Chapter 13
Annabeth
The last few days had been… hell, to say the least. Her emotions had bounced back and forth, settling on anger for a little, before transforming to sadness, and then warping into a sense of happiness at her newfound freedom until she lifted her phone to text Luke and remembered. And then she was back to sadness, which soon became anger, which turned into… until the whole cycle had repeated itself thirty times and she eventually got the relief of sleep for a few hours.
She had lovingly given her friends the obvious message they needed to go home that morning. She had woken up feeling slightly better, actually. A little more awake, as if she was seeing the world clearer. So with a little - hard, really - nudge, she pushed them out the door.
They had been unreal the past few days. Never leaving her side, going on long trail rides with the horses, taking hikes to see the sunset every night, drinking beers by the firepit at night, and generally just doing things a normal sixteen year old girl should be doing. But, she had to eventually face a day alone, and her parents - as oblivious as they were - would eventually wonder why they hadn't gone home once in seventy-two hours.
And there were also the ideas that the girls had dreamed up, the kind of ideas that only appeared at two am when you were all a little too drunk to even be awake, but eventually after forcing themselves to form coherent thoughts they had come up with some pretty solid plans to at least even the score with Luke. The thought made Annabeth smirk as she parked her pickup in the lot of the little grocery store that was in town. Her parents just needed a few things, marshmallows for the s'mores that frequented their summer nights and some other items they weren't able to get local. Most of their produce came from the two farms that were closest to them, and their meat and dairy was also just down the road from them. Some things, though, were just best store-bought - the bagels, for example, that the owner knew she liked so they put in a special order just for her from the bakery in Richmond.
Athena was getting ready to head out this morning, but she was glad to let Annabeth go in her place since the boys were refusing to put on their shoes and were threatening a food fight. Annabeth had hesitantly asked when she came down for breakfast, not sure why she had even thought it was a good idea. The drive was nice, the feeling of independence welcome after the last few days surrounded by people. She had meant to get in and out to avoid a sighting of Luke or his ridiculously stupid friends who were sure to be extremely rude to her if she saw any of them.
The humidity was back after a nice dry spell, and it blanketed Annabeth in stuffy heat when she stepped out of the car. She was in a tank top and running shorts, trying her best to be as close to naked as possible without actually offending anyone, but she still felt as if she were drowning in her own sweat. Despite her best efforts, her hair was sticking to the nape of her neck by the time she entered the weakly cooled store, and she swept it up into a ponytail.
She started for her bagels, noting she was the only one in here. It wasn't uncommon, for a Wednesday afternoon, but the feeling was always slightly eerie, especially when only the older man Eric was working here. He had always given her the creeps. Annabeth stopped short, finding the brand she liked and scanning them with her eyes, trying to find the kind that -
"Percy?" She breathed, head snapping up as she saw a flash of black hair out of the corner of her eye, not sure why she had just opened her mouth. It could have been anyone, really - hopefully, hopefully she had made a mistake, yes that must have been it, he wouldn't -
"Hey," He turned - Percy turned, hands stuffed in his jean pockets, face looking oddly sheepish for someone who was just going grocery shopping.
"Uh," Annabeth stumbled. She was blushing, which was extremely unlike her and she didn't enjoy the foreign feeling of her cheeks heating up. "What are you doing here?" She asked, a stupid, stupid question because - duh - what else did you do in a grocery store besides buy groceries?
He scrunched up his face, eyebrows drawn in and nose crinkled as if he was thinking of an… excuse? He reached into his back pocket, fumbling around and it dawned on her that her car was the only one in the parking lot and it wouldn't have been hard to deduce that she was in here. "Here," He pronounced triumphantly, shaking her out of her thoughts. He produced a crumpled sticky note, complete with a small grocery list on the back of it. Her heart dropped, because gods could she be more ridiculous, of course he was just here to buy groceries, what the fuck was wrong with her. She shouldn't have been able to have these thoughts, so soon after Luke, so soon after everything, but here she was fumbling over her words and blushing and thinking about how good his hair would feel tangled in her hands and disappointed that he wasn't just here to see her and -
"Annabeth?" He frowned, waving a hand in front of her face. She realized she had been staring blankly at him for the better part of a minute and before she could let him see her embarrassment again, she went stalking off in the other direction, turning away from him.
"Wait!" He called, jogging after her.
She turned on her heel, watching him visibly wince at her glare. Annabeth tried to tone it down, but it was next to impossible with the eyes she had been gifted - or cursed with, depending on how you looked at it. "Excuse me, but I'm just trying to shop for food." She snapped.
He stepped closer to her, the air suddenly heated again, his eyes not backing down from her intense glare. "Annabeth-" He faltered, the sudden burst of confidence she had seen in him suddenly falling, his eyes meeting the ground by her feet.
She sighed, almost pitying him, "What do you want?" She asked, backing a few steps away from him again because she couldn't think when he was that close, couldn't remember that she was in control.
He looked at her again, green eyes suddenly softer than they had just been a moment ago, "To talk?" He offered, the words more a question than anything.
Annabeth sighed. "About what?" She turned towards whatever was in the aisle next to her, suddenly becoming very interested in their selection of crackers - which was, admittedly, weak.
Percy looked frustrated, his eyes shining with something close to anger, but she knew he wasn't there quite yet. "About… what? About what? How can you just go ignoring what happened that night? How - how confusing it all was - how confusing you were!" His voice was louder now, and all Annabeth could bring herself to think was that, yes, there was the anger, tight and thick in his voice as he yelled at her, and she didn't realize how much she craved this sort of excitement, this intense experience he gave her.
Annabeth fumed, turning to face him once again after picking up a box of Triscuits they didn't need just to look busy, "Sorry if I don't feel the need to go explaining myself to perfect strangers. I have friends, you know." She scoffed.
"Are you kidding?" He exploded, looking as if he wanted to rip his hair out or punch her or maybe both, "You cannot call me a stranger after that. That's - that's so totally unfair, Annabeth, and you know it." He snarled, but she was too focused on the way her name had fallen off his lips, harsh but complete, and she realized it was the first time she had ever really heard her name come from him, in that way where you pronounced every single syllable, the way you wanted somebody to know you were talking to them, thinking of them.
Annabeth rolled her eyes, starting off again into the store. Percy dutifully followed her, waiting for her to speak, "You're being ridiculous. We were drunk," She mentioned, trying to keep calm, keep the cool, nonchalant structure to her voice but it was so fucking hard around him, "It didn't mean anything. Besides," She said coolly, "If you think since that night I've been more worried about what you and I did versus my actual life blowing up than you are very, very mistaken Percy Jackson."
She watched him wince, the anger in his eyes melting, slowly. Maybe there was a semblance of hope for him if her words had gotten through.
"I-you're-" He stuttered, falling after her as she browsed down another aisle.
She held up a hand, "Save it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go pay and get home. I have chores to do." She started off towards the registers, which were all self-serve here, but noticed Percy following her. She whipped around, expecting to yell at him to leave her alone, because seriously, but he was standing there staring uncomfortably at her and she couldn't bring herself to explode again.
He glanced awkwardly at his own basket, which was now filled with things that Annabeth hadn't even seen him pick up, "I'm not following you, promise," He said, putting up his hands in defense.
She felt her lips curl up in a smile, but pushed them back before she hoped he noticed. "Fine," She shook her head ruefully, hiding the remnants of the smile into her shoulder as she turned back to checking out.
He was unfortunately finished at about the same time as her, so they walked out of the store together into the harsh sunlight, Annabeth temporarily squinting as they came from the dark store. She pulled out her keys, hearing the familiar chirp of her truck.
"Look," He drawled, running a hand through his black strands, tugging on the ends. "I don't… we don't have to fight."
She looked at him expectantly, not sure what to say. Because if they weren't fighting, what were they going to do? Over the past few weeks, fighting had become her definitive reaction around him, this almost defensive mechanism but she wasn't sure against what. Percy wasn't dangerous, or even rude really unless you pushed his buttons just right - which, Annabeth had learned to do and it was usually very satisfactory when she wanted a good argument.
"Okay," She said simply. He looked frustrated, which pleased her. Getting under his skin had become a hobby she wasn't willing to give up just quite yet.
Besides, if they stopped this petty shit, she might just have to realize that the reason she liked being around him was because he made the area right below her stomach feel a certain way and there was no way she would ever admit that. So, she blindly followed the idea that she wanted to be around him purely so she could get the intense, angry, side of her out, an annoying trait that always seemed to follow her around no matter how hard she tried to get rid of it.
"I'm serious," He strained, a vein popping in his neck, "We have to see each other every day. We could at least be cordial."
She popped her head to the right, considering the thought. Cordial. She almost scoffed. The two of them, cordial? Agreeable? Acquaintances? Gods, the thought was laughable. They could never be that way, he must have known that. This kind of anger, the intense heat she experienced when she was around him, that couldn't have just been her. She saw the way his cheeks flushed whenever she took a step too close, whenever a pair of green eyes would drop to her lips when she was ranting about something that he wasn't particularly paying attention to.
So she decided on an answer. Albeit, not the one he wanted, but an answer. "No." She said simply, turning to drop her wallet into the car.
"No?" He asked incredulously. His mouth opened as if to go on, but she put up a finger, stopping him.
"No." She reiterated, simple but firm. She climbed into the driver's seat of her truck before continuing, one leg swinging out of the still open door, "We're not cordial, Percy." His own name tasted sugary on her lips, and she would gladly say it again, maybe breathe it, maybe moa-
No. His infuriated gaze was still on her, and she refocused. She didn't, couldn't, feel these things for him. No. It just wasn't possible. "We don't like each other." She enforced, for his sake and hers, hoping he couldn't hear the slight breathlessness in her voice after her previous thoughts, "Dislike is even a weak word. Besides, I just don't want to be." She said with a shrug, watching his muscles tighten as he frustrated even more. Good. They hated each other. That was the way it was supposed to be, not these ridiculous, school-girl crush feelings that had suddenly arisen lately.
"You don't - you don't want to be?" Percy's voice raised with each syllable, stepping closer to her, inside the door. She really wished he wouldn't, because it was hot again, his breath spilling over her curls as he towered over her and she felt as if she was about to melt and not from the humidity. Why had she decided to sit down again? It definitely wasn't a power stance. "Gods, Annabeth, I'm trying! And you're sitting here being an absolute child about the whole situation." He fumed.
"Excuse me?" She growled, knowing, hoping, wishing, her glare was burning him now, because fuck was she mad. "You have no idea, Percy. No fucking idea what I've went through these past few weeks. No, Jesus, these past few years. Just because you were the one to find me, doesn't mean I want to suddenly confide in you, because I don't." She said, coming to her own realization - she had been in this relationship for three fucking years, and now she questioned whether any part of it had even be real. The tears sprang to the corner of her eyes, and her chin trembled, but she wouldn't cry right now, Percy could not see her this weak again, not after last weekend. "Just - just leave me alone," She spit out, tears still threatening to spill over.
He backed out of the doorway, thankfully taking the heat with him. Annabeth didn't stop to question that, but slammed the door shut, biting her bottom lip to control the shaking of her chin. She didn't hear him call after her. Good. She reminded herself, although the pit in her stomach suggested otherwise.
She flew out of the parking lot, the truck revving under the pressure of her foot. Before she could even make it to the single, blinking yellow light that was in town, the tears were pouring, the road blurring behind wet, silent cries.
Hellooo! Promise, they're going to be happier - or at least, spending some different kind of time together haha - soon. Hope y'all loved it. I'm on vacation so idk when I will be able to update again but at the latest it will be end of next week. Please review, favorite, follow, it always means a lot!
-a
