"Tell me if I'm wrong, tell me if I'm right. Tell me if you need a loving hand to help you fall asleep tonight. Tell me if I know, tell me if I do. Tell me how to fall in love the way you want me to" -Cold Coffee, Ed Sheeran
A/N: This song is written and performed by the Ginger Jesus: Ed Sheeran. It goes with Piper and Jason's part, so I think you should look at the lyrics or listen to the song to get the feel if you want to :)
Currently the youtube link thing isn't working, so if you want to look it up feel free to.
-Em
Faye's POV
"Drew," I say her name slyly. "I have some important news for you."
The Asian beauty rolls out of her bunk, rubbing her eyes. "Where were you last night?" she says before yawning.
"With Leo." A grin makes its way to may face.
"You didn't...?" Drew cocks an eyebrow.
I nod. "Yes, I did."
Her jaw drops. "All that's left is the last step," she reminds me.
"What?" I ask with a vacant look.
"You have to break his heart."
--
Piper's POV
I left Leo alone with Faye after wallowing in my own misery for a long amount of time.
Of course, I'm still wallowing in a pit of self pity but there's no one to hear me complain. There's no one I can ask to hold me in their arms and protect me from everything that's being taken from me.
I wish I could be as strong as I act, but simply cannot.
The only thing I can do now is apologize for getting lost in my own maze of love and desperateness.
I knock slowly on the door to the Zeus cabin, taking a deep breath as I wait. "It's me," I say weakly. "Jason, it's me."
He arrives at the entrance and leans against the side. "Piper, it's late," he says tiredly.
"I know, I'm sorry. We have to talk," I insist.
My eyes can't help but wander to his bare chest. It seems like he had gotten even more toned since the time we went to a water park ages ago. Tattoos line up his arms and none of us have any idea what they mean. I mean, what would a fifteen year old do with a tattoo? But I wish I could be curious about why he was not wearing a shirt. He always enjoyed sleeping half-naked...or maybe that was an illusion.
"All right," Jason finally says after a silence. "Come inside."
I follow him inside the Cabin One. It's all too big for one person to share and all too luxurious in comparison to the rest.
He takes a seat on his own bunk that towers above the rest of the cabin. "What are you waiting for?" he asks me. "Just climb up."
I hesitantly join him there and sit a fair distance away from him. "It's amazing in here," I comment, avoiding the topic that need to be discussed. My insides tie themselves into knots. If only I could predict how this would end, I would be at ease.
Jason is definitely a wild card in my life.
"It is," he agrees. "It's too lonely for just me."
If only I could be with you in here forever, I think to myself. "Look," I take a deep breath, I'm done beating around the bush. Can you just answer one question for me?"
He nods stiffly, looking at me expectantly. His sky blue eyes bore into me. Jason's gaze only makes me more nervous.
"Is there a chance for us?" I ask quietly. "Ever?"
Time seems to slow as he turns his head away, brushing a hand through his wind-swept blond hair. "Piper," he whispers.
I'm waiting for rejection. What else can I expect, after all? "Yes?"
Unexpectedly, Jason places his pale hand on top of my own. It warms my hand to the touch. His thumb even begins to caress my tanned skin. "I don't know. At this point, I don't about anything. I mean, we have to go rescue a goddess!"
"I know," I sigh. "But if anyone can do it, it's you," I tell him hopefully. And it's true. After Jason saved me at the Grand Canyon, I can't stop looking at him like he's supposed to save the world. For all we know, he already has.
Jason clicks his tongue. "I don't know about that."
I carefully slide my hand away from his. "Can you just give me a yes or no answer? Right now I just something definite in my life. Just one thing."
He waits a long time before answering, caught up in his own thoughts and confusion. Everything is such a massive mess right now. "Of course I can," he tells me with a sincere smile. "I did kiss you back," Jason reminds me. "And although you try so hard not to be beautiful, you are gorgeous in every single way."
"But," I guide him. There has to be a downside to this.
His smile vanishes. "But what?"
"You were going to say but you don't want a relationship, but you don't want to ruin our friendship," I go on. "Just tell me. I can take it."
"I was really hoping I could leave it there," he bites his lip. "The truth is, I don't know you that well, or at least not the way that you know me."
"That's all I needed," I murmur, already climbing out of Jason's bed.
He tries to catch me, but my own momentum keeps me far ahead of him. "Piper, wait!"
I'm already out the door.
--
Leo's POV
I lay on my bunk, my hands folded on top of my stomach.
For some reason, the song "Moments" begins to make its way into my brain and repeat itself ceaselessly. It seems to be our song- Faye's and my song.
I think of the old inhabitant of my bed. He was some guy named Charles Beckendorf that was in love with another daughter of Aphrodite. They both died as heroes and were reunited in Elysium.
Annabeth told me that he always carried a picture of his girlfriend with him in his pocket and that it was the last image he saw before the explosion. His last thoughts were of her.
She also mentioned that the girl sacrificed herself to save Percy and herself from a drakon. Well, that was after she saved the camp but that doesn't matter.
I just hope they got together again as ghosts, figments of what they used to be. Maybe they're even happy now.
"Leo," my cabin mate, Nyssa, called from the lowest bunk.
I look down to see her fiddling with some sort of miniature robot. "What?"
"We need to talk," she says darkly before leaving the vault door of Cabin Nine.
I follow her, tapering with my latest craft. It was something I hadn't tried before, a ring. Swirls line the base, bringing a bit of auburn to the silver outline. "What do you need, Nyssa?" I ask blankly as I make adjustments.
She pushes my hand down to look into her dark eyes. Nyssa could easily be a heroine from a video game, well that's without the smiley face band-aid stuck to her chin. "Is that Aphrodite girl your girlfriend?" Nyssa accuses me.
"Yes," I answer immediately. "Not that I've asked her to be, but we might as well be."
Nyssa rolls her eyes, then pushes her dark brunette hair into a ponytail with the assistance of her bandana to keep it held. "Let's go for a walk," she says briskly. Nyssa shoves me forward after I refused to budge.
"Why is that even important? It has nothing to do with you," I argue. At this point, I'm over my head with my frustration. "Why can't I be happy without everyone interfering?!"
Nyssa looks taken aback. "It doesn't have to do with you necessarily," she says carefully. "Are you aware the Hephaestus and Aphrodite are married?"
I nod stiffly. "Of course I am-"
"Do you think she actually stays with him and doesn't sleep with other gods...or mortals for that matter?"
My eyes shut as I try to remember. "She's having an affair with Ares, right?"
"Exactly," Nyssa confirms. "And you know what happened to Charles Beckendorf?"
"He used to be the old camp counselor and he died," I recall. "He was a hero or something."
Nyssa releases a sigh as she turns to face me. "He was going out with this girl at a time, her name was Silena."
"And she was giving information to the Titan army, yada yada. Where is this going?"
She gives me a look of sadness. "Silena gave the Titan army information about how Charles and Percy were going to blow up their ship. The reason they were caught was partially because of her."
"I repeat myself: where is this going?" I'm ready to leave right now. Nyssa doesn't have to lecture me about history while I could be spending more time with Faye or perfecting this ring.
"My point is that they can't be trusted. They're bound to abandon you because all they care about is themselves and the latest make up trend," she tells me. With a glance towards the pink cabin, she says, "And you have to admit, something strange is going on there."
She has me there. It seems like the children of Aphrodite are planning something, but I have no idea what. "I guess," I admit.
"That's not it," Nyssa continues. "Every once in a while a few of her children begin to date normal people or take notice to regular campers who definitely aren't as pretty as they are. That's when Faye started dating you."
As I furrow my eyebrows, I ask skeptically, "Did something happen to you?"
A shadow appeared in her eyes. "Yes, but I rather not talk about it."
"What happened?" I try to soften my tone in order to not sound offensive. But I swear, if she says anything about Faye I won't have control of myself.
Nyssa takes a breath and tightens her bandanna so much that it dug into her neck. "There was this guy. His name's Damon Cera. For some reason, he took an interest in me. Normally, I'm some sort of troll and don't get guys. He was the first one, ever. So we started going on dates and I remember being so excited when he finally kissed me. It was sweet for a while until he started pressuring me. I finally gave in and slept with him. And after that he never talked to me again."
I envelop her into a brotherly hug. "I'm sorry," I say as I release her. "But Faye wouldn't do the same, she's different."
"But there's a pattern," Nyssa reaches into her pocket and pulls out a post-it note. "This is a list of people who have had the same thing happen to them or similar, out of the ordinary actions from the Aphrodite cabin."
I take it from her hand to see a date written and a list of four or five names on the front and back of the paper. "But I'm not the same."
"What makes you so different?" Nyssa can't keep the resentment out of her voice. She's jealous that my relationship isn't meaningless and that I'm not being played with like a toy.
"Faye wouldn't do that to me."
Nyssa tears the red bandanna from her hair so hard that it pulls it a few strands. She looks like she is ready to punch me in the face. "And what makes her different, Valdez?"
To any other man, this would be admitting defeat. For once, it is a victory for me. "Because we haven't slept together!" I shout angrily.
Her shoulders slump, but not in defeat. "I'm sorry, Leo. That's the step before heartbreak. I'm sorry this had to happen to you. Please, don't let yourself get hurt," she begs. "Don't let yourself end up like I did," Nyssa tells me softly.
"I won't get hurt," I insist. "She's better than the rest of them. Faye always has been. She hates her siblings more than anything. There is no way she'd turn into one of them."
Her eyes flicker to behind me as she releases an inaudible sigh. "It sure doesn't look that way." Nyssa leaves me alone holding an unfinished ring in one hand and anger fuming out of me.
"Leo," a voice whispers as tan arms wrap around my neck.
A smile appears on my face. "Faye."
She maneuvers gracefully so that she's standing in front of me. Something about her makes her stand out from everyone today. Eyes pop out as they pass her. Faye, for once, is wearing an unhealthy amount of makeup and a low cut v-neck with short shorts. It's bizarre for me to see her wearing something she vowed not to.
Faye quickly gives me a peck on the lips. The lip gloss she's wearing smears onto my face. "I missed you," she says as she entwines her fingers with my own.
"What's wrong with you?" I unfold my long sleeve tee I had pushed up onto my forearm and try to wipe at her face.
She pushes me away. "Stop that," she hisses. "And nothing is wrong with me. I'm completely normal."
"You're not normal right now," I state.
With a look of fury, she crosses her arms. "Listen, I came here because we need to talk."
I mimic her, crossing my own arms. "Yes, we do need to talk. Meet me at the bunker in ten minutes. Before you go, I'd prefer it if you took this ugly mask off your face."
And I leave her before she can respond. Hopefully, by the time we get to the bunker she won't have the urge to slap me across the face.
--
A/N: Everybody's getting pissed off :D Yaaay!
So Leo's happiness unfortunately had to fade. And the haze from the night prior doesn't cloud his mind anymore. Good for him. Knock some sense into her.
I was listening to the Doomsday Theme Song for Doctor Who and I was inspired to write a two page epilogue to this. Hopefully, I won't have to use it considering how devastating that song is. Hopefully. I already have this story pretty much planned out so...NO SPOILERS.
The picture to the side is Piper. I intended Faye to look a lot like her, but definitely more white and a slightly fair-er skin tone. Fricken Hera messing with her life... sigh...
I wanted to try something new today so here we go with the requirements. I need:
-23+ Votes on this chapter alone
-15+ comments on this chapter alone
And if we get this, I'm going to update early and update two days from now on Tuesday.
oH, the new thing! DEDICATION TO A COMMENTER!
-Em :)