I'm Fine

"So, he'll be fine?"

"Yes, after a few weeks in rehabilitation, he should be able to walk just fine and maybe even run."

"Thank God..."

"Although I can't stress this point enough, no more contact sports of any kind, Mam."

"Trust me, if I had known he was playing football, I would have dragged him back home and locked him in his room. At least then I could keep an eye on him." I cracked open an eye to see a woman with long, brown curls cascading down her back, talk to a rather handsome blonde man in a white coat.

My mother...thank you, Leo, for making my life a living hell...I just shut my eyes again as the man walked out of the room, in the hope she would think I'm still asleep and let me be, but of course, it is my mother...

"I know you're awake, Perseus," she said in a firm voice, and I let out a sigh.

"In how much trouble am I?" I asked in a raw voice that didn't quite sound like me.

"You promised me you wouldn't play, Percy," she said in a much softer and warmer voice as she came to sit beside my bed.

"I know, but how else were we going to pay for college?" I asked, and she ducked her head for a moment. Money had always been a touchy subject.

"You're father said he would deal with the payments," she said in almost a whisper.

"The man lives in a shack by the docks. You want to know how he handled it? He told me to find my own way. That it would build character," I said, and she looked out the window with a sad expression.

"I wish I had known..." she whispered.

"What would you have done, mum? Gotten a third job? Quit your own studies?" I tried to catch her eye, but she refused to look at me. "I couldn't ask that of you, mum. This is your dream and your future too," I said, and she finally turned to me with a sad smile.

"You're my son. You don't have to ask me to do what's best for you," she said, reaching out to touch my cheek. "As for dealing with the payments, you leave that to me, because you are not coming within a hundred-yard radius of that field ever again," she ordered with a very stern look, a look that I instantly copied.

"No, Mum. I'll deal with it." She raised an eyebrow at me. "Without football, I promise. You just keep going to class, get your degree and write that novel." She sweetly smiled at me.

"Where has my immature little boy gone?" she asked with a mischievous glint in her eye. "Perhaps Jason has been a good influence on you."

"Jason?" I asked, my heart leaping into my throat. Was he here? I had completely forgotten he had brought me here.

"Yep," Mum said, popping the 'p'. "Leo called me when you guys left the field. When I got here, Jason was fussing all over you. He even threatened a few people to get you best of care." She raised an accusatory eyebrow at me.

"And then Leo and I had a nice chat," she rested her chin in the palm as she continued to stare at me. "Is there something I should know about?" she asked, her lips starting to pull into a grin.

"Honestly, Mum, I don't know. I still need to talk to him about everything." She looked genuinely sad at that.

"Oh, well I guess a mother can hope," she shrugged as she sat back in the chair.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She let out a long sigh before she started pacing around the room.

"Well, since Annabeth left, you've seemed a bit..." I raised both eyebrows at her. This was our other touchy subject...Annabeth.

"...a bit what?" I asked cautiously. Annabeth and I hadn't ended things on the best of terms, what with her finding out I was both gay and cheating on her in the worst way possible...my mom was still mad at me for cheating...and for not telling her I cheated. In my defence, I didn't cheat on her by choice, though.

"All I ever wanted was for you to be happy, Percy. When you were with Annabeth, I got a glimpse of the happiness I've always wanted for you." She kept pacing through the room, arms flailing. "I guess you've just seemed very negative lately, and I was hoping..." she stopped and looked me straight in the eyes. "I guess I was hoping you've found happiness again," she said with a sad smile.

Maybe it was the fact that I was high on pain killers, but seeing my mother so honest, kind of made me want to cry. Just to know that, even though I've fucked up royally the last two years, she would always be there wishing me the best.

"You know, Mum, for a moment I thought I had." I was rewarded with the most beautiful smile that has ever graced my mother's face. It wasn't a happy one, but not completely sad either. It was more like a smile of understanding if that makes any sense.

"Hey, how's the rebel doing?" Leo popped into the room. No matter how happy I was to see the annoying Latino elf, my heart started to flutter when I saw Superman trying to pull him back out, muttering something like 'don't spoil it'.

"Well, Doctor Apollo said he'll be fine as long as he does his rehabilitation and avoids contact sports," my mother said quite pointedly at me. "You're so fortunate it wasn't the big hit this time." Yeah, I know. I'm a cat with nine lives. I would have rolled my eyes at her if they weren't glued to Jason's sky blue ones.

"Well, missus..." mum raised a dangerous brow at Leo "...Sally, it's been a long night. Would you like a cup of coffee?" he asked, looking between Jason and me. Mum started chuckling before she nodded and turned back to me. She leaned down and gave me a kiss on the forehead.

"Don't let him get away, honey," she whispered before she gave me a wink and left with Leo. As the door shut, a silence fell over the room. It seemed so fragile, I found myself holding my breath to preserve it.

"I'm sorry," I vaguely heard Jase murmur. I only vaguely heard it, because he had his eyes glued to the floor.

"For what?" I asked, maybe a little too hostile and loud, because he slightly flinched before his hand shot up to rub the back of his neck.

"...for not calling," he said as he inched forward.

"It's cool, Jase," I said, trying for the 'I don't care' approach. "Would it have been nice if you just told me you weren't interested? Yeah..."

"That's not it," he cut me off. I furrowed my eyebrows at him. He took the last few steps to my bed and sat down, looking like he was about to share the country's most confidential secret.

"I was, am interested," he said, looking up hesitantly like he was scared I was going to hit him or something. I felt my face split into a grin.

"Why wouldn't you tell me that?" I asked, and he started to chuckle awkwardly like he was relieved.

"I don't know. What if you didn't want to and I scared you off?" Jason asked, rubbing at his neck again. I tried to sit up, just because I wanted to kiss the fucking idiot. Too late, I realised it was a mistake.

"Fuck," I croaked as a pain shot up my spine. Jase was on his feet in less than a second, fussing over me. "I'm fine," I said as I slowly laid back down.

"You sure? I can go get the..." I pulled him down by his shirt and cut the frantic little worrier off with a kiss.

"I'm fine," I said again with a smirk.