Chapter 21

December 31st, 2012

-Annabeth-

[10:25p] Matthew: Hey sis! Are you doing okay?

Annabeth stares at her phone, not having officially opened the text, just reading the notification. It's been six days since that night at home and they're just now talking to her. She wants to be upset, but she can't help but wonder if it's possible her parents were somehow preventing them. She wouldn't hold it passed them to keep her brothers from contacting her.

A familiar presence stands next to her and she leans into Percy, who wraps his arm around her shoulders.

"Is that your brother?" he asks, seeing the notification.

Annabeth nods and sighs. "I don't think I can talk to any of them right now..."

"If you think they don't care, they wouldn't ask you how you're doing, right?"

"No I know they care. It's just a little soon for all of this... I need my space from them."

A cough rings out from nearby and Annabeth looks over at Piper.

"Girl, haven't you been spacing enough? He's your brother, talk to him!"

"Piper," Percy frowns. "Don't pressure her with this."

"Right, I'm sorry," she says. "I'm just saying she shouldn't push them away."

"I know," Annabeth sighs, putting her phone away. "I'll give it a few more days, then I'll talk to him."

Everyone has gathered at Leo's place for the New Year since he has plenty of outdoor space. The warehouse has heaters running all over and a table lined with hot chocolate. Snow had been falling steadily the past couple of days so everyone's wearing heavy coats, gloves, hats, anything to keep warm outside. Annabeth had gone into the warehouse to warm up when she had checked her phone and Percy and Piper had followed her in. Piper has a cup of hot chocolate in her hands, holding it close to her face for warmth.

"At least get some cocoa," Piper suggest. "Warm yourself up."

Annabeth sighs, giving into Piper's demand. They walk over to the table where Leo's dad has been filling up styrofoam cups and handing them out.

"Would you like a cup, Annabeth?" he asks in his gruff voice, though as gravelly as it is, it's kind.

"Yes, please," she replies with a smile.

Leo's dad picks up an empty cup and fills it up, handing it to her when he's finished. "Careful, it's very hot."

"I will, thank you."

She leaves him be and rejoins the others near the warehouse door. Her thoughts drift back to Matthew and she considers texting him back right there, but she also doesn't want to think about what happened on Christmas. Not tonight anyway. It's New Year's Eve, at 10:30 at night. Her decision is made; she'll text him within the next couple days. She is grateful that he isn't pressing for an answer, just sending a text or two every day or two, and always hours apart.

"So what's the verdict?" Piper asks her when Annabeth rejoins them.

"What are you talking about?" she asks, blowing on her hot chocolate to cool it before taking a sip. The hot liquid warms her from the inside and she hums with satisfaction.

"Your brother? Who else would I be talking about?"

"I'll text him someday, maybe tomorrow, now can we move on from this topic?"

"Yeah, sure. So, have you seen Grover and Juniper lately?" Piper asks.

"No, what's going on with them?" Annabeth asks. She looks at Percy, curious if he knows something. The smug grin on his face confirms her suspicion and she raises an eyebrow. "Oh I know that look. What did you do, Percy?"

He shrugs. "I didn't set them up together."

"Uh huh..."

"He kept going between them and asking them random questions about the other," Piper explains. "I was in on the idea."

"I can believe that. Nothing good comes from you two plotting something," Annabeth teases, earning her a sarcastically mean look from the two.

"Very funny, Beth," Percy says. His face changes from his mean look back to a joyful one within a moment. "We took screenshots of what Juniper had to say about Grover and told him he should ask her out."

"Of course, he was all nervous about it, so I took the liberty to get them in one place," Piper explains. "It was funny to watch, but also very cute."

"Wait, so they're a couple now?" Annabeth asks them and they nod.

"Yeah. They came here together, holding hands," Percy says. "Just look over there."

He points to where Grover and Juniper are in the yard. The snow has started falling heavier now, but that doesn't ruin the fun the new couple is having. They're looking up at the snowflakes, trying to catch them, occasionally shoveling a handful of snow and throwing it at each other.

That looks like fun, Annabeth thinks. She glances at Percy with a fond expression. "Look at you, my Seaweed Brain is a matchmaker now."

"Piper did most of the matchmaking work, actually," Percy confesses. "But the idea was mine."

"Says the guy who can read people like a book," Piper says. "You knew they'd get together."

"But Grover's stubborn sometimes and I knew you could get through to him," Percy argues.

"There wasn't much convincing," Piper says. "We just threw them in one spot and told them what to do."

"That's just what he needed! A little push was all he needed!"

Annabeth laughs softly as they continue their friendly banter. Percy and Piper stop arguing and look at her.

"What's so funny?" Percy asks.

"Nothing," Annabeth says, smiling.

"Hey guys! What are you doing way over there?" Jason calls out. "Leo's starting a bonfire."

"Seriously? It's like 10 degrees out here!" Percy exclaims. "And it's snowing!"

"That's what I said, but he insists on it," Jason says.

"Besides, we're on his property. He can do what he wants," Piper points out.

"Well, yeah," Percy says.

"Also," Annabeth begins, "a fire does sound nice."

"I guess," Percy admits.

"Well, whatever you guys decide to do, I'm going to make sure Leo doesn't go overboard with the fire," Jason says. "Coming, Perce?"

"Yeah, I'm right behind you."

...

-Percy-

"What are you up to, Pyro?" Percy asks Leo as he and Jason approach him.

"I want to make a bonfire," he explains without stopping his work, which at this moment is just stacking sticks and logs into a pile.

"I know that much, but how are you going to get it started in this cold?"

Leo's face splits into a grin. "Are you really asking me how I can start a fire?"

Percy is about to answer that, but hesitates because he actually has a point. Leo loves fire to the point where he almost seems insane.

"You're right. I shouldn't even ask."

"That's what I thought," Leo says. "Hey, go in the warehouse and get me a fuel can."

"Not it!" Jason calls.

"What are you, twelve?" Percy asks Jason, who grins and shrugs in reply.

"Percy, get me a fuel can," Leo says.

"Alright, whatever. Where is it?"

"In the warehouse, back corner on the right."

Percy sighs and goes to the warehouse to find it.

...

Jason whistles next to Percy as everyone gathers around the fire. In spite of the freezing temperatures, Leo's fire has grown pretty large. Leo's dad had shut off some of the heaters in the warehouse since everybody is standing around the fire now. Grover and Leo had also set up camping chairs or some extra logs for them to sit on. Percy settles in a chair and Annabeth sits next to him, leaning towards the heat.

Thirty minutes until midnight.

"So Leo really is a pyro," Piper teases.

"Yeah and he takes pride in it," Percy replies.

"I'm actually offended that you didn't know that," Leo says.

"Just don't burn down the science room," Jason says.

"Has that happened before?" Annabeth asks.

"Oh yeah," Percy replies. "Freshman year, he almost got kicked out for making his table spontaneously combust."

"That classroom was closed for two weeks for remodeling," Jason says. "Surprisingly, he was still allowed in after that was finished."

"Wait, he was allowed back in that class? I would've kept him as far away from those chemicals as possible!" Annabeth exclaims.

"The principal made him swear he wouldn't touch anything that could explode," Percy explains. "He could do a few mixtures, but anything that was known to blow up he had to sit by the teacher."

"Still though, I wouldn't have trusted him," Annabeth says, smirking at Leo, who is glaring at her.

"That's cold, Annabeth..."

She shrugs. "I'm cold being out here. I will admit the fire was a good idea."

"And the first person to thank me also just criticized me! I accept your thanks, Ms. Chase!"

"Anyway, how long until it's midnight?" Piper asks as she leans closer into Jason, who has his arm wrapped around her shoulders.

Percy checks his phone. "We've got about twenty minutes left."

"We should play a game," Grover suggests.

"Hide and seek!" Leo announces.

"No, we're not playing hide and seek," Piper says.

"How about Charades?" Jason suggests.

"I'm not good at charades," Percy groans.

"Really?" Annabeth asks him, a bit surprised.

"Yes, really," he replies.

"He's joking, right?" Annabeth asks the others.

"I wish he was," Leo snickers. "He's actually pretty bad."

"Oh really?" Annabeth says, glancing at Percy with a smirk on her face.

"I'm telling you, I'm terrible at Charades," he says.

"It's not necessarily that he's bad at acting," Jason says. "It's just that nobody ever knows what he's doing."

"I'd like to see that," Piper says with a grin.

"I second that," Annabeth says.

"I veto that," Percy says. "Any other games in mind?"

"You're no fun," Piper complains. "How about truth or dare?"

"I'm down," Jason says.

"Yeah, let's do that," Leo says. "Grover, you wanna join?"

"Sure, why not?"

"I guess we're playing truth or dare," Percy says, but he isn't against the idea.

"Who wants to go first?" Jason asks.

"We could flip a coin," Leo suggests.

"With all of us here? How would that work?" Grover asks him.

"Well if we go two at a time with the coin until the last people remain, it could work," Leo explains.

"Okay, well that isn't a bad idea, but does anybody have any change on them?" Jason asks.

"I never do," Percy says.

"Let's do rock, paper, scissors to see who goes first, then," Piper says.

"Or, just eenie meenie miney mo," Percy suggests.

"I have a better idea," Annabeth says. She pulls her phone out of her pocket and googles a spinning wheel app. She holds out her phone so everyone can see.

"That's perfect! Alright let's get this started!" Piper exclaims.

Annabeth puts everyone's names on the wheel and has it spin. "Juniper, you go first!"

"Oh, um... okay," she says shyly. "Umm... Piper, truth or dare?"

"Dare!"

"I dare you to bury yourself in the snow."

"Does it matter where?" Piper asks.

Juniper shakes her head. "Nope, anywhere you'd like."

Piper shrugs and digs right next to Jason. While she digs, she calls out to Leo, who chooses dare as well.

"I dare you to shove snow down your coat."

"I change to truth," Leo says quickly, but Piper interrupts.

"Nope! No! You don't get to switch!"

"You gotta do it, Leo," Percy chuckles. "What should his penalty be if he doesn't do it?"

"Pelt him with snowballs," Piper says.

"Sounds like a plan to me," Jason says, already grabbing a handful of snow.

"Alright, I'll do it!" Leo shouts. "I can't believe you guys. I think you like watching me suffer sometimes."

He shovels some snow into his hand and hesitates. Jason and Percy stand up, both of them with snowballs in their hands, ready to throw if Leo doesn't follow through the dare. He drops the snow down the front of his coat and shrieks, doing a weird dance to try to get the snow out from his coat. Everyone laughs while Jason and Percy both drop their snowballs.

"Alright, is it my turn now?" he asks, shivering uncontrollably.

"Yup," Piper says. "And you can't ask me anything since I'm still working on my first dare."

She's got her hole dug out and she's just now starting to throw some snow over her.

"Fine. Annabeth, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"When's the wedding?"

"Wh-what?" she asks, her cheeks flushed. She looks over at Percy, who is just as red as her.

"Leo!" Percy shouts.

"What? That's my question!"

"That's not what you're supposed to be asking!" Annabeth says.

"Alright, fine. What is your dream job?"

"Oh boy, here we go," Percy sighs and covers his eyes with one hand.

"What?" Leo asks, clueless.

"You have no idea what you're getting yourself into," Percy replies, swiftly getting smacked in the shoulder by Annabeth, who scoffs at him in annoyance. "Hey, I'm just warning him."

"Uh huh. Anyway, that's a much better question," Annabeth says as she gets this look in her eyes that Percy is all to familiar with by now. "I want to be an architect. I've already studied a lot about what the ancient Greeks did with their buildings."

"Ooh, that's interesting," Piper says. "Please, tell us more."

"I'm sure she would love to, but that should wait for some other time," Percy says. "We have ten minutes until midnight."

"You just don't want to listen to me talk about architecture for the remaining ten minutes," Annabeth frowns.

"I try to listen, I really do," he says. "But we also have a game to play."

"Alright, fine. I guess it is my turn, so... Jason, truth or dare?"

"Dare!" he exclaims.

"Do the Macarena until I tell you to stop."

"I hate that song..." Jason groans, but he gets up and starts doing it anyway, receiving some cheers and shouts from everyone.

"Yeah! You go, Grace!" Piper cheers.

"Percy! Truth or-"

"Dare!"

"Join me."

"What?"

"Do the Macarena with me. I'm not going to be the only one humiliated tonight."

Percy smirks and jumps to his feet. He stands next to Jason and starts once he starts from the beginning. "You're still the only one feeling humiliated, though. I, for one, kind of enjoy it."

Jason rolls his eyes at him, probably thinking why me.

"Alright, so Grover, truth or dare?" Percy asks.

"It's about time. I thought I was invisible for a second," he laughs. "Truth."

"How are my dance moves?" He starts the Macarena from the start again and really exaggerates the moves, especially the final part with the hips. Everyone laughs and cheers him on as he starts again.

"If I could rate it from 1 to 10, I'd have to say a 7," Grover says.

"No way, man, that's totally and 8 or a 9!" Piper protests.

"Thank you!" Percy says.

"Alright, I think you boys had enough," Annabeth says, though she's smiling from ear to ear.

Jason rejoices as he sits back down in his seat. Juniper allows Piper to come out from the snow and she takes a seat by Jason again. Percy retakes his seat next to Annabeth.

"What did you think?"

"I think you have too much fun," she replies.

"Hey guys!" Leo calls. "It's less than five minutes until the ball drops!"

He holds up his phone so everyone can see.

"We should've set up a screen out here," Jason says.

"With it snowing like this, it could damage the projector or whatever else we used," Percy says.

"Not unless we put something over it," Leo replies. "But it's too late for that now."

"Yeah, because you were more concerned about a fire," Percy says. "Not that I'm against the fire, though. The heat is nice."

Leo picks up a log and throws it into the flames. He does the same to three more logs before sitting in between everyone, turning his phone volume up to the max. On the screen, the massive crowd of New Yorkers gathered around One Times Square cheer and shout as the camera pans over them. Many of them have drinks in their gloved hands, others have signs with 'HAPPY NEW YEAR!' and '2013!' written in big, colorful letters. Percy spots a few couples holding each other, smiling and laughing as they look up past the camera. After the camera finishes going over the crowd, the scene changes as another camera points at the ball.

"I have a screen set up inside the warehouse!" Leo's dad calls out from the warehouse doors. "What are you standing out there for?"

"The fire feels nice!" Piper calls back.

"We can always come back outside," Percy says. "The fire won't go anywhere."

"And it's warm inside, too," Annabeth agrees.

"Oh, but wouldn't celebrating in the snow be romantic?" Piper asks with a smirk.

"And watching from a phone screen is?"

"Touché," Piper relents.

Everyone walks to the warehouse, but Percy lags behind.

"Everything okay, Percy?" Annabeth asks.

"Hm? Oh, yeah, just one second," he replies. He turns around and looks at Leo, who's still by the fire. "Hey Pyro! You coming or not?"

"I'm okay here. I gotta keep this fire burning, you know?"

"It'll only be a couple minutes, Leo. Come on!" Percy says, waving a hand towards the warehouse. "It's burning just fine, it won't go out."

"Okay, you're right. I'm right behind you."

They rejoin the others inside the warehouse just in time to see the countdown started. Once there were only ten seconds left, everyone's practically screaming the remaining numbers. Percy wraps an arm around Annabeth as the countdown reaches zero, when everyone shouts "HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

Leo sets off a hand-sized confetti cannon he was hiding in his pocket while Percy pulls Annabeth in for a kiss, which she happily accepts.

"Get a room, you two!" Piper teases, although her own cheeks are pink from Jason's affection.

"Why? Does this bother you?" Percy replies, still holding Annabeth close. Her cheeks are also a bit pink and it's not entirely because of the cold outside.

"As if you could bother me, Jackson," Piper challenges.

"I'm sure I can find something that annoys you."

"You already annoy me, but that doesn't mean I'm bothered by it."

"Uh huh, whatever you say," Percy says, unconvinced.

"You two aren't about to go to war over me, are you?" Annabeth laughs.

"Maybe," Piper replies simply. "I was friends with you first so I have dibs!"

"You have Jason, you can't call dibs on Annabeth," Percy retorts.

"So what? I can have both him and Annabeth if I want to," she says, smugly.

"That's not how this works!"

"You wanna bet?" She turns to Annabeth. "If you had to pick between me or Percy, who would you choose?"

Percy looks at Annabeth as she smiles up at him. "I'd pick Piper just because I love to mess with you."

"Ouch," Percy says. "So that's how it's going to be?"

"Yup!"

"Then I'll just go home by myself and you can stay with Piper, then," Percy says, but there's no malice in his tone and he's fighting back a smile.

"Okay, bye! See you later!" Annabeth says, smiling.

"I'm going!" Percy calls as he backs out of the warehouse towards where his car is parked.

"I'll text you in the morning!"

"Oh, and Chase?"

"Yes, Jackson?"

"I love you, too!"

The look on Annabeth's face breaks Percy's façade and he can't help but laugh. Her face turns beet red and she storms up to him and shoves him to the ground. He still laughs.

"Just for that, I'm definitely staying with Piper tonight," she says, trying hard to sound serious, but her smile betrays her.

"Whatever you say," Percy wheezes. He takes a moment to catch his breath before reaching up to Annabeth. "Can you help me up?"

Annabeth rolls her eyes but extends her hand to take his, but instead of helping him up, he pulls her down into the snow with him. She shrieks with surprise, which makes Percy laugh again, but not as much as before.

Annabeth smacks his arm and chest while scolding him, but unbeknownst to them, their stunt started a new snow fight when Jason throws a handful of snow on Piper, who in turn chucks a fresh snowball at him.

A/N: Hello again everyone! Many apologies on the long wait! I didn't know how I wanted to end this chapter and intended to write several more chapters ahead of this one, however that didn't happen as I have another bad case of writer's block. There hasn't been a day since the last update that I haven't thought about how to complete it and every attempt to do so just made my mind go blank. The same goes with my other stories such as Embers of the Republic. I hope I can continue writing regularly again now that this chapter is completed.