Natural (Percy Jackson Fanfiction)

Closure.

Annabeth woke up to the smell of bacon and syrup. She cracked open her eyes expecting nothing monumental in particular only to find the sleeping face of Piper to greet her. As well as the sight of their pinky fingers locked, as if they'd made a promise in their sleep.

That felt a little monumental. Annabeth thought about what a monument dedicated to her and Piper would look like, how interesting every angle would be.

She took her hand away from Piper's and sat up, stretching out her arms and legs, savoring the feeling of a good night's rest. It struck her that she really hadn't slept properly since she and Piper had left Manhattan, and the thought almost made her want to fall back asleep to catch at least a little bit more rest.

But the smell of breakfast made her stomach rumble, and she pulled herself out of the bed.

No doubt hearing the rustling of the sheets and feeling Annabeth's absence, Piper shifted, her eyes fluttering open. "What time is it?" she slurred, rolling onto her back and rubbing her eyes.

Annabeth checked the time on her phone. "Just after nine."

Piper groaned, pulling the sheets over her head. "Is it too much to ask for a full twelve hours of sleep?" she mumbled from beneath the covers. Annabeth snorted.

"That's way too much sleep."

"Arguably, it's not enough."

Despite her complaints, Piper threw off the covers and sat up, looking more than a little disgruntled. "Do you always look like that when you wake up?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at Annabeth.

"Like what?"

"All perfect and junk."

"That doesn't make sense," Annabeth said, shaking her head and feeling her stomach flutter. After her little breakdown last night, Annabeth had figured Piper would treat her like she was made of glass, but of course Piper is Piper no matter what. Annabeth felt her lips turn up into a little smile.

"Yeah, sure," Piper grumbled.

"I don't even know what you're so groggy for. You slept for, like, a solid two days since all you did on the drive over was sleep."

"Like I said before. Not enough."

Annabeth shook her head, her smile spreading a little bit. "Whatever, Pipes. Why don't you head downstairs while I wake up Matty and Bobby. Smells like my stepmom's making breakfast."

At the sound of the word 'breakfast,' Piper immediately perked up, all traces of tiredness leaving her. "Yeah, alright. See you downstairs." And she threw the covers off herself and hurried out of Annabeth's bedroom.

Annabeth rolled her eyes and headed down the hallway to Matty and Bobby's room. She knocked softly, mostly out of habit since both of them liked to sleep in. Except when she reached for the knob, the door opened to reveal Matty standing there looking like he'd had no sleep at all.

"Hey," Annabeth said, a little surprised. Just like Piper, the twins enjoyed their sleep and got as much of it as possible. It was uncommon for them to be up before noon. "I was just coming to wake the both of you up."

He sniffled and opened the door to reveal Bobby, who was sitting on his bed with the same tired look as Matty. He avoided Annabeth's eye.

The silence stretched on, and Annabeth's concern grew. "Mom made breakfast," she said, her voice sounding light and dumb even to her.

Matty looked back at Bobby, and the two of them shared a silent conversation. "We'll be down in a few," Bobby said quietly, which made Annabeth even more concerned because Bobby never did anything quietly.