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This is what I get for dating a pop star, Percy thought to himself as he applied another layer of minty chapstick. It was a nervous habit of his. Always had been. It had gotten worse since his split with Apollo a little over a month ago.
They’d dated for about a year and a half, but Percy knee it wouldn’t last. Apollo moved freely between LA and NYC whenever he wanted a change of scenery, and Percy was too happy with his job as a swim coach for disabled kids to move with him. Even after all of their declarations of love, he couldn’t part with his kids.
While they dated, Apollo had written many a love song about him. But now… Percy shook his head. Apollo was really benefiting from their breakup. He had the number one pop song for three weeks now, which meant he’d written the song in less than two weeks. Every time Percy heard his name on the radio he cringed. They had a quiet relationship, or as quiet as it could have been with an international pop star on his arm. But still, nobody knew his name. Until now.
He was making his morning coffee at five when he heard it again.
“Hey, my love.
I buried you a month or two ago.
I keep thinking that you’re standing on my floor,
That you’re waiting there for me.
Hey, my love.
You’ve walked out a hundred times out of us,
Supposed to know this time that you wouldn’t call,
That you wouldn’t come home.”
Percy sighed. It sounded awful but it was true, he got jealous so many times of Apollo’s friends that he got to take to public events. He’d walked out on the relationship many times because it just didn’t seem fair that he kept Percy in the shadows, even if it was a mutual decision. It hurt.
But it also hurt knowing that Apollo was feeling just as lost and lonely as him.
He chuckled darkly. He wouldn’t be surprised if Apollo had already moved on, the man was afraid of being alone. EVen if it meant rebounding for a short period of time.
“ But four drinks I’m wasted,
I can see you dancing, I can lay down next to you.
At the foot of my bed,
If I drink enough,
I can taste your chapstick, I can lay down next to you.
But it’s all on my head
If I drink enough I swear that I will wake up next to you.”
Percy sighed as he began his morning stretches. He had to admit, it was catchy. The chorus was powerful and sad but still peppy. He had always loved upbeat songs with a sadder meaning, and Apollo knew that. He loved upside by Mothica and Maxwell’s Silver Hammer by the Beatles. It made him smile because it sort of related to how he felt: sometimes dark and gloomy, but always putting on a positive front.
“ When you left, you took my bestest friends away
And in this mess, I think I dug a thousand graves
Perseus, I hope you’re happy anyway.”
That one wasn’t Percy’s fault. All of their mutual friends in NYC stayed in NYC too and lost contact with Apollo when he left. That wasn’t necessarily Percy’s fault, but he understood the pull of the lyric.
He bopped along to the song as he turned on the radio in his car and it was playing on another station. He liked to get to school early to go for a swim before classes started. He was a swim coach for the disabled kids but he was also the general PE head for the whole school. He loved it.
“ But four drinks I’m wasted.
I can see you dancing, I can lay down next to you,
At the foot of my bed,
If I drink enough,
I can taste your chapstick, I can lay down next to you.
But, it’s all in my head.
If I drink enough I swear that I will wake up next to you.”
Percy couldn’t help but start singing at the bridge as he pulled into the school parking lot in the dark morning air.
“ Broke my heart, now I’m wasting my time on you.
Broke my heart, now I’m wasting my time.
If I drink enough, I can see you dancing. I can lay down next to you.
At the foot of my bed,
If I drink enough.
I can taste your chapstick, I can lay down next to you.
But it’s all in my head,
But four drinks I’m wasted.
I can see you dancing, I can lay down next to you.
At the foot of my bed,
If I drink enough.
I can taste your chapstick, I can lay down next to you.
But it’s all in my head.
If I drink enough I swear that I will wake up next to you.”
As the song ended, Percy pocketed his keys and made his way over to the gymnasium where a hooded figure was waiting for him.
“Hello?” Percy didn’t want to have to rely on his martial arts training, but he would cut a bitch if somebody tried to hurt the kids.
“Percy?” his voice was soft, but Percy would recognize it anywhere.
“Apollo?” Percy stopped a hair’s breadth away from the other man, who pulled down his hood to reveal that beautiful long golden hair.
“I can’t live without you, Percy,” he murmured into the dark, words almost lost in the early morning breeze.
“Then why did you leave?” He was trying not to be bitter, but the breakup had been hard on him.
“I thought I needed space, but I was wrong. I was alone in my house, and more than that I was lonely. I need you by my side, no matter where we are,” Apollo had such a way with words, he always swept Percy off his feet with his flowery poems and eloquent declarations of love. “I sold my LA home,” he mumbled, and Percy almost didn’t catch it.
“You did what?” the black-haired young man whispered.
“I sold it, so now all I’ve got is my apartment here. I was wondering if you might want to take me back?”
“That’s a bold move to make before you even knew what I was going to say,” Percy raised an eyebrow. He paused for dramatic effect. “But, nobody’s ever done anything like that for me before,” he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Come on, I’ll get you some green tea from the teacher’s lounge. You’re going to surprise Piper’s music class since you’re here anyway and you’re famous. They’ll love it,” Apollo nodded seriously in agreement, though there was a light in his eyes. He knew where this was going. “Then, you’re taking me out to lunch. I have to be back by 1:20 for class though, alright?”
“Sounds like a plan,” Apollo whispered, trying to keep the unbridled joy out of his voice, but failing miserably. It was okay though, because he saw the slight smile on Percy’s face as well.