A Big Misunderstanding

Chapter 12

Annabeth POV:

I woke up and mildly panicked for a moment since I was in the middle of a small forest, and then I realized it was the one on Olympus... And then I panicked for a new reason, I had fallen asleep next to Piper, who was currently staring off into the trees with a blank face. I thought about when had happened. I'd told her about what had happened... What Percy had done... She had asked permission to give me a hug, which I appreciated, and then... I guess I'd fallen asleep while sitting with her.

I felt really awkward leaning against her, so I sat up, which made her snap out of it and look at me, "Hey, you're awake."

"Yeah... I'm sorry..." I said, feeling thoroughly embarrassed.

"What for?"

"Falling asleep on you... Burdening you with my problems..." I muttered.

"Burden? Annabeth, I don't think you're a burden, I'm glad you're able to talk to me. You should never be scared to tell me if you have a problem."

I stayed quiet. I just wasn't sure how to respond to that, but it was one of the nicest things I'd heard in a while. I leaned back on Piper's shoulder, she said nothing, but she seemed to tense in surprise and then relax.

Hestia POV:

I sat next to the hearth on Olympus, watching the flames to ensure they didn't get too low.

"Oh, Hestia!" I heard Aphrodite's voice and turned around, looking at her curiously.

"Yes, Aphrodite?"

"I have good news!"

"Inside voice, please?" I know that sounds like I'm a Kindergarten teacher, but when Aphrodite gets loud from excitement, her voice gets annoyingly shrill.

"Right, but anyway, I think the ship is sailing!"

"What?"

She sighed as if I was slow, "I think Piper and Annabeth are falling in love."

"Oh? That's wonderful. Wait, what'd you do?"

"Nothing, that idiot, Jackson, just fucked up so bad that Piper had to console Annabeth, and it was adorable."

"How do you know? Were you spying on them?" I asked, my eyebrows raised a bit.

"No!" She started, "Well... No, but yes. I heard Athena yelling at Posiden about it, so I told Piper to find Annabeth, and then I found them in that little forest. Of course, they don't know I saw them, but they were on the ground and Annabeth was leaning on Piper's shoulder!"

"Okay," I started, "First, that's adorable."

"Right?"

"And second, you need to stop spying on people. It's a little weird..."

"I suppose."

Thalia POV:

I had heard about what happened to Annabeth, but I hadn't been able to find her anywhere else, so I went into the small forest where she'd sometimes go to talk with owls and stuff. Kind of weird, but, hey, I won't judge.

I walked through the trees for a bit, and eventually, I spotted her, I walked over and saw someone with her. She was tying together flowers in a small circle shape as Annabeth watched silently.

"Hey," I said as I walked up to them.

Both of them looked up.

"Hey, Thals," Annabeth greeted.

"Hi," The girl said, then looked back at the flowers.

I sat down in front of them, "You doing okay?"

"Yeah, I wanna harm Percy in ways that I probably shouldn't voice, but I think quite a few people do, at the moment, so..." She trailed off, shrugging.

"So, who's this?" I asked, nodded to the other girl.

"I'm Piper," she said, not looking up from her little project.

I didn't say anything, but I looked at Annabeth and raised my eyebrows. She gave me a "Shut up!" look.

"Finished!" Piper said, looking up, it was a flower crown, which she put on Annabeth's head.

I held in a laugh as Annabeth glared at me.

These two are adorable.