Lives Collide
Disclaimer: I don't own any of this.
Percy wrapped the bandage around Connor's palm for the final time and tied it. He was focused on the white material, avoiding the eyes of his former friends. Connor was sat at the kitchen island and Travis was leaning against it.
Grover, meanwhile, was standing straight with his arms by his side. Two years had aged them all slightly-what a difference the time between sixteen and eighteen makes. But Grover could see that Percy was as closed off as the last time he had seen him; running out the door of Olympus Academy.
"Percy!" Annabeth ran down the stairs after her boyfriend, nearly tripping over the steps. Percy was storming ahead of her, his eyes focused on the double doors that lead to the outside. Students who were on the way to classes, paused to watch the happy couple of the school.
Grover was right behind Annabeth; he had been with her when they had gone looking for Percy. Only, they found him in his dorm room, holding receipts and contracts. They had recognised them straight away.
Percy had demanded an explanation and as Annabeth tried to explain, Grover could only watch as his best friend's life crumble down around him. Percy had bolted from the room and down the hallway to the main stairs.
Annabeth managed to catch Percy's arm and stopped him suddenly. "Please, just listen to me!" she said, "I swear to you, the payments stopped months ago! We are really your friends Percy. I really do love you."
Percy looked down at her, his green eyes dark with anger. But all he said was, "I should have known. I should have expected to meet two faced people in this school. It was stupid of me to think otherwise."
He ripped his arm from her grasp and walked out the door. Annabeth tried to go after him again but Grover stopped her.
"Leave him for the moment Annabeth. He needs to calm down. We'll see him when he gets back."
Grover gave the apartment a once over.
Percy hadn't come back to the school and after having a huge fight with his father at their penthouse; Percy had gone back to his mother's. They hadn't seen him after that. Sally refused to tell anyone where he was and he wasn't staying at her apartment. So he must have ended up at this diner.
Percy packed away the first aid kit and mumbled, "You're fine now. Shut the door on your way out."
Travis scoffed and said, "Do you honestly think we're leaving now?!"
Percy sighed and replied, "I was hopeful." He shut the lid of the box and leaned against the counter. After a moment, he asked, "Are you going to tell Annabeth?"
Conner laughed and said, "Time doesn't change everything; Percy's main concern is still Annabeth."
Percy clenched his jaw and Grover replied quietly, "We have to. She wouldn't like it if we kept this from her."
Percy nodded and Grover continued with, "How have you been?"
"Fine; I've been working here for about two years. Finished high school in the school down the road and spent this year saving money for college."
Grover nodded, "That's great. I'm glad you've got your diploma."
The twins looked between the two old friends before Travis asked, "Are we going to address the elephant in room? And by elephant I mean the fact that Percy is bitter and we're all regretful."
Percy rolled his eyes but Grover replied, "At least let us explain properly! You ran off the first time and you didn't hear the full story."
Percy glanced up at the clock and then said, "I have to run over to the library and help in about fifteen minutes. So you've got five."
"You help at the library? Were you there when we were?"
"Four minutes and fifty-five seconds."
Grover looked at the twins, who shrugged and then back at Percy. It was up to him to explain. "When you first arrived at the Academy, you were all people could talk about...and sometimes, you were talked about in a bad way. Students there prided themselves on their family's money but you? You practically walked through the doors as the richest kid there and...nothing. Percy, you had no arrogance or felt like you were better than anyone. Add the fact that you were raised as a normal kid, well, the students weren't exactly ready to welcome you with open arms."
Percy stayed silent throughout all this, staring at a spot on the far wall. Grover continued. "Your father desperately wanted you to be happy; so he paid us to be nice to you for the first couple weeks. We were just supposed to be 'starter friends' so that when you made your own friends, no one would get hurt. I mean, you were on the swim team and people really liked you when they got to know you. We didn't count on how loyal you were to us, and how much we liked being your friends. Annabeth certainly didn't go into your relationship wanting to hurt you. It was her who asked for the payments to be stopped, right before your first date. She really loves you Percy; there was no pretence for her."
Percy scoffed and replied, "Yes, I'm so sure!"
Grover let out a slow breath. He hadn't been around for the aftermath of their breakup. He couldn't just throw away Annabeth's feelings like that. "She wanted to move back in with her father."
This surprised Percy and his head whipped around to look at Grover. "What? She wanted to move back to San Francisco?! But her and her father have a terrible relationship!"
"Ya, well she wanted to move to the other side of country. Everything just reminded her of you."
"She didn't stop looking for you," Travis finally said, "She kept searching all over New York and the whole country, just to find you. But you are far too good and hiding yourself."
"Her grades were slipping and she wasn't sleeping. She was running herself into the ground just trying to find you," Connor said.
Percy ran a hand through his hair and licked his dry lips.
"Look, as much as we would like to be friends with you again, we won't push you into anything. But please Percy, just see her. Tell Annabeth that you're fine and you're doing ok," Grover pleaded.
"You are doing alright, aren't you?" Connor asked, "Because there was that time when Annabeth went on vacation and you were acting like someone had just punched you in the face. That was just for a week so I don't know how two years have been for you."
Percy glared at his old friend, who smirked back in return before turning back to Grover. "I'll see her at the library tomorrow. Tell her we can talk then."
Grover nodded; he could take what he could get.
"You guys better go," Percy mumbled, gesturing at the clock.
Connor hopped off the stool and he and his brother headed for the door. Grover followed them but at the last minute before closing the door, he turned and said, "Percy?"
His old friend raised an eyebrow at him and Grover said, "It was really good to see you again." Percy's eyes softened slightly and he nodded.
Grover shut the door and Percy let out a long breath.
He started to pace the room, rubbing his face. Was it possible for him to move in a day?
Percy shook his head. He was being ridiculous. Grover had a point; he had left the Academy suddenly and without letting them explain properly. He hadn't gotten any closure and neither had they. The sudden realisation that he was going to see Annabeth tomorrow hit him and Percy found it hard to breath.
He sat down and propped his elbows up on his knees. He had barely glanced at her in the library when Piper first saw her; he didn't really trust himself not to stand there and stare. Had she changed much? Was architecture still what she wanted to do? Did she still wear that old Yankees hat?
A small smile came to Percy's face. He had good memories of that hat.
"Seriously? This thing looks like it's been chewed on by a small animal."
Percy turned over the hat in his hands, brushing his thumb over the frayed edges. Annabeth raised her eyes from the notebook in front of her to look at her boyfriend. Percy was sitting on the table she was seated at, trying to entertain himself while she worked on her assignment.
"Don't you have better things to do then annoy me in my room?" she asked him.
Percy shrugged and said, "Why do you wear this thing all the time?" He asked in a casual tone, his eyes not moving from the hat.
Annabeth stood up and walked to stand in front of him. Percy looked at her as she gently took the hat from his grasp.
"My mom bought this for me when we went to see a game one day," Annabeth said quietly. "She works so much that I can count on one hand the amount of times we've hung out. But...one day, she cancelled all her meetings and took me to see the Yankees play. It was such a surprise and I had such a good time!"
Annebeth's smile dropped slightly and she said, "I thought it was going to be the start of something new for us. That she would actually spend time with me. That wouldn't ignore me like my dad did. But, as I should have known, she left me. Just like he did. That's why I live in the school; it's better staying here than in that cold house."
Percy pulled her forward until she was standing between his legs; he wrapped his arms around her waist. Annabeth let out a sigh of relief; for some reason, she felt safe. Talking about her mother had never been an easy thing for her. She raised her eyes and looked at him; green and grey just a few millimetres away from each other.
Percy leaned her forehead against hers. "I will never leave you like they did," he said quietly, "I promise you that."
She smiled at him and reached up, placing the hat backwards on his head. His black hair peeked out from under it and he tilted his head. "How does it look?"
Annabeth replied, "Meh, it looks better on me."
Percy chuckled and pulled her close to hug her. Annabeth wrapped her arms around his shoulders tightly, resting her face against his neck.
Percy rubbed his eyes and leaned back on the couch.
No matter the tension between them, he did need to see her; only to help her. At least, that's what he told himself.
-Olympia Academy;Annabeth-
Annabeth balanced the books in her arms as she prided open the door to the library. It shut quietly behind her and she looked around for a desk.
Large windows ran along the left hand side of the room, filled with towering brown bookshelves. A number of desks were on the far side of the room and by the looks of it, she was one of the few students there.
Annabeth walked down the room and was about to place her books on a desk when she caught something out of the corner of her eye. She blinked at the figure with their back, looking out the window, turned to her and after a moment, she gently placed the books on the desk and walked over to the window.
She reached their side and said, "Hello, Mr Olympia."
Poseidon turned his head to look at her in surprise. His features softened and he mumbled, "Hello Annabeth. It's been a while since I've seen you."
She nodded, smiling slightly and a silence stretched out between them. "What brings you here?" she asked and Poseidon gestured towards the corner of the window.
Annabeth found what he was staring at and she tried to stifle a gasp. A small trident was scratched into the glass, almost invisible with the sun streaming into the room. "I've been seeing those around the school and I thought..."
"It was Percy," Annabeth said, "He used to draw them everywhere because it was your part of the family crest."
Poseidon nodded and they stood there quietly. "I don't suppose that you..."
"No I haven't heard from him," Annabeth said, "But that doesn't mean I don't keep my ears open, just in case."
Poseidon smiled at her and asked, "Me too."
There was a moment of quiet and then he said, "Even when he's not here, Percy still managed to cause chaos in our lives."
She shrugged and replied, "He always did keep things interesting."
Poseidon turned and saw the books on the table. "I shouldn't keep you from your work," he said, "What are you writing?"
"An assignment for Ancient Classics class; I have to write an essay on the different myths about how the Greek gods created mankind."
Poseidon gestured towards the bookshelves. "Try Plato's version; I always liked it best."
With a nod to her, he walked away towards the door. Annabeth watched him go and with one last look at the trident on the glass, she walked off towards the shelves.
It was in the library that Grover found her a few hours later, pouring over a thick book. He placed a hand on her arm and she jumped slightly. "Sorry," he said, as he sat down beside her.
Annabeth shrugged and sat back on the chair. "It's fine; how was dinner at the Jupiter Diner?"
Grover winched slightly but said, "Fine; I think Connor is in love with the food."
There was a pause and then he asked, "What are reading?"
Annabeth looked down at the book and replied, "I have to look up all of these Greek myths about how man was made. This one is from Plato. He says that humans were originally made with four legs, four arms and a head with two faces. Zeus was afraid that they would be too strong so he split them in half."
Her eyes glazed over slightly and she said quietly, "So that humans would be forced to spend the rest of their lives looking for their other half."
Grover wanted to groan in frustration but he just cleared his throat. He had to tell her; he couldn't watch her like this anymore.
"Annabeth?" She looked up at him with a small smile.
"I found Percy."
