Hey fangirls!
So, you are probably wondering why I'm updating again so soon. U must be thinking: "She can't be that nice!" (Don't deny it, I know u r.)
And that is surprisingly true, I am not that nice. And there is a reason why I'm updating today, and why I hope that by posting this fanfic, you guys can all feel the joy that I feel on this day.
Yep, ITS MAH BIRTHDAY! :D
Btw, in this fic I just wanted to elaborate on the FRIENDSHIP between Leo and Piper (notice the emphasise on the word friendship, guys). But there's a whole to of Jasper too, for all those fluff lovers out there!
-oOo-
You know that feeling you get when you wake up in the morning, and that bizarre unexpected wave of excitement just wells up in you and threatens to burst out of your chest... and you have absolutely no clue why?
That is the exact description of Piper Mclean's emotions on the morning of October 6th.
Despite suffering an unbearably long, restless and uncomfortable night full of terrifying nightmares, she still woke up with her heart leaping for joy. This surprised her to the point of confusion, as it was unusual for her to be smiling brightly the moment her eyes shot open rather than letting loose a blood curdling scream, jolting awake in a cold sweat and having to retreat into the comfortable warmth of Jason's arms.
Jason. He wasn't next to her. He wasn't wrapped up, resembling a human burrito, with his face half buried (totally adorable position, by the way) under the covers this morning. The space next to her was empty.
The uncontrollable tumour of panic began to swell in her chest, swiftly replacing the exhilaration which had dwelled there not two seconds ago. Where was he? Jumping out of bed, she didn't even bother to smooth herself down before violently swinging the cabin door open and leaping down the steps, almost running face first into Leo.
"Whoa, Beauty Queen!" He cried, grabbing her by the shoulders and steadying her. "You never struck me as a morning person."
Shrugging off his hands, the trepidation which overcame her was so severe she didn't even bother screaming at him for using that nickname. "Leo, where's Jason?"
"Okay, chillax. He's with Prissy doing who knows what."
The tumour gradually expanding in her chest immediately melted away, but instead left a red hot welt of anger in its place. "Why didn't he wake me to tell me where he was going?"
"I don't know," Leo shrugged. "Probably because his adorable little Piper Wiper looked too cute while she's asleep." His voice turned high pitched towards the end, and he scrunched his eyebrows together mockingly.
Piper shoved Leo, but couldn't control the grin which Leo could always bring out from spreading across her face. "Shut up." And then she remembered her state of excitement in the morning. "Oh, Leo, is there anything you want to say to me?" She asked hopefully, aiming to remind him (what he obviously remembered, but which had just temporarily escaped his mind.)
"Oh, yeah!" Leo's elfish face to brightened considerably. "I wanted to ask you if you wouldn't mind coming into the city with me. I need some new tools."
Piper's heart dropped down to her shoes. He had forgotten. How had he forgotten? They all knew how important this day was to her, and frankly, this just plain hurt like hell.
"No," she snapped. "I just wanna see Jason." There was no way Jason would have forgotten. He couldn't have.
"Oh, c'mon, Pipes, I need someone to come with me!" Leo whined, oblivious to Piper's annoyance and hurt. "Please!"
"Leo, you have your tool belt," she muttered angrily.
"Oh, yeah, I do," he said, looking mildly surprised, as if he hadn't thought of that. "Well... I wanna feel the real thing!" He finished defensively.
"You want to feel the real thing?" Piper raised her eyebrow sceptically.
"Yep, the real thing." Leo grabbed her arm and began to drag her away from the cabin.
She considered using charmspeak to convince him to stop bothering her. She seriously couldn't handle anything else. However, she was currently on a self-challenge of breaking her no charmspeak record, and it was going pretty well. She didn't want all of her efforts to go to waste. So she had no choice but to go along with the repair boy.
"Can't I at least shower and change first?" She grumbled.
"Nope!" Leo replied cheerfully, and he began to pull her down the slope towards the camp exit and the spare van. "You look dazzling."
"Leo, I just woke up," she said dryly.
"Your point?"
"At least let me brush my hair."
"And let you stay in the toilet for two hours braiding coloured feathers in? No way."
"I don't take two hours!" She objected indignantly.
"It's close enough."
Staring around the camp, Piper was surprised to find it abandoned. No one was in the arena, or the wall climbing zone, or at the targets.
"Where is everyone?" She thought put loud.
"Oh, probably in the breakfast hall," Leo decided dismissively.
"Leo, it's like, noon."
"Really?"
Piper rolled her eyes, but made the smart decision. Which was to simply shut up and go with the flow. The sooner this unnecessary trip could finish, the better. Then she could get back and really work out what was going on.
"Whatever," she grumbled, and saw Leo flash a hint of a smile.
However, the real torture began the moment they climbed into the van and began to drive towards the highway.
"Leo, are you doing this on purpose?"
"Doing what?" He asked innocently. Too innocently.
"Dude, I can still see the woods behind us! And we've been driving for about half an hour!"
"Quit complaining, my dear Piper," was all he said, with an air of superiority which was a tell-tale sign for: I know something you don't.
She narrowed her eyes suspiciously, but said nothing.
"Shouldn't we at least be on the highway by now?"
"Hey, it's not my fault there's so much traffic!"
"You call this," Piper gestured to the cars passing by at a relaxed, leisurely pace, "traffic?"
"You don't?"
"That cab driver just gave you the finger!"
"Are you freaking serious?" he gasped dramatically. "I didn't notice. Call 911 for me, Pipes."
"Leo..."
"What?"
"Drive!"
"I am driving! Oh my gods, hormonal teenage girls these days-"
"Move this goddamn car!" She screeched, infuriated beyond reasoning.
"Okay!" Leo raised his voice to match hers, but made no move to increase the speed. "Are you trying to get me arrested?!" The look he gave her was similar to the look a person might give a psychopath.
"How the hell will this get you arrested?!"
"Because technically, the age limit for driving in New York is 18 and over!" Leo yelled back. A suspicious glance from Piper confirmed he was struggling to hide his enjoyment in this argument.
"Oh, really? Since when?"
"Oh, I don't know!" He mimicked her tone. "How about... The 26th amendment?!"
Piper groaned loudly, frustrated, and then pulled out her phone and resolved to doing some valuable research on it. Let Leo assume she had given up on the debate. She would show him.
A few tries of Google confirmed her suspicion. "Aha! Look at this!" She shoved the phone at Leo's face, which probably wasn't a very smart move, considering that her life was in his hands. "I just googled it! The age limit is 16 and over. And you're 17. So. DRIVE."
"Okay, okay!" Leo sighed sadly, but proceeded to increase the acceleration. "There! See?" I've gone all the way up from 40 miles per hour," he gestured to the speed meter, "to 42. Happy now?" He used his free hand to wave her away, but stopped when Piper's hand grabbed onto his.
"Stop. It." The ends of the words were clipped harshly, revealing her anger.
Leo decided that it was time to stop.
When they finally reached the tool shop which was part of a long row of stores at the side of the road, Leo parked the van and stepped out. After he had closed the door, Piper banged her hand on the seat in frustration. This was turning out to be the worst day ever.
Leo opened the passenger side door, and Piper guessed he was acting all gentlemanly in the effort to get back on her good side. Well, it wasn't going to work. She stepped out of the van with her head held high and stalked towards the entrance.
She stepped inside the store. The faint musty scent of dust and grease drifted through the air, and she was vaguely reminded of Bunker 9. Rows and rows of shelves ran along the wall, all lined with constructive tools, some which Piper couldn't even name. Okay, not some, the majority of them she hadn't even seen.
In other words, she had just stepped into Elysium built for the children of Hephaestus.
Next to her, Leo rubbed his hands in excitement. "Finally. I get to feel the real thing."
Suddenly, a thought struck Piper. "Leo, you could have felt the real thing for the past two years. How come you just thought of coming to a tool shop now?" She raised her eyebrow and tapped her shoe, pressurizing him into giving her an answer.
"Oh, I just thought of it yesterday."
"Okay, what's going on?" she demanded.
"Nothing, nothing. Why the heck would anything be wrong?" Leo chuckled with a hint of nervousness, and again Piper decided to leave it alone. It was obvious she wasn't going to get the answer out of him so easily.
She sighed, and the sorrow washed over her. They had forgotten one of the most important days of her life. She didn't understand why, but this affected her more than it should have. Maybe it was just PMS.
Sadly, she trailed behind Leo as he began to roam the entire store, finding it absolutely necessary to stop and examine every boring looking tool in sight.
-oOo-
"Leo, can we go now?"
"But we just got here!"
"Just got here? We've been here in this freaking hell for almost two hours, and you haven't bought a single tool yet!"
"Patience, Piper, patience," Leo replied calmly, making the wait gesture with his free hand, while the other held a screw driver close to his face. He was examining it with so much concentration it was as if he was trying to telepathically communicate with it. "The art of finding the correct tool requires extreme concentration and experience. It is exceedingly time consuming."
"The correct tool?" Piper half screamed. "We've been stuck in this place for this long just for one tool?"
"Basically, yeah."
"Leo, I swear to the effing gods, if we don't get out of this hell hole within the next 60 seconds, I will rip out your eyeballs and shove them down your throat so you can see-"
"Found it!" Leo proudly held up the most rusty, ordinary looking screw driver Piper had ever seen in her life.
"Tha- that's it?" Piper spluttered.
"How can you possibly say that?" Leo gasped. "Look at how beautiful it is! And how right it feels in your grip. Here, see." He shoved the useless tool into Piper's hand.
"I don't feel anything."
"Of course you don't," he said and snatched it back. "I can't expect someone like... like you to understand!"
"Is that a challenge?" Piper demanded immediately as they walked towards the counter.
"Oh, are you going all Mufasa on me now?"
"What if I am?"
"You'd better not. I thought you loved me," Leo whispered dramatically in a small voice as he fished out his wallet, and Piper rolled her eyes. She seemed to be rolling her eyes a lot at this outing.
Just as the cashier was accepting the money, Leo suddenly said: "Oh no, wait! I just need to buy-"
"No!" Piper screeched. The cashier lady looked at her as if she was insane. "No, no more. Nothing else. Let's just get out of here."
If looks could kill, Piper would be lying face up on the floor right now, and the cashier lady would be guilty.
Sighing sorrowfully, Leo scooped up the screw driver in his fist and began to move towards the exit. As he left, Piper heard him mutter discreetly and pitifully: "Even after everything I've done for her, what does she do? Nothing. She can't even wait 2 minutes-"
Trailing behind him, Piper made faces at his back. Once they'd climbed back into the van, Leo started the engine and began to drive. Unfortunately, no faster than it was on their last drive.
A little while later, Piper realised something.
"Um, Leo, where are we going?"
"What do you mean?"
"Camp is the other way."
"Happy realisation day, Pipes."
Piper sat up abruptly. "Where the hell are we going, repair boy?" She hissed menacingly.
"Whoa, whoa, stay calm! I think I can hear the smoke alarm ringing, can you?"
"LEO!"
"Didn't I tell you? I'm treating you to an awesome lunch!" There was utter silence for a moment. "Surprise." Leo finished quietly, in a small timid voice.
On the trip to T.G.I Fridays, Leo expanded his vocabulary (particularly in the cursing department) more than he had ever before. His ears were burning when he stepped out of the van.
"-and I swear on the river styx, I will-" and the she rolled on in a stream of incoherent french as she got off the van. Part of Leo thought it was better when he couldn't understand what she was saying.
"And I will never go anywhere with you ever again!" Piper finished angrily as she pulled open the restaurant door.
"Hey, it's not my fault I'm hungry!"
"Ever bother to think about me, Leo?"
"Fine, if you wanna go back to camp, be my guest. I heard walking ten miles in the scorching hot sun is really good for your health. Burns hip fat."
Piper groaned. "Just... shut up, okay? Please."
And Leo did. They both stayed quiet at a tiny corner table and read over the menu without any difficulty... right up till the waiter walked up.
"Tra - Travis?" Piper stammered. "You work here?"
"Yep!" Replied Travis Stoll cheerfully.
"Since when?"
"Uuuh...today?" It was more of a question rather than a statement, as if he wasn't sure himself. Kind of fishy.
"Anyway," Travis rushed on, "would you like to order now or later?"
"Later," said Leo, just as Piper said, "now!"
"Um, I'll just come back later," Travis said, and hurried away before Piper could object. She turned to Leo. "Why couldn't we just go to McDonald's if you were hungry?"
"Just..." he hesitated for a moment. "Because I wanted to go someplace special."
Piper was bewildered. Why? He didn't remember about the special occasion today, so why did he want to come to 'someplace special?' Confused, she just shook it off. For the time being.
For a while, they sat in silence, and then Travis returned with a notepad in hand, and a pencil poised above. Piper resisted the sudden urge to laugh at the idea of seeing one of the Stoll brothers in such a business-like manner. It just wasn't natural.
"So..." Travis coughed, sounding slightly apprehensive. Piper wondered why. "What can I get you?"
"I would like the... medium red steak, please," Leo said, and Travis wrote it down on the notepad. "With coke."
"Piper?" He asked.
"Just a veggie taco for me, Travis."
"Drinks?"
"Fanta."
"Alrighty," Travis stuffed the pen back into the pocket. "25 minutes please."
"25 minutes?! Why is it gonna take so long?" Piper asked, outraged, but by then Travis was gone. All she wanted to do now was just go home, lock herself into Jason's cabin when he wasn't there, and just collapse on the bed. "What the hell am I supposed to do for 25 minutes?"
"Oh, I don't know, Piper," Leo said tiredly. She guessed even he was getting tired of her whining.
However, a crisis seemed to have occurred in the kitchen. Either that, or none of the cooks knew how to read time. Because what was supposed to be 25 minutes just happened to magically transform into 45. And that's when their food arrived. However, this time the waiter wasn't Travis. As soon as the man set the plate on front of Piper, she sensed it. She could tell immediately from the foul smell emitting from between the taco shell.
This wasn't a vegetable taco. It was meat. Apparently, Leo realised it too, and he signalled to the waiter.
"May I help you?" The man asked politely when he returned.
Leo opened his mouth, but before he could utter a single syllable, Piper barked: "I ordered a vegetable taco. And do you know what this is?"
The waiter's eyes widened to the size of saucers out of both fear and surprise. An angry Piper was nothing fun to see. But she was way beyond the point of being nice by now.
"These aren't vegetables. This is meat. Get it changed immediately or I swear I'll sue this place."
The waiter nodded his head vigorously, snatched the plate and fast-walked away.
Seething, Piper turned back to Leo, only to find him gaping at her. "What are you looking at?" She snapped. "Close your mouth, you idiot, you don't want a fly to get in."
Pulling his jaw shut, Leo eagerly began to dig into the mountain of food in front of him. When Piper's was bought (again a good 20 minutes later), she didn't even bother acknowledging the waiter, but pulled the plate towards her and began to ravish the taco. And not in such a civilised manner either.
Well, what did people expect? She hadn't eaten since the moment she had woken up (thanks to the person siting opposite her), had just experienced the worst day ever (again thanks to the person sitting opposite her) and just had to wait more than an hour for her food (how much was the person opposite her responsible for, gods).
After cleaning his plate, Leo sat back in his chair and smiled contentedly. "That was good. There's no place like Fridays." He paused for a moment, as if building up the courage to ask. "Desert?"
Piper honestly just wanted to go home now, but who could say no to desert?
"Just a chocolate cake with ice cream on the side."
"I think you're really starting to warm up to me," Leo grinned brightly. "I'll just share with you."
After he'd ordered it, Leo asked: "Did you have fun, Piper?"
"Uuh..." Piper said, slightly surprised and taken aback. "What part of that?"
"The food."
"Oh, oh yeah," she said, relieved. "The food was awesome."
Leo smiled, and a glint if satisfaction appeared in his eyes. But Piper barely had time to register it before the cake arrived. Everything was perfectly fine. The cake was heading right towards the spot in front of her, she was eagerly awaiting it's arrival, and then she spotted the flash of white. Leo's sneaker as it came in the way of the waiter. Made the waiter stumble. And what happened to the cake?
Yep. All over Pipers shirt. She shrieked, surprised.
"Oh my God, ma'am, I'm so sor-"
"Where's the toilet?" Piper cut the horrified waiter off, her voice deadly. Both the waiter and Leo visibly paled.
"Tha-that way," he stammered, pointing towards a corner, his eyes wide.
With no thanks, Piper stood up and briskly walked towards the toilet. Once she was inside, and she made sure no one else was around, she finally let one single tear slip. But that was all she could afford. Hurriedly grabbing paper towels and wetting them, Pipet rubbed all the signs of chocolate cake and ice cream off the front of her shirt. And then she pushed open the bathroom door, and stalked towards the table, where Leo was handing the visibly trembling waiter the bill.
"Leo. Let's go. I've had enough."
Without any objections, he followed Piper out of the door and towards the parked van.
The ride back was silent. Which was a strong relief. Only it wasn't the ride back to camp.
"Leo, please, please..."
"I just need to pick up some stuff, okay?" Leo said, his voice surprisingly gentle. When they stopped at a signal, he leaned over and kissed her cheek. "I'm sorry." Piper didn't reply. But when she leant the side of her head against the window, she couldn't stop the warm tears from leaking out.
By the time they reached their destination, the sun was setting. Leo climbed out while Piper stayed inside. He walked over to her door and opened it for her. Unsteadily, she stepped out. They were parked in a dark alleyway, with the entrance to a dark building in front of them. Leo led her towards it and pulled the door open, leading them into utter darkness.
"Leo?" Piper asked, her voice echoing in the darkness. It was hoarse and dry from tears. "Where the hell are w-"
"SURPRISE!"
Piper could have sworn her heart stopped. The bright lights flickered on, making her squint, and the room lit up. Familiar faces appeared everywhere. Annabeth, Percy, Rachel, Reyna, Frank, Hazel, Calypso, Thalia...
A long table covered with delicacies lined the wall. They were in a brightly lit basement, with coloured streamers hanging from the ceiling, and a huge banner saying HAPPY BIRTHDAY PIPER was painted sloppily and hung across the doorway. Balloons everywhere. It was beautiful.
Once again, her eyes filled with tears as she realised what had happened today. They hadn't forgotten. None of them had.
And they had done this. For her.
"Look, she's crying!" Someone's voice called out (sounding unsurprisingly like Thalia).
And then Piper was pulled away from the entrance into a thousand hugs from different people. They engulfed her in their warmth, as if reminding her that she wasn't alone; that she was always loved. That she would always have someone else's warmth next to her.
"Happy birthday, Piper," a familiar voice whispered into her ear as the man hugged her with all his might.
"Daddy?" Piper half whimpered against his shoulder. She hadn't heard that voice for so long.
"Yep." Tristan McLean pulled back, and held her shoulders. "Look at you." He sighed happily. "You've grown up. You're so big, Pipes. And so, so beautiful." Piper could see tears lining the corner of his eyes, and she threw her arms around him again.
As he walked away, Piper could hear him whispering to himself. "17. My baby's 17." Piper felt her heart swell.
And then she spotted Leo, and half ran towards him. "LEO!"
Leo turned, spotted her, and his eyes widened. He actually made to run away, but before he could move, Piper had leapt upon him. She squeezed the living daylights out of him.
When she finally pulled away, Leo looked like he could cry from relief. "Oh gods, I thought you were gonna kill me."
"With a hug?"
Nodding vigorously, Leo replied: "Yeah. You're Piper McLean. Anythings possible with you."
"You did all of that-that whole outing-for me?" Piper asked, her voice breaking. Gods, why was she so emotional?
"Well, all I had to do was find a way to distract you while everyone else set this place up. And I had to stall you. And pick random arguments to give these guys more time. And drive super slow."
"To avoid getting arrested?"
"To avoid getting arrested," he nodded in confirmation. "Anyway, that whole adventure was fun."
Piper raised an eyebrow.
"Well...except for the end. You got pretty annoying towards lunch. Oh, by the way, that was the present from me to you."
"The tripping-the-waiter-so-the-cake-fell-on-me-part?"
"No," Leo said indignantly. Then he added: "Sorry about that."
Piper shrugged, but pretended to be pissed off just for the sake of it.
"The lunch was your present. You like Fridays, right?"
Piper didn't reply, but instead hugged him again.
"That's why I was there," a mischievous voice came from behind her, and she turned to see Travis. "The plan was to mess things up in the kitchen so it took extra-long. I left after I took your order and sabotaged the kitchen to help around here."
Piper laughed. "You guys really planned this pretty good, didn't you?"
"Don't thank us." Leo held up his hands. "It was all Jason's idea."
"Like it?" A voice which never failed to send shivers down her spine abruptly spoke directly into her ear.
Without thought, she whirled around, craving the contact she had not gotten a chance to experience the entire day. But her shoe caught, and she half stumbled directly into Jason arms. He caught her at the waist, steadying her, his hands fitting into her curves.
Slowly, she raised her head and looked up. His light blue eyes sparkled, and his lips were stretched into a sweet, warm smile, making the adorable scar more prominent.
"Typical us, huh?" He murmured quietly, grinning.
Perfectly synchronised, they both leant towards each at other at the exact same moment, in unison. When their lips smashed together, Piper finally felt it. That feeling she loved.
The feeling of being home.
Breaking apart, they kept their lips close, their foreheads pressed together. Gasping for breath, they both held each other as their heavy breaths mingled.
"Happy Birthday."
Piper smiled. "You remembered."
"Of course I did," Jason chuckled.
"I thought everyone had forgotten," Piper whispered into his mouth.
"They might," Jason stated matter of factly. "But I never would."
Before she could respond, Jason was pressing his lips against hers again. And it took a little bit more kissing for Piper to realise the room had gone silent.
She pulled away, and the applause broke out, along with the cat calls and whistles. Piper laughed, grabbed Jason's hand, and rushed back into the heart of the party. This was her day, after all.
-oOo-
"-and then he ,like, tripped up the waiter right in front of me! I could see him! And the cake-"
"All over you!" Calypso burst out laughing.
Piper scowled. "Don't laugh. You're encouraging him."
"Okay, okay." Calypso wiped her eyes and regained herself, but it just took one glance at Piper's face for her to crack up again. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she wept helplessly.
Annabeth walked up, her blonde curls carelessly flowing over her shoulders, holding a glass of water. Percy trailed behind her, closely resembling a lost puppy.
"Annabeth, please, just one-"
"No."
"I'm not asking you to do all of it for me, just the conclusion-"
"No."
"What does he want?" Piper asked.
"Help with this assignment, which is seriously quite simple. I don't know why he needs help with it." Annabeth rolled her eyes.
"Hey, then you've got Google for a girlfriend, you make full use of it. Not all guys are as lucky as me."
"Excuse me? Are you implying that the only reason you keep me around is to be your free talking encyclopaedia?"
"That, and one other reason..." Percy trailed off, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.
Annabeth blushed brightly and shoved him away while Piper and Calypso attempted to hide their smiles behind their drinks.
"We're in public, seaweed brain," Annabeth hissed, and Percy, who had lost all of his remaining dignity long ago, simply strolled away laughing to himself.
"Annabeth", Piper said sternly. "Is there something you wanna say to us?"
"Yes, something involving..." Calypso began mysteriously.
"Maybe a bed?" Piper asked innocently.
"Oh, just shut up!" Annabeth half screamed, and flounced off angrily. Probably to hunt down and slaughter Percy.
Laughing, Piper turned to Calypso. "Poor her."
"At least Hazel wasn't around."
"Yep, she'd be like... what?"
"The girl's not even at 2nd base yet. So innocent"
"Give her a break, she's only fifteen."
Calypso smiled. "And you're now 17. Happy birthday."
Grinning, Piper gulped down the rest of her drink. "Thanks. That's rich coming from someone who's over 3000 years old."
"Oh," Calypso stared over Piper's shoulder. "Looks like you'll be having company. Well... I'll just go mingle while you guys... do your thing." She winked conspicuously.
"In a place like this?" Piper had a pretty fair idea of who was behind her.
"Come on, you're 17! Be young and reckless!" Calypso encouraged as she walked away backwards, still facing Piper.
"Quit quoting Taylor Swift."
"Okay, okay," Calypsoheld up her hands in surrender, then turned and skipped back into the crowd.
Heart thumping (it was surprising how he could still make her feel like this), she turned, careful not to trip or stumble this time.
"Hi," she said when they were safely facing one another once again.
"Hey," he replied. "So... wanna do our thing?" Jason quirked an eyebrow and grinned.
Chuckling, Piper slapped his chest playfully. "Stop it! You're as bad as they are!"
"But seriously, let's get out of here."
"What? Why?"
"Not to do anything like that, we have a whole cabin for that." They both smiled at each other. "I just wanna show you something. It's pretty cool. Come on." He grabbed her hand in his large and warm one, and pulled her towards the door. They stepped out into the fresh night breeze which cooled their cheeks. Dragging her towards a ladder at the side wall, he gestured for her to climb up. "Ladies first."
"How come you're so gentlemanly all of a sudden?"
"So that I can catch you if you slip."
"Sure, Superman."
"Just climb."
Smiling, Piper began to make her way up the ladder, the metal rungs freezing cold to her hands. "More roofs? What is it with you and roofs?"
"It's so that I can push you off, pretend it was an accident, and then swoop down to save you and make you call me your hero." Jason said from below her, his tone laced with amusement.
"That would never happen, Sparky."
"What, the saving you part? Or the you calling me your hero part?"
"No, those might happen. I'm talking about the you pushing me off part."
The ladder stopped moving, which meant Jason had paused. So Piper did too.
"Why?" His voice came from below her, a little hard to catch due to the strong winds at this height. "Why wouldn't that happen?"
"Because even though the plan would be to save me, you still wouldn't be able to push me off." She paused. "You'd be too afraid off failing and letting me go." Without waiting for his reply, Piper continued climbing.
There was silence as they continued for a while, their limbs gradually transforming into rubber. Percy sure had a tall apartment building.
"You know me too well, Pipes," Jason finally spoke. "Even better than I do."
Smiling, Piper moaned in relief as she reached the top and half collapsed over the edge. She lay on her back, the roof floor cold and rough beneath her, staring up at the night sky. An occasional star twinkled here and there.
Jason fell down next to her. "I prefer my cabin roof to this one," he said, his breathing heavy and tired.
"Ya think?" Piper groaned. "Gods, I can't feel my legs."
"Or arms."
Lying on their backs in silence for a while, gazing up at the unbelievably beautiful night sky, they gripped the others hand between them as their limbs slowly regained feeling and strength. Jason's thumb slowly made circles on her knuckle, an action they both knew she found soothing and calming. The winds here had lessened, as they were protected by the edges of the building, which rose a little way off the ground of the roof.
"Jason?" Piper suddenly broke the comfortable silence. "Can I ask you something?"
"Anything, Pipes."
She turned her focus on a single star which shone slightly brighter than the others. "It was mist. All of it. None of the memories I had were real. None of them." She paused for a moment to collect her bearings, and waited for him to respond. But when he stayed quiet, she continued. "You didn't know me. You had no idea who I was. I was like a stranger to you, a strange psychopath who you woke up to holding your hand, and who was convinced that you were in love with her."
"Piper..." he began quietly, but she rolled on now, unable to stop what had eaten up at her from inside for so long.
"Any other person wouldn't have done it. Wouldn't have stayed with me all the time that you have. Stayed with someone they didn't even know." Tears brimmed the corner of her eyes. "You fell in love with me. Even though you didn't know me, you had no idea who I was, you still fell in love with me. And so soon too."
"Piper, stop."
"If it was anyone else in our places, that wouldn't have happened, Jason! The boy wouldn't have fallen in love with a strange girl he didn't even know, because it's just not natural. And we both know how out of hand my charmspeak can get. And it just scares me, scares me so much that I might have-"
"Charmspoke me into falling in love with you?" His voice was filled with pain.
She finally allowed the tears to fall, and they streamed down the side of her face to the ground. "What if it isn't real? What if this love that you have for me isn't real? What if it happened because I made it happen? Then we've been lying to ourselves-"
He cut her off by leaning over on his elbow and smashing his lips to hers. But she pushed him away. "No-"
"Do you really doubt me that much, Piper?" He asked quietly.
"I don't doubt you, Jason." She sighed. "I guess I just doubt myself. I just need to know if this is real, and I don't know how. I need to know that I can't get hurt again by finding out that I've been fooled to thinking I'm lucky enough to have all of this. To have you."
He tenderly rubbed her cheekbone, his hand holding her face in place, gently coaxing her into meeting his eyes. They stared directly into hers. "This is real."
"How do you know that?" She whispered, her sweet voice laced with anguish.
"Because I know that it wasn't anything you said which made me fall in love with you. I made myself fall in love with you. I can see that every day. Every second I look at you, every time I hold your hand, every time I kiss you or brush your hair away while you sleep... I can see that. That this is real. This love I have for you is real. And nothing will ever change that." His voice broke with emotion. "I love you, Piper McLean. And I chose to love you myself. Don't you dare ever doubt that." He smiled at her tenderly, and this time it was her who surged upwards to force her lips to meet his. To show him how strong her love for him was, and he returned the same feeling which ran through her. Love.
When they broke apart, Jason pulled her upwards into a sitting position, and they faced each other sitting cross legged.
"I almost forgot what I brought you up here for," he said, and uncovered a patch of sand next to him to reveal and large leather covered book. Handing it to her, he said: "I hope it was worth the climb. That's why I didn't fly you up instead of making you climb all that."
Gingerly, Piper lifted the front cover to reveal a plain white sheet of paper, with a few words written in silver ink smack in the middle: To our dearest Piper.
Flipping the page, she gasped when she saw what was on it. There were three images stuck onto the page. The first was a picture of her and Jason, with their foreheads pressed together, hands clenched in between them, and their lips just inches apart. They were staring into the other's eyes, their gazes filled with adoration.
In the picture below it, they had their arms around one another, and were laughing hysterically while sitting around the campfire. Their eyes shone with nothing but happiness.
Piper actually laughed out loud when she saw the next one. In the picture, her face was filled with astonishment and surprise as Jason held her in the middle of the sky, laughing. "Oh, I remember this! When you got Leo to push me off something just so you could catch me and say:-"
"Remember? Just like the first time," Jason finished quietly, and tenderly smiled at her.
"Yeah." Piper turned the page, and a picture of her screaming at a pale Leo appeared. Leo seemed to be trembling, and looked absolutely horrified, while Piper was visibly seething. The next image was her, Leo and Jason standing together, laughing.
Her heart swelled in her chest and threatened to burst out of happiness as all of the memories came rushing back to her.
She turned the page, and more pictures appeared. Her and Annabeth, her and Rachel, Reyna, Calypso. Her siblings. All of her friends were there. Her dad.
Everyone she loved had left a mark on these pages, all collected in a single book. A sound halfway between a moan and a whimper escaped her mouth.
"Everyone contributed something to this album for you. All of the pictures were collected from random places, and we all just stuck them in here."
Piper continued slipping pages, and picture after picture passed her eyesight. More of Jason, more of Leo, more of the seven and her friends and siblings. Every funny moment, every enjoyable second. All of the memories she had always hoped to capture were in here. All of memories she hadn't wanted to slip through her fingers, all those moments she had yearned to stop time...
They were all here.
Finally, she arrived at the last page. In different multi-coloured ink, in different types of handwriting, signatures covered every inch of the page.
Below it, it said in perfect, neat script: This is our gift to you, Pipes. To thank you for everything you have done for us. Simple reminder: We love you, and no matter what happens, we'll always be there for you. Happy Birthday.
As the tears cascaded down her face, she turned the page to see the back of the cover. On it, it said in wonky handwriting: I love you, Piper McLean. And I will love you till the day I die, and if there is life after that, I will still love you then.
It didn't say who wrote it, but Piper had a fair inkling who it was. She looked up to see Jason staring at her affectionately, and with a hint of anxiousness, his blonde hair glistening in the moonlight. It was absolutely adorable.
"Do you like it?"
Piper didn't respond, but stayed silent, and continue staring at the page, impassive and motionless.
"Piper, if you don't like it-"
She leant forwards and kissed him passionately, smiling into his mouth. He kissed her just as roughly and hungrily, his hand creeping up to curve around her neck and pull her closer, holding her in place.
Hands creeping up under the hem of his shirt, her fingertips skimmed the strip of skin right above his waistband, and he moaned into her mouth. But that was about as far as they could go on a roof. It turned out into a pretty heavy make out session, anyway, with Jason ending up on his back again with Piper settled on top of him.
"I love it," she whispered against his lips. "Thank you." Her voice broke with emotion.
"Hey, guys?" The narrow space between the buildings caused Leo's voice to echo up all the way from the ground. "Jason? Piper?"
"We're up here, repair boy!" Piper called back.
"Quit making out and come on down! Everyone's waiting!"
Piper sighed, and smiled ruefully at Jason.
"The cabin, tonight," he promised quietly, making her laugh. Standing up, he looped an arm under her knees and one around her neck, scooping her up. Piper leant her head against his shoulder, absorbing the warm heat radiating through the fabric from his skin, and squeezed her eyes shut. Jason leapt up on the edge of the roof, and jumped off. Piper felt her stomach drop for a moment as Jason tightened his arms around her, but then the wind slowed and stopped completely, indicating Jason had set his feet on the ground.
She opened her eyes as Jason pressed his lips to her forehead and gently set her on the ground. Leo stood in front of the, tapping his foot. "Gods, I feel like such a third wheel here." However, he grinned to show he was just joking. But Piper still pulled him into a hug and sweetly kissed his cheek.
"Well, you're mood has improved a lot since this afternoon." He looked past her to stare at Jason. "I don't know how you live with her, bro."
Jason grinned. "Trust me, I don't either."
"Hey!"
They both chuckled, and each looped an arm around one of Piper's shoulder, who was now slightly shorter than both of them.
"So I'm guessing you showed her the album?" Leo asked as they stepped inside the brightly lit hall.
"He sure did," Piper replied. "It was awesome."
"Hey, there she is!" Hazel's voice called out.
"The Birthday Girl!"
"How was your little trip to the roof?"
"Pretty romantic, huh?"
"Naughty, naughty, Piper!"
Piper hurriedly scanned the room for something to throw at Rachel, who was laughing her head off with Calypso.
"Shut up, that's my brother you're talking about!" Thalia flicked Rachel on the head with her index finger as she walked over. "Exceedingly disturbing, guys. I've known this dude since the day he was born."
Next to Piper, Jason laughed.
"You're just in time, Pipes," Thalia said, ignoring Jason, and leading Piper to the centre of the room where a tiny table was set up. On it was a beautifully decorated cake, with black and white roses lining the corners, and in the middle it said: Happy Birthday, Beauty Queen.
"Just to let you know, Leo was in charge of ordering it," Annabeth whispered into her ear.
"Yep, I can tell."
Everyone gathered around as Piper stood in front of the cake, with Jason next to her, gripping her hand. And they all opened their mouths to scream in unison. "Are you one?! Are you two!?"
"Are you guys seriously gonna count all the way to 17?!" Piper shouted, laughing.
"Make a wish, Piper," Jason whispered into her ear as the shouting around her rose in volume. She took a moment to consider. She thought back to her friends. To Annabeth, Reyna, Calypso, Hazel, Percy. She thought back to her family. Her siblings, her dad. She thought back to everyone she loved, and everyone who loved her. To Leo. To Jason.
She knew what she wanted.
And blew out the candles, knowing she'd made the right wish. Then she felt her face being pushed into the cake. Yep, definitely made the right wish.
-oOo-
REVIEW. FOR ME.
I think that was by far the longest fanfic I have ever written. A special treat. But that was a lot of fun! I especially loved the ending.
I absolutely adore the friendship between Piper and Leo, and I've been meaning to make that a big part of one of my Fanfics for a long time, and I finally got the chance today. I hope you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! And I also seriously hope there was enough Jasper in it for you!
Some people actually think Piper charmspoke Jason into a relationship. Horrifying, right? So I was just trying to clear that up a bit.
Uncle Rick never actually mentions Piper's Birthday, so I had to do a bit of research about star signs to see which one matched her personality most. In the end, I decided on Libra. Kind, compassionate and caring.
Two of my best and closest friends are actually Libras, and they are both two of the best people I know.
This fanfic is to thank one of them, who has been continuously supporting me throughout my journey on so far, even though she doesn't know it. She thinks she's been criticizing some random author who I recommended to her, but I've actually been using her criticism to improve. :D
I just wanna thank my friends for making this a wonderful day for me, and for always being here for me when I need them. I love you guys.
Oh, btw, which The Mortal Instruments Fan here noticed the quote I used? All credit goes to Cassandra Clare for that of course, but that is one of my most favourite quotes in the entire series.
PLEASE REVIEW.