Hey, y'all! So a reader has recently informed me that I've been writing rather…"morbidly." Is that true? Gods, I hope not! I guess that's the reason for this short, light-hearted story. If you've never been on my account before, then you probably don't know that Piper/Percy is my brotp. In light of that, I have decided to write a little AU about the two of them growing up together.

~Enjoy!

Third Person's POV (Percy-Centric)

/Eight/

Piper Mclean is no ordinary eight-year-old. Her father is a newly discovered movie star, and her best friend is a quirky boy named Percy Jackson. It's funny, because she never would have even met him if it wasn't for her father deciding to move. Tristan (her dad) hired Percy's mom, Sally, to be Piper's live-in nanny. Therefore, her son moved in too. They met when they were in kindergarten and often hung out, but now that they live together they are inseparable. Where one goes, the other follows: usually it's Percy following around Piper like a puppy. But, even though it may seem like he has a little crush on her, he would never admit to it.

After all, girls are known for having cooties.

/Ten/

Now the troublemakers are in fourth grade. Everyone hates fourth grade as that is when girls start to…mature, and guys start noticing the girls maturing.

Percy DEFINITELY noticed Piper start to mature. How could he not when he started seeing her new bras all over her bedroom floor? Now he couldn't just barge into her room like he did when they were kids. Seeing each other naked never used to be a problem as little kids, but now…it was just plain embarrassing for the both of them. Piper never could forgive him for the time he walked in on her about to put on her bra.

(So THAT'S how Percy broke his nose! –Sally)

/Thirteen/

Tristan is killed unintentionally by a stalker and Piper has locked herself in her bedroom. Percy is doing everything he can to get himself in there, even though his mom said to just "give her time and space – that's all that she needs.

Wrong.

Percy knows for a fact that Piper needs him. He's her best friend, and they both know that they can always help each other's problems, no matter how hard they may seem to overcome. After Percy almost ran down her door (he too had started maturing – yes his voice did crack every other word) and would have accomplished it if Piper hadn't opened it right when he was about to knock it down.

Gotta love Piper's twisted sense of humor.

Normally, Percy would have ripped her head off, but when he saw Piper's tear-streaked face, all angry thoughts vanished and he shut the door before letting her collapse into his ready embrace.

They both sagged to the ground as Piper started sobbing into Percy's shoulder and he just held her. Unlike most people, he didn't whisper "sweet nothings" into her ear. He didn't say anything at all, because he knew that whatever came out of his mouth would be complete bullcrap, and Piper hated being lied to. Before they knew it, the two of them fell asleep.

When they woke up, there was a wet spot next to Percy's head, and all of his hair was smashed to one side – most likely from Piper puffing out every breath when she sleeps. At first, they felt a little awkward. But then, they didn't care. All they could think was that they needed each other.

Piper couldn't have asked for a better best friend.

/Fifteen/

Piper and Percy have started high school. Piper is noticed in both negative and positive ways, and she loathes all of the attention.

Percy hates it even more.

When people say things to her about "rain dances" and "going back to her tribe" he becomes absolutely livid. More than once Percy's been sent to the principal's office for getting into fights. On the same occasions Piper got in trouble so she could spend all the time with her "savior." Percy knows that she can take care of herself, but he can't help it; he's ridiculously protective over her.

Even more annoying is the "positive" attention she gets. It seems like Piper is hit on multiple times every day. When will these people get that she doesn't want to go out with anyone?

Or so they both believe.

/Sixteen/

Now they're both sophomores. Percy asked Piper on a date. Surprisingly, she said yes. But, when they go out, they find it too weird to be romantic with one another and end up leaving the night as friends.

At least now they'll have a story for the grandkids.

When the school realizes they're not ever gonna go out, every available sophomore, junior, senior, and even a few freshmen pounce on the chance to go out with the two dark-haired beauties.

Therefore, every available sophomore, junior, senior, and even a few freshmen are turned down by the two dark-haired beauties.

Except for two very special sophomores.

Their names are Jason Grace and Annabeth Chase. Both are quiet, smart, gorgeous, and seemingly way out of both Percy's and Piper's leagues,

Or so they thought.

Jason asked out Piper near the end of their sophomore year, and she immediately said yes. Percy, being the ridiculously over-protective person that he is, quickly gives out "the: you hurt her you die" speech and seemingly (not really- Jason just didn't want Percy to feel bad) scares Jason half to death. Even then, Jason still wants to go out with Piper.

That deems him almost good enough for his Piper in Percy's mind.

His Piper – yeesh when did he get so possessive over her?

It was probably around the same time Piper became so possessive of him. When he wanted to ask out Annabeth, Piper felt a somewhat offended. Of course, she guessed that it was a little selfish of her to expect him to be waiting for her every beck and call. But, hey. When you're best friends with someone for eleven years, it's hard to let go. While Piper obviously gave him her blessing, she was a little shocked when Percy asked her to ask out Annabeth for him. After a fist to the face, multiple bruises, and possible scarring, Percy for some reason managed to work up the balls to ask Annabeth out himself.

Every "man" is just a coward waiting to appear.

/Eighteen/

All of them are now graduated. As Jason and Annabeth are the "brainiacs" of the group, the two of them will be going to Harvard. Both Percy and Piper hated that the two of them were leaving, but what could they do? High school romances only have a 2% survival rate. As Piper and Percy as the "dim-witted, smart-asses" of the group, they both decided to stay in town and go to the local community college.

After many heart-felt good-byes and way too many tears for all of their likings, the foursome went their two separate ways.

/Twenty-Two/

Piper and Percy share a shitty New York apartment. They have shitty jobs with shitty pay, and they eat shitty food every day.

Jason is the CEO of a major electrical company. While it may be the most boring job ever, it has one of the best pays in the country.

Annabeth is the head architect for a large construction company. She loves her work, and her entire life revolves around it.

So maybe the four of them were across the country. That doesn't mean that they don't yearn for each other every day. They love each other, and nothing will ever change that.

Maybe they could be that 2%.

~Finis~

Whew. That took a loooooong time to write.

While I know some people want me to update my "This Graduation Day" story, but this is sort of just a little break I've given myself. I honestly can't think of any ideas for that story, but I am going to work really hard at brainstorming!

Over and out,

~The Awkward Narwhal