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Come to the dance, they said.
It’ll be fun, they said.
It’s the last dance before winter break, enjoy it, they said.
Whoever they were, they needed a punch in the face.
Annabeth was leaning on the wall with a candy bar in one hand and her phone in the other. She was not having fun, and was definitely not enjoying it.
She spotted an empty table on the other side of the gym, and collapsed on the chair once she made it there.
Annabeth checked her phone.
One new message.
She quickly unlocked it, and read the message.
Buy one, get two free deal at Sleepyhead Mattress Company. For the price of one, you get three!
Annabeth sighed. It wasn’t what she was waiting for.
“Hey, Annabeth!”
A tired smile came to her face as she turned to see not only Piper, but Hazel and Leo with her too.
Piper raised an eyebrow. “Wow. You look great and terrible at the same time, I didn’t know it was possible.”
Annabeth groaned. “Just don’t. I’m regretting even coming here.”
Hazel’s eyes widened. “Are you okay?”
Annabeth smiled. Bless her heart. “Yeah, but these things remind me of how single I am.”
Piper recoiled. “Unless there’s something you haven’t told me, you’re not single. You haven’t been for the past two years.”
Annabeth bit back a laugh. “I’m still dating Percy, Piper. But being alone at a dance really helps you feel those single vibes.”
Leo raised an eyebrow, but before he could say anything, Jason walked over and asked Piper to dance. Piper looked at Annabeth, who waved her away as Jason whisked her into a well-executed slow dance.
Hazel then excused herself- “She’s had an eye on that baby Chinese kid.” “He’s Canadian and shut up, Leo!- and Annabeth leaned back on her chair and sighed.
“Where’s Percy?” Leo poked her, asking the question when she turned around.
“You can’t go?” Annabeth couldn’t believe her ears.
Percy looked somewhat guilty as he answered. “My cousin’s son’s half-brother’s daughter’s husband’s step-brother is getting married next week.”
“At that point, you aren’t even family.”
“He’s marrying my other cousin.”
“Ah.”
“Yep.”
“Whe-“
“I’ve already asked your parents and you’re flying out to Greece next week for the wedding.”
“Oh! Thank you.”
“No problem.” He looked somewhat ashamed of himself.
“Are you okay?”
“Ileadumaro.”
“What?”
“I leave tomorrow, right after school.”
“Why?”
“Bachelor party. They need a reason not to invite strippers.”
“Interesting.”
He put an arm around her waist and pulled her closer to whisper in her ear. “I won’t forget about you.”
“I know.”
“I won’t be missing any school.”
“But you’ll be missing the dance.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to you later.”
When they walked home after school the next day, she gave him a kiss, but hadn’t seen or heard from him since.
“Greece.”
Leo recoiled. “How did he get to Greece? He was literally in school today.”
“And he left after school, without returning his ticket either. 20 bucks, down the drain.”
“Are you sure he’s in Greece?”
“Positive. Why?”
“Because I could’ve sworn-“ He paused as he looked around the room.
“Sworn what, Leo?” He glanced at her and ran into the crowd- faster than she had ever seen him run.
She looked around and saw him interrupt Piper’s dance to start arguing with both her and Jason.
She didn’t have the energy to get them to stop. They would probably stop on their own anyway.
She opened up a book on her phone and looked up five minutes later to see Piper yelling at a guy, who was backing away the more and more angry she got.
Annabeth chuckled. He probably deserved it.
Jason started talking to the guy as well. Now that made Annabeth concerned. Jason never got between an argument Piper was having with anybody. It’s okay, they can handle it. If Jason wants to die, it was his choice.
Percy was supposed to be in Greece.
Once he finished packing everything he needed for two weeks, his lovely cousin texted him to inform him that the bachelor party was moved back a few days to accommodate some rich business friend.
His flight had been rescheduled to the next day, and they would be returning a week later.
When it finally hit him that his day was now free, he sat straight up.
The dance.
Social events weren’t really Percy’s thing, but Annabeth was required to be at each and every one, due to her being a part of the schools Leadership team. Percy had made an effort to be at every single one (which had become more enjoyable since they started dating), but this one had been the first he had to miss.
He ran to his backpack and rummaged through a folder, sighing with relief as he found a bright yellow slip of paper.
Thank god I didn’t return my ticket.
He grabbed a blue shirt, and buttoned it up as he ran around his room, grabbing money, his phone, and fixing his hair.
He ran out of his house with a garbled goodbye/explanation aimed at his mother with a promise to be home before ten.
Percy managed to make it onto a bus and almost ran inside the gym.
He checked the clock on the gym’s wall. It started half an hour ago.
There was about two hours left, so it didn’t really matter, but to Percy, half an hour was a lot.
He scanned the gym, and he saw the tables and-
Holy shit. She looked like a goddess in that dress. Annabeth never usually wore dresses, but today she was wearing a blue cocktail dress, with off-the-shoulder sleeves and a hemline that ended mid-thigh. It hugged her body and she chose to keep her hair up and wear a beautiful pair of blue earrings.
She looked down at her phone, and her face caught the light. Is that makeup? Whatever it was, it made her look all the more beautiful, and Percy’s breath caught in his throat as he watched her.
“Enjoying the show?” He turned around quickly, only to see Piper, who was giving him a can of soda.
He took it and thanked her. “You know me.”
Piper rolled her eyes and jabbed a finger at his chest. “Why did you lie to your girlfriend?”
His eyes widened. Out of all of the things he didn’t want to do that day, getting interrogated by Piper was the lowest on the list. “I didn’t lie-“
“Then why are you in New York?”
“Everything got rescheduled, so I thought I’d come here and surprise her-“ He realized that it may have been the wrong choice in words when her eyes flared. He backed away as she kept talking.
“You could have at least told someone! She looks so sad, without you, look.” Piper pointed at Annabeth, who didn’t look sad at all. She was engrossed in her book, but Piper wanted to bring her point home.
“If you pull a stunt like this again-“
Percy held his hands up. “I am so sorry, and I will never do this again, but if I do, I’ll make sure to do it so you’re happy.” Piper nodded. “Now, the longer I go without talking to my girlfriend, the more sad I get. May I please go?”
Piper began to respond, and Jason clapped his hand on her mouth. “Don’t shred him, it wasn’t his fault our cousin invited a rich billionaire at the last minute.”
Percy sighed. Thank god for nice cousins. “Hey, Jace. You’re going to Greece, too?”
Jason smiled. “I got to bring a plus one.”
“Same!”
Piper slapped Jason’s hand away and looked at him questioningly. “You didn’t get invited to the bachelor party?”
“I’m sixteen.”
She shrugged. “That’s reasonable.” Piper turned to Percy. “You and Annabeth are staying for the whole week?”
He nodded. “Yeah. How long are you staying?”
“Three days.” Jason responded. “The day before, the day of and the day after the wedding.”
Percy opened his mouth to respond, but Piper shoved him in Annabeth’s direction. “We can talk later, make your girlfriend happy, Aquaman!”
His mouth dropped open in mock offense as he walked to her table, flashing a thumbs down at Piper. Not cool.
Annabeth kept reading and heard a chair scrape and lifted her hand in greeting to whoever joined her, but kept her eyes trained on her phone.
“Hello.” Percy hid a smile as Annabeth looked up in shock, and she bounced up to attack him with a hug, despite him not even having sat down yet.
“Hi, Percy.”
“Hey, sweetheart.” He gave her a gentle kiss and they both sat down.
“You look great.” Percy took the chance to admire her once more.
“So do you.” He wore a pair of black jeans and a long-sleeved blue button down. He left a few buttons open, and it made him look all the more attractive to Annabeth.
“I thought you were in Greece?”
“The bachelor party was moved back 3 days. They rescheduled the flight.”
She nodded, and popped a piece of candy into her mouth.
“Are you okay?”
She sighed. “You know me. Never a social person and when the one person I could depend on to make this slightly more fun disappeared…”
He sighed and dragged his chair right next to hers. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, but my dad can be incredibly persuasive when he wants to be.”
Percy slung an arm around her shoulders and she rested her head on his chest. “I know. But it’s okay now, we’re leaving on the same day for Greece, right?”
Percy nodded. “Same flight, and my dad pulled a few strings to get us seats together.”
Annabeth sat up. “He didn’t have to do that-“
Percy held a finger to her lips. “The adults -which doesn’t include our parents- don’t leave until two days after us.” His eyes sparkled as a grin spread across his face. “We get our own double suite for the whole week.”
Annabeth froze.
We get our own double suite for the whole week.
Percy tilted his head when she didn’t move after a minute. “Annabe-mmph!” For Annabeth had almost knocked him over in her haste to give him a kiss. Of course, he went with it.
When they separated, they stood up, and she gave him a hug. “I love you, you know that, right?”
He smiled. “Of course. I love you, too.” He placed two fingers under her chin and tilted her head up to capture her lips in a kiss.
A camera clicked as Percy and Annabeth separated, Percy wrapping his arm around Annabeth’s waist. “Isn’t this sweet?” Piper, who was holding her phone, was watching the two with a small smile on her face.
“Oh my god, Piper, seriously?” Annabeth turned and buried her face in Percy’s chest as he let out a laugh.
Piper giggled. “Payback, Annabeth. You never let your phone go out of the camera app when Jason and I are in the same room.”
Annabeth flipped her off, and Percy mouthed Send me the picture.
Piper flashed him a thumbs up, poked Annabeth, and raised an eyebrow as she asked, “Do you still feel single?”
Percy tilted his head and looked at Annabeth as she blushed and rolled her eyes. “No, Piper, I don’t. Thank you for asking.”
Piper giggled, waved and left.
Percy raised an eyebrow. “Have I been making you feel single?”
Annabeth narrowed her eyes and tilted her head. ”I’ve complained to you for almost five years about how dances made me feel like crap.” His arm around her waist pulled her closer and she found herself nose-to-nose with Percy.
Their close proximity made it hard for her to think and she looked down to clear her head and continued. “But I haven’t said anything along those lines since we started dating.”
Percy smirked. “Is that so, Wise Girl?”
Annabeth felt heat rush to her cheeks as she nodded.
“Dance with me.”
The abrupt subject change completely threw her off. “What?”
He let go of her waist and held out a hand. “Dance with me. Just this dance.”
She took his hand and they moved to the middle of the gym.
His arms found their way to her waist as she put hers behind his neck.
Percy occasionally whispered something in Annabeth’s ear that made her laugh, and they shared multiple kisses.
They were there for over five songs.