My Best Friend's Brother (The Finale)

Chapter 4

Annabeth

"I think she's waking up-"

"-glass of water from the kitchen."

I was overcome with a foul smell of sweat and alcohol. My lips felt dry,cracked and crusty and tasted bitter. I opened my eyes,which was hard to do since there was gunk in the corners. I saw Piper kneeling next to me,a firm look on her face.

"You know if you needed a drinking buddy I'm always up."

I opened my mouth to respond but my stomach began to churn. Piper pulled me to my feet and dragged me to the bathroom,where she made me sit on the edge of the bathtub. Next thing I knew,she was holding a glass of water and a tablet in her palm. Right when I was about to take it,I retched.

Drinking was not fun. Hangovers are definitely not fun.

My entire body was burning and shaking with a fever and I felt as if I had threw up  my liver in the toilet too. Piper was holding my hair back and rubbing my back and giving me encouraging and sweet words.

"For a wise girl,you're a real crap bag." she smirked lightly as she gave me a wet towel to wipe my face. Coughing,I accepted it with thanks. I couldn't imagine how it was like for her,all her best friends in a mess. I felt ashamed of myself.

"What-what time is it?"

"Seven in the morning. We came back an hour ago,saw you and the bottles and put two and two together. You began stirring so we thought we'd wake you up so that you could cough up your liver." she said in a false cheery voice,looping my arm into hers.

"I laid out some bed clothes for you. Either shower or have a relaxing bath and then head into bed. Jason's helping me make some soup."

I wanted to make a comment about that,but my head throbbed "How-how's Leo?"

Her smile faded "Is-he's okay." I could have sworn that I heard her voice crack a bit,but I didn't ask. She plopped me down on my chair and headed over to the bathroom,probably to check if the water was hot. There was a loose grey shirt,black leggings and undergarments on the bed.

"O-kayy the water is nice and hot,so take all the time you need." She said. Her hair was coming out of her braids and her eyes seemed tired and worn out. Now that Penny was gone,she was taking care of us all. I was about to open my mouth and thank her,but she left. Maybe she knew what I was about to say.

I stripped myself of my old clothes,which smelt horrible;a mix of sweat and alcohol. I decided to take a quick shower but I could hardly stand. My legs kept shaking. Finally I trudged out,water soaking the floor. I threw on the clothes and fell into bed,exhaling sharply. The hot water did justice for my head ache but it still hurt. I wanted to rip my head apart but I stayed calm and massaged the center of my forehead instead. After some time Piper came in.

"How you feeling?" she asked,sitting next to me. I closed my eyes.

"It hurts." I murmered. She put her hand on my forehead.

"Yep,you still have a fever. Jason's getting the soup ready." she said. I gave her a tiny smile and the corner of her lips twitched.

"Shut up." she warned. I laughed feebly. We sat in silence for some time.

"How's Penny?" I asked lightly. She didn't meet my eyes.

"Well-I don't know. After you went home things were a blur; Percy's dad wanting to talk to all of us,trying to get info from the doctors about Percy..and well,Leo."

"How is he?" I remembered the horrible sound when Penny hit him and winced. She curled her lip.

"Still in bed I guess. We didn't argue with him when he decided to go straight to bed when we came back." she sighed "We didn't check on Penny before leaving." She added after a short pause. I studied her expression.

"You're mad at her." I pointed out.

"Can you blame me?"

Honest answer,no. I knew how close Piper and Leo were,almost sibling like. I do think that Penny could have reacted in a better way,but I didn't hate her.

"I mean,it makes sense. Finding out your best friend-well,he didn't purposely do that to her mother. And yeah,he never told her because-well we all know he liked her. Maybe he still does,I don't know." she said sadly,pushing her hair aside "She's never been good at controlling her anger,but that-"

"Pipes," I said gently,holding her arm. Her colorful eyes were filled with tears "C'mon." I pulled her to my side and she laid down,sniffling.

"I'm so tired." she muttered,her voice unaturally high. My eyes began to sting,but I controlled it. Right now,Piper was important. I stroked her brown hair.

"I know Pipes."

Having her there made my head feel better. It felt good to be taking care of someone instead of the exact opposite. After some time I could hear her steady breathing-she fell asleep. Closing my eyes,I did too.

...

I opened my eyes to the sound of heavy rain splattering against the window. The sky was dark grey and it was cold and rainy. Rubbing my eyes,I glanced at the clock. It was 2pm. Damn,we slept through breakfast and lunch. Piper was still next to me,peacefully sleeping. I slipped out of bed and walked to the kitchen, where Jason was.

"Oh hey. I made you soup,but you two fell asleep." he said. My stomach grumbled in response.

"Soup coming up." he joked. Smiling,I drew up a chair and sat down. My headache was gone which made me feel much more cheerful. Until I remembered everything.

"How's Leo?" I asked softly. He wet his lips.

"Ah. Well,he was here some time ago. He seems to be okay but well..." he didn't need to finish the sentence. I simply nodded.

"Apparently Percy's dad is renting a hotel room near the hospital. Wants to be close in case they call about Percy."

"What about Penny?"

"I went to the hospital after you two fell asleep. She's out of bed." He said lightly. Judging by his tone and expression,he shared the same opinion as Piper. I didn't question him about it. Just then I heard the door open. We peeked out to see Apollo.

"Hi." he said simply,sitting next to me.

"You okay bro?" Jason asked.

"Yeah,fine. Leo's still asleep,or at least I think he is. I left him some poptarts on the table just in case he decides to come out." He sighed,pouring himself some lemon juice. There were shadows under his eyes,and he kept blinking for some reason. I decided not to question it. Jason handed me a bowl of soup,the smell making my stomach growl.

"Thanks Jason. I'll take this inside." I said gratefully,picking up the hot bowl and going to my room,Piper still asleep. She inhaled through her nose and exhaled in little puffs ot her mouth, which was cute. Setting the bowl up on my nightstand,I pulled out my laptop.

I wasn't going to get answers here anytime soon. I didn't want to leave Percy; I wanted to be the first person he saw when (when,not if) he woke up. But I was going crazy. I needed to leave. I searched up the quickest plane ticket to San Francisco, eager to find out about the mystery of my mother's letter.