Collapsing As It Sees The Pain (Percy Jackson)

A Good Time

Peter:

Our dad showed up. And Percy and him hasn't said much at all. But he asked Percy who I was and Percy told him.

And Dad flipped the fuck out on me. Because my hair was blue and I had piercings and gods forbid, I have a tattoo but they don't know that yet. It was parent consented. It's legal. I also drink, but they don't know that, either. I assume Percy probably does, too. At parties, at least. He seems like he could use a few strong ones and just forget stuff for a while.

So I freaked out on him and he ended up calling me a mistake and all of this shit was just stupid. But I had a feeling he's done the same to Percy and it's why (I overheard this) he has panic attacks and depression because that's not normal. At all.

"Well maybe I'd you'd respect your only two kids," I started off. "Maybe they wouldn't be questioning why they're not dead."

He shut up and looked at me.

"You aren't like that, I can tell."

"No I'm not, the other one is."

Following up after that, him and Percy got in an argument and Percy got pissed off and told him that it's not his fault that he's depressed and he gets suicidal at times. Or that he's half god. Or that he's gay. He can't help that.

And I felt bad. Because I knew that hell. I'm bisexual, and that was really hard for me to be able to even consider. Much less accept. I've had both boyfriend's and girlfriends in the past. I've at least had a strong liking for all of them dearly.

Being gay is only ever taken 10 times worse anywhere you go. There was a kid this year, and he was really nice and really cute..Just not my type, really. I didn't know him too well. But he was openly gay to the school and kids always teased him and one guy said, in front of the entire school, that he accepted him and all of this nice crap. Just to open a trapdoor on the ceiling to drop a bunch of paint and glitter on him. Rainbow, at that.

He was hospitalized twice for being suicidal. Just this year alone. He had a boyfriend who killed himself, apparently.

I lived in the nice part of the country, too. I lived in Minnesota. New York must be Percy's own personal hell. I felt terrible.

So when Poseidon left in a fit of anger, I mentioned that there was a party tonight and he said sure. We can go.

When we get there, I hand him a beer.

"No, thanks." My twin brother declined my offer. "I made the mistake before. I don't drink."

"Why not?"

"That's a story for another time."

And of course, a vast majority of camp there was drinking.

Now, Nico knows that I don't drink. I'm not sure if he knew why, but he knows I remain sober. And not many people know that.

So Leo questioned it.

"How is Percy still acting so..." The son of Hephaestus asked my boyfriend. "Sober? Not wasted?"

"He doesn't drink." Nico filled him in. "Not sure why. Something happened as a kid, maybe? I don't fucking know why. But he stays sober. So if you ever need a sober cab."

Ignoring what was going on over there, I managed to find other sober people. One of them including Thalia, so I had a friend.

"We're all sober, man." Thalia told me as I walked over. "Sorry, dude."

"I figured," I assured her. "I am, too."

"Seriously?" She asked me as I sat down next to her, taking a sip of my trusty Mountain Dew.

"Seriously." I confirmed. "I don't drink. I have done so once by being tricked into it. I hated it. It tasted good, for what I was told it was. But it just... Nothing good came out of it. Nothing good ever seems to come out of this stuff. Why don't you drink?"

"I watched Luke do it, once." The daughter of Zeus told me. "Like you said, he was tricked into it, too. Got wasted really quick.by accident, and me, not realizing he was drunk, went to grab some myself and he yelled at me about that for like a year. So I just don't drink because I can still hear him lecturing me about it. Annabeth, though... She drinks like a sailor. Ends up cursing like one, too."

"Oh, trust me, I know."

I took another sip of my Mountain Dew as I looked around at the party. It was a decent amount of people. Just our friends and a few others. Jason was dam near wasted already.

Hazel and Frank both showed up, and to my surprise, Frank walked over to us. Hazel grabbed herself a shot, downed it, and the got herself a bloody Mary. A strong one, at that.

"Hazel drinks?" I questioned.

"More than she probably should, yeah," Frank told me. "What about you? You seem like a drinker?"

I shook my head and pointed at Peter.

"My brother probably drinks enough for both of us," I assured him. "By the looks of it, that is. He showed up earlier today with my parents and he's my brother apparently. I just kind of went with it. It's been a long day."

We all danced around a little bit and had fun until an hour or so went by. When people came to get us to play truth or dare. The three of us, the only sober ones. Everyone else was wasted or close to it. I'm pretty sure Nico would vaguely remember tonight. Peter won't.

Like at all. He'll vomit all day tomorrow and crap. He won't remember anything, he's too far gone in the alcohol.

So I'm seated between Nico and Thalia at the moment. Frank on the other side of Thalia, next to Hazel. So Jason goes first and asks if he can use me for something. Not me taking a truth or dare. But whatever and I said sure. Not knowing what it would be.

"Nico," he said and I suddenly.got worried because I feel like Jason knows things about Nico's love life that he shouldn't. We're not out as a couple to the camp yet. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare, duh."

He glanced between both of us, bit his lip, and spoke. What would come out his mouth did terrify me. It also made me uncomfortable.

Piper whispered something to her boyfriend.

"Even better!" Jason exclaimed, sounding out of it entirely. "Nico, I dare you— give Percy a handjob."

The uneasy that covered that room wasn't just a blanket but like a fucking quilt. It was heavy and we both looked at each, and even drunk, he knew. He's not the dumb drunk. That's good to know.

"Nah, man," Nico argued against that, thank the gods. "If we were together, it'd be different. Nothing with the dick."

"Okay, fine," The son of Jupiter agreed, sounding 5 as he did so. "Then like, I dare you to make out. Like actually. Don't be a lame ass. 10 seconds at least."

Rolling his eyes, Nico agreed to the terms and faced me. Planting his drunken lips on mine, it was weird. On one hand they were sweet. But on the other hand, I could taste the hops and that wasn't nice. I'm not a fan of how hops smell (because of Gabe) so this could've been better. But I didn't really care. It gave us a small excuse to be intimate in public.

I'm not sure how long it was, between 10-15 seconds for sure. But it was actually just a nice reminder that after this I can go back to my cabin with Nico and we can relax and just go to bed. That is, until Patrick wakes all of us up.

But either way, I could make it through this party.