alipal97

[alipal97]

*Y/N and Luke staring into each other’s eyes*

Percy: *Pops open a can of soda*

Luke: Percy what the hell man, Y/N and I were having a moment

Percy: And I’m having a dam coke

[alipal97]

i like him a normal amount (i’m lying)

[alipal97]

poisoned mercury | camprock! au x luke castellan series

when may castellan, the manager of the poisoned mercury, the hottest, new band on the scene, grows tired of the boys' antics, she sends them to camp half-blood to get their heads on straight.

luke castellan, heartthrob and lead singer, begins to see the punishment as a blessing in disguise when girls fawn over him at camp. that is until he met you, a fellow disappointment to her parent, who couldn't care less about him and his fame.

luke is anything but a quitter so he's determined to make you fall for him before he gets back on the road after summer. you're not having it.

or

an au loosely based on disney's camp rock where there are no gods and teenage dirtbag! luke castellan spends his summer falling in love with the girl who loves to argue with him. one-sided enemies to lovers.

meet the band! | silly posts about poisoned mercury au! | poisoned mercury playlists | find hcs and asks under 'poisoned mercury chats' on my page

i. lifestyles of the rich and famous (introduction)

ii. bad reputation

iii. everybody talks

iv. end up here

v. damned if i do ya (damned if i don't)

vi. check yes, juliet

vii. just friends

r u mine? (smut blurb, mdni!)

viii. pink skies

delicate (friend group shenanigans: the boys and clarisse find out about luke and five star!)

ix. now you got me

meddle about (smut blurb, mdni)

post chb

close as strangers

more to come!

#frances writes #luke castellan x reader #luke castellan #luke pjo #luke castellan pjo #luke castellan fanfic #luke castellan imagine #luke castellan x you #luke castellan x yn #luke castellan x y/n #percy jackson fanfic #percy jackson #poisoned mercury chats #poisoned mercury

[alipal97]

[alipal97]

It's literally the hardest part of the whole damn thing😩

“the opening sentence of a fic is one of the most important parts, since it tells readers the tone, the setting and the writing style of the entire fic”

me trying not to be nervous as I write the opening sentence of my fic:

#writing #writer #writeblr #ao3 #archive of our own #whump #writing challenge #writing memes #ao3 memes #ao3 meme #writing advice #writing tip #writing tips #whumpblr #angst #writing inspo #writing inspiration #meme #memes #writing community #whump community #whump blog #writing tropes #tropes #trope #whump tropes #writing trope #whump trope #prompt #prompts

[alipal97]

i need him carnally

[alipal97]

I was so excited to see my Luke fic on here. I've never been added to anyone's list before so thank you thank you thank you. You've just made my day🤍

━MARCH 2024; susan's recs

PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS

━━LUKE CASTELLAN

flatline @indecisivemuch

one year with luke castellan – august 14 with clarisse la rue @tangledinlove

mind over matter. @woodlandwrites

now or never @peachtarto

i’m an idiot @alipal97

a very common crisis @jab-we-drank-chai

you’re beautiful @ilycosy

parent trap @sayoneee

lighting the fuse might result in a bang @love-that-we-were-in

THE KILLERVERSE @tangledinlove — guys once again, go and read it!!!

EUPHORIA

━━ELLIOT

be quiet for me @itsoutrageouss

can’t fucking sleep without you @↑

LOCKWOOD & CO

━━ANTHONY LOCKWOOD

i love you so @aislinrayne

HARRY POTTER

━━GEORGE WEASLEY

confident @itstopplingdomino

━━MATTHEO RIDDLE

nightly terrors @crvptidgf

OUTER BANKS

━━RAFE CAMERON

(not) my girl @obaex

LIFE AS A HOUSE

━━SAM MONROE

first love/late spring @forever--darling

THE ONLY BOY LIVING IN NEW YORK

━━THOMAS WEBB

photographer @eymie

STRANGER THINGS

━━STEVE HARRINGTON

what’s wrong with being confident @munsonluhvr

you're gonna make me fall in love with you @dual1pa

romance is dead, isn’t it? @megxplryxb

season two of "come home" @stevie-petey — go and read it if you still didn’t

call it what you want @harringtonstilinski

snow storm @eddiemunsonw

━━EDDIE MUNSON

bright eyes; part2 @caxde

TOP GUN: MAVERICK

━━BRADLEY 'ROOSTER' BRADSHAW

hotter than texas; part2 @tongue-like-a-razor

ANNE WITH AN E

━━GILBERT BLYTHE

truce; distracted @crvptidgf

BRIDGERTON

━━ANTHONY BRIDGERTON

(not so) simple; part2 @atlabeth

#susan’s recs #fics recs #luke castellan x reader

[alipal97]

consider this…… seven minutes in heaven w luke - 🍒

explicit sexual content; MDNI

before luke found himself in a desired position, he thought the games suggested by the others to be nothing but trivial and worthless. he couldn’t find any benefits in playing seven minutes in heaven, especially when his time slots up until now have been filled with nothing but tense silence and awkward small talk.

now, with his hands linked in your belt loops and his lips pressed against yours, he doesn’t see how he could’ve been upset about this at all.

there’s something primal to the way he kisses you. he’s never done it before, kissed you, but he lets go like he knows your lips better than his own. his inhibitions are gone, likely a factor of knowing and understanding that this is his one true chance to know you in ways as intimate as the situation calls for. gone is the distanced longing. it has been replaced by intense wanting. by the little monster that lives deep under luke’s skin, begging to crawl up to the surface and jump into your skin only to act as a magnet and pull luke right in on its heels.

he unabashedly presses his crotch up against yours and rocks, attempting to alleviate some of the discomfort as best as he can. he kisses you with more fervor whenever you start to reciprocate his motions, knocking your own hips into his between every hot press of slippery lips against slippery lips.

you’re close, but not nearly close enough, and for once, luke feels the heat of the summer. here, in the deserted artemis cabin with only four minutes left, luke feels the humidity permeating through his shirt and sinking onto his skin. he’s aware of his curls sticking to his forehead and the flush of his skin, a characteristic he’s only felt when training or when he’s fisting his cock alone at night.

both situations made him feel similarly to how he feels now, but now it’s different. now there’s a stone in his lower abdomen, knocking around his insides and trying to find its way out, a path that leads south. now, he has something to work his adrenaline out on, someone to give his adrenaline to. he tries to get rid of the substance through his lips, clumsily moving them over yours, forcibly slipping his tongue into yours, ignoring the almost painful way your teeth clack together from his enthusiasm.

still, it isn’t enough. there surely can’t be more than three minutes left, but luke needs more. he undos his hands from your belt loops and place them over the backside of your shorts, grabbing two fistfuls and then pulling you closer. he tries to take a step towards you, but you’re as close as you can get. there’s a wall just behind you, so luke walks you back to it. he sticks his head in the crook of your neck, and pushes his hips into yours again and again and again.

by the time his movements are beginning to stutter and he's dampening the fabric of his briefs, there’s three knocks on the door. the warning given to straighten yourselves up and come out.

but luke isn’t done. he’s twitching, going through the aftershocks of possibly his most embarrassing orgasm yet, and then you take over for him.

your hands tangle in his hair, you trail them down to his lower back and pull his hips closer to yours instead of letting them pull away, and yell out, “five more minutes!”

#this is just me yappin btw #lukesworld! #luke castellan x reader #celeste writes pjo #–𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐍 🍒

[alipal97]

[alipal97]

This was too cute🤍 I am living for all these extra pm moments

poisoned mercury | delicate

friend group shenanigans | set after pink skies | series masterlist

song: delicate by taylor swift

“good morning,” you yawned, rubbing your eyes as you exited your room. travis was taking up the entire couch, doubled over in pain. “woah, what happened to you?” 

“food poisoning,” he replied, wincing. he had a blanket draped over him, acting like he was on his deathbed. 

connor walked in with a bowl of chicken soup for his brother, rolling his eyes as he shoved travis’ feet off the couch to have somewhere to sit, “and whose fault is that?” 

clarisse was sitting next to chris on the love seat, shaking her head, “told you not to get a hot dog from the gas station.” 

“rookie mistake, babe,” chris chimed in, “whenever you tell trav not to do something, he does it. it’s in his dna.” 

“connor shares the same dna as him and he’s not like that,” you called out from the kitchen, making yourself a bowl of cereal. the dining hall was already closed for breakfast since you woke up so late, thanks to the boy who was still passed out on your bed.

you couldn’t remember the last time you slept so well. you felt bad for leaving him alone, sleep in your room but your stomach was growling and if you didn't get some food in your system soon, you were bound to catch an attitude.

“that’s because i got the brains between the two of us,” connor joked, scoffing, “i let him borrow some brain cells once in a while.” 

“fuck you guys,” travis complained, sitting up. “i’m dying here and you’re making fun of me?!” 

you walked out into the living room, pulling one of the bar stools to sit closer to the group. your eyes darted to the screen in front of you, internally cheering at the familiar scene. they were watching barbie. the five of you watched in silence, letting out little laughs at the jokes, until the door of your room opened. 

luke walked out, half-asleep, and made his way over to you. he kissed your lips, mumbling, “g’mornin, five star.” 

“mornin’, pretty boy,” you squeezed the arm he wrapped around your waist. he sent you a lazy smile, nuzzling his face in your neck before disappearing into his bedroom. you turned your attention back to the screen, shoving a spoonful of fruit loops in your mouth, “oh, i love this part!” 

when you were the only one who burst out laughing at ken’s “sublime!” you turned to look at your friends, wondering why none of them were laughing. they were staring at you with wide-eyes, jaws ajar. their eyes were bright, lips breaking out into teasing smiles. oh. oh. 

“castellan get your ass in here, now!” 

luke walked out of his room with his eyebrows furrowed, confused as to why chris was screaming his name like bloody fucking murder at 12 pm on a sunday. surely, he hadn’t done anything wrong yet– he just woke up! he put his glasses on, finally able to see the looks on everyone’s faces, including your red cheeks and sheepish smile. 

luke didn’t even realize what he did until that moment. it just felt natural for him to greet you good morning, like he always did anyway, but it’s just sweeter this time around because he’s allowed to kiss you now, at least he thinks he’s allowed to. he was a little butthurt that he woke up alone on your bed this morning so when he walked out and was only able to make out your silhouette, he didn’t think twice before placing a chaste kiss on your lips. he got a taste of what it was like to kiss you and he couldn’t help himself to do it again.

he thinks now, though, that perhaps he should’ve thought twice because there was no way your friends would let the two of you leave until you explained. luke’s face paled at the sight of his friends. were you mad at him for kissing you in front of people? if his head wasn't spinning with all the negative thoughts he was having, he would see your face and understand that you were happy your friends knew about the two of you.

clarisse clicked on the remote to pause the movie, “soooo… seems like we skipped a few chapters.” 

“more like we finally got to the next chapter,” travis snorted, earning a smack on the back of his head from connor. the older stoll hissed, “don’t act like y’all weren’t tired of their pining.” 

chris rolled his eyes, eyes darting between you and luke. he was trying to fight the smile threatening to show on his features, “so care to enlighten us, guys?”

"luke?"

luke's head snapped to the sound of your voice, pulling him out of his head. you had an arm outstretched, beckoning him over to where you stood. it made luke feel giddy inside as he trotted over to you, finding comfort in standing behind you and placing his chin on top of your head. he swung an arm around you, hoping that you wouldn't see the thumbs-up he sent to the boys.

"yeaaaaahhhh castellan's got the girl!"

"oh my god," you whispered, turning around to bury your head in luke's chest. you were blushing furiously at the cheers from your friends. you think you might've even heard travis complaining about losing a bet to connor. clarisse and chris were babbling about how double dates would be fun, though clar mentioned that luke and chris would end up third and fourth-wheeling the two of you more than anything. "our friends are crazy."

the arm he had wrapped around you pulled you in tighter. you felt the rumbling of his chest, "they are."

"you guys are so fucking cute," clarisse said, a hand over her heart. "y/n, he finally made a move!"

you turned back around to face clarisse and the group, "actually i made the move!"

luke scoffed, "you did not. i kissed you."

"i asked you to come in last night."

"yeah i believe, y/n," connor piped in, shrugging. "luke was not gonna make a move."

clarisse gasped, placing a hand on chris' bicep, "we should compare notes."

your eyes widened, "do not compare notes."

"wait, what do you mean notes?" luke asked quizzically. "was five star talking about me?"

"clarisse i will never forgive you if you tell him anything."

"i'm not gonna tell him directly," she hummed, lacing her fingers with chris', "but if i told my boyfriend who happens to be his best friend and he tells luke, then, technically, i haven't done anything wrong."

"y/n, i assure you, you should not be embarrassed," travis said, snickering. it was luke's turn to panic. "whatever you said to clarisse about lover boy here, i'm sure it can't be any worse than what he's said about you to us over the last two months."

chris cleared his throat, putting on his best luke impression, "five star is so pretty. i don't think i've ever seen anyone so beautiful."

"five star is so funny. i can listen to her talk about anything for hours." this was travis.

"oh, luke where were you today? we haven't seen you all day," connor said in his regular voice before deepening his voice a tad bit to match luke's, "oh, i was hanging out with five star and we accidentally fell asleep by the lake."

"not to mention the dozens of songs he wrote about you," chris teased, "thanks for inspiring the second album, but bro was like alexander hamilton writing those songs."

luke whined, tugging on his hood to cover his face, "guys, stoppp."

"oh my god, y/n, you should see his tweets."

"do not show her my tweets!"

you burst out in laughter, getting up from your seat. you wrapped your arms around luke and he took the opportunity to hide his face in the crook of your neck. you could feel the heat on his cheeks against your skin. you played with the hair on the nape of his neck, "all right, guys, enough."

"can we go back to your room?" luke whispered in your ear, lips grazing the shell of your ear.

"mhm," you couldn't deny him of anything if you tried, "come on, pretty boy."

you couldn't help but laugh and throw up the middle finger to your friends as they called out jokes and kissing noises as you and luke went off. it was funny, really, how they all knew there was something between you and luke before the two of you did. it was nice to know that your friends were supportive, regardless of how annoying they would be now that you and luke were together.

luke collapsed on his side of your bed, unable to wipe the dopey smile on his face. you sat on his lap, leaning over to press kisses on his cheeks, "just so we're clear, i wanna see the tweets. and hear the songs."

"well you can't ask me that while you're sitting on top of me because i'll fold."

you giggled, kissing his lips passionately. his hands gripped your waist as he sat up, getting in a more comfortable position, "that's the point, castellan."

luke pinched your side, chuckling when you squealed, "you're evil."

"uh huh," you mumbled, "you know we're never gonna catch a break with our friends now right?"

"honestly, i haven't caught a break from the boys since i met you," he admitted, "but at least i get to kiss you now, so it's really a win."

you couldn't agree more.

#frances writes #poisoned mercury #luke castellan x reader #luke castellan imagine #luke castellan pjo #luke castellan fanfic #luke castellan #luke castellan x yn #luke castellan x y/n #luke castellan x you #percy jackson fanfic #percy jackson

[alipal97]

I don't know about you, but whenever I picture Mama C in this particular series, I picture Marisa Tomei.

i feel may would get whiplash the first time he sees luke interacting with five stars because as much as she knows he is a cutie who loves with his entire heart she's never seen him in love (specially because she is used to see him with women drunk in the news)

“i dont wanna go yet.”

luke’s entire body weight was currently resting on top of your body. the sounds of the movers the poisoned mercury team hired were making a ruckus outside of your room, hauling and tossing the random items the boys accumulated over the summer. the boys’ bags were packed, outside the cabin’s door, waiting to be thrown into the back of their tour bus.

you chuckled, running your fingers through his mess of curls, which proved to be the wrong move as it made luke bury his head even deeper into your neck. you placed a soft kiss on his head, “c’mon, pretty boy. you gotta get up.”

“can i just hide in here? maybe they won’t notice im not in the bus and i can stay here a little longer.”

you snorted, feeling a sense of longing erupt in your chest. you were feeling the same way as luke. you didn’t want him to go. you didn’t want to go. “i think they’ll notice the lead isn’t in the bus, luke.”

"luke? where are you?"

luke's head perked up at the sound of his mom's voice echoing through the cabin. he groaned, placing a quick kiss on your lips before he got up. he knew that his time was up and he would have to get on the tour bus soon. he'd see you soon, hopefully. he didn't know the band's schedule yet and you still haven't gotten word on whether or not you were playing this season, so the next time the two of you would see each other was still up in the air.

you froze as you heard may's voice. you'd been so caught up in wanting to treasure the last few moments you had with luke that you completely forgot that you'd have to see may and explain what this was. you'd met her before, sure, but it was a brief introduction and it was before you became luke's girlfriend. it seemed like she liked you enough, but now that the circumstances have changed, you weren't so sure.

"babe?" luke asked, tilting his head in question as he placed his hand on the doorknob of your door to open it. "you coming?"

"does your mom know about us?"

he blushed, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand, "yeah, i kinda told her. are you mad?"

you quickly shook your head, "no, no. i'm just--uh, nervous, i guess?"

luke walked back to your bed, grabbing your head in his hands as he peppered kisses all over your face, "nervous? for what?"

"what if she doesn't like me?"

luke let out a loud laugh, a goofy grin appearing on his lips, "you're funny. come on, five star. i only got a few more minutes with you and you're not leaving my side 'til then."

reluctantly, you got up from your bed and accepted luke's outstretched hand. he laced your fingers together, giving your hand a light squeeze as he opened the door to greet his mom. luke smiled widely when he saw his mom poking her head into luke's bedroom, trying to look for him. "mama!"

may turned around, smiling at the sound of her son's voice, then her eyes immediately darted down to your intertwined hands and the sheepish look on your face. her eyebrows shot up in surprise and walked over to the two of you, "there you are, been looking everywhere for you. the boys are already in the bus."

luke let go of your hand for a moment to give his mom a hug, then quickly returned to your side to wrap an arm around your waist. he looked down at you, eyes twinkling with fondness, "mama, you know y/n."

you rubbed the sweat off your palm on the fabric of your jeans, "nice to see you again, mrs. castellan."

"oh, don't do that," she rolled her eyes, pulling you in for a hug, "mama c is fine, or may, whatever you prefer."

"oh, uh, okay," you chuckled, awkwardly, feeling strangely welcomed by her simple act of kindness. may castellan's hugs felt like home. no wonder the boys adored her so much. "nice to see you again, mama c."

"so i reckon this is why we've been waiting for you for ten minutes?" she turned to luke, an eyebrow raised. she had a teasing smile on her face and it was a familiar look. luke got his smile from his mother.

"yeah," luke flushed, "sorry, don't wanna leave yet."

"mhm," may hummed. she turned to you, smiling at you in a way that made your heart hammer in your chest. there was no judgment in her eyes but she was still your boyfriend's mom and your mind was thinking of all the things she could point out about you that would have you spiraling. "he treating you right?"

you blinked, not expecting those words from her. you looked at luke for some guidance on what is the appropriate response, but he was unhelpful. he just looked at you with a dopey smile, a small part of him enjoying watching you all flustered around his mom. luke pressed a kiss to your temple.

"come on, mom. you know i do. you raised me well."

may laughed, "damn straight."

"five star here, was nervous to see you again," luke said, making your eyes widen and involuntarily hit him lightly on his bicep. you received a fake 'ow' in return.

"no need to be nervous, y/n," may replied, casting away any doubts you had in your head with a hand on your shoulder. "this one doesn't shut up about you and it's all good things."

you turned to luke, scrunching your face up in glee, "you talk about me?"

he rolled his eyes playfully, "mom, you're embarrassing me."

"that's my job, kid," may shrugged, turning to you again. "he just goes on and on about you sometimes."

"okay, that's enough," he groaned. the band's publicist was calling him over so he muttered a quick "be right back" in your ear before he left you with his mom. luke turned around as he was walking away, "mom, please don't say anything else while i'm gone."

"no promises!" she called back, chuckling as luke shook his head, accepting defeat. may motioned for you to sit on the couch with her for a second while luke chatted with their publicist about their upcoming schedule. she sat across from you, "he's real happy, you know."

you blushed, playing with the throw pillow on the couch, "yeah, camp had a good effect on him."

"not camp," she shook her head, "you did."

when you looked back at her face, you were almost overwhelmed by the sincerity in her eyes. she continued, "i haven't seen him like this since well, ever. it looks good on him, don't you think?"

you agreed, "it does."

"i hope i'm not overstepping here when i tell you this, but when he first told me about you, it felt different," she explained, pausing for a moment as she tried to conjure up the right words to say next, "as a parent, you can feel it when something shifts with your kid. i felt it when his dad left. i felt it when he got the call about the record deal. i felt it when they played their first sold-out show. i felt it when the fame started getting to him. and i felt it when he called me to tell me about this girl who gave him such a hard time at camp."

"yeah, sorry about that," you cringed.

may laughed, placing a hand on yours again, "no, y/n. don't ever apologize for that. something clicked in my head when he first told me about you and it's a feeling i didn't think i'd ever feel when it came to luke. he's the sweetest kid, but he hasn't made the best decisions when it comes to dating."

"having this much freedom and access to the world at his age will do that to someone, i suppose. but when he started talking about you, i don't know. i knew it was different."

"for what it's worth, i feel the same way about him," you said, eyes finding luke's. he gave you a small smile.

"good," she squeezed your hand and got up, "it was nice to see you again. i hope i get to see you at a few shows soon."

"i hope so too."

may gave you one last hug before she made her way out of the cabin, "tell my kid he gets ten more minutes then he has to haul his ass to the tour bus, okay?"

you chuckled, "got it. bye, mama c."

#poisoned mercury chats #frances writes #LUKE IS A MAMA'S BOY! #MAY CASTELLAN FOR THE W #band au #luke castellan #favorite #favorite writers

[alipal97]

Count on Me

Mixtape Masterlist

Song: Count on Me - Bruno Mars

Summary: three times that Percy was there for you and the one time you were there for him

Warnings: Platonic!Percy x reader, crying, lots of angst, protective Percy, shitty grad speech, it's a long one, mentions of blood, Percy and reader have a sibling bond, mentions of Luke x reader relationship, happyish endjng

i. siblings by any other name

You weren't directly related to Percy Jackson, each having been claimed by a different godly parent. Your features didn't match his own, and you were most definitely more clever than he was, being a child of Athena and all, but that didn't matter. To Percy, it wasn't blood or DNA that bound the two of you together; it was the way your presence was always warm and inviting. The way you always wore a smile that lit up a room in a way that would make any child of Apollo jealous. Or even the way you were always there for him, and he would always be there for you.

Percy remembers the first time he met you. It was only his second day at Camp Half-Blood, and he had been following the camp's golden boy, Luke Castellan, around as he showed him the ins and outs of the mythical camp for special children just like him. Luke had led him to the archery range, still in search of a skill he excelled at, though Percy wasn't sure they would ever find one. He watched as Luke's eyes seemed to search for something, or rather, someone. Percy knew he had found said someone when Luke's eyes softened, and he grinned so wide it made the scar on his cheek stretch further over the apples of his cheeks.

Luke led Percy over to a young girl who was roughly the same age as his new mentor. They waited patiently and observed as she repositioned her young student so that he was facing his target, with an arrow nocked and bowstring pulled back. She crouched down to his height, whispering instructions and encouragement until he let the arrow fly, hitting the target right in the bullseye.

"I told you you could do it," you said, smiling up at the young boy before he ran off to tell his friends about his first bullseye.

Luke cleared his throat, quickly gaining your attention as you stood up with a smile so bright it was nearly blinding. Percy was quick to understand that you must have been the girlfriend Chris was hassling Luke about earlier, simply by the way the two of you were looking at each other.

"Percy, this is Y/n, one of the best archers at camp." Luke looked at you adoringly as you rolled your eyes at the statement.

You held your hand out to shake Percy's hand, which was odd to the young boy since the only person's hand he'd ever had to shake was his school headmaster's, and he was ancient, so it was strange for someone as young as you to introduce yourself in that manner.

"I think he means to say the best archer at camp." You stated proudly.

Luke just shook his head with a smile. "You children of Athena are so prideful."

Percy's head whipped back to look at you. "Athena? So your Annabeth's sister?"

You nodded. "Yeah, sorry about Annie. She can be a little-"

"Intimidating?" Percy offered hesitantly, not wanting to offend you.

You laughed, and the sound instantly made Percy relax. There was just something about you that put almost all of his worries to rest.

"I think we're going to get along great, Percy."

From that day on, Percy was practically permanently attached to your hip. Wherever you went, Percy followed, but you never really minded. You had developed a fondness for the young boy who seemed to always look to you for guidance. The two of you formed a sibling bond over the next few months, following your first introduction to each other, that went far beyond a shared parentage. It continued from there, each of you being there for each other in the times you needed each other the most.

ii. glory isn't everything

It wasn't your failed quest that had put you into a state of depression. It was the way your mother so easily cast you aside, ashamed of her once-favorite daughter. That was what it meant to be a child of Athena, and you knew that, but never had you thought, after years of making your mother proud, that she could so easily ignore you. She ignored your prayers and pleas for help during your quest, which resulted in you barely making it out alive and being permanently scarred. Your mother was embarrassed of you, and you would never again be in her favor.

You staggered back into Camp Half-Blood, your head hung in shame as blood dripped from your wound onto the gravel beneath your feet. Your friends rushed to the barrier at the top of the hill to welcome you back, but you couldn't hear their cheers over the incessant ringing in your ears that only seemed to grow louder with each step you took. The cheers immediately cut off as your knees buckled beneath you, and you dropped to the ground before them, too tired to move any further.

Luke and Percy had immediately pushed through to the front of the crowd to see you, broken and defeated, lying on the ground and making no attempt to get up. That wasn't like you. You were a fighter if they ever saw one, and it scared them to see you so resigned.

Luke picked you up, one hand beneath your legs, the other behind your shoulders, cradling you against his chest as he ran to the infirmary. Percy ran ahead to alert the children of Apollo of your arrival, gathering as many of the healers as he could, knowing you were going to need all the help you could get.

It had been days since you had returned from your failed quest, and Percy hadn't slept a wink. He wasn't allowed inside the infirmary, the healers having kicked him out after he tried to fight one of them when he had made you scream when he pressed against your injured side with too much force. Refusing to leave you completely, he sat outside the cabin day and night, waiting for the day you opened your eyes again.

Luke and Annabeth had come by to try to get him to sleep in his own bed or even join them in the pavilion for dinner, but he wasn't budging. His sister was almost fatally injured, and he wasn't leaving until he knew you were okay. On the third day, his eyes closed despite his efforts to stay awake. When he woke up hours later, there was a pillow under his head and a blanket covering him. Percy sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes when he noticed Luke sitting beside him, a book in his hand to keep him company.

Percy sat up in a panic. "Is y/n-"

Luke gave him a weak smile, looking just as tired as Percy felt. "I just checked on her. She's still asleep, but Lee said she's going to be okay." He set his book down before reaching off to the side and procuring a plate of food, handing it to Percy. When Percy didn't immediately reach for it, he said, "Annabeth says if you don't eat, she's going to come back and drag you back to your cabin herself."

Percy grumbled but knew Annabeth would make good on her promise so he grabbed a roll and began to take small bites.

"They still not letting you in?" Percy shook his head. "I'll see what I can do, but in the meantime, you need to go back to your cabin and get some rest. There isn't anything you can do for her right now."

"She's my sister. I'm not leaving her," Percy spoke through gritted teeth. He was tired of people trying to tell him what to do. They didn't understand how terrified he was at the moment. The one person with whom he had found a home since coming to camp had almost been lost from this world, and he refused to leave until he saw her awake and smiling at him like she always had.

"Do you understand how pissed she's going to be if she wakes up and sees you like this, Perce? She may be hurt but she'll still kick your ass." Percy's shoulders deflated, he knew Luke was right. Luke patted him on the shoulder. "I promise to come get you the second she wakes up."

Percy nodded in resignation and stomped off to his cabin, knowing that Luke would keep his promise. The second he flopped down onto his mattress, still fully clothed, his eyes shut, and he quickly fell into a deep sleep. He wasn't sure how long he had been asleep when Annabeth shook him awake, her eyes wide. He sat bolt upright and didn't wait for her to speak before he was out the door and rushing across camp to the infirmary.

Percy burst through the doors, his chest heaving as he tried to regain his breath. He stopped short when he saw Luke sitting in the chair beside your bed, holding your hand and softly whispering to you. Luke's eyes looked sad as they looked up to meet his. If it hadn't been for the gentle rise and fall of your shoulders, Percy would have thought you were dead, a thought that he quickly pushed away.

"Percy's here," he heard Luke whisper. "I'm going to let you two talk. I'll be right outside." Luke placed a chaste kiss on your forehead before coming to stand in front of him. "She's doing all right physically, but mentally—" he trailed off, the words catching in his throat. "Maybe you can get her to talk. Let me know if you need anything." And with that, he threw one last glance back at you before walking out of the infirmary.

Percy walked to your bed, hesitantly taking the seat Luke had occupied before. He noted the new scar just below your hairline that ran down past your temple and the way your eyes were suddenly void of all the life and light they used to carry. You were staring at the wall blankly just past his shoulder, not making any effort to acknowledge his presence. It truly hurt Percy to see you like this.

"Hey." He spoke softly, feeling slightly relieved when your gaze met his.

Your reply was barely a whisper, but it gave Percy hope that you, the real you, were still in there somewhere. "Hey."

"How are you feeling?" It was a foolish question, but it was the best he could think of.

"Like a huge failure."

Your reply hit Percy square in the chest. He did his best to hide it, knowing you would only feel worse if you thought you had upset him.

"You're not a failure, y/n/n."

You huffed angrily and rolled onto your back to stare at the ceiling. "You don't get it, Percy. Everything you do makes your father proud. You could breathe and Poseidon would be bragging to the other gods about how amazing his son is. It's not like that with my mo—with Athena. I've had to work so hard to gain her attention, and it was all for nothing. Athena wants her children to bring themselves glory and, therefore, bring her glory." Tears spilled from your eyes and onto the white sheets beneath you.

Percy reached out and placed a soothing hand on your shoulder. "Glory isn't all it's cracked up to be, you know? You shouldn't need to bring your mother glory just for her to be proud of you. You've survived eighteen years as a demigod; I think that should be enough. And for what it's worth, I'm proud of you, no matter what you do."

You sniffled. "Thanks, Percy."

Percy continued with a small, teasing smile. "Is adoption a thing amongst gods and demigods?"

You shook your head. "I don't know."

"Well there should be. Then maybe my dad could adopt you and he could be proud of your breathing."

That made you laugh, an actual, genuine laugh that Percy had become familiar with and grown to love. It sounded so much like his own. Percy spent the next few hours in the infirmary, getting you to laugh and then finally eat before Luke came back to check on you and send Percy back to his cabin to get more sleep.

Before he left, Percy turned to you, nudging your shoulder with his fist. "Godly adoption or not, you're my sister, y/n. I love you."

"I love you too, Perce."

iii. my mistake, not yours

It had been hours since Luke's dramatic departure from Camp Half-Blood—hours since his betrayal and hours since he had begged you to come with him. Luke had pleaded with you to join him and aid him in his war against the gods, but you had refused. You couldn't bring yourself to leave the only home you had known since you were seven, and you knew that in the end, your refusal had broken his heart just as he had broken yours.

"Come with me, y/n. Don't you want revenge against your mom?"

"I want to prove my mother wrong, but not like this, Luke. This isn't right."

You sat at the edge of the barrier that protected the camp from the outside world, staring at the very spot Luke had used Backbiter to escape. The sun had risen a long time ago, but you still remained, your mind and heart trying to come to terms with everything that had happened. Luke had betrayed you, his friends, and had tried to kill your brother. It was unforgivable, but yet you wished he would return.

Footsteps alerted you to someone creeping up behind you, and you instantly stood, completely on guard with your sword raised until you spotted Percy, his hands raised to show he meant no harm. Not that you ever thought the young boy would ever hurt you.

"It's just me." He said as he stepped closer, taking the empty seat on the fallen log beside you. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

His words made the tears you had been holding back flow freely down your cheeks. You covered your mouth with your palm, trying to muffle the sobs that broke their way past your lips. Percy said nothing as he wrapped his arms around you and allowed you to cry on his shoulder. He knew what Luke meant to you and how much his betrayal was currently devastating you. As much as he hated to say it, he too missed Luke and wished he would return, if only for your sake.

"I'm so sorry, y/n. I should've known, I should've done something rather than-"

You sniffled and wiped away the tears that trailed paths down your red cheeks. "Stop. It wasn't your fault; none of this is your fault. I don't even know if it's really Luke's fault. Everything that happened with his mother over the last few years truly broke him, and Kronos found a way to use it against him. He can be very persuasive, especially if the person he's trying to exploit is already vulnerable."

"Still," Percy argued, "if—"

"If what, Percy?" you countered, refusing to let him blame himself for anything. "If I hadn't loved him and trusted him myself? This is my mistake, Percy, not yours. And now we're all paying for it."

Percy hesitated for a moment, trying to find any way to not let you bring the blame to yourself, but he decided to let it go. He knew that it was no one's fault but Kronos and the gods. Perhaps if the gods paid a bit more mind to their children this would've never happened. Still, the gods were determined to use their children like pawns in a twisted game of chess.

"I don't blame you," he finally said, offering you a small smile. "I blame the gods."

You smiled at that and bumped your shoulder against his. "Careful, you're beginning to sound like Luke."

"Well, I do agree with him. Don't you?"

You thought for a moment, not about whether you agreed with him or not—because you knew you did—but rather whether he was going about it the right way.

You nodded. "I do. I just think there are better ways to go about it than waging a war against them."

"Like?" Percy asked with a raised brow.

"I'm not sure yet," you shrugged. "But I'm sure we'll come up with something, together."

Percy smiled. "Together," he agreed. "You know, I don't think Luke is a lost cause. I think we'll get him back, but I'll need you to do it."

"Me? Why me?"

"Because despite what you logical children of Athena may think," he stated with a smirk, mirth twinkling in his blue eyes, "love is a very powerful thing and despite everything that's happened, I know that Luke loves you more than anything."

More tears pricked in your eyes and you nodded in agreement rather than using your words, not trusting that words could break past the lump that had formed in your throat.

You swallowed hard, and when you could finally form words, you turned to your brother—by any other name—and said, "So I can count on you to save the day, then?"

"Save the day? I'm not so sure, but count on me? Always."

iv. i am the keeper of wisdom

Graduation was supposed to be a major milestone for you. It was to mark the end of your adolescent life as you went on to explore bigger and better things. It was going to be a celebration of all the years you had survived, and you would finally have something to show for it. After all, not many demigods made it to this stage in life, and you would have thought that it would make your father proud. You thought that maybe, for once in your life, he would show up, but he never did.

He wasn't there to clap along and cheer amongst the other proud parents as your eyes scanned the large crowd, finding his reserved seat empty. You knew better than to hope, but it wasn't all that surprising as you took your place amongst the sea of identical caps and gowns.

Part of you also hoped that Luke would show up, eyes searching for that familiar mop of dark curls and pink, scarred cheek. The two of you had always promised that if you lived this long, you would make it to each other's graduation. It was a nice thought, but you knew it was impossible with Kronos currently inhabiting his body.

"And now we'll hear a speech from this year's class Valedictorian, Y/n Y/L/N."

The round of applause from the crowd and the subtle nudge from your classmate broke you out of your reverie. You stood on shaky legs, sweaty hands gripping the note cards in your hands as if they were your only lifeline. You took your place behind the podium with a shaky breath after shaking your headmaster's hand.

"Good morning, fellow classmates and graduates of 2022. I would first like to express my gratitude for the honor of delivering this speech to the next generation of great minds before we embark on our journeys into the real world."

There was a round of applause before you continued. You smiled but couldn't bring yourself to look up from your notes. You were a child of Athena, which meant you were inherently clever but not necessarily brave. You cleared your throat, which suddenly felt dry, and continued.

"I would like to share something that my own mother—" you choked a bit on the word and had to swallow it down quickly. "My mother used to say to my siblings and me, 'War is not won with strength, but with strategy and wisdom. Knowledge is power, and you are the keeper of wisdom. Through wisdom, victory is earned.' As a child I wasn't sure exactly what she meant, but now I think I know."

You drew in a shaky breath before allowing your eyes to finally rake over the crowd. In all honesty, you didn't think you would have had the courage to continue had it not been for the familiar ocean-blue eyes and sandy-blonde curls that immediately caught your attention. Percy was seated in the very front row with Annabeth and Grover on either side of him, each of them sitting in the seats reserved for your family. They looked up at you with proud smiles that gave you enough courage to finish your speech with your eyes on the crowd.

"Knowledge is the greatest power we have against any force that dares to overcome us, and that is what we have gained here today. Our amazing teachers have spent the last few years of our adolescent lives preparing us with all the knowledge we will need to set us forth on our journey as members of society. Of course, they could not have prepared us for everything, but that is the greatest thing about knowledge: it is never ending."

Applause was given, diplomas were handed out, and caps were thrown in the air as your fellow classmates hugged and waved their final goodbyes. You personally thought it was a bit dramatic, given that most of them would end up in the same college and eventually the same dead-end jobs. You were a bit jealous that that particular future was lost to you.

You shouldered your way through the crowd until you caught sight of your friends waiting for you on the outskirts of the dispersed crowd. When you were close enough, you flung your arms around each of them in turn, saving Percy for last. You wrapped your arms around him tightly, having to stretch a bit since he had grown quite a bit since the last time you saw him.

"Thank you for coming." You mumbled into his shoulder.

Percy pulled back with a smile. "Did you really think I would miss my own sister's graduation? Nice speech by the way."

You rolled your eyes, but before you could reply, you caught sight of someone who made your heart race and your breath catch in your throat.

Percy's gaze followed yours and he stiffened a bit before turning back to you. "I can make him leave if you want."

You shook your head. As angry as you were with Luke, you were secretly elated that he kept his promise that you had made as kids. "Just give me a minute to talk to him."

You hesitantly made your way over to Luke, stopping a short distance away. He looked different than you remembered. Gone were his boyish looks, his once soft demeanor now replaced by something colder and more sophisticated—except for the eyes. Luke was still looking at you as if you personally hung the moon and the stars in the sky. It was impossible to hate him when he was looking at you like that.

"What are you doing here?" Your words came out softer than you had intended.

Luke shrugged. "Keeping my promise to my girl."

You scoffed at that. "You've broken far more important promises, Luke. Try again."

Luke ran a hand through his dark, messy curls that had grown longer over the last year. "I know. I'm so sorry, baby." He reached for your hand, but you were quick to pull away.

Tears stung your eyes, threatening to spill over and you could feel Percy's presence close behind you as you fought to swallow the lump in your throat.

"You don't get to call me that. Not anymore."

"Y/n, please—" Luke took another step forward, and you took another step back, right into Percy, who wrapped a protective arm around your shoulders.

"I think you should go, Luke," Percy said, fixing Luke with an icy glare.

The friendship he had once found with Luke was now gone. Percy didn't care about Luke's war with the gods or the fact that he had once tried to kill him. None of that mattered in Percy's mind. What mattered was that Luke had hurt his sister time and time again, and that was unforgivable.

Luke's eyes shifted to you, softly sniffling with your face buried in the young boy's shoulder, and his shoulders deflated. It had never been his intention to hurt you or put you in harm's way, but unfortunately, the Titan god didn't care who Luke had to hurt to get his way. With a sad nod, he unsheathed Backbiter before opening a portal and disappeared.

You only cried harder at Luke's departure, and Percy wrapped his arms around you tighter, silently vowing that no matter what he took, he would get back the Luke that you once knew—even if it meant his own life.

v. i've got you, brother

You hadn't been sure about college, claiming to your friends that you didn't even know what you wanted to major in. In reality, you just didn't want to be that far from Percy. The war Luke had started was simmering just beneath the surface, and it was only a matter of time before chaos erupted. You knew that when that day came, Percy would need you.

So you argued with him back and forth about college until he eventually won, promising that he wouldn't hesitate to call if and when he needed you. That day came a bit sooner than Percy had hoped and when it came down to it, he hesitated. Of course he wanted his sister by his side, knowing that if it hadn't been for you he wouldn't have made it this far, but the Oracle had said 'the battle will not be won without loss'. What if you were the loss she was referring to? He couldn't risk it.

Of course, Percy should have known Clarisse would call you instead, the traitor. He wishes he could say he was surprised to find you stomping across the battlefield towards him but he really wasn't. Nor was he surprised when you smacked him over the head, yelling at him for breaking his promise.

"Ow!" he shouted, his hands held up to protect his face. "Ouch! Y/N, stop it! I'm sorry, alright?"

"You know," you smack his chest, "for the bravest hero of our age," smack, "or whatever bullshit they're calling you these days," smack, smack, "you truly are just a fucking coward." Smack. You eventually stop hitting him, much to Clarisse's disappointment, and take a step back.

"Why wouldn't you call me?" you asked in a much softer tone that had Percy finally lowering his hands. You took the opportunity to give him one last smack, for good measure.

Percy winced. "Yeah, I deserved that. Look, Y/N-" He sent a pleading look in Annabeth's direction, who just raised her brows and shook her head as if to say 'I told you so'. And she had. Annabeth had told him you would be angry, but he didn't listen.

You took a step forward, grabbing him by his armor and tugged so you were face-to-face. Percy had the good sense to look scared, and he should be. You were not a force to be reckoned with.

"No, listen, Percy Jackson. We're in this together. We've been there for each other since the day we met, and now, all of a sudden, when you need me the most, you don't call? What the hell is that about?"

You let go of his armor, and Percy deflated at the look of pure hurt swimming in your eyes. The last thing he would ever want to do is make you feel as if he didn't need you, but the stakes were too high with this one. If he lost you, his best friend, his sister, he had no idea what he would do.

Percy sighed and ran a hand through his curls. "The oracle said 'the battle will not be won without loss'." You raised your brows, arms crossed over your chest waiting for him to continue. "What if that loss is you? I can't lose you and you're the only one I know I can count on to keep things going in my absence."

Your angry demeanor faltered, and you reached out to pull the young boy into a bone-crushing hug. "You won't lose me, and I refuse to lose you. Either we both come out of this, or neither of us does. Got it?" You felt Percy nod against your shoulder. "Good. Now," you pulled away and ruffled his curls, much to his chagrin, "what's the plan?"

The Oracle had been correct in her prophecy, but it wasn't the loss that either you or Percy had anticipated. Together, you had defeated Kronos's army and even Kronos himself, but unfortunately, that meant you had lost Luke as well. Percy had fought to find another way, but in the end, you knew there wasn't one. Luke had fought through long enough to say his goodbyes before Kronos took over once more and Percy ended it once and for all.

You were sat on a pile of rubble, watching as the Apollo kids tended to the wounded, waving them off when they came to check on you. You promised to get checked when you returned to camp and they left you alone to sit with your sorrow. Of course you had been happy that everyone was safe, but your heart hurt for Luke.

"Hey," Percy said softly as he took a seat beside you, setting Riptide off to the side. Your eyes fixed on the weapon that had ended Luke's life. "Are you okay?" he asked as he transformed the sword back into a pen and shoved it into his pocket out of view.

You gave him a tight smile and nodded tiredly. "I will be. Until then, I've always got you to count on."

Percy smiled and wrapped his uninjured arm around you, allowing you to rest your head on his shoulder. "Always."

Kind of drifted off there at the end but I've been working on this for days and wasn't sure how to end it. Also sorry for the crappy graduation speech. I write fanfics not speeches.

#imagines #luke castellan #writing #luke x reader #fanfic #masterlist #percy jackon and the olympians #angst with a happy ending #platonic #percy jackson #bruno mars

[alipal97]

poisoned mercury | meddle about (smut blurb)

a/n: MDNI y'all know the drill! no tags for this one. set after now you got me. can be read alone (only thing you need to know is that luke is in a band and calls reader 'five star') or as part of the poisoned mercury series!

song: meddle about by chase atlantic

luke finally let you listen to the song the boys wrote for him. the song was incredible, which was expected, but you relentlessly teased him after connor told you the story about how the song came to be.

“you didn’t know if we were anything?” you asked with an eyebrow raised. luke was brushing his teeth in your bathroom, toothpaste dribbling out the corner of his lips. your face was pressed against his bicep, as you watched his reaction in the mirror. “come on, castellan. i was obvious!” 

luke shook his head, spitting out the toothpaste into the sink as he tangled his fingers with the hand you had wrapped around his torso, “you were not, thank you very much.” 

“aren’t you supposed to know when a girl is flirting with you, mr. rockstar?” 

“you damn near bullied me for months, five star. humbled me every chance you got. you call that flirting?” 

“was i supposed to swoon and tell you how hot you were?” 

“ideally, yes,” he rinsed his mouth with water before turning his body to face you. he held your hips over the t-shirt you wore. it was his shirt and luke was dangerously close to leaving his entire closet with you just so he could see you wear his clothes forever. “would’ve sped up the process of us getting together.” 

“i like the slow burn,” you mumbled, pressing your lips against his own. luke’s grip on your waist tightened as he pressed your back against the counter. his lips were always so soft and he tasted like the spearmint toothpaste you owned. he ran his tongue across your bottom lip, and the innocent kiss became heated. 

luke pulled away for a second, “you gave me like emotional blue balls, five star. i was down bad.” 

“was?” 

“shut up,” he rolled his eyes, smiling. he pressed kisses against your neck, hand traveling under the hem of his shirt. his touch made you shiver. “y’know i’m still down bad for you.” 

you craned your neck, giving him more access to your skin. he nipped at your collarbone, sighing when you made those pretty noises that had him weak in the knees. you lifted yourself up on the counter, opening your legs to let luke slot himself between them. he continued to leave kisses on your skin, slowly pulling down the neckline of your shirt to explore more. 

you tugged on his curls, making him look up at you, “how bad?” 

luke licked his lips, “want me to show you?”

you nodded, running your hands down his chest. your fingers traced the black ink on the side of his torso, making him shiver against your body. his hardening cock was pressing against your inner thigh. luke pushed his groin against yours, trying to convey just how badly you had him wrapped around your finger. just a few words and a few kisses and he was putty in your hands.

"you feel me?" he sighed, closing his eyes as he buried his head in your hair. his senses were filled with you and he felt like he was drunk. you were so intoxicating. your skin smelled like him now since he was always pressed against you in some way. he needed to be near you all the time or he was going to go crazy.

your time in camp half blood was quickly coming to an end, much to luke's dismay, and he was going to make the most out of the few weeks he had left with you. he thinks his first few weeks without you will have him locking himself in hotel rooms fucking his fist to the sound of your voice on facetime and it kills him that he won't get the real thing until god knows when, but he doesn't want to think about that right now.

not while you were still here in front of him with your legs open wide just for him.

"is that enough to show you?" luke asked, sucking on your pulse point. he felt his heart hammering in his chest when you let out a breathy whine. all his blood rushed down to his cock, and soon it was becoming painfully difficult for him to keep his composure.

"no," you replied, pulling him in for a kiss. your lips moved roughly against each others, tongues tangled in a passionate display of affection as his hands massaged the side of your thighs. you were panting against his mouth, already breathless, "need to be convinced some more."

"careful, five star," he tsked, hand traveling to your clothed pussy. he rubbed your clit through the fabric, silently cursing when he felt your slick dampen the pads of his fingers, "i don't think you understand what you're wishing for."

"need you, luke," you mumbled, palming him through his boxers. he groaned at your hand gripping the base of his hard cock. "need all of you."

"you have a filthy mouth, you know that?" his eyes were blown wide with desire. he placed a thumb on your bottom lip, pulling it down a tiny bit. you sucked on his thumb, staring up at him in a way that had his head spinning. you looked so sinful. it was almost sacrilegious how the girl he worshipped was begging for him like this.

"you like it, though."

"don't think the word 'like' covers it," luke admitted, moving his hand to the back of your head to tug on your hair slightly. you extended your neck, letting luke leave a trail of sloppy kisses along your jaw. his tongue pressed against the marks he left on your skin, soothing the burn. "'m addicted to your filthy mouth, five star. makes me wanna fill it up."

"i'm not gonna stop you," you pulled down his boxers, wrapping your hand around his cock. you stroked him slowly, reveling in the raspy groans that left his throat. luke pressed his forehead against yours, watching your hand stroke him through hooded eyes.

"i'm supposed to be showing you how down bad i am for you, not the other way around."

you put a light pressure against the bulging vein on his cock and luke had to bite your shoulder blade to keep himself from being too loud. everyone was home, and while they knew of your relationship, he wasn't gonna be an asshole and subject them to knowing the details of it.

"let me hear you, pretty boy," you cooed, kissing along his scar as you pumped his cock faster. "let me hear how good i make you feel."

"fucking hell, five star," luke chuckled, darkly, bucking his hips. your hand felt too good. "don't wanna cum in your hand."

"in my hand, in my mouth, on my tits," you licked a long stripe down his neck, sucking on his adam's apple. "in me, everywhere luke. want you everywhere."

he was convinced you were going to be the death of him. luke placed a hand over yours, stopping you from your movements. as you opened your mouth to protest, luke lifted you off the counter and planted you in front of him. "get on your knees for me, yeah?"

a wicked grin appeared on your face and luke knew that he wasn't going to last very long. mischief in your eyes always meant that he was going to have another memory to have that'll keep him busy during the months you'd be apart.

you sunk down on your knees, batting your eyelashes at him as you kissed the head of his cock. luke bit his bottom lip so hard he was afraid he'd draw blood. his hands pulled your hair up in a makeshift ponytail as you slowly bobbed your head up and down his cock.

"shit, baby," luke moaned, a dopey look on his face. this is what heaven feels like, he's convinced of it. you were his own personal slice of heaven on earth. "so pretty like this."

you gagged as his cock hit the back of your throat and luke wanted to apologize but this felt too good for him to feel sorry. tears were pooling in your eyes as you sucked him in deeper. your thumb flicked his tip, collecting the beads of precum there, "tell me how you like it, luke. wanna be good for you."

"you're perfect, sweetheart," he replied, wiping the stray tear that escaped your eye. you smiled at him innocently, feeling a sense of pride blooming in your chest. "always so perfect for me, hm? my perfect little five star."

you hummed, going back down to wrap your lips around him. luke let go of your hair and placed his hands on your cheeks, bucking his hips forward. he was fucking your mouth harshly and you loved every second of it. he was panting above you, incoherent words escaping his lips. when you pulled away and licked around him, a string of saliva connected your lips to his cock. it was a glorious sight.

luke was stuck there admiring you make a mess on his cock and if you weren't so fucking turned on by how hot he looked when he was fucked out, you would've teased him about how speechless he was. you stroked his cock, tongue poking out the side of your lips before you spoke, "you like seeing your girlfriend on her knees for you?"

"fuck," luke hissed. it was the first time you referred to yourself as his girlfriend and it was pathetic how that one sentence had him nearing his peak, but he felt possessive. you were his girlfriend now.

"you gonna answer me, luke?" you mumbled, placing kisses along the underside of his cock. "because i like being on my knees for my boyfriend."

"fuck, five star. yes," he panted, screwing his eyes shut. his body felt like it was on fire. "yes, i do, baby."

satisfied with his answer, you took him into your mouth again, moaning as he thrusted deeper. he was losing his rhythm, a sign that he was getting close. luke's eyes stayed glued on your face, committing the sight of your pink lips wrapped around his cock to memory.

with a few more thrusts, he tapped on your hollowed cheeks to signal that he was cumming. he had to steady himself when you refused to pull away, nodding when he asked if he could cum in your mouth. luke came with hot, milky spurts down your throat, loudly groaning your name as he came.

when you swallowed his load, you got up from your knees and pressed your lips against his once more. luke loved tasting his cum on your tongue. he kissed you, not once pulling away, as he led you to your bed. he pushed you on soft bed, getting on his knees to pull your panties down.

you leaned on your elbows as you watched him disappear under the fabric of the shirt you wore. luke pushed up the shirt to where your thighs began, leaving red marks on your skin as he approached your pussy. "my turn."

[alipal97]

[alipal97]

God this was perfect😩 I can't wait for the next part

carve your name

part seven — the killerverse masterlist

pairing: luke castellan x daughter of ares reader

summary: it’s the fourth of july. you try and come to terms with your weird feelings toward your best friend while he chases another girl

content: something something creator chose not to use warnings. its getting real

notes: set after the trio’s return from their quest. this is divergent from the show! after the trio comes back from their quest, luke and percy do Not go out into the woods

You’re beating Luke in an arm wrestling contest when Chris brings it up.

“You guys know that girl that just got claimed by Athena?”

Neither of you answer, too busy putting all of your energy into slamming the other’s hand into the table.

You’re winning by the slightest margin. His hand’s about a quarter of the way from the upright position, which doesn’t sound like much, but is a lot when you’ve been at a stalemate for the past five minutes.

“Someone told me she was talking about Luke.”

You begin to lose your grip on his hand, sweaty and sore. But you’re both tied with two wins in this best of five, and you refuse to even let up for a second. The muscles in your arm protest and threaten to give out for a second before you readjust your grasp.

Chris claps a hand on Luke’s back, and when he doesn’t say anything, you can tell he’s just as focused as you are.

“She wants to make a move on you, dude,” Chris says.

Luke’s hand hits the wood, a swift and decisive victory.

“Fucking finally,” you grit out, rolling your shoulder. You pick up your water just so you don’t have to look at either of them, something sick and familiar pulling in your chest. “I thought you’d never give up.”

Luke’s rubbing at his forearm when he laughs, and your stupid mind imagines the feeling of stupid butterflies stirring in your stupid chest.

“It felt like my arm was gonna pop out of its socket. How’d you do that thing at the end?”

You take a long sip of water, fanning at your face. You wonder if your thirty minutes of arm wrestling combined with the July sun would be enough to convince them that that’s why you feel so flushed.

“You mean that thing called winning?”

He kicks your ankles from under the table. “Fuck you. I win plenty. But it was like you got your dad’s blessing just to beat me at arm wrestling.”

Your face pulls up into something that you hope looks amused. “I think you’re just losing your touch, Luke. I bet even Percy would be able to beat you and those weak noodle arms.”

It’s not meant as a dig, but Luke takes a half beat too long to respond.

He stands up abruptly, shifting the bench backward with Chris still on it. He protests at the sudden movement, catching your glass that teeters off the table.

You meet Luke’s eyes again, and his grin lets you know he’s not gonna let your joking slide. He rounds the table, his hands outstretched for you, and you nearly throw yourself in the opposite direction.

“Luke,” you say, the single word sounding like a plea. You walk backwards all the way to the edge of the pavilion, trying not to trip over your own feet. “I was kidding.”

“I know,” he says. His smile is growing wider by a second. “But you’ll say sorry, right?”

“I’m sorry!” You squeal when he lunges for you, trying not to dissolve into laughter. “And I’ll never make fun of you and your weak arms ever again.”

You know there’s really no use running. Luke’s fast, and even though you are too, you won’t outrun him. You let him rush forward and throw you over his shoulder.

Luke gets an apology from you eventually, when you’re dizzy from being over his shoulder and floating with laughter. He holds onto your shoulders during the walk back to your table even though you’re not that dizzy.

When you sit down on the bench opposite of Chris, the first words out of his mouth are, “You guys are fucking weird. Did either of you hear what I said?”

Luke takes his seat across from you, and you try not to let your gaze linger for too long.

You sound breathless. “Sorry, Chris. We take arm wrestling very seriously.”

Luke cracks his knuckles before turning to his friend next to him. “Were you talking about Callea?”

Oh. So he was listening.

Chris snaps his fingers before pointing at him. “Yep. Her. She’s pretty into you.” His eyes slide over to you before he gives his attention back to Luke. “You gonna do something about that?”

“Nah.” Luke smiles, a little embarrassed like he always is whenever he finds out someone new likes him.

It happens a lot to him. A lot more often than you think you’re comfortable with.

…If it were happening to you, of course. Not Luke. You are perfectly okay with the amount of people who fall at his feet. Because he’s his own person. His own person who’s not yours.

“You scared?” Chris jokes. You stare pointedly at the ground. How weird would it be if you just up and left? “She’s pretty.”

Luke’s amused. He slides your glass across the table between both of his hands. “Yeah, so? A ton of girls are pretty.”

Chris is about to say something, you can tell. But he laughs instead. “I’m saying you should go for it.”

He doesn’t look like he cares much, and some sick and twisted part of you feels relieved.

“I’m good, man. I don’t need a girlfriend, especially if it’s some random girl.”

You can tell Chris knows that Luke isn’t giving up anytime soon. So he turns his attention to you.

“C’mon, dude. Help me out—I know he’ll listen to you. Luke should go for it, right?”

You feel frozen on the spot. Both of the boys are looking at you expectantly, believing wholeheartedly that you’ll take their side. You swallow despite the dryness in your throat.

You want to say no.

Not a single part of you wants Luke to make a move on this girl because… The idea makes you want to vomit. It makes you want to take Luke and drag him far, far away where no one can even look at him. Just you and him on top of a mountain, far away from the rest of society.

The endless stream of girls that would constantly make eyes at him from across camp had always made you defensive, but to a perfectly normal extent.

But you’re scared now. Those protective feelings are starting to look like something different, something you don’t even want to think about.

You feel sick, and it’s all because Chris is suggesting Luke should get a girlfriend.

What’s happening to your chest right now isn’t normal. You need to cut whatever it is that’s growing inside of you at the root and shove everything into the very back of your mind. You aren’t supposed to be feeling like this. It isn’t right.

You lean onto the palm of your hand while you turn to look at Chris. You refuse to let your voice waver.

“Yeah. He should.”

The smile on his face tapers off into one of shock. His eyebrows go high for a second, and he huffs a surprised laugh. “Wait, really?”

“Really.” You refuse to look at Luke. You’re beyond scared of what he’ll say. “I mean, half of camp has been pining after him for years. What could it hurt, you know?”

There’s a beat of silence before Chris turns back to him. “Uh, well, you heard her. Two against one.”

You rub at the skin by your wrist.

At the root. At the root.

“I’m kinda jealous. If I had half as many people in love me…” You laugh, and you’re glad to hear that it doesn’t sound half as forced as it really is. “I probably would have a boyfriend by now.”

The lie feels like acid in your throat. You force your eyes back to Luke. His are just as deceptively blank as yours, the look on his face unreadable.

He looks indifferent at the idea, and it stings more than you thought it would. You’d felt physically sick at the idea of Luke having a girlfriend, and he couldn’t care less about you getting involved with anyone else.

The nausea worsens the pressure on your chest.

“And it’s the Fourth of July bonfire tonight,” you add, the hole you’ve dug for yourself growing deeper and deeper with every single word. “So it’d be a great time to do it.”

“Real romantic,” Chris tacks on.

Luke still hasn’t said a word, and the anticipation of what he’ll say might just kill you. You aren’t sure what you’ll do if he actually agrees. Probably something incredibly stupid. You’ve never wanted someone to tell you no this badly.

After a painfully long few seconds, Luke shrugs. “We’ll see, then.”

You feel like the floor has fallen out from under you.

Chris covers up his choke with a laugh. “Are you being serious?”

You’ve never felt so far apart from Luke in your entire life. For the first time ever, you can’t even begin to imagine what he’s thinking.

“Well,” he laughs, a smile you’ve never seen him wear before get plastered on his face. “What could it hurt?”

The sound of your own words coming from his mouth are enough for the sick feeling wearing away at you to grow violent. You get up slowly from the table, trying to push down everything in you that’s threatening to make itself painfully known.

“I’ll see you guys tonight, then?”

Chris scratches his head. “Where are you going?”

“I told one of the Hephaestus kids I’d help set up for the firework show.” You’re blatantly lying. A good amount of them have been weary of you ever since that fight between Luke and Max at the start of the summer. “They’re loading up the barge right now.”

Luke looks confused, but you don’t have anything to say to him. You throw a halfhearted wave over your shoulder and make sure not to look at either of them as you turn away.

(You don’t head down to the beach. You dry heave in the bathroom for thirty minutes before feeling fine enough to walk back out.)

—

You’d been beyond excited to see Annabeth, Percy, and Grover come back to camp a few weeks ago. Returning safe from a quest was no easy feat, and preventing a literal war even more so. You’d been sure to hold all three of them in a group hug so tight they’d gotten annoyed with you.

When you see the former two laid out on a picnic blanket by the sand, waiting for the show to start, you drop in right behind them.

“Hey, guys.” You smile at the way Percy jumps. “You ready for the show?”

“Oh, hey. Is Annabeth right about how cool it all is?” he asks.

It’s nice to see they’re both friends now. During Capture the Flag, he’d seemed scared of how prickly she was.

“Annabeth’s always right.” You wink at her before turning back to Percy. “And absolutely. I saw the fireworks a bit ago—they’re even bigger than last year. I think they’re doing something special.”

Percy looks impressed. He pops a grape into his mouth from the Ziploc bag in his lap.

“Hey.” Annabeth smiles at you before her eyes dart to the space behind you. “Are you okay?”

You squeeze her shoulder. “Yeah, why? Do I not look okay?”

“Oh, no. You look fine, I was just confused.”

“About?”

“About where Luke was. I have something to ask him, and he’s usually around wherever you are.”

Your face warms.

“He said he’d catch up with me soon,” you explain, trying not to read into her words too much. “But, uh… He’s back at his cabin getting ready to romance one of your sisters, I think.”

Percy freezes, a grape halfway to his mouth. You’re reminded of how he’d assumed you had liked Luke, all the way back when he’d first gotten to camp.

The little shit.

“What?” Annabeth’s brows are knit together in disbelief. “Are you messing with me?”

“Nope.” You steal a grape from Percy and listen to the crunch it makes between your teeth. “Chris suggested it. And I think I kind of encouraged him.”

The two of them share some sort of look right in front of your face.

“Hello?” You snap your fingers in between them. “Share with the class?”

“It’s nothing,” she insists, turning away from the ocean to face you. “I’m just surprised.”

You bite back your remark that probably would’ve been, That makes two of us! and let some sand fall through the gaps in your fingers. “Chris seemed surprised too. But Luke can do whatever he wants.”

Percy and Annabeth share another side glance, and you groan. You take back whatever you’d just said about being happy they’re friends.

“Okay, seriously. Spit it out or stop conspiring in front of my face, please. It’s rude.”

“Sorry,” Percy says quickly. “I mean, you already know, but I thought you guys liked each other. I didn’t take him for a guy who’d go for another one of Annabeth’s sisters.”

You can’t help but smile at that.

“Do you know who it is?” Annabeth presses. “I can’t believe so much has changed since we’ve been away,” she says, genuinely considering the thought of this. “Luke used to flat out ignore girls that liked him.”

“It’s Callea, the one who just got claimed.”

Be nice, you remind yourself. It’s not her fault you told Luke to go after her.

“She’s nice,” you add. “I remember her from the times I’d stay over at the Hermes cabin.”

Annabeth frowns. “Oh. Are they like… friends?”

It’s going to make you sound like a crazy psycho, but you know the answer to that question is no. No, they are not friends.

But you just shrug. “I don’t know.”

The kids are quiet, and it puts you on edge. Everyone seems to be especially close-mouthed around you today. There’s clearly more they want to say, especially Annabeth, but she leaves it off with an eyebrow raise and moving over on the blanket.

“Want to watch the fireworks with us?”

You love Annabeth. You’re grateful that she’s dropped it.

“Of course.”

The three of you watch the work of the Hephaestus kids in awe. The red, white, and blue fireworks (projectiles would be a more accurate term) illuminate the sky, showcasing little stories in the lights. So far, the highlights have been the Minotaur (which you make sure to nudge Percy to look at), a scene of your father in battle, and planes made out of lights swerving and shooting at other firework planes.

Sometime between the scene of the warships braving the storm and something from the American Revolution, you feel the hair on the back of your neck stand up. You turn, searching for who you know is standing somewhere amongst the other campers on the beach.

You find him embarrassingly fast. He’s at the edge of the tree line, leaning against an oak and watching George Washington do whatever it is he does.

Percy doesn’t say anything when you get up from your spot, but Annabeth catches you with a hand on your ankle before you move off the blanket.

“Can you ask him where he left my book?” she asks. “He’ll know which one.”

“Oh.” You have no idea how she’s so all-knowing all the time. “Yeah, of course. I’ll see you later, Annabeth.”

“Later.” She turns back to watch the show, grabbing Percy’s shoulder to make him look at some sort of special spiral the fireworks make in the sky.

Luke’s face is painted in the red lights from a burst shaped like the American flag when you approach.

He’s dressed nicely. Not too overly fancy that it looks like he put effort in, but you can tell he definitely sat over his stuff an hour ago wondering what to wear.

He nudges your shoulder when you settle next to him against the tree. “Where’s your jacket?”

You tug at his sleeve. “Right here.”

He always overheats when he drinks and ends the night with ten less layers than he started with, which all end up going to you. Luke smiles at you because he knows you’re right.

“You ready for tonight?” You draw a circle with the point of your shoe in the dirt, looking away from him and the light of the fireworks.

“Absolutely,” he says, his eyes probably crinkling. “Can’t wait for you to sneak shots behind my back and get so drunk I gotta carry you back to the cabin.”

You think you might hate yourself, because the next words out of your mouth are, “I was talking about Callea.”

The light hearted air around you sours almost immediately. You can picture the furrow of his brows with weird accuracy.

“Oh,” he says, in that tone that tells you that you just caught him off guard. “Sure. Whatever happens, happens.”

The campers on the beach ahead of you burst into boisterous applause at the firework show finale: the warriors battling it out in the sky are as tall as skyscrapers.

Luke pushes off of the wall of wood behind you, slinging an arm over your shoulder.

“Go slow tonight.” He waves to one of the younger kids passing by you as you make your way towards the other half of the beach. “Can’t have you getting alcohol poisoning.”

“Don’t worry,” you say. “I’ll be fine.”

The two of you wander over the sand dunes, the little tufts of beachgrass tickling your ankles. While you walk, he talks to you about what he was doing before he showed up to the beach, and you listen half heartedly.

You can’t wait to drink the memory of this night and Luke and Callea out of your mind.

—

The number of people that have already made their way to the site by the time you get there surprises you.

There aren’t many campers old enough to go to these things. But there’s still a decent amount of people here, most crowded around the bonfire glowing bright red in the center of the clearing. It’s about twenty feet high and the pieces of wood keeping it alive are about the size of entire tree trunks.

There’s a few people standing around a foldable table that’s dirty from age and long stained with various drinks. A group of girls you know are talking around the cooler, and you find yourself moving in their direction before you can stop yourself.

The first conversation about Callea happened a few hours ago, but you’ve been feeling irritated and sick and on edge and annoyed ever since. So it really isn’t your fault that the second someone hands you a can of hard lemonade, you’re cracking open the tab and tipping it down your throat.

It burns on the way down and really isn’t that good. Most of the cheap stuff people get for these things aren’t, but you still find yourself hoping every single time. You let the sting in your throat replace the sting of the mean mix of emotions in your head.

“Hey.” The can pressed against your mouth is lifted clear over your head, spilling a few drops of sticky lemonade onto your shirt. “What’d I say? Slow down.”

“You’re no fun sometimes,” you complain, but you feel an out of place sense of relief.

Luke’s still here. With you, not someone else.

“It’s been forever since I’ve had one of these.”

“Is that why you downed half the can in fifteen seconds?” Luke asks, squinting into the opening at the top. His eyes find the flavor printed on the side of the can, and you stare as he puts his mouth over the spot yours had just been and takes a long swig.

He makes a face at the taste. You swallow around the dryness in your throat.

“I still don’t get why you like this stuff. Pure sugar.”

He uses the edge of the table to pop off the cap of the cheap beer that his brothers always buy, and you wince just imagining the bitterness of it. He tosses the cap into the trash bag tied to the end of the table.

(You all take trash disposal very seriously at these bonfires. You’re all still a little scared from the time a nymph threatened to snitch on you all when she found a discarded can by the edge of the woods.)

“You know the drill though. I’m not cleaning up your vomit again.”

“You’re going to have to stop bringing that up one day.”

Luke gives you a lopsided smile. “But you get so embarrassed when I do.”

“Gods, who wouldn’t?” you shiver. “I couldn’t look your brother in the face for weeks after that.”

He mimes himself tumbling out of bed and then vomiting onto what you know is supposed to be the foot of his brother’s bed.

You hit his shoulder, tugging your drink out of his hand. “Asshole. We get it, all your siblings were there—”

“Luke!”

The two of you spin in the direction of the voice, off in the direction of the beach.

It’s Callea. The sight of her is enough to send burning hot jealousy through your bloodstream.

She’s so effortlessly pretty that it has you tugging uncomfortably at your own clothes. Her hair has been curled to perfection, and it's pinned back, putting every part of her insane bone structure on display.

There’s a group of people behind her, a mix of kids from every cabin. You see Chris amongst them, all of them waving you in their direction.

Callea’s smiling, and Luke looks stunned.

You take a step back without meaning to. When he turns to you, he’s smiling in a way that almost looks nervous.

You try for a smile too, feeling out of your mind. “Good luck, hero.”

The look flickers off his face for a second. He’s confused. “You’re not coming?”

You know you won’t be able to handle the sight of him and Callea together without tears pricking at your eyes. The hurt is making itself known already, and you know it’ll only get worse from here.

“I’m gonna find my friends.” You gesture vaguely behind you because you have no idea where any of them actually are. “I’ll catch up later.”

He’s not convinced, his hand settling on your shoulder. “C’mon, please? Don’t make me go alone. I feel like I’m being left to the sharks.”

You pull yourself away too fast, and it’s clear that he picks up on that too.

“Sorry.” You look away because you know you’ll give in and go with him. “An hour at most, and I’ll come looking for you.”

“An hour?” His tone is off.

You take another long sip from your drink. It’s about one-fourth of the way full now.

“Go get your girl, Luke.” The words are forced out through gritted teeth and the envy clouding your mind.

You can feel him watch you as you walk away.

—

It takes another few cans of fruity drinks and two Dirty Shirleys until you feel your face getting hot and your tongue get heavy in your mouth.

One of your sisters did something with your hair, but you’re much too preoccupied to care much about it. You’ve lost track of how long it’s been since you first got here, but the drinks have been flowing and have started tasting really good, though you think that’s just because of how tipsy you are.

It’s kinda hard to think about other things when you’re standing amongst twenty other kids cheering on a son of Aphrodite who’s doing a keg stand.

You feel someone tug at your arm. It’s Ruby, trying to drag your attention away from the boy doing a handstand on top of the barrel. She has to shout over the sound of everyone egging him on.

“I’m go— to give —s to V—t!”

The guy in the middle of the crowd lets out a roar of triumph, and everyone around you joins in.

“Huh?”

Someone jostles you around while they rush for the middle and you lose her for a second. But then she’s seizing your wrist and dragging you out of the layers of people.

“I’ll be back! I’m gonna give this to Violet.” you think she says. Your ears are ringing from the change of volume.

She shakes a can of something in front of your face, and the melted ice water from the cooler splatters onto your shirt.

“Can I come with?” you yell over the sound of someone turning up the music.

She intertwines her hand with yours as she starts singing along with whatever song they’ve put on. She seems to know exactly where she’s going, dragging you behind her as she heads in the direction of the ocean.

“There she is,” you say, pointing to someone wading in the water.

“Uhh,” Ruby squints in the direction you’re pointing in. “I think that’s Jace.”

The boy’s face catches the light when he splashes the person standing next to him, and you wonder how you’d mistaken him for her in the first place.

“Oh, whoops.”

“There,” she says suddenly, pointing in the direction of a smaller group a little bit away. “Violet!”

You nearly get whiplash from the way she changes course so fast, snapping your head to the left.

“There you are,” Violet groans, trying to squeeze her way through her dense crowd of friends. “I was starting to think you’d never show up!”

“But I’m here now,” she defends, giving the girl her lukewarm drink. She gives her a big hug in thanks, and it makes you smile. You give Ruby a hug after Violet lets go of her just because you can.

Ruby falls into easy conversation with the people standing around, but you stare out at the water, something unsettling setting in. You think you’re supposed to be doing something right now, but can’t really remember what it is.

You already gave up your bet money to the girl you’d lost to. You hadn’t forgotten to put on sunscreen earlier. You’re getting rum and Coke spilled down the front of your white shirt.

Wait.

“Oh, fuck. My bad.”

You’re getting rum and Coke spilled down the front of your white shirt.

“Oh, fuck,” the guy repeats. His hands flutter around your shirt but he clearly knows he shouldn’t try dabbing it out. “Sorry, dude. That was on me.”

“No shit,” you say, but you’re not too upset about it. It wasn’t your favorite shirt or anything.

His face is growing bright red, and he stares very solemnly up at the sky.

You frown. “Oh, um. You’re good, dude. It’s not that serious.”

“Mikey!” someone hisses as he shoves his jacket at you. “Great going, jackass.”

You look down, and see that your shirt is starting to look a little transparent.

Ha. No wonder he’d gone tomato red.

“It’s fine,” you insist, letting Ruby shove your arms through the jacket. “No harm, dude.”

He gives you a fist bump before disappearing back inside his group of friends.

“Oh, hey! Where’ve you been?” someone asks.

You think back to what you’re definitely forgetting while you wait for Ruby to respond to them. It’s on the tip of your tongue, too.

After a few seconds of your friend’s silence, you realize that person’s talking to you.

“Chris!” you greet, smiling. You throw your arms around his shoulders with so much force he nearly tips over. “What’re you doing here?”

His curly hair is looking super windswept, and you point it out to him with a smile.

He flattens the wayward strands before returning your grin. “Bradley was breakdancing over here earlier.”

A laugh finds its way out of your mouth. “Really?”

“Yep.”

“It’s been a bunch of fun over there,” you tell him, and you think you can still hear them yelling about something.

“I can tell,” he says, laughing. Then, he gets a curious look on his face. “By the way, did you go see Luke? He was looking for you earlier.”

The mention of him hits you like a truck, slamming the memories straight to the forefront of your mind.

“Oh. No. I didn’t.”

“Do you want me to take you to him? He’s sitting with Callea.”

You lift Chris’ cup straight out of his hands and finish whatever’s in it. It’s not as bad as that beer Luke likes, but it’s definitely not good, either.

It takes Chris a second to find his voice. “Are you good?”

You want to be honest. No, you aren’t good. You’re jealous and bitter and feel like you’re about to lose the only person you care about.

But you just give Chris a thumbs up while wiping away the bits that are dripping down your chin. “Well. Yep.”

That was what you were forgetting.

You really have to thank the drinks you had earlier for helping you push him to the back of your mind.

But it doesn’t matter anymore. Your eyes scan the shoreline, and you find them a little too quickly.

They’re sitting on a log by a few other people at the big fire. One of the Apollo kids is singing something on a guitar, but neither Luke or Callea are paying attention. They’re talking quietly, the two of them engrossed in whatever stupid shit they’re talking about. When Callea laughs, she leans her head back and puts her hand on Luke’s arm, and—

You look away so the bile doesn’t make its way up your throat. You sit down on the sand. Hard.

Chris settles down slowly next to you. You let your head hit his shoulder, defeated.

You’re supposed to be cutting everything off. Every single out of place feeling you have towards Luke is supposed to be gone. Gone from your mind and gone from your heart, because none of it is normal.

You shouldn’t feel possessive at the thought of Luke being with another girl. It’s not right. He deserves to be happy— so happy that he doesn’t stop smiling. So happy that he’s head over heels for a girl.

What kind of sick person are you?

You don’t want Luke to be happy with Callea. You don’t want him to kiss her, and you don’t want him to hold her hand and let her sleep on your side of his bed.

And that’s not normal. You’d encourage any one of your other friends to go after a cute girl, but the thought of Luke doing the same made you drink your weight in vodka cran and hard strawberry lemonade.

Your chest burns. Feeling this way hurts, but you can’t stop it. Your feelings for Luke are so innate, they’re a part of you.

It’s not possible to get rid of this. You know it for a fact.

Chris nudges you with his elbow. “I… Shit. I have something to tell you.”

You brush sand from the edge of your jeans. You’re not in a big talking mood.

“I only told Luke to go after Callea because I thought you’d tell him not to.”

You spin around so fast to look at him that Chris has to catch you when you fall forward.

“You did what?” you spit out after a second, trying to fight back the nausea.

This entire thing started… Because Chris Rodriguez wanted to test you?

“You’ve stopped him every other time!” He looks guilty and frantic all at once as he settles you back onto the ground. “I was so convinced you would do it again, and I just... I’m sorry.”

“Gods, Chris,” you complain. Your head is spinning. “Why?”

He runs a hand through his hair, looking sheepish. “You gotta promise not to be mad.”

You know he can tell how angry you are when he seems to shrink into the sand.

“Uh… I was convinced you two got together recently without telling me. And I mean, I ask Luke about girls all the time, so—”

“You thought it wouldn’t be a big deal to ask him about some girl again?” your stare is flat. “To see how we’d react?”

He shrugs, running his hands through the sand. “Yeah.”

“And you didn’t expect me to tell him to go for it?”

He shrugs for a second time, too guilty to really look at you. “I mean, obviously. But I was even more surprised when he actually agreed to it.”

You think about Luke and Callea by the bonfire, too busy staring into each other's eyes to notice anything else. The regret feels like a physical weight on your chest.

“Wasn’t really your fault,” you admit, leaning your chin against your knees. “I um… Fuck, Chris. I can’t believe I’m saying this out loud.”

You smile, and he smiles with you, but you think it’s because he’s scared you’re going to cry.

“I think I like Luke.”

It’s weird to admit that to someone other than yourself. But the words are a lot less scary now that you’ve said them out loud.

You like Luke. You have for a while.

It’s hard to trace the start of your feelings for him. There’s so much between you two, and the thought of trying to comb through nineteen years of friendship to find the exact moment where your world shifted is impossible.

You think about the way you feel around him — the way only he makes you feel. You don’t think you could explain it to Chris even if you wanted to. You don’t even know if you could explain it fully to yourself.

“And I got scared. I was trying to pretend like if I ignored it, it would go away.” You laugh at how ridiculous it all sounds. “But nothing could erase the way I feel for him. He’s just… He’s been everything.”

You know you like Luke. You think it might even be more than that.

The words sit heavy between you and Chris. He exhales as he lays back, trying to make sense of the drunk slew of words you’ve spit up at him.

It’s a lot.

But he lets you wallow for less than thirty seconds.

“Get up,” he says, conviction coloring his words. He’s staring out at the ocean, and you give him a funny look.

“What?”

He pushes himself to his feet before grabbing your hands and tugging you up. You stumble forward, still feeling the effects of the alcohol, but Chris has you stable before you even realize you’d almost fallen over.

“Stand up and get over there,” he demands, brushing sand off your shirt.

“Over there?” you repeat weakly, glancing between Chris and where you know his best friend is sitting.

He drags you even further away from Ruby’s friends. “Don’t make me repeat myself.”

“Are you fucking crazy?” you hiss, tugging hard on his hand and stumbling in the sand a bit. “I’m not going to interrupt that, Chris. I told him to go after her.”

He must get annoyed with the way you’re dragging your feet, because he stops the weird tug-of-war you’re having. Chris turns to face you, fire in his eyes.

“Then, congrats. We all make stupid decisions, so welcome to the club.”

Your eyes widen. You’ve never seen him this worked up about something in your life.

“But you’re going to regret this,” he insists. He grabs onto your shoulders with so much force it scares you a little. His stare is serious. “You’re important to him. I can’t think of something he cares about more.”

With his grip on your shoulders, he spins you around to face the boy in question. Luke’s face is lit up by the fire. He’s smiling at someone else.

“You’re a daughter of Ares for a reason, dude. You’d never sit back and let this happen.” He nudges you forward. “Get it done.”

You think of Luke. Your best friend, the only person you know you want in your future. The boy who holds you in your sleep and knows exactly what you need based on the way you reach for his hand. The boy who is a part of you just as much as you are.

When you turn around, you’re met with the sight of Chris’ back as he walks away.

He’s insane.

But he’s right.

You have to stop whatever it is that’s happening between Luke and Callea, even though it’s basically your fault. You know that the hurt you feel will only get worse if something really does happen between them, and the thought of that scares you more than anything else.

You’ve been less afraid of demigod-eating monsters than you are of this teenage girl.

Luke’s talking about something, and Callea’s looking at him with stars in her eyes. It makes you stumble over the sand a little faster.

From so far away, the sight of them had been manageable. But you find unease settling in your stomach the closer you get.

The wind tousles his hair and you’re taken aback by just how nice he looks. He’s a little flushed from the alcohol, but you like how it makes his smiles just a little bit wider and his hands a little more touchy.

You’re so busy staring you don’t notice when his eyes find yours. He sits up straight.

You call his name what must be a little too loudly, because the Apollo kid playing the guitar stops strumming.

“Hi,” you say, out of breath from the hike over. He’s grinning at you, finding something a little funny. You bend down so you can wrap him in a hug, and his hand slides up your back.

You inhale his cologne and sigh against him. “Missed you.”

“There you are,” Luke says, and you almost sigh with relief. “I missed you too. You disappeared.”

“Sorry. Ruby’s sister broke up with her boyfriend. I wanted to figure out what happened, and then he did a keg stand.”

“Ruby’s sister’s ex-boyfriend?”

“No. Matt did.”

“What does Matt have to do with Ruby’s sister’s ex-boyfriend?”

“Nothing.”

He’s grinning when he says, “My bad.”

You stand up to your full height, but you let your hand linger on his shoulder. His hand slides down your leg.

“I made you a Shirley Temple with vodka a while ago,” he says, handing you a red solo cup. “Extra cherries.”

You try not to smile too wide.

He knows, he knows, he knows.

“There’s only cherries in here,” you say, confused when he hands you the cup.

He squeezes the bare skin at your calf. “Yeah, sorry. They ran out of beer, and I got thirsty.”

“Luke, who is this?”

It’s Callea. She’s smiling at you, her head tilted to the side. Her hair is still perfect despite the light breeze.

You decidedly do not like the way his name sounds in her mouth.

You introduce yourself, trying to make your smile look as not strained as possible. “I’m Luke’s best friend. Who are you?”

“Callea.” She’s still smiling at you with her perfect teeth.

“Cool,” you say, because you don’t know what else there is to say. You’ve already met her. You aren’t sure why she’s pretending not to know you.

After a second of you staring at him, Luke makes room for you on the log. You get a sick sense of satisfaction when he moves further away from her.

He’s tapping on your leg. “You wanna sit?”

You nod automatically, leaning down to press a kiss against his cheek. “Of course.”

Luke has to steady you by your waist when you sit sideways on his lap.

He’s warm like he always is, even more so because of his proximity to the fire and the drinks he’s had. One of your arms goes around his neck as you lean against him.

“Annabeth wanted me to ask you where you left her book,” you say, your thumb rubbing over a part of his jaw. There's a tiny nick there you think he got from shaving, and you tell him that too.

It takes a second for the surprise to wear off. But he wraps an arm around your waist like he always does, and gives you a wobbly kind of smile.

“I’ll make sure to give it back to her,” he promises.

You miss the look he’s giving you, too busy curling your fingers in his hair. Callea had done this earlier. She didn’t deserve to.

“Wanna go back now?” you ask, yawning. “My head’s pounding.”

He squeezes your hip, and you forget what you were supposed to be mad about. “Thought you wouldn’t want to for a while. It’s not that late.”

“I think I drank too fast. I kinda just want to go and sleep at yours.”

You think if Chris were here, he’d probably tell you you’re laying it on thick. But you really do want to go to bed. Preferably after you take Luke far away from the girl next to you.

He tugs at the fabric of your jacket. “Where’d you get this?”

“Get what?”

“This.”

You look down at your chest, and see the logo of some sports team on it. You aren’t quite sure where it’s from, but Luke probably does.

“Some guy.”

“Some guy,” he echoes.

“Ruby’s friend,” you explain. You shove your face into his shoulder, which is stiff and so unlike him you pause.

“Are you friends with him?”

“I don’t think so. I didn’t really see his face. We didn’t do much talking.”

You realize just how tense he is only when he shifts you off of his lap and stands up abruptly. You sway on your feet.

“She’s drunk. ‘M gonna take her back,” he says to Callea.

It sounds like she protests, and you hear him apologize before saying goodbye.

(You choose to be nice and don’t wave at her while you walk away.)

Luke’s walking pretty fast, and you struggle to keep up with his long strides over the soft sand. Usually, you’d link your hands together at this point of a walk, but there’s too much distance between you two for it to work.

He’s weirdly prickly right now, so you keep your mouth shut the entire way back to his cabin. He can’t see you, but you frown at his back.

About halfway there, you hear him mumble expletives under his breath when a branch gets in his way, and the piece of wood, as thick as a dictionary, gets snapped in half from the pressure he uses to step on it.

You’re surprised he doesn’t blast the cabin door off its hinges with the way he shoves it open.

You follow him into the empty room. It’s just the two of you here because all of the younger kids are gathered in the pavilion to watch an old movie on a projector someone had brought back to life.

Luke’s already at his bed by the time you shut the door.

“You’re mad,” you point out, slinking over slowly. Luke could never scare you, but his silent anger is making you wary. “Why’re you mad?”

Luke doesn’t respond as he rummages around in his drawer, fishing out one of his t-shirts and a pair of pajama pants you’ve forgotten here.

“I’m not mad. C’mon, get dressed.” He says it quietly, but the clear signs of his anger give him away.

There’s the crease in between his eyebrows, for one. And the way he won’t look you in the eye. And when his fingers uncurl from the shirt to drop it into your hands, there’s wrinkles from how tightly he was gripping it.

“Aw,” you say, more amused than you should be. “You know, I thought you’d ditch me at my cabin tonight. But I think you’re a little too scared of me vomiting in my sleep and like, dying. So thanks. You’re pretty sweet for letting me still stay here. Even though you’re mad.”

“Killer.” Luke sighs when he looks away from you again, clenching and unclenching his fists. Definitely mad. “I’m not.”

“Not what?”

“Not mad.”

“You won’t let me touch you,” you say absentmindedly, taking a step closer to him. He doesn’t react, staring blankly over your shoulder. “It’s making me sad. You always let me ‘cause I can’t go a second without you.”

Luke inhales sharply, and you itch to have him under your hands again.

He scoffs a little meanly. “You have to stop saying shit like that.”

“What’s wrong with what I said?” you push, pressing closer to him. Just before you can get too close, he stops you with his hands around your biceps.

Luke’s lips are pressed into a firm line. His hands feel foreign against you, and it makes you feel weird. Everything is natural with him. Whatever is happening right now is not.

“You need to stop saying shit you don’t mean.”

“But I meant it. I can’t go a second without you.”

He doesn’t say a word. He sits you down on the edge of his bed and kneels down to untie your laces.

“Luke,” you practically whine, refraining from shifting yourself forward to hug him. “Why do you think I’m lying?”

“You’re drunk,” he states, matter of factly. He wrestles with your left shoe a little bit when it refuses to slip off. He flips it upside down and taps the sole to get rid of the gritty bits of sand that snuck into it.

“You’re drunk, too,” you point out. “So does that mean you’re lying to me?”

You put your left hand on the side of his face and make him look at you. He’s annoyed, and his face is warm and red like it gets whenever he drinks.

He sighs. Then he turns his face into your hand and lets his lips brush over your palm. “I’m not lying to you.”

Your skin tingles where his lips were. You rush your next words, giddy and a little embarrassed.

“Sometimes I wish you’d kiss me for real.”

Luke snaps. He backs away, running a hand through his hair. Your vision is blurry.

“Sorry,” you say, really frowning. You know you shouldn’t have said that. “Did that freak you out?”

“You can be so fucking mean,” Luke scoffs. “I don’t understand you sometimes.”

“What? Luke—”

“You tell me to go after some random girl neither of us really know, and then disappear for the rest of the night,” he grits out, angry at you in a way you’ve never seen.

His words aren’t making sense. He’d seemed so happy tonight, but speaks of it like it’d been torture. Your head is spinning.

“And then you come back with—” Luke cuts himself off before he can say what he really wants to. It seems to be a trend today. “Fuck, killer. You can be so mean.”

Your eyes sting with hurt. Luke never gets upset with you, and the immediate need to fix it makes your chest constrict.

You think you feel too much for him. Too much, too fast.

“What did I do?” you ask, and the frightening feeling of your eyes pricking with tears has the words rushing out. “I don’t know what you mean, I don’t get why you’re mad, Luke. Please talk to me.”

He tugs at the curls on his head, and it makes you frown. You wish he wasn’t so harsh on himself.

He kneels in front of you again, and you meet his eyes. They’re vulnerable.

You squeeze his shoulders.

Very slowly, he puts his hands on your sides again, and you soften into a puddle.

When he speaks next, it looks hard for him.

“Where’d you get this?”

The jacket.

You frown again. You’d already gone over this.

“Ruby’s friend, I told you.”

“You could’ve come to me if you were cold.” He forces the words out so quickly you almost don’t catch them. “I was looking for you.”

You rub his cheek sweetly. “Thanks, hero. You’re always looking out for me. But I had to put it on because he spilled his drink on me. Everyone would’ve seen through it if I waited to find you.”

It takes you a second before your hand finds the zipper, but when you do, you tug it down and show him your stained shirt underneath.

“Oh,” he says. He’s looking at your shirt and not at you. “You should get changed.”

“Why do you care?” you push.

“Your shirt’s sticky.”

“I meant about the jacket.”

Luke ignores you, tugging at the ends of your sleeves. “It’s nothing. C’mon, let’s get you outta this.”

You zip the jacket back up before he can stop you. “No. Tell me the truth.”

He gives you a look, stunned at your refusal. “I was being stupid, killer. It’s nothing.”

You get up, leaving him in his spot on the floor. “Tell me so it can be over.”

“It is over. I’m tired. You said you were too. Let’s go to bed.”

“Not until you tell me.”

“No.”

“Please, Luke?” you ask, knowing it’s only a matter of time before he gives in. “Please, please, please, please, pl—”

“If I tell you, will you finally go the fuck to sleep?”

“Yep. I swear.” You nod so fast you get dizzy. “I’ll shut up and we’ll go to sleep.”

He looks exasperated when he pushes himself to his feet. It looks like he can’t believe he’s having this conversation with you.

Luke sighs one final time.

“Earlier, you’d said you and this guy didn’t do much talking.”

You nod. “Yeah. He gave me his jacket and I walked away.”

“Well, I thought you ditched me ‘cause you wanted to go suck some guy’s face.” He gestures at your chest. “And it was worse ‘cause the jackass likes Arizona.”

He’d thought you’d been off with some random guy. And he’d been… jealous?

You don’t feel like joking with him anymore.

“That’s not fair,” you say, before you can stop yourself.

“What?”

“You were the one who was actually off making out with some random girl,” you point out.

His eyes widen. “You’re angry with me about that? I didn’t kiss Callea. And even if I did, you were the one who told me to go after her. Why are you upset about it now?”

“I don’t know!” You feel like you’re curling in on yourself. “I don’t like Callea. She annoys me.”

“I only said yes to talking to her because you wanted me to,” he says, bitterness creeping into his tone. “I’m so fucking confused. Did you want me to go for her or not?”

You think about Callea and Luke. The way she would kiss him. The way they would hold hands. The way she would be his future, not you.

You already know the answer to his question.

You shake your head vehemently. “I don’t want you to have a girlfriend, Luke.” You feel like a toddler throwing a tantrum, and shame curls around you. “I never wanted you to in the first place.”

“Then why did you agree with Chris?” he asks, and you’re shocked to hear that he sounds hurt.

You don’t want to talk to Luke about this right now. Not while you’re both drunk and willing to say something stupid.

But you look at him and the hurt in his eyes and feel the urge to spill every single thought you’ve ever had.

Your voice is quiet when you press your palms into your eyes. “I was scared.”

“Why?” he presses. His hands go around your wrists so you can’t hide from him. “Why were you scared?”

Luke makes you look at him then, his face inches from yours. You wonder if he already knows.

You know that you should wait and talk about this tomorrow. The both of you are drunk, no matter how much you want to deny it.

But it’s the alcohol.

The alcohol is why you do it.

It’s why you say, “I don’t want anyone else to have you, Luke.”

In the span of five seconds, you’ve uprooted nineteen years of love. Nineteen years of feelings that have been growing under the surface and into every part of who you are.

“I’m scared of the way I feel. I feel like throwing up whenever Callea looks at you,” you admit, eyes sliding to his shoulder. You can’t handle the weight of his stare. “So I ran from everything. I told you to go after her.”

Luke is still quiet, and the words finish pouring out.

“But I don’t want anyone else to kiss you. No one else but me.”

Luke still hasn’t let go of your wrists.

He hasn’t moved either, but you don’t blame him. You’d nearly been crushed under the weight of your feelings when you’d found out, and now, you’ve cracked open your heart and dumped it all at his feet.

Luke still hasn’t let go of your wrists.

But for good reason, you decide. He uses his hold on you to drag you forward and give you everything.

He tastes sweet. Like the grenadine from the Dirty Shirley he’d made for you, and you can't help the sigh that escapes you, a shaky exhale against his lips.

Luke lets go of you to cradle your face in his hands, brushing his thumbs under your eyes like he’s trying to commit the slopes of your face to memory.

His eyes are so brown. You’ve always known, but it feels different when you’re looking at the blackness of his pupils after he’s just kissed you.

“Was— Did you…” Where he’s looking is constantly changing, fluttering from meeting your gaze to down to your lips and then back up again. “Was that okay?”

You feel like you’re glowing. You can’t even imagine a world where you wouldn’t want this.

You say yes when you tilt your head up and slot your lips together.

He kisses you nice and slow, his hands sliding down to your back. He goes nice and slow because he’s not going anywhere, and you know it.

Your hands are shaking. You’re so jittery that you have to throw your arms around his shoulders and lock your hands together behind his neck. For the millionth time in your life, you thread your fingers through the dark sea of curls on his head. You’d never ever imagined you’d ever get to hold him like this, and it makes warmth spread to every part of your body.

Luke pulls away after a bit to rest his forehead against yours. When his eyes slide open, you lock eyes, and he breaks out into a grin. You find yourself mirroring it without meaning to.

His voice is so, so soft when he says, “Sweetheart?”

“Yeah?”

“Were your eyes open?”

Oh. You’d forgotten you weren’t supposed to do that.

You’d been so wrapped up in the thought that he was kissing you, you hadn’t even thought about looking away from him.

(Luke Castellan was kissing you. You, you, you.)

The tip of your nose brushes against his, your eyes finally fluttering shut. You inhale the barely there hints of his cologne and grow dizzy with it. “I just wanted to look at you.”

You expect him to laugh. It sounds stupid even to you, but you’d said it because it was true.

Luke is pretty. You could stare at him until the end of time, when you’re old and gray and your legs don’t work and you need him to carry you around with him forever.

You realize his hands have migrated over to your waist, and the feeling of him at your sides and at your back is making your stomach spin with butterflies.

You lean back to meet his gaze, and the look there catches you off guard. He’s breathing hard, his eyes completely glazed over.

You think that’s why you only half expect it when he pulls you against him and kisses you stupid.

Luke slides the jacket straight off of your shoulders, letting it hit the floor. He mumbles something, but you don’t think anything of it because then he’s doing something that nearly makes your eyes roll back and it’s forgotten in a second. You trip over the discarded fabric when he walks you backward to crowd you against the foot of his bed.

It wrings something embarrassing from your vocal cords, and he smiles against your lips.

“Yeah?” he asks, even though there’s no question there.

You feel dizzy at the feeling of him. Your hands untangle from behind his neck to slide down the solid planes of his chest, and he hums against your mouth. If he wasn’t propping you up against the bed frame, you know you’d have melted into a puddle on the floor by now.

You mumble something agreeable against him, your chest on fire. It’s not physically possible to be any closer to him, but you ache for it. You ache for him.

One of his broad hands slips up the back of your shirt and you gasp into his mouth, your fingers seizing the fabric of his jacket.

Luke is kind. So, so kind, and he licks into your mouth and you feel hot all over.

The warmth you’d been feeling earlier sets your chest on fire. You’re so frighteningly aware of the fact that you feel him everywhere. It’s too much and it’s not enough and he groans when you bite at his lower lip.

“Fuck,” he sighs out, the single word so desperate you nearly go cross eyed. “Fuck.”

You think you’re going to relive him every single time you need to take ambrosia.

“I can’t believe you’re real,” Luke breathes out, his eyes shining. The look he’s giving you is making saliva pool under your tongue. “You’re perfect, did you know that?”

You don’t let him get far before you’re chasing after him again, missing the taste of him. His grip tightens around you, and you think you get black spots in your vision.

“Thought I was gonna fucking die when you came back with that dumbass jacket,” he admits. “My girl. I’m sorry I was being stupid.”

You think it’d be embarrassing if he knew just how much you’d be willing to forgive him for.

“‘s okay,” you say, your voice thick. “I was sad it wasn’t yours, too.”

You’re pleased to find that Luke Castellan treats kissing just as seriously as he treats everything else, because the way he holds you is so desperate it surprises the both of you. You can’t even feel where the bed frame is digging into your hip because you’re too focused on the way he’s pressing you against it.

You try stabilizing yourself and find that your hands land directly on his biceps. When he flexes, you feel him smile against your lips.

“Wow, hero,” you tease, voice pitching up at the end when one of his arms snakes around your waist.

You’re very lucky he’s serious about this. But it means he doesn’t hear the sound of campers rushing past the door.

Something like greed possesses him when you snap your head to your left.

He tries following you, tipping his head down to capture your lips again, but you put your hands on his chest to stop him.

“Luke,” you warn. He settles for kissing at your neck instead, and your knees almost buckle when you feel his teeth drag against your skin.

“I think— I think there’s people walking outside,” you say. Every word that comes out of your mouth is labored and takes more effort than you thought was ever possible.

“Then fucking let them come in,” he grumbles, revelling in the sound you make when he kisses you again. “I’m their counselor. They’ll have stable duty until they die.”

You’re breathing hard against him, overwhelmed and dizzy, and you feel it when the pressure of his kisses starts shifting lower. You feel him at your collarbones and nearly pass out.

“We have to— Holy shit,” you sigh out.

The struggle to form thoughts is palpable. Every single one of your working synapses is focused on the feeling of your shirt rucking up your stomach when his hand slides up the back even further.

You say his name, and he hums.

“We’re drunk. We should be… We shouldn’t—”

You know you’re right. But you want to be wrong so, so badly.

“Five seconds,” he says, and the desire there is so real he sighs into your next kiss. “And then we’ll be done.”

Your breath stutters when you inhale. “Five seconds. Yeah. Okay,” you rationalize. “I’ll count.”

It’s just five more seconds, and you honestly think you need it more than him.

You’re breathing too hard for him to kiss you properly, so he tilts your head back and you nearly see stars.

You jolt at the feeling of his mouth against your jaw, a trail of wet kisses following from your mouth to the curved bone. Your fingers curl into his hair.

A shiver wracks your body at the feeling of the first two numbers being mumbled against the swell of your throat. It’s been five seconds already. Neither of you care.

Luke is smiling against your skin.

“Your heart is racing. I can feel it.” He presses an open-mouthed kiss to your carotid, and it feels like your heart is going to come out of your neck. “Right there.”

“Don’t be mean,” you complain, but it sounds more like a whine than an actual sentence.

Luke’s hand goes to the junction of your neck and the back of your head, keeping you steady so he can kiss you until you lose feeling in your fingers.

You can’t believe that this is seriously happening. This feels like something you’ve thought up in a dream, the feeling of his hands on you so perfect it seems too good to be true.

You aren’t proud of the sound you make when he pulls away.

“Five,” he whispers.

You’d completely forgotten you were the one supposed to be counting.

He presses his forehead against yours while you catch your breath. Your chests rise in tandem, and you wish your lungs were a thousand times bigger just so you didn’t have to pull away.

He wipes something wet away from the corner of your mouth, and you know you’re looking up at him with a stupid look in your eye.

“Luke,” you manage to say. You tilt your head up and your nose knocks against his. “Do you like me too?”

He’s smug. “Was the way I stuck my tongue down your throat too friendly for you?”

The laugh that escapes you must sound funny because he’s joining you the next second, matching smiles on both of your faces.

“Tomorrow,” he promises. You think he’s about to kiss you again but stops an inch away, evil and mean. “We’ll talk about it tomorrow.”

“Okay.” You peck his cheek because it technically doesn’t count and watch red bloom there. You think it’s funny he’s blushing at such an innocent kiss, as if he hadn’t been marking up your neck thirty seconds ago. “Tomorrow.”

You feel your heart beating through your chest as both of you get changed. You’re wearing your matching pajama pants, like promised, and you have to keep reminding yourself to stop smiling.

Your heart is still racing even after both of you are settled onto your sides under his blankets. You’re using one of his arms as a pillow and your back is pressed against his chest, and you feel better about the throbbing in your chest when he mumbles something about how dizzy he feels.

You’d slept over here just last night, but it feels like this is the first time you’ve ever been this close to him. You have to stop yourself from shivering when his hand finds its way up your shirt again. And when he rubs those circles between your shoulder blades, you have to remind yourself he does this all the time.

“I can’t believe this is happening to me,” you say, thinking out loud.

He kisses your hair, because that also technically doesn’t count. “Me neither.”

You’re sick and tired of how you can’t see his face, so you flip around to look at him. He lets you roll on top of his chest, and you just stare, unashamed. His curls look funny because of the way you’d been pulling on them. His lips are perfectly swollen.

You’re content. “The Demeter kids are going to make us so many more cakes, Luke.”

He shifts you higher against him so your face is pressed into his neck instead of his chest. “What do you mean?”

You feel him shudder when the point of your nose runs up the expanse of his throat. “We’re gonna need two cakes to celebrate the first time we kissed. And then even more for that stuff after.”

Luke tilts his head down and captures your lips in another kiss, this one much deeper than the peck he’d smothered into your hair earlier.

You pinch him, your eyes wide when you realize what he’d just done. “Cheater.”

“Couldn’t help it, I’m sorry.”

He has to flip the both of you over because you aim to kiss his face again. You groan, flattened underneath him.

“You’re not being fair, Luke,” you complain, but you rub his back because you’re greedy.

“Tomorrow.” His mouth has made its way to your collarbones again because he likes to torture you. “After we talk.”

“After,” you echo.

The lingering effects of the alcohol are making it a little hard to think straight. But you can’t even believe you’d doubted this for a second. It was always going to be you and Luke. You think it’s been etched into the very beginnings of your souls.

Luke kisses a sore mark he left on the column of your throat, and your eyes grow heavy when he leaves another right next to it.

“After,” he confirms.

You think this must be what going to Elysium is like.

series masterlist

notes: title from dress by taylor swift. final word count at 11k which means that like twenty percent of this was just them being crazy about the other…….. goodbye LOL.

ill probably be making another post just to yell and scream about the events of this chapter. can you tell i blacked out writing it

[alipal97]

Thank you thank you thank you for 1000 notes on I'm an Idiot. You guys are the best!🤍🤍

#imagines #writing #luke castellan #fanfic #luke x reader #masterlist #percy jackon and the olympians #1000 likes #you guys are the best

[alipal97]

You Are In Love

Mixtape Masterlist

Song: You Are In Love-Taylor Swift

Summary: You and Luke realize that there may be more to your friendship than you thought.

Warnings: kissing, fluff, kind of a short one but it's so cute, maybe a little cheesey

"Luke!" You yelled your best friend's name as you chased him around your cabin. "I swear to the gods, give it back."

Luke laughed as you attempted to reach the folder that he held high above your head, jumping over and over again but never even coming close to touching it. Your height was no match for his, as he had a good seven inches on you.

You grabbed onto his shoulder to gain some leverage as you jumped, trying not to lose your balance every time your feet landed back on the hardwood floor. Your tank top-clad chest brushed against his, and you had to fight off a blush at the feeling of his muscular chest pressed against you.

"Luke, come on, seriously, it's not that funny. I was eight, for crying out loud." You whined, your lips pouting out slightly.

"Oh, it's fucking hilarious." He laughed harder as he dodged you just enough to be able to open the notebook he had found forgotten in your dresser drawer. He cleared his throat before reading the messy handwriting your younger self had scrawled across the pages. "Dear Harry Styles, you don't know me and probably never will but I have been hopelessly in love with you for years. I know you are quite a few years older than me, but if you give me a chance I-"

Luke's breath was knocked from his lungs as you used your full strength to tackle him backward, his back connecting with your mattress as the bed frame groaned under the sudden weight. You straddled his waist as you reached for the notebook still clutched in his large hand.

"Yes!" You shouted in victory as you finally acquired your notebook.

Your victory was short-lived, however, as Luke was quick to reverse your position. Your legs were pinned beneath his as he held your hands above your head, a smug smirk gracing his soft features. Sometimes you weren't sure if you wanted to slap that smirk off his face or kiss it off.

"Is that all you've got?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Anyway, where were we?"

Luke kept you pinned down as he reached for the notebook once more. All the while, you struggled beneath him, searching for anything that could get him off of you long enough to throw the embarrassing writing into the fireplace. You bucked your hips to no avail, your head whipping around as your eyes searched for anything you could use to your advantage. That’s when your eyes landed on his lips, mere inches from your face.

You caught him completely by surprise when you leaned up and crashed your lips against his. His body went rigid before he relaxed and leaned into the kiss, moving his mouth against yours smoothly. It was your turn to be caught off guard. The fingers that had been fumbling for the notebook abandoned their search in favor of tangling themselves in Luke's messy curls.

You had known for a while that you had a crush on your best friend, but never once had you ever actually thought those feelings would be reciprocated, and never did you think you would actually be kissing him.

Something stirred inside both of you as he held one hand to your face and slowly brought the other to rest on the exposed skin of your hip. This wasn't some silly crush that came from familiarity or mere proximity; no, this was much deeper than that. It was the type of love that buried its way into your heart and soul and refused to leave. It was slow building but yet all consuming until neither one of you could let the other go.

It seemed as if you both came to the same terrifying yet thrilling realization at the exact same moment. Luke pulled his lips away from yours with wide eyes as he stared down at you, his eyes flickering between your own as if he was searching for something.

"I'm sorry." You said a little breathlessly.

Luke smiled softly and shook his head. "Gods, don't be. I've been wanting to do that for years."

And with that he connected his lips to yours once more, wanting to taste you again and not wanting to wait another minute to do so. You smiled into the kiss and tugged on his dark curls at the back of his head, earning a groan from your best friend.

You were ecstatic but a little angry that you both could've been doing this for years had either one of you realized that this was so much more than a simple crush.

You were in love with your best friend and by some miracle he loved you thr same way.

That night at dinner you made sure to make a offering to Aphrodite to thank her.

#imagines #luke x reader #luke castellan #percy jackson #couple kissing #taylor swift #love #in love with him #in love with her #in love with my best friend #best friends #mutual love