A/N: Hey guys! Back again with a really long chapter which is technically a re-meeting but I hope you like it! (Plus I did have a bonus meeting this month so hope that also makes up for it lol)
The snow falls thick and heavy, sticking to her hat and coat, making her shiver. Her eyes scan the bleak landscape and somehow the small town looks even smaller under the blanket of snow.
Or maybe she's just used to things being bigger.
It's been…longer than she's realized, but the familiarity rolls off the scene in waves and she can't tell if she's happy about that or not.
The school is to her right, despondent and empty with everyone on winter break. There's a grim satisfaction in the sentiment, she thinks as she walks past it, remembering briefly when she roamed its halls feeling exactly that way.
A bell tolls loudly enough to make her jump and she's forgotten what small-town churches can do to you. It's over to the left, a reminder to kids at school to stay good in the eyes of the lord, a message promptly forgotten and ignored.
The bell rings 2 times, letting her know she's already a half hour late, but she can't help the traffic. It's an exhausting twelve-hour drive and taking a nap midway through had been a bigger priority.
Luckily, her parent's house is close by, and in a few minutes she's crunching up the steps to the front door. It opens before she can even ring the bell and her father welcomes her in with a smile.
Like most things in the town, the house is pretty small, and she has to squeeze past her dad to make it to the entryway. But compared to her closet of an LA apartment, it's a mansion.
"Annabeth, it's so good to see you!" Her father sends her another smile as her mom walks into the hall.
"Annabeth! Finally!" She crosses the hall in three steps to giver her a hug that she's unable to reciprocate even if she wanted to.
She's too tired for any kind of cheer, festive or not, but she hauls her small suitcase to the living room and plops down on the couch anyway. The Christmas tree is so huge it takes up an entire corner of the room. The sight is the first thing to bring her actual nostalgia—the tree had always been her prerogative to decorate.
"How was the drive?" Her dad asks, sinking into his armchair, and for a moment it really feels like nothing has changed.
That's exactly why she knew she had to get away.
"Tiring, but okay," she replies, leaning back into the couch. Her mother enters with a glass of water and takes a seat beside her.
"We've missed you." The pointed tone makes her feel more reprimanded than missed.
Annabeth sighs. She's got no doubt that her mother has missed her, but the underlying hint of disapproval is evident.
The same hint when she had told them she was moving to LA. She'd always had a decent voice. From choirs to the small gig at the Roadhouse every Saturday, she figured she had some amount of potential and LA was far away enough from here. It had been an easy decision at the time.
"I missed you too," she replies, choosing to ignore the tone. She's too tired to get into it. Her mother seems to catch on to that, because she offers the bed and shower that are waiting upstairs.
Climbing up the stairs is an experience she didn't think she'd have, her feet automatically moving towards the points that didn't creak. It's yet another confirmation that no matter how far she goes this place will always be a part of her.
But she's known that. The past few months especially, getting turned down at every café, bar, and audition, her mind can't help but turn back to the Roadhouse.
The shower helps and the bed is a hundred times better than the backseat of her car. Her eyes are drifting shut before she knows it.
-.-
Maybe it's the smell of food or maybe it's her own hunger that wakes her up a few hours later. Her father is watching the TV by lightly dozing and the kitchen light is still on. A note from her mother near the crockpot lets her know where the food is and where her mother is (book club).
Spooning some of the chili into a bowl, she sits down at the table to eat. It's rich and heavy and a far cry from the ramen she ate for dinner the night before.
The nice thing about Christmas time in a town like this is almost every house has some amount of lights up making the night a little brighter. Stepping outside, the cloud cover has provided a hazy dark grey sky instead of black and it feels like a little bubble has enveloped the town.
She doesn't really know where she's walking to, but it beats doing nothing at home, so she continues down the sidewalk, hearing the snow crunch underneath her feet. It's a satisfying sound she hasn't heard in a while.
LA is always warm, always sunny, and even though everything is big and crowded, there's still a sense of sameness there. Different from the sameness here, as she walks by the bit of broken fence that's been there almost her entire life, but same nonetheless.
The grocery store is the next thing in sight, and she walks through the doors if only to have something to do. The first thing is a display of sugar cookies decorated in red and green for the holidays and the price is so low that it genuinely surprises her.
She probably looks dumb staring at the price point of sugar cookies, but LA's prices can cause a heart attack. She should stock up on food from here before she goes ba—
"Annabeth?"
The chill that sweeps through her at the sound of the voice is the kind of cold that could fog up a windshield. She freezes on spot.
"Annabeth, hey." And there he is, walking into view with that same messy hair stuffed under a beanie and those eyes, god those same sea-green eyes.
"Percy," she breathes back.
It's a name that never quite left her, visiting her in the late hours of the night as she curled up in bed. But somehow, she's forgotten that she'd probably see him again, being back in town.
"Oh wow, I didn't know you were in town." He looks just as surprised to see her. For a second it feels like they're strangers meeting each other for the first time.
"Yeah, I'm staying at my parent's house for the holidays."
"That's cool, I...we...we should hang out. I've been hanging out with Hazel and a few others, I'm sure they want to see you too."
He's rambling a little. It's not something he did often, so it's weird to see. Something deep inside her flares at the words—if she wanted to know about who he was hanging out with, she would've asked. She knows she left. She knows he watched her leave.
"Yeah, that sounds good." She doesn't really know what she's saying but she's just so cold. He never used to make her cold, but now, things are so…different.
"Cool, I'll stop by your place tomorrow? We could all get lunch?"
She nods, unable to find the words because the way he's looking at her is killing her a little.
When he says bye and walks away, she pretends like she doesn't watch him. And even though it's just further into the grocery store, there's a pang in her heart at how it must have been like this for him, watching her leave.
Without buying anything, she turns around and heads straight back home.
-.-
The church bell has just finished ringing for the eleventh time when there's a knock on her door.
She's been up since eight doing almost every chore she despised as a child as a way to get out her nerves from the knowledge that Percy might show up. He could not, he's been known to forget things, or maybe it had been a superficial offer. And never has she known him to be this punctual.
But there he is when her mother opens the front door.
"Percy! How nice to see you!"
"Hello, Mrs. Chase." There's a shyness about him that's a little new, and she wonders how much could change in a year.
Evidently, a lot. Just the way he looks at her when she arrives at the door brings that cold back and it's not just the air from the outside. Something is just different in those sea-green eyes.
"Let's go," she says, stepping out before her mom can continue the conversation.
Percy falls into step beside her. "How have you been? How's LA?"
She shrugs. Does she paint the picture of her not so glamorous life in LA, living in a cramped apartment, unable to use her voice to do anything but take orders at a restaurant?
"Big, busy, it's okay."
He just nods, not pushing any further, and it's the first indication she gets that he might actually still be the same Percy she knew. The one who can read her well enough to know what not to say.
"It's been pretty much the same here. Hazel's practically taken over the Roadhouse but Ellen still owns it. Nico works there too. He got a boyfriend, actually, you'll meet him. Jason's seeing some girl in the city, so he goes there practically every weekend."
It's a lot of words to not mention himself.
"Sounds like they're doing well."
Snow flurries are starting to fall, dancing around Percy's head as he nods. "Yeah."
They pass the school, both of them turning to look even though it's been a long time since it's been theirs.
"So what have you been doing?" She asks, tearing her gaze away from the bleachers that bring back too many memories of much happier times.
Percy's gaze is on the bleachers too and he responds with a shrug. "I've been working at Jo's."
The grocery store. It makes so much more sense now that she'd run into him there of all places. It also doesn't escape her that his response is about his job and not about him. But he respected her boundaries, the least she can do is offer him the same respect.
They stop at the parking lot and she spots her car just a few spaces away from his old jeep. It makes sense, most people park here when garages get full, but there's probably some poetry in how their cars are three spaces apart with nothing but empty air in between.
"Ready?" he asks, even though he doesn't need to, she's already walked all this way with him. She doesn't know where this shyness is coming from but it's so different from the Percy she's used to that instead of some smart response, she just nods.
His car smells like him and just the sight of the passenger seat reminds her how it had once been her place. The backseat is clean—the whole car is actually—and she straight out frowns at the lack of empty cups in cupholders.
It's a sentiment she never thought she'd have.
Percy notices her frown as he starts the engine but doesn't say anything, letting her eyes wander to the backseat. A flush graces her face because she'd ended up in his lap one too many times there.
How can so much have changed?
She glances at Percy as he drives. How can he feel so…different?
"What's up?" he asks when he notices her staring.
"Your car is clean."
He stops at a light and tilts his head at her. "I thought you'd like that."
She shrugs. "It's different." And looking out the window watching the landscape roll by, she adds, "A lot of things are different."
They aren't. It's really only one thing. But it's so encompassing that it might as well be everything. She thinks he knows that too.
The silence between them is thick but fragile. There's a pressure in her chest she tries to breathe through. It would take one word to cut through it.
The road is just a little uphill, slow going due to the snow. It's a familiar path, but the person beside her is making it feel completely new.
It's becoming unbearable and she feels something in her break.
"Percy—"
"I missed you."
His words shatter the air, something in his tone aches. It's the same ache in her, she realizes, the pressure on her chest, all because of her.
"I missed you too." Her vision is just slightly blurrier. She can't tell if it's the snow flurries or the tears welling up.
"God, Annabeth—" his words cut off, but he doesn't have to finish for her to know.
"Yeah," she whispers.
It's only been a year or so, a little longer. But it's enough. A year is enough to change everything. More so than she could have ever imagined.
The road twists at the end, past a group of trees as they arrive at the Roadhouse. It looks the same as it always has. Percy even parks in her spot, a little ways off right by the backroad.
The air is cold when they step out but it's a little easier to breathe now and she knows that something has changed between them.
He offers her a small smile and leads the way to the steps. A year might have changed everything, but it took one moment to break it.
She smiles back, following his lead.
The Roadhouse is warm and welcoming with the same yellow lighting that always made it feel a little out of time with the rest of the world in a way she loves.
"Oh my god, Annabeth!"
Hazel's rushed over to her before she's even done taking in the place and her wide grin is contagious.
"Hey Hazel," she replies, leaning to give the other girl a hug.
"You didn't tell me you're in town!" Hazel exclaims, pushing them into the biggest booth towards the back. Percy slides in first and she follows suit without really thinking about it. Hazel sits herself opposite of them.
"I just got in yesterday. I thought Percy would have told you."
Both women turn to him and he shrugs, that shyness returning momentarily. "I figured it'd be a surprise."
"I can't believe you, Percy." Hazel shakes her head. "How could you not tell us? I would have made sure Jason stayed in town."
"I didn't know either."
Hazel looks visibly surprised at the sentence and shoots a quick glance over to Annabeth before composing herself.
"Well, I'll get you guys drinks and food."
And with that she exits but her words linger. The implication was clear, she had thought Percy had known Annabeth's plans. She had assumed that Percy and Annabeth…
Annabeth shakes her head of the thought. It could have been like that.
Luckily, before she can dig herself deeper into the hole, another guy walks up to their booth. Tall, blonde, attractive, he shoots a smile towards Percy.
"Percy! How's it going? And who's this?"
There's a suggestive hint to the tone that makes her get a little red, and turning to look at Percy reveals he's also flustered.
"Hey Will, this is Annabeth. Annabeth, Will is Nico's boyfriend."
Will's eyes go wide at the introduction before he smiles. "Oh! The infamous Annabeth! It's nice to meet you!"
She shakes his hand and offers a smile as her mind runs a mile a minute, wondering what had earned her the title of "infamous."
"You too."
"Is Nico around?" Percy asks, turning to scan the room. His arm come up behind her shoulders as he holds the position. She has a sudden desire to pull it around herself.
"He'll be out in a second, his break just started."
"Cool."
Will slides across from them, turning his attention towards Annabeth. "So, I hear you live in LA. How do you like it?"
Annabeth shrugs. "It's alright, big, crowded."
The fact that she's rephrased the same response clearly says something about her hesitance to talk about it.
Will nods. "Yeah, sound about right. And the gas prices are insane."
That was the last thing she'd been expecting to hear.
"And food," she hears herself adding.
Will nods. "Oh yeah, I think I lived off ramen in grad school."
She might cry. Finding someone in this place who understands her struggle, with no expectations, is a relief she didn't know she needed this badly until now.
"You kind of have to when you're in that kind of position."
"Oh yeah, ended up becoming a waiter at this place called Cali's to make it through school."
"No way! I know that place, I work there too!"
Will shoots her a huge grin. "No way! What a small world! How's Leo doing?"
She rolls his eyes. "He finally proposed."
"Oh my god, that took forever."
"Right!"
It's the most excited and open she's been about her life this entire time, and with someone she's just met. But it's the perfect ice breaking she needed. And though Percy's been silent, she's glad he's here. She's glad he heard because it's the only way she could have talked about it.
Nico shows up right on cue, eyes going wide at the sight of her.
"Annabeth?"
"Yep." She responds, in better spirits now.
"Cool."
Good to know that Nico hasn't changed at least.
"Sorry for the delay! Got a bit busy, but here you are!" Hazel arrives with two beers, nachos, and a burger.
"I hope you don't expect me to eat all this!"
Hazel smiles at her.
"Percy will help."
And with that she walks back to the bar and Annabeth turns to Percy, who's much closer than she remembers him being. Then she realizes that she's scooted closer to him, without even realizing it, and he's almost against the wall.
She nudges his leg with hers in question. He freezes at the motion and for a second she wonders if she's done something wrong. But a second later he shoots her a smile and picks up a nacho.
"The burger is all yours though."
She can manage that. Another thing that hadn't changed: Roadhouse burgers.
"God, I missed this!" She groans, taking a bite of it.
"More than you missed me?" Percy teases and it feels so natural that she might burst with happiness.
"Definitely," she teases back.
He bumps their knees and makes a face and everything is so warm.
"So, you gonna sing for us or what," Nico interrupts taking a chip from the nachos.
"Um…"
Nico turns to her, completely deadpan. "Seriously, this used to be your job."
He's got a point. It's nothing anyone hasn't heard before. Well, with the exception of Will, but she just can't bring herself to. Not today. She's done a lot for today.
"Maybe later."
"How long are you staying?" Will asks and she feels Percy tense up just slightly. It's a deadline she hasn't really discussed yet.
"A week."
"That's not enough time!" Hazel's back, shoving her brother further in to sit down across from her.
Annabeth shrugs. "It's all the time I could take off."
Well, Cali probably would have given her more time had she asked, but she'd mostly been under the impression that this trip was going to be…not this.
She looks around her group of friends, Hazel and Nico bickering about something while Will listens in. Turning her attention to Percy, she finds he's already looking at her but turns away when their eyes meet. Percy, out of everyone, has been the most surprising.
It's like she needs to find the road back to him. Back to herself, really. Seeing all the people around her, though, she thinks she might be on the right track.
-.-
It's already darker by the time they leave the Roadhouse, even though it's just barely afternoon. Living in LA has made her forget the darkness that the winter months often brought.
Sitting in Percy's passenger seat feels more familiar by the second. He pulls away from the parking lot and starts back on the main road. She watches the trees and the backroad disappear in the rearview as they drive. The snow has stopped, leaving just the cold, but there's a spark of warmth inside her now.
"Thanks for coming, everyone was really happy to see you."
She turns to him. "Thank you for taking me."
He nods, and his hair falls more onto his face. She has to resist the urge to brush it away and it hits her that she knows what his hair feels like. Her gaze falls momentarily to his lips and she can remember how they feel against her skin.
And now that the dam has broken, everything comes rushing back to her. And being right here, in his car next to him, brings back every good memory she's ever had in this place.
But the ache in his eyes reminds her how she can't, and it's her own doing.
"How's Jo's?" she asks, just to get her mind off of it.
"The job? It's alright, helps pays the bills. Plus Jo herself is really nice so I can't complain."
Right. Annabeth remembers Jo, a pretty girl who had a witty tongue (no doubt from growing up in the Roadhouse). She also, if Annabeth recalls, always had a thing for Percy.
She never really acted on it, knowing that he was with Annabeth, but she could always see it in the other girl's eyes.
"How's Jo doing? Ask you out yet?" There's an underlying bitterness to her tone that comes out, making her regret ever opening her mouth. She truly didn't mean any harm towards the girl.
Percy frowns, no doubt picking up on her tone. "Good, and no… why would she do that?"
It's a hole she's dug herself into. Shrugging to appear casual, she plows on. "Well, she always had a thing for you."
"What?"
She turns to Percy, unable to understand his complete disbelief. He was kind, charming, attractive, literally everything someone could ask for, and he's shocked that a pretty girl liked him?
How does she even begin to explain that? So instead she chooses to shrug again. "Yeah."
"Oh."
There's a silence that follows during which Annabeth has to stop herself from asking if, now that he knows this, if he's interested in her. Though she's pretty sure she wouldn't be able to handle the answer.
"Well, I'm not interested."
The relief that floods Annabeth is shameful.
"Oh."
There's another silence that screams questions unasked before Percy speaks up again.
"Did you think I wo—"
"I don't know," she replies quickly.
"Annabeth."
As if on cue, the light turns red and he turns to completely face her. "You know I can't."
His voice breaks a little and so does her heart.
"I'm sorry," she whispers.
"It's—"
"No," she cuts in, her voice hard, not towards him but rather herself. "I'm sorry."
The rest of the short drive is silent until he stops in front of her house. "I'll pick you up again tomorrow?"
She knows she shouldn't be falling into this, but she doesn't stop herself from nodding.
"Yeah."
-.-
It's the first sunny day since she's been here. For some reason that helps. Even though it's colder than snow, it feels like some semblance of normal. She wonders when LA became the normal.
Percy picks her up again, this time just honking from his car, and maybe it's the fact that he's five minutes late which adds to the smile on her face as she hops in.
"Hey."
Her mood rubs on off him pretty quickly because he grins back, the familiar grin, confident and devoid of the shyness that seemed to be a constant of late.
"Hey, you're in a good mood."
She shrugs, watching the houses pass. "It's sunny."
"Reminds you of LA?"
Tearing her eyes away from the bleachers of their old school, she turns to him with wide eyes. How could he have known what she was thinking? At the same time, there's a pang in her heart, because Percy reading her like a book feels just like old times.
He shoots her a quick smile, not tearing his eyes away from the road. "You're an LA girl now."
There's a sadness behind the words that stops her dead in her tracks. Is she?
Percy's silent, and the ache is back. For someone whose talent is using her voice, she's really struggling with the words now.
"No, not really." She sighs, slumping back in the passenger seat. Percy turns to her for a second to raise an eyebrow before focusing on the road again.
"I tried to run, but you can only run so far. This place," she waves her hand around at the blanket of snow covering everything, "is something that will always be a part of me."
You will always be a part of me.
But she doesn't say that part, because opening this up again could break whatever balance they've created here. It doesn't stop the thought of wanting to be closer from blooming into her mind, though.
"Do you ever think about here?"
She's pretty sure he's asking about the town, but then again, they've always been good at listening to the words not said. And if she's being honest… here, this car, him, she will never get out of her mind.
"Yeah. Like I said, being in LA has taught me that much, I can't blot this out." There's a pause in her sentence that even she didn't mean to be there. The words come out of their own accord. "And I don't want to."
"Really?" He looks sideways at her, turning up the road as the tall trees come into view.
"Really."
The Roadhouse is more crowded this time, most likely because it's the afternoon on a Saturday, and Percy has to park even closer to the backroad.
"Jason's here, brought his girl too." Percy says, shutting the car door behind him. She hates the part of herself that wants him to say she's his girl. Those days are over, she needs to stop.
But entering the Roadhouse always feels a little out of time, and she enters with Percy just close enough behind her to make his presence felt. She savors every second.
The group is at a pool table in the back and she catches a glimpse of Will, who waves her forward.
"Annabeth! Percy, finally! One of you needs to play Jason."
"What, why?" Percy asks from behind her. A shiver runs down her spine at the closeness of his voice. This is the time to pull away, but she feels herself draw closer instead.
"Because Hazel wants to play the winner."
"But Hazel's amazing at this, she always wins!" Percy complains, a hand reaching around her to grab two bottles of beer from the table.
It's stupid to find that attractive, and she accepts the bottle only to have something else to do with her mouth than hide a smile.
"Annabeth! Hey!" Jason finally acknowledges her existence, walking up to her, and she rolls her eyes because that's typical Jason behavior.
"Hey, don't be mean," he says, noticing the eye roll. "Let me introduce you to Piper."
A girl with choppy brown hair and a gorgeous, tanned skin tone that most people in LA would die for walks up next to him. Jason's arm slides around her waist easily and she pretends it doesn't amplify the ache in her heart.
She's only half-aware of taking a small step closer to Percy.
"Hi! Nice to meet you!"
Piper smiles back. "Yeah, you too. I've heard a bit about you from the stories Jason has told."
Annabeth directs a glare at Jason. "Some of those are confidential."
Jason's hands come up in defense. "And I've kept that promise…mostly."
She sighs, shooting another glare, as Piper bursts out into laughter.
"Wow, Jason," Percy speaks up from next to her, taking a sip of his beer.
"Shut up, you probably have worse stories!"
Percy smirks. "Yeah, but I don't kiss and tell."
The group laughs at the joke but Annabeth's shaking a little at the thought of kissing Percy again. She takes another sip of her beer instead.
Piper, it turns out, is really chill and unreasonably good at pool. Nico's ever-present frown deepens when she beats him, and it takes a kiss from Will to get him to uncross his arms. Annabeth wonders how much of that was real and how much was an excuse to get Will to smother him with attention, after she sees a self-satisfied smirk on his face for the briefest second.
"He thinks he's subtle but Will totally knows," Percy whispers, leaning closer to her. Maybe it's the alcohol that's loosened her up, or maybe just the atmosphere of hanging out with friends that are couples, but she leans in even closer.
"It is pretty obvious."
Their lips are only a few inches away and god she should stop this.
"What are you two whispering about!" Jason shouts, making them both jump back.
"I'll go against Piper," Annabeth finds herself volunteering, just to take the attention off of their, albeit harmless, conversation.
"But it's been a while, so I think you'll still win," she adds, crossing to the other side of the table further away from Percy.
"Or maybe my lucky streak will end," Piper jokes, setting up the balls.
Piper's "lucky streak" does not end. She scores two balls with the first shot. Then another. Until she finally misses and steps back.
"Call it what it is Piper, talent." Jason's arms wrap around her waist as he compliments her but despite rolling her eyes, she leans back into it.
Annabeth wishes that Percy was closer. A glance towards him rewards her with the sight of his sea-green eyes already trained on her. He shoots her a smile and a thumbs up, making her heart race as she lines up her shot.
She gets one in. It's better than nothing. She steps back to inspect possible angles as Percy walks around to her. Her heart soars a little at the action and the thought that maybe he wants to be as close as she does.
"Nice shot."
Shrugging, she focuses on trying to find an angle which is suddenly ten times harder with Percy's heat so close to her.
She misses her next shot.
Piper gets another one in, but at this point the game is hers unless Annabeth can do magic.
"Can I popcorn someone in for me? You're just too good, Piper."
Piper laughs. "I don't mind, who are you gonna call in?"
"Percy."
Percy's eyebrows quirk up at the sound of his name, but he steps forward and she hands him the cue.
"You sure about this?"
She meets his eyes. "Of course."
The unsaid words linger for a moment more before he accepts the cue and approaches the table.
Almost instantly, Annabeth regrets her decision (which had been based on the fact that she knows he's good) because Percy playing pool is so much more attractive than it needs to be. It's unfair how good he looks and the urge to kiss him which has, if she's being honest, been building since the moment she saw him again, increases even more.
He gets two more in.
"Yes! Go Percy and Annabeth!" Will cheers as Jason shoots him a dirty look.
"Hey, they're the underdogs in this match," Will defends but she's more hung up on the Percy and Annabeth part. Even their names sound like they go together.
Piper's all but won at this point, but Annabeth's at the table for a latch ditch effort when Percy materializes next to her, leaning down to adjust her angle. His arms envelop hers and she knows he felt the shiver sun through her body.
"This is our hail Mary," he jokes to the group and everyone laughs as they both attempt to make the shot.
They miss.
They miss by a tiny fraction and Will and Nico groan in disappointment and even Piper looks upset. But Annabeth's heart is racing and she has no idea how they didn't miss by a mile. All her concentration and focus had gone out the door the moment Percy's skin touched hers.
"Good game," Annabeth manages to say when Piper wins, but Piper shrugs modestly.
"Thanks."
"Alright!" Hazel's voice is clear and loud above the noise. "Who won? I'm ready!"
Now this is a game to watch but Annabeth honestly can't concentrate at all. Percy, who hasn't quite stopped touching her, is causing a fire to blaze in her and god she wants nothing more than to lean into him all the way.
Maybe he feels the heat too, because a few shots into the game, he leans down to whisper to her.
"Care for a drink?"
She nods, just for the sake of walking away from all this, and they head to the bar.
"What do you want?" Percy asks. He's still close to her and she can still feel his heat, but being closer to the door means it's just cold enough to make it easier to breathe now.
"Honestly, nothing. I just wanted to stretch my legs."
Percy is already leading her towards the small line of arcade machines in the corner, as if he'd been expecting the answer.
"How about a game?" He suggests, stopping in front of the pinball.
"I'll watch you."
In truth, she doesn't really think she can concentrate on a game with her heart racing a mile a minute and her thoughts as clouded as they are. It's different from the answer she would've given him in the past, and she remembers competing against him for kisses.
But for some reason, despite their history, everything feels new with him, like she truly is meeting him for the first time again.
Yet, that isn't completely true either given how easy it is for them to fall back into each other, the familiarity creating a bridge across the gap she had made by leaving.
It's all really messy and she doesn't have the capacity to sort it out.
She's so lost in her thoughts that she doesn't realize she's reaching out to push his hair out of his face until he freezes under the touch, the pinball falling, causing his game to end.
They stand there like that for a moment, before his eyes, still filled with that ache, flicker away.
"Want to get out of here?"
She nods and he's walking back towards the pool table before she's done. This isn't good. She told herself not to do this again and yet here she is, letting it happen, enabling it even.
Percy's back with her coat in his hand and she shrugs it on as they quickly leave the Roadhouse and walk to his car.
The cold night air sobers her up and there's almost an awkwardness in the air when they're both sitting in his car.
What had they thought would happen?
She can see Percy trying to figure out what to say, fingers turning the key just to have something to do. The headlights light up the backroad and Annabeth gives into the desire she's had for some time now.
"Let's take the backroad," she suggests, breaking the silence. "That is, if you don't mind driving around for a while."
It's the perfect solution to the awkward problem they created and riding alongside Percy always feels good to her.
"I don't mind at all." The smile in his voice is evident and he peels back from the parking spot, turning onto the back road.
The night sky is black, no cloud cover to bring light. It's exceptionally dark down the dirt and snow-covered road between the trees. It's pretty but useless, unnecessarily wrapping around and adding fifteen minutes to the drive up.
But it's perfect if you want the road less travelled with the guy you can't stop thinking about.
Percy breaks the silence. "I haven't heard you sing since you've been back."
It's an innocent comment but she knows what he's really asking is why. The truth is, she has been recording some songs to send to some talent agencies during the day in her bedroom. She's been attempting to write her own songs to put on Youtube. She hasn't stopped pursuing her dream.
LA might have been a place to run to at first, but her goal hasn't changed. And LA has people. She thinks about the man she'd served at Cali's one day. A talent agent who had handed her his card when she had told him a little about herself as she poured his coffee.
"I don't have a song yet."
He turns to her. "You're writing your own music?"
She had been, all during the year before she left for LA. She just never felt they were good enough to sing at the Roadhouse, preferring covers instead. And maybe it was also because they tended to include him in some way.
"Trying to."
There's another silence where only the sound of his tires crunching against the dirt can be heard.
"You're going to make it, Annabeth." He speaks softly but it resonates against the silent night.
And before she can say anything he pushes on. "I miss you, so much. I—"
His voice breaks off and she can feel his pain. It's her pain too.
"Anyway, but I know you're going to make it."
She's got tears in her eyes and this time she doesn't stop herself from reaching out and grabbing his hand.
"I—"
Her voice catches and she finishes the sentiment by squeezing his hand. The ache is back, thrumming dull and heavy against her chest, forming the very air between the driver's and passenger's seats as she clings to his hand like a lifeline.
"Thank you," she whispers softly.
Slowly, as he turns onto the main road, it gets a little easier to breathe and she holds his hand closer to her heart.
"I'm glad you came to visit," he says, intertwining their fingers.
"Me too. I'm sorry I…I didn't tell you."
I'm sorry I didn't keep up with you. I'm sorry I left like that. She doesn't need to say it for him to understand.
"Maybe you can next time?"
There's a hope in his voice and she wants to kick herself for the mess she's made of everything.
"Definitely."
Her heart aches even more as they pass the bleachers of the school and she's still got tears welled up in her eyes by the time he stops in front of her house.
He looks over to her and something inside her breaks at the look in his eyes. She understands now what was missing from them. It's the same thing that made her eyes feel just has dull.
"I'll see you tomorrow?"
It's a blessing and a curse and she knows it's a different kind of pain for a few moments of pleasure. She can't say no even if she wanted to.
"Of course."
-.-
Christmas Eve at the Roadhouse is quiet since most people would rather be home on a Sunday night but she's here with her friends. Percy and her walk in together and Hazel shoots her a questioning look, no doubt about their disappearance yesterday, but she just offers a small smile.
Beelining for Will, she asks him if he wants a drink, leading him towards the bar and away from the others. If there's anyone who will understand this, it's him. She hands him her phone and explains everything and, sure enough, he accepts with a smile.
Even without turning, she can feel Percy's eyes on her, but she can't look. Not yet. She needs to do this while she still can.
Walking over to the small stage area, she picks up the guitar. It's the Roadhouse guitar but she's been playing it for years now and her fingers find the chords easily. Walking up to the mic gives the same rush it always does when performing. Even though today, besides her group of friends, there are only a handful of other people.
It's better this way, this isn't really a roadhouse kinda song.
"Everyone's been asking me to sing," she starts off a little nervously, "so here I go."
That captures everyone's attention and suddenly all eyes are on her. She looks out at the sparse crowd as she begins to sing softly, each word an unspoken truth of her own story.
After all the heartbreak, she's finally composed something she feels like she can perform. Rather, it's something she has to perform.
The doors open just as she ramps up the chords on the guitar for the chorus.
"So we could call it even,
You could call me "babe" for the weekend,
'Tis the damn season,
Write this down,
I'm staying at my parents' house
And the road not taken looks real good now
And it always leads to you and my hometown."
And for the first time since she's started her song, her eyes flick over to Percy. By now he has to know it's about him. One look at his eyes and she knows he's found himself in her story.
Her voice gets louder as she moves into the second verse, feeling the thrum of the guitar vibrating in her heart as she sings more freely than perhaps she ever has in her whole life.
And yet it's not till she reaches the bridge does she realize just how hard her heart is pounding in her chest. Her voice softens as she speaks her ultimate final truth.
"And the heart I know I'm breaking
is my own,
To leave the warmest bed
I've ever known.
We could call it even,
Even though I'm leaving,
And I'll be yours for the weekend,
'Tis the damn season."
Her own vision is blurry now and she doesn't know how Percy is reacting to her words. But she keeps on singing, bringing back the chorus a final time as she attempts to blink them away.
By the time she can see again, she's strumming the last note of the song.
"And it always leads to you and my hometown…."
There's a silence as her voices fades out and she can see the look on all her friends faces as she scans the room, once again stopping at Percy. Grey eyes meet green and she can see the tears welled up in them.
The whole room bursts into cheers and applause, causing her to jump, breaking eye contact and looking out at the room as a whole. To her surprise, her mother and father are also there in the back, wearing wide smiles.
"OH MY GOD ANNABETH!" Hazel jumps forward to pull her into a hug. "That was amazing!"
And then all of her friends are surrounding her, Nico wearing a rare smile, Jason and Piper moving to hug her as well, and finally Will, walking to her with her phone in hand wearing a soft smile.
"I don't know if the camera can do it justice, that was amazing."
She takes her phone and thanks Will. Honestly, she has no idea if her singing was any good, it feels like a blur now, but hopefully the video will be good enough to post online and send to some people.
Her parents, who must have been the ones to walk in right before the chorus, push forward to hug her.
"You did amazing sweetie," her mother tells her and there's a hint of…acceptance behind her tone.
She nods and smiles at everyone who comes up, until finally, they all move away, letting the one person who the song was meant for to step forward.
Nerves overtake her as Percy steps up, everyone else gone all of sudden, giving them the space. There's too much for her to read, even between the lines. She can't do anything but stand still as he stops, inches away.
There aren't any words, she's already bared them out for the world, for him. His hand comes up to cup her face and she leans forward without even meaning to.
In a second his lips are on hers and her heart is coming together and breaking apart all at once.
-.-
They don't talk about it. They don't have to. They both know she's leaving and there's not much that can be done about that.
Especially not now. He's sitting on her bed as she packs up her stuff, both of them talking about everything that isn't the obvious way her suitcase is filling back up.
Her phone dings and she takes the opportunity to stop packing, choosing to grab her phone and cuddle into Percy's arms.
He pushes his face into her neck making her shiver as she opens up the email.
Her eyes widen with every word and Percy stops nuzzling as he feels her tense.
"What happened?" he asks, leaning back to look at her face.
Wordlessly, she hands him her phone.
Like everything with Percy, his reaction is bittersweet. The wide smile on his face as he congratulates her is true but they both feel the finality of her leaving now.
Brunner, the man from Cali's who had handed her his card, had emailed her back, despite the holidays, asking her for a meeting. The videos she had sent, including the Roadhouse one, were promising and he was looking forward to meeting with her.
Not that it had been a question before—clearly she had been packing just moments before—but she has to leave now. There's something waiting for her in LA.
"I'm so proud of you," he says, pressing a kiss on her forehead.
She hears the unsaid words and pulls him into a kiss instead, pouring everything of herself into it. In case it's the last time she can.
-.-
Here she is again. Her car all packed up, ready to put Oregon in the rearview. And like last time, Percy is there.
"I wish you the best, Annabeth," Percy says standing in front of her. They're in the parking lot between the Methodist and their old school and she feel tears freeze up on her face. The cold is fogging up more than the windshield by the way her heart is aching.
"I promise to call." A promise she made last time too, but she means it.
"Okay."
He avoids looking at her and she knows he's remembering too. She puts a hand on his face and forces him to look her in the eyes.
"I'm not running away this time, Percy. I couldn't even if I wanted to, not when you're here."
He stares at her for a second, silently trying to read her mind. She hopes to god he can see it on her face, hopes he remembers her words.
"You better call me then," he attempts to joke, but the way his voice breaks kills her more inside.
She's out of words, she doesn't know what else she can say to assure him. It's up to her actions now.
Nodding, she pulls him closer. "I promise."
With that, she captures his lips in one last sweet kiss. The tears start to flow down her cheeks and she goes for a smile when they break apart.
Percy doesn't say anything, just holds up a hand as a bye and she manages a nod before she quickly gets into her car.
She watches him in her rearview until the snow swirls up, blocking him from sight.
-.-
As soon as she hits California, she turns into a rest stop. A second later, she's dialing a number.
"Annabeth?"
"Check your email in a second."
"Okay?" Percy sounds shocked and confused at the same time. She can imagine the way his eyebrows are probably scrunched up. There's a pang in her heart at the thought but she pushes it away.
It'll be okay.
"Just keeping up on my promise to call," she says, leaning back with a smile. "But I got to keep driving so I'll talk to you later?"
"Of course." She hears the smile in his voice right before she hangs up. And just before she returns to the highway, she sends the email sitting in her drafts.
Hey Percy,
Here are recordings of some of my original songs. I never shared them before because I was afraid to speak my truth. But it's the season of giving, so here's my gift. I'm sure you'll find yourself among my words.
After all, it all leads to you.
A/N: THERE IS AN EPILOUGE to this! I published this entire story as a separate work as well because it made sense for the epilogue to be the second chapter to it, it's on my profile! It's also on my AO3: foreverfangirlwrites (which as a whole oneshot series that isn't published on here so if you want to read more of my work please check it out!)
But let's talk a little about this fic, as you can tell it's heavily inspired by Taylor Swift's new song tis' the damn season (technically her lyrics say to write it down, so I did) The lyrics Annabeth sings in the fic are from the song as well, so I'd recommend it if you liked this!
I know this is technically a re-meeting, but I think the concept of things changing and re-discovery is as important as a new meeting. Annabeth learns over the course of this fic that her hometown in a part of her that she shouldn't run away from but embrace. That's how she's able to actually move forward, and Percy is the path to that, which is why she doesn't let him go when she leaves again. There's so much more to say about this but I'll leave that up to you guys :)
I hope you guys liked this! Please Review! I'd love to hear your thoughts on this!
And as always, thanks for reading!
See ya! :)