yes, i am alive. now, onto the story~

[this is a short chapter]

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Jason had a knack for heights. Basically, he loved it. So he was on his apartment roof— 40 floors up, sitting on the railings. He didn't care about the few people present, murmuring about him. A part of him wanted to jump off. Because he loved the feeling of a free fall. It was uncontrolled, wild, fast. The wind rushing past his ears was ethereal. Nothing could stop it. But for every free moment, the impact to the ground would be ten times worse. That was the only thing stopping him from leaping down.

His legs dangled over railings, and his breath came out in cold smoke. He was weird, he knew, for not wearing anything other than a simple t-shirt and jeans, but he didn't care. The frost on his skin stung, but he liked it.

If someone asked what he enjoyed, he'd say it was this. Being so high up, thinking about the freedom of the moment. More than that, he loved free-falls, but he couldn't exactly do that, could he?

Could he?

I wonder, sometimes. 

He shifted his position so that he was standing on the railing instead, overlooking the world below. He leaned onto the white wall beside him and looked down. He could hear the murmurs, people calling him insane, some even pondering over calling the police.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Jason looked over to see the same boy he'd sat with at physics— Perseus. Or Percy, hardly mattered.

"What am I doing?" He echoed, voice laced with fake confusion. He knew what he was doing: standing on a railing and relaxing, when— according to some people— he could fall any second.

He gestured towards him, "Well, geez, I don't know, maybe you're standing over a railing 40 floors high?"

A smile weaving itself onto his face, he said, "Am I?"

Percy took an annoyed breath, "Just get down."

He started tilting towards the side, like he was losing his balance. Percy's eyes widened, and he genuinely looked like he seizing up from fear, when Jason simply regained his balance and laughed. "God, you get freaked out too easy," he said. 

"Just– that wasn't funny."

"I've been accused of having a strange sense of humour before."

After a long pause, Percy asked, "You live here?"

"Nah. I just like this place." He walked over the single beam casually, and offered Percy a hand, "Wanna join me?"

"Um, no."

"It's not as terrifying as you think."

"I don't like heights," he said plainly, swatting away Jason's hand and crossing his arms.

Jason shrugged. He sat down, facing Percy. "Never seen you 'round here."

"I'm not really the social type of person."

"And, yet, you're still here."

"My mom and my stepdad are, uh.. Having a home-date? Anyway, it's awkward. And I decided to come here to give them... a little space, you could say."

Jason tried to bite back a grin, but he couldn't. It took more effort than it should've taken to keep a straight face. "I see."

Percy turned red, "Shut up."

They both stood in a silence for a while, Percy still glancing at him warily, as if scared that he would fall.

"You should stand here too," Jason said.

"What? No. No. I already said I'm not fond of heights. Actually, more than that, I'm not fond of falling forty floors down to my death."

Jason's mind ghosted over a memory for a second, just some person, before he was back in the present. 

"Come on," he insisted. "You can grab me for balance. It's pretty cool up here."

"Nah, not in my books. I'm perfectly fine just standing here- Jason!"

Jason grabbed his hand and tried to carry him onto the railing. He was lifted up off the ground, but damn, he was heavy. He dropped him in a second, and almost fell on top of him.

"God, you're heavy."

"What did you expect? You can't just lift me up there!" He said angrily. Jason himself was a little amused.

"You're so scared. The view is good, also."

"I'm not scared–"

"Okay, just stay here for a minute. If you don't like it, get back down. The stupid railings always block half of the view, so it's the only way."

He huffed, giving up, and said, "Ugh. Okay. But I'm using you as balance." He first sat onto the railing, slowly standing up, his legs wobbling a bit.

"Shit, shit, shit," he murmured, like a chant, grabbing onto his hand to keep himself up steady.

"See? Not bad."

"Not bad..." he murmured, but his hands were clasped around Jason's so tight that his knuckles were white.

Jason laughed and said, "You're holding me like you'll die if you let go. You can relax a bit."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," he said, sounding slightly annoyed, his gaze fixed on his feet. He let his right hand dangle loosely down his side, though he still kept his left hand gripped onto his, slightly looser.

He said, after a few moments, "Dammit, you're right about the view."

"You see? It isn't even that bad. People make a big deal out of it. I'm pretty sure one lady was calling the police," his gaze shot to the lady who was still standing, trying her best to avoid looking at him, definitely hearing what he said.

"You have successfully changed my perspective then. Quite literally. But seriously, if I fall, you're catching me."

That hit Jason a bit too close to home. He looked away. 

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𝔍𝔞𝔰𝔬𝔫 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔏𝔢𝔬 𝔥𝔞𝔡 𝔪𝔢𝔱 𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔶𝔢𝔞𝔯 𝔞𝔤𝔬. ℌ𝔢 𝔥𝔦𝔪𝔰𝔢𝔩𝔣 𝔥𝔞𝔡 𝔟𝔢𝔢𝔫 𝔠𝔩𝔬𝔰𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔲𝔯𝔫𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔯𝔱𝔢𝔢𝔫, 𝔞𝔱 𝔞𝔤𝔢 𝔱𝔴𝔢𝔩𝔳𝔢, 𝔏𝔢𝔬 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔞𝔪𝔢. 𝔗𝔥𝔢𝔶 𝔦𝔪𝔪𝔢𝔡𝔦𝔞𝔱𝔢𝔩𝔶 𝔥𝔦𝔱 𝔦𝔱 𝔬𝔣𝔣; 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔴𝔥𝔦𝔩𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔶 𝔩𝔦𝔨𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔟𝔯𝔞𝔤 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔦𝔱 𝔴𝔞𝔰 𝔞𝔫 "𝔲𝔫𝔰𝔢𝔢𝔫 𝔟𝔬𝔫𝔡," 𝔦𝔱 𝔴𝔞𝔰 𝔞𝔠𝔱𝔲𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔶 𝔡𝔲𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔥𝔬𝔴 𝔟𝔬𝔱𝔥 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔪 𝔴𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔰𝔲𝔠𝔨𝔢𝔯𝔰 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔠𝔬𝔯𝔫𝔶 𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔢𝔰. 𝔑𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔩𝔢𝔰𝔰, 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔶 𝔤𝔯𝔢𝔴 𝔱𝔬 𝔟𝔢𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔢 𝔞𝔱𝔱𝔞𝔠𝔥𝔢𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔢𝔞𝔠𝔥 𝔬𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔠𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔢𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔪𝔰𝔢𝔩𝔳𝔢𝔰 "𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔠𝔬𝔯𝔫𝔶 𝔭𝔞𝔯𝔱𝔫𝔢𝔯𝔰," 𝔞 𝔱𝔢𝔰𝔱𝔞𝔪𝔢𝔫𝔱 𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔦𝔯 𝔩𝔬𝔳𝔢 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔗𝔥𝔢 ℭ𝔩𝔦𝔠𝔥é.

ℑ𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔪𝔬𝔪𝔢𝔫𝔱, 𝔏𝔢𝔬 𝔥𝔞𝔡 𝔪𝔞𝔫𝔞𝔤𝔢𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔳𝔦𝔫𝔠𝔢 𝔍𝔞𝔰𝔬𝔫 𝔱𝔬 𝔤𝔬 𝔞𝔩𝔬𝔫𝔤 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔥𝔦𝔪 𝔞𝔰 𝔥𝔢 𝔴𝔢𝔫𝔱 𝔱𝔬 𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔞𝔩 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔐𝔠𝔇𝔬𝔫𝔞𝔩𝔡'𝔰 𝔫𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔟𝔶. 𝔒𝔣 𝔠𝔬𝔲𝔯𝔰𝔢, 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔶'𝔡 𝔫𝔢𝔢𝔡 𝔰𝔬𝔪𝔢 𝔰𝔱𝔲𝔣𝔣 𝔱𝔬 𝔭𝔲𝔩𝔩 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔬𝔣𝔣, 𝔞𝔰 𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔞𝔦𝔡, 𝔴𝔥𝔦𝔠𝔥 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔶'𝔡 𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔞𝔩 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 𝔞 𝔪𝔢𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔦𝔠𝔰 𝔰𝔥𝔬𝔭.

𝔍𝔞𝔰𝔬𝔫 𝔡𝔬𝔲𝔟𝔱𝔢𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔦𝔱 𝔴𝔞𝔰 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔞𝔠𝔱𝔲𝔞𝔩 𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔰𝔬𝔫, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔥𝔞𝔡 𝔞 𝔳𝔞𝔩𝔦𝔡 𝔰𝔲𝔰𝔭𝔦𝔠𝔦𝔬𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔥𝔢 𝔧𝔲𝔰𝔱 𝔴𝔞𝔫𝔱𝔢𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔟𝔲𝔦𝔩𝔡 𝔰𝔬𝔪𝔢𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔟𝔢 𝔦𝔫 𝔞 𝔪𝔢𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔦𝔠 𝔰𝔥𝔬𝔭 𝔞𝔤𝔞𝔦𝔫. 𝔅𝔲𝔦𝔩𝔡𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔪𝔢𝔞𝔫𝔱 𝔞 𝔩𝔬𝔱 𝔱𝔬 𝔏𝔢𝔬; 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔬𝔩𝔞𝔯 𝔭𝔞𝔫𝔢𝔩 𝔥𝔢'𝔡 𝔪𝔞𝔡𝔢 𝔴𝔞𝔰 𝔟𝔯𝔬𝔨𝔢𝔫, 𝔰𝔬 𝔥𝔢 𝔠𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔟𝔢𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔰𝔬𝔪𝔢 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔱𝔲𝔣𝔣 𝔴𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔟𝔢 𝔲𝔰𝔢𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔣𝔦𝔵 𝔦𝔱.

𝔄𝔫𝔶𝔴𝔞𝔶, 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔶 𝔥𝔞𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔠𝔩𝔦𝔪𝔟 𝔦𝔫 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔴𝔦𝔫𝔡𝔬𝔴. 𝔍𝔞𝔰𝔬𝔫 𝔴𝔞𝔰 𝔭𝔢𝔯𝔣𝔢𝔠𝔱𝔩𝔶 𝔣𝔦𝔫𝔢 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔦𝔱, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔏𝔢𝔬 𝔰𝔢𝔢𝔪𝔢𝔡 𝔰𝔬 𝔱𝔬𝔬. 𝔈𝔵𝔠𝔢𝔭𝔱 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔣𝔞𝔠𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔥𝔢 𝔨𝔢𝔭𝔱 𝔬𝔫 𝔪𝔞𝔨𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔧𝔬𝔨𝔢𝔰 𝔬𝔫 𝔥𝔬𝔴 𝔣𝔲𝔫 𝔦𝔱 𝔴𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔟𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔣𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔰𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔫 𝔣𝔩𝔬𝔬𝔯𝔰 𝔡𝔬𝔴𝔫. 𝔒𝔫𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔯𝔬𝔞𝔡, 𝔴𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔞 𝔠𝔞𝔯 𝔴𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔡𝔢𝔣𝔦𝔫𝔦𝔱𝔢𝔩𝔶 𝔯𝔲𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔪 𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔯.

𝔖𝔬, 𝔥𝔢 𝔴𝔞𝔰 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔣𝔦𝔫𝔢 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔦𝔱, 𝔍𝔞𝔰𝔬𝔫 𝔡𝔢𝔠𝔦𝔡𝔢𝔡.

"ℌ𝔢𝔶. 𝔊𝔯𝔞𝔟 𝔪𝔶 𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔡, 𝔫𝔬𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤'𝔰 𝔤𝔬𝔫𝔫𝔞 𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔭𝔢𝔫," 𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔞𝔦𝔡. "ℑ 𝔨𝔫𝔬𝔴 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 ℑ 𝔴𝔬𝔫'𝔱 𝔣𝔞𝔩𝔩, 𝔩𝔦𝔨𝔢 𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯. 𝔖𝔬 𝔠𝔥𝔦𝔩𝔩."

 𝔏𝔢𝔬 𝔯𝔞𝔦𝔰𝔢𝔡 𝔞𝔫 𝔢𝔶𝔢𝔟𝔯𝔬𝔴, "𝔄𝔯𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔦𝔪𝔭𝔩𝔶𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲'𝔯𝔢 𝔰𝔬𝔪𝔢 𝔰𝔬𝔯𝔱 𝔬𝔣 𝔰𝔲𝔭𝔢𝔯𝔪𝔞𝔫?"

𝔄 𝔰𝔪𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔰𝔪𝔦𝔩𝔢 𝔰𝔭𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔡 𝔞𝔠𝔯𝔬𝔰𝔰 𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔣𝔞𝔠𝔢. "𝔜𝔢𝔞𝔥, 𝔨𝔦𝔫𝔡𝔞."

"𝔒𝔬-𝔨𝔞𝔶 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔫. ℑ 𝔞𝔪 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔥𝔬𝔩𝔡𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔡, 𝔱𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥," 𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔞𝔦𝔡. "𝔅𝔲𝔱 𝔦𝔣 ℑ 𝔣𝔞𝔩𝔩, 𝔰𝔲𝔭𝔢𝔯𝔪𝔞𝔫, 𝔶𝔬𝔲'𝔯𝔢 𝔠𝔞𝔱𝔠𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔪𝔢."

ℌ𝔢 𝔤𝔯𝔦𝔫𝔫𝔢𝔡, "𝔄𝔫𝔡 𝔦𝔣 𝔞 𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢 𝔟𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔨𝔰 𝔬𝔲𝔱, 𝔶𝔬𝔲'𝔯𝔢 𝔰𝔥𝔦𝔢𝔩𝔡𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔪𝔢 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔢𝔵𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔲𝔦𝔰𝔥𝔢𝔯."

"𝔇𝔢𝔞𝔩." 𝔗𝔥𝔢𝔶 𝔣𝔦𝔰𝔱-𝔟𝔲𝔪𝔭𝔢𝔡.

💋

A/N:

BTW, in case you don't get it, the last part is a memory. Also, sorry 'bout the hard-to-read font part, if you don't understand a part of it, you can just comment on it, and I'll reply as soon as possible.

So.. yeah. Like I said in the first chapter, this is just something I wrote last-year-something. Or somewhere around there. I edited it a bit, but barely, so don't expect this to be top-notch. 

[Ik, this is self-advertising, but check out my two other PJO fanfictions, "Cursed- A PJO Fafnic [Rewritten]" and "Label Me A Killer". I know those two look like they're on hold, but trust me, a chapter is coming up for each of them really soon. I'd really appreciate it if you checked them out.]

Anyway, c ya!