we found julian downstairs, watching as karl showed off the new trick he had taught percy in his free time.
"avada kedrava," karl said, looking at percy. percy rolled over immediately and laid on his back, playing dead. julian clapped and karl took a bow, a goofy grin on his face.
"karl jacobs," i said, walking into the living room, "this is why i love you. if you don't platonically marry me, i will cry."
karl laughed at that and pulled me into a quick hug. "i'd make a lot of people mad if i married you so let's do it."
"you can't marry thalia," nick said from behind us.
"why not?" i asked, giving him a pointed look.
"because then you'd live with him and i'd have to clean the house myself," said nick.
"we'll i'm not your housewife," i told him. "you can do it yourself."
a small smile played at the edges of
nick's lip as he said, "you wouldn't leave."
"don't be so sure about that," i replied.
"you wouldn't. if i told you to stay, you would. because you're like my hoe. i own you," he teased.
i titled my head at him and gave him a long look before i said, "nick, i think it's me who owns you. you're my bitch, not the other way around."
"well the sexual tension in this room escalated very quickly," julian commented from the couch. "is anyone else hot?"
i glanced behind me to julian, who's face was turning red, and couldn't help but laugh. "i honestly thought you were about to ask if anyone else was turned on."
"i also thought that," karl added.
any and all tension in the room shattered and we all dissolved into laughter. once everyone calmed down, i fell onto the couch beside julian.
"do you want to go out tonight?" i asked him.
"what did you have in mind?"
"paintball," i said, grinning.
"i'm in," he said.
"is this a date or am i allowed to tag along?" karl asked.
"of course you can come. you're the other love of my life," i said with a wink.
"nick, you in?" julian asked.
"yeah, let me go put on shoes and tell dream we're leaving," he said.
he disappeared upstairs only to return a few minutes later.
"why isn't dream coming?" i asked.
"he's on the phone with his boyfriend," nick replied, searching for his car keys. once he found them, he said, "alright, we can go."
we all rode in nick's car- nick driving with karl in the passenger seat and julian and i in the back seat. once we got to the paintball place, they randomly assigned us teams, leaving nick and i on the blue team with karl and julian on the red team.
"we're going to kill you guys," i said as i stepped into my jumpsuit.
"you wish," julian said. "i happen to be a paintball master."
nick snorted at that. "obviously you've never seen me and thalia play. we've never lost a game before."
"there's a first time for everything," karl said lightly.
we separated and ran to our hiding places. nick and i crouched behind a overturned table.
"i love this map. it looks like a diner destroyed by a tornado," i commented, loading paintballs into my gun.
"my favorite one is still the forest," nick said.
the bell rang right then, signaling the start of the game. nick ran left and i went right, both of us staying low, as chaos exploded.
i saw someone in a red jumpsuit running towards the direction nick was, so i quickly lined up the sight and shot them in the thigh. they fell to the ground, screaming about being out.
paintballs started flying around me so i quickly ducked behind the counter. one of my teammates was back there as well.
"what's up," he said casually.
"not much. just shooting balls of paint at people, you know," i replied.
"do you know if the redhead on the other team is still in?" the guy asked.
"i got them already," i said as i peeled over the counter and saw an opening. "see ya!"
i quickly ran off, doing some fancy footwork to avoid tripping over the broken plates that were scattered around the floor. i saw nick on my left and ran diagonally to meet him.
"have you seen karl or julian yet?" i asked.
"no, they're keeping out of sight. but there's only three left on our team so we need to be quick about getting everyone else out," nick said. he glanced all around us and said, "cover me," before taking off running.
i jumped to my feet and saw an enemy pointing his paintball gun at nick. i pulled the trigger faster than the other person, hitting them in the shoulder as blue paint erupted onto their red suit.
"thanks thalia!" nick yelled.
i stayed where i was and looked around for karl or julian, finally spotting them near the counter i was at earlier, just on the opposite end. i quickly ran to nick and told him.
"alright, i'll go right and you go left. don't let them see you," he said.
"duh," i responded with an eye roll.
we quickly did our super secret hand shake and parted ways. we went slowly, not wanting to be discovered, shooting any enemies left standing.
once i made it to the counter again, i started moving quickly to get to julian and karl. they were facing away from me and towards where nick was running at them, so i easily shot julian. karl didn't have time to react before nick shot him, meaning we had won the game.
"TAKE THAT BIG FAT L!" i screamed to them as i jumped up and down in excitement.
we all laughed at that and good-naturedly teased each other as we went to put up the paintball guns and jumpsuits.
"i told you guys you'd lose," i said with a smirk. "nick and i are unbeatable."
"we're playing again tomorrow," julian insisted. "but we need more people."
"i'll invite peyton," i suggested. "she said she could hang out again after today."
"we need dream to come, too," said nick.
we made plans to go again the next day on the way home. i stayed quiet for the most part, enjoying watching the scenery fly by out of the window. when we made it back home, it was getting late so i have julian a hug and told him goodbye before heading to my room.
once i made it up the stairs, i stopped short as i saw what was there. or, rather, what wasn't there.
"DREAM WHERE THE HELL IS MY DOOR?" i yelled, completely outraged. he was in for it for sure.
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