st4rgxd

[st4rgxd]

Stuck in the Past

percy x hypnos!reader

summary: Percy chose you. But why does it feel like he didn't?

tags: angst, percy being an idiot, some comfort

wc: 1.6k

note: at last, a fanfic I actually liked after I finished writing

Percy and Annabeth are Camp Half Blood’s power duo.

No one would mess with them because surely the other wasn’t too far off. Even when fully alone, Percy and Annabeth were strong enough on their own to stand their ground. 

You were there for their last battle with Gaea. A tragic moment honestly. You had arrived during battle and had been shoved into fight mode. By the end of it, you wanted to run out and hope it was all an illusion. But then he stood before you and handed you a water bottle with a smile. A very exhausted smile that told you he didn’t want this either.

It was a painful realization.

Knowing that you were doomed to a tragic end due to your parents.

But Percy gave you hope. He fought hard every day to make his own destiny and define his future.  

You didn’t realize when you got close to Percy. It sort of just happened. He bumped into you at his high school which was your new school. He often took you to camp to train given that Gaea’s battle was your only hands-on experience. 

“I’m telling you. It had to be like ten in the morning when I got here. Campers were screaming. Satyrs helping. It was so confusing.” You chuckle to yourself but Percy remains silent. You don't let the silence linger before speaking again.

“It wasn’t as bad as it seems. I guess I needed the reality check.” You shrug thinking back to that scary day. You still sometimes have nightmares about it.  You haven't told anybody that but that day scared you more than you liked to think.

“When I first got here, I was also very confused. Grover was my friend and then he was my guardian. Chiron was my teacher and then my mentor. My mom was alive and then... well... the same more or less.” He takes a deep breath before giving you a small smile. 

“I guess what I’m trying to say is it’s okay to be confused and scared. It’d be crazy for you not to be. We’re wired to be great soldiers when we’re meant for more. At least that’s how I view it.” Percy kept talking to you after that. It was hard to stop once it started. 

Annabeth wasn’t upset over it.

Although you understand there was a bond there, one you could never break. You didn’t think it would matter. Especially not when Percy makes it clear that you're the one he loves. 

Yet it was getting hard to remember that. 

Late nights at Annabeth’s cabin slowly became dinners and late-night study sessions at her apartment. You tried to remain rational since Percy didn’t have a disloyal bone in his body. But it was hard to ignore the smiles that appeared on his face when he answered her calls. 

Today was the last straw.

He had invited Annabeth to the study date you had been looking forward to. He already saw her 6 days a week, why couldn’t it just be the both of you? 

You try to move past it but insecurities piled at the sight of him laughing and joking around with her as if you weren’t there.

Eventually, you had enough. 

“Excuse me. I need some air.” You get up abruptly. You practically run towards the library’s exit. It didn’t take long before he followed you out the door, Annabeth not far behind. 

“Are you okay?” He asks, concerned. Annabeth lingers behind.

“Yes. I’m fine.” You snap. Confusion fills his eyes at the tone of your voice. Were you upset with him? 

“Are you sure?” He asks but before you can answer a loud crash is heard behind you. 

“Percy behind you!” Annabeth shouts and on instinct, Percy moves.

Seeing them in action always leaves you in awe. It was amazing to see two people so uniquely in sync. Now, however, all you feel is sour hate. 

You join Percy’s side trying to be what he needs.

Instead, all you seem to do is get in the way. 

“I got it!” You run to knock out the beast while Percy shouts no. 

You get there and direct your focus towards the beast only for Annabeth to get caught in the crossfire, knocking her out. She fell to the floor, directly in front of the beast charging at you.

Despite the countless more quests you’ve gone on, all you could feel at that moment was the fear you felt the first day you arrived at camp. The beast lunges at you and claws into your arm before being shoved away. 

Percy isn’t sure how he was able to do it but he blasted the beast away, the water pushing you to the ground as well. He quickly ran toward Annabeth, where she was beginning to wake from your sleeping spell. 

“Are you okay?” He asked her and she slowly nodded. Her eyes looked up at yours causing Percy to redirect his anger. He gets up from her side and marches towards you. 

“What the hell were you thinking?! You could’ve gotten her killed!” He shouts and you bite back your words.

He was right.

You almost got her killed.

And you feel like complete shit.

The cherry on top just happens to be your boyfriend making you feel worse about you potentially hurting his ex. 

“I’m sorry.” Is all you manage to say while staring at the ground and then walking away. 

Percy had returned his attention to Annabeth who couldn’t forget your teary expression. She really didn’t hate you. She didn’t have any hard feelings toward you. So it didn’t sit well with her that Percy wasn’t treating you correctly. 

“What's wrong with you seaweed brain?” She asks him and he looks up in confusion. 

“What are you talking about?” 

“Y/N? You practically kicked a sad puppy.” Percy crosses his arm, already getting defensive. 

“She could’ve gotten you badly injured. She kept intervening.” 

“She was helping.”

“She didn’t move after knocking you out! That thing would’ve run straight over you if I didn’t stop it.” 

“Is there only kelp in that head?” She snaps rudely, “I’d hate to say I know your girlfriend better but she isn’t immune to PTSD. I doubt she purposely stood there waiting for the monster to run me over. I shouldn’t even be here today. We’ve studied enough for your SATs and finals, you’ll be fine seaweed brain, go to your girlfriend.” Annabeth’s words blew away the fog in Percy’s brain. You froze. As in flight or fight, you froze. 

You froze and instead of comforting you, he yelled and pushed you away. Regret settled in his stomach at the realization of his intense fuck up. 

“Are you going to apologize or sit here the entire day?” Annabeth stands up and extends her hand out to encourage him. He takes off running. 

Your teary vision didn’t make the journey back home better. Tears would randomly leave your eyes despite your best efforts to push them away. You didn’t walk the entire way home. You were too drained to take the train, deciding to just hop in a cab. 

Once you got home, you cried. You weren’t able to focus on one reason. Just that you felt awful and have been for a while. You wrapped your arms tightly around yourself as your sobs settled down and your eyes began to close. 

That’s how Percy is seeing you now. Your arms are still around you, dried tears on your cheeks, your hair plastered by sweat, and a deep cut on your arm. 

He feels like a failure of a boyfriend. He places his keys on the tray by the door, waking you up. You quickly sit up thinking it’s an intruder.

“Hey, hey. Relax. It’s me.” Percy weakly puts up his hands and you tense up. He notices. 

“How’s Annabeth?” You ask, genuinely concerned. Even though you were there, your mind convinced you that she somehow could still be in danger because of you. 

“She’s okay. Probably just a slight concussion.” Your shoulders finally relax and he takes the time to look at your arm again. He looks away as the guilt eats at him.

“I overreacted.” He admits but you shake your head. 

“No, you were right. I should’ve not gotten in the way. I know you guys are stronger, I just thought I could… I don’t know, I'm sorry. I’ll do better next time.” Your eyes prickle with tears and Percy is instantly in front of you. 

“Why did you freeze?” He asks you and the tears begin to fall. You hate feeling vulnerable. 

“Was it the monster? That ugly-looking thing?” He asks trying to make you laugh but you can’t. 

“It was like I was back there. Everything was okay and then things happened too quickly. It was too much.” You weren’t sure if he understood but he did. His therapist has helped him through enough flashbacks to know that’s what you had experienced. 

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you.” He pulls you into a hug and you let him hold you. You always felt the safest when he was holding you close with his head above your shoulder, looking out for potential threats. 

His phone rings and he pulls away from you. You didn’t have to see the screen to know who it was. Who else would it be? You could feel the disappointment building up as his finger hovers over the screen.

He pressed the decline button before placing his phone on the table. 

“Wanna watch a movie?” He asks and you nod, happy to spend some alone time with your boyfriend. 

— extra

Annabeth stood by the table spamming Percy’s phone with messages. 

You forgot your phone.

And your backpack.

And your wallet. 

Why do you have your social security in your wallet? 

I’m treating myself to lunch ;)

[st4rgxd]

I swear I'm trying to post something this week but I've been hating everything I write 😭