Found Family (HoO, Mortal AU)

JASON GRACE

He walked home from school, as he did everyday for as long as he could remember. It was quite a long walk, especially with the cold September weather, bur he shouldn't complain. It was better than Winter.

Jason thought about his first day of senior year. It had went okay, he was glad to see his friends again. Or Reyna, at least. Sherman and Damien, not so much. It wasn't that they weren't his friends, they just weren't that kind.
Then there was gym class. He didn't care much about detention, but he should've been nicer to McLean and Valdez. So much for trying to be a 'better person' this year.

He walked in the entrance of the housing estate, going to his house. Most of the curtains were closed. The other houses in the housing estate looked much better. Kids laughing in the small area of grass in front of the house, flowers on the window, the smell of food coming out the opened windows of the houses that were making dinner. Jason's house, however, looked abandoned. There were dead flowers on the windows, the grass way too long.

He tried open the door, which was locked. He knocked a few times, but no answer. He could already guess his mother was passed out on the couch, already gone back to drinking.
Jason spent the summer just like he'd spent every summer. Trying to get his mother, Beryl, to stop drinking. It was useless. He couldn't go out with friends, because when he did, he'd come home to her being drunk. Usually Thalia, his older sister who lived in Georgia with some friends now, would come around for a week or two during summer, but not once did she visit. Jason wasn't surprised.

He decided to go for another walk, hoping the door would be opened by the time he got back. He found some change in his pocket, so he'd be able to buy food.
He walked out of the housing estate, a few of the adults watching him carefully.

Jason Grace, the messed up son of Beryl Grace.
Beryl had been a movie star when she met Jason's father. They 'fell in love' and Jason's sister was born. Five years later, Jason came along. His parents never married, but they all lived together in his father's mansion. That was until Jason was two years old. His father left Beryl and got married to another woman. It was a bit of a mess. Beryl moved out of the mansion and into the housing estate, where she drank away all the money she'd made, getting Thalia to raise Jason.

Then Thalia ran away. Jason was seven at the time, she was twelve. She'd been away for almost a year and a half, before getting caught by the police and sent back to her father's house, eventually being kicked out and moving into Beryl's again. Then she went off to college a few years later and Jason barely seen her again. He was left alone with his mother, since his father never wanted to see him. Sure, he paid for Jason's education and Thalia's college fees. He gave them birthday presents. The newest phone, money, anything expensive. But never any time.

He started walking to the nearby town, which wasn't too far away. When he got there, he bought some food and sat down alone. He got out his phone, hoping he'd have a text from Thalia asking about his first day back. He didn't. Thalia would never text him first. He looked through their texts

Jason: Hi Thalia:) when are you coming down this summer? I heard Hylla was going to visit Reyna this week, will you be going with her?

Hylla was Reyna's older sister, who lived with Thalia and a few other housemates. Hylla and Thalia had been friends since kindergarten, just how Reyna and Jason had.

Thalia: sorry Jason, don't have time
Jason: will you be coming in a few weeks?
Thalia: honestly I'm not sure yet

They didn't text much for the rest of the summer and he had no texts from anyone else. Reyna probably wasn't on her phone, she rarely was. She would've been preparing for her speech on the head of the student council thing, just like Jason was supposed to be. They planned on being head and co-head since they were kids. Now it was looking less hopeful. Jason knew half of the school hated him, so he tried act like he was better than everyone else. Really he just wanted them to understand.

"Is this seat taken?" A voice asked. Jason looked up from his phone, to see Leo Valdez, the last person he expected to see. Jason wanted to say it was, but he didn't want to lie.
"No."
"Can I sit there, then?"
Jason looked at the other seats. They were all being used. "Yeah, sure."
Leo sat down.

"So," Leo set what looked like a toy car on the table, pushing it back and forth. "Whatcha doing here?"
Jason pointed at the food in front of him, though he still hadn't touched it. "Isn't that obvious?"
"Uh, yeah, dumb question." Leo put the metal car back into his pocket.
"What are you doing here?" Jason asked, still looking at his phone. Valdez didn't answer for a second.
"It's cold outside." He eventually said. Jason just nodded and stayed quiet until Leo spoke again.
"Why's there a scar on your lip?"

Jason furrowed his eyebrows, looking away from his phone. He touched the scar, which was on the left side of his mouth. It had been there for as long as he could remember. He didn't know why Leo was asking him dumb questions.
"Dumb story." Jason said.
"Tell me."
Jason looked at Valdez. There was something about him, but Jason couldn't tell what.
"I got it from a stapler." He eventually said, still studying Leo's face. A grin spread across it.
"A stapler?"
"I was two years old, told you it was a dumb story."
"Maybe you should just tell people you got into a fight with a dragon or something. Sounds cooler than a stapler."
Jason couldn't help but smile. "Okay, Valdez. I got it from a dragon."
"See? Sounds cooler."

"Uh-huh," Jason kept looking at Valdez. "Aren't you going to eat?"
Leo's grin dropped. He looked around. "Uhm."
"You don't have any money?"
Leo shook his head. "I'm not hungry."
Jason didn't know what he was thinking. "Let me buy you food."
"I'm okay."
"I'm buying you food."
"No."
"Yes."

Jason ended up convincing Leo to let him pay for food. Leo ate quickly, clearly starving. Once he was finished, he took out the toy car again, throwing it into the air and catching it, while on his phone. He still wasn't making any signs of leaving.
Jason finally spoke again. "What is that?" He pointed to the car.
"Oh," Leo looked at the car in his hand. "Something my mom made me when I was a kid." He pushed it over to Jason. It looked as if it was falling apart, like it was made in a hurry. Jason didn't understand why Leo would keep it. Maybe things had more value when made with love.

Jason stood up. "I better get going home."
"Oh," there was a sound of disappointment in Leo's voice. "Alright. See you later."
Jason quickly walked home. The door was still locked, but after knocking a few times, his mother finally opened it.
"Jason." She said. No smile. Nothing.
Jason walked upstairs. He took out his homework and tried turn on the light, as it was getting dark. Nothing happened. No electricity.
He walked back downstairs again. "Mom, you didn't pay the bills."
Beryl didn't respond, staring into nothing.
"Mom, you need to pay the bills."
"There's no money."

"I've paid the bills for the past few months. I used my birthday money. I sold the TV dad bought me. I don't have a job because our car doesn't work so I can't go anywhere. I'm seventeen. You need to pay the bills." Jason said, trying to sound stern so she'd listen.
"If your father is so great get him to pay them." Beryl still didn't look at Jason.
"It's not his job to pay your bills."
"Stupid man."
Jason quickly went back upstairs, knowing he'd just get angrier if he stayed with her any longer. He wanted Thalia to be here. Or even Reyna. But Reyna didn't know about any of this. Neither did her sister, Thalia somehow managed to hide it from Hylla, just as Jason hid it from Reyna.

He looked around his room for money, failing and eventually falling asleep.

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Word count: 1424 words

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A/n: i don't even know what's going on in this chapter lmao

Edit: uh y'all I know New York doesn't have housing estates (right? Right? Uh) I know nothing about America (as you'll see in future chapters) but by estate I mean 🏘 not like a big mansion EHSNAH. I'm so sorry.