Star | Percabeth AU✔️

Heartless- 17

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, these characters and photos don't belong to me.

Sorry but this is going to be written poorly because I'm struggling to find the right words.

*Unedited*

Percy's POV
January 8th, Tuesday, 2019

I woke up in a bed that was definitely not mine. My first thought was that Annabeth called an ambulance and they put me in a hospital. Fortunately, Annabeth just brought me to her house and bandaged me up.

I suddenly remembered the events of yesterday. I sat up and checked the time. 3:34 pm. School ended at 3:30 pm, which gave me plenty of time to run. Run away from the truth. Run away from having to explain. Run away from hope.

I stood up from Annabeth's bed and instantly regretted it. Though she had cleaned and bandaged all the wounds, my body was in flames. I took one of the many sweatshirts Annabeth had 'borrowed' from me to cover myself.

Swiftly, I walked out of her house while putting my blue hood up. I stopped for a moment to insert my earbuds into- well, my ears. For music of course. I discarded the idea when one of Annabeth's/Athena's song came on and kept walking. Leaving me to the mercy of my brain.

I won't bore you with the details, but being ADHD, I couldn't focus on the same topic. One minute I'm thinking about blue cookies. The next, I'm thinking: OH MY GODS! IS THAT A SQUIRREL?

"It's okay to ask for help, you know." Someone said from the other side of the street. I turned to face the voice. There, across the street, was Annabeth Chase.

After making sure there were no cars coming down the street, (despite what you believe, I don't have a death wish) I jogged over to her.

"Hey," I said after reaching her. A fake smile plastered on my face. Annabeth wasn't fooled.
She shook her head at me softy, scoffing a little.

"Hey? That's what you say after your best friend figures out you're being abused? How long has this been going on?" Annabeth's voice cracked at the end of the first sentence.

"Please don't do this. Not here," I replied, placing my hands on the back of my head then dropping them. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Don't push me away Percy."

Annabeth's voice no longer contained the gentleness it began with. Instead, it made you want to obey every word.

I looked her dead in the eye. Green met grey. On the outside, my expression was emotionless. Inside? The opposite.

"Physical? Or the verbal?" I asked deadly calm. For a while, she didn't speak. The only sounds were the occasional passing of a car and a soft breeze.

"The beginning of it." Annabeth answered after a good five minutes. Her voice went back to its original, less-commanding tone.

I inhaled deeply. My eyes were still focused on Annabeth, so I pulled them away. "So the verbal part. In the beginning, he wasn't always cruel. My mom wouldn't have married him if he was always like that. I was barely six when they got married. Mom needed the financial aid, so they didn't waste any time. About two months into the marriage, Gabe started calling me names. Punk, brat, spoiled- things like that. Neither me or my mom acknowledged. He took this the wrong way and called me worse- retarded, mistake-"

I stopped myself and looked back at Annabeth. "Failure," I turned away once more. Unable to stand the tears forming in her eyes. "None of that gave Gabe even the slightest satisfaction. Around the time I turned eight, words turned into slaps. Slaps turned into punches. Punches into full on beatings."

"Why haven't you told anyone?" Annabeth asked. I was still facing away from her. Mostly so she couldn't see my own tears.

"I don't wanna talk about this anymore," I said, starting to walk away, but Annabeth pulled me back. I faced in her direction, but I stared at the ground.

"That's it? Percy. I want to help you, but I can't do that if you don't let me in. Please don't shut me out. That's how-" Annabeth paused and pursed her lips. She took a deep breath. "Just talk to me."

I tried to remove Annabeth's hand. I didn't deserve her or anything else. In the end, I would just destroy her because my best isn't good enough. I hurt people. That's one of the things Gabe has taught me.

"This was a mistake," I said, pulling away. "I need to go."

"Percy-" Annabeth started, trying to stop me.

"Just stop! This is why your family keeps leaving you," as soon as I said it, I regretted it. Annabeth stood there with a blank expression. "Annabeth. I'm sorry." I tried reaching for her.

"Don't touch me." Annabeth said with a harsh tone. "I get it. You're hurting, but that doesn't give you the right to bring up those topics. You of all people should know that."

Annabeth turned around and walked to her house. I didn't need to see her face to know how much I hurt her.

Now I understand why Gabe had written that new word into my skin.

Heartless
_________

A/N: Originally, I was going to make this a longer chapter, but I decided- Hey! Let's pull a Rick!

*people start throwing bricks*

Haha! Suckers! Jason is off today-

*Jason comes in and gets hit by ANOTHER brick*

You know what? I give up!

Word Count: 924 words