trigger warning (Percy Jackson au)

Chapter 23: You Freaking Groundhog

XXIII

You Freaking Groundhog

Warning: mentions of abuse.

Percy absentmindedly traced the outline of his phone with his nail, his main focus the image on the screen. He'd long since memorized everything about it: the marks on the walls, what color everything was, what clothes Jason had been wearing when he took the picture (not that he'd ever forgotten).

He'd never really felt the need to delete the picture before, but now it had suddenly become a necessity. It's weird to still have it, he told himself, but it wasn't like anyone would find out about it unless he told them, anyway. And he wasn't planning on doing that anytime soon.

"Perseus?"

He almost dropped the phone. "Yes?"

Dionysus held the door open for him, letting out the earlier patient. "I'll see you now." Percy followed him into the plainly decorated office, shutting the door behind him and sitting on one of the two luxurious couches in the center. "How are you?"

"Better," Percy replied honestly. "It's easier to do things when people need you to." The doctor wrote the quote down word for word. "I read about what you said last week, the 'pressing charges' and all that. Is that - is it still an option?"

Dionysus' pen froze on the paper. He looked up to check if the boy in front of him was joking, but Percy seemed more serious than he'd been for his entire stay. "Are you considering it?"

"Yes," He affirmed. "I think I really - I don't want to leave things like the way they've been. It's not helping me in everyday life, constantly worrying about being recognized or something like that."

"You might also just be venting your anger out," the older man interjected. It was a valid 'maybe', probably even the right one, but this was one of the few situations that he fully supported. He'd seen first hand how difficult things were for the boy - and none of it was an act.

"I probably am, but there is literally nothing that can stop me from wanting to ruin things for this guy."

He ignored the tinge of vengefulness in the boy's voice. "Where did the sudden urge to cooperate come from?"

Percy bit the inside of his cheek. "Since things are going down so quickly, I just want it to end now."

"Did something happen?"

Withholding information always got the grey streak nowhere. "I'm going a little crazy from staying in my room for so long. I mean, yeah, it clears my mind, but I can hear all my thoughts at the same time. And I really need to do this."

"Are you hearing voices, Perseus?"

Percy didn't even think about keeping track of how many times he'd been asked that question. "No, I just know what I want to do."

"Alright," Dionysus stood to retrieve some documents he'd had out on his desk. He looked over them once before handing half to Percy. "You will have to give detailed descriptions about the happenings within your household - mostly the bad and the ugly."

Percy bit his lip. "All of it?"

"Most of it. And then we'll need to get at least two other accounts that match yours. That part may prove to be a bit more difficult."

The boy stared down at the top page. "You've got that right."

"Do you have anyone in mind?"

"...one person, but I don't know how to contact him. And when I do, I don't know if he'll help me or just defend Gabe."