Annabeth had been Percy's first kiss, first girlfriend, and first love. They'd begun dating at sixteen, and for the last four years, they'd been each other's rocks through thick and thin. Even the bulk of their trauma was shared, trauma being the foundation on which their relationship had been built. That had never been more true than after Tartarus, when they were the only ones who understood what they'd endured.
When they had moved to New Rome together for college, they had shared an apartment, and although Percy hadn't been as certain about his future as Annabeth, she had been single-handedly stopping him from dropping out. Even without the world at stake they had still been clinging together, sometimes feeling more like two halves than two wholes. Codependency, some would call it. The pair had been together so long, through so much, while holding onto each other so tightly that sometimes Annabeth had felt like Percy's entire world. And he knew Annabeth felt the same way.
After all, it was the reason why, in early June between their freshmen and sophomore years, Annabeth dumped him.
Growing up and aging into adulthood in the same relationship had meant he and Annabeth had never had to be alone in any meaningful way. Instead, they'd been an essential part of each other's formative years, which was what had led Annabeth to propose a break. They needed to find out who they were outside of each other, she'd said, outside of their shared history that at times felt more painful than positive. As it turned out, who Annabeth was outside of Percy was a lot more than who she was with Percy, and so the break had become a breakup.
When she had left him it felt like being dropped off the top of Mount Everest, not in regard to the inevitable impact with the ground, but with the endless free fall as his screams were swallowed by the air rushing past. Percy had had the world swept out from under him, and he hadn't stopped plummeting since.
It was only mid-June, but Percy was already dreading the fall. Summer was the time when he was most able to be in his element, three months of as much sun and water as he could handle. Fall meant going back to school, swapping camp and training for thick textbooks that scrambled their words when he tried to read them and lectures he didn't care about. The thing holding him together through those months of school had been Annabeth, but her no longer being the one constant in his life threw that out the window.
Thinking about a future without Annabeth felt pointless, so he'd been avoiding thinking about it at all. Instead he spent his days throwing himself into sparring with Jason and swimming. Each night he went to bed exhausted, but exhaustion made for a good distraction.
Today he didn't even care enough to swim, so instead he sat on the edge of the lake with his knees pulled to his chest, watching the water and fuming. He didn't understand Annabeth or how she could throw away everything they'd been through. After enduring two wars and Tartarus together, he needed her, and he'd thought she needed him, too. He didn't know what to do with the knowledge that he had been wrong. Part of him felt like he didn't know her at all, a thought that was met with Annabeth's voice in his head saying, That's the point, Seaweed Brain . He furiously pushed her voice away.
Annabeth had wanted to find herself, and apparently she had, but he didn't understand why her revised image of herself couldn't include Percy. Admittedly he probably would know if he'd let her explain two weeks ago when she'd broken up with him, but he hadn't given her the chance. His reaction hadn't been the most mature and he wasn't proud of it, but he had been devastated.
Worse, she had looked devastated, too. She'd been crying and fumbling with her words, lacking the composure and calculated speech he was accustomed to, which had thrown him off even more. She'd kept repeating that she loved him and didn't want to do this, but that was hard to believe when she'd done it anyway. She'd done it, and now Percy was alone, feeling betrayed, confused, and heartbroken. He knew better than anyone how smart she was, how she thought through all her options, how she was careful with her decisions, and he couldn't fathom how that could correspond with the decision to dump him.
Deep down he knew that for Annabeth of all people to do this, she had to have had a good reason. He knew that she'd explain it to him if he let her. But on the surface, all he knew was that he had a gaping hole and Annabeth was the one who created it by carving his heart out of his chest and taking it with her. This didn't feel fair to him, and he knew that was an unfair thought in itself because Annabeth didn't owe him anything, but at the moment all he wanted to do was wallow.
"Hey."
Percy looked over his shoulder to see Jason standing there with his hands in his pockets.
Jason settled beside him, leaning back on his hands with his legs stretched out in front of him. "I thought you'd be swimming."
"Didn't feel like it," Percy said, trying to deadpan but coming across with a hint of bitterness.
Jason frowned, knowing how concerning that is for Percy, but he didn't comment. Ever since the breakup Jason has been checking in on him but never prying. Percy appreciated that about him. "What deep thoughts have you been out here pondering?"
Percy could tell he was forcing the lighthearted tone, but it was nice nonetheless. The question was strategic, an opening if Percy wanted to talk about Annabeth but easy to lie his way through if he didn't. Considering he'd given Jason nothing to work with for comforting him over the last couple weeks, he opened up, if only a crack. "I don't think I'm going back to college in the fall."
Jason blinked at him with wide eyes, and Percy couldn't decide if his bewilderment was sourced by Percy's statement or the fact that he was finally willing to be honest with him at all. There was conflict on Jason's face, and he was uneasy when he said, "Percy, you can't throw away your future just because Annabeth broke up with you."
Jason was right to be hesitant with that response, because Percy snapped, "I don't even know what my future is anymore, Jason."
Jason opened his mouth, possibly to apologize, possibly to double down, but Percy was already storming away to his cabin. Jason let him go.
Seeing Annabeth around camp wasn't getting easier. If anything, it was getting harder as he missed her more and more. Luckily for him, she'd been busy, always on a mission to or from somewhere. In this way she existed primarily in glimpses, except at the campfires. At the campfires she was relaxed and having fun, usually sitting with Piper and Rachel. He didn't even know Annabeth and Rachel were friends, but recently they'd seemed close. He pretended not to be staring at her, and she pretended not to notice. That system was an unspoken agreement between them, evidence of the instinctive bond that made them such a great couple. Had made them such a great couple. Percy swallowed the bile in his throat with that thought.
When seeing Annabeth even only in passing became too much, Percy moved to New Rome. New Rome was the only place available to go to on short notice without moving home, which, as much as he loved and missed his mom, he wasn't about to do. The open concept of his New Rome apartment made it feel bigger than it was, but it sat in the space between comfy and homey, like a puzzle where he had all the pieces but he can't quite put them together.
His first night in the new apartment was spent thinking about the apartment he had shared with Annabeth. That apartment hadn't been much bigger than this one, but it had had the homeiness part down, existing as a safe haven of sorts. When he'd been there he would be cooking with her, or they'd be doing chores together, or he'd be bringing her breakfast in bed, and he'd stop and think about how that was the life he wanted. Domestic bliss with Annabeth had been his idea of perfection.
He spent the next few weeks trying to find purpose in New Rome. With no Annabeth, no college, and no quests, he discovered he had little else. He was listless, not even twenty and feeling like he's already peaked. The feeling only increased with each day that he spent aimlessly training, watching TV, and cleaning spaces that were already spotless, his only relief being Jason's occasional visit. Was this it? Had he saved the world twice and now the rest of his life would be dull and pointless in comparison? New Rome was an impressive size and self-sufficient, but for him it felt like a fishbowl he, son of Poseidon, was slowly drowning in.
With his former plans shattered, Percy no longer knew what he wanted out of his life. As much as he was hurting over the breakup, he thought back to Annabeth. What future do you see for yourself, Percy? she'd asked, and he'd said, You . He could still see her sad smile, bordering on pitying. Exactly , she'd said. He hadn't seen her point at the time, but the longer he spent in New Rome, the more he started to. He loved her so much it hurt, and after years of instability and fear where she was the only constant, 'Annabeth' and 'his future' had become synonymous. All he had wanted was to be able to settle down with her. He hadn't considered the rest.
Percy was lying in bed and staring at the ceiling in mid-July. Annabeth was the reason he'd even envisioned a future in New Rome, he was realizing now. Moving there had been his idea, back in the day, and he could still remember that conversation.
"Annabeth, in New Rome, demigods can live their whole lives in peace."
"Reyna explained it to me. But, Percy, you belong at Camp Half-Blood. That other life—"
"I know. But while I was there, I saw so many demigods living without fear: kids going to college, couples getting married and raising families. There's nothing like that at Camp Half-Blood. I kept thinking about you and me…and maybe someday when this war with the giants is over…"
She'd fallen in love with the architecture, wanted to go to college there. Once peace was made with the Romans, she'd wanted that comfortable life in New Rome, too.
When Percy had looked at New Rome back then, he'd seen a place he and Annabeth could be safe, a place they could start a family without worry. He'd wanted that more than anything. But that had been when he was embroiled in a war, when stability and safety were the most important things on his mind, the things that always slipped through his fingers every time he thought he had them. Everything was different now. There would always be monsters to fend off, but he felt confident saying he was done saving the world, something that was both comforting and completely terrifying. He barely knew who he was when he wasn't saving the world, and he didn't know if he wanted the same things now as he had when he had been. He'd always taken marriage, kids, and settling down as a given, but was that even what he still wanted?
Suddenly he understood where Annabeth was coming from when she had asked for the break and then ended things completely.
The break had only been weeks, but Annabeth was clearly much more in tune with herself than he was with himself. She'd probably had several epiphanies in a short time, while a month and a half later, here he was first realizing why she left. Guilt for his original anger toward her washed over him. At some point he would apologize, but now probably wasn't the right time. They needed the space from each other, and when they were both at a point where they could be in each other's lives again, that's when he would apologize and try to start fresh.
Until then, he had a lot of soul-searching to do. If he tried hard enough, he could reframe this heartbreak as an opportunity. Annabeth was finding herself, so he would, too. He'd even already made his first self-discovery: He didn't want to live in New Rome. It was small and painfully familiar, and right now those qualities were suffocating. He'd move somewhere else in Long Island, where he'd have friends nearby but still be in a new place. He desperately needed something new.
At the end of the month, Jason was helping Percy transport his things back to Camp Half-Blood, where they were then put into a rented car outside the camp border. "I never thought I'd see you leave camp," Jason commented as he loaded the last box into the backseat. "Not both, not completely."
Percy frowned. "What, was I supposed to stay forever?"
Jason gave him a funny look. "That was your plan once, remember. You can't act like I'm ridiculous for thinking you'd stick to it."
Percy sighed, minor annoyance melting into somber nostalgia. "You're right, but now it feels weird to think about that. How I ever thought I would end up raising a family here." He looked up at New Rome before slipping into the driver's seat of the car, Jason getting in the passenger's side. The slam of the car doors felt final. "I was sixteen when I made those plans. I feel kind of naive for thinking plans I made at that age would pan out until a couple months ago."
"It's not naive," Jason said, eyebrows furrowing as Percy began driving. "There was a point when I thought Piper and I were going to be together forever, and we lasted less than a year. Your reality ended up a lot closer to your expectations than mine did."
Talking about Piper and their breakup made Jason acquire a certain emotional tinge to his voice that was reserved solely for those topics, unreadable and distant. He could never quite tell how Jason felt about the whole situation in retrospect, although the couple years that had passed since then indicated he should probably be over it by now. Piper certainly was; Percy saw her around New Rome with Reyna, who she'd started dating a few months ago. As far as Percy was aware, Jason and Piper had remained close friends after a no-contact period to get over the breakup, so he didn't think Jason was bitter, but he didn't think he was quite content, either. At the same time, it wasn't like Percy would know. Jason hadn't given him many details, not even who broke up with who.
Unable to tell if Jason wanted to talk about Piper or not, Percy took the safe route and changed topics. "I'd thank you for helping me move, but pretty soon I'll be helping you move to New Rome for college, so we can call it even then."
Jason scratched the back of his neck, looking out the window when he said, "I'm not going to New Rome University."
Percy would have given Jason an exaggerated look if he wasn't driving, but as it was, he settled for a glance. "You were excited to start a couple months ago. In fact, last I checked you thought me dropping out was throwing my future away." He rolled his eyes, although the malice he'd originally held toward the comment was gone. "What's changed?"
Jason absently scratched at a stain on his seat. "I don't know. I finished building the shrines recently—"
"Congrats," Percy interjected.
Jason nodded. "But now it's like...I don't actually know what to do with myself. Being in charge of the shrines gave me something to do after the war. I mean, I was completing my online high school courses, but…"
"You also had something demigod-related," Percy said, and Jason smiled, grateful for the understanding.
"Now all of that is finished, and after what we went through with the Prophecy of Seven, it feels wrong to just do normal camp activities. Play Capture the Flag, attend the campfire, do chores. It was one thing for them to be background noise to what felt like the important work I was doing, but for them to be my whole life? It started to wear on me. It felt…"
When Jason trailed off, Percy finished with, "Anticlimactic."
"Exactly," Jason said with another small smile. "So I've been thinking about the college thing, and I don't know what I'm going to do about it. I didn't even have a major in mind. I wanted to go because it was the decided next step for my life, until I decided it wasn't. At least not until I have some semblance of what I want to do with my life and what I want outside of camp. If the last couple months have taught me anything, it's that I couldn't stand to spend the rest of my life at either camp."
Percy nodded along, surprised by how similar his and Jason's mindsets seemed to be right now despite the starkly different relationships they had with the camps. Percy had come into the whole demigod business when he was twelve and was immediately thrust into a prophecy. Jason had practically grown up in this world, but his time in the limelight had come much later. Then again, they were more alike than not: sons of the Big Three, members of at least one major prophecy each, having found the most stability of their lives at their respective camps. The only other person coming close to that was Nico, who had spent the time since Gaea bouncing between camp and helping Hades in the Underworld. Percy really needed to catch up with him.
An idea struck Percy: He could invite Jason to live with him. They could be two friends with similar experiences striking out on their own for the first time, both trying to find purpose outside of gods who no longer needed them.
But although Jason was good enough of a friend to help Percy move into his new apartment an hour away from Camp Half-Blood, Percy didn't know if they were good enough friends that such an offer wouldn't be weird. Percy had been feeling lonely, but Jason probably wasn't. Gods knew how popular he was at camp. Yeah, that would probably be a weird offer to make, especially now that Percy was locked into a lease for a studio apartment Jason would hypothetically have to share with him. He ignored the idea.
Jason's voice broke Percy out of his contemplation. "So, yes, you should be thanking me, since you won't be repaying the favor in a month," he said, joviality returning to him. "I expect pizza and beverages as compensation for my work today."
Percy laughed, the tense mood lifting. "You got it, Superman."
Jason set down the last of Percy's boxes in his apartment on Roosevelt Island. "Not too shabby," he said, looking around. Looking around was a quick task in a shoe box studio apartment.
"Gee, thanks," Percy said with an eye roll, but he knew his friend was only teasing him. The main room of the apartment made a wide L shape, where the top of the L was the bedroom, the far right part was the kitchen, and the two were connected by the living room. The bathroom was situated to turn the four sections into a two-by-two grid. The best part was the small balcony branching off the bedroom.
Percy took out the Hephaestus cabin's most recent design for a monster-proof cell phone. "What kind of toppings do you want?"
"Hawaiian," Jason said, standing in the middle of the apartment.
Percy made a sour face. "That's nasty, Jason, but this is thank you pizza, so I'll humor you." He ordered a Hawaiian pizza for Jason and a sausage one for himself plus breadsticks and a 2 liter of orange soda. When he looked back at Jason, his friend had a wistful look on his face as he stared out at the balcony. "You okay?"
Jason snapped out of his thoughts. "Yeah, yeah." His smile didn't reach his eyes.
"I don't believe that for a second," Percy said, coming closer. He had much less affinity for allowing topics to drop than Jason did.
Jason scratched the back of his neck, gaze on the outside again. "It's just hitting me now, I suppose. That the whole hero life is behind us. I really didn't think I'd ever see you leave camp. Or see anyone else leave, really. After we defeated Gaea, I thought I was going to end up married to Piper in New Rome, and you and Annabeth would be married and living there near us. Hazel and Frank, too. Leo and Calypso. Kind of weird that all our friends were paired up, huh?" He laughed, but there was a tinge of resentment. "Now Hazel and Frank are the only ones who are still together and maybe they'll carry through with that outdated vision, but...who knows about the rest of us? Everything we've been through combined with the near total lack of real world experience makes me feel both ancient and like a scared kid. I have no idea what I'm doing while feeling like I definitely should know what I'm doing."
Percy wasn't sure what face he was making, but when Jason looked over his shoulder at him, it seemed to make him emotionally withdraw. "Sorry, didn't mean to drop that on you," Jason said before clearing his throat and standing straighter.
Percy put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't be. I get it. I wish I didn't, but I really, really do." They moved to the kitchen together, and Percy began unpacking the box of kitchenware sitting on the island. "Honestly, sometimes I feel like without quests and prophecies, I've lost all my value. I was Percy Jackson, son of the Big Three, the one from the Great Prophecy, one of the Seven. Most powerful demigod alive." He smirked at the last remark, but he was unsure. He sighed. "And now I'm just Percy, some random guy in New York. I don't know who I am if I'm not…"
Jason nodded, understanding without Percy having to finish the sentence.
A short time passed before the food arrived, and they laid their spread across the island, serving themselves before settling on the couch. The only sound was the two friends enjoying their meal, but the silence was comfortable. Jason ended up staying for awhile, the pair watching movies and sharing conversation of less weight. The former conversation still lingered in Percy's mind, though, as did his idea, which was becoming more and more appealing.
As Jason was putting on his jacket to leave, Percy blurted, "You don't have to go, you know."
Jason raised an eyebrow. "Kind of do, I didn't bring any of my stuff with me."
Percy shook his head. "No, that came out wrong. I mean...With you being done with the shrines and not planning on going to New Rome University..." The words were catching in Percy's throat, the man caught off-guard by how nervous he was. "You could live with me."
Jason eyebrows shot up, and Percy's gut dropped. "I...what?"
Percy broke eye contact. "If you wanted to, you could move in with me. You said it yourself, you don't know where to go from here. Neither do I. We could figure it out together." The more he talked, the more ridiculous he felt, like his offer was embarrassing.
"I—" Jason opened and closed his mouth. "I'm not sure."
Percy looked at him again, relieved to find Jason looked caught off-guard but not weirded out or annoyed. "You don't have to answer right now," Percy said. "You can take some time and think about it."
Jason nodded. "Yeah, I think I will. Think about it, I mean." He gave a small, uncertain smile while Percy chewed on the inside of his cheek. Jason turned to go, but he hesitated in the doorway. He took a step back in, meeting Percy's eyes. "You know, just for the record, I think 'Percy, some random guy in New York' is pretty great."
Percy snorted, but he was smiling. "You barely know him."
Jason gave him a lopsided smile. "I'd like to." With that he disappeared down the hall.
Percy closed the door, buzzing and hopeful that Jason meant that.
The job hunt was harder than expected, and Percy ended up taking the first liveable wage, full-time work he could get without a degree: waiting tables in a semi-nice restaurant, The Small Fry, which Percy figured was an ironic play on The Big Apple. The agility and multitasking skills he'd built up at Camp Half-Blood paid off during the interview, albeit in a more mundane way than battle. He didn't know if his personality would translate to tips, but luckily for him, New York minimum wage was $15/hr, so he wouldn't be stuck relying completely on tips to make rent. Plus The Big Fry gave each of its employees a free meal during their shift, which Percy could split and pair with the free bread to turn one meal into two.
Before long he settled into a routine. Breakfast was coffee and a toasted bagel because bagels were cheap and often on sale. Most lunches were the leftovers from the shift the night before, and most dinners were the original meal during his shift. The meals not covered by food from The Small Fry forced Percy to find out he couldn't cook. For those meals he had frozen dinners, basic foods like eggs, and if he was feeling daring, something that involved cutting or the oven. He wasn't usually feeling daring.
Living in New York City was not like living in New Rome or Camp Half-Blood. There was always noise, hustle and bustle, electricity in the air. Here Percy felt small and insignificant, and he was still deciding if that was a good thing or not. Back at camp he'd been a hero, possibly the most well-known one of his generation. New York gave him the exact opposite feeling, which was what he had been searching for, but he also wasn't used to feeling unimportant. He had a clean slate and could be anyone. 'Percy, some random guy in New York' was much more disposable than Percy Jackson had been.
He wasn't sure when he'd started thinking of himself as two separate people like that, but the tendency made him uncomfortable.
The one thing that was the same between New Rome and New York was the loneliness. He Iris messaged with Jason most days, but when the call was over, he was alone in his apartment with no friends in the city. Percy had never had trouble making friends before, but now he was intimidated by the prospect of going out and meeting people. How did people meet people, anyway? Bars? That wasn't really his scene. There were his coworkers, but they had the usual coworker relationship full of light banter and remembering every shift they've ever taken for you and vice versa. There was no more substance than that, and besides, many of them had families they were busy with and pre-established friend circles. He wasn't about to ask any of them to hang out.
New York City didn't feel like home, but it felt like it could be one day. Right now it felt like there was a piece missing, and he was determined to find it. At the very least he was determined to convince himself the missing piece wasn't Annabeth. Two and a half months had passed since the breakup, but his heart still panged when he thought about her. Every morning in the split second between sleep and consciousness, he expected to open his eyes and find her next to him. But every morning he opened his eyes to no one beside him. He made breakfast only for himself. He came home to an empty apartment. She was always the last thing he thought about before he fell asleep, and sometimes in his nightmares he watched her fall into Tartarus without him. When he mentioned his nightmares to Jason, he left that detail out.
He wondered if she was thinking about him, too. If she ever had to remind herself that they were done, if she did the things they used to do together alone and missed him. The mature part of him hoped she was healing and moving on. Part of loving someone was wanting them to be happy even if it wasn't with you. But the immature part of him hoped she was hurting, too, not because he blamed her for the breakup and wanted revenge, but because he didn't want to feel like she cared less than he did, like he was easier to get over than she was.
When Percy's birthday rolled around, Jason drove down to see him for the first time since he moved in a couple weeks ago. Percy had never been more happy to see him. Jason's arrival was met with a tackle hug from Percy, or what would have been one if Jason wasn't so strong and steady. Jason still let out a puff of air at the collision regardless, while careful to make sure Percy's present wasn't knocked out of his hand.
"Well hi to you, too," Jason said, returning the hug with his free arm. "Miss me?"
"You have no idea," Percy groaned, collapsing onto his couch.
"Lonely in the city?" Jason asked, sitting beside him and setting the bag on the end table. His eyes were on the end table longer than necessary, as if he was surprised Percy would buy such a thing, before returning to Percy.
"Yeah," Percy said. "Being anonymous is cool and all, but…"
Jason nodded, and despite Jason still being at camp, Percy believed he understood. "I wasn't going to bring it up until later, but if that's the case, I guess I'll do it now." He ran a hand through his hair before crossing his arms over his chest. "Is that offer still standing?"
"What offer?" Percy said.
Jason swallowed. "To move in."
Percy perked up, scooting closer to his friend. "Of course. You really want to?"
"Yeah," Jason said. "I could use a new environment while I figure out what to do with my life. I think staying in the same place you've always been traps you into being the same person you've always been. Switching from Camp Jupiter to Camp Half-Blood allowed me to relax and stop feeling like I always need to be perfect. Maybe moving from Camp Half-Blood to here will help me keep figuring out what I want."
Percy bit his tongue, reminded of Annabeth. He and everybody he knew seemed to be on a road of self-discovery right now. He swallowed thoughts of the breakup and pulled on a smile, saying, "Sounds like a good plan."
Jason tilted his head, aware of the edge in Percy's voice, but he didn't comment on it. He mercifully changed the topic, grabbing the gift and handing it over. "Happy 20th birthday, bro. You've officially survived to another decade."
Percy chuckled under his breath. "Which is a miracle in itself."
Jason playfully punched his arm with a wry smile. "I'm trying to lighten the mood, Perce. Feel free to not undermine my work with morbid jokes."
"Technically it's not a joke," Percy said. "I have had a lot of near-death experiences."
Jason rolled his eyes. "We all have. You're not special." He was still joking, but Percy's downer attitude was sneaking into his voice.
Percy felt guilty and helped him out, saying, "I am, actually. I've definitely had more near-death experiences than you, Grace."
Jason's smile became genuine. "Are you really trying to one up me with that?"
Percy shrugged, but he was grinning with a competitive air about him. "Guess I'm just braver than you. More accomplished."
Jason scoffed. "Or maybe I've had less near-death experiences because I'm smarter and more disciplined. No need to almost die when you always have everything under control."
Percy set aside the gift box, and from there the two descended into a heated and half-serious debate about their respective hero quality.
Spending the day with Jason made the hours slip away with ease, the two messing around and sorting out how they would split chores while living together. They made a frozen pizza for lunch, but for dinner Percy took Jason to The Small Fry.
"Nice place," Jason said, his focus switching between the menu and the restaurant. "I'm surprised they hired you." His lips twitched into a small smile.
Percy kicked him under the table. "I'm already regretting letting you live with me."
Jason raised his eyes to meet Percy's, face half-hidden by the menu. "Letting me? Ah, yes, I'm sure it has nothing to do with loneliness."
A lump formed in Percy's throat, and he looked away.
"I'm sorry," Jason said after a couple minutes. "That was uncalled for."
Percy took a sip of his water, mouth dry. "It's fine." They both knew it wasn't, but they also knew Percy wasn't about to dive into the Annabeth topic, so Jason dropped it.
Laurane, one of the few of Percy's coworkers who was around his age, approached their table with a notepad. "Hey, Percy." She glanced at Jason. "You going to introduce me to your friend?"
"Oh, sure," Percy said, snapping out of his thoughts. "Laurane, this is Jason. Jason, this is Laurane, my coworker." The two exchanged pleasantries, and Laurane left with their drink order.
"Do you think us living together will be a problem?" Jason asked. "Two kids of the Big Three, I mean."
"I doubt it. I can count on one hand how many monsters I've seen since Gaea. Why? You worried?"
Jason became pensive, then shook his head. "I suppose not."
Laurane returned with Jason's iced tea, Percy sticking to water. "Do you two need more time, or are you ready to order?"
The pair exchanged a look before confirming they were ready.
After Jason ordered a light meal, Laurane gave him a look. "That's all? I would have thought a strong guy like you would go for something heartier." A smile played at her lips.
Jason had a polite smile that would fool strangers but not Percy. He was uncomfortable. "Had a big lunch."
"Suit yourself. I'll bring that right out when it's done." She walked away, but Percy's eyes were on Jason. A cute girl his age had just flirted with him, yet it was like he didn't notice.
Percy examined his fork. "You're over Piper, right?"
Jason's head snapped up. "You know I am. What kind of a question is that? Especially to be asking out of nowhere."
Percy shrugged, setting down the fork. "Laurane's nice, you know. It wouldn't be a bad idea to go for it."
Jason's frown suggested Percy had made a misstep in bringing Piper up, but after all this time he was dying of curiosity. More than that, he was concerned over how Jason hadn't gone on a date since the breakup despite seemingly having moved on. When Percy saw Jason and Piper interact, there was no indication of lingering feelings.
Jason sighed. "I'm just not interested, Percy."
Percy's leg bounced under the table. "I know, Jace. You never are. I worry about you."
"I'm fine."
"Then why haven't you dated at all since Piper? I believe you when you say you've moved on, but…"
Jason had gone rigid, and although his face was a mask of irritation, Percy was pretty sure he saw a hint of fear beneath the surface. Jason shook his head, literally shaking off the break in his composure. "I just haven't met anyone. That's all."
Watching Jason cover his emotions annoyed Percy. He thought Jason had moved past feeling the need to always be poised and smooth, but maybe not. Or maybe he had that part of him on reserve for this topic. Percy couldn't tell.
"Okay," Percy said, even though once again they both knew it wasn't. They spent the rest of the night swapping stories and laughing, but in the back of his mind Percy wondered what parts of himself Jason was still hiding from him. Maybe living together would allow him to find out.
Jason had left and Percy had visited his mom for his birthday before Percy remembered he'd never opened his birthday gift from Jason. Attached to the top of the box was a card he set aside in favor of tearing open the wrapping paper to find a night light ocean projector, complete with the white noise of ocean wave sounds. He opened the card, finding Jason's small, neat handwriting: "Happy birthday, Perce. I saw this and thought it might help you with the sleeping issues and nightmares. Stay sen-sea-sational. Your bro, Jason."
Percy smiled at the gift. Jason had a way of coming through in the ways Percy needed him to.
At the beginning of September, Jason's name was on the lease and he'd moved his things in. Percy wasn't about to sell the king-size mattress he'd only gotten two weeks ago, having let Annabeth keep the minimal furniture they'd owned together, and most people wouldn't buy a used mattress anyway, so they agreed to share it. Sharing a king-sized bed was the sleep arrangement equivalent of an ocean between islands, anyway.
As it turned out, Jason was a much better cook than Percy was, and Percy took over cleaning the apartment in exchange for Jason grocery shopping and doing all the cooking. Percy put learning to cook on his "To Do" list, for which the only other item was buying a treadmill. He and Jason were both used to the regular exercise from training, and with that gone, they'd been jogging around the city, which wouldn't be viable when the temperature dropped.
Living with Jason was easier than anticipated. There were disagreements over the required level of neatness around the apartment, and sometimes Jason's early rising disturbed Percy's sleep after a late shift, but after the first month they'd settled into a system and avoided large issues between them. Jason found a job as a barista at a nearby coffee shop and usually worked morning shifts, and on days when Percy didn't have a night shift, they hung out at the apartment, usually watching movies or playing Mario Kart. At night Jason didn't mind the glowing blue wave patterns the night light made on the ceiling or the wave sounds.
Even though Jason wasn't as talkative as Percy, there was a certain comfort to his presence. Jason had an air of stability around him that Percy severely lacked, and he liked that about him. He didn't want to live in New Rome, and New Rome would never be his home. But New York? With Jason around, Percy felt the last piece had come into place. With Jason around, New York could be home.