Stone Walls (Jercy AU)

PERCY

Percy sat in on the living room couch, his palms sweaty. He wiped his palms against his jeans. He was nervous, but he couldn't show it. He needed to be sure. He needed to be confident. He needed to be ready. Questions were flooding his mind, but the only question he could fathom was Why?.

Poseidon stared back at Percy, probably trying to figure out where he would start too. The longer Percy looked at him, the more he saw himself. The longer Percy stared, the more he realized this man was just as broken as he was. He loved his mother, Percy knew that. Percy's mother used to talk about Poseidon all the time when he was younger. Percy remembered seeing her smile endlessly at the thought of him, her eyes mixed with sadness and love. This man made her heart dance, and yet, he was dead to Percy for years. 

"I know you don't have a lot to say to me right now," Poseidon began, "but I'm gonna talk and I hope you'll listen to what I have to say."

Percy nodded, still not voicing a word. He made direct eye contact with Poseidon, waiting to see his face through the conversation. He needed to know if he was telling the truth.

"When Sally and I met, we were still in college," Poseidon smiled at the memory. "A little before graduation, we found out we were having you. We graduated, moved in together and it was great. Coming from my family, ti was hard to believe I was going to ever be a father myself. You were a wild one."

Poseidon laughed and looked at Percy, but Percy's face remained emotionless. This isn't what he wanted to hear.

Poseidon cleared his throat. "When you were around 6 years old, Sally and I realized we wanted different things. I wanted to travel, be everywhere. She wanted to do more school and become an author. It created this wedge between us that we couldn't solve. We decided to separate, but I would still visit and support you. I knew your mother started to see someone. What I didn't know was that she had lost her job and it was becoming difficult to support you and herself."

"Yeah, money was hard," Percy said, finally breaking his silence. "We were going to lose our apartment."

"I had no idea." Poseidon sighed. "Next thing I knew, she was married to Gabe. And it hurt, it did. But I was the one that left. I wasn't allowed to be mad about it, right?"

"I guess so."

"Anyways, months went by and Sally stopped picking up the checks I sent. I came to visit, but when I got there, Gabe had answered the door. Told me Sally took off with you and he had no idea where you two were. I thought she finally had enough. I thought it was hard for her. I thought she hated me." Poseidon sniffled, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment before continuing. "Years later, I get a call from one of Sally's friends she used to work with down at the diner, asking me how I was doing after Sally's passing. Said she was trying to check up on me for years, but never got through. I was in a different country, changed my number. And I couldn't believe her when she said Sally passed away. I mean, leukemia? It always happens to the good ones. Turns out she never bolted like Gabe said."

"You were in a different country?" Percy asked, trying to wrap his head around it all.

"Percy, I thought your mother didn't want me in your lives anymore. And I had every reason to believe Gabe when he told me she left with you." A tear slid down Poseidon's cheek. He turned away from Percy, squinting and rubbing his eyes before turning to face Percy again. "Only to learn that you were there. Sally was there. She was there and she was dying. I hopped on a plane so quick, I didn't even pack a bag. I needed to see you. I needed you to know what happened. I needed to tell you I'm sorry."

Percy was at a loss of words. Poseidon, Percy's dad, did come back for him. He came back for his mom. At this point, Poseidon was crying. Never in his life had Percy seen a grown man cry. It was almost comforting to have someone grieve the loss of his mom with him. It was a loss Percy never got to deal with.