keep it together anyway: a world without percy [PIPABETH SCENES!]

five: hickeys of misery

Piper stood at the helm of the ship, watching Leo fiddle furiously with the control board. His hands were reddened and raw; Piper had already suggested that he take a break, let Festus man the ship, but he had refused. Piper understood. With Percy dead, any waking moment that wasn't spent working was just pure misery. It was easier to work to death than to think about what the group had lost.

"Leo, at least eat something." Leo ignored her. Piper left for the pantry to get him a muffin. She planned on force-feeding him if that was what it would take.

Piper moved aside a bottle of syrup with a twinge in her heart. "The way I teased him for putting too much syrup on his pancakes," Piper tried to slap the thought out of her head. She leaned against the cupboard, panting. What have I done? she thought panickedly. What did I just do?

Piper unwrapped her scarf, fanning herself. Sweat gathered on her neck and under her shirt as she tried to calm herself down. What would she do now? She couldn't keep this up, maintaining a facade with Jason and sneaking off with Annabeth when no one was looking. It wasn't even Annabeth. Piper didn't recognize her friend. The way Annabeth had jumped her... Piper couldn't get the image of Annabeth's eyes out of her head. She felt like those dulled, empty orbs would follow her everywhere, watching her every move. "I need something to cover up the pain."  Was Piper just lessening Annabeth's pain? She had a feeling it would never be more than that.

Who was Piper to refuse? Annabeth was broken. She was like fragmented glass, splinters of her personality getting crushed underfoot. And it appeared that this was the only thing Piper could do to make Annabeth feel even the slightest bit better. But still.... It felt so, inexplicably wrong.

Hazel walked into the pantry suddenly, and Piper fumbled with her scarf, hastily wrapping it back around her neck. Hazel, who had red-rimmed eyes, knit her brows at Piper.

"It isn't scarf weather, Piper."

Piper shrugged. Hazel looked at her suspiciously. "What are you hiding?"

Piper gave a nervous chuckle. "Nothing."

Hazel tilted her head. "Then take off the scarf."

Piper slowly unwrapped the scarf, praying that Hazel was innocent enough not to recognize a hickey.

Hazel blinked. "You're hiding a hickey."

Piper held her breath. "Um... yeah." Hazel made a face. "It's not exactly like the crew doesn't know you're with Jason, Piper."

Piper's heart stopped. Hazel thought it was a hickey from Jason. After a beat, she gave Hazel a tentative smile. "Don't tell anyone, okay?"

Hazel looked at her carefully. "Why?" Piper shrugged and quickly tried to formulate an answer. "I just... don't want to be insensitive. What with Percy... it just seems a little- you know what I'm saying?"

Hazel raised her eyebrows. "I understand what you're saying. I also understand you, Piper. I understand when you're hiding more than a surface secret like a little hickey. And I can tell you that Jason's been with Hedge the entire night, with Percy's body, Iris messaging people. He hasn't been in his cabin at all. Hazel's amber eyes drilled into Piper, peeling away layers of secrets.

"Piper, what happened?"

Piper hated how intuitive Hazel was. Why couldn't she have just taken Piper's word for it? Her heart rate sped up, her face burning. This couldn't be happening. This secret could not be out in the open.

Hazel must have noticed Piper's panicked expression, because her face softened. "Piper, you can tell me."

Piper looked down at the floor, not knowing how she could get herself out of the situation. She tried and failed to get the lump out of her throat. Eventually, she gasped out one word. "Annabeth."

When she looked up again, Hazel had a hardened look to her face. Her jaw was set in a way that Piper had never seen before. "I always knew it, you know," Hazel said in a low voice. "I had a feeling about it. I knew you liked Annabeth that way- but I can't believe you! I can't believe you'd do this now! Now, right after Percy-" Hazel inhaled sharply, disbelief creeping into her tone. "I can't believe you'd do that to her."

Piper let out a strangled sob. "Hazel, please understand. Let me explain!"

Hazel glared at Piper. "I don't need an explanation." She strode out of the room. Piper called after her. "Wait!" Hazel stopped in the doorway, but didn't turn around to face Piper. "Don't worry," she said, her voice tight with resentment. "I won't tell anybody." She turned the corner, leaving Piper alone with her misery, fingers brushing her neck. She looked down at the bottle of syrup clamped in her left hand and threw it at the opposite wall with a yell. "GAH!" 

"Gods," she whimpered, and sank to the floor. "Gods help us."