Aquagirl (Fem. Percy x YJ)

75

Father did not leave. He sat on the chair beside my bed leaning forward to rest his arms on the cot. Occasionally he would shift, reaching up to adjust the rag on my forehead. He hadn't taken his eyes off of me, not in the thirty minutes I had been stuck, no cuffed on the bed. My fingers twitched. If he would just-

"I know what you are thinking, Kaldur," he said. "And I will not allow you to do anything of the sort. I do not care how many times i need to say it, you are my son. You care oh so much about your duty as the elder brother, do you not realize my duty is much the same?" Standing up, he grimaced as his joints audibly popped. He leaned over me and pressed his head against mine. "The duties of protection fall to the parents before the children. And I will do just that. I will protect you, my son, even if I have to protect you from yourself." 

"I would attempt to hug you, but-"

"You are not getting me to take those off until the maximum amount of time has passed."

"I will be fine."

"You have so proven that." 

"Father..."

"The moment I turned my back on you, you attempted to end your life again. If I had not come in here when I did, if I had walked a touch slower I would have found you bleeding out on the floor." Warm droplets fell on my shoulder. "I-" Father hugged me. "I am trying to keep myself together as much as possible, but you have no idea how hard this is for me. Did I do something to make you not trust me? Did your mother? I cannot wrap my head around why you would try this, not when we are all so, so willing to provide you assistance."

"Calvin?'

My eyes widened. Fuck. No, she- she cannot- No.

"He tried to kill himself," said Father. He pulled away from me, yet kept a gentle hand on my shoulder. "Can- Can you stay with him? I need to go talk- I need to inform the king." I frowned and stared after Father. I could not remember a single time when he had said 'the' instead of 'our'. 

"Go on." Mother and I watched as Father disappeared. She sighed and removed her sash. The blue and purple rocks clacked together as they were laid on a far away table. The sheer material of her shawl joined them. Finally, she walked towards me. Without speaking a word, she sat in the chair Father vacated. Warm brown eyes focused on me. "If you promise me not to try anything, I will take those off."

I looked away from her. I could not promise her that. As desperate as I was with Father, I could not do that to Mother. Not if it meant knowing if she blamed me for what happened with Percy. It was one thing to believe they would be happier, that they blamed me. And it was another altogether to know if Mother would truly attempt to stop me. 

"My little one," she said. She rested her hand on my cheek. "My little baby boy, what are we going to do with you?" Mother's hand was soft against my cheek. I could not help but lean into her touch. I sighed, a heavy broken sound. My eyes ached and the cuffs were beginning to irritate my skin. The sensation of her playing with my hair made me look back at her. Lips pressed into a thin line, it looked as though she had aged ten years in a second. "What did they do to you?" It was hypothetical, not meant for me to answer. Still, I opened my mouth and then shut it. Mother took no notice. She kept playing with my hair and running her fingers over my scalp. 

Mother reached past me and undid the cuffs. Yet instead of holding tight to me in a desperate bid, she only climbed onto the bed. She folded her legs under herself. One hand wrapped loose around my wrist, and she eased me into a hug. 

"Mo-" I choked on my words and pressed my face against her. A pillar of calm, I clung to her like a drowning man. She sat there. She sat there and let me cry ugly sobs into her shoulder like I was five.  

"Just let it out. I will stay right here. I am not leaving you, and I will fight our king if I have to." 

"Please do not."

"Oh,  believe me I shall, Kaldur. Blaming you for whatever happened when you were tortured...quite honestly it is a horrid thing to do." Mother pulled me away. Our eyes met, hers unwavering in her conviction. "You were tortured. Just because you were forced to torture Percy does not change that." A gentle hand tilted my head to the side. "We thought it was odd how yours were the only gills damaged. How it looked as if they had been harmed time and time again. But now I cannot help but to think, that was your incentive, was it not?"

"How-"

All she offered was a small smile. The way she moved next had happened so often, I knew what I was to do. I did so without arguing, laying with my head resting on her lap. "I will not speak of the matter anymore. You need to rest. Actually rest, and if I can offer you affection as you do so, then we are killing two lampreys with one stone." Her palm cupped my forehead. Another hand tugged at mine, and I jerked. "Calvin," Mother chided. "Do not startle him."

"Sorry." Father squeezed my hand. "I thought he might like some warning before the king comes barging in." 

I swallowed and pressed myself closer to Mother. Her other hand flew to rest on the side of my face. "You do not have to see him, Kaldur. Not if it will push you farther away from recovery." As much as I hated to do it, I sat up, folding my hands in my lap, keeping them well within Father's view. 

"It will be fine," I said.

At least, that was all I could hope.

Well I have an exam so lets hope that goes well and lets hope I can get all the other homework done. Seriously who decides I'll make this group work done pretty much right after an exam. 

Uh, if you want you can put down what you think will happen next or something. I'm writing this like, yesterday, so you know tiredness and fatigue

See yah