I have said this so many times, but I felt obligated to say it again. I LOVE YOU GUYS! Thank you so much for all of your favorites, follows, and reviews! You are the best. A virtual blue cookie for you all, my dear readers! (::)
I am not Rick Riordan, so I do not own his amazing world of demigodishness.
"Annabeth? Please let me in," Piper's voice said from outside Annabeth's apartment door.
"Go away, Piper," came the grumpy reply.
"You know I'm not leaving until you open this door."
Annabeth cracked the door open a sliver, just enough for one of her eyes and the corner of her pajama top to be visible. She had been crying again, Piper realized with a gasp.
"I know, right? Annabeth said with a bitter laugh. "The Great Annabeth Chase, brought to tears by some stupid boy. You know what? Piper, you can come in now. I'm almost ready anyway." Annabeth opened the door, and waved her friend inside. Her apartment looked the same as always- picture perfect and pristine- except for a demolished pillow and an over-abundance of tissues in the garbage. Piper glanced at Annabeth, then down to the overflowing garbage can, and resisted the urge to correct her friend. It wasn't just some random boy who had made Annabeth cry. It was one particular boy. Percy Jackson.
Annabeth disappeared into her room for a few minutes, leaving Piper to ruminate sitting on the couch. Annabeth viciously pulled her hair up into a ponytail, then deftly whipped it into a stern bun. She buttoned up a gray blouse the color of her eyes, and slipped on a pair of skinny black jeans. Glancing at her reflection in the mirror, she groaned. Dark circles and bags surrounded her eyes, which were bloodshot and glassy. Wrinkling her nose, she put a little bit of coverup- which belonged to Piper, who had accidentally left it in her refrigerator once (why, Annabeth had no idea)- around her eyes. Much better, she thought to herself, examining her work. She grabbed her leather jacket and started to head out to the living room, then stopped. Turning around, Annabeth walked over to her tiny excuse for a closet, and yanked on the door handle. The door always got stuck, so she felt unusually lucky today when it popped open after she tugged on it three times. Leaning down, she plucked her favorite, pitch-black lace-up combat boots from between two pairs of black pumps for work and fancy occasions. After lacing them up and pulling her jacket on, she glanced in the mirror again. Perfect, she thought to herself, smiling smugly. I look totally awesome. And, as a bonus, Percy will never know what hit him. But I don't care about that, the logical part of her brain amended quickly. Because I am not concerned with what he thinks. Because I hate him. I hate him, I hate him, I hate him, she started a mantra (fairly half-heartedly). I hate him.
Piper watched as her friend stepped out of her room. Annabeth, currently glaring, looked like she was ready to start a new job as an extremely successful bounty hunter. All she needed was a gun to complete the ensemble. Annabeth put her hands on her hips, her eyes glinting sharply. "Ready to go?" she asked Piper, with a slight smirk.
"Ready to go where, exactly?"
"To your house, of course. It's time to start planning a wedding," Annabeth said confidently.
"But what about Percy?"
Annabeth pursed her lips and a sharp, deadly edge appeared in her eyes. "He claimed that something did not matter. If it did, indeed, not matter... well, two can play at that game." A frightening smile appeared on her face.
"Ok... just please don't kill him."
"I won't kill him. Scouts honor."
Piper backed up a little bit. "You were never a girl scout, Annie..."
"Yes, Piper. I know that." Annabeth zipped her jacket up, and opened the door. She smirked at her friend."So, are you coming or what?"
Meanwhile, Percy was just walking around the grounds of the McLean mansion with Jason. "What do I do?" Percy continued mournfully. "I didn't mean to kiss her. And then I panicked and told her it didn't mean anything."
Jason's eyes widened. "YOU DID WHAT?!"
"Told her it didn't mean anything..."
Jason face palmed. "Percy. You know better than anyone how I'm bad with figuring out what goes on in the female brain. But even I know not to tell a girl that a kiss DIDN'T MEAN ANYTHING! How stupid are you? I thought you liked her!"
"I do. I have ever since she punched me when we were four..." Percy stared off into the sky wistfully.
"Dude, you seriously need to apologize. Especially since this is Annabeth we're talking about. She is totally going to kill you."
"Again..." Percy said sadly.
Jason's eyes narrowed. "Again?"
"You're right. She is going to actually kill me this time. Last time was only a broken nose, but now..."
"LAST TIME!?"
"Yeah. And I didn't get to apologize for that yet."
Jason groaned. "I don't know, Perce. I don't know. You're on your own for this one. But just let me warn you- Annabeth isn't going to let you off easy."
"Can't I just say sorry?" Percy asked helplessly.
"That's not going to work with Annabeth. You already blew your second chance, for the gods sakes! Good luck, man. I really hope that you survive planning this wedding. It was really nice knowing you." Shaking his head, Jason left his friend sitting on a bench, staring into a fountain with tiny tears in the corners of his eyes.
Annabeth stepped out of the taxi, and started to walk towards the garden as Piper paid the driver. She noticed Percy sitting by a fountain, his head in his hands. She hesitated, then forced her face into the semblance of a smile. "Mr. Jackson?" she asked, placing hand on her hip. Percy's head snapped up at the sound of her voice. His jaw dropped as he took in her outfit. She was the most beautiful thing on the planet, he decided. And scary. She totally looked like she could kill him and still look utterly fabulous doing it too. Annabeth couldn't help but feel a twinge of happiness and pride at his awestruck expression. "Uh, Mr. Jackson?" she said, raising an eyebrow and smirking.
"Huh?"
She rolled her eyes and suppressed a laugh."Mr. Jackson, we need to start planning Piper and Jason's wedding."
"Oh, yes," he shook his head, blushing furiously. "We should head inside." Annabeth turned on her heel and started towards the mansion. Percy stared after her for a few seconds, then trailed after her, wondering how one single person could be so perfect.
Piper, who had gotten into the mansion right after finishing paying the driver (she accidentally gave him a hundred dollar bill instead of ten dollars), was watching the exchange. Geez, she thought. Annabeth can really turn up the charm when she wants to. She barely has to, though. Just look at Percy. He's trailing behind her like a lost, lovestruck puppy. He'd do anything for her. But still... he hurt her, and needs to majorly redeem himself. For the gods' sake, he made Annabeth Chase cry! I think I need to help them along. Piper smiled slightly evilly, cracking her knuckles. "Let Project Percabeth begin." She looked out the window, where Annabeth was now glaring at Percy. Was that a pocket knife glinting inside her jacket, or just one of her pointy blue-print pens? "That is, if she doesn't kill him first..." she corrected herself, glancing at Percy worriedly.
"Project Percabeth?" Jason wrapped his arms around her from behind.
"Jason?!" she exclaimed, turning around to face him. He didn't let go. "How much did you hear?"
"Enough to know that you're planning to get Percy and Annabeth to reconcile," he smiled.
"She loves him, Jace. She has since she was sixteen. This is breaking her heart. She wouldn't even tell me what was wrong yesterday, but she called me to take her home. I knew it had something to do with Percy, though. Annabeth Chase was bawling, Jason. Annabeth freaking Chase had tears pouring down her face!"
Jason's brow furrowed, and he quickly recounted the story Percy had told him. Piper's mouth opened in shock.
"I knew it was bad, but not that bad... this is going to take a lot of work."
"Can your dear husband-to-be help you on your quest?"
"Yes you can." Piper pecked him on the nose. "It might be easier to start with fixing up Percy first. You said that he fell in love with her when he was four, and still won't date anyone?"
"Yeah. It's sort of romantic," Jason said. "Like that movie you made me see? The... Office Supplies or something? The Pencil? The Binder Clip?"
Piper arched an eyebrow. "The Notebook?"
Jason flushed. "Yeah..." Piper laughed, and planted a soft kiss on his lips.
"I love you anyway," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck.
At this point, Annabeth entered the room with Percy following close behind her. She cocked her head to the left. "Hello, lovebirds. What was that about The Notebook?" she asked.
Jason shook his head furiously. "Nothing! Nothing at all!" he said quickly. Percy looked confused, and Annabeth looked at Jason suspiciously. Piper laid her head on Jason's shoulder, holding his hand. "We were just saying that we should give you some of our ideas before you start actually planning the wedding. Let's all go into my sitting room," she smiled angelically. Annabeth raised an eyebrow, but followed Piper anyway.
Piper's sitting room was more of a small-ish living room. It had a large, plush gray couch along one wall, and an ivory colored shag rug on the floor. There was also an armchair similar to Annabeth's. It was her second favorite chair. The light blue walls were decorated with sharpie-d sayings and sketches that Annabeth had idly drawn when she was bored. Piper had contributed her own little hearts and stars as well, so the room was covered in little scribbles, even on the ceiling. It was Annabeth's favorite room in the mansion, and she suspected it was Piper's too. Piper always let Annabeth stay there whenever she slept over, which was often. Piper was always begging Annabeth to move in so she wouldn't be so lonely in the huge house, but Annabeth liked her little apartment and always refused. Their compromise was that Annabeth would come over on weekends and days when she didn't have work, so Annabeth had a second home of sorts.
Annabeth sat on the couch when Piper ran over to the armchair. Piper giggled, and stuck her tongue out at Annabeth, who stuck her tongue out in reply. Jason walked in, and Piper gestured for him to sit with her. "Uh, Piper? There's not much room..." he started.
"Don't be silly," Piper laughed, standing up."Sit down. There's plenty of room. See?" She sat down on his lap and kissed him quickly. Jason wrapped his arms around her, laughing. "I get it now," he smiled. Annabeth smiled at the couple wistfully, wishing that she would have a relationship like that some day. A vision of sea green eyes, soft salty lips, and shaggy black hair rose up in her mind unbidden. NO, she scolded herself. Anybody but... him.
Percy entered the room, and looked around in awe. He walked straight up to a drawing of an owl sitting on a branch by the sea, and gently touched it. "You drew this, didn't you?" he said to Annabeth.
Her eyes widened fractionally, and she replied, "Yes. I did." She silently added: right after I fell for you.
"Sort of like Greek mythology. Poseidon- the sea- and Athena- the owl. Seaweed and wisdom..." Percy trailed off.
Annabeth's mouth opened in shock. She looked at Percy. In his eyes, he seemed to be saying: like you and me.
She quickly said, "Did you know that Poseidon and Athena were rivals? They absolutely hated each other. Well, actually Athena hated Poseidon, but..."
"Seaweed and wisdom," he whispered quietly to himself. "Seaweed and wisdom." Piper watched this exchange with an interested expression. "Remember that, Jace," she whispered to her fiancé. "Something about that sounds familiar..." Jason nodded his assent as he watched Percy sit on the carpet right underneath the sketch.
"So... Percy, Annabeth. About the wedding," Piper started.
"I already sketched a few things you had mentioned in the past," interjected Annabeth, pulling out her blueprints. "Sorry if they're a bit smudged. I... spilled some water on them," she said hesitantly, handing them to Piper. Angling the papers so Jason could see them, Piper flipped through them in amazement. Jason's eyes widened. Though they had a few spots where they were smudged- where tears had fallen, Jason realized- the drawings were beautiful.
"They're perfect!" Jason exclaimed. Piper nodded vigorously.
Annabeth smiled. "That's wonderful. Per... Mr. Jackson and I will have to get started on getting them started immediately. Piper, I will work on the wedding dress with you separately. I swear on the River Styx that this wedding will be perfect."
"You like Greek mythology too?" Percy asked. Annabeth nodded, then proceeded to turn away from him quickly. Piper smiled. A similar interest. That I can work with, she thought happily. "Oh, and Annabeth?" Piper said. "I love your idea about the wedding bells." Annabeth smiled appreciatively, knowing that her friend was thanking her for using something that she knew Annabeth despised. "Thank you, Piper."
Percy smiled to himself, imagining the day when wedding bells would be ringing for him. The same pair of gray eyes from his daydream were staring at him intently, wondering what on earth Percy could be thinking about that could make him smile so happily.