Fatal Flaw (a Percy Jackson AU)

Golden Arrow

Hazel
   I stopped painting and looked at Frank's painting. The colors blurred together seamlessly to create a painting of a beautiful woman shooting an arrow. She had Frank's eyes and the same silky, black hair as him. I figured she was his mother. "Your mother is beautiful," I said.
    Frank looked up with years in his eyes. "Was," he said hoarsely. "She died."
    "I understand what you're going through," I said through my own tears. "My mother died a few years ago."
   Frank looked up at me and gave me a hug. We shared our moment of grief. He let go first and looked at my painting. It was a portrait of me surrounded by piles of gold, silver, precious metals, and jewelry. Diamonds the size of apples dotted the painting. Frank gave a double-take at my painting. "That's beautiful," he said slowly. "Almost as beautiful as you are."
My cheeks blushed ruby red. "Frank," I said. "You know how to compliment a lady."
His face broke into a broad smile. It was hard to believe sometimes that he could still smile and laugh after all he had went through. I felt an urge to make him happy. Whenever he smiled, I felt like running a marathon or climbing up Mount Everest. It was a good feeling.

Frank
    Hazel always managed to blow me away. She was so beautiful in every way; she was kind, funny, caring, and had a pair of gorgeous eyes the color of liquid gold and toasted-cinnamon hair that was tousle led in all the right places. She always made me feel better. I had only felt something like this before with my mother, but this time it was different. I wanted to do more than just be her friend. It was hard to admit to myself, but I had a serious crush on her.
I always wanted to make her feel better. Honestly, however much I loved her, I would rather have her be happy with someone else than unhappy with me. That's why I never tried to make a move with her. I would let her dictate the terms of our relationship- whether it was romantic or purely platonic. Hazel was my anchor here-she kept me much more stable than I had been since my mother died. I still had hallucinations and bad days, but they weren't as often.
I realized I had been staring at Hazel. I blushed and looked down. "How is your day going?" I blurted out.
"It's so-so," she said. "What about you?"
"It's okay," I said lamely. "Sorry.I mean, it's more than okay."
   She gave me her winning smile and put her hand over mine. Our fingers gently blushed and my cheeks felt as hot as the Sun. "It's alright," she said. "Stop apologizing."
   I felt my pulse start to quicken up and I felt like I was running a marathon. My cheeks were no doubt beet-red and my hands were shaking. I felt like Hazel's penetrating gaze could see through my soul and I was understandably flustered. "Okay, sorry," I replied.
   "I told you to stop apologizing," she said.
    "I'm really sorr-" I said.
    She cut me off by putting her fingers to my lips to hush me. I felt slow, dumb, and bright red like a sunburned cow. Her fingers felt so soft against my lips. Her gaze was laughingly playful, but strangely filled with affection.
   She giggled like a happy, young girl and led me from the amphitheater into a room. I wasn't sure if anyone noticed.Before I could process what was happening, her lips crashed against mine. Her frizzy, carmel-colored hair fell over her shoulder and brushed against my neck.
   She let go and concern and worry flashed into her eyes. She let go. All I knew was that if this was a dream, then I never wanted to wake up. I don't know what went through my head-I was feeling as dumb as a frog, but I started randomly talking. "You don't need to apologize," I said gently. "That was exactly what I wanted."
   Her body lowered into the bed and her lips make contact with mine again. We were suddenly kissing and her golden eyes were alight with a happiness that I had never seen. That's when I realized how much pain she was in and all I knew was I wanted her to be happy. She deserved happiness so much more than anyone I knew.