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Annabeth, Rachel, Piper, and Hazel were all enjoying the sunshine, watching the Apollo cabin supervise archery practice, and chatting about nothing in particular when Leo approached and threw himself down onto the grass in the middle of their semi-circle.
“Ladies,” he greeted, rolling onto his back and staring up at the sky. “What are you all up to on this beautiful afternoon?”
Rachel poked him in the side with her foot. “Girl stuff,” she said with a wink to the rest of the group. “You probably wouldn’t be interested.”
Leo pulled a face. “Girl stuff? Boring,” he said, dragging the word out.
“If it’s that boring to you, why are you over here instead of making something explode like you usually do this time of day?” Hazel asked.
“Man, is it 3PM already?” Leo looked at his watch. The others laughed. “Actually, I’m looking for Percy and his boyfriend.”
“Excuse me?” Annabeth said.
“Oh, should I have said, I’m looking for Jason and his boyfriend?” Leo amended. “I mean, I suppose it doesn’t matter which order as long as I find them.”
“What?!” Annabeth and Piper said together.
“Hey, now,” Leo said in a placating voice. “I’m just saying, I see them together way more than I see you two with them. It was just a joke. Jeez.”
Piper rolled her eyes at Leo. “You have a weird sense of humor.”
“If I had a Golden Drachma for every time someone said that…”
“We haven’t seen them,” Rachel said, cutting Leo off. “But if we do, we’ll let them know you’re looking for them, ok?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Leo said, taking the hint and pulling himself to his feet. “I can see when I’m not wanted.”
“Do you really think they spend more time together than they do with us?” Piper asked once Leo was out of earshot. She was chewing nervously on her bottom lip.
Annabeth shrugged. “They’re friends. Percy needs someone like Jason. No one else can train with them, except maybe Frank. And you know who their fathers are. I think they just understand each other in ways that no one else can.”
“It’s like a bromance,” Rachel said.
“A what?” Hazel asked.
“Bromance. Its two dudes are really, really close, but not, you know, together,” Piper explained. “Like, you know how girls can be super close and hang out and hug and stuff and no one thinks that’s weird?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, a bromance is like that.”
“So you think Percy and Jason are off somewhere hugging?” Hazel asked Rachel.
The girls all burst into laughter. “Oh gods, could you imagine?” Rachel gasped.
A stray arrow from the archery range flew towards them and the girls scattered. The subject was changed to the upcoming Capture the Flag game, but Annabeth was still thinking about bromances and the idea that Percy and Jason were off somewhere hugging and talking about feelings.
…
Annabeth, Piper, and Rachel were already at the campfire when Percy and Jason came into view. They were walking shoulder to shoulder, bumping into each other every few steps, heads bent towards each other as they talked.
Percy tilted his head back and laughed at something Jason said. He threw an arm over Jason’s shoulder, and patted his chest with his other hand in some version of a hug. Jason grinned and bumped his hip against Percy’s. Percy stumbled slightly and pushed Jason back playfully.
Annabeth had never seen Percy be so tactile with anyone beside herself before. As she watched them approach, she noticed how natural their interactions seemed. How easy the camaraderie flowed between them. It made something in her chest tighten.
Percy must have said something because a moment later Jason had swiped Percy’s legs out from under him and they were wrestling on the grass. Some cheers went up and some of the campers started yelling suggestions to them, rooting for one or the other.
“Knock it off, cupcakes,” Coach Hedge barked as he passed them.
Jason smirked down at Percy as he held his shoulders down. He held him there for a beat longer before standing up and offering a hand to Percy, pulling him to feet and into a hug.
“Sorry, Coach,” Percy called, waving at the crowed as they made their way towards their friends.
“That’s adorable,” Frank commented as he and Hazel found seats behind Annabeth.
“Isn’t it though?” Hazel replied. “Rachel says they have a bromance.”
“Hazel!” Rachel shrieked, slapping at Hazel’s leg.
Annabeth rolled her eyes. “They’re idiots. But they know that Piper and I have better things to do than pay attention to them all the time. Luckily, as we’ve just witnessed, they’re both self absorbed enough to entertain each other.”
Frank looked thoughtful. “Must be nice to have a best friend like that.”
“Yeah,” Annabeth agreed, looking over to Piper and Rachel. “Sure is.”
By this time the boys had reached the seats.
“I let him win,” Percy whispered sweeping Annabeth into a hug. Over her shoulder she could see Jason do the same to Piper.
“I heard that, Jackson,” Jason called.
They settled down between the girls, but as the camp songs started, Annabeth noticed that Percy and Jason's legs were pressed together from knee to thigh. After a few minutes Percy laced his fingers with hers, and Annabeth forgot all about Jason.
…
“Can we talk?” Nico asked and Annabeth jumped. She had never quite gotten used to how quietly he moved and how suddenly he seemed to appear.
“Sure,” she said with a smile. “About what?”
Nico looked uncomfortable. “Percy. And Jason.”
Annabeth sighed and put down the book she had been reading. She raised her eyebrows in question, waiting for Nico to continue.
“I know you guys have all been joking about the bromance between them,” Nico said.
Annabeth nodded, “Yeah, it’s no big deal.”
“That’s the thing: it is a big deal,” Nico insisted. “It might be a bromance now, but Annabeth, you’re not blind. Have you seen the way they look at each other?”
“And how is that?” Annabeth snapped.
“Um.” Pink dots appeared on Nico’s normally pale cheeks. He ran a hand nervously through his hair. “It’s how I…” Nico trailed off, but Annabeth understood.
“Oh.”
“I’m sorry,” Nico said. “I didn’t want to upset you, I just thought––“
“It’s fine,” Annabeth said in a thick voice, cutting Nico off. “You have nothing to apologize for.”
They stared awkwardly at each other for a moment before both speaking at the same time.
“I’m going to go.”
“I need to find Piper.”
Annabeth gave him a sad smile, “Thanks, Nico.”
But Nico just shrugged and walked away.
…
Annabeth found Piper in the Aphrodite cabin, laying on her bunk and staring blankly up at the ceiling.
“Am I interrupting anything?” Annabeth said, trying to put some humor into his voice.
“No, not really,” Piper sighed.
She sat up and leaned her back against the wall of the cabin. Annabeth slid onto the bed and they sat in silence for a few minutes as the sounds of the camp floated in through the windows.
“When was the last time you and Jason did anything together?” Annabeth asked eventually.
“I don’t even know,” Piper replied, playing with one of the braids in her hair.
“Doesn’t that make you upset?” Annabeth demanded. “Aren’t you furious that it’s gotten to this point?”
“I don’t know,” Piper said. “I honestly don’t think he sees it the same way everyone else does. I don’t know if they understand what’s happening.”
“And what is happening?” Annabeth asked, desperation in her voice. “Are things falling apart?”
“For us maybe,” Piper said with a rueful laugh. “But that’s the irony, isn’t it? Since I am a daughter of Aphrodite, I can also see that it’s just the beginning.”
“That’s what I was afraid of,” Annabeth said with a sigh.
She leaned her head against Piper’s shoulder. Piper held Annabeth’s hand and silence fell between them once again.
“Can I ask you something?” Piper said a little while later. “I know this is a shitty thing to be happening, but were you even happy?”
Annabeth was caught off guard by the question. “What?”
“Were you and Percy happy? I mean recently,” she clarified. “I know you were when we first met. But after, you know, everything, things just seemed different.”
“At first I thought it would make us closer than ever,” Annabeth admitted slowly, like she was admitting it to herself for the first time. “But I think it just makes us remember things we want to forget.”
Piper wrapped her arms around Annabeth and pulled her into a hug. “I’m sorry,” she said soothingly.
“So am I,” Annabeth replied.
…
It was only a few days after Annabeth told Percy that she thought they were better off as friends, when she found them. Percy had seemed taken aback and startled by the conversation, but he accepted Annabeth’s decision stoically. Annabeth hadn’t been avoiding him, but she had opted to spend time with Rachel and Piper, who had had a similar conversation with Jason.
Still, she wasn't expecting this: Jason had Percy pressed against the wall of the stables. One of Jason’s legs was slotted between Percy’s and they were pressed together from hips to chest. Percy had one hand up the back of Jason’s camp shirt, and the other grabbing tight on his ass, pulling Jason’s body against his own.
The last thing she noticed was the kiss. It was deep and aggressive; passionate in a way that the kisses she shared with Percy had never been. As she watched, wide-eyed and frozen to the spot, Jason bit Percy’s lower lip, and Percy let out a noise she had never heard him make. It shook her to the core.
Annabeth tried to step backwards and leave before they noticed her, but she tripped and bumped into a bucket of oats for the horses. Gods, she wished she had her old Yankee’s cap.
Percy and Jason broke apart and looked around wildly. Percy’s eyes widened as he caught sight of Annabeth. Her cheeks burnt with embarrassment and she turned on her heel and ran.
“Annabeth, wait!” Percy called after her. But she didn’t stop.
…
Annabeth was sitting alone outside of the Big House when Percy found her. She didn’t look up from her book as Percy sat down.
The silence stretched between them and Percy shifted awkwardly next to her. Finally Annabeth sighed and closed her book.
“What do you want, Percy?” She asked coolly.
“Why are you mad?” he asked. “You broke up with me.”
Annabeth made a frustrated noise. “Yeah, I broke up with you, but it was already over, wasn’t it?”
Percy bowed his head. “I didn’t mean for it to be like this,” Percy confessed. “I never wanted to hurt you.”
Annabeth gave him a long look out of the corner of her eye. “I know,” she said with a sigh.
Percy raised his head and looked over to Annabeth. “Then why…”
“Do you think it was easy to end things, even knowing that your heart was no longer in it?” Annabeth snapped. “Do you think it was easy to listen to everyone joke about how close you two had become and to stand by and watch? Because let me clue you in on something: it wasn’t easy.”
“I know,” Percy said. “I’m sorry.” He paused and then, “It wasn’t about you.”
Annabeth let out a long shaking breath, “I know.”
Percy pushed a hand through his messy hair and looked out over the camp then back to Annabeth. “Maybe someday things will be better,” he said.
She reached out and squeezed his hand. “I hope so, Seaweed Brain,” she said, her voice cracking on her nickname for him. “I hope so.”
Percy smiled sadly as he squeezed her hand back. And then a moment later he had pushed himself up from the chair and was walking away from the Big House. He didn’t look back.
Annabeth watched him walk away as she blinked back tears.
“Annabeth!” Piper called, hopping onto the porch and sliding into the chair that Percy had just vacated. “Where have you been?” Piper caught the look on Annabeth’s face. “Hey, are you alright?”
Annabeth looked over to her friend and smiled, a real genuine smile. “You know what? I think I am.”