Disclaimer: I don't own PJO, obviously, or else I would've written in Percy and Annabeth's reunion scene that way we wouldn't have to wait an entire year before we can finally read about those two. haha :)
Jealousy.
Piper was jealous. They'd reached Camp Jupiter, but it wasn't because of Jason and his may-or-may-not-have-a-past-romantic-interest-or-girlfriend issues. No, she wasn't jealous because of that. She was jealous of something that had been building up for weeks and weeks, as they neared the Roman Camp.
Her source of jealousy was coming from a certain blonde haired girl and a black haired boy. The moment the Argo II had touched down on the ground, Annabeth had marched straight up to a tall, handsome boy, and glared at him for a second, before slapping him. "That's for leaving us for so many months. You had us all worried sick Seaweed Brain," she shouted. The Roman campers, who had tensed the moment Annabeth had left the ship and entered their territory, were all ready to stab her through with their odd golden weapons. That is, until Percy grinned at her and the pair of them embraced on front of everyone.
And now, the two of them were bantering and arguing like no time had gone by, Annabeth was sitting on Percy's lap, their hands intertwined. There was a bright happiness on both their faces that you just couldn't miss. They had the lovestruck look on their faces, mixed in with a bit of relief and pure joy.
Piper was happy that Annabeth had found some happiness after months and months of nothing but planning and worrying, but she was jealous, because Annabeth had something that she didn't. Sureness. Was that even a word? But either way, Annabeth was so sure of her love for Percy, that she didn't even bother checking to see whether or not Percy remembered her or not.
She just knew.
She didn't care whether were no people, or hundreds of people watching her, she was willing to show her affection for Percy.
She was just so sure that she was in love with Percy, and that was what made Piper jealous.
Piper had never had that sort of assurance that someone understood her like that. The only sure thing she had thought she had in her life turned out to have been a manipulation from the Mist. Jason was reassuring, yes, but he was still unsure of his own power. Piper had no stability in his life. Nothing she was 100 percent positive about.
Annabeth did have that.
As she sat on the bench in the dining hall, watching the Greek Campers and Roman Campers awkwardly trying to interact, she couldn't help but wonder for the hundredth time how Annabeth could just be so sure.
"Hey Pipes?" Grover slid in the seat next to her. Originally, Piper hadn't known Grover very well, but as the discussions about the quest progressed, she'd gotten to know him quite well, and found he was very fun to talk to. "Did you notice that girl over there, the one next to the really buff Asian kid? She keeps giving Leo the creeped out look whenever she sees him."
Piper looked over at where Grover was indicating, and saw that there indeed was a young girl who kept looking at Leo like he had just fallen from Mars. He was trying to eat, but couldn't help but look over at her every couple of seconds as well. After a long moment where Piper didn't respond, Grover finally spoke. "So what's up? You look a little down. Missing Jason?" he laughed.
Piper rolled her eyes. Jason had gone to go meet his old friends and stuff at camp, and Piper had insisted that he go alone, and that she'd be fine. As she refused to look at Grover, her eyes found Percy and Annabeth again.
Grover followed her line of vision, and saw where she was looking. "Oh, I get it," he nodded. "You're jealous." Piper's didn't respond, surprised that Grover had figured it out so quickly. Her inability to respond seemed to affirm Grover's suspicions. "Why are you jealous?"
"It's just-" Piper paused, struggling to fit her thoughts into words. "I mean, I guess I'm just a little jealous because well, did you see how Annabeth didn't even ask Percy if he remembered? She just knew? She just knew that he knew, without even having to confirm it? It's like, she's so sure that she's in love with him and-" she paused, a little embarrassed. What on earth was she doing? She was revealing her conflicting feelings about her relationship with Jason to Grover, which she hadn't told anybody else.
But Grover nodded wisely, like he understood what she was saying. "You don't know if Jason will still like you if there's some other girl he liked here."
She bit her lip, choosing not to respond to that, mostly because he'd nailed her fear spot on.
"And you're jealous of Annabeth because she didn't have that problem?" Grover asked. She nodded. Grover laughed, which was a mix between a goat's "bahaha" and a ramble-y sound. "I wouldn't be too jealous if I were you. I don't think you'd want to have the sort of build up Percy and Annabeth had."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Piper asked, raising her eyebrows doubtfully.
"Well," Grover fiddled with his hands for a moment, as if trying to decide whether or not to tell her. "First off, when Percy and Annabeth first met, they couldn't go more than a minute without trying to go at each other's throats. I think it's a Poseidon vs. Athena sort of thing. You know, because he acts on instinct while she acts after planning. I would know, I spent half of our first quest trying to keep them from killing each other before the monsters came to kill us. Plus, during the Second Titan War awhile back, and even before that, when Annabeth and Percy were eleven, Annabeth liked this guy named Luke."
Luke. That sounded familiar. Piper recalled Annabeth's eyes hardening as she saw a picture of a rather handsome blonde haired boy, with a scar running from beneath his eye to his chin. What had she said about him? "That's Luke. He's dead."
"Luke, uhm, he betrayed the camp, and helped bring Kronos out of Tartarus, before he sacrificed himself, and helped Percy and Annabeth defeat Kronos. Annabeth still thinks she could have saved him, and none of it would have happened. There was like a three year period where she didn't believe she liked Percy because she still thought she liked Luke."
There was a silence as Piper processed this.
"And also," Grover added hesitantly. "You know Rachel?"
"Rachel?" Piper raised her eyebrows again. "You mean, like, Oracle Rachel?"
"Yeah, her. Percy had a sort of relationship with Rachel when they were all like fourteen to sixteen, before they kind of mutually dumped each other so Rachel could become the Oracle."
"What?" Piper asked disbelievingly, trying to process the second one. She imagined the red haired girl she'd seen when she first came to camp, with her wildly curly red hair and emerald green eyes, trying to see her and Percy together. It was an odd image.
"I know," Grover laughed. "Annabeth was so mad, I think she went like two or three months without talking to Percy. That wasn't fun for anyone. Neither of them would stop complaining about the other. Then they both denied that they liked each other, don't even get me started on the Calypso's island thing. The point is, Percy and Annabeth have come a long way. So trust me. I wouldn't be too jealous if I were you."
Piper smiled back at Grover, feeling her heart lighten considerably as she looked over at the couple. If they'd managed to defeat the odds to get where they were, Piper could wait for Jason.
They'd figure it all out together.
A/N: AHHHHHH, lol, I'm SO SO SO sorry I haven't written in ages. I feel so bad! But I HAVE AN EXCUSE! I have an english teacher who won't stop giving us essays, and school's crazy right now, and it's basically, everything's just really crazy right now! I meant to get the follow up fics to Before Hogwarts up WAY BACK WHEN, but I haven't had time, so you may have to bear with me for awhile.
To my American readers, Happy Belated Thanksgiving guys! :) I hope you guys had lots of turkey like I did. Plus, I hope everyone's read Son of Neptune by now, because I read it in a day, and it was freaking amazinggggg. lol, so yeah. I'm really sorry for any typos, I tried to get rid of as many as possible, but I have to post this and go to dinner like right now, because after dinner we're gonna set up the christmas tree! :) *starts singing christmas carols*. haha, I'm sorry for not posting! I feel really really really bad. But I've been reading some amazing fanfictions.
I especially love all the fanfictions that percabeth777 has favorited, and this fanfiction for Finnick Odair (Hunger Games) called "Life Through Sea Green Eyes." I'm obsessed with that. GO READ IT! nahhh jk, lol, I'm not gonna make you read it. But it's REALLY GOOD, so if you don't, you're missing out. If you haven't read Hunger Games yet, you're REALLY missing out. (Has anyone seen the trailer yet? It's aldjfklsdjfsdklfjklaj awesomeness.)
So yeah, to anyone who actually read this entire blurb, thank you! :) I appreciate all the reviews, and I actually don't know how to sound this without sounding fake, but like they legitimately all mean a lot to me. I read every single one, and they make me smile. Even the ones hating on my typos and stuff. lol :)
Read and Review! :D -kittkatt4eva
