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with annabeth tucked into his side and some of his closest friends around the fire, percy was happier than he’d been in a while. leo was recanting some stupid story about a girl he met, piper and rachel were adding in their commentary, grover and juniper were laughing along, and annabeth had her arm around his waist. there was nowhere else he would’ve rather been. he would occasionally press a kiss to his girlfriend’s hair and tighten his arm around her shoulders to tug her closer as they listened to leo.
“and i fully expected to her hit me or something when i asked to kiss her,” he said, “but she didn’t.” he left it at that with a grin.
“did she... kiss you?” piper asked slowly.
“yes ma’am.”
“wow,” percy drew out sarcastically. “so you’ve kissed, like, three whole girls now. look at you go.”
annabeth pinched his side lightly but chuckled along with everyone else, aside from leo, who scoffed. “and you’ve kissed one, so are you really one to talk?”
rachel choked on her drink and began to cough, and he tried not to, but percy tensed up just for a second. annabeth, of course, caught it and froze as she put the pieces together. she sat up and a silence fell over the group as she looked at rachel for a second, then at percy. he opened his mouth but nothing came out.
confusion, briefly. then hurt. betrayal. and finally, anger. all those emotions flickered over her face within a moment. she pursed her lips and nodded once before she pushed herself up and didn’t give anyone a second glance as she walked away.
“annabeth,” percy said, standing instantly. he glared at leo, though it wasn’t really his fault. “thanks,” he muttered bitterly, following his girlfriend.
he heard leo’s, “i- i didn’t know-” but he kept walking. percy would apologize to him later. his main focus right now was annabeth.
“beth, hold on,” he called, jogging until he could reach out and grab her elbow. they were several yards from their friends when he caught up to her. she turned and tugged her arm away. her eyes were glassy.
“tell me it’s not true,” she said, though she knew it was. he wasn’t going to deny it.
“it is,” he said quietly. “but please let me explain. it was nothing like whatever you’re thinking.”
annabeth crossed her arms and as angry as she was, she was going to hear him out. they’d gotten better at communicating. if it had been the first few months of their relationship, she may have walked away and not spoken to him for hours. now, they’d learned how to talk and listen before an unnecessary fight broke out.
“it was before we started dating,” he started. “it was the day beckendorf… died, actually.”
annabeth’s shoulders dropped a little. percy had honestly forgotten that kiss had even happened until now because that day was so clouded with the memory of losing one of his closest friends. annabeth understood that part without him needing to say it.
“rachel and i were hanging out and she had said something like,” he thought hard for a second, “like… what would it take for me to kiss her? and i remember kind of… panicking because i didn’t even know what to say. but before i even got the chance to respond, beckendorf had shown up and said it was time for us to, you know, go blow up a ship.”
percy stopped, looking at his fingers. he’d tried hard to block out the end of that summer. he’d lost so many friends but beckendorf’s death was one of the hardest to think about.
“um,” he continued quietly after a moment, looking at her again. her eyes had softened but she was still upset. “and so we had to go and rachel… she kissed me. before i even got to react, really. i don’t know if it makes it better, but i didn’t kiss her.”
annabeth was quiet for a second. and then, “did you want to kiss her?”
percy thought about how to answer that. because he’d… thought about it, at the time. thought about rachel and what being with her would entail. but even then, his thoughts always rounded back to annabeth.
“i don’t know,” he said. “at the time, i may have liked her to an extent. so maybe. but ultimately, i don’t think i could have ever been with her like that. i never would’ve really wanted anything like that with her.”
“why?”
he tilted his head and looked at her. something in her eyes told him she knew why. but if this was her way of asking for reassurance, he had no hesitation about giving it to her. “well,” he stepped closer and carefully placed his hands on her arms, “there was this other girl. super stubborn, insanely smart and beautiful, and just a tiny bit mean. i didn’t know it then, but i was absolutely in love with her.”
his hands moved to her face as she looked at him. after a moment, she uncrossed her arms and wrapped them around his torso. “she loved you, too,” she whispered. percy leaned forward and kissed her head. her voice was muffled from her face in his chest as she said, “sorry for getting upset.”
percy wrapped her up in a tight hug. “you don’t have to apologize,” he said. “i’m sorry i never told you. i honestly forgot it had ever even happened until leo said that. i wasn’t trying to hide it from you.”
“i know. it’s okay.”
he kissed her head again before pulling back to look at her. she smiled softly. “so, any other girls that kissed you before some life-threatening missions?”
he chuckled lightly. “nope,” he promised. he leaned down and kissed her softly. when he pulled away, he searched her eyes to see if she was still upset. “we’re okay?” he asked when he found no signs of hurt or anguish.
“we’re okay,” she whispered.
“wanna head back over there?” he nodded towards their friends. they were talking about something else but the laughter from before was absent.
annabeth glanced over at them before looking at percy again and smiling. “maybe in a minute,” she said quietly before standing on her toes and kissing him again.