December 20th, 2023
Annabeth felt the steering wheel sliding under her sweaty hands. She licked her lips once again and took a deep breath while checking the panel to make sure she wasn't going beyond the speed limit. She was. She took another deep breath, taking her foot off the accelerator for a bit. She literally had to calm down, or she was going to get herself into a serious accident.
Well, to be fair, there wasn't anyone else on the road. It had probably been more than 20 minutes since she had last passed another human being — a very cautious, very slow truck driver, whom she had no other choice but to (cautiously) surpass. However, it was also true that the snow had already begun to fall, and the road was slippery, so it wasn't wise of her to be so distracted.
She felt her heartbeat slowing down and her breathing returning to normal. Maybe it was better to pause the true crime podcast she was listening to and put on some music.
She put her iPhone on shuffle, and the calming chords of"we fell in love in october"started to play. Thankfully, she had never fallen in love in October, so as long as she didn't think about her life last fall, dancing on the terrace with her ex, she was safe. As long as she didn't think about how, last year, when she was driving down this exact same road, she felt just as nervous, but for all different reasons, she would be fine. She could still enjoy this song without remembering—
Shit. So much for the calming chords. Annabeth skipped the song, and"Fast Car"came on. Well, maybe that was more appropriate. At least she didn't have anyone she associated withthatsong.
She took a quick glance at the GPS route and confirmed her ETA: 20 more minutes, and she would be at her hometown. Only 20 more minutes, and she would be at the safety of her dad's house, smelling the cinnamon cookies baking. Only 19 more minutes, and her biggest concern, if she didn't leave the house for anything, would be asking her brothers to turn down the video game volume so she could concentrate on her book. Only 18 more minutes, and she would only have to endure 2 weeks of her stepmother's passive-aggressive comments about her life. Only 17—
Annabeth all but screamed when she saw a deer standing on the road just a few meters away. She was quick enough to turn the car to the side of the road, but God, the Universe, or whichever all-mighty being you believe in, wasn't being very kind to her today. There was a pile of snow, mud, and leaves standing right there, and she drove her car right into it as she braked. Or, at least, the side of it.
The deer stared at her in a way she could only describe as ironic. At least the impact wasn't very strong; no airbags had been activated.
She breathed heavily and turned off the car while she waited for the deer to leave. After a few minutes, it got tired of observing her comic tragedy and went away, calmly trotting. She turned the car back on and put it in reverse to back out of the snowy-muddy mess. As she pressed the accelerator, though, she didn't move. The car made a suffering noise, one that would make you think it was chewing something. She tried putting the gear in drive. Same noise. Same trembling. Nothing.
"Fuck," she muttered to herself, unsure if she wanted to scream, cry, or leave the car there and complete the remaining distance on foot. The last option didn't seem too bad—at least if it wasn't freezing outside and she wasn't in the middle of an empty highway alone, and it wouldn't take forever to get there walking.
Damn it. She would have to call him. There was no choice.
Annabeth fought her tears and tried to ignore her now even more sweaty hands while she dialed the number. She wasn't proud to admit it, but she knew it by heart. It was still engraved in her memory.
"Hello?" a low, familiar voice answered.
"Percy?" she said, heavily. "I need your help."
Annabeth's chest tightened at the sound of the truck approaching. When Percy's truck finally stopped on the other side of the road, she was pretty sure she would need a defibrillator. She was breathing so heavily that the air inside the car was fogging up the windshield glass.
Exhaling, she rubbed her hands on her legs and forced herself to breathe at a normal pace, opening the door and bracing herself for the impact.
When her feet hit the floor, he was standing by the truck, arms crossed, looking at her as if he were trying to decide how to approach the situation. He wore jeans and a hoodie, which made her wonder how in hell he wasn't freezing.
He looked leaner and more muscular than the last time she'd seen him. Every time they met, she found herself noticing how he seemed to become more attractive with age. This time, he had let his beard grow a little, which, she thought, gave him a… grown up appearance.
This was a ridiculous observation. They had been adults for years now. But still, this was the first time looking at him made her body feel heavy with the realization that they weren't teenagers anymore.
Ironically enough, it had been a long time since she'd felt this much like a teenager—nervous, fumbling over words, and unsure of what to do next.
"Hi," she blurted out brilliantly.
"Hey," he answered. There was no glimpse of a smile on his face. She'd never seen him so serious or seemingly so unhappy to see her.
"Well, um…" she gulped and cleared her throat while closing the door behind her. She felt like her head was a bowl of alphabet soup and someone had just steered it, the letters and words floating around with no connection.
"So, you need to get your car towed?" he cut to the chase.
"Oh. Yeah", she answered, getting away from the vehicle and starting to walk to the other side, waiting for him to follow her so they could assess the mess. Thankfully, he did.
The front wheel, on the right side, was completely stuck on the pile of snow. There was a mixture of considerable amount of ice, sticks and leaves in between the pile, that made it rigid.
Percy tilted his head and furrowed his eyebrows, as if wondering how she'd managed that. She waited for him to ask. She hoped he would.
He didn't.
"There was a deer," she explained, nonetheless. He looked at her, somewhat confused. "On the road. I- I almost didn't see it, and drove the car to the side last minute."
His expression softened a little, and he nodded.
"I'm glad you're okay," he said, going back to his truck to get the equipment.
This made her heart warmer. At least he didn't want her dead.
He grabbed the rope and hook and went straight to her car, without turning to face her.
"It's gonna be easy to pull the car out, but I think it's better if you don't drive it the rest of the way. I can bring it with the truck," he suggested, as he started to work.
"You don't have to," she answered too quickly.
He finally, finally, looked her in the eyes, his body down, hand on the back of the car for balance.
"Annabeth," he said. "Your tire is probably flat. There might be other problems with the car, so it's best if I take a look on it. You don't want to drive a few more meters and then have to call me again."
She felt her blood rushing to her cheeks, embarrassed. But also for the mere eye contact. She missed those green eyes too much, the intensity in them, the way they could communicate with each other in a quick glance.
He took her silence as an agreement and continued to work, going back to the truck a few minutes later. As he worked, she thought about the last time they'd been in a situation like this. His truck stuck on the mud, midsummer, and the sweat dripping down her body as she helped him lift the car. It wasn't just the season that was different. Back then, she didn't feel stressed at all. Even during the process of taking the car of the mud, when she had to use evey muscle of her body; even when she noticed her legs and hands were filthy, she felt nothing but calm and even joy. At least for a few minutes, when they were smiling and bantering, right before they got back inside the truck and their world started to crumble.
She shook her head to get rid of the memory. No good would come from daydreaming right now.
She went back to observing Percy working, the faces he made when he was thinking and the way his muscles flexed when he moved. Not long after, her car was freed from its snowy prison, now connected to Percy's truck by the rope. She stood on the other side of the road, staring foolishly.
"Thank you," she offered, and he nodded in response, but didn't move.
"Well, hop up," he said, and she couldn't hide the surprise on her face. "I'll give you a ride."
She still didn't move. Annabeth weighed her options. 20 minutes of an awkward car ride with Percy or 1h walking in the cold?
It was a difficult choice, but she was starting to shiver and lose sensibility on her feet.
Percy rolled his eyes.
"I don't know if the big city habits have messed with your memory or sanity, but there are no Ubers here. And it's not a walkable distance," he said, clearly impatient.
His tone hurt her a little, but also annoyed her way more. She couldn't help but rolling her eyes too as she walked to the passenger side.
"I'm not stupid," she spoke, as soon as she'd sat down and closed the door. "I know there are no Ubers here."
She could see the corner of his mouth turn slightly up as he started the car and begun to drive.
They were silent for a few minutes, until she decided to speak.
"I'm sorry I called you."
He glanced at her briefly before turning his eyes back to the road, brows furrowed.
"Well, you had no choice, had you?"
"Unless there's a new mechanic in town that I-"
"I'm not a mechanic," he interrupted, harshly, getting more defensive.
She sighed.
"You know what I mean, Percy."
They fell silent again. She could see the city getting closer, the familiar white roofs and Christmas decorations starting to appear at the end of the hill.
"I thought you might have company this year," he said, suddenly. "For the holidays."
She looked at him and noticed his hands getting tense on the wheel, his eyes wandering in her direction and quickly turning back to the road.
"You mean you thought I'd bring my girlfriend around for Christmas?", she answered, bitterly. "To this small town where everyone would stare at us if we as much as walked down the street holding hands and where I'd become the official gossip of the year and the ultimate bad example for the children?"
She knew she had been mean. She knew she'd hurt him with this response and this tone. It wasn't fair to him, saying this as if he was guilty. He wasn't.
He stared at her and she could see in his eyes that the response had stung.
"Sorry," she looked down. "I didn't mean to be rude."
He spent a few moments in silence before answering. They were already passing the first few buildings of their town. The gas station, the diner and the motel that marked the entrance all had appeared and been left behind.
"You should give us more credit," he finally said.
"It's not about you, Percy. You know I'm not making this shit up."
"You're not. But there are good people and bad people here, just like anywhere else," he said in defense. "I know a lot of folks who'd just be happy to see you happy. And maybe you shouldn't worry so much about what a bunch of people we went to high school with 6 years ago think about you."
He stopped at a red light and met her gaze. Her chin had dropped, and she was looking at him mouth half opened, like a dumb fish. I don't care about what a bunch of people think, she thought to herself. Just about what you think. And you hate me.
They sat there, looking at each other, until someone honked behind them and Percy moved the car.
He was turning on the street to her dad's house when she finally gathered courage to speak.
"We broke up," she murmured, her eyes dropping to the floor of the car just as it stopped by the house.
He looked at her with wide eyes and a confused expression, seemingly caught of guard by her words. "Oh," was all he let out.
With a half smile, she opened the door and put one foot out of the car, before turning back to thank him for the ride.
She had already grabbed her bags and was making her way to the house when he called her back.
"Annabeth," he yelled, and she turned around to look at him again. "You can come get your car tomorrow at 3pm."
She nodded and he hesitated, as if thinking wether he should say something else, but didn't. She watched him drive away and walked the rest of the path do the door, taking a deep breath before ringing the doorbell.
As the door swung open to her dad's house, she felt the anxiety rushing through her body. The familiar holiday decorations did little to ease the tight knot in her chest.
"Hi, dad," she muttered as he greeted her and hugged her in a welcoming gesture.
It's just the damn season, she thought. She would soon get back to her normal, shitty life.
