Dead End|Book 3|

Day -5|I

Shoutout to sugarplum267 for being the first voter!

Annabeth would be here in the next few hours and yet I wasn't sure exactly why.

There was just less than a week left before the gang headed to university. Some were going across country, as far as Charringfall while some were staying near. It made sense though. Small town folks fitted in those two categories: hella far or nearby.

That explained why most of us were going to Saint Cli, the closest university an hour or two out of town. Annabeth, her boyfriend West and some of his soccer friends, Bran, London, Shana, Harry and I.

I had some idea what to expect (perks of having an older brother) so I knew about the stress and massive workload coming my way. I also had majority of my friends too so that was a load off my shoulders but I was still a novice. I had barely drank, never smoked and partied, and was wondering what being around so many different personalities would lead too. I wondered how Harry would take to it too.

We were as close as ever but, in the grand scheme of things, that meant we weren't close at all. The months leading to the finish of the school year and summer saw him getting a little more physical with me. Just the other day did we talk about his passion for writing and why he chose Saint Cli. The other day. That was another thing that become apparent. My constant need to remind myself that this boy had been through hell and back, and that he wasn't gonna change overnight. It was just hard having known a somewhat normal relationship before-

"Alice baby! Annabeth is here." My mom's voice pulled me out of the hole I was digging for myself.

"Coming!" I frowned and flipped the suitcase close, already tired.

I made my way down the stairs in a rush, ready to use my best friend to distract myself. "Thank god, you're here-Hi..."

Seeing him was always a sucker punch to the gut. It was always similar to the first time I spotted him. Except now he definitely filled the room.

One thing that had changed about Harry was his body. The muscle had almost doubled and clung to him as he worked his trauma out almost daily. He could solo Bran and my dad before but now I believed he could topple a tank. Or maybe that was just because I was still tiny compared to my giant of a boyfriend.

His dark eyes took me in. "Hey."

Annabeth appeared next to him. We were all the same age but she just clipped his shoulder, barely. She was dressed in sweats, her dark hair pulled into a messy bun. She had bags under her eyes but you could tell from their glow that she was beaming. Ready for the move.

She immediately shrugged as if the appearance of my boyfriend was something out of her control.

"I didn't hear the car." I tried explaining as I finally made my way down the stairs.

"We walked." He nonchalantly said. His eyes then settled on my mother and he greeted her too. Effortless but tensed as always.

"How you coming along?" My mother asked the two of them. "Ready for the move?"

Annabeth sighed and went to run her hands through her hair before remembering it was tied up. "Basically counting down the seconds. We leave in the morning so spent the day making my rounds."

My mother nodded, shooting a glance towards me. I knew she was thinking about our trip there the day after Annabeth left. The day I left my Mom and Dad.

"Hello Annabeth." My Dad stepped into the kitchen with the rest of us. He  smiled but kept his eyes on Harry.

There was still some tension between the two due to Harry essentially standing up to him but I think deep somewhere in his soul he liked him. Obviously though, typical dad things dictated he put Harry through his paces before they were okay.

"Malakai." Was all he said. Harry nodded in agreement while Annabeth threw a smirk my way. She found the situation no doubt hilarious.

"So you're moving into the dorm buildings too then Annabeth?" My mother moved it along. "Lucky for Alice to have all of you there. And you Harry? Looking forward to dorm life?"

Harry wasn't looking at any of us, his gaze set on the window. "I'm actually not living in the dorm buildings."