Author: theartofimaginaryfriends

Trigger Warning: panic attack
Reader is gender-neutral

Percy Jackson was too perfect for their liking. Not only was he attractive – with his startling sea-green eyes and winning smile – he was perfect at every task that they trained him in. Y/N had been working at the café for a year, and their lattes were never as good as the goddamn newbie. When they pulled Percy aside, they found out that he had never done it before in his life.  

That wasn't even the worst part.  
Y/N liked him. They found him to be quite funny, and his charm affected them just like it affected their customers. Percy could tell and teased them about it daily. He enjoyed seeing them try their hardest to look annoyed, and fail to stop the amused smile every time.  

The fact that they liked Perfect Percy Jackson infuriated them, causing them to mutter to themself about how annoying he is while closing the café every day.

"Wow, there's a lot to clean up. Too bad the new guy isn't trusted enough to close, yet." 

"You say that every day like I can't handle it on my own." Y/N rolled their eyes. "Just go home, Jackson." 

"You know, some days, it's really hard to tell that you like me." He smirked at them and winked before leaving.  

"Someday, it’s really hard to tell that you like me," Y/N mocked. "Not that I would say it to your-"  

Heart palpitations began, causing Y/N to put the dishes down on the table closest to them. Y/N straightened up and waited until the palpitations stopped. Shaking it off, they brought the dishes to the sink and went back to the tables to give them a quick wipe down. As soon as they placed the rag onto a table, the heart palpitations began once again. This time, Y/N put their hand onto their chest and tried to control their breathing.  

Their mouth and throat felt dry, and they began to wheeze, trying to breathe. Y/N felt as though they were suffocating, their blood pounding in their ears and dizziness increasing. Hands shaking violently, they tried to get themself to calm down by counting down from sixty.  
It wasn't working, they couldn’t pull themself out of the panic attack this time. They tried to call their dad, only to be met with voicemail. They left a message and hung up quickly. They placed the phone down on the table and began trying to count again.

"Hey Y/N. Sit down."  

They took a seat on the chair that Percy had pulled out, and tried to avoid eye contact as tears streamed down their face.

"I know what's fun. Naming our most annoying customers. You go first." 

Y/N listed off a couple of customers, and Percy laughed and turned the subject onto him. "Why don't- why don't you tell me how bad I am at making drinks. I know you want to. How about the time I slipped?" 

Y/N chuckled, then took a deep breath. "You got this, just keep taking deep breaths." Percy put his hand on their knee comfortingly and then got up.  
While Y/N continued calming themself down, Percy took over and began washing the dishes. "How did you know?" 

Percy turned to look at them. "My mom has panic attacks." 

"Oh."  

Their phone went off, and Y/N immediately answered it. "Hey, Dad... No, I'm fine... really, I'm fine... yeah, I had help. From a friend. I'll see you at home soon... Yeah, I love you too. Bye."  

"Huh, you called me a friend." 

"It's just faster than saying ‘guy who slipped.’" Y/N gave a small smile. They didn't want to admit it to themself, but they really did consider Percy a friend.