Piercing Needles

Rain

A/N: this chapter is shitty i know, just bare with me here

The next few weeks proceeded as they had always, only with minor additions. Percy decided to cut his chin length hair into what I can only describe as a punk mullet and bleached the tips of what remained. 

He never made me feel bad about that day. Not once. He doesn't really mention THAT part of it, mosly just things we talked about. 

Here we are now, sitting in my truck very early for school. I've began to pick him up on rainy days because its not safe for him to be riding his bike in the rain. Together we sip on coffees sometimes talking but not really needing to. I'm adding to my to do list on my arm with the sharpie I keep in my center console while he is curled in the passenger seat, back against the door.

"Do you want to get a piercing later?" My writing stuttered.

"Do you mean like, go with you to get a new one done?" 

"No I mean both of us get one. I need to get my cheeks redone," he taps his coffee cup to his dimples "And you keep asking a lot of questions about tongue piercings, so, we should go get them done."

This boy id full of impulsive decisions. "Maybe. I'll go with you to get yours but I'm not sure I'll get anything done." Scratching my head the only thing I can think is I need to talk to Piper and Nico after school. "And you said yourself tongue piercings are a pain to heal."

"No, I said it takes a long time. Like 12 weeks to fully heal. But its easy to hide from anyone you don't want noticing and the actual care isn't hard. Its just watching what you eat, and rinsing with mouthwash a lot." he catches his own bars on his teeth and grins at me like the damned Cheshire cat.

In that moment, the door behind him opens and he begins to fall backward. I do the only thing I can thing and reach my hand out and grab the first thing I can, pulling him back towards me. only when hes lain across the center console looking at me do I realize I had grabbed the heavy chain he wears around his neck.

Which is a choker collar, may I add.

"What the fuck is going on in here? Who is that?" releasing Percy. The door slams shut once more. The back door opens instead and in comes Nico and Piper, both soaking wet.

I swear those two can read my mind.

Percy, now red faced and soaking wet from being nearly water boarded by the rain and choked by a collar, speaks. "Well good morning to you too. I could have sworn I had locked that door." that second part was said more quietly and almost as if to himself. 

Nico opens his mouth to speak, but knowing him I doubt he thought about his words first. "I-"

"Nicola, think before you speak." he does just that, deciding it wasn't wise to continue. 

Piper doesn't understand this and still blurts out, "I see you finally asked him out. Good job jay."

I am going to kill her.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I skip my last class of the day and make my way back to the parking lot as quickly as possible without being spotted. I cant stop thinking. 

I never told them about how I felt for Percy. Not once. Am I really that obvious?

The ebb and flow of traffic down the highway is familiar and the sound of my engine clicking almost like a lullaby. Being in rural California was much better than New York.  

Pulling into a mostly empty McDonald's I park closer to the back of the building, cutting the engine. Looking at the time, the faded stereo lights say 1:55. 45 minutes to myself.

I lay my head back, staring at the stained upholstery above me. First, my family shattered apart; then, Luke broke me in every way possible. And just as soon as I think I'm starting to get my shit back together, I have a breakdown in front of Percy. 

I don't realize I'm crying until I tilt my head back forward and they stream down my jawline and cheeks. I need to calm down. 

You need to calm down Jason.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Screaming. I woke to screaming.

Jerking my head up from where it laid against the steering wheel I see someone standing out in the rain, banging the shit out of my door and screaming.

Through the rain streaks all I can make out is shaggy black hair. the screaming began to form itself into words now. "Jason! Wake up please gods I can't lose you WAKE UP!" hes trying the door too. Reaching I unlock it. It swings open so fast and hard it made a crunch noise when it hit it limit and I was enveloped in the smell of wet pine and cigarette smoke. 

Nico.