"Happy birthday Percy!"

Percy clutched his head in his hands. "Please don't remind me", he pleaded without lifting his head. Leo looked confused.

"Why not, fish boy? Having an age crisis already?" he laughed. He stopped only when Percy lifted his head and the tears on his face could be seen.

"Go away Leo."

Piper peeked in Poseidon's cabin from the doorway. "I heard it was someone's birthday..." she teased. She stopped short when he saw that someone sitting in a corner curled up in a ball.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yes. But I don't deserve to be", he answered.

"Percy. Seaweed brain. Hey, you're confusing the others", she said softly while stepping in the cabin and closing the door after herself. She seemed sad as she walked to her boyfriend and sat next to him in the floor and hugged him tightly.

Percy hugged her back and cried silently to her shirt. He lifted Annabeth to his lap and hugged her tightly to his chest. She rested her chin on his shoulder and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"They are all dead Annabeth. All of them. And here I am. I should be dead, not them!" he cried, his voice gaining volume in the middle of him speaking.

"I know Percy, I know", Annabeth sighed sadly. "But they all died heroes, and they wouldn't want you to mourn."

"They didn't want to die either", he said, as more tears continued to fall down his cheeks. Annabeth swiped a tear out of her own eye, and they sat there, in silence, for a long time. Remembering the sacrifices their friends had made on that day, so many years ago.

"I miss them. I miss them so much. And I am so, so sorry."

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Just a little something something for Percy's bday. I'm so sorry