Thanks, guys, to whoever viewed, reviewed, favourited or follo wed my previous stories. And sgpcat17, here's the fanfiction u wanted! PURE JASPER! Sorry it took so long, but my school is being attacked by these horrid merciless alien creatures which kill on sight. Yep, you guessed it. I was feeling the wrath of exams.
Btw, I bought some spare paper bags in case u start hyperventilating :D You can never be too prepared while reading fanfics. Trust me, ik.
Oh, and if u want to give any requests, just place them in the tiny box which u can open by clicking on that charming little button down there! It says REVIEW! Feel free to add any compliments or constructive criticism too, plz.
Btw, there are a few MINOR BoO SPOILERS.
Stay safe, fangirls.
- xXx -
Jason wasn't sure if he was awake or asleep. He felt too tired to even care. The only thing he could only register right now was the insistent throbbing in his skull. Red hot hammers inside his head worked to get noticed, and sure enough, it was working. A little too well. Their tactic was one Jason didn't feel often, and there was one word to describe it: headache. And right now, it was trying to slaughter Jason.
He was tempted to lift an emergency dagger, which lay on his bedside table, and cut his cursed head in half, just to stop the pain. It was becoming seriously unbearable. But thank the gods, he felt too weak and nauseated to even lift his hand.
Well, there's your former praetor of Rome, he thought, disgusted with himself. Can't even lift a dagger. But immediately he decided to stop thinking as he realized the hammers didn't like to co-operate with thoughts. Gee, what would Annabeth think? Then he winced again at the pain.
There was nothing he wanted more than a drought of nectar at the moment, or a square of ambrosia. He sighed wistfully as he remembered how the godly medicine could immediately press a cool hand to his head, forcing the hammers to run out of steam and stop torturing him. Seriously, he'd had enough of torturing to last him a lifetime.
But wait. There was something he wanted more than nectar. Or rather, someone. Someone who could immediately ease the pain he was going through. She had always had a way to do it before. Someone who could press a soft hand even cooler than nectar ever could, and could lull him to sleep easily without even using her charm speak. Someone who's scent was so intoxicating, and whose lips were so soft and smooth as they moved against his…
There, he was thinking again. And his head didn't appreciate it one bit. Goddammit, shut up, he told it. But it only replied with more banging on his skull. Quietly groaning, Jason cautiously turned to lie on his right side. He felt dead with fatigue and exhaustion, and his whole body felt warm. But he was shivering. He knew those were the telltale signs of a fever.
Suddenly, he longed more than ever for her to be here. To hold him in her arms; in her warmth. He wanted her to whisper sweet nothings in his ear in that silky melodious voice which was permanently branded into his brain.
He was aware that he was wishing for something which had about 2.56% chance of happening. Most likely, she fast asleep in her cabin, accompanied by her siblings, while he lay alone in his cabin, in the dark, slowly dying from weakness. Yep, that was the heroic death he always dreamt about. Being murdered by a headache.
Deciding that lying awake and pondering over her wasn't going to solve anything, he just hoped that he would live till morning and closed his eyes, desperately trying to overcome the nausea which was creeping up his body. He prayed that sleep would drag him in before he had to rush to the bathroom to upchuck his dinner.
Thankfully, slumber managed to claim him before the queasiness could. But for god's sake, he was a demigod! Nothing could ever be perfect. So his body decided to bury him in a dream (no surprise there).
However, this was no normal demigod dream. It wasn't a nightmare which woke him up with a terrifying jolt and wide eyes. It wasn't a dream which would haunt him forever.
Well, maybe it would linger in his mind, but not in the bad way. No, this dream…. It was almost sweet. How could it not be, if he was dreaming about the one person he loved with all his life; the one person he knew he could fall in love with over and over again, and would never get tired of?
Yes, that night, Jason dreamt about Piper Mclean.
It started with the sound of a door quietly opening and then shutting with a low click. A gust of wind blew in from outside and hit him, but there was no place in the 17 year Old's mind to register how odd that was. It felt so real. Besides, he was too caught up in trying to inhale her pure, overwhelming scent. He knew it was her. He could sense her presence.
Weirdly enough, he couldn't see anything in the dream. It was all black, as if his eyes were shut.
He felt the bed shift slightly as weight was pressed on the other side, and suddenly, he was burrowed in a bundle of warmth. Not that he minded. He felt a pair of soft, snuggly arms wound around his back. A small part of his mind, right at the very back, realized that this felt too good to be a dream. But he was afraid to open his eyes and check. He was afraid that if he did, she would disappear and he would no longer be wrapped in her protectiveness. He felt safer here than he ever did.
Might as well live it while she was here.
Sighing contentedly, he nestled closer into her gentle embrace, burying his face in her swan-like neck. Smiling slightly, he pressed his lips gently to the hollow of her throat, and grinned to himself at the sudden hitch of her breath.
Without warning, the smooth, warm skin was suddenly yanked away from under his tongue. He groaned in frustration, only to be responded with her sweet, tinkering laugh... like wind chimes…
And then those soft lips were moving against his, and his fingers were buried in her silky hair…
Jason thought about the saying 'too good to be true'. Then he decided that that saying didn't suit his situation. He was in a 'too good to be a dream' situation. Slowly, she pulled away from him, her form still entangled in his. Hesitantly, Jason dared to open his eyes.
And she was still there. Even more beautiful than he could have ever dreamed of.
Flawless skin glowing in the moonlight which came through his cabin window, her choppy hair tumbling down her shoulders, her kaleidoscope eyes which Jason could never determine the colour of... he could never tell. And most memorable: her smile. It lit up her entire face, making her eyes twinkle with mirth. Gods, he had missed that beautiful smile.
Leaning over slightly so that her lips were at his ear, she whispered: "What's with the startled face?" Her breath made Jason shiver.
"I thought you were a dream," he murmured.
"What, now you love me so much you think I'm a dream?" she asked indignantly, although her voice was laced with laughter.
"No," Jason replied, chuckling. "You're just too beautiful to be real," he added.
"You said that like it was an afterthought!"
Jason laughed, and soon after, Piper joined in too, her laugh sweet music to his ears.
Wrapping his arms around her slender form, he pulled her close. "It wasn't an afterthought," he whispered in her ear, and grinned when she felt her smile against his bare chest. They lay there for a couple of moments in comfortable silence.
"Sorry if woke you," Piper said suddenly.
"It's okay. I was awake anyway. Well, kinda."
"How come you weren't asleep?"
"How come you weren't?"
She grinned up at him, her eyes sparkling. "You should learn to play fair, Grace."
He chuckled. "I don't play fair, McLean. Get used to it. If you don't, I swear the next few years of your life are gonna be the worst."
She giggled. "Then you should learn - if you wanna survive, that is – that I don't play that much fair either."
"So I guess we're evenly matched."
"Oh no, Jason. We're perfectly matched."
He sighed happily, and kissed the top of her head. He could never imagine life without this girl in his arms. "You know, it's kind of a good thing we're demigods."
"Oh, really?" Her voice was slightly muffled by his chest. "And why is that?"
"Because if we weren't, we would have never met. I wouldn't have ever met you, and you wouldn't have ever met me. I would probably still be in New Rome, and you would still be stealing bmws, and charm speaking some random girl into marrying Leo just so you could get rid of him." He paused to catch his breath, then continued. "If we weren't demigods, I wouldn't be in love with you right now. I wouldn't be feeling like the entire world was complete; like I didn't need anything else. Because right now, Piper Mclean, you're all I need. You're all I'll ever need. Ever. That's why I'm never letting you go. Because I love you so much it hurts. I do. I swear I do. I love you."
Jason was surprised at himself. He hadn't meant to say all of that. But as soon as the words escaped his mouth, he knew they were perfectly true.
Slowly raising her head to look at him, Piper's sparkling kaleidoscope eyes met his icy blue ones, and he was surprised to see tears glistening in them. One slowly rolled down her cheek.
He reached out to wipe it away with his thumb. A couple of years ago, if Piper had proceeded to start crying in front of him like this, he would have freaked out for fear of him being the one to cause her pain. But now, after spending almost three years with her, he knew better. She wasn't crying because she was upset. He knew her different types of tears by now.
There were the shocked, horrified, frightened tears, but these were so rare only Jason had had the liberty of seeing them. And then there were the upset, miserable tears, which positively tore his heart out of his chest, ripped it apart then threw it on the ground and stamped on it. In other words, as well as hurting her, they hurt him like crazy. Cray-cray. Seriously.
And then there were tears, which again, only Jason had the honor of witnessing. Her tears of joy. And at that moment, Jason knew those weren't tears of sadness, or pain, or shock. The drops of salt water which were slowly dripping down her face were tears of joy. And as he leaned down towards her, he kissed away every drop.
Cupping his face in her gentle palms, her lips pulled up in a heart-warming smile, and her beautiful face showed nothing but love. Love for him. "I love you too, Jason. I can't begin to describe how much. I can't. I swear I'm not putting any charm speak into this. Atleast, I don't think I am..."
Smiling at her confused expression, he said: "I don't care if you're charm speaking or not. I know you love me. Besides," he added, quirking his eye-brows, "who could possibly not?"
Groaning loudly, she burrowed her face in his chest once again. "Oh gods, you so do not need a bigger ego than you already have!"
"Hey!"
Her response was a tiny laugh, before they lay in silence again.
"You never did answer my question," Piper broke the silence unexpectedly. "Why were you awake?"
"Ladies first."
"You know I think that's sexist."
"Exactly."
She sighed defeated. "Okay, fine. I had a nightmare."
Concern seeped into Jason. "Was it bad?"
Piper sniffled against his chest, and Jason knew she was an inch away from crying again. Only this time they wouldn't be tears of joy. "You know... the usual. You were there, and they got you, and…"
She broke down in a torrent of wet sobs, and only then did Jason understand how many emotions she had held bottled up inside of her tiny heart. How long it must have been since she had let go.
Pulling her closer, he stroked her hair tenderly and whispered sweet nothings into her ear to comfort her as her tears wet his skin. "Sh, it's ok, I wouldn't leave you. Promise. I promise, Piper, I won't leave you."
Once her sobs had quieted down, she pulled back to look at him, her eyes red. "Sorry. I don't know what-"
"It's fine. I get them too. Only mine are about losing you, and not being able to save you again…" A wave of misery overcame Jason. He truly despised those nightmares.
Tenderly, Piper stroked his face. "I know. Trust me, I know."
Once she had calmed down, and quit reliving the horrible memories, Piper bought up the subject again. "Your turn now. Why were you awake?"
Before Jason could reply, Piper's eyes widened. "Gods, Jason, why are you so hot?"
Her eyes widened even further (which Jason doubted was even possible) until they were the size of saucers, and a slow blush was creeping up her cheeks. Jason couldn't even begin to describe how cute she looked when she as embarrassed. "I- I didn't- I didn't mean-"
Jason chuckled at her nervous stuttering. She glared at him.
"What I meant to ask was: Why is your skin so warm?" She lifted her hand to place it on his forehead, and then pulled it away, a grim expression on her face. "You're burning up."
"Should we call the fire department?"
"Ha-ha, very funny," she replied as she jumped out of the bed, her voice literally dripping with sarcasm. Jason groaned, already missing her warmth. And the need for her only increased when he was hit with another abrupt round of fatigue, nausea and headaches.
Swinging open the cupboards and drawers, she asked: "Where's that emergency nectar?"
"First cupboard," he managed to moan, and Piper sent him a concerned side-long glance as she took out the tiny tank filled with the godly drink, and also took a small cube of wrapped ambrosia.
Walking over to the bed, she slowly lowered herself beside him so as not to shake the bed too much. Within minutes, his condition had gone from perfectly fine to fever ridden zombie freak. The dark circles were prominent under his eyes, his skin was a ghostly pale, and his blond hair was glued to his forehead with sweat. He hadn't ever felt anything this bad.
With the same tenderness she had shown when Jason had been stabbed back when they were sixteen, she gently helped him sip some nectar, while speaking words of sweet comfort into his ears. She unwrapped the ambrosia, but was careful not to give him too much.
Already, Jason could feel some of his strength returning. But the nausea and headache was still present, and so was his fever. Apparently Piper had noticed too, for she had immediately leapt up to her feet. The sudden movement made Jason dizzy, and he groaned. Muttering a hurried apology, Piper ran to the bathroom, grabbing a clean face towel on the way.
She soon came out carrying a bucket of water in one hand and the towel in the other. She set the stuff near the edge of the bed, balancing it so it wouldn't fall. Climbing over to sit next to Jason, she leaned against the side wall so that she was facing the side of Jason's weak (and slightly pathetic, in his opinion) form.
Gently, she lifted his head and set it on her lap, and swiftly got to work. When the first ie cold towel made contact with his burning, feverish forehead, Jason almost yelped, but Piper shushed him.
"Trust me, it'll help."
"So you've been taking first aid classes," Jason mumbled weakly, but still jokingly. "What else have you been hiding?"
She rolled her eyes good naturedly. "Shut up, or I'll go."
The touch of the cool towel on his forehead, plus the feeling of Piper near him was so comforting Jason began drifting into sleep,
"Oh, no you don't. Don't fall asleep, Jason. The fever won't go down."
Jason groaned. The nausea was threatening to spill out his guts.
"Don't, Jason. Just hold on. Just hold on, sparky."
As soon as Piper said those words, a fresh wave off memories rolled into Jason's mind.
"You haven't called me sparky in a long time," he managed to croak out, hoping she'd remember and play along.
By the looks of it, she did remember. Her eyes lit up, and a smile traced along her lips. "Stick with me, and I'll insult you all I want."
Their laughs mingled together. Piper removed the cloth from his forehead and placed her hand on his neck to check his temperature.
She smiled. "Well, what do you know? They say laughter is the best medicine. I guess that's true."
"Are you sure that was laughter which healed me, or a certain daughter of Aphrodite?" Jason asked, grinning.
"Oh, I don't know. What do you think, sparky?"
In response, Jason pulled her down and pressed his lips to hers.
Moments later, when they were snuggled together, forms entangled on the bed, did Piper say those three words again. Directly into his ear, just as he was drifting off into slumber. The three words which only the two of them knew – knew how important they were. How many loving memories were held in those words. Three words which had the exact same meaning as three other words, only a little more meaningful.
"Stick with me."
-xXx-
Well, that was a lot longer than I expected. I swear, the thing just kind of wrote itself. But it was seriously enjoyable writing it.
PLEASE REVIEW.
I BEG U.
I accept prompts and requests in the reviews too. And I was thinking of making a fanfic including a bunch of chapters on HoO ships, based on different songs. Not exactly songfics, just following the song's storyline. What do you guys think?