When mortals meet demigods

Chapter 11

Austin's pov

The drive to Annabeth's house was short but there was an uncomfortable silence the entire ride. Percy drummed his fingers on the steering wheel while  Annabeth had her nose buried in the book she was reading.When we pulled into the driveway Percy parked the car and jumped out. He walked around to Annabeths door and opened it. He extended his hand and she excepted. With a small tug he helped her out of car, she leaned on the door while he grabbed their bags.

I opened my door and slid out. I shut my door and went back to watching Percy and Annabeth. To my surprise Percy had adjusted both his bag and Annbeth's bag before he swung her arm over his shoulders. She gently put all her weight on Percy before he shut the door. She turned her head and looked at me.

"Austin you can follow us." She said before they started to walk. I wasn't exactly sure why she didn't walk on her own. She had a slight limp but I don't remuneration her having a limp before we got in the car.

I watched as Percy carefully carried Annabeth with one hand up the stairs. She leaned on him and used her other foot to hobble up the stairs. It seemed they had done this before, like it was easier than it should have been. Once they got up the stairs Annabeth pulled a lanyard from her bag that had a key hanging on it.  She opened the door and limped over to the couch with Percy by her side.

He set her down and handed her bag to her before disappearing into the kitchen. "Austin you can sit down on the couch. Percy just went to go get some ice." I looked at her confused befo I asked the question that was rattling around in my head.

"why exactly is he getting ice?" I questioned her but I knew I had hit a nerve. Her head snapped towards me as she glared hard at me. "You told me this wasn't an interrogation!"  I quickly raised my hands in a defense position "woah, woah! I'm just asking a simple question." She relaxed a bit.

"I'm sorry, I guess I'm still cautious about what happened last time. But if you must know last summer I had broken my left ankle. Long story short it didn't heal right so today when Percy through a dodge ball at me it hit my ankle. He wasn't exactly aiming for my ankle but he was definitely aiming low because he knew I couldn't dodge to my left very well. In no means did he mean to actually hurt me."

I choose my next words very carefully, "Are you alright?"  My question seemed to shock her but she accepted it. "I will be but it's not something you should worry about!" A few seconds later Percy came back into the living room with a back of ice and a bandage.

He nodded to me in acknowledgment. He kneeled in front of Annabeth and slowly pulled her shoe off and her pants leg up.  Without thought he placed the ice pack on her ankle and began to wrap her ankle in a bandage to keep the ice pack from sliding. He stood up and grabbed his bag and stopped "I'll be upstairs if you need me. You have about..." he paused and looked to the clock, "and hour before her brothers get home. I would try and study all you can before they come home."

I was confused. " Wait, aren't you going to sit down here?" I questioned him. He turned to face me before answering "There is no need. Besides if I stay down here you wouldn't be able to stay focused." He turned and walked upstairs leaving me with Annabeth.

I looked at her but she was focused on Percy. "Is he ok?" She looked at me but but ignored my question. I decided to take that as a 'no comment' so I just stayed quiet and sat down next to her.  As I started to dig through my bag he said something but I didn't understand "what?"

"Percy, you know he's not who everyone thinks he is." She said as she played with her fingers. "What do you mean?" She took a deep breathe before continuing. "Most people see him as a trouble maker or a bad guy but he isn't.  Well for the most part, meaning he can be a bit of a hand full sometimes. In New York, people viewed Percy differently. Some people looked up to him as a role model and others viewed him as a failure. He has overcome so much over the past few years and endured more than anyone in this world." Her breathing started to stagger and her voice cracked.