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“You ready to go?” Drew asked her girlfriend. Billie stuck her head up from her plant boxed and nodded.
“Yeah, let’s just get this into the car, and we should be all good.”
I want to move to the country
Do nothing but drink wine and bake bread
Drew’s dad had bought her a station wagon for her eighteenth birthday and now she was using it to take all hers and Billie’s things to their new cabin. It was isolated enough for the both of them, while in reach of the city for their jobs, just a few miles out of Albany.
Don't give a shit 'bout the others
'Cause they do what the government says
She managed to spill some earth down her shirt and cursed rather creatively in Japanese. It wasn’t like she had been expecting to stay clean, she was wearing the ugly orange shirts anyway (they were awful with her complexion) but now it was down her bra and on her chest. Never mind, at least she’d have an excuse to take the first shower at their new place then. In three and a half hours. She sighed and resigned herself to being uncomfortable for that time.
It's you and me and anarchy, my dear
We'll have two cats and a corgi
But when she looked up at Billie’s face shining with happiness and anticipation, she felt she could put up with that. “Have you got all your makeup? It would suck if you left it behind by accident.”
Drew fished out her checklist and, while she took a minute with her dyslexia, made sure it was crossed off. “I think that’s it then.”
“Huh.” She climbed in the passenger seat beside Billie. “Is it me or did you never think we’d leave this place either?”
“Half of all demigods make it to the mortal world, right?”
“I mean, we didn’t get lucky. Only a handful of us are actually still alive, right? Us and like ten others.”
“I try not to think too much about it. At least we’re not big three right?”
Billie laughed, a note of apprehension in her voice, “There’s that. Anyways, I got all these weapons ready and you’ve got your knives, so we’re ready regardless. You’re a pretty good fighter.”
“I thought you were just letting me win so I’d pin you down.”
“I- Maybe but you did beat Malcolm and Sherman.”
Drew conceded and took the compliment, “Okay, I did do that.”
Grow sustainable plants in the front yard
Buy an old guitar for the aesthetic
Billie started the engine, a juddering loud thing, and, at the bottom of Half Blood Hill, they looked back for what might be the last time.
But never learn it 'cause that shit's too hard
Not that it would matter anyway
As she saw the retreating camp, she was strangely sad. It was weird, for ages she hadn’t even liked the place, but after the Giant War and all the shit that came with that, she had decided to give the bitchy hyperfemme persona that she had thought had to be there for a daughter of Aphrodite.
It boiled down to Silena, really, Silena was nice, so she wasn’t, Silena’s appearance was effortless, so hers was an hours long process. Silena was a traitor, in the basest sense, so she was loyal. Whatever she was, however horrible she’d been, she was upfront about her intentions at least.
Because, my dear, I'd love you just the same
But then she let it go. Chilled out. Yeah, she was still a bitch if someone was a bitch to her, eye for an eye and all that, but she made her apologies and repaid her debts. It was literally the bare minimum.
Woah
Woah
Woah
Not that people wanted much to do with her anyway and she still didn’t like those big swords or capture the flag or getting messy. But her fear powered her through it. She didn’t want to die and that was enough to make her train hard and now that Piper wasn’t coming back, she’d retaken her role as counsellor, not that anyone else was able to do it. Lacy and Mitchell were the next in line but still too young.
Love you just the same
Woah
Woah
She’d teamed up with Billie for Capture the Flag, when Miranda left. Two underestimated cabins made a good surprise attack. Billie didn’t ask for anything she’d thought she’d want: not their shower slot, not taking their hard chores, not giving up their good activities. No, she wanted Drew to come with her and do stuff with her in return.
Woah
Love you just the same
Gardening. Obviously, Drew was nothing to her, Billie had a bit of a genetic advantage but it was nice to get her hands dirty for once, once she’d given up on looking so clean and perfect all the time.
We could watch the news and writе letters
To a congressman wе both hate
And now they were moving in with each other. It wasn’t a new decision, they’d been together for years and among Camp alumni, it was pretty common to have a roommate from there after years of living together, or at the very least, someone to watch their backs.
Slowly steeping in our disappointment
Realize that you can't escape from it
Billie gripped her hand, calluses against her soft skin, and kissed her at their first red light and all of her worries and fears dissolved into nothing. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Drew flicked on the old tape she had made up and they were yelling the lyrics out into the air all the way from New York City to Albany. Three and a half hours felt like nothing after all.
We want our voices to be heard
To make the world outside a little better
The car pulled up at their new home, in the middle of the woods, away from anyone who might bother them. Just them and whoever they wanted to come. Drew knew Billie was close with most of her siblings, and while she wasn’t as close with hers, she’d be willing to extend an invitation at the very least.
Overthrow a tyrant, start a riot
And babe you know I'm with you for whatever
“Our new home.”
“It’s perfect,” said Drew. “You want to go inside or unpack everything now?”
She stretched up dramatically, almost as tall as Drew. Almost. “Let’s get it over with now and then I’m going to bed.”
“Do you snore?” Billie threw her a mock-dirty look.
“Yes.” Obviously Drew knew that already, she’d fallen asleep in her lap too many times in the strawberry fields for her to not notice. She snored like a foghorn. Drew had slept through monster attacks, fire alarms and earthquakes before so it worked between them.
Nothing you could do would ever change-
(And I will tell you as many times as you need to hear it)
Their cabin was cute. Small, but they had a garden with space for flowers and vegetables and trees and a big covered south facing porch to sit on in the evening like a pair of pensioners. Inside was pretty spacious, just five rooms: kitchen, living room, their bedroom, bathroom and a guest room. And it was full of light for all of their house plants to thrive. Or just for Drew to lay on the ground and bathe in the sun, like a cat but with better eyeliner.
I will always love you just the same
(It's you and me against the world, bunny. Let's go!)
“We made it. We actually made it.”
Woah
Woah
“Of course we made it, I refuse to die with acne. I would definitely demand a closed casket for that.” Billie rolled her eyes at her.
Woah
Love you just the same
“Would you believe I was trying to have a moment here?”
Drew kissed her as an apology, “Go get all your plants settled. I’ll see what we can do for dinner. Something light?”
Woah
Woah
“Sounds great.” And with that, Billie Ng was out the door and it was just Drew Tanaka in an empty house.
What was it again? Dinner. She just looked around at the bags of groceries they'd sent ahead. No meat since both of them were vegetarians, just vegetables, milk, oat milk and eggs.
Woah
Love you just the same
She shrugged and turned on the stove, heating it up, while she made her omelettes. Another thing she’d gotten good at at camp: cooking. Chef and kitchen cooking, gourmet cooking, baking and pastry making, wilderness cooking? It was kinda her thing.
When she was making up apologies for people, she liked to bring them bread and pies. And when she was pissed off, kneading dough over and over was better than biting out insults or forcing charmspeak.
And we'll watch the world from our front porch
Remember all our plans
Maybe the things people said about putting love into food made it taste better was true. Aphrodite was all about love so Drew could put her love into her food. She hoped her mother liked that concept at least.
For making vegan brunch on Sundays
And playin' Rockaband with our friends
Billie was out back, digging into the ground, commanding soil to her will, when Drew brought the food out. She set a tree into its place and pressed her hands to the trunk, doing some magic plant thing to help it settle or something before running up to the poarch to get her food.
Will that fantasy survive?
Will it have to step aside
When there's so much more to fight for
Once everything was done, it was long dark and the fire they had built and the moon were the only sources of light around. Drew would’ve suggested stargazing like they did at camp but the midges biting her skin said otherwise so they went inside to sit on their battered secondhand settee instead.
Woah
Woah
Drew couldn’t see her in the dark but she could still trace her form anywhere, feel her where she couldn’t see, hear her even if she was invisible.
Woah
One, two, three, four!
It wasn’t hard, where Drew was sitting straight on, Billie had strewn herself over the couch, and over her, legs crossing legs, arms touching arms, hands holding hands.
Woah
Woah
Woah
Love you just the same
The dirt under Billie’s nails cast onto Drew’s hands, a thick earthy smell in the air and Drew still had dirt down her shirt from earlier.
Woah
Woah
Woah
Love you just the same
“We got really lucky, didn’t we?”
She just kissed Billie in response.