Banished

15

Percy PoV

I was in my apartment getting ready to go meet Artemis when the doorbell rang.

I opened the door and Annabeth jumped into my arms. She tried to kiss me, but I pushed her away.

She stood in the hall for a moment, apparently confused by my actions. "I thought you loved me."

"I used to love you," I clarified. "I lost my feelings for you when you broke things off, and I'm seeing someone else now."

"Not on Olympus," my ex-girlfriend interjected.

"How would you know that?" I asked.

Annabeth didn't respond.

I closed the door and locked it before going to meet Artemis.

The woman saw that I was troubled and pulled me over to the bed before sitting on my lap. "What's the matter?"

I sighed. "My ex-girlfriend, Annabeth, wants to get back together with me, and she knows that I haven't been seeing anyone on Olympus. I'm not going to get back together of course, but I don't know how I should ward her off."

Artemis kissed my cheek. "I can think of a couple of solutions to that."

She put my hand on her cheek and leaned into it. "I don't understand how you're so warm when it's so cold."

I held her close and kissed the top of her head. "My jacket should keep you warm."

"Hard to believe we've already been dating for a few months," she murmured, snuggling into my chest.

I smiled and kissed the top of her head. "How should we handle things when you become immortal again?"

The woman thought for a moment. "I won't say anything to my family, but they're incredibly nosy. We won't hide anything, but we won't discuss it unless asked."

"So, should I take a look at your arm now?" I asked.

She nodded and rested it on the small table by her bed. "I think it's healed enough where I don't need a bandage anymore."

I unwrapped her arm and examined the gash. The skin had started to regrow, but it was definitely still irritable. "You technically don't need to wrap it, but I would still recommend it. Just putting on a jacket could irritate the new skin enough for it to start bleeding."

Once I had bandaged her arm again, I grabbed the jacket I gave to her and helped her get it on without disturbing her arm.

"It'll be nice when I'm immortal again," my girlfriend remarked. "You won't have to wait until specific times of the day when my father is occupied to come to see me, I'll be able to come to visit you, and I might even be able to come up with a surprise."

"Until then, and even when you're immortal," I started. "I'll be happy to help you in any way I can."

I hooked my arm in hers and smiled. "Now, which movie did you want to go see?"

She kissed my cheek. "Why don't you pick the movie theatre? I'll pick from what's available there, and we can get both types of popcorn."

We appeared at a small theatre in the middle of nowhere and Artemis looked through the movies being screened next.

"I want to watch this one," she decided, pointing at the famous shark movie. "I also want hot chocolate because it is very cold out here."

I chuckled and held her close in a weak attempt to warm her up. "I'll get you an extra-large hot chocolate for the movie and I'll probably get you another one before we leave."

My girlfriend kissed my cheek as we waited in line. "Thank you for spending time with me."