Chapter Text
Day 25: Sharing a Jacket in the Cold
Percy liked to think, as a New Yorker, he was used to the cold, but he could also admit that he knew what type of clothing Each month of the year required. Annabeth, however, seemed to have no sense of self-preservation, and had decided to venture off into the October breeze without a jacket. Percy had tried to warn her, but she had been very obstinate and told him that she had been through worse things that a slight breeze, and Percy was now biting his tongue not to say “ I told you so ”. They had gone to the MET—Annabeth had loved the story of how he almost died last time he visited—, and they had decided to walk around Central Park afterwards. They had only been dating for two months, but they were the best two months of Percy’s life.
They were holding hands as they walked down the park, and Percy could tell that Annabeth was trying her hardest not to look cold but that it wasn’t working.
“You can say you’re cold,” Percy told her with a slight smile.
“I am not cold,” Annabeth told him, looking straight ahead and shivering, completely ruining her argument.
“You’re turning blue.”
“I’m doing that on purpose,” she said. “So you’ll like me better.”
Percy laughed and stopped on his tracks to hug her, and he could feel her body relaxing when he wrapped his arms around her. He buried his nose in her hair, standing still for a bit and just enjoying the feeling of being together. When they pulled apart, Percy took off his jacket and put it on her shoulders.
“What are you doing?” Annabeth asked.
“I don’t want you to die,” he told her, “ duh .”
“You’re gonna get cold,” she whispered, a soft smile on her face as Percy zipped her up.
“I’m a New Yorker, I’m used to it.”
Annabeth said nothing else, grabbing his hand and walking again. The park was beautiful this time of the year—green and orange leaves, some of them on the ground, and full of children running around and laughing after school taking advantage of the fact that it wasn’t freezing cold and it didn’t get dark way too soon yet. Percy hadn’t done this in a many years—he had loved doing this as a child, but he had then been sent to boarding school, and the last few years had been spent training and thinking about how he was probably going to die on his birthday. Rachel had suggested a walk the year before, but Blackjack had come to get him before they had even made it to Central Park, which he was now glad about—he liked how this was a new experience for him and Annabeth, not tarnished by the mistakes of his past.
“This is nice,” Annabeth said. Percy looked at her questioningly before she continued. “Wearing your clothes, it’s nice. They smell like you.”
Percy blushed and tried to say something—anything—, but his heart was beating too fast for his brain to be coherent. He could tell that Annabeth was embarrassed—she probably hadn’t meant to say that—, but he didn’t want her to feel that way. The fact that his heart was seconds away from bursting was completely positive.
“It’s nice seeing you in my clothes,” he ended up saying, and he decided that it was the right thing to say when she smiled shyly and her cheeks turned red.
Having been best friends for years, Percy hadn’t expected many things to change—maybe some kisses every now and then, but not much more. However, everything seemed to have changed (for the better). They didn’t fight half as much, instead holding hands and hugging each other close to help with the frustration, and whenever there was any kind of tension, they ended up kissing instead of snapping at each other. Percy thought it was a nice development, but it was also strange sometimes. When he had thought about Annabeth pre-dating, it had always been in a “ wow, she’s pretty, I wanna kiss her ” kind of way, not in a “ wow, she looks hot and we’re alone in my room ” kind of way. It still felt weird to put his hands up her shirt when they were kissing, and it felt weird when she complimented him or said romantic stuff. That didn’t mean he didn’t like it, though.
“We should probably head home,” Annabeth said. “I don’t want you catching a cold.”
“Home, huh?” He asked. He was just kidding, but he really liked how she felt as if the Jackson residence was also her home (which it was).
Annabeth blushed and buried her face in the top of Percy’s jacket, hiding the blush on her cheeks, but Percy just grinned and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, kissing her head softly.
“Let’s go home,” he whispered.
He didn’t mention how it would always be home whenever he was with her, how he didn’t need a house with rooms to feel like he belonged. He supposed it was way too early in the relationship to do that. However, seeing her in his jacket made him think that the future maybe wasn’t so far away, that maybe they already had an unsaid plan in which they both were the protagonists and in which Annabeth could spend many years calling “home” a place where they both lived and in which she could spend many years stealing his clothes. The thought made him smile even more, which she noticed, looking at him with furrowed brows.
“What are you smiling about?”
“Nothing,” Percy answered. “Just you in my jacket. It’s crazy how things change, right?”
Annabeth smiled softly and stopped to kiss him, one of her hands resting on his cheek while the other was grabbing his hoodie and keeping him close to her.
“I think I’ve started to like change,” she told him as soon as she pulled away, her nose still touching his. “As long as you’re with me.”
Percy smiled and kissed her again, his hands grabbing his jacket to pull her even closer before he snaked his arms around her waist. He didn’t say anything, but he knew she knew he agreed. He was starting to like change as well—as long as they were together.