Fragile Heart [Completed]

4

Rory didn't know what to do. On one hand, she could take the Stoll brother's deal and pay for some new batteries. They could be broken or stolen, but she could continue working sooner. Or she could wait a few more weeks for the batteries to arrive; there would be more of them and they were less likely to be broken. She needed the prototype done soon so she could test it properly. She kept thinking it over, weighing out the possibilities in her head, until she gave up and decided to take up the Stolls on their offer.

They agreed to meet outside bunker 9 before dinner. They each had their cover stories; Rory would say she was there to work on the net (not a complete lie) and the Stolls would say they were there to check on the progress, and when no-one believed them they would say they were there to pull a prank. It was foolproof (which was an important thing to be when working with the Stolls).

Just like they had promised, Connor and Travis were waiting with two tubs of batteries. Rory pulled out the drachmas and handed them five each. In return, they passed over the tubs.

"We done here?" asked Connor, feigning seriousness. Rory nodded and sent them on their way.

"Why did I just see Travis and Connor Stoll skipping down the path happy as larks?" Rory froze. She turned around slowly to meet Annabeth's intense glare. She sighed. "I was desperate! Chiron's been breathing down my neck to get this project done! It's just a few batteries. Nothing more," she explained, pouting slightly. Annabeth rolled her eyes. "I thought you would know better than to get involved with their...line of business. They could be stolen. Or fake. Or both."

"Oh calm down. For five drachmas each they would do anything," Rory argued. "Now help me open the door before I drop these everywhere." Annabeth complied and opened the door to the bunker. Rory placed the batteries on her work bench next to the net. Annabeth noticed something on the next table. It was much bigger, and didn't seem to be a weapon of any sort. More like...a bike? With rockets? Rory caught her staring. "Leo comes up here almost every day working on it. It's his big surprise for Calypso." Annabeth new they were dating, but had no idea it was 'bike-making' serious.

Annabeth's thoughts wandered once again back to her conversation with Jason. Her small nap had done nothing to ease her mind, and his words still played in her mind. "You have a habit if doing that, ya know?" Annabeth snapped back into focus. Rory laughed shook her head. "Got something on your mind?" she asked sitting on the bench, patting the space beside her. With nothing else to do, and nowhere else to be, Annabeth took the offer and sat down beside her.

"The weirdest thing happened earlier. Jason asked me to talk to him. He said that he was sorry about hiw things ended between me and Percy and that he didn't think Percy would have 'ended it like that'. I just don't know what to make of it," she explained. Rory nodded thoughtfully. "Well, that's a puzzle if I ever saw one. You want my advice?" Annabeth nodded. "The best thing to do to get past or over something, is to just get on with your life. And yeah, I know, it's hard, but if you stay latched onto something, or someone, you'll just get dragged down into this pit. And believe me, it's not exactly a fun place to be." Annabeth considered her words. She knew that they were true, but she wanted to have her Sea-weed brain back. She knew she sounded pathetic, and she knew that it seemed stupid, but she loved him with everything she was. She hadn't noticed she was crying until Rory pulled her into a tight hug, rubbing her hair. She latched on, clinging as though if she were to let go Rory would disappear. She cried while Rory rocked her. She cried until her throat was raw.

When she had calmed down slightly, she let out a shakey breath. "Thank you." Rory squeezed her once. "There's no need to thank me," she replied, still rubbing her head. Annabeth leant into Rory's embrace more and,if even for a moment, felt a strange sort of peace. A calmness that couldn't be explained with words. All she knew was that for the moment, she didn't want to leave, and she knew that she was safe.

*   *   *

The two of them stayed there for what seemed like hours, when really it was only a few minutes. Rory felt Annabeth's breath become deeper and more even until she fell asleep. Not wanting to wake her up, Rory carefully layed her down on the clear space on the benches. There was no way she would be able to take her up the ladder, and she was not nearly strong enough to carry her all the way back to cabin six. Instead, she brought down two sleeping bags and tucked her inside. Not ready to sleep, she reviewed her plans for the net and ate crappy food until her eyelids became heavy. Then she crawled into the sleeping bag next to Annabeth.

Annabeth was the first to wake up. She couldn't remember when she'd fallen asleep, but she knew she was still in bunker 9. She sat up rubbing her eyes. She put her hand by her side, only to find Rory curled up in a neat ball on the floor next to her. Gently, Annaneth poked her in the side. Rory's eyelids fluttered. "Mmmmbeth." Annabeth chuckled and poked her again. "Beth shush, I'm tryna sleep here," she grumbled. "Did you just call me 'Beth'?" she asked incredulously. It was Rory's turn to laugh. "Hm, yeah. Whatcha gonna do about it, Beth?" She greatly exaggerated the name.

"I'd hate to disturb you two, but you're blocking my path by quite a bit," Leo's teasing voice rang out before Annabeth had the chance to smack Rory upside the head. The pair shot up and turned around. Annabeth saw a light blush on Rory's cheeks, and imagined she had a similar face of guilt. Leo smirked at them. "So, are you gonna move or not?" Annabeth and Rory stood up and kicked the sleeping bags to one side. "I see this is where you've been hiding for the past two nights," Leo said, gesturing to Rory. "Yeah, I've been working on the net prototype," she replied, the blush plain as day on her face. "I hope Annabeth hasn't been...ya know...distracting you, too much," he teased again. Annabeth felt the heat rise in her cheeks, so she hit Leo on the head. Leo laughed and walked over to the bike he was working on for Calypso. "By the way, since you missed breakfast and the great news, the hunters are comming today." Annabeth smiled at the though if seeing  Thalia and Reyna again. She figured Thalia would give Percy a good beating when she found out about the breakup.

*   *   *

Annabeth decided to take Rory's advice and try to move on. She went about her day, ignoring Percy and Jason as best she could. She spoke only to Piper and Leo. Every now and then she would see Will and Nico. Only a few times did she even go within a 12ft range of Percy, and not once did she feel the need to cry.

At dinner she ran over to greet the Hunters of Artemis. She gave Thalia and Reyna a hug in turn. "How have you been?" she asked, excited to see her friends again.

"Well, Reyna and I have been going out for a year now which is amazing." Thalia blushed lightly and looked at the ground smiling. She always got like that when she spoke about Reyna or their relationship. Artemis had made an exception for them, since she hadn't strictly said that they couldn't date girls in the oath.

"So how's your life going?" Reyna asked.

"Well, me and Percy broke up." That earned a gaos from both girls. "That's not the end of it. He...also started dating Jason."

"That son of a...I'm gonna kill him! Both of them!" Before Thalia could sprint across the pavilion and tackle the two boys, Reyna wrapped her arms across her girlfriend's chest. Thalia let out a low growl but gave up. Reyna continued to hold her hand, partly because she wanted to, but she also wanted to prevent her from running to attack.

Annabeth looked down. "It's fine, I guess. I'm just trying to...move on," she explained. Thalia and Reyna still looked wary, but put the subject to rest.

At that moment she heard someone call out from behind her. "Hey! Hey!" She turned around and saw Leo running up the hill carrying something in his arms. When he got closer Annabeth saw that it wasn't something. It was someone. And that someone looked very much like...Rory.

Ha! Cliff hanger. You may not find out what happens for a few days or something because I'll actually be in school tomorrow and won't have as much time to write. This was kind if a filler/transition chapter. Hope you are enjoying this so far!