Percy always thought he was good at laser tag. It was one of his favorite places to escape to as a kid, and the staff even knew him by name. He spent a lot of his kid and teenager years playing laser tag and even kept it up into adulthood. He also started adding paintball into the mix with games of capture the flag.
Years of practice made him a deadly assassin, but Annabeth was on another level. Annabeth had been playing just as long as him, but there were two big differences between them. Percy could be a bit of a wildcard. He didn't need a plan and preferred to rush head first into action. He had great aim, and his chaotic nature usually allowed him to take his opponents by surprise.
Annabeth always made a plan, like she was going to war. Her plans always worked as well. And Percy was a little jealous. Now, he was grateful. His eyes move around the laser tag arena.
The laser tag arena was as large as Gracchus Co with a lot more obstacles in it. Anytime someone was hit, the light on their vest would go out for five seconds before coming back on. Percy had the sense to disappear before his light came back on, and so far, he had hit his opponents a lot more than he got hit.
His gaze moved to the display on his gun. They were in first place with Luke's team trailing right behind. They kept bouncing back between first and second place, but Percy was determined to win. He ducked behind an obstacle and made his way towards Annabeth. She was crouched down behind a piece of cover.
"Hey," Percy greeted as he appeared next to her. "Lose Reyna?"
"She's a one woman wrecking machine. We split up to cover more ground," Annabeth answered. They were both covered in sweat. This place encouraged them to run around, even climb some of the obstacles. Percy had gotten really good at climbing.
"How are you holding up?" Percy asked. He had yet to see Luke's face, which was probably a good thing.
"We're winning, so we just have to keep this up," Annabeth replied.
"I didn't mean that," Percy began. He peeked up and caught a flash of purple. He hit the target and watched the light go out. "About seeing Luke."
Annabeth remained silent and slowly looked down at her vest. She bit her bottom lip and finally shrugged. Percy gently placed a hand on her arm.
"He didn't deserve you, Annabeth. You're the most wonderful person I have ever met," Percy began.
"Better than your mom?" Annabeth mumbled.
"Don't tell her I said this, but yeah. Barely," Percy joked. Annabeth looked at him and smiled. Percy smiled back. "Seriously, I'm sorry he did that."
"It just sucks to put years into someone, to love them. And they do that," Annabeth said. She looked away. "I was going to call you and tell you, but I didn't want to worry you."
"You wouldn't have worried me. I would have come right over to comfort you," Percy replied. He squeezed Annabeth's hand and felt terrible. If he hadn't treated Annabeth like a stranger, would she have reached out to him? "If you need me now at any time, just let me know."
"Thank you, Percy. That means a lot to me. You mean a lot to me," Annabeth admitted. Percy smiled and studied her gray eyes. Annabeth watched him with a small smile. Their moment was interrupted as someone dove over their piece of cover.
Percy and Annabeth both aimed at the person. Thalia held her hands up in surrender, but there was no mercy to be had as they both fired their guns. Thalia groaned and sat up.
"You guys are assholes," Thalia complained. "We're in last place, so stop bullying me. Piper and I are teaming with a child. How are we supposed to win?"
"I don't know how a team of children is supposed to win," Annabeth teased. As Thalia's light came back on, Annabeth fired again.
"Really?!" Thalia complained. Annabeth laughed. "Has anyone found bastard man?"
"No," Percy answered. He waited for Thalia's light to come back on before firing again.
"I hate both of you," Thalia complained. "What are we doing after this? Dinner?"
"Haven't had enough of a date with Reyna?" Annabeth teased. Thalia opened her mouth, but as her light came back on, it went out again instantly.
"Really!?" Thalia snapped. Annabeth and Percy looked at each other in confusion. Then, they saw their third teammate step out from behind a piece of cover
"Maybe you should be with your team," Reyna commented as she crouched next to them. "Are we farming Thalia for points?"
"She just wandered over here," Annabeth answered. Her eyes widened as her light went out, and Thalia cackled. Percy fired back, but he saw his own light go out. Reyna turned and fired off a shot.
"How are you so good?" Piper complained as she stepped out from her piece of cover with her light off. She walked towards them and crouched by them. "Truce?"
"Truce," Annabeth agreed. "Has anyone seen him?"
"Nope," Thalia replied. Piper shook her head.
"Who is him?" Reyna questioned as she looked at Annabeth.
"My ex-fiance," Annabeth answered. She glanced at Reyna and then looked away. "He cheated on me."
"I'm sorry," Reyna said after a moment. "I know we've only been hanging out today, but you seem pretty damn cool. He's an idiot for cheating on you."
"Everyone realizes how amazing Annabeth is," Thalia commented.
"If I wasn't dating Jason, I would jump on you in a heartbeat." Piper teased. Annabeth smirked.
"I would date you too," Annabeth teased. Reyna looked in between the two of them. Then, she peeked out.
"Is he the one with the scar?" Reyna asked. Annabeth's face hardened, and she tightened her grip on the gun. "Or the one with the eyepatch? It can't be Chris, right?"
"You know Chris?" Percy asked as he turned his head. He saw that Thalia was halfway out of cover, not focused on them. She instantly started firing at Luke and his friends. Piper joined her a moment later.
"I know his girlfriend," Reyna replied as she peeked over the cover and fired. Percy stood and aimed his laser gun right at Luke. He fired and watched the light on Luke's vest go out. A glance to the side showed that Annabeth was smirking.
Luke looked down at his vest and then looked at them. His eyes widened as he saw Annabeth. Percy stood to move next to his best friend. Luke glared and disappeared behind a piece of cover. His friends followed.
Annabeth looked at Percy and nodded. The two both fired. One hit Thalia and the other Piper. Both girls turned on them and glared.
"Truce over!" Annabeth called as she sprinted towards another piece of cover. Percy ran the opposite way.
"Oh, it's on," Thalia yelled as her vest turned back on, and she started firing. Percy cackled as he hit the cover and fired back. With a little luck, they would win.
"You're all a bunch of cheaters," Thalia complained as she pouted in her seat. Percy grinned at her and was elbowed in the gut. Annabeth looked back at them from her place in the passenger seat. Piper was pouting as well, and Percy was stuck between them.
"You're just a sore loser," Annabeth commented.
"You're a worse winner," Piper shot back. Annabeth just grinned.
"Thank you all for tonight. It was fun," Reyna said.
"We usually do this on Saturdays, but you're welcome to come anytime," Annabeth offered with a smile.
"Grover and Juniper will love you," Piper added. Percy glanced at Thalia and noticed how intently she was watching Reyna.
"You should," Percy pitched in.
"I have something every Saturday night," Reyna began. She focused on the road. "It's usually done by eight, and I normally want to go home after."
"Well if you ever want to hang out with us, you're more than welcome," Thalia said as she smiled dreamily. Percy nudged her. "Also. Who taught you to be so damn good at laser tag? Nico? Because I know he's been holding out on me."
"No," Reyna said with the smallest of smiles. She didn't elaborate anymore and just focused on the road.
"Percy probably taught her, since he's so good at cheating," Piper accused, and she elbowed Percy again.
"You guys are going to give me permanent damage," Percy complained. "Annabeth, save me. They're abusing me."
"Children, knock it off," Annabeth teased. She looked back at them before smiling and looking back out the passenger window. The rest of their ride was rather quiet. Thalia was being the best stalker that she could be, and Percy was doing his best not to stare at Annabeth. Piper was rocking out to the radio, while Reyna drove with a relaxed look on her face.
When they made it back to the bar's parking lot, Piper was the first to get out. She stretched and made dramatic noises as she did. A small smirk came to Percy's face as he watched. Annabeth got out of the car next, and as Percy got out, he saw Thalia was still sitting there and staring at Reyna.
"Shoot your shot," Percy whispered to her. Then, he walked towards his other two friends. Annabeth looked at him and smiled. "I told her to go for it."
"Will she?" Annabeth asked as she looked at the car. Percy turned his head as well. He couldn't stop the frown that came to his face as Thalia got out of the car a few moments later. There was a small frown on her face, but it disappeared as Reyna got out of the car.
"Tonight was fun," Reyna said as she studied them. Her eyes moved to her watch. "I should get home soon and go to bed."
"You fall asleep before midnight?" Thalia asked with a smirk. She leaned on Percy, and he almost stumbled. Thalia gave him a look that told him to stay on his feet.
"Before ten," Reyna answered with a shrug. "How else would I wake up at five?"
"Five?" Thalia almost screeched. Her eyes were wide. "You wake up at five?!"
"You call me weird for waking up at six," Annabeth teased. A grin was on her face as she watched. Percy smiled as well.
"Seriously, it was fun. We'll have to do this again," Reyna said. She looked at her car before looking back at them. "It will be nice to meet your other friends."
"It was really fun, Reyna. I wish we could replace Percy with you," Piper said. Percy gave her a side look, but he knew that Piper was just joking. Hopefully.
"It's nice to have another adult around," Annabeth added.
"I'm glad you came," Percy said. He felt his heart flutter with happiness that Reyna had gotten along so well with his other friends. It was nice that they could grow a little closer outside of work.
"You're amazing," Thalia added. Even with the lack of light, Percy saw the blush on Reyna's face. Thalia seemed slightly taken aback, but she quickly cleared her throat. "How did your sister like her gift?"
"I'm having lunch with her tomorrow. I'll give it to her then," Reyna replied. "All of you have a good one."
They all said their collective goodbyes, and Reyna got into her car. She drove away a minute later. The four of them stood there in silence. Piper finally broke the silence with a huge yawn and leaned on her friends.
"I'm going to go home. Today was really fun, though. We need to convince Reyna to come along more often," Piper said. She gave all three of them a quick hug before she walked towards her car. Thalia sighed and rested her head on Annabeth's shoulder.
"I tried to ask her out, but I couldn't. I just froze up and said that it was really fun," Thalia groaned. "Why can't I just ask her out?"
Percy rubbed Thalia's back, "It's going to be okay, Thals. Baby steps."
"Baby steps," Thalia agreed after a few moments. She hugged Annabeth tightly and then flipped off Percy. "Thanks for the support tonight. I'll see you two later."
And with that, Percy and Annabeth were alone. Percy felt butterflies fluttering in his stomach as he looked at Annabeth. The moonlight shone down on her, encompassing her beauty. Percy found himself staring, like he was studying artwork at a museum.
Annabeth didn't seem to notice. Her gaze followed Thalia's car, and she bit her lip. Annabeth finally looked back at Percy, and a small smile came to her face. She motioned for Percy to follow and walked towards her car.
Wordlessly, the two sat on the trunk of Annabeth's car. She leaned back and stretched. Percy laid back against the window as well, with a small smile on his face. He remembered when they used to do this back when they worked together. When they closed together, they would lock up the store and then lay back on Annabeth's car, just enjoying the world.
"How are you feeling?" Percy asked quietly. His gaze moved to Annabeth. He could only guess how hard it was for Annabeth to see Luke again. She seemed like she was okay, but that was in front of the others. In front of a stranger too. With just the two of them, Percy hoped she would drop her mask.
Percy still hated himself for all those months that he neglected Annabeth. He had been so bitter and upset that Annabeth was engaged to Luke that he just stopped talking to her. And, he hid it behind a veil of being busy looking for a new job. How could he neglect one of his best friends like that?
Even though Percy enjoyed his time at his old store, he tried to shut it all away when he left. He just neglected all of his friends and old coworkers just because he was upset that he didn't admit his feelings for Annabeth when he had the chance.
"I don't know," Annabeth said softly. She folded her arms behind her head. "Sure, it was nice to beat Luke in a kid's game, but I just wish I hadn't seen him. When he's gone, it was easy to ignore the pain and hurt. Seeing him again brought all of those memories back."
"He's an asshole who doesn't deserve you," Percy said quietly. He moved slightly closer to Annabeth but didn't want to invade her personal space too much. "You're absolutely amazing, Annabeth."
"Piper said the same thing," Annabeth whispered. She sighed and closed her eyes. A small sniffle left her. "He told me that he was out of town, but I saw him at a restaurant with another woman. I tried not to think too much of it. After all, it could have just been a business meeting."
A single tear trickled down Annabeth's cheek, and she quickly wiped it away, "I did my best not to dwell on it, and I didn't ask Luke. It was a month later that I went out of town for some training. The training was supposed to last a week, but it only took four days. I spent another day just exploring the city. When I came home the sixth day, I walked in on Luke having sex with that same woman."
Another tear fell down Annabeth's cheek, and Percy wiped it away this time. Annabeth screwed her eyes shut and sat up. Percy gently grabbed her shoulder and rubbed it. Annabeth turned and launched herself into a hug.
Percy caught her and held her as she started to cry. He rubbed her back gently and felt his shirt becoming wet from her tears. Percy held her as close as he could and felt that same guilt come back. Why didn't he stay connected with Annabeth? Why did he let her go through his pain alone?
"I'm sorry, Annabeth. I wish I had been there for you," Percy whispered. He continued to rub her back in small circles as she cried. Percy knew how much she kept this in. She probably told her father, but there was no doubt she kept a tough persona, not wanting to show how much it hurt her.
Percy wasn't sure what it was about him, but Annabeth seemed to be vulnerable around him. She wasn't like that around anyone else, not even her own family. Maybe Thalia and Piper, but that was a very small group to be included in. Percy was honored to be one of the three that Annabeth shared her feelings with.
"I know it's hard, and I won't tell you to move on. I just want you to know that I'm here for you," Percy whispered. "Whether you want to talk about it, get drunk, cry, or even draw mustaches on pictures of him, I'm here for you."
A small laugh left Annabeth in between tears. After a minute, her shoulders stopped shaking. She wiped her eyes, but she did not pull away from Percy. He didn't either. He just kept his arms wrapped around her. A content yet sad smile came to his face.
Percy wasn't sure how to get over this guilt of just ignoring Annabeth, but he knew the best way would be to be a pillar for her now. This wasn't even about the romantic feelings he had for her; he just wanted to be a better friend. He would be there for her no matter what she needed. Percy held Annabeth close as he made that vow to himself. Come heaven or hell, he would not abandon her like that again.