Bittersweet (A JERCY FIC)

I Don't Get To Eat Lunch

His name was Jason Grace.

Loyal, trusting, calculating, and merciless. Camper from Camp Jupiter, son of Jupiter. But of course, you know him. You have to know him. He was hard to miss, especially if you are Percy Jackson. The son of Poseidon had always been impressed by the other. He was strong, so very smart, and he could fly. Percy had always been too busy to really analyze his true emotions for the other, but recently he had gotten that time.

Percy still had to adjust to the silence of each morning. Recent events had changed his routine. For instance, he mostly slept in until maybe ten or eleven. That part he was very much thankful for. However, it wasn't too long ago when he shared his mornings with someone and was awaken each day around 8:30. That part was what took him the longest to adjust to, no one woke him anymore. The coldness of the empty spot beside him made him feel a sense of loneliness. But no, he wasn't lonely. It was more of the fact that he was single now, it gave him a sense that he was alone, because he was. But did he like it?

The Demigod in question was laying sprawled out across his bed, dressed in loose sweat pants and an old T-shirt. His left arm was draped over his eyes, nose buried into the crook of his elbow. He'd had another dreamless night, which was sometimes nice. Today, it was appreciated. Jason, Frank, and Piper had planned a visit several weeks in advanced, and today they would be arriving. Percy would have to double check with Chiron or even Jason when he showed up, but as far as he was aware, they would be staying for two weeks. Two weeks of having his favorite bro around.

First, Percy had several duties of his own he had to finish. If he wanted to see his friends, he'd need a cleared schedule for them. To clear a schedule, he needed to get up.

Letting out a groan, the demigod slowly freed his body from the twisted blankets and slid out of the bed.

It starts with the shuffling feet, the sleepy movements of a man that isn't fond of actually getting up at all. Percy followed the way to the bathroom, stepping over dirty shirts and ruined pants. Let's be honest, he never really had a clean cabin. It was nice to a degree, but now Percy just felt lazy.

Someday, I'll get around to doing something with these. Percy regarded the dirty floor, sighing at the thought as he entered the bathroom.

Something about a nasty bathroom always did rub him the wrong way. Therefore, he did put effort in keeping its appearance semi clean. Tiredly, he turned the faucet of the sink on, going to work on styling his hair and brushing his teeth. "Alright Percy Jackson... No room for error, today of all days." The demigod gave himself a sly grin in the mirror. His best bro was coming over after all, he had to remind him who was the better bro.

Now that he was awake (mentally and physically), he left the bathroom and stepped towards his closet. Clothes on, then out the door. Finally. Percy got a fresh breath of air. It always smelt like summer or spring. But of course, few could complain about it. Percy could only actually recall Nico complaining once, and one Aphrodite cabin member. That, however, was due to a bee chasing her bright pink, flowery skirt. He blamed the Wine God and his strawberry fields. It was because of him that the camp smelt like strawberry wine all the time. But it beat the smell of the city any day.

The camp was already bustling with life, evident by the younger Athena campers dueling with sticks just outside their cabin. Others were laughing and joking around, doing work outs, or just sitting around.

Rubbing his eyes one last time, Percy turned towards the arena. Of course, it was his turn to organize the weapon's shed. This was a task he found to be some what pleasant. He could do it in peace, despite how tedious it was at times. So, he walked, reaching the arena in no time.

Luckily, the others didn't do such a poor job putting their supplies away, he figured not as many had trained that week. Straightening his shirt, Percy bent down and began to pick up the swords and hang them back onto the rack. That done, he moved to pick up the spears, placing them back in their barrel just the same.

"Thought I would find you here." Spoke a voice Percy was all too familiar with.

No, this wasn't Jason, it was Annabeth. Percy wished his heart didn't flop the way it had. The sight of his ex made him upset, even if the breakup was mutual. Percy missed the constant reassurance that he had someone for him. "Yeah, hey Wise Girl. You need me?" His question was answered by a simple shrug, Annabeth's hands slipping into her pockets and resting there. "Just thought I would come by, see how things are... We haven't really spoke." Ideal, in some cases. But Percy and Annabeth truly had gone through too much to give each other the cold shoulder. Reluctantly, Percy allowed Annabeth to help him straighten the spears, sticking each one into the empty barrel, sharp end up. "I guess I've just been that busy, you know? Someone's gotta keep the sass levels up around here."

This was followed by a small laugh as Annabeth gave Percy the last two Spears, watching him shove them into the barrel with a sigh. "You excited about seeing the others? A shame we can't all meet." It was true. Not everyone from the Seven was available to meet, but that's how things were. The only ones available were the ones set to come. But Percy was always happy to see even one of them.

A few minutes later, Percy and Annabeth finished their conversation. Annabeth stayed behind in the training room. The last glimpse Percy caught of her, before exiting, was her strapping on a chest plate and grabbing a dummy to set up. On to the next task.

Lazily, Percy followed the path over to the stables, kicking some innocent rock that just happened to be big enough for his foot to hit. This was probably his favorite chore. Sometimes, the horses did get annoying, but he loved them anyway. Much easier to deal with than some noisy camper.

Sure enough, the whinny of Pegasus' from the pasture sounded. After Percy bribed Blackjack with a week of donuts, the flying horses stayed in the pastures unless someone took them for a ride. The only down side was, Blackjack had put on a few pounds.

'Boss!' Blackjack neighed, trotting to the fence line with Porkpie right at his tail. "No Blackjack. There's no donuts today." Percy quickly shot down the horse's question before he had a chance to ask, answered with a disappointed huff as he cantered beside the fence.

Giving a small chuckle, Percy leaned on the fence, petting Blackjack and then Porkpie. Once greetings were out of the way, Percy went to the stables, spending most of the morning shoveling out bad hay and replacing it with fresh. Others would complain about the work being smelly, but listening to the Pegasus gossip made it better. It was almost as silly as the Aphrodite gossip. That said a lot because their gossip could get impossibly silly, at least to Percy. Who is dating who and who stole who's perfume wasn't his isle. Listening to horses gossip about which horse ate all the apples or farted the previous night was better.

Then, at long last, lunch time came, much to Percy's relief. Closeting his materials, he told the Pegasus' his goodbye and headed for the pavilion.

Walking up the steps, he was greeted with the pleasant mixed aroma of food, his stomach giving a needy growl in response.

Entering the pavilion, Percy was further greeted with the low buzz of conversation and occasional laughter of other campers. It always managed to put him at ease. Not every camper was there, either. That was a plus because it meant it wouldn't get ridiculously loud.

Percy got his food, a simple stuffed baked potato and green beans. Before eating, he went to the sacrificial brazier and scraped off a small portion, mumbling his father's name. With a content sigh, he finally sat to eat.

But just before he could take that first bite, he heard a very familiar voice behind him.

"What, not even a simple hello?"