Percy takes a step back, handling the knob of the door with his fingers.
"Percy, what are you doing? The exit is that way?" Anna points behind herself. Percy nods.
"I know I just…" He doesn't finish his sentence because he runs back inside, shutting the door on the blonde.
"Jackson! You better open up this door right now!" Anna calls banging on the door. Percy shakes his head even though he knows she can't see it. His heart is beating 100 miles per hour.
"At least let me change into more comfortable clothes." Percy says through the door. There's shuffling of feet.
"…Fine." She says after a moment of silence. Percy feels himself smile as he heads over to his room taking off his shirt. He goes to one of his droors and opens it. It squeaks since it hadn't been opened in such a long time. He picks out a random long sleeve shirt and pulls it over his head. It's black. He puts the white graphic tee back on messing up his hair even more. He goes to his closet. He pulls out one of his dark blue jackets.
You're probably wondering why he has a jacket if he rarely goes outside. Well, he has the jacket because in the colder months he doesn't turn up the heat. It's like a punishment for not dying with Rachel. He thinks he can freeze himself to death, and if that doesn't work just sleep his life away.
He grabs another jacket, this one's black. It's leather and he puts it on over the hoodie. He grabs the glasses Nico had left behind and sets them on the bridge of his nose. When he opens the door Annabeth gapes at him.
"You're kidding me right? It's seventy-five degrees out there!" She exclaims. "You'll burn up." She adds. Percy shrugs.
"More of the reason for me not to even go out there." He says. Anna rolls her eyes.
"Percy, we've been doing this for four weeks! You've been coping out so well, I think you're ready." She grabs his left hand and Percy looks at their entwined hands then back up at her.
"Well okay…" He mumbles stupidly. He mentally scolds himself for being so love drunk. Anna smiles a bright smile and Percy feels himself give a small smile. They start walking down the hallway hands still clamped together. People look at Percy in a foreign way. They haven't really seen him. They barely know him.
When they reach the front door Percy halts, all confidence that he was trying to gain gone. His nose twitched.
"Do we really have to do this?" He asks taking a small step back.
"Yes!" Anna cries.
"But it all seems so sudden." Percy says. Anna lets go of Percy's hand and he misses the warmth.
"I don't think I can do it." Percy says.
"When do you think you can do it?" Anna asks. Percy shrugs.
"I don't know. Never?" He says. He walks over to one of the lobby benches next to a fake tree. Anna sits next to him.
"You have to go outside sometime, Percy." Anna tries to comfort him. Percy finds himself muttering: "What if they find me? What if they find me? What if they find me? What if they find me? I can't let them find me? What if they send me back? I don't want to go back to the camp. The camp. The camp. I can't go back. What if they find me?"
The mumbling scares Anna. "Percy?" She asks. He doesn't respond.
"Percy?" She says again. Percy's shaking and attracting some attention in the lobby. His mumbling has become a little bit louder and his eyes are wandering in a frantic way all over the room.
Anna puts her hand on Percy thigh and Percy looks at her. His mumbling has stopped and he's biting his lip. He's not tensing up which is an improvement. A single drop of blood runs down his chin. He wipes it away with his right hand.
"Are you okay?" She asks him. "You don't seem like you right now. Who are They? What camp?" Percy looks at her.
"How do you know about the camp?" He asks, scooting away from her. Her hand slaps the wood of the bench.
"You were mumbling about it. Do you feel okay?" She asks again.
"I don't know," A head shake, "I really don't know." He looks at her.
"Anna, I really don't think I can go outside right now. I just don't feel ready. Can we do it in a few months or something?" Anna shrugs, but nods.
"When your ready." They notice that every one is looking at them.
"There's nothing to see here." Anna says.
"Yeah, go back to your, uh, your stuff." Percy says. They slowly continue to their cliché conversations, and the kids start annoying their parents or playing with other kids. The receptionist looks as bored as anything and the two people on the bench look back at each other.
"Thanks." Percy says and Anna nods.
"This doesn't mean your getting out of this weeks session." Percy groans and complains as Anna drags him up the stairs. They can't go into elevators because of Percy claustrophobia. When they get back into his apartment Percy tosses both of his jackets aside.
All through the lesson he stares at Anna. For some odd reason he has some sort of attraction to her. It's a friendly attraction, of course. Well, at least Percy thinks it's friendly. At the end Anna gets a phone call. She tells Percy to hold on. Percy wonders if Anna has a boyfriend. She's too pretty not to. Percy scolds himself quietly. She hands up with a tired expression.
"Who was that?" Percy asked. Anna pockets her phone.
"My boyfriend. She says. Percy feels his small close-to-nothing smile drop to well, nothing.
"Boyfriend." Percy states, having a sudden interest in his shoes.
"Yeah. His name's Luke. He was worried since I was here so long. I better get going." She says. They walk to the door together.
"Okay. Bye." Percy said. For some odd reason he feels the urge to get back into bed. To never come out, no matter how much anyone pleads.
"Alright. See you next week." Percy shrugs.
"Maybe. Maybe not." Anna doesn't question what Percy says because she thinks he's just joking. She gives him a smile which he doesn't return and opens the door. She walks down the hallway, and for the first time, Percy hopes she doesn't come back.