Stone Walls (Jercy AU)

PERCY

Percy woke up the next morning and for a split second, he had no idea where he was. He glanced around the turquoise colored walls and white dresser in the room, remembering he was at Thalia's house. He saw a small duffel bag and his school bag on the floor by the door. Mrs. Grace had kindly went to get Percy's few things from the apartment and she was beyond generous to offer Percy a place to stay.

Percy got out of bed and drew the white curtains and peered out the window. It was a chilly Saturday morning and the sun was just about to rise. The streets were covered in a blanket of snow and the sun made it shimmer like crystals.

Percy knew no one else was awake in the Grace house. Percy was used to waking up early because he had to get breakfast ready for Gabe every morning before he did anything else. Percy decided to brush his teeth and take a shower. He went to the duffel bag and pulled out his blue toothbrush, grey underwear, an orange hoodie, black socks and black sweats. He grabbed a towel from the cabinet in the guest room and opened his door, walking down the hall to the bathroom. Percy shut the bathroom door and turned the shower water on. He brushed his teeth before stepping into the soothing hot water.

As the hot water streamed down his still bruised body, soothing the muscles that have not fully recovered yet, Percy took a moment to remind himself he was out of that house. He was having a peaceful shower with amazing hot water. He was somewhere that didn't reek of beer and hobos. For the first time in years, Percy felt completely, entirely, absolutely at ease. He was grateful for Thalia, Grover and Jason bringing him to Mrs. Grace. He was beyond grateful.

But Jason . . . Percy still couldn't understand why Jason was so stuck on helping him. It was driving Percy crazy. Every time he met Jason's piercing blue eyes, Percy's breath hitched. His heart seemed to speed up every time Jason smiled at him. It was somewhat comforting, but Percy felt it was something more to him. Percy always knew he wasn't attracted to girls, and he came out to Thalia, Grover and his mom that he liked boys. But he couldn't be attracted to Jason. Him and Jason barely know each other. And he's Thalia's brother.

Percy sighed and turned the shower off, stepping out and drying his skin. He used the lotion in the bathroom and slipped into his clothes. He walked back to the guest room, set his stuff down and went to the living room. He walked down the hallway yet again, taking in the rows of pictures of Jason, Thalia, a picture of Percy with Thalia and Grover.

But the picture that caught Percy's attention was a picture of a young blonde boy, dressed in blue jeans and a purple shirt. He held a football high in his tiny hand, a big smile plastered on his face and red scratch above his lip. Next to him stood a stern man with soft blue eyes, like Jason's. He was holding the boy's hand, a smile stretching across his face. It didn't take long for Percy to notice it was Jason and his father. Percy stood there, intaking what a relationship between a father and son looked like. Part of Percy always wished he knew his father, or at least had a decent stepfather. But, his mother was a mother and father all at once.

"I don't remember much about him, you know," a groggy voice said. Percy jumped and turned to see Jason standing in the doorway of the room next to the guest room. His hair was messy, his shirt ruffled and his eyes a bit puffy from rubbing them too much. Percy examined the blonde boy, realizing he was much different than the football, straight A student from school.

"He passed away so suddenly," Jason continued as he walked up to Percy and turned to gaze at the picture too.

"Car accident, right?" Percy asked, looking over at the Golden Boy.

Jason's face got dark, his eyebrows furrowing together as he stared into the picture, as if he could see something else. "Yeah, he was driving to work and a car just hit him, and drove away."