I Hope I Didn't Have to Study {Q}

Gavin had been up for hours just sitting and staring at the painting of Harper he had done. It was masterful. A small smile pulled his lips after a while. The mornings first light jetted through the windows. Gavin slowly got off the bed and went over. He leaned against the wall and stared out at the sunlight. “Hey mom.” He muttered softly. Gavin was always up by first light, kind of a kid of Eos thing. And every morning he would greet his mom but she never replied. Gavin gave up on the hope she would, now he just said it out of habit.

He didn’t attend breakfast, he rarely did anyway. Stealing things from the kitchen was actually a lot easier than he thought it would be. He had a secret stash of food and ambrosia and nectar in a small trunk under his bed. He took a half of a PB&J and stuck it in his mouth, a portion of it dangled from his lips, trapped ready and waiting to be nomed. His stomach grumbled in disagreement at the choice of breakfast. It wasn’t all hunger though.

Gavin had to admit, he still wasn’t thrilled about Harper receiving a quest. He hated the idea of her leaving camp. Shoving two random shirts into a backpack he thought again about the million things that could go wrong. Gavin had never worried so much about one person before and while it felt nice to care about someone it was quickly becoming a burden. Not that Harper was a burden just the fact that he cared for her was. Gavin swallowed those thoughts and promised himself to never say any of that out loud to anyone. He knew what he meant no one else would understand.

Gavin dug his hand back into the bag and grabbed onto the shirts he had just shoved in. He brought them up to his nose and sniffed. Gavin paused for a second as he worked out the equation in his head about how long it had been since these shirts were washed. They didn’t smell terrible but they weren’t exactly fresh from the dryer. Gavin shrugged and stuffed them back inside. He wandered across the lone cabin and picked up a few other odds and ends. He strapped his piano wristwatch on and slipped a few silver dog-tag chains over his head. Back over at his bedside Gavin shook the book bag to make room for a few more things. He dropped in his toothbrush, his favorite pen and of course his most recent black and white composition. This mornings early entry was the reason he was bringing it with him...

Gavin heaved a sigh and he adjusted the strap on his shoulder. He knew that demigod dreams meant something, and he would figure it out. Until he did though he would not tell anyone about it. Grabbing his sword last minute he sheathed it at his side and left the Eos Cabin. He stopped at the bottom of the steps. He glanced back and surveyed the doors. A feeling in his gut told him to take one last good look because he may not see it again. It was a stupid feeling.

He made his way across camp a scowl glued to his face. He glared at a few campers who made an attempt to wish him good luck on the quest. They moved off in a hurry. Since when did people think it was okay to speak to him? Being with Harper was bringing down his bad boy rep. Still, he was head over heels for the daughter of Apollo. When he saw Harper’s chocolate head he smiled and hurried in his pace to get over to her. Gavin slowed when saw another girl with her. That must have been her sister, the other one who was going on this quest. Two daughters of Apollo and a son of Eos. Oh yes, this was going to be a successful quest packed full of sun. Gavin wasn’t good around other people. This was going to be interesting. He would be on his best behavior for Harper’s sake.

“Are we ready for some doom and gloom?” He asked walking right for Harper. He kissed the top of her head. Everyone knew about them by now so it didn’t matter if he showed PDA. He sniffed and looked up to the other brunette. Gavin could tell they were related, their features were just similar enough so they could pass for sisters. “So, you’re Sophie. I guess Harper has mentioned me at least once. Regardless, I’m Gavin and I’ll probably be the one keeping you guys alive.” He smirked a little.

today i'm gonna try a little harder, gonna make every minute last longer
gonna learn to forgive and forget 'cause we don't have long gotta make the most of it

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They hadn't even started the quest yet, and already she could tell that her sister and her boyfriend weren't going to like each other. Harper sighed - this was going to be much harder than she had originally bargained for, which was fairly hard. If Sophie and Gavin couldn't get along, then how on earth was she going to get through this? In one piece? Quite honestly, that had been the million dollar question from day one. Gavin and Sophie knew her very well, they both probably knew just how much she was worried about this whole thing. She'd had experience travelling and sight-seeing, but never fighting monsters outside of combat training in camp.

They were both, at least, on board with the whole bus idea. In Harper's eyes, it was the only efficient way to get to Niagara Falls without attempting to get through an airport with medieval weaponry hidden in their bags. That would have been fun, if they were insane. When Gavin took her hand in his, she felt a part of her relax - just being around him helped her unwind. This was precisely one of the reasons why she'd thought to invite him on this quest. He would help keep her sane throughout all the craziness that was sure to result from this quest. And she knew he'd never let her go alone - even if she'd hadn't invited him she knew he probably would have come along anyway. "Don't even get me started on the niceness issue, okay?" she asked him with a smile, pecking him on the cheek. She didn't want to make Sophie feel uncomfortable with all their PDA, so Harper promised herself to keep it as limited as possible.

She looked back at Sophie with a small smile, her eyes gleaming. And of course she'd brought her favorite sister on this quest with her. After all, Sophie was probably one of the greatest voices of reason when nobody else could be. She was also the best archer in the Apollo cabin. With her and Gavin on this quest, Harper was sure they'd be able to protect themselves. So she was all confident and all ready to go. She wrinkled her nose at the 'fearless leader' comment and tugged on his hand. "Come on then, let's go!" Harper picked up her two bags with her other hand and slung one over her shoulder. She grinned at Sophie cheerfully, though some of the cheerfulness was fake, and together they began heading for the bus station in Manhattan.

They were, after all, on a quest. Harper would have to be lying if she'd said she wasn't the least bit excited. This could be a chance to prove herself. To whom, she wasn't really sure, but it was still something to think about. She didn't even think about the darker side of the prophecy, which she knew she'd have to tell Gavin and Sophie eventually. All she knew was that they were all going to go on an adventure. And for now, that was good enough for her. "So, has anyone ever been to Niagara Falls? Other than me?" she asked brightly, not entirely sure if she expected an answer or not.

Gavin sighed. He still couldn’t get his mind off of that dream. He put on his game face and glanced over to Sophie. There was still a doubt in his mind that these two could get out of a serious scrap. Sure they could handle some minor monster but should they come up against a God or a big nasty beast from the deep they were completely screwed. Gavin slid his arm around Harper’s waist.

“Calm down.” He muttered to Sophie. “I didn’t mean to trample on your precious Apollo pride.”

Gavin realized that he wasn’t exactly being Mr. Friendly but he couldn’t help it, second nature and all. He adjusted his backpack and followed after Harper. When he caught up with her he grabbed a hold of her hand. He wasn’t about to let her out of his sights for a split second. His mind wandered and played out various scenarios in his head of what could possibly go wrong on this quest. He didn’t mean to be such a pessimist but the mind always played the “what if” game. It was very rare if the game had positive outlooks. He blinked and looked over to Harper realizing she had said something.

“What? Oh, umm.” Gavin thought back. He had been to a lot of places but he wasn’t sure if Niagara Falls was one of them. He tilted his head and gave a shrug. “Looks like you are alone when it comes to that Sunshine Girl.” Gavin squeezed her hand a little bit. “Never really had a reason to go there. I skipped out on the family vacation a while back. Who’s idea of fun is to go stare at rushing water? Yeah, that sounds like a boat load of family fun.” Gavin rolled his eyes. He looked up to Sophie and scoffed, “Its just water, what can be so beautiful about it?”

today i'm gonna try a little harder, gonna make every minute last longer
gonna learn to forgive and forget 'cause we don't have long gotta make the most of it

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Quite honestly, Harper had never taken a bus anywhere before. Not even a school bus to go on any kind of trip. She'd ridden the camp van before to New York, but other than that she'd never really driven in a car to anywhere. She was used to flying on a plane or taking a train to wherever she was headed. Surely this couldn't be much different, could it? As she managed to hobble onto the bus with her satchel and backpack full of stuff, Harper looked around. Gavin was already making a beeline for the back, and she automatically followed him.

As soon as she saw him order the couple to move, Harper sighed and blew a strand of her dark brown hair away from her face. She'd let his grumpiness slide this time - it was still a little too early for her as well this morning. But that didn't mean that as she passed the couple, who'd taken seats further up the bus, she couldn't murmur a, "Sorry about that," which is exactly what she did. Harper struggled just a little bit with trying to get her backpack, which was full of the things she'd need once they'd gotten to Niagara Falls, into the overhead compartment, but she managed just barely. Taking her satchel carefully so she wouldn't hit anyone, she slid into the seat next to Gavin and set her satchel down on the seat next to her to reserve it for Sophie (there were three seats per back row).

She went through her things in the satchel really quickly, pulling out a small blanket her mother had given her for traveling when she was only three. Granted, the blanket was too small for her now, but it was always a comfort to have it with her. Glancing at Gavin and biting her lip as he spoke, she completely freed the blanket from her satchel and offered it to him. "It always helps me sleep on a trip, if you want it," she said, pulling her satchel onto her lap so Sophie could sit down then. "You can sleep on my shoulder too, if it's more comfortable. I won't mind."

Although, as soon as all three of them were on the bus and seated, Harper did notice the suited man board the bus as well. He was wearing sunglasses now, which the daughter of Apollo found odd considering as they were on a bus and there really was no need to wear such accessories, but she didn't comment. He looked like any other ordinary passenger, except for when his gaze seemed to fall upon the three demi-gods, Harper shuddered involuntarily. Even thought she couldn't see his eyes, the way he looked at them seemed almost kind of hungry. Which, of course, made her even more nervous than she already was. Harper sank back into her seat, trying to make herself appear smaller and shorter as she huddled closer to Gavin almost as if it were natural instinct.

"Something about him is so creepy," she whispered to Sophie as softly as she could.