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Piper had her legs stretched over Annabeth’s minuscule couch, her phone in her hand, probably scrolling through Twitter.

“So, have you thought about it?” Piper asked.

“Yes, and my answer is still no.”

“But Annabeth, you would do so great!”

“Maybe, but I don’t want to.”

“Annabeth, come on. We’ve looked everywhere and no one wants to light design this show. You’re our only hope.”

“Hm. That’s not flattering.”

Piper had asked Annabeth to light design a modern-day production of Medea, almost a week prior. The play would be directed by their friend Silena, and Piper was going to be the protagonist. Annabeth, being the good friend that she was, definitely intended on watching the play. But being part of the production? Not for her.

“Do you take bribes?” Piper asked again, hopeful.

Annabeth looked up from her book and examined her friend, wondering if she was serious or not. “Maybe.”

“I’ll do your laundry for a week.”

“I do laundry once every two weeks, so that wouldn’t help me at all.”

“A month.”

“That’s only twice!”

“Fine, two months.”

Annabeth considered the offer. “Fine. But only because I know Silena will be up my ass forever if I say no.”

Piper jumped off the couch, ran to Annabeth and planted a kiss on her cheek. “Thank you so much, I love you to bits! I’m meeting Reyna for dinner, so I’ll see you later.”

“Did you really come all the way over here just to talk me into doing this?”

“Yes!” Piper yelled through the already closed door.

Annabeth sighed, wondering what she’d gotten herself into.

Annabeth checked her phone. The screen read 9:02 pm, which meant she was two minutes late for the design run. She knew where the black box was; she’d been there to watch Piper’s other plays. It wasn’t exactly a big venue, but it was all their university had ceded to student theatre. It was located in the basement of one of the least used academic buildings, where some language classes took place. Annabeth imagined it would be mostly empty at this point.

She arrived five minutes late and snuck in as quietly as she could. Silena, thank god, was sitting near the door, so Annabeth took the chair next to hers.

“Hi,” she whispered, “sorry I’m late.”

“Don’t worry, we haven’t started yet. Will’s not even here.”

As if they’d rehearsed, Will took that cue to burst through the door.

“Hey, guys! I’m here!” He announced, walking through the room and taking a seat on the first row. “Sorry I’m late, is everyone here? Silena, are you guys ready to start?”

“Yeah,” she responded and turned to Annabeth. “Sorry babe, I gotta go. Hope you like it!”

“Great! Well, before we begin, we’ll do introductions. Everyone from prodo, please say your name and what you’re doing.”

Annabeth looked around, scanning the faces in the room. She didn’t know most of those people, only having met one or two through Piper or Silena. They all introduced themselves and their roles. Most of them sounded very familiar with their functions, and Annabeth was a bit worried she would feel lost in the midst of all of these seasoned theatre kids.

The guy sitting in the chair in front of hers was next. She could only see the back of his head, a mess of raven black hair. She wondered when was the last time he’d seen a hairbrush. “Hi, I’m Percy. I’m doing set management, which is a fancy term for moving stuff around and making sure it looks nice.”

Will nodded for Annabeth to go next. “I’m Annabeth, and I’m doing light design and management.”

Only a couple people were left before Silena signaled for the actors to start the run. Annabeth opened her laptop and began taking notes. She’d talked to Silena earlier about her vision, and the director had explained that she wanted a modern feel. Nothing too colorful, but she also wanted to use specific nuances of light to highlight some emotions in the play—Medea’s anger and vengefulness, the children’s fear, Jason’s indifference. As an architecture student, Annabeth knew what she meant. She knew how light was essential to turn a bleak room into a lively living space, so she tried to apply this to the rudimentary blueprint of the stage she’d received.

Annabeth watched attentively. She observed the characters move around the stage and took note of where they were concentrated in each part of the play, along with what the main emotion being conveyed was. She imagined how the set objects Silena described would interact with the space, and which of them should be the most prominent in each scene. However, now observing the play with a more critical eye, she realized how great of an actress Piper really was. She walked seamlessly through the stage and made Annabeth believe the butter knife she was holding was actually the sharpest dagger. Annabeth wanted now, more than ever, to make sure her lighting did her friend’s artistry justice.

The run ended an hour and a half later with an enthusiastic round of applause from the production team. Annabeth waited around to talk to Piper.

“You did amazing!”

“Thank you, my love,” Piper said, a funny look on her face. “Is someone enjoying the prospect of working on this show?”

“Maybe, but if you flaunt it too much I might not be.”

Piper put an arm around Annabeth. “I know how to handle you. Besides, I have a feeling you’ll find many other reasons to love this play.”

“Whatever you say.”

The lecture hall was full, and since Annabeth arrived only two minutes in advance, she could only find a seat in the very back. She mumbled apologies as she squeezed through a row of sleepy college students to get to one of the only empty seats in the room.

“Aren’t you in the play?” A voice next to Annabeth called as she set her things down.

The voice belonged to a dark-haired guy. She assumed it was the one sitting in front of her during the design run, what was his name again? Peter?

“Yeah, I’m doing light design. I’m sorry, I forgot your name.”

He smiled. “It’s Percy. You’re Annabeth, right?”

“Right.”

“I remember ‘cause I’d never met anyone named Annabeth before.”

“Well, you’re the first Percy I’ve ever met too.”

“Yup. My name is actually Perseus, but that’s even weirder.”

“What, like the Greek hero?”

“That’s the one.”

Annabeth was about to reply when the professor began the Bio 303 lecture. She offered Percy a smile before turning to her notes. However, she couldn’t help but notice his notebook was mostly empty—his notes started with that day’s lecture, even though the class had begun two weeks earlier. She decided not to address it until class was over.

“Hey,” she called as she packed her laptop into her bag, “I didn’t mean to pry, but I saw that your notes start today, did you need the ones from before?”

“Oh my god, that would be great,” Percy exclaimed. “I started this class today because I dropped the other science class I was taking. I was actually in the waitlist for this one and a spot just opened.”

“Do you wanna give me your number so I can text you the files?”

“Yeah, that would be perfect,” he said, scribbling his number on a piece of paper. “Here you go.”

He thanked her and waved goodbye. Annabeth didn’t even notice that she didn’t really care about his messy hair anymore—she was too busy thinking about how she’d never seen green eyes quite like his.

“Do you know that Percy guy from the play?” Annabeth asked.

“Percy Jackson? Of course I know him. He’s from my rival high school.”

“Really? How come you never talked about him?”

“I don’t know. I only found out he went here last year because we have such different majors, but I guess he never came up,” Piper exclaimed. “He’s a good guy, though. We had some friends in common so I hung out with him at parties sometimes.”

Annabeth nodded. “He’s in my bio class.”

“I see. And why the interest?”

“I don’t know.”

“I see.”

Annabeth shot her a look. “What? I didn’t say anything.”

Two days later, Annabeth arrived at Bio 303 ten minutes in advance, so there were plenty of empty seats in the front. She would normally head there immediately, but this time, she looked back to see if Percy was in the same seat from last time—he was. He might need my help with notes again, she told herself, then headed to the back of the room. He looked up from his notes and smiled when he noticed her presence.

“Hello!” He greeted.

“Hi.”

“Given how neat your notes are, I would assume you’re a front row seat kind of person.”

“I don’t know, I thought I’d give the back a try,” Annabeth offered. “I take it my notes were helpful?”

“Definitely, thank you so much. They were so thorough it felt like you just wrote down everything the professor said verbatim.”

“Well, I don’t mean to flatter myself, but I’m a very fast typer.”

“I can see that.” He laughed. “Hey, are you going to rehearsal later? Silena said she’s getting the furniture today and she wanted prodo to be there.”

“I am, actually,” Annabeth remembered. Silena had asked her yesterday but she’d forgotten to write it down on her calendar. She probably would have missed it entirely had Percy not reminded her. “I almost forgot. I’m excited to see the stuff, though.”

“Yeah, not to flatter myself but we built a very cool table.”

“Wow, you built an entire table? That’s crazy.”

“Yep. We would never find such a specific table anywhere, plus it’s cheaper. The tech guys helped me, though. I’d built smaller stuff back home, but never a table.”

This reminded Annabeth of her conversation with Piper. “Actually, I have something to ask you— you know Piper McLean from high school, right?”

“McLean? The myth, the legend! Of course I know her.”

“Oh my god. I must know what she was like back then.” 

“I mostly know her party persona, because we went to different high schools. But I must say she has the highest alcohol tolerance I’ve ever seen in my life, which is interesting since she’s so short.”

“That would be correct. Our friends have been counting how many drinks it takes to actually get her to do something stupid. Our current number is nine.”

“Sounds like the Piper I know. She’s really cool, though.”

“She is. She’s my best friend.”

“Good best friend choice,” Percy commented, then glanced at the front of the room, where the professor had started talking. “Oh, there he is. Let’s do this, I guess.”

“Let’s do this,” Annabeth laughed.

The class flew by, and Percy once again waved goodbye. “See you in rehearsal, Annabeth.”

Maybe the back wasn’t so bad after all.

This time, she was early to rehearsal, mostly because Piper knocked on her door twenty minutes prior, but also because she wanted some time to catch up with… well, the rest of the production team. They met in the Black Box again, and this time Silena immediately pulled Annabeth aside.

“Let me introduce you to what we lovingly call the Bird Box,” she announced, then led Annabeth to a side door that opened to a short flight of stairs. At the top was a small room with a view of the stage and a panel with several switches and controls, as well as a lone chair. “This is where you’ll do your thing! Have you ever used this before?”

Annabeth shook her head.

“Okay, that’s totally fine. This is why I wanted you to come today,” Silena said. “Charlie is gonna be here soon and he’ll walk you through it. It’s easier than you think!” She looked down at the stage when someone called her name. “I gotta go, but I’ll send him up here whenever he’s here. Love you!”

Annabeth sat on the chair and waited for Beckendorf to arrive. Silena had somehow managed to drag every single one of her friends into her theatre company and her boyfriend was obviously no exception. The thought made Annabeth laugh. She’d sworn to Silena she’d be the one who she wouldn’t convince, mocked their friends who had caved, and now here she was— sitting in a tiny control booth, ready to illuminate a Greek drama.

Looking down at the stage, she noticed Percy and two other people— she recognized Clarisse and Beckendorf, carrying in a large piece of furniture (definitely the table he’d mentioned earlier). He deposited it at the spot Silena pointed to, then wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. He was wearing a slim black shirt and jeans, which looked positively different than the loose shirts and sweatpants she’d seen him in before. He happened to look up and see Annabeth watching, and greeted her with a tired grin and a head tilt. She waved back. She couldn’t hear what they were saying, but they probably had some more things to pick up, because Percy and Clarisse quickly left from where they came in.

Annabeth didn’t hear Beckendorf come in until he was almost at the top of the steps.

“Annabeth,” he called, “I see you’ve met our Bird Box.” He asked her to explain what she’d be doing, and quickly showed her what each control did and which ones she would need to turn her drawings into light. Silena was right - the task was easier than it looked, especially since the lightning they had agreed on was fairly straightforward. “This black box is weird and the sound is somewhere else, so unfortunately you’ll be by yourself. Let me know if you need anything, though.”

Soon enough, it was time for rehearsal to start, and the stage had changed completely. Several new set items had been added and the actors were waiting idly in the wings, chatting quietly. Annabeth opened her laptop and prepared, waiting for Silena’s sign and the sound cue.

A soft piano track started playing, and Annabeth pushed up one of the controls to illuminate a side spot on the stage where the Nurse walked in and began her monologue. Annabeth took note of how she looked—she might need to adjust the coloring to the costumes, which she hadn’t seen. The rest of rehearsal went by fine with a few minor blips, since Annabeth wasn’t fully familiar with the panel yet.

After they were all done and leaving, Annabeth felt a hand on her shoulder.

“Hey,” Percy said.

“Hi. I saw your table.”

“Pretty cool, isn’t it?”

“Definitely. Looks professionally made.”

“Aw, you’re too kind,” he smiled, almost shyly. “I actually had something to ask you.”

Annabeth nodded for him to proceed.

“I was looking at your notes and I was kinda confused with that part about the membranes, do you think you could help me with it?”

Annabeth checked her phone. “Yeah, can you do it right now?”

“Right now is perfect. Should we head to the library?”

“Actually, I’m kinda hungry. Can we stop at Carver’s first?”

Percy hesitated for a couple of seconds, considering the offer, then nodded. “Sounds great.”

Carver’s was the campus diner. It was somehow open 24/7 and provided the best drunk food, but Annabeth believed it was also highly capable of providing some very good sober snacks. She ordered a bagel, and was shocked to see Percy order a BLT.

“Are you really getting that?”

“Um, yes?”

“Percy, those vegetables must be, like, a week old.”

“Well, they taste fine, so it looks like it’s not your problem.”

“Well, don’t come crying to me when this goes south.” She thought about it, then continued, “literally.”

Percy snorted, and she laughed too, a little bit relieved. She was glad to hear Percy laugh at her dumb poop joke. She was nervous they weren’t at that level of friendship yet, but she’d clearly underestimated herself.

Their conversation during the walk from Carver’s to the library was comfortable and easy. Percy was easy to trust and even easier to like, and she didn’t find herself worrying about what impression she would make on him, which she usually did with new friends. She almost forgot their real goal: Biology.

Once they were settled in the library, it didn’t take her very long to go through the content with Percy. He was very smart, she noticed, smarter than he let on with his playful demeanor. 

“And this part of the memb- oh, wait, there’s a typo here.”

“Is there?” Percy examined the screen. “Oh, right. I’m dyslexic, so I didn’t notice.”

“Really? I’m dyslexic too!”

“No way, you? But you’re so neat and smart.”

“Well, I don’t know. You’re smart too, though. We’re basically already done.”

“Nah, I just had a great tutor.”

“That is also true,” Annabeth said, and maybe she was blushing just a little bit.

Another five minutes and they were done.

“What dorm are you in?” Annabeth asked.

“Smith, you?”

“South.”

“Alright, so we’re going opposite ways. Guess I’ll see you Tuesday in class?”

“See you Tuesday.”

On the way to her dorm, Annabeth’s phone buzzed.

Percy: Maybe you were right about the BLT

Annabeth smiled.

Annabeth: Told you ;)

Annabeth: Carvers vegetables are cursed

Percy: I wish I knew that before I ate it

Annabeth: How can you be a senior and not know?

Percy: I actually made a bet my freshman year that I’d never go to Carvers

Annabeth: What????

Annabeth: So how come you went today?

Percy: Idk I guess I just felt like it

Annabeth: Wow. Hope it was worth it then

Percy: We’ll see what I get on the quiz but I think it was

Percy: Don’t tell Beckendorf though

Annabeth: Your secret is safe with me

He didn’t say anything else, so Annabeth put her phone back in her pocket. She was unusually happy for a Thursday at 11pm and she couldn’t quite figure out why. Maybe it was the bagel.

During the month before tech week, Annabeth remained relatively uninvolved with rehearsals. She’d been present once to try out the control booth, then Silena said everything was fine and she’d only be needed closer to opening night. In the meantime, Annabeth’s main connections to the play were only two people: Piper and Percy. Piper, being her best friend, was as present as ever, and Percy was starting to become more of a constant in Annabeth’s routine.

She’d permanently abandoned her seat in the front in favor of sitting next to Percy during Bio. They’d established an unspoken and unplanned routine—they were usually there about ten minutes early, which started to become a conscious effort for Annabeth. She enjoyed their conversations before class started, and on Tuesdays and Thursday mornings, she was generally left in a better mood.

On that specific morning when Annabeth got there, Percy wasn’t in his seat. She waited for him, not so patiently— she had a meme to show him.

Annabeth: Aren’t you coming to class today?

It wasn’t until ten minutes into the lecture that Percy showed up, breathing heavily from running up the stairs. He squeezed past the other students to get to his seat.

“Sorry, sorry,” he whispered. “Yes, I am coming to class today,” he told Annabeth as he put his things down.

“What happened to you?”

“My fucking phone didn’t charge overnight so my alarm didn’t ring,” he explained, “I literally woke up fifteen minutes ago.”

“Wow. And you came all the way from Smith to here? Did you even brush your teeth?”

“Yes. Shut up.”

“Shhhh,” they heard from behind. They exchanged glances before turning back to their notes.

The remaining forty minutes of the lecture seemed to drag on forever, and Annabeth simply was not that interested in viral capsules.

Annabeth: I have a meme to show you

Percy: Annabeth Chase TEXTING IN CLASS???? Unseen

Annabeth: Shut up

Annabeth: It’s really funny

Percy: Send it my way then

Annabeth: It’s a video so we have to wait

Percy: Such a tease

Percy: Now I want to know what it is

Annabeth: It will be worth the wait, trust me

Percy: What if I’ve already seen it and you’re doing all of this for nothing

Annabeth: Then you have to pretend you haven’t seen it so it’s not embarrassing for me

Annabeth: Or else

Percy: Consider me warned

Percy: If I have seen it you’ll discover why I am moving shit around and not acting in the play

Annabeth: I trust you’ll do your best

And with that, she decided to look back at the screen. She’d probably missed a million slides, but she’d just download the Powerpoint later. The minute she projector went off, Percy spoke.

“Show me your precious meme.”

She handed him her phone. He took it, pressed play on the video, then looked up at her. “That was really funny.”

Annabeth let her shoulders slump.  “You’ve seen it.”

“Maybe,” he admitted with an apologetic smile. “It’s still funny, though! Really. You have good meme taste.”

Annabeth took her phone back. “Your flattery does not fix this humiliation.”

“I know what will, then. A Carver’s bagel. Are you free right now?”

“So you’re a Carver’s fan now?” She teased. “I actually have class in fifteen minutes across campus, but rain check on that bagel. I will not forget.”

“Sounds good. And yes, I am in fact a Carver’s fan now. I can’t believe I didn’t go there for all of three years because of a stupid bet.”

“What did you even lose?”

“Twenty bucks. I guess I saved a lot more than that by not eating there this whole time, though.”

“Aw, now I feel like I lost you twenty dollars.”

“Hey, I’m a big boy. I make my own decisions.”

“I guess you are.” She smiled. “I have to go, but I’ll see you later?”

“See you.”

Later that day, as she was getting out of her last class, Annabeth’s phone buzzed.

Percy: I’ve finished all of my homework for today (hold for applause) how does that bagel sound right now?

Annabeth: (Applause)

Annabeth: Literally perfect

Percy: See you very soon then

Ten minutes later, they were sitting at a booth, each armed with a bagel.

“This is so good,” Percy said, “you can tell this is quality cream cheese.”

“I know, right? It’s like they concentrate all of their efforts into this single menu item and everything else sucks.”

“That is not true, because their grilled cheese is also good. I had it yesterday.”

“What are you trying to do, try every item on the menu?”

He raised his eyebrows. “Well, no, but— do you think I could do that? Eat everything on the menu?”

“How many things have you had so far?”

“Let me see… five.”

“Well, if you have, like, three new items a week, you’ll get through the menu by the end of the semester.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

“Okay, but,” Annabeth took a bite off her bagel, “why would you eat every item off the menu if you know for sure at least seventy percent of it will give you indigestion?”

“First off, nothing will be worse than that BLT. Second, because I am nothing if not a brave man who loves adventure.”

“Aren’t you scared of drowning?”

“Did you know that when you drown, you choke on your own blood?”

“Is that true?”

“I’m not sure, but it sounds pretty fucking terrifying to me.”

“Sure, sure.”

“Fine, what are you afraid of?”

She shrugged. “Spiders.”

“Well, that’s just as irrational. You’ll never die from a spider bite.”

“I’ll have you know that some spiders are very deadly. But I know it’s irrational. Phobias are never rational.”

“Oh, shit, so it’s bad?”

“Yep.”

Annabeth usually didn't tell people about her phobia, precisely because she knew it was irrational. She was ashamed of the one thing she couldn’t control, and the one thing that would render her completely helpless if she saw a spider ten feet away from her. But Percy had been so open with her right away—about his dyslexia, about his fear of drowning. She felt like she didn’t have to hide anything from him. He wouldn’t judge her.

Before Annabeth realized, it was already 8pm and she hadn’t done any of the readings for the next day.

“Shit,” she hissed, getting up, “it’s late. I need to go to the library and do so many readings.”

“Oh.” Percy looked almost disappointed, which did something weird to Annabeth’s emotions, but he got up after her. “Go ahead. I should probably go too. I have to do my roommate’s laundry.”

“Why?”

“It’s part of the bet.”

“That’s funny, because I have Piper doing my laundry because I agreed to do light for the show.”

“Wow, you were bribed?”

“Yeah, I was.”

“How do you feel about your decision?”

“Pretty good. This theatre thing isn’t half bad, plus I’m not doing my own laundry for half of the semester.”

“Yeah, I like the theatre too. See you on Thursday.”

“Bye, Percy.”

“Tech week starts in three days, how do you feel?” Percy asked as the professor set up the Powerpoint.

“A bit nervous, actually,” Annabeth admitted. “Everything went fine on that trial day but I don’t know about the real thing. What if something happens and I have to change everything at the last minute?”

“You’ll be fine. Plus you’ll have four days to get used to the controls, so you’ll be prepared.”

“I guess you’re right. What are you doing anyway? Don’t you have to move the set in there once and then it’s done?”

“Nope. We can’t leave the stuff in there overnight so we have to put it in storage, and then we have to move it back for the show, and then we have to put it aside between runs so people can walk onstage.”

“That’s a lot more than I expected you were doing.”

“It’s fine. And I get to watch, too.”

“I get to half-watch, because I have to pay attention to light cues.”

“Are you alone up there in that booth?”

“Yep.”

“What do you have in there, like, a computer?”

“Pay me a visit on Sunday and come check it out.”

“It’s a date.”

On the first day of tech week, Annabeth arrived at the Black Box to find a frenzy of actors and tech running around. As far as she knew, she only needed to get her own station ready, so she walked straight past the mess to the control booth. She refamiliarized herself with all the buttons and switches, since it had been a while since the rehearsal she participated in.

She saw Percy walking in with the table and smiled. His hair was as messy as ever and it covered his eyes, now that his hands were too busy to push it out of the way. She noticed how toned his arms were now that he was carrying weight—she knew he was on the swim team, but she had never really stopped to observe how athletic he really was. She blushed at the thought. She didn’t know when he’d started becoming so attractive, but she realized the fact didn’t bother her at all.

After setting the table down, he looked up at the booth and smiled when he spotted Annabeth up there. He waved at her before turning back to continue setting up the stage.

Once everything was ready, Silena called everyone to the stage. “Okay, guys, thank you all so much for being here! This is gonna be a busy and stressful week so please take care of yourselves, and let’s put on a show! Annabeth, Kayla, we’re ready to go.”

Just as Annabeth had finished making her first adjustments to the lighting, she heard quiet steps coming up the stairs. She found herself hoping it would be Percy— it was.

“Hey,” he whispered, being careful not to distract the actors, “you invited me to come visit so here I am.”

“Welcome to my little corner,” she whispered back. “You are welcome to stay as long as you don’t distract me.”

“Okay, you won’t even notice I’m here,” he promised.

That’ll be difficult, she thought, but didn’t say anything.

Highly aware of Percy scrolling on his phone while sitting on the floor behind her, Annabeth paid attention to the cues for the light changes. When she knew there’d be a long stretch of dialogue with no visual changes, she turned to face Percy.

“Psst.”

“Yes?”

“What are you doing?” Annabeth asked.

“Looking at my Instagram.”

“I’m surprised. You never post.”

“That’s not true. Look, I’ll post right now.”

“Post what? You can’t post pictures of rehearsal and it’s dark in here.”

“I can catch your silhouette from here.” He pointed his phone at her. “Against the stage light.”

She raised her eyebrows at him. “You’re posting a picture of me? ”

“Don’t worry, you can’t see your face in the picture. There.” He handed her the phone. “You were frowning at me when I took that and you can’t even see it.”

“Fine, you can post it,” she conceded, “but make the caption flattering.”

“Of course, I’m a gentleman.”

Her phone buzzed after a few seconds with an Instagram notification. She really looked at the picture this time. It looked nice, almost filtered with her profile against the slightly blue light illuminating the stage. The caption read Annabeth told me to caption this “flattering”.

“You’re funny, you know that?” She asked. “A clown, really.”

“I simply did exactly what you told me.”

“A comedian. Are you Percy Jackson or John Mulaney?”

“John Mulaney, actually.”

Annabeth heard her next cue, so she turned back to her controls and Percy turned back to his Instagram.

The run was done shortly after. The busiest moments for Annabeth were in the end: Medea killing her children, followed by Jason finding out about the murder and Medea’s escape. Silena really wanted the light to emphasize the chaos of these scenes, which required a lot of concentration from Annabeth for at least ten minutes. However, she ended up having a great time. It was very satisfying to see the light expand and change in response to specific lines, and it ended up making the emotions in the play even bigger. Annabeth made a mental note to congratulate Silena on her artistic vision later.

The few tech and board members present in rehearsal applauded enthusiastically as the lights went off. Percy got up from his spot in the corner and stood next to Annabeth to see the stage, clapping along.

“How did that go?” He asked.

“I think it went okay. I’ll get notes from Silena later but I think I got mostly everything right. I’m definitely getting the hang of this.”

“See? I knew you could do it.”

Annabeth was surprised at how sincere he sounded. She felt a brush creeping up her cheeks, and was grateful that the darkness in the Bird Box prevented Percy from seeing it. Before she could come up with an intelligent answer, Percy left to move the furniture back to their storage unit, so Annabeth went down to talk to Silena.

“Hey, Silena,” Annabeth called. “I know that I’m the one who’s operating it, but the lighting in those last scenes looks amazing. You had the perfect vision for this play.”

“Thank you so much!” Silena smiled. “You’re doing great up there too, especially for your first time. I want to make some small changes because I think the chorus scenes are too dark, I’ll text you my ideas.”

“Sounds good.”

“See you tomorrow!”

Annabeth realized she’d left her phone charger in the booth and went back to get it. As she was going up the stairs, Percy was coming down.

“Oh, you’re here,” he said.

“Yes?”

“I thought you were gonna be up there.”

“Well, I’m going there now to get my charger, but you are correct to observe that I am not there anymore.”

“Are you sure I’m the comedian? Because that was really funny too.”

“Shut up,” Annabeth yelled from the Bird Box. “What do you want?”

“I want to take you—I mean, I was wondering if you wanna get something to eat.”

“As long as it’s not Carver’s, then yes.”

“Then I’ll be off track for my menu run-through!”

“That sounds like a you problem.”

“You’re so mean.”

She shrugged. “You can go tomorrow. Even twice. No one is stopping you.”

“Fine. Where do you want to go?”

“Honestly? I want to go to CVS and get ice cream?”

Percy feigned shock. “And you mock my eating habits.”

“Are you coming or not?”

“Obviously.”

The closest CVS was five blocks away. The summer weather was definitely gone, now replaced by a chillier fall, the cold accentuated by the night time. They were both wearing jackets, though Percy’s was definitely not as thick as Annabeth’s.

“Aren’t you cold?” Annabeth asked.

“Cold? In this weather?” Percy let out a dry laugh. “Please. I’m a New Yorker. This is nothing for me.”

“Wow, I’m sorry then, Elsa.”

“It’s Queen Elsa to you, alright?”

“My bad, your majesty.”

“Anyway, I wouldn’t expect a California girl like yourself to understand.”

“If you start singing Katy Perry right now I am going to take off running and leave you alone.”

“Do you think you can run faster than me?”

“I don’t think, I know. I did track in high school and I was very good at it.”

“No shit.”

“Yes shit!”

“Race me, then.”

“What?”

“Literally race me to the CVS. Whoever loses pays for the ice cream.”

Annabeth considered his offer for a moment, then took off running with no warning.

“What the fuck!?” Percy screamed after her. “That’s cheating!”

“You never set any rules!”

“Fuck you!”

“Say that again when I’m having free ice cream!”

Annabeth won. Percy paid for both ice creams, then tripped and dropped his on the floor with the lid open, making it dirty and inedible, and he pretended to cry. Annabeth took pity on him and they decided to share her ice cream, sitting next to him on a bench in front of the CVS. She felt really bad for him, so she let him eat the majority of it. If he noticed that small act of kindness, he didn’t say anything.

Eating from the same container requires certain closeness, Annabeth realized. Their arms were touching and their hands were brushing against each other in attempts to get the spoon in at the same time. This is probably how Percy realized Annabeth was shaking.

“Are you really that cold?” He asked.

“Well, maybe I shouldn’t have chosen ice cream as my night time snack.”

“Here.” He put his spoon down and took his jacket off.

“Percy, you don’t ha-”

“Please take it. If you keep shaking like that I’m going to think you’re dying or something.”

“Fine.” She tried to glare at him, but her smile probably ruined it. She took his jacket and put it on. It was warm and smelled like chlorine, which was so inexplicably Percy she laughed softly.

“What?” He asked.

“Nothing,” she replied. “Thanks. I’m warmer now.”

He smiled at her, and it felt warmer than his jacket.

On the second day of tech week, Silena asked Annabeth to get there early so they could run some changes to the lighting. When Annabeth arrived at the Black Box, the stage was completely empty, which meant Percy wasn’t there yet. Even though Annabeth had expected that, she couldn’t help but be a little disappointed.

After receiving instructions from Silena, she went up to her booth. Beckendorf was there too, a ladder set up behind the audience to move some of the lamps around.

“Annabeth, make that one on the corner a bit fainter,” Silena instructed, and Annabeth complied.

The director observed for a few seconds, then turned back to Beckendorf. “Charlie, tilt that up a little bit, please.”

“Like this?”

“Hm, a little less. Just a tiny bit.” She paused. “Like that! Okay, let’s move to that one on the left.”

They made adjustments for about half an hour before the rest of the cast and crew started to arrive. Before going backstage, Piper went upstairs to say hi to Annabeth, stopping at the door.

“Hey,” Piper sing-sang.

“Hello, Ms. Medea, how are you feeling today?”

“Ready to kill my kids!”

Annabeth laughed.

“So,” Piper continued, “how’s it going up here?”

“You tell me, are you feeling properly lit?”

“I can see around me pretty fine, so I would say yes.”

“Perfect.”

“Seriously, though. What’s up over here?”

“Not much? I’m getting used to these controls, but today Silena made a billion changes so let’s see how that’s gonna work.”

Piper raised her eyebrows. “I don’t mean the lights, stupid.”

“What do you mean, then?” Annabeth asked, but she knew what the answer was.

“Percy, bitch! I heard he was up here the entire rehearsal yesterday and you left together.”

“You heard ? Who told you that?”

“Silena knows everything that happens on this stage and you know that. But that doesn’t matter!” Piper walked up to Annabeth, putting a hand on the back of her chair. “Is anything going on?”

Annabeth blushed and hated herself for it. “Maybe.”

Piper smiled. “Do tell!”

“I don’t know. He’s cute and he’s really great too. I don’t know.”

“Do you have feelings for him?”

“A little bit? I do-”

“Stop saying you don’t know!”

“But I don’t! I haven’t dated in so long, and I’m just really not up to those little flirting games. I don’t know what’s gonna happen.”

“I don’t think Percy’s like that, though.”

Annabeth didn’t say anything. She thought back to the previous night. It had been so nice hanging out with him—he’d bought her ice cream, given her his jacket…

“He posted a picture of me on his Instagram,” she told Piper and prepared herself for the upcoming explosive response.

“He what ? What the fuck?” Piper yelled, and Annabeth checked to see if people were looking. “Annabeth. Oh, my sweet summer child. He likes you!”

“Okay, I’m not a ‘sweet summer child’”. She marked the quotation with her fingers. “And how are you so sure?”

“Are you kidding me? If he posted an entire picture of you- hold on, I have to see this.” She pulled out her phone and opened Percy’s Instagram. “Oh, my god, Annabeth. Look at this fucking artsy picture right here. It’s basically a renaissance painting of Instagram posts. Literally a boyfriend post.”

“You are greatly overreacting.”

“And this caption? ‘Annabeth told me t-’, oh my god. It’s like a cute little inside joke.”

“I’m going to kick you out of this booth if you don’t stop.”

“Fine, I’m going to leave, but I think you should hook up with him at the opening night cast party. Bye!” Piper ran downstairs and went backstage.

Annabeth covered her face with her hands and took a deep breath. Piper’s analysis of Percy’s post had been a lot, and Annabeth was glad she didn’t tell her friend any more details about the rest of the night. The resulting freakout would have been way too much for her mental stability. Just as she was about to push the conversation to the back of her mind, Percy came in with the table.

And, okay, maybe her heart raced a little. He’d gotten a haircut—his hair was now partially out of his face, and his green eyes were in full display, and she could also see his sharp cheekbones and jaw. She had the urge to go down and run a hand through his hair and fix it so she could look at him properly. His black t-shirt was also not as loose as the ones he usually wore, and she could see the soft curve of his chest as he breathed heavily from the effort.

Just like the previous days, Percy looked up at the Bird Box and smiled upon discovering Annabeth there. Annabeth waved first, and he waved back excitedly. He pointed to himself then to the booth. I’m coming over. She gave him a thumbs up in approval.

Annabeth heard her phone ding.

Piper: you have to post a picture of him on your instagram

Annabeth: Oh my god leave me alone

Annabeth: Also that would go great. “Hey Percy strike a pose please, I have to post a picture of you on my Instagram for no reason”

Piper: well obviously you’re not dumb enough to say it like that

Piper: find a good excuse because I expect to see him on your feed by midnight or else

Annabeth sighed and locked her phone. She didn’t know exactly what “or else” meant, but she didn’t doubt her friend’s ability to make it something unpleasant. She didn’t have any more time left to think on it, because Percy arrived right then.

“Hello,” he greeted her.

“Hi.”

“I come bearing gifts.”

“What?” Annabeth raised her eyebrows.

He put out his hand to show a small tupperware. “I baked some cookies today, wanna try?”

Annabeth smiled. “Oh my god, yes.”

Percy opened the lid and handed the container to Annabeth. “You’re welcome to as many as you want, I have more in my dorm.”

She ate one and, god, it was delicious. “Holy shit, you baked these?”

“Yeah, I did.”

“They are delicious, where did you learn to bake like this?”

“My mom.” He smiled proudly. “She’s the real hero.”

“So you’re a momma’s boy.”

“I am,” he said, almost matter-of-factly.

Annabeth’s heart swelled a little bit. Percy wore his heart on his sleeve, something she’d never been brave enough to do. Oftentimes, by the time she decided she was ready to open up and fully trust someone, they’d already gotten sick of waiting. She thought of her own mother, who’d left before she could even know each other, and her stepmother, who might as well have done the exact same.

“So you get along well with your mom?” She asked.

“Yeah, we get along great. It was really hard for me when I was a kid cause I have dyslexia and ADHD, but she never treated me like I was different or weird. I don’t know if I would have gotten through school without her.”

“That’s really sweet.”

“How about your mom?”

Annabeth had the immediate urge to end the conversation right then. Family territory was usually off-limits for her, and a question about her mom tended to make her shut off and change the subject. She looked down at Percy, who had now resumed his position on the back of the booth. He looked at her with expectant, yet kind eyes. He was genuinely interested, and he genuinely cared. She forced herself to swallow her hesitation.

“My mom left when I was a baby, and I never saw her again,” she said. “My dad’s remarried but she doesn’t really care about me either. We used to fight a lot. We’re civil now but we’re never gonna be close.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Percy said. “My dad actually left too.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. I never even met him. I’ve had two stepfathers, but the first one was…” His eyes were fixed on the ground. “A piece of shit. But my mom is married to Paul now, and he’s good. He treats her well.”

Annabeth wondered what kind of effort it took him to share that with her. His voice sounded lower than usual, and the usual lightheartedness in his tone was gone. She was glad she’d allowed herself to be vulnerable with him. The right words to say were hard to find.

“Tell your mom she raised a great baker.”

Percy looked up at her and smiled softly. “She’ll love that.”

“Alright, everyone, silence! We’re gonna start. Kayla, we’re good.”

The music started, and Annabeth positioned herself. She tried to push her conversation with Percy to the back of her mind and focus on the lighting, which she mostly managed.

They were quieter this time, probably both taking in the weight of their previous conversation. Annabeth looked back at him. He had his chin propped on his hand and he was scrolling on his phone with the other. The dim light illuminated his face in a way that made his features look softer, lighter. She didn’t notice she was staring until the stage went into a prolonged silence, and she realized they were waiting for a light change. She cursed silently and quickly turned back to the panel, allowing the scene to continue.

Do you have feelings for him? Piper’s question rang in Annabeth’s head. A little bit, she’d answered. That was a lie.

The third day of tech week was a Tuesday, which meant Bio with Percy. Annabeth got to class at her usual time and took her seat next to Percy. As soon as she sat down, he handed her a small paper bag.

“What’s this?” She asked, taking the bag.

“Cookies,” he said. “I might have made way too much and Frank is lactose intolerant so he can’t eat them.”

Annabeth peeked into the bag. “I feel so sad for him. These are literally perfect.”

“I know, right? I could never be lactose intolerant.”

“You say it as if he chose to be.”

“This is no joking matter, Annabeth. Do you realize he can’t have cheese without shitting his pants?”

“I’m sure he wouldn’t shit his pants.”

“Ask Prof. Brown, he’ll know. He’s a scientist and a biologist.”

“And? Aren’t you a marine biology major?”

“I don’t think dolphins can be lactose intolerant.”

“Oh my god, shut up. You suck.”

He laughed. “If I suck, then may I have my cookies back?”

Annabeth put her hands up. “Please, no, I was kidding, you’re amazing and I love you.”

She bit her tongue a second too late. The thing about being ADHD is sometimes Annabeth spoke first and thought second. She tried to laugh and change the subject, hoping Percy had understood it as a friendly “I love you,” which is how she meant it anyway. Partially, at least. Or more than that. Shit, she didn’t even know what she was saying. She glanced at Percy, and he had a funny look in his eyes. Annabeth couldn’t bring herself to try to interpret it, so she just started looking at the floor instead.

Percy must have noticed her lost gaze, because he stopped talking about whatever it is he was talking about. “Um, hello?”

She looked back at him. “Oh, sorry. I was just—um, I was just thinking about how I’ll hide these from Piper. She always raids my fridge.”

“Back of the fridge behind leftovers is my go to. The bag isn’t too small, so you should be fine.”

“The bag is small. Maybe you should’ve been more generous.”

“I’m terribly sorry, Annabeth,” he pleaded with feigned sadness, “next time I’ll bake a whole batch just for you.”

“You’re forgiven, then.”

Annabeth ran late for tech. When she got there, the set was already in place, and Percy was already in the Bird Box.

“You’re late,” he commented.

“You’re so observant,” she responded, taking her chair.

“Thanks.”

“I think you’ll like to know I already ate half of the cookies.”

“Holy shit, do you not have any more food in your dorm?”

“I do, just don’t have any self control.” She shrugged, but thought back to her impromptu I love you in their earlier conversation. You clearly could use some self control, she thought to herself.

Tech went by quickly, mostly because Annabeth focused on avoiding any Percy-related distractions. She kept her eyes glued to the stage, ears searching for cues. By the end of the rehearsal, she was very happy with her performance—this had been the smoothest run so far, at least lighting wise. She was even happier when Silena complimented her.

She waited for Percy to return the furniture to storage, and her heart skipped a beat when she realized he was excited to see she was still there.

“What’s up?” He asked.

“Just wanna know if you wanted to go grab something to eat. It’s been a while since we’ve been to Carver’s,” yeah, like, five days, “and I’ve been wondering how your quest is going.”

“Thank you for asking, it’s going excellent,” he said, following Annabeth out. “I’m almost done with the drinks, and I’ve discovered their coffee is really gross.”

“Told you.”

“Once I’m done, I’ll just get a Coke every single time.”

“Or you could bring your own water bottle and be healthy?”

“I swim every day, I can have a Coke if I want.”

“Fine. What’s today’s pick, then?”

Percy went through his options as they walked to the diner. Annabeth laughed at the fact that he’d practically memorized the menu in detail at this point. They weighed the pros and cons of each option and decided on sharing a stack of chocolate chip pancakes.

“I’ll pay,” Annabeth offered, “in memoriam of your fallen ice cream.”

Percy wiped a fake tear. “Gone but not forgotten.”

Annabeth rubbed a hand on his back as a way to comfort his false grief, and her breath caught in her chest for a second. She was not prepared for how his muscles felt under his shirt, firm and smooth. She pulled her hand back, suddenly feeling strangely invasive for touching him like that. Fortunately, Percy didn’t seem to mind.

They ordered and sat down. Percy picked a sugar packet out of the metal container and started playing with it.

“My mom never let me do this.” He opened the packet. “But now I’m an adult and I can do whatever I want,” he declared, then emptied the entire packet in his mouth.

Annabeth’s eyes widened. “What are you doing, you psychopath?”

“Living my best life!”

“You’re about to eat chocolate chip pancakes!”

“You’re going to have half of them.”

“How will you sleep?”

“Well, joke’s on you, because I have insomnia and I wasn’t going to sleep anyway.”

“I don’t know, it seems to me like the joke is still on you.”

He blinked at her. “You know what? If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything.”

“Fifty-six,” a very tired employee called out.

Percy looked at the small slip of paper on his hand. “That’s us.” 

He slid out of the booth and soon came back with a very large stack of pancakes with an even more exaggerated amount of chocolate fondant on top.

“Besides,” he said, glancing down at the plate, “you are also about to eat an obscene amount of sugar at… 11:43pm, so you can’t really judge.”

“Fine. I won’t judge you this once.” Annabeth grabbed a fork. “Ready?”

“Ready.”

They dug into the pancakes and touched their forks. “Cheers.”

They finished the pancakes in half an hour.

“That… was delicious,” Annabeth decided. “I guess they can make more than one good thing.”

“According to my hands-on research, they can make at least nine good things.”

“You can tell me what those are when my stomach isn’t about to explode.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s impossible.”

“Of course it is. I’m sure it’s happened a billion times.”

“Hm. I wonder how much you have to eat to actually cause your stomach to explode.”

Annabeth looked at Percy, eyebrows raised. “You should write your Bio paper on that.”

“On how much it takes for a stomach to explode?”

“Well, yeah, but I’m sure it’s more complicated than that. Like, would the stomach explode or would the intestines explode first? How does it happen? How do you fix it?”

He looked thoughtful for a moment. “Very interesting. I might actually write about that. Not only ‘cause I have no other ideas, but also ‘cause it’s really funny.”

“See? You’re welcome.”

“What are you writing about?”

“No idea.”

“And you wasted your funny idea on me?”

“Well, it’s not gonna be funny anymore when you start describing it in technical terms for several pages, but, again, you’re welcome.”

“Yes, yes, thank you, o benevolent Annabeth! The queen of ideas.”

She snorted. “The queen of ideas. Love that for me.”

“Yes, I’m really great at compliments.” Percy wiped his hands on a napkin. “Should we go?”

She agreed and followed him out. Percy began a conversation about his plans for his paper, and Annabeth listened enough to give him coherent responses, but she was really thinking about how easy everything felt with him. Even though they’d only met a few weeks back, she felt like they knew each other. Like she knew him from the moment she first sat next to him in the full lecture hall and he told her she had an unusual name. She didn’t have to think with him, because every word and every step was safe and simple. He’d understand her and she’d understand him, like they were reading each other on the pages of a storybook. 

Watching him walk with his hands in his pockets, Annabeth wondered if the book would turn out to be a tragedy. Maybe, she thought, but now that she’d already started reading, she couldn’t bring herself to put it down.

The fourth day of tech week, and the last one before opening night, started quite poorly, which Annabeth feared would not bode well for the play itself. When she got to the Black Box, she immediately heard yelling. She tried to go up to the Bird Box, but it was locked. Silena was on the phone in a corner, looking very stressed, while Beckendorf ran a hand up and down her back.

Annabeth spotted Piper in a seat in the front row, her face buried in her hands, and decided to ask her what the hell was going on.

“Student Government says we can’t do the play here.”

“What?”

“Apparently they have some sort of regulation about set items, and some of the furniture we’ve been using is ‘unsafe,’” Piper marked the quotations with her hands, “so they just shut it down.”

“What the fuck? Couldn’t they just let us change the furniture?”

“Well, apparently they have a ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ kind of policy.”

Annabeth had an idea. “How long ago did you find this out?”

“Like, fifteen minutes ago.”

“Have you called Reyna yet?”

Reyna, Piper’s girlfriend, was in the cabinet of the Student Government presidency, and planning to run for president in the following term. She was also one of the most aggressively proactive people Annabeth had ever met. She was sure Reyna would solve their problem in no time.

“I texted her, but she hasn’t responded yet.” Piper looked up, and Annabeth realized she was about to start crying. “Annabeth, what if it doesn’t work? What if we can’t do the play? We’ll never find another venue in time.”

Annabeth sat next to Piper. “Hey, it is going to work. Have you ever seen anyone say no to Reyna? She’s scary.”

“I know.” Piper wiped a tear. “It’s so hot.”

“See? It’s all going to work out.”

Annabeth gave Piper a side hug and tried to comfort her as best as she could until Piper’s phone dinged. The girl got up immediately.

“Silena!” Piper called, and the director ran over. “Reyna said everyone should go to the office and explain exactly what we’re doing to Octavian.”

Octavian was the Government member responsible for overseeing student organizations, and Annabeth didn’t know a single person who didn’t hate him. He’d run a campaign based on “inclusivity and support,” but it turned out he just wanted every opportunity possible to stuff the pockets of his fraternity.

“We’re gonna have to talk to Octavian? That idiot knows as much about theatre as I do about astrophysics!” Silena cried.

“Oh, we’ll teach him,” Percy said, causing Annabeth to notice he was there in the first place. He looked fairly angry, which made sense, since the whole problem was about the furniture he and the rest of his team had put so much work into creating. 

“Reyna’s gonna help us,” Piper said. “She always gets past Octavian’s bullshit.”

“You’re right,” Silena agreed. “Fine, I want one person from each team with me. I’m gonna call Will so he can come too.”

Five minutes later, the majority of the tech team was on its way to the SG Office. Annabeth sped up to catch up with Percy in the front of the group.

“Hey,” she called, “what’s all this stuff about unsafe furniture?”

“Fuck if I know! First I’ve heard of it, anyway.” Annabeth had never heard Percy this annoyed.

“Me too! And how come they only tell us this now ?”

“Because Octavian is a complete piece of shit, is why.”

“Tell me about it. My friend is in a dance org and she said he made them move to a different venue on the opening night of their show for some bullshit reason.”

“I’m not surprised.”

They arrived at the office soon. The group filled up the elevator and marched towards the room in the end of the hall, where Reyna was already waiting.

“Come in,” she said. “He’s not very happy about this, but don’t worry, because I’m even less happy.”

The tech team packed the office, and Octavian observed them from his desk. He looked at them with pure arrogance, as if he was thinking about how he would enjoy making their night even worse. Silena stepped up to his table and started.

“I hear you have a problem with my set.”

“Your table goes against our student theatre guidelines.”

Annabeth looked at Percy next to her, who was rubbing his forehead and seemed to be working really hard to keep calm.

The director raised her eyebrows. “How so?”

“The sharp ends.” He pulled out his phone and showed Silena a picture of the table, as if she didn’t know what it looked like. “It’s unsafe to have onstage and to carry around.”

“Have you actually touched the table? The ends are not sharp enough to do anything. It’s actually pretty fragile.”

“I won’t allow it. It’s against the guidelines.”

Silena took a deep breath. “Fine. We can use a different table, then.”

Octavian tilted his head. “I don’t think so.”

“Excuse me?”

“I don’t think I can allow the play to move forward.”

“Then why did you get us all to come here for?”

“Given the fact that you’ve blatantly disobeyed our community agreement,” he said the words slowly, rubbing each one in, “I think the best thing would be to dissolve the project.”

“Do you, really?” Reyna intervened, walking up to the desk. “I think that’s a very interesting decision.”

“And why is that?” Octavian asked.

“Because when I was looking over at the budget review your brothers presented for last semester, there were several numbers up there that didn’t match with what we’d agreed on. I would say mishandling of funds is a bigger issue than a simple furniture item that can be replaced, right?”

Octavian nodded, suddenly quiet.

“Then maybe you should get your priorities straight before making a bigger deal out of this. Unless you want me to take the problem directly to the president.”

He glared at Reyna for a good five seconds before speaking. “Fine. I want a picture of the replacement before 3 pm tomorrow.”

“You’ll have it by midnight tonight,” Silena said, and walked out without saying another word.

On the way back, Annabeth heard Percy stop Silena. “Um, Silena? I’m glad we can go on, but what table are we using? We definitely can’t make another one.”

“We’re using the one they used on Animal Farm last semester. I’ll get Charlie to paint it white tomorrow and it’ll be fine,” Silena replied, sounding very unhappy about having to switch her set.

“Okay, and where is that?”

“It’s in the same storage unit, in the very back, next to the box with all the princess dresses. Do you think you can get it right now? We’re already really behind.”

“Of course,” Percy confirmed. “I’ll go get Clarisse and Beckendorf.”

“Thanks, Percy, you’re the best.”

Half an hour later, the new table was in place, the actors were in places, and Annabeth was in her booth. She was starting to think Percy wasn’t going to come that day when she heard him sprinting up the stairs just before the music started.

She waited for a stretch of no light changes to look back at him.

“Hey,” she whispered, “I’m sorry you can’t use your table. You guys did a great job with it.”

“Thanks,” he responded. “He always does this.”

“You seem to be talking from experience.”

“He shut down our swim team party because our sober person was in the bathroom when they came to check,” Percy told her. “They were like ‘where’s your sober buddy?’ And someone said ‘I don’t see him’ and they didn’t even bother checking. Just shut the party down on the spot.”

“Who was the sober buddy?”

“Me. I mean, it’s always me because I don’t drink, but I was there.”

“Oh my god, and then what happened?”

“Then I went with the captain to talk to him and he was like, ‘well, maybe you should have done your job correctly.’ Like, fuck off.”

“That’s terrible.”

“Yeah. Guess I can’t pee at parties anymore.”

“Or get someone else to be the sober buddy for a change. You don’t have to babysit every time just because you don’t drink.”

He raised his eyebrows at her. “You’re right. I’m so used to babysitting at every party that I guess I don’t even think about it anymore.”

Annabeth heard a cue and looked back at the stage, adjusting the light accordingly.

“Come see this,” she called Percy. “They added a new part to this scene.”

He got up from his corner and squeezed next to Annabeth to look down at the action. She was half focused on the scene, and half focused on how close Percy was. His shoulder was against hers, and if she turned to face him, she could smell the chlorine on his hair.

“That’s really beautiful,” he observed. Annabeth agreed. The way Piper and the chorus moved on stage was so perfectly synchronized it looked almost magical, but the way the light projected their blurred shadows on the wall made their dance look eerily sad, in anticipation to the tragedy that would follow.

When Annabeth glanced back at Percy, he was already looking at her.

“Your face looks so different in this light,” he said. “I never see you like this because I’m always looking from the back.”

Annabeth’s breath caught in her throat. “How so?”

“Like a better version of the picture I took the other day,” he said.

The dance ended, and Annabeth switched the light back to the basic configuration.

“By the way,” he said, “that’s my most liked picture on Instagram.”

“Well, I guess I’m a fantastic model,” she joked.

“You are.”

Annabeth’s heart raced. He agreed with her so wholeheartedly and seriously, as if she hadn’t joked at all. She once again hoped it was too dark for him to see her blush.

“Or maybe you just took a really nice picture,” she said, trying to sound like she wasn’t hyper aware of her forearm against his.

“I don’t know.” He shrugged and glanced back at the stage. “This is actually really nice, Annabeth. Thanks for inviting me up here. I like being with you.”

“I like that you’re here.”

He let his eyes linger on her for a few more moments. “I’ll let you do your job.”

He squeezed her shoulder before returning to his corner. Annabeth brought her hand up to where he’d touched her, feeling her skin tingle. She knew she’d think about those touches for embarrassingly long, and realized she craved so much more. She wondered if his lips felt as soft as they looked.

Thursday meant Bio with Percy and opening night.

They were both exuding excitement when they sat down for class that day. Percy told Annabeth he’d meet with Clarisse and Beckendorf later to paint their new table white, and she could tell he was really disappointed that their hard work had been for nothing. She tried to reassure him that the set would look amazing either way, especially since all the other stuff they’d made would still be there.

“You should be proud of yourself,” she told him. “You did a great job. You know that, right?”

“Thanks, Beth.”

Annabeth’s heart skipped a beat at that name. She usually didn’t like it when people called her by nicknames, but coming from Percy, ‘Beth’ sounded right. She loved how natural her name felt on his lips, as if he’d known it all along. For a moment, she hoped he’d never stop saying it, before realizing the absurdity of what that would mean. She tried to shut off that part of her brain, pay attention only to the slides flashing on the board. However, she couldn’t help picturing a world where that possibility wouldn’t be all that absurd.

“Before we open, we’re doing a concentration exercise,” Silena announced. “Let’s get in a circle.”

Annabeth stood next to Piper and Clarisse in the circle. Piper seemed to know exactly what was going on, but Clarisse was as confused as Annabeth.

“Close your eyes and reach out your right hand,” Silena instructed, “and walk forward until you find someone else’s hand. Don’t open your eyes.”

Annabeth complied, a little nervous. She took a few steps until she felt a hand touch hers and held it hesitantly.

“Now that everyone’s found a pair, you can sit down on the floor facing each other. This is also a teambuilding and communication exercise, so trust your partner. Don’t let go of their hand.”

Annabeth sat down cross-legged and she heard her partner sit in front of her. Their knees were touching.

“Now, you’re going to tell each other why you decided to be a part of this play. Why you decided to audition, why you’re in tech, why you’re here.”

Annabeth decided to go first, since that was an easy question. “Well, Piper offered to do my laundry for two months if I did the lighting, so here I am.”

“Well, I already knew that,” her partner said, and Annabeth immediately relaxed. It was Percy’s hand she was holding. Not a stranger, not someone she’d only spoken to once or twice. Maybe she was just imagining things, but she felt his grip on her hand get a little stronger once she spoke.

“And why are you here?”

“Because Beckendorf convinced me I’d be cool. I kinda wanted to try other orgs anyway, so it was convenient.”

“‘Convenient’ is an interesting word for this experience.”

“Oh, yeah, definitely. Not the first one I’d use.”

“Now,” Silena interrupted. “Tell your partner what the best thing about being in this show has been so far.”

“I’ve learned a bunch of new stuff,” Percy started. “And I met some amazing people too.”

He definitely squeezed her hand when he said that. Annabeth was not imagining it this time. She was sure.

“I also learned a lot of things,” she continued. “But most importantly, I had the best cookies in the world.”

“Really?” Percy joked. “Where’d you get them?”

“Oh, just some guy. I don’t think you know him.”

“Some guy, okay. Is he cool?”

“Yeah, I think he’s great.”

Annabeth couldn’t see his face, but she could bet he was smiling. She was tempted to open her eyes.

“Alright,” Silena moved on. “Tell each other about the hardest thing so far on this process.”

“For me, it’s been learning to use the panel,” Annabeth said, “and fitting in with these theatre kids. It’s like they speak a separate language.”

“Oh my god, I know, right?” Percy laughed. “For me, it’s been the whole table ordeal. I’m still waiting for the day I can do something without having to worry about Octavian ruining it.”

“Don’t be dramatic. I’m sure there are many things you can do that he can’t ruin.”

“Really? Name one thing.”

“Your bio paper.”

“There are a billion things he could do to ruin that.”

“Like what? ” 

“Like, I don’t know, spilling water on my laptop.”

“Don’t you save your stuff to the cloud?”

“Are you kidding me? It costs money to upgrade that shit, and I’m all out of room. I save things on my computer memory, like a man.”

“Your funeral, I guess.”

“Last question,” Silena announced. “What do you hope to get from this process, from tonight until closing night?”

That question was the hardest. What did Annabeth want? There was one thing she knew she wanted, but she wouldn’t dare say it—the person was sitting right in front of her. She decided to let Percy go first, but he also took a while to think.

“I want to feel like I did something different. I want to feel refreshed,” he said. “I spent the past three years doing what I was comfortable with. I think this is meant to be something new. A new thing, with new people. A new comfortable.”

A new comfortable. That’s what Percy was, she thought. Entirely new, and yet she felt like he was meant to stay. She decided on her answer.

“I hope to have achieved something besides getting my laundry done for me. I want this to really mean something, whatever it is.”

“That’s a good goal,” Percy said.

“Think I can achieve it?”

“I know you will.”

She squeezed his hand this time. 

“That was the last question, guys,” Silena said. “Keep those answers in mind and hopefully, we’re in a good place to open now. Reminder that we have two shows tomorrow and on Saturday, so remember to take a moment to concentrate by yourselves. Now - actors, stay onstage to warm up. Everyone else, places. Let’s do this!”

When Annabeth opened her eyes, Percy was already looking at her, and he didn’t let go of her hand for a few seconds.

“I’ll be up there in a little bit,” he told her.

“See you.”

She let go of his hand and walked up to her booth. Percy quickly placed the furniture in place, including the new table. It looked better now that it had been painted, but it was definitely not as fitting for the play as the previous one. Annabeth understood Percy’s disappointment.

He trailed up the stairs once he was done, while Clarisse and Beckendorf went backstage.

“Are you ready?” He asked.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Annabeth replied.

She looked down and saw the audience taking their seats.

“Come see all these people,” Annabeth called. “I can’t believe today it’s for real.”

“I know,” Percy said. “I mean, pressure’s pretty low on me right now, but it’s crazy.”

“Well, I guess you still need to put the furniture down properly.”

“Yeah. And the new table is heavy as fuck, so even that’s harder now.”

“Cheers to Octavian.” She dipped her head.

“Cheers.”

Silena stepped onto the stage to introduce the show. Annabeth directed the light to her.

“Good evening, everyone! I’m Silena Beauregard, and I directed this production of Medea .” She paused for the applause that erupted from the audience. “I’m really glad you’re all here, and I just need to say a couple of things before we start. First, in case of an emergency, the nearest exit is in the back, the way you came in. The closest bathroom is on the first floor of this building. There are programs under your chair. Thank you so much for coming and enjoy the show!”

The audience applauded and Annabeth turned the lights down. She waited for the music to start to turn them back on, directing the spotlight to the corner where the chorus made its entrance. The light followed them to the center of the stage, where it expanded to finally illuminate the entire space. When the chorus finished its first song, the spotlight appeared in the back to welcome Piper into the action.

Annabeth didn’t let Percy distract her. She allowed herself to steal a glance or two during moments where the action was still, but she didn’t start a conversation, and neither did he. He definitely knew she needed to pay attention.

The play flew by, and before she could believe it, Annabeth was illuminating the stage for the final bows. She and Percy applauded excitedly from the Bird Box—the cast had been excellent. Annabeth was surprised when they all motioned to the booth, and the audience’s applause reinvigorated, this time in her honor. Annabeth felt surprisingly happy. She was prouder of her work than she’d initially expected. Percy was applauding her too, which made her blush a little bit.

“You did amazing,” he said, and pulled her into a hug. Annabeth allowed herself to melt into it and fully feel his presence. His arms were so warm, and she never wanted to let go.

“Thank you,” was all she could manage.

She descended from her booth once the audience was gone, and Silena embraced her.

“That was awesome!” The director exclaimed. “Thank you, Annabeth.”

“Thank you, Silena. I’m so happy to be a part of this.”

“Are you coming to the cast party?”

“Oh? I didn’t know there was one.”

“We’re going as soon as everything’s organized. It’s gonna be in mine and Clarisse’s apartment, you should totally come!” 

Annabeth considered it. She didn’t have any classes until 3 pm on the next day, so she figured it would be no big deal.

“Why not? I’ll come.”

“Yay! I’ll see you there.” Silena hugged her once more and ran backstage.

Annabeth waited for Piper to come out to congratulate her too.

“You did amazing, Pipes,” she told her friend.

“Thank you! Are you coming to the party?”

“Yeah, I think so. What are theatre parties like?”

“They’re usually pretty tame. Although, with Dakota there, you never know.”

“What? What does that mean?”

Piper shrugged. “See you there!”

Annabeth was about to leave when she saw Percy was still there.

“Are you going?” She asked.

“To the party? Yeah. Believe it or not, I’m the sober buddy.”

“Oh, no, are you serious?”

“It’s fine, I volunteered. Someone else will do it on closing night,” he assured her. “I’m gonna stop by my dorm to drop some things off, but I’ll see you there?”

“Definitely.”

Silena and Clarisse shared an apartment a little bit outside of campus with two other girls. Annabeth had heard about the apartment from other people in the play, because it was apparently the go-to for every single student theatre party, but Annabeth had never actually been there. When she arrived, though, she understood why it had earned such a reputation— the place was huge, the living room itself fit the entire cast and crew, plus a couple of crashers. Black-and-yellow tape blocked the hallway that led to the rooms, and Annabeth wondered what had caused them to adopt that measure.

She was welcomed by Piper, who held two drinks. “Hello, my beautiful friend! Welcome to your first student theatre party.”

“Thank you?”

“You’re very welcome. Here’s your inaugural drink.”

“What is it?”

“Fireball and Coke. Sugary just the way you like it.”

Annabeth smiled. “You know me too well. Cheers.”

“Cheers! God, I can’t wait for Queen Mariette.”

“Who? Are you already drunk, Piper?”

“No, but you will be.” Piper winked. “You’ll love Mary.”

Annabeth decided not to argue. She sat on the couch with some of the other tech kids and talked about how the night had gone for them—apparently the show had gone without issues for everyone, which was great. She was halfway through her drink when Percy arrived.

“Percy’s here!” Will Solace yelled the minute Percy entered the room. “Let’s get Queen Mariette!”

“Who’s Mariette?” Annabeth asked Kayla, who was doing sound and sitting next to her.

“Oh, you’ll see who Mariette is.” Kayla laughed.

A few seconds later, Will walked in with his hands behind his back.

“Everyone, may I have your attention, please!” After a few seconds of sushing, he continued. “I’d like to ask everyone who hasn’t been in a show with our company before to step over here.”

Annabeth and a couple more people walked to the front of the living room where Will was standing. She noticed Percy did not, despite fitting the requirements, but she soon understood why. Will revealed what he was holding—a bottle of Mariette vodka.

“This is Queen Mariette,” he said. “In every party, we drink in her honor. However, there are two rules. One, this bottle cannot touch a surface until it is empty. Two, before drinking, you must pay your respects to our queen, as I will now demonstrate.”

Will uncapped the bottle and, in his best British accent, yelled, “long live queen Mariette!” before drinking.

The bottle went around, and a few minutes later, it was empty. Everyone in the party was drunker, including Annabeth. She wasn’t that much of a drinker, but she was a bit of a lightweight. She only drank from the bottle once, but by the time it touched a table, everything was a lot funnier and the world was spinning just a little bit.

“Percy! Come sit with me,” Annabeth called, probably too loud.

He complied and joined her on the couch. 

“What’s up?” He asked.

“Not much, just drinking… responsibly.”

He laughed. “Of course you are.”

“What about you? Are you having fun being our nanny?”

“Of course. I love being a nanny?”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I have a baby sister. Well, she’s older now, but when she was a baby I took care of her a lot.”

“Awwww, really? What’s her name?”

“Estelle.”

“Can I see a picture?”

Percy pulled out his phone and picked a picture on his camera roll, and Annabeth moved closer to Percy to look. She smiled at what she saw.

Estelle looked like she was about 8 years old. She was smiling really big, and one of her front teeth was missing. She was sitting on Percy’s thigh, wearing a blue dress with a huge ribbon on the front. Her big brother looked almost as adorable at her, laughing at whatever his sister had just said and holding her steady on his lap with his hands.

“Percy, that’s so cute! You guys look adorable.”

“Thanks, Annabeth. Do you have siblings?”

“Yeah, Bobby and Matthew. They’re twins, but they’re not as cute as Estelle because they’re teenage boys.”

“Yeah, teenage boys all suck.”

“There’s no way you sucked, Percy, you’re so nice.”

“Trust me, I sucked. I was even more of a dumbass than I am today.”

Annabeth feigned shock. “You’re not a dumbass!”

“No?”

“No, you’re great. Definitely not a dumbass.”

“You’re so nice when you’re drunk, Annabeth.” Percy laughed.

“Thank you.” She smiled, but then hesitated. “Wait, am I rude when I’m sober?”

“No! You’re nice when you’re sober too, it’s just that you’re nicer when you’re drunk. Like, more cheery.”

Annabeth was not happy with that. She wanted to be just as nice and cheery sober as she was when she was drunk. She was about to tell Percy this when Dakota climbed on the center table.

“Everyone! Now that we’re all drunk, we’re going to play my favorite game, seven minutes in heaven!” 

Some people booed, but most of the party seemed resigned, as they probably already knew he would suggest this.

“I have everyone’s names in this box and everyone has to play, because even if you get picked, you don’t have to make out with the person, you just have to go in the pantry with them. Okay, everyone gets it, I’ll call the first names.” He reached his hand into the small box. “Piper McLean and… me. Well, we’re both gay, so nothing’s gonna happen, but let’s go, I guess.”

Piper laughed and grabbed his arm, taking him into the pantry.

Annabeth went back to her conversation with Percy. She only realized the seven minutes had passed when Dakota climbed back on the table and announced he was going to call two more names.

“Sarah Collins,” he called, “and Percy Jackson.”

Annabeth sat up straight. She hadn’t even considered the possibility that Percy would be called for that stupid game. Before she could say anything, he was already being ushered in the direction of the pantry by Dakota and some other people.

As the door closed, Annabeth realized the party was not as fun as before. The lights were too strong, the voices too loud. The cinnamon in Annabeth’s drink didn’t taste good anymore.

“Hey, Annabeth,” Piper said, taking Percy’s place on the couch. “How’s it going?”

What she meant was are you freaking out now that your crush might be making out with someone else?

Annabeth felt her eyes burn with tears. “I don’t know.”

Piper wrapped her arm around her friend.

“It’s just a silly game, you know that, right?”

“Yeah, whatever. I want to leave.”

“Right now?” Piper asked, brows raised.

“Yeah, I’m not having fun anymore. I want to go to bed.”

Piper sighed. “Okay. Come on, I’ll walk you home.”

“You don’t have to. I’ll take the campus shuttle.”

“I’ll walk you to the stop, then. Come on.”

The stop was a short distance away from the apartment. Piper sat with Annabeth until the tiny bus came and made sure she got on it okay. Just as Annabeth took a seat, she felt her phone buzz.

Percy: Silena said you left is everything ok?

Annabeth stared at the screen. Her brain showed her an image of Percy looking down at his phone after his makeout session with Sarah Collins and she felt a wave of irrational anger mixed with jealousy dominate her. 

Annabeth: Whatever

Percy: ???? Are you alright?

Annabeth: Like you care

Percy: What are you talking about?

Annabeth: Nothing I jsut thought youd be less of an asshole is all

Percy: Annabeth what the fuck?

Percy: You’re being irrational

Percy: We’ll talk about this when you’re sober

Annabeth: I dont want to talk about anything

Annabeth: Leave me alone

Percy did not respond.

Annabeth didn’t know what felt worse the next morning: her headache, or reading the texts she’d sent Percy.

Sipping a tall glass of water in the dark, she replayed the events of the party.

Percy had gone to the pantry with another girl, and stayed there for seven minutes with the purpose of making out. It’s just a silly game, Piper had told her, but another girl sticking her tongue down Percy’s throat was anything but silly to Annabeth.

She blamed herself for the ache in her gut. She’d let herself believe she’d be reciprocated for once, when she knew all too well she wasn’t that lucky. Still… when Percy held her hands before the play opened and talked about something new…

Doesn’t matter what he said, Annabeth told herself. He didn’t mean you.

And now she’d gone and told him to leave her alone. How was she supposed to take that back? Fix it? Even though she knew it would only make her headache worse, she cried. She’d found someone truly good, and she’d pushed him away. God, she was an idiot. So stupid.

She ignored Piper’s texts asking if she was okay, because she knew that if she said no, her friend would come to the rescue. If she could barely keep from crying at the thought of Percy’s name, she’d never be able to make it through an entire conversation on the subject.

Percy felt like when her favorite song started playing on shuffle. Not talking to him felt like she forgot the words.

It dawned on her when Percy walked into the Black Box with the furniture and didn’t say hello. She might have seen him glance at her, but it didn’t matter, because he walked in and out without granting her any more than that. He disappeared backstage and that was it.

Annabeth didn’t even realize she was waiting for him to come until the first show of the day ended and he didn’t come. The Bird Box felt almost cold without Percy in it, even though he was never supposed to be up there in the first place. Annabeth hated herself for making him think the door was locked for him.

Annabeth went out with some of the crew for a snack before the next show, and she dreaded going back for the next one. She sipped on an iced coffee, half paying attention to the excited chatter around her. She was apparently immune to the post-show high her friends were riding on that night, and she was jealous. She wished she was as excited as after the show the day before, so willing to go out and party. Now the only exciting prospect was finishing the show to get home and go to bed.

Alas, the show must go on, so Annabeth returned to the Black Box with the rest of the team, went up to her booth, and settled in for another couple hours. On the previous show, she’d been almost robotic, listening for her cues and erasing anything else, so this time, she tried not to let the emptiness get to her as much. Unsurprisingly, it still did, but so did the show. This was the first time she truly watched it in its true glory, no Percy to distract her. The beauty of the play, however, didn’t do much to mend her broken heart.

That night, Annabeth walked home alone. She forbade herself from looking for Percy through the Carver’s window on the way.

It’s not like she was looking for him, but before the first of the last two shows started, Annabeth didn’t see Percy at all. In fact, when the furniture was moved in, he was not among the people carrying it. She debated going downstairs to ask why he wasn’t here, but before she could make up her mind, the show started.

A million different hypotheses about his absence rushed through her head as the scenes ran before Annabeth’s eyes—each one worse than the other, all of them her fault. She wasted no time after the show to ask Clarisse what had happened.

“He got hurt on the way here, he won’t be here for the other show. I’m pretty sure he’s in the campus hospital.”

“ Hospital? ”

“Yeah, I gotta go, though,” Clarisse said, leaving Annabeth standing there with a million questions. 

She spent the entire twenty minutes of her break grilling every cast and crew member she could find about why the fuck Percy was in the hospital, but nobody knew anything. Silena definitely did, but the next time Annabeth saw her was when she was onstage announcing the start of the next show.

Annabeth forced herself to pay enough attention to the play to listen to the cues instead of wondering what terrible event had put Percy in the hospital. The hour and a half play seemed to last ten days, and the second she turned off the stage lights and the actors went backstage, she grabbed her backpack and all but ran out of the building, bumping shoulders with cast, crew and public alike celebrating the end of a successful run. Her brain was turned to autopilot as she let her feet guide her to the campus hospital. Annabeth soon located the tall building, not far from her own dorm.

Standing before the front desk, Annabeth didn’t know what to say. I need to see someone who I’m not even sure is here? And if he is, I don’t know what happened to him?

Thankfully, she didn’t have to make that decision.

“Annabeth?” She looked back, and there Percy was, coming from one of the halls that led further into the hospital.

With a cast on his arm.

A giggle erupted from Annabeth’s chest. A broken arm was near damn funny compared to the car accident she imagined he’d gotten in. Except, Percy didn’t know that. As far as he knew, she never wanted to see him again, and yet there she was, running after him and losing her mind over a broken arm.

She saw Percy’s face go through at least 5 emotions before walking in her direction.

“What are you doing here? Are you okay?” He sounded careful.

Annabeth swallowed. “Um, Clarisse told me you were in the hospital.”

“Yeah… broke my arm.” He lifted his cast for her to see.

“I see that now. She, um, she didn’t really tell me what happened, so I had to- I mean, I didn’t know. But I’m glad you’re alright.”

A smirk slowly grew on his face, and it washed away so much of the tension Annabeth had been carrying for the past two days. It shouldn’t make her feel this good, knowing she could still make him smile, but god, it did.

“No big deal. How did the show go?”

“It went great. I think everyone is really happy.”

“You think?”

“I didn’t really… talk to anyone before I came here.”

The smirk turned into a full-fledged smile, one that made his eyes scrunch up a little bit, and Annabeth wondered if she might need medical assistance from one of the nurses walking by.

“Think we can still catch the cast party?” Percy asked.

Right, Annabeth thought, the cast party. She’d completely forgotten about that on her frantic journey to the hospital.

“You wanna go?” She wondered if he would enjoy the party with a broken limb.

“To a party where I don’t have to babysit people? Hell, yeah.”

Annabeth eyed the clock on the wall.

“It started, like, ten minutes ago, so I’m pretty sure we might get there earlier than some people if we go now.”

“Awesome. Wanna get the shuttle?”

“Sure.”

The walk to the stop was a little awkward. Annabeth was confused about how she should act now that she was once again beside Percy after two days of absolute tension. Should she pretend nothing had happened or keep her distance until they worked everything out? She decided not acknowledging the problem at all was worse than acting like it didn’t exist.

“Look, Percy,” she said once they were in the bus, “I just wanted to apologize for the way I acted on opening night. I really didn’t mean all those horrible things I said to you.”

“That’s okay,” he said. “I probably should have waited until you were sober to talk to you, anyway.”

“No, Percy, you did nothing wrong. I just… I sucked.”

“You don’t suck.” He nudged her shoulder.

“You’re too nice.” Annabeth smiled.

Their conversation on the way to the party was… nice. Still, Annabeth felt herself hesitating. She missed him and was sorry for how she treated him, but the memory of him kissing another girl still stung. She wished she could stop herself from feeling this way—if she didn’t care so much, it would definitely hurt less. She knew herself, however, and knew it would be a while until this jealousy faded.

The party was already raging when they arrived at the apartment, and everyone cheered for Percy when they walked in. Piper, however, was more interested in the fact that he was accompanied by Annabeth than in his broken arm. She took the first opportunity to pull her friend aside for questioning.

“So, what’s happening? I thought you guys weren’t talking!” Piper asked.

“We weren’t.”

“Well, you clearly are now, so spill.”

“I went to see him in the hospital.”

“You went all the way to the hospital because he broke his arm?”

“I didn’t- nobody told me he broke his arm!”

“That’s even worse! You went without even knowing what happened?”

“I was worried, okay?”

“Clearly.” Piper laughed. “Come on, let’s enjoy the party. We’ll discuss your dramas when I don’t have any alcohol in my system.”

Annabeth drank less this time. The feelings were still way too fresh and she didn’t want to risk saying anything stupid and ruining her friendship with Percy again, especially now that she’d gotten it back. She spent most of the party with Piper and her other friends—she wanted to give Percy some space and let him enjoy himself.

Her tranquility came to a halt when Dakota climbed on the table again.

“We’re going to play another game today, folks!” He announced. “Stop booing me, cowards. Nobody has to make out this time—it’s just truth or dare—and you don’t even have to play.” He lifted a bottle in the air. “We’ll sit around this big ass table. Come now if you please.”

Annabeth was considering whether or not to play, especially since she noticed Percy was one of the people gathering around the bottle, until every single person in the group she was in walked over to the table and sat down. Hating herself for succumbing to peer pressure, she followed.

The first few spins were uneventful, at least for Annabeth. Everyone who was playing knew each other well and all the questions asked were clearly based on inside jokes and events Annabeth had not been a part of. They didn’t go too wild with the dares either—snapchat your ex, post a weird picture on your Instagram, share an embarrassing sex story. It wasn’t until the bottle pointed at Percy that she really started to pay attention.

It was Will’s turn to ask, “Truth or dare?”

“Truth,” Percy responded after a moment of consideration.

“You’re a newbie, so I have a special question for you. If you’re single, are you interested in anyone that was part of this play?”

Percy stared at the floor for a couple of seconds, then looked back up at Will. “Yes.”

The room did a collective ooooooh. 

“Shut up, everyone,” Will demanded. “It’s Percy’s turn to spin now.”

He did, and the game resumed its normal rhythm. However, there wasn’t a dare in the world that could get Annabeth to pay attention. Percy hadn’t given any indication of who the person was, and it was definitely driving her insane. She tried to push away the idea of it being the girl he made out with at the previous party.

She almost missed it when the bottle pointed to Percy again.

“Truth or dare?” Clarisse asked, more excited than Annabeth had ever heard her.

“I refuse to let you ask me anything, so dare,” Percy decided.

“I dare you to kiss the person you’re interested in.”

Another ooooooooh sounded loudly, followed by a loud shhhhh from Clarisse. Annabeth’s heart dropped to her stomach. She was not ready to see him kiss someone else in front of her.

“So?” Clarisse insisted.

“Um, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Why not?”

“Because. Can’t you pick something else?”

Clarisse sighed. “Fine. God, you’re such an emotional dork. I dare you to post a video of yourself singing Despacito on your Instagram story.”

Annabeth would have enjoyed seeing Percy perform this dare if his words weren’t still ringing on the back of her mind. I don’t think that’s a good idea. She would post a million embarrassing videos and call all of her exes to know what he meant.

Percy didn’t talk to her for the rest of the party. Annabeth didn’t try to talk to him either, but she was hyper aware of every time they met eyes or walked past each other. He wasn’t purposefully avoiding her, like the previous two days, but he wasn’t making any effort to interact with her either.

Regardless of that, Annabeth went home that day feeling lighter. The pain of knowing she and Percy were on bad terms were gone, and replaced by confusion. If they weren’t on bad terms, then which terms were they in? Who was he interested in, and why would kissing them be such a terrible idea?

Annabeth’s semester could be divided in two halves: pre-Medea and post- Medea.

Pre- Medea, she was all about academics. She’d hesitantly agreed to join student theatre in exchange for two months free of laundry, half sure she’d regret it.

Post- Medea Annabeth, while still focused on academics, was confused. Her expectations for the play had been completely subverted—not only did she enjoy it a lot more than she thought she would, she also acquired an unforeseen romantic-interest-unrequited-crush-friend. Needless to say, that was not part of her plan for the semester.

So, when Medea was over, it felt strange to go back to class without having to worry about having to be in tech later.

“It’s called ‘post-show depression’,” Piper had told her. Annabeth thought that sounded about right.

If going back to class felt weird, however, going to Bio with Percy was an experience.

When she got to the lecture hall on the first Tuesday after the play was over, Annabeth eyed the front of the room for a moment. Should she sit with Percy? At that point of the semester, though, all the seats already had informal owners, so taking someone’s seat, especially in the front, would be a dick move. You’re acting like a fifth grader, she told herself, and walked to the back.

When Percy arrived, class had already started.

“You were late,” she commented, trying to sound nonchalant.

“Yeah, I had trouble with my breakfast.”

She wanted to tell him that was a terrible excuse, but she bit her tongue.

He did not look her in the eye. “I’ll see you later,” Percy told her before leaving. 

Annabeth knew he wouldn’t.

Later that day, she met Piper for coffee.

“So, is this when you’re gonna tell me what the fuck is going on with you and Percy?” She asked.

“Honestly, Piper, I’m not sure.”

“Do you still like him?”

“I do,” Annabeth admitted. “But it doesn’t matter! He’s interested in someone else.”

“How do you know that?”

“He literally said it out loud for everyone to hear at the party.”

“He didn’t say it wasn’t you.”

“Piper.”

“Seriously, how do you know it’s not you?”

“One, because he made out with someone else at the party and I was an asshole to him because of it. Two, because he’s being weird to me.”

“Someone else? Do you mean Sarah?”

“Yeah, during seven minutes in heaven.”

“How do you know they made out?”

“What do you mean? They went to the pantry together.”

“Yeah, so did Dakota and I, and I didn’t make out with him.”

Annabeth paused for a second. “Yeah, but-”

“Annabeth, you can’t freak out over something you’re not even sure happened!”

“Why wouldn’t it?”

“Because he’s interested in someone else!”

“It might be her.”

“And it might not. The odds of it being not her are a lot bigger than the odds of it being her.”

“Are you trying to logic me, Piper McLean?”

“Yeah, because you’re being irrational.”

“Well, what do you want me to do? Go up to him in Bio and be like, ‘hey, Percy, I know you’re ignoring me, but did you make out with Sarah Collins at the cast party before I basically told you to fuck off?’”

“Yeah, that’s exactly what I want you to do. God, for a smart person you can be such a dumbass sometimes.” Piper sighed. “Look, I don’t think they did anything, but if you really want to know that bad, then I’m sure you’ll find a way to bring it up casually.”

“Then what do you suggest?”

“Just wait ‘til things are back to normal. You guys were hitting it off really well before, I’m sure if you give it some time, it’ll get better.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah, and then...” Piper shrugged. “Who knows?”

“Okay. I just have to wait for him to stop being weird to me.”

“Or, you know. You could try initiating contact.”

“Fine. I’ll send him a text.”

Piper smiled. “There you go, see? You’re not a lost cause.”

“Okay, don’t push it.”

Hey, Percy

No.

Hi, Percy

No.

What’s up?

No.

How’s it going?

Definitely not.

Hey. How’s your Carver’s run going?

Annabeth hit submit.

Thirty seconds later, her phone buzzed.

Percy: I’ve made some progress

Annabeth: Really? How so?

Percy: I’ve gone through all the drinks

Annabeth: You had all the coffee drinks? 

Percy: Unfortunately

Annabeth giggled. Giggled.

Annabeth: Rip

Annabeth: What about the food?

Percy: I’ve still got a long way to go but I’ve had their grossest menu item yet

Annabeth: Do tell

Percy: Do not

Percy: I repeat

Percy: Do not

Percy: Order the pizza waffle

Annabeth: Trust me, I wasn’t going to. It sounds absolutely criminal

Percy: Yeah I guess I set myself up to failure with this one

Annabeth: How about your favorite so far?

Percy: Probably the grilled cheese

Percy: Can’t go wrong with that

Annabeth: Definitely

She locked her phone. That wasn’t so bad, was it?

“Alright, everyone. I know you all are getting ready for the midterm, but I’m going to give you the rubric for the paper now so you can start thinking about it in advance. I don’t want anyone writing ten pages the day before it’s due,” Professor Brown announced. “Please pass these around. I’m also posting it online.”

“Have you decided what you’re writing yours on?” Annabeth asked Percy.

“I thought we agreed I’d write it on how much it takes for a stomach to explode.”

“Right!”

That made Annabeth irrationally happy. The fact that he still remembered one of their inside jokes and took it seriously was a sign that she might be able to really fix things between them.

“Have you decided?” Percy asked.

“Not yet, but probably something boring like dehydration.”

“Well, good luck with that.”

“Oh, yeah. I already have experience in the subject, so it shouldn’t be too hard.”

Percy laughed, and Annabeth’s heart raced just a little bit. This gave her a little courage.

“Speaking of dehydration… would you want to grab a coffee later and study for the midterm?” She tried.

“Sure,” he agreed. “Everything he talked about on tech week is kinda blurry to me, so I could use a review session.”

“Great.” Annabeth smiled.

She texted Piper later, during class.

Annabeth: We’re grabbing coffee together later

Piper: yes queen!!! get him back

Annabeth: Don’t get ahead of yourself

Piper: ;)

Annabeth: I hate you

After class was over, Annabeth asked, “Where do you wanna meet?”

“Not Carver’s,” Percy said.

“God, no. The Starbucks is fine.”

“See you there, then.”

“See you!”

Annabeth got there early, hoping that Percy had too (he hadn’t). In fact, he was a few minutes late, which was enough for Annabeth to think he wasn’t coming at all because he was still mad at her.

“Hey, sorry I’m late,” he said as he sat on the chair in front of her. “My professor kept us late.”

“Don’t worry.” Annabeth pushed a cup of coffee in his direction. “I ordered for you. You like the flat white, right?”

Percy smiled. “Yeah. Thanks for remembering.”

Annabeth shrugged it off like she hadn’t spent a full five minutes searching her brain for his order from the one time they got coffee together before tech week started.

“What do you want to start with?” Annabeth asked. “I made copies of all my notes from last week just in case you want them.”

“Dude, that’s exactly what I was going to ask you.” He reached for the papers she was holding up for him. “Let me see… okay, can we start with this cellular digestion part?”

“Sure.”

Studying with Percy felt like, well… before. She didn’t have to worry about what to say or how to say it. She was simply enjoying spending time with him, and she thought he was too. They would eventually crack a joke or another, and more often than not deviate from the study material to talk about something else unrelated. Almost an hour had passed when Annabeth realized they hadn't even gone through half of her notes yet.

“Okay, we should focus,” she decided. “God, this is so uninteresting.”

“Fuck, I know, but- okay. Let’s do this.”

Percy pulled the paper in his direction. Annabeth knew she should be doing the same, but she couldn’t help but notice the way he silently mouthed the words as he read them. He looked so adorable that she almost forgot what she was doing. He looked up from her notes and saw her staring. She immediately averted her gaze to her own papers, but not soon enough to miss a small smile at his lips.

Piper: how was your date?

Annabeth: You need to stop

Piper: well????

Annabeth: It was fine

Annabeth: We just studied

Piper: it’s never just studying and you know that

Annabeth: Whatever you say

Piper: percy and annabeth sitting in a tree…

Annabeth: I am this close () to blocking you

Piper: sorry

Piper: K I S S I N G

“Oh my god, I talked to my sister on the phone today and she told me she’s got a crush. A fucking crush. Can you believe that?” Percy exclaimed.

After their first study date, it became a regular thing. They crammed a few in the week before the midterm, and then started meeting regularly after that to work on homework and their papers. Annabeth could proudly say they were back at their pre-cast party state, minus the romantic tension (or at least, what she thought was romantic tension). Not that she didn’t have feelings for him anymore— they were very much there, strong as ever. She just had less hope he corresponded them now.

“But she’s eight!”

“That’s what I told her, and do you want to know what she said? She said ‘no one is too young to fall in love, Percy’.”

“And who’s this lucky crush of hers?”

“Some boy named Ethan? What kind of basic white boy name is that, anyway?”

“First of all, Perseus, you shouldn’t really be one to talk about other people’s names. Second, Ethan is just a little kid, you should give him the benefit of the doubt.”

“Have you met an eight-year-old boy? They’re the devil. They just learned what curse words are so they’re constantly saying ‘shit fuck crap damn’ like it’s the coolest thing in the world.”

“No offense, but that’s exactly what you sound like.”

He glared at her. “Fine, but not in front of my sister. No swearing around Estelle, or a dollar goes in the jar, and I don’t have many of those.”

Annabeth laughed. “Your family has a swear jar?”

“You’d be surprised how many dollars my mom has to put in there. Except she curses in Spanish, because she hopes that Estelle hasn’t learned that yet.”

“Has she?”

“I might have taught it to her.”

“Percy!”

“What was I gonna do? She was giving me those puppy dog eyes like, ‘what is mommy saying?’, so I told her. I also told her she wasn’t supposed to say it.”

“Does your mom know you did that?”

“I hope not.” Percy sighed. “Hey, I just remembered—are you going to the student theatre prom?”

“Is that what ST Prom is? Piper texted me about it, but I didn’t really click the link. Are you?”

“I’m thinking about it. I was going to ask if you’re going first, though, because they all have established friend groups and I didn’t want to go alone.”

“Oh. Yeah, I’ll think about it.”

Annabeth didn’t want to read too much into his words, but she was pretty sure saying “I don’t want to go alone” right after asking her if she was going meant “I want to go with you.”  She felt like a high schooler for feeling like Percy half-inviting her to a fake prom was a big deal, but that’s how she felt nonetheless.

“So, what is this prom thing, exactly?” Annabeth asked, trying to sound casual.

“Do you mean ST Prom?” Piper responded. “It’s just a cute dance party where we announce the shows for next season, and every year there’s a different theme. This year, it’s Cats.”

“The animal?”

“The musical.”

“What’s the difference?”

Piper looked shocked. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t ask that. Anyway, you’re coming, right?”

“I’m thinking about it. Do you all do any crazy-revealing drinking games, by any chance?”

“It’s going to be in the Jefferson Ballroom, so, no. No alcohol. Not officially, at least.”

“So someone’s gonna sneak it in.”

“Exactly. And I am someone.”

“Wouldn’t expect anything less from you, Pipes.”

“So, you’re coming.”

“I don’t know. Percy basically asked me to go with him.”

“What? Oh my god, are you serious? Then you have to go!”

“Well, I don’t know. I think things are fine between us now, but I still have PTSD from the last two parties we were at together. If I’m with him the entire night, things might get even more confusing?” Annabeth sighed into her hands. “I want to go with him, but I’m not sure it’s a good idea.”

“You’ll never know if you don’t go. Besides, if you do, then something not confusing and good might happen too. You’re throwing away your chance.”

“Do you really think so?”

“Yes. It’s just one of the excellent reasons for you to go.”

“And the other reasons would be…”

“Free food and drinks, some cool theatre kid music, and most of all, the presence of yours truly.”

Annabeth nodded. “Those are good reasons.”

“Yes, they are, so you have to go.”

“Fine,” she said. “I’ll tell Percy I’m going.”

Annabeth: Hey

Annabeth: What should I wear to the Cats prom?

Percy: Oh you’re going? Word

Percy: I have no fucking clue

Percy: What if we just don’t wear costumes

Annabeth: They’d never leave us alone

Percy: I have an idea

Annabeth: Yes?

Percy: Before we go we just draw on whiskers

Percy: Do you have makeup for that

Annabeth: Yes

Annabeth: That’s a great idea

Percy: Amazing

Percy: Can’t wait

Annabeth: Me neither!

Two weeks away from the end of the semester, it was the day for ST Prom. It was going to start at seven, so, at six, Percy knocked on Annabeth’s door.

She opened it up for him. He was wearing a thick jacket over a Batman shirt and jeans.

“That’s not a very Cats-themed outfit,” Annabeth commented, stepping aside to let him in.

“That’s where you’re wrong,” Percy responded, “because Batman dated Catwoman for a while, so it is cat themed.”

Annabeth laughed. “And that’s not a stretch at all.”

“No, right? Thank you.”

Percy headed to the bedroom and dropped on her bed. He’d been there a few times before; a lot of their post-midterm study sessions had taken place in either of their rooms. Annabeth had even gotten to know Percy’s lactose intolerant roommate, Frank, better. He was a really sweet guy who had probably never cursed or killed a bug in his life, and she thought he and Percy got along really well.

“So, how are we doing this?” Percy asked.

Annabeth got her makeup bag from her closet. She only used it on special occasions like presentations and interviews, so she didn’t have a lot. She pulled out her black pencil and turned to Percy.

“You’re going to sit right there while I draw on your whiskers, and then you’ll do the same to me.”

“Got it.” Percy settled on the edge of the bed and said, “I’m ready.”

When Annabeth moved her hand close to his face, he closed his eyes. She drew each line carefully, because she wanted the whiskers to look good, but mostly because he looked so cute with his eyes closed like that. It was almost tempting—if she took a step forward, she’d be standing right between his legs, at the reach of his arms. If she wanted to kiss him, she could just lean in…

“I’m done,” she said. “Your turn.”

Percy got off the bed and Annabeth climbed on. Involuntarily mimicking him, she closed her eyes. She felt his hand on her shoulder, steadying her as he drew on her face. The pencil left a trail of tingles on her face as it went, making Annabeth wish the moment would last longer.

Once he was done, Annabeth put the pencil away and headed to the bathroom.

“Come see what you look like,” she called.

They stood next to each other in the tiny mirror. Percy’s skin was a lot darker than hers, and he was at least a head taller, too. He looked criminally adorable with the thick black lines surrounding a huge smile. He leaned over the sink to look at his whiskers up close, shifting his face to the sides.

“We’re looking good,” he decided. “What else?”

“I’m going to change into my Hello Kitty shirt and then we’re good to go.”

Percy glanced at his phone screen. “Okay, we still have, like, fifty minutes until the party even starts.”

“I don’t have any more cat costume ideas.”

“Me neither. Let’s just do something else.” Percy went back to the bedroom and sat cross-legged on the bed.

“Wanna watch something that’s about fifty minutes long? Annabeth asked.

“Like what?”

“Like a John Mulaney special.”

“You know I can’t say no to a John Mulaney special.”

Annabeth got her laptop from her backpack and sat next to Percy on the bed.

“Which one?” She asked.

“I haven’t seen New In Town in a while.”

She opened Netflix and clicked play. John Mulaney, however, was only occupying a small fraction of Annabeth’s thoughts. Most of her attention was directed to how close she and Percy were sitting. Their legs were touching, and she could swear they were inching closer and closer by the minute.

“I’m Irish… I keep things very bottled up, and I don’t drink,” Mulaney said.

“That’s my man,” Percy commented, and Annabeth laughed louder at that than at any of the jokes in the actual show.

Percy laughed too, which caused them to shift even closer together. The laptop was in Percy’s lap, and she had to lean close to him to look at it, but at this point, she was barely an inch away. So, Annabeth decided to just go for it. She rested her head on his shoulder and hoped for the best. She felt Percy still underneath her for a quick second, then relax. He didn’t say anything, but he tilted his head to the side, resting it on her head.

Annabeth was glad they were watching a comedy special, because she could smile as much as she wanted and blame it on John Mulaney.

They got dirty looks from just about every single theatre kid in the room, and half of them sarcastically asked, “where’s your costume?”

“Your shirt’s not even cat related,” a guy told Percy.

“Actually, Batman dated Catwoman,” Annabeth explained with feigned innocence.

The boy stared at her until he decided they were no longer worth extending the conversation and walked away.

“Thanks for defending my shirt,” Percy said.

“If I’m gonna be around you the entire night, I might as well defend your honor.”

“What will McLean say?”

“She’ll tell us both to fuck off.”

“Why’s she taking so long, anyway?”

“She’s bringing the drinks.”

“Really? Who’s paying?”

“The company, apparently. She told me that, like, an absurd percentage of their budget goes towards alcohol every semester.”

“Given how much there was at the two cast parties, I’m not surprised.”

Percy’s gaze suddenly fixated on her face.

“Um, one of your whiskers is smudged.”

“Oh, I’ll just-”

“I got it.” Percy raised his hand to her face and wiped her cheek with his thumb. 

Annabeth’s eyes were fixed on his as he did, soft and slow. He looked from her cheek to her eyes, letting his gaze linger there for a moment before saying, “You’re good.”

“Thanks,” Annabeth said, and her voice came out barely above a whisper.

A disruption in the back of the room pulled Annabeth from her trance. It was Piper and a couple of other people, each carrying in two boxes marked books.

They deposited the boxes on a table opposite the door.

“Here’s the juice!” Piper announced. “And remember, if we get too crazy, we won’t be allowed to use the ballroom anymore, and you all remember what happened when we did prom at Will’s place. So control yourselves!”

Percy and Annabeth went over to say hi, immediately granting a dirty look from Piper.

“What the fuck are you two- you know what, I don’t even want you to explain,” Piper said. “Glad you’re having fun together, but I can’t look at you any longer, not sober anyway. Goodbye.”

“Love you too!” Annabeth waved to Piper, who was walking away with a solo cup.

She poured herself a drink and some Coke for Percy, and they moved back to their corner.

A few minutes later, they were sitting on the floor, their backs against the wall, making fun of the other people in the party. The wet rim of their cups had smudged their makeup, leaving them with messy, pale black lines that no longer resembled whiskers. They were now both wearing sweaters over their shirts, so any relation to the musical Cats in their outfits, if it had ever existed, was gone.

“Do you want to go somewhere else?” Annabeth asked. “I think I’ve had enough of this party.”

“Sure. I’m going to grab another Coke before we go, do you want me to pour you another drink?”

Annabeth nodded. “Just a little bit.”

Annabeth hid her cup underneath her jacket and they tried their best to sneak out, but not without getting some disappointed looks from their friends.

They ended up in Carver’s, not to either one’s dismay. The cashier, who was a senior, either did not see or did not care about Annabeth’s drink.

“What are you getting this time?” Annabeth asked.

“A popsicle.”

“Are you serious? It’s freezing outside.”

“Not in here, though. And I still have to cross it off the list, so the longer I wait, the colder it’ll be.”

“I guess you’re right. I’ll get one too.”

“You sure?” Percy raised his eyebrows. “You look like you’re cold right now.”

“The alcohol will make me warm. Chocolate, please.”

Percy laughed and raised his hands in defeat. “Yes, ma’am. I’ll be right back.”

When Percy came back with the popsicles, the world was spinning just a little bit, but he looked as cute as ever. Which is probably why Annabeth didn’t really think about what she said next.

“Percy?”

“Yes?”

“It’s okay that you kissed another girl. I’m not even mad anymore.”

Percy’s arm, which was lifting his popsicle up to his mouth, froze.

“What?”

“At the cast party. You know, in seven minutes in heaven or whatever.”

“I didn’t kiss her.” He looked confused. “Did anyone tell you I did?”

“You didn’t?”

“No! I mean, I was already- no, I didn’t kiss her.”

“Oh.” So I spiraled for no reason, Annabeth thought, but didn’t say anything. “Okay.”

“Is that why you were mad?” Percy asked tentatively.

“Uh… yes. So, I guess, sorry about that too. That was really dumb of me.”

Percy started laughing.

“What? Are you laughing at me?” Annabeth asked.

“No, not at you, just- nevermind,” he tried to explain, but he was still smiling. “Look, your popsicle is going to melt.”

And the subject was changed.

A while later, Annabeth’s phone buzzed with an email.

Campus advisory: South Hall

Due to a failure in the sprinklers system, the first three floors of South Hall have been flooded. Entrance in the building is restricted at this time. More updates soon.

“Shit,” Annabeth said.

“What’s wrong?”

“South is flooded. The first three floors, and I live on the second. I can’t go in.”

“Holy crap, what are you going to do?”

“I mean, I don’t know. I need to find somewhere to stay the night. Shit, Piper’s cousin is staying with her.”

“You can have my couch, if you want,” Percy offered. “I’m sure Frank would be fine with it.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I’m going to call Frank right now, hold on.”

Frank agreed immediately, so they were soon headed to Percy’s dorm building. His room was a bit larger than Annabeth’s, since it was a double and hers was a single. It had a living space with a kitchen and a couch and a separate room with the beds. Percy went into his room and grabbed a pillow and a couple of blankets, as well as one of his swim team hoodies.

“These should be enough to keep you warm, but let me know if you need anything else. You can wake me up if you’re cold or anything, really.”

“Thanks, Percy. Are you going to sleep?”

“I don’t know, it’s still pretty early. We could watch something on TV if you want.”

“Yeah, that sounds nice.”

He handed her the remote. “Go ahead and pick. I’m going to get you some water.”

Annabeth decided on Moana, which was just starting. Percy sat next to her on the couch, and handed her the glass of water.

“Hey, don’t steal all the blankets for yourself.”

“Sorry,” Annabeth said, spreading the covers evenly over their legs. Her heart hurt at the domesticity of it—she could imagine herself doing exactly this, lying in bed with him after a long day. She’d kiss his cheek and cuddle up to him, blankets forgotten in favor of the heat of his body.

She so wanted to lean up against him now. His arm was lifted open, resting on the back of the couch. If she just scooted over, she’d fit perfectly, or at least she thought. She wanted to know if her body matched his, if she’d fit perfectly in his embrace like she should.

She did not find out that night. When the movie ended, Percy wished her good night and went back to his room. She didn’t see him linger by the door, watching her for a few moments, wishing he could go back.

Percy with bed head was, if Annabeth was being entirely honest, very overwhelming. Especially when it was one of the first things she saw when she woke up. He wasn’t really paying that much attention to anything else because she had a small headache, so she just got up from the couch to grab a glass of water and—surprise. There he was, hair pointing a million different directions, mid-yawn, and still half asleep.

Percy looked up from his cereal and realized Annabeth was standing there.

He smiled. “Morning,” he greeted her. “Want some cereal?”

“Uh,” Annabeth said, not awake enough to be coherent. “Sure.”

“The cabinet is all yours. Frank and I pride ourselves in our variety of cereal.”

Annabeth poured herself some Fruit Loops and sat at the table with Percy.

“Where is Frank?” She asked.

“He goes on morning jogs on Sundays.”

“I’d rather go an entire week without sleeping.”

“Me too. Speaking of not sleeping, how are you feeling about finals season?”

“Yeah, I’m so excited. Can’t wait to live like a caveman for a couple of weeks.”

Percy laughed. “How’s your Bio paper going?”

“I’m almost done. What about yours?”

“Honestly, it’s been kind of boring. Exploding stomachs aren’t as fun as I thought.”

Annabeth shrugged. “Told ya.”

“Guess you did,” Percy agreed. “What are you doing today?”

“I was gonna go to the library after lunch, but other than that, no plans.”

“Wanna have lunch together? Celebrate our first day as roomies.”

“Sure. Your couch is very comfortable, by the way.”

“Thank you, thank you.”

Annabeth’s phone buzzed. It was another email from campus facilities.

“Shit,” she cursed.

“What’s wrong?”

“Facilities says I won’t be able to go back to my dorm until Wednesday.”

“Seriously?”

“Yep. Apparently the damage is bigger than they thought, so it’ll be a while until they drain all the water and fix the system.”

“What about your stuff? Like, clothes and shit?”

“It says I can go over there and ask the crew to get stuff for me, but I can’t go in.”

“That sucks, I’m sorry. You can stay as long as you need, though.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Don’t worry, seriously.”

“You’re the best, you know that?”

“Well, I wouldn’t go that far.”

“I mean it. I owe you one. More than one, probably.”

“I’m sure we can find some way you can pay me back, then.” Percy smirked at her.

What he meant by that, Annabeth didn’t know, but she had the feeling he was talking about more than paying for the cereal she had.

Lunch with Percy was great and short— Annabeth had too many finals to study for and too little time. The minute she was entering the library, however, she ran into Piper.

“Hey!” Her friend called. “You disappeared last night, is everything okay?”

“Yeah, Percy and I just wanted to leave.”

“I’m so excited I won’t take offense to that. What did you do?”

“We just went to Carver’s, but, Piper— Percy didn’t kiss Sarah at the party.”

Piper did not look surprised, despite the intensity with which Annabeth delivered the news.

“Yeah, that’s what I told you. Are you actually surprised?”

“Um, yeah. I sort of am.”

“You’re a dumbass, Annabeth, but I love you anyway.”

“Love you too.” Annabeth motioned to the library. “What are you studying?”

“Whatever makes me the most confused when I look at the syllabus. Care to join me?”

“Sure.”

Annabeth forced herself not to stay in the library too late. This was her last Sunday in the semester before being completely engulfed by finals, and she wanted to enjoy it. She grabbed a coffee with Piper before going back to Percy’s room.

She was about to go inside when she heard Percy and Frank talking inside.

“I don’t know, man,” Percy’s muffled voice sounded through the door.

“How? It’s obvious,” Frank replied. “She’s different around you than around everyone else. She’s over here all the time. I don’t think she would have agreed to stay here if she didn’t like you.”

Annabeth’s heart raced. She quickly removed her hand from the doorknob.

“Not necessarily. She needed somewhere to stay.”

“Well, she has other friends who have couches.”

“I was just the first one who offered.”

“Percy.”

“What? It’s true.”

“She wouldn’t have agreed to stay with two guys if she didn’t see a considerable advantage to it. That would be you.”

“Do you really think so?”

“Yes! Dude, you’re just making yourself suffer. Stop questioning it.”

“Should I do something?”

“Yes. Please. I’m getting annoyed at you just moping around all day long when she’s not there.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Jesus Christ, fine. Well, I need to go. See you later.”

Annabeth didn’t realize Frank had been walking to the door when he said that until he opened the door and saw her standing there.

She hoped the look on her face wasn’t too revealing, but by the way he smiled at her, he suspected she’d heard something.

“Hey, Annabeth.”

“Hey. I’m just getting in from class.”

Frank nodded slowly. “Okay. Well, I’ll see you later.”

She stepped aside to let him out. “Bye.”

Percy was on the couch, very interested in his phone. 

“Hey,” she tried. 

“Hey.” He looked up, like he’d just noticed she was there. Annabeth held back a smile. “How was studying?”

“Fun. I ran into Piper.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” She dropped on the couch next to him. “I’m starving. Wanna order pizza?”

“God, yes. Wait, I think I have a coupon for Domino’s somewhere.”

Percy pushed himself off the couch and went into his room. However, the coupon was not the first thing on Annabeth’s mind. She was still thinking about his “I’ll think about it” . She didn’t know whether that was good or bad. She was pretty sure they were talking about her, but she didn’t know what the previous part of the conversation had been like and she was too scared to ask.

“Found it,” Percy yelled from his room.

He walked back into the living room with a piece of paper in his hand.

“I’ll call. Do you like pepperoni?” He asked.

“Sure.”

“Good, because that’s what the coupon’s for.”

Percy got on the phone and Annabeth watched him. He was playing with a loose strand on his shirt as he spoke, nodding even though the person on the other line couldn’t see it. He saw her looking at him and winked before returning to the call.

If this was what “thinking about it” made Annabeth feel, she wondered what it would be like when he decided.

Being Percy’s temporary roommate could have been more eventful if the three days during which she stayed at his room hadn’t taken place during finals week. They were both studying all the time and Annabeth was prone to all nighters in the library, so she only saw him when she woke up and he’d just returned from swim practice. She’d allow herself to sit with him at the table, smell the chlorine in his hair, and admire his tired figure before leaving for the day.

On Wednesday, she woke up early to move back into her room. Besides her school stuff, she also had a box with a few changes of clothes and her toiletries that she’d gotten from her dorm a couple of days earlier. She meant to vacate the couch without being noticed, leaving Percy a thank you thank you text before departing. She was about to hit send when Percy stepped out of his room.

“You’re leaving already?”

Annabeth placed her box back on the couch armrest.

“Yeah. Didn’t mean to wake you up.”

“You didn’t.” By the looks of him, dressed but still half asleep, she wasn’t sure he was telling the truth, but she decided not to press him on it.

“Well, I wanted to get back in as early as possible. Don’t want to be there at the same time as everyone else.”

“Smart move,” Percy said, moving from the door to the couch and picking up the box. “I’ll help you.”

“No way,” Annabeth protested. “It’s just a box. I got it.”

“Come on, I need a warm up before I hit the pool. Let me walk you there.”

She couldn’t say no to his pleading baby seal eyes, so she agreed. “Alright. Let’s go, then.”

It was really cold that early in the morning, and Annabeth wished she’d asked the facilities people to grab one of her heavier coats. The walk wasn’t too long, but long enough to be very unpleasant, so she found herself hurrying Percy.

“Don’t you wanna warm up? Pick up the pace, Jackson.”

“Seems like you’re the one who needs to warm up,” Percy responded.

“Damn right, I do, so hurry up.”

She all but leaped into the building when they arrived. She let out a long breath of relief, and Percy laughed.

“I should have seen it coming,” he commented.

“Seen what coming?”

“You being cold halfway through. I would have made us jog from the start.”

“With this backpack? No way. I’m not a jock like you.”

“I’m not a jock.”

“Right.”

“I’m not!”

“Whatever you say. Come on, let’s take the stairs.”

Annabeth had never been happier to be back in her shitty, minuscule college dorm. She dropped on her couch, throwing her legs over the side.

“Home, sweet home.”

Percy chuckled and placed the box on her bed. “Need anything else?”

Annabeth pushed herself up and walked to him. “No. Thank you so much, Percy. For everything. I really do owe you one.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

He was standing there, his hands on his pockets and a small grin on his face, and Annabeth just wanted to grab the front of his shirt and kiss him.

I’ll think about it.

She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him instead. She felt him pull her closer by the waist and bury his face on her shoulder. She tried to absorb him, his warmth, the feeling of his arms around her. It felt wrong to pull back, but his hands on her hips didn’t let her move too far.

Percy’s adam’s apple bobbed in his throat. “Annabeth.”

Her breath hitched. “Yes?”

“Annabeth! ” A loud voice came from the door.

Annabeth stepped back abruptly, startled by the interruption. It was her next door neighbor, Melissa. 

“What?” Annabeth was pretty sure she sounded very annoyed, but she didn’t really care.

“God, I’m so glad you’re here.” Melissa barged into the room and half-waved to Percy before continuing. “I think the maintenance people stole my laptop charger.”

“That sounds very unlikely.”

“Why?”

“Why would they steal your laptop charger but not your laptop?”

“I don’t know, ask them!”

“Melissa, nobody stole your charger. It’s probably under your bed, or behind your desk or something.”

The neighbor huffed and started to storm off. “Fine. When you realize something of yours was stolen, don’t come crying to me.”

“I won’t!”

Annabeth took a deep breath and slowly turned back to Percy, who was staring at the floor.

“Um, I think I have to go to practice,” he told her. He was right, it was already pretty late.

“Yeah. Okay. Have, uh, have a nice practice.”

“You too. I mean, a nice day. Have a nice day.”

“Thanks.”

As soon as Percy walked out the door, Annabeth threw herself on her bed and screamed into her pillow.

Thanks, Melissa.

The following two weeks were mostly Percy-less for Annabeth. She didn’t see him much, or any of her other friends, besides quick run-ins on the street or some coffee-breaks.

However, the kiss that might have been if they hadn’t gotten interrupted was not forgotten. She couldn’t be sure Percy was really going to kiss her, but then again, he’d never held her waist like that before. When he said her name, his tone was inviting, anticipatory. When he left, he looked pretty frustrated. Annabeth understood.

Her mind often wandered to that moment during study breaks, however, and she constantly imagined what could have been if Melissa had found her charger, or if she’d decided to tell Annabeth about its alleged theft just a minute later. Nonetheless, no possible endings she created, no matter how many times she ran them over in her mind, would increase her Calculus grade.

Alas, she wondered.

The streets were strangely quiet as Annabeth walked home from her last final. She finished earlier than most people, but she stopped caring about that her second semester of freshman year. She texted her friends and heard from most of them that they still weren’t done, so she decided to go back to her room and pack for winter break. She’d been procrastinating it the entire week, so it was high time to get started, especially since her flight was at 5pm the next day.

Annabeth sighed when she looked at her room. A pile of laundry from the previous week she hadn’t bothered to fold was sitting on a chair in the corner, and many dirty clothing items were scattered on the floor. She had a long day ahead of her.

She put on her upbeat playlist and got to work.

A few hours later, her suitcase was almost entirely packed. Annabeth took a break to have a snack with some of her friends from debate club, then procrastinated on her phone for a (long) bit, so when she was actually finished, it was almost night time.

Over some Kesha song Annabeth didn’t remember downloading, she heard a knock on the door. She opened it, looking at the phone in her hand, expecting it to be someone complaining about the noise.

“Yeah?” She asked.

“Merry Christmas.”

The voice made her look up.

She saw the box before she saw Percy’s face, small and wrapped in yellow paper.

“Hi,” she greeted him. “What do you have there?”

He raised his eyebrows. “Um, your gift?”

“Are you serious?”

“No, it’s a prank. Funny, right?”

Annabeth playfully slapped his arm.

“Shut up.” She smiled up at him. “Percy, you didn’t have to.”

“I know that.”

“I don’t have anything for you. I feel terrible.”

“It’s okay, really. It’s not like we’ll actually celebrate Christmas together.”

Annabeth made a face at him, but took the box.

“It’s just a little something, I swear,” Percy reassured her.

She ripped the wrapping and opened the small cardboard box. Inside was a small pin, like the many others she had attached to her backpack. On it was the image of a woman with a very disturbed look on her face. Annabeth recognized it— it was a portrait of Medea painted in the 1800s.

“Clever,” she said. “It’s going on my backpack.”

“It’s how we met,” Percy explained, “so I figured it would be a fun gift.”

“It’s the perfect gift. Thank you.”

Annabeth got on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his cheek. Percy never visibly blushed, but from the way his eyes darted to the floor, she was pretty sure that, if he was paler, his cheeks would be bright red.

“Anyway,” he said after a moment of silence,“I was just wondering if you wanted to get dinner. I know you’re leaving tomorrow, so…”

“Sounds great. Where to?”

“I actually only have one thing left to try on the Carver’s menu.”

“Wait, seriously?”

“Yep.”

“We have to go there, then. What is it?”

“Waffles.”

Annabeth raised her eyebrows. “Waffles?”

“Yeah, why the surprise?”

“Well, that’s really basic. I thought you would have had it already.”

“Nope. Decided to save something good for last.”

“That makes sense. Let me grab a jacket and we’ll go.”

“Grab a thick one,” he said from the door. “It’s pretty chilly outside.”

Annabeth laughed. “Thanks for the warning.”

“Don’t pretend you don’t need it.”

“Fair enough.” She put on a coat and walked to the door. “Ready?”

“Ready.”

It was, in fact, very cold, especially since the sun was gone. Annabeth didn’t feel like going fast this time, though. As they walked, Percy’s gloved hands occasionally brushed against hers, and she loved how his hair looked tucked under his woolen hat.

Percy greeted all the Carver’s employees by name, and Annabeth teased him for spending more time with them than he did with her.

“It’s your fault I even came here, so if you’re jealous, that’s on you,” he countered.

“Who says I’m jealous?”

Percy stuck out his tongue at her.

“Wow, you’re so eloquent.”

“Shut up and go get our waffles, they just called our number.”

They talked quietly while they dug into the pile of waffles. They got cold quickly, chilled by the wind coming from the door of the diner constantly being opened by patrons walking in and out. Percy poured an obscene amount of maple syrup on the waffles to “fix it,” but Annabeth thought it just made them cold and soggy. 

“You know what, I’ll just eat them if you’re going to be like that,” Percy responded, pulling the plate in his direction.

Annabeth pulled it back. “Don’t you dare.”

When they were finished, Percy got up. “It’s getting pretty crowded in here. Wanna go for a walk?”

“Sure.”

“Have you ever been to the garden at Smith?”

“Smith Hall has a garden?”

“Yeah, you can only access it from inside the building though. All the plants are dead now, though, so it’s just a bunch of leafless trees, dirt and a bench.”

“Wow, that sounds absolutely stunning. Can’t wait to visit.”

Percy smiled. “Follow me, then.”

He was right— the garden was pretty destroyed. It wasn’t too big, either, and it probably looked nice when the weather was warmer, but now the only color in the place was the brown of the dead leaves and the faded white the bench in the center was painted in, turned grey by the absence of light. Percy sat down and Annabeth followed.

“So. End of the semester,” Percy said.

“Yep.”

“How would you rate it out of ten?” He asked.

“I think a nine.”

“That high?”

“Yeah. There were some pretty stressful moments, but I did a bunch of cool new things and had my laundry done for me for two months,” Annabeth reflected. “Plus, I met some great people. How about you?”

“Eight. I also did cool things and met great people, but I had to do Frank’s laundry, so I don’t get that extra point.”

“Honestly, I still don’t get why you decided to lose the bet after two years. You were halfway there!”

Percy laughed and looked up at the sky. “Do you really not know why I chose to lose the bet?”

She eyed him for a moment. “Um, should I? You never told me.”

“Yeah, you should.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re the reason, Annabeth.”

Percy was facing her now. He was smiling softly, and his eyes reminded her of the way she was looking at her two weeks earlier, his steadying hands on her hips and hers on his shoulder, hesitant to let go.

“Me?”

“Why do you think I woke up ten minutes earlier than usual for Bio? Or sat on the floor with you at the light booth instead of sitting on the couch backstage?” Annabeth didn’t respond, so he continued. “I guess hanging out with you that day at Carver’s seemed more important than doing Frank’s laundry and being made fun of by my friends for a little while.”

Annabeth was pretty sure Percy could hear her heart beating out of her chest. She forced herself to look away from his face for long enough to form a coherent sentence.

“Well,” she whispered, “was it worth it? All of it?”

“I think it was. Do you?”

She wanted to answer him. The thing was, Annabeth Chase was a show-not-tell kind of person, so she leaned in and kissed him instead.

A wave of heat traveled her body when her lips finally, finally touched his. The weather could have dropped twenty degrees, and she wouldn’t have cared, because the only thing she could feel was Percy’s lips on hers and his arms wrapping around her, pulling her closer, and she was more than happy to comply. He felt warm and right.

The only thought her brain could form was Percy’s name over and over again, so she whispered it when he pulled away to look at her.

“Took you long enough,” he said.

“You’re the one who was thinking about it ,” she responded, arms still wrapped around his neck.

“You heard that?”

“Of course I did.”

“I wasn’t sure if you weren’t mad at me anymore,” he admitted.

Annabeth leaned her forehead against his.

“I wasn’t either. Good to know we’re on the same page now, though.”

“Yeah. Well, almost.”

Annabeth blinked at him. “What do you mean?”

“You owe me one, if I remember correctly.”

Annabeth smiled. She wished she had her stage lights so she could illuminate his face, see every part of his face the darkness was hiding. “Yes.”

“Well, I’d like to collect my compensation right now.”

“I’m all yours.”

She was.

Percy spent that night in her room. In his arms, Annabeth slept better than she had in a long time.

Before drifting off to sleep, though, she memorized the feeling of his thumb rubbing her back, the warmth of his breath on her neck and how his green eyes reflected the dim light coming from the window. Her bed was not big enough for both of them, but they made it work— she held him impossibly close, face buried on his chest. Every once in a while, he would press kisses to the top of her head, and she felt a million butterflies take flight every single time.

She vowed to remember every word he whispered to her that night, the ones he’d been holding back. She spoke too, even though she didn’t trust herself to make sense. He’d always been better with words than her, anyway. Annabeth hoped that her soft touches on his face, her lips, always craving more of his, and the way she held onto his waist like she never planned on letting go, would translate into the I love you that was stuck in her throat then, but that she would repeat in the future, many, many times.

That night, though, she breathed out every worry she’d accumulated over the past four months. Annabeth felt a certainty she never imagined. A sense of belonging, home— it was him, there, with her, under the covers, breathing softly as he fell asleep. He was hers, too, and that, to Annabeth, was a better ending than any play anyone had ever written.