Note:

Hello world it's been like 84 years since I've used FFN actively and even more so since I've written in the PJ-verse but certain events (cough burning maze cough) pulled my back in and got me hung up about JASPER so here I am.

Also if it interests you, I am hosting a fic raffle on my tumblr ( .com). It's a lucky draw where I will randomly pick someone I will write a fic for! The request can be anything as long as I'm familiar with the fandom. Deadline is Jason's birthday so go for it!

The first time he met Piper McLean, Jason walked into a door. Literally.

He heard the knock as he was putting the last of his folded laundry back in his cupboard. He peered around the open cupboard door, staring down the narrow entryway of his dorm room. A second series of knocks confirmed that someone was indeed knocking on the door.

Jason figured it was Leo. His roommate had ran out a while ago to grab some food. Perhaps he had forgotten his keys. When he looked through the peephole, he saw not a short, scrawny curly-haired boy but wow -

The girl was really pretty. She wore a dark snowboarding jacket over a green shirt paired with jeans and hiking boots, somehow rocking the look. Her long hair was swept over her shoulder.

Unfortunately, Jason did not recognise her (he would definitely remember meeting someone like that) nor had Leo mention meeting anyone new in the one week they had been on campus. The girl was probably looking for someone else. He slowly pulled the door open, prepared to tell her that she had the wrong room.

Instead, his breath caught in his throat when he saw her in person. Her hair was in fact braided - with a feather. Her shirt brought the emerald color - no, colors, emerald, sapphire, amethyst, Jason couldn't decide - in her eyes. When she looked up at him - she, like Leo, was almost a head shorter than he was - and smiled, Jason's heart almost burst right out of his chest.

"Hi," the girl said brightly. "I'm here for Leo."

Even her voice sounds amazing, Jason thought. Then he remembered himself. He told her where Leo had gone and invited her into the room.

"So you're Jason?" she asked as she crossed the threshold.

"Y-yeah," Jason stuttered, surprised that she knew who he was. "Jason Grace."

"I'm Piper," said the girl - Piper. "Nice to meet you."

"You too. Nice name."

Wait, what? I can't believe I just said that.

Caught up in his self-inflicted embarrassment, Jason missed how Piper's cheeks took on the faintest shade of pink.

After a long moment of silence and blushing, Jason realised they still standing in the entryway. He cleared his throat, "Well, you can come in. I can find you somewhere to sit..."

He stepped backward as he spoke, unable to look away from her. Finally, he forced himself to turn on his heel, and was promptly smacked in the face by his still-open cupboard door. The door swung shut from the impact, closing with an indignant clang! of magnets against the steel frame.

"Are you okay?" a voice rang in his ear. He had stumbled back into Piper.

He turned around to face her again and found himself almost nose-to-nose with her. She smelled good, like honeysuckle. He didn't know if it was shampoo or perfume or if she was just wonderful in every way possible…

Meanwhile, his glasses were askew. He quickly fixed them and cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Right, as I was saying…" He stepped past his bed, which was fixed against the wall adjacent to the entryway, and swept his arm across the space, gesturing vaguely at the as of then minimally decorated room.

Piper marched to the far end of the room and threw herself down on Leo's beanbag.

Well, she made herself comfortable quickly, Jason thought. Maybe there was a catch after all.

Piper seemed to sense his judgement.

"Oh, Leo and I are step siblings," she said. "I guess I should have explained that."

"Oh," Jason said dumbly, unsure of how to react.

"Yeah," Piper confirmed. "How about you? Any siblings?"

Jason hesitated. There was Thalia, but he was conceived after their parents split up, and he had been separated from her for most of his life. He didn't really know how to explain that.

"Um, a sister," he finally answered, leaning against his desk. "It's complicated," he added when Piper quirked an eyebrow.

Piper's expression morphed into one of empathy. She nodded sagely. "Believe me, I know complicated." She did not push him for details, which relieved Jason. He was also saved by Leo, who, with his impeccable timing, burst into the room at that very moment.

"I come bearing gifts!" he announced, hugging a large brown paper bag in his arms. Jason saw a bag of popcorn peeking out over the top of the bag. He was not sure how Leo could see over his groceries, but the short boy noticed their visitor.

"Yo Pipes, get your beauty queen butt out of my beanbag," he said, dropping the bag on his table.

Beauty Queen. Jason mulled over the nickname. Leo said it teasingly, though it also felt appropriate.

Piper made no attempt to move. "I bought this beanbag for you, you scrawny ass."

"Fine!" Leo replied, not even casting Piper a glance. He was busy laying out all the snacks and - surprisingly - fresh produce. "See if I give you any of the mango salsa I'm making tonight."

That got Piper's attention. Her face lit up at the mention of mango salsa, and she sat forward in the beanbag, as if contemplating actually leaving it.

"You're cooking tonight?" she asked.

Leo hummed positively. He stopped unpacking his purchases and twisted his upper body.

"You're invited too," he said, pointing a finger at Jason. "As long as you don't hate tacos."

Jason picked one of his books from his desk and gripped it in front of him like a shield, as if it would hide his awkwardness from the world. He did not want to intrude on his roommate and his stepsister's dinner.

"Oh, uh, I mean, if you will have me," he mumbled.

"Of course!" Leo exclaimed. "If anything, it's my annoying sister Piper here who will be intruding on our bro time."

Piper pushed herself slightly off the beanbag, only to lift one leg gracefully and kick Leo in the podex. Jason averted his eyes.

"You're lucky you're an amazing cook," she muttered. Then she flashed Jason an apologetic smile, as if to say sorry you had to see that.

It's okay, he mouthed.

Piper's smile widened, briefly revealing her teeth before she pressed her lips together and cast her eyes to the floor. Jason found himself doing the same.

He had to admit, he was envious of Piper and Leo. He had never really been close to anyone. Even after he and Thalia finally reconnected, he had not really gotten to know her as she travelled frequently for work. In school, he felt that people put him on a pedestal and regarded him from a distance simply because of his father's name (that happens when your family has been funding your elite private boarding school since its founding).

Maybe college will be it, he thought. It sounded terribly romantic. Still, he and Leo had been getting along really well. Despite only living together for a week, they had already gone checked out the video game lounge together and had a movie night with pizza ordered using a coupon from the residents' welcome guide. They just clicked.

And if he had to befriend Piper by extension...the more the merrier, right? At least, that was what he told himself later.

"Well, I have pasta here with me," he offered. "I can prepare that too if you want."

"Oh! Let's have a potluck party!" Leo said excitedly. He waved his hands at Piper. "And you can make your tofu sandwiches! You brought tofu, right?"

Piper very seriously answered that yes, she brought 2 entire boxes of tofu patties with her to college. Jason soon learnt she was a vegetarian, and for some reason that fact stuck with him for a while.

He had subconsciously catalogued a list of facts and observations about Piper in his head. One, Leo's stepsister. Two, the most insanely gorgeous person he had ever laid his eyes on. Three, smelled like flowers. Four, had a good sense of humour. Five, vegetarian.

Her voice - correction, her melodious voice - snapped him out of his thoughts.

" - wants to have 1-to-1 talks with everyone," she was saying.

"Okay," Leo replied, and Jason realised Piper was leaving. She had finally stood up from the beanbag and was crossing the room. A strange, heavy feeling spread through his chest, and Jason realised it was disappointment.

"Catch you later!" Leo called after her. "And don't forget the food!"

"I won't," she promised. She paused at the mouth of the entryway, one hand placed on the wall. She turned her head over her shoulder, and Jason was met with her kaleidoscope eyes.

"See you, Jason," she said, giving him one last heart-stopping smile.

"See you," he managed with a little wave.

Oh, he was so screwed.