There wasn't enough Grover in HoO.

"One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood." Seneca

The campfire flashed in a rainbow of colors, brighter than Percy could ever remember seeing it.

The campers were screeching, laughing, and roasting marshmallows. As the last night of summer session, they were spending as much time as they could with their friends and siblings before most of them left in the morning. Chiron would usually pack them off to their cabins by now, but he was standing on the other side of the fire with an indulgent look on his face; he must have known how much they needed this after the last couple of months, or even really the last couple of years.

Percy watched as a couple of younger Hermes campers laughed and shoved each other as they slipped through the other campers to get better spots around the fire, which blazed far into the night sky. For a second they could have been any other kids at any other summer camp; Percy would never have known they had just been through war looking at them. However quickly some campers were getting back to what passed for normal for them, there were other campers sitting farther away from the fire, quiet. He could see a few of the Hephaestus campers sitting close together, nothing but the fire flickering in their eyes. It was hard to see – they reminded him of all the frustration and sadness that he had carried for weeks now.

A sudden clatter and shriek somewhere behind him had Percy reaching for his pocket before he reminded himself where he was. He was at camp, and camp was safe.

He really didn't like how often he had to tell himself that lately.

Drew had been the one to shriek – her shoes were covered in melted marshmallow thanks to a sheepish looking Demeter camper.

At that moment some brave, foolish camper yelled, "The Devil Wears Marshmallow!"

Drew glared as a few of the campers around her erupted into laughter, Lacy the loudest of all.

"Who said that!"

Percy turned away before he could get dragged into it; one of the other cabin leaders could deal with the impending mess. It just wouldn't be camp without this kind of chaos, he thought.

At the end of the day, Percy was just glad he was still around to see it.

He caught Annabeth's eye from where she was sitting with Malcolm and a couple of her younger siblings. She smiled at him, though it looked a little worn. He could tell she was ready to go back to her cabin, but like him she didn't want to leave while everyone else was still celebrating. He preferred camp songs and burned marshmallows to his silent cabin anyway – it was harder to dwell on things Percy would rather not think about. Especially tonight, when the other campers were having fun together before going their separate ways tomorrow.

"You're in a quiet mood," Grover said.

The sound of Grover's voice, closer than Percy had expected it to be, set his pulse racing for a second. Percy had nearly forgotten Grover was sitting next to him. He had his pipes out, and he was turning them over in his hands.

"Yeah, I'm just – thinking."

Grover nodded, and Percy could appreciate the fact that his best friend didn't feel the need to joke about how rare that was right now, or feel the need to ask what he was thinking about. Neither of them said anything for a long moment as they watched Clarisse chew out a first year camper for nearly lighting her shirt on fire. She jabbed the camper's charred marshmallow in his terrified face.

He heard Grover sigh.

"You know, this is what I miss most when I'm gone," Grover gestured to the roaring campfire and the campers sitting in little clusters. "People can unite when circumstances demand it, but it takes more than that for a place to feel like a home. Moments like these make it hard to leave. Makes me appreciate them when I'm far from camp and everyone."

Percy smiled.

"Yeah, I love nights like this. Well, you said it way better than I could, but still. I'm really not looking forward to going back to school, but at least Annabeth will be with me."

"I can tell. You've been all over the place today."

"Sorry, man. I must be driving you crazy."

"Oh, I don't mind, Percy. It makes me feel like a young kid again. I almost miss the quests and the constant danger."

"Thanks. I'm so glad I'm more exciting than hearing dryads complain."

"Oh, they're not so bad. Definitely beats the last world saving quest I went on."

The last major quest that the two of them had gone on together was the Labyrinth. Percy tried not to wonder how many curses he'd gotten in the Labyrinth alone, but it was almost impossible not to, not when he could remember them so clearly. Everything seemed to lead back to Tartarus lately. He realized Grover was studying his face.

"You don't have to act like this with me, you know? I can tell it's bothering you."

"I'm fine, Grover. The only thing I'm worried about is how much school I've missed this year. Seriously, this wasn't even our first war."

For one hopeful moment, Percy thought Grover might drop the subject. It wasn't that he wanted to shut Grover out – he was pretty sure that was impossible anyway – but he didn't really know how to explain what happened to him down there.

"Percy, I know you both have been trying really hard to act like you normally do ever since you got out of Tartarus. There's nothing wrong with dealing with it that way, but I know there's more going on under the surface than that. You're never going to be able to heal and accept what happened down there properly if you just pretend you're fine."

He and Annabeth had tried so hard to be normal, for them and for everyone else; it was a little hard to hear that they had failed so badly.

"Was it that obvious?"

"No. But I've known you both too long to be fooled. Plus I can still read your emotions, remember? Not that I needed to this time."

Percy ran his hand through his hair. He may not see Grover as much anymore, but it didn't surprise him that his best friend could still read him so well.

"I wouldn't say either of us is pretending to be normal. Sometimes it all seems like Tartarus happened a long time ago; sometimes it feels like I'm still trapped down there. Some days I really do feel like myself, and other days I – just don't. The weirdest things can set it off too. I saw Connor toss a packet of Peanut M&M's into the fire at dinner, and it was like we had never escaped for a second."

Grover listened quietly, and Percy really appreciated that. It was hard to talk about.

"But I think being here at camp has helped me though. It reminds me why going on that quest was so important: so we would have a home to come back to. Like Reyna said, we all have two homes now, and even a chance at a future. That kind of makes it all worth it."

Grover smiled.

"That's really good to hear, Percy. And I just wanted to tell you that I've decided to stay in New York for a while, so when you're ready to talk more about what happened, I'll be here to listen, if you want me to."

"I've really missed having you around, G-man."

"I've missed being around, Perce."

Before either of them could say anything more, volleys of flaming marshmallows were launched their way, accompanied by Katie screaming at Travis and Clarisse yelling death threats. A few had landed on Percy's shirt.

"Go on," Grover elbowed him. "I know you can't let that slide. I was thinking about finding Juniper anyway, maybe go for a moonlit walk on the beach."

Percy grinned and clapped him on the back.

"Thanks, Grover. For everything."

"Don't even mention it, Percy."

As he dove right into the chaos, he smiled. Grover was right – it was hard to leave because of moments like this. But at least they could always come back.

Considering he is supposed to be Percy's best friend, I've always thought it was strange for Grover to be all but written out of the series, beyond the occasional mention. Please tell me if you liked it.