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phykios · 3 years ago

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honesty and promise me, co-written with @darkmagyk [read on ao3]

Update: Annabeth has not done what needs to be done.

August moves over into September, hot and sweltering days giving way to the first few hints of the coming autumn chill. One unseasonably cold night, Annabeth had gone to bed wrapped in one of Percy’s old Paris Opera sweaters, waking up with it and wearing it home to ward off the chill of the morning drizzle, like some a normal girlfriend would.

It’s a problem, she knows, but she just cannot quit this man.

And boy did she try, about a hundred different times.

One time, she spent an entire Tuesday before seeing him googling around until she found a picture. It was three years old, and it showed Mittie--oh, sorry, Her Royal Highness Margherita--at a soccer game in Moscow. Next to her is the handsomest man in the world. Percy’s hair is shorter, and something about his windbreaker reminds her of some of the crew boys she knew at Harvard. They aren’t touching, but they are both smiling. This is the kind of girl Percy deserves. This is the kind of girl he should want. His type. She reminds herself of it for hours before meeting him at a show. But the smile he gives her is nothing like the one in the pictures with the princess. And when he whispers what he wants to do to her that evening, she just can’t do it.

She even took him to his favorite pizza place once to soften the blow. But then she thought about how her dumping him would forever taint the magic of Antonio’s for the both of them, and she just couldn’t abide that.

So she kept putting it off. And putting it off. And putting it off.

And then he asked her to dinner with his parents again, on his one night off in three weeks.

“You’re sure you don’t want me to bring you something?” he asks for the fourth time, concern making his connection thin and tinny.

“It’s just a little stomach thing,” she lies, shaking out a ramen flavor packet. “I’ll be fine. You go have fun with your mom.”

“Okay. I’ll call later to check up on you.”

She rolls her eyes. “I’m just going to be asleep.”

“Talk to you later.”

“Yeah.”

He clicks off. Her apartment is very quiet. For lack of anything else to do, she decides to check her mail.

Who even mails anything anymore, she thinks.

Rifling through the pile of wasted paper, she sighs at the banality of it all. Junk, junk, junk, NYCB brochure she needs to cancel, junk… Harvard?

She peers at it.

The red seal is unmistakable, as is her name, printed in neat, black ink. “Ms. Annabeth Chase.” Why are they contacting her? And more importantly, who the fuck gave them her address?

Hands shaking, she unfolds it. “Dear Ms. Chase,” it reads, “Thank you for your generous contribution to the Harvard Graduate School of Design. As one of our most promising graduates, we are so pleased and thrilled to receive your encouragement. With your gift, we were able to reach our fundraising goal of $2.5million, which will go to support the various operations of the school, so that we can continue to provide a top-notch education for your fellow students. You do make a difference for us, and we are immensely thankful for you!” And then it goes on. “As a thank you for your generous gift of $15,000, we would like to invite you to the Alistair Moore dinner for distinguished graduates and faculty. We would be delighted to receive you at...”

She can’t finish, dyslexia scrambling the words in front of her. Or maybe that’s just her, trembling so hard she has to sit down. Fifteen thousand. The Alistair Moore dinner. She knows it well, yet another fancy networking event, like the Eta Industries party. Bile rises in her throat. Who would…

The answer hits her like a freight train. Only one person would be so bold.

Crumpling the letter in her fist, she pulls out her phone, dialing the number she still stubbornly has memorized, despite deleting it off her contacts list.

She isn’t sure if she’s upset that she gets his voicemail, or relieved. “Hey, dad. It’s me,” she says, grimacing as she starts off like he wouldn’t recognize her voice. Like it’s any other phone call. “I got your message. The Alistair Moore dinner? I’m not going. I told you, I don’t want your help. I don’t need your help. What I need,” she sneers, “is for you to butt out and leave me the hell alone.”

Then she hangs up, before she can chicken out and delete it.

She shoves the letter into her recycling bin, down to the very bottom. Out of sight and out of mind.

Well, her night is pretty much ruined.

Ramen growing colder, she lies on her couch, her head hanging over the edge, studiously not looking at her phone. She shouldn’t have left that message. She shouldn’t have opened that letter. She shouldn’t have rebuffed Percy’s invitation. Or maybe she was right, in all those situations. Who the fuck knows. Who the fuck cares. Her leg bounces, frantic, stomach roiling.

Like a gunshot, her phone vibrates on her coffee table. Annabeth catapults herself up, reaching for it, nearly dropping it, even as her eyes begin to blur. Please let it be her dad. Please let it be anyone else but her dad. Please. Please. Please.

checking in, writes Percy. feeling any better?

With a sob, she hits call. He picks up after the second ring.

“Hey,” he says, softly. “Everything okay?”

“Can,” she hiccups. God damn it. God damn her. “Can you please come over?”

She can feel his demeanor change over the phone. “I’ll be right there,” he says, calm and collected. “What’s your address?”

Her address is supposed to be a secret. No one is supposed to know where she lives. She doesn’t even like Luke knowing where she lives, and he might be the closest thing she has to family right now. But she tells Percy, and he promises to be there within thirty minutes. Throwing her arms over her face, she lies back down, breathing through her nose so she doesn’t vomit.

He makes it in twenty. here is the simple text, devoid of any hearts or emojis, and she buzzes him up. Less than a minute later, he knocks on her door. “It’s open,” she calls, pressing the heels of her hands into her eyes.

Softly, the door clicks open, someone smoothly and quietly stepping inside. “Annabeth?”

“Here,” she moans. She should get up to greet him. She can’t feel her legs. She can’t feel anything at all.

The couch dips as someone sits next to her, a warm, large hand on her shoulder, and she can’t help but open her eyes. Percy is there in his blue sweater that she returned the last time she had slept over at Nico’s apartment, his brow furrowed in worry, but he’s smiling a little, too, just happy to see her, to see that she’s safe. In his other hand, he holds up a plastic bag. “I brought you a cookie,” he says, gently. “Chocolate chip.”

Annabeth blinks. “It’s… blue.”

He nods. “It is.”

Blue cookies. His mom’s special recipe, he had told her, for bad days of aching feet, harsh dance instructors, and school bullies.

The dam breaks.

She launches herself into Percy’s embrace, sobbing. He tucks her head into his neck, his arms coming up around her. “It’s okay,” he murmurs. “It’s okay.”

“I’m--I’m so sorry,” she gets out, in between heaving breaths. “I just--I didn’t want to be alone and--”

He shakes his head against hers, his nose in her hair. “I’m here. It’s okay.”

They sit there for a long, long time, him holding her as she cries, pathetic. She can only imagine what it must be like from Percy’s end: here he was, having a lovely dinner with his mother uptown on his night off, only to get a frantic call from his hookup, demanding that he drop everything and rush to her side. And he did. He even fucking brought her one of his mom’s special cookies.

She does not deserve this perfect, amazing man.

It’s that thought more than anything else that pulls her out of her spiral, her sobs abating somewhat. “There we go,” he says, sweetly. “I’m going to get you some water, okay? Be right back.”

Resisting the urge to hold onto his sleeve like some kind of child, she lets him pull away, stepping into her kitchen. Head aching and eyes puffy, she can’t even really register the fact that he is in her apartment right now. Her secret hideaway. Her sanctum sanctorum. He can see her tasteful couches and her expensive coffee maker and her giant TV screen.

But honestly? She doesn’t care about any of that right now. All she cares about is the long, solid line of Percy’s body next to hers as he sits back down next to her, handing her a glass of water. She drinks it down, greedily, falling back against him, his hand automatically coming up to her shoulder, and she turns into his side, drinking him in, just as desperate.

They don’t speak, just holding onto each other.

As she drifts off, there on her couch, her arm around Percy’s midsection, she only has one real thought in her head.

Forget the apartment--this is her sanctum sanctorum. This is her safe space.

***

Annabeth wakes up in a bed that isn’t her own, in an apartment that isn’t her own.

It reminds her, weirdly enough of her mom’s apartment, she thinks as she sits up in the soft, cream sheets, here in New York. She had only ever been a handful of times, whenever her mother deigned to claim her for their allotted family time. She doesn’t remember much about that place--mostly the skyline through the window, the low, uncomfortable furniture, the spotless, empty kitchen.

Across from the bed is a mirror, squat and wide. Annabeth has her hair back, her face devoid of metal. She looks tired, she thinks, and maybe a little older, dark, heavy bags beneath her eyes. She’s wearing a real, actual set of pajamas, rather than a sweater or an oversized shirt, pale pink silk tight around her body.

Shaking her head, she looks down, and spies a thin band of gold on her left hand, which rests on her stomach, sporting a slight, but noticeable curve.

Only then does she realize it’s a dream. She lets out a grateful sigh. Just a dream.

It seems like a pretty boring one, too. She’s older, a little fatter, and has a nicer apartment. Somewhere in the distance is the indistinct sound of a person singing. And beyond that the even more indistinct sound of the city.

Stumbling out of bed, her feet falling into a pair of soft, pink slippers, perfectly positioned next to her bed, she makes her way out into the apartment. The walls are cream, decorated with generic seaside landscapes, a nondescript sailboat in the background against an unchanging, cornflower blue sky.

The kitchen is empty. Breakfast is cooked, laid out on a placemat at the kitchen island, but no one is there eating it. No one is there cleaning up, or making coffee. The food looks delicious, like a magazine spread: a perfectly made bowl of granola and yogurt, a lemon poppyseed muffin, a glass of orange juice on the side. Nutritious. Small.

It’s weird. It’s really weird.

Moving on, she enters the living room. There’s a little girl on her knees, maybe three or four, she’s wearing a red pinafore over a white polo shirt and Mary Janes shined like the top of the Chrysler building. The preschool version of a prep-school uniform. She’s hunched over the glass coffee table, frizzy blonde curls bouncing as she moves her hand back and forth, scribbling with a colored pencil on a piece of paper.

All of a sudden, she notices Annabeth standing there.

“Mommy!” She jumps up, holding the pencil behind her back, her green eyes wide with apprehension. “I--I was--”

She hears whistling, and turns to see… well, it's Percy, but he looks nothing like her Percy. His hair is cropped shorter, parted and moussed perfectly flat. He’s in a three piece suit. He’s in trousers. Not a pair of sweatpants or a muscle tee in sight.

He stops when he sees her. “Sorry, didn’t know you were awake, wouldn’t have been singing.” Which makes no sense, Because Annabeth loves Percy’s ambient music. He looks around her, speaking to his--to the girl, “I told you you’d have to stop when mommy got up.”

Annabeth glances at the little girl, who nods too solemnly.

“Don’t worry,” this stranger wearing Percy’s face says, “She’s ready for school. She is ready for her Math qualification. I only said she could draw for a little, to calm herself down.” He glances at the girl again. “Put your things back in the art box, and we’ll go to school. I have an 8:30 meeting with the board.”

The little girl runs off. Holding her paper and her pencils close to her chest, like she’s afraid someone is going to take them away from her. Maybe someone is.

Percy turns to her. “I confirmed our reservations at 7 tonight at Sarabeth’s with your mother’s assistant this morning. And the nanny is going to stay late, so we don’t have to bring her.”

The her in question reappears just then. She’s so small. And she’s carrying a backpack. She looks like that breakfast, out of a magazine. But normally kids in magazines smile.

“Are you ready?” Annabeth’s voice finally says.

A beat, then she nods again. “Yes, mommy.”

“Good,” she says. Outside, the sunlight through the windows isn’t so bright anymore, but dark and cold, like a solar eclipse. “Make me proud.”

And she turns to go back to bed, but the floor has disappeared, and she steps on nothing, tumbling down into the void.

With a start, she wakes up again in her bed, to the smell of breakfast in the air. Which is confusing, because she’s pretty sure she fell asleep on the couch, and she usually doesn’t wake up in time for breakfast, let alone actually make it herself: she has Percy for that, now.

Right. Percy.

It comes back to her in flashes: the donation, the voicemail, calling Percy out of desperation. Inviting him into her room, her bed. Falling asleep in his arms.

She physically shakes her head, roughly scrubbing her face, forcing herself further into consciousness. The light coming through her window is grey and weak, doing absolutely nothing to help her out. The morning feels muted, for some reason, like it’s very far away. Maybe it was her nightmare.

She can’t hear Percy, Annabeth realizes. That’s what’s wrong. She can smell breakfast, but she can’t hear him puttering away. She doesn’t hear the clanking of pans as he tries to be quiet, or his off-key humming, or the dull thump of footfalls on her floor as he practices his steps.

God, how late did she sleep? If he has to leave for a morning class he usually makes sure to wake her up, first. For a kiss if nothing else.

But when she pads out to her kitchen, she’s stunned to find Percy still there, sitting at her warped kitchen table. There are two plates in front of him, eggs and bacon untouched and cooling. He’s fully dressed, too, in his dark jeans and stupid dance pun t-shirt: “Girls Just Wanna Have Buns,” his sweater on the empty chair. Annabeth had been weirdly looking forward to wearing that this morning; he likes seeing her in his clothes, and she likes seeing him without them. It’s a system that works for them, typically leading to a lot of smiles, a couple giggles, and maybe another round or two before he has to leave.

He’s not smiling now. His gaze is fixed on his plate, hands in his lap. “Morning,” she croaks, softly.

Percy lifts his eyes to her, unfathomable like the sea. “Morning.”

Something in her stops her from sliding into the seat across from him. Standing gives her strength, gives her power that she doesn’t want to give up. She may not be able to tell what Percy is thinking right now, but she knows when someone is gearing up for a fight. “What is it?”

“What is what?”

“What’s the matter?”

He is uncharacteristically still. Annabeth has gotten so used to him expressing himself via his body, the stillness is unsettling. Percy holds her gaze for a moment, then sucks in a breath, sitting up a little bit straighter. “I kicked over your recycling by mistake, and when I was cleaning up, I…” He bites his lip, a little ashamed. “I accidentally read some of your mail.”

“Okay.” He can’t be that broken up about her junk mail, can he?

It’s only then that she sees it, laid out neatly next to the breakfast plate. The letter has been carefully uncrumpled, but the red Harvard seal is as obnoxiously bright as ever. “I don’t mean to pry, but…” Percy licks his lips, gathering his words together. “I thought you didn’t get into Harvard?”

She doesn’t say anything.

“It’s just--this is from the Graduate School of Design,” he continues, looking at the page as if to confirm it. “And the dean says you were one of their ‘most promising graduates,’ here, so. That means you have, what, a master’s degree? Right?”

Still, she doesn’t say anything.

Percy rubs a hand over his mouth, square jaw squaring further. “I guess I just don’t understand why you lied to me.”

“I never--” she blurts.

“I mean, were you trying to spare my New Yorker sensibilities by telling me you didn’t get in? Did you think I would actually care?”

There’s nothing she can say in response. So she doesn’t.

After a moment, he blows out a sharp breath. “So. Fifteen thousand dollars, huh.”

She sighs, looking away. It’s not like Annabeth doesn’t hate it, too. “I didn’t do that,” she says, crossing her arms. “My dad did it, he just put it under my name.”

“And, he did that… why? I mean,” he tilts his head, a little bewildered. “I thought you guys weren’t on speaking terms.”

“To try and get me to network again, probably.” She shrugs. “And I’m not on speaking terms with him. He just hasn’t gotten the memo yet.”

He hasn’t raised his voice at all. He hasn’t moved from his seat, or made any kind of threatening gesture, but like an approaching storm cloud, she can feel the anger rolling in, dense and crackling. “Does he do this a lot, your dad? Throw his money around for you?”

“It’s not like I asked him to.”

But he’s shaking his head, rueful. “I don’t know how I didn’t see it before. You know, I thought it was weird that you could afford an apartment in the East Village with a bedroom on periodic architecture contracts, but I’m guessing he pays for that, too?”

He’s right, of course, but that doesn’t stop her from bristling. “It’s a trust fund,” she snaps. “It’s still my money.”

“A trust fund,” he says, softly. “Right.”

Anger lances through her, cold and burning. Just because her dad had set it up for her didn’t mean that she wouldn’t use it. “Yeah, a trust fund. Is that a crime, now?”

He opens his mouth as if to say something, then snaps it shut with an audible click. Pushing his chair out, he stands up, hands flat on the table. “I should go and get ready for my class. I’ll… I’ll text you later, okay?” Percy takes a step towards her, hands reaching for her on instinct, then pauses. “See you around.”

Percy leaves without so much as a look back, closing the door so quietly she can barely hear it over the roar of blood in her ears.

#my fic #percabeth #the rivalry ends here #ballet au #😈😈😈#darkmagyk #happy endings onlyyyyyyyy #percabeth fic #PJO

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annabethy · 4 years ago

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under the mistletoe, watching the fire glow day 7: wrapping presents

Character can’t wrap gifts to save their life. Character B is their neighbor and can help,, percabeth

Percy should have known what went into being a single dad. He thought he did well enough, all things considered. By no means was he perfect, but he loves his daughter more than anything, and he always does his best.

Still, he did not ever thing that his biggest struggle as a parent would be wrapping presents for Christmas.

The pile of gifts he bought for his daughter sit in front of him, staring right into his soul. It’s embarrassing, because in his twenty-six years of life, he really hadn’t learned to wrap a present. It’s not like it’s a difficult concept — he is just severely incapable of making anything look pretty with wrapping paper.

Percy sighs and leans back, defeated. He tosses the tape dispenser recklessly in front of himself, rubbing his eyes tiredly. When he looks at the clock, he is both confused and personally offended that it could possibly be three in the morning on Christmas and he still has nothing done. It’s no one’s fault but his own, because he had time to get it done but decided to wait until approximately three hours before he knew his kid would be awake to attempt and fail miserably at wrapping presents.

He considers just giving up and not wrapping them at all — it’s not like she would really care — but then he remembers the pure excitement he would get as a child while peeling the paper off the presents, and he can’t bear to take that away from her.

He tries to think of a solution, but nothing comes to mind. He’s ready to just accept that he’s screwed up, but then it comes like a whisper in the back of his mind. He knows for a fact that his neighbor is a goddess at wrapping presents because he saw her hauling them in from the car earlier for her own daughter. He tries to tell himself to absolutely not wake her up at three in the morning, but the thought of sitting here struggling any longer makes him cave, and he finds himself standing on her porch minutes later in the freezing New York air.

He hesitates, then knocks lightly. It feels like forever awaiting a response, and he’s just about to give up and turn around when he hears the lock click open, and he is met with the sight of his neighbor looking thoroughly concerned.

“It’s three in the morning,” is the first thing she says.

Percy can’t help but stare at her for a good second. He doesn’t think they’ve talked more than once or twice since she moved in a few years ago, but maybe they should have because then maybe he would’ve known how pretty she actually was. Even on the brink of sleep, she managed to look put-together in her plain black leggings and oversized knitted sweater. Her hair was loose down her back, falling in cute ruffled ringlets, and he wants to reach out to smooth them down like he’s always done for his daughter.

Percy shifts nervously. “I know. I just – there’s an emergency?”

Annabeth blinks. Her hand is resting on the door handle like she’s about to slam it shut at any second. “Is everything okay?”

“No, yeah, everything’s fine.”

“Okay…” She looks around behind him, peering into the darkness like she expects there to be a hidden camera crew. “Are you going to tell me what the emergency is, or…?”

“You’re going to think it’s stupid.”

“You’re standing on my porch in the middle of the night on Christmas. I already think this is stupid.”

Percy scratches his neck, a heat slowly rising to his cheeks. “I got my daughter a ton of presents. And I also have a ton of wrapping paper. I just can’t seem to put two and two together and actually wrap the presents.”

“You haven’t wrapped any presents?”

“No.”

Annabeth looks thoroughly appalled by his statement. He can’t be too surprised. From the few times they have interacted, he’s always had the impression that she has her shit together. It’s part of the thing that’s always held him at a distance from her. He hated the way thinking of her felt.

Right now, he decides, he hates this feeling of uselessness even more.

“Can you help me wrap presents?”

Annabeth chokes on a laugh, wrapping her arms around herself. “What?”

“I really need help wrapping presents. Like, it’s bad. My living room is a mess, and I’m pretty sure my daughter is going to be awake in less than three hours.

“Hold on,” she says, holding up a hand. She looks more amused than anything now, which brings his nerves down. “You mean to tell me that you left your three-year-old daughter home alone so that you can come to my house at three in the morning on Christmas to ask for help wrapping presents?”

“Yes.”

“Oh my god, Percy.”

“Listen.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“Just be happy I didn’t show up with cookies and milk,” he says.

“The only thing that would make this better is if you did bring cookies and milk,” she replies.

Percy runs his fingers through his hair. “Can you help me or not?”

She rolls her eyes, but there’s a subtle smile splayed on her face. “Give me a minute.”

She goes back inside for a moment, and Percy just stands there waiting for her until she reappears. When she does, she’s holding a pack of stickers that he recognizes as those fancy Christmas labels.

“Assuming you don’t have any of these?” she asks, stepping past him.

“Now you’re just insulting me,” he says playfully, following her back along the sidewalk to his house. He opens his front door for her to step inside, and she does so for what she thinks is the first time.

Annabeth stops at the sight of his living room. “What happened!?”

“Wrapping paper and I are not friends.”

“I can see that,” she comments, setting her stuff down in the center of the room. She turns towards him while reaching up to tie her hair in a low bun. She cracks her knuckles dramatically, and she says, “Let’s get to work.”

Percy tries to help at first, but at some point, she swats his hand after using almost an entire roll of wrapping paper on just one present. He ends up sitting next to her as moral support, simply commenting on everything his delirious mind has to offer.

She looks… like a princess, is the best that Percy can come up with. She’s his own personal superhero, saving his ass on Christmas day, and she looks great doing it too. So warm and cute and small, the perfect size for holding in his arms, for cuddling, and kissing, and — what was he saying?

“Are you sure you don’t want me to help?” he asks.

“No!” She snatches away the scissors, waving them in his face. “I know you said you were bad at wrapping presents, but this is just…”

Percy smiles and leans his weight back on his hands. “Can I at least get you something to drink?”

“Coffee would be great.”

“Coming right up,” he says, getting to his feet. “Anything specific?”

“Whatever’s fine,” she says.

From the kitchen, he can see her working. She’s sprawled out on the floor taping a piece of wrapping paper with snowflakes on it onto a pink scooter. She looks so concentrated, her tongue sticking out through her lips as she focuses, and he is compelled to kiss away the scrunch on her forehead. It’s weird, because he’s never had a true conversation with her, but he finds himself wishing that he had sooner.

The coffee finishes brewing, and he brings it back to her side, holding it in front of her face. She hums in appreciation, dropping what’s in her hands to grasp the sides of the mug. As she takes a sip, she sighs and gives him a soft grin.

“Nothing like the taste of coffee in the middle of the night,” she says, setting it down. “Thank you.”

“Of course.” And as he sits down next to her again, he notices that the presents are all nearly wrapped. “This means a lot to me, Annabeth. I don’t know what else I would have done.”

“Don’t worry about it. Wrapping presents is my passion.”

He smirks. “So you’re that type of mom.”

“What’s that supposed to mean, Jackson?” She raises a brow. “I’d like to remind you that that type of mom is currently doing your parenting for you.”

“It’s not a bad thing!” he insists. “It’s cute that you like wrapping presents.”

“Wrapping presents is not cute. It is a serious competitive sport. Cutthroat competition.”

“See? Cute.”

Annabeth laughs, shoving his knee with her socked foot. She takes the mug of coffee back in her hands and takes a long sip. “Look who’s talking.”

“Oh?” he teases. “I’m cute?”

“Sure,” she says, shrugging and nodding towards a small barbie box. “How could I not find it adorable that you are physically incapable of wrapping a square box?”

“So by cute, you mean easy to bully?” he asks, sniffing.

“Yeah, but you’re also just really cute in general.”

“How nice of you,” he says sarcastically.

“I’m serious, though. How have we never had a conversation before?”

“Because you’re you and I’m me.”

“Am I supposed to know what that means?”

“It means that you know what you’re doing, and I don’t.”

She laughs in his face. “I do not know what I’m doing in the slightest.”

“At least you can wrap presents.”

“You just have to practice,” she says. “Come here. I’ll help you do the last one.”

As Percy slides in next to her, she puts the scissors into his hands and scoots in even closer. He can feel her body heat radiating against his chest as she leans into him. She points out where for him to cut, and he follows her directions. He’s distracted by the way she smells. It’s dizzying, feeling her those close. She guides his hands with the paper, carefully tucking the paper into perfect creases, taping the wrapping taught.

It’s hands-down the best present he’s ever wrapped, though it was still Annabeth doing most of the work.

“There you go,” she says, smiling. “And now you know how to wrap a present.”

Instead of responding, he looks around the room. The sun is just beginning to rise in the skyline, the black space around them hinting at dawn. When he looks at the time, he realizes that it’s a little bit past six. It doesn’t feel like that much time has passed, but somehow it has.

Annabeth helps him clean up quickly and shove the presents underneath the tree. She comments on a few of the homemade ornaments, mentioning how much she loves the ones with the little handprints made with patchy glitter.

She’s looking at the tree, but Percy, he notices, is looking right at her, and he can’t bring himself to look away. She turns around again, shoots him a smile, and makes her way to the door. Percy follows her to walk her out. As he opens the door, she steps outside, and with the snowy background, he’s never seen a more perfect picture.

“Thank you so much,” he says. “I really do appreciate it.”

“Of course. It was surprisingly fun.” They stare at each other, unsure of what they’re supposed to say next, but then she says, “I should get back. She’s going to be waking up soon.”

“Was she home alone?”

Annabeth shakes her head, biting her lip in a smile. “A friend was home.”

Percy nods, and then he thinks he wants to see her again. “Do you have anything to do later today? After opening presents and stuff?”

She pretends to think, a subtle glow to her skin. “I can’t say that I do.”

“You’re welcome to come over,” he offers. “The girls could play together, and you could try my Christmas cookies.”

“I hope they’re better than your wrapping,” she teases.

“You’ll have to come over and find out.”

“Hm. I guess I will.” Annabeth steps away but seems to think better of it as she moves closer again. She smiles at him, lifts onto her toes, and kisses him once. It’s short and sweet but leaves him wanting to pull her closer to him when she pulls away. She doesn’t say anything as she turns on her heel back to her house, leaving Percy melting in a puddle behind her.

Maybe, he thinks, it was a good thing that he didn’t know how to wrap presents. And if she was going to make him learn anyways, which he quickly learns she would, well…

Percy certainly doesn’t mind one bit.

#percy jackson #annabeth chase #percabeth #pjo #Percy Jackson and the Olympians #my writing

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kookie-doughs · 4 years ago

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Y/N L/N AND THE HALFBLOODS

Percy Jackson X Reader

-Y/N L/N met Percy Jackson and everything was now ruined.

CHAPTER 18: High-Key Want A Three-Headed Dog

We stood in the shadows of Valencia Boulevard, looking up at gold letters etched in black marble: DOA RECORDING STUDIOS.

Underneath, stenciled on the glass doors: NO SOLICITORS. NO LOITERING. NO LIVING.

It was almost midnight, but the lobby was brightly lit and full of people. Behind the security desk sat a tough-looking guard with sunglasses and an earpiece.

I turned to my friends. "Okay. You remember the plan."

"The plan," Grover gulped. "Yeah. I love the plan."

Annabeth said, "What happens if the plan doesn't work?"

"Don't think negative." Percy said.

"Right," she said. "We're entering the Land of the Dead, and I shouldn't think negative."

Percy took the pearls out of his pocket, the three milky spheres the Nereid had given us in Santa Monica. They didn't seem like much of a backup in case something went wrong. I had mine mixed up in there in case mine was rigged, Percy insisted upon it.

Annabeth put her hand on Percy's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Percy. You're right, we'll make it. It'll be fine."

She gave Grover a nudge.

"Oh, right!" he chimed in. "We got this far. We'll find the master bolt and save your mom. No problem."

"Don't worry Percy. We'll do this."

He looked at us, and smiled.

He slipped the pearls back in his pocket. "Let's whup some Underworld butt."

We walked inside the DOA lobby.

Muzak played softly on hidden speakers. The carpet and walls were steel gray. Pencil cactuses grew in the corners like skeleton hands. The furniture was black leather, and every seat was taken. There were people sitting on couches, people standing up, people staring out the windows or waiting for the elevator. Nobody moved, or talked, or did much of anything. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see them all just fine, but if I focused on any one of them in particular, they started looking... transparent. I could see right through their bodies.

The security guard's desk was a raised podium, so we had to look up at him.

He was tall and elegant, with chocolate-colored skin and bleached-blond hair shaved military style. He wore tortoiseshell shades and a silk Italian suit that matched his hair. A black rose was pinned to his lapel under a silver name tag.

Percy read the name tag, then looked at him in bewilderment. "Your name is Chiron?"

He leaned across the desk. I couldn't see anything in his glasses except my own reflection, but his smile was sweet and cold, like a pythons, right before it eats you.

"What a precious young lad." He had a strange accent—British, maybe, but also as if he had learned English as a second language. "Tell me, mate, do I look like a centaur?"

"N-no."

"Sir," he added smoothly.

"Sir," Percy said.

He pinched the name tag and ran his finger under the letters. "Can you read this, mate? It says C-H-A-R-O-N. Say it with me: CARE-ON."

"Charon."

"Amazing! Now: Mr. Charon."

"Mr. Charon," I said.

"Well done." He sat back. "I hate being confused with that old horse-man. And now, how may I help you little dead ones?"

Percy looked at me for support.

"We want to go the Underworld," I said.

Charon's mouth twitched. "Well, that's refreshing."

"It is?" I asked.

"Straightforward and honest. No screaming. No 'There must be a mistake, Mr. Charon.'" He looked us over. "How did you die, then?"

I nudged Grover.

"Oh," he said. "Um... drowned... in the bathtub."

"All four of you?" Charon asked. We nodded. I could see Annabeth wanted to face palm.

"Big bathtub." Charon looked mildly impressed. "I don't suppose you have coins for passage. Normally, with adults, you see, I could charge your American Express, or add the ferry price to your last cable bill. But with children... alas, you never die prepared. Suppose you'll have to take a seat for a few centuries."

"Oh, but we have coins." Annabeth set three golden drachmas on the counter, part of the stash we'd found in Crusty's office desk.

"Well, now..." Charon moistened his lips. "Real drachmas. Real golden drachmas. I haven't seen these in..."

His fingers hovered greedily over the coins.

We were so close.

Then Charon looked at Percy. That cold stare behind his glasses seemed to bore a hole through his chest. "Here now," he said. "You couldn't read my name correctly. Are you dyslexic, lad?"

"No," Percy said. "I'm dead."

Charon leaned forward and took a sniff. "You're not dead. I should've known. You're a godling."

"We have to get to the Underworld," Annabeth insisted.

Charon made a growling sound deep in his throat.

Immediately, all the people in the waiting room got up and started pacing, agitated, lighting cigarettes, running hands through their hair, or checking their wristwatches.

"Leave while you can," Charon told us. "I'll just take these and forget I saw you."

He started to go for the coins, but I snatched them back.

"No service, no tip." I said staring at him.

Charon growled again—a deep, blood-chilling sound. The spirits of the dead started pounding on the elevator doors.

"It's a shame, too," I sighed. "We had more to offer."

I held up the entire bag from Crusty's stash. I took out a fistful of drachmas and let the coins spill through my fingers.

Charon's growl changed into something more like a lion's purr. "Do you think I can be bought, godling? Eh... just out of curiosity, how much have you got there?"

"A lot," I said. "I bet Hades doesn't pay you well enough for such hard work."

"Oh, you don't know the half of it. How would you like to babysit these spirits all day? Always 'Please don't let me be dead' or 'Please let me across for free.' I haven't had a pay raise in three thousand years. Do you imagine suits like this come cheap?"

"You deserve better," I agreed. "A little appreciation. Respect. Good pay."

With each word, I stacked another gold coin on the counter.

Charon glanced down at his silk Italian jacket, as if imagining himself in something even better. "I must say, lad, you're making some sense now. Just a little."

I stacked another few coins. "I could mention a pay raise while I'm talking to Hades."

He sighed. "The boat's almost full, anyway. I might as well add you three and be off."

He stood, scooped up our money, and said, "Come along."

We pushed through the crowd of waiting spirits, who started grabbing at our clothes like the wind, their voices whispering things I couldn't make out. Charon shoved them out of the way, grumbling, "Freeloaders."

He escorted us into the elevator, which was already crowded with souls of the dead, each one holding a green boarding pass. Charon grabbed two spirits who were trying to get on with us and pushed them back into the lobby.

"Right. Now, no one get any ideas while I'm gone," he announced to the waiting room. "And if anyone moves the dial off my easy-listening station again, I'll make sure you're here for another thousand years. Understand?"

He shut the doors. He put a key card into a slot in the elevator panel and we started to descend.

"What happens to the spirits waiting in the lobby?" Annabeth asked.

"Nothing," Charon said.

"For how long?"

"Forever, or until I'm feeling generous."

"Oh," she said. "That's... fair."

Charon raised an eyebrow. "Whoever said death was fair, young miss? Wait until it's your turn. You'll die soon enough, where you're going."

"We'll get out alive," Percy said.

"Ha."

I could feel we weren't going down anymore, but forward. The air turned misty. Spirits around me started changing shape. Their modern clothes flickered, turning into gray hooded robes. The floor of the elevator began swaying.

Charon's creamy Italian suit had been replaced by a long black robe. His tortoiseshell glasses were gone. Where his eyes should've been were empty sockets—like Ares's eyes, except Charon's were totally dark, full of night and death and despair.

He saw me looking, and said, "Well?"

"Nothing," I said. "I never knew you could look cool dead."

I thought he was grinning, but that wasn't it. The flesh of his face was becoming transparent, letting me see straight through to his skull.

The floor kept swaying.

Grover said, "I think I'm getting seasick."

When I blinked again, the elevator wasn't an elevator anymore. We were standing in a wooden barge. Charon was poling us across a dark, oily river, swirling with bones, dead fish, and other, stranger things—plastic dolls, crushed carnations, soggy diplomas with gilt edges.

"The River Styx," Annabeth murmured. "It's so..."

"Polluted," Charon said. "For thousands of years, you humans have been throwing in everything as you come across—hopes, dreams, wishes that never came true. Irresponsible waste management, if you ask me."

Mist curled off the filthy water. Above us, almost lost in the gloom, was a ceiling of stalactites. Ahead, the far shore glimmered with greenish light, the color of poison.

Panic closed up my throat. What was I doing here? These people around me... they were dead.

Percy grabbed hold of my hand. Annabeth took my other free one. I knew she wanted reassurance that somebody else was alive on this boat.

I could hear Percy muttering a prayer, though I wasn't quite sure who I was praying to. Down here, only one god mattered, and he was the one we had come to confront.

The shoreline of the Underworld came into view. Craggy rocks and black volcanic sand stretched inland about a hundred yards to the base of a high stone wall, which marched off in either direction as far as we could see. A sound came from somewhere nearby in the green gloom, echoing off the stones—the howl of a large animal.

"Old Three-Face is hungry," Charon said. His smile turned skeletal in the greenish light. "Bad luck for you, godlings."

The bottom of our boat slid onto the black sand. The dead began to disembark. A woman holding a little girl's hand. An old man and an old woman hobbling along arm in arm. A boy no older than I was, shuffling silently along in his gray robe.

Charon said, "I'd wish you luck, mate, but there isn't any down here. Mind you, don't forget to mention my pay raise."

He counted our golden coins into his pouch, then took up his pole. He warbled something that sounded like a Barry Manilow song as he ferried the empty barge back across the river.

We followed the spirits up a well-worn path.

I'm not sure what I was expecting—Pearly Gates, or a big black portcullis, or something. But the entrance to the Underworld looked like a cross between airport security and the Jersey Turnpike.

There were three separate entrances under one huge black archway that said YOU ARE NOW ENTERING EREBUS. Each entrance had a pass-through metal detector with security cameras mounted on top. Beyond this were tollbooths manned by black-robed ghouls like Charon.

The howling of the hungry animal was really loud now, but I couldn't see where it was coming from. The three-headed dog, Cerberus, who was supposed to guard Hades's door, was nowhere to be seen.

The dead queued up in the three lines, two marked ATTENDANT ON DUTY, and one marked EZ DEATH. The EZ DEATH line was moving right along. The other two were crawling.

"What do you figure?" Percy asked Annabeth.

"The fast line must go straight to the Asphodel Fields," she said. "No contest. They don't want to risk judgment from the court, because it might go against them."

"There's a court for dead people?"

"Yeah. Three judges. They switch around who sits on the bench. King Minos, Thomas Jefferson, Shakespeare—people like that. Sometimes they look at a life and decide that person needs a special reward—the Fields of Elysium. Sometimes they decide on punishment. But most people, well, they just lived. Nothing special, good or bad. So they go to the Asphodel Fields."

"And do what?"

Grover said, "Imagine standing in a wheat field in Kansas. Forever."

"Harsh," Percy said.

"Not as harsh as that," Grover muttered. "Look."

A couple of black-robbed ghouls had pulled aside one spirit and were frisking him at the security desk. The face of the dead man looked vaguely familiar.

"He's that preacher who made the news, remember?" Grover asked.

"Oh, yeah." Percy said. "We'd seen him on TV a couple of times at the Yancy Academy dorm. He was this annoying televangelist from upstate New York who'd raised millions of dollars for orphanages and then got caught spending the money on stuff for his mansion, like gold-plated toilet seats, and an indoor putt-putt golf course. He'd died in a police chase when his "Lamborghini for the Lord" went off a cliff."

"Humans." I said rolling my eyes, "What're they doing to him?"

"Special punishment from Hades," Grover guessed. "The really bad people get his personal attention as soon as they arrive. The Fur—the Kindly Ones will set up an eternal torture for him."

The thought of the Furies made me shudder. I realized I was in their home territory now. Old Mrs. Dodds and Mrs . Rudolph would be licking her lips with anticipation.

"But if he's a preacher," Percy said, "and he believes in a different hell... ."

Grover shrugged. "Who says he's seeing this place the way we're seeing it? Humans see what they want to see. You're very stubborn—er, persistent, that way."

We got closer to the gates. The howling was so loud now it shook the ground at my feet, about fifty feet in front of us, standing just where the path split into three lanes was an enormous shadowy monster.

My jaw hung open. All I could think to say was, "He's a Rottweiler."

I'd always imagined Cerberus as a big black mastiff. But he was obviously a purebred Rottweiler, except of course that he was twice the size of a woolly mammoth, and had three heads.

"I thought he would've been a mastiff."

"Same..."

The dead walked right up to him—no fear at all. The ATTENDANT ON DUTY lines parted on either side of him. The EZ DEATH spirits walked right between his front paws and under his belly, which they could do without even crouching.

"I'm starting to see him better," Percy muttered. "Why is that?"

"I think ..." Annabeth moistened her lips. "I'm afraid it's because we're getting closer to being dead."

The dog's middle head craned toward us. It sniffed the air and growled.

"It can smell the living," I said.

"But that's okay," Grover said, trembling next to Percy. "Because we have a plan."

"Right," Annabeth said. I'd never heard her voice sound quite so small. "A plan."

We moved toward the monster.

The middle head snarled at us, then barked so loud my eyeballs rattled.

"Can you understand it?" I asked Grover.

"Oh yeah," he said. "I can understand it."

"What's it saying?"

"I don't think humans have a four-letter word that translates, exactly."

Percy took the big stick out of his backpack—a bedpost we'd broken off Crusty's Safari Deluxe floor model. He held it up, and tried to channel happy dog thoughts toward Cerberus—Alpo commercials, cute little puppies, fire hydrants.

"Hey, Big Fella," He called up. "I bet they don't play with you much."

"GROWWWLLLL!"

"Good boy," he said weakly.

Percy waved the stick. The dog's middle head followed the movement. The other two heads trained their eyes on Percy, completely ignoring the spirits. Percy had Cerberus's undivided attention. I wasn't sure that was a good thing.

"Fetch!" I threw the stick into the gloom, a good solid throw. I heard it go ker-sploosh in the River Styx.

Cerberus glared at me, unimpressed. His eyes were baleful and cold.

So much for the plan.

Cerberus was now making a new kind of growl, deeper down in his three throats.

"Um," Grover said. "Percy?"

"Yeah?"

"I just thought you'd want to know."

"Yeah?"

"Cerberus? He's saying we've got ten seconds to pray to the god of our choice. After that... well... he's hungry."

"Wait!" Annabeth said. She started rifling through her pack.

"Five seconds," Grover said. "Do we run now?"

Annabeth produced a red rubber ball the size of a grapefruit. It was labeled WATERLAND, DENVER, CO. Before I could stop her, she raised the ball and marched straight up to Cerberus.

She shouted, "See the ball? You want the ball, Cerberus? Sit!"

Cerberus looked as stunned as we were.

All three of his heads cocked sideways. Six nostrils dilated.

"Sit!" Annabeth called again.

I don't know why but petting this gigantic three headed dog would have made my bucket list complete. I walked up to Annabeth with Percy and Grover panicking behind.

"I want to pet him. Cerberus sit!"

"Sit!" Annabeth yelled.

Cerberus licked his three sets of lips, shifted on his haunches, and sat, immediately crushing a dozen spirits who'd been passing underneath him in the EZ DEATH line. The spirits made muffled hisses as they dissipated, like the air let out of tires.

I said, "Good boy!"

Annabeth threw Cerberus the ball.

He caught it in his middle mouth. It was barely big enough for him to chew, and the other heads started snapping at the middle, trying to get the new toy.

"Drop it.'" I ordered.

Cerberus's heads stopped fighting and looked at me. The ball was wedged between two of his teeth like a tiny piece of gum. He made a loud, scary whimper, then dropped the ball, now slimy and bitten nearly in half, at Annabeth's feet.

"Good boy." She picked up the ball, ignoring the monster spit all over it.

She turned toward the two. "Go now. EZ DEATH line—it's faster."

Percy said, "But—"

"Now.'" She ordered, in the same tone she was using on the dog.

"You should go too. I wouldn't mind."

"How are you sure he'll follow you?" Annabeth laughed.

"I had a dog you know. Real sweetheart. Pretty sure he'll be as cute."

Grover and Percy inched forward warily.

Cerberus started to growl.

"Stay!" Annabeth ordered the monster. "If you want the ball, stay!"

Cerberus whimpered, but he stayed where he was.

"What about you guys?" Percy asked us as we passed her.

Annabeth looked at me and nodded. "Y/N wants to pet him," she muttered. "I think she can handle him."

Grover, Annabeth and Percy walked between the Cerberus's legs.

I was tempted to make Cerberus sit to be honest.

When made it through. I said, "Good dog!"

I held up the tattered red ball. The ball was tattered and this is going to be the last trick.

"Cerberus, could you get closer to me?" I called hesitantly. All three heads leaned down.

Oh gods... Oh gods... I'm going to pet him... I reluctantly touched his head. His head leaned to my touch. "Good boy." I cooed petting each his head. He whimpered on my touch. "Okay boy." I leaned my head against his middle one.

I threw the ball. The good boy's left mouth immediately snatched it up, only to be attacked by the middle head, while the right head moaned in protest.

While the monster was distracted, I walked under its belly and joined us at the metal detector.

"Bucket list solved." Annabeth and I fist bumped.

"How did you do that?" Percy looked at Annabeth and I, amazed.

"Obedience school," Annabeth said breathlessly, "When I was little, at my dad's house, we had a Doberman... ."

"I had D/N you knew that." I was surprised to see there were tears in her eyes. "I promise I'll play again!"

"Never mind that," Grover said, tugging at Percy's shirt. "Come on!"

We were about to bolt through the EZ DEATH line when Cerberus moaned pitifully from all three mouths. Annabeth and I stopped.

We turned to face the cutie which had done a one-eighty to look at us.

Cerberus panted expectantly, the tiny red ball in pieces in a puddle of drool at its feet.

"Good boy," Annabeth said, but her voice sounded melancholy and uncertain.

The monster's heads turned sideways, as if worried.

"I'll bring you another ball soon," Annabeth promised faintly. "Would you like that?"

The monster whimpered. I didn't need to speak dog to know Cerberus was still waiting for the ball.

"Good dog. I'll come visit you soon. I promise we'll come back." I turned to the others. "Let's go."

Grover and Percy pushed through the metal detector, which immediately screamed and set off flashing red lights. "Unauthorized possessions! Magic detected!"

Cerberus started to bark.

We burst through the EZ DEATH gate, which started even more alarms blaring, and raced into the Underworld.

A few minutes later, we were hiding, out of breath, in the rotten trunk of an immense black tree as security ghouls scuttled past, yelling for backup from the Furies.

Grover murmured, "Well, Percy, what have we learned today?"

"That three-headed dogs prefer red rubber balls over sticks?"

"No," Grover told me. "We've learned that your plans really, really bite!"

I wasn't sure about that. I thought maybe Annabeth and I had both had the right idea. Even here in the Underworld, everybody—even monsters—needed a little attention once in a while.

I thought about that as we waited for the ghouls to pass. I pulled Annabeth closer as she wipe a tear from her cheek as we listened to the mournful keening of Cerberus in the distance,.

"We'll come back..."

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demigodlunar · 4 years ago

Text

Scars - Chapter 4

-- Trigger Warning: Mentions of self-harm and bad parenting. Read at your own risk.

Chapter 4 - End It Cleanly Mclean

Piper flopped onto her immaculately made bed after her morning run with her mother, rumpling up the covers a little bit and enjoying the brief moments of silence before-

“Models do not flop onto their beds, daughter, they sit on the edge daintily.” A saccharine sweet voice lilted from outside Piper’s bedroom.

Piper stifled her groan and got up quietly, remaking her bed and smoothing her hands over the glossy silk sheets. She made sure not to miss a spot, because her mother, the amazing model Aphrodite Mclean, was no doubt watching her every move from the doorway.

“I’m sorry, mother, “ Piper said quietly, looking down at her feet that her mother commented were “too big” to be from a woman, “I won’t do it again.”

She looked up and locked eyes with her mother, the most beautiful, and cruelest, person Piper had ever met. That one thought of rebelliousness died away, and Piper forcefully looked back down respectfully at her feet.

Aphrodite had silky black hair that made its way down her back in ringlets, with only the most expensive products used on her luscious locks. With chocolate brown eyes like those of a feline. She was thin as a toothpick, with a curvy, full body which attracted a lot of men, and sometimes even women. Aphrodite’s skin was fair and spotless, her nails and clothes always complimenting each other and the rest of her. Piper really wished she hadn’t inherited her mother's insane beauty.

Her mother did another once over of Piper’s bedroom, trying to find something to critique. Not finding any flaws, she pursed her lips, flipped her hair over her shoulder and promptly left the room, shutting the door behind her.

Piper let out a breath she didn’t know she was even holding, and it made her plop back down onto her bed and bury her head in her hands.

Why couldn’t I have just gone with Dad?

~~~~~~~~~~

Tristan Mclean met Aphrodite Ouranos at a theatre gathering. He was immediately struck by her beauty and charm, and she seemed to like him just as much. They started going out after a week, and dated for a couple months before getting married.

After they had Piper, Tristan and Aphrodite made it big, Tristan with a high-paying acting career which required him to move around a lot, and Aphrodite with a modeling job. Both of the jobs needed a lot of traveling, but someone needed to stay and take care of Piper, the beautiful baby who inherited her mother’s beauty and her father’s smile and hair.

So while Tristan went on world tours and visited iconic cities and landmarks, Aphrodite would stay at home and take care of Piper. Needless to say, she hated the job, and wanted to dump her daughter in an orphanage to be taken care of by someone else, but then an idea struck her.

If she could raise Piper to be exactly like her, independent and flawless, it would help Aphrodite’s modeling and parenting. She was wrong of course, but she obviously didn’t think that. The result of her carelessness was a five year old running around a large empty estate, eating whatever she wanted and doing whatever she pleased.

There were many, many times when Piper had been left alone for long periods of time, and she did learn to be independent, but vowed to never become like her mother. Once Piper hit her middle school years, Aphrodite realized just how beautiful her daughter was, even more so, than Aphrodite herself. That was a problem.

So she shipped Piper off to a ladies academy for middle schoolers, and when Piper came back the summer before her first year at high school, she was… exactly the same. No manners had been changed, no clothing choice had been improved, nothing.

That’s when Aphrodite took the manner into her own manicured fingers. She critiqued Piper on anything and everything she did, even if it was the slightest misstep or a small snort that escaped her mouth. At the start, Piper rebelled against her, but Aphrodite oppressed her so much that Piper gave in and listened to her mother's every whim, and stayed quiet through every admonishment.

That was what made Piper start cutting.

It was small at first, just a little glance at a knife or razor and wondering how it would feel against her skin. Then, light traces with the sharp blades on her wrist, seeing how light she could go to draw blood. What pushed past her tipping point was when Piper was idly drawing the knife across her arm, not enough to see blood, but enough to feel a small sting, and her mother walked into the bathroom to see what was taking her so long.

She took one cold look at the blade, and the marks on Piper’s arm and left the bathroom. Piper stared after her, but when she came back, it wasn’t with a hug, or words of help to drag Piper out of the world of a depression.

It was a razor. A pink razor with a bejeweled hilt.

Aphrodite held it out to Piper and said only two words: “Use that.”

Since that day, Piper seemed to enjoy when her mother would leave her alone to do her modeling, because Piper had the day to cut herself happy.

~~~~~~~~~~

Now don’t get her wrong. Piper wasn’t suicidal for two reasons. The first was her father and her friends. She tried to resent her father for leaving her alone with her monster of a mother, but he was too kind for her to hate him, and the couple days a year he came and stayed with them were the best. And her friends, well, they were the only people who kept her sane while she was here. Annabeth, Reyna, Thalia, Leo. They were the best friends anybody could ask for, and they supported her whenever she felt sad. They didn’t know about the cutting.

The second was that she was too cowardly to try to take her life. Afraid of hurting her friends. Afraid that it would all be for nothing.

So she didn’t do anything farther than cutting.

Piper realized that thinking about the past and sitting doing nothing but dawdling was really unproductive. She took out her phone and went to check if there were any new messages, and she saw a text from Thalia. So she replied.

(AN: Thalia, Piper)

Today - 11:34 AM

hey Pipes

hey Thals

wassup

Oh nothing, just trying to get away from my tyrannical mother. Normal day.

nothing much, you?

i’m here with my brother at one of my dad’s interview things

Brother?

Piper couldn’t remember Thalia mentioning anything about siblings before. And she did the normal thing and asked Thalia about it.

you have a brother?

It was a long time before Thalia responded, but when she did, Piper snatched up the phone to see her response.

yeah

Piper felt betrayed, she thought they told each other everything. But then again, she had no room to talk.

excuse me, but how come you’ve never told me about him?

never came up

fine, you win, for now. show me a pic?

Thalia sent a picture of a blond-haired boy with the bluest eyes Piper had ever seen. The thing was, she knew this blond-haired boy.

It was Jason Grace, the only person that even came close to Annabeth’s record setting grades. Once he had beaten her by a percent on a English test, and Annabeth was fuming for days, while Piper and the rest of their friends snickered at her back. But Piper never connected the dots, like how he and Thalia had the same last name.

He was also in her math class during Freshman year, and he sat two seats to her right. Piper could remember clearly some moments of that class.

Like when the teacher would ask the class a question, and Jason’s hand would be the only one up so she called on him. He would bite his lower lip and read out the answer in a confident but quiet voice, like he didn’t want anyone to notice him. Then, once Jason got the question right, his posture would straighten, in a proud way. His eyes would light up like a cloudless day sky and his lips would stretch into a smile, making the scar on his upper lip appear more prominently. Jason would push the glasses up the bridge of his nose, and sit back in his chair, satisfied.

One second. Two.

What. Was. That. Piper shook her head and felt her cheeks become hot. She barely knew Jason, yet she had been paying so much more attention to him than she thought she was. Idly, she wondered if his glasses and the tattoo of glasses she had on her shoulder were related in any way.

Suddenly dizzy, she remembered that Thalia was waiting for an answer. With her thoughts off somewhere else, she mindlessly typed a response to Thalia’s question. The good news, it was the truth. The bad news, Thalia would never let her live this down.

After she felt her head clear, she brought her attention back to the conversation and her eyes widened.

oh, that cute boy you sit with at lunch sometimes? He’s really good looking.

“Crap!” Piper yelled, for once not even afraid that her mother will come in and lecture her about the dangers of swearing.

She could just imagine Thalia cackling her witchy laugh wherever she was. Piper started to type in a message to tell Thalia to please, please not tell her brother about that message when a new message popped up at the top.

Piper, honey, I am leaving for my photoshoot now. Please keep the house clean... and no guests. -Mother >:(

Perfect, her mother is gone, now she can go through with that brunch that she planned with her friends. Then she remembered Thalia. Stupid ADHD, hopping from one topic to the other.

It was too late though, because Thalia has already replied.

yes, he is, and he’s also here looking at our conversation.

Piper felt herself blush scarlet red, and she bet anyone could see it, even on her darker complexion. Now she was in for it, she would never be able to face Thalia or Jason ever again. And once Thalia told the rest of their friends…

Piper stood up and started getting ready for the brunch with her friends she planned. Both mentally and physically. Gods, Leo was going to have such a field day when he found out about this.

Well, the routine was only just starting. ____________________________________________________________

This chapter was fun to write haha

-Blossom ;)

#percy jackon and the olympians #soulmates #percabeth #caleo #solangelo #jiper #frazel #heroes of olympus #pjo fanfic #pjo angst #jason grace #thalia grace #piper mclean

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lukecastellandeservedbetter · 4 years ago

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20. Ghosted

a/n: keep a watch on my page because I’m going to be doing a near-essay about why Hermes kids are somehow the most and least powerful demigods at the same time thanks. Also here’s a reminder that I didn’t forget about this fic, and a double reminder that Luke and Percy are most definitely brothers and this is a little bonding time for them while the rest of the crew are off on their own adventures.

read the others!: Masterlist

When Percy recounted the story, and told them to head to Charleston, Luke couldn’t help but groan.

“What’s wrong with Charleston?” Piper asked him with a raised eyebrow.

“It’s a real nasty place, with a lot of ghosts.” He sighed. “I ran into some trouble when I was there last time.”

“For the Titan Army?” It wasn’t a mean question, just an honest one from Percy. “Do we have to worry about army rejects? Or supporters?”

“No,” Luke shook his head. “I was like, 11 last time. But it doesn’t make it any less annoying to go back.”

“I have so many questions.” Leo said, staring at Luke.

“We don’t have time to answer them.” Annabeth interrupted. “Jason, you also seem uncomfortable with Charleston.”

“Yeah did you also get chased by ghosts?” Percy teased.

“I wasn’t chased by ghosts-!” Luke started to protest, but Annabeth held her hand up, effectively cutting him off, looking pointedly at Jason, who awkwardly recounted his quest with Reyna, casting apologetic glances to his girlfriend, who seemed just as uncomfortable.

“Alright, girls trip to this ghost that Reyna spoke to then,” Annabeth looked at Hazel and Piper, who nodded. “And Jason, you’ll lead a group back to the museum.”

“I wanna check out the cool weapons!” Leo grinned.

“Frank, you should also come, since you’re a son of Mars.” Jason added.

Frank seemed uneasy about heading so soon on another quest, but he agreed nonetheless.

“That leaves Percy, Luke and Hedge on board,” Annabeth observed, then frowned. “How do you keep lucking out on missions?”

Luke shrugged. “My talents haven’t really been needed, so I haven’t really gone.”

“What exactly are your talents?” Piper inquired, raising her eyebrow. “Besides Swordsmanship.”

Luke shrugged again. “Hermes' kids talents aren’t big, or flashy because they shouldn’t be. They’re meant to be sly and sneaky and in the shadows. I spent years on the run before I got to camp. I can pick any lock in an instant. I’m also quick, and good with directions. We have our own form of Charmspeak I guess.” He paused. “And recently I found out I can play the lyre surprisingly well, so if we ever need that, we’re set.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Leo laughed.

“I would never lie about something as serious as the lyre, Leo.” Luke said deadpanned.

Leo’s face dropped in surprise and he was left sputtering for a moment before the crew dissolved into a well deserved laughter. The tension that always seemed to lurk around the corner lifted a little, letting the demigods relax just for a moment.

“And the Achilles Curse.” Percy added. “You still have that.”

“Yeah but that isn’t Hermes related.” He pointed out. “It’s just… me related.”

“Can we get back to the plans please?” Annabeth drew everyone’s attention back as they laid out the groundwork for the plans.

The next day everyone left early in the morning, and Coach Hedge was still sleeping.

This left Percy and Luke bored in the mess hall.

“Why don’t we go explore?” Percy offered. “Just take a walk around?”

Luke looked up at him from his book and raised an eyebrow. “Are you crazy?”

“It’s just us, that shouldn’t be enough smell to attract any monsters.” He pointed out. “Come on, please?” He begged.

“Percy I don’t want to go walk around Charleston-”

“That’s right, I forgot you’re afraid of Charleston.” Percy huffed and flopped onto one of the big comfy chairs.

“I am not afraid of Charleston.” Luke protested, glaring at Percy.

“Yeah, yeah, sure, whatever you say.” Percy waved his hand absentmindedly, looking at the walls that displayed Camp Half-Blood.

“I am not!” Luke closed his book and tossed it aside, standing up. “Get up.”

“Why?” He raised his eyebrow.

“We’re going to explore Charleston.” Luke grumbled and headed out to grab his dagger from his room.

They snuck off the ship just fine and headed into town, down to the Charleston City Market.

They had very limited money, so they tried not to spend too long at any one stand, smiling and greeting merchants and other shoppers. It was a warm and calm day, and despite the welcoming atmosphere, Luke seemed a little on edge.

“What is with you?” Percy whispered to him. “Seriously dude, calm down. I don’t see any ghosts.”

“Not yet.” He mumbled, his eyes scanning the crowd.

Percy watched his friend with worry. He was starting to feel guilty about basically forcing Luke to go out on an adventure through the city with him, especially when it had such unpleasant memories for the older demigod. He cleared his throat as they continued through the crowds. “So, anything happen with that girl?”

Luke looked at Percy, surprised. “What?”

“The girl. From the candy shop?” He prompted, looking at a dyed blue leather bracelet curiously on one of the stands. “What was her name? Sophie?”

Luke couldn’t help the blush creeping up his neck. “I uh,” He fiddled with another leather cuff, this one brown and aged. “Sort of?”

“Sort of?” Percy repeated.

“Yeah, sort of. We had a date planned.” Luke shrugged. “At least I think it was a date.”

Percy looked at him, his eyebrows raising so high they nearly disappeared beneath his shaggy black hair. “And how did it go?”

“I don’t know, I didn’t go.” The older demigod fished in his pocket for some cash, handing it to the merchant who gave him the bracelet in his hand, as well at the blue one Percy had been eyeing.

Percy looked exasperated. “What do you mean you didn’t go?” He demanded.

Luke handed Percy his and put his own on carefully as they walked. “Something came up.” Luke shrugged, strangely reluctant to tell Percy that his disappearance caused Luke to miss the date.

Luke knew Percy felt guilty about disappearing, even if it wasn’t his fault. Between Annabeth, who Percy was currently with, and Sally who Percy couldn’t contact in case it tipped off the Romans, Luke knew the son of Poseidon was having a rough time adjusting to the merging of his old Greek life and his new, shorter Roman one. Percy would often wear hoodies around the ship to cover the tattoo that burned like a reminder of the time that he was gone from Camp, from their lives. He didn’t want to add this burden on him, on top of everything else.

But Percy wasn’t having it.

“What do you mean something came up?” He scoffed, struggling to tie the bracelet on.

“Well…” Luke trailed off, turning to Percy when they got out of the flow of traffic to help him tie the bracelet on.

Percy was smarter than anyone gave him credit for.

“Let me guess, your best friend disappeared off the face of the earth and you had to go save his sorry ass?” Percy asked, admiring the new bracelet.

“Who said you were my best friend?” Luke scoffed, but deep down, he knew it was true.

Percy rolled his eyes as they headed over to one of the candy stands. Luke picked out some sour cherries, and Percy grabbed some blue raspberry sours. They were quiet for a moment, Percy opting to pay this time.

The boys took their treats and headed out, making their way back to the ship.

“Thank you.” Percy said after a long silence.

“For what?” Luke looked at him confused.

“For coming to find me.” He said softly. “And the bracelet. And exploring Charleston, even though you’re afraid of ghosts.”

“I’m not afraid-” Luke sighed, before cutting himself off and shaking his head. “Of course I’m coming after you idiot, you said it yourself, you’re my best friend. Besides, I wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for you. You saved my ass, so it was my turn.” He shrugged, popping a sour cherry into his mouth.

“And I’m sorry you missed your date.” Percy added.

“Well, if I’m lucky I’ll get another chance when we get back.” He shrugged again.

Percy nodded and thought for a moment. “Why are you so antsy about Charleston?”

Luke groaned. “I was like, 11, and this kid comes up and starts messing with me so finally I tell him to fuck off and he gets spooked because he didn’t realize I could see him and then he gets a couple of his ghost friends and they run me out of town.”

Percy raised his eyebrow. “So you were chased by-”

“Yes Percy I was chased by ghosts!” Luke cut him off irritably. “Next time you go missing, I’m going to leave your ass to Rome.” He huffed.

“No you won’t.” Percy reminded him. “Mom would kill you.”

“You’re right. She is one scary lady when she wants to be.” He sighed and glanced at Percy.

His resolve broke and he chuckled, shaking his head and ruffling Percy’s hair. “Seriously, it’s good to have you back man.”

“It’s good to be back.” Percy grinned back, swatting Luke’s hand away. “And just for the record I would save your ass from the Romans any day.” He told him, fixing his hair.

“Good.” Luke nudged him. “I’m gonna change and do some practice, alright? I’ll catch you at dinner.”

Percy nodded and headed off to his own room.

Luke waited until Percy had disappeared before glancing over the edge of the ship. Standing on the greenery below was the same young, translucent boy from when Luke had been there over a decade ago, staring up at Luke with an unreadable expression. Luke raised a hand, waving to the kid. The kid, in turn, waved back after a moment, before disappearing entirely.

#Luke Castellan's Second Chance #luke castellan #percy jackson #Percy Jackson and the Olympians #pjo #hoo #Heroes of Olympus

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greekgeek21 · 4 years ago

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The Codependency Competition Ch. 10

Ok, so I just realized that I'm way over 1M readers if I add all of the websites I have this story on together. And I'm in shock. You guys are so great, and I love the support I always get. It's really reassuring to have people say that they like my story because, to be honest, I was really nervous about posting this story. And now that we're on the last chapter, it's a little surreal to have so much recognition. But enough of the sappy stuff. I can do that after the actual chapter. So be ready for the spillage of my heart. Oh and the pic at the top does not mean anything, just in case anyone is hyperventilating right now.

Also, I just got a new keyboard for my monitor and I'm not quite used to it yet, so if I make a mistake, please don't point it out. I appreciate it. That's also why this chapter took longer than usual to finish BTW.

Oh and if you still reading these, good for you! Not like you wanted to know or anything, but I'm eating a whole lot of Sour Punches right now. It's extremely unhealthy, but do I care in the slightest? No. Not at all.

Stay safe and happy reading!

– your author

P.S. go to FF and answer my poll there. My name is Ocean.breezzq cuz for some reason they don't allow underscores on FF.

ΩΩΩ

How did he end up in this position? Honestly, Percy could not for the life of him figure out how he got himself into this one.

He is currently standing in front of a full-length mirror, with his mother trying to figure out which tie he should wear. They had narrowed it down to two: a deep blue or a thin black one. He didn't see how it mattered, but apparently it does because his mom had been fussing over it for the past ten minutes. He was about ready to just not wear one. It was already bad enough to have to wear a dress shirt and pants (he had adamantly refused to wear anything but his converse).

But of course he was standing around and taking it because it was what Annabeth wanted, and what Annabeth wants, she usually gets.

"Mom! Just choose already! At this rate, we're gonna miss the dance altogether!" he exclaimed.

Sally sighed, "Oh, Percy. I can guarantee that you're going to be a little bit late. Annabeth still has a lot to do before you kids can leave!

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Clearly, his mom did NOT know Annabeth. She's the farthest thing from a girly-girl, only Clarisse could beat her. There's no way that she's fussing about getting ready as much as his mom is. If anything, she's already done and is just sitting in their room watching Youtube. Yeah, that's what she's doing...

That was NOT what she was doing.

In fact, Sally wasn't far off. Annabeth was on a FaceTime call with Piper, Thalia, and Hazel trying to figure out which lipgloss she should wear. She already had her hair and dress done. Her hair was styled in just a simple French braid, and her dress was nothing special. She was sure it cost a lot, but Sally hadn't let her see the price tag.

As soon as her and Percy had agreed to going to the dance, Sally had dragged to the mall to find a dress. She seemed so excited, so Annabeth had just let her shove dress after dress onto her until they found "the perfect match." Whatever that meant.

Anyway, Annabeth had only called her friends because she wanted to get their opinion on how she looked. However, she had ended up getting into an argument about when the appropriate time for makeup was. In her opinion, it wasn't required for school dances. Piper and Thalia thought differently. Hazel didn't want to voice her opinion because she was still getting used to common modern practices.

And that's how she ended up here, fretting over what lipgloss she should use. Sally had let her borrow her makeup bag because Annabeth's consisted of a single tube of mascara and an unused clear lip gloss.

Piper thought that she should use the pink lip gloss that Sally gave her, but Annabeth didn't want to be too flashy, so she wanted the clear one.

"You NEED to use the pink one, Annabeth!" Piper said.

"You already forced me into putting on mascara and blush, so I don't think you have the right to make me use the pink one," Annabeth stated factually.

"Oh my gods, 'Beth! Can't you just use the pink and get it over with? This conversation is exhausting," Thalia sighed.

Annabeth resisted the urge to stomp her foot like a child and responded with, "No! I can't! It's my body, so my decision!"

Piper was almost literally pulling her own hair out, but she told Annabeth in a deadly calm voice to "Put on the dam pink lip gloss before I charmspeak you into doing it."

Figuring it was an endless cycle, Annabeth just sighed and applied the pink lipgloss. When she finished, she stood back from the mirror, and gave herself a once-over. She would never admit it, but the pink kinda looked good.

"Happy?" she asked Piper.

"Extremely," was the deadpan reply.

"Ok, guys. I've gotta go. Talk to you later," Annabeth said, moving to sign-off.

Before she could, Thalia screeched, "Don't forget to tell me what Percy's reaction is! I want details!"

"Yeah, sure, Thals," she said and finally ended the call.

That was exhausting. And she still had a long night ahead of her. Great. Why did she want to do this again?

Back with Percy, his mom had chosen the deep blue tie. She said it brought out his eyes, or something like that. He honestly started tuning out what she was saying after she mentioned hair gel.

They had thirty minutes until the dance started, so he wasn't exactly joyous. In his ADHD brain, he was wondering if there was some way that he could skip the dance without being in trouble. Probably not.

And that's when he saw her.

She looked more than beautiful in her grey and gold dress and silver heels. Percy was pretty sure that his mouth was hanging open, but he physically could not close it. Sure, he'd seen Annabeth a little dressed up before, but never like this. For one thing, she'd never worn heels before.

He was speechless.

"You're drooling, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth stated, walking up to him.

That shocked him out of his reverie, "Huh? Oh! You look amazing, Wise Girl."

Annabeth laughed. It sounded so carefree, but on the inside, she was a nervous wreck. Just as she was about to walk out to meet Percy, butterflies swarmed her stomach. There were so many ways this could go wrong, and she hadn't even thought past seeing Percy yet!

"Thanks, Perce," she said, a little tersely.

Percy picked up on her mood, "Relax, 'Beth. Everything'll be fine. This was your plan, remember?"

"Yeah, you're right. Athena always has a plan. We're going to be fine," thought she sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than anyone else.

They both turned to leave, but was abruptly stopped by a yell of protest from Sally, "Just where do you two think you're going? We still have to do pictures!"

Percy groaned, and Annabeth looked like she was trying to suppress one. Sally is great and loving, and kind, but she could be really embarrassing sometimes (especially when it came to Percy).

"Really, Mom?" Percy asked, turning back around to face his mother.

Sally sighed, 'Teenagers', she thought.

"Yes, really. This is one of the few times you get to act like a normal teenager, and I want to capture the moment ," she responded, "Plus, this'll be useful when you get married!"

Both Percy and Annabeth blushed bright red. Leave it to Sally Jackson to make a perfectly casual dance into a conversation about marriage.

Even so, they stood through the seemingly endless amount of photos. Once they were finished, Percy was practically dragging Annabeth away from his mother. The faster they got out of there, the least likely they would be ambushed for pictures again.

In the car, Paul's Prius, they were discussing their plan for the night.

"Ok, so what's the game plan?" Percy asked Annabeth, keeping his eyes on the road. (safety first kids!)

Annabeth sighed at her boyfriend's immaturity, but answered nonetheless, "We act like everything is normal. Well, our usual normal. We show up together, and stay together. Got it?"

"Yeah, I think so," he answered.

"Good, because I made it foolproof for your sake, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth teased, taking one of Percy's hands in hers.

Percy grinned that dopey grin that always made her heart melt, and then her mind clouded over, as per usual. How can he have this effect on me?, Annabeth wondered as she struggled to come back to herself.

Unbeknownst to her, Percy knew exactly what he was doing. It was all part of his charm, as Leo so tactfully put it once. Slowly, Percy was coming to realize what little action he could do to break through that rough shell that surrounded Annabeth. Not many people could claim to have that ability, so he was grateful he was one of the chosen few. Then again, they had been best friends for almost six years. He had some experience to put it lightly.

Anyway, they were almost at school. Time seemed to slow down as they pulled into Goode High's parking lot. Every step towards the gym–which was where the dance was being held–seemed to last an hour. The anticipation was rising in both of the demigods.

Percy and Annabeth both looked over at each other for comfort at the exact same time, as if their thoughts were one and the same. They didn't even have to speak for them to understand what was going through the other's head. They were both nervous beyond belief.

As they approached the double doors with colorful lights pouring out from under it, Percy squeezed Annabeth's hand, glancing at her and asking, "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be," she muttered, reaching to open the doors.

Annabeth wasn't sure what she was expecting...maybe a movie moment where the music stops and everyone moves to stare at them? Or for everyone to start bombarding them with questions as soon as they stepped through the door? Whatever its as, she was sure it couldn't have been what happened.

Nobody noticed them.

The dance just continued as if nothing had happened. Maybe one person here or there would do a double-take at seeing Percy Jackson with his arm wrapped securely around Annabeth Chase's waist, but nothing more than that.

It was all very disconcerting. Or maybe the proper word would be anticlimactic? Yeah, that sounded better in Annabeth's head...

Oh! There she goes again, letting her control slip from her ADHD brain! Get a grip, Annabeth!, she practically screamed in her head.

She hadn't even realized that Percy was pulling her by the hand somewhere until they had already got there. He had spotted their friends talking to each other at one of the tables. That brought another question to mind: When did that happen?

"Hey, guys!" Percy greeted, high-fiving one of his friends (Annabeth was pretty sure it was the one named Jack), "What's up?"

All of their friends gave Percy incredulous looks. Percy was just trying to act normal, like Annabeth said, but apparently they hadn't gotten the memo.

"What's up? What's up?! You too are dating, and you're just acting like it's no big deal!" Nora exclaimed.

Oh, that's right. Most of Annabeth's friends hadn't been briefed completely. They must still be stuck in the shock of the reveal. Annabeth wasn't sure why they were making such a big out of it. It wasn't like they had announced they were getting married, or anything. They were just dating. What's so surprising about that?

And Annabeth asked exactly that, in her best accusatory tone.

Nora looked a little shocked before stuttering out a response, "Well-I mean-um...he's him and you're you!"

Not the best answer, Nora, Percy thought before grabbing Annabeth before she decided to gut her friend. He made it look like he had just casually given her a hug, but if you looked closely you could see how Annabeth's nails were digging into his wrists.

"Easy there, 'Beth. She didn't know what she was saying," Percy whispered in his murderous girlfriend's ear.

With one deep breath, Annabeth relaxed her rigid posture, finally letting it go.

"I apologize for keeping something as big as a relationship from you. I hope you can forgive me," she forced out in a robotic voice, clearly rehearsed beforehand.

Percy smirked, but didn't comment on it. He just went over to talk to his friends while Annabeth caught her group up on everything.

The rest of the dance went pretty smoothly. There was SOME dancing, but not much. Annabeth and Percy may have improved on their dancing skills slightly since Westover Hall, but it was still a little awkward. Even after almost 2 years of dating...

Just as they were about to retire for the night, the casual mood changed. Well, more like the entire gym's atmosphere darkened.

Kelsey Evans was blocking Percy and Annabeth's path.

Annabeth outwardly groaned when Kelsey started to advance toward them. Just as things were seeming like they would work out fine, the devil incarnate had to show up.

"Hey, Percy!" Kelsey chirped with her too-high voice.

"Hi, Kelsey. We were just on our way out, so can you move please? Or is there something you wanted to say first?" Percy asked, strangely diplomatic.

"Well, you see. I've been hearing about some CRAZY rumor going around that says that YOU are dating HER," she answered, saying 'her' with an expression of disgust.

Annabeth internally seethed. She was having to dig her nails into her palms just to keep herself at bay. She was so close to snapping, it's a wonder Kelsey was still breathing.

"It isn't a rumor. We are dating, and have been for almost two years. Can you move out of our way now?" Annabeth said, forcing herself to not call Kelsey some nasty words in Greek.

Kelsey faced Annabeth, her flirty look changing into a pitiful glare, "No. You don't deserve him! He belongs to me!"

Even Percy was having a hard time not punching the girl, and he's been taught not to hurt women that can't defend themselves. Well, that last part was added after he had first sparred with Annabeth.

"First of all, back off. Second of all, Percy isn't an object, he's a person. More specifically, he's my person, so you can go away now before I do something I can guarantee I won't regret," Annabeth walked up close to Kelsey, voice deadly calm.

Of course Annabeth was aware of the crowd around them forming, but that wasn't going to stop her. After 'that place' nothing could scare her up here, especially not a weak mortal girl.

Before Kelsey could respond, Annabeth shoved her out of the way and tugged Percy through the door.

Nobody spoke for a long time, but eventually Percy got up the courage to say something, "That was BA."

Annabeth smirked but didn't say anything. She was still coming down from her adrenaline/anger high, and she was afraid that what came out of her mouth would start a fight, even if it was with Percy.

Then Percy couldn't think of anything else to say, so he just shut up. At least, he did until they were changing out of their formal clothes into their pajamas. Annabeth was in their room, and Percy was in the bathroom.

"Are you done?" he asked.

"Yeah, come in," Annabeth responded.

Percy then walked in, threw his clothes somewhere near his overflowing hamper, and plopped down on the bed next to Annabeth. She was sitting up in bed reading some architecture book that he could never understand.

"Hi," he said, turning onto his side and looking up at her.

"Hello, Seaweed Brain," she said, not even glancing up from the words.

Percy sighed, So it's gonna be one of THOSE conversations, huh?

"You know I love you, right?" he asked, smirking his troublemaker smirk.

This tactic usually works the best when he's stuck in these situations.

A small smile played on Annabeth's lips, but she still refused to look up. However, she did respond with, "Yes, and I love you, too."

Percy pouted, stumped. What is so exciting about architecture? The only thing he likes about it is the way Annabeth's eyes light up as she rants about some random building he's never heard of before. That's the only reason he puts up with it. Or it's the only reason he'll admit to, anyway.

Just then, an idea popped into his head. And when ideas pop into Percy's head, everyone within a five-mile radius better clear out cuz' they can be destructive. However, this one was not that bad.

He gave Annabeth a light peck on her cheek, then slowly moved down to her jaw, then her earlobe, and then her neck. He could tell that it was starting to get to her because she hadn't turned the page for a while.

"Percy...," she warned.

He just smiled against her neck. Annabeth rolled her eyes, but relented. She set her book on the bedside table, and turned over to face Percy, giving him a deep, passionate kiss.

She pulled away for a second, "You're such a Seaweed Brain, you know that?"

She only saw a glimpse of his dopey smile before she went back to kissing the love of her life, stress nonexistent in her mind.

ΩΩΩ

Omg omg omg! It's over! I don't even know what to say! I just want to thank all of you guys, my wonderfully supportive readings, especially the ones who've been here since the beginning. You guys are amazing. I don't even know if I would've been able to make this story without the encouragement from you. So thanks.

Now, I think that's all the sappy stuff. I'm looking for a good beta, so if you are or know one who might be interested, please let me know. I'm also going to shamelessly promote my original series. Go check out "Secret Powers" and "Frozen Secrets"! They are the first two books in my three story series.

If you want to know this is Annabeth's dress and shoes from the dance:

Now for the good stuff. Somebody mentioned that they would be interested in a Percabeth proposal, so I'm going to give it to you. Here's a little BONUS SCENE set in their future, but I'm not giving it a specific date, so use your imaginations and decide for yourself. Hope you like it!

ΩΩΩ

Percy and Annabeth were visiting Camp Half-blood, and they were enjoying a nighttime walk along the beach. Annabeth was remembering all of the wonderful memories she had at this beach. Her underwater kiss with Percy, birthdays, all of her dates with Percy. Nothing but happiness came with being at the beach when you love a son of Poseidon.

Percy was in a completely different headspace. His mind was full of nervousness and worry. He was so distracted that he didn't even realize when Annabeth stopped and turned to look out at the water. When he bumped into her, she just gave him a weird look and went back to her previous position.

His hand was distractedly fidgeting with the small, velvet box in his pocket. It felt like it weighed more than the sky, and he should know! What if she says no? What if I mess up? What if the ring doesn't fit? Oh, gods, she's going to say no!

Those were the thoughts swirling around in his brain, making it a whirlpool of stress. He knows that Annabeth loves him, and that he loves her, but she could still say no!

"Seaweed Brain? Earth to Seaweed Brain! Percy?" Annabeth's concerned expression brought him back to reality.

"Huh? Oh, fine. Just-I'm fine!" he said quickly.

She gave him an unimpressed look, but didn't push it. Truthfully, Annabeth had noticed his odd behavior recently, but she still hadn't figured out what was bothering him. But, she knew that he would tell her eventually, so she was REALLY trying not to figure it out beforehand. The last time he'd been this nervous, he was asking her to move in with her!

Ten minutes passed before Percy worked up the courage to do it. His reasoning was that he just had to get it over with. Annabeth's told him she loves him so many times, why would she say no? There was nothing to worry about! Nothing!

"Hey, Wise Girl?" he asked, turning to face her fully.

"Hmm?" she hummed.

He was about to just ask the question, but his stupid Seaweed Brain got there first, "Wanna go for a swim?"

Annabeth furrowed her eyebrows, "Umm...it's 7:30 PM and I'm not wearing a bathing suit. What about this scenario makes you think that we should go swimming?"

Percy decided that he might as well work with what he's got so he went with the first backup plan that came to mind: the best underwater kiss of all time. Ok, not the ACTUAL one, but he could make another air bubble. It's not like he hadn't done it before.

"I'll keep it warm and dry, I promise. Come on! It'll be fun!" he started pulling her towards the water, himself already ankle-deep.

Annabeth started to protest, but he had already gotten her in enough for him to be able to pull her in with his powers. And just as promised, she was still completely dry. She could feel the water on her skin, but it wasn't wet. She had long-since gotten used to the feeling, after so many years of dating Percy, but it still shocked her for the first couple of seconds.

"Fine," she said, and Percy pulled them both all the way under, quickly forming a bubble of air around them.

"I love you," slipped out of his mouth.

It wasn't like it was a big deal, but the way he said it, with so much love, froze Annabeth. What is he planning?, she thought.

An idea began to form in her head, but she pushed it away instantly. Better not to get her hopes up. That way there's no chance of disappointment.

"I love you, too, Seaweed Brain," she said, trying to slip back into her casual tone of voice.

They sat in a silence for about a minute, just watching the scenery around them, before Percy finally ACTUALLY worked up the courage to do it.

"I've been thinking..." he started.

"Uh-oh," Annabeth teased with a smile.

"About us. And our future," Percy said.

Annabeth instantly sobered. He sounded serious, and a serious Percy was a SERIOUS Percy. There was no in-between.

"Yeah?"

Percy took a deep breath, "Yeah. And I know we're a little young, but we've been together for so long, and I just think that it's time. And you've always wanted something permanent, and I want to be that for you. I want us to be that for you. So, Annabeth Chase...will you make me the happiest demigod in the world and marry me?"

It might not seem like much, but to Annabeth, it meant the world. This was exactly what she had been dreaming of for her entire life. She was so full of emotions that she could barely speak, but she was able to get one word out...

"Yes."

ΩΩΩ

Ok, that's it! I'm officially done with this fanfic! I feel like I could've gone on in the bonus scene, but I think that you guys should get to come up with your own version of their happily-ever-after. Anyway, there's a poll on FF and you should go do. It's about my next story.

And you guys know I need to give special recognition to my amazing beta reader! JJ, you took me on when I refused to edit my own work, and you made everything WAY better! You should ALL go check out nightskywithrainbows on Ao3. They write, beta, AND are a student! So kudos to you, JJ! You're the best!

I hope you enjoyed this! Stay safe and happy reading!

- your author

#percabeth #percy jackson #annabeth chase #Percy Jackson and the Olympians #Heroes of Olympus #high school #teen

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leonardovaldezz · 5 years ago

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It is a known fact around Camp Half-Blood that you do not breathe a word of Leo Valdez and Nico Di Angelo’s relationship. Well, at least not when they’re around to hear. And it’s not for some nasty dumb reason like homophobia, it’s because the two idiots don’t seem to know they’re in a relationship. When Piper asked Leo what was going on there, the boy nearly burst into flames while he stuttered over himself trying to explain that he and Nico were ‘just friends.’ And when Jason had asked Nico the same question, he could’ve sworn he was going to be sent to the underworld that very night with the look The Ghost King gave him.

In all honesty, their friends totally get it, sometimes coming out with a relationship when they all live crazy lives is hard, or maybe the boys just wanted their privacy, that was fine too. So they never push the issue, even when Leo and Nico’s hands brush as they walk a little too close together, even when Leo shows up to the pavilion in Nico’s aviator jacket, and even when Nico starts wearing a necklace one day, a small silver chain with a gold L dangling from it. They pretend they don’t see the lingering glances, the longing smiles and the fleeting touches. They pretend they don’t know the L on Nico’s necklace means ‘Leo’, they pretend for the sake of their friends sanity.

Now, this doesn’t mean that it doesn’t get frustrating at times, because it does, way too often.

“I swear to the Gods if I see Leo make Nico blush one more time I’m going to hurl them both into Hades myself.” Piper grumbles, taking a long sip from her cup. They’re all seated in the pavilion, and it’s one of those days where they don’t have to sit with their siblings, so naturally everyone in their little friend group gathered at one table.

Percy snorts, stabbing at his blue pancakes like they did something to personally offend him, “Yeah, good luck with that, I’m sure Nico would love to take Leo down there, like some kind of skeleton date or something.” Percy pauses, and then he shoves a piece of pancake in his mouth and talks with his mouth full, “Actually thinking about that now it’d be a cute idea, I bet Leo could like light a fire to show them the way-”

Annabeth slaps her hand over her boyfriends mouth, nose scrunched up in disgust, “Less talking more eating, seaweed brain, we don’t need to see your chewed up food.” Percy rolls his eyes but he listens, and as Annabeth draws her hand away she wipes it on her pants.

“I think it’s romantic.” She says, stormy gray eyes flickering up to look at everyone at their table, “Sure it’s a litte frustrating but that’s just from our perspective, I bet they’re really happy and who are we to say what they should and shouldn’t do?”

“Their friends,” Jason pipes up, “We’re their friends and we should support them.” He pauses, and then adds, “Even if it is infuriatingly obviously how much they like one another. Let them figure it out in their own time.”

There’s murmurs of agreement between them, but there’s also an unspoken acknowledgment that if the other half of their group were here and not in the Roman Camp there would probably be more of a discussion, maybe even an disagreement. Granted, there still IS a disagreement, bcause Percy is Percy.

“But,” Percy pipes up after a moment, mischievous grin on his lips as he pushes his tray to the side, “What if there was a way we could help them? You know, just to nudge them along?” He looks everyone in their group in the eyes, a silent challenge hanging in the air. Piper is the first to break, and quite honestly it’s probably because she and Percy have similar chaotic energy.

“I’m SO down!” She says, “Anything to get them together, it’s driving me insane.”

“Sick,” Percy says with a gin, reaching across the table to bump fist with the girl before turning to Annabeth, “What about you?” He asks, and when he sees the familiar look of doubt flicker across her face he adds, “Come on, you know you want to have a part in this.” That gets Annabeth to hesitate, and after a moment of contemplation she sighs.

“Okay,” She agrees, and even before she finishes what she’s saying Percy and Piper and breaking out into cheers.

“But,” She adds, holding her hands out to shush the both of them, “Only on the condition that we don’t interfere directly with their relationship, I don’t want to push them into something they might possibly not even want.” Both Piper and Percy easily agree to this, and then they turn their eyes to their last target: Jason. It’s silent as they stare at him, and he just stares back, blue eyes looking wary. In the end they don’t even have to say anything, because a second later he’s letting out a long sigh and saying, “I’m in.”

They all break out of in hoots and hollers of victory, and ‘they all’ is actually just Piper and Percy. Annabeth just watches and shakes her head at their antics, and then a thought dawns on her,

“Where even are Leo and Nico? They’re normally not this late to breakfast.” That has a way of getting everyone to settle down, and it’s a great question, really, because while they were all discussing getting their friends together the two said boys managed to pass the dining pavilion completely unnoticed. They’re trecking through the campgrounds woods, hand in hand, talking and laughing with one another in the secluded area. Eventually they find what they’re looking for, a large rock pile that sits deep in the dense forest, just a bit to the right. Leo drops Nico’s hand in favor of pulling off his backpack, and they get settled on the ground in front of the rocks.

Nico sits criss cross as he watches Leo set up their blanket and spread out their food. They’d decided to go on a picnic, it was always nice here in Camp, so why not? Besides, how could Nico say no after the trouble he knew Leo must’ve gone through to get them McDonalds.

“Ding ding, order up!” Leo sags once he has everything laid out, tossing his bag to the side and coming to settle on the ground across from Nico, giving him one of those knee weakening smiles; all blinding white and full of teeth.

Nico snorts, making the first move to grab some fries, “This isn’t some type of diner.” He says, popping a few fries in his mouth. Leo looks at him with an overdramatic look of disgust on his face, dunking his nugget into his sweet and sour sauce.

“One: How you eat fries without ketchup is beyond me, it’s boarderline disrespectful. Two: it is a diner. Today we are eating at Leo’s Dinner, it specializes in smuggling in food we’re not supposed to have.”

That earns him a laugh, and mentally Leo pats himself on the back.

“How did you even manage to get lunch food, it’s like ten in the morning.” Nico asks, pushing down the urge to laugh again as Leo watches him eat another dry fry in horror.

“It’s always lunchtime somewhere!” Leo answers, and Nico almost chokes on his food. His cheeks grow hot at the thought of Leo not only breaking the rules for him, but also going to a whole other time zone to get him the food he likes. It’s. Incredibly sweet, and gets Nico’s heart pounding in his chest.

“Well,” Nico says, suddenly feeling shy, tucking a few black strands of hair behind his ear, “Thank you. I appreciate it.”

Leo smiles, puts his nuggets down and leans across the blanket. He lifts Nico’s chin and they kiss, soft, sweet and chaste, hot skin clashing with cold. When Leo leans back he’s giving another blinding smile, “No problemo!” He says, willing himself not to set on fire. It’s been a little over a month and he still feels like he’s about to explode whenever they kiss.

He leans back in his seat, lets Nico compose the redness in his cheeks as they eat in a comfortable silence for a little while.

“You think they know?” Nico asks after a moment, dark eyes flickering up to look at Leo. The boy pauses, and then he shrugs.

“I don’t see how they could not, we haven’t exactly be super secret about... us.” Leo answers. Nico gives a soft huff of laughter, “And who’s fault is that?”

“Definitely not mine,” Leo jokes, feigning indifference as he drenches his fries in ketchup, “Don’t know how they could’ve figured it out at all. You’ve got me there.”

Nico grins but plays along, shrugging his shoulders, “Our friends are observant, it’s not like we have a sign over our heads that says ‘we’re boyfriends’ or anything, but I’m sure they caught onto the subtle signs.”

Leo grins at him, lopsided and mischievous, completely adorable in nature. “I’m sure they have.”

And really, in reality, they’re pretty sure that their friends know they’re together. So what if they didn’t come right out and say it? Or like, make an announcement of it. Their friends can put two and two together.... can’t they?

Or, in other words, that time when Leo and Nico are boyfriends but all of their friends just think they’re beating around the bush and try to get them together when they’re already together.

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bodytoflame-ao3 · 5 years ago

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won’t you stick around? (sensation)

fem!percabeth + college late nights (part 2)

Read on Ao3

i kinda like the way we talk without the sound i'm living for the moments we can't be without

need u more ..//.. shaded

“Percy!”

“Hey,” she smiles, settling into the hug.

“You’re sure you won’t fail any classes for this?”

“Who could say no to the Hero of Olympus? And I’m not missing that much class. I left after my only class Friday morning, and I should be back in time for my Wednesday night.”

“I would scold you for taking advantage of your professors, but I missed you too much for that.” Annabeth takes her bag and sets it down in the corner of her room.

“I drove for two days for you, you better be nice.”

Annabeth pulls herself up onto her bed, grabbing the small sketchbook from its place on top of her pillow. “I’ll be nicer once I finish this sketch that’s due tomorrow.”

“You do that… I need to sleep for a few hours.” She’s barely slept in the past two days, but it’s not like she hasn’t had it worse. She took a power nap every few hours, and that was enough. With another nap and a quick shower at a motel in the middle of the night, she’s still feeling okay, but she knows she needs to rest up so she can start driving back in the morning. It’s still worth it — because she gets to see Annabeth, even if only for a night. And like Hades she’s getting on an airplane; that’s one fear she hasn’t quite conquered.

Annabeth stares at Percy expectantly, “Come on, Perce. You can sleep up here.”

“You're working, I don't wanna get in the way. I'll go crash on the couch.”

She rolls her eyes and extends her hand, “Come here.” It wouldn’t matter to her if Percy got in the way, though she knows it would be easy enough to work around her.

Percy sighs and climbs up with her, curling into her lap. She eventually settles, her head resting on Annabeth’s hip, arms wrapped around her leg.

She props up her other knee, resting her sketchbook up against her thigh. Glancing ahead at the reference pinned on her wall, she draws, fine lines and precise angles; a perfectly captured study of the industrial steel support beams of the dilapidated warehouse in the picture.

She nudges Percy once it's finished a few hours later, but she's in too deep of a slumber. It might just be instinct — a remnant of the days when sleep was hard to come by — but she looks so peaceful that she can't bear disturbing her.

So she draws, pencil moving across paper, with little reason. She draws the lamp in the corner of her room, the collection of objects strewn across her desk, little things she can see from where she is, trying to fill up the time until Percy wakes up.

When she’s run out of things to draw, Percy’s still sleeping; so calm and quiet. And still, she looks so beautiful. A hero, and the most gorgeous girl she’s ever seen. It’s striking to her, the difference between the way she looks in the middle of battle. Still beautiful, but her face so focused, eyebrows furrowed and lips pursed. The way she looks right now is so different, Annabeth almost can’t picture her as the same girl — she looks too innocent, filled with a peace they’ve never known. She wonders who they might’ve been if things were different, if they met as normal kids. She hopes they’d still be here; together.

It’s late, much later than she would stay up herself on a Sunday night. She's considering just calling it a night and making it up to Percy in the morning, when she starts to stir, stretching out with a yawn.

“How long was I out?”

“Almost 5 hours. Feel better?”

Percy hums an affirmation, “Finish your drawing?”

“Yeah. Did some other sketches too while you were sleeping. Figured you needed the rest.” Annabeth flips through the pages, showing her.

Her thumb catches two pages instead of just one. “Wait, you skipped one.”

“Ugh, don’t embarrass me, Percy,” she laughs, handing her the sketchbook and crossing her arms. It feels weird. She’s never been so sentimental — but Percy really looked so pretty clutching her legs, and she couldn’t help but capture that beauty.

Percy turns the page back, and a look of wonder falls onto her face. “Annabeth, this is incredible.”

She blushes, “It’s nothing.”

“No, this… it’s amazing.”

“I was thinking about minoring in art.”

“You should. Seriously, Annabeth. This is really, really good, I— Where did you learn how to do this?”

“Well, the major is based around the art history department. Remember how I mentioned we had to do one studio class?”

She nods. “You're taking that right now, right?”

“Yeah, and I really like it.” She bites her lip. “I’ve been practicing in my spare time. It’s kinda just like architecture drawings — observing shapes, and angles — but it's also looking at the way light hits things and how it changes your perceptions.”

Her eyes light up in the same way they do when she talks about her dreams for the future. “I think you should go for it.”

“Yeah?” Annabeth asks, a smile coming to her face as she sets the sketchbook aside.

“Yeah.”

She kisses Percy’s forehead and holds her close, fingers running through her hair. “I missed you.”

“You get possessive when you miss me,” Percy chuckles. “I like it.”

“I like you.”

“Aww, that’s so embarrassing,” Percy teases, running a hand up her stomach.

She grabs her hand, and leans in close enough that her lips brush Percy’s as she says, “You’re insufferable.” The mischievous grin on her face as she hops off the bed says it all.

“Where are you going?”

“Kitchen,” Annabeth answers, not looking back.

Percy follows on her heel like a puppy. “Hey. Let's go somewhere.”

She stops just short of the cabinet. “Yeah? What’s your plan?”

Percy shrugs. “Um. No plan? I just want to spend time with you.”

“Humor me, what’s even open at 1 AM besides… bars and McDonald’s?”

“Don’t know. Come on, let’s just go.” Percy tugs on her arm, digging her heels into the floor jokingly.

“We can spend time together here. I’ll put on a movie or something,” she manages through a laugh.

“Annabeth, we can watch a movie any time. I'm only here for—” she glances at the clock, “—eight more hours. You trust me,” she smiles, not a question, but a truth.

“Okay,” she sighs.

“Okay, I'm gonna go put on real clothes.” Percy presses a quick kiss to her cheek and runs off.

Annabeth gives a wide-eyed glance to her roommate, standing by the coffee machine, watching it drip into her mug with unparalleled fascination. She's not sure how much she heard or saw — and she's not sure she cares if she did, to be honest. The better question is why she's drinking coffee at two in the morning.

She points an accusing finger: “Not even a word. At least I have the decency to stay here and procrastinate in my pajamas.”

“No, no,” Annabeth laughs, “I wasn't going to say anything,” —an obvious lie.

“So, friend, huh?”

Annabeth opens her mouth to speak, the words catching in her throat. She takes a second; takes a breath, and says, “Actually. My girlfriend. And best friend.”

“Ah,” she smiles, “I thought I sensed overdramatic gay pining.”

Relief washes over Annabeth at how calm and casual her reaction is — but oh, how wrong she is. “Trust me, that's not pining.” She knows pining, regrettably, and this isn't it. On their scale of reactions to time spent apart, a month of talking almost every night while still getting used to their new schedules was nothing.

“Well, it seems like she really missed you.”

Of course she did. And— “I missed her.”

She's drinking her coffee black — what kind of masochist drinks black coffee in the middle of the night on a Sunday night (or rather, Monday morning)? Perhaps the worst part: she sips it slowly, like she enjoys it. “She looks at you like… god, I don't even know, but it's intense.”

Annabeth crosses her arms. “I mean, we've been together for two years, and we've known each other even longer.”

“My boyfriend hasn't looked at me like that since the first few months. Damn, here I thought you were still in the honeymoon phase.”

“We grew up together — been through some shit,” she shrugs, not particularly wanting to elaborate.

“I get that.”

Annabeth doubts she does. “Yeah.”

Percy emerges from her room in a plain navy sundress, jean jacket draped over her shoulder. Annabeth’s eyes linger a bit too long as she looks her over. “Stop staring at my legs, Chase.”

“I— they're long!” Smooth, Annabeth.

Percy chuckles, “Messing with you. Grab your shoes, let’s go.”

“Annabeth, when will you be back?”

“Um. I actually don’t know,” she grins.

It turns out, Washington Square Park is beautiful at night. Despite it being right outside her window, she never did much besides walk through it to save time walking to class. Much quieter, too. There’s still a bustle of tourists, but nothing like it was during the day.

Percy holds her hand tight, swinging their arms back and forth deliberately as they walk. “I miss the city.”

“I never realized how beautiful it could be.”

“You’re majoring in architecture.”

“Yeah, but like… here everything’s so cramped and purpose built. It doesn’t seem like there’s room for beauty. But when I see things like this,” she looks up at the arch, illuminated marble against the dark sky, “it reminds me of all the things I want to make. And why — for these moments. For the girl staring up at the great big world at her fingertips and noticing the little things. The grain of wood in a table; once bark of a tree. Speckles in marble statues. The stippled texture of brick on a walkway.” She leans her head against Percy’s shoulder, clutching her arm tight. “The person who made this didn’t know what it would look like a hundred years in the future. It stood alone, when the night sky wasn’t lit up by street lights, and ‘skyscraper’ meant 10 stories. That America’s long gone, and so are the buildings, but this little piece of it still stands.”

“That is beautiful.” She has a way with words, doesn’t she?

While not eerily quiet, the crowd has started to die down, the bustle of tourists slowing, and Percy knows that’s their cue to leave. She twirls Annabeth around, and pulls her in the direction of the street closest to them.

“Where are we going?”

“I don’t know!”

“Isn’t it, I don’t know, dangerous for two girls to walk the streets of a big city alone in the middle of the night?” Annabeth raises an eyebrow.

“First off, we’re right next to a college campus and tourist hotspot — this is one of the safest parts of the city. Second, we kick ass.”

She can’t refute that. It’s easy to forget Percy grew up here, and knows this city like the back of her hand. And they do kick ass. They walk for a while, with no sense of direction, passing blocks and avenues; ascending and descending, until Annabeth says, “Let’s get pizza.”

Percy’s face lights up, “I was waiting for you to say something spontaneous like that. Where do you wanna go?”

“Pizza place across the street.”

It looks divey, but it ends up being some of the best pizza Annabeth’s ever had, and she’s glad they took the chance. They share a pie and hold hands across the table, just laughing, and smiling, and she feels normal — It hits her hard.

“What’s wrong?”

Her smile falls away, but it’s not a look of sadness. It’s reflection; every moment that’s led them here. “I didn’t plan this,” she starts, squeezing her hand, “I tried so hard to have a plan for everything, but there’s no way I could’ve planned this. And I’m just realizing I’ve never been more happy with my life than I am right now, and it’s all because of things I wasn’t able to control. That’s… ironic, right?”

“You may not’ve planned it, but you still made this what it is. It’s what we make.”

“Don’t get all philosophical on me over pizza.” Annabeth rolls her eyes.

“You started it!”

That’s true — but she can’t help it. It’s like the whole world fell into place around her without her even noticing. Wasn’t it in her nature to know things? To be observant? “Touché.”

“What do you wanna do?” Percy asks her once they’ve returned to the streets, having polished off the last slice.

She hums, thinking. “Crêpe place. It’s on the way back.”

“It’s…” Percy glances at her watch, “2:30. It’s probably closed.”

“Nope, it’s open until 3.”

“And you know this why?”

“It was 2:45 AM and I wanted crêpes,” she shrugs.

They’re damn good crêpes. If there’s one thing she misses the most about NYC, it’s her mom. Second: Annabeth. If there’s a third thing, it’s incredibly delicious food from unexpected places. Let it never be said Percy’s a girl without her priorities in order.

They wander back, slowly weaving their way towards Annabeth’s dorm, Percy’s arm wrapped around her waist as they walk. “I don’t want to leave you.”

“I’m not going to beg you to stay, if that’s what you’re looking for,” Annabeth laughs. “You need to pass your classes.”

Percy’s pretty sure she could ditch every single class for the next four years and they’d still give her a degree. But… she likes her classes. Which is new. New Rome understands her — it’s a school for Demigods, of course they cater to ADHD and dyslexia. Even more striking, she’s learning about things that she actually finds interesting. While she isn’t dead set on a specific field like Annabeth, there’s a few things she’s genuinely excited to look into. Marine life and sustainability — because she’ll always be in touch with the sea and the earth — and somehow, education? She’s pressed to admit Paul has rubbed off on her more than she’d ever expected, and having teachers that understand her disability is something she wishes she had as a kid. It’s something to think about.

“I know. I just miss you. I call sometimes… just to make sure you’re okay.”

“Percy, I do too,” Annabeth admits, leaning into her shoulder.

She smiles, “Gods, I thought I was being so creepy and weird.”

“For the record, you are weird.” Percy glares at her, so she elaborates. “So I… had a bit of a nightmare last week. It wasn't bad, but… I called,” she pauses, cracking a smile, “And you had your head hanging off the side of the bed; all tangled up in the blankets. That's weird.”

Percy scoffs, but she’s most definitely not lying. After a pause, she shifts the conversation: “You can wake me up if you need me, you know that right?”

“No, I mean,” she sighs, “I just needed to see you. That's all.”

She knows. “I mean anytime.”

Annabeth nods, “Same here.”

The second the elevator doors in her building close, Annabeth pulls Percy into a slow kiss, one she’s been waiting for since the second she saw her today.

“Took you long enough,” Percy laughs, threading her fingers through Annabeth’s hair. She tastes like marshmallow and chocolate, which she should’ve expected. It takes all of her willpower to pull away when the doors open at her floor.

Annabeth unlocks the door, and as soon as they step inside she hears, “I’m awake, so for the love of all things holy — no loud sex!”

A devilish look pops onto Percy’s face. “Quiet sex, got i—” Percy shouts back; Annabeth sticks her hand over her mouth a second too late.

“Really, Percy?”

“What?” she smirks, “At least I didn’t tell her you were the loud one.”

“Seaweed Brain,” she shakes her head, and heads into her room, quickly tossing her clothes in a pile to deal with in the morning. For now, she grabs a t-shirt out of Percy’s duffel bag, and climbs into her bed. They have six hours, and Annabeth intends to spend them holding her.

Percy follows, kicking her converse off in the doorway and wrestling into a tank top and shorts, finding her way into Annabeth’s arms as quickly as she can manage. As she curls into her grasp, head resting on her shoulder and legs intertwined, a sense of peace washes over her, unparalleled even by the end of the war. Annabeth’s arm cradles her head, hand stroking her shoulder.

It’s a departure from how they usually sleep, Percy spooning Annabeth, arm around her waist to hold her close, their legs tangled together. She’s almost forgotten just how good it feels to be held by her. It’s a feeling she can’t easily explain. When she holds Annabeth, she’s keeping her safe. Of course, she could hold her own any day — but it brings her comfort to hold her in her arms; her warm skin and soft curves nestled perfectly, safe, real. This is so, so different. This is the feeling of Annabeth’s strength, and her own vulnerability, wrapped in the knowledge and trust that she’ll never let go.

Annabeth whispers, “I love you,” and Percy falls asleep faster than she has in almost ten years.

#fic #~3k words #annabeth chase #pjo #fem!percy jackson #fem!percy #wlw percabeth #made

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bookworlders · 5 years ago

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the wedding date - chapter 5

percabeth fake dating!au part 5!!!

part 1

Cabin 3 was unrecognizable from when they had arrived the night before. Annabeth’s suitcase had erupted and her makeup and hair appliances now littered every flat surface. Thankfully, Percy had vacated their room to hangout with Frank and Leo so she could ready in private.

It had been awhile since she’d gotten dolled up to this extent, curling her hair, a full face of makeup, and heels. Annabeth hadn’t gotten this glammed up since Piper and Thalia moved away.

Annabeth went out with Rachel occasionally, but it was always to some hipster dive bar in the Village where a flannel and jeans would suffice. Sometimes, if Annabeth was going straight from work to meet Rachel, she’d even try to make herself look worse coming from a day at the office to fit in with Rachel’s grungier friends.

It was nice to take time to do her hair and mix-and-match and pick out an outfit that matched with the bachelorette party sashes Leo had acquired for them. Getting ready was especially relaxing after she had taken the best shower of her life. It was a much needed hot, relaxing session after the day they had all just had.

After brunch, all of the wedding guests had returned to their rooms to change, and rest up for an afternoon of camp activities.

Annabeth set down her curling iron, and shook her arm out, sore from their first activity after brunch — archery. Annabeth had never been spectacular at it in camp, and the years removed their camp training days had made her worse. Not as terrible as Percy, though. Annabeth spent the morning laughing at the cute face he made while he aimed for the targets.

Annabeth finished curling her hair, and got to work concealing a scratch on her arm.

After archery, a group had taken an excursion to the training arena to spar.

“Who’s next?” Annabeth asked, eyes sparkling as she swiped sweat from her brow. She held out her hand and helped Jason up.

“Hades, Annabeth,” Jason muttered, sheathing his golden gladius, “Can’t even give me a break on my wedding weekend?”

Annabeth grinned, “I was already going easy on you, Grace.” She looked around for her next opponent. Piper, Hazel, and a group had gone to the stables to groom the horses. Leo sat, bruised, physically and his ego, on the sidelines nursing a scrape on his arm. Frank messed with the straw poking out of one of sparring dummies, and refused to make eye contact with her. “Come on!”

“I’ll have a go,” piped Percy, standing up from the bench where he’d been sitting with Nico watching Reyna and Thalia spar across the arena.

Annabeth shot him a look, “Really Percy? It’s alright. These guys are just babies.”

Percy stood directly in front of her, “No, for real, I’ll spar with you.”

“Percy, no it’s okay,” Annabeth sheathed her knife in the holster of thigh, “We’ve all trained to sword fight since we were kids at this camp, it’s—”

“You scared?” Percy said, his wagging eyebrow challenging her.

Annabeth gaze darkened, “Alright, then.” She unsheathed her knife, “Pick your weapon.”

Percy picked up a bronze sword from the chest Chiron had brought out to the sparring area, swinging it back and forth testing its’ weight, “You alright with those little knives, Chase?” He stood in front of her.

Annabeth unsheathed another, “Perfect with them. They let me get closer to my opponent.” She stood directly in front of him. Thalia and Reyna had paused their spar to watch.

Percy grinned, “Rules?”

Annabeth twirled the knife in her left hand, using them to point to the markings on the straw covered sparring arena, “First person to step out of the boundaries.”

“Not to the death?” Percy grinned at her.

Annabeth smirked back, “Ready, Jackson?”

The two faced each other within the ring and fell into a fighting stance. Annabeth beckoned him with her hand to make the first move. Percy made the first strike, and Annabeth parried him with a basic block, but Percy struck again, this time disarming Annabeth. Her knife cluttered to the ground. Annabeth raised an eyebrow, her face failing to conceal the shock.

“Jason, I think she really was going easy on you,” Percy said, sweeping up her knife and tossing it back to her. “Don’t you dare go easy on me, Chase. Let’s call that a warm-up round.”

Annabeth’s expression was unreadable, “Fine, let’s go again.” This time, Annabeth made the first move, which Percy smoothly blocked.

Suddenly, they were dancing. The clang of bronze against bronze and the whip of blades flying through the air filled the training arena. Every strike from another was met by a perfectly in sync parry. They fought as if choreographed, his body occupying the space hers was in seconds before being interrupted by the clang of metal. Annabeth didn’t know if she was fighting against Percy or with him. He seemed to know exactly what her next move would be.

Annabeth’s muscles burned in a way she hadn’t felt since her camp days — the exertion required of an equally adept opponent. No one had matched her combat skill like this since, well since Luke, who had taught her to fight in the first place. Fighting with Percy was a dance, and she didn’t want the song to end.

Annabeth knew that she wouldn’t be able to outpower Percy, not due to her own strength or skill, but because she was three rounds of sparring in and he was fresh. His technique was a little rough around the edges, but his natural skill was apparent. Annabeth noticed this in his stance, and they way his arms extended when he swung his blade at her.

She would have to end this round with strategy. He had caught her off guard with his skill when he disarmed her in the first round when she was going easy on him, but now she truly was exerting herself. Percy was having fun, too much to stop or give in. She could tell from the way he almost had her disarmed a couple times, but also eased up just in time for her to inter his saber with one of her knives. How dare he go easy on her now, Annabeth thought as she swung her blade as his throat.

Clang! Percy blocked it. She saw him grin and couldn’t help a smile from spreading across her face.

But she had a plan. Percy swung his sword at her, and Annabeth resisted the urge to block, just for a second, but that was all it took. Percy’s arm faltered, just for a second, when she didn’t move from his attack. The tip of the blade grazed her arm. That second hesitation was all Annabeth needed to get close enough to shove Percy off balance and take a step out of boundaries.

Jason and the others whooped and cheered from the sidelines.

“That’s what you get for going easy on me, Jackson,” Annabeth said, holding out her hand.

Percy shook it, and didn’t let go, “Believe me, I wasn’t.”

“Where’d you learn to fight like that?”

“I’m an actor. Years of stage combat classes.”

“Nerd.

Annabeth finished concealing the scratch on her arm, and began tidying up her mess of makeup and clothes around the cabin.

After a couple more rounds that afternoon (Percy and Jason fighting round after round until eventually calling a tie), they left to meet up with the stable group in the woods for a game of capture the flag — bridesmaids and dates against groomsmen and dates. Annabeth’s team won, of course. “I always have a plan,” Annabeth said with a wink. That plan had just so happened to involve Percy as bait and a distraction while Annabeth claimed Jason’s flag right from under his nose.

A walk through the strawberry fields in the afternoon had allowed Percy to bond with her camp friends. They all seemed to love him, and she did as well the more she got to know him. Percy was charming and funny and retorted back to her witty remarks with clever jibes at her that made her laugh. They hung back from the group on the walk and Percy told her about his mom, Sally, who raised him as a single parent and faithfully supported his acting career, and his stepdad Paul, who was an English teacher.

Annabeth justified it as informing Percy on the need-to-knows of being her fake boyfriend, but the sun and the smell of strawberries had her spilling tales of her stepmom and the rough years with her dad and the move from Virginia to San Francisco that made her summers at camp the best times of her childhood.

When they had returned from the strawberry fields, Jason and the groomsmen had invited Percy for a couple of beers down by the lake. Annabeth said goodbye to him with a kiss on the cheek to get ready for Piper’s bachelorette party.

That had been an hour or two ago before Annabeth had taken the best shower of her life, and washed away the grime and sweat of the day. It had been an amazing first day of Piper and Jason’s wedding weekend, participating in her favorite camp activities and getting to know Percy — bringing him as her date was a great idea from the looks of today.

Annabeth looked in the mirror hanging against the wall next to the door of Cabin 3 and adjust the bridesmaid sash over the short black dress she wore. Piper had no idea what was coming for her for her bachelorette party.

sorry for the long wait, hope you enjoyed xx

#mywriting #percabeth #fanfiction #the wedding date #percy jackson #annabeth chase #fake dating!au

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thegoodthebadthesickly · 5 years ago

Note

Oh my god hi, ive been searching this hellsite for weeks trying to find a PJO/HoO writer and i finally found one! I would like to request Percy vomiting for you bingo thing, 😁

Hi Nonny! Sorry this took so long, but here you go!

Fandom: PJO/HoO

Request: Vomiting

Requested by Anonymous

(Star is completed, Swirl is requested)

@badthingshappenbingo

Request- Vomiting

Fandom- PJO/HoO

Requested by Anonymous on Tumblr

Percy decided that he was officially subscribing to vegetarianism as he retched into the toilet bowl. He tried his best not to see the brownish-yellow mixture of bile and whatever else he'd eaten in the last twelve hours glaring up at him from the toilet bowl. With his stomach done expelling it's contents for the moment, Percy pulled the handle to flush the vomit and weakly pushed himself away from the toilet, leaning against the wall.

Stupid Fourth of July cookouts. Percy thought. Stupid hot dogs.

He had just enough time to catch his breath before his stomach twisted itself painfully once again. Clapping his hand over his mouth, Percy dove for the toilet again.

How is there anything left? Percy wondered as he sagged against the toilet, any energy to hold himself upright already long gone. His head just cleared the lip of the toilet before he heaved violently, convulsions shaking his whole body. Nothing happened. Percy coughed and gagged again as tears, snot, and spit ran down his face. Again, nothing.

There was a soft knock on the bathroom door. "Percy?" Annabeth's voice asked sympathetically. "How's it going in there?"

"If I tell you where Riptide is, would you put me out of my misery?" Percy moaned, his voice hoarse. Seeing that hanging over the toilet was getting him nowhere, he lowered himself to the ground, the tile felt nice and cool on his feverish skin.

"I'm not very keen on going to jail for manslaughter today." Annabeth laughed sympathetically and opened the door to the bathroom to see Percy in a heap on the floor beside the toilet. Her heart ached for him.

"I've decided to become a vegetarian." Percy said softly, closing his eyes. He just wanted to sleep. His body ached from how tense he was.

"Is that right?" Annabeth smiled, sitting down beside Percy and pulling his head into her lap. She softly pushed her fingers through his sweaty, knotted black hair.

A shiver ran down Percy's back as Annabeth played with his hair. She put a hand on his stomach and rubbed light circles.

"Mmm" He hummed, momentarily distracted from the nausea churning in his stomach.

Percy almost got to sleep-almost.

He gagged wetly and clamped his hand over his mouth as he tried to clamber up to the toilet.

Annabeth's arm got caught in the struggle and she couldn't move away fast enough.

Percy weakly tried to sit up and push himself away from Annabeth. Something wet pushed against his fingers.

No. No. Do not throw up on Annabeth! Percy pleaded internally.

Finally, the force of the bile pushing itself out of his stomach was too much. Percy dropped to all fours as vomit pushed through his fingers and onto the tile, making a disgusting plopping noise. Percy wretched again and closed his eyes as tears streamed down his cheeks and he tried to catch his breath.

"Oh gods!" Annabeth yelled from somewhere Percy couldn't see.

A moment later, he sat back on his heels, breathless. He leaned hard against the cabinets and opened his eyes. It took a moment to see properly since his sight was still blurry with tears.

When he could see, Percy wished he couldn't. Yellow-brown vomit spread across the floor in a thin, watery layer, slowly seeping into the spaces between the tiles. Next, Percy's eyes lazily found their way to Annabeth, who was still sitting in the same spot, but now had a large yellowish stain on her jeans. She was sitting perfectly still with her eyes closed, breathing deeply.

"Annabeth, I'm-" Percy groaned pitifully. He thought he might cry. Gods, he didn't want to cry.

"It wasn't your fault, Honey. You're sick." Annabeth said, her eyes still closed, she reached for his hand.

"Are you okay?" Percy sniffled.

"No. N-not really." Annabeth offered. "I'm-um-I'm a-I'm what you'd call a sympathetic puker. If I see puke, I'll probably puke too."

"Oh" Percy huffed. Then, the realization hit him. "Oh."

"Yeah." Annabeth huffed, trying not to breathe through her nose. "J-just give me a minute and I can clean this up. Then, we can shower and go take a nap. How's that sound?"

"Annabeth, just let me-" Percy cut off as he gagged dangerously, the smell was grotesque. "I'll clean up. You just go change."

"No. I'm-" Annabeth gagged. "F-fine. Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine." Percy croaked, trying not to breathe through his nose.

Wordlessly, Annabeth opened her eyes and, pointedly not looking at the pool of vomit on the floor, felt her way up the cabinet, stood up, and practically sprinted out of the bathroom. Once outside, she stripped off her jeans and kicked them down the hall.

Then, Percy was left in his mess. He wondered how he was meant to clean up. He didn't want to use any of the towels, but what other option was there?

A moment later, Annabeth reappeared in the doorway, sporting a change of clothes, a t shirt tied around her face like a gas mask, a whole roll of paper towels, and bleach.

"Percy?"

Percy looked up at her with a "deer in the headlights" expression.

"Why don't you go take a shower in the guest bathroom? I'm sure it'll make you feel better. I'll get this cleaned up." Annabeth said gently.

"Are you-"

"I'll be fine, Honey. Isn't "in sickness and in health" part of the whole marriage thing?" She laughed. "I'm just getting a head start."

Percy smiled and, using the counter for support, pushed himself into a standing position. He took a few steps on wobbly legs and, when he didn't immediately pass out or throw up again, slowly walked out of the bathroom and down the hall to the guest room.

After making it to the guest room with no complications, Percy slowly stripped off his sweaty t-shirt and sweatpants. He looked at himself in the mirror, he was pale and gaunt, hours of vomiting had surely made him dehydrated. He stripped off his boxers, turned the shower onto the hottest setting and stepped in.

For a moment, everything was fine. The hot water felt nice on his fevered skin. Then, without warning, Percy gagged harshly and had to grab the wall to keep from falling over. Bile, there was definitely nothing left in his stomach now, pushed up and over his lips. He groaned, back aching from retching so hard.

The room spun wildly. Percy tried to lower himself to the floor as slowly as possible, trying not to pass out. He pulled his knees to his chest and tried to breathe deeply.

"Perc-oh, baby!" Annabeth gasped softly as she pulled back the curtain.

"Go-got dizzy." Percy slurred.

"I can see that." Annabeth pushed the curtain to the wall, more than a little worried about how quickly Percy's condition was deteriorating. "Why don't I run you a bath?"

"That sounds nice." Percy whimpered, his stomach gurgling uneasily.

Annabeth turned off the shower and plugged the drain before starting the faucet again.

"Hopefully the hot water will help settle your stomach." Annabeth offered, watching as Percy relaxed slightly, slowly unfurling from the ball she'd found him in.

When the tub was full, Annabeth turned off the tap. Except for the drip of the faucet, everything was quiet. She sat back on her heels and surveyed her boyfriend. He looked a little more pink than before, but his face was still scrunched up in discomfort.

"Scoot up." Annabeth demanded softly as she stripped down herself. She unclipped the last hook on her bra and stepped into the bathwater. She wedged herself in behind Percy and let him rest against her chest. She kissed his temple and gently massaged his scalp.

"Mmm...feels nice." Percy mumbled, scooting further into the water.

Annabeth smiled softly.

"Do you want me to wash your hair?" Annabeth asked quietly after a while.

"Mmm" Percy mumbled.

"I'll take that as a yes." Annabeth laughed.

Grabbing Percy's shampoo from the small shelf, she squirted the gel into her hands and gently worked it into a lather in Percy's hair.

Percy sighed contentedly.

After rinsing the soap out of his hair, Annabeth realized that the water was starting to get cold.

As if on cue, Percy moaned softly. "M'stomach'urts"

"I know, Baby." Annabeth frowned. "I think it's time we got out. Can you sit up?"

Annabeth helped Percy pull himself into a sitting position as she climbed out of the tub. After toweling off lightly, she helped Percy out of the tub, which was no small feat, considering the kid was 6"2 and all limbs.

Percy did his best to climb out of the tub of his own accord, but he felt so weak and his stomach ached like it had been sent through a vice grip. He wound up mostly leaning on Annabeth and trying not to fall over.

After a few carefully placed maneuvers, Annabeth had Percy out of the tub and sitting on the toilet with a towel wrapped around his shoulders. He looked so much like a little kid that it might have been funny if he hadn't felt so awful.

"Let's go get you into some fresh clothes and then we can take a nap." Annabeth held out her hand.

"Mhmm." Percy nodded.

Slowly, they made their way back to their bedroom. Annabeth deposited Percy onto the bed and changed into an old camp t-shirt and pajama shorts before moving to Percy's dresser and grabbing a t-shirt and pajama pants.

"Here." Annabeth put the clothing down beside Percy. "You good?"

Percy shook his head slightly, trying to focus on what Annabeth was saying.

"Yeah." He grabbed the t-shirt, fumbling with it for a moment before pulling it over his head and then leaned down to put on his pants. A wave of dizziness swept over him, nausea making his stomach churn.

"Oh" Percy's hand flew to his stomach.

"Are you-" Annabeth eyed the little trashcan they kept beside the bed.

"Trashcan!" Percy moaned.

Annabeth had just enough time to thrust the tiny waste basket under Percy's chin before he was coughing and spitting yellow-green bile into it.

"Uggh"

"I know. I know." Annabeth said. "Here, let me help you." Annabeth offered. Not waiting for an answer, helped shimmy Percy's pants up to his waist.

"I'll get you a glass of water. Why don't you lay down?" She suggested.

She watched to see Percy's head lean onto the pillow before going to the kitchen to get a glass of water and a straw. When she walked back into the room, she almost hoped he'd be asleep. No such luck. Percy's eyes were closed, but a look of discomfort was etched into his features.

"Percy?" She asked gently.

"Hmm"

"Can you sit up for a minute? I got you some water."

"Tired" He moaned.

"I know. I know, just have a few sips of water for me and then we can go to sleep." Annabeth encouraged.

Blearily opening his eyes, Percy pushed himself up on one elbow.

Annabeth walked over and sat down beside him, holding the straw to his lips.

"Small sips. If you can't keep this down, I'll have to take you to the ER."

"No hospital." Percy said as firmly as he could, which was not very firm at the moment.

"No promises. Now drink." Annabeth said firmly.

Percy put his lips around the straw and took a tiny sip, gods, he was thirsty. He took another little sip.

"Not so fast! You'll be sick again!" Annabeth chided, pulling the glass away.

"'m thirsty!" Percy whined.

"I know, but you have to take it slow."

Percy huffed, but complied, sipping slowly.

Once he'd had about half of the glass of water, Annabeth put it on the bedside table.

"Good. If you can keep that down, we can try solids tonight. For now, you look like you're in serious need of a nap." She stroked Percy's cheek and smiled.

"Who knew a day of puking could take that much out of a guy?" Percy wondered aloud, flopping down on his pillow once again.

"The girlfriend who told him that he shouldn't eat oddly colored hot dogs." Annabeth rolled her eyes as she crawled over to her side of the bed and snuggled up to Percy's back, putting her arms around him and being careful not to squeeze his stomach. Instead, she started to rub slow, soft circles onto his tender abdomen.

"You live and you learn." Percy mumbled, already half asleep with Annabeth curled around him.

#badthingshappenbingo #prompt fill #prompt: vomiting

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ohboywonder · 7 years ago

Text

office AU - PJO / HOO fanfiction

MONDAY - TUESDAY - WEDNESDAY - THURSDAY - FRIDAY - SATURDAY - SUNDAY

Summary: Percy had no idea that his new secretary worked so, well, well! Although his work keeps him busy the whole day, he notices quickly that he can rely on her.

Words: 4778 Warnings: none || AO3 No one read it beta, so if you find any mistakes, let me know!

TUESDAY

The next morning started with the alarm clock. Percy lifted his head and eyed the clock face suspiciously, as if he could persuade it through staring to give him some more time to sleep. He had no success.

After a shower and a bowl of cereal – no, not the healthy one Hazel had proposed but the colourful and probably cancer-causing one – he left his apartment and got into the car. Although it didn’t seem like it, the fun part of his morning was nearly over. Behaving like a kid instead of a grown-up, having ice cream for dinner and staying up ridiculously late for playing the latest game, these were things he could do at home and not in the office. At home, where he was just Percy, not the leader of a life style magazine company. At home, where no one was watching. Where there was no one to share it with. Percy sighed.

He started the engine. It was not his favourite way of transport, usually he rode his bike, but it poured and sometimes the car needed to be moved as well. His mother used the car as well and it benefited her more than Percy. His little sister needed to get to school, his mom to work and sometimes it was used to transport Percy, Paul, his mom, and Cassie to fun weekend trips.

Today would not be a fun-weekend-trip-day. Percy sighed while turning left. He had a meeting with Octavian, that idiot, today at eight, then a discussion with the board about the next issue, then he needed to see some photographs and call someone who might work for them when their current photographer found out that he would, well… have to reorient.

Coffee. He needed coffee. And maybe a bagel. Luckily, he knew the best place for an early second-before-work-breakfast. Percy left the car and walked into a little coffee shop with an in-built pastry shop, not a block away from his office. A big, broadly-built Chinese man stood behind the counter and filled out a form. A few people sat in the back and chatted. His face lit up as he saw Percy.

“Long time no see Percy!”, Frank came around the counter and hugged him. Percy just loved this guy. He looked so tough and scary but inside he was a gentle, kind, person. His better half popped her head through a door that led to the ovens. Golden shimmering curls framed her face and made her dark skin glow. A smile that was nearly too wide for her face appeared on her lips and she hugged Percy tightly.

“I knew I heard right. Where have you been?”, she asked while letting go of him. Percy immediately found his black shirt stained with flour but he couldn’t care less. Frank’s and Hazel’s coffee shop had been his first and last refuge, before and after work, so often, he did not care about his looks, he cared about them.

“Work was killing me lately. I was out of secretaries since Millie had to go.”, he said while Frank nodded and went behind the counter again.

“Same as usual?”, he asked and Percy nodded. He really needed this coffee with an extra espresso and a shot of salted caramel cream right now.

“Out of secretaries?”, Hazel asked and wiped her hands on her flour-covered apron. “That means you fired Millie?”

Percy sighed. “Yes. She was driving me crazy. But I have a new one, since yesterday.” His hand automatically wandered to his neck and rubbed it.

“Oh”, Hazel and Frank said in unison and looked at each other in silent understanding. Although the actions that followed these glares often went against him, Percy admired their silent understanding. That’s what he wanted. Someone to understand him, his weird sarcasm, the tiny signals – all that he saw with Hazel and Frank, or his mom and his step-dad.

“Oh what?”, Percy whined and let himself sink in a chair. “What now?”

“Your body language.”, Frank said.

“The hand in your neck.”, Hazel added.

“The looking down.”, Frank nodded and looked at Hazel and together they said: “Those are signals.”

“Signals for what?”, Percy wanted to know. What were the two of them going on about now?

“That you like the new secretary. Remembering her made you look nervous and happy for a second.”, Hazel said and smiled sweetly. Then a beeping filled the air and she clasped her hands before her mouth. “My tartes!”, she whined and scurried back to the oven.

“Tell me about her”, Frank said, handing Percy his coffee.

Percy frowned. What was there to tell about Annabeth Chase? He knew her for one day! “Well, her name is Annabeth Chase. She actually is over-qualified. She has a degree in literature and has done internships at nearly every big newspaper company you can imagine. Yesterday was her first day and she let the coffee machine explode.” He grinned and Frank raised an eyebrow. “Has probably never made her own coffee, dunno. She is very very, like, very interested and does her job quite well, at least, from what I’ve noticed so far.”

Hazel had returned, standing in the doorway, leaning on it and listening. She smiled and wanted to say something but Frank interrupted her: “What about her looks?”, which made Hazel frown.

“She… well, she looks good. I guess. I don’t know?”, Percy said, trying to sound persuasive. “I could send her down later and you can make yourselves a picture of her. What do you think of that?”

Frank looked at Hazel who smiled brightly. “Sounds like a great idea! Here, I made you a bagel back there. I bet you wanted one and only forgot to mention it.” She winked at him and handed him the bag.

“You’re an angel Hazel. Thank you so much. Guess I better get going now. See you guys.” With that Percy payed, including a ridiculously high tip, and left. He was only a little bit late when he arrived ten minutes later in his office. Annabeth was there already.

Today she was wearing dark jeans and a grey pullover that had such a long neckline that it hung over her shoulder and revealed some of the skin there. Her blonde hair was up in a ponytail and some loose strands of hair hung into her grey eyes. Although all of this was immensely fascinating, Percy couldn’t help but stare at her skin. As she noticed his gaze she immediately apologized.

“I’m sorry about the outfit Mr Jackson but this is one of the few pieces I own that don’t scratch my skin beneath it. I will make sure to wear something more appropri-”

“Ms Chase”, he quickly interrupted her and forced himself to pull his gaze away from her shoulders and the skin that showed. “It’s fine. I fully support your, well, your body, especially its healing after what happened yesterday.” As the sentence was out, he realised how weird this sounded but Annabeth giggled and nodded.

“Thank you, sir.”, she said and cleared her throat. She was standing again so Percy thought she could follow him to his office anyways. But before he even had made a signal for her to do so or said one word, she came around the desk and stepped besides him. “This morning you have a meeting with Mr Blinder. He was here already to remind me to remind you.” She sighed.

It amused him that her knowledge of human nature obviously was so well developed that she’d noticed already what an idiot Octavian could be. “He also said”, she continued, “to remind you of his Snapchat idea.”

“I will continue to draw sad smileys on these papers until I die”, Percy declared and grinned at Annabeth. She nodded, the trace of a smile on her lips.

“Next thing up is the board meeting and you need to call the photographer. Both of them, actually.” Percy sat down and started his laptop. There were seven new emails in his inbox – a fact that made him frown. Only seven? “Oh”, Annabeth said as she noticed his face, “and I checked your emails and answered the ones I could.”

This was actually not her task. Not yet. With Millie, he had discussed her work area and as soon as he trusted her abilities enough, which took quite some time, expanded her tasks. Percy scrolled through his mails and checked the answers. Mostly they were intern mails asking for a time spot in his schedule that Annabeth, eh, Ms Chase, had given them. His notebook openly lay at the desk next to his keyboard and all the new dates were already written in it. Ms Chase’s handwriting was orderly and more ornate than his own but she did her job well.

As he looked up, he saw her biting her lip. Apart from that nothing showed that she was worried that she had gone too far. Her confidence was baffling him but she had done nothing wrong. Still, it bugged him.

“Thank you, Ms Chase”, he said and looked up. She nodded and looked at her own notebook. Obviously, nothing was on it anymore and she looked back at him.

“Can I do anything else, sir?”, she asked. Through the glass front he could see some of his employees coming from the kitchen with steaming mugs. Coffee had obviously been already made. He shook his head and tried another smile.

“Thank you, Ms Chase. I’ll let you know.” She left the room and took her seat behind her desk. Percy had hated that damn glass wall when Millie had worked here. He had to watch her do her nails while talking on the phone, chatting with the other employees more than actually doing her work and every three hours or so going to make some new coffee. But with Annabeth… Oh, come on Percy! With Ms Chase, it was different. She sat at her desk, taking calls, and writing emails as if she was here forever. Maybe even before Percy himself.

Still, this stunt she’d pulled… Well, if she wanted a challenge, she’d get one.

The tasks he had on his schedule today would have taken him the whole day. But maybe he could use it as a test to see how well she’d actually do. Percy made a list with tasks and stood up, taking his phone and jacket.

“Ms Chase”, he said and Annabeth’s head shot up. She was writing another email and her blond curls hung in her grey eyes. For a moment, he forgot what he wanted to say. The impact she had on him was weird. But fascinating. Her eyes scanned his face before they lingered on the list. “I have some tasks for you. I wrote everything down and I need to get to the board meeting now. I am sure you’ll be done with this list by lunchtime.”

Carefully he watched her reaction as she scanned the tasks, the names and she was biting her lower lip again while she read the list concentrated, which made Percy smile.

“Of course, Mr Jackson”, she replied and he nodded contently.

“I thought so. I’ll check in with you after lunch.”, he said and turned to walk to his board meeting. He’d never been a fan of those meetings but there was one good thing about them. He could see his friends.

As he walked into the room, a few seats were already taken. A tall girl with short black hair looked up from her phone and smiled at him. Her blue eyes sparkled as he sat down next to her. “Finally!”, she said and grinned. “I was getting bored with all those serious business people around me.”

Although she insulted him in a way, calling him an unserious business man, he couldn’t stay mad at Thalia. Not for one second. “I’m glad to see you, too. Where’s your brother?”, Percy said grinning and looked around. Jason was nowhere in sight. Not that it was hard to overlook him. He and Thalia couldn’t have looked any more different. Thalia, with her dark hair and her thoughtfulness, who would never step into the spotlight – if not necessary. Still, she had the ability to command a the attention of a whole room without any effort. And then there’s her younger brother, Jason. Tall, blonde, absolutely born for the spotlight. His ability to rationally negotiate between his employees, between different companies, between his friends, always marked him down as the leader – which is why he’d gotten a job that high ranking in his young age in their parents’ company.

“What do you think?”, she asked and her eyes seemed to sparkle again. That was the only thing the siblings had in common. Those light blue eyes.

“Piper?”, Percy suggested and smiled.

“Piper”, Thalia confirmed. Percy’s head of customer service and Thalia’s little brother had met on an office Christmas party and were dating since then – should be two years now? Whenever Thalia and Jason came over to join a board meeting, Jason was lost the moment he’d entered the building until the meeting began. “He should be here any minu-”

“Percy, I’m glad to see you!”, Jason said, entering the room this very moment. He patted him on the back and sat down next to his sister. Percy grinned. His usually so accurately brushed hair looked a bit unorderly but he was happy for him.

“Glad to see you too, Jason.”, Percy said, as Grover took his seat next to him. He nodded at the siblings and nudged Percy’s shoulder.

“I have a copy of the report you asked for, the one about cutting down on the CO2 emissions. Turns out the recycled paper is not as shiny as the one we used before but the emissions are nearly cut half through it. Maybe you should talk to Rachel about it.”

Percy took it and scanned the report. This was good. Really good. As he looked back up, he noticed everyone was there and after clearing his throat, he opened the board meeting.

Two hours later he came through his office doors, only to find Annabeth’s desk empty. Well, she certainly was completing his list. A familiar figure lingered in one of the comfy seats in front of his desk and Percy smiled. Although he was already exhausted this would be nice.

“You’re not on the list.”, he said and Leo’s head popped up, the dark curls flying as he looked around to see Percy standing in the doorway, holding a cup of Annabeth’s coffee in his hand. Ms Chase’s coffee. Damn it.

“Aw, come on, Boss. You’ll have time for a little signature, right?”, he grinned and Percy got behind his desk, putting down his papers and the mug.

“What’s it this time, Valdez?”, Percy really tried to be annoyed, but he couldn’t. Leo was, although a little young, an incredibly talented IT manager. His skills were that good, one time the entire company server was down and Leo somehow managed to get it to the printers and the copy could be published as if nothing had happened. Up to this day nobody knew how he’d managed that. But from then on he was head of IT and did a wonderful job, although his favourite response to any problem still was: Have you tried turning it off and on again?

“I need a signature, your new secretary… Well, I have to admit, she scares me, but she looks great. Have you noticed that?” He leaned forward and wiggled his eyebrows. Percy sighed but couldn’t help a smile.

“What about her?”, he asked and took the sheet Leo handed him and scanned it.

“She did what you asked her to do. Came around, told me about the missing signature and that, if I don’t get it, I will probably lose my job or something.” His eyes widened. “She was scary. Good scary, I mean. But I came straight up here to get the signature. I mean, if I understood correctly I actually need a permit to do certain things on the server and since I don’t have that one – you know.” He shrugged and Percy shook his head, a grin on his face.

“Well, there you go. You’re now officially allowed to continue your work.”

“Thanks Boss, really. And, she is really good lo-”

“Get going, Valdez!”

“Alright, alright. Thanks though, Boss-man!” And with that Leo Valdez had vanished. It always was a bit complicated to get him away from his machines since he loved them so much, which is why Annabeth mildly impressed Percy. She’d gone for the right tactic: to scare him a bit so he would come upstairs. As he checked his schedule, the mood lift Annabeth’s good work had given him, seemed to vanish again. Next thing up was the meeting with Octavian. Ugh.

Since Percy obviously couldn’t help but call her by her first name, he decided to go with Annabeth instead. He’d only have to take care to not call her that to her face. As he took a sip from the mug, he raised his eyebrows in surprise. The coffee tasted great! Maybe even better than Millie’s coffee and that was one of the sole reasons she had had her job for so long.

A knock pulled him out of his thoughts. “Come in”, Percy said and Octavian stepped into his room. In his hands, he held his tablet and some papers, probably graphics, predictions, and a form to finally get his Snapchat account.

“Good morning, sir.”, he snarled and sat down.

“Have you tried the coffee today?”, Percy asked him and took another gulp before placing the mug next to his screen. “It’s amazing.”

“After the coffee fiasco from yesterday? No, thanks.”, Octavian said and raised his eyebrows. Percy could read his utter discomfort he always showed when he was around him. He didn’t believe Percy could or should lead the company. And he was after his position, the power it held and the people he then could control. What Octavian did not understand, it wasn’t about control. It was about trusting, pushing, and catching, if someone would fall.

“Well, you don’t know what you’re missing.”, Percy said and leaned forward. “Show me the tables from last weeks. Some graphics would be nice, too.”

Although he could barely stand that guy, Octavian Blinder was good at what he did. He had pushed up the public image of the company and raised awareness of their magazine, collected sponsors, and took care of the ads that were channelled. The feedback on company adds and the number of people who’d seen those did go up nearly two percent since last month.

“Well done”, Percy said and ran a hand through his hair. It always lifted his mood to see that people bought the magazine, that they clicked on the adds or liked pictures of the upcoming articles on Facebook or Instagram.

“Thank you, sir”, Octavian said and looked very pleased with him, “but I wanted to talk to you about the Snapchat idea.”

“No Snapchat”, Percy said and shook his head. They’d gone over this at least thrice now. His employee pursed his lips. He was about to tell him – again – how important this platform was and how it would speak to more people on a wider range but Annabeth saved him.

“Mr Jackson, there is a call for you.”, she said and looked at him urgently. Octavian looked at her, then back at Percy, and seemed baffled that she could interrupt their meeting – as if there was anything more important than his Snapchat idea.

Percy tried to hide a smile. “Well, I guess we’re done anyways. Thank you for your time, Mr Blinder.” It took Octavian a second to realise that he was being sent away but he stiffly nodded, grabbed his belongings, and left.

“Who is it?”, Percy asked the second Octavian had left the office but Annabeth shrugged.

“No one. I just thought you might like him to leave.”

He must have looked as baffled as Octavian because Annabeth started to giggle. “I am sorry if I overstepped a line again but I saw you two talking and you did not seem happy. Plus, he was here for nearly an hour now. I thought you’d might like him to leave.”

Still unable to process what had just happened, Percy nodded. “Uhm”, he stammered and tried to wrap his head around her. Why on earth would she… How could she know he was suffering from talking to that guy? What was it with this girl?

He caught himself again and smiled. “Thanks, Ms Chase.” More and more she started to win him over. Her work, her sense of situations, how she handled the other employees. And then there still was this tension between them. Right now, for example. They both looked at each other and Annabeth clung onto her notebook as if she needed to hold herself back. Percy felt the same energy. He would have loved to stand up, walk over to her, and pull her toward himself and …

Never mind.

“So”, he said in a lame attempt to get his brain back to work. A quick look at his watch revealed it was nearly time for lunch. “How does it go with the list?”

“Uhm…” She still looked him in the eyes and had a hard time pulling her gaze away. Then she looked at the list and nodded. “One task to go. I think I better get going. I want to be back on time with your lunch.” She smiled shyly, turned around, and left his office again.

He followed her with his eyes until she’d disappeared through the door and probably headed for the elevator. Her last task was to get some bagels for lunch from Frank’s and Hazel’s shop.

The call to end the employment contract with their last photographer was easy. The call to employ the new photographer was easy, too. Sometimes things went smoothly. Sometimes.

Percy’s phone buzzed. A text from Frank saying: “She’s gorgeous!!! Sent her back up, Hazel thinks she’s pretty (&) amazing.” Percy smiled and put the phone away. In a few minutes, he’d get something to eat and a little break. Then he’d talk to Rachel about the new paper and whether there are any updates on the next issue.

The lunch with Annabeth had been pleasant but Percy wasn’t surprised by that anymore. He genuinely enjoyed Annabeth’s presence – and her company. And even better, they could talk about normal things. He had talked about his mother as Annabeth mentioned her and about his teenage sister, about his step dad and his actual dad. Annabeth was a good listener. She nodded and smiled and thanked him in between for buying lunch for her as well. She hadn’t talked about her personal life but Percy could understand. She maybe still was unsure whether she would stay in this position or was hesitant about talking to her boss about her private life.

For Percy, however, it was not a question. Annabeth would stay. She did good work and he enjoyed having her around. And there still was this tension between them… as if they were drawn towards the other.

“Mr Jackson?”, Annabeth’s voice called him back into reality. “Your phone”, she said and raised one eyebrow. And she was right. Percy had been so lost in his thoughts, he must have been staring at her – unconsciously of course.

He reached for the phone and looked at the photo. Rachel Elizabeth Dare smiled brightly from the screen. Her red curls framed her face, the green eyes looked a little bit provoking. He picked up and noticed how Annabeth’s eyebrows wandered up her forehead. “Hey, Rachel”, he said and tried to not look at Annabeth.

“Hey Perce, would you consider, I don’t know, getting your ass down here? I have a thing or two to talk about with you and they are, well, how to put this? Essential for your magazine?”

Percy pulled a face. He should have called her sooner. “Yes, I’ll be there any minute, okay? Just let me finish lunch?”

He could hear Rachel growl and see her before his eyes, the way she rolled her eyes and then sighed: “Alright, but hurry!”

Staring at the screen going black again, Percy sighed. As he looked at Annabeth, she raised one eyebrow and he just shook his head. “As sorry as I am to interrupt this, I need to go. Rachel needs me in graphics. Please, eat whatever you want and then, finish your list?”

“I’m already done with that, Mr Jackson.”, she said and narrowed her eyes at him. “The last task was to get your lunch,” after a tiny pause she added, “our lunch.” This was the last task? Whoa. This surprised Percy.

“Well, then stretch your break a little longer and maybe make some phone calls? Or leave early if you want to.” He smiled at her.

“But… I thought you’d say…”

“Yes but today, there’s only this little thing with Rachel left, so go if you want to.”

He turned around and left the office, leaving a confused Annabeth behind. He was interested in what she would do but for now he needed to concentrate on the last task.

“There you are!”, Rachel greeted him. Well, she seemed a bit upset about him only coming in now but besides this, everything else was normal. Her hair was a wild, red mess of curls and her green eyes sparkled of creativity and the desire for action. Her jeans were full of sketches, drawn onto it, and her hands were busy knocking a pen on her desk. Behind her there was a big window, facing a park full of trees and bushes, the big pictures showed magazine covers and paintings, graphics, and photographs.

“I’m sorry I’m late. I brought you coffee.”, he grinned at her and placed a full mug next to half a dozen empty ones. “And I will send someone to collect your mugs, mh?”

“Don’t you worry”, she said and started to shuffle some papers on her desk, looking for the one he wanted to see. The cover for next month’s edition. “Here”, she finally said. This was one of Percy’s favourite moments: to see the final cover. To see the hard work, he and his employees had done put onto a cover, that would soon wrap it all up.

“It looks great!”, he said, looking closely at the cover, noticing the details. The covers usually were a mix of a photograph and a drawn scenery, for example a mountain lake and a drawn sky. Or a drawn hut on a green valley. This time, it was a seashore, waves crashing on the beach and a ship drawn on the water. “The colours… You’ve outdone yourself Rachel!”

She smiled at him and shrugged but her face beamed. “Thanks Percy. But I heard some rumours… About a new paper?” She raised an eyebrow and glared at him.

“Well, yeah. This is more economic and will do good for the environment. And if we do this clever the prize of the magazine won’t go up and we’re saving the world – at least a little bit.” He looked at her apologetic.

For a second he thought he would have to fight with Rachel over this now but she sighed and nodded, her arms crossed before her chest. “I will have to do a test print, but it’ll do, somehow.”

“Thank you, Rachel. Now I might need to tell you about the new photographer…”

“The new what?”

As Percy finally got back to his office, it was five. Somehow this happened a lot. He wandered around the company, from office to office, checked with the journalists, the graphics, ended up chatting with Piper about weekend plans, was called down to sign something in Grover’s office and then it suddenly was five.

“Oh, you’re still here?”

Annabeth looked up and nodded. She was on the phone and wrote something down. Percy felt a warmth inside him. That she still was here, still worked… It made him proud. A smirk on his face, he went to his office to grab his suitcase and jacket before going back into Annabeth’s office.

“Shall we get going?”, he asked and winked at her. Annabeth froze for a second but then grabbed her jacket, cheeks pink. They both left the office and made their way through the open plan office and Percy grinned while thinking about their elevator ride. This was something he could get used to.

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musically-melodic · 5 years ago

Text

If I Could Tell Her

Status: Crush

AN: The song is not in the same context as the musical but the lyrics work, although I may have changed some but it was just to sort out points of views, so don't judge. Also OC.

Y/N POV

I have been trying to deny it all week but it is just not working. I am completely and totally jealous. It's just that every time that I see Wally he is always talking to Melody. I mean I know she is my best friend and I know she wouldn't do anything to sabotage my chance with him but...

I don't know, they both have been avoiding me like the plague.

What if Melody told Wally that I like him! What if he really doesn't like me and they are trying to find a way to tell me! What if they think I'm not cool and just don't want to be friends with me anymore! What if...

My thoughts are interrupted by my phone going off. It's a message from......

WALLY!!!!

When did he get my number? I mean I had his number because Melody gave it to me but I have never actually used it.

Wally: Hey Y/N! Could u meet us at the park? Like rn?

I was so shocked. I can barely form a normal sentence around him and now he’s asked me to meet him at the park! Wait... It said us ... Maybe Melody is there with him... WHAT IF THEY’RE TOGETHER!!!

Without thinking I message back

Y/N: I would love to! Where should I meet u ?

I press the power button to turn off the screen and start tapping my fingers against my phone and pace around my bedroom.

Once again my phone chimes and it's another message from Wally.

Wally: At the bandstand if that's alright?

I have to be honest. I'm panicking! I take a few deep breaths and start tapping at the device.

Y/N: That's fine I'll see u soon.

I lob my phone on to my bed and start digging through all of my stuff to get the things I would need.

Doing a last check to see if I have my phone, wallet (you know if it ends up in them saying that they’re together I'm gonna need my heartbreak kit - ice cream, chocolate and sad movies) and keys. I lock the front door and start walking towards the park.

****TIME SKIP****

When I got to the park I saw lots of kids with their parents and carers but there was one pair that really caught my eye. It was a young woman with a little boy. From the distance between me and the two I could hear their conversation.

"Aunty Annabeth can you tell me the story of how you and mummy and daddy became best friends again please!" the little boy said after he had come down the slide and ran to her. She picked the boy up, swung him around once and sat down on a nearby bench with him on her knee.

"So," the woman started, " we all became friends when your daddy and mummy came over and stopped some mean people from school who were being really mean to me. They pushed the bad people away and your daddy told them 'if you ever come near her again you will get a good bashing!'" The boy giggled as the woman raised her fist and deepened her voice, supposedly doing an impression of the boys farther. The woman carried on speaking. "Ever since then mummy and daddy have been very protective over me. And me, mummy and daddy were always going on adventures. When we grew up both me and mummy fell in love with your very own daddy. Unfortunately for me your daddy was only in love with your mummy so then they got married and had a little boy called Nico," with the mention of what I'm supposing is his name the boy smiled and started to giggle as the woman tickled him. Once he had calmed down, she finished "and they lived happily ever after."

The boy looked sad. " Did you not get a happily ever after then aunty Annabeth?" The woman looked to the sky and the boy followed her lead.

After a moment the woman concluded with, " Hopefully I will get my happily ever after, just like your parents. Maybe I will get married to uncle Percy and have a little urchin like you," She said smiling and pushing a finger against his nose. "But they don't just appear. They take hard-work, good friendships and, with a bit of luck, a little bit of true love."

And with that the boy looked down from the sky, and, jumping off the woman's lap, ran over to two approaching adults. The woman had black, pixie cut hair and wore punk type clothes and the man had sandy hair and a scar on his face.

I saw how they all smiled at each other and I realised something· Even if Melody and Wally were going out I should be supportive and I should be a good friend. I decided to head to the bandstand and face the situation head on. As long as Wally is happy I should be. As long as I can keep his eyes in my life I will be satisfied.

When I finally get in view of the bandstand I see two figures standing in the middle. The one with its back to me was obviously Wally with his ginger hair. I could see him rubbing the back of his neck, a habit he had when he was nervous. This must be important then if he's nervous about it. Melody must have seen me from over Wally's shoulder because she suddenly stopped their conversation, shoved Wally towards what looked like a stool, then ran down the steps and towards me.

There must have been a worried look on my face because she started to try and reassure me.

"Don't worry it's nothing bad we just have something to tell you," Melody told me as she grabbed my wrist and dragged me towards the bandstand and what looks like a guitar and a keyboard.

Just as we went up the elegant steps, directly in front of me was a four legged stool. Slightly to the left was another stool however seated on this was Wally, his emerald eyes slightly covered by his bright orange hair, where intently focused on the strings of the guitar, which he was plucking and slightly twisting the pegs and changing the note of each string to tune it.

Melody grabbed my shoulders and frog marched me to the empty stool and pushed me into it. She then released her tight grasp and scooted past everything to stand behind the keyboard.

"Right then," she started, placing both hands on her hips and her feet shoulder width apart in what she calls her 'superhero/peter pan' stance. Wally here has something he would like to say to you but is unable to just say it to you. So naturally he came to the greatest person in the world to figure out how to tell you. Of course I came up with the best idea and that is how we all came to be here today. Just remember this is so uncharacteristic of him so give him some slack.

"So sit back, relax, watch out for the Moulin Rouge reference and enjoy Wally's gift , his song to you... "

Wally , having not looked up during Melody's speech, looked to her and she nodded. He looked straight back down and started to strum the beginning notes to the song.

Then Melody started to speak.

"Listen he thinks you are awesome." she looked at me straight in the eye as if this sudden eye contact meant something special. I shook my head in disbelief.

“He does! I'm telling the truth. Just listen.” She took a pause to wait for the music to catch up with her, keeping an eye on Wally for her que. Her fingers started to move gracefully across the keys as she began to sing.

“Well he said

There's nothing like your smile

Sort of subtle and perfect and real

He said

You never knew how wonderful

That smile could make someone feel

And he knew

Whenever you get bored

You scribble stars on the cuffs of your jeans

And he noticed

That you still fill out the quizzes

That they put in those teen magazines”

With each line that Melody sang, I could see Wally’s face slowly covering in a bright red blush. Did he really notice all those things that I did? Did he notice me that much?

“But he kept it all inside his head

What he saw he left unsaid

And though he wanted to

He couldn't talk to you

He couldn't find a way

But he would always say…”

At this point Wally finally lifted his head and began to sing.

“If I could tell her

Tell her everything I see

If I could tell her

How she's everything to me

But we're a million worlds apart

And I don't know how I would even start

If I could tell her

If I could tell her”

Holy mother of Zeus! Does this mean he likes me? I can't stop the smile spreading across my face. This is like a dream come true. I decided to play along with their little song.

“Did he say anything else?” I asked timidly.

“About you?” Melody replied with a mischievous smirk, “Of course! I think he could have gone on forever if he wanted to, but right now I'm just going to bring up the best ones.”

“He thought

That you looked really pretty”

Wally looked at Melody with a look of shock and irritation and in turn Melody let out a heavy sigh. Me on the other hand had a blush the shade of a tomato.

“Fine,” she sighed,

“It looked pretty cool when you put indigo streaks in your hair

And he wondered how you learned to dance

Like all the rest of the world isn't there

But he kept it all inside his head

What he saw he left unsaid…”

Once again Wally took over.

“If I could tell her

Tell her everything I see

If I could tell her

How she's everything to me

But we're a million worlds apart

And I don't know how I would even start

If I could tell her

But what do you do when there's this great divide?”

“You just seemed so far away” Melody joined in,

“And what do you do when the distance is too wide?”

“It's like I don't know anything”

“And how do you say”

I looked right into Wally’s eyes, wanting to know what he wanted to say.

“I love you

I love you

I love you”

Each time he said it hit me like a truck. He. He loves me? I have to be dreaming. I can't believe it. Tears started to brim in my eyes. I could feel it.

“But we're a million worlds apart

And I don't know how I would even start

If I could tell her

If I could”

Wally finally finished strumming the last chord, Melody went and took the guitar off him. She had already packed up her keyboard, doing it with great speed. She grabbed the stools and after she gave me a little nudge with a sly smirk walked down the steps of the bandstand and packed all her things into a pull along wagon and walked away.

Once Melody had disappeared from view, I turned back to Wally. I could tell he was nervous from his stance. It was one I had never seen him in because with whatever he did, he always did it with a confident demeanor.

“Did you,” Wally paused to swallow the lump in his throat, “ Did you like the song?”

“Yeah it was really good. I didn't know you played guitar.” I muttered just loud enough for him to hear. We both just stood there, a calm yet uncomfortable silence as a sudden gust of wind blew through.

“OK, here we go. Did you mean,” I paused to catch my breath, “what you said in the song?” I asked, preparing myself to run away if the answer was not the one I'd hoped for.

“Of Course I meant it. Believe it or not Y/N I've had a massive crush on you for quite a while now. And those feelings have just kept growing and growing the more I've gotten to know you. Each new thing you show me about yourself I've either loved or learned to love and I wouldn't change you for the world. At this very moment in time I'm just hoping that you feel the same. And if you don't I'll still always be here for you. Either romantically or not.”

“Wally,” I breathe. The biggest smile you could ever imagine was on my face at this moment. “I'm pretty sure I fell in love with you the moment I met you.” With my last word Wally took the few steps he needed to close the gap between us and tenderly pressed his lips on mine. You know that warm tingle you get from lying in the sun on a summer's day. That's what it felt like. And I never wanted it to stop.

Thanks to my little brother for being my beta reader

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pjoheadcannonsandaus · 8 years ago

Text

Full Moon

@incredible-dontknowwhattoput winner of Percy Jackson Trivia requested a percabeth werewolf AU!

Percy felt anxious as he sat next to Annabeth in the bed of his truck. They were at a look out point to watch the sun set. It was a terrible idea, he knew that. So close to a full moon and they are still out.

Annabeth looked over at him and took his hand, giving it a light squeeze for comfort. She knew what he was thinking because she was thinking the same thing. It was getting dark way too quickly and it was their only weekend that they could get away before she left to go on a week long college visit.

“So, you want to head back?” Percy asked as he watched the sky slowly change from blue to orange.

“No. I want to stay.” She replied. “And the sunset is just about to start.”

“Annabeth-”

“I know.” She sighed. “I just want to enjoy being with you before I leave for a week.”

Percy leaned over and kissed her cheek, knowing that they both needed the support for tonight.

They watched the sun set and the sky turn pink-orange before turning black. Annabeth was leaning on him, not wanting to move from her position. She was so relaxed.

“Annabeth, I think we should go.” Percy said. “Away from here.”

“It’s fine here.” Annabeth told him. “And I don’t want to leave just yet.”

“But-”

“Let’s just stay, okay? I promise it’s fine.” She replied, looking up at him. Her gray eyes staring deep into his green ones.

“You know that’s not true.” He replied. “I really should be going before the moon becomes more visible.”

Annabeth sat up and looked at him. Her gray eyes becoming dull as she knew that Percy was right. He needed to leave before things got worse. She moved over and kissed him.

“Be safe.” He whispered.

“I’m more worried about you.” She smiled weakly.

“I’ll be fine.” He promised.

She kissed him one last time before he got into the car. It broke her heart that she couldn’t sleep over on her last night with him. That’s what she wanted to do the most; cuddle up next to her boyfriend and pass out in his arms.

She looked out to see the near by town, lit up. Taking one last look, she headed to the forest, knowing that she wouldn’t have control any minute.

It was the stupid curse that was placed on her family generations ago. If she could find her ancestor that placed this curse on her family, she would try to make sure that didn’t happen.

Her gut felt like someone stabbed it. She doubled over, knowing she had to let it happen and try not to resist it. The only thing she hoped was that she wouldn’t kill anyone tonight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Percy drove back to his house, getting farther and farther away from Annabeth. He wished he could be there with her, but she told him over and over again that she wasn’t in control. He needed to be far away so she didn’t accidentally kill him.

It wasn’t that he was turned off from knowing that she was a werewolf, he thought it was kind of cool. What bothered him was that once a month, he couldn’t be near her.

But he just had to find her tomorrow morning before she went off to Harvard for the week, shadowing a student for a couple of days before heading to Princeton to do the same thing.

He pulled up into the driveway and cut the engine. It was pitch black out and he knew Annabeth was out in the woods somewhere. He just wanted to make sure that she was okay.

He got out of the car and heard a wolf howl in the distance. People in his town wouldn’t think much of it. But he secretly knew that was her, sending out a warning before going out of a hunt. At least that’s what he thinks.

“Please don’t kill anyone this time.” Percy whispered before heading inside, safe like she would want.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Percy woke up, he looked at his phone and saw that he missed ten calls from Annabeth and twenty texts from her to call her back. He cursed as he called her back,

“Annabeth, what’s going on?” He asked.

“P-Percy I killed someone.” She sobbed. “I killed someone again. Oh gods!”

“Where are you?” He asked, sitting up, feeling more alert now. “Are you okay?”

“I’m by the look out point. Please come get me.” She hung up.

Percy jumped out of bed and quickly got dressed. It wasn’t the first time that she killed someone and woke up next to some dismantled body part. It was confusing for her since she had no idea what happened. When she was a werewolf, she had no idea what happened.

He got into his truck and booked it up to the look out point. When he got there, he saw her standing at the edge of the woods, her hair had blood in it and her face was red from tears.

Getting out of his truck, he went over to her. His heart broke as he saw her like this. But he knew she couldn’t help it.

He brought her into a tight hug, not caring about the blood. “It’s okay. You couldn’t help it. It’s not your fault.”

“P-Percy, I just killed an innocent person.” She sobbed into his shoulder. “I’m a monster. A complete monster.”

“You’re not a monster.” He whispered. “I promise you’re not a monster. Let’s bury the body and have a funeral for them. Then we can clean you up.”

She nodded, her blonde hair moving as she tried to calm herself down. It only calmed her down a bit that it wasn’t Percy, at least not this time.

#Percy Jackson #Annabeth Chase #Percabeth #Percy Jackson au #Percy Jackson fanfiction #Percy Jackson and the Olympians #Heroes of Olympus #PJO #HOO

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bazzledazzled · 8 years ago

Note

First kiss+solangelo amybe?

YUSSS!! Lol this turned like a lot more angsty than it needed to be i am very sorry I have a problem with angst okay someone pls stop me before I make myself die of the feels XD

As a doctor, WIll always had to remain calm. No matter what came through that door. It didn’t matter if it was a minor cold, or blood was gushing out from their side, the campers of Camp Half-Blood could always trust him to be cool and collected, the eye of the tornado.

But, alas, there are times when even the best of the best crumble away.

All of it was so sudden. Really, no one knew it was happening, except Nico di Angelo. Nobody expected him to come when he did. One moment Will was just sitting on his bed, reading some book called Carry On that Annabeth recommended to him, the next he was looking up as someone appeared out of nowhere, causing him to jump a foot in the air. He looked up to see a familiar pale face.

“Gods Nico I thought I told you not to do that anymore,” Will says with a laugh, standing up. Nico looks like he wants to say something, and he tries to, but he’s interrupted as he falls against Will, unconscious. Will gasps, reaching his arms around him to support him.

“Nico?” he says worriedly, his breathing starting to speed up. That’s when he notices Nico’s hands pressed firmly to his side, both of them coated in a thick layer of wet blood.

“NO. No no no no no!!” he cries. A few of his siblings rush into the room to see what the commotion was about, and immediately stop. Will looks up at them, tears glimmering in his eyes.

“We have to get him to the infirmary. We have to save him.” Nobody told Will that it was probably too late as they helped him with Nico’s lifeless body, taking him to the infirmary as quickly as they could. None of them mentioned that it was almost impossible for someone to lose this much blood as they opened the doors, causing campers to hoard around them. And they did not mention how cold Nico’s skin was as Will ordered everyone away that wasn’t a doctor.

“I need stitches,” Will tells one of the Apollo kids that rushed to their aid as soon as the door bursted open.

“And bandages. Lots of bandages.” Another person nods, heading off.

They set Nico down and the campers arrive with stitches, bandages, nectar, and ambrosia. Another camper removed Nico’s hands from his side. That was when his world came crashing down. That’s when, for the first time, the campers saw Will cry.

“I-I-I can’t–” he says, his hands shaking. Someone puts a hand on his shoulder.

“It’s alright Will. We got this one.” They all knew Will and Nico where friends. In fact, they where almost inseparable. Some even wondered if their bond went deeper than friendship. Either way, they never left each other’s side. They where the sun and moon. Always.

So, for the first time in forever, Will left the room, the thought of blood spilling onto the pristine white sheets making his stomach twist painfully as he gazed at Nico’s chalky while face in his mind’s eye, cold and unmoving.

Nico isn’t going to die, he told himself as he clutched his head in his hands. Nico won’t die. He’s a fighter, he’s always been. He’s probably been through worse. Your siblings will save him. They always do. But, no matter what he told himself, he kept thinking about what would happen if his heart stopped, bringing the sun down with it. The world would stop spinning and there would be a hole in his heart, bigger than anything he’s ever experienced. He never even told Nico he loved him, and that would be the worst part of this whole situation. He would regret it till the day he died.

By the time his sister came out it could’ve been an hour or five, Will still wouldn’t have known.

“He’s stable. For now,” she says solemnly. Will nods his head.

“I want to see him.”

“I’m not sure if that’s–”

“I’m going to go see him,” Will says firmly, ending the conversation. He stands up, brushing imaginary dust off his jeans in an attempt to keep his heart from racing a thousand miles an hour. It doesn’t work.

The hallway seems to grow longer than ever now. Every step seems to ring in his ears like a drum. Thump. Thump. Thump. He doesn’t know what he’s going to see when he walks up to Nico’s room, but it’s not going to be good.

The door creaks open like something out of a horror movie. The air around Nico smells and feels like death, and that’s when Will realises that the ghosts have gathered around him, mourning.

The other doctors cut off his shirt, which is now deposited in a trash can, stained permanently with blood. His side looks like an animal attacked him, all of it marked with bright red scratches that go in every direction. It must’ve been a monster or something.

Will then looked up at his face. It was paler than normal and his eyes were closed, but it didn’t look like he was sleeping. It was something more grotesque than that. It was someone’s awful version of sleep, something that showed more pain than peace. The worse part was always waiting for them to wake up. Even if it wasn’t someone Will got along with too well, because people where counting on him to save them, but the truth is, when you get to this point, there was nothing much you could do. You just had to wait by and hope that the gods think their life is worth saving.

The machine beside him was beeping steadily. Good. There wasn’t anything to worry about. Not yet. Nico would be fine. He was always fine. Even when he had to get seven stitches in his head when a minotaur had a little too much fun with him. Even after he shadow traveled all the way from Greece. Even when he almost got his arm chopped off. He was constantly fighting battles, whether they where with inner demons, or the demons demigods faced everyday, and each time he was okay. Always okay.

Will did something that he’s done to countless of patients as he stayed by their bedside late at night, hoping he wouldn’t fail someone else. He started to talk. He always hoped that his words would reach them, and that it would help them resurface. But this time, his voice came out choked up.

“Nico I… You can’t die on me, okay? You’re my friend, you’ve always been. Even when you tried to push me away, I still wanted to be with you. I know you try to be something dark, something that people want to stay away from, but to me you where the stars in the night sky. You where the moon guiding my way home. You where the brightest thing in my sky. Always. I need you, Nico. I–” Will can’t continue because tears are starting to stream down his face and weak sobs are escaping his throat. He presses his forehead against the scratchy sheets.

“Gods I can’t do this. I can’t–” he groans and sits up. He grabs Nico’s lifeless hand, squeezing.

“Please keep fighting. For me?” Nico doesn’t answer. Will pulls up a chair so he can stay by his side. He grabs Nico’s hand again.

“I’ll be right here. Always.”

Will was woken up by the monitor beeping. At first it didn’t really worry him, but then he realised that something about it was off. He bolted awake to hear it beeping warningly and seeing others rushing in. Oh gods no no no no no.

“Is he breathing?” someone says.

“I’m not sure. I don’t think so.”

“Check his pulse.”

“It’s faint but it’s still there. We need to get him an oxygen tank asap. Someone try to get him breathing at least a little bit,” a girl with frizzy black hair nods her head, pressing her hands to Nico’s chest, giving him CPR.

Then, oh gods, no. There’s one final, long beat, and then nothing. Absolutely nothing. Dead silence. The room is suddenly a lot colder as the ghosts form again, crowding around Nico, their eyes sad. Tears stream down Will’s face as he forces himself right by Nico’s side, pressing his fingers to his stone cold face. He presses his face to Nico’s chest as the other’s quietly slip out and the ghosts disappear, letting him mourn in peace.

“Nico…. You can’t die on me. Why did you die on me….” he starts to shake with grief.

“Nico after everything you’ve been through…. it’s not fair for you to die. Not like this. Not after–” he pauses, deciding to choose his next words carefully.

“Look. I wish I could’ve told you this when you where….. but oh gods Nico, I love you. I love you so much you can’t even begin to understand. I’ve always loved you, Nico. I wish you knew. Maybe…. maybe it could’ve ended different.” He puts both of his hands on Nico’s still cheeks. He wish he could see a smile crack on them. He wishes he could see blushes spread across them and he wishes he could’ve wiped curls out of his eyes as they gazed at each other. But now…. now…..

Will leans forward, his face inches from Nico’s.

“I’ve always wanted to do this, and I guess you’re not around to care,” he whispers, then he presses his lips to Nico’s cold ones. Softly. Gingerly. Then, to his surprise, he felt them move underneath his. For a moment, he wonders if he’s imagining it, if he wants it to happen, but then hands cup the back of his neck, pulling him closer. Will pulls away and looks at Nico, who’s brown eyes are wide open, his face full of innocent wonder.

“That was my first kiss,” he whispers, sounding excited, and pretty shocked.

“What the fri–” Will’s heart is beating faster than ever. Nico looks over at him, cocking his head.

“Why are your cheeks wet?” Nico asks. Will lets out a cry of joy and wraps his arms around Nico, burring his face in his neck. Nico yelps.

“Oh right. The stitches. Nico how–”

“How what?”

“How are you alive?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You where dead, Nico. I heard your heart stop.”

“Well it’s working fine now….” he trails off, thinking for a second. Then–

“DAD!” he roars. The god Hades vaporises in front of them.

“Okay look I had to. You know I’m a sucker for love stories,” Hades says, putting his hands up defensively. Nico crosses his arms and rolls his eyes.

“That doesn’t mean you can just raise people from the dead.”

“Yes I can.”

“No you can’t.”

“I just did.” Nico opens his mouth to say something, but then Hades disappears. Will shakes his head, chuckling.

“I love your dad.”

#hadesissolangelotrash2k17

Send me a word + a ship and I’ll make a fanfic out of it

#solangelo #solangelo fanfiction #nico di angelo #will solace #angsstttttttt #so mach angstttttt #almost mcd #candy writes pjo

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