Renowned Actor, Tristan McLean, Injured in Filming Mishap
McLean, most known for his work in the Oscar-winning film, King of Sparta, was filming a fight scene for his new unnamed Greek mythology project. Insisting on doing all of his own stunts, McLean and his co-star, Max Irons, were stood on a moving chariot when one of the wheels disconnected and the two tumbled out from behind. Irons suffered a few cuts and bruises, but no serious injuries. McLean snapped his left wrist and hit his head on a rock, resulting in a concussion. No word on how this will affect the project.
Piper sat in the Aphrodite cabin bathroom, wedged up between the wall and the toilet, her arms wrapped around her legs and her chin resting on her knees. The tabloid lay a foot away, mocking her with every word. It was dated a week back, so the campers – her siblings! – were obviously trying to keep her father's accident a secret from her.
She thought of him bloody and mangled on the ground, limbs every which way and blood pooling around his body. Sure, it wasn't that bad, but it could've been. Gods, he was so stupid. Almost every other actor on the planet would have demanded a stunt double, but no, not her father. He was always so noble and humble and brave, insisting he do everything, so as not to deceive the viewers and fans. Ha!
And why had no one told her about it? To everyone else in the world, Tristan McLean fell out of a chariot. To Piper, her father had an injury that left him in a hospital bed for at least a day or two. Surely someone thought she'd want to know that. Apparently not, however.
A soft knock came from the door. "Piper? You in there?"
Dammit. Jason had found her. She had managed to charmspeak the rest of Cabin Ten to go to dinner without her, but she was powerless against her best friend. When she didn't answer, the knob turned slowly and his blonde head appeared in the crack. Upon resting his eyes on her, his facial expression changed from worried to sympathetic, and he pushed the door open the rest of the way.
"What's wrong, Pipes?"
She said nothing, but his sneaker stepped on the gossip magazine and Jason found his answer. She watched as he quickly skimmed through the article before sitting down next to her and pulling her into his arms.
It was terribly bittersweet, to be honest. On any other occasion, she would have been elated for him to hold her. But now, the news about her father was too dreary for any bit of happiness to surface.
"You know he's going to be okay. It's not bad to begin with, and he's a strong man. He'll be fine and filming in no time."
He was right. Jason was almost always right. But that wasn't the point. No one had told her about it – instead choosing to hide it from her – and she couldn't even to call to make sure he was okay. Her father was hurt and she couldn't do a damn thing about it. Moments later, her body began to shake with sobs.
"Shit. Piper, come on, you've got to talk to me."
His voice was pleading and caring and full of something else she couldn't identify so she tried her best to calm down enough to speak.
Her voice was hoarse at first. "It's just… I can't be there. I can't bring him flowers and talk to him while the nurses stick needles in him – cause he hates that, he hates needles so much – and I can't complain about hospital food while watching some boring TV channel and I – I just need to be there and I can't. I can't fucking do anything and I just – "
She lost the ability to speak once more. Jason pulled her closer and held her tighter, whispering little words of comfort in her ear between soft kisses on her temple. She felt herself being picked up and – oh my gods his arms were strong – then the door opened. The sun was in the last stages of setting, but it was still terribly bright compared to the bathroom, so she shut her eyes and buried her head further into Jason's shoulder.
"Heeyyyy Ja – wait, is that Piper?" Leo sounded confused. Dinner must have let out already.
Jason didn't answer, instead picking up speed and probably shooting Leo one of his explanatory looks. It was uncanny how the two could speak without actually talking.
Piper tried to figure out where they were headed, but her head was too clouded to reason it out. Steps. Door. Turn. Turn. Door. Jason stopped walking and she felt herself being set down on something. It was soft. Maybe a bed? A couch?
"I've shut the curtains. You can open your eyes."
She did. It took a few seconds for everything to focus, but she realised they were in the home theatre in the Big House. Jason was bent over a crate of DVDs, obviously looking for something in particular. She watched as his tongue appeared between his lips, something that occurred when he was fully concentrated on one task. The veins on his forearms were apparent as he flicked through every plastic case, and his fingers were moving magically. She had always liked his fingers.
"Aha!" He must have found what he had been looking for. Good thing, too; he was probably three wrong DVDs away from breaking into a sweat.
After popping it in the Blu-Ray player, he hopped over to the couch and pulled Piper against him again.
"It's Peter Pan. You said that it always makes you feel better when you're down."
She stared at his profile in awe. How had he remembered that? She was sure it was something she mentioned once, in a totally random conversation about absolutely nothing. He turned to look at her, most likely feeling her eyes on him, and she smiled shyly before turning towards the television.
77 minutes later, Piper's mood was soaring. She wasn't exaggerating when she said it makes her feel better. About twenty minutes in, she realised that the other campers were just trying to protect her, not blow anything out of proportion. Her dad was going to be okay and she knew that now. With all those stupid worries out of the way, she could focus on the fact that Jason went looking for her when no one else had. On top of that, he held her to him, carried her across camp, and remembered a tiny detail that should have seemed insignificant to him. And then he held her to him again. It was fantastic.
At one point she even began quoting the film word for word, even singing along. Jason then proceeded to cover her mouth with his hand. Naturally, she licked him. But she shut up anyway.
After the credits finished rolling, he turned to her with a sly smirk. "Disney movie marathon?"
"You bet."
So he put in another DVD, and another after that, straight on 'til morning.
A/N: Peter Pan is better than you
Disclaimer: I don't own PJO (damn) or Peter Pan (double damn)
