It's getting harder to keep up the same happy go-lucky personality people have grown so accustomed to. He keeps up the act, smiling like nothing's wrong and acting how he used to be: optimistic, oblivious, and childish. Not like he ever had a childhood anyways-that opportunity had been viciously ripped away from him ever since he was six. But he wasn't oblivious; he was observant. He acted that way so none of his friends would fuss over him.

But none of them could truly relate to him. And when they asked him if he would like to talk about it, there was this hesitance in their eyes, as if they were frightened of what he would say. He would brush them off, smiling, and saying he already was recuperating, but they couldn't be more wrong. He was too loyal and over protective of his friends to even think about loading them with the unnecessary load of his burdens.

At nights, visions of his cursed childhood and of his time in the pit would send him into a panic attack, in where he would scream and thrash around and occasionally lose control of his powers. That was when he was the most destructive, summoning huge hurricanes over Camp Half-Blood over hearing the taunting voice of Tartarus again and again, saying how it would be an honor for him to rip Percy to shreds.

As of now, it was the middle of the school year in mid-February. He knew he was safe in his own bed, under his mom's roof, but the scars of the past seemed to reopen, bleeding profusely once more. It had gotten so bad that it was a miracle if he could go at least four hours nightmare free. Four hours of sleep was barely enough for him to have coherent thoughts, so going to school with such little sleep was torture. He'd doze off in his classes, jolting into alertness whenever he heard his name called by the teacher. How he was going, he wouldn't be able to defend himself against the school bullies, let alone a monster that'd try to rip him to shreds.

Yes, you heard right. The twice Hero of Olympus was bullied at Goode High. To make matters worse, it was the same idiot that had picked on him and Tyson back in Merriweather Prep in seventh grade: Matt Sloan.

He still acted like a spoiled brat, but he was a rich spoiled brat, and his cronies only followed him for the prospect of being payed. They'd join in on everything he did, from wedgie-ing the freshman who he pegged as "nerds", to destroying lab equipment while spilling hazardous chemicals everywhere, to even egging the principal's car at one point while covering all the other teachers' cars in spray paint and toilet paper. Of course, his father paid for the damage, allowing for Matt to still be enrolled in Goode High.

To Matt, Percy was his favorite punching bag, using the fact that he wore his heart on his sleeve against him. He and his little gang loved to call Percy demeaning names like worthless and much ruder names like playboy. Percy never showed how much the words hurt him, but every word was like a knife to his chest, causing for another bleeding scar on his already mutilated heart.

Percy knew he was brave and strong and that he could take out Matt without even getting hurt, but he was in the mortal world; he would go to prison for giving Matt the beating he wanted. And Percy wasn't normally this sadistic, usually saving all his pent up rage to fight against monsters, but there were more monsters that wore human faces that have tried to hurt or kill him instead of actual ones like the Minotaur.

After classes, during class exchange, Matt and his group would wait by Percy's locker, ready to beat him to a pulp. He didn't even fight back anymore after the first time he had retaliated left him in in-school suspension for two days. After the group would finish him off, Percy unscrewed the water bottle in his backpack, pouring it over his bruises and cuts. He could imagine the heart attack his teachers would have if he walked into class with a blackening eye, split lip, and bruises littering his skin above his collar bone.

Paul would try to talk to him, but again, Percy tried to distance himself from those he loved. His problems were his own; they didn't need that in their already busy lives. Percy's stepfather would just purse his lips together in concern, before reassuring Percy that he was always available to talk if he needed it.

On the weekends, he went to camp. There he'd hang with his friends and Annabeth. She gave him this appraising look with her calculating gray eyes, her eyebrows knit together in concentration. It was her thinking look, as he liked to call it, but if she knew what he was thinking, he'd probably be judo-flipped and brought into an intervention with everyone he cared about.

One night, the nightmares and the bullying had been weighing on him for too long, so he finally released his hold on his emotions, shamelessly sobbing on the floor of the Poseidon cabin, rocking back and forth, while clutching onto his blanket like a lifeline.

He had survived through so much, but that was all he did: survive. He had been wholly and utterly broken in the process, and the love his friends and family had for him was probably the only thing keeping him sane. He didn't know what he would do if anything bad happened to any of them.

It's a sad day when you've been hurt so much, you can finally say, "I'm used to it."

Someone had knocked on his door, but when he didn't answer, they walked on in, revealing Annabeth, a heartbroken expression on her features. Percy didn't even try to conceal his tears, instead clutching onto his girlfriend like she was the last thing keeping him grounded. She whispered soothing words in his ear, rubbing circles on his back, cuddling close to him in an attempt to make him feel better. But when he felt Annabeth's tears land on his shoulders and face-tears he had caused-he hugged her tighter than before, only giving her enough space to comfortably breathe, while apologizing over and over again for making her cry.

"You're such a Seaweed Brain," she had said, stroking her hand through his unruly raven locks. "Of course it hurts me to see you like this. Why didn't you tell me?"

"This is why," Percy replied, making a flamboyant hand gesture, motioning around the cabin, before pointing at the both of them crying on the floor, wrapped up snuggly in his blanket. "I hate feeling weak, but that's the only thing I've been feeling for a long time now." He brought his knees up to his chest, burying his face in his sweatpants. A few more tears rolled down his cheeks, which he didn't even try to wipe away. "I'm worthless, just like Matt says."

Annabeth narrowed her eyes, slapping him upside the head. He looked at her with wide eyes, but before he could ask why, she had begun her spiel.

"You are not worthless, Perseus Jackson. You're so full of worth that you have two camps full of people willing to die for you to protect your well-being, me being one of them. I love you, Percy; your friends love you, too. And you're not weak." Annabeth's tone softened as she pulled Percy closer to her, comfortable in his warm embrace. She rested her head against his shoulder, rubbing circles with her thumb on the back of his hand. He had calmed down some, but he sniffed occasionally, producing a few more tears.

"If anything," Annabeth continued, "you're one of the strongest people I know. You put this mask on, trying to convince people that you're okay-faking happiness so that the little ones don't worry. If that isn't strength and bravery, I don't know what is."

Percy sniffled, and Annabeth wiped away his tears with her fingers, her eyes full of love and care. He gave her a small smile, pressing a chaste kiss to her lips, before pulling her in a hug again.

"What did I do to deserve you?" he asked, his face buried in Annabeth's golden curls, inhaling the scent of her lemon shampoo.

Annabeth sighed against his chest, relaxing slowly. "You love me," she said, snuggling into the space between his neck and shoulder like a makeshift pillow. "That's why you deserve me, Percy, just like you deserve happiness. And if you have problems with the person that pushed you off the edge ever again, let me know. I'll show them why you don't mess with Perseus Jackson."

Slowly, their breaths evened out, and soon enough they were both peacefully asleep on the floor of the Poseidon cabin. And neither one of them had nightmares, for they were together, and together, they could face anything.

Monday came by much too fast for Percy's liking, and he had left Annabeth a note with Matt's schedule (don't ask how he got the information) and things that frightened him. It would be awesome to watch Matt be beat up for the second time by Annabeth, something he couldn't do unless he wanted to be expelled.

It was class exchange between third and fourth period, and Percy was at his locker, exchanging his huge algebra book for the slimmer language arts one. As he grabbed his supplies and locked his locker up, he felt the hot breath of Matt breathing down his neck. He fought the urge to gag, because his breath reeked so badly, it was like he had eaten nothing but garlic for a week and then forgot to brush his teeth.

"Well, well, well," Matt said in an amused tone. Percy could imagine the sneer he was being given, all the way down to his chipped tooth. Personally, he thought Matt would look better without a few teeth, but a guy could dream. "Look what we have here. It's Jackson!"

"Go buzz off," Percy told him, harshly jerking away from Matt's grip. He had gotten a few feet down the hall, before the idiot broke out of his stupor, yanking Percy by his hair, pinning him to the lockers. He growled deeply like Lupa had taught him, even going so far to spit in his face.

"Oh, you're a dead man now, Jackson!" Matt roared, shoving past people as Percy calmly walked to class, the crowd parting as they caught a glimpse of his wolf-stare. Good thing these kids hadn't acclimatized to the glares of native New Yorkers yet.

As Matt's meaty hand was about to wrap around his throat, Percy merely glanced over his shoulder, smirking all the while. Annabeth was wearing her Yankee cap, but in her hand she held a Gardner snake, letting it wrap around her wrist like a bracelet. He could feel her back pressed against him even though he couldn't see her, and with her free hand, she gave him a reassuring squeeze.

Percy then caused for the school's sprinklers to go off, and everyone shouted, ducking as if that would prevent them from getting wet. He then solidified bonds of water around Matt's arms and ankles, preventing him from moving, as Annabeth let the snake slither down his shirt.

Percy shut the water off, causing for people to look around in surprise and confusion. Matt immediately started to scream like a little girl, squirming like he had ants in his pants. Well, a snake in his pants anyways.

Outside his language arts class, taught by Paul, Annabeth took of her cap, her entire body dripping wet, but the smile on her face was as radiant as the sun. Percy kissed her for a few seconds, until they had to pull apart for air.

"Thanks, Wise Girl," Percy said affectionately. "I've been wanting to take him down at least ten pegs ever since he hit me for the first time. But, I couldn't, because then I'd be expelled."

Annabeth chuckled, pressing her lips against Percy's once more to stop his rambling before it could completely begin. "You don't need to explain anything to me, Percy-other than if he bothers you again, I'll let you use my cap and you can punish him all you want."

"I love how you think."

Annabeth smirked. "I'm a daughter of Athena, and-"

"And Athena always has a plan; I know," Percy finished, causing for Annabeth to humph at being cut off.

"Well, I did your dirty work. Are you going to dry me anytime soon?"

Percy blushed in embarrassment. He had been going to dry her off, but then they kissed and got off topic. He didn't know whether to blame hormones or ADHD.

"Sorry 'bout that." Percy put a hand on her shoulder, and within a few seconds, Annabeth was dry from the mildew-y water that flowed through the school's sprinkler system.

When the two of them walked into Paul's class, they found the teacher frantically taking all of his favorite books to the windowsill, letting them dry under the sun. The sprinklers must've gone on throughout the entire school, Percy realized. Whoops.

"Hi, Paul," Annabeth said warmly, helping Percy's stepfather move the books.

Paul jumped, before turning to give Percy a pointed glare, causing for the son of Poseidon to take great interest in his sneakers. Then he hard Paul sigh.

"You better have had a good reason for trying to flood the school, Percy," said Paul. "Well, make yourself useful; help dry the books you soaked."

Percy blushed, but laughed at how laid back his stepfather was. It was a good feeling to know that he wouldn't be hurting so badly anymore. Sure, he'd still have nightmares, but at least after his talk with Annabeth, he realized how good it felt to get all his fears off his chest.

"Of course, Paul," replied Percy with a jovial laugh, one that was genuine and not forced.

Yes, he was used to the constant pain of his past, but he would slowly get over it, bit by bit, and with the help of those he loved, he was sure he could recover.

Percy, Annabeth, and Paul spent the rest of the school day drying everything in the room off, joking and laughing, just like old times. Yes, things were looking up for him indeed.

A/N: Another one-shot, yay! I was inspired from a picture I found on the internet that said, "It's a sad day when you've been hurt so much, you can finally say, 'I'm used to it.'" I immediately wrote this afterwards XD Hope you guys liked!