Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Percy Jackson and the Olympians. They belong to Rick Riordan. I also don't own Kieran. I am simply borrowing him from FoalyWinsForever.
Long Time Coming
Kayla Phillips was not having a good day, and it was only two in the afternoon.
When she had woken up at six a.m., she had been covered in a light sheen of sweat, which was quickly becoming a daily occurrence. Her nightmares were becoming more frequent, a fact that she was less than thrilled about.
Then, when she went for her shower, the water had been ice cold. Then, she'd gotten into a fight with Will, who happened to be her favorite brother. She knew he had only been teasing her, but her awful day had caused her to snap.
Finally, Drew Tanaka had chosen Kayla as her target for the day. Normally, Drew didn't mess with Kayla, but the gods must have had it out for her today.
"Wow, hon, you actually thought it was a good idea to put that outfit on today?" Drew taunted.
Kayla just gave her a look, like, "you really thought that one was going to affect me?"
Drew decided to change her approach. "I can't believe Kieran still hangs out with you. It just doesn't make any sense. I mean, he's incredibly hot, and you aren't."
Kayla tried to ignore her, she really did, but Drew was making it really hard.
"And, hon, I don't know why you waste your time liking him."
"Wha- what are you talking about?" Kayla managed to stutter out. How dare Drew say something like that! Kayla was dating Drew's half-brother, for the gods' sake!
Drew smirked. "Oh, everybody knows you like him. Even he knows you like him. He's just too polite to say anything. Just give up, hon." With that, she walked away, no doubt off to ruin somebody else's life.
Needless to say, the only thing she was looking forward to was spending time with her boyfriend, Mitchell. She walked toward his cabin, ready for some happiness in her day.
When she got to the cabin, she found Mitchell waiting outside for her. She walked up and hugged him, relishing his warmth.
He pulled away first, which surprised Kayla. Normally, he would wait for her to pull away. She looked up at him, wondering what was wrong.
"Kayla, we need to talk," Mitchell said, not meeting her eyes.
"Okay. What's wrong?" Kayla didn't like the way this conversation was going.
Mitchell swallowed before he began. "Look, you're a really great girl, and I really enjoy being with you, but I think we should break up."
"What?" That was literally the only thing that Kayla was capable of saying.
"Kayla, it's not you, it's me. And, yeah, I know that is one of the most overused lines, but I'm not just saying it. I like someone else, and she likes me back. I know you'll probably hate me forever after this, but I'm not taking anything back. Goodbye, Kayla." Mitchell gave her a small smile and walked away.
Kayla tried to hold back her tears, but she knew she wouldn't be able to, what with the terrible day she had been having. The tears began to pool in her eyes, and she started running toward the Ares cabin, hoping that Kieran wasn't training.
Kayla had been best friends with Kieran Anderson, a son of Ares, ever since she could remember. She had grown up with him, stayed over at his house whenever she and her mother got into a fight, and had eventually moved in with him when she couldn't handle living at home anymore.
Kieran was always there for her. He understood everything about her, and he knew her better than anybody else. How could she not fall for him?
She couldn't pinpoint exactly when she had fallen for him. It wasn't like it had been very difficult. He was very attractive, with his muscular six-foot frame, short brown hair, and reddish-brown eyes.
Currently, she was trying to get over him. Kayla knew that Kieran would never like her back. It just wasn't possible. That was why she was glad when Mitchell had asked her out.
Mitchell wasn't Kieran, Kayla knew that, but she had agreed to date him anyway. Now she was regretting that decision.
Her vision had started to blur by the time she reached the door to the Ares cabin. She barged into the cabin, startling the occupants. She didn't even bother to acknowledge anybody in the cabin, just looked in the direction of Kieran's bunk.
Kieran saw her look his way, and he also saw the tears in her eyes. He stood up, making his presence known to her, and opened his arms in preparation for what was to come.
As soon as he opened his arms, Kayla launched herself into them, sobbing into his chest. Kieran didn't say a word, just wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer to him. He could feel her shaking, and knew that she wouldn't be able to stand for much longer.
He sat down on his bunk and pulled Kayla into his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck, clinging to him and sobbing harder. Kieran glanced around at his cabin mates, silently daring any one of them to make a snide remark. Thankfully, none of them did.
Kieran looked back down at Kayla, and pressed a kiss to her hair. She was finally calming down, but Kieran still didn't say anything. He knew Kayla would tell him when she was ready.
"Sorry about that," she said, when she finally pulled away. "It's just, I've been having a really awful day."
"Kayla, it's okay. You don't need to apologize," Kieran said. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Kayla nodded, and proceeded to fill him in on everything that had happened that day. When she told him about Mitchell, Kieran looked ready to kill somebody.
"That's it, he's dead. I can't believe he would do that to you! The next time I see that moron, I'm going to-" Kieran trailed off, envisioning all the different ways he could get revenge on Mitchell.
"Kieran, don't," Kayla said quietly. When Kieran gave her a confused look, she continued. "Look, I'm not upset that he broke up with me. I didn't like him that much. I'm more upset with the fact that he wanted somebody else. It's like, I wasn't good enough or something. It makes me feel like I'll never be good enough. For anybody." By the time she had finished talking, she had started crying again.
"Oh, Kayla," Kieran whispered, pulling her into another hug. She buried her head in his chest, and he rested his chin on the top of her head. "Don't ever say that. You're beautiful enough to get any guy, and sweet enough, too. Plus, you're funny and smart. Don't ever say that you aren't good enough. If anything, Mitchell wasn't good enough for you. He didn't deserve you."
As Kieran listened to Kayla cry, he couldn't help but remember that he was holding the girl of his dreams in his arms. Falling for Kayla hadn't been a conscious decision. It was so easy to fall in love with her athletic figure, golden blonde hair, and gorgeous blue eyes. Kieran also loved her personality, her sense of humor, and the fact that she had always been there for him. He loved Kayla so much, but he hadn't said anything. He was waiting for the right time.
"Hey, Kay, can I ask you a question?" Kieran asked.
"You just did," Kayla giggled. She looked up at him, and when she saw the glint in his eyes, she continued. "But, yeah, go ahead."
"If you didn't like Mitchell all that much, why did you go out with him?"
Kayla didn't meet his eyes when she replied. "I like someone else, but he would never like me back, so I was trying to get over him."
When she finally looked back up at him, Kieran gave her a small smile, trying to hide the fact that his heart had just dropped at the fact that she liked someone. She smiled back, but continued to look into his eyes. Kieran wasn't exactly sure how the next thing happened. One second he had been staring into her eyes, and the next his lips were pressed to hers.
Kieran came to his senses and pulled away from her, not meeting her eyes. When he finally looked at her, he found that he couldn't read her expression. When he went to apologize, something else unexpected happened.
Kayla pulled Kieran's mouth back down to hers. He seemed surprised at her enthusiasm, but quickly reciprocated it. He hadn't been expecting Kayla to kiss him, but he was thoroughly enjoying it. Kayla swung one of her legs around so she was straddling him. Kieran wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her as close as was humanly possible.
Deciding to press his luck, Kieran slid his tongue across Kayla's bottom lip. In response, Kayla bit his bottom lip, but opened her mouth to allow him access. He explored her mouth for a while, but had to pull away to breathe. He rested his forehead against Kayla's, his breathing heavy.
Once he had finally caught his breath, Kieran asked, "I thought you liked someone?"
Kayla laughed before responding. "I do, you idiot. It's you." Kayla shifted herself and began to pepper light kisses along his neck.
"Good," Kieran replied, a huge grin on his face. "By the way, I like you, too."
"I could tell," Kayla whispered against his neck, causing Kieran to shiver. She moved so she could whisper in his ear. "You aren't very good at hiding your enthusiasm."
Kieran chuckled slightly. Just as Kayla was about to kiss him again, a shout of "Get a room!" echoed from behind them. Turning around, Kayla saw the whole cabin sitting there with looks of disgust on their faces.
"Sorry, guys," she said. "I kind of forgot that you were all in here."
"We noticed," Clarisse said. She looked just as disgusted as the others. She turned her attention to Kieran. "Thank the gods you two are finally together. If I had to go through one more day of hearing you talk about how gorgeous Kayla is, I was going to kill you. This relationship was a long time coming."
"I know," Kieran said, turning his head to smile at Kayla, who had shifted off his lap and was now sitting next to him. "I figured that I was probably driving you guys insane, but, surprisingly, I didn't really care." He stood up and held his hand out to Kayla. She took it and they walked toward the door.
When they reached the door, Kieran turned to face his cabin mates one last time. "Oh, and if I hear you guys making any comments about what just happened, I will murder you in your sleep." With that cheerful thought, he pulled Kayla out the door and pressed her against the wall of the cabin, kissing her deeply.
"Kayla, I lied in there. I don't like you. I love you," he said, once he pulled his lips from hers.
"I love you, too, Kieran."
AN: I hope you guys liked this story. It's my first fic, so I hope I did okay. This fic was not beta'd, so I apologize for any errors. One thing: the character of Kieran, as I stated in the first author's note, was borrowed from the story Verge by FoalyWinsForever. Well, I actually only borrowed his name, appearance, and what cabin he was in. Everything else was my idea. I did have Foaly's permission to do this.
It would be greatly appreciated if you would review, just so I know how I did. :)