"I adore you and him," Percy says finally, "you both get things from me I do not give to anyone else. Touches without warning, nicknames that anyone else would get a good smack for using, arrows and daggers...and other things to keep you safe.. I would give either one of you my life without hesitation. I have tried....I went to the Raven's Crest and drowned myself in the pool of blood trying to get her to take me instead. She said I was broken...." His voice catches a rare display of emotion, he makes no effort to hide.

"Loving you is no obligation in the slightest because I have done it since we met...but it was not until that moment when I admitted to you how strong your worth was that I could finally let myself feel it....even after I triggered the trap that killed you...Vax's choice only happened because of me....how could you love me and how could he when I've been the one to break you apart."

There it is....the words he has carried painfully close to his heart for so long, both the good and the bad. "You saved me...when I wasn't ready to be saved and all I want...all I've ever wanted is to be worthy of you."