Lives Collide

Disclaimer: I don't own any of this.

Piper sipped her juice out of the glass and glanced at Jason. He was sitting across from her in one of the diner's booths, eating a sandwich for his lunch break.

It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon and the two friends were surrounded by content customers having their own meals. Piper set the glass back down on the table beside her plate, half filled with a pasta dish. She licked her lips and folded her arms.

"Are you heading over to the library today?" she asked him.

Jason nodded and swallowed a mouthful of food before saying, "Percy and I are going to be straightening up the bookshelves on the upper floor. But all the books have been collected and the floor is clean at least."

Piper smiled and looked at the table. A moment later, she blurted out, "Do you mind working with the Olympia kids?"

Jason raised an eyebrow and asked, "Where did that come from?"

Piper shrugged, saying, "Well, you just seem to really dislike them, that's all."

Jason studied her for a moment but then replied, "They are a bunch of spoilt children who think the world revolves around them. I don't like how they think they can get away with whatever they please."

"But they don't!" Piper exclaimed, "They are cleaning up the library and I'm sure not all of them are that bad. The ones that eat here every day seem nice. You know the three boys and the girl?"

Jason shrugged and said, "Ya, they seem alright. But what about the others? There's a blonde guy who looks like cleaning is an alien concept to him-which it probably is- and that angry looking girl. I swear, she bites the head off everyone who comes near her! Then there's that couple who make out every hour like it's their job!"

Piper frowned at him, watching as he got angrier and angrier. "Jason...is there something else going on? Did something happen between you and them?"

Jason folded his arms and leaned back in the booth. "No, Piper; it's nothing."

Piper gave him a pleading look. There was defiantly something he wasn't telling her. Jason refused to meet her gaze, instead staring stubbornly out the window. When he realised that she wasn't going to let up, he stood up and grabbed his plate and glass.

"I've got to get back to work."

"But we've got another five minutes!" Piper called after him, only to receive silence. Piper slumped in the booth and contemplated calling Percy. However, she knew he was visiting his mother and Paul and decided to wait.

-Sally Jackson's apartment-

"What colour is this? Puppy's tears?"

Paul snorted at Percy's comment but one look from Sally Jackson sent him back to painting. Both he and Percy was standing on a covered table in the bare living room, painting the walls a depressing blue colour. Sally was standing on the ground behind them with her hands on her hips.

"It's called 'Morning Sky'," Sally said to her son, who raised an eyebrow at the partially painted wall.

"Are you sure? It looks like the colour made from the mood of rock bottom."

Sally rolled her eyes and replied, "Just paint, Percy. It will look wonderful with the furniture."

Sally turned on her heel and walked out of the room. Percy dragged the brush up and down the wall for a moment before saying to Paul, "So you and Mom had a good time in Italy?"

Paul nodded as he dipped the brush into the paint can and said, "Yes, she seemed to really enjoy herself."

"I kind of have to thank you for that though," Percy replied, "She's been a lot happier since she's met you."

Paul grinned and paused for a moment. Then taking a breath, he said, "Percy, I was thinking of asking your mom to marry me."

Percy froze for a moment before smiling. "That's great Paul!"

The older man let out a sigh of relief and said, "Yah, I'm just really glad you approve."

Percy shrugged, "Hey, you make her really happy and you certainly treat her better than my dad-." Percy stopped and cleared his throat. He gave Paul a strained smile and said, "You probably don't want to hear about that subject right now."

"Actually, Percy, I wouldn't mind hearing about your dad," Paul replied, "You and your Mom are going to be my family and any worries or baggage you have is going to be mine. I just want you to know that you can talk to me."

"Percy has always been one to try and fix things himself."

They both turned around to see Sally walking into the living room. Percy and Paul glanced at each other but Sally didn't give any indication that she had heard the first half of the conversation. "You can tell him about your father, Percy," Sally said, "The only reason I haven't said anything before is because it's Percy's story to tell."

Percy turned back to the wall and started painting again. "My dad and my mom didn't exactly run in the same social circles," he said to Paul, "They met at a party he was throwing and she was a waitress at it. He told her that he feel for her at first sight."

Paul had followed Percy's lead and was also continuing to paint the wall. "Of course, he couldn't take her out in public so Mom started to lose her patience with him. When she got pregnant and my father kept making all these promises to be with both of us, Mom just gave up...and he didn't bother to go after her."

Percy looked over his shoulder at Sally and she continued for him. "I went back to parents' house and they helped me get back on my feet. Percy's father came to see him at the hospital but I didn't want him in our lives after that."

"Was he that bad?"

"No, not him," Percy said, "But his side of the family would make you want to gouge your own eyes out. They were horrible people, still are."

"You met them again?" Paul asked, as he set the paint brush down beside the paint can.

Percy nodded and replied, "My dad found me and Mom a few years ago when I was fifteen. He got me into a good school and I stayed with him in his house for a while. I didn't like leaving Mom alone but she said I needed a good education and that school was one of the best in New York. But after about a year, I found out that the people who had been my friends were on my dad's pay role."

"He paid people to be your friends?" Paul said, in shock.

Percy nodded and then finished with, "I left the school and my dad. And you know the rest because you showed up a few weeks later."

Percy turned back to Sally and said, "And you'll never guess who arrived at my apartment door yesterday?"

Sally raised an eyebrow and Percy said, "Grover and the Stolls."

Sally's jaw fell slightly but she asked quickly, "What about Annabeth?"

Percy shook his head and replied, "No, but they've probably told her already. I said I would meet her in the library. They are the ones who are helping clean it."

"Who are these people?" Paul asked, stepping off the table.

"Percy's friends that were being paid by his father. Annabeth was his girlfriend while he was at the school."

Percy jumped off the table and started to wipe off the dots of paint on his hands with a cloth. "Grover told me that they stopped taking money from Dad months before I found out. And before Annabeth and I started dating."

Sally smiled and placed an arm around her son's shoulders. "Well, that's great! It explains everything!"

Percy shrugged and asked, "But what now? I mean, how can we go back to being the friends we were?"

"You can't," Sally replied, "Two years have gone by Percy. I'm sure they have changed. The important thing is you should give them a chance."

-The library; later that day-

Jason dusted down another shelf with the raggedy cloth. He adjusted his foot on the wooden ladder that was leaning against the bookshelf and looked down at Percy. The other boy was cleaning the lower shelves, nearly directly beneath Jason.

The blonde smirked and held the dusty cloth out over Percy. A second later, he let it drop and it landed smack bang on Percy's black hair. Jason laughed out loud as Percy grabbed the cloth from his head, coughing. He looked up and flung it back up at Jason.

"Thanks a lot!" Percy coughed out, running a hand through his head, dust falling out of it. Jason chuckled again and went back to the shelves.

All the bookshelves had been put upright and surprisingly, most of them escaped serious damage. They just needed dusting down. Jason heard a noise from downstairs and cast an eye over the balcony.

"The Olympia students are here," he said, slightly put out.

Percy froze and looked over at the balcony. He couldn't distinguish between the voices but Annabeth might be one of them. He quickly went back to cleaning and looked up at Jason to distract him.

"Seriously, at least be polite to them," Percy said, "They haven't done anything to us."

Jason looked at Percy, his mouth set in a thin line. "I can't stand them Percy! They are good for nothing losers who think they own every building they step into!"

Jason's words cut Percy and he could just see his friend saying things like that if he ever found out about his past. Percy absentmindedly brushed the cloth over the dark shelf.

"Give them a break; they may change into better people in the future."

Jason scoffed and Percy looked at him again. "I was a different person before you met me Jason! And you may not have exactly liked parts of that guy."

Jason titled his head before smiling slightly at his friend. "Did you kill anyone?"

Percy frowned in confusion but shook his head.

"Did you break any serious laws?" There was another head shake.

"Then, you've got nothing to worry about, Percy. You're my friend and that's not going to change."

Percy could only nod and go back to cleaning.

Jason hurried down the ladder, jumping off the last step to the ground. "I'm going to get us new cloths; these are falling apart."

Percy watched as Jason walked off and down the stairs, greeting Piper as he went. The dark haired girl hurried over to Percy, her ponytail swinging behind her.

Before he could get a word out, Piper exclaimed, "I'm worried about Jason!"

Percy raised an eyebrow but replied, "Ok, what do you think is wrong?"

Piper pushed some hair strands from her face and said, "I think some Olympia students might have done something to him. He hates them way too much for someone who has never had a run in with them and when I asked him about it, he blatantly lied!"

Percy tossed the cloth on the ground beside the other cleaning supplies and he asked, "Do you want me to talk to him about it?"

Piper bit her lip. "I don't think he'll talk to anyone about it. But...I was thinking, since you used to go there that maybe..."

Percy sighed and said, "Maybe I could look into it?"

"Do you remember any gossip about someone like Jason getting into trouble with Olympia kids?"

Percy thought for a moment before saying, "No, I never heard anything about that...I mean there was that one time-." Percy's stopped talking, his eyes widening.

Piper stared at him and said quietly, "Percy?"

Percy focused in on her and said, "I think I might have an idea what happened but I'm going to have to ask some old friends of mine first."

Piper raised an eyebrow before saying, "You're actually talking to your Olympia friends?"

"Ya, it surprised me too. But it turns out that I might have left without hearing the full story. I-I'm actually meeting Annabeth today."

A smile came to Piper's face and she exclaimed, "Really?! When? Where?"

"Soon. Here. Which is why I don't need you pestering me!" Percy teased before gently pushing her towards the stairs. Piper flashed him a smile and bounced down the stairs.

-The library; downstairs-an hour later-

Beckendorf finished cleaning another shelf and moved onto the next. Looking over to his right, he saw Silena carefully putting away the remaining books into boxes.

His talk with Luke had been bothering him ever since they had spoken. Looking Annabeth in the eye was nearly impossible. He was kind of glad that she had been caught up cataloguing books since the second she had stepped foot in the building that day.

A hand on his arm startled him out of his thoughts and he turned to see Silena again. She smiled at him and said, "If you keep dusting that spot, you wear a hole in the wood."

Beckendorf gave her a small grin and his girlfriend frowned at him. "There is something you aren't telling me, I know it," she said, placing hand on her hip.

Beckendorf sighed and looked around to check if Luke was around. When he saw him over by the far wall, scraping paint off it, he turned back to Silena.

"There's something you might want to know about exactly where Percy Olympia's money is going..."

-A few minutes later-

Percy looked towards the balcony again for the tenth time. The day was getting late and he still hadn't seen Annabeth. She must have come in with the others earlier but there was no sign of her.

Jason looked over the shelves with a happy sigh. "There," he said, happily, "cleaned and varnished."

Percy smirked and added, "Yup, and only a thousand more shelves to go."

"Shut up."

Percy chuckled as he grabbed the remaining cloths and cans of varnish. He walked over to the small table by the window and placed them there. "Hey, I'm going to check on Piper; see if she is finished."

"Alright!" Percy called back to him. A few second later, Percy heard footsteps again and he turned around.

"Jason did you-."

Standing in front of him, with her blue hat placed stubbornly on her head, was Annabeth. She was staring at him and he stared back, both of them drinking the other in. A million thoughts ran through his brain, his mouth opening and closing just slightly as he tried to form words.

He was rescued however, when Annabeth smiled-which had been his undoing three years ago- and said, "Hey there, Seaweed Brain."