*Tysm for 8k and 200 votes what.. y'all are the best ilysm*
Y/N had enough, she truly believed she had finally lost it. Blood was boiling in her veins, her head was pounding, her eyes were heavy. She wanted to scream.
She had just gotten back from a quest where she nearly lost her entire team. One person didn't make it, a Hypnos kid named Jake. They burned the shroud earlier that day, and everybody was in a solemn mood.
Y/N felt as if the whole thing was her fault, she hadn't been with Jake when he went to the river, where the manticore mauled the boy. She had let the team split up, and now She had lost a kid.
She prayed to her father, Hades, maybe 100 times since they lost Jake. Asking to bring him back, to save him. But he didn't answer her. Jake was a good kid, a real asset to the team, and well loved around camp, now thanks to Y/N he was dead.
People around camp whispered about Jake and Y/N since the minute the team returned to camp. Stuff like, "I can't believe the daughter of Hades let a kid die", or "You know if they had let Annabeth, or Percy or Even Clarisse lead, this wouldn't have happened", or "I've been saying Hades kids shouldn't be allowed here".
Nico had tried reassuring her, promising her that it wasn't her fault. She pretended to believe him, pretended to cheer up for his sake. Then she mumbled that she was going to go take a walk and hurried out of the cabin.
She didn't go for a walk, instead she went into the arena, picked up her sword and a practice dummy, and attacked.
At first she was practicing basic movements, basic tricks with the sword. Then her moves got more erratic, less controlled. She sliced at the dummy, grunting with every hit as she watched it get shredded into pieces.
At first, she pretended the dummy was the kids who were insulting her around camp. Then she envisioned it to be her father. But when she dissolved into wild attacks and screams, the only face she was picturing was her own.
"How" Hit. "Could" Hit. "I" Hit. "Have" Hit. "Been" Hit. "So" Hit. "Stupid".
She screamed the last word so loudly she thought her vocal chords might tear themselves free from her throat.
She was still whacking the dummy, tears flowing down her face as she sobbed.
"Hey whoa", a voice came from behind her. But Y/N ignored it and continued to hit the dummy until she thought her legs were going to give out underneath her.
She felt arms wrap around her torso as she fell to the ground. When she landed, she was clutched in her boyfriend Luke's arms. She clung desperately to him as she cried.
"It's all my fault", she yelled, "I let him die. And now I can't even get him back".
Luke lifted her onto his lap and brushed her hair with his hand, "No, love, this was not your fault. You tried to save him, you tried to get him back. Weren't you the one who killed the manticore, you avenged him".
She had tried to avoid revisiting the memory of seeing the manticore over Jake's limp body, but the image came flooding back. She had killed the thing quickly, blinded by a rage similar to the one she had experienced in the arena. All of her quest mates were terrified, nobody had spoken much to her since they got back.
"Not only did I loose a kid, but everybody here is scared of me, or doesn't trust me. They never liked Hades kids, can you imagine now? Oh my gods they're going to be so mean to Nico. 'Look it's the kid whose sister let Jake die'", she broke down into tears again.
Luke fell silent, kissing her head and squeezing her shoulders, trying anything to calm down the sobs coming from the girl in his arms.
"You know, a lot of us have lost people on quests, or hurt people. Percy lost Beckendorf, we lost Silena in the battle, most of Apollo cabin too. But it doesn't make us bad people", he cupped her face in his hands, "Y/N, you completed your quest, killed a manticore, and made it back. I'm sure your father will take care of Jake, but you did everything you could".
She sniffed, letting him use his large hands to wipe the tears from her face. She guessed that he had a point.
"I guess", she mumbled.
He used his hand to lift her face up and kiss her cheeks and forehead and nose until a grin appeared on her lips.
"There's my girl", he mused softly.
Y/N stared into his eyes and saw nothing besides pure sincerity. Luke didn't see her any differently than he had when she left, maybe she wasn't a terrible person.
She captured his lips in her own, arms around his neck as he pressed his hands at her waist.
"I love you", she whispered, tucking stray curls away from his eyes.
He pressed a kiss to her cheek before whispering in her ear, "I love you more, always".
*AUTHORS NOTE*
A shorter one today because I have sm tests tomorrow. My chemistry teacher is giving us a test the day right after our prom when like nobody shows up. She's insane, I'm so glad this is the only year my prom is on a Thursday lmao. Anyways hope you guys enjoyed, i love some hurt x comfort so this was nice to write.
Anybody have any short cute little requests?
I want little stuff to write when I have (a small minuscule amount) of free time, but am hitting writer's block, so lmk! TYSM as always, love ya'll.
MWAHH
