Beyond All Expectation (Percabeth)

Chapter 17: The Argument

Percy POV:

I used the money Paul had given me on a taxi, and 20 minutes later I found myself outside of Annabeth's bookstore. I paid the driver, sprinted out of the car and immediately bumped into none other than Piper McLean. 

"Ow! Hey! Wait, Percy?" She stood back, massaging her arm. "That hurt."

"Oh, sorry Piper," I said awkwardly. "What are you..."

"...Doing here? I was about to ask you the same thing," she frowned. 

"Oh, I um needed to buy a book for... for Estelle. For her birthday," I stuttered. 

"Her birthday's in March," Piper narrowed her eyes. 

"Right, sorry, I meant Christmas."

"Christmas is in three weeks."

"Exactly, I'm doing my Christmas shopping," I smiled. 

"You usually don't do Christmas shopping until Christmas Eve."

"I'm a changed man, I've decided to be prepared this year."

"Okay... so... what happened to your date with Rachel?" She looked me up and down as if to say 'I've got you now'.

"Well, you know... it was Rachel," I sighed. "I just... couldn't go through with it. I think she was in the middle of telling me how rich she was when I left."

A smile spread across Piper's face. "Phew," she let out a breath of relief. "You know I don't think she's right for you."

"I should listen to you more."

"Nope, turns out I should listen to you more. I just found out that Luke-"

"-Hey, look, you know I love gossip as much as the next guy, but can we talk about this later? I really need to see- um, to get this book for Estelle."

Piper frowned and looked back at the store. "You're out of luck anyway. The person in there just closed the store."

"B-But it's supposed to close at 8!"

She stared at me suspiciously again. "Yeah... I know. But she closed early. Sorry, dude. You'll be fine anyway, you've got loads of time before Christmas."

I looked over her shoulder at the store door. "I-Is someone still in there?"

"Yeah... but it's closed so I wouldn't go in. Hey, Percy, where are you going?" She yelled, but I had already pushed passed her towards the door. When I pushed against the handle, the door swung open with a little ding and I let out a sigh of relief. "Percy! Don't go in!"

"I'll catch up with you later, Pipes! Bye!" And I closed the door behind me. 

The store was silent, apart from the distant sound of boxes being moved from the back of the store. I followed the noise, walking slowly, until I came across a door that was slightly ajar. When I peered through the gap, I saw Annabeth inside, sorting through a stack of books in a crate. Her back was to me, and I could see that she was wearing her cap. She was moving rigidly... almost as if she was crying. 

"Um, hello?" I cleared my throat. She jumped but did not turn around. 

"We're closed! Sorry, I'm going to have to ask you to leave!" Her voice was shaking. She was definitely crying. 

"Um, actually, Annabeth... it's me," I sounded nervous in my own ears. "Um, Percy."

She turned quickly. The first thing I noticed were her eyes, swollen and bloodshot, and the tear that streamed down her cheeks. But then her hands shot up to her face and covered her from my view. I looked down awkwardly.