~Sudden load is full so slow on the split
And I told you to be patient and I told you to be fine.
And I told you to be balanced and I told you to be kind.
Now all your love is wasted and where the hell was I?
'Cause now I'm breaking at the britches, and at the end of all your lines.~
He finds her of course. He always finds her.
When he does eventually, finally, find her after many searching, she's crumpled on the bathroom floor like a lifeless rag doll, leaning up against the stall and sobbing hysterically.
He had never seen Piper Mclean cry. In Jason's fifteen years of knowing her, he had never seen her shed a single tear. Perhaps, he inquires to himself, there is many things that I don't know about my best friend. After all, he doesn't have X-ray vision.
He can't see behind closed doors.
Jason knocks on the bathroom stall door, not at all hesitant. Piper pauses abruptly, and he can tell that she's embarrassed that someone found her in such a precarious, fragile position.
"Piper?" He whispers, surprised at himself for taking. Normally he's the silent teenager, seated in the back of the classroom. The mute, many of the crueler kids call him. He rarely talks, even to his girlfriend Reyna. Even to his best friend Leo.
But with Piper it's different. She doesn't bother him if he speaks, and if he doesn't say a single word.
"...Jason?" She speaks after many moments, confusion in her voice. He hears the flushing of the toilet, and wonders if she's started to go back to that terrible habit of vomiting. The stall door clicks open, and there's Piper, her hair and makeup messed up, eyes puffy and red.
"What are you doing in the girl's restroom?" Her words make him crack a grin, and she smiles softly back, too. But, it's more of a melancholy smile. Then, he opens his arms and she flings into them.
She's so bony, so fragile, almost like a china doll. (hence the nickname he had given her) at first he's hesitant to wrap his arms around Piper, in fear of hurting her. But he does, because Jason knows how much she needs touch right now.
"It's okay, Piper." He whispers, stroking her choppy, brown hair. "I'm going to take care of you now. Everything's going to be okay, but you can't keep doing things like this, my China Doll." She stifles a sob, and nods into his shoulder. They stay like that for many minutes until she finally pulls away. His shirt is soaked wet, but he doesn't mind.
She swallows roughly, and he can tell by the way her Adams apple moves. Then, blushing, he forces himself to look away. Why was he looking at her lips?
"I made a mistake out there. Kissing Percy, I mean."
"We all make mistakes." Then, he asked the question that's been making his heart twist with envy. "Do you love Percy? Is that why you did it?"
He almost sighs in relief when Piper shakes her head, signaling a no. "I don't love him like that, Jason. " Then she takes a heavy breath."There's someone else."
He feels like dying at her words, though he's not sure why. There's someone else. Who? Leo? Frank? Malcolm? Michael Yew? Travis? Connor? Grover? Nico? Maybe even Dylan, but the chances of her being in love with him is like winning the lottery. Even so, each possibility feels like a sharp stab to the heart.
He shouldn't be hurting.
He has a girlfriend.
Reyna, a girl who he has known since the toddler years. She's beautiful with her dark, long hair. She's fierce and strong and independent...she's everything he had ever wanted in a girl.
So yeah, he shouldn't be feeling the way that he did about Piper.
But he just couldn't help himself.
He shakes the ludicrous thought off, and eyes her carefully with his wise, blue eyes. "So why did you kiss Percy?"
She bites her plush lip, and takes a sudden interest in her black converse shoes. "Annabeth... she told my dad... about that problem I have." He blinked in response.
"So you kiss her boyfriend? She was just looking out for you, Pipes."
Her jaw is set when she replies and her kelipose eyes are glazed with remorse. "Like I said before, I made a mistake."
"Then fix it."
"I will." She says, then gives him a strained smile.
He wished so badly he didn't feel what he felt for Piper.
But he does.
And it hurts so badly to know that she's in love with someone else.
~ Who will love you?
Who will fight?
And who will fall, far behind?~
When Jason see's Piper again the next day at school, she has a large, red handprint across the side of her cheek. He knows immediately who did it, but Piper doesn't seem angry with Annabeth. Jason guesses now their even. Not friends, not enemies.
Just even.
Percy doesn't talk to her. Not as if he's heckling her, but as if he's too embarrassed to face her.
Either way, Jason thinks it's an arrogant reason not to speak with her. But, then again, if he was in Percy's position, he'd probably do the exact same thing.
"Hey, bro." Thalia, his older sister calls to him as they enter the lunchroom. "Wanna sit with Luke and I?" Ah, Luke. Thalia's senior boyfriend, and Annabeth's Ex. He assumes there's tension between the two of them, but somehow the two best friends make it work.
"Nah," he replies truthfully, his eyes darting over to where Piper's seated. She's alone and doesn't have a lunch with her, which doesn't surprise him. "I'm going to sit somewhere else." Thalia's electrifying blue eyes follow his gaze, and a knowing grin spreads across her face, making her freckles dance.
"Ah, young love." He swats at her arm, and she dodges him easily, that same teasing expression on her face. "So, have you grown a pair to ask her out?"
He frowns at this comment. "I'm dating Reyna, Thals. Don't you remember?" That troubles him, the fact that no one ever remembers that him and Reyna are seeing each other. Thalia scoffs and rolls her eyes through her heavy eyeliner. She flicks a piece of raven hair to the side.
"Spare me, Jason. We all know you love Piper."
"That's not true! Maybe as a friend, but not like that. I love Reyna."
Thalia purses her lips, and looks at him thoughtfully. "Sounds like you're trying to convince yourself, than convince me." He runs a hand through his blonde hair to the side and scowls at Thalia.
"Could you be less annoying?"
"Nope, I don't think that's physically possible." She grins at him, once more, and it makes him uneasy. The grins more mischievous than teasing this time. "See you around, Jase." Then she saunters off, that big smile on her face, flashing him a small wink as she leaves. He crosses his arms, knowing that she's won this playful banter.
He begins to walk towards Piper, but not before a certain dark, haired brunette has anything to say about it.
"Jason?" Reyna says almost appearing out of nowhere. She leans up giving him a small peck on the cheek. "Where are you going? Are tables that way." No duh, he's tempted to say, but bites it back. It would only escalate into a fight.
"I think I'm going to sit with Pipes." Reyna's brown eyes flicker dangerously at the mention of her nickname. Jason doesn't notice this sudden mood shift in his girlfriend.
"Why? She's a whore."
"What?" Jason asks, sure he's heard her incorrectly. Sweet, kind Reyna would never say something cruel like that. "What did you just say?"
"I didn't stutter," she seethes her eyes angry. "I mean come on Jason, she kissed Percy right in front of Annabeth."
Jason suddenly feels angry. He doesn't know why.
"You don't know the whole story." He says, crossing his arms defensively. "You don't."
"Oh?" Reyna retorts back immediately. "And you somehow do?"
"Yeah. Yeah, actually I do." She rolls her eyes in irritation, and stares down at her nails.
Her eyes are hard when they glare at him, then they soften. "Jason. I need you to tell me the truth about something."
"What do you want to know?" Jason says obliviously, blue eyes widening. "Huh? Or are you just going to continue lecturing me about how Piper's a slut."
Reyna ignores this.
"Do you like Piper?" She blurts out before she can stop herself. "Tell me. Please Jason. And don't spare my feelings, Jase. I need to know this. Please."
"What? No, Rey. I love you." He clasps his hands around hers, his eyes comforting. "It'll always be you." Reyna beams up at him.
He's lying.
Always lying.
She kisses him softly, this time on the lips. Her lips are soft and warm and full of relief. There also full of love. So why wasn't Reyna enough for him? Why did he crave Piper so much? He shoves those thoughts away as he begins to return the affections, his hands sliding down to her hips. She's so beautiful with her curvy hips. So beautiful with her independent brown eyes. So beautiful with her long, dark hair.
He just wishes that whenever he kisses her, he doesn't see Piper.
"I love you, too." Reyna whispers, gently stroking his cheek. "I'm sorry I said those things about Piper; I don't know of her intentions and I had no right."
"It's fine."
He swallows, guiltily. He feels like he's stringing her along because he is indeed in love with someone else.
But he doesn't exactly know what he feels. He doesn't know what he feels for Reyna or Piper.
It's torture.
But Jason is sure that it's love.
~Come on skinny love...
My, my, my, my~
He heads over to Piper's table, carrying not one tray of food, but two. Piper's eyes flicker momentarily up from her book that she's reading for a class assignment. Familiarity takes over her features, lighting her face up, and she sits up and brushes the ends of her pony-tail- fixing her hair.
"Hey. Can I sit?"
She gives him a warm smile. "Sure."
He sits down, and her eyes narrow in suspicion as she finally realizes he's holding two trays. They change to a turquoise color to a light violet. Jason winces, and hopes he's going to be able to have children after this suicide attempt.
He slides a tray over to her and she stares at it like it's disease ridden. "Eat."
She crosses her arms stubbornly across her chest. "No, Jason."
"Why not? Why don't you eat, Piper?" Jason shakes his head, trying to comprehend this distressing situation. "It must mean something..."
"You don't understand!" Piper says, her voice breaking. He stares at her in pity. He loves her and she's hurting badly. "...What it's like. To be hungry all the time... to know that you can never have food." She eyes the pizza greedily in front of her, then shoves it roughly away from her.
"Why can't you have food?" He grabs her hand from across the table, and prays that Reyna's not looking. Her face flushes, and he keeps holding onto her. Because he's not letting her go anytime soon. "Piper Elizabeth Mclean... help me understand."
For the past three years, he's tried not to pry. He's tried not to be that nosy best friend who tries to fix someone who doesn't want to be fixed. But now he's too tired to keep trying. Too fatigued.
Jason Grace has had enough of the secrets.
He needs the old Piper back, as cheesy as that sounds.
She looks up at him, cheeks still rosy, eyes brimming with an emotion he can't quite contemplate.
"I can't eat because I'm not allowed too." Her eyes dart around nervously and she flinches. "They won't let me."
"Who won't let you?" Jason demands, abruptly becoming protective of her. "Tell me."
"The monsters." He slowly leans back in his chair, his eyes widening with surprise. Realization hits him like a punch to the stomach, because all the air is knocked out of him. He never thought that Piper was wrong in the...wrong in the head.
"I used to be strong, and I could fight them away. I could run from them, and they couldn't find me. But, I'm not strong anymore, Jason. I'm weak, and now they're back." She holds onto his hand almost for dear life.
Jason swallows, never feeling this much concern for a person. He's very worried not, but he tries not to let it show. "What do they say to you? The monsters, I mean."
She stares down at the milk carton, sighing heavily, like this is something that she has already exclaimed too much already. "I don't want to talk about them. You can ask me anything else. Just not... not about the monsters."
"Okay," Jason said, accepting defeat. He doesn't want to push her, if Piper's as unstable as she seems right now. He edges along to a lighter topic, one that doesn't intervene with the... monsters.
"How do you do it?"
"How do I do what?"
"Keep it a secret from your family. It must be difficult." Piper purses her lips, then grabs the tray from Jason. Hope rises in his throat. Maybe Piper's finally going to eat!
She begins to cut up the pizza into little pieces. "Mmmmm, this looks so good Jason!" She stabs at the pizza, making it messier and messier. Sauce leaks out and cheese and pepperoni. He stares at her in curiosity with wide, blue eyes. "I'm so hungry. I forgot to eat breakfast!" Grabbing the fork from the side of her, Piper picks up a piece.
"Want one?"
He's not sure how to respond.
She shrugs back and places it on her plate. Then she picks up another piece. "Oh, come on! I'm sure you want some." She shovels some down on his plate, then the fork goes up to her lips, but doesn't enter her mouth.
"Wow! I'm stuffed. Thank you for an amazing lunch, though." She puts the fork down and shoves the tray away, crossing her arms and staring at him smugly.
Jason considers this for a moment. "Impressive." He had honestly thought she had eaten some.
"Thanks. Years of experience." She flashes him a smile, but her words make his stomach flip.
Years of experience...
How long had she been doing this for?
"How long has it been?"
Piper tilts her head to the side, staring up at the ceiling thoughtfully. "Three years. It started when I was twelve- about to turn thirteen."
"Oh," is all he can manage.
"It's okay, Jason. Trust me, it's not as bad as it seems. I mean sure, sometimes I get hungry, but I just end up puking it back up if I do eat."
"Oh." Then he realizes he should stop saying "oh" so many times.
"Why don't you tell anyone?"
Piper scowls. "I know what will happen if my dad were to find out. He'd put me in some mental hospital to help me get better. I don't want to go there, Jase. It frightens me just to think about leaving you- uh, my friends. Actually, the whole place frightens me. It's my living nightmare."
"Then I won't tell anyone."
"Pinky swear?" Piper teases, holding out her pinky. Jason smiles back at her and hooks his finger around hers. "Pinky swear."
Little does he know that he'll have to break that promise soon.
Very soon.
~Come on skinny love what happened here?
A/N : Okay, from all the positive feedback from everyone, I've decided not to make it a three shot but a full on story! It'll only be around ten chapters but that's still longer than a three shot. So R&R people! It means a lot to me! Oh, and thank all of you who did review, favorite and follow from the last chapter!
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: Be sure to vote on my poll for the next Percabeth story I should write!
More stories by me: More stories by me:
Unfinished Stories- "Annabeth Chase didn't think she was crazy, but when it came to a certain green eyed boy... she thought she was going completely and utterly insane." A collection of unfinished one-shots or short stories I have yet to finish. Most are Percabeth, but some include other couples as well such as Jeyna/Jasper/Lazel etc. Vote on the unfinished stories that you think I should continue! Rated K-T because there's a lot of them. R&R!
The Butterfly Effect- Love. Sorrow. Remorse. Lies. "She screams until she's blue in the face. She screams and screams and screams yes. But she knows it's too late. The war has began, and now there's no going back." Anger. Regret, but most importantly betrayal. Set in Mockingjay, with the biggest twist ever imaginable. Rated T/M. Peeta/Katniss, Gale/Madge.
Guilt-"Because in the end Annabeth decided that it's the guilt that is the worst." The aftermath of Tarturas, Annabeth and Percy have to deal with the heavy guilt that easily overpasses the burden of the sky. Rated T for torture, suicide, angst. Percabeth.
Let The Fear In-"The fear was real. And I knew I had to deal with it. So I just made a choice. I'd let the fear in, let it take over, let it do its thing, but only for five seconds, that's all I was going to give it. So I started to count: one, two, three, four, five. Then it was gone." The fear was controlling her, as the car sat underwater. Then she thought- Jason. She had to save him. Somehow.
The Little Mockingjay-"On the last moment, I rub the pin back and forth in between my fingertips feeling the warmth from it. The warmth from the little Mockingjay." Prim's perspective during the reaping, with a kiss on the cheek, comfort, and her thoughts about the capitol and the little glass bowl full of slips, she despises. Rated T for Angst and depressing words.
Love- "Do you love, Annabeth?" Tyson questioned, as I spit out my drink. "What?" Tyson asks Percy if he loves Annabeth, and other very personal questions about their relationships. Set in TBOL, One-shot.
It Was Her-After Beckendorf's death, Percy and Annabeth have a meaningful talk about his death, the prophecy, the war and about a certain red-head. "It wasn't your fault." "I can't lose you." "You won't." "You don't have to be jealous of her." One shot.
Eternal Flame Prologue: A one shot/prologue to the new Percy Jackson fanfic Eternal Flame. Review and let me know if I should continue this or change the prologue. R&R
All's Fair in Love and War-"Wait," Rachel said backtracking. "Did you just call me a hooker?" Octavian looked confused as she leaned up against the statue of Jupiter and giggled." He hated her. He despised her. So why was he finding it so hard not to stare into those green eyes of hers? She hated him. She despised him. Yet for some reason, he amused her to no end
Tears of Glass- "How would her gravestone get here? It was impossible, because her whole family was...dead. Yet here it stood in the middle of a graveyard." Katherine reflects on her past, and all her mistakes. She also remembers all the times that she, the Katherine Peirce, cried. "Because it hurt. And feeling the shards of glass escape from her eyes, somehow made it all better." Rated T.