An hour later, Cal, Annabeth, and Thalia were walking through soho, jumping from pub to pub. Annabeth was wearing a brown trench coat over light blue jeans, brown booties, an off the shoulder top and fluffy earmuffs. Thalia wore a leather jacket over black jeans, a black turtle neck, and black booties. Cal wore a red coat over an outfit similar to Thalia.
"I'm so happy you guys aren't those distasteful Americans everyone talks about," Cal sighed happily as Thalia looped her arm around her and her other arm around Annabeth.
"I'm so happy we were matched up with a roommate who's kinda just like us," Thalia said and the girls laughed.
"I'm so happy you three are gracing my presence at the moment," A voice interjected.
The three drunk girls stumbled to an abrupt stop. In front of them was a boy, their age, olive skin, dark hair, the perfect amount of facial hair, and incredibly handsome. Thalia cocked her head to side, overtly checking him out and smirking. He clearly returned the favor.
"Nico! How was your holiday!" Cal jumped in his arms and hugged him. Thalia raised an eyebrow at Annabeth, who laughed and shrugged, "Oh, you have to meet my new roommates. This is Annabeth, and Thalia."
Nico raised an eyebrow, took Thalia's hand and set a light peck on it, and nodded at Annabeth, "Pleasure to meet you both,"
"Pleasure is definitely mine, Nico, is it?" Thalia practically purred.
Cal and Annabeth tried not to laugh looking at the two, clearly very similar, interact.
"Nico DiAngelo," he purred right back.
Cal and Annabeth took a couple steps away, giving them space, and giggling to each other. There drunk people walking everywhere, purple lights above them all over the street, people laughing, and it was all a great vibe.
"He goes to King's as well. Actually, he's usually with his best mate, who should be here somewhere… You'd like him, he's been little off lately because and he and his girlfriend had a bit of a fall out, but he's an alright bloke…Oh! There he is!" Cal waved and someone coming out one of the pubs.
Annabeth turned to look at him and her heart skipped a beat. She was beginning to believe every man in London has just walked out of a GQ photoshoot. He had tousled dark hair, deep green eyes, freshly shaven, wore a grey trench over a white button up and dark pants. He held an open bottle of wine in one hand and a tie in the other.
"Percy! Over here!," Cal waved him over with a grin.
He smiled and Annabeth got a little annoyed that even his teeth were pearly white. "Is every boy perfect in this city?" Annabeth muttered to Cal.
Cal laugh, "trust me, you'll meet plenty of off ones. Percy, this is Annabeth, my new roommate and Nico is speaking to my other roommate over there, Thalia."
Percy smiled at Annabeth, "Hello, Annabeth, it's a pleasure," He slurred. His breath smelled like he already drank a couple glasses of wine. Cal frowned slightly, and Percy caught it immediately, "Cal, stop, honestly. I'm fine. It's just wine."
"Percy, wine or whiskey, it doesn't matter. Drinking wont solve-"
"Annabelle, is it? Are you new to the city, you're quite lovely," Percy interrupted Cal, focusing his attention on Annabeth.
Annabeth looked from Cal to Percy, not really sure what to do. "It's Annabeth. I'm new to the country, I'm from New York," Annabeth said, forcing a smile.
"Oh? American?" Percy studied her, smiling slightly.
Someone walking by barely brushed against him and Percy, already stumbling, almost fell over and dropped the bottle of wine. The glass shattered everywhere and the wine splattered all over the ground, and some of it on Annabeth's jeans. Several people turned to look at them. Percy was visibly angry, Nico immediately came over and started to apologize to Annabeth.
"Watch where you're bloody going, prick!" Percy yelled and was able to go after whoever pushed him when Nico put him in a headlock.
"Enough," Nico growled, looking around at everyone staring. He looked at Cal, "Your place is closer, can we crash tonight?"
Cal sighed and looked at Annabeth and Thalia, who shrugged, "Seems like they don't mind, so of course."
A few minutes later, after Percy's protesting, they called an uber. "That wine was fifty pounds, I only drank about twenty five pounds worth. Can you believe that? What a waste," Percy slurred.
The three accompanying him laughed and shook their heads. Once the four got to the apartment, Percy was immediately rushed to the bathroom and began to vomit. Cal went to help him while Annabeth, Nico, and Thalia got settled in the living room.
"I'm sorry about him. He's really not like this… He had his heart broken just a few days ago," Nico sighed.
"Cal mentioned it. He seems like an ass," Annabeth admitted.
"Annabeth, you and Luke broke up literally last night, maybe you can talk to him. Tell him it's not the end of the world," Thalia suggested.
Nico nodded, "If you don't mind? He's been mad about her since they were young, sweethearts since secondary school."
Annabeth sighed and winced when she heard him retching from the bathroom, "I guess. He seems like he's in pretty bad shape."
Cal stepped out the bathroom, "Alright, I think that was the last of the vomit. He's just wallowing in self pity now." She saw Annabeth heading for the bathroom and added, "Whatever you do, don't bring him more wine!"
Annabeth breathed out a laugh and then stepped into the bathroom. It was a sad sight. Percy was leaning against the wall across the toilet, eyes closed, rubbing the side of his head. His shirt was half unbuttoned, his shoes off, and beads of sweat covered him. Annabeth knocked softly on the door. He groaned and opened one eye to look at her, and then shut it.
"I'm sorry about earlier. I'll send someone to have it dry cleaned, wine is a little tough to get out," he muttered.
Annabeth sat down next to him and sighed, "You know, it's my first night in London and you're really bringing the mood down."
He let out a slow chuckle, "I apologize for ruining your night. We can try again tomorrow."
"You know, getting your heart broken doesn't give you an excuse to act like an asshole," Annabeth said, a little more sternly.
"You're right it doesn't… but it does give me an excuse to be extremely unhappy about it," he muttered.
"Listen, I know how you feel. My significant other and I broke up right before I boarded my place to come here. I wasted so much time letting him string me along… I loved him so much and he was just never… committed to me. I'm absolutely heartbroken," The sadness Annabeth has been holding in really came out then. "He keeps texting, but I've been ignoring all of the messages… and I want to respond so bad. But, I know it's better for me if I don't."
Annabeth took a deep breath, she didn't even realize she was crying. She looked at Percy, who was watching her intensely. She laughed through the crying and he cracked a smile. Annabeth raised an eyebrow at him, "Wow, a smile?"
He rolled his eyes, "Barely."
Annabeth laughed again, "Well, what I'm trying to say is that things happen for a reason. May not feel good but, if it didn't work out, it was probably for the best. The only thing you can do now is work on yourself, and realize you have new opportunities to explore."
Percy looked at her again and ran his eyes over her body, making her heart race with nervousness. "New opportunities to explore? I'm already fond of this idea," he said quietly, wiping a tear off her face.
Annabeth cleared her throat and grinned, "Relax, maybe I'd consider if you didn't have vomit on your shirt."
Percy let out a real laugh this time, "Fair enough."
Annabeth stood and held her hand out for Percy, "come on. You done being a pity case?"
Percy sighed and took her hand, "for now, I suppose."
He stood and almost fell over, still clearly wasted. Annabeth was quick to support his weight so he didn't fall over and crack his head open on the toilet. Annabeth made sure he stood up straighten and let go, but his hand lingered on her waist.
He took a shaky breathe, "You are rather lovely, by the way. Quite stunning, actually. Thank you for this," He said quietly.
Annabeth's heart skipped a beat and she smiled, "chances you'll remember this in the morning?"
"Hopefully high," he slurred and flashed a smile, making her laugh.
The two walked out to the living room, only to see their friends half asleep watching a movie. They looked at each other and joined them under the blankets. The four quickly fell asleep, looking like they're been best friends since they were children.