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Percy was woken up by a gentle hand on his shoulder, giving him a soft squeeze. He didn’t hear the words spoken at first, but he recognised the voice. It was a safe voice, one that calmed him to the point of nearly falling back asleep. He was pulled out of it by a gentle shake of the hand still on his shoulder.
With a muffled groan, he forced his eyes open, lids heavy against the force of sleep. It was dark inside his room, and a brief flick of his eyes to the window told him it was, in fact, too early to be awake.
He looked back to the figures standing patiently above him: his father and older brother.
“Time’s it?” he asked, words barely forming before they left his mouth.
“Too early,” said Triton, who was slumped against Dad, eyes as heavy as Percy’s felt.
“Cmon Perseus, it’s time to get up,” Dad said, voice soft. “We need to get going.”
Get going? His eyes fell on his bag in the corner of his room, the one he vaguely remembered packing the night before. Oh, right, they were meant to be leaving on a road trip to ... somewhere. Percy didn’t really remember, mind foggy and focused on waking up.
He did recall Dad telling them the previous night that they would be driving for like 7 hours, which sounded awful. At least he could sleep in the car. If he ever got out of bed in the first place.
His body felt too heavy. He was used to waking up in the early hours of the morning, since his sleep schedule was always in disarray, but it felt different when he actually had somewhere to be. Normally he would just lie in bed for hours and try to trick his brain into thinking he was asleep, but now he needed to get out from under his blankets.
He groaned in protest as Triton, becoming impatient, gripped both of his hands in his own, and attempted to pull him bodily from the bed.
“Get up, shit face! You can sleep in the car,” he whined.
Percy let his body flop back down on the bed with a dull thump.
“Don’t wanna.”
Dad let out a soft sigh. He was probably just as tired as his sons. Percy watched him rub a hand down his face, feeling a little bad for not making the morning easier on him. But he was just so tired.
“Triton, take Percy’s bag down and go wait in the car.”
The older boy readily complied, probably desperate to fall back asleep the moment he sat in the car seat.
Now just the two of them, Dad sat on the edge of the bed. Percy felt the mattress dip next to his legs. A hand was lifted to his head, carding through blonde curls made messy by a night of tossing and turning.
Percy leaned into it, feeling too cosy to get up, but he knew he would need to.
“Come on, my darling,” Dad prompted. “We really do need to go.”
With that, he gripped Percy’s arm gently, moving him into action. Percy finally rose into a sitting position, bringing a hand up to rub the sleep from his eyes.
Dad’s hand moved up and down his arm comfortingly. He let a few moments pas, before standing once more.
“I will meet Triton at the car to make sure we have everything. Get ready quickly, please.”
He gave Percy a quick kiss on the top of his head, before leaving him to get dressed.
It took Percy a lot longer than he would have liked to get ready, his limbs felt like they were lagging behind, but he pushed through, determined not to make his family wait any longer for him.
He didn’t even remember getting into the car. He just woke up, who knows how long into the drive, neck stiff from leaning awkwardly against the window in his sleep. Barney, who was of course joining them on the trip, was resting his head against Percy’s leg, asleep. Triton had replaced Dad at the wheel, one hand holding the wheel straight, the other with a coffee gripped tight. Dad was in the passenger seat, looking to be asleep from what Percy could see of his face.
He stretched, feeling significantly more rested, and sat up to get more comfortable, careful not to disturb Barney.
“How long’ve we been driving for?” he asked.
“Christ!” Triton gasped as he nearly lost his grip on his coffee. He looked through the rearview at Percy, glaring half-heartedly.
“Hi,” Percy smiled.
“Hello, shit face.” The older boy continued to glare, scoffing as though he couldn’t believe Percy’s audacity.
“So...?”
“We have 2 hours left til we get there. Dad and I swapped about an hour ago.”
“Cool. Where are we going again?”
No, Percy hadn’t been listening when Dad told him. Well, he had been, but there was a lot of information to take in and his brain liked to choose the most important stuff to exclude sometimes. It really wasn’t his fault.
Triton, obviously not knowing this, rolled his eyes.
“Holiday house in Vermont.”
“Like, a family holiday house?”
The concept was foreign to Percy, especially considering he’d never gone beyond his own state before. His idea of a holiday was to go the beach in Montauk with Mum, but now he lived on a beach, so he didn’t really see the point in going somewhere else. Although, it did sound nice to have a change of scenery.
Triton had answered his question with a nod. “We’ll probably get there about the same time as the others.”
Thetis and Achilles had been planning on coming as well for the past week of planning their trip, and then a few days ago Triton and their cousin had asked to bring along Patroclus. It was never a question of the parents saying no to this, of course, and the trio had been delighted at being able to all participate in the holiday, especially after Pat’s parents gave the okay.
Percy almost wished he had asked to bring Grover along, but there would have been too many of them at that point, and he didn’t want to get his hopes up. He always had fun with his brother and his friends anyway, so it wasn’t like he would be lonely. Plus, Barney would need someone to run around with, and he was always happy to fill that role.
When they finally arrived, they decided to leave their bags in the car for a while so they could say hi to the others, who had got there not long before them. Dad had woken up a good hour before they reached the house, and had offered to take the wheel from a yawning Triton. He had of course declined, and the rest of the drive was spent in companionable silence, only broken by Triton’s music playing through the car.
Percy and Triton each got a kiss on the head hello from Thetis, before they were ushered away with Achilles and Patroclus to show Percy around the property.
It was a big place, somewhat secluded. There was a big front yard of grass leading up to the house, which was two storeys. It was quiet, save for Barney’s barking as he bounded excitedly around the group’s legs. The perimeter was fenced off, so the puppy was free to run around to his heart’s desire.
Percy breathed in the smell of dew-covered grass, feeling the chill air fill his lungs. Maybe getting away from the beach for a bit was a good idea after all. He loved the water so much, but living right on it meant he had become desensitised to the magic. Being in the countryside was refreshing, and Percy knew that when they got home in a few days, he would be even more excited to see their beach again.
After being given a tour of the place, all four boys went into the house, finding Poseidon and Thetis in the kitchen. They were making something for lunch, or whatever meal it was time for. Percy had no idea what time it was. He did know that he was actually quite hungry, and was very thankful that his appetite was existent that day. That’s what happens after sleeping five hours in the car, he supposed.
Upon closer inspection, Percy noticed that the two were sorting out dishes of sushi, which Thetis must have bought on her way there. He liked sushi, so he was happy with this.
Later found the whole group outside, relaxing in the warmth of the late Spring sun. Triton, Achilles and Patroclus were playing a game of soccer that had absolutely no rules so far as Percy could see. Achilles was completely wiping the floor with his friends, which was surprising considering Barney kept getting under all of their legs.
Percy had decided against playing, purely for his lack of energy, although he was very happy to roll around in the grass with Barney, officially charged with keeping the puppy away from the ball. They wrestled together happily, and Percy found himself stopping to watch his family for a second. Dad and Thetis were sitting in chairs not far off, partly talking to each other, whilst also watching their children run around.
Percy met Dad’s eyes, giving him a wide smile in return to his soft one. Barney licked his face, getting his attention back, and he rolled over to lift the puppy onto his stomach.
Things were starting to feel normal, and Percy was finally feeling like he was a part of a family again. He saw his family in that moment, and knew that everything would be alright. Everything was good.