Living Broken

13

We were waiting for the rest of the team to get to camp, but I didn't really want to stay. I reasoned with Chiron and told him that we'd be back once the rest of the team had come back from their mission. Clint had updated me that everyone needed to recharge. I figured if I didn't have to stay at camp longer than I needed to, the better.

"Show me the city!" Ellie said. We were sitting next to Thalia's tree. I smiled. 

"Alright. Where do you want to go first?" I asked her, getting up and offering my hand. She took it and pulled herself up. 

"Statue of Liberty first. And then tomorrow, if we have the time, I'll make you take me to the Empire State Building. I have it in LEGO but there's something about seeing the real thing that speaks to my soul." 

We took the Prius all the way until we couldn't. I used this card that uncle Tony had given me to pay for tickets for both the ferry and the climb. I watched Ellie stare at the green statue as we sped towards it on the ferry. 

"I challenge you to a race." She said at the base of the statue. 

"You're on." I said grinning. 

At the top, I waited for Ellie to finish coming up the stairs. She was panting and had to pull something from her pocket. I recognized it as an inhaler. Ellie grinned when she caught me starring. Her cheeks were red and her hair was a bit messed up. She took a moment to fix it before coming up next to me. 

"So what part are we on?" She asked. 

"The crown, which is the only place we can be right now, but I know how to get into the torch." Ellie's eyes widened. 

"You do?" I nodded and took her by the hand. Sneaking into the torch wasn't that hard. They didn't have security stationed so if the officer came by I was well versed in how to avoid getting arrested. 

We stood, the two of us, in the torch looking out across the water. Because we were on an island and there was less pollution, you could see some of the stars beginning to shine ad the sky began to get dark. Ellie and I were standing shoulder to shoulder, and she had a mystified look on her face.

"When I was younger, my family and I would take a week long trip to this place in central Oregon called Black Butte Ranch. They have this little meadow that my dad would take my brother's and I too, one of the nights, to star gaze. Percy, every time, we could see the Milky Way. It was so beautiful."

"That sounds wonderful." I said softly. Ellie nodded her head, and stayed silent for a while. 

"Did you ever do this with Annabeth?" She asked. I looked at her.

"No. She and I had a date on the Eiffel Tower though. Not as fun." I said turning around and resting my shoulders on the wall of the torch. I closed my eyes and focused on the smell of the Atlantic ocean.

"Percy?" 

"Hmmm?" 

"Are you ever going to get over Annabeth?" I opened my eyes and fumbled for the locket. I took it off and held it up in front of me. 

"I have a feeling that I am almost over her. Yet almost everything I think about on my own time, circles to her." I whispered, tossing the locket into the ocean.

----------time skip-------------

I walked Ellie back to the car and took her to her hotel. 

"Thanks for today, Percy. I'll see you tomorrow?" 

"Yeah of course. I'll see you tomorrow." I said.

When I got back to the tower, uncle Tony was waiting in the lounge with a box of pizza. He didn't offer any to me but I wasn't particularly hungry.

"So you had a good day?" He asked. I nodded, a huge smile gracing my lips. I headed into my room, and fell asleep thinking about the smell of the ocean and stars.