Author's Note: Dedicate to Sparklegirl123! Check out her fanfictions, and read the other Percy Jackson fanfiction she inspired me to write, A Good Idea.
Anniversary - a Grover x Juniper One-Shot
The forest was beautiful, peaceful. Here, I could pretend that things such as wars and angry gods didn't exist. I'd just smile, lift my face to the sun, and dance with the wind as I waited for Grover to arrive. He always came at that time, when the sun was hanging in the sky and my leaves were outstretched towards it.
But that day, he never came.
I waited out at the edge of the forest, just like I always did. As a tree spirit, I couldn't move very far away from where my roots were planted into the ground. But this was as far as I needed to come. And that's where I stayed for hours. No one had told me about a quest, or about a war. I tried to tell myself that he had just goofed up and missed our date. But today was our anniversary; he wouldn't have missed that. Besides, I had the biggest knot in my stomach whenever I thought about Grover. Something had happened to him. Something must have happened to him.
Calm your chlorophyll, girl. I thought to myself for the thousandth time. Grover has gone through hell and come out of it alive. And that's not an exaggeration! He's a crazy satyr; he's my crazy satyr. He'll come back.
I stayed out by the edge of the forest for hours. Dusk turned into darkness. I nearly fell asleep four times, but jolted myself back awake each time in the hope that I would catch a glimpse of him. I would be okay with just a glimpse. I just wanted to know that he was okay…
"Juniper, wake up,"
I sat up with a start, my face flushed with green at the suddenness of my wake up call. "P-Percy? What's going on? Is Grover with you? If he is, I swear I'll slap him. Or hug him. I've been so worried, and –"
"I really hope you'll go with the latter option."
Juniper's heart stopped for a split second. "Grover?"
The messy-haired satyr walked up to the waiting dryad, taking her wispy hand in his own and smiling down at her. "Hey," He said. "I, uh, wanted to apologize for being late. Percy and Jason said they could get me to China in a few hours… to get you one of those special flowers you wanted from over there."
Juniper almost hit him. She was close to actually doing it. But after hearing the explanation for why he was so late, she simply fought back a wave of tears and grabbed Grover in a giant hug. "You didn't have to get me a flower." She muttered.
Percy laughed. "I told him that too, but he didn't believe me."
"Happy late anniversary, Juniper," Grover said, holding her close. "Sorry I made you think I was dead."
"Thanks," Juniper said dryly. Who was she kidding? She couldn't stay angry for long. She pulled away from her boyfriend and planted a chaste kiss on his cheek. "I got you something too! There's a whole pile of tin cans beside my tree. I've been collecting them for about two months now."
Grover grinned at her. "Well, that's my plan for tomorrow: hanging out with my beautiful girlfriend and eating tin cans!" A snicker sounded in the background. Grover rolled his eyes. "Percy, get back to your cabin!"
"We're not even supposed to be out here. If you don't have someone to watch your back, the harpies will eat us alive."
Juniper smiled at Grover. "Go on, scram to your cabin Goat Boy."
"Hey!"
She snickered. "That's for getting here late. You're lucky I didn't slap you."
Percy rolled his eyes. "C'mon, Grover," He grabbed his best friend by the arm. "Harpies. Remember?"
The boys left after Grover gave Juniper a goodnight kiss. She then twirled off into the depths of the forest, her heart beating at a normal pace again now that she knew her boyfriend was safe.
"Oh my goodness," Juniper said once she finally reached her tree. "The silly boy didn't even remember to bring me my flower." She tilted her head back and laughed before drifting away into her tree. Her boy was safe. She could finally breathe easily.
And by gosh, did she ever love Grover.