Percabeth One Shots💅🏻✨

50. Late Night Talks 1

I really like this idea. I think it'll be interesting to dissect the underlying trauma and themes in the books. So here's the first one:

"Perce?" He hummed a response. "What was Gabe like?" Percy's stomach dropped. He hadn't thought about Gabe in... years. He was finally free from that bastard. His mom was safe with Paul now, and she even has another kid with Paul. "Perce?"

"Oh... he uhm." Percy's breath hitched. "He wasn't nice."

"You always say he wasn't nice, but you never actually told me what he did that was so bad?" Sure its been maybe a decade since he dealt with Gabe, better known as Smelly Gabe, and if he ever crossed his mind, Percy's stomach would knot, and he'd feel nauseous. He wants to run whenever he hears his name.

"He was uhm—" Percy's eyes stung. He was glad the lights were off, and Annabeth was in his arms, she didn't have to see the tears threatening to fall. "He was bald. He smelled... Like really bad."

"Yeah, didn't Grover say that your mom only dated him because he masked your scent right?"

"Yeah." Annabeth could tell he was starting to put his walls up, but she knew he carried whatever Gabe did to him on his shoulders, it weighed him down, part of the pain in his eyes wasn't just Tartarus, it was Gabe.

"He would play poker all the time, and order my mom around."

"Thats why?" Annabeth knew that wasn't it.

"Yes..."

"I don't want to push you, but maybe if you told me... you might feel better. Percy, if we're going to be team, you need to share the weight of your past, I tell you so much—"

"Not true, you didn't tell me what Helen did, you never told me what pushed you to leave your home you—"

"Fair enough, but we're not talking about me right now, I'll tell you tomorrow okay?" He nodded into her shoulder, he rested his head on her shoulder, and she could feel his breath on her neck, warming her to the core.

"I really don't like talking about it Annabeth."

"Percy, please. I want you to trust me."

"I do trust you, I told you where my Achilles heel was."

"Thats a physical weakness, please Percy, I want to help you, I can see it in your eyes that you're not okay."

"I don't know if you forgot but we kind of went through literal hell, that'll break a person."

"Percy."

"Fine. Fine. He would say really... uhm— h-hurtful things."

"Thats not it though is it?" She felt him shake his head. "What could he have possibly done, I know he's a rotten human being, anyone who's mean to Sally isn't a good person, but what did he do to—"

"He h-hit my mom." Annabeth's stomach knotted, she never knew that. "And..."

"And?" She felt bad pushing him but he's doing so well, he's opening up finally, she's not wasting this opportunity.

"So you know all those scars I have?"

"Yeah but I thought they were from monster attacks."

"Gabe was a monster." Then she realized what he was saying... Gabe hit him. He abused Percy.

She turned on his hold.

"Percy... I-I didn't know, I'm—" She almost said she was sorry, but she knew that wouldn't help anybody. "I hate him more now." She held him as he hid in her neck, he couldn't face her. He felt safe when he was with her, of course, but even talking about that bastard made him uneasy, and everything he ever did to him, all the pain, all the burns, bruises, cuts, and scrapes, would flare in pain. As if they were physically reopened. She kissed his head, she wasn't sure if he was still crying or not, because his body had been convulsing for about fifteen minutes, but she thinks he stopped. "Percy?" He sniffled. "You know I love you right?" She needs him to know that she loves him, she wasn't sure exactly why she needed him to know, but she just did.

"You still do?"

"Of course you Seaweed Brain." He rested his head in her lap.

"You're not scared of me?" She almost laughed. How could she be scared of this mushy boy.

"No, Percy, you've given me no reason—" Her voice caught as she remembered that time in Tartarus... No, that not him, that was Tartarus. Tartarus did that. "You given me no reason to be scared of you."

"You stuttered. You never stutter..."

"It was nothing."

"No, you are scared of me now. This is why I didn't want to talk about it Annabeth!" He was getting mad.

"No, I just remembered that time in uhm Tartarus, but that wasn't you, that was Tartarus, of course I'm not scared of you Percy." He blushed, embarrassed of when he scared her, he hates thinking about that.

"I'm sorry. I-I I'm a monster. I'm a broken, worthless piece of—"

"Would you just listen to me Percy!? If I wasn't ready to take on your pain I wouldn't have asked you to tell me! Now sit back down." She can reign him in at the snap of a finger.

"Sorry." She kissed his head till they fell asleep in each other's arms.