Annabeth supposes that there are worse things in life than being in love with your best friend.
Honestly, she's not sure how she hasn't realized it before now. Because—well, Percy is Percy, ridiculous and wonderful at the same time. It's been a while since she was able to talk about him and not sound like a mush of emotions. Especially to the paparazzi, who accosted her outside his house once or twice and made her feel like an international criminal with their ruthless interrogation.
But…that's just it, isn't it? Percy's a superstar, and she owns a fucking coffee shop in New York City. They've been friends since the time he walked into her shop and nervously asked for a gig. He'd gotten it (of course), and in about two weeks, a record executive had walked in, heard him, and slapped a contract on the table.
Three years later, here they are. Annabeth's coffee shop is more successful, granted, but she's still paying her degree from NYU off, interning at an architecture firm part time. And Percy Jackson's touring the world, with his legion of devoted fans at his side.
"Annie!" The door slams, and Thalia walks in, her leather jacket swinging on her arm casually. Nothing can stop Thalia from dressing the way she wants to, with her pink hair and piercings, even when it's sub-zero. Well, at least she's determined.
"It's freezing out," Annabeth points out. "Is it really the most appropriate time to dress like you're taking a punk rock vacation to the Caribbean?"
"Chill," the other girl says, sinking onto Annabeth's couch. "Or, actually, don't. It is cold outside. But the cold never bothered me anyway and shit. Speaking of that, how was Percy's show last night?"
"Pretty good, actually," Annabeth hustles to her kitchen and grabs her cup of coffee, inhaling the smell with a contented smile on her face. If something can make life suck less, it's caffeine. Her doctor had technically told her to reduce her intake, but you know. She only had one cup a day now. Recovery is a process and all that.
"Wasn't all cheesy shit, then," Thalia muses. Annabeth raises her eyebrows, seeing past her façade.
"I've caught you playing his songs more than once." She flashes back to the day when she saw Thalia bopping her head to Percy's latest single. You're Love or something like that.
"I was just checking them out!" Thalia protests weakly, pulling her hands through her hair. Annabeth nods slowly, narrowing her eyes. Of course.
"Is that why you bought both of his albums? On iTunes?" She looks affronted now, tugging on her piercing.
"Look, Chase, I just wanted to support newer artists. The music industry can be hard on them."
"Percy's second album set a record for the fastest selling album in iTunes history. He went platinum in his first week."
"Well, you seem to know a lot about this." Thalia looks intensely at her, cocking her head. She's always been annoyingly perceptive.
"I…did some research. But don't change the subject."
Thalia rolls her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, of course. So Percy's home now, right? Tour done and all?" Relieved that she let that mess go, Annabeth ignores the (again apparent) change of subject. Lesser of two evils, after all.
"I think so. Said he had a meeting with management, but he wanted to catch up with us, so he said he'd be here in-well, fifteen minutes from now."
"Busy kid," Thalia murmurs, and Annabeth snorts.
"Yeah, you could say that." They're silent for a few minutes, only the echo of the tea kettle boiling resonating through her apartment.
"No offense, Annabeth, but you look tired."
"Thank you, Thalia," she grumbles as she runs a hand through her hair. "Not as tired as I feel, though." Shit, she hadn't meant to say the last part.
Thalia, of course, catches on anyway, her eyes crackling in worry. "You have been working too hard lately. Take a break. Piper will definitely cover for you for a day or two."
She chokes on her coffee, putting it down on the table as soon as she can restore control of her hands. "A day or two? You want me to take a break for that long?"
Thalia has the chagrin to roll her eyes. "Get the hell over your fear of not working, girl. Believe it or not, the coffee shop will go on without you. When was the last time you took a vacation?"
The doorbell rings, saving Annabeth from the difficult task of answering a question. And besides it had just been…a few months. Maybe a year, maybe two. Right?
As she opens the door, Percy stumbles in, shades and hoodie on. "Thalia, I think there might be one or two photographers outside. Can you check? And hi, Anna."
Thalia rolls her eyes and opens the window. "One or two, Jackson? More like ten. Or fifty."
Percy groans, and as a testament to her hormones/sick mind/she really doesn't know, Annabeth takes that time to appreciate how good Ray-Bans look on him. And his ridiculously high cheekbone-
"Anna, can you stop staring at me?"
"Oh." Annabeth rolled her eyes, turning a bit red. "Staring? Quit flattering yourself, Jackson. Who do you think you are, a superstar?"
He chuckles a little at that and walks over to Thalia, angling himself so he isn't visible through the window. "They know you're my cousin, Thalia. I think. Can you just like stick your head out so they think I'm here to visit you?"
Thalia smirks. "And what if they think we're involved in some sort of…incest ring? Like cousin to cousin, is that legal?
"The press is crazy, Thals, but hopefully they'll stop short of that." Percy scratches his head, trying to peer outside.
"I can already see the headlines of Us Weekly. Percy Jackson: Teenage Superstar or Inbreeding Freak? Find out if you turn to page 32."
"Thalia Grace." Percy looks frustrated, but slightly amused. She has that effect on everyone, Annabeth thinks.
"I'm just preparing you, kid. No need to, like, thank me or anything. I'm always here for you." Thalia grumbles, but sure enough, she sticks her head outside and shouted, "GET AWAY FROM THE APARTMENT, IDIOTS! OR I'LL CALL MY DAD AND HAVE HIM SUE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU!"
A little dazed, Annabeth watches as Thalia slams the windows shut, blocking the noise of shutters snapping like crazy. Thalia is nothing if she isn't dependable. "Wow," she manages, "that was…direct. Preparing yourself for the inbreeding headlines now?"
"Nah, I'll get my dad to talk to them," Thalia dismisses, already beginning to text someone rapidly. Percy nods at her and takes out his own phone, probably calling his publicist or something. Annabeth watches both of them helplessly, feeling a little bewildered.
Annabeth loves Percy and Thalia. She's known Percy for three years, and Thalia for fifteen. And she knows neither of them have let fame get to their head. But it's hard having famous friends sometimes, who can relate to paparazzi and money and newspapers and have contacts in high places. She knows that Mr. Grace, Thalia's father, has connections with the Queen of England. And plays golf with the president on a regular basis. And Mr. Jackson, on top of Percy, owns the biggest shipping company in the world.
"Anna, you okay?' Percy looks at her with a concerned look in his eye. "I'm so sorry for the commotion outside. I'll take care of it, I promise. Not like last time."
"That's fine," she tells him, waving it off. "You're just too famous, Jackson."
Percy's face suddenly lights up. "How did you like my concert yesterday?"
She decides on a neutral "I enjoyed it," shrugging a little, although she can't stop her mouth from twitching. Percy catches on, his grin getting even wider.
"You loved it, didn't you Ms. Indie Record Chase?" He pokes her in the stomach, dangerously close to tickling her, and wow, she really wants to kiss this boy a dangerous amount.
"I'm responsible for your entire career, Jackson. I feel like I should get some of the cut. Maybe…like 90% of your profits?"
"You can have all of it, Chase. The world is your oyster." Percy sunk into her leather chair, sighing in pleasure. It's pretty adorable, she has to admit. But he's pretty adorable, so that isn't really a surprise.
"What would your label say," Thalia muttered, flipping through a magazine. "They take most of your money anyway." Percy sighs in agreement, closing his eyes.
"Speaking of that, how was your management talk?" Annabeth plops herself on the couch and looks up expectantly at Percy, whose smile is disappearing, by bits and pieces.
"It was fine," he muttered. "Nothing new. Just assessing profits and stuff like that." He sees them looking at him and shoots them a half-hearted smile (more like a shameful twitch, at that). Really, this boy is an open book.
"Are you sure about that, love? You look like you're being pushed into a swamp or something like that."
"I'm completely okay," Percy says, much more forcefully. If it weren't for the fact that he was a terrible liar, Annabeth would have almost believed him.
"You don't look okay." She gets up just as he does, trying to meet his eyes. "Percy—"
"I have to go," he says, grabbing his phone and sliding it into his pocket. "Just—I'll call you back, okay? Have some urgent stuff to deal with, and…never mind."
"I know you're up to something!" she calls after him when he exits. She can hear the click of cameras once again, and she's starting to feel nauseous, like she's been leaning on something that doesn't really exist all this time.
After a few seconds, she groans and reclines against the sofa again. Coffee only makes her life a little better. Percy fucking Jackson messes it up again. Story of her life (isn't that one of his songs? Great, now she's thinking in Percy Jackson songs. She thought she was past the whole teenage heartthrob phase anyway).
"Get some sleep, Anna. As I was saying."
"I need to go to work." She sounds like she's trying to convince herself of that, which unsurprisingly does not get past Thalia.
"I will personally carry you down to your bedroom, Chase, and lock the door if you aren't going to go to sleep. You'll screw yourself up even more this way." Annabeth's suddenly too tired to defend herself against that (admittedly true) insult, and so she submits.
"Fine," she mutters, and trudges like an angry four year old inside her room. She pulls herself into her bed, closes her eyes, and yells "I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY NOW!" The last thing she hears before she falls asleep is vague, sadistic laughter. How appropriate.
Hope you enjoy this chapter! And also reviews…would be nice…seeing as I have zero right now