Her Cowboy

Chapter 25

Percy agreed to celebrate his birthday only if I was there to do so with him.

With a roll of my eyes, I asked him how that was possible, seeing as both he and Doctor Apollo wouldn't let me out of this stupid hospital room until I was fully healthy.

So that's the reason why, on the morning of August eighteenth, I woke up to party streamers running the length of my room, a table with presents in the corner, and a cake on the counter next to me. And yes, everything was blue.

Barely a minute after I woke up, the door to the room opened and the whole clan tromped in—Poseidon, Sally, Paul, Malcolm, Jason, Leo, Frank, Hazel, Rachel, Mrs. O'Leary in Sally's arms, and last but not least, Percy.

A laugh was torn out of me as I sat up. "You were serious when you said you were going to decorate the room."

Sally replied with a smile, "A birthday is not complete without decorations!"

I shook my head, still chuckling as Percy came over to me, sitting beside me.

I held out my arms and gave him a hug, saying in his ear: "Happy Birthday, Seaweed Brain."

"Thanks, Annabeth."

"You know, you didn't have to do this. You probably would've had much more fun if you celebrated at your own house."

"Not without you, Wise Girl," he answered, leaning back and offering me a lopsided grin that made my stomach clench. I returned the smile.

"Let's get this party started!" Leo yelled, running over to the presents.

The next hour was filled with laughter, jokes, and presents. We decided to have cake before lunch, because after all, you never know when you're going to die. Live life while you can, right?

Percy had regained that sparkle in his eyes that had faded recently. He played with Mrs. O'Leary, joked with Jason, Leo, and Frank, and even had a nice conversation with Rachel.

He was in the midst of opening up Sally's present to him when I felt someone slide into the bed next to me. I looked over to a red-haired girl with bright green eyes.

"Oh, hey," I said, shifting to face her.

She narrowed her eyes, looking at me expectantly. "What did you two do?"

"What do you mean?"

"Something obviously happened between you two that put you at odds with each other." She didn't sound accusatory or jealous, just curious.

I sighed, twiddling my thumbs. Only Jason knew about the kiss between us, and I didn't really feel like repeating everything again. But for some reason I felt like I needed to still get it off my chest. I wanted to talk about it with another friend, and Piper wasn't here for me to spill.

So I told Rachel everything, making sure my voice was quiet so nobody would hear. They were all focused on the presents anyways.

Rachel listened intently. I told her everything from the day of the kiss to the argument during the horse lesson to me getting lost to the making up the other day. She sometimes would look away, at Percy, nodding absentmindedly while deep in thought.

When I finished, I waited with bated breath for what she was going to say.

"There's something more."

I frowned at her, saying in a baffled voice, "What?"

She pursed her lips, looking just as confused gazing at Percy. "There's gotta be something more to his motives of not being with you. I don't understand. Anybody could see he's crazy about you, you're crazy about him. I know, he may have needed some time, but... I don't know. It just doesn't sound like that's the only thing."