p: hey annabeth, it's piper

p: do you wanna go for drinks?

it's been approximately a week since the night of the concert. she had left me to stew in my own thoughts for six days. i focused on work. i tried to hang out with my friends. i spoke on the phone with my dad. i stuck to my schedule. i lived life as normal as i could live it. on the surface, order. under a few layers, chaos.

and now she texts me and wants to go for drinks.

a: when?

p: tonight

i think about it. today is friday. if i end up staying up late, at least the next morning will be a saturday- bro day with percy. no work to be done that day.

a: okay, drinks it is

p: fuck yeah!

p: can't waittt

i put my phone down and go back to work, my ears buzzing. i feel strange, working as though nothing was wrong.

"well, she's gone," i muttered to myself. "what now?"

it was the night after she had moved. the sky was raining a quiet and gentle rain. the black pavement outside was slick with water, glossy and reflecting the yellow streetlights. i half wished to see piper standing there below like she did last night, calling out my name. her shirt and hair slowly growing damp with the rain. telling me that she wasn't leaving. telling me that she would never leave.

but thoughts like that are what gets me into this type of trouble. i try to push them aside.

she's probably long gone by now. she's probably already there in california. i wonder if she's thinking about me as much as i am about her. god, i fucking hope so. i hope she's hurting as much as i am. it's a selfish, prideful thought, but it's genuine. the world isn't fair. if we hurt, we hurt together.

before she left, she suggested that we exchange numbers. she said she'd call every night. text me every morning.

"you're never coming back, are you?" i asked.

she shook her head sadly.

"then there is no point,"

no point because these long distance things don't work. eventually, she will adjust to l.a. and talking to me will become a chore. i'll hear her become disinterested slowly over the phone as her new life excites her. i won't be able to relate to her anymore. eventually, our calls will become less frequent. eventually, we'll just stop. and it'll hurt me the whole way through.

no, easier to hurt for a night than hurt for an eternity like that.

"maybe for the best, i guess," piper replies sadly.

i sigh and close the blinds. i crawl into bed and pull the comforter over me. i stare at the ceiling, mapping out my game plan.

tomorrow, i'll return all my romance books to the library. i'll go back to working on the summer reading assignment i had let piper distract me from. i'll go for a run in the morning on the way to the library. i'll call my friends and tell them nothing about what happened. we'll just watch legally blonde and throw popcorn at eachother.

i close my eyes and try to forget piper mclean. i abandon all love the same place i found it- outside the bedroom window. i don't cry. i just listen to the sky do it for me as i turn my thoughts over and over again in my head. they thrash and writhe in there, constantly churning. why should i let myself be caught up in this? it was just an almost romance. a not-quite-there. that was the worst part. it wasn't even real enough for me to mourn properly. i close my eyes and stare at the darkness under them. it rains all night and i lie awake, listening to it.

"annabeth chase~" piper said, grinning, giving me a glass of something.

"you already drunk?" i ask her, raising an eyebrow. "i just got here,"

"pssh, no, i'm getting drunk. and i've been here for at least five minutes," she answered defensively. she's wearing a tight sweater and a mini skirt that must be agony to be wearing on a cold night like this.

i drink whatever the hell was in the cup. it's harsh. i wince as it goes down. well that's my one out of my two drink limit. i'm not going to be drunk. the last thing i need is a drunk night and a hangover. plus, piper's about to get real sloppy. someone has to babysit her.

piper chugs what's in her cup as well. she winces as it goes down. she grins at me. "another one down!" she places the cup on the counter. "i'm a white wine type of gal, but not tonight."

"why're you getting drunk?" i ask her.

"because we are at a bar and it is friday! and new york is smelly and cold and this is the secret to living here..." she brandishes her empty glass in my face.

"crippling alcoholism?"

"percisely!" piper turns towards the bartender. "would you be a dear and get me a, uhhhh, just whatever. and for annabeth-"

"nope, i'm good,"

"just give her something to hold and sip so she looks less stupid," piper winks at the bartender.

i watch the bartender make the drinks carefully as piper drums her fingers on the counter to the beat of the music. the bar is quite loud with conversation. when the bartender gives her the drink she starts drinking immediately.

"hot damn, that's good!" she says after drinking half of it.

i carefully sip what's in my cup.

"annabeth, let loose a little!" she pleads.

i pull out the hair tie in my hair and let my curls tumble over my shoulders.

"better?"

piper nods her head to the sound of the music, slowly getting tipsier by the minute.

"so why did you wanna see me?" i ask.

"i missed you," she said, her speech getting more distorted as she drinks more.

"you missed me for those six days?"

"i missed you for those six motherfucking years, i missed you. annie, i just missed being that young again. with you," piper drinks. "and getting drunk is the closest i'm ever gonna get to being seventeen again."

my heart twists at the nickname annie. "okay," i say softly. "get shitfaced."

"thanks for the permission, headmistress," piper teases.

she's definitely drunk now. a few drinks later and she's gotten off her stool and is dancing. i sip whatever is in the cup and watch her warily. she moves well for being drunk. only she could move like that- effortlessly. an hour goes by.

"who's your hot friend?" the man next to me asks. his breath smells like alcohol but he doesn't sound drunk. his voice is deep.

"no one," i answer warily.

"come on, let me buy her a drink."

"we don't accept drinks from strangers," i say, growing uncomfortable.

"oh, come on, i'm not a bad guy." he says. "at least let me get her number."

"she's not interested,"

"you're not so bad, yourself, if you weren't wound so tight," he says, laughing. ugh.

i chug whatever's left in the cup and place it on the counter. two drink limit. "we are so leaving."

i make my way over to piper. she grabs my arms and laughs, dancing next to me. "you decided to join me~"

"oh, piper, i am not drunk enough for this," i say as she tries to encourage me to dance.

"you look so cute with your hair down~" she coos, her hand twirling my hair. my face is growing warm.

"okay we have got to get you home,"

i help her get outside and i hail a taxi. piper staggers next to me.

"oh, wow, i am drunk," piper giggles next to me. "standing feels funnyyy,"

"no shit," i say, smiling.

i help her into the cab.

"where to?" asks the cab driver.

"piper, where do you live?" i ask gently. she mumbles incoherently and giggles. oh what am i thinking? yeah, ask a drunk girl a direct question. smart.

we just go back to my apartment. she falls asleep on my shoulder.

when we get there, i help her up to my room. the air is still and cold. the rooms are a mysterious color of steel.

"here, drink this. all of it." i said quietly, giving her a glass of water. she obliges. i lay her down in my bed. she holds onto my shirt. "if you throw up, there's a trashcan. please don't do it on my bed."

"mmmhmmm," she mutters.

i get her to stop holding onto me. i manage to take off her shoes. i pull the comforter over her. her eyes flutter open and they look at me, as if in a haze. they seem as though looking through me.

"what do you think it's like... to live forever?" she mumbles.

"i don't know, pipes." i say gently.

"i think i'd hate it," she says. "i'd hate living so long,"

"uh huh,"

"i'm fucking miserable, annie," she whispers. "i'm miserable."

"me too, pipes,"

a few beats of silence.

she smiles and closes her eyes. "what did i say? i said it... i was... i was meant to be yours but it was... never meant to be easy. i said it, didn't i? i'm a fucking prophet." she giggles to herself quietly.

"yeah, you did," i whisper back to her.

"mark my words," she mutters. "mark my fucking... words,"

"goodnight, piper,"

i leave to wash up and then sleep on the couch.

a war ensues behind my closed eyelids as i slowly grow drowsier.

a quiet, cold chaos.