I don't know how I feel about this chapter. I think it's mostly a filler, idk.
Anyways, it's only been roughly two weeks since my last update so that's an improvement! Plus, for anyone waiting on the Seriously epilogue, I've just written 20 more pages to that and finished the climax. All down hill from here baby!
Anyways, hopefully you'll enjoy the chapter.
Chapter 17
She remembered falling the most.
The weightless panic as she went back first through the wind. The way her world seemed to slow to a crawl. How the drops of sparkling rain fell alongside her with the splinters of wood and fractured trunk. Chunks of Percy's life sailing past her as the entire tree house tilted and sunk away. The wooden beams, the knotted garbage bags, the meticulously placed twigs all thrown loose and shoved by gravity.
Her wings beating uselessly against the angry wind as the fear scampered wildly through her veins like caffeine high rodents. As the sky of crying clouds fell farther away from her, Annabeth couldn't tell if she was screaming or not.
And then everything was black.
An ominous empty black where she felt… nothing. She could hardly register the nothing.
But then there were dreams. Or snippets, or visions, or hallucinations. Something was there.
A fuzzy reality where Percy was screaming her name over and over like a cry for help. Bent over her brokenly as tears raced down his face in ragged criss crosses.
Tears, not rain.
But how could she tell?
Her body felt cold and yet there was this burning sensation spiderwebbed into her skull. Almost as if the devil himself had set up a temporary hell in her mind. Everything beyond Percy was blurry. Everything besides him looked as if it didn't exist, or at least shouldn't exist.
He looked like he was in so much pain. So much grief.
Annabeth tried to lift her hand to him but it wouldn't budge.
When she looked to her hand, all she saw was black. When she looked back to Percy, the image was gone. All was black again. Empty, nothingness black that brought her nothing but calm.
And then she opened her eyes again. Feeling as if all she had done was blinked. Her world drastically different from the last time she took a peek.
Staring in confusion at a white roof. The glaring fluorescent lights stinging her sensitive eyes as she squinted. Her other senses feeling numb and dead as her eyes scoped the ceiling again and again.
Her thoughts turmoiling and growing in clarity and panic as her mind started to notice the IV, the hospital bed, the large heavily draped window, the bandages, and the pain.
Just an ache now at the back of her head, but prominent enough that shifting felt a little torturous. Her sense of touch starting to spread as the sensation of a scratchy hospital gown against her bare skin was registered, then the sheets, then the cold IV tube.
Her nose and mouth seemed to clear at the exact same moment. The staunchy smell of cheap disinfectant and old blood combined with the bitter taste of sharp medicine, and stale toothpaste made her empty stomach roll with nausea. Her mouth tweaking down as the urge to vomit rose and died in her esophagus.
Finally her ears popped. The mumbles of underwater sounds were broken into a shrilling reality. Almost as if she had been in an egg this entire time and had finally hatched out. Her brain still disoriented and foggy, but her surroundings were finally being taken in.
The piercing beep from a heart machine, the shush from the easy going breeze outside the window, the coughs and groans from patients in other rooms, the sound of footsteps trodded casually against the tiled floors.
The emotion laced shouts from an argument right outside her door. Perhaps the very thing that woke her in the first place. The racket making her wince at how the noise seemed to drill into her tender head. Her first coherent thoughts were just wishing them to shut the hec up.
"You can't keep me away forever!"
"You are mistaken. I am her mother. I decide these things."
"Well you SUCK at deciding these things! You should've NEVER been a mother!"
Through the haze, through the cloudiness of her mind Annabeth's brain identified the voice.
"Piper," she croaked.
It was weak and warbled, but somehow it was audible.
"Wait- did you hear that?"
"Piper," Annabeth called again.
The next face she saw was the pinched up one of her mother's. Her eyebrows screwed upwards, and her lips pursed in an undeniable look of concern. A nurse following at her heels before peeling off to check on some of the machines, and levels.
Annabeth didn't care. Her mother was worried about her. Her eyes betrayed that much.
For a moment it made her feel lighter than a cloud. Her ever shifting world turning helium as she locked eyes with the woman who bore her. The first undeniable look that was motherly.
"Annabeth," Athena gasped. "Annabeth, you're awake!"
And then it hit her like a ton of bricks.
The argument, the slap, the way her mother practically traded her off for money. Her betrothal to the one she loathed most.
She couldn't care.
She couldn't sell her off when she was just a baby if she loved her. She just couldn't.
Annabeth's lower lip quivered as she ripped her gaze away. Her heart withering in her chest as she fixated her eyes on the door.
"Piper," she whimpered.
"Annabeth-" her mother reached out and grabbed her arm. Her full eyes probing her, trying to get her to give her a response. "Annabeth?"
Gritting her teeth, Annabeth shook her off. Her eyes starting to burn with hateful tears as she blatantly refused to look at the woman. Twisting her mouth down as she tried desperately not to cry.
"No! Let me in! She's awake! I know it!" Piper's protests continued to plague her ears.
She sounded farther. She sounded strained. Almost as if she were being dragged away.
"Pipes!" Annabeth managed a half decent call this time. Imagining her voice breaking through the walls and grabbing her best friend. Guiding her back to her bedside.
Piper came barreling in a few seconds later. Her choppy hair falling out of her messy ponytail and her eyes ringed with bags. Gruffly, she shoved Athena out of the way and fell beside Annabeth as if she belonged there.
Actually, she did belong there. At least more than Athena.
"I'm here," she sputtered. Her kaleidoscope eyes searching her grey ones as if to make sure she was alright. As if the one look could clear everything up. "Are you alright?"
"Piper Mclean," Athena lips were pursed. A devilish kind of flame erupting in her eyes. "May I remind you of your place, and where I distinctly told you to stay away from."
"Oh put a cork in it Nancy," Piper huffed over her shoulder. "You may be her mother, but I'm her best friend. She chose one of us and only tolerates the other. If you can guess who I'll give you a cookie."
"That's Mrs. Chase to you young lady," Annabeth's esophagus twisted as her mother's voice dipped into the danger zone. The usual flutter of panic that welled in her chest was suddenly followed by a burst of colourful anger.
"I'll call you what I want, Getrude." Piper snorted while glaring heavily at the stiff woman.
"You insufferable child. Shouldn't you be at school?"
"Shouldn't you be guarding the pits of hell?"
"Where is the staff in this abominable place? You need to step away from my daughter-"
"If you make Piper leave, I'm never talking to you ever again." Annabeth snapped. Her voice so low and full of dead set seriousness that it seemed to ice over the room. Her blazing grey eyes locked on her mother's form as her new sense of power arose from her gut. The flames of rage sending shivers down her arms.
"Kid's got spunk." Annabeth heard the nurse awkwardly mutter from a corner as Athena stood there aghast and stuttering. Her face draining of colour in a slow fading way.
"This is exactly why she needs to be removed from your presence. You keep mimicking her ruffian behavior-"
"And as if my last encounter with you wasn't at all caveman like?" Annabeth tried to keep her voice from cracking as a hand went up to her cheek. The bruise was now gone but the memory was still stingingly bright. With her gaze growing pointed, her mother caught on pretty quick to exactly what she was referring to.
And for a moment Athena looked ashamed.
Ashamed.
As if she was truly sorry for what she did. As if she actually felt guilt for her actions. The actions she always carried out with an air of unapologetic confidence. That she never looked back twice on.
Was she ashamed, maybe even regretful of that past action? Of hitting Annabeth?
Was she sorry?
But she could never be… could she?
"Get out." The demand came out of nowhere. Annabeth even surprised herself with how she said it. So powerfully yet so demanding for respect. Almost as if she were Athena now.
She had finally reached her limit. Every wrecking ball she had ever held back in her mind was being released in unison.
She was officially at war with her mother.
"Yeah, make like Christopher Columbus and get lost," Piper added with a victorious grin on her face. Her smugness seeming to add to Athena's growing anger twisted expression.
But her mother let it go. She still looked… guilty.
She left without a fight.
Her head bowed low for once in her life and her steps almost timid. It was as if she were broken.
And all the nurse needed was a glare from Annabeth to take her invitation to leave. Muttering a few apologies as she went as if she was the instigator for that tense face down.
After the door was firmly shut and the atmosphere grew quiet, Annabeth didn't know whether to feel triumphant, angry or scared. All she could imagine was her mother coming back in full force and making her feel like pond scum. Breaking her new found spirit in half like a twig.
Who knows how well she could hold her own if her Mother came back for another attack.
Her strength seemed to leave her, and in one wave of weakness she was sinking back into the pillows of her bed. A heavy feeling of lightheadedness brushing through her skull as she let out an aching groan. The room suddenly feeling humid and stuffy.
"Piper, update me. What exactly happened? How did I get here? How many hours have I been out?"
Piper gave her a pursed smile, and offered her some water from a bedside table which Annabeth refused with a flicker of her hand. Her soft grey eyes locked on her best friend as she probed her for answers.
"You were asleep for three days." Piper grimaced as she spoke. Tossing the bottled water between her hands nervously. "You received a pretty powerful blow to the head."
"Three days?!" she gaped.
Annabeth could still feel the weightless panic if she tried hard enough. The sky that seemed to move out of her grasp as limbs of the tree scraped against her back. Her useless wings flapping like mad as if she actually had a chance at flight.
But what happened?
She was sure she was in Percy's tree house. But then she just wasn't?
She couldn't of possibly tripped out the flap, could she? But then there were pieces of Percy's tree house falling around her. Joining her in her scare of death.
Or maybe that was a dream? And how did she end up in a hospital?
"Annabeth?" Piper caught her attention quietly. Her eyes wide and fearful as she searched the blondes face. A nagging question in the depths of her eyes.
"Yes?"
"We have a great deal to talk about."
"Like?"
"Like how you can't marry Octavian," she spoke in one breath. Desperation clinging to her voice like dew on a spiderweb. "I know it means Malcolm can't be a doctor, and your mom will go bankrupt but you have to stop doing things for other people. Especially marriage to a jerk-"
"Who told you?!" Annabeth hissed. Her heart dropping as she turned to look at Piper anxiously. Knowing that her mother wouldn't betray even a sliver of her great scheme to Piper. Or would she? Was she parading around in a proud voice proclaiming Annabeth and Octavian's engagement already?
Piper twiddled her thumbs. Her eyes dropping to her lap.
"Percy told me," she whispered. Her tone so soft and hesitant. Almost as if she were reluctant to say it at all.
Annabeth's pulse stopped cold. Her mind shattering.
"Percy?"
Instantly she was hit with an overwhelming rush of emotions and thoughts. Fear sliding through her heart chillingly as her mind scrambled with confusion. Her hairs standing erect against her neck as she just blankly stared at Piper. How? How? How? How?!
Was he okay? Did he get caught in attempting to get her medical assistance?
Was she being recorded? Were their microphones in her room? If someone was willing to follow her so closely, then they knew she was injured in the woods, they knew she slipped away, and would probably try and figure out what the hay she was doing in the green strip in the first place.
Oh lord. She thought with a withering sensation creeping up her gut. What if someone's listening in. What if someone heard Piper? What if they already have him?
"Who the devil is Percy?" she played it cool. Her eyes giving Piper a pointed look before glancing around the hospital room. Hoping that she got the not-so-subtle-message. That she didn't just look like a bat shit crazy person who hit their noggin too hard.
"It's fine," Piper brushed it off lightly. Shaking her head slightly wearily as she gestured around the room. "The Aresto's made sure you were situated in the best hospital room this side of the country. That included 100% privacy if needed. You even have security guards outside your door. Took an arm and a leg to get past the bloody buggars."
The armchair Piper was currently sitting in. The large windows framing one side of the room, the paintings on the wall and drapes on the curtain rod. The unmistakable wide screen TV mounted right across from her and the homely side table with a bowl of fruit and water bottles. The extra cushions she was lying on that were hemmed with lace and the tassel shaded lamp just left of her bed.
The decor just screamed Mrs. Aresto.
Piper was right, as Piper often was. The Aresto's were providing for their future daughter in law.
With gritted teeth, Annabeth let her worries of microphones and prying eyes fall aside. Her floodgates of concerns opening up as she turned to Piper with a troubled expression twisting up her face. Her bright eyes searching that of Pipers as she leaned forward with the eagerness of someone holding fear in their heart.
"Where's Percy?" she whispered urgently. "Is he okay? Did he get caught? Is he hurt?!"
Piper smiled soothingly and gently pushed her back into the bed. Her eyes tender with adoration as she shook her head at Annabeth for her intense questions.
"He's fine," she assured. "He's been pestering me nonstop about you-"
"What happened?" Annabeth interrupted. That quiveringly tight part of her holding onto the intense emotions as she let the questions roll out. "How did I end up here?"
Piper pushed her back into the cushions again.
"The tree behind the treehouse was struck by lightning. It toppled onto the treehouse and completely destroyed it. Since you were inside you went careening towards earth and struck your head on a thick branch. Thank the heavens Percy caught you. You would've surely died otherwise," she explained patiently.
"But how did I get-"
"Percy found my contact on your phone and called me. I went to the green strip and called an ambulance. The rest is pretty much history."
Annabeth's head felt fuzzy. Her gaze was stuck on Piper as the thought just kept repeating itself in her head.
She knows about Percy. She knows about Percy.
What was more was that Percy risked his own safety, his own security to get her help. He could've been killed and yet he still took the risk and called Piper, he saved her.
It was enough to start the fluttering sensation that warmed her insides go haywire.
"I told you I saw what I saw," Annabeth grumbled. Finally letting her head fall back into the cushions as she looked towards the ceiling. "I told you he existed."
"You did," Piper admitted. A breathless sound in her voice as she looked into the distance with disbelief still ringing in her gaze. "I would've never believed it unless I saw it with my own two eyes."
"How is he?" Annabeth asked timidly. Not daring to look at Piper as she remembered the fractured dream off Percy bent over her in pain and anguish.
"Hysterical." Piper answered simply. "That boy cares an awful lot about you."
Annabeth let a thoughtful silence pass between them before she shifted on her bed. The rustle of sheets hissing in her ears as she closed her eyes peacefully.
"I know."
The butterflies intensified.
"He's incredible. Learning how to fly? Living in solitude in the woods? That boy has a strength few possess."
Annabeth couldn't help but smile slightly at Pipers praise to Percy. How suiting they were, and how much he deserved to be recognized as incredible. Percy was the very definition of incredible.
"I know."
"I can see why you went to the paper now. This isn't just about getting closure. This is about freeing Percy. Exposing the capabilities of wings."
"Yep."
Another silence leaked into their conversation. Another moment of peace for Annabeth as she lay there, tired but satisfied. A piece of her wondering what Percy was doing at that moment. What he might be thinking. She didn't dare let her pride assume that he was thinking of her, although the thought of it gave her heart an extra bounce.
"You're not going to tell anyone else. Are you?" Annabeth turned to Piper somberly. Staring deep into her eyes with an abundance of seriousness.
"Heavens forbid!" Piper cried. "Cross my heart and hope to die! I will never betray Percy to any other soul other than you."
"Good." Annabeth bunched the sheets closer to her chest. Fully assured now that Piper was pure in her word. She never would lie to Annabeth anyways.
"Are you two… romantically involved?"
Annabeth's head snapped to Pipers direction. Her wide eyes were accompanied by her raging blush that rose from nowhere and blossomed into a very becoming pink. Her tongue momentarily felt glued to the roof of her mouth.
"Uhhh… wella…. He's…." She stuttered intelligently. The difficulty she found in trying to piece together her words only doubled her embarrassment.
"I can't believe you!" Piper laughed delightedly. "Necking in the woods with some homeless flyboy!"
"We're not!" Annabeth insisted. Her heart shuddering in her chest as she tried in vain to pat the crimson tone down on her face.
"But you looooooove each other," Piper teased. A string of kissy noises erupting from her as she childishly poked fun at Annabeth.
"Cut it out ya dolt." Annabeth weakly shoved her best friend in a playful manner. Not being able to help the contagious smile that passed to her lips easily.
"But in all seriousness," Piper sombered up a bit. "Are you two…?" she trailed off with the implied question. Her eyes sparkling like mad as she looked at Annabeth in an inquisitive way.
"Officially, no." Annabeth revealed quietly. Folding and unfolding her hands as she fought the tingling nerves down. Hiding from Pipers teasing expression.
"But?" Piper prodded. Feeling the implied tone that there was more to the story.
"But," Annabeth continued slowly. Letting this draw out as long as possible. "Percy may or may not of kissed me…."
For a moment, Piper was blank. "He what?"
"Kissed me."
"On the lips?"
"Why naturally."
"He kissed you?" She cried in surprise. Leaning forward as if to find out more while her eyes were saucer like. "When? Why? What did you do?"
"I don't even know how long ago," Annabeth mumbled while placing a hand to her forehead. The heavy ache at the back of her skull was starting to climb the pain scale as the meds started wearing off. "He just kissed me out of the blue. It was insane. At first I was nothing but confused but later I became partially pissed off at him."
"And now?" Piper waggled her eyebrows at Annabeth suggestively. A gleaming smile spread tight across her face with the intent of sending Annabeth's cheeks aflame again.
She succeeded.
"You know me well enough to deduce what I feel now," Annabeth pouted while wiggling farther into the bed. Trying to hide her face in the sheets. The heat radiating off her cheeks was enough to tell her just how tomato like she'd become.
"But I wanna hear you say it," Piper cooed evilly. Poking Annabeth in the side to make her squirm while trying to move the sheets out of her face with her other hand.
"Okay, okay…." Annabeth submitted with a sulking tone. "I… I kind of want him to… kiss me again…"
"Because you LOOOOOOOVEEEEE him!" Piper crowed. "You love him, you love him, you love him!"
"He's a unsocialized dork who gets on edge way too easy and has a possessive issue with my knife," Annabeth scoffed. Growing slightly irritated with the teases as she crossed her arms defiantly.
"But you still looooooooovvveeee him," she beamed. "You can't deny it. It's true love. Truuuuuuuueee LOoooooovve."
Dammit Piper. Annabeth mentally cursed. Knowing that Piper was right again. That she couldn't deny it, try as she might.
She wouldn't call it love but… it was there. That something special romance movies are sparked from. The fact that Percy was closer to her heart then anyone had ever been before might as well of made it love.
Still, she didn't want to call it that.
Love was so fickle. It's not there when you think you see it, and what you might be feeling could be indigestion rather than butterflies. She thought she was loved by her mother her whole life but it wasn't true. She couldn't believe in that word after it so coldly deceived her.
"Doesn't make a difference I suppose," Annabeth realized sadly. "If I do indeed like Percy or not."
"Huh?" Piper said elegantly. Broken from her fun, her eyebrows went skyward. "What do you mean?"
"I am to marry Octavian Aresto. I have been my entire life. At this point, my own romances mean nothing. They could lead me nowhere," she said softly. A tinge of sadness grow like a weed in her throat. Making her feel suffocated and helpless.
"Your not marrying him," Piper suddenly growled. Her eyes sharpening as she grabbed Annabeth's shoulder fiercely. "Get it out of your blonde head that you must provide for your ridiculous mother and brother. Malcolm's a big boy. He can find a job elsewhere."
"If I refuse, my mother will kick me out."
"Then live with me! My father already adores you."
"And who would take care of Percy?"
"I will! Annabeth please! Let me help you! You can't live the rest of your life picking up after the people around you."
Could I?
It was tempting, really. And it created a flicker of hope that warmed her chest. For a moment she didn't see why she couldn't agree. Live with Piper, go to university, never even think of Octavian again.
Only bearing the guilt of her brother's lost career.
But then she remembered the principal. Mrs. Ashton's smug face as she held out the fireworks box. The way she tried to soil Annabeth's name so the claims would be lessened and more believable as a teenager seeking drama.
If she were to be kicked out of her home, what would people think? Her little spotlight of fame would roll down a cliff as her reputation died. Her suspicions and claim would go flying off into the sunset. Never to be spoken again. And she would finally be vulnerable, arrested and questioned for the whereabouts of Percy Jackson.
She couldn't let that happen.
"I can't," she whimpered as disappointment flooded her eyes. "The article Pipes. My reputation relies on what people believe. If I were to be kicked out… I'd be seen as a no good teen. My claims would go down the toilet and the blokes looking for Percy would nab me before I could utter two shakes of a lamb's tail."
Piper deflated. Her body sinking against the side of the hospital bed. "Ah pooh."
"And what's even more twisted," Annabeth continued with a croak in her fragile voice. "Is that if I do marry Octavian I'll be in higher class. Ergo, more people will probably be interested in the suspicion I've cooked up."
"pooh again," Piper hissed. "You've really snared yourself in a doozy this time."
Something in Annabeth just seemed to plummet. Her head felt heavy as she tried to shake the grogginess that was collecting behind her eyes. All she accomplished was arch of pain down her spine that made her wince.
"Speaking of the media, you were in the news again by the way," Piper added offhandedly, almost as if she didn't understand the gravity of her own words. "When you were brought to hospital. Some photographer managed to snap your photo, so now people have a face for the great name 'Annabeth Chase'."
"And you didn't feel like mentioning this before, because?" Annabeth just about bugged her own eyes out. Her tone sarcastic yet demanding as she looked at Piper with a fiery gaze. Hoping she wouldn't come off as hostile.
"There's just so much to talk of," Piper shrugged nonchalantly. "It wasn't my first priority to inform you of this. Although if it makes you feel any better, your fellow rebels were outraged at the accident and claimed it was proof of the governments handy work."
"Fudge-nuggets," Annabeth scowled. "This is getting out of hand."
"Obviously. Why did you think the Aresto's procured security guards to stand watch outside your room? Reporters and photographers have been trying to sneak in for as long as you've been here. I even heard a rumor that the first room you were put it in was bugged, and the Aresto's had you change to this room which they had thoroughly examined before."
A chill raced down Annabeth's spine like a million little spider legs. "Really?"
"Truly."
"Yikes."
"Precisely."
"My mother's going to kill me," Annabeth sighed dismally.
"I'm going to kill your mother, granted the opportunity," Piper simmered. Her fists suddenly clenching as her eyes hit the floor.
Why bother. Annabeth thought. I shouldn't be tied to her anymore then I am.
"Well, as long as I'm doing as she pleases, and agreeing to a marriage with a bonehead I think I can disregard any other of her measly orders." Annabeth decided with a heavy finality. The decision oddly making her feel light and happy.
"Atta girl." Piper coached her on. "No more curfew for you eh? No more being kept away from me either."
"You got that right." Annabeth grinned.
-{:oOo:}-
The Aresto's couldn't be bothered to visit Annabeth in her present state. She was hardly something to be looked at and admired with her tangled curls, bag rimmed eyes and adorned in the latest hospital gown fashion.
They did, however, have the courtesy to send their love along with a truck load of flowers and balloons. The stuffy get well soon cards were curt and had an air of unpleased formality as if they were mortified their future daughter in law had gotten herself injured in the green strip.
Octavian's cards were full of silly poems and phrases that likened her to a swan, or a carefully pruned rose. She had the most fun shredding those cards. She could almost feel his hands invading her space as she read them and shivered at the thought of being a permanent resident of his.
But it was a future she had to face.
She was supposed to stay in the hospital 'until she got her strength back' but felt perfectly fine and insisted she could go. Her mother had very different ideas and fed the Doctors white lies on how she was feeling. Claiming that she was lightheaded and weak when she tried to get up. Annabeth was sure it was just so that Athena could keep her in a place were she could be watched 24/7. It pissed her off, but no matter how much she protested, the Doctors turned blind ears to her. They wouldn't dare defy a good friend of their hospitals owner. So, in reality she was then a prisoner in her own hospital room. Even her phone had been confiscated on the fear that she would 'scheme' with Piper.
Her resolution was to completely ignore her mother in a somewhat childish manner. For the first time, refusing to answer any of her questions and glaring heatedly when her mother's tone dipped into a warning.
But all it ever did was dip into a warning. She never chastised Annabeth for her 'unruly' behavior. She knew that she was getting her way, and that was enough to satisfy her.
Her mother's mannerisms seemed to grow even skittish around Annabeth. As if her shame were growing with every passing day. Annabeth took a little joy in reminding her of the slap. How Athena had lost all ladylike coolness and struck out in an extremely and also illegal manner. This always prompted Athena into excusing herself to go to the washroom, or fetch a nurse for some 'paperwork'. Leaving so quickly, Annabeth could imagine that if she had a tail it would be firmly placed between her legs.
Malcolm ended up coming for a visit later that evening. As far as Annabeth could tell he had no idea about her impending engagement, and no clue as to her imprisonment in the hospital. She didn't have the heart to tell him his future was on the line of her marrying so she said nothing.
When he left she felt like crying her eyes out, but wouldn't let Athena have the satisfaction of seeing her in such a state. Her pride would definitely not permit it.
It was the next morning before anything exciting happened. The first murmur of light was just making its appearance on the horizon when Annabeth was shaken from her sleep. Piper's smiling face being the first blurry thing she saw.
"Pipes?" she grumbled groggily. "What time is it?"
"Five in the morning," Piper answered with an edge of glee. "C'mon, we don't have too much time to work with here."
"What?"
"I said c'mon!" Piper urged happily while yanking the warm covers back. The cold air instantly hitting her hard as she mumbled in protest. Blindly making grabs at her legs to try and find the covers and her submerse herself in the warmth and comfort of sleep.
Piper had no plan of letting her go. Briskly, she grabbed Annabeth's arms and yanked her heavily over the side of the bed. Her body tumbling to the brutally hard and icy floor with a few painful knocks of her elbows.
"Watch your damage Heather," Annabeth cursed while glaring grumpily up at her best friend.
Despite the sour look, Piper was still smiling her head off. Her brimming excitement sparking a hint of curiosity in Annabeth as she scrambled to her feet and smoothed down her hospital attire.
"What?" She asked again with more energy and meaning. Her eyes searching Pipers joyful face as the brunette practically pranced over to the window.
"C'mon," she repeated before throwing back the curtains and slamming the window open. A gust of surprisingly brisk air tumulting in and making Annabeth shiver.
Before Annabeth had time to question the what again, the Brunette jumped out and grinned from the other side at her eagerly. Then with tender movements, she shimmied her way around the ledge and latched herself onto the metal fire escape.
In wonder, Annabeth watched. Her mouth pressed into a tight purse as Piper waved her forward.
And she complied. From all her climbing in the green strip, getting from one edge to another was a piece of cake. When she was finally holding the dew dampened edge of the fire escape and a drafty breeze was shivering under her hospital gown, Piper started to climb and together they ascended. The exercise being a welcome change to Annabeth's stewing in a single room.
When they finally reached the flat roof, Annabeth was royally confused. Piper's happy energy seemed to have doubled and yet there was nothing up here.
The hospital was one of the tallest buildings in their small sleepy town. The perfectly flat, cement roof had no guardrails or even rimmed edges. It was obviously not supposed to used as a place people could stand and look out. Annabeth doubted that anyone had actually ever been on the roof until today.
"Why are we up here?" Annabeth seemed to be asking in vain. Pipers attention was obviously focused elsewhere as the brunette shifted and bounced on the balls of her feet. A quirk she did whenever she was particularly happy.
Annabeth didn't exactly feel obliged to sit and wait. It was cold this morning. The moisture heavy air seemed to just stick to her skin and wrack her bodies with shivers as she held herself uselessly. Rubbing her arms every few seconds.
She was just about to call it quits and go scampering back to her warm bed when she noted how invisible everything was. A thick white fog had descended on the town. Houses and street lamps were almost fully shrouded, while only the medium sized buildings had the peaks of their roofs showing through. The cloud layer above was closer than usual. The sluggish greyish puffs seemed almost an arm length away. All in all they were surrounded in a very misty twilight zone esque world. A view that held such peculiar beauty that Annabeth took a moment to just absorb the sight.
"Annnnny moment," Piper whispered in anticipation.
"What?" Annabeth asked for a final time. Exasperation lacing her voice as she felt the need to grab Piper by the shoulders and shake her. Make her answer her simple simple question.
Before she had even the chance to wring Piper like a chinese gong, a heart stopping beat came thumping through the clouds. A drumming noise of air being used by a pair of strong hefty wings.
Annabeth felt her throat catch when Percy came spiralling out of the curtain of clouds and came running to a stop. His large majestic wings still beating the air to aid in his landing before he turned delicately to look at her. His jet black hair as ruffled as normal, and his plain blue t-shirt complimented his muscular build. The only new thing about his was the thin outline of stubble on his normally clean shaven face. It gave him a charmingly rugged look, and Annabeth had to pat down that girly swoony side of her.
"Holy shit," she felt as if her insides were on fire. Alarm bells were going off in her head as she tried to eliminate the rising panic. Percy's chances of being caught suddenly skyrocketing now that he was in town.
"You can't be here. You shouldn't be here. They'll catch you, what the actual fudge do you think you're doing?"
Percy scowled at her. A dark twisting look that made her voice die and her knees feel weak. In nothing but defiance she stared back. A vivid blush finding its way to her face as she slowly withered in embarrassment at her appearance. Her messy hair, her sleep blotchy face and worst of all; her hospital gown that couldn't be made attractive even if it were worked on by the most talented of designers.
She felt like crawling back into her room and locking herself in this time.
I've never felt like this around Percy before…
Percy, on the other hand, didn't seem to take notice of her sudden outfit consciousness. He leapt forward with a powerful jump and collided into her. His arms snatching her up around her waist and back and crushing her in a desperately gripping hug. Her feet leaving the ground with an impertinent squeak from herself as he lifted her up and buried his face in her shoulder.
Annabeth's wings fluttered like a hummingbirds. Her hot crimson face was fed by the throbbing pounds of her own heart. As Percy's grasp shifted and impossibly tightened, she realized exactly how thin her hospital gown was and the revelation seemed to make her whole body erupt in a static of heat. Her heartbeat drowning out her own ears.
"I never want to see you like that again," he murmured against her neck. The closeness of his lips to her skin made a flurry of electric sparkles that arched down her back.
Trying desperately to swallow down the lump in her throat, Annabeth tentatively let her trembling arms find their way around his neck. Fighting for her composure as she kept her breathing to a minimum.
"I'm sorry," she managed at least half decently. "I can assure you I wasn't planning to get batted out of the tree."
"I know," Percy relented. His grip slightly waning as she was allowed to slide to the ground again. The cement roof feeling rough against her bare feet. His hands still on her back, but enough distance came between them to be able to look into eachothers searching faces.
"You shouldn't be here," Annabeth reminded sternly. Glowering slightly to try and hide the way her voice was quivering and face still glowing. "You could get caught!"
"I know," he said again with a smidget of bashfulness. "But in my defense it was Piper's idea in the first place. I just… gave into it because I had to see you."
Annabeth's head snapped around to a very guilty looking girl.
"Piper!" she cried. "You should know better!"
"Well he was the one who constantly annoyed me about your condition nonstop! I had to bring him here to make the bloody buggar shutup!" The brunette accused with an impishly hidden smile.
"She's the one who encouraged me to come," Percy grumbled quietly.
"Well he's the one who-"
"Alright, enough." Annabeth snapped. Shaking her head as if she were mothering two immature toddlers. "You fed him the idea Pipes," Annabeth accused with a stiff tone. "And you," she poked Percy in the chest. "Listened to her! You're both equally at fault here."
They seemed to agree on that with a shared sense of amusement. (Incredibly)
"Now you-" she poked him again. Still unable to look him in his intensely attentive eyes. "Have to go. You could be caught at any second."
"But I just got here-"
"And now you're going." Annabeth prodded him away gently. Eager to get out of his sight in such attire. "I can visit you later."
"Can you at least give me a kiss?"
Instantly her fading blush came back in full force. Her wide potent grey eyes were filled with a weird mix of shock and venom as her jaw set decidedly.
He was teasing her.
He saw how she was barely able to get through her words. How her face had been a consistent shade of pink as soon as he popped up. He probably noticed her hammering heart when he was holding her that close. How could he not of?
Now he was smirking at her. He was cocky and arrogant and smirking his frickin frackin face off.
Smirking. She felt like she could slap the expression into the next dimension. Her pride momentarily wounded at such an obtuse attack on her 'nonexistent feelings'.
But she also felt like she could kiss him senseless. It sent her head spinning her her gut tingling with the flutter of butterflies.
"Goodbye Percy," she mumbled coldly while clenching her fists. The warmth triapsing down her spine when he let loose a hearty boyish laugh.
"I'm glad you're okay," he spoke with an undeniable adoration. His gaze burning holes in the back of her head. "Visit soon okay? I like it when you visit."
And with a stroke of his wings, and a gust of wind he was gone. Sailing, and disappearing into the folds of the clouds while leaving Annabeth smoldering.
"Who does he think he is?!" Annabeth fumed. Gritting her teeth as she glared at the clouds angrily. "Dancing around me like that. Figures out I'm feeling a little soft towards him and BOOM, Mr. Smug guy! So smug he might as well run in the election. I could just strangle him!"
"Uh-" Piper rubbed her arm a little shamefully.
"He's TOYING with me. He knows how embarrassed I am about falling for him after I so bluntly rejected him! He's just playing with me like puddy now!"
"Uh, Beth?"
"I will be nothing less than a Saint if I don't kill him the next time I see him! I mean, how did that oblivious neanderthal figure out my complex emotions in the first place?!"
Piper laughed nervously, effectively gaining Annabeth's attention.
"I may or may not of taken the liberty in saying a thing or two to push you two together." The brunette chuckled quietly with a painful oopsie tone. Obviously feeling remorse for her actions now but in the moment she definitely convinced herself it was a good idea.
"Like what?" Annabeth simmered.
"Like how you may or may not want him to kiss you again?"
Annabeth's hot blood burst into flames as it rolled through her body. Her bright face twisting in shock.
"PIPER!"
"Oopsie?"
Eck, definitely not my best work.
