hey everyone! before I go into more details, I just wanted to say that I did ask MidnightRose24 to incorporate this into one of her stories, which is reallyreallyreally good and you should check it out if you haven't already - it's called "Aphrodite's Day is More Than a Hallmark Holiday". anyways, this was just an idea I had bouncing around in my head and I chose to write it down, to see where it would do. it's a little AUish and Thalia is uncharacteristically upset, but that was how I always pictured this scene going down. also, Percy and Annabeth are 19 and Nico and Thalia are 16...you know, three years difference between Percy and Nico and all that.
disclaimer: I do not own PJO
Cousin Trouble
"Percy? Is that you?"
Percy Jackson turned around, still smiling from the joke Thalia had just told. He pushed a lock of dark hair off of his forehead and played with the plastic calling card he held in his hand. When he recognized the person who had called out to him, his sea green eyes widened almost comically. "Mrs. Patterson? Hi!"
Standing next to him, Annabeth rolled her eyes and stuck out a hand. "Nice to see you again, Mrs. Patterson."
The woman nodded her head, grasping Annabeth's hand and pumping it up and down with enthusiasm. She gestured to the man standing next to her. "This is my husband, Stephen. We're here for our 25th anniversary." She turned her gaze onto Nico and Thalia, a question in her eyes.
"Congratulations," Annabeth smiled. She dug her elbow into Percy's side, snapping him out of his stupor. Before he could say anything, however, the light on the calling card began to blink, stealing everyone's attention. "Sorry we couldn't catch up a little more, Mrs. Patterson, but our table's ready. It was nice to see you again!"
Once inside, Annabeth whipped her head to look at her boyfriend, blonde ponytail nearly hitting him in the face. "Percy! That was so rude!"
He shrugged, handing the calling card to the hostess and following her to the table. "I was so shocked to see her outside of school, that's all. Except for Paul, I've never seen a teacher actually living their life." The four sat down. Annabeth was still frowning, but her gray eyes were shining, a telltale sign that she found Percy's ridiculous excuse endearing.
Nico picked up his fork and started playing with the prongs. "Anyone mind filling us in on what's going on?" He gestured to Thalia, who was sitting across from him, her nose buried in the menu. At her boyfriend's request, she looked up, electric blue eyes clouded with confusion.
"Yeah," she added, setting down the menu and folding her hands down on the tabletop. "Because she looked at me and Nico like she wanted to eat us."
Annabeth laughed. "She did not! Mrs. Patterson is a teacher at Goode who is friends with Paul. I met her at the last dinner party the Jacksons had to go to. Percy dragged me along because he said he would be bored."
There was a break in the conversation as the waiter took their orders and brought the group their drinks. It was strange, the four of them out on a double date. There were usually too many things to do at camp or at school that all of them were never free at the same time. This was truly a rare occurrence.
Just as Thalia opened her mouth to say something, Mrs. Patterson and her husband were seated beside them. The woman looked delighted. "Oh! Percy, Annabeth! You never introduced me to your friends!"
Percy smiled. "Sorry Mrs. Patterson."
"Nadine."
"Sorry Nadine. This is my cousin Nico, and that is Thalia."
Percy was taken aback by the abrupt way Thalia's face fell. One minute she was smiling and laughing, and the next she was close to fighting back tears. Annabeth was looking at her, understanding in her eyes. She cut a glance at Percy, who panicked and backtracked. "I mean, Thalia's also my – ow!" He glared at his girlfriend, wincing as he reached under the table and rubbed his shin. She had kicked him! Clean out of nowhere, she had kicked him!
Her answering look said that she would explain later, so he bit back a retort and slumped in his chair. Throughout this exchange, Nadine looked perplexed, glancing between Thalia's hurt, Annabeth's understanding and Percy and Nico's utter confusion as if it was the most exciting scenario she'd seen in a long time.
"Excuse me; I'm going to the bathroom," Thalia mumbled, getting out of her chair. She shook her head once at Annabeth's unspoken question and left. There was a beat of silence, and Percy realized that Nadine and her husband had retreated back in to their selves, also having sensed the tension.
"What was that about?" Nico asked, looking to Annabeth for answers. He was white as a sheet – which was how worried looked on him – and for good reason. None of them had ever heard Thalia mumble before. She yelled, she laughed, she snapped and once, Percy had heard her giggle (although that was usually reserved for Nico alone), but she had never mumbled. Ever. Percy knew that if the role were switched and his girlfriend was the one acting out of character, he'd be worried too.
Annabeth sighed. "Why don't you go and check on her, Nico?"
He didn't need to be told twice. He shot out of this chair so fast that he upset the table. He steadied his glass with a sheepish grin and pushed his shaggy black hair out of his face. "Sorry." He had just turned to head in the direction Thalia had gone when his face paled even more. "Am I even allowed to go in the girl's bathroom?"
Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Just knock on the door, Nico! Honestly."
Once he was out of earshot, Nadine leaned over again. Percy fought the urge to roll his eyes. She was a very nice woman, but she always wanted to be in everyone else's business. "I hope I didn't say anything to upset her."
"No, don't worry. You didn't do anything wrong, Nadine."
"Yeah," Annabeth added. "It was all Seaweed Brain over here."
"Me? What did I do?"
"Percy," Annabeth lowered her voice. "You called Nico your cousin, right?"
He nodded. "Our dads are brothers, remember Wise Girl?"
"I know that! And you were going to call Thalia your cousin too, right?" Her voice lowered even more and she shifted her chair away from Nadine and Stephen. Seeing this, the older woman gave a sheepish smile and went back to her own table, studying the menu in front of her. Her actions didn't fool anyone. Both Percy and Annabeth both knew that she was still trying to listen in on their conversation. " Because all three of your dads are brothers…so then all three of you would have to be cousins."
"Yeah so…oh. Oh."
Annabeth heaved a sigh again. "She talked to me about it once. She was really worked up and flitting around the room, wringing her hands. Do you know that she was considering breaking up with him? Just because of the whole cousin angle. Thalia – Thalia Grace – was actually near in tears because she didn't want to break up with him – she loves him, you know? – but she thought that she would have to. She thought that their dads would make them. Because technically, everyone at camp calls you three cousins. And she gets upset because she doesn't want to be Nico's cousin; she wants to be his girlfriend."
"So I just…reminded her of the situation?" Percy asked, scratching the back of his head. "That if he's my cousin, then he's her cousin? And she didn't like that? Because she loves him?"
"Exactly. She hates it – likes really really hates it."
"And…did you say that she loves him? Thalia loves Nico? Like, she's in love with him?"
Annabeth took a sip of her drink and raised her eyebrows at Percy. "Yes, she's in love with him. Why are you so hung up on that?"
He shrugged. "I just…I mean, you have to admit. She's kind of out of his league." His grin made the joke apparent, and Annabeth laughed. Nadine looked over at their table, clearly confused at the sudden atmosphere change, but they made no move to explain anything to her.
Annabeth leaned over the table and gave Percy a quick kiss. "And you? Are you in my league?"
His eyes twinkled. "I'm about 20 000 leagues beneath yours. Which is why you never make things easy for me."
Her mouth dropped open. "Did you just make a literature joke pertaining to your…background…and still make it relevant to this conversation?"
Percy nodded proudly. "Seaweed's not so thick now, huh?"
this will be a two-shot (the other half will be revolving around Nico and Thalia's conversation), so look out for that! review, please!