The Ghosts Among Us: A Percy Jackson Halloween Special

11 | In Which Percy Sits in a Shower

Percy slammed the door to the bathroom shut and tried for the light. Naturally, it didn't turn on. Sighing, he walked over to the shower, stepped inside fully dressed, and turned the water on, letting it douse him, even though his clothes and body and everything weren't getting the slightest bit wet.

Unlike the other cabins, the Poseidon cabin actually had an included shower so he didn't have to go down to the shower houses. Since Poseidon was the god of water and whatever. Percy's cabin had the best bathroom in all the Camp, which was pretty convenient since he was Supreme Lord of the Bathroom and all.

Percy usually just went to the shower or lake whenever he was upset or needed to think and clear his head. The water always helped, it was so calming and peaceful, so serene. But for some reason, the water didn't seem to be helping. Tons of things from just the past hour echoed in his head.

Reyna's scream of pain as she was possessed. Hazel's screaming for Frank as Percy took her away. Will explaining how the demigods were dead and possessed. Thalia's, 'They're like my family!' line. All those things and more repeating themselves in his mind.

"Gah!" Percy yelled out loud, slamming his head against the shower walls. Get out of my head! He thought.

He suddenly heard the sound of the bathroom door opening and he suddenly felt exposed, even though he wasn't naked or anything. He just hoped it wasn't Thalia. He really didn't want to talk to her at the moment.

Luckily, it wasn't. Instead, a familiar blonde stepped into view. Annabeth. She smiled at Percy softly through the glass of shower door. In her hands, she fiddled with her Ginny Weasley wand.

"Hey, Wise Girl," Percy smiled at her, standing up to look at her in her stormy gray eyes.

"Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said.

"What are you doing in here?" Percy asked.

Annabeth shrugged. "Talking to you," She said simply. She reached for the shower door, causing Percy's eyes to widen.

"What are you doing?" He said quickly.

"Going in there with you. We can talk," Annabeth said bluntly. She saw Percy's worried look and rolled her eyes. "If you're worried about anything, we'll both be fully clothed, so calm down."

"Yeah but... you'll get all wet," Percy said, his face heating up when Annabeth said the fully clothed line.

"It's fine. It's not like it's the worst thing that could happen. It's literally the demigod post apocalypse," Annabeth smirked.

"Oh," Percy said, "Well... it's a big shower so.... um, come on in."

"Great," Annabeth grinned. She took off her wizard cloak, shoes, and socks, throwing them to the side along with her wand. She then opened the glass shower door, making Percy step backward. Percy sat down on the left side, leaning against the shower walls, Annabeth sitting on my right.

She was already beginning to become dripping wet, her hair and clothes sticking to her skin. Percy looked down at himself, still completely dry, and sighed. Feeling bad about being totally dry while she's sopping wet, Perct used his powers to allow myself to get wet. It didn't take long for him to get as dripping wet as Annabeth.

Annabeth looked at Percy in surprise. "You didn't have to do that you know," She said quietly.

"Of course I did!" Percy grinned. "What kind of gentleman would I be if I didn't?"

"Percy, you're anything but a gentleman," Annabeth laughed. She leaned her head on my now wet shoulder, closing her eyes and sighing deeply. "So," She said, "Want to talk?"

Percy's eyes widened. "Talk? About what? There's nothing to talk about, nope, nope, nope!" Percy said quickly, laughing nervously.

Annabeth lifted her head up so she could look Percy in the eye, giving him her famous 'are you serious?' expression. "Oh really? So you didn't just get really, really mad at Thalia?"

Percy groaned, looking away from Annabeth. "I mean, I don't know. I guess I'm just upset she called the Hunters her family and not us. It's obvious she cares about them way more than us. My fatal flaw is loyalty, you know? I guess I just expect everyone else to be. And I feel betrayed," Percy blurted, running a hand through his wet hair.

Annabeth pursed her lips together. Grabbing Percy's head, she turned it around so he could look her in the eye. "Percy," She said seriously, "When are you going to stop being such an idiot? Obviously she thinks of us as family! She's just in a really bad emotional spot right now."

"Yeah, and my best friends just died," Percy said, his voice breaking. He was surprised he wasn't yelling or anything, but being with Annabeth, just the two of them, always made him very calm. "Grover just died. And turns out he was possessed by one of my dead best friends that I'm responsible for his death."

"Percy, Grover was my best friend too. Of course I'm sad, but there's some more important matters like whatever evil thing is controlling Grover wants to kill us. We'll mourn him after this is over. Trust me, I want to cry so bad right now, but I have to stay strong. For you. For us. And I thought we went over this. You are not at all responsible for Beckendorf's death," Annabeth said, placing her hand on top of his.

"That doesn't make me feel any less bad about it," Percy said quietly, looking down at his hands. He couldn't help but think of all the chaos his hands had caused, all the deaths. He couldn't help but think of how much of a monster he was.

"You're way too hard on yourself, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said. "All I'm asking is... well, just remember Thalia has been through a lot. She's not in a great state of mind right now. So let's just be some good friends and help her and each other through this, okay?"

"Yeah," Percy said, smiling softly, "Okay."

Annabeth looked at Percy with his shiny, dripping wet, black hair, and suddenly realized how hot he looked. Her eyes widened and she blushed. Percy was giving her the same look. "I really want to kiss you right now," Percy said quietly, awe in his voice.

"The feeling is mutual," Annabeth said with the same tone. The two leaned forward, and kissed, the water showering down on them. Percy couldn't help but feel like he was in a Hallmark movie, kissing in the rain in the dark.