ੈ｡ﾟ ･ׂׂ ✩ RED ⌇˚ɞ act ii . . . if clarity's in death . .
· 。ﾟ *. 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 SIXTEEN , ───── ❛ comfort found in the rushing of water ❜
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WHOEVER DECIDED THAT Thalia should drive was an absolute moron. Oh yeah, that was Apollo. Checks out.
After torching about a quarter of the United States, the bus-load of demigods and Hunters crash landed into Camp Half-Blood with the impact of what felt like an atomic bomb.
Once the doors opened, everyone piled out as quickly as they could. Nico began spewing off question after question right as he could see the camp, whilst the Hunters all shouldered their backpacks and trudged off towards Cabin Eight, ignoring the stares of surrounding campers.
"Take care, sweethearts!" Apollo called after the girls from the bus. He then winked at Percy, "Watch out for those prophecies, Percy. I'll see you soon!"
The god called something else out the window of his bus, but it was drowned out to Laurie by someone screaming her name.
The girl whirled around, a smile approaching at the familiar voice, and before she knew it, there was an Alec smothering her in a hug.
She could've sworn that the boy had a built-in Laurie detector that would tell him whenever his best friend stepped foot on camp soil. If that was the case, she never wanted it to break.
She noticed that over their time apart he'd become taller than her, which was something she found she didn't mind and made for even more comforting hugs.
As he hugged her, Laurie had the crushing realization of just how long it had been since someone had done this. With a teeth-rottingly sweet smile, she squeezed him harder as a tear escaped her eye and found home alongside the soot on his camp shirt.
When he pulled away it was too soon. Panic covered his face when he saw the tear stained streak across her cheek.
"Oh gods, what'd I do?" He asked her.
"Oh," she mumbled, wiping the water away from her face. "Nothing. That's a good tear. Promise."
Relieved, Alec nodded, like he was confirming her words with himself. Then, his lips curved up into a smile.
"Man, I missed you." He sighed. Then, he chuckled and used his hand to compare their heights. "You got shorter."
"Jerk." Laurie laughed lightly, shoving his hand away. "But I missed you too. So much."
"C'mon, we gotta get to Chiron and tell him the good news!" Alec told her, practically bouncing on his feet as he started towards the Big House.
Laurie wished it was all good news. But she would also have to explain not only what happened with herself, but that Artemis was hunting an ancient beast and that Annabeth had been hurled off of a cliff. Yippee.
