A/N: Whew! I've been massively busy the past few weeks, and I'm coming up on taking a major exam that will determine whether or not I get certified for teaching. That's not scary at all! But I'm glad to have found the time to post this chapter. I hope you enjoy.

REYNA

When she gets back on campus after her weekend break, she runs her fingertips along the screen of her cell phone. She's tempted to text, tempted to ask, but she convinces herself: Piper will be the first to respond this time.

The resolve lasts the amount of time it takes for her to hug her mother goodbye and step into her dorm room, where Gwen is leaving as Reyna is walking in.

So she's the first to text Piper. It's only natural, right? Because she's the one who had been gone, and so it only made sense to text her first, really. It's the right thing to do.

And, in the long run, both of them benefit from Reyna's general weakness when Piper's involved when the two of them are naked and sated and smiling on Reyna's bed.

"Think Gwen's going to walk in this time?" Piper asks, her legs tangled with Reyna's, and Reyna's eyes go right to Piper's bare chest.

"Hope not," replies Reyna, "she was leaving when I got here. Besides, she'd probably get me kicked out for indecent exposure or something."

"I don't know," says Piper, looking down, "I'd say they're pretty decent."

Reyna can't help but chuckle and roll over, throwing an arm around Piper's waist and nuzzling her nose into Reyna's neck. Piper tenses slightly then wraps an arm hesitantly around her, patting her on the arm.

"Welp," says Piper, "I've got to go. I've got stuff to do. Things."

"Okay, Rick Grimes," says Reyna, and the sting of it is just harsh enough for it to stick. "What's the hurry?"

"Got to…" she trails off, looking around for something or other. "Got to find my…I have homework to do."

Piper gets dressed faster than Reyna's ever seen (and she was on a lacrosse team in a small-town homophobic high school) and books it out of there.

Reyna hasn't even been back on campus for an hour and she's already seen Piper, gotten laid, and gotten ditched.

"Well this is a big old bag of suck," Reyna grumbles to herself, she curls over, suddenly cold, and pulls her blanket over her shoulders. For a few minutes she lets her mind go blank, just empties it and does the yoga breathing they taught her in tenth grade to do before games. Maybe this is for the best. Maybe this – maybe she and Piper will end, just in time for lacrosse to start. Maybe she'll –

She's thinking again. She can't think about that. She doesn't want to think about that.

She won't.

Before fifteen minutes have passed, Reyna's thrown her long hair back in a braid and a bun and has gotten down to the gym, throwing herself into sprint routines as hard as she can. Her rationale is to block it all out, to get back in shape and completely conditioned before the season even starts. Then nothing's going to get in her way.

Besides. She and Piper don't owe each other anything, anyway.

She sees less of Piper in the next couple weeks. Really, except for classes and a horrible moment the Monday afternoon before Thanksgiving break, when Piper screams at her for mislabeling something in the Jim Crow laws flow chart they've been working on for their second essays, and then blinks and says, "Sorry," they don't see each other. Reyna feels itchy and uncomfortable for these days, wrong and in somebody else's skin.

She's thinking Piper probably just needs a break, that something happened when Reyna was gone and Piper needs some time to work it out in her own head before she deals with somebody else.

She just hopes she gets it fixed before the semester ends. But at that moment, Reyna was just ready to go home and be done with November.

"And you're staying with Hylla, right?" Reyna's mother asks her as Reyna finishes packing up her things.

Reyna just nods, her hair falling into her face.

"Alright," her mother replies. "You've started wearing your hair down."

Reyna looks up from her bag to meet her mother's inquisitive, calm gaze. "Is that…bad?" Reyna asks quietly.

"Not at all," says her mother with a smile. "It's a wonderful change, darling. Now let's get you home to see your sister, shall we?"

ANNABETH

Thanksgiving Break would have been miserable had it not been for the fact that her mom, useful for once in her life, swept into Annabeth's hometown on Thursday night and brought her into New York City, where Athena Metis teaches at Columbia for a series of philosophy conferences. "It's a surprise," Annabeth's mother says, "a present for Annabeth, since her birthday passed while I was investigating in Bahrain."

So Annabeth spends a small part of her weekend in New York City, sending pictures to Percy of herself close to the Empire State Building on Thursday night, and feeling, for once, like it's home. She feels a strange sort of hopeful glee when Percy texts back a picture of himself in pajama pants at his apartment with his Mom with a frown saying, "You're in my city and you didn't tell me until now? Text me where to meet up for breakfast!"

And that's how Percy Jackson meets Annabeth's mom.

"It's good to meet you, Percy," Athena says sharply, shaking his hand firmly enough for him to lose his balance a little. Annabeth forces back a chuckle. "But I must say, we can only have a quick breakfast and then we simply must head out around 10. Doors open for the conference at 10:30 and it begins at 11. I don't know who decided to do this conference on Black Friday, but there you have academics: always thinking about the abstract, never the tangible."

Percy sends Annabeth a look of, "Is she always like this?" Annabeth just nods back.

It goes bizarrely well, this first meeting, Percy being accidentally charming when he gets extra fruit for the table and says, "This hotel has all-you-can-eat fruit! It's like a buffet my mom would approve of!" which makes up for when he spills a little orange juice down the front of his shirt.

The conference goes well (even though Athena spends the twenty minute subway ride berating Annabeth on how "tongue kissing is not appropriate public behavior, Annabeth!") It's fascinating and not half as focused on Kant as Annabeth was worried it would be, and she gets back to the hotel to find a message on her phone.

"It's Percy," she says. "That's weird."

"Not weird," says Athena, "but it is clingy. I don't want to have to split you two up, you know."

Annabeth tries her best not to roll her eyes and instead says, "I'm going to go for a walk down the hall. Call me if you need anything, okay mom?"

"How can I call you if you're clearly going to have a chat with that boy?"

Annabeth really hates how her mom generally knows everything.

"I get it, Mom."

"Be back early," says Athena, "we're leaving here at 8 sharp, and I don't want you up so late you can't wake up to make the bus."

She dials the phone and immediately is astonished by Percy's lack of response. He always picks up the phone when it's her calling, and now she's concerned there was a problem, and she missed it because she left her stupid phone in the hotel room.

She falls asleep, and there's a nagging feeling in the back of her mind that she's forgetting something. It's important enough that it gnaws at her mind, but apparently not nagging enough to keep her awake.

She wakes up and knows what that strange feeling is: she's been officially dating Percy for exactly a month.

And she doesn't actually have any sort of present.

Luckily, she's in New York City the day after Black Friday, and everything's still kind of on sale. She convinces her mom to spend just a tiny bit more time in the city, and carefully doesn't mention who she's shopping for. She picks up Percy a picture frame – cheesy as hell, with the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty as the sides of the frames – and plans to put a photo of the two of them in it.

On the train ride home, which she spends alone, she decides she'll use the photo of the two of them lying upside down and halfway off their bed. They took it while a little drunk and a lot cuddly, Piper threatening to film them making out if they didn't get off of each other. They ended up falling off of the bed, and trying to arm wrestle as they were upside down.

It was an awesome day, and it seems like the right gift for their first month together.

She hopes.

She must have dozed off at some point, as she's jolted awake by Neon Trees screaming at her. She moves to turn off her iPod, until she realizes it's her ringtone and she scrambles to answer it.

She notices the caller ID and grins. Looks like Percy remembered the anniversary after all. She picks up the phone with a grin. "Hello?"

"I'm going to need your help the night after everyone gets back from Thanksgiving break and I need you to bring Reyna and Piper," is the first thing Percy Jackson says on his one month anniversary with Annabeth.

"You WHAT?!" she squeaks. It's not what she expected, and she's half ready to sock him in the teeth, right through the phone.

He sighs. "Right, and I got you something silly since it's our one month." She tries to stay annoyed – she swears, she really, really, tries – but there's something in his tone and in the way he's holding something back in his voice that makes it impossible for her to avoid that contagious grin that she knows he's wearing from moving to her own lips.

"I didn't get you anything," she says, trying to keep the smile a little as possible.

"That's okay," Percy replies, "I mean, all I got you was a silly card and a candy bar. And it doesn't really count because I technically forgot – "

"You FORGOT?!" she shrieks.

" – but Jason reminded me last night after that stupid frat phone call, and I remembered and I'm an idiot."

"You are an idiot," says Annabeth, "but this is forgivable. I suppose. Sort of. What kind of candy bar?"

"It's a Milky Way."

"It's forgiven." She smiles as Percy laughs, but pauses suddenly. "Frat phone call?"

Percy groans, and she can picture him throwing himself dramatically on his bed. "That's why I didn't call you back until this morning," he grumbles. "I got about three hours of sleep because they made me come up with the entirety of a party plan at, like, two am."

"And that's why we need to destroy the party?"

"Yes," says Percy. "And that's why I need you to enlist your friends to help wreck it."

"My friends?"

"Come on," chuckles Percy. "Bring in Piper and Reyna, and you could annihilate an atom bomb with the amount of dysfunction."

"You've got a point there," says Annabeth. "Alright then. I'm in."

REYNA

Thanksgiving break is slow and boring, and Reyna constantly keeps reaching for her phone to text Piper about something stupid her boss says about her "personality change" since she's been at school. Her mom's actually told her that she seems more distracted than usual, that she's changed ("But in a good way! There's a new addition to you!") but Reyna's not going to tell her why. She's not telling anyone at home until Piper admits it to herself.

Piper calls her twice – once because she was drunk at a Tristan McLean party and wanted Reyna to dirty talk her (she fell asleep halfway through) and once because she was bored and actually wanted to study for the History final but couldn't figure out how to do it without Reyna there – and Reyna doesn't call her at all. It's up to Piper now, especially after that awkward moment after Reyna came home. It's been awkward for a little longer than Reyna had wanted, and she's scared something has broken between then.

That is, until, she gets a text from Piper saying, "Look out your window." Reyna does, and who should she see but Piper, waving from the front of Reyna's building.

Reyna darts down and opens the door, leading Piper upstairs.

"So," Reyna begins, "what are you up to?"

Piper shrugs. "I got back early so I came over your place."

Reyna forces back a smile. "Your first thought once you got back to school was to come visit me?"

"Shut up," says Piper. "You're hot and I haven't seen you in about a week."

"So you want to have sex?" Reyna asks, but it almost hurts to have to say it out loud.

Piper shakes her head. "I mean, technically, yes, usually, but right now I was think you could tell me how your break was."

Reyna takes the risk. "I missed you," she says quietly.

Piper smiles. "Of course you did," she says with a bright smile, "everybody misses me when I'm not around. I'm a right bubbling ray of fucking sunshine and I'm easy on the eyes."

Reyna resists saying, "not what I meant" and leans against the wall. "So you, what, just want to talk?" She tries not to laugh as she sees Piper grow uncomfortable.

"Well, I figured we could do something else first."

"Like what?" Reyna asks, and there's something in Piper's expression that's got her more curious than usual to find out what the hell Piper is planning.

Piper takes her around the waist and pushes her down on the bed, straddling her. "Something a little like this."

Something in Reyna is telling her to stop it and talk first, that a moment of clarity is needed before anything else, but her hands thread through Piper's hair and she's kissing Piper and, nope, no way. There's no stopping this now, not when Piper's hands are dancing along her stomach, up her ribcage, glancing over her breasts in such a teasing way that Reyna can't help but whimper a bit.

"Sounds like somebody missed me," laughs Piper, and it's barely a second that passes before Reyna's got her shirt off and the two of them are scrabbling at each other with a few weeks' anxiety and exhaustion fueling their every move.

Every touch, every moment sends fire through Reyna's bones, but when all that's left is the last few charred, smoking, embers of their orgasms, Piper's already fidgeting.

"Need to leave again?" asks Reyna, and she can hear an unintentional bite in her voice.

Piper bites her lip and shakes her head. "I – no, no I don't," she replies. "I think, for now, I can stay right here."

Reyna wraps her arms around Piper. "Alright."

Unfortunately, the moment of comfort halts in its tracks when her phone rings.

"Go ahead," says Piper. "Answer it. It's probably your parents."

Strangely enough, it's Annabeth.

"I have to what?" squeaks Reyna.

"Meet me at Percy's frat house," says Annabeth. She'd called absolutely out of nowhere, for no reason Reyna can understand, and this is the kind of thing? "Tonight. Apparently there's something going on, some kind of frat party-off, even though it's like, the last week of classes"

"Which is exactly why I really shouldn't go," Reyna replies. "I need to be on my game and drinking doesn't exactly do good things for needing to wake up early to work out."

"Well," says Annabeth, "That's kind of the point. If it goes well, we shouldn't be there long at all."

"What, like we make an appearance?" Reyna asks. "Is that it?"

"Sort of. We have to go, and be idiots. And we have to completely screw it up."

"Why?" Reyna asks. "I mean, why does it need to be screwed up?"

"Because Percy, Nico and Jason have been instructed to design some kind of epic party, since they're the legacy kids or something, to prove that they belong in the frat, and they want us to fuck it up so they don't have to stay in there. This party battle between the Greek organization is one of the biggest events of the year. They figure if they ruin it, they'll get kicked out for good."

"Why can't they just," Reyna frowns, "I don't know, leave?"

Reyna hears Annabeth laugh. "Because frat boys are idiots and apparently lock you in until your life ends. You have literally no opportunity to leave unless they let you leave."

"So this one's a cult?"

"Basically."

Reyna grumbles a little bit, but she knows she's going to be there for Annabeth. It's not like she's going to bail on her.

Again.

"So we're fucking up a frat party?" Piper asks.

"Seems like it," says Reyna. "Ready to do this?"

Piper grins. "Making a mess of things?" she asks. "Every goddamned day."

PIPER

"What are you wearing tonight?" Annabeth asks. "Because I'm pretty sure I have to look like an everloving prostitute or else it's not going to fly."

"Oh, come on," says Piper, "like you making out with Percy isn't obscene enough to stop a train in its tracks."

"Can it, McLean, or I'll call you out on your clear love for and obsession with a certain lacrosse player."

"I'm thinking of wearing her jersey," says Piper, "you know, to incite illicit actions or whatever. Is that a good idea?"

"It's a good idea if you can get a hold of her jersey," says Annabeth. "Do you have one?"

"Yeah," says Piper. She scrambles in her drawer and pulls out something gold and purple. "It says Arellano on the back. It's from high school, I think."

"Obviously," says Annabeth with a laugh, "our colors are orange and blue."

"Like I care about the sports part of it," replies Piper. "But I figured it'll work, right? With my neon pink bra underneath?"

"That'll work if we get a black light involved." For some reason, Annabeth frowns after she says this.

"What's with the face?"

"Well," says Annabeth. "Wouldn't a black light make it a good party? We shouldn't have black light then."

Piper rolls her eyes so hard she's pretty convinced they'll fall back into her head. "You literally overthink everything."

"That I do," sighs Annabeth. "Now dress me in slut clothes and give me alcohol so I feel comfortable walking past the desk attendant in half of the clothing I usually wear."

Piper grins. "Gladly."

It's less than fifteen minutes before Annabeth's hair is tamed and curly, and Piper's wrestled her into a black lace sheer top and a bright blue bustier bra underneath.

"You sure this works with these jeans?"

"Annabeth," says Piper, "your ass is slaying right now in those skinnys and I've never seen your boobs look so amazing. Stop getting worried and start getting intoxicated."

"Just tell Percy, when I get there, that I currently expect him to feel me up in exchange for wearing this shirt. In public."

Piper's eyebrows shoot up, and she can tell by the look on Annabeth's face that Annabeth had not intended to say that out loud. "Well someone's got a kink," she chuckles. She shuts up when Annabeth turns red and shoves a shot in her hand to make the awkwardness go away.

After they've finishing chasing their Smirnoff Raspberry with Sobe (they don't talk about how much like the lamest college freshmen they feel doing this) Annabeth psyches herself up by listening to Britney Spears and Piper, for once, decides to join her.

"Are you ready now?" asks Piper, after the second time Annabeth's repeated Do Something.

"Yep," says Annabeth. "Very much ready. Let's go get our inappropriate smooch on."

"God, you're even more adorable when drunk," says Piper with an eye roll. "It's offensive, almost."

"And you're even more Piper when drunk," says Annabeth in response. "And you'd know if I were drunk. I'd be trying to do pirouettes. And if I'm really drunk I decide to try and do death drops, and then I come dangerously close to popping my ACL."

"Yeah," says Piper. "I'm well aware. Never do that again."

"Agreed."

They meet Reyna outside of the frat house, and her jaw drops.

"That's where my pinny went!" Reyna exclaims. "Where did you get that?"

"You left in my bed two weeks ago."

Annabeth covers her ears. "I don't wanna know," she says, "I do not want to know any of this. None of it at all."

"We banged on my desk," says Piper with a grin, just loud enough that the guys on the frat house's porch look over and their eyes shoot up.

"Didn't need to hear it, but now you gave me good reason to walk in here and make Percy erase my memory entirely."

"Good luck with that," laughs Reyna. She pulls Piper flush against her.

"Yeah, roomie," says Piper, "forget this."

Annabeth runs up the house's front steps as Piper and Reyna start sucking face.

"She gone yet?" Reyna asks Piper against Piper's lips.

"Yep."

"Good," says Reyna, "because that dude's staring at us and I'm totally not down with it."

The kissing stops, which Piper is slightly disappointed with, and they walk into the party.

And Piper is immediately horrified.

"These outfits are worse than some of the dresses at my cousin's quinceañera," mutters Reyna, "and that side of the family gets a little bit insane."

Piper looks around the party and, yup, there are some crazy outfits, not just dresses. It looks like the girls at their college are a little more apt to wearing genuine party dresses than jeans and a jersey like Piper (so she wanted to frustrate Reyna, so what?) but she's not going to say anything against it. Especially since butts generally look really nice in those pencil skirts and bandage dresses. Really, really nice.

"You're staring, McLean," says Reyna. Piper looks over at her, and notices she's not quite smiling.

"Let's go get a drink, shall we?" says Piper. There's a moment of hesitation, but then Piper grabs Reyna's hand and pulls her close, and drags her down to kiss her firmly. "Come on, Reyna," Piper murmurs, "let's take this party down."