Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended. All rights go to respective owners.
I know the characters are OOC (it was necessary for the story to work) so don't waste any time pointing that out. Thanks.
Vanished
Percy POV
Her golden tresses fanned around her head on the green grass, almost resembling the rays of the sun. Her beautiful, tanned face was pressed against my side as I wrapped my arm around her shoulders. She was tracing twisting, feather-like patterns on my stomach, staring at the clear, pale blue sky with a small smile playing at her soft, pink lips. With my free hand, I played with her sunshiny hair, lightly stroking and running my fingers through the soft curls. I spotted the light, gray streak that was still ever present, though, to an outsider, unnoticeable, much less, unexplainable.
"The sky is beautiful today," she noted in a relaxed tone. I couldn't tear my eyes from her face; the sky didn't matter to me, the world either, as long as I had her. I don't know if I even responded to her words; I was too immersed in her.
Her astonishing, storm gray eyes closed and her face took on a look of complete peace, smile still in place. It made me smile in return. I leaned over and kissed the top of her head, pulling back only to see the smile on her face grow. "I love you, Seaweed Brain," she practically sighed, still keeping her eyes closed.
"As I love you, my Wise Girl." I squeezed her shoulder gently.
Opening her eyes and lifting herself up until she was halfway hovering over me, she looked into my eyes almost in a searching manner, a curtain of gold falling around our faces. "Forever?" she asked, her smiled growing even more.
"And always," I replied, leaning up to kiss her sweet lips, but in that moment, she vanished.
This was how it always was nowadays. I could no longer tell what reality was and what was just a dream. Every time that I'm alone (which has become extremely often), I go into these daydreams and think about us, what we were going to be, before she made the decision to move on. I pulled my phone out of my pocket again, to call her for the umpteenth time. There wasn't even a ringing, as there hadn't been since I got back and found her missing; it automatically went to voice-mail. My vision went misty as I left another choked message pleading her to call me back, to come back, like I had done every other time before when she wouldn't pick up the phone. I wished she would.
I threw my phone on the couch in hopeless despair and started to walk away, then thought better of it, for she might call. After shoving my phone back into the pocket of my blue jeans, not before checking to make sure the volume was on, I trudged my way to our—my bedroom. It was hard to stop labeling things as "ours" anymore. Everything in the small apartment was ours if not hers, I didn't even pick much out, just agreed on everything she chose, just to make her happy. I refused to call it all anything but ours.
Instantly, when I made it to the bedroom, I threw myself back on to the bed, our bed, and laid there, staring at the swirling patterns on the ceiling, not unlike the swirling patterns my Wise Girl had drawn on the back of my hand only moments before, in my daydream. The weight of it all crashed down on me again, like it did every time I was in this room. There were so many memories in here; I can't take it most times. The whole experience must have turned me into a masochist though, seeing as how I never stopped coming in here, no matter the cost my heart must pay.
I looked to my left and saw her walking out of the bathroom, clad in her usual gray sweatpants and one of her old and tattered, orange camp shirts. She smiled at me as she pulled her bouncy curls back into a messy bun before jumping on the bed, landing beside me. Her scent enveloped me; sunshine, cinnamon, and a hint of lavender. It was the most amazing smell in the world, the one that I could pick out of any others.
She ruffled my shaggy, dark hair with her hand and snuggled up to my side, draping an arm over my stomach. Her eyes peered up at me, smiling all on their own. I grinned back at her, gently pulling at one of her loose curls before letting it spring back into place. She smiled wider just before disappearing into thin air. Damn it! I couldn't take it anymore!
I hopped up from the bed, storming to the apartment door, taking my keys with me. I was going to get my Wise Girl back. As I sped through the streets of New York City, headed towards Olympus to demand the gods tell me where she was, I saw her. She was walking on the sidewalk, alongside another man. Panic washed over me. She couldn't have found someone else? Could she? No, they could just be friends, coworkers, something innocent. She was my Wise Girl, no one else's. I started to pull over, to tell her friend that she had to go, she had to come home, to our home, but what happened next sent me into a fit of rage.
He grabbed my Wise Girl's hand, interlocking fingers with her, and then he leaned down to kiss my Wise Girl. The thought of tearing the man apart, bit by bit, flashed through my mind. The presence of Riptide in my pocket was the only thing my mind could seem to concentrate on, regardless of how useful it could be on that beast. It was a very intriguing idea, but something told me not to, that I was better than that. Instead of doing what I wanted to so much, I punched the gas and left the two behind in my dust. Betrayal, hurt, loss, all of those shitty emotions enveloped me, it was a wonder I didn't wreck the car. I couldn't even see the road clearly from the haze of red that was coloring my vision, let alone the tears that threatened to spill over at any moment. I was once at the top of the world, now it felt as though I was in a basement, or maybe even Hades. There was no way I could feel any lower. I was her number one for all those years, and now she found a replacement within a few weeks? How?
We were meant to be, I wasn't the only one to believe that! Aphrodite, goddess of love for all gods' sakes, even said so! She had to have known what she was talking about! …Right? I sighed, coming to a red light; it took me a moment to recognize where I was. I hadn't been paying attention when driving. Then I heard her.
"Seaweed Brain," she murmured from the passenger seat. Her hair was tied back in a messy ponytail, and she was wearing a pair of jeans with my favorite navy blue hoodie. "You know I love you right?" she asked.
"Yes, Wise Girl. And I love you too." I sighed, content for the moment. Then a car honked behind me, pulling me out of my reverie. She was gone, yet again. I had the feeling that I would relive her leaving me over and over for the rest of my life. I just couldn't take it, knowing that someone else had my baby, my Wise Girl.
Then I saw her again, standing on the sidewalk, no more than two feet from the side. She reached out, arm extended, towards me, the motion looking almost as if she as beckoning a cab. My breath caught in my throat. I turned my eyes back to the road. She's not there, I told myself, but I couldn't help but believe that she indeed was. But when I looked back to where she stood, she was gone, nowhere in sight. I shook my head in an attempt to clear my thoughts. My Wise Girl wasn't coming back, I knew that. But my heart didn't. It kept yearning for her and her only. It would never stop, ever.
Making a sharp u-turn and heading home, I saw a bit of golden curls bouncing down the sidewalk, holding the hand of another man. I looked away, hoping that it wasn't real, for now, I could not be sure. It continued this way all the drive home; a flash of her sunny hair; her tanned face smiling in my direction; her beautiful, strong body skipping down the stairs to the subways. There was her face at every turn, bringing me so close to breaking down. By the time I made it home, I couldn't see from the film of tears, I could barely breathe, and thinking clearly was totally out of the question; I needed my Wise Girl.
I somehow made it to the couch, where I sat for gods only know how long, curled in a ball. The tears fell freely; the sobs broke out of my chest, racking my body to exhaustion. I should have bought her a ring, I should have made her mine forever, but I didn't and now she's only with my in my mind. It kills me! I would do anything to have her back, to be able to give her anything and everything she ever wanted.
She was so easy to love; always happy, running around and doing her crazy projects, always loving with her all. Love must not have been enough for her, or at least mine hadn't been. I could still feel it, that magnetic pull in the air. But obviously, she didn't anymore. To her, I was just any old ex. She didn't love me anymore.
Oh, I miss her. Will I ever learn? She's not coming back. Just because I knew that doesn't mean that I could accept it. Get over it, man! She's never coming ba—knock. What the hell? Who would come over this late at night? If it was Nico, I would personally provided him with a one way ticket to live eternally with his dad.
I shuffled to the door, stopping the flow of tears as I went, wiping them off my cheeks with the back of my hands, out of habit. It honestly didn't matter to me what I looked like or what Nico thought of me in that moment, if it was even him at the door. I could be half dead and not care what he thought of me. Right now, the only thing that mattered was my—
"Wise Girl?" I exhaled the words more than said them. Was she really there, standing outside my door? Or was it only just a dream? I hated not knowing the difference anymore.
Her eyes filled with tears and her lower lip and chin trembled as she nodded a simple yes. Then she threw her arms around my neck, covering my face with her golden waterfall of hair. I sighed, hoping that this was real. I couldn't deal with losing her again, I just couldn't.
"Are you—are you really here?" I asked, sobs breaking the words to pieces. I was so happy, Hades; happy didn't begin to cover it. I felt like I could live again, like I had my reason for being back. It would be impossible to make it if this was one of my terrifying daydreams.
"Yes"
"To stay?" I asked, fearing the answer, but needing to know all the same.
"Absolutely. And you?" she asked in a trembling voice.
"Of course." I murmured. She pulled back from me, staring into my eyes, still hugging my neck. I thought I would never see these eyes again; the storm cloud eyes that could peer into my soul, that would stand up for anything, that showed how much she truly loved me. The amount of love I saw there this time was more than I had ever before. I bowed my head to kiss her sweet lips, relishing in the fact that this was real, she was truly back. And just as my lips were to touch hers...
She vanished.
A/N: So, this one-shot is loosely based on the song "Just A Dream" by Nelly, just in case anyone didn't recognize it.
I feel that the ending is kind of abrupt, but kind of fitting, in my opinion. I am open to suggestions as to how I could improve anything in this one-shot really. Thank you to all who read. Criticism is great.
Oh, and, flamers? Bring it on.