Friends With Mental Issues (Percy Jackson Fanfiction)

The Storm in His Eyes

   It had gotten to the point where Percy just wanted to get the job over with. He hated what had happened with Frank, but he didn't want to leave everyone with Mr. D. So he could finish his dumb job and maybe get to play a couple rounds of Myth-o-Magic with his crazy friends before school started again.

   "You freaking dildo, Leo!" Piper shouted, straining against Jason's arms to get to the grinning Mexican.

   "Aww, come on, Beauty Queen, it was only a joke," Leo responded, putting his hands up in mock surrender. Despite Leo's totally faked innocence, Percy could see that he was enjoying Piper's response.

   Nico walked in with an energy drink raised to his lips. Upon seeing the scene, his eyebrows shot up. He lowered the drink, turning his attention to Percy, who sat on the couch with a grim look, his elbows resting on his knees. "What happened?"

   "Not sure. I went to the bathroom and came back to this," Percy said, his green eyes flicking up to Nico and staying there for a few seconds before he looked away again. Lately, it seemed as though Percy couldn't look at his friends here at the facility without imagining what their crying faces looked like. So he resorted to trying not to look at them.

   Nico blinked, wondering if he should ask aboout how Percy was avoiding eye-contact. Deciding no, he turned his attention to Jason. "Do you know what happened?"

   Jason let go of Piper, who dropped to the floor, all her strength having been wasted on trying to break free. "It's nothing really..." He trailed off, giving Piper an apologetic glance when she glared at him. "It's just something with Piper's parents. They'll work it out." His voice was sure. This had happened before.

   "Alright," Nico said, shrugging and taking a sip of the energy drink. It was obvious that he wasn't going to worry about the situation anymore. And if he was, he wasn't going to show it.

   The room was now uncomfortably silent. Leo had zoned out, his face showing an immeasurable amount of pain. Piper was still on the floor, biting her lip. It seemed a bit like she was trying to hold back tears, but considering Piper was a sociopath, Percy kind of doubted his first thought. Jason was also zoned out, a bit like Leo, but without the pain. Nico was unconcerned, or at least, that's how it seemed.

   Percy cleared his throat. "Where's Annabeth and them?" he asked, breaking the silence, referring to her, Hazel, and Frank. 

   Nico scoffed, rolling his eyes. "You would ask about her."

   "What do you mean by that?" Percy demanded, his defense mechanism kicking in.

   "Nothing," he said, a scary glint in his dark eyes, "she's showing Hazel and Frank building designs." Nico took a sip of his energy drink, leaning against the wall. His eyes drifted over to Percy who was actually looking at him straight on for once. "Comfort," he finished when Percy looked him in the eye.

   Comfort. It was kind of ironic how that particular word stabbed at Percy's conscience. So Nico knew about what happened with Frank. The seven were a tight-knit group of friends, so it would make sense that Nico knew about what happened, and that wasn't what had bothered Percy. It was just the casual and slightly analytical tone that hurt.

   "Oh." Jason, Piper, and Leo were still silent. 

   "Now would be a good time to," Nico trailed off, his eyes drifting to Jason, "do what you need to do. I'll take care of Dummy 1 and Dummy 2. Go ahead." His tone of voice left no room for argument.

   "Right." Just get it over with, Percy told himself. "How about we take a walk? You know, leave Piper and Leo to work it out." Despite Percy's casual tone, Jason could tell exactly what was going on, and everyone else knew it, too.