Archive of Our Own

There were a lot of things in life that Piper didn't know, even from before she was told about the whole demigod thing. She didn't know when she was supposed to follow the “I before E except after C” rule and when she was supposed to ignore it. She didn't know what exactly killed monsters or why she had to use a special knife, but Leo could just drop some mortal construction on them. She didn’t know what qualified as monster-drawing technology or why CDs were a-okay but Spotify was a no-go. She didn't know what exactly went on inside a caterpillar cocoon that turned a little grub into soup and then into a butterfly. She didn't know what she was going to do to convince Drew to not fire her as co-counselor of the Aphrodite Cabin while she was gallivanting across the globe to save the world. 

What she did know was that Jason was avoiding her. Had this happened a month ago, she wouldn’t have been all that surprised. They may have struck a truce, but a single handshake did not a friendship make, but since then, she and Jason had both made every effort to reconcile and connect. Now, she considered him to be one of her very best friends, and the fact that he was dismissing all their hard work was, in her humble and correct opinion, rude. It was also just a bummer because she actually kind of liked hanging out with the dude. But still, she figured it was best to just let sleeping dogs lie. Jason needed space sometimes when it came to social stuff, she’d learned. He would come to her when he was good and ready. 

Besides, she also knew where he slept, should she decide that he'd spent too long brooding or whatever it was he did in that solo cabin of his. 

But then Leo started ignoring her, too, and she decided that something had to be done.

“Hey, Commander Toolbelt.” She threw a strawberry at him, hitting him directly in the ear, which made him whip his head around with a sour look. She beamed at him. “Pay attention to me.”

“I'm pretty sure I was sent out here to pick strawberries, not entertain you.”

Piper made a disgusted noise. “I did not call in as many favors as I did to make sure our cabins were on strawberry picking duty together just for you to ignore me.”

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, it looks like Drew and Nyssa are having…” Leo made a face at the girls. “I guess you can call whatever the hell that is fun.” 

Piper followed Leo's gesture over to where Drew and Nyssa were picking strawberries together. Unfortunately for them, both the Aphrodite and Hephaestus cabins had an even number of campers. That meant that when Piper and Leo teamed up, there had to be at least one other intercabin pair, and apparently everyone else had nose-goes'd faster than those two. Drew looked smug, which Piper doubted was a good thing, and Nyssa was flushed so dark that Piper wondered if she was going to suddenly get Leo's fire powers. “Wow. Nyssa looks mad. Should we do something?”

Leo gave her a funny look. “Wait. You think she's mad?”

“Uh, yeah? Look at her. She looks like she’s about to burst a blood vessel.”

“Are you joking with me right now?”

Piper shrugged. Nyssa didn't feel all that mad, but Piper was still trying to get a hold of her freaky mood ring Aphrodite kid powers, and she trusted her eyeballs. “I see what I see.”

Now Leo looked like he wanted to laugh at her, but he almost always looked like he wanted to laugh at someone when his head wasn't stuck in the clouds, so she didn't take it to heart. “Nevermind.”

“Yeah, I’m more interested in talking about you,” Piper agreed, poking him in the chest. “We've been picking strawberries for half an hour and this is the first conversation we've had the whole time. What are you thinking about so hard?”

“Would you believe me if I told you I was thinking about plans for the Argo II?”

“Uh, no. Absolutely not.”

“Damn.”

“Come on, Valdez. Tell me,” she said, trying to slip a little bit of Charmspeak into her voice.

As always, it had the opposite effect, and Leo screwed his face up in disgust. “Don't do that. Your voice sounds all weird and shit. Gross.”

She shrugged. “Worth a shot. Now seriously. Tell me.”

Leo heaved a deep sigh and turned back to the strawberry bushes. Piper thought for a minute that maybe he was going to continue to ignore her, but she noticed that while his attention was on the plant, he was making no moves to pick anything, so she decided to bide her time. Her patience was rewarded after a few minutes because Leo turned to face her, his eyebrows puckered up over his frown and a slight flush on his cheeks. “I think I did something to make Jason mad at me, but I can't figure out what I did. It's kinda killing me, to be totally honest. I can't focus on anything. Well, more so than usual.”

Piper frowned back at him, her nose wrinkled in confusion. “You think Jason's mad at you? You mean the guy whose favorite hobby is following you around and going ‘Wow, Leo, you're so amazing!’ every time you manage to walk and talk at the same time?”

“Shut up, he does not,” Leo said, shoving her shoulder with an eye roll. “And I'm being serious. He's been avoiding me for, like, a week. Every time I wind up in the same place as him, he always finds an excuse to leave. The other day Nyssa made me go to training in the arena and Jason just happened to be there. Piper, when he saw me, he literally stopped in the middle of his fight, dropped his sword, and ran.”

Piper snorted. She could so clearly picture Jason staring bug-eyed at Leo and then booking it like he'd seen a ghost. Or, maybe something scarier than a ghost, seeing as they fought monsters on a bi-weekly basis. Still, the sight of Leo’s furrowed brow was enough to reign in her amusement. “I know what you mean. He's been avoiding me, too. Not quite that obviously, but my cabin has had arts and crafts twice, and he didn't show up for either of them. Which is why I haven't finished our friendship bracelets, by the way. Jason made me promise to wait until he could help me with them.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. He gets really into picking out the colors for the beads and the charms and stuff.”

“Huh.” Leo thought about that for a moment before he turned back to Piper, his grin wide enough to crinkle his nose. “That's kinda cute, right?”

“While I dohate to admit it, it totally is,” Piper sighed dramatically. “Much to my dismay, he is, in fact, adorable.” Leo rolled his eyes and threw a strawberry at her, but she caught it in her mouth. Unfortunately, she kinda forgot that you don't really eat strawberries whole and her victorious smirk melted and twisted up into a look of revulsion and she turned to spit out the fruit, loudly gagging for dramatic effect while Leo doubled over in hysterical laughter. Nyssa yelled at them from her spot next to Drew, and they quieted down to focus back on fruit picking. 

They picked for a few minutes in silence before Piper hip checked him. When he glanced up, she cocked a brow at him. “You want me to talk to Jason for you?”

Leo considered the offer before he shook his head. “Nah. He’s probably just got something going on, right? I should probably just… give him some space.”

Piper shrugged. “That's a lot of probablies, but I was thinking the same thing. Everything will be fine.”

“You really think so?”

“I know so.”

Piper knew plenty. Not everything, of course, but enough to get by. She knew the names of just about every type of cloud in the sky. She knew how to communicate in Morse Code. She knew that her dad’s favorite color was green and that he liked his coffee with juuust a little bit of sugar but he always asked for it black because everyone made it too sweet. She knew how to tie a dozen different knots and how to set up a campsite from the fire to the tent. She knew how far it was to the moon and where to find more constellations than just about anybody. She knew more than her fair share of mythology from multiple pantheons, and could draw on it without a second thought. 

She knew what the sunlight looked like splashed across Annabeth’s cheek when she gave Piper mythology lessons in the Athena cabin on bright afternoons, and the way that gray eyes sparkled with delight when she was excited. She knew that her heart skipped a beat and her breath hitched every time that smile was directed at her. She also knew that Annabeth was head over heels in love with her boyfriend and Piper was absolutely out of luck.

What she didn’t know was what Annabeth just said.

Piper blinked spots out of her eyes. “Wait, what?”

“That’s how Theseus managed to defeat the Minotaur and make it out of the Labyrinth,” Annabeth repeated patiently. She gave Piper a concerned frown. “Are you okay? You seem really off your game today.”

Piper flushed all the way to the roots of her hair and refused to meet Annabeth’s eye. “Uh, yeah, sorry. I am really distracted.” Not a lie. “It’s, um, about Jason.” That was a lie.

Annabeth didn’t catch her though, and just cocked her head to the side. “Jason? What’s wrong with him?”

“I dunno,” Piper sighed. “He’s just… been distant. He’s been avoiding me, and I tried not to think too much about it, but it turns out he’s been avoiding Leo, too.”

“Really?”

“Mhm. And when I do manage to actually talk to him, he’s all stiff and awkward and just plain weird,” she complained, wrinkling her nose. “He’s not exactly been pulling his weight in the best friends department.”

Annabeth hummed thoughtfully. Any and all thoughts of the mythology lessons she’d promised Piper had completely vanished, replaced with only the problem at hand. “And you don’t think there’s anything wrong with him?”

“Near as I can tell, no,” Piper said. “I asked Will because Jason’s been taking a lot of first aid lessons from him, and he says Jason’s fine when they hang out. Have you noticed anything? Like, when you and Jason do his memory stuff?”

Annabeth shook her head. “No. It’s the same with me as it is with Will. Jason’s perfectly normal when he and I talk.”

“Well, as normal as Jason gets.”

Annabeth giggled and Piper thought for a moment she was going to pass out. “As normal as Jason gets, yes.”

“So, it’s something about me and Leo then,” Piper mused. “I don’t think either of us did anything.”

Annabeth tapped her chin in thought. “Maybe he’s got a crush.”

“On who?”

“I dunno. You, maybe?”

Piper blinked at Annabeth for a moment as the words sank in. Then she started laughing. She laughed so hard that her stomach cramped, and she rolled off the bed, still convulsing with laughter. Annabeth made an offended noise and started hitting her with a pillow, which only made her laugh even harder. 

“Stop it!” Annabeth protested. “Why are you laughing? I’m serious!”

Eventually, Piper caught her breath (before she wet her pants, thankfully) and sat up so she could fold her arms on the bed and rest her chin on them. “Jason does not have a crush on me,” she said, eyes still sparkling with amusement as she grinned up at Annabeth. “Why would you even think something like that?”

“It seemed reasonable!” Annabeth pouted. “He could be avoiding you and acting awkward around you because he’s embarrassed about his crush or something.”

“Then why is he avoiding Leo, too?”

“Maybe he’s worried about saying something in front of him that will tip him off, and he’ll tell you or something. I dunno.”

“That can’t be it,” Piper dismissed. “Trust me, Jason isn’t going to be catching feelings for me any time soon. Besides, he’s actually avoiding Leo more than me, so by your logic he–”

Piper suddenly cut herself off. She felt a bit like she’d been hit between the eyes with an invisible baseball or, possibly more accurately, a shoe. Everything suddenly made sense. She looked at Annabeth with wild eyes. “I have to go. Right now. Like, immediately.”

Annabeth blinked, clearly startled. “I– What?”

“I’m really sorry, but I just realized something, and I’ve got to go fix it!” Piper apologized. “I promise I won’t bail on you next time. Bye!”

Before Annabeth could say another word, Piper was sprinting out the door. Once she was outside she froze and whipped her head back and forth. She didn’t know where Jason was, but she had to find him. She squeezed her eyes shut and the words canoe lake sprang to mind. Without a second thought, she started running.

Sure enough, Jason was there. He was wading knee-deep in the water gathering reeds with some of the naiads, and when he saw Piper, his face visibly paled. He quickly handed his basket of reeds to one of the nature spirits and said, “I’m so sorry. I’ll be back in a bit, I promise. I just have to–”

“Jason Grace don’t you dare move,” Piper ordered. Jason stiffened with the power of her Charmspeak, and refused to look at her. “We need to talk. You and me. Like, now.”

Jason grimaced, but nodded solemnly. He turned to the naiads with the look of someone who was about to be hanged in the community square. “I’ll see you guys later.” While they tittered their goodbyes, Jason trudged out of the water. He paused long enough to shove his feet back in the sandals he’d left on the beach, then walked right past Piper without so much as a glance. “Come on. Let’s get this over with.”

Piper followed him, and as soon as they were at the tree line, she pointed an accusatory finger at him. “Do you have a crush on Leo?” Jason flinched at the words and Piper’s jaw dropped. “Oh my god you do! What the hell, Jason! You were going to keep this a secret?”

Jason glowered at the ground. “Sorry, but I’ve only just realized that I even like guys, so I was trying to come to terms with that before I started parading my business around.”

Piper laughed, loud and bright and giddy. “Oh, my god, dude!” she giggled. “I can’t believe you have a crush on Leo. I’m pretty sure he’s, like, in love with his toolbelt or something.” She expected Jason to laugh or make a snarky comment back at her, but he stayed silent. 

Piper quit laughing. She gulped and reached out towards him. “Jason? You good?”

He recoiled back from her and refused to meet her eye. His jaw twitched from how stiff he was holding it. “Sorry if I don’t find any of this all that funny, Piper.”

Piper bit her lip. “No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have tried to make it a joke.” Jason didn’t say anything, but she really couldn’t blame him. Sometimes she forgot that with the whole amnesia thing, Jason was basically experiencing everything for the first time, including learning about himself. She probably wouldn’t have liked it all that much if her friend laughed about her first crush, either. 

Silence fell between them, heavy and tense. Piper swallowed thicklyly, then spoke. “Annabeth uses green apple body wash.”

For the first time, Jason looked at her, completely baffled. “What?”

“The other day when I was doing my mythology lessons with her I noticed that she smelled really good, and I said something before I could manage to shut my big mouth,” she explained, flushing at the memory. “She was confused, but then she told me that’s what it was.” Jason just continued to stare at her, so she continued. “She’s also got her ears pierced. She doesn’t wear a lot of jewelry, but she’s got these little silver owl earrings that she wears basically every day. I haven’t asked where she got them because I’m kind of afraid of the answer. Also, her laugh is really, really pretty, and when she giggles she hides her face in her hands and when she does it I kinda want to scream. And sometimes she–”

“What are you doing?” Jason interrupted.

“I dunno,” Piper admitted. “I just– When I figured out I was a lesbian, I didn’t have anyone else to talk to about it, and it was really lonely, I guess. I just didn’t want you to feel lonely.” She flushed even darker and looked away. “Sorry, it was stupid. I didn’t want you to think I thought this was all a joke or something.”

Jason was silent for a moment, then he cleared his throat. “Um, I like the way Leo flaps his hands around when he talks sometimes. It’s… nice.”

Piper looked up at him with a hesitant little grin. “Yeah?”

Jason gave her an eye-crinkling smile in return. “Yeah.”

Sometimes, it felt like people were just making up things for Piper to not know. She didn’t know why the country still used daylight savings time, much less why Camp Half-Blood was ascribed to it. She didn’t know what the ideal diet for a pegasus was, or the perfect training regime to keep them in top shape. She didn’t know if the caesar salad she’d had for lunch the other day counted as breaking her vegetarian diet since she hadn’t known that there were anchovies in the dressing. (She also didn’t know for sure if Leo was lying to her about that or not.) She didn’t know what kinds of injuries needed Ambrosia and what kind needed Nectar, and she didn’t really know what the difference between them was, other than consistency. 

She did know that she was probably going to die from boredom at this meeting. 

It had seemed like a fun idea at first. She’d been incredibly eager to play Capture the Flag, and making an alliance with the Hephaestus and Zeus cabins had been a no-brainer. Nyssa had agreed easily enough (without the use of her Charmspeak, mind you) so Aphrodite had joined ranks with the Hermes and Apollo cabins, and apparently Clarisse was always on whatever team Annabeth wasn’t on, so their ranks were pretty stacked. She’d even gotten the honor of informing Nyssa that she’d convinced the Nike cabin to join them, and Jason had come to the meeting with flushed cheeks and announced that the Hypnos kids were willing to be on their team. All in all, she was psyched to play Capture the Flag.

Unfortunately, what she’d failed to consider was that battle strategy meetings were boring. It was just a bunch of standing around maps and arguing with one another about plans that Piper didn’t really care about. The only things of value she‘d managed to offer was suggesting that she and Drew could scout the perimeter and “suggest” that the blue team just turn around and walk right back to their flag, and confirming that Leo would be more than capable and willing to cause downright devastating amounts of chaos armed only with some rubber bands and ball bearings. She’d quickly lost interest after that, and was mostly left with the only option of waiting until everyone else was done.

She would have felt bad about being so useless and poorly repping her cabin, but she wasn’t the only Aphrodite counselor, and Drew was in top form. Drew had looked disgusted when Piper announced that she actually signed their cabin up for Capture the Flag (apparently, they usually just stuck to the medic tent with Will) and told Piper that she was welcome to do all the work herself, but not to expect any kind of help from anyone. Then, Piper told her about the alliances she’d made and Drew was suddenly much more interested. She’d shown up to the meeting half decked out in perfectly polished bronze armor with her hair pulled back in a tight bun, and a sword Piper hadn’t even known she could use strapped to her waist. She’d looked every inch the daughter of a war goddess, and like she’d be more than willing to remind anyone that she was exactly that if they dared to forget it. She’d immediately put herself and Nyssa in charge of everything, and was quick to shut Clarisse down with a sour look when she’d tried to protest, reminding her that the Hephaestus cabin was captain of the red team and that Aphrodite was supplying the most campers, so it only made sense for them to be the leaders. There had been a half-hearted attempt at offering Jason a leadership position, but he’d quickly bowed out, assuring them that he’d go wherever they put him and do whatever they said. All hope at anyone having a say in anything had been lost at that point, and Nyssa and Drew put their heads together and started plotting. 

So, instead of doing anything mildly interesting with her afternoon, Piper resigned herself to sitting in the dining pavilion with the other counselors, ignoring everything that was going on around her in favor of the telenovela she and Jason were creating with the use of some acorns and pinecones he’d blown their way. 

She was in the middle of informing Jason’s pinecone (who was playing the role of her acorn’s brother-uncle who was sleeping with her childhood best friend) that her friend had actually faked his death when she suddenly felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise. She whipped her head around to see Leo wandering across the grounds, animatedly chatting with Harley. She turned to Jason with a wide grin and waggled her eyebrows at him. “Think we can ditch this? I see Leo.”

Jason’s face flushed a little, but brightened. Fortunately, since Piper had cornered him at the lake, he’d completely abandoned his previous habit of avoiding her and Leo, though he still got a little flustered at the thought of hanging out with Leo sometimes. He glanced up at the head table and snorted. “I doubt Drew or Nyssa would notice.”

Piper looked over at the girls to see for herself. Sure enough, they were both completely absorbed in their battle map, staring each other down as they talked plans. Every now and then, Drew would tuck an invisible lock of hair behind her ear, which would make Nyssa freeze for a second before she shook her head and carried on. Things must have been getting good because Nyssa’s face was starting to go red from excitement, and Drew looked ready to start bouncing on her toes. 

“Yeah,” Piper agreed. “I don’t think they’d notice if Chiron suddenly sprouted wings. This plan of theirs really must be something else.”

Jason paused and gave her a funny look. “I… don’t think they’re talking about Capture the Flag.”

Piper wrinkled her nose at him. “What else would they be talking about?”

“You are the daughter of the love goddess, right?” 

“Yeah? Why?”

Jason chuckled softly and shook his head. “Nevermind. Come on, let’s get out of here.”

With that, she and Jason snuck away from the pavilion. Leo wasn’t too far from them, and when he heard them coming, he looked up with a grin. “Hey, guys. How’s the battle plan shaping up?”

“No idea,” Piper said honestly. “I quit listening, like, an hour in. Jason and I have a great pitch for a TV show, though.”

“We really, really don’t,” Jason disagreed.

Leo laughed at them. “Sounds productive.”

“Do I get to be on a team with Leo for Capture the Flag?” Harley asked, peering around Leo.

“Sure, don’t see why not,” Piper shrugged. Nyssa had said something about keeping younger campers off the front lines, but Leo’s job wasn’t exactly battle-centered. “How do you feel about ball bearings?”

Harley shrugged and mumbled, “Good, I guess.” He turned back to Leo with a frown. “Can we go to the Bunker now?”

“Course, man,” Leo promised. “You head on that way, and I’ll catch up in a minute, okay?” Harley seemed to find that acceptable, because he nodded and took off running.

“Seems like you’ve got a fan,” Piper grinned, as soon as Harley was out of earshot.

Leo shrugged, looking a little sheepish. “Harley’s cool. I like talking to him, and he likes talking to me for some reason.”

Jason smiled at him, his face as soft and warm as a s’mores-ready marshmallow. “That’s really cool, man. Seems like you’re pretty good with kids.”

Leo’s cheeks turned a shade or two darker and he kicked at the dirt, refusing to respond, but looking very pleased with the praise. Then he looked back up at them both. “Hey, since you obviously bailed on the meeting, you guys want to come to the Bunker? I’ve got some plans for the living quarters that I wanted some input on.”

“Absolutely,” Jason agreed, almost before the final word left Leo’s lips.

Piper opened her mouth to agree, but then she realized something. While Jason had stopped avoiding Leo completely, now that he’d confessed to Piper, the two of them hadn’t actually spent any alone time together. Her lips curled up in a mischievous grin and she locked eyes with Jason. “Sorry. I would, but I can’t. I bribed Drew into agreeing to do Capture the Flag by offering to take over some of her counselor duties, so I have to make schedules this week.” That wasn’t a lie, exactly, though Drew’s apparent eagerness to participate told her that it probably hadn’t been all that necessary to make a deal. 

Jason looked almost panicked, but Leo didn’t notice. “And that’s why I didn’t want to be in charge,” he snorted without an ounce of sympathy. He grinned up at Jason. “Come on, Supes. We’d better get moving; Harley’s fast and he gets really cranky if he’s left waiting too long.”

Jason’s cheeks flushed, but he still gave Leo a little smile in return. “Yeah, alright.” Then his eyes sparked with challenge. “Wanna fly? Bet we can beat him.”

Before the agreement was even fully given, Jason and Leo had shot off. As Piper watched them go, leaving her behind, she told herself that she was the best friend either of them would ever get.

Piper knew a lot of things. Maybe not as many as she didn't know, but in a world full of an infinite amount of things to know, you were never ever going to hit that coveted 51%. But, regardless, Piper knew stuff, and some of it was even useful. She knew how to change a tire and how to jump off a car and when to get your oil changed. She knew how much Charmspeak to put in her voice to get what she wanted without sounding like a conman. She knew what plants typically found in Oklahoma were edible and which ones would kill you and which ones would just send you on the trip of a lifetime. She knew that the only way to keep Leo decently hydrated was to challenge him to drinking contests and that Jason’s left eyebrow twitched when his dyslexia was acting up. She knew the history of why American cheese was typically that specific shade of yellow orange despite not having any ingredient that would color it. 

What she knew right now was that Jason had somehow managed to Fuck Up and he was about to make it her problem. 

She was enjoying some alone time in the Aphrodite Cabin for once when there was a furious, panicked knocking. She frowned and looked up from the puzzle box Leo had given   her, then got up to answer the door. She wasn't expecting anyone. Leo had warned her at breakfast that he was going to be in Bunker Nine all day and if she wanted to talk to him, she’d have to visit him, and everyone knew that the rest of the Aphrodite cabin had taken up Chiron’s offer of a monthly field trip to hit up a nearby outlet mall. 

All that considered, she really wasn't surprised when she opened the door to find Jason somehow gripping his short hair and staring at her with a horror Piper had assumed was reserved for someone who had just served Athena a milkshake only to find out that said milkshake was made out of spoiled milk and chocolate ice cream and that the goddess was both lactose intolerant and notoriously chocolate averse.

“Piper, I messed up,” he said, sounding strangled.

“I figured that much. Get in here.”

 Jason followed her orders, looking so much like the world was crumbling around his ears that Piper would have been concerned, if not for the fact that she knew Jason was a total drama queen. Nobody believed her when she told them that because Jason did a remarkably good job at hiding it, but the fact remained that Jason pretty much always viewed every inconvenience as a life-threatening, world-ending issue. Unless, of course, it was actually life-threatening or world-ending. Then he was fine. She sat him down on her bed and returned to her spot at her desk/vanity table. She picked her puzzle back up. “So, are you going to tell me what happened, or are you just going to sit there looking like the ghost of a Victorian child who just had the concept of Twitch streamers explained to them?”

That apparently shook Jason out of whatever doom spiral he was in because he squinted at Piper. “What?”

“Don't worry about it. Now, tell me what Leo did. Wait, no, let me guess. He made eye contact with you, said something mildly funny, then laughed at his own joke so hard he wet his pants. That seems like something you'd find attractive for some reason.”

“You’re the worst person in the world.”

“Im gonna tell Leo you said that,” she taunted. “Then he'll be sooooo sad because he thought his best friends were getting along but now they're fighting and it's gonna be all your fault.”

Jason threw one of the (many, many) throw pillows Piper had scattered across her bed at her. Fortunately, her sick demigod reflexes kicked in fast enough for her to block it. Unfortunately, she was so preoccupied with being smug about her sick demigod reflexes that a second pillow hit her right in the face. She rolled her eyes and threw the pillow on the ground. “Whatever. Just tell me.”

Jason took a deep, steadying breath, then put on his most serious game face. “Okay. So, Leo was in Bunker Nine, right, and I was hanging out with him.”

“Like always.”

“Shut up. Anyway. So, we were talking about the Argo II and the whole idea of the name came up, and I mentioned that I was a little surprised that’s what he settled on.”

Piper frowned in thought. “Now that you mention it, that is odd. Figured he'd go with something lame like the Valdeztron Destroyer or something.”

“That's what I said and he was like ‘No, I wanted to name it after a real ship sailed by real heroes.”

“That makes sense, I guess.”

“Yeah. So, I asked why he named it after Jason's ship. There's plenty of Leo’s in mythology he could have chosen from. Then – Piper, listen to me.” He paused his rant long enough to make sure Piper was giving him her full, undivided attention, which she was. He looked deathly serious. “Piper. He looked me dead in the face and said ‘Well, I'm building this boat for you, so it only makes sense to name it after you.’ No lead up, no warning, no anything. He just said it like it was no big deal.”

Piper blinked at him in shock, took a second to send a quick prayer of thanks to her mom for getting her siblings out of the cabin, then let out an incredibly undignified, high-pitched scream that left Jason wincing and clapping his hands over his sensitive little baby ears. She leapt on the bed and started vigorously shaking him by his shoulders. “Holy shit! Jason! How are you even still alive?”

Jason let out a deep, dramatic sigh and flopped backwards, hands folded neatly across his stomach. “Honestly? I'm not entirely sure I am. Juno is going to have to send a new representative from Camp Jupiter because I'm pretty sure I'm going to kill myself before summer.”

“So, what did you do?” Piper asked eagerly. “Like, that was the smoothest opening ever. I mean, it was probably an accident considering it came from Leo, but still!”

Jason's face crumpled like he had been worried about her asking that very question and now his world was ending. Again. He rolled over so his face was fully in Piper's pillow, and he muttered something. 

Piper narrowed her eyes and jabbed him between the ribs, pouting when he didn't even flinch. “Repeat that.”

Jason revealed half of his face, looking particularly pitiful with his big sad blue eye and his cheek all smooshed up. “I just said ‘Oh, cool. I have to go talk to Piper,’ and immediately left.”

Piper's jaw dropped. “You are literally worse than useless.”

“Trust me. I know.”

“Like? What is Leo even supposed to do with that? The dude rizzed you to hell and back and you just ditched him to go hang out with someone else? Like, what the fuck?”

Jason groaned and shoved his head under Piper's pillow. “Oh, gods. What if he thinks I think he smells or something?”

“He does smell,” Piper said unhelpfully, deciding it was high time to return to her puzzle. “I mean, do you know how much time he spends in that bunker of his? It's not like showers were invented in 18-whatever when they built that place.”

Jason sat up and cocked his head. “They weren't? When were they invented?”

“Well, technically the first patent for an indoor shower was submitted sometime in the late 1700’s, but they still required you to, like, fetch the water and use a hand pump or something. Then indoor plumbing was invented in the early 1800's, but that wasn't really a thing until rich people started putting it in their houses in the 30's and then the showers we know — which are electric showers, by the way — were popularized in the 60's and 70's.”

Jason stared at her. She stared back. “Why did you just know that?”

“Because I asked Leo why he didn't have a shower in the bunker, and he gave me a lecture on the history of indoor plumbing.” She laughed brightly. “Trust me, I gave you a very condensed version.”

“Okay, but why did Leo know all that?”

“Uh, because he’s Leo? He's a weird dude, Jason. I figured you'd know that, considering you spend all your free time mooning over him.” She blinked big, sad, wet puppy dog eyes at him and then tipped her head back and let out a warbly, pathetic howl. She locked eyes with him. “That's you whenever Leo ignores you. By the way.”

“Do you remember back when you hated me? Those were good times. Can we do that again?”

She gave him a sharp grin and thumped him between the eyes. “No can do, Weather Boy. You should have thought about that before you imprinted on Leo. We're a package deal. If you want Leo, and everyone with eyes knows you do, you get all this, too.”

“The only difference is that, usually, you’re allowed to decline the cheap, free gift that nobody ever really wants.

Piper threw one of her marbles at him and stuck out her tongue when he caught it.

Jason sighed and flopped back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. He ran his fingers over the smooth metal ball, digging his fingernail into the neat little 6 carefully etched into it. “Seriously, though. What am I supposed to do about Leo? What if he's mad at me? What if I hurt his feelings or something?”

“He won't stay mad at you for long, if he's mad at you at all,” Piper promised. “Leo is as mildly obsessed with you as you are with him. Plus, everybody knows you have the social skills of a brick. He probably wrote it off as that.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“You should be thanking me!” she protested. “I just told you Leo's obsessed with you and you're caught up on the objectively true evaluation of your social prowess. You're the one focusing on the wrong thing here.”

“Leo's not obsessed with me,” Jason said, rolling his eyes.

“But you are obsessed with him?”

“Obviously.”

“Loser,” Piper grinned. She waited for him to respond, but he just kept staring at the ceiling like a horrified puppy, so she continued. “Seriously, though. You just need to talk to Leo. You mentioned hurting his feelings? Well, the only way to un-hurt his feelings is by talking to him. Otherwise he's just going to dwell on it and eventually decide that he did or said something wrong and you leaving him is somehow his fault.”

Jason visibly cringed, which Piper deemed to be the correct answer. She put down her puzzle and turned to face Jason properly. “I've decided to help you. You're welcome.”

Jason squinted at her, and Piper wondered if he needed glasses. He squinted a lot. “Help with what?”

“Leo. Duh. What else?”

“Well, I wouldn't say no to you actually helping me with head camper duties when—”

Piper slapped her hands over her ears and shouted, “Lalala! I can't hear you!” She glanced up to see Jason grinning at her, his smile pulled so wide that she could actually see the tiniest glint of his teeth. She blew a raspberry at him, which just made him smile even wider. She threw another marble at him, and he caught that one, too. “Anyway. I've decided I'm going to help you woo Leo.”

“Who even says ‘woo’ anymore?”

“Do you want my help or not, Bolt Boy?”

Jason looked at her skeptically. “You're sure you can help? You're not exactly batting a thousand in the romance department.”

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, nothing. Completely unrelated, how are those mythology lessons with Annabeth going?”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Fuck you.” He just gave her a blissfully innocent smile and she waved the words out of the air. “That's irrelevant. I can help you with Leo.”

“You sure?”

“Of course,” she scoffed, confidence oozing from her tone. “I'm a daughter of Aphrodite and Leo's best friend. I was practically born for this. I know what im doing.”

The list of things Piper didn’t know grew every day. She didn't know what an emulsifier was. She didn't know most of the state capitals or where a good third of them were on the map. She didn't understand the purpose of logarithmic functions or what kind of sick bastard invented imaginary numbers, no matter how many times Leo explained it to her. She didn't know how she was going to get Leo and Jason together, and she certainly didn't know how she was going to actually convince Drew to help her instead of laughing her out of the cabin.

Piper hopped up on Drew's bed, and gave her a wide, winning smile. Drew glanced up from her magazine, and looked Piper up and down, her gaze heavy and distrustful. She blew a gum bubble. “What do you want?”

“Have I ever told you that you're the best big sister ever?” Piper asked earnestly. “And that I'm so glad we get to share a cabin?”

“No.”

“Oh, good. Because that would be a lie.”

Drew reached up and covered Piper’s whole face with her hand and shoved with a surprising amount of force, sending Piper tumbling to the floor with a startled yelp.

Piper was undeterred and hopped back up on the bed. “Anyway, I need your help with something really important.”

Drew looked her over again, but this time she actually seemed interested instead of suspicious. Well, she was still a little suspicious, but she was always suspicious of Piper. It was in everyone's best interest to always be a little suspicious of Piper and Leo. Then she grinned and blew a sinister gum bubble. “Is this about that pathetic crush your blonde friend has on your short friend?”

Piper opened her mouth to deny the claim. Then she closed it. Then she opened it again. And she closed it once more. Finally she just settled for giving her a withering frown. “They have names, you know.”

Drew's grin widened, and Piper was suddenly reminded of her grandfather's stories about Coyote Trickster with his sparkling eyes and smile with too many teeth. “I know.”

Piper huffed and crossed her arms. “Look, are you going to help me or not?”

“And what do you want me to do?” Drew scoffed, rolling her eyes. 

“I promised Jason I’d help him get together with Leo, but I have no idea how,” Piper admitted begrudgingly. She figured she might as well play her most obvious card first, and she looked at Drew with wide eyes and let her voice go sweet and plaintive. “Will you please help me? You know more about romance and stuff than anyone. There’s no one who could do it as well as you.”

Drew looked obviously pleased with herself for a split second before she gave Piper an impressed nod. “That was good, but you sounded a little too whiny. Also, be careful with compliments. Only use them if you know they’re going to work.”

“I figured with how much of an egoist you are, it wouldn’t hurt.”

Drew blew another bubble. “Do you want my help or not?”

“Yes, please.”

Drew considered her for a moment. “And what’s in it for me?”

Piper faltered, cursing herself for not thinking of that before. Of course Drew wasn’t going to help her with no incentive. If she did, Piper would probably find Annabeth and demand to know if body snatchers and shapeshifters were real and something she’d need to worry about. There had to be something she could offer Drew, but nothing really came to mind. Drew was one of the only campers in the Aphrodite who wasn’t obsessed with Tristan McLean, so she couldn’t use that. Charmspeak obviously wasn’t going to work, and Piper didn’t actually own anything that Drew couldn’t easily get her hands on. Whatever it was, it would need to be a favor. Something Piper could do or get away with that Drew couldn’t for whatever reason.

Once again, Piper felt like someone had thrown the shoe of divine romantic clarity directly at her forehead.

“I can make sure we have more activities with the Hephaestus cabin,” she smirked. 

Drew hesitated for just a moment and Piper had to resist the urge to fist pump prematurely. She apparently didn’t manage to quash it completely because Drew sneered at her. “We both make the schedule, Garbage Girl. I can swap activity slots with people just as easily as you can.”

“I mean, yeah, of course you can,” Piper admitted, though her victorious grin never faltered. “But what, exactly, are you going to tell people when they ask why you want to swap? My best friend is in that cabin and everyone knows it. What’s your excuse?”

“Whatever,” Drew scoffed. She sucked her teeth for a second then said, “What makes you think that I’d even want to spend more time with them?”

“Well, the fact that I thought you were going to barf at the idea of playing Capture the Flag until I told you Nyssa was going to be there for one,” Piper cooed. “What was that you were saying earlier? Something about a pathetic crush?”

Drew turned maroon and shoved Piper off the bed again. “Shut the fuck up before I make you.”

Piper made obnoxious kissing sounds from the floor. “Oooooh, Nyssa! You’re so pretty and strong! Would you pretty please pick up heavy stuff so I can drool all over myself? Nyssa, I’m soooo in love with youuuuu!”

“I’m gonna kill you!” Drew shrieked at her. She hurled her pillow at Piper, but Piper just snatched it out of the air and dropped her chin on the edge of the bed with her smarmy little grin. Drew looked furious. “You’re so annoying.”

“I can live with that.”

“Not if I have any say in the matter!”

Piper rolled her eyes. “Look, are you gonna help me or not?”

Drew continued to scowl and Piper honestly thought for sure that she’d refuse, but then she puffed out a sigh. “Fine. On one condition.”

“Other than helping you woo the love of your life through exposure therapy?” The look Drew gave her made her teeth click shut. “Continue.”

“You have to quit bailing on spa days with the rest of the cabin.”

“What?” Piper whined. “No! Why? That’s so lame, I don’t wanna do all that junk.”

“That’s exactly why you need to do it. You’ve got to learn how to actually relate to others,” Drew said seriously. “Any time someone isn’t the exact same type of freak as you and Leo, you shut them out. You don’t hang out with anyone in the cabin, unless it’s the stuff that you care about. Trust me, this is for your benefit.”

Piper scowled, but she couldn’t really argue with Drew when she was right. “Fine. Whatever. I’ll play dress-up with you guys if I have to.”

“A little less condescending, sweetheart,” Drew said, pinching her cheek. “Besides, you may find out that you actually like it. You are a daughter of Aphrodite, after all.”

Piper wrinkled her nose, but didn’t protest. Jason owed her big time. 

Piper knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that in some ways she was a fount of useless knowledge. She knew the origin of the phrase “good bye”, and the history of “oh my god.” She knew how planes stayed up in the air and how boats stayed on the water and submarines went up and down. She knew the three most popular dog breeds in America, and the most popular names for them. She knew every word to every song in O Brother Where Art Thou and Cats Don’t Dance.

And she always knew where to find Leo.

“I have something for you!” Piper announced at the top of her voice as she bounded into the Bunker.

Leo sat up straight in shock, swearing viciously when he accidentally smacked the back of his head on the shelf above his drafting table. He scowled at her and rubbed his head. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“According to various school counselors, lack of parental attention,” she said blithely, hopping up to sit on the desk next to his blueprints. She squinted down at them. “Whatcha working on?”

“Plumbing,” Leo groaned. “Believe it or not, Greek triremes were invented before indoor toilets, and I am not using an outhouse again.”

Piper wrinkled her nose. “Can’t you just do what cruise ships do?”

“Considering most of them just dump it into the ocean, and this thing is supposed to fly, no.”

“Okay, well, what about planes?”

“You ever wonder why planes can only be in the air for so long before they land? That’s part of the reason why.”

“Huh.” Piper frowned in thought. “Well, good luck with that.”

“The support you offer is overwhelming, truly.”

She stuck her tongue out at him. “Anyway, I have more important stuff to talk about.”

“More important than finding a way to keep our future home of multiple months from flooding with human waste?”

“Obviously.”

Leo snorted and rested his chin on his hand as he looked at her. “Alright then. Show me what you’ve got.”

“Ta-da!” She thrust out her hand, a colorful beaded bracelet sitting proudly on her palm. “I finished your bracelet.”

Leo took the jewelry with a grin, rubbing his thumb over the shiny red and gold and orange beads. Along one side was his name, and the other said “Commander Toolbelt” with a little dragon and hammer charm in between them. “Sick. Put it on me.” 

Piper did as she was told and carefully fastened the bracelet to his wrist with a complicated knot Lacy had taught her. “There. Now you can never take it off. You’re welcome.”

Leo investigated the bracelet again, now that he was wearing it, then his gaze flicked to her wrist. “Where’s yours?”

She shrugged. “I’ve kinda given up on making mine and Jason’s. Our schedules never line up long enough for us to work on them.”

Leo’s mouth pulled down in a frown. “That sucks.”

She shrugged again. “It’s honestly not a big deal. If it really matters so much to you, we can all go to Claire’s and get a proper matching set.” Leo looked like he wanted to protest, so she pushed the conversation forward. “So, you started doing memory stuff with Clovis, right? How’s that going?”

Leo’s frown deepened, but now he looked more frustrated than upset. “Hard to say, really.”

“Are you remembering stuff?”

“Kinda.” He shook his head. “Tía Callida told me that my memories are there, I just have to find them. I can remember everything from Wilderness, but only if I’m, like, prompted. Even then, a lot of times Jason’s still there and I have to think really hard to make him fade away.”

Piper hummed. “What do you remember?”

Leo thought for a moment, then he grinned at her. “You remember that time we went on a field trip to the movies?”

Piper snorted. “If by ‘field trip’ you mean when you set off a sleeve of firecrackers in the teachers’ lounge so we could sneak out, and then we got picked up by the cops, yes, I remember.”

Leo’s grin widened. “Details, details.”

Piper giggled at him before she heaved a soft sigh. “I’m glad you’re remembering. Wilderness sucked, but it sucked less with you.”

“Yeah,” Leo said quietly, smile still in place. “Me, too.”

They were quiet for a moment before Piper cleared her throat. “Hey, do you have any idea what happened to Joanne? I thought she was supposed to be out here working with you, but I just saw her crying on the stairs of the Tyche cabin.”

Leo looked horrified. “Wait, she was crying?”

“Uh, yeah?” Piper furrowed her brow. “Why? Do you know something?” Leo buried his face in his arms and muttered something Piper couldn’t hear, so she jabbed him between the ribs. He had the decency to yelp, unlike some people Piper could mention. “Repeat that.”

Leo picked his head up, looking miserable. “It’s my fault, I think. But I didn’t know she’d get that upset! She seemed fine when she left!”

“That answered approximately zero questions, in case you were keeping score.”

“She was in here earlier, and we were spitballing some possible magic solutions for some various logistical issues,” Leo sighed. “Everything was going great, but then she asked if we could sit together at the campfire tomorrow night.”

“Okay? And? She seems nice, I’m sure Jason would be fine with her sitting with us.”

“That’s what I said!” Leo shouted, throwing up his hands. “But then she got all awkward and quiet and said that she wanted it to be just us.”

“That doesn’t seem possible, considering the whole camp is gonna be there.”

“Piper, she was asking me on a date!”

Piper’s jaw dropped. “Wait, seriously?” 

“Yes, seriously!”

“I’m… guessing you said no?”

“Considering she’s apparently crying her eyes out right now, I’m gonna let you guess.”

Piper winced in sympathy. Joanne was sweet and pretty and funny and definitely didn’t deserve to have her heart cracked right in two over a rejection. Though, that did make Piper wonder. “Why did you say no? Isn’t she, like, exactly your type?”

“First of all,” Leo said, holding up a finger, “campfire is sacred Jason Piper and Leo Time. I’d better not catch you bailing on us, even if Annabeth dumps her boyfriend and drops to one knee in front of you.”

“Aye, aye,” Piper drawled with a sarcastic salute.

“Second of all, she isn’t really my type anymore, but I still would have said no even if she was. I’ve got other stuff to focus on.”

Piper’s ears pricked and she leaned forward eagerly. “Like what? Do you have a crush on someone else or something?”

“What?” Leo asked, looking startled. Then he rolled his eyes. “Oh, yeah, for sure. I am head over heels in love with the most beautiful lady in Camp. Her name’s the Argo II. Maybe you’ve met her.”

Piper rolled her eyes. “I’m being serious.”

“So am I.” Leo looked her dead in the face. “I mean it. I am absolutely not dating anyone until I get this boat off the ground.”

“Nobody?”

“Nobody.”

“What if it was someone really special?” she asked, trying to keep the edge of desperation out of her voice. “Someone who was, like, in love with you.”

“Nobody,” Leo repeated. “Piper, look. The hypothetical love of my life could waltz up to me right now and ask me out, and I’d still turn him down. I’m not interested in anything but this boat. Like, sure, after the big quest of destiny is done, maybe I’ll hit up anyone who asked and see if they’re still interested, but not until then. Got it?”

“Got it,” Piper said with a half-hearted smile. 

Leo nodded and turned back to his plans. “Good. Now, actually help me with this, okay?”

No more was said on the subject.

Piper could admit that there was a lot she didn’t know. She didn’t know how to conceptualize exactly how long a mile was. She didn’t know how radios picked the top 40 hits of the summer. She didn’t know how plasma TVs worked or why they weren’t used after being so popular for so long. She didn’t know where the Stolls got half the things they had for sale in the “black market canteen,” and quite frankly at this point she was a little afraid to ask.

What she did know is that right now she was in for a less-than-fun conversation. 

“So, I have good news, and I have bad news,” Piper announced as she sat down across from Jason at the Zeus table. “Which one do you want first?”

Jason pursed his lips as he seriously considered his options. “Bad news.”

Piper made a loud, incorrect buzzer sound at him. “Wrong answer, you’re getting the good news first.”

Jason scowled. “Why did you even bother to ask?”

“I respect the illusion of free will and choice.”

“You know,” he said, arching an eyebrow at her, “usually when people insist on giving the good news before the bad news, it’s because the bad news basically undoes the good news.”

“That’s a weird observation to make, and definitely not true. You’re crazy. And also wrong.”

Jason made a weird little chuffing huff noise that was probably a laugh. “Whatever. Just tell me.”

“Okay! Good news: Leo doesn’t have a crush on someone who isn’t you!” she said cheerfully.

“I didn’t know that was something I was worried about,” Jason said slowly, narrowing his eyes. “What’s the bad news?”

“Bad news is that he’s too head over heels in love with his boat to have a crush on anyone, including you.”

Silence fell. Jason stared at her. She stared back at him.

“What did you just say?”

Piper let out a huge huff of air. “So, there’s this Hecate girl, Joanne, right? Really pretty, great sense of humor, super nice, smart enough to actually help Leo with his plans. Total catch, probably out of Leo’s league, if we’re being honest.”

“Oh, but I’m in his league?”

“If he’s willing to play down, sure. Anyway. So, she’s been hanging out with Leo a lot in the Bunker, right? And, well, apparently, she asked him on a date.” Jason’s face puckered and Piper rolled her eyes. “Down, Sparky. No biting the nice girl. Besides, you don’t have anything to be jealous over because Leo said no.”

“Okay,” Jason said slowly. “This sounds like it’s part of the good news.”

“It is,” Piper confirmed. “The bad news is why he rejected her. He said that he’s too focused on building the Argo II to even think about dating. He said himself that if the love of his life asked him out, he’d say no. Not until this big whole quest is over.”

“Oh.”

Piper winced. She’d never realized just how dejected a single syllable could sound. “Yeah. I’m sorry, Jason.”

Jason sighed heavily. “No, it’s… fine I guess. I mean, it’s not like I was really planning on doing anything before you decided to help anyway.”

“At least this way you know he’s not gonna date someone else?” she offered, trying to sound encouraging.

“Yeah, that’s true.” He snorted. “Looks like you didn’t need to get Drew’s help after all. Sorry you wound up doing all that for nothing.”

“It wasn’t for nothing,” she protested. “I mean, even ignoring the why of doing it, it’s not like I had to do anything that bad. We just had a few extra activities with the Hephaestus cabin, and I had to do a spa day, which was actually pretty nice.” She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him. “Do not tell Drew I said that.”

Jason laughed, and gave her a bright grin. “My lips are sealed. Promise.”

Piper gave him a smile in return. “You wanna go cheer up by roasting some marshmallows?”

“I don’t even like marshmallows,” he protested, wrinkling his nose.

Piper’s grin widened. “I never said we were gonna eat them. Come on.”

Half an hour and one vicious two-person food fight later, Piper was glad that she knew how to get melted marshmallow goop out of her hair.

Piper liked to think she was pretty knowledgeable, at least about the stuff she cared about. She knew the names, types, and home region of all 1,164 (and counting!) Pokémon. She knew the best path to take up the climbing wall to avoid the lava, and she knew how to tuck and roll her landing when she had to jump off of said lava-covered climbing wall. She knew two Cherokee blessings by heart, and was learning a third. She knew Jason’s favorite food (spinach and chicken lasagna) and Leo’s favorite Transformer (Wheeljack, if he was limiting himself to G1 and Brainstorm overall) and that neither of them particularly liked waking up early, but Jason’s habits were too engrained and Leo often just forgot to sleep so they were almost always the first ones at the Pavilion for breakfast. 

She also knew the exact angle Annabeth furrowed her eyebrows at when she realized she was being ignored.

“Are you distracted about Jason again?” Annabeth demanded. 

Piper winced and buried her face in her arms on the desk. “Yeah. I’m sorry. It’s just… a lot’s going on right now, I guess.”

Annabeth made a soft, sympathetic noise in the back of her throat. She reached out and started stroking Piper’s hair and it took all of Piper’s self-control to not spontaneously combust. “I’m guessing this is about whatever it was last time?”

“Mhm.”

“Well,” Annabeth said slowly. “I don’t know if it’s any of my business, but I’m willing to listen, if you’re willing to share.”

Piper bit her lip in thought. Was it any of Annabeth’s business? Well, no, but Piper needed help, and Annabeth was the smartest person she knew, other than Leo, and he was obviously not an option. Maybe if she kept it vague enough, it would be fine to get a little advice. “So, it turns out you were right about Jason having a crush.”

“But not one on you.”

Piper couldn’t help but snort. “Definitely not. Anyway, so we talked about it and he was going to confess – I even convinced Drew to help – but I… learned something recently that makes it really likely that a confession would not go well.”

Annabeth hummed. “Is this about Clovis? Because I’m absolutely sure Clovis would be open to a confession.”

Piper could almost hear a cartoonish record scratch. She whipped her head up. “I’m sorry, did you just say Clovis?”

“Um, yes?” Annabeth frowned. “Is that not who Jason has a crush on?”

“No! What the hell? Why would you even suggest anything like that?”

“Because I see them talking to one another every week!” Annabeth said defensively. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Piper asked, eagerly leaning forward. “Come on, you’ve gotta spill.”

“I just… thought they were flirting,” Annabeth explained, somewhat sheepishly. “At least, Clovis is definitely flirting with Jason. Jason mostly just stands there, looking like a tomato.”

Pieper cackled, and Annabeth giggled in tune. “Oh, my god. This is the best thing you could have told me.”

Annabeth propped her chin up in her hand. “Okay, then, so obviously we’re not talking about Clovis.”

“Well, we weren’t. This might just make me change my mind.”

Annabeth reached over and thumped her between the eyes. “Focus,” she chided. “Now, tell me what happened with Jason.”

That sobered Piper right up. “Well, like I said, Jason told me about his crush, and we were in the middle of putting together this whole thing so he could confess.”

“But whoever it is told you they didn’t like him?”

“Not… exactly,” Piper said slowly. “It’s more that they’re not interested in dating right now because they’ve just got a lot on their plate.”

“Okay, are they upset about Jason having a crush on them?”

“Uh, no? They have no idea.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

Piper paused and looked at Annabeth. “Huh?”

“What’s the problem?” she repeated. “If they don’t know about Jason’s crush, then it shouldn’t really matter, right?” When Piper just looked even more confused, she continued her explanation. “This person, Jason’s friends with them, right?”

“Yeah. Pretty good friends.”

“And he’s had a crush on them for a while?”

“Ages, according to him.”

“And is he acting any different now than he was before he told you about the crush?”

Technically, yes, but it was actually just him going back to normal, and telling Annabeth that would probably give her away more than she already had. “No, not really.”

“Then, there you go,” Annabeth finished. “Jason keeps crushing on them, and the other person never knows, and the two of them just keep being friends. Nothing has to change.”

“But– But doesn’t that kinda suck?” Piper asked, trying not to let emotion waver her voice. “I mean, unrequited crushes hurt. Like, a lot.”

Annabeth nodded sympathetically. “It can suck and it can hurt, but it’s not like that’s the only thing there is.” She sighed a little wistfully and her eyes got misty. “For a while there, and I mean years, I had a crush on Percy and I thought for sure that he didn’t like me that way. I tried so hard to make it obvious that I figured he was just ignoring it to save me the embarrassment. And it did hurt. A lot. But I still wouldn’t trade that time for anything because it was time I got to spend with my best friend. Does that make sense?”

More than you know, Piper thought wryly. She gave Annabeth a smile. “Yeah, it makes a lot of sense. Seems like you have the answer no matter what the problem is.”

“Athena always has a plan,” Annabeth recited with a grin. Then she cocked her head to the side. “I’m guessing you want to go talk to Jason about all of this then?”

Piper’s smile widened, and she shook her head, ignoring the twinge of pain in her chest. “No. I think I’d rather spend what time I can with you.”

Annabeth blinked in shock for a moment before she grinned back at Piper, her face warm and bright as the summer sun. “Alright then. What do you wanna talk about next?”

“Tell me about Tartarus,” Piper decided. “That sounds complicated. Like, how is it a place and a guy? I don’t believe that you can actually make that make sense.”

Annabeth’s eyes lit up at the challenge and she dove head first into her explanation. Piper just settled down to watch and listen, her heart beating fast and content in her chest.

There was a lot in life that Piper didn’t know, especially now that she was a demigod. She didn’t know where the original deities came from or how Apollo’s chariot and the sun existed at the same time. She didn’t know what the Oracle of Delphi really was, or how it possessed teenage girls. She didn’t know much about curses and prophecies and destinies or how she was really meant to fit into it. She didn’t know how she was supposed to save the world with the help of her best friends and a handful of strangers, or what they were going to do if they failed.

What she did know was that Leo and Jason were absolutely terrible at stealth.

“You two can come out,” she called lazily as she looked out over the New York Sound from her seat at the end of their go-to dock. “I already know you’re there. You can’t sneak up on me.”

Jason’s head popped out of the bush first, scowling slightly. “How did you know we were here? We were quiet enough to get the jump on Annabeth a second ago.”

Leo popped up beside him. “I told you, man. I’ve never been able to sneak up on her. It’s like she’s got a sixth sense or something. We played hide and go seek one time when we were skipping class at Wilderness and it was a fucking nightmare.”

Piper laughed at them and gestured at the spots on either side of her. “Well, come on. I dunno what you guys were trying to do, but you obviously failed, so just get over here.”

They sat down on either side of her. Leo didn’t bother to take off his work boots, seeing as his legs weren’t long enough to reach the water, just like hers, but Jason toed off his sandals and set them in a neat stack so he could kick at the waves. She shared a glance with Leo and they simultaneously decided to refrain from sticking out their tongues at him.

“So! We are actually here for a reason,” Leo announced. “We need your help with something.”

She arched her eyebrows at him. “Yeah? What’s that?”

“Well, I was telling Jason about how you made a bracelet for me, but gave up on making the other two,” Leo started. “He agreed that it sucks.”

“It sucks,” Jason echoed like they’d rehearsed it.

“So, we decided to make the other two ourselves to complete the set,” Leo continued. “Only, my schedule doesn’t line up with Jason’s any better than yours did, so we couldn’t really work on them together. So, Jason suggested that we each take one, that way each of the bracelets was made by a different person.”

“It’s balanced,” Jason agreed.

“Okay,” Piper said slowly. “So, where are these bracelets, then?”

“I’m wearing mine,” Jason announced, proudly brandishing his wrist. His was just like the one she’d made for Leo, but with blue and purple beads. One side had his name and the other read “Superman” and there was a cloud charm on one side and the same dragon she’d picked for Leo on the other. 

“Very nice,” she said with an approving nod. She wrinkled her nose at the fastening knot. “Who tied it shut? This is shit.”

“I’m better at big, actually practical knots!” Leo protested. “Just untie it and do it yourself if it means so much to you, geeze.”

She stuck out her tongue at him, but did untie and refasten the bracelet to Jason’s wrist. “There, much better.”

“Which means that it’s your turn,” Jason said firmly. He pulled his other fist out of his jacket pocket and held out a bracelet in the center of his palm. “This is for you.”

Piper gingerly took the bracelet and held it between her fingers. The yellow and green beads gleamed up at her in their perfectly neat little pattern, and as she studied it, she realized that it was Morse Code, somehow snuck right under Leo’s nose. Thank you. “Beauty Queen” went up one side of the bracelet, just like the other two, and “Pipes” stood out proudly on the other, and nestled between them was that familiar dragon and a stick with a marshmallow on it. She laughed softly and blinked back tears. “Thank you.” Jason just beamed at her like she’d been the one to give him a wonderful gift. She shook her head and held out her wrist. “Put it on me. I obviously can’t trust Leo to do it, and I can’t do it one-handed.”

Leo blustered out his protests and Jason chuckled as he did as he was told. The knot he used wasn’t exactly the same as the one Lacy had taught Piper, but it was just as neat and secure, so she figured it was alright. “There,” he announced when he was done. “You’re all set.”

Piper held up her hand so she could watch the way the sun glittered on the beads and shiny gold dragon charm. “Now we all match,” she said.

Beside her, Jason and Leo both held up their bracelets the same as her. “A whole set of three,” Leo commented.

“A team,” Jason said decisively.

As Piper sat there, she thought to herself that there was still a lot she didn’t know, but she didn’t really think that mattered. She knew the important stuff. She knew what she was capable of. She knew that Leo was brilliant and Jason was brave. She knew that they’d always be there for her, and that she would never be alone again. She knew that they loved her and she loved them and that so long as they stayed together, nothing could beat them.

And she figured that was probably enough.