Beyond All Expectation (Percabeth)

Chapter 38: The Vacation

Percy POV:

"Leo, how many times do I have to ask you to get in the dam car?" Frank honked the horn again. 

"Darling, hush!" Leo winked. "I am not a morning person... I'm just waiting for my coffee."

"We can get a coffee at the dock-"

"-That's an hour away, Baby Boo," Leo smiled. "I cannot wait a whole hour for coffee."

He ran back inside and Frank's cheeks flared red. 

"Did he just call me Baby Boo?" Frank scowled. 

"I think it suits you," I grinned. "Baby Boo."

"Oh, this better not become a thing. Hazel, will you please stop them from calling me Baby Boo?"

"But why would I do that, Baby Boo? It's adorable," Hazel chuckled. Frank groaned and we all burst out laughing. Frank sat behind the wheel, with Hazel in the passenger seat next to him. Behind him sat Annabeth, Piper and I, and behind us sat Jason, Nico and Reyna, with an empty seat waiting for Leo. 

Frank checked his watch and honked on the horn again.

"Leo's going to make us late," Frank muttered. Reyna frowned and checked her watch. 

"No he's not, we've got loads of time," she said. 

"No, I mean he's going to make us lose the race. I bet the others that we'd get to the dock before them and if Leo takes any longer they're for sure going to beat us."

Hazel grabbed his hand reassuringly. "Don't worry, Babe, we've got this," she reached across and honked the horn again. "LEO GET YOUR ASS IN THIS CAR RIGHT NOW WE ARE NOT LOSING THIS RACE!"

Leo appeared suddenly and hopped into the car, looking a little scared. Jason grinned and patted his back. "You alright, bud? Where's your coffee?"

"Forget it - I'm more scared of Hazel anyway," Leo complained. 

We all cheered and set off on the journey. Reyna and Nico chatted away in the backseat as Jason and Leo played some sort of game together on their phone. Piper leaned forwards and chatted to Frank and Hazel as they drove. Annabeth leaned against me and reached into her pocket, bringing out her phone and some earphones. I smiled at her. 

"What're we listening to today?" I asked. 

"You know, I think I saw Beyonce as I was leaving Piper's house today, so I'm in the mood for some of that," she smiled. 

She pressed play on the music and we listened to it together. I stared out at the window and watched the skyscrapers and the yellow cabs pass our window. The sun was blisteringly hot today, and I had to roll down the window to let some air into the stuffy car. Annabeth and I sang along to the words, drumming our fingers against each other as we sang. A while later, Leo heard what we were listening to and asked Annabeth to connect her phone to the car speakers. We drove out of Manhattan singing to Beyonce at the top of our lungs. It was a fun morning. 

We reached the docks at lunchtime, twenty minutes before Charles' car arrived. He had driven Selena, Thalia, Will, Katie, the Stolls, Calypso, Grover and Juniper. We unloaded our suitcases from the cars and two hours later we were on a boat, heading straight towards St Lucia. The decision had been made to go by boat almost as soon as we had planned on the destination of the holiday, when I admitted that I hated flying, Thalia admitted she had an extreme fear of heights and Katie, Juniper and Grover had refused to set foot in an airplane. It was an overnight boat, one which we took advantage off by pissing off the other passengers and playing hide and seek, and I enjoyed every second of it. Hazel, on the other hand, stayed put in her cabin and reportedly threw up all night long. Frank appeared the next day looking wildly unimpressed.