#ever so slightly. if anyone tries to take this post down/mature filter it i WILL start killing people it's literally just a flag

[aprofessionalwithoutstandards]

Sniper tf2 puppyplay pride icons because I can do whatever I want

Pngs from @tf2-pngs , @tf2-transparents , and my friend Karl thank you Karl @gemharvest

[ID: Nine icons of Sniper tf2 imposed over the puppyplay pride flag. The images of Sniper are taken from the fourth, fifth, and sixth mainline comics and the update comic "Meet the Director". The puppyplay pride flag has diagonal black and dark blue stripes with a white stripe in the center like the leather flag, with a red dog bone in the middle. End ID]

[backtothefanfiction]

WHAT BENNY DOESN’T KNOW| Chapter One

A TRIPLE FRONTIER STORY

Summary: After your mission starts going tits up and you find yourself being held at gun point, your groups big secret is about to come to light.

Warnings: Mature 18+ ONLY!! Guns, Violence, Hostage Situation, Shooting, Murder, Sexual References, Some Angst.  (This Chapter is purely set up but there will be plenty of Smut in future instalments, not to mention drama galore, especially where Frankie is involved.)

Word Count - 3429

A/N- Hi all, I hope you enjoy my little self indulgent piece I’ve been working on. This is a female reader insert so I do use she/her pronouns, I hope this doesn’t bother anyone or make them feel uncomfortable, I just always vision myself as my insert character and I just end up writing with my own pronouns. Although I have re-read this a couple times, I did write this and proof read in the early hours of the morning so there may still be mistakes, if you find any I’m sorry. Also I cannot wait for you all to see where I’m taking this and the drama that is gonna go down. Will Benny find out everything in the end? Let’s find out.

CHAPTER ONE | WHAT BENNY DOESN’T KNOW

Your feet danced silently across the sun spot covered floor boards as you made your way down the upstairs hallway of the house. You stayed close to the walls, your gun held tightly to your vest, finger always close to the trigger. You sensed a figure move across the hall behind you. You looked back over your shoulder as the brim of a cap stuck out from the corner of a door frame. You and Frankie locked eyes and he gave you a silent nod to let you know he had your back. You took your next tentative step forward towards the last room at the end of the hall. Creeeek.

You froze, your foot half in the air as you waited to see if your target had noticed. You heard a slight click from behind you as Frankie adjusted his gun ready just in case. You slowly moved your foot, placing it down on the floorboard next to the one that just creaked, so you had a better stance. The room at the end of the hall remained silent. You looked back to Frankie and he gave you a reassuring nod once again.

“We're all clear down here and we found the money.” Pope's voice came through the coms. “Fish? Magpie? How's it going up there.” There was a noise on the stairs causing both yourself and Frankie's head's to whip around to see Will. Frankie held up a fist to him. Will gave a silent nod as he readjusted his hand on his gun.

Frankie's response was hushed. “Give us a sec.”

You took your last few steps down the hall to position yourself across from the slightly open door. Frankie swiftly moved down the hall, stopping with his back against the wall, the barrel of his gun, ghosting the door frame. He signalled his hand indicating for you to take focus on the left side of the room, he'd take the right. You gave a nod to show you understood taking a quick look down the hall to check Will had your six. When you looked back to Frankie he was taking a slow calming breath, focusing himself. He gave one final nod and you both stormed through the door.

Just like every other room you'd checked, it was clear. You both relaxed, calling it out as Will came into the doorway. “There's nothing up here Pope.” you said into your com.

“What do you mean there's nothing up there?” Santiago Garcia's voice was frustrated as it came through the com.

“What you don't trust me? There's nothing fucking up here.” You said again as Frankie and Will did a double check of the other rooms.

“I'm coming up there.” You rolled your eyes. You and Santi had both gone into similar lines of work post service and you couldn't be mad at him for not trusting your judgement, you would probably do the same had the roles been reversed.

“Jesus Fucking Chr-” you started to mutter to yourself but a sound behind you caught you off guard. Shit.

“Put down your gun.” came a voice behind you. Of course this house had a secret fucking room you missed. You made a loud example of dropping your gun on the floor, alerting your team mates to the threat in the room with you.

Frankie stormed back into the room first, gun aimed at the ready. You sneered as the barrel of a gun was jammed into your back and your wrist was grabbed, your arm being forced behind you. “Fish what's going-” Will's voice fell as he too came back into the room, Frankie holding a hand up to him in caution.

“How many of you are there?” the man behind you spoke, his accent thick.

“We've got two more guys downstairs.” Frankie's voice came back calm.

“Iron head what's going on?” Pope's voice came booming down the hallway. Will held a hand up to him.

“All of you in here where I can see you.” The man said. You grunted as he twisted your arm again, leading you backwards so he was in a better vantage spot in the room. Frankie never lowered his gun as he stepped around the room to maintain his shot at the man behind you.

Will and Santiago slowly stepped into the room, both their weapons aimed ready. Santiago, not wanting to risk reaching for his com instead yelled out. “HEY BENNY, COME UP HERE!”

Everyone was silent as the sound of heavy footsteps made their way upstairs and down the hall. “What's everyone doing up here-” his question was cut off as he quickly surveyed the situation in the room. He quickly berated himself for leaving his gun downstairs but calmly checked himself, spotting your gun on the floor and forming a plan in his head about how he'd acquire it.

“All of you put your weapons down.” The man's heavy accent cut through the silence. When none of the men before him moved he raised the gun in his hand to rest against the side of your head. “I said, put your weapons down or I'll shoot her.” None of the men moved.

“Boy's it's alright, you can put your guns down. He's not gonna shoot me.” You said, your voice too light hearted for this situation.

“Yes I will.” the man bit back pushing the gun harder against your head.

You calmly turned your head to look at him. “No you won't, and you know how I know that?” You raised your eyebrows at him. “Because you need me to get out of here. You know the moment you do any actual harm to me, these men won't hesitate making your body drop, right where you stand. You're goal here, is to get yourself out alive, so you need me alive. So in conclusion, no, you're not going to shoot me.” You roll your eyes turning your attention back to your boys. “Boy's it's fine. I'm fine, just drop your weapons.”

Benny gave a quick glance to his right, at his brothers. Both Santiago and Will reluctantly followed your instruction, making a show of calmly lowering their weapons and placing them on the floor. The only one of them who didn't move was Frankie. You locked eyes with him. You saw all his emotions and care for you in his eyes, his determination to keep you safe as he fought with every fibre of his being to not lower his weapon, to just shoot this guy right where he stood. You're eye's pleaded with him softly. “Fish, it's okay.” It took a moment, but he too followed suit, slowly lowering his weapon.

“What's gonna happen is we are going to slowly head for the door.” The man pointing the gun at you said calmly. “You're friends are gonna stay right where they are.”

“Okay.” you said back calmly. This wasn't your first hostage negotiation but then again, you'd never been the hostage before.

“Okay.” he reiterated as he pulled your arm and slowly edged you towards the door. You watched the boys closely. You could see in Santi's eyes he was desperate to say something. You kept your glance on him a moment longer and his mouth began to open, your voice came out first.

“Do you remember that time in Italy?” you addressed him calmly as your feet still moved backwards towards the door.

“Yeah...” Santiago said tentatively, the man behind you jostling your arm as he began to step into the doorway.

You felt the man lower the gun from your head to your back, pushing it against your left side, a caution to be quiet which you ignored. “With that guy at that club.” You continued, your eyes locked with Santiago trying to get him to understand. “And you tried to impress me when you shot him, but I just got mad...” You too were now stood in the doorway. You stopped. “well.” None of the men had ever seen you move that fast. You reached your arm to the gun poking at your side, taking it from the man's hand. Before he'd even realised you'd taken it your whole body swivelled around as you twisted the gun around in your hands, raising it and shooting him point blank in his forehead. His body hit the ground with a thud. Your eyes didn't leave the man as you fully took a moment to take him in as you lowered the weapon in your hands.

There was a giddy squeal and the sound of Benny bouncing around excitedly behind you. You turned around stepping forward to hand the gun off to Santiago, finishing the statement you were making before. “Consider us even.” you said, raising your eyebrows to him.

“Oh my god! Did you see that?” Benny continued to bounce around the room. Will and Frankie only just taking a sigh of relief as you moved back towards the body now lying in the doorway. Benny finally came to a stop. “Is anyone else slightly turned on right now?” his filter not stopping the question, quickly permeating the room with it. There was silence from the other three men as you bent down to rummage through the dead sicario’s pockets. The radio silence to Benny's question was deafening to you. You slowly sheepishly turned your head towards the other three men who were still yet to say anything. You're head turn hadn't been slow enough though and you caught the look that Santiago, Frankie and Will quickly shared, before looking at any opposing point of the room they could.

“Well I guess I know what you boys don't talk about when you're out with Benny.” your statement cut through the thick silence. You took a quick look at Benny just long enough to see his face fall. You stifled a small snigger as you turned back to the body in front of you.

“What?” Benny's voice rang out. “What is it you don't talk about when you're with me? What did I miss?” the youngest man searched his brother's faces for answers. They continued to remain silent.

You pulled yourself away from the body, blowing straight past Benny to Santiago. “Does Will know about Italy?” Santiago remains silent but a quick look over to Will and how he's looking at you tells you everything you need to know. “So he does know about Italy.” you say coyly, your gaze turning back to Santiago.

Benny is beginning to get antsy, moving about the room. “What happened in Italy?” Nobody answers Benny and you continue your playful interrogation.

“How much does he know?”

“All of it.” Santiago responds. You look to Fish then back at Santi.

“Even...?” You can see Will's eyes fixed uncomfortably to a spot on the floor out of the corner of your own. Frankie beside him started to relax, his own legs becoming fidgety as he began to rock on the balls of his feet, the conversation making him uncomfortable.

“All of it.” Santiago says again. You suddenly notice Frankie become tense once more. It takes a moment for your brain to process why, but then it's fitting it together. The creaky floorboard in the hallway. You reached out for the gun in Santiago's hand quickly whipping around just in time. BANG. Another body hits the floor in the doorway.

“WHAT THE FUCK!” Benny practically squeals again. You turn your head back to Santiago, he has that look in his eyes. The same look he gave you that night in Italy. A warmth suddenly hits between your legs and you have to take a deep breath and centre yourself.

“I thought you said downstairs was all clear.” You say handing the gun over to him again.

“It was.” Santiago's voice was low as he tried to retake control of this situation, but the two of you both knew it was long gone. It had been gone the moment you mentioned Italy.

You took a step back, Benny still hopping about giddily. “Seriously did nobody tell him.” Your eyes roamed over to Frankie's. They locked for a fraction of a second before he purposely turned his gaze away from you. He still slightly resented you for the whole Italy incident. Your eyes finally fell on Will who was now silently looking at you, well aware you were the one fully in command from here on out. 'Wow' you silently mouthed.

“What the fuck am I missing out on?” Benny butted in again, his voice whining like a child.

“We'll tell you when your older.” his older brother finally said, not taking his eyes off you for a second.

---------

Your fingers were swollen red and sore as you carried yet another heavy bag of cash to the van. You quickly dropped it onto the large pile Frankie was loading into the back of the van parked outside the front of the house with a thud. You took a moment to regain your strength ready to go back for the last few bags, watching as the veins in Frankie's muscles strained as he lifted multiple bags at a time, swinging them into the van. You watched as he stopped a moment, realising you were still stood there, a hesitant look on his face, like he wanted to say something but didn't know if now was the right time to say it. You watched as the emotion inside him quickly built from whatever inner conflict he was having. He practically threw the next bag into the van.

You took a tentative step towards the pile of bags, picking one up and lifting it into the back of the van. “Don't do that again.” you heard the man beside you growl.

“Do what? All I did was put a bag in the van-” “Don't gamble with your life like that.” Frankie snapped at you.

“He wasn't going to shoot me.” you tried to keep your voice calm as you reached for another bag, but the slight irritation in how Frankie was treating you was clearly niggling at you.

“You didn't know that.” He said stopping everything he was doing to stare at you.

“Yes I did.” you snapped as you threw the bag in your hand, into the back of the van. You felt him grab your arm, pulling you round to face him. His hand remaining firmly around your wrist. You felt like your skin was burning under his touch.

“No. You took a gamble and began running your fucking mouth off, you were practically taunting him the whole fucking time-”

“He had the safety on.” You spat back at him, cutting off his rant. He looked at you half in shock, half in curiosity.

“What?”

“He had the safety on the whole time.” you said your voice softening trying to make him understand, but the look on his face was slow to change, almost like he still didn't believe you. You snatched your hand out of his grasp. “But thanks for caring.” You laced the statement with a slight venom, almost challenging him. He looked at you longingly then. So much of your relationship with one another going unsaid and sitting heavy between the two of you.

“You know I always fucking cared-” “No.” your voice was commanding.

“What?” he said slightly hurt and confused.

“Frankie, we're not doing this now.”

“Doing what?” Santiago's voice cut between the two of you as he made his way out of the house, a couple of the money bags in his hands.

“Nothing man, nothing.” Frankie said as he took a step back from you. He lifted his hat from his head, using the back of his hand to smooth the hair beneath it, attempting to look anywhere but at you as you went back to loading the bags into the van.

“Benny's just packing up the last two bags.” Will said as he came out to the van. He didn't add the bags in his hands to the pile, instead putting them straight into the back of the vehicle, pushing you out the way so he could get through.

You took a step back to survey the three men before you, as Will and Frankie began working together to haul the last of the bags into the van. “So you guys really telling me Benny knows nothing at all, and I'm not just talking about Italy.” The three men turned to look at you. This was the first time ever you'd been alone with the three of them together since all this started and you were dying for some answers.

“It never came up.” Santi sheepishly answered, shrugging it off.

“But the three of you have talked about this shit?” you questioned, quickly becoming bolder.

“Why, you been feeling your ears getting a little bit hot chica?” Santiago began teasing you.

“No.” you fired back a little too quickly shooting him a death look at the same time. You were surprised though when, instead of Santi coming back with another quip to continue teasing you, it was Will's voice that filled the silence.

“You know I'm beginning to think she get's off on the idea of us talking about her and debating over who did her better.” He said with a low chuckle. You shoot daggers at Will for the low blow but it only makes him smile.

“Well William, if you truly do know everything, then you know it's no competition and you already know who I think the best was.” you are quick to rebuttal, your voice taunting.

“The best at what?” Benny's voice questioned as he brought the last bags out to the van, throwing them in the back.

“Fucking me.” you say shooting him a wink and a cheeky grin. Your voice is so nonchalant when you say it, he knows you're saying it to taunt him. It sounds like such an exaggeration, like the farthest thing from the truth, a lie just to wind him up. He scoffs irritated as you raise your eyebrows at him and make your way towards the front of the van, away from his view. But what he doesn't know, that his brothers do, was that it was completely true. You had just taunted him with the truth and gotten away with it and damn were they impressed.

Santi practically chokes as he tries to hide his laughter, sputtering and coughing from how blatant you were. Will gave a small snicker before looking to his brother with sympathy, patting him on the shoulder. Frankie closed the doors to the back of the van, practically skipping around the side of the vehicle after you. You look back to him and he shoots you a look as if you say 'you're playing with fire' as he reaches out to open the door for you.

You give him a sickly sweet smile in return. He rolls his eyes at you as he leans against the door, waiting for you to hop into the van first and slide past the steering wheel, into the middle. You climb onto the seat but pause, looking directly at Frankie. He truly turns his head to look at you now, the serious look on your face when you address him. “You know it was always you right?” you asked him.

With everything that had happened between you, he genuinely hadn't known, but he could tell by your face you weren't talking just about the sex anymore. He wanted to push you further but the passenger door opened on the other side of the van as Santiago climbed in. When Frankie looked back to you, you had already turned away.

He took the drivers seat beside you, slamming the door shut a little bit too hard. He fumbled with the keys in the ignition. 'Why had you had to drop this on him now?' he thought to himself.

“Fish you okay man?” Santiago's voice rang out in the silence. Frankie's head snapped towards his best friend but his eyes somehow ended up landing on you. He took a moment to steady himself, his fingers going into autopilot as they once more placed the keys into the ignition, turning it over. The van roared to life.

The three of you watched as the Miller brothers took off in a separate car in front of you. “Alright man let's go.” Santi said slapping the dashboard and Frankie put his foot down on the accelerator, following the car in front back into the cover of the trees around them.

Let me know if you want to be added onto the tag list for this fic. I also won’t be adding names just from likes again like I did with the announcement post so if you want to be notified you have to put it in writing for me.

@icanbeyourjedi @theshiningharmony @darnitdraco @kesskirata @wyn-dixie @rosiefridayrogersunday @actual-spawn-of-satan @clydesducktape @asta-lily @honey-hi @heythere-mel @heidi-toevs @wigofokoye @choricenter @goodgriefitsawildworld @lostgirlheather @d0uwannkn0w @justdrawings101 @nicotinebirds @bisexualolympus @babyratt19 @cookiecat22​ @itspdameronthings

[today-only-happens-once]

With Great Power - Chapter 5

Title: With Great Power – Chapter 5

Catch up (or read on AO3) here!

Fic summary: Thomas Sanders is just a regular social media personality. But when he gets bit by a spider during filming one of his YouTube videos, his whole life is about to turn upside down—whether he (or the aspects of his personality) want it to or not. Platonic LAMP/CALM + Character!Thomas. Spider-Man AU.

Chapter word count: 3,515

Chapter warnings: cursing, nightmare mention, anxiety mention, minor spoilers for Danny Phantom.

A/N: Almost a month later, here’s chapter 5! So sorry for the delay. I hope you enjoy it! <3 Shoutout to @creativenostalgiastuff for her help as always. Edited by yours truly so all mistakes are mine.

Tags: @captain-loki-xavier, @human-dictionary, @the-peculiar-bi-tch, @mining-pup, @band-be-boss-blog, @asexual-trashbag, @samathekittycat, @why-should-i-tell-youu2, @theobsessor1, @always3charcoaltea, @changeling-ash, @logical-princey, @crimsonshadow323, @flickering-raven, @smokeyrutilequartz, @dontbugmeimantisocial, @liz-a-bell, @black-king-white-knight, @soijusthavetoask, @analogical-mess, @marvelfangeek09, @vigilantvirgil, @princelogical

Sorry for the delay, everyone! Thomas types out for Twitter, a couple days later. Wasn’t feeling great but we’re back at it! New CT coming to you soon!

He pauses, then looks up at Joan across from him, sitting on a chair in Picani’s office. “Hey, what if we did a livestream tomorrow?”

He still feels bad for having gone MIA for a week. Or, as MIA as Thomas ever really went. He’d texted Joan, Camden, and Talyn basically every day to tell them he still wasn’t feeling his best. It wasn’t… a total lie, he’d told himself despite the guilt that sat uncomfortably in his stomach. It definitely hadn’t helped that he’d consequentially been postponing finishing up the filming of Cartoon Therapy due to his absence. It had been a couple of weeks now without any video to post on either channel.

Joan looks up from laptop poised across their lap. “Uh, I can do that. As long as it ends before 6, ‘cause my piano lesson starts at 6:30.”

Thomas smiles. “Perfect. I just feel bad for making them wait, y’know?” To make up for it, he adds to the tweet, we’ll be having a Livestream tomorrow at 4! Open to everyone, not just members. Hope to see you all there!

“You can’t help that you got sick,” Joan replies as Thomas sends the tweet out. “They understand.”

“Yeah, but… y’know.” Thomas lifts a shoulder. “I just wanna do something for them.”

“It’s cool, man,” Joan replies. “I think it’s a good idea. And it’ll give us a nice break from the editing and shit.”

“Speaking of—” Thomas grabs the pen and journal prompts from the bookcase behind him—"how’s Camden handling his part of things? I haven’t talked to him about the vid in a while.”

“I think he’s almost done,” Joan replies. “We just gotta finish the last of Picani and we should have the rest of the footage he needs to finish his section.”

Thomas nods and adjusts the knot in the pastel green tie around his neck. It had seemed like every time they’d tried to film the rest of Picani, something got in the way. Thomas loved acting and he loved the filming stage of videos, but a small part of him just wanted to be done with it. The sooner he could be done filming, the sooner he could focus on… more pressing issues.

“Then let’s finish Picani,” Thomas says lightly. “We’ve just got the last scene with Valerie’s character, right?”

Joan nods. “Yep. Shouldn’t take long at all.”

“Awesome.” Thomas glances in the viewfinder and pushes the bangs that were falling into his eyes out of the way. “Ready when you are.”

Joan hits record on the camera, then looks down at their script. “I have to be the adult, y’know?”

Thomas taps his pen against his mouth, looking carefully at Valerie’s sightline. “You know, Elena… Danny’s older sister feels that way for much of the show, too.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, Jazz is only a couple of years older than Danny. But she often feels like she has to be the adult in the family because she sees her parents as a bit… immature.” Thomas leans forward slightly. “So she acts way older than she really is. But that mentality ends up backfiring on her when she takes it a little too far.”

“Too far?”

Thomas places his pen on top of his journal in his lap. “In Season 2 Epsiode 7, Danny has to fight a ghost that can only be seen by kids while he’s on vacation with his family. Since Jazz acts and thinks of herself as an adult even though she’s only 16, she can’t see the ghost and starts to think—along with her parents—that Danny is going crazy.” Thomas pauses, remembering that they’d wanted to cut in with a video clip there. Then he continues. “Though her concern is well-intentioned, it leads her to trapping Danny and the ghost goes after their parents. It’s not until Danny is able to get Jazz to act like a kid again that she’s able to see the ghost, and ultimately help to save her family.”

Joan rolls their eyes to keep in character as they read Valerie’s lines. “Fine, but my family’s not under attack by ghosts.”

Thomas sighs. “You’re right. But the point is that Jazz thought acting like an adult was helping the people around her, when it really wasn’t. When she actually started acting her age was when she was able to be the most help—especially to her little brother, who was the whole reason she’d been acting so much older in the first place.”

“Huh…”

“From that point on,” Thomas continues, “Jazz tries to find a balance. She’s a mature person, and nobody was asking her to change that. But she also comes to understand the importance of still being a kid. She learns how to balance the two in a way that doesn’t ask her to sacrifice any part of who she is.”

Joan pauses. “I… guess I could try that. Maria isn’t a little kid anymore, even though I still think of her as my baby sister.”

Thomas gives a small, encouraging smile. “It’ll take some time. Learning balance is not as easy as flipping a switch. But it’s something we can continue to work on. It might even help your relationship with your sister in ways you don’t expect.”

Joan gives a single nod. “I’d like that.”

“Great!” Thomas grins. “So I’ll see you next week?”

“Definitely. And… thanks, Dr. Picani.”

“Any time, Elena.”

…

“We can tell them. Should we tell them? We can tell them. I think. Wait…”

Thomas laughs as Joan stumbles through their thoughts about half an hour in to the livestream. He laughs even harder when he sees the chat blowing up with people asking Joan to just say it already. They’d decided to go back to Thomas’s apartment for the livestream, if only for sake of tradition. Not every livestream had been from this location, but Thomas wanted some of the normalcy back. And Joan, though they’d seemed puzzled, didn’t appear to mind.

“I’m good to tell them who it is,” Thomas says.

“Wait, who as in the…” Joan arches an eyebrow. “Or…” They tilt their head. Perhaps strangely enough, Thomas knows exactly what they’re asking.

He laughs again. “Real name, not the character name.”

“Yeah, okay. That’s what I was thinking.” Thomas and Joan both look back at the camera.

“It’s Valerie,” Thomas says. “The new character we’re introducing is played by my friend, Valerie. Some of you probably know her, since she’s been in… a good number of our videos. We got really lucky that the schedules worked out, since she’s auditioning in Orlando at the moment.”

“Yeah, she’s actually been in a lot,” Joan says. They start counting on their fingers. “Reasons to Smile.”

“On the Spot in the Spotlight,” Thomas supplies. “Which we’re still planning on bringing back.”

“The first Tongue Twisted.” Joan snaps their fingers and points at him. “She’s been in a few of your shorts videos, too.”

“I feel like we’re missing something.” Thomas glances at the chat and smiles at the people shouting SANDERS SIDES in all caps. “That’s right! Goodness gracious, she was in two of the Sanders Sides videos.” He shakes his head. “Sorry, guys. Guess I’m still a little out of it.”

He manages a small, apologetic smile. But a moment later, there’s a flood of messages in the chat telling him not to worry, asking if he’s feeling better, reminding him to rest and drink water… he feels a sharp twist of guilt. He tries not to linger on it.

“Let’s see… other questions….” He watches the chat closely, the knot in his stomach loosening slightly as the messages filter from well wishes to questions again. One of them makes him frown. “Someone’s asking if I’ve seen the Ekko videos?” He glances over his shoulder towards Joan. “I haven’t. Is that a new thing? I don’t know if I’ve heard of them.”

Joan looks suddenly uncomfortable. They shrug, but its awkward and forced. “Yeah. It was all anyone was talking about a couple days ago.”

Thomas hadn’t been checking social media over the past week. A part of him felt relieved that they’d at least moved on from trying to identify who “Spider-Man” was. “What are they?”

Joan gives him a quick look. “I’ll… tell you after the livestream.” Thomas couldn’t quite read their expression, but there was a warning look in their eyes that made him nod his agreement. Whatever it was, Joan didn’t want to talk about it with an audience. They wanted to change the subject.

At Thomas’s nod, Joan leans forward to read the scrolling chat feed until they find a different question. Thomas glances at the screen as well, and sees a few questions with “Spider-Man” in them—they go too fast for him to identify what exactly they’re asking—and feels himself tense. Joan doesn’t seem to even notice the questions.

“Here’s one,” they say after a brief pause. “Thomas, if you could be any kitchen appliance, what would you be?”

As the livestream continues, Thomas finds himself falling into old, comforting habits. He’d always had fun doing livestreams, especially ones with Joan. He appreciated their ability to be thoughtful and intellectual one moment and crack a joke that would make Thomas’s stomach hurt from laughing the next. A part of him feels like he appreciates it now more than ever. Joan is his best friend, and he can tell them anything.

Well… almost.

The idea of telling them about the recent… abilities Thomas had come to acquire made his stomach squirm and his heartbeat quicken. He couldn’t quite explain why. Joan would probably be skeptical—even Thomas hadn’t believed it at first—but the powers were something he could prove, a voice that sounded an awful lot like Logan reminded him. He’d been proving his abilities to himself all week, after all. Maybe he knew there was a chance that Joan would freak out and never talk to him again. They wouldn’t do that. The thought sounds like Patton.

Even so, something whispers safer to not tell them in the back of his mind, and Thomas can’t help but believe it.

“I gotta go soon,” Joan says. They look at Thomas. “Should we end with Mind Meld or something?”

Thomas pushes his bangs out of his eyes. He smiles. “Yeah, let’s do it.” Thomas pauses, thinking of his first word. “Okay. Ready?”

“Yeah.”

“3. 2. 1. Giant,” Thomas chimes at the same time that Joan says, “Apple.”

Thomas laughs. “Giant and apple?” He makes a face. “I don’t even know where to go with that.”

Joan grins in amusement, then thinks. “Okay. I think I have one. Super and apple.”

Thomas stares at them in uncertainty before he gets an idea. “Okay. I do too. It’s kinda weird, though.”

“3. 2. 1. Honeycrisp,” Joan says at the same time Thomas spits out, “New York.”

“I was thinking like, a giant apple. New York?” Joan laughs. It makes Thomas laugh too.

“I was thinking like, ‘giant as in ‘big’ and then—”

“And then you went to Big Apple,” Joan finishes. “Okay. I kind of get that. Honeycrisp and New York. Uh.”

Thomas’s eyes widen as he frantically tries to think of some sort of connection before one occurs to him. “Okay! I think I got one. It’s… broad-ish?”

“Broadish?” Joan starts laughing again. “That’s very helpful.”

“Okay, like,” Thomas waves a hand. “Kinda broad.”

Joan furrows their brow before shrugging. “What the heck. 3. 2. 1.”

Thomas says ‘vendor’ and Joan says ‘food’. It takes another round before they both eventually end up saying ‘restaurant’. Thomas grins when they finally get there. He looks back at the camera.

“Took us a minute but we got there! Thanks for sticking around, guys. This was a lot of fun. Super glad we had the chance to do this.” He glances at the chat, laughing at all the reactions of people playing along. In the midst of the messages—some of them now transitioning to sweet goodbyes—he sees one that catches his eye.

oof after that ekko vid I could use a new reasons to smile

Something uncomfortable sits in Thomas’s chest, but he flashes a quick smile at the camera. “Love you all! Bye!”

He stops the livestream and closes his laptop. Joan sits back in their chair, the spark of amusement from the game of mind meld fades out of their eyes. He’s reminded suddenly of the solemn, uncomfortable look Joan had given him when he’d asked during the livestream about whatever the ‘Ekko video’ was about.

“I saw that message. I know what you’re thinking,” Joan chimes in quietly after a moment. “It’s… not something you really wanna watch, dude. Trust me.”

“Why?”

Joan sighs and reaches for their water bottle. “It’s just… this thing that freaked everyone out. I don’t know how to explain it, but Talyn had nightmares after they watched it.” They take a drink. “I think it’s just someone trying to get some attention. The best thing to do is probably not to give it to them, y’know?”

Thomas nods absently as Joan pushes back from the table and heads towards the kitchen. Talyn didn’t really spook easily. They played horror games for fun in the dark alone. Thomas had never really been that kind of person. But he can’t deny that he’s curious. A part of him does want to know, if only out of a morbid kind of curiosity of what could have that kind of impact on his friends. Even though Joan had talked about Talyn’s reaction, it was clear to Thomas that it had bothered them too.

Dishes clatter in the sink as Joan sets the water bottle they’d borrowed from Thomas amongst the plates and bowls that Thomas hadn’t gotten around to cleaning yet. Neither of them said anything, letting the whir of the AC unit fill the uncomfortable silence between them. Something about it had gotten under Joan’s skin. Something they weren’t telling Thomas.

Thomas opens his mouth to ask them about it when Joan interrupts him suddenly. “I don’t know, man. It was weird and it felt like a warning of some sort. Maybe that’s why Talyn and I both felt a little paranoid after we watched it.” Their dark eyes flicker up to Thomas as they turn from the sink to look at him through the cut out opening above the counter into the living room. “I just don’t really want to dwell on it.”

Thomas caves and nods. “Okay.”

“But if you want to do another Reasons to Smile, that might be fun. A few people in the chat were suggesting it. Maybe that’d be a good idea.” They cross back into the living room and grabs their jacket from the back of the chair.

“Sure,” Thomas says, still a little lost in his thoughts. What could be so bad about that video? “Yeah, I’ll reach out to Camden and the team and whoever is in town to see if they might wanna join in. Maybe I can get Lee or Mary Lee to join this time.”

“Cool.” Joan stops after they’ve pulled their jacket on. Thomas can feel their gaze on him. “You okay?”

Thomas blinks and shakes his head to clear it. “Yeah. Just worried,” he says honestly. He offers a faint smile. “You and Talyn don’t usually get freaked out easily.”

Joan gives him a look. “We have anxiety,” they deadpan teasingly. Thomas huffs a laugh, even though it does little to expel the tightness in his chest. Joan sighs softly. “Really, Thomas. We’re okay.”

Thomas nods again. “Okay.”

“I gotta run,” Joan says, sounding faintly apologetic. “I’m gonna be late for my lesson.”

Thomas gives them a smile that he hopes is reassuring. “Go. Love you.”

“Love you too.” Joan closes the door behind them.

…

Thomas slips his phone into the back pocket of his jeans and cranes his neck up towards the night sky. It’s  little late to be posting the Sunday Shout-Out video, but he liked the nighttime. The parking lot is empty except for his car, and even though he knows he ought to just go home given the hour, a part of him wants to stay out just a little longer.

Thomas sighs and jumps up on the trunk of his car and sits. He fold his hands behind his head and leans back against the windshield, looking up at the stars. Most of them are drowned out by the streetlights that illuminate the lot, but Thomas doesn’t mind. A cool breeze plays with the ends of his hair. It’s calming.

Thomas sighs and closes his eyes.

“I really ought to insist that you go home before too much longer, Thomas.”

The internet personality smiles faintly at the sound of his Logical Side’s voice. He cracks an eye open to find Logan standing beside the car, his arms crossed over his chest and an eyebrow cocked. Thomas’s lips curl up in a faint smile.

“I know, Logan.”

“If you know, then why do you appear to be falling asleep in the middle of an abandoned parking lot?”

Thomas sits up. “I wasn’t falling asleep.”

Logan hums, seemingly unconvinced. “All the same. Optimal rest is necessary for you to maintain a healthy lifestyle.”

“I know.” Thomas shakes his head a little, still smiling, and leans back again. “But this is nice.”

“This?” Thomas can hear the skepticism and confusion in Logan’s voice and tries not to laugh.

“Yes,” Thomas replies. He shifts over. “Take a seat. Try it out for yourself.”

There’s a brief pause, and Thomas isn’t sure whether or not Logan is going to take him up on the offer. Then Logan climbs up on the car, mirroring Thomas’s position beside him except for the folding his hands across his stomach rather than behind his head. Thomas smiles again. He’s a little surprised, although he supposes he shouldn’t be. Logan was the part of him that sought to learn, after all. And if Logan didn’t understand the appeal of something, he could usually be convinced to try it at least once.

“See?” Thomas says after a moment. “It’s nice.”

Logan doesn’t reply right away. “Perhaps.”

“The whole day was kind of nice, actually,” Thomas continues. He lets his eyes drift closed again. “It felt… normal.”

“Normal is a widely subjective term, Thomas.”

“Normal for me, I mean.” He takes in a deep breath of the night air. “Filming, livestreaming, hanging out with Joan. I think maybe I needed that. I needed a day to just be… normal again. Maybe not everything has to change, y’know?”

Logan doesn’t say anything. Thomas feels him shift beside him and he cracks an eye open. Logan is looking up at the sky. The streetlights reflect off the lens of his glasses. A short gust of wind tugs at the end of his stiped tie. There’s something in his expression that Thomas can’t quite read.

He doesn’t dwell on it. Thomas follows Logan’s gaze back up to the sky. “Do you remember,” Thomas asks, “when I was like, seven and wanted to be an astronaut?”

“Yes,” Logan replies. “I do remember that. It was an aspiration that lasted for nearly a full year.”

Thomas glances over at him. “Do you wish I still wanted that?”

Logan adjusts the frame of his glasses before folding his hands across his stomach again. “I don’t believe it’s that simple. I was more than content at your chosen field, Thomas, short-lived as your use of it may have been.”

“You’re talking about chemical engineering.”

“Indeed.” Logan is still looking up at the sky above them. “Although, such fields of study have many unexpected benefits. Perhaps it will prove useful yet.”

The corner of Thomas’s lips curls up in a faint smile. “Perhaps,” he says, echoing Logan from a moment ago. A comfortable silence settles between them. For all the times that Logan and Thomas had been at odds with each other, he’d never doubted that Logan was doing his best to look out for him, just like all of them always did. Most of the time, Thomas found Logan’s company a quiet kind of grounding. Calming. Tonight was no exception to that.

Thomas listens to the crickets and sound of distant car tires rolling on pavement for a long moment. His eyes drift shut again.

“You are getting tired,” Logan says softly, moments before Thomas was about to fall asleep. “I really must insist that you go home to ensure your safety.”

Thomas blinks his eyes open and sits up. He scrubs a hand across his eyes, bangs falling across his face in the process, and smiles tiredly at Logan as the Logical Side sits up beside him.

“You got it, Logan.” He pauses, the smile a little. “And… thanks.”

…

[familyfriendlyfilm]

Throughway - PJO

Hey! This is my first fanfic that I’ve posted here ever. I used the prompt of Liminal Spaces from a different post for a brainstorm and I found myself writing Percy and Annabeth, so I hope you enjoy!

Third person POV, Annabeth focus though. Some fluff but nothing too mature. 

Saturated orange light flickered as it filtered through the dirty window above the booth. The fluorescents overhead buzzed and filled the air with electricity, as if anticipating the coming storm. In the booth, sat a young woman, maybe 20 or 21, head in her hands, trying to find a way to control the sobs that racked her body. Her phone screen lit up and quietly dinged every few seconds, but she attempted to ignore all that.

She found herself, in a phone booth, at a rest stop outside of her city for one reason only: the betrayal of a loved one. Not 3 hours earlier, she had walked in on her boyfriend Nico and her best friend Will, shirts off and lips locked on her couch. All she could do at the time was stand in the doorway, mouth agape as they both scrambled to get off each other and stuttered out worthless excuses and apologies.

As she relieved that moment in her head, she let out a sad and frustrated groan, the buzzing and ringing and flickering driving her to a moment of insanity where she picked up the cell and through it out of the curtain that separated her from the rest of the world.

“OW! What the hell?”

Shit. She didn’t expect anyone to be out there, especially not at this hour. The woman peeked around the curtain to find a man with messy black hair in a blue hoodie rubbing his neck and reaching down for the now slightly cracked phone. He paused momentarily as the screen lit up again, giving it a scrunched look of confusion. Grabbing the phone, he stood straight and looked over in the direction of the booth.

The woman’s heart stopped as she quickly went to hide behind the curtain again. Those eyes. Large and green and almost glowing. She recognized those eyes instantly; of course, it was him. Quickly, she grabbed a crumpled tissue from her pocket and tried to wipe away some of her tears, taking small calming breaths as she did so. She barely had time to do so before she heard quiet knocks on the side of the booth,

“Um, do you want to explain why I was the target of this flying iPhone?”

The blonde woman took a second to compose herself and pull her curls into a haphazard bun before pulling open the curtain to face the man,

“I’m so sorry, I really shouldn’t have thrown that.”

It took him a moment to register who he was talking to, he could feel a slight blush creeping into his cheeks and he cleared his throat with a chuckle, holding the phone out for her to grab,

“Uh, you’re probably right but it’s all good. I may have read a few of those texts on accident, and considering the circumstances, I think I can forgive you.”

The girl gave a week smile and grabbed the phone, quickly turning it off as she threw it in her purse,

“Oh…you read some of that?”

He rubbed the back of his neck and gave a cheeky smile,

“I wouldn’t have needed to. I think getting hit in the head by a phone is enough to know someone is upset. I’m -ah- I’m Percy by the way.”

She blinked in surprise and frowned a little, so he didn’t remember her. Why would he? Every time we’ve met it’s been half drunk and not a lot of talk. Guess I should just do this like we don’t know each other.

“Annabeth,”

she responded flatly, not really looking him in the eyes.

“So, what brings you to my domain?”

Percy smiled a little, a feeble attempt at lightening the mood while also trying to find out why this girl, one he had a complicated history with, found herself outside of town and at a shitty rest stop.

Annabeth could tell he was trying to be polite and just shrugged,

“I just needed to get away from the city. I just kinda drove until I couldn’t anymore, so I stopped here,”

she could feel her eyes beginning to water again so she pushed past Percy toward the parking lot,

“I’m sorry, I should leave now.”

His arm flashed out in an instant, grabbing her by the elbow and pulled her back gently,

“Woah, you’re in no condition to be driving right now. Why don’t you come inside to the café? I just close up shop but I can fix you up something to help you gather your thoughts a little.”

Annabeth nodded and let Percy guide her to the small corner café of the old rest stop. It was well worn and in obvious need of repairs and a fresh coat of paint, but it smelled of sweets and coffee, and that was enough for her not to protest when he sat her down at a stood with a little fluff sticking out of it.

Percy disappeared into the back, calling behind him,

“You don’t remember me do you?”

Annabeth bit her lip to stop herself from responding right away and took a moment to think how she would word what followed,

“You seem familiar…did we meet in passing?”

Upon hearing that response and knowing he was out of eyesight, Percy silently cursed as he prepared the drink and tried to trigger some memory in Annabeth,

“You’re Annabeth Chase right? Your dad is a history professor at the college?”

So, he knew more than he let on, Annabeth pondered to herself, rubbing her puffy, tired eyes,

“That’s me. ‘Professor Chase’s daughter’.”

Percy chuckled and peeked around the corner of the doorway,

“Oh come on, give yourself more credit than that. I’ve seen some of your writing in the paper too, some of the stuff on the new buildings on campus, it’s super good,”

she blushed at that,

“But I’m in your dad’s American Industrialization and War class. I enrolled sort of late so I had a lot of catch up to do.  I had one-on-one study sessions in his office a lot. I remember you’d always bring him coffee at 4:15 on the dot. He introduced us the first time I was there.”

By the time he’d finished, he’d brought out a mug of thick, rich smelling liquid and a glass of water. He leaned on the counter with a rag in hand, looking at Annabeth expectantly.

She gave a small smile and offered,

“Oh, uh, I guess I never got that great of a look at you? It’s Percy…Johnson?”

At that, Percy grimaced and threw the towel over his shoulder, turning around as he did so,

“You have no idea how often people get my name wrong. ‘Johnson’ ‘Jason’ ‘Jacobson’. You’d be shocked how creative some people can be. It’s Jackson. Percy Jackson.”

Annabeth couldn’t help but let out a chuckle, and hearing that, Percy smiled within himself. She stuck out her hand and said,

“Well, nice to officially meet you Percy Jackson.”

He turned back around grinning and heartily grabbed her hand and shook it,

“Gee thanks, nice to meet you too Annabeth Chase. Officially.”

For a moment, everything slowed down and Percy eyed Annabeth cautiously. Shivers ran down her spine as his eyes met hers again and for a moment, she forgot where she was, loosing herself in the mesmerizing greens. At the same time, all that ran through Percy’s head was how easily it would be for Annabeth to send someone running with her stormy gray eyes. Every moment it looked like clouds shifted in her eyes. He started leaning in, almost involuntarily. Almost.

YO I’LL TELL YOU WHAT I WANT, WHAT I REALLY, REALLY WANT!

The Spice Girls blasted from Percy’s hoodie pocket and he fumbled around for the phone, cheeks beet red as Annabeth stifled her laughter.

“Hello?...oh hey. Yeah. No, I’m still at work,”

Percy glanced back at Annabeth, who was grinning ear to ear, face red from laughter and tears in the corner of her eyes, this time happy ones. He’d never seen anything more beautiful,

“Um...probably late?...oh shit! I’m sorry I completely spaced…it’s a bit of a friend emergency…come on you know I wouldn’t do this on-hey! That’s not fair!”

The sudden change in his tone made Annabeth jump and Percy noticed. Running a hand through his messy black hair, he sighed,

“Listen Thals, I gotta go. We’ll talk about this later, deal?...and, uh, could you let Nico know Annabeth is safe?...Yeah she’s here…alright thanks. Bye.”

Annabeth’s smile had disappeared when she heard mention of Nico, her boyfriend. She turned away from Percy who quickly found his way around the counter and blocked the door,

“Now before you go throwing phones again, let me explain.”

“What’s there to explain? You know Nico. He probably sent you to find me. You’re just doing him a favor. I get it.”

Percy shook his head,

“That is not what I’m doing. Sit down and let me explain. Please?”

Annabeth hesitated a moment then went to sit down again while mumbling,

“The Spice Girls, really?”

She found her seat and played with the mug in her hands.

“You better drink that Sludge before it gets cold.”

“It’s called what now?”

“Sludge…come on try it before you judge, it’s good. A Percy Jackson special, only for the best customers.”

With a distasteful frown and a glare at Percy, she raised the glass to her lips. It tasted like blueberry pancakes fresh off the griddle and warm vanilla milk all at once. It warmed almost every inch of her body and woke her tired eyes up. She felt rejuvenated and instantly more forgiving of guy in front of her.

“Good right?”

She gave a shrug, not willing to succumb to his cheekiness. So, Percy sat down next to her at the counter and took a breath,

“The person who called me was my cousin, Thalia. I was supposed to join her on a double date tonight but I completely spaced so I had to cancel on her. She wasn’t happy but whatever, she can take her brother Jason if she wants to go so badly.”

“But you and Thalia know Nico my boyf-…ex-boyfriend.”

She grabbed the water, quickly taking a sib as she felt another fit of emotions surfacing.

“Uh yeah. He’s our cousin also. I saw him on your phone screen earlier and I put two and two together. I don’t talk to him a ton, I knew he had a girlfriend but I had no idea that it was you. It kinda surprised me, I thought Nico was into guys and even if he wasn’t, I wouldn’t have pinned you as his type.”

Ouch, that was a low blow. So now not only am I the one cheated on by my  apparently gay boyfriend, I’m not even worthy to be dating Nico in the first place?, Annabeth thought to herself with a frown. Percy realized his mistake from her quiet response and sighed,

“Listen that’s not what I meant. I just think he’s kinda dark for you. I expected you to go for the more…I don’t know, humorous type…”

He trailed off when he saw Annabeth’s face scrunch up. She placed the water down carefully and crossed her arms. This close together, Percy noticed the goosebumps on her skin and said hesitantly,

“I’m such an idiot, I left the AC on. Are you cold?”

She shrugged and glanced past him to the window, seeing the beginnings of a late summer storm,

“Nothing a little Sludge won’t fix.”

Percy grinned, and despite her protests, shouldered off the hoodie and wrapped it around Annabeth. His hands rested on her shoulders and she couldn’t help but close her eyes at the warmth of his touch, a touch she was finding herself craving, despite the fresh betrayal of Nico. She mumbled a thank you and he grabbed the seat next to her again. He had this look about him that she wouldn’t be able to place into words until later as protective.

He watched her quietly as she sipped on the sludge then grabbed my cup of water and sipped on it. Then, he began to make patterns on the counter with some of the condensation that had fallen down the side of the glass into a ring on the surface below.

There was something so beautiful about it, and it caught Annabeth in a sort of trance that she almost didn’t hear him say,

“So, you want to talk about it?”

She let out a sigh,

“Percy I hardly know you.”

Percy deflated a little at that, but then a thought came to his head and he perked up a little,

“Well then, let’s get to know each other. We seem to already have a lot in common, at least in our social circle. I think we’ve crossed paths before,”

More than just crossed paths, Annabeth thought to herself,

“So let’s make up for a little lost time and it’ll be a great distraction.”

He is cute, Annabeth gave him that, and eventually she decided maybe a distraction wasn’t so bad,

“Fine.”

He flashed her another cheeky grin and nodded,

“Awesome. Okay, what is your dream job?”

“Architect.”

Percy was taken aback a little,

“That was quick, why architect?”

Annabeth took a sip, finishing off the Sludge and told Percy what she’d repeated her whole life:

“I just love architecture. It’s mathematical and beautiful all at once.”

She hesitated a moment, contemplating whether to share the next bit with him, sure he was going to laugh,

“Plus…I want to build something permanent. Like the Greeks and the Romans did but also something that everyone will know my name from.”

She waited for the laugh, but instead heard an impressed whistle,

“Dang, that’s a pretty way of thinking about it. At least you’re passionate about something.”

Annabeth gave him a funny look,

“Are you not passionate about your future?”

He bit his lip in thought, which she found herself blushing over a little, then simply shrugged,

“I guess I still have a lot to figure out. I’m undeclared still. I was going to be a marine biology major but I hate traditional schooling. Honestly I’m considering just doing some sort of main stream degree like psychology and then just learning what I actually want to do by doing it.”

“That’s always an option. I think you’ve just have to find what gives you that drive and really let that feeling take you over and above all love what you’re doing.”

Percy snickered,

“Thanks for the advice, Wise Girl.”

She just rolled her eyes and said,

“Okay my turn. What’s your favorite color?”

He laughed at that one,

“Jeez, that’s the best you could come up with? It’s blue. My mom and I have a thing for blue food because my ex-step dad said blue food didn’t exist. So, we’d give him the finger by finding all the blue food we could and made a point to eat it in front of him. My turn wh-“

“Hey, I think you asked two questions last time?”

He put his hands up in defense,

“You caught me Wise Girl.  Now, while you think of a good, soul-searching question for me, I’m gonna through this mug into the sink and grab us another Percy Jackson special.”

He got up to head to the back and she called after him,

“Is Wise Girl really the best you’ve got, Seaweed Brain?”

He turned his head to wink and said dramatically before vanishing,

“I kinda like that. An ode to my passion.”

When Percy reached the backroom, he let out a sigh so heavy, it was almost like he’d been holding his breath the whole time. He dropped the mug into the sink and gave himself a little pep talk,

“Alright Jackson, she doesn’t remember you. That’s okay. You can do this. She’s just Annabeth. You’ve gone through this stuff before. You got this.”

All the while, Annabeth leaned her arm on the counter, propping up her head and recalled a memory:

Freshman year of college, Annabeth attended a ‘disorientation’ party at her friend Selina’s house. She kept to the outskirts of the warm, sweaty and drunken bodies, holding a blue solo cup in her hands, swaying to the beat of the music quietly. She’d never felt more insecure in her life, so she made a point to slowly make her way toward the exit.

At some point, she realized she had a sort of shadow following her, and she felt like someone was watching her. Glancing around, her eyes eventually rested on a cute, lanky looking guy with messy black hair in a flannel. When her gaze met his, he smiled and looked away in embarrassment. She decided in an instant she didn’t have anything to lose so she walked across the room over to him and said,

“Hey, I’m Annabeth. Do you want to dance?”

When his eyes met hers, her heart stopped a beat. They were so green. Like brand new spring leaves. He gave a sheepish smile and yelled over the music,

“Percy. And, I’d love to!”

The whole rest of the night, they were glued at the hip. They took shots together, they made a mad beer pong team together, and they danced the whole night away.

Every time their hands would brush, they’d awkwardly glance at each other. Percy offered to walk her and her friends back to their dorm but Annabeth just laughed and said,

“What good would you do? You can’t even walk straight!”

So, Percy, in a moment of wild, drunken courage grabbed Annabeth by the waisted and pulled her closely, his lips colliding with hers. She immediately reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, smiling into that kiss. Annabeth swore that kiss stopped time until they broke to breathe. She smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek before reaching for her purse and grabbing a pen. Clicking it and grabbing his hand she said,

“Call me. I don’t want this to be the last time we see each other.”

She then gave him a pen and pulled him in close again, this time for a hug before her friends dragged her off back to the campus.

She didn’t hear or see him again until that one day her father introduced them in the middle of junior year.

“Um Annabeth?”

She snapped out of her daydream instantly. Standing before her was that some cute boy from the memory, though now he was taller and muscular and had some stubble on his chin. But the smile, the hair, the eyes, those remained the same.

“Hey, yeah, sorry I was just thinking.”

“What about?”

She grinned,

“The soul-searching question I have for you, of course.”

Percy gave a warm dopey smile back and then pulled out a bottle full of blue liquid from behind his back,

“Well if we’re going to be getting to the good stuff, then I present to you. Blue booze, a moonshine made by yours truly, patent pending.”

He popped off the lid and took a long swig before handing it over to Annabeth,

“There’s a room connected to the café from when it was 24 hours. It’s got a bed and a couch. I’ll take the couch, but no driving for us because this shit is strong. I just thought we could both use a drink.”

In response, Annabeth stood up, muttered a fuck it, grabbed the bottle from him and took two long swigs of the bitter liquid, just to show him up,

“Nobody tells Annabeth Chase she can’t hold her liquor. Especially not someone who I know can’t hold his.”

Percy looked at her, mouth slightly agape and face flushed, and not just from the booze,

“Wait so you do remember me?”

She wagged his finger at him and set the bottle on the counter, gesturing to the seat next to her for him to sit down,

“Ah, ah. I do believe it’s my turn still.”

Without a word, he grabbed a seat next to her and took another small swig of the blue liquid, awaiting her question just so he could ask his again. He had to know if she remembered.

“Soul-searching questions are more truthfully answered while under the influence anyways. So, my question is why work here? At a rest stop café? You could probably work anywhere on campus or off. You’re charismatic and attractive enough. God knows that’s all they look for now days. “

Percy blushed at that and grabbed another drink of the blue booze before answering quietly,

“Have you ever heard of liminal spaces?

“No clue.”

Annabeth grabbed the bottle from him and took another drink, set the bottle down then grabbed a drink of the water that still sat on the counter. She could feel here face beginning to heat up from the liquor.

“Well, liminal spaces are both physical and psychological places. The physical is basically a throughway. Places you are just passing through as you go from one place to the next. Like rest stops, grocery stores, mini marts. You feel weird when you’re in them too long and start to think about the concept of it all. The psychological side of it is similar. If feels like you’re floating in nothing, anxiously waiting for the next part of your life to begin.

I work here because I see people just ignoring this vastly important part of their life. They come then they go without a thought about where they are. They won’t remember this place because there are so many like it. I like to embrace that weird feeling you get from here because no one else will. I want to give it the recognition that it deserves. The space physically and mentally. I think that if I can achieve comfort in a liminal space for long periods of time, I can be so much more adaptable to life. It’s almost like a therapy too; working in a coffee shop and embracing the weirdness of it all.

Plus, I get to meet people in various stages of their life. Like you for example, you were just passing through and it was like the universe wanted us to meet again.”

He really stressed that word. Again. He knew she knew and she smiled as he spoke. This voice was beautiful and his words thoughtful. When he was finished, he considered her stormy eyes, they were long recovered from the tears that haunted them earlier in the night, and a relaxed smile was fixed on her flushed face,

“I know that was cheesy, I’m such a stupid romantic.”

She instantly grabbed his hand and entwined their fingers,

“Percy, that is one of the most beautiful things that I’ve ever heard. And it’s literally just the explanation of why you work at a roadside café. That wasn’t stupid at all. Being a romantic is nothing to be embarrassed about.”

Percy glanced at their hands and then smiled a little,

“Thanks, I like to think I’m passionate about the little stuff.”

She gave a little laugh, the liquor beginning to take its hold on her mood,

“Well at least you’re passionate about something!”

Percy laughed, something loud and joyous, also likely do to some inebriation, but it was like music to her ears and said,

“Two points to Wise Girl.”

“Oh, shut up Seaweed Brain.”

But at this point, neither of them could stop the fits of giggles from turning into something resounding and obnoxious and freeing for the two, both were doubled over on their stools trying to catch their breath. When they were finally able to regain their composure, Percy took on a slightly serious face and said,

“Annabeth, how are you doing, really?”

The mood of the room shifted instantly and in that moment, Annabeth realized how close in proximity the two had become, their knees almost touching, and their hands had somehow found each other again after their laughing fit, fingers interlocked. She could feel his pulse in this thumb, and swore it was going a million miles an hour. All this, she took in, in an instant before responding,

“I could live here, in this moment forever. I don’t want to go back and face what’s coming. I was so angry and upset with Nico and Will but even more with myself for not seeing either of them truly, that all I wanted to do was leave town and start over again. I’ve been so engrossed in these unimportant things that I forgot to stop and be with the people I love. But now? That all feels like a distant dream and all I want to do is keep talking to you and answering these silly questions and drinking this lighter fluid and start over with everything. It feels like the end of a lot right now.”

Percy was attentive as she spoke, and at some point his thumb had started rubbing circles on the top of her hand. He was quiet for a few moments after she finished, drinking in the words she had spoken and considering his options before saying,

“You know, it may be the end of those things, but I think this is just the start of something absolutely permanent.”

Annabeth turned her stood toward him and he placed his free hand on the outside of her thigh, all the while glancing at her lips. The sudden contact to her leg made Annabeth’s breath hitch and when his eyes met hers once more, as if asking permission, she parted her lips slightly and closed what little space there was left between them.

For the second time in her life, Annabeth felt like time had stopped and Percy, well Percy was just happy to be kissing her again, like he’d always hoped. Her lips tasted sweet and milky, probably from the Sludge, and to her, Percy’s lips tasted like the ocean, fresh and salty. They were in love with the taste of each other’s lips in one kiss. Her hand released his and both found their way to his messy black locks, and as she ran her fingers through his hair, she could feel him smile into the kiss. Meanwhile, he found his way to her thighs and explored upwards to her hips and eventually his fingers made contact with the bare skin of her waist under her shirt, sending electricity through both their bodies.

Literally. The electricity in the air from the thunder storm, in full force outside, caused Percy to shock her. They pulled apart quickly, resting their foreheads together and started laughing loudly. They were giddy and warm and neither of them had felt safer than just then. Annabeth could feel Percy’s hot breath on her face as he spoke quietly,

“So, I’ll take it you remember me, for real this time?”

She smiled and twirled one of his locks I in her fingers and said,

“God, Percy, how could I forget? That night was the best of my life. I thought you forgot about me because you never reached out.”

Percy pulled her closer, almost to the edge of the stool and said in a gruff voice,

“I could never forget you. Your writing was completely illegible. I tried forever to find you, but the school is just so big, I never did. It’s part of the reason I took your dad’s class. I was hoping I might run into you that way.”

Annabeth let out a small giggle,

“Well you’ve found me now, what are you gonna do about it?”

Percy paused, as if in contemplation then he started kissing her jawline delicately,

“One day, I’m going to worship you like the goddess you are…”

He reached her collar bone and then slowly started making his way up the other side of her neck and below her ear lobe.  She shuttered, every kiss sending a jolt of energy though her veins.

“But now isn’t right.”

He pulled away, planting a light kiss on her lips before retreating, then took a deep breath,

“I want to take this slow Wise Girl.”

She pouted at him for a moment before grabbing his hands in hers and smiled,

“I know. I need to figure things out before I dive headfirst into…whatever this may be. I think…I think it’s time we go to bed.”

Percy frowned but he knew it was for the best. He stood and she followed in suit. He led her by the hand to the back room, opening an old creaky door to reveal a homey looking bedroom, with fresh sheets and pillows. She closed the door behind her and the two of them quietly began to make themselves comfortable.

Annabeth slipped off Percy’s hoodie, her jean shorts and blouse, Percy politely looking the other way as he prepared the couch for himself. She threw the hoodie back on and zipped it up, the oversized thing reaching to her midthigh. She turned around to say goodnight to Percy only to find him already crashed on the couch, eyes closed and a small smile playing upon his lips.

She tip-toed over to him and affectionately moved the hair out of his eyes a little before placing a kiss on his forehead and whispering to him,

“Thank you for being my hero, Seaweed Brain.”

She then crawled into bed and turned off the nightstand light, burying herself into the blankets and sheets.

Percy opened one green eye and sat up slightly to look at the outline of the girl that graced his bed and was beside himself with joy and recalled what he said to the girl that had already become his passion; this is just the start of something absolutely permanent.

And it absolutely was.