Hold Me Close

Ch. 15

Percy

Leo stopped the car abruptly, making me jerk awake. I automatically looked back, seeing Annabeth was still asleep in the back seat with a small blanket over her.

She looked so tiny right then. She was curled in a ball, her head resting on the door of the car. She was clearly in a deep sleep, since she didn't wake up from Leo slamming the brakes, and I had to say she was pretty adorable.

I mean, she was always cute and pretty when she was awake, but seeing her sleep was a whole different thing. It was like she had finally relaxed, and it wasn't like when she had fallen asleep in the diner next to me. Then, she had been tense and guarded. Now I saw who she truly was, it felt like, without walls to protect her.

Leo met my eyes and, before I could feel embarrassed and defend myself by saying I was just checking on her, he opened his car door softly and waved for me to follow him.

We stood at the side of the road, my hands in my pockets and his fingers fidgeting with his shirt buttons. It felt like I was having a talk with a girl's dad, right then. But maybe that wasn't too far from it.

"Percy, what did you do?" Leo asked, scrunching his eyebrows together. I blanched.

"Um... I don't know." I said quietly, trying to step lightly, "Is this about Annabeth?"

"No, it's about Pedro." Leo laughed, "Of course it's about Annabeth!"

I looked down, suddenly worried. Worried that Leo would kick me out of this little adventure because... Because I did who-knows-what. Because Annabeth had finally started to warm up to me only to build her walls up again?

"You don't understand, Percy." Leo said quietly, "You just don't. You don't know what we've been through."

I had no doubt about that. Now that he said that, I was starting to think that maybe he was kicking me out. And I felt embarrassed that the first thing I thought after that was I'll never see her again.

"I know." I said, clearing my throat.

"Man," Leo groaned, rubbing his eyes, "You're not getting it!"

I scrunched my eyebrows together, looking over at Leo. He looked tired and worried, two things I'd never seen him wear so freely.

"What do you mean?" I asked quietly.

"Annabeth has had some... Troubles with boys." Leo said, "Don't tell her I told you."

It felt like acid was eating away at my stomach. "What kind of troubles?" My voice was low, heavy. I hoped that it was just normal teenage stuff.

"She'd had a few boyfriends." Leo took a deep breath, "Annabeth is one of those girls who don't kiss on the first date. In fact, I don't think she ever got to the point that she kissed one of them. She never really liked them that much." He paused to let that sink in and I prayed he wouldn't look over at me. My face was burning.

"Man," Leo sighed, "They were nasty. Each one that she dated ended up badly. Well, almost each. She dated a boy once and broke up with him because she was afraid." That seemed wrong, Annabeth didn't seem like the type to get truly afraid like that. She was the type to make other people afraid. And she was dang good at it too, from the short time I'd known her.

"She's pushed them all away. 'Them all' being boys. Except for me." Leo looked over at me as if to let it sink in.

"She's pushing me away..." I clarified, my face dropping slightly.

"I don't know why, Percy." Leo said, "But I think that it's because now... You can't leave."

That sounded like a line from a horror movie.

"I can't leave?" I asked, "What do you mean?"

"They've seen your face. They'll kill you." Leo shook his head, "She thinks she's dragged you into this and you'll be bitter to her, most likely. She thinks you'll hate her."

"I could never hate her." I disagreed. Leo grinned and my cheeks burned even more, "Y'know, she's a good friend." I tried to fix it but Leo only grinned more.

"I freaking knew it!" He laughed. I scowled at him.

"What?"

"You like her! Ha!" He was practically jumping around, acting like it was the most hilarious thing in the world. I wanted to curl in a ball and die, but I didn't say he was wrong.

The truth was? I did like her. So far, I liked everything about her. I liked the way she always glared when she was embarrassed and I liked her laugh and smile. They seemed like they could light up a room and made everything seem warmer. I liked that she could defend herself, but still let Leo protect her slightly like a brother would. I liked how she protected him as well. I liked the way she looked and how she looked at me. I felt pain at the thought that she would think I could hate her.

"It's okay, man." Leo grinned harder, "I can't say if she likes you too, but I'm glad that if she does you're a decent guy."

I was kind of hoping Leo would say she liked me, but my hopes fell. I didn't know either, I couldn't tell. I didn't know if she really liked me or not. But I wished she did. I wished that she'd just admit something about her feelings to me.

But I knew that wasn't going to happen. I had to get past her walls first. And I had to show her that not all guys were out to get her. That some of us could truly care. Like I did.

Even if she didn't like me back, that was the least I could do for the girl who had accidentally burned herself into my heart.