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Chapter Text

When Percy started his senior year in yet another school, he promised himself he would try his best to make sure nothing strange happened; sure, it wasn’t really up to him monster-wise, but he could at least try not to say anything strange to his new classmates or curse in ancient Greek. Besides, the last two years had been a mess and, with his kidnapping, it was not like he had much to say when he was told to introduce himself the first day of class -‘’hey, my name is Percy Jackson, my dad is a Greek god, and I was kidnapped last year and my memories were erased; oh, and I like blue food!’’. Yeah, that probably wouldn’t work.

Thus, Percy was known as the quiet and reserved kid in his school. This was a first for him; sure, he’d never had many friends, but he was always causing trouble. This time, however, he knew that Annabeth would kill him if, for any reason, he messed this school year up and he couldn’t go to New Rome University. He made friends -a first, excluding Grover and Tyson, who didn’t really count if you kept in mind that, well, they were his protector and his brother, and a satyr and a cyclops. He didn’t tell his friends much about him -his step-dad was an English teacher, he had been expelled from way too many schools, he had ADHD and dyslexia, he was very athletic, and he was going to try and join the swim team. He made sure to exclude everything that could be linked to his other life -he didn’t talk about his summer camp, his other friends, his huge dog, his father, or his girlfriend; Percy liked how both things didn’t go together, and he felt like it made everything easier. Whenever he talked, he sounded like a normal seventeen-year-old, and he was glad about that. He had had enough of monsters for a lifetime and, even if a hydra or a hellhound bothered him every other day, he could truly say that he could see a future for him and Annabeth that didn’t include them dying in the next five months. All in all, things were good.

When his school organized a homecoming football game, however, he did invite Annabeth; she was in a boarding school in the city, but it wasn’t that hard for her to sneak out with her New York Yankees cap, and he did want her there; it was a milestone for them. After all, Percy wasn’t supposed to reach senior year. They had agreed on meeting at the school; Percy had told Annabeth he’d meet her at the entrance once she texted him that she was close, since he was already at the bleachers with his friends. He wasn’t used to having a phone yet, however, which, in his opinion, gave him an excuse as to why he wasn’t checking his texts. Moreover, his ADHD tended to slow time down for him, so he was pretty sure that he still had thirty minutes before Annabeth was supposed to arrive.

‘’I swear, man, she was the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen,’’ his friend Matthew said, leaning over Kayla so he could see him.

‘’You say that about every girl you meet.’’

‘’I don’t say that about you,’’ Matthew told Kayla, who elbowed him in the ribs and, promptly, shut him up.

Percy couldn’t help but laugh at Louis’s mocking expressions behind Matthew. He’d only known these people for less than a month, but they had accepted him into their little club as soon as they’d met him and he was infinitely grateful. As Louis opened his mouth to, probably, laugh at Matthew over his ability to fall in love at first sight everyday, Matthew and Kayla stopped laughing when they looked at Percy. Percy tensed up, his hand moving to his pocket to make sure that Riptide was with him in case he needed to kill a monster, but, when a pair of arms linked themselves around his shoulders from behind, he tensed up for a whole different reason.

‘’I didn’t think I’d see you here, Jackson,’’ a female voice said playfully close to his ear.

Percy disentangled himself from her arms and turned around to stare Mary in the eye.

‘’An athlete at a football game. Who would have though, right?’’ he ironically said.

Mary rolled her eyes and rested her hand on his shoulder. Percy had to resist the urge to slap it away, but he didn’t want to cause a scene -he knew a lot about causing scenes and, with his luck, slapping her hand away would lead to a monster trying to kill him, and he didn’t want to be expelled before he could even take his first test. He didn’t know what he’d done to gain her attention -she was popular and decidedly pretty, and he was an outcast. He knew he wasn’t bad-looking -if Piper described him as a Greek god once more, he might die; Annabeth telling him that he looked exactly like his father also didn’t help, since the two times Poseidon had shown up in the past year while he was with Annabeth had always led to Percy wondering whether his girlfriend found his father attractive-, and he spent so much time swimming that one would have to be blind not to notice that he had a nice body. However, the whole school knew about his experience with being kicked out of school, since some teachers had made sure to remind him to behave during the first week of classes, and the swim team wasn’t regarded as highly as the football or the hockey team. All in all, he wasn’t a mess -unlike thirteen-year-old Percy-, but he was guarded and serious enough not to attract the attention of preppy girls. Mary, however, seemed to be obsessed with him from the day he got her phone out of the swimming pool after she dropped it while flirting with another guy in his team -‘’keep it wet, keep it wet’’, he’d had to remind himself-, and he regretted being a nice guy ever since then. Honestly, if his mom hadn’t raised him to be such a good kid, most of the problems in his life wouldn’t have happened.

‘’You could sit with us if you wanted,’’ Mary told him, signaling to her girl friends.

Percy knew the invitation only extended to him and not to his friends, who were quiet during the conversation. They had been at that school for three years, so they knew Mary and her gang, and Percy knew they sometimes wondered why he didn’t drop them for the popular kids. He also knew that he would rather face the Minotaur again than sit with the popular kids.

‘’I’m quite happy where I am, thanks,’’ he politely answered, trying to end the chat before he said anything rude.

‘’But you would have more fun with us, I’m sure,’’ Mary insisted, running her finger down his arm.

In moments like this, he almost missed being the young kid he was when he first arrived to camp, skinny and short and with a voice way too high for anyone to consider him a man.

‘’No, thanks,’’ he said again, using his other arm to take his phone out of his pocket, hoping Annabeth wouldn’t take much longer. ‘’Besides, I’m waiting-‘’

‘’Perseus Jackson!’’

‘’Man, I am going to need a massage after this’’, he though as he tensed again. He noticed his friends drive their attention away from Mary, who had also looked towards the origin of the voice with furrowed brows, her finger still on Percy’s arm. Before turning around, Percy quickly looked at the time on his phone, silently cursing in Greek as he saw the multiple texts and missed calls that he clearly hadn’t heard.

‘’Why is there a beautiful blonde goddess walking towards Percy, yelling his full name and looking like she wants to kill him?’’ Matthew quietly asked, forcing Percy to stifle a laugh.

He turned around slowly, half-expecting her to have a dagger at his neck. She was still far enough for him to be able to think of a few excuses, but he knew that wouldn’t work. Man, he had been offended the first time she’d called him Seaweed Brain, but she’d really hit the nail on the head.

‘’I can explain,’’ he said while she was still a few metres away.

‘’Explain, then,’’ she told him, now standing in full height before him. He was quite taller than her, but a standing Annabeth with folded arms and a stormy look in her eyes before a sitting Percy who knew he’d messed up was definitely scary.

‘’I…’’ he started. ‘’I didn’t think I’d get this far, honestly. I think this might be the first time you let me explain and I’m not ready for this responsibility.’’

He knew that was the right answer -her eyes were now shining with mirth and he could tell he was holding back a smile. She still had her arms crossed, but he figured she wasn’t going to kill him in front of so many people, so he tugged at them and forced her to sit next to him before he could regret it.

‘’I really thought it was earlier. You know how I am with the time, and I’m still not used to the phone.’’

She finally unfolded her arms and shook her head as she smiled softly, and Percy knew she wasn’t mad any longer.

‘’The fact that I have experience navigating labyrinths doesn’t mean that I want to navigate your high school, Seaweed Brain,’’ she told him.

‘’Completely understandable, Wise Girl.’’

He threw his arm around her shoulder, all his previous conversations forgotten, and he was about to ask her about her day when another voice interrupted him.

‘’Excuse me, Percy, but who is this?’’ Mary asked from behind him.

Annabeth turned around, a fake smile on her lips as she took in the brunette girl sitting behind her.

‘’His girlfriend,’’ Annabeth said. ‘’Nice to meet you.’’

She offered Mary her hand, though still wrapped around Percy’s arm, and Mary took it automatically, a shocked expression on her face. Her friends looked back between her and Annabeth, equally confused.

‘’His girlfriend?’’ Matthew whisper-yelled.

Both Louis and Kayla nudged him with their elbows, earning a laugh from Percy, which made Annabeth look at them with a raised eyebrow.

‘’Guys, this is Annabeth, my girlfriend,’’ Percy introduced. ‘’Beth, these are Kayla, Matthew and Louis.’’

‘’You’ve mentioned them,’’ Annabeth said, extending her hand and offering a real smile. ‘’It’s nice to meet you. Anybody who manages to put up with Percy deserves to be admired.’’

‘’Hey!’’ Percy whined.

His friends sat there, flabbergasted, but he didn’t really mind. Sure, he could have told them in advance, but he also didn’t think it was that important that he had a girlfriend; he was not the first guy in school to have one, and he definitely wouldn’t be the last.

He didn’t have time to talk any more before the game started, but he did manage to hear Matthew whispering to Kayla and Louis as the players made it to the field.

‘’So not only is Percy the hottest guy at school, but he’s also dating the hottest girl in New York? How is that fair?’’

Percy smiled softly and pressed Annabeth closer to him, enjoying her warmth and having her next to him. This was how things were supposed to be.

Chapter Text

One might argue that Percy was not a very bright student; he could only get As in Latin, about which, for some unknown reason, he was extremely passionate, telling his friends that he had chosen Latin over German or Spanish because it was a family thing. However, nobody could say that he didn’t try hard. Whenever he had a free period, he could be found in the library studying, and he always told his friends that he had readings to catch up with during the weekends when they tried to make plans (he couldn’t really tell them that, most of the time, he had to go to a magical camp that they wouldn’t be able to see because more claimed children were showing up everyday and he had to make sure everything was in order). Not only did he try hard with school, but with everything in his life. He knew his school record had to be good to get into New Rome University, and he also did not want to be kicked out of the swim club. He liked his new friends and his new school where no monsters were trying to kill him, but his favourite thing was having a place to swim and forget about his problems for a little bit. His friends knew how much he liked the swim club and how much he trained, which is why they were excited to attend his first meet.

Percy had told them to meet him at the door before the meet, since his coach was giving the team a few minutes to say hi to family and friends before the first meet of the season and, when they arrived, they found him with his face being held by his girlfriend.

‘’Remember, breathe and get wet,’’ they heard Annabeth say. ‘’Don’t be an asshole and show off or your dad will show up and nobody wants that.’’

His friends saw him laugh softly and remove Annabeth’s hands from his face before quickly pecking her lips. They hadn’t seen Annabeth since the homecoming game at the beginning of September, more than a month ago, and they were still trying to get used to to the idea of secretive Percy having an even more secretive girlfriend.

‘’Hey, man,’’ Louis said before Percy had a chance to say something to Annabeth.

Percy’s eyes lighted up as he took in his friends, grinning widely.

‘’You made it!’’ Percy exclaimed. ‘’My mum and my stepdad are already inside saving seats for all of you. Annabeth can take you.’’

‘’Hey,’’ Annabeth greeted softly, one of her hands still holding Percy’s.

Just as Percy was about to say something else, his coach called him from behind the closed doors.

‘’Jackson, time to warm up!’’

Percy kissed Annabeth’s forehead quickly and smiled at his friends before waving and running into the building, trying to take off his sweatshirt at the same time but not quite managing.

‘’Let’s go,’’ Annabeth said, rolling her eyes fondly at the scene in front of her. ‘’Percy’s mum will be glad to know her son died because he didn’t know how to take off his clothes.’’

Even though Matthew, Kayla and Louis asked Annabeth all sorts of questions about her life, they could tell that she was only telling them what she wanted them to know -she hadn’t been to many schools, since she had been homeschooled most of her life, she met Percy when they were twelve, which his friends already knew, she was one of the kids that were kidnapped alongside Percy when he was twelve (they had looked up the story online and, when they saw a picture, had placed bets on whether that was Annabeth or somebody who really looked like her), and her family lived in San Francisco. By the time they reached Percy’s mum and stepdad, she was more of an enigma than she had been before.

‘’Hi, honey!’’ Percy’s mum said to Annabeth when she sat down next to her. She then leaned forward a little bit -as much as her pregnant stomach would allow-, and smiled at the others. ‘’You must be Percy’s friends! He’s told me a lot about you. I’m Sally and this is Paul, my husband.’’

A man sitting next to her smiled and waved, and they waved back at him.

‘’Is everything alright?’’ he asked Annabeth. Percy’s friends then looked at her, noticing that she was sporting a serious expression and her grey eyes seemed stormy as she looked around the gym.

‘’Yes,’’ she said softly. ‘’Don’t worry.’’

‘’Are you sure?’’ Sally asked.

‘’I just have a bad feeling, but don’t worry about it,’’ she told her. ‘’Besides, you know about yesterday, so I doubt we’ll see any more of them in a few days.’’

Percy’s friends didn’t understand what she meant, but Percy’s mother seemed more alert after Annabeth finished speaking. Before they could ask, however, an almost naked Percy ran up to them and threw his jeans in Annabeth’s face.

‘’Hey!’’ she exclaimed.

‘’Sorry,’’ he said sheepishly, but he didn’t look sorry at all. ‘’Will you keep my jeans in handy? I have a bad feeling and I don’t want to leave them in the locker room.’’

Annabeth straightened up at this but, before she could say anything, Percy turned around and ran towards the pool, ignoring the glances some of the girls and boys were sending his way.

‘’I feel really weird about people ogling my son,’’ Sally said.

‘’If it makes you feel any better,’’ Annabeth told her, ‘’he’s probably way too stupid to realise and let it get to his head.’’

Sally laughed at this and took Percy’s jeans from Annabeth’s hands, carefully folding them before placing them on her lap.

‘’Why does he have so many scars?’’ Kayla suddenly asked. She hadn’t meant to be so loud -she only wanted Louis and Matthew to hear, but Paul and Sally’s gaze moved to her and Annabeth ’s body visibly tensed before she turned around to look at her.

‘’Our summer camp is a little bit ruthless,’’ she told her.

Kayla wanted to ask more, but knew better and simply looked back at the pool, where Percy was with the rest of his team. She knew she was probably not the only person to wonder; Percy did, undeniably, have a nice body, but scars plagued his chest and back. They were not very dark, which meant that they were probably old, but they also didn’t look like the kind of scars you got when you fell off your bike. Kayla also noted the way Annabeth crossed her arms and let herself be pulled into Sally’s side-hug, but she knew it would make the blonde uncomfortable if she asked. Louis and Matthew, however, looked at her questioningly; they also wanted to know, but they, too, knew better than to ask somebody who clearly didn’t want to talk about it. When they looked back at Percy again, he was talking to another guy. They appeared to be arguing, and Percy looked cross. His face was, for once, serious, and his eyes seemed to scream ‘’danger’’.

‘’Who is that?’’ Annabeth asked them.

‘’John Robinson,’’ Louis told her. ‘’He was the star of the team until Percy showed up, and he is quite resentful. Since this is a friendly meet, it’s going to be relay races, so I’m guessing he’s trying to rile Percy up so Percy gets a worse time.’’

‘’That won’t work,’’ Annabeth told them, her eyes scanning John. ‘’Percy always works best under pressure, and even more so in the water.’’

As if hearing his name, Percy looked at Annabeth from afar, who smiled and waved at him. John saw this interaction, smirking before saying something to Percy that made his face go serious again. Before Kayla could let Annabeth know how much of an asshole John was, the water in the pool suddenly overflowed, wetting the ground all around the pool where the teams were standing. Annabeth quickly rose up and moved towards Percy, ignoring his friends’ questioning glances. While the cleaners took care of the water, Annabeth whispered something to Percy, who quickly answered with an annoyed look in his face. Although Annabeth’s back was the only thing they could see, Matthew, Louis and Kayla noticed her turning towards John and saying something that made the other boy lose his smirk, slowly walking away from the couple and making Percy grin in the process. He stopped grinning, however, when Annabeth turned towards him again, but he started smiling again the moment she turned around and started walking to her seat.

‘’He’s a seaweed brain,’’ she softly mumbled when Sally looked at her. ‘’Two months reminding him to be careful and he practically blows it today. If his dad shows up, it’s definitely going to be his fault.’’

‘’I truly doubt Poseidon will show up to his swim meet,’’ Paul meekly said.

‘’With our luck, the whole family will show up, and then both of us will have to do something and leave another school year unfinished,’’ Annabeth huffed.

‘’Enough is enough’’, Matthew thought, finally building up his courage to ask what the hell they were talking about. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, the meet started, taking away his chance to understand what Annabeth and Percy’s parents meant.

Percy’s friends had never seen him swim; they never went to see him during training, because they just didn’t care about swimming that much, so they were surprised when they saw him relay John and make a record time for his school with enough time to spare. He didn’t look human when he swam -his body moved fluidly, and the water seemed to move with him, gently pushing him forward but embracing him at the same time. If they didn’t know that it was impossible to cheat in swimming (excluding the use of drugs), they would have deemed him a cheater.

‘’He’s cheating,’’ Annabeth told Sally, as if reading their thoughts.

‘’Is he?’’ Sally asked critically.

‘’I’ve timed him during regular training, and he’s definitely cheating. He just wants to make that John guy mad,’’ she said.

His friends didn’t even bother questioning her; they had already accepted that, if they wanted to understand what the hell Annabeth was talking about, they would probably have to ask Percy. By the time the meet was over, however, they were told by Sally that it would be better if they waited for him outside. Annabeth seemed to be looking at somebody sitting on the other side of the gym, her hand resting on her bag.

‘’Sally, give me Percy’s jeans,’’ she said. ‘’We’ll meet you outside.’’

Sally nervously looked around, but nodded as Paul rested his hand on the small of her back and led her and the other teenagers outside. They didn’t really know why she’d need Percy’s jeans so urgently, but they, once again, let it go.

‘’He’s a great swimmer,’’ Louis politely told Sally, trying to make small talk. ‘’Does he get that from you?’’

Sally laughed loudly and rested one hand on her stomach as she dried a few tears from her eyes with the other hand.

‘’Definitely not,’’ she said. ‘’It’s all his father.’’

‘’Poseidon, right?’’ Matthew asked.

‘’Yes,’’ she said, surprised. ‘’Has Percy told you about him?’’

‘’No, not at all,’’ Matthew told her. ‘’I overheard you say his name before. Percy doesn’t really talk about him.’’

Sally nodded sadly and looked at Paul, who looked a little bit uncomfortable.

‘’They don’t see each other much, but Percy tries not to blame him. He knows it’s not his dad’s fault, but their relationship is difficult, to say the least.’’

‘’Why did Percy and Annabeth not want him to come to the meet?’’ Kayla asked, receiving a slight push from Louis. It was not her fault that she was curious, but Louis did not seem to appreciate it.

‘’I wouldn’t say they didn’t want him to come,’’ Sally slowly said. ‘’It’s just… Percy doesn’t see him often, so, when he does, he likes for it to be private. He’s not really comfortable introducing him to others, and Annabeth is a little bit protective over Percy. They’ve been through a lot together, and they always want to make sure the other is alright.’’

A silence followed this declaration, and Kayla, Louis and Matthew stood as they let Sally and Paul sit in a bench in front of the gym, waiting for Percy and Annabeth to get out. Once both teams were out, but there was no sign of neither of them, they started to worry.

‘’Should we go look for them?’’ Louis asked Sally.

‘’No!’’ Paul quickly said. ‘’They’ll be out shortly, I’m sure. Percy has probably misplaced his shoes.’’

Sally seemed uneasy about this, but didn’t say anything. Louis didn’t want to pressure her, so he simply looked at his friends and shrugged, dropping the topic. A few minutes later, however, Annabeth and Percy finally exited the gym. Just as his friends were about to congratulate him, they noticed scratches on both their faces and a bleeding cut on Annabeth’s hand.

‘’Is everything alright?’’ Sally quickly asked.

‘’Yes, Sally, don’t worry,’’ Annabeth told her, smiling softly.

‘’Dude, what happened?’’ Matthew asked Percy, looking at Annabeth’s bleeding hand.

Percy looked at him like a deer caught in headlights, and Matthew could tell he was not going to get an answer from him.

‘’We were kissing next to the pool, but it was slippery and we tripped. Turns out he’s only good with water when he’s inside the pool. Right, Seaweed Brain?’’

Percy smiled at his girlfriend and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, not at all embarrassed about the fact that his mum had heard that explanation (he knew she knew that was not what happened, so he didn’t feel the need to blush), and kissed Annabeth’s hair.

‘’What can I say, Wise Girl,’’ he told her. ‘’You make me nervous.’’

Chapter Text

They had meant to study. Percy had a history text the upcoming week and Annabeth had offered to help him revise, so they really had meant to study. However, they were also seventeen-year-old teenagers and they hadn’t seen each other in almost three weeks, which is why they were currently making out on Percy’s bed, both of their shirts thrown onto the ground and their hands moving across each other’s body.

Percy’s senses were completely focused on the little whimpering noises that Annabeth made every time he grazed her neck with his lips or his hands pressed down on her hips a little bit harder. He could tell she wasn’t paying attention to the outside world either -her lips swollen, her cheeks flushed, her hair a mess and her eyes closed as she threw her head back to give him more access to her neck. Percy liked many Annabeths: the one who could talk about architecture nonstop for three hours, the one who always stopped to pet dogs on the street, the one who would curse in ancient Greek for five minutes straight when she stubbed her pinky toe, the one who would throw him out of the kitchen so she could bake cookies with Sally and talk about the most recent exhibition at the MET and more. Nonetheless, this Annabeth was one of his favourites, completely carefree and trusting in his hands and free of worries and nightmares and pain. When he went to sleep at night and he was worried that he might have a bad dream, he liked to think of this Annabeth to try and make sure that his dreams would be peaceful. When he was nearing his breaking point during run-ins with bullies, he liked to think of this Annabeth to remind himself that she was waiting for him and that she wouldn’t want him to do something he might regret. He loved this Annabeth, and he loved caressing her with loving hands and touches, making sure that she was comfortable and happy.

They both knew they wouldn’t be going all the way today -Sally was in the kitchen with Estelle, and Paul was in the living room marking exams, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t enjoy each other for a little while. However, they knew Sally wouldn’t enter (they liked to think that it was because she trusted them, but they knew that it was actually because she had been even more embarrassed than them when she had walked in on them making out when they had first started dating), so they weren’t worried about being caught.

‘’We should be studying,’’ Annabeth whispered between kisses.

Percy smiled softly and hummed in agreement before sucking on a certain spot on her neck, eliciting a soft moan from Annabeth as she let herself be laid down on the bed.

‘’Percy, I’m serious,’’ she said, pausing between words. ‘’You need to study.’’

‘’I have an anatomy test coming up in two weeks,’’ he answered, blowing softly on the spot his lips had been on, ‘’and I’d say I’m studying pretty well.’’

Annabeth tried to laugh, but it was cut short when she gasped for air as Percy descended from her neck to her chest.

‘’I don’t think your history teacher will find that excuse acceptable.’’

‘’I don’t find his lessons acceptable and here we are.’’

Finally admitting defeat and realising that no more history was going to be revised, Annabeth turned them around and straddled Percy.

‘’Well, if that’s the case-‘’

Before she could finish the sentence, the door to Percy’s room flew open, showing his friends from school with their backpacks on and a smile that quickly morphed into a surprised look.

‘’Hi -oh, fuck, sorry, fuck! TMI, TMI!’’ Kayla exclaimed, turning around and bumping into Matthew, who hadn’t moved.

This was followed by an exclamation of curses in ancient Greek from Annabeth -he’d like to say he was too embarrassed to feel anything besides the flaming heat on his cheeks, but he’d be lying if he said her dirty vocabulary didn’t turn him on a little bit-, and the couple rushed to put on their clothes. It was easier for Annabeth, who grabbed Percy’s shirt and threw it on, leaving him with a shirt way too small that definitely didn’t fit him and, therefore, shirtless.

‘’Beth, I know Malcolm said it was cute when we wore each other’s clothes, but I don’t think he meant me wearing your old camp t-shirt from when you were fourteen.’’

Annabeth quickly elbowed him before running her hands through her hair to tame it and rushing to his dresser to get him something to wear. She needed to move; otherwise, she’d be forced to face Percy’s friends, and she’d rather face a hydra than actually talk about her making out with her boyfriend on his bed with his family in the room next door.

‘’We came to study history together and your mum told us to come in,’’ Louis said. ‘’She did mention Annabeth being over, but…’’

‘’Yes, um, she, uh…’’ Percy stammered. ‘’She came to help me with history, actually.’’

‘’And anatomy?’’ Matthew asked, a sly grin on his face.

‘’You know what?’’ Annabeth said before they could be embarrassed further. ‘’I’m going to help Sally with the cookies or Estelle. Whichever is giving her more trouble.’’

She moved towards the door, and Percy’s friends moved to let her pass. When she left the room, Percy smiled at his friends -he was not as embarrassed as Annabeth, considering these were his friends and they would have been stupid to think he didn’t make out with his girlfriend whenever he could-, but the situation was still uncomfortable.

Just before he opened his mouth to finally say something, Annabeth came back into his room, cheeks even redder than before and hands fidgeting non-stop.

‘’I’m wearing your shirt,’’ she whisper-shouted. ‘’I’m wearing your shirt and your mum noticed. I’m wearing your shirt and your mum noticed and now I can’t show my face around here ever again.’’

The tension was finally broken when Percy let out a loud laugh as Annabeth left the room again to change her shirt in the bathroom and Percy’s friends laughed as well, mocking Percy before finally managing to convince him to study World War II.

Chapter Text

Percy didn’t let go of Annabeth’s hands once they entered in the apartment. It’s not that he thought she couldn’t defend herself if need be, but he didn’t fully trust his classmates -at least, not drunk. He hadn’t wanted to come to the party, but his friends had convinced him that, as part of the swim team, he couldn’t escape socializing forever. He was happy enough with his small circle of friends, but they had let him know that, while they were also happy being just the four of them, they wouldn’t mind surrounding themselves with the popular crowd every once in a while. Percy had felt a little bit guilty because of denying them that, and Annabeth had told him that going out once wouldn’t hurt. He had decided to trust her (he’d been doing that for years and that was the only reason as to why he was still alive), and thus had told Chris Parker, his team’s captain, that he would maybe show up at his party that weekend. It was Halloween, after all, and he felt a little bit silly staying at home during his senior year of high school. He knew high school parties could get a little bit wild, but the moment the door opened and music filled his ears, he was starting to regret his decision.

‘’I know that this is my first party and all that, but are guys supposed to walk around shirtless? Are they even pretending to wear a costume?’’ Annabeth asked to no one in particular, raising her eyebrows.

‘’We’re talking about the sport jocks,’’ Kayla reminded her with a pointed look, pulling at her cheerleader uniform; she'd never be caught dead with one of this seriously, but her sister had been a cheerleader years ago and Kayla wasn't about to spend forty dollars on a costume she would never wear again.

‘’Hey!’’ Percy exclaimed. These were his teammates, after all (he could also recognise some of the guys from the soccer team and some cheerleaders arounds, and he was pretty sure there were also some marching band kids, but he wasn’t about to point that out, since that would only support Kayla’s point).

‘’Don’t act all offended,’’ Annabeth told him, ‘’you spend half of your time at camp shirtless as well.’’

‘’I spend half of my time at camp at the beach, and the rest of my time I’m sweating my ass off because of you or Clarisse, so be thankful I’m wearing my shirt that half of the time and I don’t go to the dining pavilion naked.’’

‘’While most of Cabin 10 wouldn’t probably mind, Mr. D would turn you into a dolphin the moment he saw your naked butt.’’

‘’That he would,’’ Percy answered, laughing as he let go of her hand to wrap his arm around her shoulder. He leaned into her ear playfully and said, ‘’don’t tell anyone, but I miss the guy.’’

His friends looked at them as if they were crazy, but knew better than to question them.

‘’I need something to drink,’’ Matthew told the group. ‘’Do you want anything?’’

Percy and Annabeth shook their heads, choosing to wait before drinking anything at all (Percy also didn’t want to explain to his friends why he didn’t drink alcohol, and Annabeth knew that). Louis said something that sounded foreign to Percy -seriously, a vodka with a twist on the rocks? Couldn’t he simply say vodka? And did he really have to order it with a twist? He’d never understand rich kids-, and Matthew gave him a thumbs up, which was the only thing he could do with the foam cheer gloves he was wearing along with his baseball player costume.

‘’I’ll come with you,’’ Kayla said, looping her arm around his and dragging him across the hall.

Percy looked around the party, trying to decide what to do. He didn’t have to look at Annabeth to know she was doing the same thing, and he also knew she felt more uncomfortable than he did, since she knew nobody but him and his friends.

‘’I just wanted to let you know you made me lose a bet,’’ Louis suddenly said.

They looked questioningly at him and he pointed at them and their clothes.

‘’I had bet that you wouldn’t wear matching costumes,’’ he said. ‘’I didn’t take you for the kind of couple who does, even if you are all lovey-dovey. You both seem too mature for that.’’

‘’We didn’t plan it,’’ Annabeth told him. ‘’I mean, we both knew we’d be wearing this, but we didn’t really plan it. Percy didn’t know if he wanted to come until the last minute and we had no costumes at home, and we both suck at any kind of DIY. We had this at home from before.’’

‘’From before?’’ Louis asked, an eyebrow raised.

‘’We organised a Greek party at camp once,’’ Percy quickly said. ‘’We kept the clothes in case, and they have thankfully come in handy. An actual toga looks more dignified than a sheet, which was what my mum thought we’d be wearing when we told her about this.’’

‘’You have knifes from before?’’

Annabeth laughed and looked at the knife strapped to her arm. She had used the Mist to make sure her dagger stayed like one and Percy had complained that he couldn’t do that. She had then reminded him that walking around with a three-feet-long bronze sword wouldn’t be the wisest thing to do, considering that, if he were to hit somebody accidentally with it, everyone would know it wasn’t plastic when it simply moved through them, which was why he was weaponless.

‘’Who says it’s not a real knife?’’ Annabeth asked enigmatically.

Before Louis could say anything else, Annabeth pulled Percy forward with her and moved towards the dance floor. She could see Louis’s confused face as he walked to the kitchen to find the rest of the group and laughed lightly before wrapping her arms around Percy’s neck.

‘’You shouldn’t do that,’’ Percy told her, but he was definitely holding back a smile. ‘’His head is going to explode one day if you keep making those kinds of comments.’’

‘’It’s not my fault mortals are so easy to fool.’’

He finally smiled widely and brought her closer, his hands on her waist. Annabeth breathed a sigh of relief -between exams, monsters and the typical anxiousness that all demigods carried whenever they stepped onto the street, being at a party with her boyfriend and worrying about nothing at all was a godsend. She could feel Percy’s smile against her hair, since he was laying his cheek on her head, and she could also hear his heartbeat, her ear pressed against his chest. It didn’t matter to them that the song was definitely not a slow one, and so they swayed slowly to the rhythm of a song that definitely required more moving. Percy knew people were looking at them; not everyone knew he had a girlfriend, even if he wasn’t particularly secretive about it, and they made quite a striking pair in their white togas with golden details, golden tiaras and leather sandals.

‘’I love you,’’ he whispered, and Annabeth was amazed at the way he managed to make it sound romantic even in the middle of a techno song.

‘’I know,’’ she answered softly. ‘’I love you, too.’’

When the song finally ended, they separated; it’s not as if they had actually been paying attention to the music playing, but tuning out two loud songs and managing to dance for so long was too much for two people with ADHD.

‘’Shall we go to the kitchen to get some water?’’ Annabeth asked.

Percy nodded and threw his arm around her shoulder again, her arm automatically moving to wrap around his waist. It had made her uncomfortable at the beginning of the relationship how Percy always wanted to be touching her, since she didn’t fully understand why. She had always been the one to hold his hand when she was scared, and it had taken her a while to realise it was because he didn’t want to make her uncomfortable and he never truly believed that she could like him back. Now that Percy knew she loved him just as much as he loved her, his body always found a way to make sure he was touching her; even during the hot summer nights they spent together after the Giant War, he had always managed to wrap his leg around hers or to lay his hand on top of her hip while he slept.

They were greeted by his tipsy friends when they reached the kitchen, who thankfully didn’t question it when Annabeth simply grabbed a bottle of water and Percy a can of coke. Percy was happy with his life at the moment; things might not have been perfect, but they were better than they had been in a long time. His friends liked his girlfriend, nobody was trying to kill him on the regular (he didn’t even care about random monsters anymore; no god or Titan going specifically after him? Are you kidding? A dream ), he was about to have a baby sister, and he hadn’t exploded his school yet. Looking around the group of people surrounding him, he felt a sense of normalcy that he had longed for for a while. Matthew was talking about a different girl he had fallen in love with - ‘’I’m telling you, man, she is the one’’ -, and Kayla was mocking him while Louis laughed quietly and Annabeth laughed with him. He pressed a kiss at the top of Annabeth’s head and brought her even closer, relishing the situation. Of course, good things never lasted forever.

‘’Hey, blondie!’’ John Robinson’s voice called. He tried to grab her arm, but Percy pushed her closer when he felt her slipping away. She didn’t move away from him, but did turn to face John with a steely look in her eyes.

She said nothing, simply arching an eyebrow and defying him to say anything else. Had he been sober, he would have probably walked away -at least, Percy hoped so, since the guy was an asshole, but not stupid-, but he was, very clearly, drunk.

‘’Mind your mouth, Robinson,’’ Percy threateningly said. He saw his friends straightening up from the periphery of his eye, aware that this could lead to something ugly.

‘’You know, blondie, you scared me pretty badly the other day at the meet,’’ he said, slurring his words, ‘’but it was so hot that I jerked off to it when I got home.’’

‘’That’s enough,’’ Percy exclaimed, moving forward and raising his fist before being pulled back by Annabeth.

‘’Stop it!’’ she yelled. She turned to look at him and put one hand on his chest, the other holding his hand and forcing him to look at her before she whispered, ‘’I can do this myself. Besides, you don’t want to be taken off the team.’’

She turned again to look at the laughing John, who was now making fun of Percy. They had attracted a crowd and people were anxiously whispering, both excited and afraid of a fight breaking out.

‘’Man, she must be really good in the bedroom for you to be so submissive.’’

‘’If you don’t shut up, you’ll be breathing through your mouth for the next six weeks,’’ she calmly said.

‘’Oh, come on, blondie, are you being tough because you know it turns me on?’’

He raised his hand to touch her hair, but Annabeth used her left hand to push his arm away and, then, raised her right fist and punched him in the nose. He fell backwards, holding his nose and screaming in pain. His voice was the only one in the kitchen; everyone had gone silent the moment he tried to touch her, expectant of what was about to happen.

‘’You bitch!’’

‘’Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, you big baby,’’ she said, not even holding her hand or caring about her knuckles. She bent down and smiled happily, patting his foot. ’’Be thankful I didn’t dislocate your shoulder, because that’s my speciality. You can ask Percy. It turns him on when I’m tough, too, but, unlike you, he actually gets to do something about it.’’

She stood up and searched for Percy’s hand blindly, who had already extended it to take hers before she was even up. There was still an angry look in his eyes, but there was a troublemaker smile that she adored adorning his face.

‘’Do you want to stay for another song, or should we go home?’’ She asked, ignoring the glances everyone was sending them.

‘’Home,’’ Percy said, smiling. ‘’Definitely home.’’

They started moving towards the door, people moving to let them pass. Just before they were out of the kitchen, Annabeth turned around and smiled sweetly at his friends.

‘’Are you coming?’’

Silently, they followed them, making a mental note not to bother Annabeth or Percy if they didn’t want to end up with a broken nose. Once they were out on the street, Annabeth broke out laughing, and Percy followed. Matthew, Kayla and Louis couldn’t help but laugh as well, and they knew they looked like a group of drunk teenagers, but they didn’t really care.

‘’That was even better than when you judo flipped me,’’ Percy said once he calmed down, using his finger to dry the tears off his face.

Annabeth laughed and elbowed him on the side before pressing her face against his chest. His arm was once again around her shoulders, and they looked just as happy as they had when they had first arrived at the party.

‘’What an uneventful night, though,’’ Annabeth said quite seriously, but with a soft smile on her face.

Percy hummed and nodded, and his friends couldn’t help but wonder what was an eventful night for them. They knew, however, not to ask anymore.