How You Changed Me (Demigods In High School AU)

Chapter 1 || Percy Jackson of Goode

PERCY JACKSON

Percy brushed a hand through his hair, rolling his eyes at its messiness. Refusing to move whatsoever. Just like his stubbornness. The sound of his converse shoes on the tile floors echoed through the penthouse, bouncing back to his ears. Whirring from the dishwasher and the washing machines filled the whole house with a sound to remind him of all the new technology that was being produced.

"Leo!" he called, "Leo get down here!"

Leo, the lil' dude, casually walked down the stairs, his elf-like ears catching the sunlight, making them glow slightly.

"You needed me?" Leo raised an eyebrow.

"Shut up, Leo," Percy rolled his eyes, "I know you clogged the toilet."

Leo put his hand over his heart and gasped dramatically.

"How could you ever accuse me of--okay, I did it," Leo said. "But... what else?"

"Housewives of New York is playing!" Percy motioned for Leo to sit down on the couch, where he had just flung himself.

"Ooh! Mamma Mia!"

"Leo, stop trying to be Italian," he gave Leo a playful shove.

"That's not even... That's not even Italian," Leo gave him a confused look.

"You know what I mean, Repair Boy."

Percy watched as Susie Marie Jane Johnson walked through the doors wearing a dress that could only resemble a fairy's, her princess curls bouncing as she skipped in the room. She had her curtain bangs pinned up with two silver pins, her high heels clacking against the floor.

"Ernie? Ernie, I want to come talk to you!" she called.

"Damn," he said to Leo, picking up a piece of popcorn, "This is getting good."

"What is it, honey?" Ernie Johnson was walking down the stairs, holding a coffee in his hands.

"I know you're cheating on me."

Leo and Percy gasped in shock.

"No way," he shook his head.

"No. Way!" Leo exclaimed, "My OTP is ruined!"

"But... But... But Ernie was the one who helped her fight cancer! How could he just... do this to her?!" Percy stared at the TV in disbelief.

Ernie stared at her for a long beat.

"Please don't let it be true... Please don't let it be true... Please... Please..." Leo and Percy were pleading.

"How'd you figure out?"

"NO!"

"NOOO!"

"I saw you two at the restaurant the other night," Susie said, glaring at Ernie, "I was taking Cassandra, Lily, and Timothy to get ice cream and I saw you having dinner with this other girl you called... Rebecca."

Ernie stared at her for a long while before Susie slapped Ernie right across the face.

"How could you do this to me, Ernie?! After fifteen long years of marriage you just decide to call quits by dating a girl who is young enough to be your own daughter! She looks like she's eighteen!"

"And she is eighteen, Susie!" Ernie exclaimed, "I love her."

"You said that to me... when I was in the hospital with all the hair shaved off my head," Susie was crying at this point, "You said you loved me and that's why I got through cancer. That little dickheaded brain of yours is stupid if you think that didn't mean anything to me!"

"I'm sorry, Susie! But I've... lost that love in you--"

"And what about the children, Ernie? You've got the exact same responsibility as I've got if you think you can just leave them alone without a father!"

"Well, I've had my fair share!" Ernie clapped back, "I have left half my will to them."

"So you think money is good enough to make up for the fact that they'll grow up without a father," Susie slapped him again, "You are a fool, Ernie Johnson! A fool!"

"Who pays the bills?" Ernie took a pace forward. "You are a housewife. Nothing more. And if you think you can go around disrespecting the person who has been paying for your meals, you are the real fool."

"Then let's divorce, Ernie," Susie said, eyes full of tears, "Let's divorce. And I'll tell the children we're splitting up. Not because of me. Because you're a bastard. A useless, arrogant, dicky, shitty, useless f**king piece of crap! And they'll hate you. They'll hate you with such spite, you'll lose everyone you love in your life."

Ernie was glaring at his wife--well, ex-wife.

"That Rebecca girl?" Susie had wiped all the tears out of her eyes, "She'll leave you. Mark my words. She's eighteen and you're thirty-eight. She'd rather find a man her age who truly cares about women. Not you."

"And what are you going to do?" Ernie said as Susie turned to leave, "You have no money, Susie. Taking the children with you would just be a death sentence for them and to you. You'd starve."

"So I'm your slave now?" Susie raised an eyebrow.

"No. You're a housewife."

"No," Susie took a step forward, "I'm a proud housewife. And that proud housewife is going to divorce you, take my fair share of the money you've legally signed to me, and starting my own life. With someone else."

Susie took the coffee away from Ernie's hand.

"You don't deserve to drink or eat anything I make. Go starve for all I care. Die in a hellhole. Rot in a jail cell for all the crimes you've committed against women. I hate you, Ernie Johnson. And I will hate you for the rest of time."

With that, Susie slammed the door, stomping out of the room and throwing a picture of Ernie and her at their wedding on the floor. The episode had ended.

"Damn..." Leo breathed, staring at the floor, tears in his eyes, "I felt that."

"Go get a tissue box," Percy sighed. "Honestly, I'm not surprised it ended this way."

Leo stared at him, sighing.

"Just because you've got a toxic ex doesn't mean everything's gonna be a toxic ex."

"That doesn't even make sense!" Percy called over to him as he walked into the kitchen.

"MAKES SENSE TO ME!" Leo yelled across the penthouse.

He rolled his eyes, taking out a mug to grab coffee in. As Percy filled it up, the familiar bitter and rich smell of coffee filled his nostrils and he couldn't help but wonder how his dad had left his mom. He scowled at the thought, as Poseidon had left his mom with Gabe. Gabe. But Percy's scowl faded as quickly as it came.

It was all to protect him.

And for that, Percy didn't smile.