Rory was so close to smacking Leo. He was doubled over laughing, smaking his hand on the table and gasping for breath.
"She really said that? In her sleep?" Leo cackeled and rocked back and forth on the bench.
"Shut up, will you? I don't want the whole camp knowing! Besides, she'd kill me if she found out I told you!" Rory whisper-yelled. Leo kept laughing.
"Rory, you look beautiful!" he said in a high pitched voice.
"Surprised you can get your voice that high, Valdez. Had training? Singing lessons perhaps?" Rory hissed. The entire table let out a collective "oooh". Leo turned bright red. His face twisted into a smirk.
"Oh yeah, Hellen!" Rory gasped. She never should have told him her stupid middle name. A/n: no offence intended to those of u who have the name/middle name Hellen. It is a lovely name. The other campers roared with laughter.
"That's it, you're all dead to me. As of this moment I am an only child!" Rory said standing up. Her head span and her knees threatened to buckle. Thankfully she managed to steady herself.
She stumbled once before gracefully walking towards the forge. She needed time to think. Away from all the noise and people. The forge was hot and sticky, sure, but it was calming. Lots of the Hepheastus kids went there when they were upset. Something about banging a hammer on a sword was oddly stress relieving.
She put on an apron, her welding goggles, and some gloves and set herself up at a station. There was always metal melting somewhere so it wasn't long before she was pouring the bronze into a mold. It was a basic knife design. Around the length of a forearm, handle included. Rory wasn't even aware of what she was doing. Her hands went to auto pilot and her mind wandered.
Annabeth had been acting odd the moment she had woken up. Rory wanted to tell her what she had said, but she knew that it would probably just make things uncomfortable. She wanted to talk to her so badly, but every time they were near each other Rory couldn't help but want to kiss her. She wanted to hold her and be there for her, as more than just a friend.
She was brought back from her thoughts by the sound of footprints behind her. Rory snapped into reality and realised what she was actually doing. She had finished the actually body of the knife and had started carving patterns into the blade. She turned around and saw Annabeth standing awkwardly in the doorway.
"Hey." She seemed uncertain about something. Rory stopped what she was doing, took off her gloves and apron, and lifted her goggles onto her head.
"Hey Beth. What's up?" Annabeth smiled at the mention of the nickname.
"I wanted to see if you were okay. You seemed upset at lunch. If it was Leo I can go kill him if you want?" That made her smile. Rory considered telling her what had happened, what she had said. She decided against it.
"Oh, yeah I'm fine. Leo just called me by my middle name and...well, I hate it." Annabeth tilted her head and walked over.
"What is it?" Rory laughed and rolled her eyes, this time without her head pounding.
"If I tell you you'll make fun of me!" Annabeth gave her a pleading look. Rory sighed. "Fine. My middle name...is Hellen." Annabeth gasped before bursting out laughing. Rory turned around shaking her head and made her way over to the knife. She used the tongs and placed it in a bucket of water to set. When she turned around Annabeth was still chuckling.
"See? I told you that you'd make fun of me!" Rory whined. Annabeth stifled her laughter.
"I'm sorry I'm sorry. But seriously, Hellen? No wonder Leo was laughing." She smiled.
"Don't make me disown you like I disowned them," she threatened. Annabeth rolled her eyes dramatically before sighing and looking at the floor. She seemed to fall deep into thought about something, like she was wrestling with some decision.
"Are you okay? You seem off. Did I do something?" Rory asked walking over to her. Annabeth shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant. She was awful at pretending she didn't care. "You can tell me. Please. I know I just came from death's door and everything, and I know you don't want to "burden me with your problems" and all that crap, but let me return the favour for once." Annabeth looked up and their eyes met.
"It was just a dream. Nothing more than that." It sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than anything.
"Don't give me that bullshit. Look at me. You're thinking about something. I can tell. You always zone out when you think about something that either scares you, or makes you upset." Rory argued. She didn't want to fight but she needed to know what was wrong. If there was something she could do to stop her from hurting, then there would be hell to pay for anyone who tried to stop her from doing just that.
Annabeth's eyes were filled with tears.
"Please. I can't see you hurt. I saw how you were after Percy. I never want to see you like that again," she whispered.
Annabeth looked straight into her eyes. They were pleading, begging, almost. She didn't even know what she was doing. She had come to the forge to do two things. One, check on Rory, and two, tell her about the dream. But the moment Rory had brought it up she felt vulnerable. She couldn't stop what she was doing. She didn't want to, more than anything. She placed her hands on Rory's cheeks and pulled them closer until their lips met.
She felt Rory tense up and regret filled her chest until Rory wrapped her arms around her waist and kissed back. Annabeth couldn't explain the feeling. It felt like a million things could happen around her, and all that would matter would be Rory.
Rory pulled back but Annabeth wanted to keep going. She leant in again but Rory faced her hands on her shoulders.
"Slow down there. I need air, Smart-ass." Annabeth smiled and pressed their foreheads together. She could feel Rory's breath on her face.
"Better now?" she asked. Rory laughed and leaned in, kissing her lightly on the lips.
"Hell yeah." Her heart was racing. Rory would have kept kissing her, but she worried that someone might walk in. So they just stayed staring at each other in blissful silence.
"What were you making over there?" Annabeth asked gesturing to the bucket with the knife in.
"Well, I was making a knife. Then it turned turned into a decoration," Rory explained.
"Can I see?" Rory nodded and collected the knife that had, thankfully, cooled off. Annabeth took it from her hands and studied the blade intensely.
"It's beautiful," she breathed. Her fingers ran over the markings and along the edge. "It's also mine now, by the way." Rory laughed.
"Okay, but there are two things I need to say first. One, I need to finish the handle, and two, you can't use it in a fight. It's purely decorative." Annabeth nodded and handed the knife back. She hadn't been in the forge much. It was usually loud and hot, but today it was quiet.
She was still in shock. She had kissed Rory. Rory had kissed her back. At some point they would have to have the awkward "what are we" talk. But in that moment, Annabeth really didn't want to. She wanted to just explore whatever the hell it was she was feeling.
Rory came back with the knife, a leather wrap around the handle. "There. Now you can use it with a slightly lower chance of getting a blister." When she handed it back their fingers brushed lightly. Annabeth wanted to say so many things to Rory, but if she tried she knew the words wouldn't feel right.
Rory, ever the intuitive, held her hand. It was a simple gesture, but it was welcome. She ran her thumb over Annabeth's knuckles.
"Whatever you're worrying about, whatever happened in that dream, I promise I'm gonna be there for you." Annabeth felt instantly better. "But while we are on the subject of dreams, there is something you should know." Annabeth's brief moment of peace was gone.
"While you were asleep," Rory continued, "you kinda said something. That's what the other guys were laughing about. I honestly didn't want them all knowing. I just needed to get it off my chest, they just overheard me saying it to Leo." Annabeth felt her stomach twist into knots.
"What did I say?" She could hear the anxiety crept into her voice.
"You...well, you kinda said that I...looked beautiful." Rory hung her head, trying to hide the blush spreading on her cheeks. Annabeth was silent for a moment before responding.
"Well, it...wasn't...I mean, it's not a lie." Her words came out jumbled. She cursed herself for being so bad at explaining how she felt. Rory smiled and took her other hand.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." Rory wrapped her arms around Annabeth's neck and kissed her. This one was slower, more meaningful, and Annabeth never wanted it to end. She found her hands wrapping themselves around Rory's waist, closing the space between them. She could feel her smiling into the kiss.
They were interrupted by the sound of someone slow clapping behind them. Rory pulled back and spun around to see Leo with the biggest smirk on his face.
"Took you long enough. McLean owes me five drachmas now!" He laughed. Annabeth's face had turned a deep red, though Rory couldn't tell if it was from anger or embarrassment or both.
"You made bets on whether or not we would kiss!?" She exclaimed. Leo stopped laughing.
"Look, a few of us did it as a joke. We only did it this morning anyways. Ya know, after you said what Annabeth had said in her sleep," he explained. For a second, Rory considered stabbing Leo with the knife.
"If you don't want anyone to know, I'll keep my mouth shut. But the moment you're ready to tell people I need to know because I need those drachmas from Piper," he joked. He raised to fingers in a salute and walked away whistling.
Annabeth turned to Rory. "Can we? Keep this just between us, I mean. I kind of want to just figure what we are before we tell anyone." Rory smiled again and nodded.
"Of course."
Short chapter, I know. Sorry about that. Hope this week has started well for all of u. Hope u r enjoying either remote learning or not being in school at all.