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“Annabeth” the word came out in a mumbled sound, confusing. “Annabeth!” he called again.
She didn’t answer.
He found a small rock in the garden and threw at the window, and hoped he remembered right and that was her bedroom. He waited. Nearly one minute later, no sound. He threw another. Heard noises in the bedroom upstairs, and the window opened, with a creaky sound. The girl looked at the ground trying to see who it was, but it was dark and it was hard to see.
“Hello” Luke giggled at the sight of her, like she was something spectacular “You are awake” he said, like it wasn’t obvious.
“You woke me” she was still half asleep
“I wanted to see you” Luke shifted, uncomfortable
Annabeth put her head in again, and checked the time on her phone. “It’s 3:12 AM” she stated, sounding mildly angry “couldn’t wait until morning?”
“No” he cried, and drank another gulp from the bottle he was carrying
“Are you drunk?” she finally realized why the reason behind the giggles and slow talk.
“Yes” he giggled “I’m legal now” Luke stated, proudly, like it was a big life achievement.
“Uh, congratulations”
He stared up at her, took a deep breath before saying it: “It was my birthday today”
“I know” she said, after a while, looking down at him “I remember “. She couldn’t understand if he was being serious or not.
“Why didn’t you call me?” he sounded hurt. “I wanted you to call me” he looked down at his boots, trying to avoid her eyes.
“I..” She hesitated.
“You can’t stand me anymore?” he looked back up, guessing, and drank more.
They were in silence, looking at each other. She, too afraid of saying anything that would hurt him, and/or make his current state worse; he was one break from the disaster. He wouldn’t probably remember any of this in the morning, but now felt brave and courageous, finally spilling out his feeling for her; he just expected a little warmer welcome.
“I miss you” Luke called out, before she could say anything. “I love you” he completed, right after.
She closed the window. He regretted saying anything in the first place. He regretted even coming to her house. But it was too late, and now he had to go all the way.
“I am sorry” he called out “please come back.” He said before drinking from the bottle again “I.. just… am sorry ok?” he hesitated, looking at the window. “I just missed you, so I hopped on the train and came to see you, because I thought you didn’t remember me and I don’t even know if I’ll make it back to campus, but I just needed to see you” the words came out slow and mixed. He had so much to say but it was hard to put into words.
“Here” she called out, from the porch.
“Annabeth!” his face lighted
He would’ve run to her, but he could barely walk without tripping on his own boots, so running was out of the picture. He finally made it to her side. She was wearing pajama pants and a tank top, her hair was up in a bun. And she never looked more beautiful in his drunken eyes.
“I’m sorry for coming up like this” he started again. The alcohol always brought the sensitive side of him. “I just… missed you” he sat on the lowers steps on the porch.
“It’s okay” she sat on the steps, slightly above him.
Again, they fell silently. He was thinking what he had done wrong to make her despair him so much; although the only thing he could think of was she is nursing his drunk ass back to health. She was thinking the reasons that led him to that state.
“Why are you drunk?” she asked, after not coming close to any plausible answer.
“Because I’m legal” he smiled proudly again
“Besides it?”
“I miss you” he said again
“You are drunk because of me?”
“I really miss you. I miss when we were kids, running on the street, and playing together, with Thalia” he rambled. “Tonight, a few friends in college, they took me out to buy alcohol, for my first time, with actual real ID” he giggled “And then we started joking around and drinking. And my friends called me. And I promised myself I’d stop when you called me. So I’m still drinking” he shrugged and took another sip “I wish we were kids” he said, again.
“We had to grow up” she comforted him.
“I didn’t want to” he sounded like a stubborn child. “I wish I had never grown up, so I could be with you, just me and you playing together just like when we were kids” he complained. “But now I am old and I can’t even be near you or your father will behead me”
She wanted to say it was more than that. She wanted to tell him off, and say she never felt anything for him, it was just their age gap, but she couldn’t lie. Not when he was drunk and vulnerable on her doorstep. Saying he missed her. She wanted to say that she missed him too. She wanted to hug him, and kiss him, and say she wouldn’t let him go again. Say she would keep him by her side, and it wouldn’t matter that they grew up.
“I’m sorry, Luke, but I can’t” Not anymore
“You said you love me.” He looked up at her “Once”
“But things are different now” she played with her bracelets, distracted.
He noticed. Luke gave her a pink rubber bracelet to when he was 16; she never took it off. He smiled when he saw it at her arm. It made him feel like he was still important to her, somehow.
“I’m just a train ride away from you” he plead, with a hint of a smile in his lips.
“And you can come any time you want. You’re my friend” it hurt her to say those words. Mostly because she couldn’t get her head around the fact that her small crush on Luke was developing to the real stuff.
“I missed you” his hand searched for hers. Luke tangled his fingers on her fragile hands.
She relaxed, feeling his warm touch. Luke had always been protective of her, and Annabeth always assumed it was just the way he was to everyone. She accepted that what she felt was one-sided, and she could live with that. And then Luke kissed her. Two years ago.
She remembers that day vividly. He had already been out to college, but was home for summer. It all ended up with him holding her close to him and pulling her into a kiss, which he broke three seconds later, apologizing. She grabbed his neck and kissed him again.
But now he was drunk, it was late, and she was confused.
“Come on, I’ll let you sleep on the couch” she dragged him inside, still mumbling how much he missed her.
Not even five minutes after he entered the house, he was already on the couch, asleep. Annabeth watched him sleeping. His clothes were dirty, his hair messy, and he smelled really bad. But she was glad to see him again. Being near him made her feel good. It felt like they were those kids again, together and unstoppable.
“We still can be unstoppable’ she muttered, in the silent living room “can we?” she asked herself, out loud.
She was sure of three things: first, her father would be really angry in the morning. Two, distance is no way to stop the feelings. Three, she did love Luke. And actual grown up love feelings. And there was nothing she could do about it.
She took a deep breath and went up to her room, deciding what to speak to her father in the morning.