Teddy Bear

By: xXxDaughteroftheKingxXx

AN: Well, this was a random idea for a couple of OCs... 'Course, you know me, and I always find some way to make it into a few Percy Jackson characters.

Happy Valentine's Day, and Happy Singles' Awareness Day. :)

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO/HoO.

Being dragged to Walmart by my best friend to go "get supplies" for our science fair project wasn't exactly my definition of Friday night fun. Actually… nothing was really "fun" when it came to matters of science.

To make matters worse, I also had to deal with her stopping and admiring any girly thing that we came across.

Yeah, I said 'her'. It wasn't a mistake; one of my best friends is a girl, and I'm a guy. Big deal.

"How much longer until your mom is done with grocery shopping?" I asked for the umpteenth time.

Piper stopped again and shot a glare at me. "Connor, that's like the fiftieth time you've asked that in five minutes. I. Don't. Know! She'll call me or text me or whatever when she's done! In the meantime, do me a favor and shut up."

"No," I said, smirking slightly. "I don't want to, and I don't have to because it's America. I have rights."

Her brown—well, they were brown right now, at least—eyes narrowed at me. "Guess that means I have rights to strangle you," she muttered, walking into a certain aisle. I was about to follow her, when I released just which aisle it was.

"No, no, no," I said firmly. This time it was my turn to glare at her. "The Valentine's Day aisle? Really? You told me you don't even like that holiday!"

"That doesn't mean I can't look at the merchandise," she grumbled, picking up a box of Justin Bieber cards. "Blech. I hate this holiday so much… it's so demeaning."

I rolled my eyes at her, "You think everything is demeaning. I call you short, 'Oh, Connor, that's so demeaning!'"

Shoving the box down, she glared at me again. "I'm just stating the—oh, never mind," she sighed. "It's not worth it. I just wish I could disappear for an entire day so I don't have to hear everyone talking about lovey dovey crap."

"Like Drew and Will?" I guessed, and she made a face.

"Exactly like them. People like that—they're so annoying. I mean, it's cute at first…" Here, Piper sighed again. "I'm probably just jealous or something."

I scoffed. "Jealous of Drew? I thought you'd rather die."

"I would," she muttered. "I'm just a little jealous that she has a boyfriend… Ugh, I hate myself for thinking like that. It's just really irritating that her and practically everyone else in this world has a special person that they have feelings for and has feelings for them…"

Piper sighed again and grabbed a little stuffed animal off of the shelf. "You know those huge stuffed animals?" she said as fiddled with the arms of the teddy bear. "Will was talking about getting Drew one. How corny is that… I wish a guy would be corny like that to me."

For a while there, I was a bit stunned and too surprised to say anything. Looking back on it, saying nothing was probably the best thing, because Piper seemed to completely forget I was there. She seemed to be talking to herself or something.

After a moment, she replaced the toy on the shelf and turned to me, smiling. "Oh well, it's just another holiday," she said, suddenly carelessly. "Let's go walk around… maybe we'll be able to find my mom."

I nodded. "Sure, let's do that," I muttered, my mind running a million miles an hour. I had an idea.

As we were walking, Piper suddenly stopped, putting her hand on my shoulder. I looked at her expectantly; she had a pleading look on her face.

"Connor, about the whole 'jealous about Drew having a boyfriend' thing, please don't tell anyone," she said. She frowned, shaking her head. "I really don't know why I'm like that… It just frustrates me, you know?"

I smiled at her, nodding. "It's fine. I won't tell anyone—promise. And… about that whole, situation, I'm sure you'll find that special person someday. In the meantime… well, you've got me, I guess."

I didn't think that it was very reassuring, but she smiled widely. "Thanks. I'm glad I have you as my friend, Connor… it means a lot to me that you put up with all my girly crap."

I laughed. "What're friends for?"

As we continued to walk and talk, I couldn't help but glance back at the Valentine's Day aisle, a plan formulating in my mind. A grin formed on my face.

February fourteenth was Valentine's Day—the day of love. Most people think of it as couple kind of love, but… I don't think it's just that. It was friendship love too, I think.

I hope. Because, if it isn't… Then, that means I might like my best friend.

"I never get called to the office, Connor!" Piper grumbled, walking briskly towards the office. "Not for anything! Nada! Zilch! I don't get script cards or anything stupid like that, so why would I be called to the office? Ugh, I can't even wrap my mind around it, and it's just so frustra—"

"I get it," I said abruptly, rolling my eyes at her. "You're upset that you're being called to the office, but hey, it could be a good thing, you know? Calm down, it's not like you did something terrible. You're one of the school's best students."

Her expression softened for a second, then hardened again as she fixed me with a glower. "It's Valentine's Day, Connor," she muttered as we entered the office, but not before we set out other bags outside of the door. She held her arms to her chest as she glanced back at me and added, "Good things never come from this day.

I merely shrugged, having to bite my tongue to keep myself from smartly replying, Never say never, especially considering that I had a pretty good idea of why my best friend, an honors student, had been called to the office, where they usually handed out detentions and such. It was pretty difficult, but I managed to keep quiet as my best friend approached the secretary and talked to her. Mrs. Hill, our fairly new secretary, smiled widely and motioned for her to hang on, before proceeding to get up and walk into another room.

Piper sighed, turning to me. "Great," she muttered, "she's probably going to go and get my detention slip right now—for something I didn't even know I did."

I laughed and patted her arm reassuringly. "Hey, she was smiling," I reminded. "It's probably something good—who knows, maybe you have a secret admirer or something."

The second the words had slipped out of my mouth, I regretted them. I about smacked myself—how obvious had I just made it. Now, Mrs. Hill was going to come out with my gift for my best friend—who I was now certain I did not have a crush on—and she was going to know that it was me.

Piper rolled her eyes. "Right," she said with a wry laugh. "As if anyone really cared enough to get me something for Valentine's Day."

I smiled at her knowingly. "Sometimes," I said, "people care more than you think."

Her mouth opened as she began to say something, but her voice trailed off as Mrs. Hill walked in with a familiar large stuffed teddy bear, a small heart-shaped box of chocolates, and a single rose.

Mrs. Hill smiled at my best friend, who stood, mouth wide open like a fish, and handed her the gifts. "Looks like someone has a secret admirer, dear," she said, slightly teasingly. My face automatically warmed up; I so did not mean it that way. "You know that a single rose means love at first sight, right?"

Piper looked at the secretary, still surprised, but nodded. "Um… er… yeah," she mumbled. "Thanks… you wouldn't by chance know who… er… sent these, right?"

"Sorry, hon, but no," Mrs. Hill replied, shaking her head. "I guess you will have to figure that out—maybe you can ask Connor to help."

Something tells me that, if I help her, it'll be pretty obvious who actually gave her the gift, I thought dryly.

"Or, you can just read the card," I suggested, and Piper set down the teddy bear, nodding.

"Right," she said offhandedly. "Connor, you… uh, you wouldn't mind helping me get this to my car, would you? I mean, if you could, then it'd mean a lo—"

"It's fine," I interrupted. "I can help you—it's not like my parents are going to pick me up anytime soon."

Piper smiled, turned to Mrs. Hill, and said, "Thank you, Mrs. Hill," before we walked out of the office. She handed me the bear, mumbling a word of thanks, and we gathered all of our things. Once we had everything together, we began to walk to the parking lot, where her mom was parked, an uneasy silence over us.

We must've been halfway there when I finally broke the ice and said, "So, do you have any idea who your 'secret admirer' might be?"

She shrugged. "I really don't," she said honestly. "My best guess? It was my parents. There's really no one else who'd put the time and money at this school into getting me a Valentine's Day gift… and no one else who knew that I really wanted a teddy bear." She laughed. "Yeah, I bet it was my parents. Embarrassing, huh?"

I tried not to feel a little hurt at that—after all, I'd put my time and money into making this holiday actually special for her. Doing my best not to reveal my secret, I once again said, "Sometimes, people care more than you think."

A small smile slid onto her face, and she opened the door, holding it open for a few people, including myself. "I know, Connor," she said. "You've said that before, but I really can't think of who would actually get me something… Yeah, I have my friends—Annabeth, Reyna, Hazel, you—but I don't think the girls would get me anything like this, because that'd just be awkward. And if you got me the gifts—" Here, she laughed sheepishly, "—that'd be pretty awkward too. Incredibly sweet of you, but… awkward, especially with the rose and what not."

Before I could reply to that, Piper added, "But, I know it's not you, Connor. Just putting the thought out there."

I fought the strong urge to roll my eyes right then and there. I might as well have put a blinking light that said: "I GAVE YOU THE GIFTS!" and she probably wouldn't have noticed it.

"Let's just figure that out later," I said finally. "Say you did figure out who your 'secret admirer' was, and it wasn't your parents. What would you do to this person?"

A thoughtful look crossed her face, and well, I had to admit that I thought she looked pretty cute when she was thinking. After a few moments, she said, "I think I would go up to them, wrap them in a huge hug, and if they were a guy, give them a kiss on the cheek, while thanking them the entire time."

At that moment, I was sincerely glad that the bear was pretty much covering my face, because I was certain that it was beet red. Just the thought of my best friend coming up, hugging me, and kissing me… it made my heart start pounding in my chest.

Before I could prevent myself from saying anything stupid, I blurted out, "Whoever gave you the presents is going to be one lucky guy."

Piper's face turned slightly red, and she smiled, shaking her head. "You still are so intent on thinking that some guy got these for me," she said as we approached her mom's car. "I'm positive that my parents got it for me."

"Think what you want," I muttered as I opened the backseat and peeked my head in. "Hi, Mrs. McLean," I greeted.

The beautiful woman turned and smiled warmly at me. "Connor, nice to see you," she said. "Um… what's with the teddy bear?"

Piper opened the passenger door, and said, "Someone got me some Valentine's gifts, and I think it was you or Dad. Connor was just helping me take them to the car."

Her mother's perfect brows furrowed. "Well, it must have been your dad, because I know I didn't get that…"

"Well, it was probably Dad then," Piper said casually, climbing into the passenger seat. I closed the back door, stepping up to say goodbye, just as she added, "I'm a little surprised by that."

Turning to me, Piper smiled warmly. "Thanks for helping me take the bear to my car, Connor," she said. "I… uh, I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

I grinned back at her. "See you tomorrow. Maybe you won't be as irritable and grumpy after Valentine's Day has passed."

The smile on her face widened. "I… don't think that you'll have a problem with me hating this holiday anymore. See you, Connor," she said, before she closed the car door.

I waved at the two through the window. Piper had a look on her face of sheer happiness—happiness that she was trying to mask, but was failing at doing so. Happiness that I had caused.

That thought made me smile as I walked back to the school, my phone moving around in my pocket. And that little fact reminded me that I needed to call someone.

Once I had gotten into the building, I pulled out my phone and dialed a familiar number, only to get voicemail. The phone beeped, and with a laugh, I said, "Hey, Travis, it's Connor. I just thought I'd let you know—the fifty bucks that you 'lost' last week—I actually… um, 'borrowed' that to get my friend a gift. …Yeah… Happy Valentine's Day, bro!"

I could practically see steam coming out of my brother's ears at hearing my message, and it made me laugh. I had managed to make my best friend happier than I had seen her the entire school year, and managed to annoy my older brother by 'borrowing' some money for him.

Life was good, but there was still one thing bothering me.

I couldn't help but wonder… would I ever get that kiss from Piper?

No matter how much I wanted to deny it… I certainly hoped so.

AN: Cheesy. I know.