It was late. Percy knew he should have gone to bed hours ago, after all he had a test in the morning. But here he was, sitting on his couch at two in the morning, watching reruns of old TV shows, and eating ice cream in his blue pajama pants. So much for living the college life.
He sighed, glancing at the clock. It was going to be hell in the morning and he knew it, yet he still couldn't convince himself to go to bed. He was tired for sure and the thought of waking up at seven the next morning was brutal. Why did he even take an eight o'clock class? Despite all this he just couldn't go to sleep.
When the same episode of the show came on for the second time that night, Percy knew he had to do something else. There was Piper, she was clearly awake and at a party according to her snapchat story. He could always call her.
Percy started to dial the numbers. By the time he reached the fifth number he heard the creak of his door opening.
Damn it.
He left the door unlocked yet again. He still wondered why he managed to do that. It wasn't like Percy was living somewhere nice. In fact, the apartment he had too himself was a little sketchy and the landlord incredibly lazy. And he still left his door unlocked.
Percy wasn't sure what the hell he should do. Grabbing the TV remote (it was the only thing close) he held it threateningly in front of him and made his way cautiously to the front door.
The blonde standing there was the last thing he expected to see. Her honey blonde curls draped down her back. The hem of her lilac jacket was a little frayed and her light jeans ripped. Percy recognized her as one of Piper's friends. Annabeth, was it?
He lowered his makeshift weapon and strode over to her, completely confused as to why she was in his apartment unannounced at two in the morning.
She was on the phone, talking to a caller unknown to Percy. Her back was turned to him and she didn't seem to notice his presence.
"Yes Piper, I'm home." She slurred.
Oh gods she was drunk.
Percy didn't mean to eavesdrop, that's just the way it worked out.
He caught a muffled voice that he immediately recognized as Piper's low raspy one.
"No, you're not Annabeth. Jason and I are at your house right now. You are not there." He heard Piper tell Annabeth.
Thankfully Percy knew Piper wouldn't be drunk. She almost always took the role as designated driver near testing weeks.
Annabeth finally twirled around to come face to face with Percy. A scared shriek was released from her mouth.
"Annabeth! What happened?!" Piper screamed through the phone, worry evidently laced in each word.
"There's an intruder! Call 911 or something!" Annabeth cried.
She looked absolutely petrified, was shaking and crying. It was an absolute contrast to the Annabeth Percy knew. She was calm, poised, and no nonsense girl. She didn't sob like this.
"No! No it's okay." Percy said trying to sound as soothing and nonthreatening as he could.
Annabeth slid to the floor in a heap and shook her head wildly.
"This is my apartment, Annabeth. Not yours." Percy said, evening hi voice as if he was talking to a child.
"How do you know my name?" Annabeth cried again.
The phone call must have ended because Piper's voice did not come through again and the screen was black.
"I'm Percy, remember? We're both good friends of Piper."
"P-Piper?" She hiccuped, rubbing the sleeve of her jacket across her nose.
"Yea, Piper." Percy smiled in gratitude. Finally he was getting somewhere without her freaking out on him.
"But why are you in my house!" She began crying again.
Percy sighed in frustration. This was getting no where. It was going on almost three at this point and he still had a test in the morning. He didn't have the time to be explaining that this was his apartment.
"Look around. You'll see this isn't your home."
Like a lost dog, she did look around. Her eyes widened in realization. This wasn't her home.
"I'm- I'm sorry." She whimpered.
Percy gave a light-hearted chuckle. He was just glad she stopped the heavy crying.
"Don't worry. I'll call Piper to pick you up."
She nodded, looking up to him. She was still sitting on the floor and the majority of her hair had fallen into her face.
He began dialing the number into his for the second time that night.
And again he was interrupted at the fifth number.
"Wait," Annabeth said suddenly, sounding a bit hesitant."What is it?" Percy asked half concerned, half irritated. This night needed to end soon.
"I'm really tired."
Once she said that Percy noticed she looked it too. Her face was still red and blotchy from the crying. Her eyes were puffy and warm with purple bags appearing underneath. Her small body looked overwhelmed with exhaustion.
"Okay?" Percy didn't know why that was something to interrupt him with.
"Can I just sit on your couch or something?" Her voice was still small, but the words slurred slightly less from alcohol and more from sleepiness.
"Yea, sure."
Percy grabbed her hands and helped her up. She was even shorter than he thought, her head just reaching his bare chest.
"Thanks." She left out a little sniffle.
Percy led her to his navy blue couch. It was tattered and the cushions were sunken in, but Annabeth didn't seem to mind. Once it was in sight of her she collapsed onto the velvety surface in a curled up ball.
In just a few minutes Percy could hear her snores. They weren't cute or anything ladylike, but the blonde made them endearing somehow.
He draped a fleece blanket on her before going back to calling piper.
The phone rang only twice before a frantic voice picked up.
"Listen Perce, I really don't have the time right now." Piper said, voice hurried.
"Piper-"
"I lost my friend and she screamed but then her phone must have died. And I think she was at a stranger's house." Piper was in hysterics by now.
"Piper, you need to listen-" Percy started
"And we can't find her and she's really drunk." Piper was sobbing.
Percy wanted so badly to just go over to wherever his best friend was and wrap her in a hug. To tell her her friend was just fine and sleeping on his couch at the current moment.
"Piper, you have to stop crying and listen to me." Percy's voice was gentle with a stern edge.
"Okay." Piper whispered.
He could hear her gulp.
"Annabeth is at my apartment right now. I don't know how she got here or why she thought this was her house, but like you said she was really drunk. She's sleeping right now and you can come get her."
"Oh thank god." Piper breathed out in relief. A knot that had been growing in her stomach untied itself and the bile rising in her throat went a away.
"I'll come now." She said, her voice still raw from crying and hung up the phone.
An hour late Piper was standing in his doorway. Her eyes were slightly red and her black shirt a little rumpled. Jason was nowhere to be found.
"She' just on the couch. Snoring her head off too." Percy told his friend.
Piper chuckled.
"That's Annabeth for you."
She stood a little nervously and tugged on the sleeve of her shirt.
"Sorry about that, by the way. When Annabeth's drunk she gets totally out of character. Well her being drunk in the first place is usually pretty out of character." Piper said quickly, a little embarassed at her friend's actions.
"Don;t worry about it." Percy shrugged.
They both walked over to the sleeping beauty. A little trail of drool rolled down the side of her cheek.
"She's all yours." Percy said.
Piper shook on Annabeth's shoulder.
"Come on, Anna. Time to get up." Piper told her friend, not nearly as nicely as loud.
The blonde did nothing but mumble a few incoherent words and roll to her other side.
Piper blew a tuft of hair out of her face.
"This is hopeless." She said.
"You can always just carry her out."
Piper stared at Percy, eyes in a bit of disbelief.
"Percy, I cannot carry out a 110 pound woman. I may be able to kick butt, but lugging practically dead weight around is not my expertise."
"Well what do we do then?"
Piper gave an amused smile. A mischievous glint crossed her ever changing eyes.
"Why don't you carry her out?"
At this point Percy didn't even feel like arguing. He just hauled the sleeping girl into his arms and carried her bridal style.
Her head tucked into his chest and she wrapped her arms around her neck. A few words bubbled from her mouth, none of them making sense.
"Aw, how sweet!" Piper mockingly cooed.
Percy shot her a look of annoyance.
"Just take me to your car."
"My pleasure." Piper gave him a wicked grin.
"She's gonna have one hell of a hangover." Percy commented as they made their way to the parking lot.
That night Percy got two hours of sleep. He didn't really mind though. Despite the annoyance of the previous situation, he couldn't help thinking it was supposed to happen. That night just before falling asleep he thought of honey blonde curls. A soft smile formed on his lips.
