A/N: Hope you're ready to say goodbye to CHB, because here we go. Thank you so much to Harmony, Kacher and the guest who reviewed, every time I get a new one my whole day improves. ~ Emma
Rory could hardly contain his excitement. Emma was on her way back to New York. It had been two very long days since they had said goodbye at school and he hated that she couldn't even message him. Sure, being up to date with his homework for once had been nice, but he missed seeing her eyes light up when she made a smart-ass comment or the way her laugh filled the room when he was joking around. She made New York bearable.
He kept checking his phone between watching TV and messing about on his very underused guitar. No matter what he tried, he couldn't get his mind off her. He wasn't even sure swimming would help; she was the daughter of the water god. Still it was his best shot.
He packed up his stuff and shouted to the seemingly empty house that he was going swimming. He thought he could hear Linda calling back, but her voice was cut off as he shut the door.
As he jumped into the driver's seat, his phone rang. He didn't often get calls, but after seeing the name Julian Reid on the screen, it made sense. Julian had been one of his closest friends back in LA, along with Ethan, but the guy got distracted so easily that if you had a text conversation with him it would be over the course of a few days.
Rory picked up the phone. "Hey Jules, what's up?"
"Rory! How are you doing?" Julian's deep voice boomed down the phone.
"I'm alright, just heading to do some training, the usual." Rory said, knowing Julian would understand. He was a competitive boxer after all. "You?"
"I'm good, just letting you know I'm gonna be in New York next weekend for a fight, are you gonna be around?"
"Of course man!" Rory exclaimed. After seeing his friends in LA, the thought of Julian visiting caused a swell of excitement. "We can go bowling or something, like old times."
"Sure."Julian chuckled. "I can whoop your ass at it like old times."
"Oh, we'll see about that." Rory challenged, grinning to himself. "I'll try to round up a few others so you feel less bad about losing."
"You mean to comfort you when I beat you every round."
"I see your confidence hasn't dropped."
"Neither has yours." Julian teased. "I feel like I barely saw you when you were in LA."
Rory felt a twinge of guilt even though he knew it wasn't his fault, but after being kidnapped the last thing on his mind had been hanging out with friends.
"I wanted to spend some time with my mum." Rory winced at the lie.
"Makes sense." Julian said. "Well I'll drop you a line when I'm in town. I'm heading up Friday so we could go Friday night?"
"Sounds like a plan." Rory replied. "See you then!"
"You too."
Emma could hardly contain her nerves. Heading back to New York meant heading back to reality. It meant heading back to school and the fallout with Austin, heading back to face the prophecy of Bahrams rising, but, worst of all, it meant heading back to Rory.
Yeah. She really needed to get her priorities sorted.
But if it meant seeing Rory's stupidly charming smile, or looking at his strong arms and remembering what they felt like around her? If it meant fighting off her every urge to run both away and toward him while the prophecy played on repeat in her mind? Yes, going back to New York didn't just feel hard. It felt impossible.
Emma felt her leg jogging up and down as she watched the city skyline come into view.
Annabeth looked over at her. "If you ever want to go back, just let me know and we can arrange a weekend."
"Is there really any point? If the prophecy is right I don't exactly have long to live anyway." Emma kept looking out the window, watching as the clouds broke and the sunlight glinted off the sky scrapers.
"Prophecies can be very tricky things. They never say quite what they mean and you should never take them by their word." Annabeth warned. "A demigod can never live their life accepting death because death is always waiting for you and if you accept it, you only encourage it to come faster. You mean the world to Percy and I won't watch you give up on yourself. We care about you. Like it or not, we are all your family now, so deal with it."
Annabeth's words were harsh, but they served to snap Emma out of her pity party. Annabeth was right. She knew it and she hated it. A stone of guilt started to grow in Emmas gut. She'd hurt them, but worse, she'd failed them. How did you make that up to someone in the two or so months before you died?
Her phone vibrated in her pocket.
You almost home? I could swing by on my way back from training? - Rory
Seriously? She had thought she had at least another 14 hours or so before she had to decide what to do about her feelings. She was not ready to give that up. A part of her wanted nothing more than to hang out with him, but she just wasn't ready yet.
I kinda just want to go to bed. I'm really tired after this weekend. - Emma
As she sent the text she became acutely aware it was five in the afternoon.
No worries. Am I still walking with you tomorrow? - Rory
Her head rejoiced at the opportunity to say no, but her heart seemed to glare at her brain with distaste.
Of course! See you then :) - Emma
Why couldn't just one of her friendships be uncomplicated.
Rory had been waiting on the sidewalk for about ten minutes when Emma finally rushed out. Her hair was blowing into her eyes as she clutched her books against her chest. In one hand she held a reusable coffee cup (though he knew for sure that was not coffee in there). He was surprised. She had never been late before and he didn't think he'd ever seen her with her hair down. Her usual jeans were swapped out for a skirt and tights and her outfit was almost devoid of colour, save for the pale pink top that peeped out from underneath her leather jacket.
"Maybe we should drive today." She looked down with a deep flush in her cheeks.
"Sure." Rory turned, unlocking his car.
As he started to drive he looked over at her. Stress rolled off her in waves, but he didn't think bringing it up would help.
"What's that mark on your wrist?" Her eyes were trained on the thin scar that peeked out on his forearm from under his long sleeves. His mom's kitchen in LA flashed behind his eyes. He pressed his lips together, trying to find the words to explain, but he couldn't. Not yet.
"Nothing special, just an accident when I was a kid. Did you have a good weekend then?" He glanced at her, desperate to change the subject.
"Yeah." She took a hasty sip of her tea. "Yeah, it was fun."
He'd known something was wrong from the moment she'd stepped out the door, or more accurately the moment she hadn't stepped out the door on time. Now the concern he'd felt only became amplified with each second that passed.
"Oh come on." He flashed a smile in an attempt to put her at ease. "You leave me on 'I fight children of Ares' and the only place you can go from there is 'it was fun'?"
Emma gave a small nervous laugh. "Camp is just a whole other world. There are magical storytelling campfires, fairly dangerous games of capture the flag and harpies that make sure you've gone to bed or they will literally eat you."
"Well now you have to tell me everything." Rory grinning at her.
Though he could see she was reluctant, she started talking him through the whole weekend. How she had used her powers to take down two children of Ares before fighting with a third right up until the game ended. He got the feeling she was playing it down, because then she came out with the fact she could now create storms and he thought that was pretty impressive, even by demigod standards. She told him about the people (and pegasi) she'd met, the training she'd had and the pranks she'd pulled and he couldn't help but feel a mixture of emotions.
On the one hand, he couldn't be happier for her. The more she talked about her weekend the more her face lit up. Slowly, she widened the cracks in her shell and let the Emma he had grown to admire shine though.
Then her entire manor shifted when she talked about a guy called Kit teaching her archery on Saturday night. Everything else she had been explaining in growing detail, but when she talked about him she skipped over it quickly.
Liam's words rang in his ears. Maybe she could choose when she was ready and maybe she already had. He tried not to let it show on his face but he couldn't stop the sinking feeling in his chest, while a thousand 'what ifs' pinged around his mind.
"And then Lou kept glaring at me every time a high school dance came up because I've never been to one and she'd always wanted-"
If he'd wanted a distraction from his thoughts, that was it. His eyes almost bulged out of his head. "Hold up. You've never been to a school dance."
He stared at her, jaw slack, as she rolled her eyes so hard he was surprised his water bottle didn't explode.
"No, Rory, I've never been to a school dance." She said, mocking his tone. "It may have escaped your notice, but up until recently, I've been a bit of a social recluse."
She gave him a sassy smile before turning back to her tea.
"What else haven't you done?" He couldn't shake the shock.
"Just about everything and anything if it involved leaving the house." She muttered.
"So you've never been to a football game?"
"Nope."
"Hung out at a mall?"
"Nope."
"Been to a movie?"
"With my mum."
"That does not count!" He shook his head at her. "So literally the only social thing you've ever done was go to a party that went terribly?"
"Pretty much." She looked down and fiddled with the hem of her skirt.
"Have you ever even been on a date?" The words tumbled out of his mouth before he could stop then. He knew why his mind had gone there, but he really wished it hadn't. The bright light inside her dimmed a little.
He felt a stab of guilt as she paused, clearly embarrassed by his question. "I guess Austin and I never really got around to it."
"So you've never been bowling?" He said, trying to steer the conversation casually away from her and Austin. That was a thread that really didn't need pulling right now.
"No, Rory, I have not-" She scowled, but he cut her off.
"Aha! Something we can fix imminently." He beamed.
Emma bristled, narrowing her eyes at him. "What are you talking about McKenzie."
"I have a friend from LA coming up on Friday and I know you have no plans, so you're coming bowling with us." He said, very pleased with himself as her scowl melted into a playful gin.
"I thought bowling was for under twelves and movie tropes." Her eyes sparkled as she teased him. He felt his chest tighten.
"Well you can't judge until you go." He said as they drove into the parking lot. "Now, are you going to deem Tyler, Liam and I good enough to sit with at lunch today or are you going to nurse the reading deprivation you've had this weekend?"
"You know what McKenzie, I think I've had enough of you for one day." She slapped him on the arm.
"Hey, no hitting the driver or I'll kick you out of my car right now." He shot back.
Her grin sent shivers down his spine. "Ah yes. Right here. In the school parking lot. Our destination."
"Alright smart-ass." He rolled his eyes, pulling into a spot. As they got out of the car, he asked over the roof, "So is that a yes about lunch?"
The wind had already started blowing her brown hair across her face. She scrunched up her nose as she tried hopelessly to shove it back to were it should hang, just below her shoulders.
"It's a maybe." She huffed, giving up and letting it fly around her.
As the bell rang she gave him a sheepish smile, slinging her bag over her shoulder.
"Thanks for the lift." She said, before turning and hurrying into the building.
"See you at lunch!" He called after her.
"I said maybe!"