Disclaimer: I own nothing.
The door to the Chaos cabin opened to full couches of crew members, the TV blaring a Spongebob Squarepants episode that Piper hadn't seen yet, and chatter of the people watching it. Faughn was making breakfast, even though they would be heading towards the dining pavilion soon to eat, and Carl was standing especially close to her. Bailey and Percy were missing from the group, but Piper didn't notice that at first.
She knew her crew, Piper did, and if they felt like they didn't get enough sleep or didn't want to wake up, they could sleep like rocks (whom, Piper pointed out mentally, don't really sleep). She also knew, that even if Bailey woke them up, they were not done sleeping. Because, combined with the fact they went to sleep late last night, and not everyone on the crew likes to wake up early- most of the crew actually loves their sleep; probably because they don't get a lot of it so it's kind of precious- and with the fact that they all worked extremely hard last night against too many people at once with an
overwhelming amount of powers needed for them, they were definitely not ready to wake up when Bailey laughed loudly.
So...why were they sitting here instead of sleeping in their beds and getting cranky because of the disturbance of their nice fine sleep?
And Bailey...Bailey does not get up before anytime she has to. She normally misses breakfast in order to get her sleep because she loves it move than anything. Which reminds Piper...if no one else was awake, not even Faughn who was up so early in the morning it was crazy, what the Hades was Bailey doing up? If Bailey wakes up before she's ready, she's extremely cranky and rude, and there was no sign of that in this morning's conversation. This confused Piper greatly. Bailey couldn't have been up that early willingly. Maybe something happened...?
"Why're you guys up so early?" Piper wondered, slowly closing the door behind her. She had a mission to complete, but she knew that if she just ignored everyone than that would raise suspicions and that would mean having another visit back to the teasing Bailey had, and if she could barely handle anything like it, she doubts she could handle all of her crew administering it at the same time.
Naden looked at her weird. "It's almost breakfast, Peacemaker," she said. "Where have you been?"
"Out with Nico," Piper replied confusedly. She could've sworn Nico took her out around seven, and breakfast wasn't until eight-thirty. There was no way she was gone that long. They only went to the forest and barely talked. Not for a whole hour. "Bailey knew."
Faughn immediately turned to her with a batter covered spoon facing her direction. "What you doing with Nico?"
"Just talking. We weren't gone long." Piper frowned. "Where is Bailey?"
"That's what you left over an hour ago for?" Faughn asked, frowning.
"An hour?" Piper shook her head. "It couldn't have been that long."
Before Faughn could say more, Naden softly suggested, "Piper, maybe you should go make sure Percy is okay."
Piper wrinkled her nose. She couldn't have been gone that long, it didn't make sense. It's not like they went far or talked long. Why did they keep thinking she gone for an hour? But...Faughn would know because she talked to her before she left, yet it made no sense. "Where's Bailey?" she asked instead because she would ask her about this and hopefully, Bailey could enlighten her on this and other things she had questions about.
Carl shrugged, leaning on the counter and obviously waiting for Faughn to begin cooking again. "She wasn't here when we woke up."
"She's fine," Marcus said, rolling his eyes. "She said she was going to talk to someone on Earth. You know Bailey can handle things just fine in her own. She said she'll be back before breakfast."
"Is that why she was up so early?" Piper asked, furrowing her eyebrows. Who could she be visiting? As far as she knew, all of Bailey's family that was once on Earth were dead, and she was not a big fan of the place otherwise because of all that had happened to her.
They all shrugged. "Peacemaker," Naden mumbled sternly, "you should probably go check on Percy."
Piper nodded. She never questioned Naden because she always seemed to know what she was thinking, and everyone was still staring at her because she was out with Nico the day after she announced Percy was her boyfriend. Naden always got her out of trouble, and Piper appreciated her greatly for that.
Besides, she was on a mission, one of dire importance, and without her consent, her mind wondered back to the dream and the experiment she planned. It was purely for science, she reminded herself as she headed back up to the hallway. There was no pleasure in the field of science, and this time was no different. She just wanted to test her imagination. No worries, no pain, no pleasure. That's it.
She knocked on the door that held his name on a gold plate. It took him a second, but he opened the door clutching his side. His hair was definitely not deliciously ruffled, and his eyes were still bright and twinkling even if it looked like he just woke up. And after realizing that his attire for nightwear was simply just pajama pants, she was definitely not stating at his defined muscles. Or his amazingly hot abs. Or the band of his boxers. Or wondering what the taunt muscle of his waist would feel like under her fingers. Or how those strong arms would feel around her waist in an intimate setting. Or how that chest would feel against hers, pressed as close as they can be. Or how the ridges of his abs would feel as she ran her hand down them. She definitely, no matter what anyone tells you, completely *not* swooning like an absolute Aphrodite child. She was not checking him out either.
All she has to say to this experience is thank Poseidon for giving his sons the need to swim. Those abs...
There was something different about seeing him when he woke up without a shirt than to see him when she pulled off his shirt to look at his wounds. It was much more real and exhilarating.
"Pipes...?" Percy asked, lowering his hand from where he was rubbing his face. He pulled his door closed and stepped outside of it. Piper, of course, didn't notice. She was a little...distracted. "What are you doing...?"
She blushed deeply and put her hands behind her back to keep from pouncing on him and beginning her experiment way earlier than she wanted. "Uh..." she stammered, quickly averting her eyes from his chest and him himself in general because it was pretty tempting. "I just came to see if you were okay..." she answered slowly, biting her lip. "I mean...I was worried because everyone else is awake and you're not, but that's okay! That's totally okay! You can wake up on your own time, but it's just...breakfast is soon and I kind of need you there for support because I have to make that speech. And I wanted to know if you were okay because you took a lot out of yourself yesterday, and-"
"Pipes," he chuckled huskily, and she felt herself shiver, "you're rambling."
Her blush grew deeper and it was all over her body. She was glad she decided not to put her hair in a ponytail this morning so it covered a lot of her face. Chaos, this was a disaster so far; she was making a fool out of herself. She came to terms that she wanted to be with Percy and then she comes and makes it so that he sees how stupid she is, so in turn, he won't want to be with her. Oh, she wanted to hide her face so he didn't see her embarrassment or shame. Why, oh why, couldn't she be cool and confident around him, like all the other Aphrodite kids were around their crushes?
Heaving a sigh, she composed herself. She was going to do this experiment, and things were going to be good between them so that maybe they would be extremely happy together? "We should change your bandage," she said, looking up into his eyes. "And I want to look at your bruise to make sure the cream worked."
He hesitated. "Yeah, that's a good idea. Uh...where do you want to go?"
"Can we go to your room? It's the closest."
Pink painted his cheeks. "Uh...um...sure, I guess. I mean, that's fine. Yeah. Just give me a second to clean it up, yeah?"
Piper nodded, and stupidly pointed back in the direction of her room. "I need to get the stuff anyway."
"Okay, yeah, I'll see you in a few minutes, yeah?"
Piper nodded, blushing. Of course, as she headed to her room, she realized that she would be alone in a room, with a shirtless Percy who was her boyfriend, object of her affection, and the point of her experiment that might get out of hand. This made her nervous. What if she pushed him too far? What if he didn't think into this like she was? What if he just wanted her to fix him up and then get out of his room? What if she screwed something up, and ruined her chances of getting with him? She didn't want him to see her stupidity or something bad, but instead, the good things that can come from her so that he wants to be with her.
Piper wants Percy to come with her after this. Wants him to live on Pluto across from her. Wants to see him everyday. Wants to be with him in every mission. Wants to patch him up if he gets hurt. Wants him to do the same.
Not only that but she wants to fall in love again, with him especially. He's the only one, she believes, she can fall in love with after Jason. He's the only one she wants to fall in love with. He's amazing and everything in a guy that every girl looks for: he's loyal, smart, strong, good looking, caring, loving...
She wants to wake up to him every morning because she knows it's the best way to get sleep and keep the nightmares away. She wants to be in his strong arms because they make all her worries and fear disappear. She wants to kiss him all the time because, based on her imagination, it gives her the feeling of serenity and peace and makes her feel young and gives her the best feeling anyone can imagine.
Piper knows she's selfish because of this. Percy has friends here, his family, Annabeth. He doesn't want to leave. This is his home, his whole life is here. Why would he want to leave that for a life full of danger and traveling, just to be with her? He's got everything he needs and wants here, and there's nothing extremely fascinating about life of being Peacemaker.
Yet, that doesn't stop her from wanting and wishing for it. She has always helped others, still helps others, and she's helping others right now even though they don't appreciate it or want it. It's completely okay for her to be selfish for once. The problem is that she doesn't want to ruin Percy's whole life. That's the only thing holding her back. She cares for him too much to do that to him.
Sighing at this thought, she grabbed the stuff she needed and headed back to Percy's room. She knocked softly, once, her heart beating out of control.
Percy was mentally freaking out. Not only did he just wake up from an amazing dream with everything that he wished for in one, but he opened the door to the subject of his dream. If that's not worse enough, all of his walls were portraying his thoughts of her and she wanted to come into his room. Just because they were dating did not mean that he was allowed to have all his walls reflecting her. Or at least he thinks. He's not sure. All he knows is that he doesn't want to scare Piper away so there was no way that she wouldn't want to be with him. And having her know that he was thinking of the infirmary because of the almost-kiss last night, the bed of the room on the ship where they woke up together, her room, and the last place he saw her before she
left, on the beach, was on the disaster side of his thoughts.
So he rushes to get his mind on something else. He tries to think of his long-gone parents who would've loved to know he was in love with Piper because they loved her so much before, but then he thinks about having dinner with them in order to tell them this, and that made him think of Piper being with him, next to him, holding his hand, and beaming with happiness at the situation. In short, it did help. Then he tried to think about his father, who was becoming more and more involved in his life since he's become a god. It kind of worked, and the scene changed to his underwater palace, but the room on the ship stayed. He bets that that's going to be the first wall she notices because of his luck. There's nothing he can do though, because she knocks at the door at the exact moment.
He sighs through his nose, rubs his face, hurriedly throws a couple things off to the side as he goes towards the door. His heart is pounding, palms sweating. He use to never get this feeling around Annabeth, he was always semi-confident in how he was reacting towards her and how he was handling the situations. Maybe it was because he had a lot of advice and read a lot of books on how to be a good boyfriend so he wouldn't mess anything up, but with Piper it was different. He was worried about screwing things up with her so early in the relationship. He knew this was because she was so important to him, and he would never be able to handle it if she left him. This was why he was nervous. And they'd be alone in his room. With her running her hands over his chest. His bare chest.
He threw the door open, and couldn't help but smile at the sight of her. "Hey," he mumbled, moving aside to let her in.
"Hi," she said, biting her lip and placing her things in front of his Underwater palace wall on his dresser. "You don't have to sit down, it won't take long."
He nodded and watched as she grabbed new bandages. Knowing she was heading for his arm, he held it out, watching with pride as her tan, lithe fingers barely wrapped around his bicep. Her cheeks were a little red, and the pride grew in his chest.
There was silence between them as she checked the wound, ran her fingers over it with incredible gentleness, and then put some more stuff on it making him sigh and unconsciously put his hand on her waist. There was silence between them as she ran her fingers over where his bruise was, but there was not silence when she asked if the pressure she put on it hurt, and he replied with a no or a hiss. There was silence with her new coating of stuff on those places that need be.
"Okay," Piper mumbled as she put the top back on and looked up at him. "I think we're good."
He couldn't reply. Her eyes had caught his attention and he could never figure out what color they were. Right now he wanted to stay and find it out. Look into her eyes until he finally decided. Hold her still and kiss her and see if different emotions bring different colors.
She was beautiful. Gorgeous. The definition of those words. And more. There was no questioning it. Everyone would notice it. Does notice it. She was the rival of Aphrodite. Maybe even more beautiful because it's natural and she doesn't exploit it or try to. She's amazing. In every possible way, he realizes, and there's no way that she will ever change because she hasn't even after all she's been through. And she's been through a lot that would turn many people bitter and hateful people. But not Piper. Never Piper.
If you ask Percy today what compelled him to grab Piper's hips and yank her to him, almost allowing their foreheads to touch, their lips a breath away, he'll tell you he has no idea. That's because when he did it, he was not thinking (not like he does much of that anyways). It was just this overwhelming feeling of desire and want and need that just took over him. He was tired of waiting for the okay. Tired of seeing and having but not being able to experience. Tired of only kissing her in his dreams. Tired of only holding her when something was wrong.
To Chaos, Percy Jackson was so. Fucking. Tired.
He does not regret it. He does not regret touching their foreheads. Coasting his hands over the material of her uniform to her back. Pulling her closer so they were chest to chest. Moving a hand to brush her hair out of her beautiful face so he could see her breath-taking eyes. Tucking it behind her ear. Running his eyes over every feature of her face. Smiling at the realization of the freckles over her nose. Noticing the slight gap of her mouth, as if she was begging to be kissed. Seeing the closing of her eyes...Leaning closer...closer...
Their lips had barely touched, both pair of eyes closed, when the breakfast horn sounded. The sound scared them so much they jumped apart and panted from the excitement and that scare combined. Stared at each other. Damned the whole Camp to hell because of the interruption.
They sat like that for minutes. They didn't know what to do. Well, that was a lie- they did. Oh, they wanted that kiss and that kiss to last forever. They wanted to be so drowned in each other that they could not acknowledge anything else in the world, and nothing could touch them. They wanted to fall into the love they shared, delve in it. Thrive in it. Live in it.
Percy became the center of the universe with a force of gravity so strong that it seemed to pull the whole room in. Into a black hole so they were the only two left. At first, it seemed like it didn't affect Piper, and she was able to keep the five feet between then. That only lasted a few seconds, however, and neither of them were complaining about it. It hit suddenly. Not the need to be near him and in his arms and with him, all over him. No, that feeling happened to already be there. The force of the gravity- the sheer, desperate need of all of those things hit her. It did not slap her. It woke her up, from her stupid pretending that she could deny what she wanted with him. From her stupid pretending there was nothing between them, no attraction, no
love. From her stupid distancing herself from him to make her believe otherwise.
It woke her up to realize the football field between them.
They are still not sure what happened today, but they threw themselves at each other, arms around each other in the perfect position. They collided hard, any breath within in them disappearing, any panting they were doing was stopped by each other's lips. Their hearts fell in sync, minds blanking out on anything and everything but each other, but the other's features. It seemed like they could only focus on each other, as if they were in an empty room with black walls, black floors, and black ceilings. They could not get out. No one could get in. There was no windows. No outside influence. Just them. Only them. And they figured that it would that way for the entire time of their relationship because no one could break them apart. Not at this moment, especially. No way at this moment.
After many, many times they had dreamt of this moment, dreamt of kissing each other and finally being together, their expectations were high. So high there was several people who would immediately discard ever actually accomplishing the dream because they did not want to be disappointed. That was not the chance with these two demigods. Although the expectations were incredibly high and the chances of the actual moment meeting up with it was slim, they were completely ready and definitely willing no matter the result. And they were not disappointed by the results. Oh, they were fantastically impressed and pleased and intensely focused on each other to focus too much on it. The kiss was a hundred times above their expectations.
The kiss- oh the kiss- was amazing. More than amazing. Was there even a word for this? It was more than fantastic. More than beautiful. More than electrifying. More than wonderful. It was all those and more combined. There was no word for such a thing. No word. They can't think of one. Wouldn't want to. Not right now. Just delve and thrive in it and never worry about it. Why would they question it? What was the point when they could just feel it? Reminisce about it later. Experience it again. And again. And again.
It was passionate, hard, fierce, and Piper was against the wall. Their nerves were more active now then ever, and they were sparking everywhere that the other's skin touched, like an electric shock. It made the hair on their skin rise, and it intensified the feeling of being together. Intensified everything. Their lips were in molten hot lava- the good kind- which made their body temperature rise. Made the overall temperature in the room rise it seemed. They could hear nothing but the other's breathing, and their own heartbeats in their ears. They could feel heartbeats of the other against their chest, feel their pulse pound exotically under their fingertips. They could feel everything of the other person. And there were no fireworks like they tell you with a first kiss or with someone you love; it was purely just emotions and emotions themselves could not decipher poured into each other's mouth and hope the other understood.
Their hands could not sit still. They were constantly on the move: towards the other's hair, over their sides, around their necks, up their arms, finding their hands. Their lips did not separate even with the small breaths they took. Or well, it didn't seem like they separated because they could still feel the lingering pressure of lips and figured it was because they didn't leave. They did not allow room between them. Percy had a hand on the wall to prop himself up the slightest, and Piper was fully pinned against the wall with Percy's chest flush against hers to keep her there. Her foot somehow made it around his calf, one of his legs in between hers. Her hands kept tugging him closer, by his hair, by his neck, by the hem of his pants.
They could not get enough of each other. The want to drown in each other was consuming, and the desperate need to be as close as possible was thrilling and evident in the pit of their stomach. It signaled something, and they allowed it to lead them through the kisses and whatever it wanted to do because it gave them the absolute best feeling, and they did not want to get rid of it so soon. It was something amazing. Something they would never forget. Something that could only be given when they kissing or together.
Piper's hand came up, grabbed Percy's hair tightly to get him to lean further down on her so she didn't have to stand on her toes too much to reach him. To keep him close. Percy moved his hand from the wall next to him and tugged at the jacket she was wearing. Too much clothing. Too many barriers. He wanted to feel her skin, feel how soft it was, feel her curves and her simply because he had the chance now. The right. And he wanted her to understand that he liked her. Liked her body. Her personality. He wanted to make sure she knew that, and this was the only way he could think of because he was the worst with words
Piper easily complied, lifting her back from the wall and putting her arms into awkward positions to get the jacket off as fast as possible, Percy urging her on by pushing it and tugging at her hips to keep her close. The jacket fell to the ground, and Piper threw an arm around Percy, easily, and put her other hand to his heart, to feel it pounding under her palm and feel the extreme heat coming from his bare skin.
Some people would think for a first kiss, this was too fast, too hard. But neither demigods did. For so long...tension was between them, and feelings were there lingering, hidden before she ever left. And there was no use in denying they wanted each other. No use in pretending those feelings were stronger, and no use in putting it off any longer. They had thought for so long of this moment, long and hard about it. It seems only fair that they take advantage of the time they were given in order to show how much they wanted the other. It would be sweeter on their date. Right now...they couldn't stand it any
longer...couldn't handle being so close but not being able to touch, to feel, to love.
Percy pulled the thin black material Piper used to cover her armor from where she has it tucked in her pants and his fingers were touching her skin, right above her belt and she gave a soft moan into his mouth. She pulled away, tilting her head back on the wall. Not wanting to stop touching or stop kissing her because it was easily the best feeling he had ever imagined or felt, Percy touched his lips to her neck- her long, slender, beautiful neck...- and moved his hand better under her shirt, fanning his fingers out on the smooth expense of her flat stomach. She gave a breathless moan, and then the door burst open.
It was no surprise since Percy had the worst luck with these kinds of things and Piper could never ever get some privacy with her damned crew around, so they didn't jump when it happened, just broke apart and looked towards the culprit, blushing furiously and panting as if they had just run a marathon. Neither moved from their position. On the other hand...it was a very big surprise for Bailey who just wanted to tell Percy to get up and look for Piper since she couldn't find her anywhere and no one would her anything.
"Jackson!" she called before she opened the door, and continued as she walked two steps in the room before noticing, "We need to find Piper- Oh my- CHAOS!" Bailey immediately turned on her heel and covered her eyes quickly. "What are you- Never mind! I don't want to know! Oh my- I am so sorry! Um, well, I'll just be leaving now. I guess you could continue what you were doing- yeah, um, okay...Well, this is- that's awkward. Oh my...Chaos..." Bailey stammered as she started walking out the door, her hands still over eyes. She promptly ran into the doorframe because of it, and Percy, still up against Piper winced at the sound; Piper bit her swollen, red lip.
"I'm okay!" Bailey squeaked, and she didn't remove her hands to see where she was going. "I'm fine. Just forget I was here, alright? All right. We're good. It's not like you're needed at breakfast anyway...Nope. Nada. Well, see you...whenever I guess." She didn't even turn back to close the door.
There was a long awkward silence following her departure. Neither demigod moved, but after a few moments, Percy removed his hand from under her shirt, stepped back a foot, and cleared his throat. "Um, well, I think we need to go to breakfast for that..." he said, and his voice was deeper than usual. He tried clearing his throat to get rid of it.
"For my speech," she answered, and her voice was coarse. "Yeah."
"Listen, Piper," he said softly, and he reached out to brush her hair away from her face, "I didn't-"
Instantly the red that had been coating her face in many layers, disappeared and she was pale. "You're not...Are you..." she wrung her hands and bit her lip, not able to look him in the eyes. Her heart was beginning to break. "Please don't tell me-"
"Piper!" Percy exclaimed, shocked at her. Somehow, he knew what she was saying, and he was not oblivious. To this conversation, at least. "No! Of course not! It's just..." He sighed. "I was wondering if you thought it was too fast or..."
Her shoulder sunk with relief, and she shyly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, looking at the ground. Her heart was still pounding way too for a normal being or an immortal. "No," she said, and the blush was back with vengeance: It covered her face, traveled down her neck, and was the brightest and most evident on her stomach. In the outline of a hand. Percy's hand, nonetheless. "No, that's not what I thought."
Percy sighed in relief. "Okay. Good. That's good. Me neither." He chuckled nervously, and he wanted to turn his head to look at something other than her but his body wouldn't allow it. He rubbed the back of his neck. "Well...I..."
"We should go to breakfast," Piper replied awkwardly. She wondered if it would be like this between them now: dancing on ice and trying to survive. She wondered if that one kiss made up of tons of others just ruined their relationship not only as girlfriend and boyfriend but as best friends, because no matter what happened, he was her best friend first and foremost.
She was afraid of losing him. Losing him like she lost Jason. Losing him to this life when she desperately wanted him around in galaxies. Losing him to awkwardness and not knowing what to say because of the big elephant in the room.
"I'll let you get dressed," Piper said softly, biting her lip and she turned to leave. He let her walk to the door, her heart slowly breaking before he called her name. She turned to face him, and gave a loud squeal of surprise when she find him right before it.
It only reached their ears, and the sound wasn't even clear, because Percy captured her lips right as she turned. His hand closed around her wrist and her toes curled. This kiss was better than the first. Softer. Sweeter. Loving. Short but thorough. And by Chaos, it was Piper's new drug that she knew she would crazy from if she had too long of a withdrawl.
"See you down there, Pipes," Percy murmured as he pulled away and kissed her forehead. She was too stunned and dazed to speak. She nodded slowly, turned, and left the room. The door closed behind her, and she pressed her back against it, sighing. Oh Chaos, she's got it bad for Percy, and she knows that this trip is the absolute best thing to ever happen to her.
She thanked Chaos as she headed downstairs, and was met with stares, muffled laughter, and failing stern faces. "You...You should know better, Peacemaker," Naden struggled, and Faughn giggled. "You are just dating, and you're not a skeez who lets guys run all over you the first date."
This set Marcus and the guys into a laughing fit. Naden managed to compose herself after a short laugh. Piper's face was flaming more than ever as if she dyed her skin the PowerAde red.
Bailey was no where to be seen.
"You've managed to not scar Bailey, but the rest of us as well when we heard about it," Naden continued, though it was obvious she was struggling. Her words were broken and her voice cracked. "You're our leader, Piper, and we expected more from you."
"Not from Percy," Marcus roared with laughter. The others joined in.
"Oh, cut her some slack," Faughn said, rolling her eyes, and she tossed Carl's arm off her. "I think it's cute."
"Of course you do," Percy mumbled, coming down to stand next to Piper. He had on the black uniform as well, but his hair was an absolute rat's nest. It made the crews laugh even harder. But they all stopped as Percy huffed, ran a hand through his hair once and continued talking, "You and Carl do it all the time."
Faughn's face grew as red as a tomato, the fact that her skin was already a brighter pink did nothing to help hide it. Carl's brown cheeks turned a little pink, and he coughed awkwardly. Everyone was looking at the pair. Piper was amazed that no matter how long her crew had known the two, they had not found out, but Percy had figured it out in a matter of days.
"Hey, guys, remember when Bailey walked in on Percy and Piper?" Marcus asked nervously, avoiding eyes with everyone. Piper was glad the attention was away from her and Percy, and the two demigods shared a grin.
"Stop trying to change the subject, Carl," Sasa, a member of Bailey's crew who everyone knew had the biggest crush on Carl, snapped angrily, though her eyes were shining. It looked like water droplets on an ocean because she came from Neptune. "Care to explain?"
"Aw, Sasa," Carl muttered, and he reached out for her, but she quickly jumped back. Carl flinched. She walked out, and Piper frowned.
"Come on, guys, we've got to get going anyway." She watched as they flooded out, and Faughn's hand was on Carl's arm while he clenched his fists and looked distressed.
Percy groaned. "Oh, come on- what did I ruin this time? I was only joking?"
They followed the others out. "It's okay, Percy. You didn't know and it's better Sasa finds out now rather than when she's really in deep."
"Deep in what? I don't even understand what happened! I just made a joke!"
She calmly grabbed his hand and linked their fingers. "I know that. Carl and Faughn know that too. It's just...Sasa has liked Carl the day they met" -her eyes were wistful, lost in the past when they first got assigned to her best friend- "and she thought she had a chance if she just waited for him to realize."
"Oh, Pipes," Percy breathed and he ran his free hand down his face, stunned at his stupity and heart-broken just hearing the story and connecting it with what just happened. "I didn't- if I had- I should've- oh, Chaos, I screwed it up so much."
She squeezed his hand. "Don't beat yourself up so hard about it, Percy. It's better she knows. She can get over him mow and find someone better."
"Yeah, but Pipes...I totally ruined her day. Her whole life!" He groaned, and clenched his free hand. "Sometimes, I just need to learn when to shut up and just things happen."
Piper stopped and turned towards him. "Hey, Percy," she soothed softly, grabbing his chin. "It's not your fault. You did nothing wrong you. You were just planning on having a good time. You don't need to beat yourself up for not seeing something that she has kept hidden for hundreds of years."
"I just...I feel like such a bastard, though," he murmured, shaking his head. "I don't know. I just...I don't like it. I'm extremely pissed at myself."
"Percy. Come on." She tugged his shirt so he came towards her, and she fell into his chest. "You did nothing wrong. In fact, you helped Sasa out. Carl is in love with Faughn, I can tell. He's not going to give her up. It's better she finds out now rather than when she's too in love with him."
His shoulders relaxed and he buried his nose in her hair. "Yeah. I guess. I don't know. I don't want to think on it anymore."
"Okay," she said simply, and she gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Come on, then, Percy. Let's go eat some breakfast and get ridiculed by our friends."
He rolled his eyes and grabbed her hand again. "It's never going to stop is it?"
They walked through the doors of the pavilion, and all chatter ceased. No knives or forks bashed against the plates to make that clank sound. No nymphs swished by them. No sound of drinks appearing, or laughter, or fights, or anything. It was completely silent. Not even the monsters in the forest made a sound.
Everyone was staring at them. At Piper or Percy individually or staring at them together. There were all different kinds of stares- nice ones, mean ones, surprised ones, confused ones, neutral ones. Every face had at least one emotion on, but when Piper ran her eyes over the crowd and caught others', they instantly looked away. Except Annabeth. She was glaring harshly at her, and her eyes flickered to the tight grasp Piper had on Percy's hand. Piper looked away after that.
Clarisse met her gaze, and she was obviously pissed. She grabbed a fork, her eyes still locked with Piper's and snapped it in half as if it was a pencil. She didn't make a sound, but Piper could imagine a growl lime a tiger's, and it gave her shivers and she instantly turned to someone else.
Her crew was standing at the table. Put aside the disputes and laughter and broken hearts and secrets that were just shown five seconds ago. They were standing as still as statues, with hard faces that were turned towards her. Pride, admiration, and respect were shown in their posture and their faces. Piper wondered what happened from the two minutes it took Percy and her to get there in order to get them that way. She wondered if she missed something in those two moments that was extremely important.
Before she could have time to dwell on it, Travis Stoll stood up. The winning flag was in his hands, and Piper, again, wondered how she missed that in the crowd. The eyes of the campers did not leave Percy or Piper, even as Travis walked up to them.
Piper's shoulders were tense when he stopped five feet in front of them. She was cutting off the circulation in Percy's hand, but he seemed to be gripping just as tight. They didn't know what was happening, and they didn't know what to do.
"All hail the Chaos cabin," Travis said, and his voice echoed in the pavilion. No one looked at him but the two demigods standing in front of him. "The Saviors of Camp and Olympus, and the winners of last night's Capture the Flag." He held out the flag to them and it turned into a view of a galaxy.
The first person to clap was surprisingly Thalia. Then Nico. Connor. Travis. Pollux. And then everyone joined in. It was deafening. The sound echoed in the place, monsters roared from forest, as if, they too, were celebrating. Whistles joined in. Screams. Laughter. Names that were nice and friendly. Calla to get them to sit with them today. It was beautiful. It was nice. And it was exactly what Piper needed in order to get them to realize something.
Apart from a few setbacks., this was the best day Piper had in her whole lifetime.
Piper put two fingers in her mouth and whistled loudly, having the wind amplify overcome the applauding and voices. They quieted down, amazed by what she did just then, what's she planning on doing, and what she did last night. They respected her and were willing to listen to what she had to say.
Not letting go of Percy's hand, and yet being almost side to side with him, she asked loudly and nicely, "Who decided this?" Percy held the flag in his free hand, and he was looking down her with those eyes- beautiful eyes- so filled of-
"The whole Camp," Travis replied, and she wondered if people thought of him as their representative, and then she wondered when that had happened. She was doing a lot of wondering this morning. She didn't know if that was a good or bad thing. "Or well, majority, at least."
"How'd you decide?" Piper asked, her heart pounding and her mind trying to think of what to say quickly but cleverly.
"Oh, shut up and just take the stupid win!" Clarisse growled, and the Ares cabin gave a slam on their table of agreement.
Percy shot a glare at them and they shut up. "We sat down last night," Travis informed, still looking at them. It was weird not to seem him grin. "We talked about how you gave up the win for Percy and your crew because they were injured and tired, even though you needed the win to complete your job."
"The whole camp?"
"Everyone who was in the game, and some more."
"How long did it take to finalize? Don't lie to me, Stoll, I know a lot of people don't like us here."
"A couple hours. There was a lot of debates and screaming, but eventually Chiron came in to ask us. We voted. More than 2/3 were in favor of you."
Piper's eyebrows furrowed. "Why? I did nothing significant. My friends and family were hurt. Don't you call off pranks and fights when such a thing happens?"
Travis shifted. "That's different. You needed the win. We didn't. And we don't. Besides, most of us wouldn't do what you did in order to keep their pride and honor."
Piper stared at him for a long moment. "What would you have done, Travis, if your team only consisted of the Hermes cabin and Katie against the whole camp and Katie came up incredibly injured at the end while you fought for the win? The win that could possibly destroy your future and everyone you cared about. The win that would out brothers against sisters, against brothers, against girlfriends, against boyfriends, against best friends. The win that would destroy the only true home any demigod has ever known. The win that could be everything and anything." There was a long pause, but Travis didn't speak. No one spoke.
Piper felt Percy squeeze her hand and she looked up at him. He gave a nod and smile of encouragement. Of belief. Of understanding. Of trust. She took a deep breath, turned to Travis and continued, "Would you give that win away in order to ensure Katie, the person you love and who's always been there to help you out of a bad situation and give you support and a hug when you need it, stayed alive? To ensure that your cabin, your family whom makes you laugh when you're down; who does things with you to make sure you don't have all the fun or glory and to make sure you don't get yourself killed; who knows more about you than anyone else because you not only tell them, they just know; who you can share problems with because you can relate to them; who protects you even when you don't want it; who you spend most time with...to ensure that those people were safe and not dead? That you didn't push them too hard to selfishly achieve something that could've destroy the people you most selfishly want to keep around?"
Piper looked around the room. "Close your eyes. Imagine the person you love most as Percy. Imagine your cabin or group of friends as my crew. Then imagine yourself in my shoes. What would you have done? Would you take the win or save those people?"
She gave them time to think of it, and she looked up at Percy. He gave a small smile, leaned down to kiss her forehead, and she sighed unconsciously. She moved her fingers to fit in the spaces of his. A second later, she turned back to Travis who was staring at her like he never saw her clearly before. "So? What would you do?"
"What you did," he breathed.
"And how you would like to fight your brothers and sisters because they believed the side your father on is the right side or they believed your father was wrong? How would you like to fight against Katie? Against all your friends? Against Percy? Annabeth? Nico? People you have known all your life just because of some stupid argument that does not involve you, but your parents? To be a true broken family that will probably never be fixed?"
He shook his head immediately. "No. No. I don't want that."
"That's the reason I'm here, Travis," Piper told him. "I don't want that either. That's why my crew and I tried so damn hard last night to win. We work to prevent these things. You may not like me, or Percy being with me, but I don't care. I don't want that happening."
She paused and reached across Percy to get the flag. She showed it to him. "To me, to my crew, this is not a victory to us. This is a victory towards our cause. This is a victory towards you- the whole Camp!" The Chaos crew gave a loud whoop at that, and Piper smiled at the Camp, landing on Travis who was just as confused as ever. "We cannot accept a win that is not ours, Stoll. This belongs to Camp."
"But you said- the win, it's important- I-"
"It is important," Percy interrupted. "Just not in the way you'd think."
"It's important that you worked together like a family in order to win. That you realized you could overcome anything that is thrown your way, even Chaos's group of highly skilled and trained second-in-command, if you work together and not pick sides. It's important you realize how much Nico means to you when he picked my side. It's important to realize that sometimes winning is not all that great, but deciding something together and being confident in that because you talked it over and it was everyone involved. It's important to realize the true power of family and friends." Piper beamed. "And I believe you have all won." She thrusted the flag out towards Travis. "My crew and I can't accept this because it is rightfully Camp's!"
The Chaos table erupted in roars and Travis tentatively accepted the flag. It showed all the cabins under the Greek alpha symbol. The Camp did not look happy. Piper's eyebrows furrowed in confusion and she frowned. Percy squeezed her hand.
"You're the one who made that possible!" someone shouted. "You deserve it!"
"Yeah! We don't want it!"
"Don't take it, Travis!"
"Keep it!"
Piper glanced with surprise over to Percy. He looked as surprised as her. Her wide eyes focused on Travis; he shrugged with his usual grin taking over his lips. "Majority spoke, my friend. We decline the win."
Piper was at a lost of what to do. She expected them to take it and not pull this. She didn't understand this. Why weren't they taking it? What was she supposed to do now? Oh, Chaos, if she failed at this point when she finally got her point across and people finally started to believe she was for the good side and not against them...Chaos would kill her. She would kill herself. She's so close, but she doesn't know what to do now. It's not like the Camp was helping with their semi-loud chants of "Take it! Take it! Take it!"
She was mentally panicking when Bailey yelled, "Make it a tie! Both accept the win!"
Piper gasped, excited, and beamed at Travis. "She's right! We couldn't have done it without each other! And we both won, and we both are going to keep winning this whole time!"
Travis's grin grew and his eyes twinkled. "What do you say Camp Half-Blood? Make it a tie?"
This time everyone agreed because it was true they had both won and some (Ares cabin) knew it was the best they would get in the terms of the win against these guys.
"All hail the Chaos cabin and Camp Half-Blood, the Saviors of Olympus and Camp and the winners of last night's Capture the Flag!" Percy yelled, and the Camp roared with approval and whistled and yelled.
Travis's hand attached to the flag of the pole above Piper's, and the flag gave way to the symbols of all cabins under the Greek alpha sign floating on a galaxy background. The two appointed leaders grinned at each other.
All tables were pushed together for breakfast that day, and it became a tradition even to today.
Okay. I know I'm late, but this chapter was a hassle. I knew I wanted Piper and Percy to kiss, I just didn't know how I wanted to do it and how I wanted it to end so I rewrote that part like fifty times and I'm still not exactly thrilled with it. I don't feel like it's rushed because they've been through so much and have a lot of love problems and that kiss was what truly brings them together, you'll see.
Um, excuses. Spring Break was busy. Teachers hate me. Trouble writing. Yeah. And I know I said that the date would be in this chapter, but I gave you a heated kiss instead and I felt like that needed to be its own chapter because I have a lot planned for the day to come and the date. Surprises, surprises. Probably a cliffhanger. Just a warning.
So...I don't know when I'll write again. Usually I do it on my iPod after school when I'm waiting for my ride and any time that I don't have internet to do other things, but I have a lot of school work coming up. Midterms. Finals. Not excited. Nope.
Mistakes are all on Apple because I was on my iPod and I truly tried to go through the whole thing to fix all the problems but I'm freaking exhausted because this text is tiny and I had to backspace, delete, enter for every line which was horrible. So yeah.
Happy Late St. Patrick's Day. Happy late Spring Break. Happy late April's Fools. Happy Weekend. And Thank-God-There's-Only-Five-Weeks-Left-Of-School Day. And there was probably a birthday over that time...so Happy Late Birthday. And Happy Early Birthday.
Love it? Hate it? Tell me about it(: