When Time Eludes You (Percabeth)

23 - Awkward Lunch, Anyone?

Sally's POV

I suppose I'd got my wish, after all.
I'd hoped Percy would just come home.
That he'd be able to help.
But he was so attached to Annabeth by now, it was nearly impossible to get his attention- even I had a hard time.

I stood silently in the corner of the gloomy room as Nico plopped himself down causally on a chair, smiling discreetly at me as the the pair walked in.

   "Sit," Nico said in a controlling voice, making it sound more like an order, rather than an offer of hospitality. He waved absentmindedly at the rest of the seats.
Annabeth and Percy sat down next to each other, making me smile.
   "So... what's the plan?" I asked, my voice still hoarse from earlier.
I sat down furthest away from the rest, not quite sure of where my place was.

Nico held up his pointer finger.
   "Hold on. I need some... restraint for this. Just give it a minute."
He brought out his phone, quickly dialed a number and pressed it to his ear.
   "Hey, Will. I've sort of got an emergency... no- Will- it's not that- what? No it's not that bad I just need to keep you on speaker- no don't come over- Will. No. Oh, come on."
He took a calming breath, then made sure to make eye contact with each one of us.
Within seconds the doorbell rang.
Before any of us could be bothered to stand up, the door flew open to reveal a blonde, young man with sparkling blue eyes. I figured he must be Will.

   "Nico I- what's this?" He stuttered, still quite out of breath, making the scene all but less dramatic.
"Err... lunch?" Nico answered.
Will smiled politely at three of us, slowly sitting himself down closest to Nico.
"More like an awkward lunch." I heard Percy mutter under his breath.
Both Nico and I shot him a glare that clearly declared him to by the loser.

He stared at his hands, blushing, but Will didn't seem to notice.
"There's no food." Will noticed.
Nico gave him a very sarcastic smile, replying with, "No, Will. Sometimes, your ability to observe really stuns me."
Will smiled sheepishly, slowly leaning towards Nico till his head hit his shoulder.
"So what's the plan?" I repeated from earlier.
Nico took a deep breath, shaking his shoulders, causing Will to sit upright again. He lifted an eyebrow and looked Will dead in the eye.
He then summarized our situation, leaving Will staring speechless at the table, looking rather confused.

Nico had done a pretty good job of making me sound like less of a victim, and rather like someone who had to endure it... differently. However he'd said it, he'd pulled it off.

   "I don't want pity- from any of you," I broke in, feeling it was my turn to speak, "It's not going to help me. It's not going to solve anything, either." I met everyone's eyes, making sure they all followed and understood the threat hidden beneath the feeble surface of my words.
   "Now please, I don't want to go home to that... freak, and honestly, we've barely caught up. Percy, you've been home for less than a day, and now we're sitting here in Nico's apartment, trying to come up with a plan for God knows what! So please, can we just cut to the chase here?" They all looked at me blankly. Not blankly as in not understanding me, but rather using it as a mask to hide further emotion.

I took a deep breath, refusing to let it shudder in my throat.

   "Okay..." Nico started, glancing at Will nervously, "Let's start with school. Percy, Annabeth- I suggest you go back, if only for a little while just for, you know, school stuff. I know you have, like, a hard time in school and all Annabeth, but like I don't know how-" Will touched Nico's shoulder briefly, smiling childishly at him. Nico suddenly remembered how to breath again, then resumed to speaking, saying, "Annabeth, I'm sorry. Same to you, Percy," he took yet another breath after rushing his words out then continued with, "Sally. I know you might not want to but... would you like to stay here? At my place? I don't mind, and I doubt my parents would care- even if you're practically their age. Um... yeah." He glanced awkwardly at the clock hanging over the sink.

I smiled warmly at him. Staying here would be easier, but might only delay future conflict.
No. I needed to look after myself now. No more Gabe. No more beer. No more bandages.

I looked around the table, trying to look at ease.
Annabeth looked more than a little nervous, as she continuously averted her gaze between me and Percy, as if searching for an answer no one could possibly answer.

Percy had put on a brave smile for Annabeth, trying to soothe her by laying his hand on hers.

   "I... I'll stay." I informed them, making it my final decision.
Percy's face lit up, as well as Annabeths.
Nico smiled weakly, along with Will looking as clueless as ever,  but still smiled brightly at me.

   "So where do we stay?" Percy asked.
   "We could go to my place," Annabeth suggested, lowering her voice.
Percy shook his head vigorously, obviously content on keeping her happy.
   "No... we'll stay at a hotel, again." Percy said.
I bit down a retort. They couldn't stay at a hotel again. But where else could they go?

Will raised an eyebrow at Nico as he for the first time noticed his puppy eyes.
A short, silent conversation noticeable only the intent eye contact passed between Nico and Will.

   "Okay fine," Will sighed exasperatedly, then said with a rather cheery tone, "You guys can stay with me."
Percy and Annabeth nodded and thanked him with a close, suffocating embrace.

I smiled sadly to myself  as they left the apartment hand in hand, but knowing Will would give them a good place to sleep- a home, made me feel slightly more sure of my decision to let them go again.

Meeting Nico's parents wasn't all that embarrassing as they already knew about my... situation.

Nico gave me the guest room and handed me a phone, letting me talk to both Percy and Annabeth for hours on end.

We talked throughout the night, and they told me of their adventures whilst they'd been gone.

They told me about Stockholm, the crazed fan on the plane, the amusement park- and not all in that particular order.

In a way I felt like I'd been there with them, watching from the sidelines.

But I was Percy's mother and it was time to let him go. He was old enough now.

But still... seeing him change right before my eyes, seeing him alter his personality- his very love for someone... it was almost foreign to me.

Percy had always stayed by my side, by Annabeth's. Perhaps moving to London- even for just a year- hadn't been the best of ideas.

But now the love he'd tied to my heart had loosened, and the strong line had only now began to snake its way towards Annabeth.

In a way, it made me sad.

But in truth, I was just glad my son had found his way all by himself.

My Percy had found his home.

And with Annabeth's architectural skills, I'm pretty sure she'd build their home with little space for grieving, and an extra room for kindness.

So cheesy so cheesy so cheesy help me...
okay so anyway, next chapter will be Percy's POV and I think we all know what that means ;) am I right?
So yeah thank you soooooooo much for reading! I'd love to have feedback... perhaps? Yes? No? Maybe? So?
I don't know. Just a thought.
I'd love to thank everyone but I can't see whom is currently reading *sobs* so if you want meh to like, say Vellos or something just comment! 
Okay this is becoming awkward and I'm just typing in a dark room with literally no one around so yeah. That says something about my confidence.
Tack! Merci! Thanks!