AN- Eh. I was bored. And I love Tratie.
I'm also using this to announce my plans fo a multi-chaptered fic focusing on the behind the scenes relationship of Travis and Katie throughout all five of the PJatO books. It will also star minor characters such as Connor, Jake Mason, Will Solace, Malcolm, Nyssa, and Miranda Gardiner. No idea when it's coming but it will!
Please enjoy this fic!
Katie loves spring. It's the time when her flowers come to life and air breathes into her soul and every inch of her body. It's when the sun is above her and the wind blows her hair all about into a tangled mess that causes her to pull it back into a pony tail.
She loves siting outside the home she shares with her father during the school year, planting flowers and watering them delicately until they bloom in colors of vivid red and fading orange. She loves the bees, despite their threat of pain, because they love her flowers as much as she does.
Spring is her favorite time of year.
XxX
Travis hates spring. He hates the fact that his allergies act up, causing him to carry around a pack of tissues and have a runny nose that makes him far too unattractive for his own good. He hates stepping in the puddles left over from the melted ice and he hates the mud that always seems to attract itself to his shoes.
He hates bees because he's lost count of how many times the stingers have pierced his skin over the years and he's oh-so-lucky he's not allergic to those too. He hates that Katie gets angry whenever he wants to kill one and she thinks he's barbaric (buthe'dalwaysbegentlewithher).
Spring is his least favorite time of the year.
Travis loves winter. It's a time for snow-ball fights and cozy days in his cabin drinking smuggled in hot chocolate. He loves seeing Katie all bundled up, hat and scarf covering her entire face except her nose which is all red from the cold and her icy glare as he tosses a snowball right in her face.
He loves making a snowman with his brother, something they've been doing since they were toddlers and he loves making it look like people who annoy him and making them look stupid. He loves Christmas at camp, where he feels like part of a family for the first time all year.
Winter is his favorite season.
XxX
Katie hates winter. She hates the cold because it kills her plants and she has to cover her ears to fend off their cries. She hates the snow because it's just frozen water and it soaks her clothes no matter what measures she takes to protect herself.
It's the time when she feels further away from her camp friends and family and gets lonely and depressed as she pulls out pictures and stares at her half siblings. It's the time when Travis shows up at her school and pelts her with snowballs until she has to fight back and all her friends join in and he's gone as soon as she sees him (neverstayingtoseeherlonging).
Winter is not her favorite season.
They both agree to hate fall. It's a stupid little in between that never matters to anyone.
She hates it because it's the point where she has to say goodbye to her plants and watch them prepare to die. She hates it because it's when school starts and she has to leave camp (and Travis) and spend months with a man who she cannot stand because he's never really cared.
He hates it because the falling leaves of red and yellow remind him of his mother's death. Her frail body falling victim to disease and tearing her out of his life forever. He hates it because it's when Katie (and everyone else but really just her) leaves to go to school and he gets a hug goodbye that he treasures more than she will ever know.
They both agree that fall is a fail.
They both love summer.
Because summer is Camp Half-Blood and nights around the fire and Fridays in the woods playing Capture the Flag.
It's family together-ness and teasing each other (which is totally flirting) and pretending they can't stand one another (when everyone knows how much they love).
She loves it because she can spend hours in the strawberry fields with her siblings where they gossip and giggle and ignore Travis' longing looks (but Katie blushes every time).
He loves it because it's prank season and he can spend hours in the Hermes cabin plotting and planning with Connor and idly doodling Katie's name over every scrap of paper (and Connor catches him every time).
They both love it because it's the season of beginning. Like when they first begin to stand each other or even become friends. Or when they go to the fireworks and take walks together and finally, finally, finally kiss goodnight outside her cabin.
And years later it's the season in which they stand in front of their friends and family and teacher and creatures and pledge themselves to one another forever and eternity.
They both love summer.