Disclaimer: No one is as awesome as Uncle Rick. Especially me. Characters belong to him.
Warning: slight cursing.
Annabeth slowly opened her eyes, looking around. How long had she been asleep?
She realized that she had fallen asleep on Percy's shoulder. Feeling something slightly heavy on her head, she risked a glance upwards. Percy's head rested in her hair, his face calm, finally looking at peace. He stirred slightly, leaning down and nuzzling Annabeth's neck. Her face flushed.
As much as she wanted to lean into his warmth and go back to sleep, she forced herself to untangle herself from him, standing up and avoiding his eyes. "Annabeth?" He asked groggily.
She turned. "We're landing." She paused, a smirk growing on her face. "You drool in your sleep." She grabbed her bag and walked away. "Seaweed Brain," she muttered, sure that he'd hear her.
~0~0~0~0~0~0`
After exiting, they were escorted to limos and spread up into groups. "Hey...Annabeth?"
She forced her attention away from the window to look at Hazel. The younger girl was smiling slyly."You know...I saw the most interesting sight on the plane." She shared a look with Piper. "Did you see anything, Piper?"
Annabeth's assistant nodded, an expression mirroring Hazel's on her face. Annabeth stared at them skeptically, not liking where this was going. "Perfect blackmail material, if I may say so myself, Hazel," Piper said.
"What's going on?" Annabeth asked. The two girls stared at her, identical smiles growing. "I don't think we should leave her in the dark anymore, Piper. What do yo you think?"
"Hmm...I think she has a right to see them." She turned to Annabeth. "But just so you know, we're not deleting them."
"See what? delete what?" She demanded. What were these two hiding? Piper was devious enough to do something to embarrass Annabeth without regrets, but Hazel surely wasn't. If it was blackmail, maybe Annabeth could convince the younger girl to delete it. Whatever 'it' was.
"Show her," Hazel said, her eyes glinting mischievously. Piper grabbed her phone and showed Annabeth.
Her mouth parted in shock, and her face burned. Lunging, her hand shot out at the phone. Her had swiped at empty air. Piper had safely pulled the phone away, out of reach. "I'd expect this of Piper, but not you, Hazel. Delete it."
Piper mocked her, making a pouty face. "Don't be so sad, Annie. No one'll see it. Yet."
Hazel bit her lip, already looking guilty. "She hates us now," she said quietly. "Maybe we should delete it." Piper whirled on Hazel. "What? No, we can't do that! What happened to perfect blackmail material?"
Annabeth leaned forward and place a comforting hand on Hazel's knee. Shouldn't they be comforting her? These pictures could ruin everything. "Hazel, I don't hate you. But I am considering wringing Piper's neck right now." Hazel's eyes widened, but Piper grinned, showing Annabeth a slideshow of pictures.
"I will send these pictures before you even touch me. You know I can." As much as she hated to admit it, Piper was right. Annabeth didn't know how( maybe the girl was blessed with some super awesome assistant powers or something) but Piper was extremely fast when it came to technology. She could send a message ( with all characters filled up ) within a few seconds. It never ceased to amaze her.
Really, Annabeth was just overreacting. It was just a few (dozen) pictures of her and Percy sleeping on the plane. One of them had his hand on her lap, her head rested in his. She had to say that was the most innocent ones. The rest were just horrible. The worst one was where she was practically in Percy's lap, her head buried in his chest and her body curled in a ball. His hand was on her waist protectively, his face buried in her hair.
How had she not felt that in her sleep? Unless they moved her...
At least it didn't show her face.
"Argus," she turned to the driver. He looked through the rear view mirror. For some reason her driver never really talked that much. Maybe he was mute, or he simply wasn't much of a talker. Either way, it worked better for her. It would ensure that he wouldn't go blabbing to the police. "If you happen to hear screams back hear, everything is fine." With that being said, she pushed the button for the divider.
Wide-eyed Hazel swallowed, while Piper seemed to be contemplating her options. Annabeth grinned evilly.
"Ow." Piper said. Annabeth climbed out of the vehicle, ignoring her friend.
"OW!" Piper complained louder, rubbing her head. Annabeth finally turned to her assistant, raising an eyebrow. "Is there a problem?" She asked, grinning. Piper playfully glared at Annabeth. "You punched me and slammed my head against the window!"
"Shh! Someone'll hear you." Annabeth said. Chiron had told all of the small parties of actors and actresses to meet in the hotel's lobby so they could have a 'cast meeting'. She was pretty convinced that he just wanted all the actors to meet each other for their five minute 'I'm glad to be working with you' conversation. He had bought them all rooms to a fancy hotel called 'Belle' (Which was definitely not Annabeth's style), pairing them with a few other bunkmates.
"We're only in the parking lot. And I I forget to say OW?!" she yelled in Annabeth's ear. She sighed. "Piper, I barely punched you hard enough. And I did not slam your head against the window. You were trying to get away from me, jumped, and hit your head. How is that my fault?" She honestly didn't remember Piper being so...dramatic.
Hazel was shaking her head, silently watching them. Annabeth wouldn't blame her if she thought they were freaks. Because they were. "Do you normally hurt each other like this?" She asked, wide-eyed. Her innocent expression kind of reminded Annabeth of a doe.
"Um...pretty much," Piper shrugged. Hazel visibly tensed. "Relax, I won't hurt you. We're not at that stage where you annoy me...yet." Annabeth explained. She swallowed and nodded. Anabeth grinned.
"Annabeth, Hazel! You've finally arrived! I was beginning to get worried."
"We had to stop by a pharmacy to get an ice pack," Hazel said, grinning. Chiron didnt seem to know what to make of this. He awkwardly nodded. "Well, I believe you're one of the last groups to arrive. While we wait for one more, you can settle into your hotel room and associate yourselves with the others. Go to the front desk and I believe they have your room keys."
They both nodded.
"What room number?" Hazel asked Annabeth. The leading actors/actresses got the huge rooms, while the minor actors got the smaller rooms. But they didnt have to share the room, so they were all even.
"Uh...I don't know. The key he gave me doesn't say," She frowned. "Mine either," Hazel said. Annabeth walked up to the counter once again, forcing herself to give the man a smile.
"Hello, how may I help you ladies?" He asked. Annabeth could clearly see past his smile. The loathing an envy in his eyes kind of shocked Annabeth. There was absolutely nothing envious about her. She had to be the least glamorous celebrity ever. "I have a question about our rooms," She showed him the key. "What type exactly is it? And why does it not have the room number?"
He stared at her as if she were a stupid blonde. Annabeth's blood boiled. She didn't appreciate being thought of as an airheaded blonde bimbo. She used to hate her hair, but now she just accepted it. But she had once loathed the color of her hair so much that she'd gone so far as to dye it another color. I hadnt been a pretty result. But then she learned that it would surprise people even more if she became a successful blonde.
"You're both in the presidential suite. I thought Mr. Chiron told you that already."
"Obviously he didn't," She muttered, snatching the card away. "But thank you anyway." At least she knew the presidential suite was on the top floor. It was on it's own level, taking up the whole last two floors. Annabeth honestly thought that was ridiculous. She would've been fine with staying in a regular hotel room; With late nights on sets she would've had to stay in her trailer anyways. But he appreciate the kind gesture from Chiron.
"I guess we're sharing a room, Hazel," Annabeth said, going to the elevator. Everything just yelled pretentious and cavalier about this place; it was sickening.
"No." Chiron barely looked up from his paper work, sighing. "Annabeth, I do not have time for one of you r tantrums. We start filming tomorrow," he checked his watch, "-technically today- and I have much more on my plate." He continued rifling through files, ignoring her once again. So he did know why she was here.
She cleared her throat, crossing her arms and leaning on her hip. Okay, she had to admit she was having a little tantrum, but didn't she have a right? Chiron has worked with worse before. 'Or maybe he just doesn't expect the same from you...'
"Chiron, I'm sorry. I just really don't want...I just can't- ugh. Please don't make me stay in that hotel room. I can take any other. Just...please Chiron."
Sighing, he took off his glasses and spun in his chair to face her. "Annabeth, our hotel budget is already stretched to the limit. If you want to stay in another hotel room, you're going to have to pay for it yourself." He gave her a knowing look. Although she couldn't hear it, it was implied in the tone of his voice. 'and you and I both you you can't afford that...' Annabeth hung her head. She was being ungrateful, really. Chiron was practically paying for everything.
Although it was completely unnecessary, Chiron had been like a second father to her since she was a little girl. Actually, he was more of a father than her father was. He was like...the Angelina Jolie of the acting world. He knew potential when he saw it, and if you happened to have trouble at home or something like that, he would take it upon himself to take you under his wing. Annabeth was just lucky enough to meet him at such a young age.
She nodded slowly, wrapping her arms around herself. She had to be the poorest actress around. Because of that, she sort of had a reputation among the other celebrities, who took it upon themselves to exclude her from the picture. She was just lucky that Chiron had hired actors that didn't care about if she were poor or not and had just as many problems as she did.
"So you got the presidential suite for the five of us?" She asked. He nodded. "For the main characters, really. Nico and Leo are just tagging along." If it was just for some of the main protagonists, Annabeth was glad that Hazel was one of them or she'd had been stuck in a hotel room with three guys, two of which she barely knew and one she hated.
"And, doesn't he presidential have many rooms and two different hallways? One for the girls, one for the boys. It shouldn't be hard to avoid him."It seemed like Chiron had taken all of this into consideration. Maybe he knew Annabeth would protest. Chiron really was a mastermind.
"Fine, but don't expect me to-" A knock on the door cut her off. Chiron stood up and walked to the hotel room door, opening it.
Annabeth's breath caught in her throat and she was only able to form one coherent thought: shit. What was Apollo doing here? No, no , no, no , no! This was going to ruin everything! Why did the fates hate her?
Annabeth tried to become unnoticed and blend into the wall, but of course, Tyche wasn't in a good mood today. Apollo grinned, making his way over to Annabeth. He hugged her, ruffling her hair. "Whatsup, Annie? Long time no see."
She forced a smile. "Yeah, you too, Apollo? What brings you to Chicago?"
"Aw, nothing much, just visiting my favorite uncle," he leaned in, lowering his voice, " And I'm also on vacation. The media can be very annoying. So what better than help direct a movie!" He grinned. Annabeth stared in disbelief at Chiron, looking for confirmation. He nodded.
"Wow..." she said. "So I guess I'll be seeing more of you over the next months?"She asked, dreading the answer. "Yep."
SHIT! What if he saw Thalia already? Then she'll know that Annabeth lied and she'll be mad, ad then she'll demand to be told who Annabeth was with yesterday. Forcing herself to breath and stop hyperventilating, she grabbed Apollo's hand. Catching both males off guard, she smiled sweetly. "Chiron, I, uh, need to borrow Apollo for a second."
Without waiting for an answer- or a protest- she practically grabbed Apollo into the hall. She automatically dropped his hand and started pacing. "Annabeth, what's wrong?" He asked, putting a hand on his shoulder. She shied away from his touch.
She really was overreacting (geez, how many times was she going to say that?). What was the big deal? She told one small lie to three people? Why was it eating her up like this? Kelli. She had seen her kissing Percy. If anything, she had probably heard ANnabeth said I love you. What if she told Tammi? This whole "Percabeth" idea is spinning out of control and it needs to be stopped.
She had an idea.
Drawing in a shaky breath, she said, "I need you to help me with something very important."
"With what? Annabeth, what's wrong?"
A group of girls passed by, giggling and whispering, pointing at them. She grabbed Apollo's face and kissed him, waiting till the group past by to stop for air. "Annabeth, what are you doing?" He demanded, wiping his lips.
"Yes, I know its weird, but please help me. You're like a brother and this feels like incest, but what the press doesn't know wont hurt them."
He ran a hand through his perfect hair, leaning against the opposite wall farthest away from her. "So basically you want to fake date me for publicity. You know that's sick, right?"
"Yes, I know! But I'm not using you for publicity. I just need you to break a rumor that's been spreading around. Please," she begged. He thought for a moment. "You know I love you, Annie, but not in that-"
"Yes, yes, I know! Just please help me! You just have to hold my hand or wrap your arm around me in public. And I promise, I'll tell you when I'm planning on kissing you." She lowered her voice, looking over Apollo's shoulder. "Like...now." Quickly pulling him closer to her, she smashed their lips together, only stopping when she heard someone clear their throat uncomfortably.
Pretending to be surprised, she looked up wide-eyed. She didn't want to, but she forced herself to look in Percy's eyes. He didn't seem to recognize her until she looked up. His eyes turned visibly darker. Actually, he almost looked angry. But he had nothing to be angry about! What the hell?!
He should know that Annabeth would never hook up with someone that quickly. Shouldn't he know that she was doing this for the sake of both of their images?"Annabeth," he said calmly, nodding in acknowledgement at Apollo. His jaw was set and he looked about ready to punch a wall.
She untangled herself from Apollo, feeling pretty pissed herself. But why? She was doing this by her own decisions. She shouldn't be mad at someone for their own opinion. Even Percy.
But, still, why was he acting like this? There was no logical reason other than...jealously. She bit the inside of her lip. "You're, uh, blocking Chiron's door." He said awkwardly.
She quickly moved out of the way, watching him knock and then open the door. Before it closed, Annabeth was once again met with sea green eyes. Even if it was only for a second, she noticed that the look in his eyes changed.
...Hurt.
A/N:
I am laughing at how cliche this is! Its sickening. But, as long as you guys love it and are happy with it, so am I. I guess.
Anyways, I'm sorry I took a while updating ( A week and a couple of days isn't so bad, is it?) but school started again and everything's just shoved in my face, so...ya. That's that. But actually, most of the days that past by, I was semi-free and didn't update out of pure laziness.
****SPOILER**** Next chapter you can look forward to some more Percabeth and explanations...I think actually, it depends on if I feel like it. Because I might just change my mind and decide to leave you in more suspense and with questions. Idk...depends on how many reviews i get for this chapter ( even if it sucked).
Just trolling! I'm not that mean. If not explanations, definitely Percabeth.
Random Question (I'm running out!): When is your birthday? Mine is March 23. It'd be cool if we had the same.
Review!
~Greekfreak302