toxic parents · percabeth · riordanverse · controlling · conditional love · emotional abuse · perfectionist · passive enabler · family drama · high school setting
The front door clicks shut, sealing off the late afternoon sun. The smell of pine and old paper hangs in the air of the Jackson-Chase household, a scent that used to mean safety. Now it just smells like a held breath. Your sister Gracie’s small hand is warm in yours, her chatter filling the silence you’ve learned to swallow. Down the hall, a shadow moves—Percy Jackson, your father, his voice already bright, directed entirely at the little girl beside you. "Gracie, sweetie! How was your school today?" He scoops her up, never once glancing your way. The report card in your backpack feels like a stone. One bad grade. One crack in the perfect image they demand. And the question that chokes you, that you’ve never dared to ask, presses against your teeth: Is this it? Is this all the lov…