A/N: Hey everyone! So formal apology for getting this up late: I am super sorry! I had a lot of stressful stuff going on all of the sudden, and I wrote another story (posted on my Ao3 account), and then I went through about two weeks on not writing at all because I got super insecure about my writing. All my life I've kind of had this fear or now being good enough and it's kind of escalated until good enough equated to being the best. It's super petty, but this person in my class got singled out by my favorite teacher to write a story for them and well, I got pretty jealous. But...I'm back! And better than ever, coming in with an extra long chapter!
To all of those people who asked if I was abandoning this story: no. nope, not ever. This story is my child and I love it. It might take me a long time in between chapters, but I won't give up on it. Stick with me guys!
If you recognise it, it's not mine.
Nevermind. She takes it all back.
The moment Annabeth walked into the English classroom, it was like her breath had been taken from her. Percy was there in his seat, the one next to hers. He was getting his laptop out of his bag and taking off his jacket and slinging it around the back of the chair. Annabeth didn't even realize how much she missed him until he was right there in front of her. And well, plan be damned. "Me time" be damned. I was wrong, Annabeth thought, I was so so wrong. I want to be with him so much.
Annabeth felt especially pathetic when she sat down next to Percy, getting out her own laptop and pretending not to notice how Percy didn't even spare her a glance. Especially pathetic. Annabeth prided herself on being someone whose life and emotions were not completely defined by guys (something she realized was completely not true given her last few months and her whole timer problem) and she was kind of ashamed to be so hung up over one.
He's my friend before anything else, she reminded herself, I am missing him like I would miss...I don't really have any other friends I can compare him with. Percy is one of a kind. Even though Annabeth told herself this, she knew it was not really true. Well, Percy was one of a kind, but she definitely didn't look at him as just a friend. She hoped he didn't either.
Percy still wasn't looking at her and class was going to start soon. It was Monday, so Annabeth knew that right after class Percy would head over to the pool, so this was the last chance she would get to talk to him, at least until...actually, she could text him anytime, but that just felt wrong. It felt impersonal. She did know that it had to be her, though. She couldn't just wait for him to say something, she had to go up to him and apologise and tell him the truth about everything- Luke, Silena's letter, her feelings, her ti- maybe not everything.
Annabeth wasn't ready to tell him about her timer. Partially because she didn't want to loose him, which she was sure she would. Another, darker and even more selfish part of her knew that when he left that she wouldn't have another chance to change her time, to get more of it. After all of these years of living and accepting her time and being ready, Annabeth wasn't so sure she had accepted it anymore. Not ever since Percy walked into her life. Now she isn't sure she can go back to the way it was before.
Annabeth didn't want to think about that, though. Some things were just too much, even for Annabeth, the queen of introspection. So she shoved those thoughts to the back of her subconscious for future Annabeth to deal with.
Percy was talking to Leo and Annabeth was about to reach over and tap him on the shoulder to get his attention when Mrs. Cavan walked to the front of the classroom from her desk. Percy straightened up when Mrs. Cavan cleared her throat and Annabeth snatched her hand back before Percy could see. It didn't matter though, he barely acknowledged her existence save for a brief nod in greeting before he moved his attention completely towards the front of the room.
"Hello everyone. I hope that all of you had a good weekend." Mrs. Cavan said, pausing to see if anyone wanted to add something. A few students mumbled their affirmation and then she moved on. "So to start the class I was thinking maybe we need a little change. You have been sitting in the same place for most of the semester and I am sure most of you would like to shake things up." She said.
Oh no. Please do not say what I think you're going to say.
"We're going to change seats!"
No, Mrs. Cavan! I need to stay here!
"I have some ruled for where you can sit. First, you can't sit in the same row you're sitting in right now. Second, you can't sit next to either of the people that are on either side of you."
Mrs. Cavan! This is the worst possible thing that you could have done right now.
"Okay everyone. Get up! Move! You have one minute and then I'm starting class." Mrs. Cavan finished before going to sit behind her desk as students scrambled to find seats. To Annabeth's side Percy was doing some kind of strange handshake with Leo before moving up a row and to the left side of the room. Annabeth was tempted to follow him, but she didn't know how he would feel about that, so she resisted.
Annabeth stared blankly around the room at people. She wanted to sit with someone she was relatively friendly with, definitely not someone who she didn't like. Annabeth always found herself stuck in situations like these, situations where she couldn't find someone to sit with or a partner in class. It wasn't like people didn't like her, or that she had no friends or acquaintances in her classes, it was just that all of her friends had better friends that they paired up with, so Annabeth was left behind. Annabeth couldn't really blame them though, she would do the same.
"Hey Annabeth, what're you doing? Come sit down."
Annabeth looked over at Hazel. She was sitting next to an open seat on the right side of the room and several rows down and beckoning Annabeth to sit down next to her.
"What are you waiting for?" She asked, smiling. Annabeth smiled in return and sat down. Maybe she did have someone in this class.
Annabeth sat down next to Hazel and set her bag down. Hazel smiled at her and scooted hr stuff over.
"Thank god you're here. I don't know who I would have sat next to otherwise. Probably someone not as great as you." Annabeth said in relief.
"Haha, hey, who knows? Too bad you couldn't have sat next to Percy." Hazel said coyly.
"Er, yeah," Annabeth said. She looked over at Percy who was talking to the person her was sitting next to. "It's too bad."
Hazel frowned.
"Is there something going on between you two? He seems kind of-"
"Miss Chase and Miss Levesque, is there something more important than my teaching?" Mrs Cavan called out to them. Hazel flushed and snapped her mouth shut. She sent Annabeth a look and mouthed the words 'I'll tell you later'.
Annabeth turns to the front of the room as Mrs. Cavan begins to explain their next assignment.
;;;
"So? What's going on between you and Percy?" Hazel asks once they finally get out of class. Annabeth has one and a half hours to kill before her next class, so she opted to go get lunch with Hazel downtown. She should have known she would get the interrogation treatment.
"We had a fight." Annabeth says. She doesn't really know if she wants to talk about it, so she doesn't elaborate. Part of her wants to tell Hazel everything and to completely unload, but the other part of her doesn't want to bother Hazel and knows that she'll just regret it later.
"Mhmm." Hazel scoffs, raising an eyebrow. "That much is obvious. What I meant was what did you fight about."
Annabeth sighs. Since Hazel is asking she might as well just tell her. Maybe Hazel will have some advice. Besides being a few years younger, Hazel is extremely mature and an outside view could be useful.
"We had a fight about my boyfriend. Er, ex-boyfriend. Percy and I we've kind of been...well, not seeing each other. Nothing was ever official, we just knew that we liked each other. Or, I think he liked me. He did kiss me. Or did I kiss him?" Annabeth started mumbling as Hazel squealed.
"Oooh! I knew it. I totally called it! You're perfect for each other. I totally knew!" She said, waving her hands in the air. Annabeth smiled sadly as Hazel's forehead scrunched up. "Wait? Boyfriend? Was this before or after Percy?" She asked, obviously confused.
"Er, during." Annabeth answered feebly. Hazel's eyes widened.
"So you were...ahhh. I see."
"Yeah, it's um," Annabeth coughed. "Complicated."
Hazel nodded.
"How so?" She questioned. Annabeth sighed. Oh boy.
"Um well, Luke- my boyfriend, was kind of an asshole….no, he was more than that. He was pretty mentally and emotionally abusive." Annabeth gulped. Even though she had accepted it, it was still hard to say out loud. "And well, Percy wasn't. He was nice and funny and we got along well. And I really really like him. But I couldn't break up with Luke. There's a lot of history between us. But then Percy and I fought and I realized that what we had was so much more important and better for me than what I was holding onto with Luke. I ended it a few days ago. I uh, I haven't had a chance to tell Percy. Or apologise for everything in the first place." Annabeth didn't mention her timer. That was too much right now and complicated everything eve further. She was also scared that if she told Hazel then she wouldn't believe that Annabeth's feeling for Percy were leget. (They were very legit)
"Hmmmm…" Hazel hummed. They turned into a quaint cafe that had a heavy yellow aesthetic that Annabeth had never been in before. She looked around at the decor, the yellow walls and what looked like a lemon themed chandelier. It's cute, she thought.
"I'll have two croissants and an americano and, Annabeth, what would you like?" Hazel said to the purple haired woman behind the counter before directing her attention onto Annabeth.
"Hm? Oh, uh, I'll have a chai tea latte?" Annabeth said.
"And one chai tea latte. Small?"
"Small." Annabeth confirmed.
The barista nodded and Hazel payed her before Annabeth could even take out her wallet. When the barista went to go make their drinks Annabeth argued with Hazel about paying for their drinks.
"Let me just pay you back-"
"No, Annabeth, it's only four dollars-"
"Yeah, so I could just-"
"Annabeth, it's fine. Anyways, think of it as a...I don't know. Like a 'I hope you feel better about your shitty love life' kind of thing. On me."
Annabeth sighed in defeat.
"Okay, fine." She said. The purple haired barista from earlier called their orders and they went to get their drinks and warmed up croissants from the counter. Hazel found them a seat at a small table (with black and white checked table cloth and an awkward looking fake lemon branch in a glass jar) and they sat down across from each other.
"Okay, so you fought about your horrible ex boyfriend and you haven't apologised for it yet. Am I getting this?" Hazel asked through a bite of croissant. Annabeth fiddled with hers in her hand, peeling off the top layer. She nodded in affirmation so Hazel continued.
"So why haven't you apologised yet?" She asked.
"Well," Annabeth says, placing the other layer of the croissant in her mouth. "For one, I haven't found the time. He hasn't answered my texts and so I was going to do it today, but you saw how he was. He obviously didn't want to talk to me. And then we moved seats. And I couldn't do it after class because he has to go straight to swimming-"
"Awww. That's so cute. You know his schedule!" Hazel said. Annabeth shot her a glare.
"And...I'm scared that he's not going to like me. That I am going to go and apologise and tell him that I broke up with Luke and that he's going to just...not accept it. Because after everything I don't know why he would still like me. I wasn't loyal and I had been using him-"
Hazel cut her off.
"Are you kidding me?" She asked, incredulous. "That boy is arse over tits for you. There is no way he doesn't like you. I have seen the way you look at eachother, him especially. Frankly, it's gross. Adorable, but gross. And Percy's a good guy. A great guy. He may have been angry and he might've said some harsh things, but he understands. He- he's had to deal with...difficult people. His late stepfather, before Paul, Gabe Ugli...Ugli something, was pretty terrible to him and his mum. So he'll understand. He just needs to get over himself. Just be sincere. And sooner, rather than later would be good." Hazel explained. Annabeth swirled her chai tea in her cup and looked at the lemon chandelier.
"That's pretty ugly, isn't it?" Hazel said, following Annabeth's gaze. Annabeth nodded.
"Sure is." She agreed.
"I like it though." Hazel turned her attention back to Annabeth. "You'll take my advice?" She asked.
"Yeah, I'll take your advice." Annabeth sighed. She smiled gratefully at Hazel and Hazel seemed to get the message. Thank you.
"Good." She said, then pointed to Annabeth's partially unraveled croissant. "Are you going to finish that?"
Annabeth shook her head and pushed her plate over.
;;;
Annabeth wanted to apologize to Percy, she really did.
She just...couldn't. Every time she was going to go up to him, every time she was going to say something, he slipped off to swim practice or he was dragged away by one of his friends. And Annabeth was just as busy. With the end of the semester coming near, that meant one thing- finals.
Annabeth didn't know when the last time she slept more than three hours at a time was. She had perpetual dark circles under her eyes and she walked around in such a daze most days that Piper had taken to calling Annabeth 'Zombie'. In the last week she spent four out of seven nights in one of the open 24/7 for finals week classrooms in the architecture building, along with a dozen other equally exhausted students.
Whenever she tells people that she is a major procrastinator, people are always surprised. Maybe it's because she gets good grades, mostly A's, with a few B's (and that one C she had in that obligatory music class in high school). Or maybe it is because she is so responsible literally everywhere else. Piper told Annabeth that it was because she was a perfectionist. She didn't want to do something unless she was a hundred percent certain that she could do it perfectly. Piper said all this while speaking over her psychology book, so Annabeth decided to trust her. It sounded pretty accurate too.
So here she was. Procrastinating, as usual, except this time she was procrastinating talking to Percy and hiding behind the excuse of finals. Both her and the tumblr app opened up on her phone knew that it wasn't finals that was keeping her from seeking him out. She why was she procrastinating this? Maybe it was for the same reason she waited to do her school work. She was scared that he would reject her, that she wouldn't be good enough or that her apology wouldn't sound genuine enough.
If she never actually talked to Percy, she couldn't get rejected, could she?
Annabeth shook her head. No, that wouldn't work. Annabeth had to talk to him. Even if he did reject her romantically, they might still be able to be friends. Annabeth hated to admit it, but it was killing her(literally and figuratively), not being able to speak to Percy and knowing that they had left on such bad terms.
So now the biggest question: how would she find him? She knew the basics of his schedule, like general class times, work times and she knew when he had swim. Technically she could probably ambush him at work, or right after, but that seemed kind of mean. She didn't want to risk getting him fired and after a long day dealing with caffeine deprived customers might not leave him in the mood for talking to someone he was already mad at. Maybe she would ask one of his friends? Leo maybe?
She had gotten Leo's snapchat a little while ago, so she sent a snap to 'Commander Tool Belt'. Annabeth still hadn't changed his username yet, though it did kind of suit him. From what Annabeth had heard, Leo was quite the engineer.
Annabeth_Chase
Hey, do you want to meet up? Around four? I need to ask you something.
Commander Tool Belt
Is this a date? ;))))
Annabeth_Chase
No
Meet me in front of the library at the corner of elm and cherry?
Commander Tool Belt
Kk
This wouldn't be about loverboy, would it?
Annabeth_Chase
Did someone tell you about that?
Commander Tool Belt
About what?
Is there something to tell? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Annabeth_Chase
You can't see me but im rolling my eyes at you.
See you at four
Well, at least that went pretty well. It went more smoothly than conversations with 'Commander Tool Belt' usually went, save that part about 'loverboy'. To be perfectly honest, she had thought that he was referencing Silena's old nickname for Percy, which had made her a little...uncomfortable? Annabeth didn't really know how it made her feel, but she didn't really like it.
Annabeth looked at her watch. It was around two in the afternoon. How am I going to kill two hours?
;;;
Piper opened the door with a tired sigh.
"Oh," She said, her eyebrows lifting in surprise. "I wasn't expecting you."
Annabeth rubbed the back of her neck, a habit she realized she had adopted from Percy.
"Yeah, I didn't text. Is this not a good time? I was just-"
"No, no, it's fine. I wasn't doing anything. Just come on in." Piper turned around, picking her way through her apartment. Annabeth followed.
"Is there something going on?" Piper asked, once she had plopped herself on her couch and layered several blankets on top of herself. It had been getting colder (Annabeth still couldn't believe it hadn't snowed yet, it was that cold) and Piper's heating was absolute shit. Annabeth could swear she could see her breath when Piper spoke.
"Yeah, heating's shot. Again."
Annabeth nodded and caught the blanket that Piper threw to her. She was done suggesting Piper ask her movie star dad to pay for better apartment, she knew Piper was too proud for that.
"So?" Piper prompted and Annabeth was reminded of her earlier questions.
"Ah, no. I mean, yes, but no. Nothing more than usual."
"Oh. So you wanted to talk about it?" She asked. Even though Piper tried to conceal the fact that she really didn't want to talk about it again, Annabeth could still tell. She was sure it was pretty annoying to hear the same vexations repeatedly, especially if they aren't yours. But Annabeth knew that Piper was too good a friend to say any of this.
"No. Not really. I'm meeting Leo at four and I needed a way to kill some time. Did you know the library is closed for maintenance?"
"No, I didn't- wait. You were going to pick the library over me?" Piper asked jokingly.
"No, no. I mean, yes, but only 'cause I wanted to get some more studying in." Annabeth said. Which was true- she needed to study as much as possible, she just really didn't want to. At least not now.
"I mean, we could study here if you want to." Piper suggested. Annabeth shook her head roughly.
"Oh gods no." She said. Piper laughed.
"What level?" She asked.
"The American education system is stupid and I don't think the rest of my life should be determined by a grade point average." Annabeth said flatly. Piper laughed loudly again.
"So like, a six?"
Annabeth laughed and put her yeah in her hands, nodding in agreement. The numbering was a thing that Piper had come up with a few years ago. She called it "Annabeth's phases of homework done-ness". It started out as half assing it or looking at the odd number answers at the back of the textbook ( number 2 and 3) and went to number 10, that time Annabeth threw a textbook out of her dorm room window in the middle of the night. Annabeth was at a number six, which usually meant ranting about America's poor education system and how grades were a ridiculous concept. Which didn't mean she still didn't want good ones. She would just attain them by complaining to whoever was in the general vicinity about how much studying and homework sucked. Which was a lot. Being dyslexic and reading a textbook was hard.
"Okay, then we better do something to take your mind off of everything." Piper said, waving her arms around to signify 'everything'. Then she walked over to the TV and crouched in front of a small rectangular white box. She slipped in a CD and then turned around, holding two fully charged Wii controllers in her hands, the same ones that she had bought for herself about ten years ago.
"Mario kart?" She asked as a picture of Mario and Luigi popped up on the screen along with upbeat theme music and an icon telling the user to 'press A'.
"Only if you let me play Peach." Annabeth said. Piper wrinkled her nose. Hey," Annabeth said as Piper sat down. "You know Peach is the best. She kicks ass."
Piper rolled her eyes and tugged on one of Annabeth's curls.
"Sure thing princess." Piper mocked. Annabeth huffed and tugged her blanket around her shoulders.
Piper sped past the home screen, choosing two remotes and then vs, before they came to the character choosing page. Annabeth picked Princess Peach (as always) and Piper picked Waluigi.
"No, Piper. Not him. Anyone but him." Annabeth groaned while Piper cackled.
"Hey, I like him!" Piper snorted. Annabeth scoffed.
"You just like him for his memes."
Piper shrugged and picked her vehicle.
Once they got to the page where the picked the course, Piper stopped.
"Which one do you want to do" She asked.
"Hmmm. Let's start kinda easy. DK Summit?" Annabeth suggested.
Piper pointed the Wii remote at it and nodded. Before clicking on it. The course landscape showed on the screen. Annabeth narrowed her eyes and smiled confidently.
"I'm gonna kick your ass."She said.
Piper gave her a sly smile and quirked an eyebrow..
"I'd like to see you try." She said as the race counted down 3...2….1.
;;;
"Annabeth, you know it's a quarter to four. You should probably be leaving soon."
"Stop trying to distract me, Piper." Annabeth said, jerking her remote back to desperately stay on the road.
"I am doing no such thing."Piper said, pulling alongside Annabeth and banging her car into the side of her's. "Just- oh jesus- look at the clock." She said as Annabeth's character pulled ahead and Waluigi fell off of a cliff. Annabeth rolled easily into first place and did a celebratory mini bow as Princess Peach called ut encouragements from the screen.
"Rematch." Piper demanded. Annabeth looked at the clock on her phone.
"I don't know. I mean, you were right. I probably should leave." Annabeth said. Piper crossed her arms in front of her chest.
"Re. Match. I am in second place overall and we have one more course in this round. One more race and I will be in first." Piper insisted. Annabeth grinned competitively.
"In your dreams. I suppose I have time for one more."
Piper whooped and jumped up and down in her seat excitedly before choosing a course. Annabeth got ready to start her car, reving the engine. The screen said GO and the two of them started 'driving'.
Piper shoved Annabeth's shoulder to distract her and Annabeth almost went over the edge. They were driving Wario's Gold Mine, nothing too hard, but many possibilities of dying. Annabeth scoffed at Piper's attempt to knock her off course. Two could play at that game.
"So Piper, what's new? Anything exciting going on in your life?" Annabeth asked, dodging a flying shell.
"Oh, now look who's distracting who." Piper said, gritting her teeth. Annabeth laughed.
"I'm just wondering. I feel like we only ever talk about me. I want to hear about you." Annabeth said. Of course even though Annabeth was using this conversation as a distracting technique, she still cared about Piper and what was going on in her life. As much as she had seen Piper recently, she had no idea what was going on with her.
"It's fine." Piper muttered, mostly concentrating on keeping her car straight as she went on a particularly narrow part of the course. "Nothing really new and exciting. Well, not as exciting as your life."
Annabeth felt a little bad. Her life wasn't exciting, it was stressful.
"Absolutely nothing has happened. No interesting projects in psych? No new Jason developments? Oh, didn't you have that drama with..what was her name?"
"Drew?"
"Yeah! Her. What happened with that?" Annabeth asked. Piper sighed and glanced at Annabeth and then turned her eyes back to the screen, swerving when she realized she was about to crash into a wall.
"Oh, it's no big deal. She was just making a move on Jason, knowing full well that we're dating and then she started insulting Silena. I don't know Silena a whole lot besides meeting her a few times and hearing you talk about her, but I knew that what Drew was saying wasn't true."
"What was she saying?" Annabeth asked.
"It's not important." Piper said quickly. "It was just really shitty and I got mad at her. But-" Piper paused as i searching for the right words. "It turns out that Drew was going through some shit and she actually really missed Silena but didn't know how to verbalize it."
"Did she- did she tell you this?" Annabeth thought back to Piper's recountings of her encounters with Drew. It didn't seem like a very Drew thing to do.
"No. She definitely didn't. She called me a bitch and then stomped away. But I could tell. Psych major." Piper explained.
"Wow. Impressive." Annabeth commented. She was currently on her third, and last, lap and was at first place. She didn't know what it was about this game, but it tended to calm her down and help her focus. Maybe it was just all of the random little things happening at all times that were able to accommodate her mile-a-minute brain.
Annabeth could see the finish line before her and was ready to cruise easily past it, like the last race, when she felt Piper's car bump into her own and begin to ram into Annabeth's. Piper's driving was always so aggressive, and that was her problem. She was so concentrated on pushing other cars around that she didn't pay attention to anything else. Annabeth stopped driving for a split second, just enough time that Piper wasn't able to stop her car from missing Annabeth's completely and careening off the track. Annabeth pulled into first place, followed by several NPCs before Piper pulled into fifth.
The screen cut to the trophy screen with Annabeth's Peach in first place and Piper's Waluigi celebrating his third place. Piper certainly wasn't celebrating. She sulked on the couch until Annabeth made to get up.
"Re-"
"I have to go, remember?" Annabeth said. Piper huffed but then cracked a smile.
"Okay But next time- rematch." She said.
"Sure sure." Annabeth replied, shaking her head. "But I'm still gonna kick your ass."
"We'll see about that."
Annabeth huffed out a laugh, waving before leaving Piper, remote in hand starting her own solo races for 'practice'.
;;;
Annabeth could already see Leo sitting on a bench outside of the library. His face was buried in a scarf and he was fiddling with some sort of device, maybe fixing it, but not getting much done from how much his fingers were shaking due to shivering. When she came running over, slightly out of breath and ten minutes late he merely looked up and pocketed his device. He nodded towards the library.
"Do you want to go in?" He asked, teeth chattering. It was really freakin could out.
"It's closed. Renovations." She said. Leo looked puzzled.
"Then why did we meet here?" He asked.
"Centralized location. And it was the first thing I thought of." She explained. Leo shrugged.
"Okay. Let's find somewhere warm then. I am freezing more than my ass off out here and you were like, twenty minutes late." He complained. Annabeth rolled her eyes.
"Jeez. Calm down, drama queen. It was only ten." The began walking down the street towards the center of the small air bit at Annabeth's cheeks and turned them pink. Annabeth looked over at Leo to see that you could see the the chill in his cheeks and nose too, despite his dark complexion.
"When it's sub zero the time automatically doubles."He explains.
"Okay, one, time doesn't work like that. I mean technically time isn't even real, but that's a talk for another time, and two, it isn't even sub zero. It's like, at least 35 fahrenheit, which is like one or two celsius." Even though she said this, Annabeth couldn't help but agree with Leo. It did feel like sub zeroes.
"Whatever. It's still pretty freakin cold. Hey, wait." Leo put his hand up, stopping Annabeth. He pointed at a small, orange flyer on the window of a yoga studio.
"Mini gold." He said, looking at Annabeth with excitement. "You up for it?"
"I don't know…" Annabeth said uncertainly. The only mini golf sh had ever known had all been outside and she sure as hell didn't want to stay out in the cold even a second longer.
"It's inside." Leo said. "And heated. Apparently."
Annabeth was sold.
"Let's do it." She grinned. "I bet I'll win."
Leo scoffed.
"As if. You might be good, princess, but you'll never beat the Super Sized McShizzle. I am the bomb at mini golf."
Annabeth laughed. Leo had quite the competitive streak, very much like Piper. Actually, they would probably get along really well.
"I'll hold you to it." Annabeth said, looking up the directions to the course on her phone.
;;;
Leo was in fact, not 'the bomb'. He was actually quite the opposite of 'the bomb'. He was the building that exploded because of the bomb. Annabeth faked a large, exaggerated yawn as she waited for Leo to hit the ball into the hole. He frowned and narrowed his eyes in focus, aiming his club at the ball, carefully drawing back and hitting it gently. He waited with baited breath as the ball rolled across the floor. It passed by the hole, about six inches off and he groaned.
"Why am I so bad at this?" He moaned, looking over at Annabeth, who had gotten her ball in after about five hits. She shrugged.
"It must be this stupid course. The blacklight is messing me up."
"Or maybe you just suck." Annabeth teased. Leo just stuck his tongue out at her and walked over to his ball. Annabeth actually really liked the course. Since it was indoors, the company took the opportunity to paint it in neon colours and to install black lights so that the course was glowing in eerie light. It also made the shoelaces of Annabeth's converses and Leo's white shirt glow brightly. Annabeth just liked watching her laces move as she walked.
"Yesss!" Leo cheered, raising his arms up in the air. "Finally. Let's go to the next one." He scooped his ball out of the hole and started walking towards the next little course. Annabeth pushed herself off of the wall she had been leaning on.
"You kicked it in, Leo." She called after him. She picked up her club and followed him over. The next course had the ball going through an open shark's jaw. Percy would like this.
"Don't you want to leave this hell site at some point?" He said, standing to the side as she lined up her club with the little white ball.
"I guess."
"Then don't call me out on my cheating."
Annabeth mimed zipping her mouth shut and locking it before swinging and hitting the ball across the course, through the shark's mouth and a few feet away from the hole.
"How?!" Leo called in disbelief. Annabeth laughed. She walked up to her ball and pushed it into the hole easily. Leo groaned and raked his hands over his face.
Annabeth stood back as Leo took aim and hit the ball into the next course. He yelled in indignation and walked over. Something was nagging at the back of Annabeth's mind. She wanted to talk to him about something…
Oh right. Percy. How would she bring him up. She didn't want Leo to think she was just using him to find Percy. Technically that was why she had asked him to hang out today, but she was having a great time too. Maybe she should hang out with Leo more. Okay, back on topic. How to bring it up…
"Hey Leo, how's Percy been doing? I feel like we never talk anymore." Nailed it.
Leo stopped looking for his ball (which had disappeared behind a glowing red windmill) and looked over at her.
"You mean since you two had that fight and he called to hang out with me crying and we had to watch the whole of star wars for him to calm down? You mean since then?"
Annabeth cringed. Oh god. She didn't know that. She had been too wrapped up in the idea of Percy being angry with her about the whole thing that she hadn't even considered that he would be just as sad as her.
"Look Annabeth. I can tell you how to like, get in contact with him or whatever, but you need to stop doing this." He sighed and walked over, pulling his phone out of his pocket.
"Doing what?" Annabeth asked.
"Doing this whole thing where you like, ask me to hang out, but you don't really like me, you just want to find Percy. Like, I get it, you like him, he likes you, it's all very exciting. But when you do this it's like, I don't know, you're just using me." He said. Annabeth felt shocked. She knew that Leo wasn't the confident, playboy persona that he constantly projected, but she hadn't imagined him to think so lowly about himself. She felt especially guilty that he was almost completely right, at least about one thing. She kinda was using him, and she did invite him to hang out to get some Percy intell. But he wasn't right about all of it.
"I'm sorry." Annabeth said quietly. Leo looked up at her, like he hadn't expected her to apologise. But Annabeth felt like she owed him the truth. "I am using you. And I did invite you to hang out to learn where I might find Percy. And I'm sorry for that."
Leo ducked his head. She could hear him sniffle and she felt horrible for making him cry. Annabeth stepped closer.
"But you're wrong about one thing." She said. "I do like you. I-I don't know you very well, at least it seems like I don't, but from what I've seen, you're really great. I hit you up because I knw that of everyone who would know about Percy, I would actually really enjoy hanging out with such a cool dude. "Annabeth reached out and put her hand on Leo's shoulder. He exhaled shakily.
"I'm sorry." He said. Annabeth's eyebrows scrunched up in confusion. Now Leo's apologising? "I'm not good with people. I know I act like I am, but I'm really not. Jeez, this is so stupid. I'm sorry."
"Shhh, no, it's okay. You have nothing to apologise for." Annabeth said, rubbing his shoulder. She was glad there were no other people at the gold course, at least this section. She felt like Leo probably wouldn't want someone to accidentally walk in on this moment.
Leo wiped his eyes and took a deep breath. He seemed to try to shake off his tears and he gave Annabeth a watery and obviously fake smile. She wasn't convinced.
"Hey, let's just," He sniffed. "Let's just get through the stupid course. Then, then I'll tell Percy to like, get ahold of himself and agree to meet you somewhere-"
"Leo, no, you don't have to do that." Annabeth started to say, but Leo raised his hand to stop her.
"No, it's fine. I think he should pull up his big boy pants and get over himself anyways." Leo smiled that sad, watery smile again and Annabeth felt her heart drop. She could tell that he didn't want to talk about his insecurities, that he was trying to pretend like nothing happened, but now that Annabeth new they were there, she felt like she couldn't just leave it alone. But she would, at least for now.
"Can I borrow one of the extra golf balls? I seem to have lost mine." Leo said, the smile not quite reaching his eyes. Annabeth handed them over. For now she would leave it be, but not forever.
;;;
As promised, Leo had texted Percy after they finished the gold course (a whole two hours later at seven oclock). He had been feeling much better (and doing much better, even getting a hole in five, his new personal record) and was even making his usual jokes and silly flirts with Annabeth. Annabeth was pleased. The other sad version of Leo, well, that had opened her eyes. She was glad she was able to see that, and that he felt comfortable enough to show her that (although she didn't know if it was something that he could have prevented), but more glad to see him happy.
Several minutes after Leo texted Percy, Percy texted Annabeth. She nearly cried in relief and scrambled to unlock her phone, more grateful than ever that her phone had fingerprint recognition. Leo just huffed out a laugh and stuffed his hands in his pockets.
Percy- Let's meet up tomorrow at the aquarium in the big room
Percy- is 1 ok
Percy- i think we have some things to go over
Annabeth rushed to type a response.
A- yes
A- all of that is good
A-i will se you at 1
A- i agree, we have a lot to talk about
Percy sent back a thumb emoji and Annabeth very nearly died. She resented the notion that she was getting so hyped up about a boy, but goddamn it, he was her friend too. She had the right to be excited.
"So, I better get going." Leo said. Annabeth looked up at her phone and then back down at it. It was already seven fifteen. She should have known it was getting late, the street lamps were already on when they had left the course.
"Yeah, yeah, I probably should too."
Leo waved and turned to walk away, but Annabeth grabbed his arm.
"Wait. Uh, we should do this again. I really, really liked hanging out with you. I had a lot of fun. Maybe we can see that new Star Wars movie coming out? No ulterior motives. Just friends." She said. Leo smiled, something genuine that reached up and crinkled his eyes.
"Just hoes being bros." He muttered and Annabeth let go of his arm, laughing out loud. It echoed down the empty streets and Annabeth was delighted when Leo's own laugh joined it.
"Yeah. Just hoes being bros." She said, when she had stopped laughing. " See you around, Leo."
He playfully saluted.
"Hasta la later." He said. Annabeth smiled at him one last time and began walking towards her dorm.
;;;
Annabeth woke up late. Not that it really mattered, she still had several hours to meet Percy, but it didn't bode well for the rest of the day. A bad stat usually led to a bad middle and a bad end.
Annabeth remembered her first week living in dorms, several years ago. She had always had her own room and the change of having someone always there, sharing her space, made her super uncomfortable. All she wanted to do was call home and, what complain? She didn't have that kind of relationship with either of her parents, and anyways, college had always been her chance of escape from her old life, so if there were a few things she had to put up with, so be it.
But now? Now Annabeth wanted nothing more than to wake up to Silna doing her makeup at her desk or maybe also sleeping, across the room, made apparent by her breathy snores that Annabeth always teased her for. Waking up now was infinitely lonely.
Annabeth got ready and ate a handful of dry cereal for breakfast. She didn't feel like going out to get anything. It was already eleven thirty, so she had an hour and a half, maybe a little less, to kill before meeting Percy at the aquarium. She sat down on her side of the room and opened her phone, scrolling through tumblr after she set an alarm to leave at twelve thirty.
Nothing seemed to interest her. Time seemed to simultaneously crawl and speed up as she waited to leave and Annabeth debated just leaving now and exploring the aquarium. Yeah, that sounds better. Annabeth put headphones in her phone and her ears,sifting through spotify to find something to listen to to fit her mood. She clicked on twenty one pilots Vessel album and let herself listen to the first song that came up for a second. Yep, this is fine. She left, locking the door and shoving her hands in her pockets, just so they would have something to do.
;;;
Annabeth should really come to the aquarium more often. It was actually really nice, even if it was a little small. She found it soothing and she always had liked the ocean. She wandered around the aquarium, trying not to focus on her growing anxieties and instead focusing on the octopus hidden in the corner of it's tank. Octopi really were pretty cool creatures.
"That's a common octopus." Someone whispered in Annabeth's ear. She didn't jump because she new exactly who it was. "It's scientific name is Octopus vulgaris."
"I feel like it should be called the red octopus or something like that." She responded.
"Actually," Percy said. "Octopi change colour based on their surroundings. This one is red because it's relaxed."
"Hmm. I think I've read that somewhere." Annabeth remarked. She turned around and faced him. "Percy."
"Annabeth. It's- it's nice to see you." Percy said. He seemed just as nervous as her, and Annabeth breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe she wasn't the only one who really missed this.
"Do you want to go to the coral reef room or…" He asked.
"Let's just walk, maybe?" Annabeth suggested. She wasn't sure she wanted to face him head on, and with something else to concentrate on, maybe the conversation wouldn't seem so scary. Percy seemed to be thinking the same thing as he quickly agreed.
The walked silently through several dimly lit rooms, past tanks full of orange and pink sea nettle jellyfish and tiny striped eels poking their hands out of the sand. Annabeth would have thought it would be uncomfortable, but it wasn't. Being around Percy always made Annabeth feel better, so this shouldn't have surprised her like it did.
But someone did have to say something. It had been nearly twenty minutes of walking and observing exhibits with not a word exchanged between them. It might be nice, but they were there for a reason. Annabeth had things to say. Percy didn't seem like he would initiate conversation any time soon so she had a feeling that she would have to be the first to break the silence.
"I'm sorry." She said. Annabeth reveled in the amount of times she had had to say that recently. She could feel Percy's attention shift to her. "I never really meant to pretend. That thing with Luke? There was nothing behind it. It was merely me holding onto the past. But I'm done with that. I want to move on. I want to embrace the future."
Percy hummed in acknowledgement when she paused.
"And I'd like you to be a part of that." She said. She shifted slightly anxiously before quickly moving on. "I'm not going to be naive and think that things can just go back to the way things were. I still like you just as much as I did before, I'm not going to lie. But...if that's not what you want, then that's fair. I just hope that you'll stay in my life because...because when we weren't talking, it was only what, a few weeks? It was horrible. I missed you so much. I don't know how, but you've just become such an important part of my life and I can't- I can't imagine a life- without-without…"
Annabeth began stuttering to a stop as Percy ceased walking. Somehow they had ended up making it to the coral reef room, and the soft blue light enveloped them. He's beautiful and Annabeth's known this for weeks, but she's only just found the words for looked absolutely radiant as he drew closer to her, his sea green eyes as soft as the light and crinkling at the edges like it does when he smiles. Annabeth glances down at his mouth and, yep, he is smiling. She looked back up, blushing as she realized Percy had seen her glance down at his mouth, but not too embarrassed considering how close his face was to her's, growing closer every second.
"-without you…" She breathed, in a last stitch effort to finish her sentence. Percy is so close and all she can think of is Percy Percy Percy. Everything, the families with their children, the fish, the bored looking college students in t-shirts that said 'I'm an aquarium kelper', everything disappeared around her, everything except the soft glow of the aquarium lights, filtering in through the water. She felt his breath fan across her face, and she should have been disgusted, but she was so, so not disgusted.
"Just...stop talking." Percy whispered, his face so close that she could feel the ghost of his lips against hers. Annabeth's eyes fluttered closed as she reached behind his neck to pull him closer still and close the gap.
A/N: Thank you so much for reading! Sorry for the kind of anticlimactic ending, but I promise they will talk it out. The next chapters are going to be completely dedicated to their relationship. If you have any cute date ideas, let me know and I'll see if I can fit them in!
As I said above, I will not be abandoning this story, not unless I die or somehow am not physically able to continue. This story is my baby, and I wouldn't abandon it for the world, it's just hard to keep up with writing is all. So, I am going to write some kind of guide or explanation that explains the universe and everything for anyone confused and I will tack it on the end of the next chapter (probably), so you can expect that. Lastly, I need a new beta. Me current one, Sunday Storm, although magnificent in every way, is going to become very busy soon and might not be able to beta for me anymore, so if anyone wants to help a poor author out and get the story before anyone else, just hmu. Don't forget to fave, follow and review!
-skulls-surround-suns
P.S: Thank you ArifXero for correcting my video game terminology. My video game knowledge pretty much goes to early 2000's Mario Kart Wii and stops there.