Chapter 3: MacDonald's

                                    

                                          
Art by @alessia.trunfio on Instagram
                          
(This isn't my fav of Alessia's art but it's literally so hard to find good Frank fanart)
                          


                          
As everyone dug into their food, Annabeth checked her phone for texts. She had decided to stay parked for 10 to 20 minutes to allow herself to eat before getting back on the road. Piper had texted her.
                          
raginglesbian552: here's another playlist if you feel like changing it up a bit
                          
raginglesbian552:
                          
bicon666: thanks <3
                          
raginglesbian552: np babey 
                          
bicon666: you're an angel
                          
raginglesbian552: ur my fav
                          
bicon666: I love you
                          
raginglesbian552: I love you more
                          
bicon666: objectively false
                          
raginglesbian552: u cant win tis 
                          
bicon666: I already did
                          
Annabeth smiled and opened the link. A moment later, Michael Bublé's Holly Jolly Christmas was blasting in the car.
                          
"Turn it off!" Nico complained from the back seat. "I don't have the emotional capacity for Christmas music right now."
                          
"C'mon Nico, where's your holiday spirit?" Percy prodded.
                          
"He must've left it under the mistletoe," Grover joked.
                          
"Why do you guys insist on making my life miserable?" Nico asked.
                          
"Maybe Will will be waiting there for him," Reyna added from the passenger seat.
                          
"I know who I'm meeting under the mistletoe," Annabeth said, winking at her boyfriend in the rear view mirror. She had to quickly look back at the road, but she swore she saw him blush.
                          
Annabeth quickly ate her lunch and began driving while the others continued to fight over the music.
                          
"Can we please listen to something else?" Nico said.
                          
"Annabeth is driving, so if she wants Christmas music we're going to listen to Christmas music," Reyna said strictly. "Driving for 8 hours has to have some perks or nobody would do it."
                          
"We've been listening to Mariah Carey for the past 20 minutes."
                          
"What's wrong with Mariah Carey?" Frank asked, innocently.
                          
"There's only so long even a good voice I can listen to before it's annoying," Nico groaned.
                          
"...I'm sorry, what?" Annabeth asked. 
                          
"English isn't working for me anymore," Nico explained. "Grammar is a social construct."
                          
"Look, you're not wrong, but that sentence made zero fucking sense," Reyna said.
                          
"Goodnight."
                          
"It's like noon-"
                          
"Shut up."
                          
Reyna turned around in her seat to find Nico's eyes were struggling to stay open. "Kid, you need to fix your sleep schedule," she said, but she didn't bother him any further.
                          
"Hey, look outside," Percy called out from the back. "It's been a while."
                          
Annabeth glanced out the window and saw a familiar hotel. The Lotus Casino.
                          
"Woah," Nico mumbled. "Never thought I'd be back here."
                          
"Yeah..." Grover agreed.
                          
"Well, I guess it's a pleasant memory now, but I remember genuinely getting addicted to that place." Annabeth faintly recalled a city building simulator.