If Only (Nico Di Angelo)

Chapter Seven

Finn Perseus

Like ten minutes after the conversation with the group, my dad called me. Nico had gone to school by then. Afternoon classes, that is. Home for lunch.

"Hey, Percy," I didn't even want to have anything to do with him anymore. That's why I didn't just stay home that day we left America.

I didn't know he had me on speaker, in my defense. Or that Tyson was there and could hear me. Or anyone at camp, really.

"You have five minutes," I wasn't messing with this part of my life. I wasn't going to do that to myself right after I literally just finished my 9 months of therapy a week ago yesterday. "Explain why the hell you're calling me, and if you can't be done in five minutes, I don't care. I'm hanging up. You can go a whine about it to somebody else. Go."

"Oh gods, we didn't expect you to answer. You sound a little pissed off." Suddenly my dad was just thrown off by my attitude against him. "Whatever happened, sorry. But we're at Camp right now for the annual memorial thing. That was your idea."

"So?"

"Why aren't you here?"

"Why should I be?" I wasn't letting him talk me into getting a plane to be there for a day. I'm not that dumb. "One, you don't give a shit about me. Two, I've served my time there. Three, I'm on the other side of the ocean if you missed that. I'm not spending €1500 on a ticket and a 12 hour plane ride to be there for a day and probably get fired from my job. Sorry, but that's not happening."

"Your brother's here."

"Yeah, he can come visit me." I wasn't informed that Tyson would be there this summer. I wouldn't have gone either way. I have a life to attend to. "I don't care what you tell me. I'm never stepping foot in that camp again. If I ever wanted to, I got an entire family that would kill me before that was ever an option."

"What did we ever do to you?" My dad was looking to pick a fight.

"Look, I tried to myself last September." I'm pretty sure nobody told him about that. "For the most part, because of everything you've caused in my life. I just finished therapy a whole week ago because of that. So I have two words for you if you think I'll ever consider going back. Fuck you."

I hung up, because he hit the 5 minute mark and I had better things to do with my life.

Just... After I moved here, I stopped caring about that place. About that life. It was over. I wasn't sad about it. I still had my friends. That all I needed from that place. I don't need or want anything else from them. Especially my dad. He just go fuck himself and have another kid for all I care.

But he's a god. He can basically teleport. So he knocked on my door and broke my lock to get in. Bringing Tyson, Grover, and Luke with him. As if it'd change anything.

If anything, Luke would side with me on this. I tried to leave peacefully. Without any problems.

It just pissed me off. That he thought it was okay to do this. That, just because he's a god, he can do whatever the fuck he wants and nobody will say he can't. Because he's a god.

Because he's my dad.

It was this raw hatred. I meant it when I said I'd never go back. I'd kill myself before I did that.

I tried to do that.

"You think you're funny?" I snapped at him, not wanting to go through this. "Get out of my fucking house! You're not wanted here!"

"Percy, you're just upset—"

"Oh, I would've never guessed," I knew I was upset. This is what led to me wanting to kill myself. "of course I'm pissed off! You just broke into my house! I pay a lot of money to live here every month. I like it here, believe it or not. You're not taking me away from it."