(My AN was literally huge so I put that at the end as not to bother anyone, but I will be posting a short one-shot to do with this chap, details below, and remember: no Burning Maze spoilers! kay thanks bai)
OOO
So Nico wasn't mad at him, cool.
Percy wasn't going to deny that he was kind of scared that Nico would shut him out once he was sober. But apparently, they were both good. Nico even laughed his ass off when Percy was teasing Piper over her fancy apartment with that rich girl song by Gwen Stefani.
("If I was a rich girl, nananananananaNA!"
"Oh my god! Shut up!" Piper complained.
"Yeah I'd have all the money in the world, if I was a wealthy giiirll!" Percy continued, holding his hand to his forehead dramatically.
"Can't-. . .Breathe-. . ." Nico wheezed, choking on his own laughter.)
Percy debated bringing the whole thing up again, to make it clear he was really sorry and it wasn't just the alcohol talking, but Nico seemed happy. Too happy to mess up. And besides, if he was happy, then he had truly let go of any grudge.
Nico introduced him briefly to Hazel, a kind curly haired girl Percy instantly took a liking to. She had just started her senior year of high school and was Frank's girlfriend along with Nico's foster sister.
Percy could see the deep sibling bond there, though the only must have known each other for a few years. Hazel whispered for Nico not to drink too much and he nodded without complaint before she headed to the kitchen, "Seems nice." He murmured.
Nico smiled softly, "She is. And patient as hell, unlike me. Hey Piper, are you done with the sound system yet?"
"Calm your tits Edge Lord, I'm trying." She replied, and Nico grumbled some then went to help.
Percy let his eyes wonder before catching Annabeth's curly hair by the stainless steal fridge--again, Pipes really?--standing with a blond guy that definitely wasn't her friend from earlier. He considered maybe going over but then he saw her nose crinkle up and her lips curve down in an attempt to keep from laughing, a face he had seen on her a bunch of times(His mom called it "Laughing Constipation" because the person usually wasn't used to laughing out loud a lot, which was probably true in Annabeth's case, but Percy didn't think it was quite right to call anything on a pretty girl's face "Constipation") so he continued setting up his stuff to play. Percy was so stoked that she was here, where he could have her back if she needed it, instead of feeling a weird panic inside him all night.
But it didn't last.
Percy carefully set down his guitar after playing the third song and went to get something to drink. Grabbing a can of Sprite, he looked around. Hopefully, Annabeth wasn't actually, genuinely mad at him for telling about her piano skills but he kind of wanted to make sure. And, you know, check on her. Because that wasn't stalkerish at all.
Percy saw Jason first, talking with the freckled blond from earlier but with no Annabeth in sight. Not good, Every single one of his instincts said. He didn't even know what the Luke guy looked like. It was only a living room and kitchen, no where to hide from his view, and Annabeth was simply gone. Shit.
"Hey, hey." He interrupted Jason's conversation, "Dude, where is she?"
Jason's eyes moved to his side, then go wide, as if he expected her to be at his arm, "She was here two seconds ago, I swear. . ."
Percy did one last sweep of the guests before headed down Piper's hall of closed doors, "Hey Annabeth?"
Jason opened a stuffed hall closet then shut it, heading to the next door but noticing Percy's hand on the door across from it, "No, wait not-. . . That one."
But his hand was already turning the knob, opening to what was probably Piper's bedroom. The lights were off, but the blinds were tilted open, giving him a quick glimpse of a few plants and a large bed with white sheets before his mind went blank.
Two figures were sitting-actually sitting, thank god-on the bed, turned towards each other-ahem, let's just say, close enough to get cooties-and jumping to look at the door.
"Um. Hey. How're you doing. I mean obviously good. I mean!" A nervous laugh crawled up Percy's throat, and Jason snorted humorously behind him, "Don't mind me. Oh hey, you're . . . Calypso, hey! I didn't know you were here." Embarrassing situations caused him to ramble, okay?
Calypso's face was somewhere between amusement and her own embarrassment, while Leo beside her looked like his eyes might pop out of their sockets, "Hey Percy." She said, voice neutral.
"Uhmm, hey. Sorry. Shit. God, this is all weird, I'm gonna go. Okay. Okay, bye." He slammed the door a little too hard, blushing furiously.
"Annabeth?" Jason called again, politely ignoring Percy being a complete and utter idiot.
"Yeah?" She replied from inside the next door, taking a big breath, "Sorry, is someone looking for me?"
"Yeah, me and Percy." Jason answered through the door, glancing at him, "You okay? This is the bathroom, right?" Then, "Can I-we, come in?"
Annabeth sighed but the door swung open, revealing the well lit bathroom and the blond staring at her black boots, "I feel stupid." She mumbled, "Hiding out and not even telling you guys . . ."
"It's fine," Percy promised, " . . . Did you see him? Did he try to talk to you?"
Her gray eyes were still trained on the floor, "He's, here. I left before he could say anything." She groaned, "I hate this. I'm not even mad about the Thalia thing anymore, I just wish he would stop trying to talk to me."
"Can I fight him?"
Annabeth started to laugh, surprised as Percy was at the question he asked, "Don't, seriously. Piper is just trying to have a good time on her birthday, it shouldn't be stopped by one guy's persistence and my gut feeling. That's just . . . Wrong."
"Annabeth," Jason said, "You know as well as I do how many times your gut feeling has been right."
"Well, yeah. But . . . I don't know. God. I feel really, really dumb right now." She admitted, pressing the palms of her hands to her eyes.
Jason gave Percy a pointed look, watching him like he wanted him to understand with his arm over her shoulders, "You never told me what Luke looked like."
She rubbed her forehead, hand on the bathroom sink, "Uh, your height, light blond hair, blue eyes. His nose is kind of big, and all . . . Weird."
Jason hummed but his eyes were still on him, "Are you thirsty?" He didn't wait for an answer, "Percy can go get you something. Right?"
Then it clicked, "Yeah, totally, I'll be right back."
Percy walked back into the main part of the apartment, adrenaline flowing through him. Fight or flight. Percy chose fight.
He scanned then saw a tall guy leaning against a far wall, beer in hand as he looked on at the party goers and the shitty karaoke game that Piper had started. The door shut as two people left, causing Luke to glance up and meet his eyes.
"Hey."
His blond brows furrow(by the way, what was with all the blond dudes?), "Hey?"
Percy had dealt with so many people like this that he didn't even feel fear, "You're Luke right?"
"Who's asking?" Luke was getting defensive now, shoulders tensing.
"Doesn't matter." Percy replied calmly, "What you do need to be asking is why my girlfriend--" The lie didn't even catch on his throat, coming easy, "--Is telling me about a guy named Luke trying to scare her."
He frowned, "I'm not trying to sc--"
"Ho, buddy, cool it, I'm nowhere near finished. Do you want to explain that to me?" His hands came out of his pockets. Even though the blond was bigger than him, the action was definitely understood, "Or do we need to take this outside?"
The air was thick as Percy stared him down, blinking and unwavering. Calm, collected and ready.
Finally, Luke glanced away, taking another swig of beer and frowning, "I don't have a beef with you man, so I dunno why you're trying to play hard ball with me."
"Hey." Percy snapped through his teeth, "I'm not playing anything with you. You mess with Annabeth and see what happens. It's a miracle she hasn't knocked out one of your Invisaline teeth yet."
The frown he received wasn't just confused that time, it was angry, voice raising slightly, "Look man, I don't know what she's told you but all I've been asking for is a chance to talk!"
"Yeah well you lost that right the second you stepped over her boundaries!"
"What boundaries? What the fuck are you talking about??"
"You know good and well what the fuck I'm talking about." It was a hiss in his face, just begging for the first hit, just begging to really punch this guy. Go on, hit me. I'll hit back.
"You're really asking for it." Luke commented after a moment, edge in his voice, glancing over Percy's shoulder in the direction of the bathroom, "I would've thought she would at least faced me herself."
"You don't know anything about her."
"Neither do you," Luke dug his knuckle into Percy's Led Zeppelin t-shirt, just enough to sting his ribs, "She hates rock music." His voice was back to even, and it made Percy even more mad.
Percy shoved his arm away on reflex, "She hates you more."
Now Luke really was debating on punching him, fire in icy colored eyes as the muscle of his jaw worked angrily, "You know what?" His eyebrows raised sarcastically but teeth clenched, "I think going outside is a good idea."
Percy was ashamed later of the way his heart rate kicked into gear, not in fear but anticipation. He just seriously wanted to punch this guy, hands tingling by his sides.
But then Jason and Annabeth come out from the hall, his arm still at her side, this time smiling apologetically, "Hey guys, sorry, we're gonna have to skip out early. Work stuff, you know the drill." Luke stopped at the sight of her and Percy merely stood there to keep from doing something worse.
Piper waltzed over, unsurprisingly already tipsy, hugging Annabeth, "Aw! You guys! I wish you could stay longer." She was drunk enough to hug Jason too, who looked enormously confused.
"Yeah." Annabeth replied weakly, attempting to smile, catching Percy's eyes from across the room as a few others wished them goodbye. Thank you. For trying. It means a lot to me.
But it wasn't enough. I'll walk you out. It was the least he could do at this point.
Piper move to get the door and almost ran straight into Luke's face, jerking back and frowning, "Castellan. What the hell?"
"Hey Pipes." Eyes elsewhere. Elsewhere meaning Annabeth.
"Don't 'hey Pipes' me, get out of the way. And stop ogling my friend."
"Sorry." He slid to the side, watching a kitchen wall suddenly with a unreadable tone.
Piper opened the door, seeing Annabeth and Jason walk out without hesitancy despite Luke's stuttered protests, "Don't forget your case Perce."
Percy picked up his guitar, even though he had intended to come back, he realized now that probably wouldn't be the case, and followed after.
OOO
In the elevator, Jason sent him a thankful look in the silence then turned to the girl, "Wait, hell, who drove you?"
Annabeth sighed, reaching for her back pocket tiredly, "Leo. He leaves his doors unlocked so we can go to his car while I call him. I should've talked to him up there." She threw up her empty hand and let it hit her thigh, grumbling, "Stupid." At herself.
"Everything is fine Annabeth." Percy heard himself promise, as the door dinged for the lobby.
She glanced over, phone in blonde curls. The girl looked like she wanted to debate with him but instead sighed again, shaking her head just slightly.
The trio stepped off the elevator into the cool gray painted area with white lamps and large glass doors. Doors, through which, anyone could clearly see the rain pouring down in sheets.
"Shit." Annabeth muttered at her phone, then looked up, "Shit. Leo's not answering. God."
"It's fine," Jason assured her, zipping up his jacket, "Let's go to the car and then have someone get Leo away from the girl."
"The girl?" Annabeth questioned in a frustrated tone, hanging up to Leo's voicemail again.
"Calypso, remember?"
Percy cringed at the memory of walking in on them.
She took a deep breath, "Right. God, I'm just ruining everyone's night, huh?" Standing there, curls frizzy, eyes tired and arms wrapped around her gray sweatered stomach protectively, Percy wondered if he had ever seen someone so distraught over something out of their control.
"Annabeth?"
Quiet, almost a whimper, glancing at the rain then at him, "Yeah?"
"We're gonna figure this out, alright?"
She swallowed and nodded, "I swear to god, I can usually handle stress just not this kind, not emotional stress, it screws with my head."
Percy gave a soft laugh, "Lucky for you, I thrive in emotional situations."
"I believe it when I see it, dumbass." But she smiled a little and hovered a step closer to his shoulder. For a fleeting moment, Percy wondered if he was allowed to put an arm around her but quickly pushed that thought from his head. Annabeth had obviously known Jason a long time, and she'd only met Percy less than a month ago. Unacceptable. Get some manners, Jackson, Jesus.
He cleared his throat, "I can call Piper, she's pretty scary, I bet she could get Leo down here." The two nodded so he dug his phone out and dialed, "Piper?"
"No, it's Nico. Piper's busy."
"Busy doing what?"
"Throwing hands with the blond. Riddle me this Batman, why are all the blond guys hot?"
Percy honestly had no idea to whether his friend was drunk or not, "I thought you liked me."
"Too soon." Nico replied flatly, "For real though, she's chewing him out. She's on a feminist rampage, no way I'm interrupting that."
He guessed he couldn't blame him, Piper was truly a master of insanity, "Well I need you to find Leo then."
"Leo? Yeah, he left."
"What? When?"
"Uhh, twenty minutes ago? With some girl Hazel knows."
Great. Cool. Wonderful. Damn fantastic. Judging by the winces from the other two, they were getting the basic idea. Percy ran one hand in his hair, "Well did he take his car?"
"No he took his fucking tricycle."
"Not the time for sarcasm Neeks."
He bristled, "Don't call me Neeks."
"Fine, just tell Piper we're down here when she finishes her rant."
"Copy that." He grumbled, hanging up.
"Leo left." Percy told the duo simply, stuffing his phone in his jacket.
Annabeth groaned and threw up her hands while Jason cringed, "You could always ride with me Annabeth."
She crossed her arms in refute, "No. No way. Midtown to Upper East back to Hell's Kitchen? That would take like two hours with traffic, I'm not doing that to you." She bit her lip, "I don't even know where the subway to take me home is . . ."
"Oh," Percy offered easily, "It's one short block down to the right . . . Hey wait a second, I can get you home."
"Uh, what." Jason questioned, raising an eyebrow. Probably suddenly realizing that the two guys had just met. Percy couldn't blame him.
"We live right next to each other, and I come to Piper's all the time, I know exactly how to get home. On the subway, that is." He explained.
Annabeth held out her phone, "Well Leo texted me but I have no idea what it means."
From Leo: get v sorry viper now grub
"Whatever." She said, shaking her head after they had stared at the message for a few seconds, looking back at Percy, "Which sub do I take?"
"I can just ride with you, if you, um, don't mind . . ." He shrugged like the whole thing was completely nonchalant.
Her stormy eyes blinked, caught off guard, "That's okay, you don't have to, just uh, which train?"
"The Q to Grand Central, then the six all the way up. But seriously, it's no problem. To be honest I'm not much for parties either." He really was being truthful, but how nice her hair looked in a messy braid was definitely helping.
Annabeth stared at him like he had grown another head but slowly nodded, "Um, alright."
"So you're good Annabeth?" Jason asked carefully, studying her.
She glanced away, looking self conscious, "Yeah, fine."
"Make sure she's safe--"
Annabeth moaned, "He's not my babysitter."
"Right. That's what I'm for." Jason replied smartly, laughing when she shoved his shoulder, "Fine, geez, rude. I'm gonna go back upstairs and tell Piper where you two went, okay?"
She gave him a quick hug before he hopped back on the elevator and left them alone in the lobby as the rain continued to beat down around them. They stopped at the glass doors hesitantly, watching sheets and sheets of water fall.
Percy pressed his finger to the glass, "That's us." Through the white gray of the rain, she spotted the small sub entrance two buildings down with the letter Q above it.
She nodded but glanced at his guitar case, "Won't that get wet?"
Percy almost laughed, "Nope. My mom waterproofed all of my cases." Annabeth blinked at him, "I was on the swim team then."
"Oh." She said, starting to smile herself.
"Ready?"
"Ready."
The pushed the doors open and ran.
OOO
Jason protecc
Percy attacc
Annabeth needs a breakk
First off: thank you for all the love, it's insane I wanna cry, brooos why you guys make me emotional like this eeee
I know this is another late update which I feel really bad for . . . Life's been crazy lately but now (since I'm homeschooled, yes yes I know, "ha ha nerd" I've heard this all before) I only have my year-end tests to finish and I'll be freeeee to write. Whoo! Not matter how crazy my updates get, I will not leave the story unfinished, I pinky swear. (Also, just so everyone's aware, I have about 40 to 50 chapters planned for this thang sooo yeah, not going anywhere lol)
On the bright side, my updates are longer? Does that make it better?? idk
Hi, hello, since the Burning Maze has recently been released I just wanna give a small reminder to please please please not spoil anything in your review or comment. I would think that wouldn't be a problem but *sigh* after scrolling through the PJO page for about 30 seconds, I was spoiled almost immediately by a summary. *sigh again* Not cool. Please be mindful and aware of others. Thanks guys.
ANNNND, my final thing before I leave you dudes is that I will post a one shot relating to this chapter seperately. It's a completely different way the "leaving the party" scene could've gone and I found it so funny(which, it might not actually be funny, that might just be my cracky/lame sense of humor) that I couldn't include it because I thought it was too humorous for this serious of a situation but if you are stupid like me, please stop on by for some second hand embarrassment and . . . interesting lies. Muahaha.
(Huge thanks to Orange Pens and Messy Hands for helping me and listening to me complain about schooool!)
Reply to Mystery-shrouded S: Dude, you're totally good. I really appreciate when people take the time to not only read my work that thoroughly, but to tell me what I could improve on as well. At the moment, I'm insanely busy, but I hope to edit over past chapters and fix any inconsistencies over the summer. Thanks!