"And I'm not even joking, Travis ran up to Katie and Will, and kissed her. Just like that!" Percy recounted his afternoon excitedly.
Annabeth snorted into her Starbucks cup. "What did she do?"
"She slapped him. Hard too," Percy snickered, licking a crumb of his sandwich off of his finger.
"Oh Katie. I wish that she would just realize that she has a big fat crush on Travis and get on with it. There's so much sexual tension steaming around them." Annabeth downed the rest of her coffee.
"She'll probably think over the kiss tonight and realize that she liked it."
"They're totally going to get together." She rubs her hands together, feeling the cold of winter even inside the heated coffee shop. "Let's go home now," She says, setting her cup down on the table.
Percy nodded, pushing his plate to a side. "Yeah, Nico is probably dying of boredom at home. Studying." He makes a face. "That's the worst way to spend a Friday night."
"You would think that."
"Yeah, me and all the sane people in this world." Percy pushes the cafe door open for his girlfriend, and a rush of wind hits them in the face, sending Annabeth's curls flying all over. "No one normal actually likes to study."
Annabeth laughs. "Screw you, Percy Jackson," she tells him, sticking out her tongue playfully.
"You can screw me tonight," he says, winking at her.
She just smiles in reply, and lifts up a hand to press the apartment number on the intercom, but Percy just pushes the door open.
"It was unlocked." He shrugs to her. She shrugs back and they enter the lobby, nodding hello to the doorman.
They trudge up the stairs, leaving trails of snow behind them. "Gods, it's cold," Annabeth complains, rubbing her hands over her arms.
Percy just nods in reply, and they reach their floor.
Annabeth tugs her key out of her purse, and slides it into the lock. The door softly clicks open, and she notices that all the lights are off.
"Shh," Annabeth whispers to Percy. "I think Nico's sleeping or something."
Percy nods, and they both gently tug off their shoes and place them on the carpet. Annabeth shrugs off her purse and lowers it somewhere near her feet. Percy heads to the living room, then pops his head out a couple minutes later. "Hey, check it out," he says softly. She walks over to him, and sees the wine on the coffee table.
"I can't believe him. He's only nineteen; he still has three years before he can drink." Not that it ever stopped them from feeding Nico alcoholic drinks before, but still.
"Can he even drink this much?" Percy eyes the bottles warily. "Maybe he's not sleeping. Maybe he passed out."
"It's not that much," Annabeth says, but she has to admit, it's more then what Nico would usually drink.
"Something's weird," Percy tells Annabeth, voice still hushed. "Let's look for him."
Annabeth rolls her eyes at her boyfriend, but takes his hand anyways. There is something odd going on, she can feel it.
They tiptoe to the nearest room, the kitchen. It's surprisingly clean, save for a couple of dirty plates on the counter. Annabeth takes the dishes and delicately places them in the sink.
They head on to the master bedroom. Percy pushes the door open, and it's the same as it was in the morning. The rumpled sheets on the bed, chair drowning in miscellaneous clothes, a black bra hanging over the lamp.
"Our room is a mess," Annabeth whispers to Percy. "How is that possible? I just cleaned it yesterday."
Percy ignores her and forges on to the bathroom. He opens the door and peeks in. He turns back to Annabeth. "Clear."
Annabeth nods and hooks her arm around his. "There's only one room left." The room started out as Nico's room, but Nico rarely ever slept in that room, opting to spend his nights curled up with Annabeth and Percy.
"Let's go then."
The door is ever so slightly ajar, and Annabeth picks up for the first time the soft light spilling out of the room. It's faint, but there. They carefully walk over, making sure to be quiet.
She laughs breathlessly. "We're being ridiculous," she tells Percy, voice quiet.
"I know." He grins at her, and nudges the door open with the palm of his hand.
What they saw was something that they didn't expect.
It was Rachel, sprawled out against the dark blue bedsheets, red hair spread out wildly over the black pillowcase, hips bucking up.
And Nico was there, head tucked neatly under her skirt, hands pressing down her thighs down.
Percy's mouth drops open, and Annabeth inhales shakily.
Rachel looks up and sees them, and gives a yelp of surprise. "Nico, Nico!" She thumps him on the back with her foot, and he raises up from her legs.
"What, I thought you liked-" He sees his boyfriend and girlfriend. "Oh. Hey, guys." He wipes his mouth and chin with his hand, then swipes his hand over the bedsheets. Annabeth mentally makes a note to wash those sheets later.
"Hi," Percy replies numbly.
Rachel's cheeks are as bright as her hair, and she sits up, smoothing down her short skirt.
"Well. Isn't this awkward?" Nico says, in a voice entirely too cheerful for their situation.
Percy nods, and no one says anything for a couple seconds.
Rachel coughs. "Nico, I should go..." She bites her lip and gets off the bed.
"Oh." Nico looks a bit crestfallen. "Okay. I'll walk you to the door."
"No, it's fine, I'll show myself out." She hesitates for a moment, but then plants a short kiss on Nico's lips. "Goodnight," she says softly, fingers lingering on his cheek. She leaves, closing the door behind her, and a uncomfortable silence fills the room.
"Did you notice that she left the room without putting her underwear back on?" Nico breaks the silence inappropriately.
"Let's hope that she doesn't pass any midgets on her way home," Percy says dryly. Minutes pass without anyone saying anything.
"When did you and Rachel get together?" Annabeth bursts out.
"I though you already knew-"
"I knew that you liked her. I knew that you were interested in dating her. What I didn't know was that you actually went through with it," Annabeth says angrily.
"Annabeth, we talked about this. You said that it was okay."
"You didn't tell me that you guys were together!" Annabeth's arms are folded over her chest, and Nico looks a bit irritated.
"You said it was okay!"
"Only if I knew about it!"
"Okay, okay-" Percy raises up his hands. "Let's all calm down." He looks from his boyfriend to his girlfriend. "Deep breath, guys."
Nico raises stiffly from the bed. "I'm going to get a drink of water." He leaves the room, the door swinging behind him.
"Can you believe him?" Annabeth fumes. "Letting Rachel come to our home, our room, sucking her off in this bed."
"We did say that it was okay, Annabeth," Percy reminds her gently.
"I didn't mean it," Annabeth sniffs.
"Maybe you should tell him that." Percy suggests.
Annabeth responds by slamming the door shut behind her.
Percy sighs, and slumps onto the bed. Frustrated, he bundles up the blanket and buries his head in it. "Whoa," he says out loud, removing his face from the cloth. It's damp and thick with a sweet salty smell, and Percy realizes that it's Rachel that he's smelling. And it's wonderful and intoxicating and he thinks that maybe Nico made the right choice with Rachel.
Taking one last breath of Rachel's scent, Percy gets out of the room, ready to look for his lovers.
"...I felt like you and Percy loved each other more than me." Nico's voice floated over from the kitchen. Percy stops in his tracks, thinking that he shouldn't bother what seems to be a private conversation.
"We do love you, Nico-" Annabeth's soft voice was talking now, "so much,"
"I know. I just wanted what you guys had..."
Their voices lower, and Percy has to strain to hear what their saying.
"...Rachel loves me..."
"We love you..."
"...not as much as her... need more than this..." Their voices dip lower and lower and Percy can only catch snatches of their conversation.
"...still want this?"
"So much... being so selfish..."
"We can do this..."
A long silence follows, and Percy starts to worry. He quietly makes his way to the kitchen. He crouches down, and peeks into the room, and smiles at the scene in front of him.
Annabeth and Nico were kissing desperately, hands roving all over each other.
And at that moment, Percy knew that all of them were going to be okay.
A/N I'm so sorry for not updating in forever. *hangs head in shame* I've been so busy, but now since I have my own computer, I would be able to write a lot more, thus update way faster. Thanks for reading!
