You had arachnophobia. And it was the worst.

To you, it wasn’t just “ohh, a spider! I’m scared!”

It was so much more than that. So severe.

Ever since you were young, you had it. Your mortal parent would come running whenever you’d scream and cry for them, terrified at the sight of one. Either in the kitchen, bathroom, anywhere, it didn’t matter. It was horrible.

You and your godly parent thought — no, hoped — that you would grow out of it as you got older.

But no.

Even now, when you were demigod at Camp Half-Blood, the fear didn’t go away. It was almost ironic: you, a feirce demigod, excellent at swordsmanship and battle skills, always feeling reduced to a little kid again whenever you saw one of those 8-legged creatures.

As expected, you would get a few teases here and there because of it (rumors spread easily through camp). You always ignored it. But deep down, it hurt.

This phobia and extreme fear affected your everyday life. Always checking walls and corners, paranoid of one being anywhere, feeling prickles over your skin even though nothing was there. It was exhausting and made you feel embarrassed and stupid. You felt so childish. You knew no one would understand.

Until you would remember Percy Jackson.

You were the love of his life, and he was the love of yours. Even though he didn’t suffer or have this phobia, he never left you. Yeah, he got grossed out by the crawly little creatures, but never like you.

But he understood. He could see how much it affected you, every day, every night. His heart ached for you. He wished he could take it all away, to see you settle and not be afraid.

That, or just kill every spider ever.

Whenever you’d come across one, after waiting for you to be told it’s dead, he’d hold you tight as you cried and shook in his arms. He’s soothe you until you calmed or found a distraction. He wasn’t judgmental. He wasn’t embarrassed by you.

He just cared for you.

Tonight, you had came across one on the wall near the front door of your cabin. Your heart had raced, tears had immediately formed as your body shook, and you had been frozen in your place. You had eventually managed to run through the door and run to Percy.

You were currently in his cabin, in his bed. The covers were currently tucked fully around you both, the ends of the sheets shoved under the mattress so nothing came through. All to ease a little bit of the paranoia and fear in you.

His arms were strong and tight around you, one hand gently but firmly running all over your clothed body. It was an action that he would do as if to affirm that nothing was actively crawling on you. It got rid of those creepy prickles you felt. His other hand gently combed through your hair.

“I’ve got you… shh… You’re safe… It’s gone…” Percy whispered softly into your hair, your head tucked under his chin.

It hurt to see his love suffer so much.