Work Text:
Annabeth checked her hair in the mirror one last time, then left her apartment, making sure to lock the door behind her. She walked to her car, parked on the side of the road and got in, and began to drive. Every minute or so, she double and triple-checked her makeup in the rear view mirror. Usually she didn’t care what she looked like. Usually she threw her hair up in a messy bun and put on a bit of mascara and called it good, but today was different. Today Annabeth was going on her very first date since the breakup eight months ago.
She’d met Percy just a week ago at the library. He had been studying for a biology test—he wanted to be a marine biologist—and Annabeth had been working on a project for her design class. They had talked about a lot of things from dolphins to Ancient Greek architecture, and she’d liked him. He was genuinely funny, he was nice, and he was extremely attractive.
Most importantly, he was nothing like Luke.
Annabeth parked by the curb in front of a cute little café and turned off the car. She was half an hour early, even though she taken the long way.
When Annabeth had left the library that day a week ago, Percy had caught her arm and asked earnestly when he could talk to her again. She’d laughed and given him her number on a sticky note, and he texted her that night, and throughout the day every day since then. That was just the first way he was different that Luke, who sometimes wouldn’t reply for three days. He argued that he saw her every weekend when he took the four hour drive up to her college. Wasn’t that enough?
Annabeth didn’t want to think about Luke, so she put on her favorite upbeat playlist. It always put her in a better mood, and it was the music she usually chose when she was working on a project. Luke didn’t like half the songs, but Annabeth had stopped caring what Luke liked a few months before the end of their relationship.
Three days after meeting him in the library, Percy had called Annabeth and asked if she wanted to go out for lunch that Wednesday.
“Are you asking me out?” she laughed. No boy in his right mind would ask her out. Why would they like her? She wasn’t the kind of girl that boys fell in love with.
“Of course I am,” Percy had said. “I kinda like you, you know?”
Truth be told, Annabeth had liked him right from the beginning too, but she had been telling herself not to. Don’t fall in love. Love will do nothing but leave you broken like it did before.
After two songs, Annabeth got out of her car. It was still early, but she could wait inside. She almost tripped on the curb in her heels that she wasn’t used to wearing. Luke hadn’t liked it when Annabeth wore heels because then she was the same height as him, but Percy was taller. And Percy wasn’t Luke.
Annabeth pushed open the door of the cafe and spotted Percy waiting in the corner. He straightened up when he saw her, smiled, blushed, and waved nervously like a high school boy on his first date. Annabeth waved back and crossed the room to him.
“I wasn’t expecting you to be here yet,” she said.
Percy shrugged. “I didn’t want to be late on our first date.”
Annabeth liked that he called it that—their first date, implying that there would be more to come.
They were led to a table for two and Percy pulled Annabeth’s chair out for her and helped her in. Annabeth wasn’t sure she’d ever blushed so hard than she did at the unexpected gesture. The waitress brought them water and menus. Later, Annabeth couldn’t remember much of the date. She couldn’t recall exactly what they talked about, or what joke she told that made Percy throw his head back laughing. She hadn’t known she was so funny. Luke had never laughed at her jokes like Percy did.
Percy was an amazing storyteller. He told her about sneaking into movies with his friends in high school, camping with his mom every summer, and how much he loved the ocean. Annabeth wanted to stay quiet and listen to him talk, but he wanted to hear about her. So she told him about the time at summer camp in eighth grade that a spider (she was terrified of them) crawled over her back and she screamed so loud that her counselor almost dropped an entire bag of marshmallows into the campfire. She told him how she got new Legos every year for Christmas since she was eight, and that she had an ever-growing Lego castle in her bedroom back home.
Somewhere in the middle of a story, he interrupted her and said, “I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone as fascinating as you.”
Annabeth looked down into her bowl of soup. “Thank you,” she whispered. It was almost I love you, but it was far too soon for that. She looked up at Percy again. “You’re fascinating as well.”
When they were finished eating, Percy paid the bill, although Annabeth offered to split it. That was what Luke had always wanted.
Then they walked down the block to Annabeth’s car, and she almost brought Luke up. She wanted to tell Percy how she met Luke at the library too, and they went to the movies, and everything was good until it wasn’t. She wanted to tell him how Luke hadn’t ever wanted to hear about Annabeth’s life, how he eventually decided that she wasn’t enough and left her. She wanted to tell Percy that he made her feel so good and so right, and that he was nothing like Luke. She wanted to say that she’d been spending the past eight months trying to heal after he broke her. She wanted to say that she’d spent the past year believing that love would only ever break her and leave her. And she wanted to tell him that she had been wrong, and that maybe he could pick up the broken pieces, that she believed now that someone might want to keep her.
But then Percy started to tell her about how he had a Christmas movie marathon with his family every year, and that The Polar Express was his favorite. And then Annabeth didn’t want to tell him about Luke anymore—not yet, anyway.
There would be plenty of time to tell Percy about all the ways he was different, and all the ways he was right. But for now, the past was past.
They reached Annabeth’s car, and Percy hugged her goodbye. “When can I see you again?” he asked.
Annabeth smiled. “Saturday? Let’s go to a movie or something.”
“Or something,” Percy agreed.
~~~
And you throw your head back laughing like a little kid
I think it’s strange that you think I’m funny
Cause he never did
I’ve been spending these past eight months
Thinking all love ever does is break and burn and end
But on a Wednesday in a cafe, I watched it begin again
~~~
Two Years Later
Annabeth woke up with warm rays of sunlight splashing across her face, and Percy sleeping beside her. She snuggled into his side and closed her eyes, breathing in his familiar scent.
“I love you,” she whispered, not expecting a reply.
“I love you too,” Percy said. He kissed her forehead and pulled her closer.
We made it, Annabeth thought. We made it.