Title: A Startling Realization
Characters/pairing: Katie Gardner, Michael/Katie, Will/Katie with mentions of many others.
Summary: As Katie is lost in thought and painful memory of the Titan War, less than a year after it happened, a friend from Montana surprises her with helping her come to a surprising understanding.
A/N: Will/Katie is OTP forever and endgame, but Mike/Katie is so beautifully tragic that I love that too. Although, like, NONE of this is canon, I hope you will fall in love with Katie/Will as much as I have.
Dedication: To Anya – the Katie to my Gwen.
Word Count: 1,473
Katie Gardner's light blue and white Pumas padded the tiled floor lightly as she hurried into the locker room. She had just finished a long tennis practice and was anxious to get showered before the other girls took all the hot water. Thomas Jefferson High School (located just outside Missoula, Montana) was about as small-school as you could get without living completely in the middle of nowhere, which meant cramped locker rooms and little hot water. Katie's class had about 100 kids in it, and to most that would seem ridiculous. But she loved it. She loved her small town and her friends and the gardens outside her house. She loved the warm spring sunshine on her back as she hit the tennis ball back and forth. She loved it here. But at the moment, the only thing on Katie's mind was the other place she loved – her second home.
Two weeks, she thought as she glanced up at the school calendar hanging by her gym locker. Two weeks and she would be back at Camp Half-Blood, reunited with her friends and yes, even family. It would be the first time since… Katie's stomach tightened as she remembered last summer, less than a year ago. The end of the Titan War. They'd lost a lot of friends, yet combined forces with the gods and conquered an enemy bigger than all of them. She sighed softly as she stepped out of the showers, the water trailing down her back.
Part of Katie didn't want to go back. Part of her didn't want to face her friends and see their faces and remember it all. Because it hurt more than she cared to admit, and she knew it would take a long time to see many of her fellow demigods smile again. And Katie hated seeing people hurt. She hate, hate, hated it. She remembered just days after the Battle of the Labyrinth, when she'd found Kayla crying near the lake over her brother, Lee. Kayla was a mess and all Katie could do was wrap her arms around her best friend and soothe her wracked sobs. Katie felt so useless, so helpless. She didn't want to see that again – all the pain, hurt and betrayal, still a fresh wound for everyone.
And yet, this daughter of Demeter knew against everything else that she had to. She had to be strong, buckle down, grit her teeth and go. Because whether or not they knew it, those people were her lifeline, her family. That meant more than anything. As she scooped up her books and slung her racket bag over her shoulder, she bit her lip, listing off names in her head. Silena, Beckendorf, Lee, Castor, Michael, Ethan, Luke (oh gods, Luke), Bianca, that huntress Zoe. The fallen. Will, Kayla, Austin, Pollux, Jake, Nyssa, Travis, Connor, maybe Nico, and so many more. The ones who might need her. She couldn't let them down.
All of a sudden someone crashed into her, knocking her AP World History textbook to the ground.
"Oh god, sorry!" came the rushed outburst. It was Joey. He was a boy in Katie's class, and a good friend at that. "Shit, sorry, Katie." She laughed softly, masking her sadness. Her mind was still on last summer, yet she pretended otherwise.
"Joey, it's alright. Don't worry. No harm, no foul!" She smiled brightly at him and the blonde boy turned red.
"I, um, well. I was actually here for a reason. I wanted to talk to you about some… stuff. I was waiting for you."
"Oh? Well, why don't you walk me to my car? We can talk on the way!" Her false cheer was easy to pull over on the distracted and almost flustered boy. They walked quietly for a minute before he started in.
"So, we've known each other for a long time, right? Since… oh man, second grade?" She nodded in affirmation as they walked out of the high school building.
"Mrs. Sedgwick's class. You put paint in my hair! It took hours to get it out."
"Yeah, I remember that. I did it because… because I liked you. I had this insanely big crush on you." Katie blinked in disbelief. "And, you see, I never knew how you felt about me, but uh, I wanted to ask you before school let out for the summer… would you maybe… want to go out? On a date? With me?"
Katie stopped dead in her tracks, in the middle of the parking lot. "You iwhat/i?" She was shocked, yet that didn't stop her cheeks from blushing fervently.
"…a date. Like dinner. Or a movie."
"I… oh my gods. I'm sorry, Joey," His face fell and her heart sunk. "Really, I am so sorry. I never thought you ever felt that way and oh my gosh. You're such a good fr—" He held up his hands.
"No, just stop. I don't want the friend's line," He grabbed at his hair. "Katie Gardner, you are the most beautiful and wonderful girl I have ever met. I've wanted to date you since 6th grade. I—oh who am I kidding, almost every dude in our grade has wanted to date you since 6th grade. Yet you've never gone out with any of us! You leave every summer, you and your sister, to that summer camp, not coming back until a week before school. You forget all about us. You distance yourself like you're better than us or something. It's crazy!" He groaned in frustration.
Katie was fairly taken aback, yet managed to say quietly, "Even though it is none of your business… I'll have you know that there is someone else." Her childhood friend looked at her seriously. She felt a lump rise in her throat as her mind instantly went to Michael Yew. Fallen over the Williamsburg Bridge last summer, he hadn't been found. They'd been off-again-on-again dating for almost two years… even though deep in her heart Katie knew things with Michael would just never quite pan out. She still cared about him so very much. His name still got her heart beating a bit faster, even though she had come to terms he wouldn't be back. "He… he's an amazing person. He's fantastic. He's one of my best friends," She paused. "Yes, we met at that camp. But that camp is home to my best friends. They're my… they're like my family. I don't expect you to understand. I'm sorry I've made you feel this way, I really am." She blinked back the tears that threatened to escape.
"Does he…" The boy was clearly straining at the words. "Does he make you happy? Because if you're dating a dick-wad who screws with your emotions, because don't even deny it Katie Gardner you would get trapped in a relationship like that, then I will personally kick his ass."
She broke into a sad smile and said, "You don't have to worry about that, Joey." And the words were true. The truth was the Joey would never have to "worry" about Michael. Suddenly, her mind turned to someone else. "He's the most wonderful guy I have ever met, and I… don't know where we're headed, but so far it's been a wonderful ride." Katie pushed on in her story, not knowing why she was explaining all this in the middle of a scorching hot asphalt parking lot when she should be leaving. Miranda would freak out if Katie weren't home in time before their shopping trip. It was an annual thing they did before Camp each year. But Katie felt the desire, not he ineed/i to get this out, and in an instant she couldn't stop talking. "He gives me goose bumps and tells me I'm beautiful when I'm just sitting there doing nothing and he smiles at me a special smile just for me," Katie smiled softly at the memories and days she was thinking about. "He sings for me and throws berries at me just to make me laugh and he writes me stupid poetry. He makes me blush at just the right moments, he gives the greatest hugs and…" She paused, and choked in a breath.
"What's wrong?"
She looked up at him in disbelief. "I think I'm in love." The words came out stiltedly, almost sadly. Joey couldn't hear the guilt behind them, the sadness. But they were there. No, no, no, no. You do not love him. It's too soon. It's too early. Less than a year. He was Mike's brother. Oh my gods, Katie, get yourself together.
He gave her a small smile, pecked her on the cheek and began walking away. And as Katie Gardner slipped into the seat of her old Volkswaggen bug, she knew that it wasn't Michael Yew she was thinking about this time.