Don't judge a book by its cover.[Percabeth]

Chapter 25

Percy's POV

After the door was shut and she was gone, I stood for about five minutes just touching my cheek like an idiot. Until a buzz from my phone brought me back from my Annabeth induced daze.

You best get going, Seaweed Brain. People'll think you're a weirdo x - A

I instantly blushed. Of course the universe hated me so obviously she'd seen me. She was right though, I did need to leave. I typed out a quick message to her as I walked, I felt a smile split my face. How did this girl get such a reaction from me?

Shhh you. I'm going now. Text me later? x - P  

Her reply was almost instant. I'd  come over later but I have homework and stuff. I will call you though. Let me know how he is? x - A

Kay, I'll see you tomorrow  then I guess :( x - P

Hey, no sad faces! It's more like, I'll see you tomorrow! :) x - A 

Okay, you're right. I'll see you tomorrow!! :) x- P

Much better ;) Now go help your mom x - A

Smiling to myself, I put my phone back in my pocket and picked up the pace. It was a pretty cold day but I was sweating by the time I'd ran up all the stairs. You could actually hear the screams from the hallway. Right then I knew it was bad, usually he'd have stopped the actual screaming at this point. The second I opened the door I hated myself for taking so long to get home. 

Shoes were thrown everywhere, the coat rack was on it's side and screams were the only sound. Entering the lounge, I realized it was even worse than I'd thought. The tv had been pushed over, as had the table and armchair. But it was when I noticed the screaming was coming from the kitchen that I got really worried. And rightly so. Tyson was backed into a corner holding a very big, very sharp pair of scissors, pointing in the direction of my Mom and Paul. The two of them had tear stained faces and were holding out their hands towards him. Tyson looked both terrified and terrifying at the same time. His eyes too were red and watery, though his expression was one of anger rather than one of sadness like the others. And of course a relentless screaming was coming from his mouth.  No one had noticed me yet, or if they had they hadn't acknowledged me.

"Woah, woah, woah. Everyone lets calm down, okay? Tys, why don't you pass me those?" I held my hands out in the same way as Mom and Paul. The screaming continued but he did lower the scissors. I then turned to my sobbing parents. It kind of broke me seeing them that way, they were supposed to be the strong ones that cared for me not the other way around. 

"Paul, take Mom into the lounge. I'll sort this out in no time." I plastered a fake grin onto my face as the two of them nodded and walked out. They didn't question it, it wasn't the first time I'd had to sort him out when he was like that. Neither of them met my eyes though. Once they'd left I turned my attention back to my brother. He was still screaming, though the noise had dimmed slightly. 

"Tyson, stop with the screaming now. You don't need to be making this noise. And pass me those scissors now, you don't really need them do you?" I held my hand open, waiting for him to pass me them but he refused with a shake of his head. Luckily he had stopped screaming. He was still backed into the corner of the room, one hand bracing himself against the counter, the other holding the scissors. Between me and you, I was a little scared of him. His face was actually quite terrifying. I gulped.

"Okay, tell me what's up then? What happened buddy?" I took a step towards him but that just made him cringe away and start to wail. I stepped right back quickly.

"They were talking about me! Saying mean things about me. They thought I was asleep but I wasn't and I heard them. They laughed about me too, when I didn't close the door they said I was born in a barn. I wasn't born in a barn! I wasn't!" Tears filled his eyes as he spoke. See, to most people that little saying would be no big deal but part of his diagnosis was taking everything literally. He had obviously taken it as an insult. 

"Chill out. No one actually thinks that, they were just messing about. You know Mommy and Daddy would never be mean to you. So come on, put the scissors  down and lets go watch a movie. Come on." I took a few steps towards him and grabbed at the scissors. That was my first mistake. 

"Get away!" He started screaming again. I ignored his screams and continued to step towards him. Second mistake. His hand swung down and buried the scissors deep into my outstretched hand. Now as I said before, these were big scissors. They impaled themselves into the palm. I had no reaction a first. But then the blood started pouring. Not going to lie, I freaked. 

"Oh shit, shit, shit. What the hell did you do? Mom, come quick! Oh crap, so much blood, so much blood." I grabbed for the nearest tea towel to stop the heavy flow of blood, completely ignoring Tyson who was staring at the blades which had fallen to the floor. Mom came running through, her eyes still red. They grew wide as she saw the blood that was pouring from my hand. Her hand drew up to her mouth.

"Oh my god. Tyson, what have you done? Percy, oh gods, Percy, are you okay?" She rushed towards me, lifting off the tea towel to look at the wound. "Okay, we're going to the hospital. Paul! Come and sort Tyson, we need to take Percy hospital!" She pressed the cloth back against my hand before frantically searching for her keys. Paul entered the room quickly, reacting to Mom's shouts. His eyes flicked between the scissors on the floor, Tyson's face and the blood all over the floor and cloth on my hand. 

"Tyson, go to your room." There was no response. "Tyson, I mean it. Go right now, we do not hurt other people." He was completely calm, his voice was not raised in any way. Extremely different to my reaction. My hand was shaking, there were tears in my eyes and I felt like I was going to vomit. There was so much blood. I couldn't say anything, I was just staring at my hand. I barely noticed Paul talking until Tyson replied.

"No. He tried to hurt me. I didn't do anything, I am not a naughty boy!" He screamed and ran past us, pushing past Paul. My stomach dropped when I realized my third mistake. I had forgotten to lock the front door. I dropped the cloth and ran out the room, just in time to see the front door open. Shit. Without even thinking, I ran out into the hallway. 

"Tyson, stop! It's fine I'll be fine, come back!" He stopped just before the stairs, turning to look at me.

"I'm not a bad boy! I didn't mean to, I'm not a bad boy!" He started walking backwards.

"I know you're not, just stop and come back." It was then I made my last mistake of the day. I took a step towards him. He turned to run. But he was on the edge of the stairs. 

"No, Tys, stop!" I ran forward as he fell. A scream resonated through the hallway. Then it stopped. There was a sickening crunch. 

~Heyyyy guys. So I know this one was kinda short but I wanted something more exciting to happen and I felt like this would be a good way to do it? Idk really, let me know what you guys think. Also can I just say thank you so much for the reads, honestly I was expecting like 5 reads at most so the fact it has like 300 actually means a ton to me. So thanks again. Please any of you feel free to comment, vote, message me, literally whatever. I honestly appreciate everything so yup. 

See you laters alligators