Chapter Text
I don't know what I'm doing here. I look at all of their faces, and I see disgust. Contempt. Am I making it up? Is it just my own fucked up mind? My own illusions tormenting me? I take a breath to clear my mind. I have the same right to be here as they do. I step up to the check-in counter, and ask for a bed. "$10" the woman at the counter says in a thick Hungarian accent. Already cased as being american. That's fine. That's fair. Probably sensed the accent. Though I know I shouldn't, and I know if I turn around I wouldn't see anything, I feel pinpricks of heat on my back. Somebody's staring at me. They're probably just looking at my ass, I tell myself. It's strange that that's the most amenable option, isn't it? Better they be a creep than somebody who noticed that Piper McLean, daughter of an international superstar is skulking around hostels in Hungary.
It's not that I've run away. It's more that I've left. I'd never say I was unhappy- god, I'd sound like a massive prick, but I quite honestly got bored of the luxury. I got bored of the same monotony, the same suffocating Los Angeles heat, the same "friends" who hang out with me because they're jealous, the same locales and landmarks and mansions bordering mansions. And I got dumped. Hard. So I left.
Despite myself, I do turn around, but the only person there is a blonde woman, who sits typing intensely on her laptop. Where did everybody else go? The hungarian woman gestures at me. "You're in room three, bunk four.". "Thank you", I say with a quick nod. I slip her a ten, then turn around again towards the common area. The blonde woman still looks engrossed in her laptop. I sigh. I came to this hostel to meet people- why not start now?
I walk through the archway that separates the lobby from the common area, the floor tile turning to lush carpet, and the room theme going from drab grey to a bright electric blue. I walk through the mass of couches, arranged at seemingly random angles, going to the one on the very back. Up close, I can see the blonde looks rather unhappy, like a perpetual pout but one seemingly perpetuated for a good reason. Maybe this isn't such a good idea. She's already noticed I'm here, however. She removes her headphones, and turns to me, saying with her eyes all she needed to say. She's a bit annoyed. I hesitate, and her eyes sweep over me. I can see she's the type of person who'll hate me more if I have nothing to say than if I do and she doesn't like it. She stares, a cold hard stare, one that requires that I break it, less I am caught in its magnet beam permanently. "Uh…" I say. "I'm kind of new in town…"
At that the blonde laughs, a cynical, almost mean spirited laugh, one where any joy still within has been perverted. She doesn't say anything else, and she doesn't break the stare, so I continue.
"I was thinking about going out for a drink, but I don't exactly know anybody here. You want to come with?". She still stares, but she seems like she may be considering it. "I'll buy all the drinks", I quickly add.
She rolls her eyes and smiles a tiny smile. A speck of joy. "Fuck it" she says. She extends her hand. "Annabeth".
I shake it. "Piper".
We somehow trust the taxi driver to take us to a club. He tells us in a light voice with a thick accent this is a good one for dancing. I feel obligated to believe him. We're let in at the front: I may not be calling myself the daughter of a world famous action star anymore, but I never said I stopped being drop dead gorgeous. Blondie's not too bad-looking herself.
The music is good for me. I can let myself not care. I can throw myself and all of my energy, all of my pent up rage and aggression, into a furious dance. I can let myself slip away, as I order drink after drink. Annabeth seems to be just as willing to ignore her troubles, downing everything I buy for both of us. That's right, I'm buying the drinks. 'Cause I want to feel in control. Because I need to take some control. A guy comes next to us. "Can I buy you ladies a drink?" He nearly screams over the music. I'm drunk enough that I could take him up on his offer, but before I can say yes or no, Annabeth kisses me on the mouth.
"We're together", she says, the first words I've heard her say after I asked her to dance. She gives me a little smirk, and I can't help but feel… something start to flicker within me. I look into her eyes. Has anybody ever told her how deeply and fantastically grey her eyes are? Maybe I should. I open my mouth to speak, and kiss her instead. It's like my body interprets them as the same thing. Maybe they are the same thing. She kisses me back. She tastes like whiskey- not exactly a surprise. I pull back. I'm drunk. She smiles at me, a wicked smirk on her face. One that I like. Enough to kiss her again.
We somehow make it back to the hostel in one piece. I hailed a taxi and somehow Annabeth remembered the address. She slept in my lap in the taxi, the silence of the unfamiliar city outside being more comforting than creepy. It was soothing, the gentle rocking of the car, her breath, the rising of her chest, the cascading of the fountains outside. Nobody on the streets. Now, I lay awake in my bed, still trying to process tonight. Annabeth's in the bed above me. What a coincidence.
Is this what this trip is going to be like? Frenching random women in different, more exotic bars? Sleeping on bunk beds in different, more exotic rooms? Not that I'm complaining, I guess, but it was a bit of a departure from my normal life. I mean, making out with a girl you've just met is one thing. But making out with a girl who hasn't spoken more than five words since you've met is a bit of another.
A sound snaps me out of my trance, and I look up to see Annabeth descending the ladder that leads from my bunk to hers. She's wearing a pair of grey sweatpants and an oversized shirt. She turns to me. As she comes closer, I can see that she's been crying. She nods towards my bed. "Hold me?" she whispers. How could I say no?
She clambers into my bed, forcing us to spoon in order for us to both stay in it. I hold her through the night and into the morning, my face buried in her blonde hair, my hands wrapped around her stomach. My arm goes numb, but... I don't mind too much.