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Greenish ocean blue eyes shot wide open as the sick feeling hit Percy at 4 in the morning. He struggled to get off the smelly mattress on the ground and headed towards the bathroom. Though the rooms were dark and the lights didn't work, he knew where he was going. It was a ritual now. Every morning at 4 he would empty what little food he had in his stomach into the grimy toilet in the broken down shack he lived in with Luke. Percy didn't have to look at the little clock they had, it was always 4 O'clock when he woke up to kiss the toilet.
When Percy realized nothing else was going to come out as he dry heaved, he slowly tried to breathe deeply to calm himself down. Big mistake. The disgusting smell in the bathroom only made him want to vomit again. He should have known better, after all. He did this every single morning. What fun.
When he was sure the sick feeling subsided, Percy breathed through his nose. He leaned back against the cool dirty tiles, trying to calm his stomach back down. he stayed there for what seemed like hours, but that was a bit of an exaggeration. It must have been only ten or fifteen minutes. A smiled crept up on his face as a familiar pain disturbed his left ankle. He forgot again, Luke always forgot. He always made the same promise every night like he did last night, but it seems again, like every morning, he forgot. It was okay, he understood why Luke did it in the first place.
Percy looked down and touched the metal shackle that bruised his skin on his leg. It hurt. Percy cried when Luke had put it on him a couple of months ago, but he deserved it. He broke his promise to Luke first, so Luke had every right to break as many promises as he wanted.
Percy really was a fuck up. That was nothing new.
Luke didn't want him to have any contact with his friends from his past, but Percy couldn't help it. Leo was sad that Percy had missed his wedding. Nico was soon getting married to Jason and tried to invite him to their wedding. Reyna was now insulting him because her girlfriend, Annabeth, cried every now and then because she missed him. And then his mother. His mother was crying too. Percy couldn't control himself. Total isolation? From his friends? Mother? His heart broke each day that passed that he couldn't talk to any of them.
So he did something Luke had asked him not to do. He unblocked everyone he had blocked on his phone last year. Not right away though. One by one. First was his mother. He had needed to hear her voice again. Thinking about it now, she had been sobbing through the whole conversation, begging for him to come home. Next was Jason and for some reason they talked like nothing happened. As if they were great friends who hadn't talked in weeks rather than years.
Talking to his friends made him long to see them. So he did another thing Luke asked him not to do. He told them all a place he would meet them at. He really wanted to see their faces again. He was sure they all didn't look like they had a few years ago. He wanted to see how well they matured.
As always, deceiving Luke never ended well. He always found out. Even when Percy was careful enough to delete all of his messages. Luke found out about their meeting place.
Just a few months before, Percy had been standing at a bus stop. It was the place he had decided was safest to meet. Safest meaning there was no way Luke would find out. Luke was supposed to have been busy as he was always busy in the mornings. He never came home until it was close to the sun setting. But for some reason, that day he wasn't.
Percy remembered the bright smile he had on his face, something he thought he had lost forever until he saw the bus. THE bus. The bus that was supposed to have his friends on board. Percy had lept for joy as he thought about the things he wanted to do with his friends. He had wanted to see pictures of Leo's and Piper's wedding. He wanted to see pictures of Reyna's and Annabeth's trip around the world. He wanted to hear how Jason's and Nico's romance started. But of course, there's always a moral story connected to the bad choices people made.
What comes up must come down?
For every action there is an equal reaction?
Something along those lines.
Because as soon as the bus stopped and the doors opened, Percy's joyful smile dropped into a fearful frown. Luke was standing in front of him, holding onto his own phone. No glare, no frown, not even one of those angry smiles he did when he caught Percy slipping up like when he mouthed off Luke. There was non readable emotion on his face. That had scared Percy more than anything else. Not even Tartarus scared Percy as much as Luke's unreadable expression. In that moment, he had made him wish he had still been in Tartarus.
As Percy was about to make a run for it, he felt a harsh yank on the back of his collar that stopped him from moving further away from Luke. He gagged a bit, but collected himself as he stayed still. His fingers trembled as possible punishments crossed his mind.
"Did you really think you could get away with this?" Luke whispered in his ear.
Percy blinked and thought about playing dumb until his boyfriend's phone screen was up right in front of him.
The messages he sent to his friends. The date, the place, and the time. How could he have gotten the text whe-Oh
The screen name. Luke changed his screen name. He must have tampered with Percy's phone when he didn't have it and changed his name on his phone. Luke was clever, he was always clever. Why Percy thought he could fool him, he didn't know.
He began to stutter and sob. "I... I'm sorry, Luke I'm so sorry. I-"
"Won't do it again. I'll be good. I promise." Luke interrupted him with a mocking voice. "Yes. Promises, promises. Didn't you promise me this last year? Tell me.. How can I trust you when you just broke your word to me?"
"Luke, please! I.. I just missed them so much! A-and my mom. I want to see her again! T-there shouldn't be a problem right? As long as I don't say anything about you.. Right?" A hopeful spark within his voice, but a sharp pain on his cheek stomped that hope from growing. He had been punched? He turned to look at his angry lover and another fist connected his cheek, making him cry out this time. He felt Luke grab a fistful of his hair and was dragged along side him.
He begged and begged Luke to stop. He apologized so many times that day. But when they had reached the dark and gloomy wooden shack of theirs..
Percy had been touched in places Luke had talked about touching, but never had laid a hand on him until that night.
muffled screams must have been heard, but no one saved him.
He prayed to the gods, his father, hoping that they would take Luke off of him.
Percy was alone.
When he came to the next morning, he was shackled to the bed. A plate of cold eggs beside him. That had made him smile even though his body was in so much pain. Even after everything Percy did. Luke still loved him. Luke still loved him even though he betrayed him. What kind of lover was he to have hurt Luke so much? And somehow Luke still had forgiven him and loved him.
The squeaking of the door brought Percy back to where he was. He blinked blearily as he turned his head to the sound of the noise. A pair of legs. He looked up and sighed in relief. It was Luke. He was home. Wait, if he was home then that would mean he did stay in the nasty bathroom for hours. Yuck.
Percy struggled to stand up as he reached out for his lover. His kind, faithful lover. "I.. I missed you.." His voice was hoarse.
"I missed you too, Perseus. You must have been so lonely without me. But I won't give you your phone back. You know I can't right, love?"
"Yes, Luke."
"And you know I can't let you out of the house ever again, right?"
"Yes, Luke."
"But no matter what, you know that I love you, right?"
"Of course, Luke." Percy wrapped his arms around Luke's waist, trying to feel the warmth from the other. "What I did was wrong. You have every right to punish me, Luke. I'll take anything you give me. Anything. Do what you like. Do what you need to do in order for you trust me again."
"My beautiful selfless, love." He caressed the younger one's hair. "I'm glad you understand. Perhaps with that, maybe one day I'll let you see the sun again. Maybe when our child is born, I'll let you carry it outside. I'll let you show it the world and the beauty of it. But you have to earn that trust back. Okay?"
Percy nodded and looked up at him. That's right. Their child was growing inside of him. The morning sickness. Of course he was pregnant. Luke had explained that to him when he was a sobbing mess and cried to him that there might have been something wrong with him. But Luke had been kind and cradled him in his arms, telling him everything was all right and natural.
This was proof of their love for each other. A child that united them both. Percy smiled as emotional tears filled his eyes. He couldn't believe it. The love of his life was there, holding him closely as their child was inside him. He was carrying Luke's child. He, someone so unworthy had the task of carrying Luke's child.
"I hope our baby has your eyes." Percy yawned and smiled softly. Luke scooped him up in his arms and carried him bridal style.
"Really? Mines are so.. normal though. I was hoping they would have yours. So pretty and bright. I hope they would look very much like you." Luke countered and laid them both on the uncomfortable mattress.
"Hey, Luke?"
"Yes, love?"
" I love you.." Percy murmured as he closed his eyes drifting back to sleep.
Luke chuckled and patted Percy's abdomen as gently as he could. "I love you, my little baby." He kissed his forehead tenderly.
"Let daddy tell you the stories about the gods and how they betrayed us."