I 019. I
𝑾𝒂𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑽𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔
❝ school ❞
PERCY WAS TIRED. He had barely had enough time to get dressed for his first day of school, having stayed up late the night before watching a movie with his girlfriend.
The thought of Ariadne made him smile.
He had walked into Goode High wishing he was already home. Percy just wanted to get the day over with so he could go to the skatepark with Ariadne and try some new trucks, but of course, the day seemed to already dragged on and school hadn't even started yet.
Percy held his backpack strap tight and walked toward his locker. He didn't really have any other rude except for storing his skateboard and a few small pictures of him and his friends from camp.
The boy taped a picture of him and Ariadne, one Sally had taken of them right when they got back from camp. His day brightened just seeing his girlfriend with her arm around his shoulder and her beautiful smile directing itself at the camera. Percy had his arm around her waist and looked happier than he had in a long time.
"Heard there's a new girl," a guy said to his friend while leaning against a set of lockers a few feet down from Percy. "Haven't seen her yet. But I'm pretty convinced she'll need someone to show her around, and I think I'm the perfect candidate."
Percy rolled his eyes. He had no clue who it was, but he felt bad for any girl that met him. People like those two were the ones that Percy had been bullied by his while life.
He shut his locker. Percy ruffled his hair, trying to tuck the grey strand away in fear someone would ask him questions about it. The only people he had really talked about it were Ariadne and Annabeth, the only other friends that had gone through holding the literal world on their shoulders.
His attention was caught by a group of girls whispering between each other.
"Remember that rude girl who walked into the boutique last year?" one asked, flipping her red hair over her shoulder. "I saw her the other day. She has this huge scar on her face. She's not that pretty."
They laughed.
The four girls seemed to smile at one another while they continued to talk about whoever it was. At first, Percy thought they were talking about Ariadne and was trying to figure out what had happened last year.
He remembered the whole situation with Beckett and how she has to run and must've gotten clothes form somewhere.
Percy decided he might as well ask even if he hatted gossip. Before he could, whispers sounded throughout the hallway.
The boy just shook his head and turned around. He wanted to head to class and get the day over with. Percy ran a hand through his hair one last time before something a ugh y his eye.
Waking down the hallway was someone who made everyone stop and stare. Standing there, they were surveying the halls while looking for someone, and gradually, their eyes locked onto his, and his heart stopped.
Ariadne stood there in a pair of jeans, a random band t-shirt, and a black windbreaker that had a small trident embroidered in the left corner. His mom had given it to him as a present for his birthday when he turned fifteen.
She had a grin on her face, which seemed to light the hallway. Her hair was on their natural curls, and Percy tilted his head.
Ariadne picked up her pace and got to him quickly. He hugged her immediately. She smelled like vanilla and strawberries, and it made him happier. Her arms were wrapped around his waist.
Percy pulled back. "What are you doing here?" he asked. "Don't you have school?"
She raised an eyebrow. "I am at school," she said. "I go here."
His face became confused.
"Aria and your moon decided it would be best if I come to school with you," Ariadne said. "We wanted to keep it a surprise."
Her fingers interlocked with his. Percy stared down at her, looking over every freckle that dotted her face. She pulled him closer and ignored the stares from everyone else.
Percy smiled. "Well, I'm glad you're here."
Ariadne shrugged. The girl reached into her pocket and pulled out a blue beanie, placing it onto his head. She tucked his grey strand under the beanie. "I know you didn't wnat people asking any questions."
The bell rang.
He held out his hand. "Want me to walk you to your classes?" he asked.
"Seeing as they're the same as yours, yeah."
Percy laughed. "You chose PE and art as your electives?"
Ariadne stuck her tongue out. "No. PE and choir," she said. "I just wanted to show off I guess."
They began walking down the halls. He gripped her hand tightly and nudged her once they came close to their first class, and he stopped her.
"We're gonna be late," she chuckled.
Percy leaned closer. He kissed her, causing her to kiss back. He tasted like cookies and sea salt, which made Ariadne hum. She pulled back and smiled up at her boyfriend.
They entered their class together. And Ariadne leaned back, giving a Percy a smile while he played with her hair.
Things weren't so bad after all.
***
SHE HATED RAIN.
Unlike Percy, she was never a fan of storms or rain. In her many years at camp it ever rarely rained. Thanks to the magical barriers around her home, the weather was always nice and sunny during the summer and fall. Winter was always snowy, and spring was just vibrant.
Ariadne hated the way her hair would stick to her face anytime it got wet. Or the way it would become frizzy and damp once it dried, causing her mane to become more unbearable.
Percy on the other hand loved the rain. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he was a son of Poseidon, but he had told her numerous times he liked the way it sounded and watching how droplets would fall down windows. It calmed him down.
That's why, on their way back home from school, Percy was giddy and skipping in the rain, splashing puddles with his feet, while Ariadne looked miserable and held a black umbrella above her head.
She would smile slightly when Percy would laugh as the rain poured down, but the scowled when a droplet touched her skin.
Percy stepped into a large puddle. Most people would earn wet socks for their actions, but he earned a sense of peace and some sort of strength thanks to the water, and he left the puddle as dry as can be.
"The rain's not that bad, Aidan," Percy told her. He finally slowed down and waited for her to catch up. The boy noticed her unhappy look and could only chuckle. "I mean, it's kind of calming."
Ariadne groaned when the wind picked up and her umbrella moved slightly and she had to hold onto it. "Says the son of Poseidon."
"Babe, you have to admit, it isn't all that bad." Ariadne shivered when he called her that nickname. "Rain helps make things grow. Like your grapevines and stuff."
"Yeah," she grumbled. "Helps grow my annoyance and impatience. Why today of all days does it have to rain? I would rather walk home in the sunshine, but no—we get stuck in the middle of a pouring storm while we walk ten minutes back home. It's times like these where I wish I could drive and New York traffic wasn't terrible."
The son of Poseidon admired his annoyed girlfriend while she went off in her tangent. Even when she was doing something she didn't like, she tried to be at least a bit enjoyable for him, and this was a case that clearly explained it.
His hand interlocked with her left one. Her right held the umbrella tighter, catching most of the rain while trying to keep dry.
Percy stared up at the sky. Zeus may not like him, and he may not be a fan of the god himself, but he did love storms.
The boy tugged her speed to become quicker. "Let's go," he said. "Maybe we can skate in time."
Ariadne stopped in her tracks. Her fit slid against the ground. "Hell no! I'm not skating in this weather."
"I'll catch you," Percy told her. "It'll be fine."
She shook her head. "No way, Perc, I'm not trying die right after I just survived a war."
Her boyfriend pleaded with her. His sea-green eyes turned soft, almost like a seal's, and he kissed the back of her hand. "Please."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
Ariadne smirked. "Yes."
"No." Percy gave her a confident smile.
"Fine by me," Ariadne told him.
She kept walking. Percy stood there dumbfounded, he blinked a few times before catching up to her.
The rain seemed to only get worse as they kept walking. Percy kept a smile on his face, but his girlfriend scowled harshly. The wind grew more aggressive.
Her umbrella became a bit unstable while she tried to take control. It soon flew out of her hand, swirling into the sky and blowing over to a tall building and smacked against the window.
Ariadne's head was pelted with ran. Her hair became curlier and curlier, while it stuck to her face. She huffed loudly, wiping rain from her eyes and scowling even harder.
Percy laughed at her predicament. Luckily, they were right at their apartment building, and Ariadne was glad. She took larger steps and made it under the canopy which blocked the rain from reaching her. The girl glanced behind her to see Percy just standing on the sidewalk.
He held his backpack straps tight. The rain seemed to make a shield around him, making him virtually untouchable. Of course, he was basically invulnerable thanks to the curse of Achilles, even if he had that one spot on the small of his back which she seemed to watch most times to ensure nothing would hit it.
Ariadne crossed her arms and leaned against the side of the building. She tilted her head, watching while her boyfriend stamped his foot into a puddle, sending it splashing across the sidewalk.
A few people gave him an annoyed look, but with one glared from Ariadne, they seemed to speed up and walk on, as if not wanting to battle against her.
She didn't blame them.
Finally Percy decided to head inside. He pulled her into the building and they ran up the steps. They would take running up stairs over running from a monster any day.
He stopped outside his front door. She smiled up at him. "Aren't we going inside?"
"Maybe," he said. "Depends on if you're just going to eat cookies and then leave me."
"Awww," she cooed, her finger poking a dimple on the side of his lips, "you miss me. How sweet. Makes me almost want to kiss you."
"Almost?"
Ariadne laughed. The girl opener the door and strode inside. They were met with the sight of Sally sitting on the couch, a laptop on her legs while she was furiously typing. The woman glanced up and a smile graced her face.
Sally was the best. A lot of times Ariadne wished that she had been lucky enough to have a mom like her, and it made her sad to think about it. But it was nice to see Percy and his mom laughing and hugging everyday.
"Hey, mom," Percy said.
Sally gave her son a hug. He sat on the couch next to her and peered at her screen. "How's the writing going?"
The woman sighed. "Oh, you know, going." She glanced around. "Where's Ari."
At the sound of her name, Ariadne poked her head out of the kitchen, already holding a cookie and a boy in her mouth. She couldn't resist Sally's blue cookies. Percy glowered at her because she was eating them without him.
"Hmm?" the girl hummed.
"Just checking to make sure you didn't get lost again," the woman said. "You know how bad that would be."
"That was one time!"
"Uh huh."
Ariadne groaned, seeing Percy into a fit of snorts. His mom gave him a funny look before closing her laptop. She placed it onto the coffee table.
"I thought it was meant to rain today," Sally said to her son.
Percy grinned. "It did."
"Yeah." Ariadne trudged from the kitchen to the other two. Her clothes were soaked, and her bag luckily was waterproof, seeing as she was dating a son of Poseidon who was prone to exploding toilets. "It did. And I hated it."
She stood in front of them. Percy laughed. He dragged her onto his lap, tossing her backpack to the side and hugging her. Ariadne leaned into him, and Sally smiled knowingly while they did so. She couldn't have asked for a better person to date her son.
Sally clapped her hands. "Alright, up, Ari. You need to get cleaned up, and Percy needs to start on his homework," she said. "You can use the shower here."
Ariadne nodded. Percy looked a bit upset because she had to get up and also because he was being forced to do homework. His mom gave him a stern look, and he had no choice but to oblige.
The girl walked down the hall and grabbed a pair of clothes from a closet. It was one of her old shirts, a pair of shorts, and one of Percy's sweatshirts. The whole family decided she should keep a pair of clothes over in case she didn't feel like going back to her place—which was across the hall, but they ignored that point.
Percy sat on his bed and flipped to a page in his notebook while he waited for Ariadne. The boy couldn't read anything, and he decided to just play with the moon lace on the fire escape. It was the very plant he got from Calypso's island.
Ariadne hadn't talked about Calypso in two years. It wasn't like she wanted to. Yes, the moon lace was a constant reminder he had been gone for months and thought to be dead, but if it made him happy, she wouldn't really oppose of it.
She had gotten dressed and stared at herself in the mirror. It was still hard with her scar, even after having it for a while. Some part of her believe that must've what Luke had been like the first few years he has his. And her heart tugged.
The white, jagged line jutted underneath her eye and ended at her jaw, crossing and cutting off freckles while it went. She always imagined it as a river that cut through the ground, never stopping to ask why it did, only wanting to reach the end and be complete. Her scar was just a reminder that somewhere in her life she had made a mistake.
The girl gulped, shaking her head before leaving the bathroom. She grabbed her backpack and headed to Percy's room. He was laying on his bed and was forming shapes with the water from a water bottle on his bedside.
Percy noticed her and sent the water back to the bottle. Neither of them felt like doing their homework. They just wanted to be together, even if they had all day, it just wasn't the same. Even at camp they could never really be alone, but in his room, it was the closest they could get to just them.
Ariadne laid her head on his chest. Percy ran a hand through her hair and shut his eyes, his breath evening out. The girl followed after him, and they both fell into a deep sleep.
Sally found them curled up together at peace. And that was all she wanted for her son, peace and happiness. And he could finally have that with Ariadne.
She thanked the gods that Ariadne had been sent to them.
authors note:
Sorry this took forever!
So. I've decided that some part of my brain needs to get more ideas and not be blocked to write this second half of the book. So hopefully focusing on other things will get it back.
I'll try not to make the break take too long, maybe a week or two, idk.
I watched how to train your dragon today and I fell back in love with hiccup. I loved the movie series since I was a kid, and we even have a cat named after toothless but she's a bitch to me so it sucks.
But anyways.
Yeah.
I'm probably gonna write a fic for the series that will follow the movie, and it's gonna be a hiccup oc one because we just love the baby boy he's too cute.
I hope you guys enjoy this and please don't be mad that I won't be updating for a while, I just need to set things out.
Love you guys!