Summer Nights (Solangelo AU)

will vii • grieving for the living

I can't help but stare at Percy.

It's Wednesday. We're all at Piper's house, smoke in the air, and drinking. Percy takes a swig of beer and then hands out a card to a group playing in a circle. I furrow my eyebrows.

Nico likes him, huh? And Percy likes him? For real this time?

I was incredibly pissed at Nico, and still, I was fucking jealous. Half of me knew that Nico was right. The other half...was scared. Still.

   The fight hadn't changed much. I still liked Nico. And now Percy may like him too. And it's bullshit.

   Every now and then, Percy pulls away from the group, looking down at his phone with a smile. It makes my heart well up.

   Then, two pair of legs come down to the basement. And it's Annabeth.

   Percy smiles at her. She smiles at him, and then she heads to the other end of the room to talk to a random girl. And Percy looks away. Usually, when Annabeth came to parties, they would go to each other like magnets.

   I wondered what happened. What changed.

God damn it. And Annabeth was my only hope to get Percy not to like Nico.

"Why the staring?" Piper slides up next to me.

"No reason," I say, taking another drink of my beer.

"Are you guys fighting?"

"Nope."

Piper smirks. "Ah, so just angrily sipping away on your beer whilst glaring at your best friend is normal behavior?"

"For me."

"Right," Piper stretches her arms out. "Well, if you must know, Annabeth cut things off with Percy."

I narrow my eyes and look at her. "Why?"

"Oh, can't answer questions, but wants to ask them? So typical."

"Piper."

"Don't get your panties in a twist," she leans back on the couch. "She doesn't want a relationship right now. Anyway, you should probably be there for your friend. I was assuming he would have told you but...you're not the easiest person to open up to."

I let out a sigh and stand. "Fine. And you're still coming to dad's thing, right?"

She groans. "Regretfully."

   I walk over to Percy, tapping him on the shoulder. I clear my throat. "Aye, bro, can we talk?"

   Percy turns, raising his eyebrows in surprise. "Uh, yeah. Sure."

   We walk upstairs and out onto the balcony. Percy crosses his arm and leans against the railing. "So. What's up?"

   "Nothing, just noticed that you and Annabeth aren't talking anymore."

   "Oh, yeah," Percy sighs. "I told her I wanted a relationship. She doesn't want anything serious. And I told her I didn't want to keep hooking up if it wasn't serious. And she made her choice."

"Oh...I'm sorry."

Percy studies my face, his face softly melting. He turns around, almost frustrated, and looks out into the distance. "I'm not having a lot of luck with liking people right now."

"Why's that?" I ask, walking to his side.

"Nobody's available," he sighs. "Either they're not emotionally available, or they like someone else."