Natural (Percy Jackson Fanfiction)

Words That Need to be Said

Annabeth looked back at Piper before she opened the door to her old bedroom, suddenly feeling self conscious. When she'd taken their luggage up here, all she'd done was hurry into the room without turning on the lights, too afraid that Matty and Bobby would say something weird to Piper, so she hadn't really been paying attention to the room itself. She hadn't seen her bedroom in years, and there's no telling what kind of embarrassing childhood goodies were in there. Piper looked at Annabeth expectantly, not understanding what the hold up was.

"Just... don't laugh, okay?" Annabeth said quietly, looking down at the wood floor.

"Why would I laugh?"

"I don't know... It's just been a while since I've been in here. I don't even know what might be laying around."

"I'm sure it's fine," Piper reassured, placing her hand on top of Annabeth's to open the door. They both pretended that they weren't overly aware of this fact.

The room wasn't as bad as Annabeth remembered. Probably because her dad or step-mom had made some alterations on their own while Annabeth was away.

The walls were painted soft grayish purple, which was new. The bed, which used to be a twin bed, had been upgraded to a queen sized one, and the comforter was black and looked rather soft. The rest of the room had no big changes, although it did look a tad bit cleaner, probably because of her step-mom. She made a mental note to thank her parents later.

Piper sat tentatively on the edge of the bed, looking around at the cluttered desk, the pictures taped on the mirror, and the bookshelf, which was overflowing. It was so different from Annabeth's apartment, which was unpainted and a lot more messy, that she had to take a moment to take it all in. Annabeth stood and watched Piper, her hands clasped in front of her.

"It's nice," Piper said, finally looking back at Annabeth.

"You think it's dumb, don't you?"

"What? No," Piper exclaimed, more than a little confused. "It's just different from your apartment, that's all. It's strange seeing a different part of you, I guess." Annabeth sighed, sitting down next to Piper and picking up a stuffed animal that was resting against her pillows.

"Well, this room isn't really a part of me. It's just a place I lived in for..." She trailed off, trying to skirt around the topic that she didn't want to talk about. "...A fraction of my life," she said, picking her words carefully. Piper gave her a strange look, but she chose to ignore it. "It is strange to see all the books I was into when I was younger, though," Annabeth said, switching topics so quickly, Piper barely registered it.

"What do you mean?"

"I haven't thought about these books in forever. And I loved them with all my heart when I was younger. They bring back a lot of memories of pissing people off at school when I would read them as I walked during passing periods." Piper laughed, and Annabeth let a small smile creep onto her face. "Yeah, I was that person."

"I never took you for such a rebel," Piper said, still smiling. "Ah, but I shouldn't be saying anything, should I? I was always in and out of the principal's office for various reasons. Jason can account for that; he was usually involved in whatever big scheme I came up with."

"Ah, so you were that person."

"Yep. I was a trouble maker, interrupting classes, skate boarding in the hallways, the like. It's quite embarrassing now that I think about it." Annabeth tried to imagine it: a younger Piper McLean, wreaking havoc through the school with her devilishly good looks and smooth voice. It wasn't that hard to imagine, to be honest.

Meanwhile, Piper was trying to think of Annabeth when she was younger: quiet and fierce with a book in hand, ignoring everyone and zoning out when she did try to pay attention. Not very different from the current Annabeth.