ᴄᴀᴠᴇ ᴄᴀɴᴇᴍ: ᴘᴀʀᴛ ɪɪ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴇʀᴄᴀʙᴇᴛʜ/ꜱᴏʟᴀɴɢᴇʟᴏ ᴘʀᴏᴊᴇᴄᴛ

xᴠɪɪɪ | ᴡɪʟʟ ꜱᴏʟᴀᴄᴇ ꜱᴜᴅᴅᴇɴʟʏ ᴜɴᴅᴇʀꜱᴛᴀɴᴅꜱ ᴛʜᴇ ɪᴍᴘᴏʀᴛᴀɴᴄᴇ ᴏꜰ ᴘᴇʀᴄʏ ᴊᴀᴄᴋꜱᴏɴ

Will needs fresh air. He'll find Raphael and take the hellhound for a walk; that's a decent excuse.

He pushes the button on the elevator, and then he hears footsteps coming down the hall. "I don't want to talk," he calls.

"But you promised," says Percy. "Please, Annabeth, I... I got us coffee."

Shit. Percy's here, and Will is in Annabeth's body. Of course, he thinks he's Annabeth. Why wouldn't he?

Will takes a cup of coffee from Percy's hand.

"So, uh..." Percy starts. He clears his throat. "Sorry, I'm awkward."

"Don't you want to save this for later?" Will asks, his voice catching in his throat. This can't be happening. There's no way this is real. He's about to have a conversation with Percy Jackson about sex that he did not have in the middle of a hotel hallway.

"No, I can't," he says. "I don't want to chicken out."

"Make it quick," Will says.

Percy sighs and rolls his sleeves up to his elbow. "I'm not going to lie and say I know for sure how I feel about you; that wouldn't be fair for either of us, but I know there's something between us I can't ignore. You had to have felt it too."

Every alarm is going off in Will's head right now. He cannot lose Annabeth. He swore he'd always be there for her, and he's not about to let another guy take advantage of her. She deserves the world, and if there's someone out there who can give it to her, then Will can confidently say he hasn't met them yet.

He looks at the guy in front of him. Percy's face is full of stubble like he's too lazy to take care of himself. Will appreciates everything Percy's done for him, but really, what can he do for Annabeth besides take her heart and trample all over it?

"I... didn't," Will says, his voice sounding meek, "and I'd prefer if we didn't bring this up again."

Percy's eyebrows furrow. "Wait, are you for real? Annabeth-"

"I'm done talking about this, Percy." Will steps into the elevator. "Thanks for the coffee though."

The doors close, and he takes a sip of the coffee. It's just the way Annabeth likes it. Well, the way she actually likes it. She'll say she likes her coffee black, and then go and dump a ton of sugar in it, and when that doesn't quite work, she'll pour some out into the sink and replace it with milk.

It's still not quite sweet enough for Will, but he needs the energy. Contrary to popular belief, he is an introvert. Arguments—hell, even just talking to people—really zap his energy. It's nothing some fresh air and a little alone time won't fix, though!

He takes another sip of the coffee and then his eyes widen. Is there nectar in this?

Maybe Percy isn't a total douche. Really, if Will thinks about it, he can't recall anything Percy did wrong other than being Annabeth's ex-boyfriend.

Will's one of those friends that hates everyone his best friends hate, and for a long time, that meant hating Luke, and Percy, and now trying really hard to show Annabeth that Drew is actually a cool person so that he doesn't have to hate her too.

So what's he supposed to do if his best friend suddenly can tolerate one of the people he's put in so much energy hating for her? This guy clearly cares about Annabeth; he knows her real coffee order for gods' sake!

Will's sort of a stubborn guy, but he knows when he's wrong. He should probably go apologize to Annabeth, wherever she is.

Shit, he left her alone in the bathroom after making it his life's mission to never abandon her.