JAWBREAKER

𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙞𝙭

Warren, Annabeth, Percy, and Grover walked through the woods along a New Jersey riverbank.

The lights of Manhattan still glowed in the distance behind them, staining the sky yellow. The scent of the Hudson reeked in their noses and rain pelted them from above. Warren had raised her army jacket over her head as a makeshift umbrella, but it wasn't long until it was soaked through.

Grover shivered and brayed, his big goat eyes slit-pupiled with terror. "Three Kindly Ones. All three at once."

Annabeth just tugged him along and said, "Come on, the farther away we get the better."

"All of our money was back there," Percy reminded her. "Our clothes, our food, everything."

"Well maybe if you hadn't decided to jump into the fight—" Warren said.

"What did you want me to do? Let you get killed?"

"You don't need to protect us," she snapped. "We would've been fine. Or did you forget who's been training for this for years?"

Percy scowled and looked away. The air was tense between them as they sloshed through the mucky ground. Grover brayed sadly over the loss of his tin cans. After a few minutes Warren fell into step beside Percy.

"Look Perce," she said, "I appreciate you coming back for us, okay? It was pretty brave."

He stared at her like she'd just grown a second head.

"What?" she asked.

"You called me 'Perce'."

"So..?"

"That's the first time you've called me anything besides Jackson," he scoffed, "or Prissy."

Warren felt her cheeks warm slightly and she tried to fight back the blush. "Well fine, Jackson. I won't—"

"No!" he stopped her. "I like it."

His cheeks were nearly as red.

"Okay then."

"We're a team, right?" he asked her.

"Yeah, we're a team. Just don't go dying on us, alright? Annabeth and I would never get over it if the quest ended so soon. And also, ya know, it would really suck for you."

He gave snort of a laugh. "So you guys haven't left camp in a long time, huh?"

Warren nodded. "Only short field trips. I came to camp when I was nine and tried to make it work part time. But things with my mom got complicated and I decided it wasn't worth the hassle. Been in cabin five ever since."

"Wow."

"Yeah, but Annabeth has it worse. She hasn't been home in five years."

"Don't you miss your mom? Maybe you could try again."