Work Text:
“This is a break up song. Turn it off.”
“Can you just shut up and dance with me?” Annabeth extended her hand and quirked her eyebrow at the brunette. Piper huffed and rolled her eyes but graciously accepted her hand, intertwining their fingers.
We’re singing in the car, getting lost upstate. Autumn leaves falling down like pieces into place, and I can picture it after all these days.
She pulled Piper to her with a twirl until they were chest to chest, bodies so pressed together that they could feel each other’s breaths rise and fall. Their eyes locked together and filled with love, flooding their systems and making them overflow with adoration.
'Cause there we are again on that little town street. You almost ran the red 'cause you were lookin' over at me. Wind in my hair, I was there, I remember it all too well.
Piper giggled against her, hands roaming her back before settling on her waist. They swayed in time with the music, lost in their own little reverie. As Taylor sang about never calling what they had love and only feeling shame, they held each other tighter and peppered kisses across the other’s face. “I love you,” Piper whispered against the shell of her ear, quiet against the soft melody echoing around their room. Annabeth didn’t answer, just cupped the other girl’s jaw and brought their lips together.
Piper tasted faintly of cinnamon from the drink she had been drinking before being dragged to dance. Lips moved in time with the music, tongues clashing with each tempo change. This moment was like something straight out of a music video, hands laced within locks and tugging them impossibly closer together. She bit Piper’s lip, causing her to gasp, and pulled away quickly.
“Come on, this is my favorite part.” She grabbed the brunette’s hand and started running for their kitchen. Giggles reverberated off the hallway walls behind her and filled her ears as their sock clad feet rhythmically sounded against the wooden floor. Annabeth pulled them to a stop in front of the refrigerator, the dark room illuminated only by the stream of light coming from the open door.
‘Cause there we are again in the middle of the night. We're dancing 'round the kitchen in the refrigerator light. Down the stairs, I was there, I remember it all too well.
She twisted her arm in a way that twirled Piper under her like a ballerina, then bent her arm to pull her close. The light of the refrigerator bounced off Piper’s skin and illuminated her in a way that made her look like an angel. Annabeth was captivated, each second spent staring at the other girl making her fall deeper and deeper in love.
Laughs spilled from them both at the cheesiness of the situation, but this was something Annabeth had dreamed about for years now. She wanted nothing more than to dance in a dark kitchen with the love of her life, laughing about how in love they were. “… I kept you like an oath. Sacred prayer, and we swear, to remember it all too well,” she sang lightly, barely above a whisper.
Jumping onto the counter, she dragged Piper close to her as the bridge began to play. This part always hurt her, and she wanted nothing more than to be held. Piper seemed to sense this too, because she moved forward instantly and wrapped her arms around her body, hugging her close to her. Annabeth looped her arms around Piper’s neck, taking advantage of the switch in heights as she placed her head in the crook of her neck.
And you call me up again just to break me like a promise.
So casually cruel in the name of being honest.
A quiet sob escaped her lips as those words played. They sat like this, cuddled together and silent as the song continued to play. For each grievance in Taylor’s own relationship, Piper held Annabeth a little closer. Their apartment was dark, the stars outside serving as the only illumination, and even that was sparse.
Time won’t fly, it’s like I’m paralyzed by it. I'd like to be my old self again, but I'm still trying to find it. After plaid shirt days and nights when you made me your own.
Arms wrapped under Annabeth’s thighs as she pulled her flannel tighter to her body, causing her to reflexively wrap her legs around Piper’s waist. Another sob coursed through her body as the verse echoed from her phone. This song was something personal to her, something that never failed to make her cry. Often, it would make her think of the years she spent with Percy since this was his favorite song. Eventually though, she stopped associating it with him and began associating it with Piper.
Yes, it still wrecked her emotionally, but not in a way that made her break down anymore. Instead, she could alternate between the good and bad moments, opting to focus more on the good.
As the chorus echoed throughout the room, Annabeth pulled her head up and wiped the tears off her face. She stared at Piper with a small smile before leaning in for another kiss. Their lips crashed together as the music crescendoed, providing the perfect backup vocals to their hums of delight. The kiss was chaste and beautiful, the perfect balance of everything in life.
Just between us, did the love affair maim you, too? 'Cause in this city's barren cold. I still remember the first fall of snow, and how it glistened as it fell. I remember it all too well.
Parting for breath, Annabeth turned to look out the windows. Frost had accumulated onto the glass panes, serving as a thin barrier to the outside. She hopped down from Piper’s grasp and ran to the sliding glass doors, peering outside for any snow. Her eyes were met with a beautiful expanse of white covering the edge of their balcony, more fresh snow still falling. Piper came up behind her and wrapped her arms around the blonde’s waist, resting for a second before spinning Annabeth around and picking her up.
A squeal left Annabeth as Piper opened the sliding doors and carried her outside, setting her down on the cold balcony ground. Their hands found each other as they shivered from the cold, and they walked towards the railing. Annabeth pulled Piper to her and guided their faces together, letting snowflakes fall in their hair and melt into their kiss.
The song could be heard in the background, lightly playing the outro as they stood intertwined under the stars. No matter how painful and raw the lyrics were, this moment was what Annabeth would forever associate with the song. They would never have a love story like Taylor Swift and Jake Gyllenhaal, which was more than okay, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t take the beautiful parts of the song and make it theirs.
Sacred prayer, I was there, I was there.
It was rare, you remember it all too well.
Wind in my hair, I was there, I was there.
Down the stairs, I was there, I was there.