A/N: Posting early because I will be indisposed tomorrow. As always, I'd like to thank my betas: AlEmily360, SapphireTrafficker, tigerlilycorinne, AshenMoon42, Lesbian101, Shiuanc2, and LadyHW.
November brought more rain and never-ending grey skies. In the mornings, Annabeth walked to class, chin buried in the collar of her winter coat. In the afternoons, she stayed in the library, her head buried in end-of-semester work. Even with all of the extra pressure from the fast approach of finals week, Annabeth's mind wandered back to Silena and Luke and, annoyingly most of all, Percy.
He had been giving her space since Silena's death. At first, she'd appreciated it. There was something about him that always had her confessing her innermost thoughts and feelings. Something in his eyes always pulled the truth out of her, whether he could recognize it for what it was or not. His absence had seemed like a reprieve, but now she just missed him. They hadn't hung out, at least not properly, since the night they went to the mountain.
She wasn't even sure if he knew about Luke and the non-existence of their relationship. She wasn't sure if it would even make a difference. She had some inkling as to how he felt—there was no mistaking the look in his eyes when he looked at her, or the way he smiled at her when he thought she wouldn't notice. It seemed like she was all he was waiting for, but Annabeth didn't think this was something she could allow herself.
Percy was too kind and too loyal for someone like her. She was a liar and a backstabber. And she had an expiration date.
But she wanted it, god did she want it. Every glance in class, every brush of their fingers, nudge of their shoulders. Every hearty laugh and crooked smirk. Everything about him drew her closer, no matter how much she tried to drag herself back. He was a riptide, pulling her out to sea. She was sure she'd drown in him.
:::
"I'm going out with Jason tonight, so you can just take my key," Piper said, drawing her key off of her keychain. She pressed it into Annabeth's palm.
"Should I wait up?" Annabeth asked, even though she knew she didn't have to. She and Piper had fallen into a sort of routine since Annabeth began staying with her after Silena's death. She'd stood in her newly half-empty dorm room and realized that she couldn't stay there. She'd packed her bags and had been at Piper's ever since. While Piper was understanding, Annabeth knew she'd wear out her welcome soon.
"No, it's alright. I'll probably be back around noon." Piper put her keychain back into her bag. Annabeth nodded. Piper's Friday date nights with Jason always turned into Saturday date mornings (and sometimes date afternoons).
"Okay, I'll see you then," Annabeth said. She moved her laptop off of her lap and leaned over the coffee table for another handful of goldfish.
"Okay…" Piper pursed her lips. "Do you have any plans?" she asked tentatively, sitting at Annabeth's feet on the couch.
Annabeth shrugged, suddenly feeling slightly ashamed. She hadn't had Friday plans for two weeks, or any plans actually. Piper seemed to draw her answer from Annabeth's silence.
"I know it's been...hard. Believe me, I know." She took a deep breath and placed her hand on Annabeth's ankle. Annabeth stopped chewing. "But you need to reach out. Do things, see people."
"I see people," Annabeth said, petulant. "I see you."
"Besides me. You know that I'll always be here, but you need more than one person. What about Hazel? Or Percy? Or even Leo?"
Annabeth scrunched up her eyebrows. "Leo?"
"I think you'd get along once you got to know him better."
Annabeth sighed. "I don't need to get to know him better. Or anyone. I'm doing—I'm fine." Even to her, it sounded hollow. She knew that Piper had seen her fall into a routine of sleeping in too late and going to bed too early, getting up only to go to class and use the bathroom. It wasn't healthy, Annabeth was aware of that, but she didn't really want to do anything else. She didn't have the energy to do anything else.
Piper leveled a look at her and picked up the bag of goldfish and her laptop, putting them out of reach. "Then prove it. Do something tonight. Even if it's small."
Annabeth pouted and reached for her laptop, pulling it back onto her lap. "Are you trying to get rid of me?" she accused, and then immediately felt bad. It wasn't fair and she knew it.
Piper pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes, a gesture Annabeth knew she borrowed from her dad. She sighed and then looked at Annabeth, the brown in her eyes warm and dark. "No, I'm trying to bring you back."
Annabeth knew she was right. Since losing her roommate and breaking up with her boyfriend, Annabeth felt lost. Untethered. Home didn't feel like home anymore and two of the people she thought she could trust were gone. The things she thought she could rely on turned out to be mutable, and the foundations upon which she had stood on were now crumbling to dust, leaving Annabeth feeling unsteady and unbalanced.
Piper let go of her ankle and gave back the goldfish. "Just think about it," she said.
"I will," Annabeth relented, not sure if it was a promise she was willing to keep.
:::
It turned out that Friday plans found her anyway. Percy had sent her a text only an hour after Piper left, as Annabeth had re-buried herself in blankets and snacks.
Percy- need tea? On the house
He had sent a picture of himself in his Starbucks uniform, with a blurry smile on his face. Despite its heaviness, her heart fluttered.
It didn't take long for her to decide to respond. With Piper's pep talk from earlier (disguised as a telling-off) Annabeth pushed herself off the couch and into the bathroom. She had agreed to thirty minutes from now, but maybe it should have been forty-five. The shadows under her eyes couldn't be fixed, but she could have definitely used a nice long shower.
While she could motivate herself to get off the couch and meet Percy, she couldn't motivate herself to look nice for him. Thirty minutes and a desperate search for a clean shirt later, Annabeth found herself in front of Percy's Starbucks.
He was there, behind the counter, swiftly filling drink orders and smiling at customers—a real Percy smile, the kind that stretched his face into easy lines. Despite the time, the Starbucks was busy, but Percy and his coworker seemed to be taking it in stride. They shifted around each other naturally, exchanging quips and jokes that made the other laugh. Annabeth watched as the red-haired girl lightly hip-checked Percy, making him chuckle as he wrote a customer's name on their cup. A twinge of something like jealousy ran up Annabeth's spine, making her grit her teeth.
She nearly turned around, not wanting to make her bad mood worse with irrational jealous thoughts about random coworkers, but Percy spotted her and waved her over.
She raised her hand in greeting before getting into the back of the line. The corporate feeling of the Starbucks still lacked the charm of Hazel's little cafe, but the smell of coffee relaxed Annabeth nonetheless. She unzipped her jacket and shook out her hair from the collar. The line quickly shortened and she expected Percy to be at the counter when she reached it, but instead, it was the red-haired coworker.
"Hey, how can I help you?" the girl asked. Up close Annabeth could see the spray of freckles across her face and arms, like a Jackson Pollock painting. The girl had thick curled hair like the mane of a lion, trapped in an assortment of clips and hair tied. She smiled at Annabeth politely, but it wasn't the same natural smile that Percy used.
"I'm looking for—"
"Percy?" the girl asked. "He's getting off right now. He's just in the back."
Annabeth frowned. "Okay, well—"
"You're Annabeth, right?" the girl asked. She pointed at her name tag. "I'm Rachel. It's nice to meet you."
A customer behind Annabeth cleared his throat loudly. Rachel narrowed her eyes at him over Annabeth's shoulder. Annabeth noticed the speckles of gold glitter over her eyes. It was frustratingly pretty.
"Sorry," Rachel said, smiling slightly more sincerely now. "Some people don't know how to wait. Patience is a virtue, you know." The last bit was aimed at the man behind Annabeth. He harrumphed.
"I'll just have a tea," Annabeth said quietly. Something about Rachel's loudness and the easy way she just took up space made Annabeth feel smaller. She still couldn't see Percy and now she was starting to think maybe she should have just left. Or maybe not come at all.
"Of course, Percy said it's on the house. It'll be down at the counter as soon as Connor gets here."
Annabeth didn't know who Connor was and didn't know why Rachel didn't ask what kind of tea she wanted, but she moved out of the way anyway. She waited for her drink and noticed as another boy took Percy's place behind the counter. Connor, presumably. She fiddled with the zipper of her jacket, feeling overheated and flustered. When is Percy going to get here?
"Hey."
Annabeth tried not to jump a little bit as Percy placed his hand on the small of her back. She looked up at him as he handed her a warm cup.
"It's my special blend," he said. She wrapped her fingers around it before taking a sip. "I'm calling it Lunar Lake tea."
Annabeth took a sip. It was good, but she didn't want to tell him that it was just a London Fog. "It's good," she said. "Thank you."
He grinned. "Thanks. You ready to go?"
She nodded. "Where are we going?"
"You'll see."
:::
To Annabeth's surprise, they didn't take Percy's car. Instead, he led her through the darkening streets to a large park. They shuffled through dead leaves and under the shadows of nearly bare trees. Annabeth wrapped her hands closer around her cup, trying to warm them up in the quickly falling temperature. At least it's not raining, she thought, thank god for small blessings.
Percy filled the silence with casual conversation. He talked about his classes, the weather, and the last TV show he watched, all of which Annabeth absorbed contentedly. It was nice just to hear him talk, whether or not the subject was interesting. It was captivating simply by virtue of Percy being the one talking about it.
Soon, the trees parted to reveal a vast expanse of short green grass and a domed white building. A large metal and glass Victorian-style conservatory sat in front of them, illuminated from the lights inside.
"Have you ever been here?" Percy asked her. She shook her head. "I thought you might like it."
"I love the building," she said. It reminded her of the one in San Francisco, the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park.
"It's like a little palace," Percy agreed. "They just put up their Christmas display."
Annabeth looked at him. "But it's not even Thanksgiving."
He shrugged. "People love Christmas. We're about to start rolling out the holiday menu and the red coffee cups."
"Hmm," Annabeth said. She wasn't particularly fond of any holiday. After so many Christmases and Thanksgivings spent alone, she wouldn't mind skipping them all together.
Annabeth took off her coat as they paid admission. The heat and humidity felt stifling after the nippy cold outside. The earthy smell of soil and moss clung to the air as they opened the doors to the main exhibit.
They walked along thin, winding paths, admiring the tropical flora. Annabeth noticed that Percy liked to reach out and touch the more interesting ones, lightly pressing their leaves between his fingers. She slapped his hand away.
"Hey!" he said.
"You're not supposed to touch that."
He reached out for a furry-looking fern. "But it feels cool. You touch it."
"I'm not going to touch it."
"C'mon, touch it. Do it now while no one's gonna see."
Annabeth rolled her eyes and touched the soft underside of the fern. He was right, it did feel cool. "Happy?"
He grinned, evidently smug at having corrupted her. "Usually."
She knocked her shoulder into him at his pleased little smile, knowing her own face mirrored his. "Seaweed Brain."
He knocked her back. "Wise Girl."
"Still not an insult."
"It was never meant to be."
She blushed at that and quickly looked away. They entered the next room, which was somehow even more humid. Walls of orchids surrounded them as they made their way down the path. Plaques sat next to trees with little flowers growing out of the knots, detailing the inner workings of a symbiotic relationship. Annabeth stopped to read some of them, and Percy waited patiently, poking the middles of the flowers.
"This one kind of looks like a spider," he said, pointing at an orchid with spindly petals, speckled in white and brown. Annabeth grimaced.
"I hate spiders," she said.
Percy raised his eyebrow, grinning slightly. "Do you?"
She shuddered. "Yes."
"But they're, like, super necessary for the ecosystem." Percy bent over the short wall to feel the petals of a wide pink orchid.
"I literally could not care less." Annabeth's fear of spiders was kind of embarrassing, but she wasn't willing to pretend she could deal with them if the occasion arose.
Percy laughed. "Noted. Any other little phobias I should know about?"
"Not that I can think of, but I'll keep you posted."
They walked into the next room and Annabeth breathed a sigh of relief when the temperature decreased. Various types of cacti and succulents sprang up from gravelly ground. Percy poked the spine of one and hissed, putting the tip of his finger in his mouth.
"I can't take you anywhere," Annabeth said.
"If I recall, I was the one who did the taking."
"Po-tay-to, po-tah-to."
"You can take me somewhere next time," Percy said, but the way his voice raised at the end of the sentence made it sound like a question. Annabeth suddenly felt bad. Maybe Percy hadn't just been giving her space, maybe he was waiting for her to reach out to him.
"Yeah," she said. "I will. I've just been—"
"No, I understand. With Silena I just kind of thought…"
She let his words hang in the air for a minute while she gathered her thoughts. "I just needed...time. But then time needed turned into time wasted, so…"
He stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "Hey. It wasn't wasted if it helped you," he said.
"It did at first. But then I just felt bad."
"For what?"
Annabeth started walking again, her shoes crunching on the gravel beneath her feet. Percy trailed beside her, his hand dropping off her shoulder and hanging between them. She wanted to reach for it, to find the comfort she had found at the lake those weeks ago.
"For not being okay. For not moving on. For not hurting enough." That was the hard thing. The constant pressure to act normally, but to grieve appropriately. Annabeth thought of how little weight death held. She was expected to take her week off and get back to work. To be able to concentrate and excel. But she was also expected to cry and mourn and let her pain bleed out of her, a performance for everyone to watch. Sometimes she felt like that, but mostly she just felt numb.
Annabeth supposed that that was something good about the timers. Death was like an old friend, something that couldn't sneak up on you. Even when you didn't know it was coming, you were well acquainted with it enough to not be surprised. It reminded her of DCD Inc's favorite phrase: 'Life is full of surprises; death shouldn't be one of them.'
Percy hummed beside her. "I didn't really know how to feel after my dad died," he said. Annabeth raised her eyes to look at him. He was frowning, focusing somewhere in the space in front of them, eyes distant with painful memories. "I kept thinking he would come back. For years."
"It's hard to feel like someone's really gone."
Percy ran his finger on the fuzzy rim of a cactus. She touched his arm, bringing him back. He smiled.
"You should touch this one."
She rolled her eyes but did what he said. The silence stretched between them as they went to the next room, another tropical exhibit with large branching palms and thick-leaved shrubs. Fake bird calls played from speakers high above their heads. Annabeth pushed up the sleeves of her sweater to rest at her elbows.
"There's no right way," Percy said.
"Huh?"
"To mourn. I mean, it just is. You just do it the only way you know how."
Annabeth scuffed her boot against the ground, watching her feet instead of Percy. "I think I know that. Deep down."
"Good." Percy tugged on the sleeve of her sweater and she looked up at him. His eyes crinkled sadly as he said, "You're too perfect, Annabeth."
Annabeth broke eye contact and bowed her head. She put a fake smile on her face even as she looked away. "Is that supposed to be a compliment, Seaweed Brain?"
Percy paused and she could imagine the crease between his eyebrows. She could imagine smoothing it down with the pad of her finger. "No," he said. "I don't think it is."
Annabeth swallowed thickly. Tension filled the space between them. She could feel his discomfort radiating from him and she hoped beyond the next door was a way to dispel it.
"Ahh, the Christmas display," Percy said, quite redundantly. In front of them was a quaint woodland scene decorated zealously with wreaths and poinsettias. Small forest animals made of wood and twisted vines speckled the space, taking part in scenes of Christmas dinners and decoration. It was almost garishly charming and Annabeth let out a sharp, delighted laugh.
"Look at the little rat!" she observed, walking over to the railing, the tension promptly forgotten about. The room was much busier than the rest of the conservatory. Families crowded around the railings and displays with little kids happily pointing out redwood foxes and birch beavers.
Percy laughed with her. "This is even better than last year."
"What did they do last year?"
"Just Christmas trees," he said. "Look, the bears have a little menorah."
"I wish I'd known about this sooner," Annabeth said wistfully. Spending time with Percy was making her realize how little she knew her college city.
"Well, now you know. We could come back next year and see what they do then."
"Next year," Annabeth agreed before thinking back on her words. There was no next year for her—how could she have forgotten?
She looked down at her wrist, bared for all the world to see. It was almost scary how familiar the larger number looked there. It had been staying longer and longer after spending time with Percy—after they had gone to the lake it had stayed for nearly half an hour after he had left.
When she looked back up, he was looking at her. A flicker of uncertainty crossed his face but then disappeared just as fast. He raised his eyebrows and nudged his head towards the door. "Ready?"
"Yeah, I think so." As they left the building, something nagged at the back of Annabeth's mind. Something she had wanted to tell him…
Luke. She had wanted to tell him about Luke. She looked at him, backlit by the dome of the conservatory, shadows etched across his face. If she told him, everything would change. It would suddenly be real. The possibilities he always talked about expanded in front of her as he rambled about something he'd learned about in class. She knew how she felt, and she was pretty sure she knew how he felt. But...she wasn't sure how to move forward. She didn't know what moving forward, how she so desperately wanted to, would say about her as a person. Would it make her selfish? Brave? Stupid?
Why couldn't they continue to exist here, like this? In this pocket of time, she knew what to expect. She knew what she could and couldn't do and knew what Percy would and wouldn't do. Moving past that would move her into uncontrollable territory.
Percy had said she was too perfect and part of her scoffed at that. She wasn't perfect at all. The other part of her knew that that wasn't what he had meant by that.
"What about you?"
Annabeth startled. "Huh?" She looked around and the darkened park, pulled out of her thoughts. Streetlights lined the road, spread far enough apart that their rings of light didn't overlap.
Percy huffed in fake annoyance. "Have you thought about what you're going to take next semester?"
Next semester...Annabeth tried to recall what she had signed up for. "Um...a workshop. An art history class. No math, unfortunately—"
"Unfortunately?" Percy asked incredulously.
Annabeth laughed a little bit. "I don't really mind math. It's challenging, but when you get it…"
"Hmm, I can't say I relate to that."
"Fair enough. So what about you? What are you taking."
Percy shook his head slightly, making his black curls flop into his face. He pushed them aside. "Well, as I said," he said pointedly, "I'm taking O-chem, ecosystem ecology, applied stat—maybe you can help with that one—and bio lab."
"Yeah, I can help," Annabeth said. "Sorry for not—"
He waved her off. "It's okay. You've got a lot going on up there." He pointed to her head. "Wise Girl."
"That's starting to feel like maybe it is an insult."
He just shrugged. Annabeth was about to say something else, but her phone buzzed.
Piper- are you home?
Annabeth pressed her lips together in confusion.
Annabeth- no, why?
Piper- do you have the key on you?
"Everything okay?" Percy asked. They were starting to walk down a shallow hill. In front of them, the edge of the park was visible, and beyond that, houses and apartments.
"Yeah, it's just…"
Annabeth- yeah, everything ok
Piper- date ended early. Are you going to be back soon?
"Piper?"
Annabeth looked at Percy, surprised he had guessed. "Yeah, I think she's locked out."
"Oh, is she coming over to yours?"
"No, I have her key."
Annabeth- omw
"Why do you have her key?"
Piper- you dont need to come back early, i can just go to starbucks or something
"I'm staying with her," Annabeth said distractedly.
"Oh, so you're not staying at your dorm?" Percy asked. They crossed under the orange glow of a street lamp, walking from the residential streets to the campus.
Annabeth- its fine, it was over anyways
"No, I didn't want to—Piper offered," she explained.
Percy just hummed. "That was nice of her."
"It was," Annabeth agreed. They walked across the silent quad outside the engineering building. A roving group of drunk students laughed in the distance, but Annabeth couldn't see anyone but her and Percy.
She couldn't help longing for the easy closeness she had felt with Percy before Silena's death. There was a distance between them now, something intangible, holding them apart. Annabeth was afraid it might be herself. They still got along well, but their silences today were awkward. There was something unsaid that hung between them, but Annabeth wasn't sure which unsaid thing it was. There were too many to count. All she knew was that she missed her hand in his.
He followed her past campus and to the front door of Piper's building.
"This is me," Annabeth said. Percy looked up at the bright windows.
"Okay, well," he said. "We should hang out again soon. I've…" He bit his lip, looking down at his scuffed sneakers. "I've missed you."
Annabeth let out a careful breath. There were so many things that she needed to say but couldn't. Or wouldn't. But this- this was an easy confession. "I've missed you too."
He smiled down at her, eyes crinkling. His hand reached out tentatively and she watched with bated breath as he paused before gently pushing one of her curls out of her face. All that distance she'd been feeling shrank, too fast, and vacuumed the breath out of her lungs. He let his hand fall back to his side, and then put it into his jacket pocket.
"You should probably head up. Piper's waiting for you," he said, taking a step back. Annabeth leaned forward slightly, embarrassingly, like she was following him.
She mentally (and a little bit physically) shook herself. "You're right."
"Music to my ears."
She glared half-heartedly and unlocked the lobby door. "I'll see you."
Percy was already walking away. He turned around and raised his arm in a wave. "Not if I see you first."
Annabeth wanted to watch him leave, or better yet, call him back. But she turned around instead, closing the lobby door behind her.
:::
"How long have you been out here?"
Piper looked up from where she was sitting on the floor. She was wearing a Date Outfit, her nice jeans with a cropped orange chenille sweater. She looked up when Annabeth came off the elevator. With her legs stretched out across the hallway, her face was the epitome of nonchalance. She put her phone into her bag and stood up.
"Thank you, my phone was about to die," she said, shaking out her legs and stretching her back. "I'm only twenty—my back should not be hurting this much."
Annabeth scrounged around her own bag for the key, pulling it out after a brief moment of panic at not feeling it. "Did everything go okay? Why are you back so early?"
"It's not that early. It's past ten."
Annabeth shot Piper a look over her shoulder as she unlocked the door. "You know what I mean. How come it's not Saturday afternoon."
"I don't think that's how time works," Piper said, and before Annabeth could give her another exasperated look, added, "and it was fine. Jason just said he was...tired."
Annabeth turned on the lights as she led the way into Piper's apartment. "Tired?"
Piper shrugged, toeing off her shoes. "I don't know. That's what he said. He was being kind of…"
"Kind of…?" Annabeth said. Piper just shook her head.
"It doesn't really matter. I'm sure it's fine." She opened the button of her jeans as she sat back onto the couch and grabbed Annabeth's discarded bag of goldfish from earlier. "What about you? You finally got out."
"Yeah, um," Annabeth said, not sure if she should take Piper's topic change of press for more details. "I was out with Percy. We went to the conservatory of flowers. Or plants. I actually don't know what it's called."
"The Peattie. Jason took me there once. Did you have fun?"
"Yeah, it was nice. They've got their Christmas exhibition out."
Piper fake gagged. "Already? Jesus." Annabeth sat beside her after discarding her coat on one of the dining chairs by the kitchen. Piper put her feet up, squeezing them next to Annabeth's thighs. "It wasn't a...date, was it?"
Annabeth shook her head. "No."
Piper sighed. "Good."
"Good?" Annabeth asked. She brushed her hair out of her face (trying not to think about Percy doing the same thing just ten minutes prior) and moved her hair into a bun. "Have you got a hair tie?"
Piper took an orange hair tie off her wrist and passed it to Annabeth. "Yeah, I mean, don't get me wrong, Percy sounds great. And you've been, I don't know. More...more since you've known him."
"More?"
"Like you're not so quiet. Not so hidden away. You're more yourself to other people now."
Annabeth hummed. She hadn't really noticed, but she trusted Piper's observation. "But…?"
"But…" Piper said, "You just got out of a relationship. And there's all of the stuff with your timer."
Annabeth sighed. "Yeah, I know."
"You're not the kind of person to rush into something without thinking about it first," Piper said. "I just want you to think about what will make you happy before you do anything…." Reckless. Stupid. Absolutely ridiculous. Annabeth heard the unsaid ending to Piper's sentence.
She sighed and folded her legs up onto the couch, tucking her feet under her thighs. "I think I'm going to give myself some time. Just to sort out what I want," Annabeth decided. "What makes me happy."
"That's good. You deserve to be happy, Annabeth," Piper said, laying her hand on Annabeth's arm. "Especially now. You deserve to be a bit selfish."
Annabeth smiled, but secretly that was exactly what she was afraid of. Being selfish was what got her into this mess with Percy in the first place.
"Thanks, Pipes," she said, instead of airing her worries. She could tell that Piper had enough on her mind to begin with. Whether or not she brushed her off, Annabeth knew something must have happened with Jason. "Movie time?"
Piper yawned. "I think I might go to sleep, actually."
Annabeth stuck out her tongue. "Bleh, you're getting old."
Piper returned the expression as she crawled off of the couch, handing Annabeth the goldfish. "Whatever. Good night. Love you."
"'Night. Love you." Annabeth put a handful of goldfish in her mouth and stretched out on the couch. Despite the hour, she felt awake.
:::
If I face the wall, Annabeth thought, it's like she could still be here. Schrödinger's Roommate. She hugged her comforter around her shoulders and concentrated on the pictures on her own wall. Piper's face smiled back at her, two years younger than now. The blank spot next to Piper's picture, where Luke's used to sit, seemed to glare at her. Everywhere she turned in this room, the things that were absent called out to her more than the things that were present.
She closed her eyes and pulled her covers over her head, like she used to do when she was younger and would have nightmares about swarms of spiders. She waited until the air became hot and stale before emerging, gasping, into the blue emptiness of her dorm room.
First nights were always the hardest.
Annabeth had decided to move back into her dorm after a few too many nights at Piper's. Annabeth knew she wasn't trying to make her feel unwelcome, but a tiny one person flat can only hold two people (and sometimes three if Jason was staying over) for so long before it became stifling. And Annabeth had long worn out her own welcome—whether Piper was annoyed or not, Annabeth knew she had to go.
So here she was again. She'd flipped through the university's paperwork and found out that she couldn't transfer rooms until the next semester. Thankfully, she could choose a one-person room and wouldn't have to subject another roommate to the mess that her life had become (and her floor, at the moment). But that was the extent of the university's helpfulness. Anything else she could do would have to wait until after the winter holiday. Until then, she'd just have to live with it.
It was easier said than done. Everything in her room—from the blank squares where pictures used to hang, to the cleared countertops and the bare mattress—was a reminder of who she had lost. She just had to make sure to spend as little time here as she could.
At least Thanksgiving break was right around the corner: just a week and a half away. She repeated this mantra when she got up in the mornings, careful to ignore the other, barren, half of the room. She reminded herself of this fact as she walked to her creative writing class, to sit next to Percy's warming smile and infectious energy for an hour. She repeated it to herself when walking back to her dorm, wrapping her scarf around her neck and ducking her head against the crisp air. In one and a half weeks, in one week, in six days...
Five days until she would have a chance to escape. Her mother's apartment in Manhattan wouldn't have been her first choice to spend the holiday at, but it was better than nothing. At least she could do what she told Piper she would—take some time for herself. With a little distance, maybe Annabeth could untangle the thoughts from her head and figure out what she wanted. What would make her happy?
And it would give her a chance to visit an old friend...
