A/N: Happy New Year guys! Hope you like this one!
He quickly looks down when her gaze meets his and hopes his blush is masked by the warmth of the coffee they're all drinking.
She smiles softly at him, and it makes his heart flutter in a way he hasn't had the nerve to discern properly.
"I'll be right back," he says, excusing himself from the group, from her.
He tries to ignore the way her face falls, tries even harder to ignore that it's because of him.
In the back alley of the café, he faces the blue gray sky filled with clouds and hates that all he can think about is her eyes.
Deep down he knows, he knows that whatever fragile thing they have is seconds away from breaking. Every time he sees her face fall, they're closer to being further apart.
And it's his fault.
The line between everything he wants and everything he has is made up of fear.
Because to get to everything he wants, he needs to let go of everything he has and just hope that it, in turn, won't let go of him.
But he's been gripping so tightly, for so long, that he doesn't know what's going to happen if he stops.
Like a balloon that might be filled with helium or just normal air, and the only way to find out is to let go and see if it will rise up or sink down.
It's the fear of it sinking down that stops him from doing anything.
But fear is simply a fork in the path of life, and whether you take it or not, you always need to keep moving. The choice ultimately has to be made.
He sighs, running his hands over his face, her smile dancing before his closed lids and the flutter in his heart asks him, what that smile would feel like against his lips.
The creaking of a door opening makes him turn around.
"Percy?" And she's there in the doorway, the threshold between what they have and what they could be.
"You okay?" She continues, shifting from side to side.
He nods. "Yeah."
She nods back. He can see the hesitancy in her eyes. "Okay, um, come back soon..." She trails off, not knowing how to continue.
This is it, the moment he needs to decide. He's paused on the path for too long and life his honking at him for standing still. He needs to move, needs to choose a direction.
One path won't change anything, he'll continue the way he is except now holding a what if in his heart that might never go away.
The other might change everything, with no promise of if it's good or bad.
It could be worse.
But...it could be better.
She turns to leave, away from the threshold that separates them.
"Annabeth!" He calls before she can do so.
She turns around, something hopeful behind those grey eyes.
"Want to join me?"
The second she takes to answer is the second he finds out if that balloon will sink or rise.
"Sure."
Then she takes a firm step out of the doorway and towards everything they could be.
And he takes a step towards everything he wants.
A/N: This concept applies to more than just love but to every aspect of life. If you have a hope, a goal, a dream, anything more that you want for yourself, you need to let go of the old otherwise nothing new will happen.
You can't grow by continuing to be who you are.
And as someone who has a lot of fear of losing what I have, I know it's hard to let go of that and try to change for the better. But it has to be done, if not by your choice, then something external in life will force it.
As I've said before with this series, this is just something I've been thinking about lately and the changes I want to make with the start of the year.
Does anyone else relate?
Please Review! I'd love to hear your thoughts!
And as always, thanks for reading!
See ya! :)