𝑻𝑶𝑮𝑬𝑻𝑯𝑬𝑹 ⁽ᵖᵉʳᶜʸ ʲᵃᶜᵏˢᵒⁿ ˣ ᵒᶜ⁾

𝙂𝙤, 𝙇𝙖𝙣𝙖! 𝙂𝙤 𝙇𝙖𝙣𝙖! 𝙂𝙤 𝙇𝙖𝙣𝙖!

LANA

Lana usually hated being such a light sleeper, but in this case, it seemed to work out in her favor.

Curled up in the back of the truck, she'd somehow ended up pressed against Percy. His arm lazily slung around her shoulder and her head was tucked neatly against his chest. His shirt smelled like ocean salt and detergent and it was stupid how much she liked it.

At some point during the night, she'd shifted closer without thinking, and when he didn't pull away, she let herself stay there. Maybe even sank a little deeper into him. Just for warmth, obviously. Purely practical.

She'd been dreaming, too. Something soft and frustratingly vague now that she was awake. But she remembered sea-green eyes watching her with that dumb smirk, black hair damp with water, and hands that skimmed a little too low on her waist.

It was just starting to get to the good part—finally, finally—and then the truck jolted to a stop.

Her brown eyes blinked open.

The first thing she registered was the warmth of his body. The second was the butterflies that launched a full-blown assault on her stomach.

Silently, she lifted her head off his shoulder, pretending like her heart wasn't sprinting a marathon.

Of course. Of course she would be woken up just before anything interesting happened.

And of course she had to do it while looking like she hadn't spent the night tangled around the guy she was supposed to just be friends with.

Perfect.

"What's going on?" Grover mumbled, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Oh, shit." She shook Percy's shoulder and he awoke with the start. "They're going to check on the animals. We need to hide right now."

The three of them jumped up, Percy and Grover rushing to hide behind feed sacks.

When Lana went towards the cages to hide next to them, Percy grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him. Before she could protest, he tucked her under his arm before throwing an empty sack on top of them.

"What are you doing?" She whispered harshly to the boy above her.

"You aren't as small as you think you are. Now, be quiet." He retorted back.

The trailer doors creaked open. Sunlight and heat poured in and Lana felt herself begin to sweat from her hiding spot.

"Man!" One of the truckers said. "I wish I hauled appliances."

He climbed inside and poured some water from a jug into the animals' dishes.

"You hot, big boy?" he asked the lion, splashing the rest of the bucket right in the lion's face.

The lion roared in indignation.

Before Lana could react, Percy's arm around her waist tightened and she felt his mouth right next to her ear.

"Don't say a word." He whispered quietly.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," the man said.

The trucker threw the antelope a squashed-looking Happy meal bag and he smirked at the zebra.

"How ya doin', Stripes? Least we'll be getting rid of you this stop. You like magic shows? You're gonna love this one. They're gonna saw you in half!"

Lana's patience with the man was beginning to wear away and she wanted nothing more than to throw a dagger at his cold heart. She didn't believe that these miscreants should be the one taking care of these gentle animals and wanted to save them from a horrible life.