| Adults |

- the song above is what I listened to while I wrote this chapter (all the feels :-)) - stan TXT for more serotonin. -

[there will be a pov change in the middle of this chapter]

Chapter Thirty - Adults

Baby had made it a ritual to have sleepovers at Percy's house. She would spend her afternoons doing homework and keeping the house clean, then as soon as the sun had set, she would be off to Percy's house.

She felt more at home with Percy and his dad than she had ever felt in her empty house. Her mom came and went as she usually did. No actual routine in her movement from work to the bar and back home.

It was a weeknight, Tuesday; and Percy was adamant about taking Baby out on a date. He planned it all out to the finest details. When he asked Baby, she was more than eager to agree.

Her only mission for the night was to look her best and try not to pass out from excitement. She felt like a real grown up as she did her makeup and fixed up her hair. Her brown eyes sparkled as she gazed at her own reflection in the mirror.

A jade colored satin dress draped over her figure in all the right places. Her legs looked longer with the help of a pair of strappy high heels with butterflies on them. She twirled around and admired the way the dress seemed to flow with her movements.

After touching up her dark lipstick, she checked her phone.

Boyfriend ^_^ - I'm outside. Bet me ten dollars that you look amazing.

Baby grinned and grabbed her bag instead of replying to Percy's message. Her excitement nearly made her trip on her way down the stairs. When she opened the front door of her house though, she was met with nothing.

Confusedly, Baby stepped off the front porch.

"Boo!"

The frightened girl let out a squeal and covered her face with her hands. She let out a laugh when Percy's arms wrapped around her waist a second later.

"Did I scare you?"

She turned in his arms and punched his chest lightly, "Meanie."

Percy grinned down at her innocently, "My bad. Kiss it better?"

Her cheeks turned a rosy color but she leaned up to him anyway. He gladly met her halfway and pecked her cheek softly.

When they separated from each other, Percy led Baby to his car after she locked the front door of her house. He opened the door for her like a perfect gentleman. Once they were both settled and Percy was about to start the car, she perked up and pointed at his hair.

"You braided your hair!"

It was actually just a French braid on the underside of his hair while the rest of his hair was tied up in a ponytail.

Percy smiled and nodded, "I practiced..."

Baby leaned towards him and touched the braid, "It's pretty. You should try to do that with my hair sometime."

"Anything for you."

♥️

After a long drive filled with Baby trying to guilt-trip Percy into telling her where they were headed, they arrived at the destination.

"Wow. Are you rich?" Baby wondered aloud as they got led to a reserved table at 'The Cabana', a well known restaurant in the city. It was well known because wealthy people were often their most frequent clientele.

Percy laughed at the way his girlfriend stared at everything around her in amazement. She barely reacted when he pulled her chair out for her and gestured to it.

"Baby..." She let out a barely audible 'oh' and sat down.

Her wide eyes eventually settled on Percy staring down at his menu and she tilted her head to one side. He looked prettier than any boy she'd ever seen, suddenly she felt extremely bashful that a boy as pretty as Percy wanted to be her boyfriend.

Percy looked up and caught her staring, he winked in return.

"Can I order something for you? I think there's something you'd love." He offered hesitantly.

She nodded eagerly and looked around the restaurant for a second before leaning forward, "To be honest, I've never been to a place this fancy. I wouldn't know what's good anyway." She confessed.

A dimpled smile spread on Percy's face, "I'll take you to a lot of fancy places. We've got our whole lives ahead of us."

Baby let out a breath and a shy 'ok', her face warm thinking about what Percy had implied.

♥️

Baby learned a lot about Percy during supper. He enjoyed working with his dad on things that would put her sleep, taxes, finances, economic growth and the like. He played the guitar and listened to Frank Sinatra. His favorite movie wasn't actually 'Transformers' but 'Face Off', he confessed that he was a Nicholas Cage fan since his childhood.

Once he had finished off his food, he stared at Baby expectantly.

"What..." She mumbled as she lifted a forkful of pasta up to her lips.

Percy gestured to her food, "Come on, finish. We gotta go."

Her face morphed into one of surprise, "No dessert?"

| P e r c y |

"No dessert?"

Percy looked at the girl in adoration, her cheeks were stuffed with food and her pouty lips were downturned at the idea of not getting dessert.

He couldn't let her down so he promised, "We'll get ice cream and cake on the way home."

Her frown turned upside down, "Cool." She muttered as she focused on her food. The plate cleared suspiciously fast and then she was gulping down a glass of water.

"Let's go."

After paying their bill, Percy took Baby by the hand and led her out of the restaurant with a grin on his face. She returned his smile when they were seated in his car.

Their next trip lasted longer than Percy anticipated and he noticed the sleepy daze Baby had begun to show as she looked out of the window blinking slowly.

Just as the girl got ready to doze off in the passenger seat, with a heavy heart since she didn't get any dessert, the car rolled to a smooth stop.

"We're here."

He helped Baby out of the car and watched her reaction to where they were.

Her gaze landed on him and she asked, "What is this place?"

It was a greenhouse, in the middle of nowhere. Grand in stature with thick metal framing encasing fragile looking glass.

Percy pulled a chain out of his formal shirt and gestured Baby closer, "Unclip this and I'll show you the inside." The girl stepped closer to him and unclipped the simple silver chain around his neck, getting a sniff of his cologne as she did.

He walked up to the door of the greenhouse and unlocked it, pushing the door open before leading Baby inside.

His eyes watched her marvel at the interior, her green dress fitting right into the setting of the seemingly neverending room. She ran the tips of her fingers over the petals of the roses and smiled.

But Percy knew what he wanted to show her.

He took her by the hand and silently led her further into the fragrant room, purple lights lit up above them automatically as they moved and Baby let out a soft 'ooh pretty' as they went along.

They stopped in front of a big table full of flora. Daisies, irises, forget me nots and sunflowers. But the ones that Percy pointed at had a little sign stuck in one of the pots.

'Baby's Breath - for Baby'

It was badly written onto brown paper and plastered on the wooden sign, but there was charm to it.

"Those are yours."

The little white flowers looked pretty underneath the purple lights, bunched up close to each other because of the way they were planted in the large pot.

Baby took a moment to reply but when she did, her confusion was visible, "For me?"

"I've been taking care of those flowers since I met you... My dad," Percy cleared his throat, "He said, if you plant the flowers yourself and give them to her one day, she might stay with you just as long as you care for her like you cared for the flowers. Which is silly... I know. But I did it anyway." He fiddled with the hem of his shirt bashfully.

Still in shock, Baby stared at the flowers and the sign placed haphazardly in their pot.

Percy spoke up again, "He probably meant it as a joke back then huh?"

Then he heard Baby laugh, her voice soft and clear.

"They're really well taken care of. I should stay with you forever."

♥️

A pot of Baby's breath cradled in her arms, Baby made her way to her front door. Turning around every two seconds to wave happily at Percy who stood leaned against his car.

She let out a 'oof' when she tripped on the last step on the porch and her ears tingled with heat when she heard Percy laugh from where he stood.

Her eyes narrowed playfully when she turned around one last time to pretend to shoot him with her small fingers.

He only laughed more and blew her a final kiss before getting into his car and reversing into his own driveway.

Content and giddy from the evenings events and the snuggly hug Percy left her with, Baby barely cared to notice that the front door was open and she didn't even use her key.

But as she skipped past the kitchen, the lights came on and there sat her mother on one of the barstools. Sober as a judge with a stern look on her face.

"Where were you all night?"

Still startled from her mother's presence, Baby clutched her flowers close and frowned. No words left her even when her mother recited what time it was.

"It's long past midnight, can you tell me where you were?"

Baby didn't like the tone her mother had. It was mean and flat. But she answered nonetheless without much consideration, "On a date... I didn't check the time." I didn't check because I never expected you to be home. She thought to herself.

Jenna tilted her head in a way Baby had only seen once when she was younger, her mom did that when she was about to be mean.

Jenna didn't prove the girl wrong when she quipped, "With whom? The delinquent from next door?"

A confused sound left Baby, "Delinquent?" Percy was anything but a delinquent, he was nothing like people thought.

"Contrary to what you believe, I noticed you galivanting around with him Louise. Do you want a bad reputation?"

Baby felt heat rise to her face and a gob grow in her throat, she didn't want to cry now but it was so natural.

"Percy is nice," She managed, "His good to me, and his not like people say, or what he looks like. His nice." Her eyes burned because she felt pathetic struggling to tell her mom all the reasons why Percy was better than her and better than her entire life.

Jenna frowned, "Anyone who has you out this late can't be anything but trouble."

You're always out this late. You barely come home. You hate me. Baby wanted to scream at Jenna.

"I don't want my daughter being out this late. With someone I know nothing about."

Daughter. Daughter. That meant I was her child right? Baby blinked and felt her tears falling, she shook her head solemnly, "No."

"No?"

Taking a deep breath, Baby shook her head again, "No, I'm not your daughter anymore."

Jenna looked appalled. Her lips parted to speak but Baby cut her off.

"You've ignored me all my life, you drink, and leave me alone all the time," She caught her breath, "I've had one real friend all my life and then Percy came along. It made me realise just how horrible you are."

Crying uncontrollably, the girl pushed through the tears to finally let everything go.

"I loved you all my life even when you weren't doing the same to me, a-and that was fine for all this time. B-But I, I'm not alone anymore and I like how that feels. So I don't want that to stop even if it means I have to let go of you."

She blinked through the torrent of tears and took a step back, "I don't want to be alone anymore. Even if I won't have a mom after this, it wouldn't make a difference. You never wanted to be my mom anyway... Right?"

A weak breath left the girl waiting for any reply from Jenna. When it didn't come, she turned around and ran out of her house.

| P e r c y |

Deja vu hit the blonde boy when a little bundle of trembling nerves hit him right in the chest after he opened his front door. Her hand clutched his shirt tightly as she cried and clung to him even as he shut the door behind them. She held onto her flowers though, like her life depended on it.

"Baby, calm down. Come on, tell me what happened."

She didn't calm down but she spoke through her crying, "I hate adults."

Percy asked why and laughed when she continued.

"Except your dad, he's nice. The rest are all meanies."

Rubbing her back soothingly, Percy let her know, "One day, we'll be adults too."

Baby sniffled and looked up at him teary eyed, "No we won't. Promise me, we won't act horrible like adults."

A surprised look overtook Percy's features at Baby's genuine tone of voice and the way she looked at him with utmost sincerity.

He couldn't deny her, "Promise."

_________

[Not Edited] It took me a long time to publish this one cause my internet was playing games 😭

authors note: I cried a lot writing this. For the cute and the heartbreaking parts.

To be honest, Baby is like my innermost desires. I wish adults weren't mean, and I wish I wasn't going to be one soon. Also, people who meet me irl and are close to me think I'm a stone wall who blocks emotion and external conflict but really I'm Baby. I cry a fuck ton and I want to snuggle up to someone and feel safe.

Fun fact : my favorite flowers are baby's breath.

P.S - This is the longest chapter in the book thus far. Maybe I'll keep this length going for future chapters.