Author: smol spoiler alert about this chapter: it follows the episode from season 2, "Moonstruck." This episode was one of my favorites, so I couldn't resist. It also may help to put into perspective the time frame of where our mermaids are in this fic in reference to the canon series. The difference is, we got a couple of demigods in the mix. But you'll see majority of the lines are from the episode. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: guess I should have done this before, but definitely needs it here. I obviously do not own H2O or Percy Jackson!
Emma, Cleo, and Rikki walked through Emma's front door, each dragging large pieces of cardboard behind them. Rikki had a roll of duct tape around her wrist.
"Em, are you sure you have the house tonight?" Cleo asked.
"Yup. Originally, my parents bought four tickets for this overnight out of town thing for the four of us. But then Aunt Sally came and surprised us, so my mum thought we shouldn't go and just spend the weekend here with them. But after talking her out of that, she gave the other two tickets to Aunt Sally and Paul instead of Elliot and I. I convinced Elliot to go spend the night at a friends house. As for Percy and Annabeth, they'll be gone all day and tonight they'll be out with a dinner and a movie. So they won't be back until late," Emma explained.
"When they do get back, won't they ask about the windows?" Rikki pointed out.
"Probably not. They'll probably be too tired to notice. And if they did ask, I'm sure I'll think of something to cover it up."
"Is anyone here now?" Cleo asked, prompting the girls to examine their surroundings.
"Hey, Percy!" Emma called up the stairs, but received no response.
"Looks like the coast is clear. Let's get to work on sealing this baby up," Rikki said with a tug on the duct tape roll.
The trio spent the afternoon covering every window in the whole house with cardboard held together by duct tape. No light could enter in the large home, not even through cracks or corners; it was entirely sealed off.
"Well, I'm done," Cleo announced from the kitchen sink. "No moonlight will be getting into here."
"Not even a pinprick?" Emma asked, skeptically pressing a hand against the covered window over the sink. "I'm checking, Cleo. I don't want to turn into a pumpkin."
Suddenly, the front door flung open. Without saying a word, Percy went bounding down the hallway and into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him. Annabeth came around the corner to the kitchen where the other girls were gathered, frozen in surprise.
"Annabeth," Emma greeted, forcing a smile. "You and Percy are back early. Did you go to dinner?"
"No," Annabeth replied half-heartedly. "Percy's been feeling sick all day. I think he ate something bad this morning and has food poisoning. He was getting worse so we came back here." Annabeth paused and looked at the cardboard covering all the windows. "Why are the windows like that?"
"We got them redone while you were gone," Emma lied. "They have to stay covered all night, so don't remove them or anything."
"You redid all the windows in your house?" Annabeth cocked a skeptical eyebrow.
"Well, I didn't. My mum did. This was like this when we got back after my shift at work and my mum told me what I told you."
Annabeth opened her mouth to continue, unconvinced, but Emma noticed this and continued.
"You guys don't mind if Cleo and Rikki stay over, right?" Emma asked Annabeth. "We'll be camping out down here just watching movies."
"Yeah, that's fine. We're probably going to just hang out upstairs. Probably go to bed early if he's like this. Can't do much else anyway."
"Hey, guys! Am I on time? Do you need any help?" Lewis's voice echoed inside the house. He came around the corner and stopped, his expression falling at the sight of Annabeth.
"On time for what?" Annabeth questioned.
"Our movies. Lewis isn't going to be staying over night, but he'll be watching a movie with us," Cleo added. Just then, Percy came stumbling out of the bathroom. His skin was pale and sweaty and his dark hair was a mess.
"I'm gonna...be upstairs for a while…" he informed, staggering up the steps.
"I'm going to be up there with him so you probably won't see much of us," Annabeth said. "Enjoy your movie."
"If you need anything, feel free to ask." Annabeth nodded gratefully and followed her boyfriend up the stairs. The four watched the couple disappear upstairs before letting out sighs of relief.
"What are they doing here?" Lewis asked quietly.
"Apparently, Percy has food poisoning," Emma answered bitterly.
"Are you going to be okay here with them? Do you need any help setting up?"
"We just finished," Emma assured.
"We've pretty much got it down pat these days," Rikki chimed with pride. Lewis nodded, his heart sinking, but he tried to mask his disappointment by lowering his gaze to his feet.
"You telling me you don't need me?"
"Well, we've got DVDs, popcorn, and each other," Emma pointed out.
"But what about your cousin?"
"You heard Annabeth. He's sick so he's probably not going to be around except in his room or the bathroom."
"Maybe I should stay for one DVD, just in case. You did tell Annabeth I was," Lewis offered.
"We can tell her you had an emergency or something."
"Yep, we're saying we don't need you," Rikki said. Lewis nodded and rubbed the back of his neck uncertainly.
"Okay. If you're absolutely sure…"
"We're sure." Rikki grabbed a stack of DVDs from the counter and moved away from the blond towards the living room. "Besides, don't you have other things to do these days?" Cleo turned her head away and played with strands of her ponytail.
"Fine." Lewis turned away and headed to the front door. "Okay, well, um, good luck and, yeah."
Lewis made his leave and the girls began to settle themselves in the living room. Annabeth was right. They haven't heard or seen the couple since they had unexpectedly returned from their day trip.
"It's five minutes to moonrise. Where's Cleo?" Emma asked Rikki.
"She's outside checking the blackouts."
"Oh, well, I better go and get-" Rikki stopped Emma by reaching out and touching her elbow.
"She knows what time it is, Em. Don't be a stress head."
"Kind of hard not to when we aren't as alone as we'd like to be," Emma huffed.
"We haven't heard a peep from the lovebirds since they got back and I'm sure we won't hear from them until morning."
Emma sighed, "okay. Is everything secure upstairs?"
"Let's go have one last check."
As Rikki and Emma ascended the stairs, there was a knock on the front door.
"It's not locked! Come in before it's too late," Emma called. She and Rikki silently agreed that the best place to check first was wherever Percy and Annabeth were at. Annabeth wasn't on her air mattress in her room, and Percy wasn't in Elliot's. Emma's heart had stopped, but immediately started back up when she and Rikki found the couple in the guest bedroom. They were sitting on the bed, leaning against the headboard and watching the TV on the stand across from the bed.
"Oh, there you guys are," Emma greeted, concealing her breath of relief.
"Sorry. We came in here because I wanted to stay with Percy, and we didn't want to stay in Elliot's room for when he came back, and we thought you'd like your space in your room," Annabeth explained.
"Oh, you're fine. Thanks for being so considerate. Elliot's staying a friend's tonight anyway," Emma informed.
"We kinda wanted to sleep on a real mattress for the night too. And watch the TV in here," Annabeth admitted with a sheepish smile.
"Where is everyone?" Cleo's voice called faintly from below.
"Up here!" Emma called back.
"How's him?" Rikki asked, eyeing Percy. He was sitting next to Annabeth on the bed, leaning against the headboard. His face was still pale, but no longer sweaty, and his hair was still messy. He looked like he had perked up a bit, but also seemed dazed.
"Who, me?" Percy asked, snapping from his daze. "Well, I've been better. But I've been worse too."
"Still...you know?"
"Nah, I've stopped. My stomach still hurts, but thankfully, no more gross vomiting," Percy replied with a small smile.
"You should keep drinking fluids, so you don't get dehydrated," Emma suggested. Percy suppressed a snort.
"Yeah, I will."
"And maybe you should try to get some food in your stomach. We have some saltines, if you'd like," Emma added.
"I am kinda hungry," Percy agreed. Annabeth rolled her eyes but smiled.
"You're always hungry. I'll go get you some," Annabeth moved to rise off the bed, only to be stopped by Rikki.
"We'll get it. Save you a trip," Rikki offered.
"We have to find Cleo anyway. She's probably looking for us," Emma added. She gave Rikki a look, silently reminding her the occurrence outside. Rikki returned the expression with a small, subtle shrug.
Just then, the said girl waltzed into the bedroom. She was trying and failing to suppress a grin as she leaned against the wall beside the doorway.
"Found her," Percy joked.
"Cleo, there you are," Emma greeted. "Let's go get something to eat."
Emma and Rikki walked out the spare bedroom, but Cleo remained from where she was. She brought a hand to her mouth and giggled into her knuckles. Annabeth and Percy exchanged confused expressions.
"What's so funny?" Percy asked. Rikki stopped and walked backwards through the doorway, watching Cleo's strange behavior.
"Coming?" she asked the brunette. Cleo uncovered her mouth and moved her hand to her chin.
"Why don't we go for a swim?" Cleo suggested. Rikki's eyes widened with surprise and confusion, but a smile was on her face. She glanced at the puzzled couple on the bed before stepping in front of Cleo.
"What?" Cleo suddenly reached out and clasped Rikki's shoulders with her hands.
"We must swim to Mako Island!"
Rikki's smile faltered as she turned her head around to see Annabeth and Percy.
"Mako Island?" Annabeth repeated. "You can't swim there. You'd need a boat, wouldn't you?"
Rikki disguised her nervous expression with a reassuring smile.
"I think Cleo's already had too much caffeine for the night. And when Cleo has too much caffeine, she gets a little silly," Rikki reassured. "Cleo, we obviously can't swim to Mako Island. C'mon, let's go over here."
Rikki clasped her hands over Cleo's wrists, which were still on Rikki's shoulders, and pulled her out of the guest room. Annabeth and Percy shrugged.
"Cleo, what's gotten into you?" Rikki demanded when she brought the giggling girl into Emma's bedroom down the hall. Cleo brought both hands to her lips as she stared at something away from Rikki. She began to move forward, and Rikki waved a hand in front of the brunette's face. Cleo didn't react and Rikki's hand fell to her side.
"Oh, no," Rikki groaned.
When Emma descended the stairs, she stopped short at the bottom. Standing next to her kitchen table-that was dressed with fine dinnerware, candles, and a tablecloth-was Ash. Emma's mouth fell open at the sight as she gathered the words to speak, but they were getting caught in her throat.
"Ash, what are you doing here?"
"Dinner is served," Ash announced, removing the silver lid to the platter, revealing steaming, delicious looking Italian food.
"Dinner?" Emma repeated. "But I-"
"I thought I'd be bold," Ash cut in with a warm smile.
"Cleo, the moon has got you." Rikki took Cleo with one hand and closed the bedroom door with the other.
"We can swim," Cleo said cheerfully. "All of us. You, me, Emma. We can even invite Percy and Annabeth too!"
"No, we can't. Percy and Annabeth aren't mermaids, remember?"
"But we'll love it!"
"No, we won't," Rikki protested, ushering Cleo over to the bed and sitting her down on the edge. "I won't love it, and neither will you." Rikki seated herself at Emma's vanity across from Cleo and sighed heavily. "We completely sealed this place up. How did this happen?"
Cleo hung her head as she giggled quietly to herself. "I touched the moon."
Rikki tried to suppress a smile, but failed and moved over to sit beside the giggling brunette.
"Great," Rikki muttered sarcastically.
"Ash, you've got to go," Emma insisted as she pushed the taller man towards the front door.
"I just got here," he complained.
"Look, I can't! It's not right."
"If you want me to go, I'll go." Ash stopped in front of the front door and raised his hands in defeat. He reached for the front door knob, but Emma immediately swatted his hand away from it.
"No! Don't touch that!" Emma protested. If he opened the door now, there was a very good chance that Emma would catch sight of the moon and get moonstruck. But what was she supposed to do? Ash was staring at her with a puzzled expression and he had to leave, he couldn't stay here on the night of a full moon, but he couldn't open their airtight lockdown.
"We can't open it," Emma continued. "You just...stay there and don't go anywhere and I'll-"
Ash gently clasped his hands over Emma's raised one as a smile returned to his face, "you don't want me to go, do you?"
Emma could only stare at him in shock, all words and coherent thought abandoning her.
"Come on. It took me ages to cook all this." Ash led the blonde back into the kitchen where the dinner awaited for them untouched on the table. "Pasta, your favorite. And there's dessert in the fridge. It would be crazy to waste this." Emma opened her mouth to protest, but then closed it. "Sparkling mineral water, not flat, I remembered. Come on, a toast."
Two glasses of said mineral water were already poured when he served the dinner, and he brought one into Emma's hands. A smile began to tug on the corners of Emma's lips.
"To surprises."
Emma was hesitant to take a drink, but once Ash brought the cup to his mouth, she found herself doing the same. Her shoulders relaxed and Ash grinned in victory. He pulled out the dining chair and gestured for Emma to sit, which she did with some hesitation. Once she was seated, he scooted her under the table and went to start serving the Italian pasta. He expertly decorated Emma's porcelain plate with the pasta.
"There's just a hint of chili. I didn't think you'd mind that," Ash said. He placed her plate in front of Emma before resting his hands on the back of her chair.
"I didn't even know you cooked."
"Only on special occasions." Emma blushed. "And I think you're pretty special, Emma."
Emma swallowed thickly and tried to regain control over her heartbeat as she turned her head around to face Ash. She hated how he made her feel so many things at once. She had never experienced such feelings before, not even when she was crushing on Byron. Ash would look at her, and Emma could melt at his cheerful, hopeful, warm, tender, everything gaze. And then he goes...and he says stuff like that...and he says such sweet things so close to her, closer than any other person, close enough where they could both just lean in...
Their silence was broken when footsteps on the staircase were heard. Both badly startled, Emma and Ash froze on the spot. It was revealed that the owner was Annabeth, who stopped short in the middle of the kitchen, surprised to see the sight of the couple.
"Annabeth-"
"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt anything," Annabeth quickly apologized.
"Oh, no, you're not interrupting anything," Emma reassured with an embarrassed smile. Ash looked from Emma to Annabeth with curiosity.
"Um, hello. Who's this?"
"Annabeth. She's...my cousin's girlfriend…" Wow, it sounded really weird to introduce someone like that, Emma thought.
"Oh, right. Your cousin is staying with you," Ash murmured.
"Yeah, but he's sick. We're just hanging out upstairs in the spare bedroom," Annabeth said. "Sorry, I didn't know you had a date tonight…"
Emma blushed and she mouthed to the other blonde, "neither did I."
Annabeth couldn't help but smile. This was partly due to embarrassment for walking in on a romantic dinner, but also partly due to the cute sight here. It did also make her secretly wish she and Percy would have been able to make their romantic dinner out.
"Percy's been complaining that he's hungry and I came down to get some crackers and water for him."
Emma mentally cursed and chided herself for forgetting about her food poisoned cousin. She had been so caught up with Ash that she had already completely forgotten about him. And she had promised she'd bring him something to snack on so he wouldn't be going hungry!
Emma's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of more footsteps descending the stairs and the sound of Rikki's voice calling her. Rikki appeared behind Annabeth, but her blue eyes went wide, darting from Annabeth, to the dinner table, to the couple.
"Ash?"
"Rikki," Ash greeted half-heartedly. Rikki could not mask her surprise, but she did attempt to hide her nervousness and fearfulness.
"What are you doing here?" Rikki asked.
"What are you doing here?" Ash returned. Rikki opened her mouth and said nothing.
"Uh, I...get lonely when my parents go away?" Emma replied.
"But you have your cousin and his girlfriend," Ash pointed out. Emma looked at Rikki for help, but Rikki was already looking at Emma for the same thing.
"Actually, Percy and I weren't even supposed to be here," Annabeth injected. "We had planned a night out, but I guess he ate something bad this morning and now it's coming back at him. So we had to come back here and Rikki and Cleo were already here."
"What are you doing here now?" Rikki made a small gesture to the setting and the situation.
"Getting some crackers for Percy," Annabeth answered. She then turned and started to search the cabinets for a box of crackers, but not before flashing Emma and Rikki a quick look. Ash said nothing and instead moved around the table.
"You and me, we need to talk now," Rikki said. She was looking at Emma intensely with an odd expression, silently trying to convey a secret message to the blonde. Emma furrowed her brow at Rikki's face.
"So talk."
"Upstairs. There's been a-development." Rikki made a wide gesture with both of her arms. Emma inhaled sharply.
"You mean?"
Rikki nodded stiffly. "Mmhm."
"A development?" Annabeth repeated, rising from her crouched position with a box in hand. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing!"
"Rikki just said there's something. You can stay here and enjoy your date and I'll go up and help," Annabeth offered.
"It's something only Em can handle. Nothing's wrong. It's just a...development," Rikki protested.
"But-"
"Hey, do you hear that?" Rikki cut in. Annabeth gave her a quizzical look. "Don't you hear it? I think...I think that's Percy hurling again…" Annabeth's hopeful expression fell and she immediately turned on her heel and rushed up the stairs. Emma hopped to her feet and headed towards the staircase, but stopped when she remembered Ash was still there watching her.
"Uh, Ash, you're going to have to leave." Ash's brow furrowed as he outstretched his arms in frustrated confusion. "No, wait. I'll go upstairs and deal with this."
"This what?" Ash demanded.
"This problem. You just stay right there." Emma and Rikki ascended the stairs briskly as Ash plopped into the dining chair.
The pair of blondes went to Emma's room, but the door was left open and it was empty of Cleo. After exchanging nervous expressions, Emma and Rikki ran across the upstairs in search for the moonstruck brunette.
"I like swimming. Do you like swimming?" Cleo asked Percy in the guest bedroom. She was leaning against the wall again, twirling her ponytail, and Percy was sitting on the bed as he was before.
"Yeah, I like swimming," Percy responded uncertainly. Cleo laughed and then plopped on the edge of the mattress at the foot of the bed.
"We should go swimming to Mako!"
"Right now?" Percy asked. Cleo covered her mouth to stifle another laugh and nodded. Just then, Annabeth rushed into the room with a box of crackers in hand. She would have relaxed to see Percy as she had left him, but jealousy flared when she saw Cleo on the bed with him.
Percy saw something flare in Annabeth's grey eyes, and grew nervous. He did not want to be in trouble with Annabeth again.
"Percy, you're alright," Annabeth said, but her voice was anything but gentle. "What are you doing in here, Cleo?"
"Do you want to go swimming, Annabeth?" Cleo suggested with a bounce to her feet. Before Annabeth could respond, Emma and Rikki dashed into the room behind her.
"Cleo!" They called. Cleo burst into a fit of giggles.
"Is she...on something?" Percy asked quietly.
"I wish," Rikki muttered. She wove around Annabeth and grabbed the brunette by the wrists.
"Sugar," Emma said. "Lots and lots of sugar. And it's really late. She's just overtired and hyper, that's all. We gotta get her to bed."
"What about the development? And your date with Ash?" Annabeth pointed out. Percy's jaw fell open.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait! You're on a date right now?" Percy demanded. "Who's Ash? Where is this guy? Who said he was good enough for my only sister?"
"We're cousins, not siblings, Percy," Emma groaned.
"You're the closest thing I got to a sister! I can't believe you're on a date right now and you didn't tell me-" Percy swung his legs off the bed, but he lurched before he could get on his feet. "Damn this food poisoning!"
"You'd feel a lot better if we all went swimming," Cleo announced. Emma and Rikki scowled. Rikki dragged the brunette out of the room and Emma watched Percy nervously.
"I'll take care of him. You go do what you need to do." Emma flashed Annabeth a grateful smile before following her friends down the hall.
"I am Percy Jackson! There is no way something like food poisoning is going to bring me down!"
"Mako will be beautiful now," Cleo said in Emma's locked bedroom.
"Sorry, Cleo, you're not going anywhere." Emma turned on her heel to the other blonde resting against the door. "She saw the moon. How did this happen?"
"Don't look at me," Rikki protested.
"It must have been Ash." Cleo's head dropped in a snort. Rikki grinned at the mention of Emma's date awaiting them down below.
"What's he doing here?" Rikki asked.
"He said something about being bold."
Rikki pursed her lips to suppress a knowing smile. Sure, it was her advice, but this was far from what she expected. Cleo covered her mouth to stifle another laugh. Emma glanced back at the brunette sitting cross-legged on Emma's bed, and Cleo bowed her head to avoid catching an icy glare. Emma whipped her head back around at Rikki and pointed an accusing finger at her.
"I saw that!"
"What?"
"That look!" Emma straightened onto her feet and Rikki stared at Emma's desk.
"What look? We didn't have a look," Rikki lied, her eyes darting to Cleo as Emma closed the space between them.
"You knew about this!" Emma accused with an eyeroll. "What did you say?"
Rikki grimaced, finally meeting the other's gaze. "We didn't say anything, much." Cleo snorted into her fingers, earning a silent scold from Emma. "Come on, we didn't think he'd actually come around here."
"On a full moon!"
"Yeah, I know. It's kinda...bad timing."
"Bad timing," Emma repeated with a sarcastic smile. "Yeah, he brought me dinner. How do I get rid of him?"
"You could send Percy down there," Rikki teased. Emma rolled her eyes. "Maybe you shouldn't get rid of him. It's a fairly mild version of moon fever. I can handle Cleo."
Both girls looked at the girl mentioned, who seemed to find great interest in her own hand.
"You sure?"
"Sure I'm sure."
"But Percy and Annabeth are right down the hall."
"Yeah, so?" Rikki countered. "Afraid they're going to see Cleo turn into a werewolf? Please, Emma. They think Cleo is just acting weird but they'll get over it." Emma's expression was unconvinced. "Look at her, she's a puppy, she's not going to hurt anyone."
"The moon is silver," Cleo informed. "I like silver!" Cleo's laughter was contagious. Emma brought a hand to her forehead, but she was giggling as well.
"Oh!"
"What did I tell you?" Rikki said as a matter of factly. "Come on, it's your big chance. He's down there waiting. For you."
"But-"
"Em, we can't change anything now. Cleo and I will just have to sit this out." Cleo nodded eagerly in agreement. Rikki opened the door behind her. "I'll keep watch, and you go back to Ash. Okay?" Rikki circled behind Emma and pushed her towards the open door. "Go!"
Emma couldn't help but feel slightly relieved and did not resist Rikki. She walked at a quick pace with a smile on her face to return to Ash as Rikki closed the door behind her. Rikki turned around to watch the now-pouting Cleo.
"I want my tail!"
Downstairs, Emma and Ash were eating the expertly prepared pasta. Emma had to admit, it tasted amazing. She definitely wanted to eat whatever he cooked again. This was something she could get used to.
"So how long is your cousin going to stay here?" Ash asked when there was a lull in the conversation.
"I-I'm not exactly sure, to be honest. Nobody ever specified it. But they came in town for my mum's birthday, which is coming up soon, so they should leave not much longer after that," she replied.
"And where are they from again?"
"The States. New York City." Ash nodded. He didn't know what to make of Percy and Annabeth. Then again, he'd only met Annabeth for about thirty seconds, so there really wasn't anything to make of either of them. But Ash supposed that it really wasn't a big deal anyway.
"Rikki and Cleo are both staying upstairs too?" Thinking of the two mermaids-one of them currently moonstruck-made Emma stiffen in her seat. But she forced a smile and remained calm.
"Yeah, they're watching tv." Which wasn't entirely a lie. They could be, for all Emma knew!
"They come all the way to your place to watch tv?"
"Sometimes."
"You need to get out more."
Emma was not liking where this conversation was going. It wasn't feeling right lying to Ash-it only unsettled her more and made her grow defensive when she didn't need to be. The blonde rose to her feet. She had to act more natural and casual. Be cool and everything will go great.
"I get out. I'm always out. I'm usually not home on a Saturday night," Emma said as she walked over to the couch in the living room. Ash scooted out from under the table and followed her. "Out having fun, you know, doing fun things."
Ash smiled at her knowingly as he plopped down beside Emma.
"I have a feeling that you have secrets. Which is cool. You'll tell me when you're ready."
Oh, dear God, send help. Emma propped her elbows on the top of the couch and took a subtle breath to lower her rapid heart rate. He's sitting so close to her! And, more importantly, Ash was trying to get close to her secrets. The last thing Emma wanted to do was reveal to Ash that she grew a tail ten seconds after touching a drop of water. Emma turned away, suppressing a blush, and glanced at the stairs. When she looked back at Ash, his expression was calm and gentle with a friendly waggle of his eyebrows.
Upstairs, the door to Emma's bedroom opened to a crack. Rikki and Cleo poked their heads out into the hallway with wide grins on their faces. After looking around for any sign of Emma, Ash, Annabeth, or Percy, the pair silently skipped over to the bathroom and closed the door behind them.
Neither girls said anything aside from the giggles falling from their lips as Cleo plugged the bathtub drain and Rikki turned the faucet. From then, both eagerly watched the water pour into the tub and fill it up.
Cleo stared longingly at the water and then finally raised a hand to hover over it. Immediately, Rikki smacked her hand away.
"No! This water's for Emma," Rikki reminded. The girls then burst into giggles.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, bringing the girls out of their laughter.
"No!" Cleo whined.
"Hey, uh, are you going to be long? I really-really gotta get in there," Percy's shaky voice called.
"No, I don't think this will take long at all," Rikki replied, exchanging cheery grins with the brunette at her side.
"So do you think maybe I could, you know-" Percy brought a hand to the doorknob. Rikki extended her hand to use her powers to heat the metal knob. Percy yelped at the searing pain and stumbled backwards, shaking his hand to cool it off. "What the-"
"No!" Cleo repeated. "You'll ruin the surprise!"
"We're naked, Percy!" Rikki joked. And thus the two girls were laughing once again. Percy's face twisted into one of disgust.
"No thanks," Percy quickly walked away from the bathroom door and made a beeline to the next bathroom, which was the master bathroom connected to the master bedroom. Aunt Lisa and Uncle Neil wouldn't mind, right? After all, it was an emergency and he clearly couldn't use the hallway one.
Not much later, the tub was full, and the two moonstruck mermaids went downstairs. In the meantime, Annabeth flipped through the channels on the TV lazily. Percy was in the bathroom, feeling extreme stomach cramps, and was told to just wait for him in there. The blonde sighed and leaned her head back against the headboard as she dropped the remote to her side. Something felt off to her. What it was, she couldn't tell. But something wasn't right.
"Right, that's enough!"
Rikki and Cleo let out high pitched squeals as they raced upstairs with Emma storming after them. Instincts kicking in after hearing those noises, Annabeth rushed out of the guest bedroom to find the source of the cry, her hand resting on her hidden dagger.
"Stay here! Just stay put, I'll be back in a minute. Don't come upstairs!"
As Emma followed the two girls, she pulled out her cellphone, but stopped short when she saw Annabeth in the middle of the hallway.
"I heard...someone scream?" Annabeth said, uncertainly, removing her hand from the inside of her jacket. "Is everything alright?"
"Everything's fine!" Emma snapped. Annabeth was startled by the outburst and Emma noticed this, immediately regretting losing her cool. "Everything's fine. Cleo and Rikki are just messing around. Please just go back to Percy and continue watching TV."
"Actually, Percy's in the bathroom. His stomach is acting up again," Annabeth informed. Emma masked her expression but on the inside she was screaming.
"Sorry to hear about that. Maybe you guys should turn in and try to get some sleep?" Emma suggested. "If you excuse me, I need to make a quick phone call."
Emma turned away from Annabeth and turned on her phone. She had Lewis on speed dial for emergencies like these. Not the first one on her speed dial, but it was handy. She walked briskly to the end of the hall towards her bedroom.
Annabeth, on the other hand, couldn't help but silently and slowly follow the other blonde. Something didn't seem right. Perhaps it was just Emma's date going wrong, but Annabeth could tell that everything was not fine, and Emma may or may not be trying to keep Annabeth and Percy away from whatever it was.
"You need to come over now," Emma commanded quietly into her phone. "Oh, Lewis, forget what we said-Okay. We're sorry. We need you. Happy now?-Good. And hurry, it's an emergency."
Emma turned around and Annabeth immediately side stepped out of her view. She wasn't an eavesdropper and she didn't want Emma to get the wrong impression. But that phone call just confirmed that something indeed was going very wrong, and it wasn't just Emma's date.
Percy walked unsteadily out of the master bedroom into the hallway where the girls were gathered. Emma went to him, with Annabeth coming around to hopefully perceive she came from a different direction.
"How are you feeling?" Annabeth asked.
"Better-I guess," Percy muttered.
"What were you doing in my parents' room?"
"Well, Cleo and Rikki were-occupying-the bathroom," Percy answered. He winced, remembering the brief conversation the three shared earlier.
"What do you mean by occupying? What were they doing in there?" Emma demanded.
"Beats me. They said they were naked-"
"What!?" Emma and Annabeth cried. Annabeth glowered at Percy with her eyes filled with a storm of jealousy and anger. Emma gritted her teeth and balled her hands into fists in annoyance.
"I'm going to kill them," Emma growled. "Percy, you go get some rest now. And Annabeth, please stay with him. I'm going to take care of those two."
Percy and Annabeth exchanged looks. Percy immediately regretted looking at the dark look in Annabeth's eyes. They said nothing and returned to the guest bedroom at the other end of the hall. Annabeth closed the door loudly before turning around to face Percy with her arms folded across her chest.
"So they were naked, huh?"
"Yes-no! I-I don't know!" Percy was sweating under Annabeth's scrutinizing gaze.
"Were they or were they not, Percy?"
"It's not what you think, Annabeth. I swear-"
"Mhmm."
"Whether or not Cleo and Rikki were actually naked, I don't know, because I didn't see anything. When I tried to open the door, it was burning hot-"
"You tried to see them?" she hissed. Percy's eyes widened in realization of what he just uttered and mentally smacked himself upside the head.
"No-yes-but not like that! That was before they said they were naked!" Percy protested. "They said they'd be out-it was an impulse-I thought I was going to get sick right then and there so I tried getting into the bathroom! But the doorknob was really hot and THEN they announced they were naked and that's when I ran off to find another bathroom!"
Annabeth's frown deepened and pursed her lips, saying nothing. Out of all the scary things he's faced in the last five or six years, an angry Annabeth won them all.
"I didn't see anything and I didn't want to, Annabeth! I'm not that big of an idiot, am I?" Annabeth gave him a look. "I'm sorry, Annabeth. This is all just one big misunderstanding. Nothing happened and nothing will. Well, Cleo and Rikki ARE acting weird, so I don't know what they're going to do but I swear I'm not encouraging this or anything!"
Percy's eyes were pleading like a puppy. Annabeth's gaze softened before lowering to the ground as she let out a sigh, dropping her shoulders.
"Sorry. I should have known better," Annabeth admitted. "I don't know. I guess I might be a little antsy sitting around and nothing is trying to kill me. And Cleo and Rikki seem like good girls, but they're also very pretty girls too."
"Wise Girl, there is no other girl in this world who even compares to you," Percy said with a grin. "Aphrodite's got nothing on you." And then he froze, his eyes darting around nervously. "But please don't let her know that. Hate to get on a another god's bad side."
Annabeth giggled and smiled at her boyfriend. Man, when did she get so lucky?
"You do have a knack for it, Seaweed Brain." Percy grinned. "Something weird IS going on, though. I'm not sure what. I think it has something to do with Emma's date downstairs. It might be going wrong. Or her friends are trying to ruin it."
"Kinda explains the way their acting, but if Cleo and Rikki are Em's friends, why would they ruin a date for her?"
"I don't know. It's bad enough though that Emma is calling Lewis over for help. Said it was an emergency." Annabeth shrugged. Their conversation was interrupted by high pitched squealing and giggling.
"Emma! Emma! Are you okay?" Ash's voice called from below.
"Is that her date?" Percy asked. Annabeth nodded. "He's not better looking than I am, right?" This earned a snort and an eye roll from the blonde.
"You think we should go help her out? Or should we stay out of it?"
"Do we ever stay out of it? C'mon. We can at least ask," Percy replied.
"Are you feeling up to it? I can just go-"
"I'm fine, I'm fine, Wise Girl. Much better thanks to somebody." Percy swung open the bedroom door and made his way out, Annabeth on his trail.
"Apollo?"
"Yeah. Apollo."
When the couple walked down the hall, chuckling quietly to themselves, they spotted Cleo and Rikki standing side by side, facing the corner to the bathroom.
"Emma? Are you in there?" Ash's voice called.
"Yes, Ash." The words dripped from Emma's tongue through the door.
"Hey, is everything alright?" Percy asked as he approached the trio.
"Yes, everything's fine!" Cleo squealed. Ash stopped and straightened himself at the sight of the newcomers in the hallway, his brow furrowing.
"Um, Annabeth," Ash guessed the blonde's name. "And you're Emma's cousin?"
"And you're Em's date?" Percy returned.
"Well, I don't really know. What's going on?"
"That's what we came here for. We heard some noises and yelling and wanted to make sure everything was alright," Annabeth informed.
"If there's something wrong with Emma, I should go check on her, being her cousin and all," Percy suggested.
"No!" Cleo and Rikki hissed, blocking Percy's path.
"This is something for Emma and Ash only!"
"You'll ruin it!"
"Ruin what?" Percy and Ash demanded in unison. The two boys exchanged puzzled expressions and Ash made an irritated gesture with his arms.
"Ash?" Emma called in a low tone. Ash leaned in to hear.
"Yeah, Em, I'm here."
"Come in, I've got something to show you," she beckoned wistfully. "No more secrets."
Ash looked at Rikki and Cleo, who were bouncing where they stood. Then his gaze traveled to Percy, who was frowning deeply, and then over to a very uncertain Annabeth. Sea green eyes widened in realization as Percy's jaw dropped.
"No! No, no, you guys are not doing anything like that! Not while I'm around!" Percy snapped.
"Do what? I'm just trying to see what Emma wants!" Ash protested.
"If Emma needs something, she should be asking me!"
"I thought you had food poisoning!"
"Yeah, but still! I'm her only family in this house at the moment. So if it's a personal problem, I'm the guy to take care of it!"
"It's not a problem, silly!" Rikki injected.
"It's a solution!" Cleo squealed. Ash, Annabeth, and Percy stared at the strange, giggling girls. "Now, go on, Ash! She really wants to see you in there! It's so important!"
Ash looked back at Percy. His face was a mixture of anger and confusion. And then he looked back at Rikki and Cleo, who were nodding eagerly. Annabeth reached for Percy and said something to him quietly, suggesting to maybe leave them be, much to Percy's distaste, as Ash leaned into the bathroom door again.
"Emma, are you sure you want me to come in there?" Ash asked nervously. Percy folded his arms across his chest.
"I'm sure," came Emma's soft reply. "Then you'll understand."
Ash sighed and reached for the door knob. Just as he did so, Lewis broke through the four gathered and lunged at the door knob. Percy and Annabeth yelped in surprise and looked around quickly, wondering where the blond came from.
"Lewis!"
"You cannot go in there!" Lewis announced.
"Okay, what is going on?!" Ash demanded angrily. Rikki and Cleo turned to each other and started giggling amongst themselves.
"It's a very good question!" Lewis agreed. He moved quickly behind Ash and started urging him away from the bathroom door. Ash moved reluctantly with a puzzled expression as the group parted for the two boys. Lewis pushed Ash down the hall to the stairway, with Cleo and Rikki trailing behind. Percy and Annabeth remained.
"Maybe I should go see if Emma's okay," Annabeth suggested. "Being a girl and all."
"But I'm her family!"
"Yeah, but it might be a girl problem. Do you want to help Emma with a girl problem?" Annabeth pointed out, placing her hands on her hips. Percy groaned.
"Gods, I hate girl problems," he muttered. Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Let me just see if she's okay, okay? And she needs a girl friend, then you can go in." Percy stepped forward and brought a hand to the door.
"Ash?"
"No, it's me, Percy," Percy replied. "Ash left. Do you need some help? Do you need me to come in there?"
"No!" Emma snapped. "Go away, Percy! I don't wanna see you!" Her voice turned into a whine and Emma's expression twisted into a pout as laid in the bathtub water.
"You wanted Ash to come see you!"
"Yeah, because I was going to show him something! I don' wanna show you!" Emma's arms flailed to her sides into the tub, splashing water angrily everywhere. "You ruined my date, Percy! You ruined my whole night!"
"Look, Em, I'm sorry," Percy reached for the doorknob and brought the handle down.
"Percy!" Lewis's voice called. As quickly as he appeared the first time, Lewis jumped in front of the other young man, smacking his hand off the silver handle. Percy jumped, startled, and nearly swung a punch at Lewis before stopping himself. "You cannot go in there either!"
"But you can?" Annabeth questioned, arching an eyebrow. Lewis opened his mouth but no words left immediately.
"Well-yeah," Lewis stuttered. "I mean, Emma and I have been friends for a long time now. I'm like a big brother to her!"
"I'm like a big brother to her! We're actually related! If anything, you should leave!" Percy complained.
"Yeah, but, well, you haven't exactly been through the same things that Emma and I have been through, you know? We have a different kind of bond. Right now, Emma's not herself and I need you two to just go back to your room and stay there," Lewis explained. Percy's anger disappeared and disappointed frustration replaced it in his eyes. His gaze traveled from Lewis to Annabeth and back to Lewis, before his shoulders dropped in defeat.
"Okay. Fine." Percy moved past Lewis and Annabeth as he sulked back to the guest bedroom. Annabeth threw one last glare at Lewis before following her boyfriend. Lewis exhaled deeply from all the breath he held in, and rested against the bathroom door.
Soon enough, the night grew to fade and the sun rose. The three mermaids awoke to bright sunlight filling Emma's bedroom. Very groggily, the trio made their way down the stairs.
"Does anyone remember what happened last night?" Emma asked.
"Not me," Cleo confessed.
"I remember Cleo being moonstruck, but," Cleo rolled her eyes and turned away from them to the kitchen. "After that is blank."
"You were both affected and I followed you into the bathroom." The girls walked into the kitchen. Emma stopped at the sight of the dinner table, still decorated with burnt out candles and fine dinner plates full of pasta. "Ash! Ash was here!"
"He was?"
"He tried to put on a romantic dinner, and then-"
"What?"
"I have no idea what happened then…" Emma admitted with a furrowed brow, a frown etched into her features. The sound of footsteps on the stairs snapped the girls out of their puzzling thoughts. Percy walked into the kitchen lazily and yawning loudly before he realized he realized he wasn't alone. His mouth curved into a frown and remained silent as he turned away and opened the fridge. Emma, Cleo, and Rikki all exchanged nervous expressions, silently asking each other what happened to Percy and Annabeth last night.
"Hey, Percy," Emma greeted. She cleared her throat and smiled in effort to settle her nerves. He didn't glance up. "How are you feeling? Any better now?"
"Fine." He pulled out the carton of orange juice and closed the fridge door with a slam, a sound that startled the three mermaids. Percy's green eyes still didn't meet Emma's blue ones.
"Um, you sure you want to drink that? It's not going to upset your stomach, is it?" Emma pointed out.
"I said I'm fine!" Emma narrowed her eyes at her cousin.
"Somebody woke up on the wrong side of bed today," Rikki muttered under her breath.
"What's with the attitude?" Emma demanded.
"You want to talk about attitude?" Percy snapped, finally turning to face the blonde. Emma folded her arms across her chest.
"Yeah, I do. What's your problem?"
"You're the one who has the problem," Percy accused. "I was just trying to help you last night. But apparently, I ruined your date! I ruined your whole night!"
"You didn't ruin my night!" Emma protested. "You were in your room the whole time. I never even saw you!" Percy scoffed.
"That's right. You didn't. You never left that bathroom! You were going to try and seduce your boyfriend in there!"
Emma's jaw dropped as horror spread across her face. She looked at Rikki and Cleo, who had similar expressions of surprise and horror. Cleo covered her mouth and Rikki tried to suppress a laugh.
"I-I-what!?" Emma cried. Percy rolled his eyes.
"And of course, my ass was the one that got chewed, because Lewis can do no wrong," he muttered sarcastically. Emma stepped closer to her cousin.
"Percy-I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for any of that to happen," Emma said, reaching a hand to his shoulder. "I wasn't myself last night. But that doesn't excuse my behavior. And I'm very sorry you were at the receiving end of it." Percy's eyes softened and his shoulders relaxed slightly under Emma's hand. "I have a lot of problems. You wouldn't really understand them, and you wouldn't want to. But I'm working on it. I really am. I don't want to ruin your vacation. Can we just...forget last night ever happened?"
Percy dramatically rolled his eyes and said sarcastically, "I guess." A wide grin spread across his face. "We all have our nights. But you owe me one for this, especially if you don't want our parents to know about it."
"Are you blackmailing me?"
"Maybe I am. Maybe I'm not."
Emma scowled. "Okay, fine. I'll make it up to you. I promise."
Author: wOW OKAY THIS WAS WAY LONGER THAN I PLANNED I AM SO SORRY but I hope this was as fun to read as it was to write! Man oh man Percy just can't seem to catch a break! But trust me, I'll make it up to you guys in the next chapter!
As always, please review! They're very encouraging and they help me tons!