#main ship: percella

[jaeqermeister]

but loving him (was red)

a/n: title came from taylor swift's red. ironically, percy's favorite color is blue.

tw: none at all! just miscommunication <3

word count: 2.9k

Riella has been pacing around in her room for quite some time now—a concerning amount of time, really. The Aphrodite kid has a lot of questions at the top of her head, and she doesn’t really know where to start. El and Jason has been concerned for their friend since the moment Riella resorted to her room after dinner.

“It can’t be,” Riella groans, talking to herself in the room. Her mother couldn’t possibly be right. She doesn’t want her to be right.

“You know what it means when you see someone else’s face in Eros and I, my darling. You know what.”

“Fucking hell,” Riella sits down, a little busy from the pacing. Could it be—

“Riella?” A knock is heard on her door. It’s clearly Jason on the other side. “Could you please talk to us? You’ve been acting so differently after seeing Aphrodite. Did she do something?” She sighs, putting a hand on her forehead in stress.

“It’s just the usual, Jason. She’s been teasing me again, and I got too worked up about it this time. It’ll pass.”

“It won’t pass if you’re stuck in the cabin like this. You gotta let us in. El’s here, too.” He mentions the girl, hoping it would incentivize Riella into opening the door.

“Riella, it’s El. Can’t you open the door for us?”

Riella thinks back to the conversation with her mother again. Could they understand?

“I… fine. But only so you two will stop nagging.” Riella relents. Slowly, the door creaks open and the two blondes come in, concern evident on their faces.

“Riella, I’m worried. You know I’m not the biggest fan of your mom.” El grimaces. Riella doesn’t blame her. Aphrodite had cursed her. “Is she trying to make you think bad things? You know that’s probably not true.” 

“Something’s… wrong with me. I can’t see my mom’s face anymore. I only see someone else now.”

Jason stands, a perplexed expression on his face but he lets her talk. El looks worried. “I thought only the biological kids get to see her actual face. What do you mean you can’t see her?”

“That’s exactly the problem. But there’s a bigger problem to that, and it’s the fact that I can only see Percy in her all the time.”

The silence in the room feels deafening to Riella. Were they disappointed? She knows that Annabeth and Percy are— “Kid,” Jason’s face breaks into a grin. “That’s great! So you love Percy?”

“I—” Riella falters. She hates how hot her cheeks get at the thought. Percy, the man she had pushed into a river at twelve. Percy, the first person she’d allowed to touch her face. Percy, the one she had taken a sword for at sixteen. 

Percy. Percy. Percy.

“It won’t matter.” Riella says, clearing her throat. “Percy clearly likes someone else,” she adds, the words leaving a bittersweet taste in her mouth. She loves Annabeth to death, but it still hurts. “Besides I can’t get in the way between them, that goes against my principles.”

“What principles are you even talking about, kid? You saw Percy in Aphrodite’s face, that’s more than enough to tell you that you really care about him and that you love him.” Jason points out. El quietly analyzes the conversation between the two of them.

“Have you even asked Percy who he really likes?”

“No, why would I-”

“Exactly.” Jason reinstates his point.

“Jason, I don’t think you’re hearing her out right.” El spoke up after careful consideration. “Honey,” she looks at Riella, “do you… do you think that you’re scared of pursuing him?”

The silence that follows is almost deafening. Riella has never said that fear of hers out loud—that fear that things will go wrong eventually, so she shouldn’t get into things in the first place. She knows Percy’s different. Percy isn’t like the other guys she’s fallen out with before. And still—

“Oh, sweetheart, come here.” Jason raises his arms, his voice gentle as always, and Riella allows herself to fall into Jason’s arms. “That fear is normal. You shouldn’t be ashamed of it.” 

“I know.” Riella fiddles with the hems of her sweater. “And I know that Percy isn’t going to hurt me or take advantage of me. But… what if he gets tired of me? What if we’ll break up eventually?” She can see it in her head. The fights, the distance… she doesn’t want it to happen. Not with Percy. Never with Percy.

“Kid, you’re taking this the-”

Riella suddenly goes quiet and stands up, moving away from Jason’s embrace. Her eyes travel quickly left and right across the room, as if in deep thought. Jason and El look at each other and hope the other would say something. Not a single word came out of their mouths. Riella sighs.

“You know what? Never mind. It… it really doesn’t matter. Why did I even tell you two, it’s not a big deal. I can get over Percy anyway. I’ll,” Riella pauses between the fast sentence she spat out, “I’ll be fine. Anyways. I gotta go.” She quickly walks to the door and leaves the room with her head down, not even caring who she bumped into.

“Shit.” Jason exclaims. “Shit indeed.” El said.

As if on cue, Percy walks through the door. His eyebrows are scrunched with a puzzled look on his face. “Did something happen to Riella or was she being weird today? Couldn’t even look at me all day.”

Jason and El look at each other awkwardly, unsure of how to approach this. 

“Did she?” Jason tilted his head, El trying so hard not to sigh. Jason was never a good actor. 

“Yeah, I—” Percy waved his hand. “Anyways, I wanted to talk with her. I couldn’t answer her text earlier since I was with Annabeth.” 

“Oh,” El says. She feels Jason shift beside her. “What were you two doing?” she asks. 

Percy smiles in that sheepish, cheeky way of his. “Well, you wouldn’t believe it. I brought Annabeth out on her first date. She finally got convinced to get into dating! Athena came to me in a dream and gods was it disturbing, but she kind of said she was scared Annabeth was going to die alone. Pretty weird of a concern for such a powerful daughter, but—”

Jason and El couldn’t seem to process the rest of Percy’s rant. All they were fixated on is that—

“So you two are not dating?” Jason asks, his voice laced with both anticipation and excitement. 

Percy’s eyebrows furrow. “No. We never were?”

El stands up and proceeds to smack Percy by the shoulder, repeatedly. “You are an absolute idiot, Perseus! And I won’t forgive you for it!” Percy tries to block her hits but he is unsuccessful. Jason hurriedly stands up and takes his girlfriend’s hands off of him.

“El, stop it! He doesn’t know!”

“What do you mean?” Percy eyebrows crease. Jason and El look at each other before they look back at him, the latter talking first. “You should… go look for Riella. It’s not our place to tell.”

He perks up at the mention of Riella. Come to think of it, she was pretty upset about something.

“She didn’t look happy to see me, though.” Percy frowns, and the thought leaves a heavy feeling in his chest. 

“Well of course she wouldn’t,” El grumbles. “Percy, talk to her. There’s something you need to figure out.”

Percy’s frown deepens. What the hell did she mean?

“I’ll go find Riella. Don’t worry about her, I got this. She’ll talk to me for sure.”

—

Riella was in a sandstorm of emotions. She really didn’t like how everything is playing out so far. She’s scared to her wits end about herself, about Annabeth, about Per—

“Ella? P? We need to talk.”

Goddamnit. Riella thought to herself. She really can’t deal with talking to Percy right now, let alone even seeing him. “Perce? This isn’t a good time right now, I need you to leave.”

“Ella darling,” Percy says, and he says it so softly that it hurts. “Please let me in.”

“Aren’t you tired? You’ve been driving all day.” Riella tries not to sound too bitter, but some bitterness still slips in. He was with Annabeth. Of course he was. They’re so good together and—

“Ella, I will never be tired when it comes to you. Please let me in.” Percy begs, his hand in a fist as he knocks on the door again. “This is about us, Ella.”

“Fucking hell, Percy!” Riella opens the door. “What do you want?”

“Ella, please.” Percy’s expression looks unreadable. “Can we talk?”

Riella looks at him. She hates how perfect he looks—how he looks like everything she’s ever wanted in a partner.

Shut it, Riella. You’re an Aphrodite kid. You can’t fall too easily. 

“Percy, what do you want?” She feels a little guilt as she hears the coldness in her voice, but she can’t help it. She has to protect herself while she can. What would others say if they found out she likes Percy?

“You’re upset. Upset with me. Could you please tell me what’s wrong, darling?”

Riella sighs as she rubs a hand across her forehead in resigned frustration. “Come in first. I don’t want anyone to hear any of this.” She gives way for Percy to enter, and he immediately complies. She closes the door behind her and he takes a seat on one of the chairs sprawled out.

“Any time now.” Percy comments, looking up at his girl. He can’t decipher Jason and El’s words properly earlier after he dropped off Annabeth. Was Riella really keeping something from him?

Riella keeps her look away from Percy’s calculating gaze. She doesn’t want him to know just by staring at her. She needs to ease herself into telling him that she isn’t worth it. That she accepts him and Annabeth together. She takes a breath in before asking, “How are you and Annabeth these days? Heard you took her out recently.”

Percy’s face seems to morph into something similar to realization. “I—we’re good? We’ve always been.” 

Riella feels her heat fall, but she forces herself to power through it. She will not allow herself to become heartbroken again. “Oh.”

“I mean, we’ve always been good friends. That’s why I dropped her off at her date. It’s with someone she met at university.” Percy comments like it was nothing to Riella.

Wait. Good friends? Annabeth dating someone from her university? So—

Riella blinks, and she speaks before her brain can even construct the words. “You mean you?”

A smile seems to tug at Percy’s lips. “I mean I’m not dating her, Riella, because I like someone else.”

Riella thinks her heart is about to break again, but there’s something about Percy’s look—something that fills her with the slightest bit of hope. “And that person is?”

“Well, I’m standing right in front of her,” Percy’s smirking now, “and I realized I’ve been an idiot for not confessing earlier. So can I do that now?”

Disbelief and sadness is eating up Riella’s soul bit by bit. Does he think this is some joke?

“Percy, that’s not funny.” Riella blankly tells him. “Not when I’m standing here, making up my mind that I was gonna let go of my feelings for you and-”

Percy softens at this. “Hey, Riella, I’m not kidding. I—I understand why you may think otherwise, but I would never play around with your feelings like this. You’re too precious to me.”

“There it is.” Riella hates the familiar burning in the back of her head—she doesn’t want to cry. “There you fucking go again, Jackson, being your perfect ass and too far from my reach. I don’t believe it. I don’t believe you. You never gave me a sign all these years. Yes, I appreciate our friendship, but that’s all I thought it was! And that’s all I thought you believed it was.” 

“Ella, calm down-”

“You don’t get to tell me to calm down when it hurts trying to even forget everything we did together.” Riella coldly states. She doesn’t have the willpower to cry like this in front of Percy, but the tears still flow. She sniffs, and he tries to come closer to her but she takes a step back.

“Fuck.” Riella turns away from Percy, afraid that she’s shown him enough of herself—scared that she might drive him away even more

“Riella, love, breathe.” Percy sits down on one of the chairs. He’s so fucking gentle. “Please.”

Riella forces her breath to steady. Eventually, she sits back down with him. 

“Perce, you don’t understand.”

“Then I will try to.” Percy rubs her hand with his thumb. “Will you let me?” He begs, and he really wants her to let him in her heart. They both know he can take care of her better than any other guy could.

Riella gulps. This was the part where she spills herself to him. Can she handle the vulnerability? She sighs through her nose and begins to talk.

“I pride myself in not letting anyone get to me and keep me out of focus, whether for fun or for all seriousness. I had a goal to not let something like a crush put me in harm, even though I know it’s okay to have one—I mean, you’ve seen Jason and El.”

“Okay,” Percy says encouragingly, “and that’s why you were afraid?”

“Yes,” Riella all but squirms in her seat. “I didn’t—want to lose you or myself. And knowing how dangerous how lives are and how… well, you’re the demigod savior practically, I didn’t want to risk anything.”

Percy softens at this. “Riella, I’m not a savior.”

“But you are. A shit ton of people look up to you, and for good reason.”

“Baby, a savior still needs saving. You gotta know that.” Percy spoke, while Riella was wiping her tears. “Even if I am what you call a demigod savior, we can’t deny the fact that I can’t do everything. But that doesn’t mean you’re gonna lose me that easily.”

Against her will, Riella finds herself blushing. She hates how easily Percy flusters her. Nobody else had that effect on her. “Percy, you know those kinds of words won’t get to me that easily.”

“I do know that.” Percy takes her hands now. She feels the callousness of his palms, all healing scars from past battles. “And I understand your feelings completely. But Riella, P, you would never lose me. If there’s something I’ve come to realize in these past years, it’s that I haven’t felt for anyone the way I’ve felt for you. I—god, Riella, when I see you I go weak. Yes, I’ve been an idiot for being so oblivious, but when I figured it out, I just knew. I knew it was you.”

Percy risks a glance at Riella. Riella, who is still too stunned to speak, urges him to continue.

“And… besides, if there’s anything that will confirm my feelings aside from what I already know, it’s the gods’ themselves. Your mom… when I met her, I saw you. Only you.”

Fuck. So he knew even way before?

Percy’s eyes looks down on the outline of Riella’s lips, staring intently before looking back up. She really is pretty like this, no wonder she’s Aphro’s kid.

“Hold on, there’s one thing I don’t understand.” Riella says as she stands up once again from her chair. Pacing around is her usual thing, Percy supposes. He remains seated in his chair, however.

“What is it, darling?”

“What does P even mean? You’re making me sound like a frozen vegetable that you put on your face when you get beat up.” Riella crosses her arms, completely confused. Percy smiles, knowing that she hasn’t figured out this little secret of his. “Come here and I’ll tell you, you’re too far. You’re pacing again.” he asks her.

Riella rolls her eyes, but follows him anyway. How can she even say no to him at this point? “Humor me, Perseus.” She stands between his legs, looking down at him and waiting for an answer. Heat rises to her face another time when he lovingly places a hand on her waist, guiding her to sit on one of his thighs.

“I knew at one point you’d ask me that. To keep it simple,” Percy pushes some of her hair over her shoulder, his palm against her cheek and thumb drawing circles on the skin. Riella instinctively leans to the touch.

“It means pretty. The very first time I saw you enter the camp, I thought you were pretty. Since I never knew your name in time, I just kept calling you pretty in my head. Until I did get your name, and started calling you P.”

“And trust me, P,” Percy sits up, getting a better view of his Riella. “You look very—” closer.

“Very,” The two are mere breaths away from each other’s faces.

“Pretty.” Was the last thing Percy said against Riella’s lips before sealing their love with a gentle kiss.

It feels like bliss, Riella thinks. She’s liked Percy for years. She never thought she would get this chance—to get to call him hers. 

“So,” Percy hums softly as they lean back, his hand gently placed around her waist. “Let’s make it official. Would you like to be my girlfriend, my darling, pretty, Riella? There’s no one else I’d rather be with than with you.” 

“If my 12 year old self was here, she’d slap you, you know. Good thing you’re cute.” Riella scoffs. “But yes, I would love to.”

“I’m more than cute, baby. You know that. Actually we both know that.”