The Winged Warrior

Chapter 13

Lexi's POV

KNOCK KNOCK

I got up reluctantly from my beanbag, paused Call of Duty and answered the door to my room.

"What did you do to him?"

Luke was standing there, looking at me in way that made me uneasy. I could see disappointment and anger in his face, as though I'd hurt his feelings.

"What are you talking about?" I answered, slightly cautiously under his gaze. "Who are you talking about?" 

"It's been three days, Lex." Luke sighed, covering his face with his hands. "He hasn't slept, he hasn't eaten, he hasn't even left his room. What did you do?"

I was shocked to hear that Percy hadn't eaten anything in three days. He was obviously way more cut up about what I said than I thought. I almost felt guilty, but pushed it back down at once. It was Percy's fault.

"I didn't do anything!" I protested. "I bet he's just working on a new project again. You remember that time he was working on a water teleporter? He didn't come out of his room then, either. And you know we can go without sleep for weeks."

"Yeah, but not without food! You know for a fact how fast his metabolism is. He should be eating more often than us, not less." Luke was pale and I could see his eyes were bloodshot.

"What have you been doing all night?" I asked, half in concern but also to change the subject. "You look terrible."

"Oh, nothing. Nothing except hammering on Percy's door all night trying to get him to eat, or even see someone!" Luke shouted. "Nico's depressed about Will and Percy's depressed about you. All you do is sit around and pretend nothing is happening while I'm the one left to babysit them, try to get them to talk or eat or do anything at all except stare at the ceiling all day. I'm the one left to try to persuade Will to come to his senses and get back together with Nico, but I didn't bother with you."

"Why not?" I asked, almost hurt.

"Because you are one of the most stubborn people I know, Lex. Yes, you are one of my best friends and I wouldn't give you up for the world, but when you find the smallest possible problem you latch onto it and create a huge issue." Luke looked at me and I could tell he was being completely honest. "Remember that time you wouldn't speak to Nico for two months because he used your favorite sword for practice, didn't damage it and then polished and sharpened it afterwards?"

I remembered how angry I'd been, even though my sword hadn't cut so well in years.

"I'm very possessive, Luke. I admit that. I hate when people use or change something that's mine. It's mine, not theirs and I don't like them touching it. It's just... eeuugh. Weird. I'm sorry for leaving you to do all the work but I didn't want to talk to Percy. I was afraid he'd never say anything to me again."

Luke looked at me for a second, and then turned and walked away without a word.

Was I too immature? Was I not supposed to make a joke out of it?

I sat down on my bed slowly and put my head in my hands.

I had issues.

***

Luke's POV

After I'd talked to Lexi I ran back to the kitchen.

Shit.

My breakfast muffins were burning.

Ok, ok. You don't need to tease me, I like cooking. I don't know, when you're making cakes or pies or whatever, I like the feeling. It's just...nice.