"And finally this is the kitchen" Piper's eyes wondered around the rather crowded, yet colorful kitchen that screamed Men all over it. Some dishes were stacked up on the sink, the counter filled with junk such as a bag full of hockey sticks and running shoes filled with mud; she had to cringe her nose at that.

The two men examined her from the corner of the room, their eyes watching her every move. Had they not been desperate to pay the bill, they would've never in their mind agreed to a fourth roommate. But they were running low on cash, and despite having their own jobs, they found themselves advertising their apartment online.

"It's a bit of a mess" a scrawny, average looking guy chuckled. He was clearly embarrassed. "Sorry, we didn't have much time to clean up. We just got home from practice"

Piper walked back to them, forcing a smile. "its fine, I really like it here… Nico, was it?"

The name was strange, but he seemed decent enough.

Nico nodded his head, sticking his hands into his jacket's pockets. "yeah, and I'm glad you do. We could use a feminine touch around here"

"So enough chit chat, let's settle this already" the taller and more built, raven haired guy smirked. He seemed rather mischievous and a little bit adventurous. "You can move in tomorrow"

"Percy!" Nico growled, rolling his eyes.

"What? She needs a home and we need to pay the rent!"

Elsa chuckled, amused. "Don't you guys want to look at my resume before you let a complete stranger move into your home?"

She began opening her pricey purse, and pulled out a piece of paper.

"What's there to know? Your name is Pepper, you have a job and you're willing to live with three guys"

"My name is Piper, I have a career and I'm pretty desperate at this point" She handed Nico the paper, his eyes scanning rapidly through it and his eyes widening.

"wow…this is impressive. So you're an elementary teacher with a major in business?"

"Yeah, my dad owns this huge company and he wanted me to be the CEO, but I wanted to help kids. And well, here I am"

Percy leaned on the counter, his eyebrow rising. "wait, so if you're dad is rich, why don't you just live with him?"

Nico punched his friend in the arm at this point, annoyed.

Piper let out a stiff laugh, swallowing in the pain that had flooded through her not so long ago. "I just want to be independent and not rely on my parents. You know?"

Percy shifted uncomfortably while staring down at his feet, Nico agreeing with a small grin.

"Yeah, my dad wanted me to become a soccer. You can tell why it didn't work out."

They both shared a laugh, causing Percy to flash a smirk.

In that moment, there was a soft rattle of keys and the door burst open.

Piper's eyes turned to the direction of the sudden noise and then she say him.

His golden blonde hair went in all directions and his paleish fingers ran through them. His pink lips slightly parted and his bold blue eyes glimpsing around the living room. He wore a purple hoodie and plain jeans, but a big bag was slouched over his shoulder.

He must've just come home from hockey practice too, Piper thought to herself, and her cheeks fluttered as his eyes landed directly on hers.

The room fell into dead silence, silence that had not been there ever since she had arrived over half an hour ago.

"Whose this?" he asked, pure confusion spread throughout his face as he set down his bag on the floor.

Piper turned to Nico and Percy, also questioning everything that was going on. She had was sure that the third guy would've known she was coming around to look at the apartment, unless his roommates where keeping it from him for a reason.

But that would be ridiculous; she was sure nobody would be stupid enough to do something like that.

''Oh hey, Jason'' Nico let out a nervous laugh. ''this is Piper, she's looking to be our roommate''

The so called Jason guy didn't seem so pleased as he took a deep sigh. ''this is why you left practice early? So that you could come meet the roommate you never told me we were getting?''

His voice was so livid and his eyes were glaring so deeply that Piper was sure that they could see right through each of them.

She was so uncomfortable and wasn't sure what to do at the moment, so she did what her father had always taught her to do in those situations.

''My name is Piper McLean,'' she walked up to him, extending her hand.

He stared down at it, before hesitantly shaking it. ''Jason Grace''

''It's a pleasure to meet you,'' she beamed, trying her hardest to sound sincere. She really wasn't sure what she had gotten herself into at this point.

His face seemed to slightly lighten up, as he stared at anything but her.

Piper couldn't blame him; there was nothing special about her choppy brown hair that was always tangled, and a flawy blue floral dress.

''Same.''

He turned to Nico and Percy, who were now sitting on the large brown couch. Percy's legs were placed on top of the coffee table in front of them with his arms crossed, while Nico made sure to act as innocent as possible.

''I'm sorry my roommates took time out of your day, but we don't need anybody else in this apartment. Thanks for coming by''

This seemed to surprise her and his friends, as their eyes widen. Percy and Nico rapidly stood, running to her side.

''Dude, we told you that we would eventually need to get a roommate and we found one'' Percy tried to reason.

Nico bowed his head. ''Plus, Piper's really nice. I'm sure you'd like her if you got to know her''

Jason rolled his eyes, Piper nervously pulling on her small braids. ''Can we please talk about this in private?''

Before anybody could say anything, Piper decided that she had had enough. So she simply began walking towards the door, biting her lip and fighting the urge to let them notice her frown and slight tears forming in her eyes.

Her parents didn't want her back; not after she had abandoned their family company for a middle wage job.

Lacy was at college with her own roommate and happy, and Piper would never want to bother her with some silly problems.

Her best friend and full time model, Annabeth, had done so much for her already and she didn't want to ask for any more.

And her ex fiancée was probably off too busy laying in bed with someone else.

She knew how hard it was for her to find a place, but this one although messy and chaotic, brought a feeling she hadn't gotten in such a long time; a feeling of home.

So with the small dignity left in her, she grinned and held tightly onto the door handle. Sleeping in a hotel again couldn't be so bad again.

''its okay, I don't want to cause conflict. Thank you again, Nico and Percy maybe well talk later.''

Her eyes connected once again with Jason, who's quickly changed to guilt.

''Goodbye, Jason''

And so she walked out and closed the door behind her, before finally breaking down into the tears in the middle of the hall. She wasn't sure why she was crying so much; maybe because she had found a great place that couldn't be for her, or maybe because she thought she could have a second chance to start over.

A chance to start without him; the one who broke, burned and shattered her and didn't care enough to chase after her.

And she had trusted him with so much; that was the worst part.

She walked out into the empty apartments surrounding her and she found herself grateful to not see anybody out there. It was enough that she was crying like a pathetic girl, and she didn't need somebody else to see her so vulnerable; she knew she would never after him.

''Wait!'' A male voice cried out as Piper stepped into her car and turned on the engine.

He ran to her car, his palm resting on the window to her side.

She pulled down the window, and stared up at him.

The autumn skies seem to make him glow.

''Jason?''

''You don't have anywhere else to go do you?'' he asked.

Piper felt her jaw drop, turning her gaze down and playing with her fingers. ''No,''

''do you want to talk about it?'' He genuinely seemed to care, but she was much too hurt. She needed time.

''Not really,''

He sent her a smile, a real smile that she hadn't seen from him just yet and her stomach seemed to turn at the sight of it.

''You should probably go pick up your stuff. I mean you don't wanna come into your new apartment empty handed, right?'' Jason smirked, and she let out a laugh.

''Right.'' For some reason, she found herself wanting to stare into those electric eyes of him for as much as she could. ''I guess I'll be back. Thank you so much''

He shrugged his shoulders. ''No problem''

He sent her one more smile and began walking back towards the apartment, but there was something stuck in Piper's mind.

''Jason?''

He turned around.

''How did you know?''

''Know what?''

Piper bit her lower lip. ''that I had nowhere to go''

He ran his fingers through his hair. ''I could see it in your eyes''