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A pebble flew through her window. Another one. A third.
Piper looked at them for a second before shutting her book with a snap and jumping off her bed, grabbing Katropris and walking over to her window and looking down. The yard was dark but she could make out the form of a person. Man. Teenager. Someone whom she knew quite well.
“That’s unnecessary!” she shouted. “The window’s open, Jason.”
“Sorry!”
“Just come to the door. My dad’s out.” Again. He went for walks, to clear his head. He’d gone again tonight, after pushing away his dinner, after a day of meetings, and dealing with lawyers, tax men, and paparazzi who wanted a piece of him at his lowest point. When the sun set, and he didn’t dress up, he could walk around unimpeded by being recognised. He was able to be a man on the street, and not Tristan McLean.
She wished she could throw off Piper McLean like that. Maybe once they went to Oklahoma, but she would be a demigod for her whole life. If she opted for reincarnation once she died, she hoped she would end up as a regular mortal, who didn’t need to know about the Greek or Roman gods, or monsters. She didn’t want to have to think about if her new sub wanted to kill her or just teach her geometry, if that was just someone walking on the street outside her house, or if she was going to have to fight for her life for the third time in a week.
She opened the door, “What’s up?”
“May I come in?”
She pulled it wider, “Sure.”
He walked in like he didn’t belong there. Like he hadn’t lived there for months when they had been dating, when they had been trying to settle into normal school and normal life, and being regular teenagers in a semi-regular relationship, and she had been figuring out that with time and space to think about what she wanted, and without an adrenaline shock every five minutes and gods constantly breathing down her neck, that she didn’t want Jason like that.
“Do you want something to drink?”
He looked at her, his eyebrow raised.
“What?” she shrugged, half defensive. “It’s what you do when someone comes to your house.”
“Right,” he coughed slightly. “Do you have tea?”
“Jason,” she said. “You know we have tea. So much tea. What kind do you want?”
“English breakfast?”
She started walking into the kitchen, gesturing at him to follow her, “On it.”
They loitered around the kitchen island. Jason still stood like a soldier, she thought. She almost wanted to say at ease, so he wouldn’t be so tight in the shoulders, or do something more natural with his hands than having them lie completely flat at his sides. He looked different, and it took her a minute to put her finger on what it was, “You’ve had a haircut?”
He patted the top of his scalp, only half an inch long, his locs completely gone, “Yeah, I, uh, wanted a fresh start.”
She tried not to resent his awkward smile and swallowed past the lump in her throat instead, “It looks nice.”
“Thanks.”
Piper inspected her nails. Jason coughed. She checked the ceiling. He tapped his fingers on the table.
The kettle switched itself off and she breathed a sigh of relief, getting off her stool to make the tea. The silence was as bad as a monster, holding them close enough to suffocate, strangling them so they couldn’t even scream for help.
“Thanks,” he muttered when she handed him his cup, black with no sugar, and slightly on the over-stewed side.
“No problem,” she said, pouring milk into her own, deciding to bite the bullet. “So.”
His eyes flicked up to her, “What?”
“Why did you come here, Jason? Was there a monster? Do you need my help?”
He shook his head. They only had the counter lights on in the kitching, making the black marble countertops glow softly golden, but she could see the way the discomfort spread through him, making his eyes narrow and jaw clench, “It’s stupid now. I’m sorry,” he put his cup down. “I didn’t mean to waste your time.”
“You’re here already,” she said. “And you’re not wasting anyone’s time. I just- you know we’re still friends, right? Even though we’re not-” dating anymore.
“Yeah,” he said, his voice cracking a little. One of the lights flickered and she took a moment to look away from him, and at that instead, trying to catch her breath. There wasn’t any reason that this had to be so difficult. They were friends. They had been since he’d woken up next to her on the bus, and she had gotten the chance to get to know the real Jason. “I know.”
She tried to drink her tea, pass the time while he collected his thoughts, but it scaled her tongue and she had to put it back down.
“I missed you,” he said, looking down. “I know we’re not together anymore but it doesn’t mean- we’re the only two demigods out here. I don’t think there’s anyone else who would… get it, I guess. I wanted to come by and see you, one more time.”
“Yeah,” she said, trying to clear the heavy feeling in her chest. “I guess so.”
“I had a nightmare again,” he continues. “From before. My memories aren’t all… back yet, but I think it was about Mount Tam. I was fighting a titan. I lost.”
“Jason-” she reached forward but he flinched back. “Sorry.”
“No,” he said, putting his hand forward so it could brush hers. “I know you don’t want to anymore. I’m trying not to get the wrong idea.”
She nodded, her throat tightening, “Thanks. I’m sorry I can’t-”
“Don’t be,” he insisted. “It’s not the end of the world. We have time now. The rest of our lives, if we’re lucky. We should be figuring out these things. If it doesn’t work then it doesn’t work. That’s what it is. We get to decide who we are, not our parents. Not any gods.”
She listened out for the roll of thunder, or a warning sound, but it never came. They weren’t important enough to eavesdrop on right now. It was surprisingly comforting.
“Finish your tea,” she said. “Then we can go make up the spare room. You can go back to school in the morning.”
He drained his cup, and rinsed both of them, completely focussed on his task. Then he followed her out of the kitchen. She could almost feel the bubble around them shatter when he did.