Ok, here's the next chapter. It's getting cuter and cuter as I go on. So thanks for the reviews that I did get...however I would still appreciate a few more so please review! I'll try to update again soon because I'm free to do so all weekend! I'm also going to try to kick out a Thaluke fic...so if your interested keep your eyes peeled! So please enjoy and review (they help me know where I stand with the plot)! :D ~ Bolts and Trees
Piper woke up in Jason's room and she took the time to look around before she went to go find Jason wherever he was in the overly large mansion he inhabited. His walls were lined with trophies from football, baseball, basketball, and track and field. He had pictures on a bulletin board, most of them were of them and Leo, there were a few that he hadn't taken down of him and Reyna. Piper decided she should look away before she decided to rip them down.
One picture caught Piper's attention and she couldn't help but look at it. It was all of them in freshman year, the year Jason had started to date Reyna, Thalia's ex-boyfriend was even in the picture. She giggled, Percy and Annabeth were still the same, except Percy was a little shorter than he was, Leo's hair was out of control, Calypso wasn't there, Thalia was happily standing next to Luke but her arm was around Nico who's eyes you couldn't even see due to his shaggy hair. Jason was standing between Leo and her and had his arm around their shoulder. They looked so happy. Piper looked at herself and almost died, she looked so different within the course of two years that she almost didn't believe that she was looking at herself in the picture.
She wore a pair of cut-off denim shorts, a thin white blouse over a bright yellow tank-top, she wore no makeup, and she didn't have a nose ring, Her hair was done in a French braid over her shoulder and Piper barely recognized herself. She was shocked to see how much she had changed. She looked at herself in the mirror. She wore Jason's t-shirt which came down to her thighs, her hair tumbled down to her shoulders and curled softly at the ends, her nose ring stared her in the face, she could see where her makeup was smudged off and where it was still on, her eyeliner was smudged, and she had to admit she hated how she looked.
The door opened and Jason walked in with a fresh basket of laundry, "You're awake."
Piper nodded, "Where's my dress, I should probably head home before Mellie and Hedge send out the NYPD searching for me?"
"Don't worry about it." Jason said ,"They stopped over and brought you some things."
He pulled a bag off of the top of the laundry basket and tossed it to her. Piper looked through the old Aztec print backpack that she had paid a ridiculous amount of money for and never really used it again. She looked through it and found two outfits; a little white eyelet lace sundress and a pair of sandals, and a pair of denim shorts, a light blue v-neck, and a pair of flip-flops. She also found her shampoo and hair things. She sighed and decided to go take a shower.
"Jason, can you get me Thalia's hairdryer?" Piper called after she got out of the shower.
"No, just braid your hair." Jason rolled his eyes as he walked into the bathroom. Piper sighed and towel dried her hair before changing into the shorts and shirt and she quickly braided her hair. Well she attempted to braid her hair but somehow she had forgotten how to braid.
"Jason I can't remember how to braid my hair." Piper muttered.
Jason chuckled and grabbed a chair, "Sit down and I'll braid your hair."
Piper looked at him, "Do you know how to braid?"
Jason nodded, "Reyna used to make me braid her hair when her arm was broken. So I think I can braid considering that I had to braid for like three months."
Piper sat down in front of the mirror and watched as Jason perfectly braided her hair. She had to add that to her list of things that Jason could surprisingly do. Finally Jason was finished braiding her hair and Piper made note of what she had been doing wrong.
"Are you hungry, it's after three in the afternoon and you haven't eaten since breakfast?" Jason asked her.
She nodded, "I think I am."
"Thalia won't be home tonight, she's staying over at Annabeth's. She made some chili before she left though." Jason said.
Piper smiled, "Sounds great."
"I was thinking about eating it out on the deck." Jason said.
She followed him to the kitchen where she could smell Thalia's infamous chili simmering away in a blue crock-pot on the counter. Jason started to get out the sour cream and cheddar and a sleeve of crackers because Thalia refused to make cornbread because she claimed that it ruined the chili. Piper grabbed two bowls out of the cabinet and managed to find the spoons considering that she had forgotten where they were kept.
Jason dished out the chili and allowed Piper to fix hers the way she liked it before they headed out to the deck. Piper asked Jason for a bottle of hot sauce because she needed more of a kick to her chili. Jason brought out the hot sauce that Thalia usually used when she needed to make things spicier.
"So I was thinking that we could go out tomorrow, just you and me." Jason said.
"To where?" Piper asked.
"The mall, I need to go shopping and I'm sure you'd like to." Jason smiled.
Piper took a bite of her chili and stuck her tongue out at him, "I guess that sounds like fun."
Jason smiled, "You're going have to shop on my terms though."
Piper rolled her eyes, "Which would be?"
"No slut clothes." Jason said, "I don't care if you want to buy a band t-shirt, or some black but you're going to buy a new bathing suit."
"I still have several others." Piper smirked.
"No, I've told Mellie and Hedge to look through and find things that don't fit." Jason smirked.
Piper's jaw dropped, "You're kidding me?!"
Jason shook his head, "Like I said, you're going back to the old Piper."
Piper couldn't help but smile at him, "You're not giving up are you?"
"Nope, when I start something I finish it." he smiled at her.
Jason pulled into the mall parking lot the next morning. He had informed Piper that he was going to pay for her all new wardrobe. So they started off in one of Piper's favorite stores where she actually did end up finding things that she liked. By the end of the day both she and Jason were carrying bags and boxes. It was sort of nice but she still couldn't let Jason pay for all of this without doing something in return.
"I'm going to take you out to dinner." Piper said.
"You don't have to." Jason shook his head.
"I do, you didn't need to buy all of this for me." Piper shook her head gesturing to all of the bags in the backseat of the truck. Jason didn't understand why his sister had insisted on sitting in the back of the truck. He shrugged it off before heading to another store.
"Where are we going for dinner?" Jason asked her so he knew where to go.
"What's your favorite place?" Piper asked him.
"I don't know we could go for some pizza." Jason suggested. He hated the fact that Piper insisted on paying for dinner. Usually when a girl paid for dinner when a guy was there the guy looked cheap. So finally after tons of insisting on Piper's part they finally somehow ended up at the most expensive Italian place Piper could find because she was determined to pay back part of what Jason had paid for her clothes.
Piper got back to her place to find a lot of her clothes gone and in the donation box. She started to put away all the new things Jason had bought her and she pulled out one of the shirts she had gotten at Hot Topic and smiled, it was a Fun. t-shirt. She laughed and hung it on a hanger after removing the tags.
Mellie walked in, "Hey Piper, sweetie, did you go shopping?"
Piper turned and nodded, "Umm Jason took me."
"Wow, that's a lot of clothes." Mellie said raising her eyebrows looking at the at least three dozen bags, the two dozen shoe boxes, and whatever else Jason had gotten Piper.
"I know, Jason said I needed a wardrobe overhaul." Piper said as she hung a yellow dress on a hanger.
Mellie nodded, "When did you get your nose pierced?"
"Oh, for my birthday two years ago." Piper said.
Mellie nodded, "Gleeson doesn't like it."
Piper laughed considering that Hedge was super protective of her. He had been her gym coach and well he sort of looked out for Piper, always making sure that the popular girls who picked on her would get what they had coming to them, be it push ups or a round of dodge ball.
"I know he doesn't." Piper laughed.
"We got you something for your birthday since we weren't around to give them to you." Mellie smiled.
Piper smiled, "You guys didn't have to do that."
"Oh but we saw it and thought of you." Mellie said handing Piper a outfit box with a purple ribbon wrapped around the slightly darker purple box. Piper undid the ribbon and smiled when she pulled out the gorgeous high-low dress that she had been admiring for months. It was made out of flowy lace and Piper just loved it.
She hugged Mellie tightly, "Thank you, this is exactly what I wanted."
Mellie smiled, "We knew you'd like it. Gleeson saw the purple and said that we had to get it for you."
Piper laughed, "Thank you Mellie."
She smiled, "It was more tasteful than some of the dresses that I found in your closet."
Piper blushed slightly out of embarrassment, "Do you mind if I go through the box and see what I can alter?"
Mellie smiled, "That's my sweet Piper."
So Piper ended up going through the box and decided a couple dresses were salvageable, she managed to keep a few pairs of shorts that she decided she could alter, some boots, and a couple shirts and jackets. She let the bathing suits stay there and some of the other articles that she couldn't believe she wore in her life.
"Hey Mellie would you mind if I disappeared to the fabric store for awhile?" Piper asked.
Mellie shook her head, "Of course not dear."
"Cool I'll be back in a little bit." Piper smiled before grabbing her keys and her wallet. The fabric store was a nice short drive up the road. She could have walked but she didn't know exactly how much she was getting.
She walked around the fabric store and found tons of pretty eyelet laces, flowy material that would look amazing with the black because they were in bright colors, some other fabrics that would look great with a few of the dresses, some lace for inlays for her shorts, buttons. She went a little crazy, but Jason said he wanted the old Piper back, so she was going to give him that. She paid for what she got and walked out to her car where she ran into Thalia.
"Hey McLean, what you got there?" Thalia asked jokingly.
"Just some fabric and stuff for some alterations on some clothes." Piper shrugged.
Thalia laughed, "Sounds like you're going to be busy.
"So what are you doing out here?" she asked Thalia.
"Oh, I just need some scrapbook things. I'm making one for Nico and I's two year." She smiled.
Piper smiled completely forgetting that Thalia and Nico had been together that long. They were cute together and Piper sort of envied her. She found a guy and they just clicked. Piper had terrible luck with guys.
"Right, when is that again?" Piper asked curiously.
"Fourth of July, but it takes a while to scrapbook so I thought I might as well get started." Thalia shrugged.
Piper nodded, "Sounds like you're going to be busy."
Thalia nodded, "I'm also making one for Annabeth and Hazel so I'm definitely going to be busy. However Nico told me he'd help me with Annabeth and Hazel's."
"If you need any help you can always call me." Piper smiled.
"I'll keep that in mind. I'm going to let you go so I can get home before this storm rolls in." Thalia smiled. Piper nodded and bid Thalia goodbye before they went their separate ways.
Jason was waiting for Piper at her house when she got home. Jason helped her carry all of her altercation supplies into the house and asked her if she needed any help.
"If could help me get out the sewing machine that would be amazing." Piper said as she led him to her own little crafting room. Everything was organized and perfect. She looked through the fabric that she already possessed and pulled out whatever she could think of using to make her altercations look awesome.
Once they were set up Jason looked at Piper as she pulled out a black mini dress, "So what are you going to do with that?"
Piper fitted it over one of the mannequins in the room and pulled out a pair of scissors. She cut off the skirt leaving only the top, "You'll see."
She laid the top out onto some of the counter space and pulled out a thing of bleach and a spray bottle. Jason watched her as she spritzed the top with some bleach and scrunched it before sticking it in the washer and dryer.
As they waited she started on the bottom. She reused the bottom of the mini dress and layered some bright orange lace over it. Jason had to admit that he was impressed with the finished product because he never thought that Piper's once slutty black mini dress could look that amazing. Once she was satisfied with the finished product she started on the next one.
She took a pair of cut-off black shorts and grabbed a thing of sky blue lace. She turned them inside out and laid some lace over a couple of the holes making sure to glue it into to place and then sew it in with thread that stood out against the lace. She turned another slutty mini dress into a work of art that included adding sleeves to the dress. Jason was mesmerized by watching her. She was brilliant with some fabric and accessories.
Jason looked at the shrinking pile of clothes and watched as she altered a jacket. She added some studs, changed part of it completely. Jason was impressed. Some of these clothes he never would had thought could look that amazing. Finally Piper said that she was finished. She looked over at all of her finished products and smiled.
"They look amazing." Jason smiled.
Piper nodded, "They do."
"You have a knack for this kind of thing." Jason said.
"Thanks, I just kind of envision something and do my best to make that vision come to life." Piper shrugged and then her stomach growled, "I'm hungry, lets go get something to eat."
The kitchen smelled of Mellie's amazing homemade macaroni and cheese and Piper's stomach growled again. Mellie smiled, "Did you get all of your projects finished?"
Piper nodded, "They're still in the room if you want to go see them."
"I'll be sure to check them out when I'm over that way." Mellie smiled and handed them their plates complete with macaroni, fresh green beans that Piper grew herself, and her favorite fruit salad. Jason and Piper ate at the breakfast bar and then Hedge walked in and he and Mellie ate in the dining room.
"Mellie's mac and cheese is the best." Jason said as he went back for another helping.
Piper laughed, "Yeah, she's pretty good in the kitchen."
"You know what I haven't had in forever?" Jason grinned as he took his seat next to Piper handing her her plate.
Piper smiled before taking a bite of her mac and cheese, "What would that be?"
"I haven't had your infamous pudding filled cupcakes lately." Jason smiled.
"Well then maybe we should make some tomorrow." Piper smirked, "We can even invite Leo over and have a fiesta."
"I think he would like that. However I don't think he's going to appreciate the apron." Jason laughed.
"We all have to wear one. Mellie's rule." Piper shrugged, "Besides I think they're fun considering that she's got one for each of my friends."
"Leo's is hilarious." Jason nodded thinking about the Bob the Builder on Mellie had found for him. Jason's was superman and it even had a cape. Piper's was a simple purple and white polk-a-dotted one, the girls had their favorite colors with white polk-a-dots. It was something they did.
"I think he'll get over it." Piper shrugged and took another bite of her food.
"So tomorrow we'll make cupcakes and have a fiesta." Jason smiled.
Piper nodded, "We'll let Leo know tomorrow."
"Sounds like a good plan." Jason smiled. After dinner he and Piper went up to Piper's room to watch a movie.
"I think my room needs a make over." She said after the movie was over and they were just laying on her bed staring at the ceiling.
"We can do that too this summer." Jason shrugged, "There's plenty of time left."
Jason liked the fact that she was slowly but surely coming to be the Piper she had used to be. Piper looked over at him, "I'm thinking about painting the walls a couple different colors, adding some paint splatters or maybe some Aztec designs..."
"Well we'll worry about that after tomorrow because you're going to have to move all of your things out of your room." Jason chuckled.
"Are you going to help me?" Piper asked.
Jason nodded, "If you want my help...however I think Leo is the better person to ask."
"We'll call him too." Piper smiled.
"Sounds like a plan." Jason smiled.
"He can even bring Calypso. I'm sure she'll love to do something like that." Piper smiled.
"She would have loved to do what we did today." Jason chuckled.
"I'm going to have to keep that in mind." Piper said before it got quiet for a moment. She looked at the French doors that led to her balcony and looked out. The rain still hadn't stopped and she was bored.
"Jason do you want to go play in the rain?" she asked sitting up suddenly and startling the blonde.
Jason smiled, "Sure."
Piper jumped up and pulled him along behind her. Jason made note that she was wearing a pretty yellow dress. They ran outside into the rain and Piper twirled around. Jason watched her with a Cheshire Cat grin on his face. Finally she grabbed his hand and smiled, "Dance with me."
"Without music?" Jason asked.
"We can make our own." she smirked.
Jason laughed and twirled Piper around the yard. She hummed a song softly and rested her head on his shoulder. Jason could smell her floral-y shampoo and her Wonderstruck perfume.
"See I told you we could dance without music." Piper whispered.
Jason chuckled softly, "I guess you were right."
They were quiet for a moment before Piper looked up at him. He took in her face; her chocolate locks were plastered to her face in dark tendrils, her eyes were bright and color changing like normal which meant she wasn't wearing the contacts that she had taken to wearing, she looked like Piper, his Piper. The only thing that ruined his image of his perfect Piper was that stupid nose ring that stubbornly remained where it had been for the past two years as if to scream out at Jason that it wasn't going to go away.
Piper looked up at Jason and smiled slightly. His cropped blonde hair was lying across his forehead, his sky blue eyes sparkled, his scar stood out against his amazingly tanned skin. She rested her head back onto his shoulder and took in the scent of his cologne that smelt exactly like her father's. She didn't know exactly what kind it was but she loved the smell of it.
Jason pressed a kiss to the top of Piper's head without realizing what was going on. Piper froze a little but shook it off and continued to twirl around in the rain with Jason. His hand rested comfortably on the small of her back and the other grasped her hand. He was humming one of her favorite songs by the Beatles; Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds. Jason always told her that it had reminded him of her. She used to joke with him and ask if she really had the same effect as LSD.
Then Jason started to sing. He sang Collide by Howie Day. As cliche as it sounded, Piper loved that song. It was actually romantic as they twirled around in the rain as the sky darkened into the night. Jason finished the song and then watched Piper run around in the ran for another ten minutes before Mellie called them in before they got sick.
The next day Jason, Leo, and Calypso walked up the stone walkway leading to Piper's house and knocked on the door. Mellie answered, "Piper's in the kitchen waiting for you."
They walked into the kitchen where Piper tossed their aprons at them. Jason looked at Piper, "Ok, what do you want us to do boss?"
"Well I've already got a batch of cupcakes baking so Jason if you'd help Leo with whatever he needs you to do for tacos or whatever Leo wants to make that'd be great. Calypso you can work with me." Piper smiled.
The girls set off to ice and fill the cupcakes with pudding and make a batch of Calypso's famous lemonade. Leo looked over at Piper who wore something the old Piper would wear, "There isn't even any makeup. You're making progress Grace."
Jason smiled, "I know, it's taken awhile but I think we've finally broken through."
"She's slowly but surely getting there." Leo smiled.
"I know. It's been easier than I thought it would be." Jason said as he grated the cheese Leo had brought with him in his bag of different taco ingredients. Leo sauteed peppers, onions, and steak in a pan while he warmed tortillas.
"I'm glad she called." Leo said, "Calypso really likes to spend time with her."
Jason looked over at Calypso and Piper who were laughing and having a good time as they did their cupcakes. Piper was guiding her and teaching her how to make them. Jason could already see the budding friendship between the two.
"Hey Piper was wondering if you'd like to help her remake her room." Jason said.
Leo shrugged, "Sounds like a fun. Just let me know and I'll have all the supplies."
"She'll love that, she said Calypso could help." Jason said.
"Calypso will appreciate that." Leo smiled.
Soon enough Leo's masterpiece was finished and the girls had finished their cupcakes and setting the table on the deck. Mellie and Hedge were out for dinner so they had the house to themselves. Jason took the seat next to Piper and enjoyed dinner. They made plans to get the whole gang together for pizza and a gigantic sleepover. Jason noticed that slowly but surely Piper was definitely falling back into the old Piper that she had used to be. It was definitely beginning to look like Jason would have his date because he was definitely too chicken to admit that he wanted to date Piper. He figured that he could bring it up at the ball and see where it went from there.
No matter how much he tried not to think about it, he couldn't stop picturing dancing with her in the rain. Just holding her close, so close that he could hear her heart beat. He also couldn't stop thinking about how much he had wanted to kiss her. He tried to shake off the thought but it would constantly creep back up and find him. He also thought about the night he had brought her home drunk how she kept saying that he was cute. He couldn't get that out of his mind either.
Jason then accepted the fact that Piper McLean had invaded his every thought and she most likely wasn't going to leave them either. She was Jason's favorite thought. He loved how innocent Piper looked while she twirled around in the rain wearing a yellow sundress. How she could calm anyone's nerves and return a smile to their faces. He loved how she could make him go completely insane without even lifting a finger. Jason accepted the fact that he was indeed in love with Piper McLean and he was going to do anything that would make her realize it.