A/N

For the record: I don't hate Piper and this isn't at all canon based, this is some fun writing. Though I have to admit that Piper isn't one of my favourites. Well I hope you like it and I really appreciate a vote and a comment will make my day. Thank you either way. 

Percy shouldn't have come to dinner.

Annabeth had insisted on him joining her and Piper's monthly dinner and although he had tried to not to, there was no escape. Annabeth invited him often to join them, but mostly he had something else to do or just told Annabeth that he didn't want to.

And now you may wonder why he didn't want to go, was it because of the girltalk or feeling left out? No. He just didn't like Piper to be honest and neither did she like him. And Annabeth knew this, they were 22 and knew Piper for five years by now.

It wasn't like he and Piper hadn't tried, like not a lot, but there were a few occasions, but it just didn't click.

But although they would never under any other circumstances hang out with each other, he and Piper were civil and she was at their place enough times and joined them for dinner and such. Percy just normally skipped these dinners that were out of the house.

But anyways, here he was at dinner at a restaurant Percy had never been, though Annabeth had told him that it was amazing. It was a Saturday night so it was quite busy and of course it was New York and all.

Piper was already there and stood up to hug Annabeth and give her a kiss on her cheek and greet Percy briefly too.

They all sat down and made some small talk, though Annabeth and Piper mostly did the talking between them. He didn't mind though.

They drank a lot. Mostly white wine, though they convinced him to share a round of beer with them. He had drunk his regular coke all night, since he didn't like alcohol and drank at all. Which sometimes made him insecure that Annabeth found him too much of a bore. Annabeth had assured him that he didn't have too, but he only smiled and drank the beer.

Everything seemed fine, the conversation was pleasant enough and he could just relax and listen in, with sometimes a joke he'd throw in. But then it happened: Annabeth got called from work and really needed to answer so walked outside. Leaving just the two of them.

"So Percy, so fun that you joined us." She told him, smiling.

"Yeah, Annabeth really wanted me to do so..."

"Well, fun either way." Her words slurred a little and she seemed a bit drunk. "And now that it's just the two of us, I want to ask you something."

Yeah, definitely drunk.

"Sure."

"Do you like me?"

He didn't answer right away. "Sure. You're Annabeth's best friend. I like you just fine."

"But you don't want to spend time with me."

"That's not true." Well kind of, but he couldn't really say that to her, could he?

"Come on, Percy, be honest."

And it was the beer that did it, as he wasn't used to alcohol in his system, that made him say, "It's not like you're my best friend, but I don't dislike you that much."

"So you do not like me."

"What do you want Piper, you're clearly drunk."

"That has nothing to do with it! I just want you to hear you say it. I want to hear you say how you don't like me and only think of yourself."

"Well fine, I don't like you that much Piper. Happy?" He said frustrated, he just wanted to leave at this point. He looked outside, but saw Annabeth still calling. Annabeth saw him looking and waved, mouthing 'sorry' and pointing to her phone. He smiled at her reassuringly.

He took a sip of coke and took a look at Piper, who seemed annoyed at the interaction between him and Annabeth.

"Look Piper, can we just leave this behind? Just forget it. I know you don't like me that much either."

"I have good reasons to dislike you. You- you have since the moment we met never made any effort to get to know us! You just decided that you didn't like us. You yelled at Leo and blamed him for everything, you fought with Jason and you never really made any attempts at talking to me."

"This is about me not getting to know you right away?"

"No! This is about you being selfish. You were too caught up with yourself and Hazel, Frank and Annabeth. Just Percy Jackson's own little world. Well, guess what? I think you're selfish. You are not the hero everyone thinks you are."

Percy didn't say anything at this for a while. Only looked her in the eyes, looked away and looked back before laughing. Of all things, Percy couldn't help but laugh. He didn't even feel that angry.

"I don't think you're wrong. To be honest, I feel quite selfish everyday and I am no hero, it's just a title that got shoved on me after some time. And I care deeply about Frank and Hazel and especially about Annabeth. And to be honest, yes, I didn't try that hard to get to know you. But did you? I don't recall so.Though to be fair, no. I don't like you that much. And I know you don't like me either. You've told Annabeth a million times." Percy recited calmly.

She raised her eyebrows at that, it seemed a surprise to her that Annabeth had told Percy.

"So we don't like each other that much," Or at all, Percy said, "I don't care. Just, let's keep it civil for Annabeth's sake." He proposed and she nodded, seeming very irritated.

After a few minutes of silence it was her turn to laugh.

"I can't believe you. You seem and pretend to be so perfect, but I see the cracks in the facade. Annabeth has told me some details. About Tartarus, about what you did down there. So I don't know why you keep pretending."

At this he slumped down in his chair a bit and let out a bitter laugh. "You will not believe it, but it is a part of who I am. I'm not perfect at all, the things I did, that part of me - that is not a crack, it's a giant black hole. But I keep it up, I keep living and being the other part of me for Annabeth, for my mother and everybody else I care about. I can't do that to them. So yeah, I think you're all caught up in Percy Jackson's little world. But I don't know what I did to you to make you so angry at me to attack me now. It's not just because I didn't talk to you right away, right?"

She didn't say anything to that.

"Perhaps I do though. I know you love her."

"Of course, she's my best friend."

"No, like love her. I know you're in love with Annabeth and begged her to be with you and leave me for you. And what you keep saying about me when it comes up."

"She told you that?"

"Yes and I don't care about it. But is that why you're so angry at me now? Because you want me gone?"

"Well it would be better for her if you were gone."

"I don't disagree with you. But Annabeth and I love each other and are together and you have to accept that."

"You know she's only with you because of what you've been through together. She only feels like she owes it to you to stay with you. She can't leave the one who fell down Tartarus for her."

A hit in the face would have hurt less than this. He didn't say anything at all, not knowing how to defend himself. He only took a sip from his coke and looked away, seeing Annabeth end the phone call. This also seemed to annoy Piper.

"I can't believe how 'perfect' you're being once again. You're so-"

He saw Annabeth walking up to them and interrupted her, "Let's keep it civil for Annabeth. Don't ruin this for her."

Piper opened her mouth to say something else, but couldn't as Annabeth already sat down.

"Hey you two. Sorry I had to leave, you know how it is with work. What were you talking about?"

"Oh nothing much." Piper answered and started a conversation with Annabeth. Percy didn't say anything or even try to and just ate, trying to block the voices out. Though he acted like Piper's words didn't hurt him, he couldn't help but think that she was right. Annabeth grabbed his hand from under the table and squeezed it gently, earning his attention. He didn't squeeze back though, making her worried.

"What is it, Percy?"

"Nothing. I just don't feel so good. I think I'm gonna go."

"What? Why? I really want you here and Piper does too."

Percy almost wanted to laugh at the irony. Almost.

"It's fine. You two can have a night together and I can hang out with my mom. I haven't seen her in a while." He reassured, kissing her cheek and already about to stand up. But Annabeth put a hand on his knee to push him back down. She squeezed it for reassurance, as she normally did, but he only grabbed her hand and pulled it off his knee, making her frown.

"We had dinner with your parents yesterday. Come on, Perce, stay. I would really like it if you're staying. And you don't mind, Pipes, right?" Annabeth grabbed his hand, the other one still on his knee and looked at Piper expectantly.

"I don't." She smiled politely, "But if he wants to go you can't stop him, Annabeth."

Annabeth looked him in the eyes and though he tried to avoid eye contact he failed miserably. She knew him too well.

"Okay, if you really want to go. But let me walk you out at least."

Percy nodded and finally stood up and said goodbye to Piper who was much better at acting and lying to Annabeth.

As soon as they were out of Piper's earshot Annabeth spoke up.

"What's wrong? I know something's up. I can see it in your eyes. I know you too good for this, Percy."

"Beth," he started, trying to think of what to say to her and not break her heart.

"Don't lie to me Percy. We promised not to lie or keep any secrets from each other."

"I don't want to tell you right now, it'll ruin your night and I don't want that. I can tell you later at home. Is that okay? You deserve a fun night, without me ruining your life with how selfish I am after all."

"What? What are you talking about? You're being weird. Just tell me right now. Are you sick? Did you have a flashback or anything?"

"No, it's..." he hesitated. "Just let it go Annabeth, you're already standing here with me way too long, she'll know."

"Who? Piper? What will she know?"

"It doesn't matter. I'm fine. Just go have fun with Piper. I love you so much, you know that right?" He had to try really hard not to cry. He knew it was stupid, but he just couldn't help it.

"Yes I love you too, you know that. But you're obviously not fine and it does matter. You're almost in tears and that never happens. When I left you were fine and now we're here. Something definitely happened and I want to know right now." She said firmly.

"I'm not getting into this right now. I have a headache and want to walk home and go to sleep."

She sighed, clearly frustrated with him. "Okay. We'll talk as soon as I get home. Be safe, love you." She kissed him and he did feel a bit better, but then she walked back in again and he was alone with his thoughts.

Yet walking home didn't make him feel any better. He waited for three hours for Annabeth to get home, but when she still wasn't back, he went to bed. With every minute that he spent thinking about their conversation and more specifically her words, he felt worse. Eventually he drowsed off in an unstable state of sleep. He was woken up later that night by Annabeth crawling into bed next to him.

"Piper is sleeping on the couch tonight. Sorry but she's even more drunk than at dinner and our place was closer. We'll talk tomorrow okay?" She whispered and kissed him softly before laying next to him.

He turned around and grabbed her by her waist, pulling her close to him and kissing her neck, smelling her lemon scented curls. "Good night, Wise Girl, love you."

She hummed in agreement and went to sleep.

The next morning he woke up earlier than she did and walked into their kitchen in his boxers, completely forgetting that Piper was asleep on the couch in their living room. As soon as he saw he practically sprinted back to their bedroom and put some sweatpants and a shirt on. A good start to his day.

He took a deep sigh and walked into the kitchen again. Starting to bake some blueberry pancakes and some coffee. Their kitchen was overlooking their living room, so he couldn't avoid Piper. As he turned the stove on, it was inevitable with all the sounds he was making.

She turned confused to him and seemed surprised, but recovered quickly. "Good morning. Want some blueberry pancakes?"

"Good morning. And no I'm fine."

"I already counted on you, so you're free to take it." He offered.

"Thank you." She stood up to take a plate from him and sat back down at the couch on the neatly made up bed that Annabeth for sure made.

"Uhm, about last night," Piper started, "are you going to talk to Annabeth about it? Because please don't. You know how she will react, she'll never forgive me."

He sighed, truly not wanting to deal with this right now. "I'm not going to lie to her, Piper. She already knows something is up. But I will not tell every little detail to her. I don't want to hurt her."

"Thank you, Percy." She sounded somewhat relieved.

"Don't know if you should thank me. I'm bringing this to Annabeth." He explained and walked away with two plates and cups of coffee.

"Breakfast in bed, how luxurious." Piper muttered.

He only smiled tightly and walked into the bedroom.

He sat down and put the plate on her bedside table and lightly shook her awake. "Good morning, beautiful."

"Good morning, handsome." She muttered, voice still heavy with sleep. "You're the best." She smiled as he handed her her breakfast.

He kissed her cheek as he sat down next to her and began eating from his own plate.

"So is Piper already up?"

"Yep, with her own plate."

"Did you two have fun last night?"

"Yeah, but I did miss you. Do you want to talk about last night now?"

"No, not really. We have company."

And so they ate their breakfast and eventually Annabeth went to Piper while he hung out in their bedroom, waiting for her to leave. Maybe it was childish to avoid her, but he really wasn't in the mood for it.

"You can come out." Annabeth joked as she poked her head through the door of the bedroom.

He joined her on the couch and took one hand in his, kissing it softly.

"So can we finally talk?" She asked, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and laying her head on his.

He sighed.

"I don't know what I should tell you."

"The truth to begin with."

"I don't want to hurt you."

"Well you're hurting me by lying, so just tell me."

"You know, sometimes I think that I'm too boring for you and holding you back. Like staying home most of the time, except for hanging out with Grover or having dinner at my parent's house almost every Friday instead of going to parties and drinking."

She wanted to say something, but he interrupted her. "And even if I'm not too boring for you, then you're only with me because of what we've been through. That you're only with me because I fell in Tartarus for you and well did all those other stuff for you and you for me. That you're only with me because you feel obligated." Maybe he would have rambled on even longer, all the fears he had been cramping up since last night coming out, but she interrupted him. She moved on the couch, now facing him, she looked hurt and confused.

"What? How can you even think this? What happened, last night before we left everything was alright. You told me you were the happiest you have been."

"It's just a thought that occurred to me at dinner last night."

"But why would you think you're too boring for me? I don't care that you're not as outgoing, I love hanging out with you and I love you for who you are. And I am certainly not only with you out of obligation. I would've left a long time ago if that was the case. Of course the things you did for me made me love you even more. But I know with all my heart that I would've loved you otherwise too. You're it for me Percy."

"I'm sorry. I hate doing this. I just couldn't shake it off." He avoided her eye contact, but as usual failed miserably.

"No, it's good you're telling me. And now you're going to tell me what you and Piper talked about. Because I'm not stupid, Percy." She looked Percy straight in the eyes, encouraging him to tell her.

And so he did. He told her what Piper said to him and what he said to her. He didn't act like he didn't say anything back to her, though in his opinion his reaction was fine and not particularly out to hurt her.

Annabeth reacted exactly like he knew she would, she turned furious. More angry than she had ever even been at him.

"Beth, it's fine really. I don't care what she said."

"That's not true. Obviously you were upset." She started to pace angrily, grabbing her phone and probably calling Piper.

"She can't talk to you like what. She can't just hurt you and speak like she knows what I want. Like I'd want to be with her. It's you I want to be with. You know that right?" She suddenly walked over to him again. He stood up and took the phone from her hand, laying it down on the coffee table, and wrapped her in his arms.

"I know, Beth. I only want to be with you too. And I'm sorry I got insecure. She just got in my head. It all sounded so convincing."

"Yeah, that's kind of her thing. I'm just so angry. She was lying to me and saying all those horrible things to you."

"You need to forgive her. She's your best friend."

"I don't know if I can."

"Just give it some time. And in the meantime I hope that I can replace the position of best friend."

"You have been doing that for the past nine years. I love you, Percy." She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him softly. He wrapped her arms around her as well, pulling her even closer. Making it clear to himself that this was real and that she loved him just as much as he loved her.

"I love you, Annabeth." He muttered against his lips, before kissing her again.

After a while Annabeth and Piper made up, though Percy avoided her as much as possible. Though it was never forgotten what happened that night, they accepted each other for Annabeth. And when she would grab his hand under the table and give it a little squeeze when Piper stayed over for dinner, he smiled and gave it a squeeze back. 

A/N

Well I hope people don't hate me now, I really don't have anything against Piper, it was just an idea I had and wanted to write. So please don't hate me, haha. Well I hope you liked it and saw the "squeeze thing" I did there so it makes some more sense. Have a good day/night and thanks for reading!