Fandom Collision High (A PJO/HOO/TMI/Spiderman/HP/Lorien Legacies Crossover)

Chapter 11- Piper

"Sorry about last night," Percy said.

We were sitting in Connor's apartment, just the three of us. Sally had invited us over for breakfast, but sooner or later, we knew we'd have to learn how to cook, and Hermes had set the apartment up with cupboards that worked like the plates at camp - except with ingredients.

Connor was surprisingly good with pancakes, at least. He made a dozen blue blueberry ones about the size of a fist and laid them out on the table.

"Percy, it's not your fault. I can't even imagine..." I couldn't finish that sentence. Of course I couldn't imagine what Tartarus had been like for him and Annabeth. Only the two of them could relate to that experience, and they couldn't talk about it. Nico wouldn't even say anything about the parts he saw.

We ate breakfast quietly, and I left the dishes by the sink. Percy could wash them perfectly in a matter of seconds.

"I'll meet you guys outside," I said, heading back to my apartment. I'd forgotten to bring my backpack to Connor's and I couldn't go to school without Katoptris.

When I got downstairs, I was the only one there. The boys must have gotten distracted by some kind of problem. Maybe Connor pulled a prank or Sally wanted to talk to Percy about his nightmares. I hope it wasn't the latter. Whatever it was Percy saw, I knew him well enough to know that even thinking about it hurt him.

I was so lost in thought, I almost didn't notice when Peter walked briskly towards the door. "Peter?"

He looked at me, feigning a look of surprise. He'd seen me already, though I wondered why he hadn't said hello. "Hey, Piper."

"I didn't know you lived in this apartment building. Are you heading to school?"

He held up his bus pass. "Yeah, I moved in a couple weeks ago. Are you taking the bus, too? I can wait."

"No," I shook my head. "Percy's step-dad works at the school, so he drives us. I'm sure he could fit one more."

Peter started to decline, but a woman's voice called from the other side of the room. "Peter, is that you? Why are you still here?"

He looked like he wanted to hide, but Peter waved her over. Her hair was about the same brown as mine, but she wore hers straight down. She was probably a bit younger than Percy's mom.

"Hi, May. I was just leaving."

She ruffled Peter's hair, which I thought was pretty cute, but he pushed her gently away. "Oh, and who's this?" she asked, noticing me standing against the wall.

He looked at me pleadingly and I smiled gently. "Hi, I'm Piper. I go to school with Peter, and I actually transferred this year, too."

"Really?" She turned her back to me to look directly at Peter, but by the way he was starting to blush, I could guess what her face was implying. He started to whisper something to her, but I didn't catch it because Percy and Connor came into view, followed by our English teacher.

Percy looked pretty tired, even more than usual. I wondered if he'd slept at all after the nightmare, or if it had been one of the really bad ones. "Hey, guys."

Connor and Percy waved. "Hey, have you seen Connor's-" he paused, seeing Peter and the woman. "Hi, Peter."

"Hey, Percy. Aunt May, this is Percy and this is Connor. They're seniors, but we all have gym and Greek together. And I have to get going, so I'll see you after school." He gave his aunt a quick awkward hug, and then turned to go out the door.

"Hold up," Percy said. Then he turned to the man that may not have been his father by birth, but had fought in the battle of Manhattan for him. "We can drive Peter, can't we?"

Mr. Blofis agreed, and then jumped into a conversation about teenage boys with Aunt May. We went and waited outside. Nobody said much. I tried to get a conversation going, but Percy was half asleep and Connor was busy- was he breaking into a car?

The ride to school was pretty quiet, too. Peter didn't say much, but he kept glancing at Percy worriedly. I wondered if he'd heard the scream last night and was putting two and two together.

I didn't see Peter again until third period chem where we sat by each other, but other than to explain some kind of compound formula that I didn't understand, we didn't talk. By the time lunch rolled around, it was getting a bit awkward.

"Are you sitting with us?" I asked Peter, the two of us walking out of chemistry together towards our lockers.

"If you guys are cool with that," Peter said unsurely.

I stopped him. "You should learn this now. Once you're apart of our little family, there isn't really a way out. You live in the same apartment building as us, you go to the same school as us, and you're in a few classes with us. Why do you live with your aunt?"

Peter sucked in a breath, and for a second, I was worried I'd overstepped. "Sorry, I-"

"No, it's fine. My parents died when I was younger. My uncle died not too long ago, too."

"I'm sorry," I said. I really was sorry. I remembered when my father was being held hostage by a giant and I didn't think I would get him back. I remembered what Leo told us about his family, and his mother, always bouncing around foster homes, and Frank having to live with his grandmother. "But I'm just saying, you're a lot like us. Stick around a bit. If you ever meet Annabeth-"

"We'd get along?" Peter finished.

I smiled. "Yeah. I'm also starting to think you would have gotten along with by best friend, Leo."

"Would have? Is he one of the ones who moved?" I felt my eyes start to tear up for the second day in a row.

"He's dead." It came out barely a whisper, but Peter's eyes widened and I knew he'd heard. "At least, he's been missing for months and there was an explosion the last place anybody saw him." It felt wrong- not telling the whole truth about he died. It almost felt like I was disrespecting him somehow, but what was I supposed to say? He died trying to defeat mother earth, when him and his pet metal dragon ended up as fiery inferno trying to protect us? Somehow, I didn't think Peter would buy it.

"I'm sorry, Piper." I just nodded.