Piper was having a bad day.
Jason was off on a little quest – nothing particularly dangerous really, but when you're a son of Jupiter everything could turn out to be dangerous.
She'd planned to spend the day with Annabeth, but the latter, what a good bestfriend she was, was off spending the day with her other friend.
Now, if she'd been on a date with Percy, Piper would understand, but ditching her for a girls night out with Reyna out of all people, was completely unfair towards her.
Sure, Annabeth had gone checking on her earlier, even asked if she wanted to join them so their little duo could become a trio, and Piper could also tell she hadn't asked just out of politeness, she really wanted Piper along, but there was no way Piper could say yes to a girls night out with Reyna.
The problem was that Annabeth just wouldn't understand their mutual dislike. To her, Reyna was so fun! Piper would always be annoyed every time that Annabeth came back from a date night with her Roman friend, smiling and complaining on how she should've been there too.
But, Piper and Reyna together in a room, with Jason gone? Not a chance.
So that night Piper had found herself wandering towards Rachel's cave.
"Has Annabeth ever been seriously jealous of anyone? With Percy, I mean."
For some reason, the Oracle had turned red. "Are you kidding me?"
So she had explained everything.
"But you two are such close friends right now! How is that possible?"
"I don't know, I guess it was all about the rivalry over Percy, really. With me out of the dating game, we found out that we genuinely like each other very much. Not," she added "everyone can resist my dazzling personality."
"What about Percy?" Piper asked, curious.
"I almost had him," she simply said. There was no implication of jealousy or resentment. She was still smiling. "Anyway, I guess you're here to know how Jason's quest is going?"
"I was just looking for a friend, really. Annabeth ditched me for Reyna."
"With Jason gone? That's so uncool!" Rachel said, scolding.
"I know…"
"Anyway, I do have some news for you. Jason is okay. Mostly."
"What do you mean, mostly?"
"Fought a couple of empousai and he's lost a lot of blood, but he had nectar and ambrosia. He should be home tomorrow night at last."
Piper was so relieved. She bid Rachel goodbye and thanked her.
She headed for the canoe lake, wanting to tell Thalia that he brother would be coming home tomorrow , and she needed a great deal of water for Iris-Messaging.
Sitting there, with his legs in the water, Piper found Percy.
"Hey," she approached.
"Hi, 'sup?"
"Jason's coming home tomorrow." She was so relieved that she felt like she needed to tell everybody.
"That's great!" He sounded genuinely happy, but she could tell that his heart was not really into it.
"What did you come here to sulk about, by the way?" she asked.
"Who says I came here to sulk in the first place?" he retorted.
"I do."
"You're right then."
"I'm guessing… Annabeth?"
"Yeah."
"Did you two have a fight?"
"Not really. It's… we had plans for today but she got a message from Reyna and she'd rather going out with her," he said. His face was bent down, he looked like a baby seal.
"Tell me about it," she just said.
Percy looked at her. "Are you jealous?" he asked.
"Aren't you?" Piper simply answered.
"That's different. I'm her boyfriend," he said it like it explained everything.
"And you're jealous of another girl? It's the same thing. I'm her bestfriend, and I'm jealous."
"While Reyna's just –"
"Her Roman counterpart. It makes perfect sense: Minerva has no demigod children, no children at all, actually; and Bellona has no Greek equivalent, she's truly Roman; they're both war goddesses. That's why Annabeth and Reyna get along so well."
"You might have a point, but it doesn't really mean anything. You don't get along with Venus's children. You don't even get along with your Aphrodite siblings, really. This is not about counterparts, anyway. And it doesn't change the fact that our Annabeth is off with Reyna right now, and not home with us."
"Yeah," Piper said. "Maybe we should give her some space – oh, fuck that. I say we go out there and see what Reyna's got so special that we don't."
"Are you saying that we should spy on them?" Percy asked.
"I prefer 'checking'," she said diabolically.
He got up, grinning. "Come on, then. I'm taking you out, Pipes."
"Are we going by pegasus?"
"No, I think we'd get caught if we took Blackjack. I'll take the Prius. Meet you in half an hour at the pine tree."
"Maybe it's not a good idea, after all," Percy said while she was climbing in the car.
"Oh, shut up," Piper replied automatically.
"Don't charmspeak me!"
"Sorry."
"Fine, let's go." He started the engine. "If they see us, Annabeth is not gonna speak to me in a month."
"Yeah," agreed Piper, "she's gonna take Reyna as her permanent best friend."
"I was so glad you called!" said Annabeth enthusiastically, sitting at a café on the High Line.
"I wasn't expecting you to say yes on such a short notice, really. You must have a pretty busy life here, after all… I just happened to be in town. Won't Percy be mad?" the brunette asked.
"Percy? Mad? At me? Not at all, I'm the one who gets mad. He's the cheesy one," Annabeth reassured her.
"Are you sure? I feel like I stole you, you must've had plans for tonight –" Reyna was trying to say.
"Don't worry," Annabeth stopped her, wavering her hand.
Reyna broke into a smile. "It's just so good to see you, really. It's been a month, and often I've found myself craving your company."
"Same. I never called because I know you have a busy life, with the preatorship and re-building Camp Jupiter. I had even thought about helping with your reconstructions, but I don't really do Roman. I usually go for Greek, you know. And besides, I'm still working full time on Olympus after it was destroyed in the Titan War. Percy says I spend more time up there than at Camp these days…"
Reyna cracked a smile.
"You know how to keep a girl, Jackson," Piper said as she ate her blue colored ice cream.
"Well, technically, since Jason's not here, I'm keeping an eye on you."
"And I really appreciate your concern, Seaweed Brain."
Percy turned to look at her. "No one but Annabeth can call me that." He sounded almost intimidating.
"Calm down, sea spawn. We don't want a hurricane over the High Line, do we?"
"Sorry."
"Anyway, why did you take us here?"
"Because it's a touristic spot, but most foreigners don't know about it. I can picture Annabeth wanting to see the architecture. She would probably – fuck! She's right there." He ducked under a corner, taking Piper with him.
"Where?" she asked. "There," Percy pointed.
There they were, sitting and chatting and smiling.
"Do you think they saw us?"
"So no, I've never actually met Bellona. What about you? Have you ever talked to Athena?" Reyna asked her.
"Oh I have, several times," Annabeth replied "more than I like to remember," she said, thinking about that terrible encounter she'd had with her mother while Percy was missing, when Athena told her to follow her Mark and avenge her.
"What happened? Did –?" she stopped when she noticed Annabeth watching somewhere over her shoulder and she instinctively turned. No monsters.
"Don't worry, it's nothing. I thought I saw– I should probably check on Piper. It'll be a minute."
"Is she worried about Jason's quest? She shouldn't be. He always comes back." There was something very bitter in her tone. Something Annabeth pretended not to hear. "Even if to the wrong side," Reyna added. So quietly that she probably didn't realize she had actually spoken those words.
Annabeth put a hand on the other's shoulder. "I should probably ask her what Percy's up to. You know that guy can't even tie his shoelaces without me."
She took her iPhone out of her pocket. She's not supposed to own one, but nevermind.
"Can you hear what they're saying?" Piper asked.
"No," Percy said. "I can't even see Reyna's face actually. I wonder if they're talking about me."
"Always so full of yourself. Wait, Annabeth's got her phone. What –" she was interrupted by the sound of her own cellphone ringing. "Shit."
"Don't answer that," Percy automatically said.
It kept ringing. Three, four, five, ten times. After the fifteenth, Annabeth finally seemed to give up.
"I wonder what she's doing," Annabeth muttered.
Reyna shrugged.
"What do we do now?"
It was Percy's phone's turn to buzz. "Fuck. I have to answer. She's gonna get mad if I don't."
"Hey! You told me not to answer just a minute ago! How come you can?" Piper asked.
"Because I'm her idiot boyfriend and not answering a phone call is one of the many stupid reasons that lead to one of our best fights. So I'm taking it."
"Percy?"
"Hey babe, what's up? How's Reyna?"
"She says hi."
"Are you two having fun?"
"Yeah, quite. What about you? How is Pipes feeling?"
"Oh she's doing all right, I went to see her just a few minutes ago actually."
"Where are you now? Your cabin?"
He hesitated. Percy knew he could not lie to Annabeth and get away with it. She was way too smart and he was a terrible liar. "I went out for a walk," he just said.
"Okay… see you when I get back then."
"Yeah, bye Annabeth."
"That was close," Piper said as soon as he hung up.
"Something is up," Annabeth declared.
They had got caught. And as Percy had predicted, Annabeth was mad. Very.
"What do you think you're doing?" Annabeth was glaring daggers at them.
"We were – we wanted to check on you. That's all," Percy stammered. Piper had an apologetic expression on her face.
"You were spying on me, you mean," Annabeth translated.
"No, we weren't! We just wanted to know what you were up to…"
"Well, you shouldn't have! What I do, where I go is really none of your business," Annabeth replied sharp.
"You're my business!" Percy half-shouted. "Everything that concerns you, concerns me." There was a pause. Reyna just stood there awkwardly, Piper still in her defensive position.
Percy locked eyes with Annabeth and spoke again, in a quieter and more serious tone this time. "Because if I don't have you, I don't know what I am. If I don't have you, I don't have anything. Camp, my skills… they mean nothing without you, Annabeth. And Piper here…" he took a deep breath. "When I was missing, Piper kept close to you, even if you two had just met. But now Jason's not here and you know how it feels like. I know it. Pipes didn't. And this morning, she was out of her mind with worry. You're supposed to be her best friend, you should make sure she's okay. And Reyna, I'm sorry but this is kinda personal. Annabeth is a very territorial person and I found out that maybe I should be a little, too."
Piper stood frozen. Reyna was about to reply, when Annabeth said very slowly, "You – you're… nothing without me?"
"Thought you already knew that."
All of a sudden Annabeth flung herself at Percy, forcing him to unfold his arms and encircle her waist, and she clung to him, burying her face in the crook of his neck.
"Woah, Annabeth."
Percy hadn't expected his girlfriend to react like this at his little speech, but he tightened his hold on her gladly.
"Let's go home," she said at last.
When the four of them arrived at Camp Half-Blood, they noticed there was something going on, because the arena and the cabins were empty. They went towards the amphitheater, where the only noise seemed to be coming from. All the campers were there, plus Chiron. In the middle of the amphitheater stood a tall blond guy.
"Jason!" Piper yelled. She started running in his direction and launched herself in his arms. They shared just a quick kiss, because everyone was watching them.
"Where were you? I thought I'd get a proper welcome, but you weren't here when I arrived," Jason teasingly accused Piper.
"I took her to the city to keep her mind off of you, she was worried sick…" Percy answered for her. It wasn't exactly the truth, but Jason didn't have to know about their jealousy of Reyna.
Only when Percy spoke Jason seemed to notice the rest of them, as his focus had been only on Piper.
"Thanks, man." He said hugging Percy. Then: "Reyna? What in Hades are you doing here?"
"I came to see Annabeth. Glad you got home okay, by the way," she said as she, too hugged him. Her voice caught on the word home.
Piper tugged at Jason's arm. "Let's go," she said.
"Where?"
"I'm going to give you a proper welcome, of course."
"Way to go, girl!" cheered Percy.
Jason smiled in anticipation and politely said goodbye to everyone. "Are you staying, Reyna? I was hoping we could catch up later."
She hesitated.
"Leo could give you a tour of Camp Half-Blood," Annabeth offered. "I would, but I've got to… clean my cabin," she stammered.
"Clean your cabin?" Percy asked suspiciously.
"Of course. Clean my cabin. What's wrong with that?" She blushed. "I was hoping maybe you could help me with the cleaning?"
Percy understood. "Sure thing! But maybe we should start off with my cabin, as it's quieter and more intimate – I mean, messier than yours! Messier. Shall we go?" He offered her his hand.
It was a good thing that the rest of the campers had stopped listening, or they would be laughing by now at the two couples leaving the amphitheater hand in hand.
Leo appeared beside Reyna.
"Follow me, beautiful. Captain Leo assures a fantastic evening."
AN: Hello everyone! Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed my story.
*whispers* I apologize for any possible grammar mistake, as I'm not a native English speaker.
*puppy face* Review please?