⋆˚𝜗𝜚˚⋆

luke, a name you weren’t.. really sure what to think of anymore.

it used to leave your lips with content, tenderness, but now it came out hesitant. like you were unsure if you wanted to say it or not.

you hated the way people stared at you after it was revealed luke was the lighting bolt thief, like you were some—pitiful creature that needed comfort. and sure, the soothing words of your friends and siblings were nice, but you wanted more.

you wanted luke. you wanted him back.

but you knew his return was impossible. you couldn’t just defy the gods and then come back remorseful, pleading for mercy.

but you still had hope in the bottom of your soul, an illusion that fed your heart.

“okay, what’s your plan?” annabeth’s words snapped you out of your thoughts suddenly. “kick down the door, hi luke.” percy said matter-of-factly. “that’s your plan?”

“yeah, or maybe, bye luke.” he corrects.

“percy- you can’t take him in a fight.” annabeth insists, eyebrows furrowing. “thanks for the vote of confidence.”

the elevator suddenly dings, prompting all four of you hide in a closet. out walks alison, two giants following behind her like dogs on leashes as they tug a inflatable raft behind them, turning a corner and walking down a hallway.

“i thought you pushed her off the ship?” you whisper to annabeth, “guess not.” percy interjects.

“open up.” alison grits out, pounding her fist on the two wooden doors, which open rather quickly.

once the coast is clear, you all pour out from the closet.

“can you listen in?” percy asks tyson, who nods, closing his eye and listening.

“they boarded near the stern.” out comes alison’s voice from tyson’s mouth. “they’ve a pet cyclops with them.”

“that’s not a pet.” luke. luke’s voice comes from tyson. “poseidon claimed him, he’s percy’s brother.” ..how did he know? “well, he’s right outside the door.” alison states flatly.

you three look at tyson, and before you know it the doors fly open and alison, and some other demigods—presumably luke’s crew, march out, weapons raised. and the giants from earlier come from that same hallway, blocking the exit behind you all.

percy flicks open riptide, annabeth and you grabbing out your daggers while tyson clenches his fists. “they’re not gonna fight.”

a painfully familiar voice comes from the room, before out walks luke, his crew immediately clearing a path for the curly haired boy.

he’s wearing this sweater—having ditched his camp half-blood tee shirt, i mean, why wouldn’t he have? he betrayed the place. and he doesn’t even look like your luke anymore, there’s a different kind of vibe that radiates from him.

“they’re smarter than that.” he states, gesturing with his arm to signal them to lower their weapons.

his crew left you guys alone, well, the giants dragged off tyson. but luke insisted he’d be safe. should you even trust his words ? probably something you three were all thinking.

it’s silent. like an awkward family reunion, and well in ways it kind of was.

“awfully quiet.” luke comments, all he gets is glares in response.

“not much to say.” annabeth retorts, jaw clenched. you watch luke simply blink at her, glancing over to percy, scrutinizing him, before his gaze adverts to you.

“how’re you?” he asks, and you almost want to believe he’s being genuine, but there’s a certain lilt that sounds taunting.

you’re silent for a couple moments, biting your tongue, only responding when he raises a dark eyebrow. “fine.” you hiss.

“hm,” is all he says.

“your dad sent us.” percy speaks up, catching luke’s attention, “apparently he still thinks there’s hope for you.” hearing those words makes your stomach clench, was there any hope for luke?

“i disagree.” percy shrugs his shoulder. “well good.” luke says bluntly. “hermes should lose hope, his time is over.”

“luke,” you try, but the way he looks at you shatters your heart, it’s like he’s merely tolerating your presence.

“can you guys give us a minute?” luke asks, looking at percy and annabeth, then his crew. who nod, gesturing for the two to follow after them out the door, who begrudgingly follow.

reimagining his words, you could picture all four of you smiling, percy and annabeth having just pulled some—prank on luke, and you were laughing at him.

the door shuts. it’s just you and luke.

silence.

pure nothingness.

just the faint sound of the ocean waves crashing below the cruise.

he finally speaks. “what’re you even doing here?”

…okay harsh much?

“i don’t know? what am i?” you huff rhetorically. “i’m asking you.” he says plainly.

“luke- are you gonna stand here and just pretend nothing has happened?” you query, eyebrows knitting together as you stare at him. “luke, you betrayed camp, you disappeared, i haven’t seen you in a year.”

he exhales shakily, glancing off to the side at kronos’ sarcophagus. “i knew that i wouldn’t be able to recruit you, you love that place too much.” he explains, “so i left you behind.”

“luke—” voice cracking subtly, “but.. why? why did you betray the gods, join kronos, try to kill percy?”

“don’t you get it?” he asks abruptly, turning his head to look at you again. his eyes are wet, but he refuses to cry. “the gods- are bad, bad parents, when’s the last time you’ve gotten in contact with yours?” grabbing your shoulders you flinch, feeling his fingers curl into your shirt.

“they’re—” you try, but he’s not having it. “no, whatever you’re about to say, they aren’t. you look up to them too much, you’re too blind to see how neglectful they are.”

there’s a moment, you just stare at each-other, both refusing to acknowledge the dampness forming in your eyes. “luke, i have nothing left.” you say, tough exterior finally cracking.

“it’s not the same at camp without you, it’s empty. it’s sad,” you say tearfully. “no.” he shakes his head.

“no, you’re not gonna do this.” he huffs, taking a step back, “i’m not getting guilted into coming back to that place.” he exhales.

“luke- that’s not, i’m not..” but he interjects, “gods!” he snaps, clutching his head, fingers curling into his dark curls. “stop. stop please.”

you haven’t seen luke this emotionally bare since back at camp when he cried in your arms over hermes not acknowledging his offering at meal time.

“just- just go, tell percy and annabeth i’ll be out there in a minute.”

“we’re not-” you start, but trail off when he looks at you. “okay. okay, yeah.” you nod your head, stepping backwards before turning around fully and walking over to the two doors, pushing them open and exiting his suite, not caring that the door swung and hit one of the demigods guarding them.

“hey,” annabeth’s voice is heard, standing near the elevator,

your dorm spun around you as you rest your back on your bed frame,

eyes gaining more of a glossy sheen as your eyes dart around the space, rubbing your chapped lips together before wetting them with your tongue.

you’d had a shit week, a shit month, actually. it felt like everything was going wrong, you couldn’t do anything right.

so, you made the shitty decision to snort whatever a random dude gave you at luke’s party.

you exhale a shaky breath as you slowly lean sideways, opting to lay on your side on your cold dorm floor instead of getting up and clambering onto your bed.

a knock on your dorm door quickly shakes you up, sitting up so fast you hit your head against the bottom of your bed frame, “ow—come in.” you grumble, hand reaching up to feel at the side of your head.

your eyes dart as the door opens, and a familiar face walks in, dark brown eyes looking for you on your bed but instead adverting and finding you on your floor. “the fuck?” luke huffs, dark brows furrow together.

“what is going on? are you okay?” there’s a slight hint of concern in his tone of confusion, as he shuts the door and rushes over to your sitting down form and crouches down. “hey,” he says, nudging your shoulder as you stare at him blankly before furrowing your eyebrows, he just places the back of his hand on your forehead, feeling how sweaty it was.

“hey.” he says again, with slightly more urgency.

“go away,” you finally speak, groaning as you lay back down, this time on your stomach, resting your face against your arm.

“yeah, not happenin’.” he says matter-of-factly as he shakes his head.

he prods at your shoulder again, and you turn your head head so fast to look at him he swears you’re gonna get whiplash. “gods.” he utters, looking at you and tilting his head to the side.

“i need you to tell me what you’re on.”

“just, fuck off, luke cast-whatever your name is.” you hiss, crumpling back down onto the floor.

he raises an eyebrow and chuckles, but it’s more than a exhale of air than anything.

“okay, whatever it is it’s making you testy.” he laughs, before reaching out and wrapping an arm under you, lugging you upwards to stand on your feet.

you smack at his shoulder, but it feels weak to him.

“m’not crippled, i don’t need you to help me get up.” you insist, glowering up at him from beneath your eyelashes. “uh, yeah. you do, you’re practically fucking limp.” he retorts, hoisting you up so you’re sitting on the edge of your bed.

you weakly protest but luke doesn’t care.

“luke, if i needed help i would’ve called you.” you mumble.

“you did call me.”

“what. i did?” you ask, looking perplexed.

he smiles slightly, “no, you didn’t. i’m just testing your knowledge.” you narrow your eyes.

“okay.” he says with a sigh, big hand resting on your side to keep you upright. “fine. be stubborn, don’t tell me what you’re on, but at least let me take care of you.” he pleads, staring down at you with his pretty brown eyes.

you pause, feeling slightly flattered.

“..okay? fine.” you mutter. and it doesn’t take anymore convincing for him to walk over to your mini fridge and grab a water bottle, rushing back over and unscrewing the cap.

“drink this, i can feel the dehydration radiating off you.”

you begrudgingly take it from him, hands cold and shaky, but bring the plastic bottle up to your lips and take a slow sip.

he instinctively reaches his hand out to your chin when it looks like you’re about to choke, but instead you take a bigger gulp of the cold water.

once you’re done he takes it from you and places it on your bedside table, and urges you to lay down.

you comply and lay your head against your pillows, staring up at him as he drapes a small throw blanket over you instead of your big comforter.

“you’re okay, right?” he asks, scrutinizing your expression carefully.

“i’m fine.”

he nods his head, glancing down at his shoes and realizing they’re still on, so he walks over to your door to take them off.

but to you, it looks like he’s about to leave. “luke- wait.” you scramble to sit up, clutching the blanket against yourself. he looks back over his shoulder, eyebrows furrowing.

“hey. take it easy.” he soothes, putting his hands up placatingly, “i’m not going anywhere.”

he walks back over to you and sits on the edge of your bed, offering his hand to you, which you hesitantly latch your hand onto. “i’m staying right here till you’re completely sober.”

you look up at him, eyes beginning to water at his words, prompting him to quickly retaliate, “hey? what’re you—” but he doesn’t even finish, instead opening his arms and wrapping them around you, pulling you into his lap.

he rests his chin on the top of your head. “you’re paranoid, calm yourself.” he rubs his hands up and down your back. “take deep breaths.” he insists.

luke loved his life. he went to a college campus named olympus after greek mythology, and he was the president of the hermes frat! there’d be something wrong with him if he wasn’t a smug, cocky asshole.

and of course he had to throw the most killer parties, duh! hermes was the most popular fraternity on campus, people from every frat and sorority came.

and that’s exactly what was going on tonight, the bass of the music was so loud it shook the floors as it blared throughout the speakers, multicolored lights the only light source in the house, the pungent smell of liquor and weed filling the space. yup, the usual for a hermes party.

luke, was impatiently waiting for his girl to show up. well, not exactly his girl yet. they weren’t officially together, no label on them just two people who were friendly to each other and y’know occasionally hooked up! it was casual, the staying the night in his room, the occasional sharing of a joint together, accidentally leaving your favorite shirt and having to go retrieve it the next day, or whenever you realized you were missing it.

“dude, what’s your fuckin’ deal?” one of his frat brothers asked as he watched the curly haired boy pour himself another shot and down it. “there’s plenty of other girls here, jus’ cause your favorite one isn’t here doesn’t mean you can’t get laid.” he shrugged lazily, getting a glare in response. “fuck off.” luke spat.

“luke! hey!” his friend came around the corner of the kitchen’s walkway, “your girls here, she just walked in.”

“no shit? really?”

“yeah! she was with one of her gal-pals.” and luke didn’t need any further convincing to start heading back to the sea of drunken college students, maneuvering his way through them to get to the front door of the fraternity house. his eyes squinted slightly to make out your face, the flashing lights making it a little harder.

finally though, he spotted you! you were gonna get a piece of his mind, you were fashionably late, and luke had little to no patience. he made his way over, shoving past an innocent bystander. he was just about to sneak up behind you, throw his arm over your shoulders and utter something in your ear, he wasn’t sure what yet.

but then, a peculiar fuckin’ sight made him pause.

you were standing there with a hera guy????

a smile plastered on your lips as you laugh at one of his jokes. nah, he wasn’t letting this slide.

he creeped over and placed a hand on your shoulder, feeling you flinch under his palm. “hey man, thanks for keepin’ her company but i got it from here.” there was a smile on his pouty lips but it barely reached his cheeks.

“luke?” you ask, furrowing your brows and looking over your shoulder at him, having to crane your neck subtly. “i’m talking to someone.” you insist, firmly. but luke takes it as petulance. “yeah, i can see that, but i needa talk to you now. s’that okay man?” he looks to the hera guy, who gives him a weird look but answers with a “yeah, man.” nodding his head, before walking off.

“what the hell was that?” you ask raising a eyebrow, turning around to face him fully, pressing your glossy lips together. “i was having a conversation with someone and you just rudely interrupt?”

“yup.” he nods, nonchalantly.

you scoff, shaking your head, about to walk away but he grabs your shoulder before you can even take another step. “hey. i’m havin’ a conversation with you don’t just walk away.” his tone is a mix of a joke but also slight annoyance.

unbelievable.

“you wanna come upstairs with me?” he queries, cocking his head to the side and looking down at you expectantly.

“no.” you say, like it’s common sense. maybe you’re overreacting, but you and luke aren’t together. he has no right to be jealous, which he obviously is, even if he’s trying to act like he’s not.

“no?” he replies, batting his eyelashes at you like you so often do to him.

“y’sure?” he huffs, poking your shoulder annoyingly, with the look he got, if looks could kill you’d be a murderer.

“c’mon.” he insists, tilting his head to the side further.

you want to just walk away and ignore him, but it’s hard to when he looks at you with those eyes. the dark brown pair that look almost black, especially in this lighting.

you don’t respond, but you walk off to the side of him, purposefully bumping your shoulder into his arm, and he flashes a toothy grin from behind you and follows.

ironic right? the taller, much stronger guy who could easily throw you over his shoulder behind you, led like he was a dog on a leash.

you ascend the staircase and make it to his room that was off-limits at parties, except him of course. he grabs out his keys from his pocket, shoving the key into the doorknob with unnecessary force, twisting it open and gesturing with his muscular arm for you to go in first.

“woah, it’s actually clean in here.” you say sarcastically.

“cleaned juuust for you.” he hums, turning on a lamp that was on his desk, casting a dim warm glow across his bedroom.

the room smells like him.

the yummy cologne he wears, the linger of weed, spearmint gum, lightly mixed with sweat, and something else that was uniquely him.

he wraps his arm around your waist, spinning you around to face him and leaning down to your height, pressing his lips against yours like he was a man starved. despite your earlier annoyance at him you find yourself melting into him, placing one of your hands on the back of his neck, the other resting on his chest.

your lipgloss transfers onto his lips, mixing with the taste of liquor and gum on his tongue.

“your lips are sticky.” he hums, grabbing at your chin to tilt your head to the side for better access. his breath is warm and humid against your philtrum, as he exhales through his nose shakily. luke’s moves are always very coordinated during your guys’ hookups, he’s confident, he knows what he’s doing. but right now he was sloppy, like he was pouring his feelings out into his actions instead.

he finally pulled away from your lips, both of your guys’ lips tinted pink and shiny, with both lipgloss and saliva. he looks down at you, still grasping your chin, but instead of making some kind of snarky comment, he just stares. lips parted as he exhales through his mouth.

“you’re catching flies, castellan.” you taunt, and he snaps out of his trance and narrows his eyes.

“yeah?” is all he says, before quickly moving his hands to your waist, hoisting you up over his shoulder, walking over to his bed and tossing you onto it abruptly, though, thoughtfully enough so you don’t fall and land on your head.

luke had taught you to get better with your sword, the one who got you into archery, so of course he wanted to also teach you self defense.

so if there was any reason you needed to defend yourself physically, then you could.

he started off with if anyone were to grab your wrist than you’d want to quickly rotate your wrist towards your attackers thumb and pull away quickly, the first few times you attempted this you failed miserably.. causing you and luke to erupt into giggles each time before he insisted you tried again.

“okay, next thing is,” he said while turning to face his back towards you, “obviously you could jump on someone’s back if they have it turned to you, but, if you want to get them on the ground kick the back of their knees.” he explained, gesturing with his hands even if you couldn’t see them.

“how does that work?” you ask curiously, tilting your head to the side.

“it’s called a patellar reflex, if you kick the back of my kneecap my knee’s gonna jerk forward. try it.”

you hesitate before kicking him in the back of his kneecap with little to no force, but like he said his knees jerk forward and he falls to them. you gasp and ask if he’s okay, but end up smiling at the way he crumpled over.

he taught you a lot more useful things, and now currently he was teaching you how to throw a punch correctly. he rests his hands on your waist as he stands behind you, “kay, now what you’re gonna want to do is put your thumb over your fingers and not under, you could break it.” he utters as he slides his hand up to yours and engulfs it, tucking your knuckles and placing your thumb over them.

“okay, make sure you bend your knees and before your fist connects with whatever you’re punching turn your fist horizontally from vertically.” he instructs placing his hands back on your waist as you focus and throw a punch to the air. he pats your waist enthusiastically, “atta girl.” he praises.

he walks from behind you to stand in-front of you instead, watching you smile up at him. he smiles back before asking, “wanna practice on a real target?”

“like what?”

“me.” he says simply, and you think he’s making a joke until he doesn’t laugh and insist he’s kidding. “are you sure?” you query, and he nods. “course, that’s why i’m offering.”

he steps back a little and looks at you as you ready your fist like he taught you, he nods in confirmation that he’s ready to take a punch. and so you swing, your knuckles colliding with his pretty face as it whips to the side, a small grunt leaving him.

you don’t feel bad.

well.. atleast until his nose starts to bleed, crimson colored liquid trickling down the tan skin of his face from his nostril to his upper lip. “luke!” you gasp, rushing over to place your hand on his jaw and tilt his head down. “are you okay?” you ask worriedly furrowing your eyebrows together.

he stares at you dazed, dark brown eyes locked onto your own eyes as he blinks owlishly.

“that was so, hot.” he states, blinking at you again before smiling, blood covering his upper lip.

you scoff and hit his chest weakly staring at him, still concerned. “you’re a freak.” you huff. and he grins, prompting the blood to begin staining his teeth as he brings a hand up to pinch his nose, before wrapping his other arm around you and pulling you into a hug. “i love you.” he hums contentedly.