ONE LAST TIME . . . heroes of olympus

56

PIPER WAS OVER at Kat's room for the rest of the day, mostly because they had to talk about some shit.

"Piperrrrrrrrrrrrr," Kat yelled at the door separating their rooms. "Come over here."

A moment later, Piper opened the door. "What, Rina?"

"Come here?" Kat patted the open side of her bed.

Piper indulged her, staring up at the projector that she had managed to turn on. "When'd you get this?"

She hummed. "I was at Foo Foo Bear's that one time," she responded. "Speaking of him . . ."

Piper narrowed her eyes. "Rina—"

"Piper," interrupted Kat, sitting up and looking down at her. "My girl, my baby, my love, my everything. I love you more than anything in the world. Except for Jason, but you know I love both of you equally. But, seriously, you have nothing to worry about. Frank's my best friend, and only my best friend. I knew the guy since he was a baby. We grew up together. And he's a great guy and all, but I'm not dating someone I knew when we were in diapers."

"I know," she said quietly, looking at Kat, regret clear in her eyes. "I'm — I'm sorry. For not trusting you. I promise to do better. I will do better."

Kat smiled at her. "Thanks. So, wanna make out now?"

"You're insatiable," commented Piper.

"Ooh, big word," Kat's smile turned into a smirk. "You learned it from Annabeth?"

"Shut the fuck up."

Kat didn't even need to, as Piper's hand pressed against the back of Kat's neck to nudge her down to kiss her. She didn't mind, mostly because she loved kissing Piper so much they missed dinner and Leo was yelling at them from outside and threatening to paint over the door connecting their rooms or some shit. Whoops.

* * *

Despite making out for a shit ton of time after that, they still managed to wake up early and get ready in time to see Jason, Leo, and Frank off before they went on shore.

Once they left, which involved a lot of hugs and jokes and a bet with Leo about who would find more helpful things on their trip, Kat could finally admire the scenery. Well, she'd gotten to admire Piper the entirety of last night and this morning, especially when Piper had stolen one of Kat's hoodies and gone in her room to change. But Kat also loved a good scenic view that wasn't her girlfriend or boyfriend, although she loved them too.

Leo docked the ship at a pier in Charleston Harbor, right next to the seawall. Along the shore was a historical district with tall mansions, palm trees, and wrought-iron fences. Antique cannons pointed at the water. Kat was in love. Maybe she should move to Charleston.

Hazel and Percy came on deck, splitting up as Hazel walked over to Kat and Piper while Percy went to the railing and stared at the water. Hedge went down and Annabeth replaced him, walking over to Percy to talk to him.

"Nice sweatshirt," Hazel said to Piper.

"Thanks," said Piper. Kat's last name was on the back of the hoodie in black bolded letters. That probably wasn't lost on Hazel.

Nonetheless, Kat smiled at Hazel behind the curtain of hair that was blocking her face, mostly because she was braiding the hairs closest to her face to get them out of the way. "Your boy gave me that," she commented. "I think it was a birthday present. He has a matching one. Unless it was ruined or something."

Hazel frowned. "My boy?"

"She's talking about Frank," Piper supplied. "She just talks like that."

Kat rolled her eyes. "You love it, moya malyshka."