding. 

"You wanna look around camp for a bit?" He asked her. "We have a little bit of time before you have to go."

"Go? Go where?" Emmie asked him nervously. 

Percy just stood up. He offered her his hand. "Come on. I'll show you around."

Emmie took his hand and slid out of the bed. She noticed she was wearing an orange shirt. She hadn't worn an orange shirt that day to school. But she didn't mention it. 

Percy showed her the way outside and said proudly, "Welcome to Camp Half Blood, Em."

He made it sound like he'd known her his entire life. "How'd you know my name?" She asked him shyly. 

"How could I not know your name? You're here every dam day."

She laughed. "Is everyone else here too?"

Like he knew exactly what she meant by that, Percy said, "You bet. Leo, and Piper, and Annabeth, the whole lot of them. But just so we don't freak them out, let's keep the truth about you a little secret between the two of us, okay?"

She nodded. 

Percy looked at her, eyes sparkling. "I have so much to show you. The lake, the fireworks beach, the cabins, and so many people to introduce you to."

"When will I have to go back home?"

"Don't worry about that. We still have time." He tried to pull her forward, but Emmie remained feet stuck at the threshold of the Big House Infirmary.

"Percy, wait!"

"Yeah?"

She could see Thalia's Pine from where she was standing and Peleus and the cabins, and the central hearth, the strawberry fields, the chariot race-track, the armoury, the pavilion, it was all there, bright and colourful and amazing, just like she'd imagined. 

"What's wrong?" Percy asked.

"I'm scared." she said, feeling a bubbly sort of laughter well up in her throat.

"Why?"

"I don't know what's out there." 

She got the feeling that he knew what she meant. She wasn't scared of Camp Half Blood. Rather, what was beyond it. The real world. "Then let's go and find out together."

She bit her lip and fiddled with her fingers. "I'm scared."

"Well, that's okay. I'm right here, and I'll always be here. When you're afraid, just take my hand."

He smiled and held out his hand to her again. She took it.

And all too soon, it was over.

* * * 

This time, when she woke, it was to a smaller, emptier room. It smelled of what hospitals always smelled like but the faint smell of strawberries still lingered on her tongue. 

She looked down, hoping, but she wasn't wearing an orange Camp Half Blood t-shirt anymore, and for a moment, that made her incredibly sad. 

Tubes and wires were attached to her skin, and beside her sitting on the chair was Matt. His hair was messier than usual, like he hadn't bothered to brush it that morning. He was asleep, his head lolled back on the back of the chair. And he was holding - was that a book?

Was Matt Lowis actually holding a book in his hands?

Emmie sat up, and almost as if he'd felt her sit up, Matt's eyes flew open. The book fell to the floor, but he didn't bother picking it up. Instead, he rushed forward and enveloped her in a warm hug. Emmie didn't care there were needles and wires poking into her, she hugged him back.

"Oh god," He muttered into her hair. "I thought I lost you."

"What happened?"

"The bus - there was an accident - a man was hurt really badly, Em. They couldn't stop it on time, and-" He hugged her again. "I'm so glad you're okay."

She smiled at him. "Me too."

"You've been out for two days." He told her. "Your mum and dad were here a few hours ago. I- I didn't want to leave you here alone."

"You stayed?" Emmie asked. "How long?"

Matt laughed. "Don't worry. Wasn't that long. It was the least I could do for my best friend."

Emmie's gaze fell down to the book on the floor. "Matt, were you reading?"

He smiled, picked up the book, dusted it off carefully and gave it to her. "Thought I'd give it a try. Find out what was so good about it for myself." 

A sea green cover stared up at her. The title, 'Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief...'

Emmie looked up smiling, but she found there were tears in Matt's eyes. Matt - Matt who never ever cried. 

"I was- I was just scared, Em." He told her. "I was scared you'd die and I really wanted to read that book for you- because, I don't know why - I guess because I really wanted you to know I cared about you and you were lying there unconscious, and you wouldn't say a word. I didn't know what else to do, than to read that damn book." 

"Matt-"

"Em-" Fear flickered in his eyes. "I really want you to know I care about you." He took her hand. They were shaking, Emmie realised. Matt's strong, level hands were shaking. Emmie wrapped her fingers around his and held them steady.

"I love you." He said. "You know that right? And I know that you're already married to a battalion of fictional characters, but I love you anyway. And I really need you to know that."

"I know."

In all the times she'd imagined that moment - and she had imagined that moment - she'd always thought that Matt would've been the first person to lean down and kiss her. But it wasn't Matt. It was Emmie, who wrapped her hands around his neck and pulled him down to her height. 

And the kiss was nothing like it always was in books. It was nothing like the way she wrote it. It wasn't deep and passionate, but soft and delicate at the same time. 

No - It was a short-lived kiss, of noses touching and scared hearts beating really fast, and hands sweating and weird feelings of nothingness in stomachs.

Admittedly, it was scary. But scare, she realised, was just an exceptional word, and it was okay to use exceptional words. It was okay to be scared. 

* * *

"I'm scared."

"Why?"

"I don't know what's out there."

"Then let's go and find out together."

"I'm scared."

"Well, that's okay. I'm right here, and I'll always be here. When you're afraid, just take my hand."