Ok sorry about not updating in forever but here's the next chapter! I hope you guys like it and I'm still working on the prequel story to this. It will be about Thalia. Please review and enjoy I'll try to update again hopefully. This chapter takes a bit of a turn for the worse and some of the drama kicks in here, I'm still going to have them travel but you're going to see how everything ties in later. :D~ Bolts and Trees
Jason and Piper pulled into the school parking lot, they had been seniors for about a month and and a half and October and Halloween were starting to take their mark on the school and the town. Towards the end of the summer, closer to the day Piper's mother had died, he noticed that she went back to the way she was before. She started partying again and drinking and coming to Jason's smashed at two in the morning.
Jason and Piper walked to their homeroom where Leo, Percy, and Thalia were all sitting there laughing about something.
"Hey guys, what's so funny?" Piper asked as she took a seat in front of Thalia.
Thalia handed Piper her phone and showed her this video of some thug looking dude getting tazed by the police and trying to run away but tripping on his pants and getting tazed three or four more times. Jason watched it on Leo's phone and they all laughed about the same.
"So Percy, its been a month now and you haven't had Annabeth in your homeroom. Is your separation anxiety holding up?" Thalia asked.
"We text." Percy smirked.
Thalia rolled her eyes and Nico walked in, cutting it close to the bell. He was followed by Calypso who looked super tired. She sat next to Leo who wrapped his arms around her and started asking her what was wrong. Piper had to admit that they were seriously cute together.
Nico kissed Thalia before taking his seat behind her and the bell rang. Their homeroom teacher was nowhere in sight they figured that he was most likely passed out in the teacher's lounge and they took advantage of the fact that they didn't have a teacher for a few moments.
They were supposed to go out to the haunted house that night and go find costumes because Percy deemed it necessary to have costumes for the Halloween party Rachel threw every October.
"So Annabeth thinks we should all do couples coustumes." Percy said as they sat there and talked about Halloween.
"Sounds like Percy's putting Annabeth's name on his idea so we'll go along with it." Thalia rolled her eyes.
Percy pulled a face and flicked Thalia's forehead which caused Nico to flick Percy back, "Don't touch my girlfriend."
Percy chuckled, "When I said I wanted you to be canon, I meant it, now I want you two to be even more canon."
"Is that even possible?" Thalia asked turning and looking over at Percy.
Jason tuned out there argument and focused on Piper who sat at her desk with her head in her arms. She seemed tired when he picked her up that morning and he was concerned about her. He pulled his chair next to hers and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, "Hey, Pipes what's wrong?"
She lifted her head up and rested her chin on her arms, "I'm fine there's nothing wrong."
Jason rubbed her back and just sat there with her, "Hey, are you busy tonight?"
She shook her head, "Nope, my dad is out for dinner with a friend of his who just flew in last week. Why?"
"I was thinking you could come over to my place and do some Halloween type activities." Jason smiled.
"Thalia's idea?" she cracked a smile.
"Does everything Halloween have to be Thalia's idea?" Jason chuckled.
"Is she doing the haunted house thing again?" Piper asked.
"Yeah a bunch of us are getting together and fixing up the place so Thalia can run the haunted house on Halloween for the kids and whatever." Jason nodded.
Piper smiled, "I have some good ideas to help her out. I found them on Pintrest."
"I knew you'd have some ideas." Jason chuckled.
That's when Thalia decided to get out of Percy's explanation of canon and shipping, "Hey, did you ask her?"
Piper laughed, "He just did, I have some great ideas."
Thalia grinned, "I was counting on you."
"Gotta love Pintrest." Piper smiled.
"You can say that again. Besides my mom made it possible for us to have access to her makeup artist so the makeup is going to look freaking amazing." Thalia grinned.
"So what's the theme this year?" Piper asked.
"Well since last year was Scary Potter, I was thinking this year is going to be Fear Factor." Thalia grinned.
"Like the show?" Piper asked.
"Exactly, you're the first one beside Annabeth to actually get the theme. It took Jason and Leo an hour to actually understand the theme." Thalia laughed.
"How could you two not get that?" Piper laughed at her boyfriend who shrugged.
"It's going to be so much fun. I was thinking about using the backyard and my mom said we could use parts of the house, like each room is a different type of fear." Thalia grinned wickedly.
"This is going to be so much fun." Piper grinned.
"What night is Rachel's party?" Thalia asked.
Rachel walked in checking to make sure that their teacher wasn't at his desk and took a seat next to Thalia, "It's after trick-or-treating, I made sure that it wouldn't interfere with the haunted house because I love that. It starts at midnight and ends at three." Rachel grinned, "I'm game for helping you out with scenes."
"Great, this is going to be awesome." Thalia grinned. The bell rang signaling the end of their homeroom so Jason walked Piper to her first class and kissed her cheek before going off to his class on the other side of the school. He always walked Piper to her classes no matter where they were.
Percy was waiting for him when he got to Weight Training, "Hey is something wrong with Piper? I've noticed she's been a little down lately."
"You have too?" Jason asked as he slipped his cut-off t-shirt over his head.
Percy nodded, "It's almost like she's slipping back into that place where she was last year."
"I know, it all started when it was getting closer to her mother's death anniversary." Jason said as he and Percy made their way up to the weight room.
"You're a good boyfriend." Percy shrugged.
"Well she's a good girlfriend because I know I'm not the easiest to get along with." Jason chuckled.
"I heard she wants to travel the world after high school, what are you guys going to do about that?" Percy asked curiously.
"I'm going with her. I don't want to be away from her for that long." Jason shook his head.
"You're going to put Harvard on hold?" Percy asked curiously.
"I am, I think it would be better to travel with Piper." Jason smiled thinking about the trip Piper had planned out for them.
"Sounds like someone's whipped." Percy waggled his eyebrows.
"Oh because you're not?" Jason rolled his eyes.
"I never said I wasn't because I know I'm whipped, I'm whipped more than you and Nico combined. Not quite sure if I'm as whipped as Frank, but I'm pretty whipped." Percy chuckled.
"Jackson, Grace stop fooling around and get your butts to work!" their coach yelled at them.
Jason ended up spotting Percy and thinking about Piper. Curse Percy for bringing her up. After class Jason changed as quickly as he could to catch Piper for her next class. Jason caught her just as she was walking out and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, "How was pre-calc?"
"Boring like usual." she shook her head. They had their next class together but Jason still liked walking Piper to all of her classes.
"Pipes, are you sure you're ok?" Jason asked pulling her closer to him.
She smiled and nodded, "I'm fine Jas."
He smiled at her and they continued to walk to their English class together. Jason carried Piper's things for her, always the chivalrous gentleman he was and set her things down for her at her desk which was beside his.
They sat through another boring discussion about the book that they were reading and Jason found himself distracted with staring at Piper who was reading ahead so she didn't have to worry about it later.
After school Jason made his way to Piper's last class just as she walked out of World History, "Hey."
She kissed his cheek, "What's up with you today?"
He shook his head, "Nothing at all, I'm just a little distracted today."
Piper laughed and reached into his back pocket, "Then you better give me your keys."
Jason laughed but didn't grab for the keys, he liked it when Piper was driving. They grabbed what they needed and Jason and Piper made their way out to Jason's shiny new sports car. It had been a gift from his mother for his birthday. Thalia had gotten one too, however her's was a shiny, vintage Mustang convertible.
Piper slid into the driver's seat and adjusted everything so she was able to drive safely. Jason was happy Piper took his keys because he was honestly too distracted looking at her to even pay attention to where they were on the road. Before he knew it they were at his house, they had picked up a bunch of food and things for Thalia's haunted house and Jason had lost all perception of time.
"Piper, when did we get here?" Jason asked.
Piper giggled, "Awhile ago Jas."
Thalia walked in carrying more supplies and smiled, "Well I've got you two, Nico, and Percabeth."
"Rachel told me she'd be over later, she said she had to deal with something with her dad before she could come over." Annabeth said as she walked in carrying an armful of supplies.
Piper pointed to the table where there were several different kinds of food ranging from Mexican to Chinese, "We picked up some food."
"Food?" Nico and Percy asked in unison before running into the dining room where the food was sitting and decided to attack the pizza Piper ordered.
"This year is going to be the best year ever, we've got access to my mother's makeup artist, my mom's given me an unlimited budget, and she's going to help out by bringing in actors and stuff. We have free reign of the house and tonight we're going to start planning, tomorrow since it's a Saturday we can start decorating." Thalia said.
"Sounds like a plan." everyone agreed.
The next morning everyone showed up at the Grace house to get decorating underway. Jason and Piper started outside with Thalia and Nico, "So what do you want us to do Thalia?"
"Why don't you guys start hanging some lights and then you can come help Nico and I outback by the pool." Thalia directed them.
Piper sipped on her Pumpkin Spice Latte and helped Jason untangle the lights Thalia was directing them to hang. They had gone all out the previous night and Piper had ended up staying over at Jason's so she and Thalia could work even longer on the decorations.
"This is going to be a lot of fun." Jason said as he stood on the ladder that Piper was holding for him.
Piper smiled and nodded, "Halloween is one of the greatest holidays in the world."
Jason and Piper finished their lighting and decided to go see what Thalia and Nico were up to out in the backyard.
"Hey you guys came just in time to set up the cemetery." Thalia grinned pointing to a bunch of headstones and what not to put around the backyard. Jason could just barely see Percy in the pool with Annabeth handing him what looking like tentacles and shark fins. Jason wondered how the hell Percy was swimming in the pool and not freezing his ass off. Apparently cold water didn't bother Percy much at all.
"So what's the cemetery for?" Jason asked.
"Zombies, ghosts, and death." Thalia grinned, "I've done my research to make this super scary."
Jason laughed, "This is for kids right?"
"Not necessarily." Thalia shrugged as she and Nico started setting up some of the headstones.
Piper and Jason set to work and soon enough the backyard was beginning to look like a creepy abandoned cemetery, "So are you going to have fog going?"
Thalia nodded, "There's also going to be dry ice and a bunch of lights."
"The pool?" Piper asked pointing to the tentacles and fins.
"Pneumatic rig, Leo's working on it for me." Thalia grinned.
"What's the front yard going to be?" Jason asked.
"The front is going to be subtle, everything's going to hit you when you walk into the garage." Thalia grinned.
The rest of the day Jason and Piper spent helping Thalia and Nico out in the backyard and Percy was still working on his pool. Piper looked really tired and Jason made note that she didn't look like Piper usually did. Today she actually looked tired, not like she was trying to hide it. Something bothered Jason about Piper and he needed to fix it.
The next day, after all the decorating was finished Piper and Jason decided to just take a chill pill and hang around the McLean house for awhile and watch a few horror movies. Piper rested her head on Jason's shoulder and he kissed the top of her head, "Are you alright Piper?"
"Not really." she whispered.
"What's wrong Pipes?" Jason asked softly, rubbing her arm soothingly.
"I honestly don't know, I just don't feel alright." she shook her head.
Jason frowned and wrapped his arms around her pulling her close and murmuring things to her to make her feel better. He hated seeing Piper hurt and he always felt like he had to fix it if she wasn't cheerful.
"I know how to make you feel better." Jason whispered in her ear with a menacing grin.
"No, anything but that." Piper giggled as he attacked her sides, tickling her to the point where she was shrieking with laughter.
"Jason stop!" Piper giggled and tried pushing him away.
Jason was looking down at her and grinning, "Not until all of this bad mood goes away."
Piper giggled and tried to pull his hands away, "Jason!"
Finally Jason decided to call off his tickle attack and kissed Piper gently on the lips. Piper wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled into the kiss. She pulled him closer to deepen the kiss and Jason didn't object.
Piper pulled away and smiled at Jason, "I love you Jason."
Jason stared at her for a moment, lost in her beautiful eyes, and smiled. She had never said it before, well neither had he, but this was her first time ever saying it, "I love you too Pipes."
She smiled and ran her fingers through his soft blonde hair, "Thanks Superman."
"For what?" he asked, Piper loved the confused expression that crossed his face when he asked.
"For being there for me." she whispered.
Jason chuckled and kissed her again, "It's no problem."
Then Piper relapsed. She went out to a party and got impossibly drunk, then she tried to drive a car. Jason got the call from Tristan at two in the morning about Piper being in a terrible crash. A crash that rendered her in the hospital, she wasn't dead but there was a slim chance of her survival. There had been a note, a note about wanting to end her life.
Jason rushed into the hospital and looked at the nurse running the front desk, "My girlfriend, Piper McLean, she was just in a bad accident. Where is she?"
"I'm sorry sir, she's in ICU and it's only..." the nurse was cut off.
"He's allowed to be in there." Tristan said walking out from behind a set of doors. He followed Tristan to a smaller waiting room in the ICU where there were a few other people waiting to hear word about their loved ones.
"She's in surgery right now." Tristan replied. Leo walked out of some room holding a coffee.
"Here you go Tristan." Leo said handing the distraught man the coffee.
Tristan smiled emptily at Leo and accepted the cup of coffee. Leo put his hand on Jason's shoulder and smiled grimly, "Good to see ya man."
Tristan sank into a chair, his head in his hands, "She told me she was better, she told me that she was out of depression."
Jason sat next to Tristan, "Tristan, it's not your fault."
"Yes it is, I hadn't worked so much her mother would never had gone out to that stupid party, drank herself insane, and crashed her car. Piper wouldn't be like this, she remembered everything. Jason do you know what it's like to lose your mother?" Tristan asked.
Jason nodded, "My mother almost died because she was driving while intoxicated."
"The wreck was terrible Jason, her car was smashed, they had to dig her out of it. She didn't even look like Piper when they wheeled her into the hospital. You wouldn't even recognize her." he shook his head, "This is all my fault. My little girl is lying on her deathbed because I work too much."
"Tristan, Piper's had other problems. It's not solely your fault man." Leo said taking a seat on Tristan's other side.
The doors swung open and Mellie and Hedge swept in. Mellie's eyes were full of tears and she rushed over to Tristan, "Oh Tristan, I'm so sorry!"
Leo and Jason decided to take seats farther away so Tristan could have some time with Mellie and Hedge who were comforting him. Jason rubbed his face and put his head in his hands, "She told me she was fine."
"Dude you can't beat yourself up about this either. It's not either of your fault, Piper had problems." Leo shook his head.
"She told me she was fine, she told me she wasn't drinking anymore." Jason whispered, a tear rolled down his cheek.
"Jason, you can't beat yourself up, you need to be strong for her. If this is your fault then it must be my fault to." Leo said patting Jason's shoulder comfortingly.
Finally after an agonizing forty five minutes a doctor in surgical scrubs walked out, "Tristan, your daughter managed to pull through operation, she's resting in her room, would you like to go see her?"
Tristan's head shot up, "Of course."
"Follow me." the doctor nodded and led Tristan down the hall. Jason and Leo sat out in the waiting room well past dawn. Finally Tristan walked out and headed towards Jason, "Do you want to see her?"
Jason nodded, "Which room?"
"The third one on the right." Tristan replied.
Jason walked down the hall and cautiously opened the door. Piper, or who was supposed to be Piper, was lying in the bed, hooked up to different machines. Jason took a seat next to her bed and grabbed her hand. He pressed it to his lips and kissed it gently. Her body was cross hatched with gashes and scratches. Her chocolate hair was a tangled mess, her face bruised beyond recognition. It was a miracle they identified her.
Jason wondered what injuries she had obtained. He just sat there staring at her. She was gorgeous in a terrifying way and Jason was going to stay there for her.
"Pipes what were you thinking? Why didn't you call me?" he whispered running his fingers through her hair.
She didn't respond, there was only the beeping of the machines she was hooked up to. She didn't stir, she didn't respond, she was in a coma. Jason figured that much. He sat there with her and nurses walked in and out to check on her vitals and what not.
After a few hours Tristan walked in holding a McDonald's bag, "Are you hungry?"
Jason and Tristan sat and talked to Piper after being told that she could still hear them and ate their breakfast which still didn't help Jason's stomach that was churning and making him sick. He couldn't live without Piper.