Happy Birthday, Percy!
Percy Jackson woke up in his room he'd had since he was a kid and immediately felt that there was something different about it this morning than was there yesterday. A sharp intake of breath made him look to his right, and it was then when he realized that there was a difference. There was a girl. In his bed.
A mess of blonde curls was heaped next to him, and it took him a second to realize who it was. Annabeth Chase, his best friend, now girlfriend was lying beside him. Out of nerves, he bounced on his back, causing her to stir.
"Percy, where are…?" She said, slowly blinking and realizing where they were. They'd never done that before, sleeping at each other's houses. They hadn't done 'it' yet, and Annabeth had made it clear that it would never happen before marriage, whether it be to him or anyone else.
"Oh…Slaka…" She said, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. She found herself in an old tee-shirt of Percy's and he found himself in his boxers.
"Uhh… Happy birthday, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth said, looking at him. Grey met green, and his face split into a smile.
"Thanks Wise Girl." He said, smiling at her. Percy leaned in to kiss her when his door opened and Sally and Paul walked in, planning to surprise him with 18th birthday waffles. What they were not planning for was 2 half dressed Demigods kissing on the bed.
Sally was so surprised that she dropped the plate of waffles she was holding, breaking the plate. Paul chuckled, laughing on how Sally hadn't seen this coming.
Percy heard the clang and turned to see his mom and step-dad standing in his door.
Annabeth squealed with embarrassment and grabbed the sheet to cover herself, leaving Percy in his boxers.
"Hey, mom, Paul." He said, blush rising to both his and Annabeth's faces. "I can explain this."
"That's ok, you're 18. I'll… um… be downstairs, and I'll see you in a bit, then." Sally stuttered, obviously in shock.
Paul, though, smiled and threw a box at Percy as he left. "I guess you could've used these last night, huh?" He joked, and walked out the door as Percy's dyslexic mind made out the words on the box.
"But we didn't" Percy shouted after him, and threw the box in the waste basket.
He grabbed some of the blanket from Annabeth and lay back down on the bed, pulling Annabeth close to him, almost instantly making him feel less embarrassed.
"Seaweed Brain." She murmured, and kissed his hand which was around her.
"Hmm?" he mumbled, almost falling asleep again.
"We gotta go downstairs sometime."
"Nuh huh." He whined. "I'll stay in here forever."
"You'll get hungry quick." She said. Just as Percy was about to protest, his stomach rumbled.
"I'll shower first," she said, "You take too long."
Line
"Sally?" Annabeth said, walking down the hall of the apartment wearing some old clothes of Sally's.
"Yes?" She heard a voice call from the living room, and she walked in. Sally was sitting on the couch, holding a massive photo album in her lap. It looked like pages had been ripped out, added, torn, and folded.
"Sally, I just want to say that I'm so sorry about that. I was just too tired last night to go home, so Perce lent me a tee shirt. I swear, it was" Annabeth rambled until Sally placed a hand on her shoulder to silence her.
"Annabeth, sweetie, calm down. I'm not mad, just, surprised." Sally said, and patted the couch next to her. "Sit here."
Annabeth was one not no question authority, so she sat on the couch next to Sally.
"I just didn't want to think he was growing up so fast." She told Annabeth, looking down at the photo album in her lap. Meeting her eyes, Annabeth took the book and opened it to the first page.
It was a picture of a younger Sally and another man.
'Poseidon,' thought Annabeth. Although it was him, he looked much different. His hair was longer, and it fell into his eyes a bit. His skin was bronze, and his sea-green eyes sparkling.
'Almost as handsome as Percy…' Annabeth thought before blushing.
Sally noticed and smiled. "Almost like Percy, huh?"
Annabeth nodded, embarrassed, and both women giggled.
"This was when we just met," she said, taking the book from Annabeth's lap and flipping through a few pages. They were filled with pictures of Montauk and the two of them being teenagers.
The next page had one picture on it. It was a picture of the handsome man from the other pictures and a baby. The baby, she assumed, was Percy.
The rest of the pictures were just of Sally and Percy, one particularly funny one where Percy had stuck his head in a fish tank, much to the dismay of the people in PetSmart. They kept getting older, until the last one of Percy and Annabeth at Prom.
"It's just, that, when I caught you two this morning, I couldn't imagine that it was the same kid here." She said tearfully, motioning to the photo album.
Annabeth nodded, not knowing what to say.
"I know you don't get it now, but when you two have your own kids, it'll all make sense." Annabeth nodded absently, but after a second, the words sunk in and she blushed, giving Sally a quizzical look.
"It'll happen. A mother's intuition knows it all." She gave Annabeth a hug, and as they broke apart, Percy walked in, hair drying from the shower.
"What did I miss?" He asked. He was wearing a pair of khaki cargo shorts and a blue shirt. Sally stood up and gave her only son a big hug.
"Happy 18th birthday, Percy." She said. He gave her a big hug back and she smiled up at him, who towered a good 6 inches over her.
"Thanks, Ma." He replied, stepping back, almost stepping on Paul, who was coming through the doorway to announce a new batch of blue waffles. Since marrying Sally, he'd learned the secrets of the waffles.
"Whoa, don't want to become a waffle myself!" He joked as Percy apologized by awkwardly patting him on the head. Percy too was taller than him, but only by 3 or 4 inches.
Percy saw Annabeth in the back. "You look pretty in my Mom's clothes." He said smiling, then seeing his mom, hastily added, "You look pretty in them too, Ma."
The 4 of them walked into the kitchen laughing and reminiscing about the past, thinking of the good times, and the adults cleverly avoiding the war.
Line
As Percy picked up Annabeth from her house on the way to his party, he noticed how pretty she looked. Even in jeans, she managed to wow him the whole time.
The party was at Camp, and everyone was gonna be there. Ok, maybe everyone. Drew was definitely not gonna be there, and neither was Clovis (his bedtime is 8:30), but all the rest of their friends would be.
"Hey." He said, mainly speechless. Annabeth smiled.
"I take it you like my outfit?" She asked, and Percy just nodded. She had a pair of dark skinny jeans with gladiator sandals and a white tunic that in his eyes rivaled the beauty of Aphrodite.
"Thanks, Seaweed Brain." She said, and they sat in a comfortable silence the rest of the way.
Upon arrival, he parked his car, a Honda Accord, and hand in hand they walked up Half-Blood hill into the magical borders of Camp. After greeting the Dragon with a friendly pat on the snout, they walked to the dining pavilion to see all their friends there.
For the next few hours, they danced and laughed and had a generally fun time. Thalia even came from the hunt, and at around 10:30, Nico showed up, surrounded by an aura of darkness that was quickly shaken off by a few cans of soda.
At 11:15, Pollux, son of Dionysus brought up the wine from his cellar. After passing the bottles around a couple times, many of the demigods were a little drunk.
Percy was the first to stand. They'd been sitting on the tables in mostly silence.
"Hey guys, guess what today is?" He said, voice wavering.
"What?" Some people chorused.
"It's the day we fought Kronus!" He said, and some people cheered.
"We need to toast." He said, and with the bottle in his hand he raised it to the sky. "To the gods!" He shouted, and it was chorused.
"To Lee, to Michael!" shouted Will.
"To Silena!" shouted Clarisse.
"To Beckendorf!" shouted Nyssa.
"To Mary." Chris says softly, and in a surge of drunken hormones, Clarisse reaches over and squeezes his hand.
"To Paaaan!" Bleats Grover, being squeezed by Juniper.
"To Bian*hiccup*ca!" Nico says, slurring. Maybe giving him, a 14 year old, 4 bottles of enchanted liquor wasn't the best idea.
"To Zoe!" Thalia says, raising her bow in the air.
"To Ethan!" A formerly unclaimed demigod shouts from the corner.
For a moment, it goes quiet, everyone looking at each other, daring the someone to speak.
Annabeth looks at Percy, as if searching for approval.
"To Luke." She whispers, a tear rolling down her cheek.
"To LUKE!" He yells, loud as possible, and the kids answer. Everyone is having emotions now, even Thalia.
The rest of the evening is spent talking, laughing, and crying, until Chiron finally comes out and tells everyone to either go to their bunks or go home.
"Percy, I wanna go home with you tonight." She whispers in her ear, and Percy smiles, the both of them waving over their shoulders and stumbling to his car. Chiron sees this, and nudges Lou Ellen, daughter of Hecate, who charms the car to safety.
Line
Paul and Sally hear the two of them come in, fumbling with the keys and tripping over the carpet. She hears them laugh, and then the muffled sounds of them in the next room over.
"Percy!" mumble mumble, "No, that tickles!"
She looks at Paul, worried, but he looks back at her smiling.
A girl laughs.
"Nuh,uh! Not here. I won't do it! My rules!" A quick intake of breath.
"Some rules are meant to be broken."
"Percy!" A moan.
"And you think my gift was just a joke…"
Line
In the wee hours of the morning, Paul woke with a start, hearing a crash in the bathroom.
"Sally? Is that you?" He asked, and Sally sat up next to him.
"No, I'm here." She said, and the both of them slipped out of bed and walked towards the bathroom. Paul grabbed a pencil, thinking that in a dire situation, he could always attempt to stab the intruder.
They inch towards the bathroom, Sally hiding behind Paul, her knight in shining armor, and he slowly puts out his hand and turns the knob on the door.
He opens the door and feels for the light switch, and when he flicks it on, it isn't exactly who (or what) he expected. Sitting on the bathtub leaning over the toilet is the one and only Nico diAngelo.
"Nico?" Paul asked, putting down the pencil. Sally peeked from behind him. "Nico?"
He was paler, taller, thinner, and scarier than she remembered him.
"Sally?" He asked. "Oh skata, I'm so *hiccup* sorry." He said covering his eyes with his hands. "First I was at Camp, then I was in Chi*hiccup*na, then maybe Nebraska, and now I'm *hiccup* here." He said, slightly slurring still.
"Nico, are you… drunk?" Sally asked, coming from behind Paul to get a closer look. He nodded, a bit ashamed and embarrassed.
"Stupid Pollux made his *hiccup* enchanted wine stuff, so they kept gi*hiccup*ving me some." He said lamely, head on the toilet seat.
"Man, that stuff is brutal." Sally said, remembering having it with Poseidon. "How much did he give you?"
Nico put up 4 fingers, head still down.
"Holy Hades." Paul said, and Sally looked at him in agreement.
"Hey." Said Nico, lifting his head for a moment. "That… is my *hiccup* Dad." He said, then his head banged on the toilet and he passed out.
Sally laughed, and the two adults left him there to sleep it off.
The next morning.
Percy and Annabeth woke up the next day with a new experience and an opened box of rubbers.
On their way to the kitchen, they passed the bathroom, from which there was a retching noise.
There were 3 cups of coffee on the counter, and Percy and Annabeth each took 1. Paul and Sally came in fully dressed and sat at the table, while Percy and Annabeth sat at the bar.
"Who's in the bathroom?" Asked Percy, and just then, they heard a flush and a sink. They peered around the corner, and a slightly green Nico walked out.
He walked into the kitchen and grabbed the third cup of coffee. He leaned against the counters, and looked Percy straight in the eye with a look of insanity he'd inherited from his father.
"Happy Friggin Birthday."
