Fall (Percy Jackson x Reader)

eight

The golden accents on its petals and stem seem to brighten at the contact, and pulses of energy run through his fingertips and up his arms. The warmth rushes through his body, slowing his frantic thoughts and calming his racing heartbeat. Percy rests his elbows on his knees, holding the rose up so he can breathe in the fragrance.

He always associated her with the fresh scent of roses because of this flower.

"Thank you, (Y/N)," he mutters to the silence of his room, a light smile making its way onto his face before he leans back onto his bed. His chest rises and falls with a deep sigh, and his hands relax as he holds the flower on his chest.

He misses her.

He misses all of his friends.

He's missed them for the past six months, and now, on what is probably the most important day of his life, they're not going to be there.

They apologized and gave their reasons, but it still broke his heart to hear it.

A pit forms in his stomach as he thinks about them. He wanted to visit them over the holidays, but his plan was to return to Camp Half-Blood after the school year so he could spend as much time with his mom as possible. He got to Iris Message them sometimes, occasionally texting Grover, but his senior year was full of work and barely any free time was available. He didn't ask them to visit, either, but there was still an underlying hope that they'd know he really wanted them to.

But it's fine, right?

There was a lack of communication on both ends.

It's fine.

He'll see them in a few weeks. Today is his graduation, and he should be excited.

Plus, there are cookies waiting for him.

Determined, Percy sits up again, returning the rose to his nightstand and getting back onto his feet. He carefully folds up his gown, putting it into his nearly empty backpack, and (with a bit of difficulty so nothing gets bent or wrinkled) places the cap in with it. Double-checking that his dark blue button-up shirt and khaki slacks are neat, he slings his backpack onto his shoulder and grabs his phone.

Heading into the kitchen, he immediately makes a beeline for the island, picking up one of the blue chocolate chip cookies and stuffing it into his mouth.

"Don't choke on it," is Sally's distracted warning, quite used to his enthusiasm about her cookies, as she walks in.

Percy takes a second to swallow before chuckling, "I'm gonna head out now."

She smiles, "What time do I have to be there, again?"

"Two thirty at the football field."

"Got it. No skateboarding there, I don't want you to get in an accident on the intersections." Percy holds up his hands in surrender, backing away from the closet that holds his skateboard and protective gear. "Here," Sally picks up her car keys from the counter and tosses them to Percy, "I'll take the metro to save gas, and we can drive back together."

Percy easily catches the keys, "Sounds good."

Snagging another cookie off of the baking sheet, he waves at her while walking out the apartment door. "Tell Paul I said 'hi'!" Sally calls after him. Percy chuckles, eating his cookie while making his way down the steps to the parking lot. He waves at the neighbor that shouts their congratulations before resuming his walk to the car. Starting the drive to school, he puts the radio on, and he can't help but feel nostalgic as a throwback song starts playing.

"Nope," he tells himself, shaking his head as he lightly brakes before a stop light, "Percy Jackson, you are not crying today. Nuh-uh."

He looks around while waiting for his light to turn green, lightly drumming his fingers on the steering wheel as cars begin to cross the intersection in front of him. As he stares up at the clouds, looking for any interesting shapes like he and the rest of the quartet did frequently at camp, he furrows his eyebrows at the speck that appears for a millisecond in the sky.