ꜱᴘɪᴅᴇʀ ʙɪᴛᴇꜱ: ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴇʀᴄᴀʙᴇᴛʜ/ꜱᴏʟᴀɴɢᴇʟᴏ ᴘʀᴏᴊᴇᴄᴛ

xᴠ ᴘᴇʀᴄʏ | ᴘᴇʀᴄʏ ꜰᴀʟʟꜱ ɪɴ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴀ ᴛʀᴜᴄᴋ

Percy wonders why Leo got this truck. It's massive, and Leo's not. Gods, Percy can barely get into the truck himself without a running start.

He loves this truck.

He buckles his seatbelt and puts the key in the ignition. With a twist of a dial- not a gearshift, a dial- the air conditioning is on full blast. It was so hot in that club, Percy doesn't care that it's blasting strong enough to make his eyes water.

Annabeth laughs like a hyena in the backseat. "Why do you have a step stool in this bigass truck?"

So that's how Leo gets in and out.

Percy watches his drunk ex-girlfriend flop onto her side, almost hitting her head on a baby's car seat. It reminds him of a fish out of water.

"Hehe, I just laid down on a nail."

"Are you ok?" Percy asks. It's like talking to a kindergartener.

Instead of answering the question, Annabeth asks, "Will you play music?"

Percy doesn't see any reason not to, so he turns the radio on. It's a classic rock station. He leaves it on, partly because he likes Guns N' Roses, and also because he doesn't know how to change the station.

"She's got eyes of the bluest skies, As if they thought of rain...I'd hate to look into those eyes and see an ounce of pain..." Annabeth sings along with the radio. For someone who's completely wasted, she's got a pretty voice.

Percy taps his fingers on the wheel as the song continues, wondering if perhaps the drunk woman in the backseat would be a good person to mention the prophecy to. She won't remember it in the morning, but then again, he doubts her advice would be good for anything. He misses when she was the first person he'd share any prophecy with.

Suddenly, Annabeth is clutching the back of his seat. Her breath smells strong like booze.

"C'mon, Percy, you used to sing this to me," she says.

Wow. Percy had forgotten flying down the road in Paul's Prius, either to or from a date at the pier with his Wise Girl. She'd tease him for having only one CD in the car: Appetite for Destruction by Guns N' Roses. He used to know all the words to every song by heart. They listened to it together all the time, yet somehow he'd buried that memory deep into the back of his mind.

And an incredibly wasted Annabeth Chase just recovered it.

Percy smiles. She may be drunk, but what's the harm in reliving one of their old memories? This one seems harmless enough.

"Woah, oh, oh, sweet child o' mine..." he sings along with her for the rest of the song.

Annabeth throws her head back and laughs when it's over. "I missed that!"

"Me too!" agrees Percy.

"They play all your favorite songs at Hooters!" she shouts.

What? Hooters? What in Hades is Percy supposed to say in response to that?

"Uh, I've never been," he says.

Annabeth gasps. "Percy Jackson! I am offended!"

"Is it because you like owls?" he teases. "For some reason, I don't think Athena would like them using her sacred animal as a sexual innuendo."

Annabeth carries on as if Percy didn't just mention her mother. "They have good wings! I'll bring you some!"

"I live the entire way across the country, but I'd love to see you try," Percy says. Honestly? He'd love an excuse to see her again, even if it's just for wings.