☼

THE FIRST NIGHT AT SALLYS WAS DIFFICULT. Lucia knew she had no reason to be afraid of where she was staying. Not in the slightest. Lucia was the safest she had ever been.

She was welcomed with open arms. Which helped to calm the anxiety of feeling like an intruder. Sally had gotten new orange sheets for the sofa bed. And it didn't stop there. Percy's parents went out of their way to buy her a nightlight to plug in by the TV and bought a bag full of extra toiletries to use. Paul even cleared a space in one of the hallway closets just so she could have a place to unpack her bag.

To say Lucia was grateful to them was an understatement. 

But that's the thing. It wasn't the house that was scary, it was her own head. Ever since the end of the war things had been great, but going back to normalcy was not easy. Every time Lucia closed her eyes it was like she was taken back in time; if she wasn't seeing Agatha screaming she was seeing her lifeless body. If she wasn't hearing the gunshot she was hearing Kronos' piercing voice. If she wasn't thinking of losing her dad she was thinking of losing Ethan.

The gist of the matter was that her memories were running rampant. And Lucia would have to endure that, but at night it was the hardest. Sleeping had become a chore rather than the easiest thing to do when the sun went down.

She tossed and turned on the sofa bed more times than she could count. Until finally, she found herself knocking 'riptide by vance joy' on a white wooden door.

"Luz?" A sleepy voice called.

"Are you sleeping?" She asked, rather stupidly. Of course, he was sleeping it was 3 am on a Saturday.

"Come in."

Lucia softly opened the door. She cringed as it creaked, hoping it wasn't loud enough to wake up his parents. She stood at the door of the dark room shifting on her feet. The glow around her body allowed her to see his silhouette on the bed.

"I'm sorry Percy." She sighed, "I can't sleep."

Her eyebrows furrowed together when she saw him stand up. He instantly wrapped an arm around her shoulder and walked her back to the living room.

"I didn't mean to disturb your—"

"Hey, You came to me for a reason didn't you." He asked

She nodded shyly in the dim light.

Percy climbed onto her pull-out bed. resting his head on her pillow, he pulled out the covers and then patted the space next to him.

"Sally will kill us if she finds you here in the morning." Lucia huffed, "And I don't know about you but I'd rather not hear Paul  give us 'The talk' again"

He chuckled softly, "Come on baby, I'll go once your asleep."

Lucia hesitated but climbed in next to him. She rested her head on his shoulder before wrapping an arm around him. Her leg clung around his. "Neither of us believe that."

"You doubt me?" He scoffed,

"mhmm." Lucia whispered, "You're gonna get too excited about holding me alllll night and want to stay."

"You're right." He hugged her close. "Looks like we're gonna have to endure another reproductive health speech."

She playfully hit his chest. "Gods please no. I truly think he memorized pamphlets just for us."

She felt his chest vibrate against her ear. Then his lips press against her forehead.

"You're safe." He whispered,

"I know." She nodded, "I'm just...Messy."

Circles began to be drawn on her back.

"Is it hard for you too?" She asked, "All of it?"

"Yes," He admitted. "I think of Luke a lot... Everyone that's died...Sometimes I feel like I'm still fighting a war..."

She touched his cheek. "You're safe."

He smiled against her temple. "I know."

"It's never going to be easy for us." She frowned, "Is it?"

"Name one Hero who was happy." He laughed half-heartedly

"Perseus." She hummed, "That's why your mom named you after him, right? Because he had his happy ending."

"Yeah." He sighed, "Surviving and having a happy ending aren't the same though..."

"You're right." Lucia said, "But we could do both"

"We could?"

"I don't want to be another Greek tragedy." Lucia hummed, "I want my happy endings. If we are forced to deal with all this bullshit it's the least we deserve don't you think."

He grabbed her chin. "You think happy endings exist?"

"I think Happy endings need to be constantly chased because they're always on the run." Lucia hummed, "The only true end is death and even then there's the underworld and rebirth. I think we need to keep chasing and fighting for what makes us feel immortal, even at our lowest. That way no matter the fates, we can at least say we lived. I think that's better than just surviving or allowing your myth to be written for you."

Percy smiled, and he snuggled in closer to her.

"If the fates are truly so cruel and immovable, then we must learn to make happy endings of our own." Lucia whispered, "My dad, his happy ending was Apollo. It was me. It wasn't the discus or that night in the dark...And no matter what happens Perce, You're always going to be one of my happy endings. Always."

Percy kissed her hair. "I love you Lucia Verano, Today, Tomorrow, Forever."

"Our forever?." She murmured as she felt herself slowly get more tired.

"It's the only one that matters."

☼

LUCIA HAD WOKEN UP EARLY THE NEXT MORNING TO MAKE BREAKFAST. Percy had ended up falling asleep just as she imagined. Thankfully she had woken up at sunrise, so she didn't think they'd have too much of a freak out if they found him splayed out on the sofa bed.

No matter how many times she was reassured that Sally and Paul didn't mind her staying. She couldn't help but want to figure out a way to thank them. Problem was—she had no idea how to cook.

The bacon was burnt to a crisp, Her pancakes were runny, and the eggs...She doesn't want to talk about the eggs.

"Luz?" A voice called

The brunette almost jumped out of her skin. She turned to see Percy standing at the kitchen door, scratching his messy head of hair sleepily.

"What are you doing up." She whisper-yelled, Blocking the stove from his sight. "Out of all the days Perseus you decide to wake up early today."

He raised an eyebrow and yawned. "Perseus?"

She grumbled, "Go back to bed. Yours by the way."

"What exploded in here," He looked around. His eyes were still puffy from a night of sleep. Pancake mix was all over the counters, cracked egg shells laid next to the stove, and the sink was filled with dirty pans. When Percy entered Lucia was scrubbing everything down with soap and filling the garbage can up with wasted food.

She frowned immediately, dread filling her body "I'm sorry. I just really wanted to say thank you. But I've never cooked in my life. The nanny always did it, and when she was fired, I came here for meals..."

Then Percy did something that surprised her, He laughed. Then he made his way towards her and pulled out another sponge from the drawer next to the sink.

"What are you doing?" She asked,

"Come on, we can clean it all before they wake up." He grinned teasingly. "Then I'll show you how to make some eggs."

She frowned, "No. You can sleep. I'll fix this."

He kissed her cheek. "Sunlight." He said softly, "You're not going to get in trouble."

That seemed to calm her down. fight or flight had become ingrained in her bones since the moment her father died. And ever since Kronos...that was only amplified.

She smiled at her boyfriend. And with a nod, they began to clean up. In just an hour the kitchen was spotless and all the evidence of Lucia's previous plight was gone.

"Okay first put the spray on the pan so it won't stick" He instructed

She nodded and followed his directions.

"Okay great." He smiled, "Now just break the egg into the pan and try to make sure none of the shell goes in. My parents like them sunnyside up but I'll show you scrambled after."

She chuckled, "Since when can you cook?"

"I just picked up a bit from my mom." Percy hummed, "Nothing too crazy."

"You know how to do Pancakes?" She asked as she continued his instruction. She cracked the egg in the pan and immediately it started to sizzle with more noise.

Percy took her hand off the pan's handle. "Luz, It's you. you're too hot it's cooking faster than usual."

She grinned at that,

He rolled his eyes and poked her side, "Sit on the counter, I can do it."

"I'm not taking credit if you do it!" She crossed her arms over her chest as he stepped in. "That's plagiarism! I'm an honest artist!"

He chuckled, "Fine you can help me and we both can take credit. But no getting near the stove."

"Boo." She pouted

He immediately dove in to kiss her lips, and when he pulled away she smiled.

She nodded "'Okay, I'm convinced."

He snorted, "Pass me the plate these are done."

☼

IT WAS EIGHT IN THE MORNING WHEN Sally and Paul woke up to a beautifully set up table (courtesy of Lucia) and a breakfast layout of blue buttery pancakes, crispy bacon strips, eggs, and fresh squeezed orange juice.

"Can we keep her?" Paul looked at Sally.

She chuckled, "Guys what is this?"

Lucia shyly took a seat out for each of them. "I wanted to just thank you both for letting me stay here," she cleared her throat, "But I can't cook so Percy saved me...Trust me if you ate what I made I would have had to tap into my medical side. "

"Percy woke up early on a Sunday afternoon to cook ?" She raised an eyebrow pointing towards the food with her fork.

"Jeez, mom." He sat down, "You don't have to sound so surprised."

"He did." Lucia smiled with a nod.

Paul took a sip of his drink and looked up in awe "Percy, You made this?"

"No." Lucia beamed, "That one was me. I added a hint of lime too."

"Can we keep her?." He repeated

Percy mumbled through a mouth full of blue pancakes, "Hell yeah!"

Lucia blushed, "I hope you guys like it."

Sally's hand fell on Lucia's "It's lovely sweetheart, Thank you. But I hope you know we are happy to have you. And you don't have to go out of your way to do anything."

She gulped and nodded.

"But if you could get him to clean his room with your magical Lucia powers that would be great."

Lucia fell into a fit of laughter, The rest of the morning went by like a breeze. By the end of breakfast, Lucia couldn't believe she ever worried about her place in the home.

☼

"YOU'RE LUCIA VERANO ARENT YOU!" A squeaky voice chirped.

Lucia had been dealing with that question all day. It was the first day of her sophomore year, and she was already exhausted from it. She could get over the unnecessary loud bells and the shoving of people in the hallways. But what she didn't expect was so many damn strangers trying to pry into her personal life.

"Oh my god!" The girl squeaked "You must be grieving! I'm so sorry for your loss! That car accident was so out of nowhere! I'm sure you're lonely in that huge penthouse!"

Lucia ignored the girl as she opened her locker. Usually, Lucia would be much more polite. But she had to admit it was harder for her to warm up to new people now. She also learned that when she was tired it was for a reason, and she was not about to entertain people that wanted to know more about how much life insurance she was going to get now rather than her well-being.

"You know you're so rude."

Lucia slammed her locker door shut.

"You have three seconds to get out of my face." She deadpanned,

"I—"

"one."

"Do—"

"two."

"Bu—"

"Three."

The girl ran off with a huff. Lucia almost felt bad for her.

'she totally won't be letting us ride in her limo yet. But I'm working on it!'

almost.

"You're Lucia Verano, right?"

Lucia huffed at the new boy in front of her, he looked older, maybe a junior. "Oh, my gods! No, you can't come to my penthouse! No, I don't have a limo! Yes, I miss my dad! And No I will not talk to you about what it was like to live with Agatha Fucking Knight. Are we done here!"

"Actually I wanted to know if I could get your number" He grinned,

Lucia's mouth fell open, "What?"

He walked closer, and Lucia took a step back.

"Alright," Lucia became uncomfortable, she pushed his chest to keep him at a distance, "No. No."

"What happened?" He scoffed "Think you're too good for me Miss. Hollywood?"

Lucia rolled her eyes, "I have a boyfriend. And even if I didn't, Yes. I am."

"He doesn't have to know gorgeous." He grinned, "You're so hot you probably got so many options. He'll understand."

Lucia shoved him as hard as she could before she walked past him. Hoping he got her message loud and clear. The boy yelped in surprise and stumbled over his feet at her strength, slamming into the lockers behind him.

Lucia continued walking before she found herself in front of the one person she had been waiting to see. The two had to show up to school separately to not raise questions or attract monsters. And they had no real classes together because Lucia had to make up some credits after being out of school for so long. So the only time they really could see each other was during lunch and at home.

When she found him there she watched as he hung up a photo of them, One Sally took of them during Halloween.

"Isn't that when I forced you to be Peter Pan so I could be Tinker bell." Lucia grinned,

Percy looked up with a smile, "Yes and I put it here to remind myself to never let you make me wear tights again."

Lucia raised an eyebrow, "Don't be so sure, Halloween is coming up soon and I have a very big Spider-man fixation lately."

Percy groaned,

"Face it, tiger," Lucia smirked "You just hit the jackpot."

Percy grinned at that,

'there's no way they're dating' Lucia could hear the guy's voice say 'He's like a total loser. And She's a spoiled rich girl. Seriously dude just give me a week and I can officially say I slept with the daughter of Carlos Verano"

Lucia scoffed, "Dick?"

"What I do?" Percy asked

Lucia snorted. "No not you baby."

"What is it?" He asked, his hand finding her cheek.

Lucia responded by kissing him hard. When she pulled away, his cheeks were scarlet red. Lucia laughed combing her hand through his hair. She smirked as she heard the junior get teased by his friends. "Do you want to have a Movie night?"

He frowned, "Yes but no musicals."

"Just one." She pouted, "Pleaseeeeeee."

"I think I need another kiss to be convinced." He smirked.

The bell rang suddenly.

"It's time to get to class ocean eyes!" She sing-songed,

"Hey!" He frowned as she walked away. "No musicals!"

She turned back for a second. "We'll see about that!" she called out with a grin.

A/N: Hi hi many more chapters like this will be coming, I know this focuses on Percy and Lucia but there will be many about Lucia using her voice again! and overall very fluffy and Happy/emotional moments (as a treat before we get to hoo 🤭)  also if you don't know already! I have a new book out called Achilles Heel with the daughter of Eris! I'm currently in school and going through midterms soon so i may be a little late with updates for all my stories but I will try hard! Hope you enjoyed this chapter <3333