How You Changed Me (Demigods In High School AU)

Chapter 7 || Party Time

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING SCENE MAY INCLUDE SOME MINOR MATURE CONTENT, DEPENDING ON HOW YOU VIEW MATURE. ENJOY! 

PERCY JACKSON

Percy watched as Renee sat on his bed, scrolling through TikTok while he laid on the bed, texting in the jock group chat. The door opened and he looked up to see Leo, eating skittles.

"Hey," Renee and Percy both said, waving.

"Ooh," Leo smiled, "Lovebirds on the bed!"

"Shut up, Leo," Percy rolled his eyes, smiling, "You know Renee and I are just sitting here and looking through our phones."

Leo winked, "Oh, and Renee, thanks for the new drinks. Your bartender Leo is on the job."

Renee gave him a small grin, "Thanks, Leo."

Leo ran out of the room, singing.

"THIS GIRL IS ON FIREEE!"

"He can't get that song out of his head," Percy chuckled.

Renee snuggled closer to him, running a hand through his messy black hair. She smelled like Chanel No. 5 perfume and she buried her head in his chest.

"I love you," she said, pulling out of the embrace to kiss him.

That's when the door opened.

"EW! EW! EW! EW! EW!" Leo.

Percy pulled away, spotting him. Leo was staring with a laundry basket in his hands.

"I was just gonna bring you your laundry!" he exclaimed, looking traumatized.

"It was just kissing," Percy sighed.

Renee and Percy both got changed into their party clothes and walked downstairs to greet the guests. The lights flashed, music played, people cheered, they were all having a good time. They both sat down at the bar and Leo poured them some drinks. Percy took a swig and got immediate deja vu from the first time he had tired alcohol.

Yep. They were eighteen and drinking. To be fair, his mom said that he was born in England... so doesn't that mean he was allowed to do it? After all, the legal drinking age there is eighteen. It's not like he turned into Gabe or anything. It just helped him escape. But the memories flooded back.

-FLASHBACK-

"Just try it, Percy!" Renee was nagging at him.

"Renee, I don't wanna become my old stepdad," he shivered at the thought of that smelly, fatty brute.

"You'll be okay, Percy! Just try it."

"And why should I?"

"If you ask me," Renee hushed her voice, "It helps you escape from reality. For me, it makes me hyper. Of course, don't drink it obsessively. You don't wanna become addicted. It's like a small vacation. For a night."

Percy contemplated this. He'd never been on a REAL vacation because his mother was always a bit too poor to afford it, but he took a few in the year he finally started to gain some profit off cars and whatnot.

"If you don't believe me," Renee sighed, cutting me out of my thoughts, "Think of all the bad memories of your life, try it, and let it do it's magic."

Percy let out a chuckle.

"You're toxic, Renee."

"And I love it that way, Percybaby," Renee said, pulling him in for a kiss.

When they were done, he considered what she had told him.

"Fine," he sighed, giving up, "I'll do it."

"Good. I'll go get us some drinks. What are we feeling... shots or are we feeling mixed?"

"Let's try mixed, first," Percy winced, "I don't think I'm ready to be doing what Bryan and Sasha are doing over there."

He saw Bryan and Sasha tipping their heads, screaming in joy as they danced with each other, squirting lime and sprinkling bits of salt in their mouths.

"Cool," Renee said, sashaying away.

Percy waited and in the silence, he could almost hear his mother's screams as Gabe hit her. No, Gabe, as much as he loved his whiskey, wasn't drunk that night.

"GABE, STOP!" Mom had yelled as he had watched.

Gabe's goons were holding him back and their breath was rancid, just like Gabe's. Percy watched as Gabe took off his belt, whipping Percy's mother with it.

"OW! OW! PERCY, IT'S GONNA BE OKAY!" she glanced at his horrified face.

"After you," Gabe growled, grabbing Sally's hair so that she was trapped, "It's your precious son."

That's when Sally Jackson had snapped. She kicked him straight in the stomach and this time, Gabe was at her mercy.

"Don't you DARE lay a hand on my Percy," she had growled, pure fury blazing in her sea-blue eyes.

She managed to punch Gabe across the face, a sickening crunch happening as she broke his jaw. That's when it had happened. Something he could never forgive himself for ever letting happen. One of Gabe's goons pulled out a gun.

"MOM!" Percy had screamed as the bullet fired.

Luckily, the bullet missed, hitting her in the arm.

"AH!" she yelled, blood spewing out on the floor, "PERCY! DON'T MOVE!"

Gabe smirked at her helpless position.

"Now you get to watch as I beat the bloody daylights out of your son."

It hurt. That was the least Percy could say. Gabe kicked him, threw him, cut him, punched him, slapped him, anything you could say was harsh. He was barely conscious by the time it was over. The pain buzzing everywhere, the sickening stench of his hard panting mingling in the air, filled with the smell of blood, the echoing yells and screams from his mother as she was beat again... They all engulfed Percy as he blacked out that night.

"Percy?" Renee asked, snapping him out of the memory montage.

He took the glass, unsure of how he was supposed to feel. All the pain was coming back to him and the fading scars on his body seemed to sting. And Percy chugged the whole glass. The whole world seemed to lift around him. A smile broke out on his face. His whole body felt like it needed to move. It needed to spin around, dance, and party till the sun went up.

"LET'S PARTAAAY!" Percy screamed.

-FLASHBACK OVER-