Percy sighed as he continued to flip through TV shows and movies. Nothing stood out to him, and none of it caught his attention. Nothing sounded good, but he couldn't sleep yet. He wanted to be there to interrogate Thalia about how her date went.
He really hoped that Thalia wouldn't bring Reyna back to her place.
For one, they did not need to be moving that quick. And, Percy did not want to be kicked out of the house. Or worse, be there while the two got to know each other a little more. Percy shivered at the thought. He knew from rooming with Thalia that she was loud.
It was his fault, really. He should have read the notice about the fumigation, but he didn't. If the notice had been that important, they would have put the ink in red or sent more than one. At least Thalia let him crash at her place and let him have the couch. Nico would've put him on the floor.
Or in the dog's bed.
Percy heard the microwave go off and stood to grab his popcorn. He walked towards it and grabbed the bag out of the microwave. He opened it, poured it into the bowl, added butter and salt, and then took his delicious snack back to the couch.
Before he could sit down, he heard a knock, and a frown replaced his neutral guise. Percy placed the bowl down and walked towards the door. He looked through the peephole and then immediately opened the door, "Annabeth? What's wrong?"
"Can I come in?" Annabeth mumbled. Percy nodded and quickly stepped to the side, letting Annabeth walk in. Her hands were shaking, and her face was pale.
"Come here," Percy said as he gently grabbed Annabeth's arm. He led her towards the couch and sat her down. Percy grabbed the blanket that was thrown on the ground and wrapped it around her. Annabeth instantly leaned on him.
Percy put on the most boring looking documentary that he could find. Then, he grabbed the bag of popcorn and gently rested it on his lap. One hand held onto the popcorn and the other stayed against Annabeth's back, gently rubbing circles in her tense muscles.
As the documentary crawled along, Percy had a few guesses on why Annabeth was like this, but he would bet that it was because of Luke. What has the bastard done now? Percy didn't want to push it too hard, so he just held Annabeth close.
Annabeth shifted a few times, pulling the blanket closer to herself. Her eyes focused on the documentary, and it took some time for her muscles to start relaxing. Percy crunched away on the popcorn, and Annabeth eventually grabbed a handful to snack on.
"Thalia isn't going to be mad, is she?" Annabeth questioned quietly. It was hard to hear her with a blanket wrapped around her mouth. Percy glanced down to see that Annabeth had retracted her hands underneath the blanket and was munching on the popcorn.
"Nah," Percy dismissed. "What's another guest at her place?"
"I'm surprised she let you stay," Annabeth said softly. She shifted enough, so that she was in a half sitting position, but she was also leaning on Percy. That was okay.
"I begged her not to kick me out on the streets," Percy joked. Annabeth nodded slightly, eyes still staring at the television.
As they neared the end of the documentary, Annabeth had laid on Percy, and his arm was still wrapped around her. That arm was currently numb. His other hand was holding onto the popcorn. Annabeth looked up at him.
"Thanks for watching this," Annabeth said. "I know you hate documentaries."
"They're not too bad," Percy said. Annabeth raised an eyebrow. Percy chuckled. "Alright, fine. It was nice to just hang out with you, though. I would watch any boring documentary with you."
Annabeth slowly sat up, and Percy retracted his arm. He tried to wake up the sleeping limb. Annabeth gently started to rub his arm for him. A blush came to Percy's face, and Annabeth smiled at him.
"You're going solo at the store soon, right?" Annabeth questioned.
"I am," Percy confirmed, letting out a nervous breath. "Reyna's surgery is coming up like next week, and I'll be alone."
"Next week as in after this weekend?" Annabeth asked. Percy nodded. "You excited for it?"
"And scared. And nervous. I just don't want to mess anything up," Percy explained.
"I don't think you'll do that bad," Annabeth promised. She finished rubbing Percy's arm, and it wasn't that numb anymore. "You have other managers to rely on, and your store manager sounds like she's supportive. You'll be okay."
"That means a lot, Annabeth. Thank you," Percy said. Annabeth smiled at him. "Do you want to talk about what happened, or should we watch a boring documentary again?"
"We could watch one of your stupid cartoons," Annabeth suggested as she hid her face slightly. Percy could see she was uncomfortable with whatever had happened, so he would have to help distract her.
"Stupid cartoons?! I will have you know that Spongebob Squarepants is a sophisticated show for scholars," Percy defended adamantly.
"It's about a talking sponge," Annabeth argued. Percy could only stare at the blasphemy.
"I have never been more offended in my life," Percy resigned as he placed a hand to his heart. "Yeah, the new seasons are really dumb, but the early ones are peak television."
Annabeth rolled her eyes. Percy continued, "That's it. We are watching it right now. I'm making more popcorn."
Percy stood and grabbed the empty bowl. He heard the front door open, and his gaze turned to look at it. Thalia had opened her door and stepped halfway inside, but she also turned to look back at someone.
"You didn't have to walk me to my house," Thalia said. Percy glanced at Annabeth, who quietly stood from the couch.
"What kind of girlfriend would I be if I didn't walk you to your house?" Reyna asked teasingly. Percy looked at Annabeth, and a huge grin came to Annabeth's face. Percy matched it.
"Text me when you get home," Thalia said.
"I will," Reyna promised. Thalia smiled gently, and she stared out the door as Reyna walked back to her car. After a minute or two, Thalia closed the door. She turned around and nearly jumped.
"What the hell?!" Thalia demanded as she placed a hand to her heart. "How long were you two there?"
"Ever since you walked in," Annabeth answered. "But, I guess you only have eyes for your girlfriend."
Thalia blushed, but a happy smile infected her face. Percy spoke, "I'm guessing the date went well. Or, did she agree to be your girlfriend just to get away from you?"
"Shut up, Percy," Thalia ordered as she raised her hand to whack him.
"You need to tell us everything," Annabeth said.
"I'll order pizza," Percy added. "Then, we can all watch Spongebob."
Annabeth groaned. In response, Thalia pumped her fist, "Hell yeah!"
"You're not winning this one," Percy smiled at his crush. Annabeth sighed dramatically while Percy grabbed his phone. "Where do we want to order pizza from?"
"I have some beer in the fridge," Thalia added. She pulled off her leather jacket and threw it on the couch. "Help me, Percy?"
"Yeah," Percy said. He handed his phone to Annabeth. "You can pick the place. But find the best deal for us?"
"I always do," Annabeth commented. She sat down on the couch and scrolled through Percy's phone. Percy followed Thalia towards the kitchen. As the fridge was opened, they made eye contact.
"Did something happen to Annabeth?" Thalia whispered. Percy nodded.
"She just showed up looking terrified. She wouldn't tell me anything else, and I didn't want to prod," Percy whispered back. "I think she's calmed down now, but she still doesn't want to talk."
"I'll talk to her about it tomorrow, but let's just keep her distracted tonight," Thalia suggested. She grabbed beer from the fridge and looked at the trash. "Did you eat all my popcorn?!"
"I bought another box," Percy defended.
"You're lucky because I would have kicked your ass," Thalia threatened. She brought the beer to the living room. "Make some more, loser!"
Percy rolled his eyes and pulled out more bags of popcorn. After cooking and putting it in bowls, he carried them to the others. Annabeth waited for him to put the bowls down before handing him his phone.
"I saved you twenty dollars," Annabeth informed.
"I made her order breadsticks," Thalia added. Percy looked at her and grinned.
"Didn't you and Reyna have dinner? Or did you two work it off already?" Percy asked. Thalia's face turned a beet red, and she went to hit him in the groin. Percy was ready for it this time and blocked his crotch.
"We had an amazing dinner that I almost screwed up by mentioning her mother," Thalia began. Percy and Annabeth both winced. "Yeah. It was dumb. I couldn't get that thought of her mother ruining her life out of my head, though. Anyway, we got passed that, talked a lot, and then went on a hike."
"I don't think you went on a hike," Percy called her bluff.
"Walking up my driveway is a hike for Thalia," Annabeth commented. Thalia hit Annabeth right in the chest. "Ow! That was my boob!"
"That's what you get," Thalia replied, hardening her glare at Percy. Then, she walked toward the couch and sat down. Thalia grabbed a bowl of popcorn and started to eat from it. "Both of you can get out."
"Haha. We want more details about the date," Annabeth said as she sat down. "What did you talk about?"
"A little bit of everything," Thalia answered. "Reyna kind of locked up when I asked anything about her childhood. And when she was a teenager. I also knew better than to ask her about the army. She really loosened up when we talked about the store."
"I told her a little bit about my whole life," Thalia continued with a shrug. Percy knew that Thalia was pretty open to talk about everything. The only thing that caused her to clam up was her mother. Well, and the coma. They didn't bring that up around her.
"Did you know that Reyna is just as much of a nerd as Annabeth?" Thalia asked. Annabeth hit her right in the boob, and Thalia grunted.
"Shut up and put on your kids show," Annabeth ordered. She sat down next to Thalia. Percy sat by them and relaxed against the couch. He wanted to know what was wrong with Annabeth, but she needed time. He would respect that. And if Luke did do something to hurt her, Percy wouldn't let him get away with it.