new years

malibu

end of december

"hurry, hurry! let's go! chop chop!" 

i was already at the bottom of my stairs, all of our luggage sent off. i got my driver's permit, and i would be (legally) driving us to the airport. (maybe a little over the speed limit, but i still had a permit)

that is... if my dad got ready on time.

"i'm coming!" he yelled down the stairs.

he unceremoniously clashed down the stairs. "okay, i'm ready!"

i rolled my eyes, unimpressed.

"about time."

"what's that supposed to mean?"

"nothing," i told him. "nothing at all. now get in the car or i'll leave you here to celebrate new year's with dum-e."

"can't believe my own daughter is threatening me," my dad muttered as he sat in the passenger seat of the car.

"what can i say?" i shrugged, "learnt from the best."

my dad snorted.

he never let anyone drive him. it was one of his worst fears. he'd never admit it, but i knew it had to do with grams and gramps car crash. even happy— his own personal chauffeur and bodyguard — never drove him anywhere.

happy was driving in the car behind us, and i felt a smile come on my face as i revved the engine to the 'stark 4'. 

there were three times when i felt completely comfortable in my own skin. when i was building a project, fighting a monster, or behind the wheel of a very expensive car.

i peeled out of the driveway and sped off. my dad laughed as the wind blew through his hair. he loved driving fast just as much as i did.

i knew the way to the airport better than the back of my hand. a good fraction of my trips would lead there.  

i pressed on the brakes as we arrived in front of the jet. a red carpet was rolled out and i rolled my eyes at my dad's antics.

"that was epic," i whooped as i got out of the car.

"exhilarating," my dad agreed.

we stood at the side waiting for happy. a minute later he arrived. he stepped out of the car and hurried over to us.

my dad laughed and patted his back, "you okay, hap?"

"yeah, yeah."

"i thought we lost you there for a sec," i laughed as we made our way onto the jet.

"yeah, you did lose me."

"riley!" 

i turned my head to the sound of percy's voice. 

we had decided that annabeth, percy, and i would spend new years day together. thalia was busy with her hunters so she couldn't make it, and grover was going to spend it with juniper. percy and i thought it'd be a good idea to get her to stop analyzing daedalus' laptop. 

that's how she dealt with cayden's death. while i created things to help our odds against the titan's army in honor of cayden's memory, annabeth tried to study the laptop and forget all about the war.

i waved goodbye to my dad, happy, and uncle rhodes (who was waiting for us at the airport) and made my way over to percy. he came to the airport to pick me up, and annabeth was going to arrive later today.

"what's up perce?" i smiled brightly as i saw him.

he smiled and we walked out of the airport. we caught a cab and took it to percy's apartment in upper east side.

he told me about how annoying school was, and how annoying the jocks were. he didn't bring up little red, and i was grateful. after six months of crazy hectic stuff, i wanted a break. a well deserved one. the less we spoke of little red, the better.

i told him about all the crazy shenanigans i did. i spoke in ancient greek so the cab driver wouldn't get suspicious. 

"are you finished with your fourth year?"

"yeah," i nodded. "finished three days ago. 'though i'm starting this mini-course on thermonuclear physics. it's a shorter one, so i'm just taking it for fun."

when percy found out about the weapons i was working on with beckendorf, he buzzed with excitement.

"this really helps our odds against luke," percy said in ancient greek.

"mhmm," i responded. "kronos' army will never see it coming."

that was one thing percy and i usually differed in. he usually referred to it as 'luke's army', while i preferred 'kronos' army'. we both picked up on the other's preference, but never commented on it.

personally, i think percy was just glad he could talk about this with me. annabeth would shut everyone out, and it was impossible to bring it up with her. 

the topic switched to the stark expo that was happening soon in flushing, new york. i wanted percy and annabeth there for the stunt (the extremely dangerous one that took a long time for the d.o.d. to approve of.) 

percy said he'd make it (would have to double check with his mom), and i was pretty sure annabeth would be down too. she wouldn't miss out on meeting all these brilliant minds.

"what's the stunt?" he asked, as we neared his apartment.

"can't tell you."

"but come on... not even me?"

"especially not you," i nudged him. "you love spilling secrets. and besides, i'm not even supposed to tell you that he's going to be doing any stunt."

"but... but... but, you love me," he pouted.

i patted his head, "debatable."

"hi miss — uh, sally," i corrected when i saw the false glare percy's mom sent my way.

"come on in riley. it's so wonderful to have you back. i have chocolate chip cookies and seven layer dip already ready for you two," she said, ushering me inside.

i smiled warmly as she once again reminded me of pepper.

"thanks sally. you're a godsend."

percy threw his coat off and went into his room.

"c'mon, movie collection this way."

i followed him into his room (door wide open), and watched as he flicked through the cds. 

"cars or toy story?" he asked.

"cars. no question."

percy smiled fondly to himself as he picked the dvd. i like toy story, but the third movie always made me sob no matter how hard i tried to control it, and percy knew that.

cars was something that i could watch a billion times. i even decided, if we survive the war, i'm going to get a car designed like jackson storm (a gift to myself for surviving).

i looked around his room, and noticed a blue hoodie on the ground. it said goode high: junior swim team. a large 'c' was on his shoulder.

i slipped it on (after sniffing to make sure it wasn't dirty). it was a little large on me (percy and i were the same height), and it was comfortable. i liked it.

percy turned around, and did a double-take when he saw me. "that's my hoodie."

"well, i like it."

he opened his mouth to say something, then shrugged, "looks better on you, anyways."

he left the room and launched onto the sofa. with a slight blush creeping up my neck, i copied him, though my actions were more dignified. 

the opening credits rolled in when his mother arrived with a whole bunch of snacks. my stomach grumbled at the thought of sally jackson's food. 

percy and i indulged ourselves in his mother's cooking. by the end of the cars trilogy we were absolutely stuffed. 

my phone buzzed at the sound of a text. i pulled it out and saw the contact name, 'tweedledee'. 

tweedledee🧠🥰🥰

i landed. jetlag is a bitch.
come pick me up pls. take
ur time tho.
i literally just landed nd 
luggage claim's gonna
take a while.

tweedledum🤑🦚
kk
i'm leaving percy's rn
we'll go straight to the
hotel ig

tweedledee🧠🥰🥰
sounds good!

i grabbed my things getting ready to leave.

"we still on for new years at the hotel?" percy asked, dropping me off to the cab.

"you bet!"

"woah," annabeth muttered walking into the hotel room.

pepper booked both of the presidential suites of the same hotel for us. she would be chaperoning annabeth and i in one suite, while uncle rhodey chaperoned happy and my dad in the other one.

"give pepper your 'woah'," i told her. "she's the one who books the rooms. she's wonderful."

"i could get used to this!" annabeth yelled from the room where we would be sleeping.

"hungry?" i asked, searching the fridge.

"starving," pepper answered as she just entered the suite.

"me too," annabeth agreed, walking into the kitchen.

"oh hello. you must be riley's friend, annabeth. i'm virginia, but call me pepper. everyone does."

"it's nice to meet you."

after exchanging pleasantries, they both looked to me. getting the cue, i began listing the food that was in the fridge.

"shrimp something, lobster something, fruits, and i have no idea what that green thing is," i said in disgust.

pepper sighed, "pizza?"

"pizza," we agreed.

and the night ended with us girls, watching netflix, while eating pizza and ice cream.

it was perfect.

"c'mon, annabeth!" i cheered her on.

"yeah, let's go!" percy continued.

annabeth glared at us as she tried not to let her feet slide any further apart. percy stood on the ice behind me laughing at her failing attempt.

"this is not as easy as it looks," she huffed, when she finally reached the two of us.

"nope. it's easier," i told her.

to prove my point, i skated past her and twirled like a figure skater. percy, realizing where i was going with this, followed my lead. (minus the figure skater twirl)

he was a good skater, and we finally found something we both outranked annabeth in. 

annabeth, feeling peeved, tried to skate faster. she missed a step (skate?) and flopped on her bottom. she slid, towards percy and i.

unable to hold it in, percy and i laughed at her and her pouty figure on the ice. finally giving in to the temptation, annabeth began to laugh as well.

we both hauled her up. she tried not to accept our help, but we were pretty stubborn (especially when both of us were on the same side).

"right foot... slide, left foot... slide," i tried to help her.

"cha-cha real smooth," percy muttered.

annabeth and i both smacked his head. 

"ow!"

"i'm trying to teach her how to skate. let me teach her," i tried telling her.

"i'm also trying. it's not my fault you're making song references!"

"i'm not like i'm doing it on purpose!"

"okay, okay!" annabeth took her hands off of us. "i'm obviously never getting the hang of this, and will just slow you down. you two do your crazy speed-skating, and i'll go eat some of riley's gummy worms. yeah, that's a good plan."

before we could protest, annabeth already skated off, stumbling slightly, and began munching on my snacks contently.

i turned towards percy, "she's weird."

he raised an eyebrow. he was going to answer, but was interrupted by a little kid skating up to us with his hands in his pockets. 

"glitter!" the kid yelled, his blonde curls shaking slightly.

"ookay," i muttered.

"uh, where's you mom? or dad?" percy asked the little kid.

the little kid turned his wide eyes towards percy and yelled again, "glitter!"

except this time, he threw his hands up towards percy. silver glitter rained down onto percy's head, some of it getting into his mouth. the kid skated away before i even realized what happened.

i turned back towards percy, and my jaw dropped.

he blew some glitter out of his mouth, but his hair and face was still silver. he blinked rapidly as if wondering what just happened.

i couldn't help it. i laughed. clutching percy's shoulder to steady myself, i continued laughing at his state.

"oh gods," i muttered, "i should've brought my camera. that way i could always remind you of this moment."

"i'm glad you didn't," percy muttered.

"ah, jeez," i laughed. "silver glitter. you're covered in silver glitter, silvermist."

"what?"

"silvermist," i said. "the water fairy from the disney fairies thingy."

"the dark haired one?"

"yeah!"

"oh man," percy muttered. "are you going to call me that?"

"yup," i nodded. "misty for short."

"i liked seaweed brain better."

"don't worry," i assured him. "that's still your main nickname. misty is just when you need to be reminded that you were bested by a three year old with glitter."

"he was seven!"

"i don't know," i muttered, unsure. "he was giving me three year old vibes."

and with a hand full of glitter, percy facepalmed.

"one minute till new years!" 

i blew into the party horn and annabeth and percy responded with their own party horns.

we were sitting in the living room of the presidential suite. my dad, happy, and rhodey were at times square. pepper was with them, but she was more of a babysitter.

we had party hats and the entire room was decorated. we had bowls of candy all around the place, and we already ate most of it. 

for some reason, sugar actually helped us adhd-diagnosed demigods. we were still hyper, but a little less than average.

"15 seconds!" annabeth said, excited.

we all linked arms. i was in the middle, percy and annabeth on either side of me. the countdown began.

"10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!!"

"happy new year!"

i threw my arms around percy's neck and he hugged me back, slightly lifting me in the air. he put me down, and we both looked at each other. the sound of times square celebrating new years sounded through the window, and the t.v.

"ahem," annabeth's voice broke our stare-fest, "i could also use a hug to celebrate this new year."

percy and i broke eye contact before grinning at annabeth. we all threw our arms around each other, the little moment between percy and i forgotten.

to me it meant a lot more than i let on.

if only i knew then, that the raven-haired boy felt the same.

REY WRITES !

thanks for reading!

this was probably one of my favorite bonus chapters so far!!

the 'silvermist' idea was a recommendation, but i can't find the comment. if whoever made the comment is seeing this, please let me know so i can give you creds.

^ shoutout to mvggleblood <333 we finally found who deserves creds for the nickname loll

thoughts?