Archive of Our Own

If you’d asked Percy to pinpoint the exact moment he fell in love with Annabeth, he couldn’t do it. 

Maybe it was when they’d been on that end-of-middle school camping trip two summers back, and he’d managed to fall right out of their canoe. The sight of her throwing her head back and laughing loudly at him, illuminated by the midday sun, felt like the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. It was almost enough to make him forget he was soaked to the bone and shivering like a newborn kitten. He’d spent the rest of the camp trying and failing not to stare at her every time she wasn’t looking.

Or later that year at their first high school dance, the winter formal where they’d gone together as friends and he’d been too nervous to ask her to dance alone with him the entire time. Until a pop song from the 2000s that she swore she didn’t like (even though she always hummed along) had come on and he couldn’t resist tugging her out of her seat. She’d rolled her eyes and complained loudly, but let him drag her to the dance floor anyway, and she didn’t let go of his hand the entire time. When the next song called for a slow dance, instead of laughing it off and going to find their other friends, she put a hand on his shoulder and placed one of his on her waist and tried to teach him how to waltz.

It could’ve been at Jake Mason’s 13th birthday party, where they’d made the fatal mistake of agreeing to play a game of truth or dare and Clarisse La Rue had immediately taken the opportunity to dare Annabeth to kiss him. He’d gone as red as a lobster and they’d both protested vehemently, but peer pressure had won over in the end, and so she’d leaned over and planted a quick, chaste kiss on his lips. It had lasted a second but felt like an eternity, and they’d avoided each other for the remainder of the party, remaining uncharacteristically silent on the shared ride home while Grover talked enough for all three of them. The next time he saw her she acted like nothing had happened and he followed her lead, but he couldn’t stop thinking that although it was his first and only kiss he couldn’t imagine why he’d ever want to kiss anyone else. 

But if he was being entirely honest with himself, he was already half in love with her the very first day they’d met, when he’d transferred to Yancy Academy halfway through seventh grade and their chemistry teacher had sat him next to her to ‘keep him out of trouble’. Annabeth had looked less than pleased at this decision, but she’d still saved him from a close call involving his hair and a lit Bunsen burner; and by the end of that first week he’d made her laugh on at least two separate occasions, and she’d stopped sighing in annoyance every time he asked her a question. He’d even started eating lunch with her and Grover, and felt for the first time in his life that he might actually have some real friends. He’d found it incredibly hard to believe someone as smart and as pretty as Annabeth was one of them. He still did.

In the end, it didn’t really matter when it happened. It was just a fact of life at this point. His name was Percy Jackson, he was sixteen years old, his favorite color was blue, and he loved Annabeth Chase.

“Percy?” The sound of her voice pulled him out of his private self pity party. He blinked distractedly, looking up from his notebook. She was sitting across from him at her favorite table in the school library, where they were ostensibly studying for a history quiz they had next week, although Percy had mostly been using the time to study Annabeth instead. This was definitely not an efficient use of his time, especially because at this point he had her face committed to memory. When his mind wandered, he would draw her without meaning to, unaware of what he was doing until he realized he was sketching the curve of her jaw or the slope of her nose.

She seemed particularly pretty to him today for some reason, on an inconsequential Thursday in September, wearing a jean dress over a purple-and-white striped t-shirt and a pair of well-worn Converse. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, but two of her braids hung loose at the front, framing her face, and he kept resisting the urge to lean forward and tuck them behind her ears. 

He wondered, not for the first time, why she didn’t have the entire male population (and a good portion of the non-male population) of Goode High lined up around the corner begging her to give them the time of day. Or maybe she did, and she just didn’t mention it to Percy because she was actually very aware of his embarrassingly huge crush on her and didn’t want him to have a conniption. Which would be equal parts sweet and devastating.

“Yeah?” He replied, trying to ignore that last thought.

“You seem distracted.” Annabeth observed, capping her pen and folding her arms on top of the table.

“Do I?” 

“You haven’t written a word in ten minutes.”

“Haven’t I?” 

She scowled and flicked her pen across the table at him. It hit him square in the ribs and then landed on the floor next to him. He leaned over to pick it up, and when he came back up she was still scowling, holding her hand out for the pen. 

He didn’t give it back to her, instead opting to tap it loudly against the table, which always succeeded in annoying her. 

“What was that for?” He asked sulkily, making a show of rubbing at the spot on his chest.

“Answering all my questions with questions. Give me back my pen, Seaweed Brain.” 

He sighed melodramatically and handed it over, his fingertips brushing against hers. Something flickered over her face, and she quickly drew her hand back.

“What’s distracting you?” She asked again, tilting her head as she scrutinized him.

You. Your distractingly pretty face and the fact that I can’t kiss the scowl off it.

Percy shrugged. “You know me. I get distracted by anything and everything. It’s the ADHD.”

Annabeth’s mouth twisted in sympathy, and he felt bad for the white lie, but it’s not like the truth would do either of them much good.

She glanced down at the mess of textbooks and stationery on the table in front of them. “Alright.” She conceded. “We’ve probably done enough for today anyway. Maybe we should just go enjoy the rest of our lunch.” 

Percy grinned, not needing to be told twice. He used an arm to messily sweep all the stuff on his side of the table off the edge and into his open backpack, which was sitting on the chair next to him. Annabeth shook her head at him, an exasperated smile playing on her lips as she neatly gathered her own things and put them away in a much more organized fashion.

As they walked out of the library and into the corridor, which was unusually empty, Annabeth glanced at her watch. “Fifteen minutes left. You think everyone’s out on the quad?” 

They pushed a set of double doors open and stepped out into the sun. He raised a hand to shade his eyes. “Seems like it.”

He let her lead the way out along the winding path that cut through the grass. It did feel like their whole grade was outside today. Groups and couples alike dotted the grass, soaking up the warmth of the afternoon sun.

They were approaching the oak tree that they’d unofficially claimed as their own spot freshman year, where some of their other friends were currently lounging around in the shade. 

Grover was sitting up against the trunk of the tree, hand in hand with his girlfriend Juniper, a very sweet girl who Percy had no idea Grover even liked until his friend had excitedly told him he’d finally asked her out earlier that year. They’d been smitten with each other since. 

Across from them, scribbling away in a well-loved sketchbook sat Rachel, a newish friend Percy had made in art class last year who occasionally joined their group. His friendship with Rachel was a little complicated, mostly because a few months ago she’d kissed him.

*

He’d met her the very first week of freshman year, when he was pretty set against attempting to make any more friends in the hell that was high school when he already had his two best friends right there with him. But she seemed interested in his drawings, and eventually he stopped thinking she was secretly a bully and realized she genuinely liked him.

So he’d introduced her to Annabeth and Grover, the latter of which liked her just fine. Annabeth had been a little standoffish, but she’d been like that with Percy at first too, so he never thought too much of it. They seemed perfectly fine with each other now.

But during spring break, Annabeth had (reluctantly) been on vacation with her family, Grover was in a kind of honeymoon phase with Juniper and his only other friend - his next door neighbor, Tyson - was at some science camp. He’d never really hung out with Rachel outside of school before, but she was around a lot and she always seemed to know something new to do in the city, so they’d inevitably ended up hanging out for most of the holidays. 

One evening, he’d walked her home from the subway after they’d visited an interactive museum, and she’d taken him entirely by surprise when she’d kissed him outside her front door.

It wasn’t like he hadn’t noticed that she was objectively pretty cute, or that she was the first girl he’d really ever spent any time alone with apart from Annabeth, but the thought that there might actually be romantic feelings there had never really crossed his mind.

He met her in Central Park for a walk the next day, where he’d tried to get his jumbled thoughts in order. “Look, Rachel, I um… you’re really, really cool, don’t get me wrong, and I love hanging out with you but-”

She’d stopped him with a hand on his arm. “Percy, it’s fine, really. I get it. You just don’t like me like that.” She’d smiled a little sadly. 

“I mean.. It wasn't a bad kiss.” He’d said lamely, apologetic. “I think. I don’t really have much to compare it to.” He added, which was even lamer and more than a little embarrassing.

Rachel had laughed at that. Then her voice went soft, turned serious. “But there’s someone you’d rather be kissing instead anyway, right?” 

Percy had glanced over at her, unsure if there was a correct way to respond to that. “What do you mean?”

“Name begins with the first letter of the alphabet? Ridiculously smart? We probably wouldn’t be hanging out at all if she was around right now?” She prompted, sounding almost bitter.

His stomach flipped. “Are you talking about Annabeth? Because she’s not.. We’re not.. you know… she’s my best friend.” He’d stammered, unconvincingly.

“Percy, come on.”

He’d scuffed at the ground with the worn toes of his shoes. “We are. She doesn’t like me like that. Even if I… even I sometimes wish she did. ” He’d admitted, sounding a little bitter himself.

Rachel didn’t reply. They were approaching the lake, and she nodded towards a bench nearby. They’d sat down and he’d stared out across the water, head reeling.

“I was convinced she did.” She’d said after a while, without looking at him. Percy stared at her in confusion. “I thought the two of you were like, unofficially together when we first met. I kept expecting her to like, pull me aside and ask me to stop flirting with you or something. But it never happened, so I figured I was reading it wrong, and that I might actually have a shot.” She’d smiled ruefully.

Percy had tapped his feet against the ground incessantly, lost in thought. He’d never entertained the thought that Annabeth could return his feelings, not really. And Rachel had just made a good point. If she really liked him too, why wouldn’t she interfere? He was sure he would’ve, if he’d had to sit back and watch one of their friends flirt with Annabeth. He wouldn’t be able to stand it.

So then why couldn’t he just let it go? Why couldn’t he have just kissed Rachel back, asked her on a proper date, ignored the pit of guilt in his stomach that had no right being there?

“I’m sorry, Rachel.” He’d said to her quietly. “I hope I didn’t lead you on or anything. I didn’t mean to. I’m just not really good with this… stuff.”

She’d laughed softly. “It’s okay. You know, I probably could’ve been a lot more upfront about everything, instead of just assuming you’d get the hint.” She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees, bright eyes searching his face. “You know, if you really want my advice Percy, you either need to tell her how you feel, or try and move on. You’ll just make yourself miserable otherwise.” 

Then she’d kissed him on the cheek and got up, telling him she’d see him back at school. It was a little awkward for a while, and everyone else clearly knew something had happened between them, but eventually they’d relaxed back into an easy friendship.

But Percy still hadn’t managed to take her advice.

*

Grover looked up and waved jovially at them as Percy and Annabeth drew nearer, and Percy grinned widely at him, dropping down beside him on the grass. Annabeth sat down next to him, and he tried not to notice how her arm grazed his as she settled down.

“Studying finally got the better of you two?” Grover asked them.

“It got the better of Percy.” Annabeth said wryly, neatly tucking her legs out to the side and tugging at the skirt of her dress discreetly. “I could’ve kept at it.” 

“She’s lying. It was her who was slacking.” Percy said conspiratorially. 

“I highly doubt that.” Rachel deadpanned, catching Annabeth’s eye, and the two girls grinned at each other.

He chose to ignore that interaction, instead asking Grover, Juniper and Rachel about the environmental club the three of them were trying to set up this year.

Percy leant back on one hand, trying to get more comfortable on the grass, and accidentally knocked his shoulder into Annabeth’s. He opened his mouth to apologize, half expecting to get a sharp elbow in the ribs, but she didn’t even move away, just shifted slightly until her shoulder was pressed against his and she was almost leaning into him.

He didn’t dare move, feeling scared to breathe, just barely turning his head to look at her, but she was acting like nothing had happened, nodding along with completely genuine interest at something Juniper was saying. 

She didn’t mean anything by it, clearly, had just decided it was more comfortable to lean against him for some reason. He really shouldn’t freak out over it. They touched each other all the time, and it was entirely platonic. 

Annabeth would touch him lightly on the back whenever she came up behind him, and she always took his hand whenever they were in a crowd so they wouldn’t lose each other. They hugged each other without a second thought every time they hadn’t seen each other in a while, or whenever one of them was having a bad day. When she’d won the science fair (again) last year he’d instinctually kissed the top of her head when she threw her arms round him and at his latest swim meet she’d managed to beat his mom to congratulate him, planting a kiss on his damp cheek and beaming happily at him.

They’d never made a big deal out of it, although his mom was always giving him a knowing look every time he so much as nudged Annabeth in front of her and that kiss on the cheek had elicited a few wolf whistles from the rest of the swim team. But he was pretty sure Annabeth herself would’ve called it a sisterly kiss if anyone ever asked, which was exactly why he never would.

Grover nudged Percy with a sneakered foot, drawing him into the conversation. “So, what’s the plan for tomorrow?” He asked. “What’s happening?”

Percy gave a one-shouldered shrug, careful not to dislodge Annabeth. “Same plan as usual. Show up at mine whenever, we’ll order pizzas around six, bring anything you want to play, bring anyone else you want unless they’ll ruin the vibe.” He looked pointedly at Annabeth.

She huffed with indignation. “I’m not bringing Luke again! And I still think you’re all being dramatic. He’s just a little…competitive.”

“You and Percy are competitive, he’s downright cutthroat .”  Rachel countered.

“He threw a stack of Uno cards at Grover!” Juniper pointed out. Grover winced at the memory.

“You can’t hold people accountable for their actions during that game.” Annabeth protested, without her usual conviction.

“Remember when he kicked me in the throat during Twister? That guy really doesn’t like me.” Percy recalled.

“You know that was an accident. Luke likes you just fine!” Annabeth replied, turning her head slightly to frown at him.

“Even you don’t believe that, Wise Girl.” Percy countered, low enough that he doubted the others could even hear him.

He raised his eyes to hers, and realized with a jolt how close their faces were. Annabeth must’ve come to the same conclusion, because her brown eyes widened, doe like, and she jerked away from him like she’d been burned.

Percy swallowed, hoping that had flown under the others’ radar, but judging from the way Grover and Juniper were looking a little too fascinated by the daisies painted on her nails and Rachel was biting back a knowing smile, there was no such luck.

“Anyway.” Annabeth said, and Percy couldn’t tell if he was imagining the forced nonchalance of her voice. “Luke will not be invited this time, so you can all calm down.”

“Thank God. He’s too old to be hanging out with high schoolers anyway.” Percy mumbled.

“He’s eighteen! He only graduated this summer.” 

“Can we please talk about something other than Luke?” Grover asked, miserably.

The others murmured their assent, but any attempt to change the subject is effectively ruined by the ringing of the bell, and there’s a collective groan among them as they all reluctantly get up from the grass and stretch their legs. 

Annabeth gets up before he does, and holds out a hand to help him up. He grasps her wrist and she gracefully pulls him to his feet. “Thanks.” He said, thumb ghosting over her pulse point as he released her hand. She smiled softly at him, and he wished that he could just keep holding on, could just take her hand in his and intertwine their fingers together whenever and wherever he wanted, just because he could. But he can’t.

Grover tells Percy he’ll see him in calculus, waving goodbye to the others, before he leaves to walk Juniper to class, and Percy stares after them as they walk away with their joined hands and heads bent close together, with no small amount of wistfulness.

“I gotta head to chemistry.” Rachel said quickly, running a hand through her tangled mane of red hair. “I’ll see you guys later!” She turns and leaves before they’ve even said goodbye.

Percy frowned. “Is it just me or does it feel like all of our so-called friends are weirdly eager to get away from us?”

Annabeth sighed. “I think you’re just imagining things, Seaweed Brain. Come on.” She hooks her arm through his and tugs him back towards the school building.

“Hey, what are you doing later?” He asked, as they near her algebra class. His calc is only down the hall. “I think my mom’s making spaghetti tonight” 

“I can’t tonight, sorry. Movie night with Thalia.” She flashed him a regretful smile.

Percy nodded his understanding. Annabeth didn’t like to spend a lot of time at home. Her stepmother was downright awful, her half-brothers barely knew her, and her father was too wrapped up in his work to pay much attention to his daughter. When she was younger, long before Percy met her, the situation was bad enough that she’d ended up in foster care for a while , which was how she met Luke and Thalia. She didn’t really like to talk about it much beyond that.

When they first met, he’d been convinced she was embarrassed to be his friend because he'd never once been invited round her house, even though she’d come over to his apartment plenty of times. He didn’t realize the real reason until he’d mentioned it to Grover one day, who’d known Annabeth much longer than him and knew enough of the story to assure Percy that it was nothing to do with him and everything to do with her less-than-ideal home life.

He’d invited her over whenever he could get away with it after that, which was pretty much all the time because his mom loved having company and she loved Annabeth even more. Percy was half-convinced that if he never got the courage to tell her he loved her, Sally Jackson was going to end up doing it for him.

“Is she coming tomorrow?” He wondered aloud, the thought suddenly occurring to him.

“Of course. I thought that was a given?” 

“I mean, sure. But if she calls me an asshole again she’s losing out on pizza privileges.”

“You were being an asshole though, Percy. It was just Scrabble!”

Percy raised an eyebrow. “You wanna lose them too, Wise Girl?”

Annabeth mock gasped. “Don’t you even think about it. I’ll tell Sally.”

“Snitch.” 

“Asshole.” She retorted as they stopped outside her classroom. “Don’t drown in the pool later.” 

Percy narrowed his eyes at her. “You know, you’ll feel really bad if I actually do.”

She stepped out of the way to let an annoyed-looking classmate into the room. “I’ll write you a beautiful eulogy.” She smiled sweetly over her shoulder at him as she entered the room.

He shook his head at her, grinning like an idiot. He was still smiling dopily when he slid into his seat next to Grover, who took one look at him and asked. “Annabeth?” 

“Don’t start.” Percy grumbled, the smile sliding off his face.

“Thought so.” Grover says smugly, opening his notebook.  “How come I’m the one with a girlfriend but you’re the one who’s always late, huh?”

“Hey, you don’t need to rub it in.”

“And you don’t need to be moping around all the time. You could just tell her.”

“And then I’d still be moping around because Annabeth would get freaked out and wouldn’t want to be friends with me anymore. Which is even worse.” 

Grover sighed sadly.“Annabeth would never not be friends with you, Percy.” He said after a moment’s pause.

Percy didn't get to interrogate that notion because their teacher loudly clears his throat, and then the lesson began and he had to put his entire focus into paying attention to the class.

He was hoping swim practice would take his mind off the whole Annabeth thing, but as he approached the pool he crossed paths with Silena Beauregard, who was heading in the other direction. She was probably the most popular girl in the school, a junior cheerleader who had just recently started dating his friend and teammate, Charles Beckendorf. She was also good friends with Annabeth. So much for a distraction.

“Hi, Percy!” She said brightly when she saw him. “I was just saying bye to Charlie. Did Annabeth tell you we’re coming to your game night tomorrow?”

He greeted her with a genuine smile. It was hard not to like Silena. It would’ve been easy to assume that her kindness was a facade, that her beauty somehow translated to cruelty, but she’d never been anything but nice to him. Percy had also spent the last year listening to Beckendorf whine about how she’d never want to date him, so he felt pretty grateful to her for putting him out of that misery.

“Yeah, she mentioned it. I’m really glad you guys can make it.” 

Silena smiled again. “Me too! You enjoy your practice, Percy. I’ll see you then.”

"Thanks Silena, see you.” 

Beckendorf cheered when Percy finally entered the locker room. He was always the last one there, no matter how much he’d tried to be early. Percy flipped his friend off.

“Your girlfriend is a lot cooler than you, did you know that?” He said in lieu of a greeting.

“Oh, I know. It’s a really nice feeling, by the way. Hope you get to experience it some day.”

Percy glared at him and Beckendorf gave him a thumbs up.

"Nothing new on the Annabeth front by the way.” He told him, lowering his voice. “I keep asking Silena and she keeps telling me it’s not her place and she doesn’t want to interfere. Girl code or something.”

Percy opened his locker and glanced over at his friend. “What exactly have you told her?” He asks, cautious.

“Nothing! Just that I think the two of you would make a cute couple, and we should try and play cupid.” 

He shucked off his jacket and sighed. “I don’t think playing cupid is going to help me out that much, Beckendorf. But I really appreciate it.”

The older boy shrugged. “Can’t hurt to try.”

Yes, it really could. Percy thought, but he didn’t say it out loud.

His mother smacked a noisy kiss on the top of his head when she left for work the next morning, then took Percy’s face in her hands. “Don’t stay up too late, there’s leftovers in the freezer, next door has a key if-”

“Mom, mom.” He interrupted her, taking her hands in his. “I’m sixteen, not six. I can survive a weekend without you.” 

“Hmm. Annabeth and Grover still staying the whole weekend?”

“Of course they are. We were talking about going to the beach tomorrow.”

“Coney Island?”

“Eh, probably Long Beach or something. We’re always at Coney Island.”

Sally smiled. “Sounds nice.” She smoothed down his uncombed hair. “Well, I’ll see you on Sunday. I love you.” 

He kissed her on the cheek and hugged her. “Love you too, mom. Have fun with Paul! But not too much fun.” She rolled her eyes at him, fond, and picked up her bag from by the door, and turned to blow him another kiss. 

“And Percy?” 

“Yeah?”

“If I so much as catch a whiff of alcohol, I swear-”

“Mom! I’m not throwing a party! For the last time.”

She narrowed her eyes and shook her head but called out another. “Love you!” As she walks out the door.

“Love you more!” Percy yelled back as the door shut. 

His phone dinged with a text as he was cleaning up breakfast, and he glanced over to see it lighting up with Annabeth’s name. He dried his hands at lightning speed and swiped at the screen.

Do you want a ride to school? I think I can persuade Thalia.

He smiled softly at the message. They gave each other rides a lot, because neither of them wanted to be stuck in New York traffic for forty minutes alone and everyone else favored public transport.

yes please! 

just tell her she gets the first pick of the pizza order

I’m way ahead of you there, Seaweed Brain. Be ready in ten.

He sent a thumbs up in response, taking a moment to admire the picture he had set as her contact. It was one he took at Coney Island last year, when they were sitting on the pier eating ice cream and she was laughing at some dumb joke he’d made, completely unaware that he was taking photos. She’d snatched his phone out of his hand with a loud noise of protest when she’d noticed, but she’d sent the photo to herself and put it up on her Instagram later, so he counted it as a success. She always looked so beautiful when he caught her off guard.

“Hey.” Annabeth turned in her seat to greet him as he got into the car, smiling brightly. “Morning.”

He smiled back. “Good morning.” Then he met Thalia’s eyes in the front mirror. “Morning, Thalia.” He said, with significantly less enthusiasm. “Thanks for the ride.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Morning, Percy. I’m gonna kick your ass at scrabble tonight.” She said matter-of-factly, starting the engine back up.

“Mean thing to say to a dyslexic guy.” 

“I’m dyslexic too, dipshit.”

“Can you two knock it off?” Annabeth asked, exasperated. Percy couldn’t blame her. It’d been all of two minutes/

“It’s just some friendly shit-talk, Beth.” Thalia said nonchalantly, as they joined the wave of New York traffic cresting through Queens. 

Percy clashed with Thalia a lot, which Annabeth always insisted was because they were too similar, an accusation both of them would emphatically deny. But despite their affinity for being at each other’s throats, he actually liked Thalia. A hell of a lot more than he liked Luke, anyway.

And he knew Thalia liked him too, at least a little, because the second time they’d met she ambushed him when he was coming out of the bathroom and told him that Annabeth could do a lot worse.

Thirteen, confused, and blushing red down to the roots of his hair at the implication, he’d stammered his way through a reply, thanking her but insisting that they weren’t dating or anything, just friends. Thalia was only two years older and quite a few inches shorter than him, even then, but she had piercings and wore a biker jacket and a scowl everywhere and she was clearly very protective of Annabeth. He was a little scared of her.

Thalia had raised a single dark eyebrow at him.  “When did I say anything about dating?” And then she’d slipped past him into the bathroom, and left him standing out in the hallway, baffled and embarrassed.

After that, he knew she must’ve had some inkling of Percy's feelings for Annabeth, like apparently everyone else did, but she’d said nothing about it since then apart from a few cryptic comments. And she clearly hadn’t said anything damning to Annabeth. He was grateful for it.

“How was swim yesterday?” Annabeth asked now, brown eyes bright and attentive.

“Oh, it was fine. Normal…” He couldn’t keep the feigned nonchalance up. “I broke my own record.”

He watched as an excited smile spread over her face. “Seriously? You beat your time?”

“In the 50 meters, yeah. Just about.”

“Percy, that’s brilliant!” She reached out back across the console and took his hand, squeezing it. “I’m so happy for you.”

“Congrats, Seaweed Brain. That’s pretty cool.” Thalia called back.

Percy was too focused on Annabeth to complain about Thalia using that nickname. He just  smiled. “Thanks guys.” 

Annabeth was still holding his hand. He brushed his thumb over her knuckles, and her smile faltered a little, barely noticeable. But she squeezed again before she let go, turning away from him and facing the front of the car again.

His heart was thudding loudly in his ears. He felt like he’d just made a dire mistake. He flexed the hand she’d been holding, could still feel the lingering warmth.

She knows. She must know now, and I’m ruining everything.

None of them spoke for a while, the car silent but for the muffled noise of the city outside and the heavy metal song playing softly through the speakers.

“Hey, Percy?” Thalia said eventually, breaking the growing sense of tension in the car.

“Yeah?” 

“Do you think you could outswim a shark?” 

“What?” Percy asked, bewildered.

She repeated the question. Annabeth let out a long suffering sigh.

“I could totally outswim a shark.” 

“I really don’t think you could.”

“Then why’d you ask?”

“Just making conversation.”

“What type of shark are we talking about, hypothetically? They have varying speeds.” Annabeth said, thoughtful.

“Since when were you a shark expert?” Thalia asked in disbelief.

“It’s Annabeth. She’s an everything expert.” Percy pointed out. His eyes slid over to her. She was trying not to smile.

“Expert at everything.” She corrected him.

“Huh?”

“It’s not grammatically correct. I’m an expert at everything. That’s what you should’ve said.” She was twisting in her seat to face him again.

“So you agree? You think you’re an expert at everything? That’s a little big headed, Wise Girl.”

Annabeth made a frustrated noise in the back of her throat. “You’re the one who said it!”  

“Said what?” Percy replied, feigning innocence.

“You can be really annoying sometimes, do you know that?”

“Hey, kids! We’ve arrived at our destination now, if you care.” Thalia said loudly, interrupting their bickering.

Percy tore his gaze away from Annabeth and grabbed his bag. “Thanks for the ride, mom .” He said sarcastically, and he could see her giving him the finger as he got out of the car. 

Annabeth shut the passenger door behind her and leveled a glare at him, but the corners of her mouth were twitching like she was fighting a smile again. He loved seeing that look on her face. He lived for it. He felt like he could spend the rest of his life trying to make her smile.

“What?” He asked, coyly.

Annabeth just shook her head, warm eyes crinkling at the corners.

A car door slammed loud enough to make both of them jump. Percy looked over to see Thalia leaning on the roof of her car, arms crossed, eyes hidden by a pair of Aviators.

“Are you guys going to homeroom or are you just going to stand next to my car staring at each other all day?” She said, voice flat.

Percy felt himself flushing red. “We were not staring at each other we were just-” He started, but Annabeth beat him to the punch.

“We were just going, Thals.” She said primly, voice a little high. “Come on, Percy.” She turned on her heel and headed towards the front doors without wasting another second, and Percy threw a confused backwards glance at Thalia (now smirking) before he followed her.

He had to jog to catch up to Annabeth. “What the hell was that about?” He asked, panting slightly, and silently praying to every God he could think of that he wasn’t blushing anymore.

Annabeth sighed. She didn’t even glance at him. “She’s just trying to make things weird for no good reason. Ignore her.”

“Ignore Thalia? I’ve been trying to do that the entire time I’ve known her.”

Annabeth made a noise that might’ve been a laugh. They pushed through the front doors, and were immediately enveloped into a tight crush of teenagers. Percy instinctually moved closer to Annabeth and she reached back for his hand. He pulled her close to his side.

Percy wasn’t a big guy by any means, not like some of the hulking monsters on the football team, but he was fairly tall and he’d grown into himself enough now that he didn’t have too much problem shouldering his way through the mass of people. He also had a pretty mean scowl, which meant anyone he jostled a little too hard usually took one look at his face and decided to let it go. And Annabeth was too well liked (and probably too pretty) to really piss anyone off.

Annabeth’s hand was warm and soft in his, and he let go with some reluctance when they finally arrived at their lockers. “I hate Friday mornings.” She muttered, opening her locker. Percy murmured his agreement, and leant against his own locker (conveniently right next to hers), to watch her pull out textbooks and then a travel sized bottle of perfume.

She glanced over at him. “You might wanna close your eyes.”

Percy did as he was told as she spritzed herself a flowery scent filled the air. He didn’t know if it was because of the perfume or the romantic implications, but flowers always made him think of Annabeth. Most things made him think about Annabeth, really, if he was thinking for long enough.

When he opened his eyes again, she was frowning at him in concern, or maybe just confusion. “Where you’d go?”

“Hmm?” 

“It looked like you were falling asleep.” 

“Oh.” Percy shifted on his feet, trying not to think about how much she deserved to find a ridiculously expensive bouquet in her locker every morning. “Well, you know, I’m just catching up on all the sleep I won’t get this weekend.” He joked, changing the subject.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. “You’re the one who always wants to play another round of ‘Would You Rather?’ at 3am when Grover and I can barely keep our eyes open.”

“Hey, you love my ‘Would You Rather?’ questions. You take the time to think about them. It’s actually really..” He trailed off mid sentence.

“Really what?” Annabeth shut her locker and raised her eyebrows at him.

Really cute, is what he was going to say. But he can’t say that. 

“Really nice.” He said instead, awkwardly. 

She stared at him carefully for a moment like she knew he was lying, which she probably did because she knows him better than anyone. Better than himself, probably. But she didn’t push it, just shook her head in amusement and nudged him. “The bell’s about to ring. You should get your stuff.”

Most of the day passed without incident. He has Art with Rachel, English with Grover, History with Annabeth. Mr Blofis, who he knows better as Paul, and is going straight from school to pick up Sally Jackson for a romantic weekend getaway, winked at Percy when they passed in the halls. 

Percy stuttered his way through Spanish alone, but as the final bell rang and he was on his way to dump his books and find Annabeth and Thalia, he got unexpectedly ambushed.

“Percy! Hey dude, wait up.” A deep, vaguely recognisable voice called out.

Percy glanced behind him and saw Connor Stoll jogging down the hall towards him. He slowed his step. Connor was a senior that he played basketball with sometimes and he likes him well enough, but he wouldn’t say they were particularly close.

“Hey, man. What’s up?” Percy asked him amicably.

Connor grinned sheepishly, running a hand through his short, dark hair. “I wanted to ask you something.” 

“Oh. Well, go ahead.”

“I mean, it’s a little awkward.” 

Percy shrugged. “I’m used to awkward conversations.” His curiosity is peaked, but he also has a weird feeling of foreboding in his gut.

Connor hesitated for another moment, and then said quickly. “Are you dating Annabeth?”

Percy stared at him. “I’m sorry?” He asked, sure he misheard the question somehow.

Connor scratched the back of his neck, looking more nervous by the second. “Are you and Annabeth like a uh, couple? Or something?”

Percy’s bad feeling intensified. He should say no. The answer is obviously, no. Instead he answered with his own question. “Why do you want to know?” It comes out a lot harsher than he intended it to, and he winces internally.

Connor raised his hands defensively.  “Just a question, man. Was that a yes?”

Percy looked at the floor and exhaled carefully. “It’s a no, actually. We’re not a couple. Just good friends.”

“Oh, right. I wasn’t really sure. Everyone kept saying you weren’t together but you know, it always seemed to me like there was a vibe there anyway.” 

“Yeah, we get that a lot.” Percy said, voice tight.

“So.. if you’re not dating.. she’s single right?”

Percy shifted his weight from one foot to the other, feeling increasingly more uncomfortable. “Yeah.” He answered stiffly. “She’s single.”

“And you’re not like.. Planning on asking her out, or anything like that? ‘Cause it kinda sounds like you’re thinking about it, man.”

Percy hesitated. No, he isn’t exactly planning on asking Annabeth out, not in any concrete sense. He can’t even decide whether he wants to risk telling her how he feels, let alone ask her if she feels the same way. But he doesn’t want to say that, doesn’t want to completely shut that door for himself, just to open it up for Connor Stoll, who’s taller and older and better looking than him and could probably date any girl he wants. And Annabeth is the girl he wants.

And why wouldn’t she be? Percy isn’t idiotic enough or self-centered enough to think he’s the only one who’s noticed how much of a catch she is. Especially now. She was plenty cute even when they were thirteen, and she’s only become more beautiful with age, grown into her looks and into her confidence too. She’s intelligent and outspoken and funny and unique and a million other positive adjectives he only knows because he’s learnt them from her.

Ethan Nakamura had asked her out two weeks into freshman year. Percy had wanted to punch a wall when she first told him, but instead he did the mature, calm thing and patiently listened to her explain how she really wasn’t interested in dating. It would be a distraction from her studies, she’d said. It would only be worth it if she thought she had a real, genuine connection with someone. He’d wondered briefly then, with a naive flicker of hope, if she could’ve meant him. But it sounded a lot more like she was talking about a hypothetical person she had yet to meet.

She must've told Ethan something similar, and anyone else that questioned her rejection of him, because as far as Percy knew no one else had made a move on her since, at least not at school.

(There was that cool girl with the piercings who asked for her number that one time when they were in Montauk, and he couldn’t really fault her for that, jealous as it made him. Annabeth was a different type of gorgeous whenever they went to the beach. She just glowed .)

But now, here he was, listening to Connor Stoll talk about how much he wanted to date her.

Percy adjusted the strap of his bag on his shoulder. He really didn’t want Connor to ask Annabeth out, and it obviously wasn’t for unselfish reasons. 

It wasn’t because he thought she wasn’t interested in Connor. It was because he was worried she could be.

He was on the school newspaper with her, and Percy had heard her praise his ideas, although she’d complained about his love of pranks. He remembered her choosing him to marry in a game of kiss, marry, kill that one time, which didn’t say much when the other options were two of the more irritating boys at Goode, but still. Maybe she could have that genuine connection she’d talked about  with him. Percy really wouldn’t know. The only crushes they ever really talked about were celebrities, or fictional characters. When he’d told her about Rachel, it was brief and awkward and weird and Annabeth had changed the subject as soon as possible.

He could tell Connor that yes, Percy was going to ask her out. And then he’d either have to actually do it, or live with the knowledge that a guy who clearly liked her knew that Percy liked her too, and was too cowardly to do anything about it. Or he could just tell him no, act like the next question he was probably going to ask didn’t bother him in the slightest, and either stop being a coward or accept the fact that it was just completely out of his hands.

Percy swallowed around a lump in his throat. “No, I’m not going to ask her out. Like I said, we’re just friends.” His voice sounded foreign to his own ears.

Connor seemed to light up at that, standing up straighter. “So, if I asked her out, that would be totally cool with you?”

Percy felt the jealousy fuelled anger he thought he’d been doing a fantastic job of ignoring flaring up in him like a tidal wave threatening to spill over.

“Sure.” His voice sounded foreign to his own ears. “You should go for it.” 

Connor grinned. “Thanks, Percy. Would you be able to like, put in a good word for me? Talk me up to her or something, you know.”

He couldn’t ignore the anger then. He felt like slamming Connor Stoll into the nearest locker, which was a terrible idea, because he actually had a decent track record of not getting into fights at this school. 

Instead of giving into that impulse, he clenched his jaw and said flatly. “Annabeth’s her own person. She either likes you or she doesn’t. I’m not saying shit on your behalf, Connor.” 

The older boy seemed shocked by this. Percy clapped a friendly hand on his shoulder. “Good luck with that, Stoll.”

And then he walked away and went to find his friends. 

Annabeth and Thalia were waiting for him at his locker, and so he did his best to school his features into a calm, normal expression that was totally at odds with how he actually felt. Annabeth lifted a hand in greeting as he drew nearer. Thalia, who was leaning against his locker, pushed off it with one Doc Marten-clad foot and stepped to one side.

“Hey.” He said, overly casual. “Were you waiting long?”

“Not really.” Annabeth said.

“Way too long.” Thalia contradicted.

He frowned, unsure if he should apologize or not.

“Are you okay?” Annabeth asked him, clearly sensing something was off.

“Oh, yeah. I’m fine. Just had a shitty Spanish lesson, that’s all.” He lied, smiling at her reassuringly. He felt like he was lying to her a lot lately. He hated it.

Annabeth smiled back, though she didn’t look entirely convinced.

“You’ll feel better once you beat Annabeth at Uno again.” Thalia said cheerfully, as he unlocked his locker. 

“That was a one off. Beginner’s luck.” Annabeth muttered, combing her braids back out of her face with one hand.

“It happened twice.” Thalia pointed out.

“He cheated the second time.” 

Percy shut his locker. “I did not cheat. You’re just a sore loser.”

“Takes one to know one.” She countered, and she was smiling sarcastically, but she looked so sincerely sweet Percy forgot what he was going to say next and just stared at her like an idiot.

Thalia snapped him out of it when she slung an arm round both him and Annabeth and started dragging them down the hall towards the exit, which was quite impressive seeing as they were both bigger than her.

“We’re going to be late to your own party, Jackson.” 

“It’s not a party, and it doesn’t actually have a set start time, so I don’t get what the rush is. Aren’t you guys going home first anyway?” 

“I am. But she’s an uber organized freak who already has her suitcase in my car, so there’s not much point. You can have her to yourself for a couple hours, Seaweed Brain.” 

“I wish you wouldn’t call me that.” He said to Thalia, ignoring the sentence that preceding that and the way it made his cheeks turn pink. He craned his head to look around her to Annabeth, “You have an actual suitcase? Are you moving in?” He was hoping the joke would distract her from whatever weird psychological game her sister was trying to play with them.

Annabeth peered round Thalia to frown at him. “I didn’t want to forget anything.”

“You live like, twenty minutes away.” 

“That’s besides the point!”

By the time Thalia pulled into the side street by his apartment building, Percy had all but forgotten about his uncomfortable exchange with Connor Stoll, too busy focusing on the fact that he had a whole weekend with his favorite people ahead of him. Specifically his favorite person of all, he thought, with a fluttering in his stomach, as he heaved Annabeth’s suitcase out of the trunk of Thalia’s car.

“Do you have a dead body in this thing?” He grunted, exaggerating its weight in an effort to make her laugh.

Annabeth crossed her arms over her chest and watched him struggle. She wasn’t, but it did look like she was making a conscious effort not to.

“I can carry it myself, you know. If you think you’re not up to it.” She told him.

He shut the trunk of the car. “No way. Feminism isn’t winning today, ladies, sorry!” 

Thalia shook her head in disbelief. “I’m gonna pretend I didn’t hear that, for your own sake.” She ducked back into the car. “I’ll see you two later. If you don’t end up putting him in that suitcase.” She said to Annabeth with a wry grin.

“Hey! It was just a joke. You know how I think feminism actually is really great and-”

But Thalia had already shut the car door behind her and was pulling out back onto the road.

He glanced back at Annabeth, who was finally laughing, and it’s not even because of him, annoyingly enough.

“I’m a feminist! You know I’m a feminist.” He said, weakly. “It was a bad joke!”

“You can prove your dedication to feminism by taking my bag too, Seaweed Brain.” She told him, swinging her school bag off her shoulder and holding it out to him. He sighed, but took it without protest, even though he complained the entire elevator ride up. (“At least I didn’t make you take the stairs.” Annabeth remarked, when he overdramatically huffed as he dropped the bags outside the apartment.) 

“I didn’t think you’d actually do it.” She told him, taking her bag and suitcase from him as he unlocked the door to let them in. “Since when did you become such a pushover?”

I’ve always been a pushover for you, he thinks. I’m just getting worse at hiding it.

“Since Thalia threatened to start calling me a sexist pig over a light hearted joke.”

“She never said she’d do that.”

“It was implied.” 

“You’re an idiot. Can I go stick this in your room? ” She asked, gesturing to the suitcase.

“You can leave it here for a minute. I’ll move it later.”

Annabeth cocked her head, studying him. “Why can’t I just put it there now?”

“No reason! Just you know, you don’t need a drink or anything? I have that lemonade you really like.” 

“It’s a mess, isn’t it? You haven’t tidied up yet.”

He threw his hands up. “In my defense, you didn’t tell me you were coming straight over here. I didn’t think I’d have company right away.”

“I’m not company Percy, it’s just me. I don’t care if it’s messy.”

"Okay but I care that it’s messy. So can you just give me, like, ten minutes?” 

She threw up her hands. “Alright, fine. I’m gonna go raid your games closet.” 

“Can you leave Monopoly in there?” He called after her as she disappeared down the hall.

“Not a chance, Jackson!” She yelled back. 

He swore under his breath and went to tidy his room.

His bed was made as neatly as he’s capable of, there’s no clothes on the floor, and his schoolwork is pushed into a semi-neat pile on his desk. Still, he nearly leapt out his skin when Annabeth rapped on the door as he was sweeping some empty packets of candy into his garbage can.

She leaned, one-shouldered against the door frame, surveying the bedroom. “Well, this looks perfectly fit for human habitation.”

He slotted the garbage can back under his desk. “Glad you approve.”

“You know, I feel kinda bad, kicking you out of your own bed.” 

“Not as bad as I’ll feel if my mom finds out I made you sleep on the floor.” 

“But she doesn’t care if Grover sleeps on the floor?”

“ Grover doesn’t care if Grover sleeps on the floor. You know him, he’ll fall asleep anywhere.”

“True.” 

“Come on. We’ll move your suitcase and then we can get some snacks ready.” He slung an arm around her shoulder to guide her out of his room.

“Did your mom make those blue cookies again?”

“You know she did.”

Annabeth sighed happily. “God bless Sally Jackson.”

“Funny, I’ve been saying that since I first learned how to talk.”

Half an hour later, Grover texted saying he’ll be arriving with Juniper soon, and Percy was glad to have Annabeth there with him to sort everything out. He’d never say it out loud, but every time he has a gathering like this he harbors a secret paranoia that if it doesn’t go perfectly, it will somehow end with all his friends deciding they don’t actually like him that much and completely abandoning him.

But as he watched Annabeth arrange paper plates and cups on his dining room table, he felt like that fear was wholly unnecessary. She’d changed into a Knicks hoodie he lent to her a couple years ago and let her keep, claiming that he was growing out of it anyway. He wasn’t. He’d just thought it looked a lot better on her. He still did.

He deposited an armful of chips bags on the table and she looked up and caught his eye, smiling. 

Everything will go great tonight. Everything will be just fine.

Percy  decides he doesn’t really need to win at Uno. He looks at the single card Annabeth still has in her hand. Looks down at the +4s he has in his own. And he puts down a simple yellow instead. He watches her as he places the card. She has a pretty good poker face, if you don’t know what to look for. But he does. There’s a minute twitch in the corner of her right eye, just before she puts her last card down. 

There’s a loud round of whooping and cheering when she wins, which would’ve annoyed him if it was for anyone else. But it’s Annabeth, so he can’t even be mad about it. He has to hide his grin while he over-dramatically throws down his remaining cards and shrugs off the consolatory pats on the shoulder from his other friends.

“I stand corrected.” Thalia said in amazement. “You actually beat him this time.”

“Told you.” Annabeth smiled smugly at him. “Beginner's luck.” 

Percy raised an eyebrow at her. “You know I’ve still got you 2-1, Wise Girl.”

“Oh,well,  we can always play again later if you’re so determined to keep your lead.” There was a challenge in her voice.

“Have you guys considered that you both might lose next time?” Beckendorf pointed out. Silena nudged him in the side and whispered something in his ear. 

“No.” Percy and Annabeth reply in unison.

“Impossible.” Annabeth declared.

“It’s just not happening, Charles.” Percy added.

Despite his unbearable loss, Percy feels a warm, pleasant buzz in his chest. He’s surrounded by friends, his stomach is full of the best takeaway pizza Queens has to offer, and Annabeth looks like she’s having an even better time than he is. 

And they’ve almost reached eight o’clock without a single serious argument over a game. It's a Jackson game night miracle.

“Can we play Scrabble now?” Juniper asked. Her and Grover were practically sitting on top of each other on his living room floor. Their arms were linked, their hands entwined, her chin on his shoulder.

At least four people groaned, including Percy. But Thalia whooped in agreement and Tyson clapped so loudly it made Grover jump out his skin. Thalia ran over to the pile of games in the corner to purloin the Scrabble board.

Percy groaned again at the sight. “I fucking hate Scrabble.” He muttered darkly to Annabeth, who was sitting to his right.

She patted him on the arm consolingly. “I know you do.” She leaned in conspiratorially, lowering her voice to a whisper. “Should we try and do teams again?” 

“Someone might suggest girls versus boys.” He whispered back.

“By someone you mean Thalia.”

“She’ll want you on her team.”

Annabeth hummed thoughtfully. “Don’t worry. I’ve got an idea.”

When Thalia returns with the board, Annabeth clears her throat and says. “In the interest of fairness, should we do teams again?”

Thalia rolled her eyes. “You always want to do teams.”

Rachel shrugged. “It was more fun with teams. Makes it a little more competitive.”

“Thalia’s just pissed she doesn’t have Luke here to bully us into accepting ‘sus’ as a word.” Percy cut in.

Thalia glared at him. Annabeth hit him lightly on the shoulder.

“Wait, we’re an odd number.” Grover said, suddenly.

“That’s exactly why you should’ve invited Luke.” Thalia grumbled.

Beckendorf raised a hand. “I’ll sit this one out. I suck at Scrabble. I can referee or something, make sure there’s no foul play.”

“Are you sure, Charlie?” Silena asked her boyfriend.

Beckendorf kissed her temple. “Yeah. I’ll make sure your team wins.” Then he glanced over at Annabeth and Thalia, looking nervous. “Kidding.”

“Okay, well, then Beckendorf’s out. And Thalia and I will be the team captains. We can pick our teams.” She looked to Thalia for agreement.

“Why don’t I get to be a team captain?” Percy whispered again, annoyed. 

“Then we wouldn’t be on the same team, Seaweed Brain.” Annabeth whispered back, patiently.

“Oh.” He said, feeling a little stupid.

“I get the first pick.” Thalia said.

Annabeth shrugged. “Sure. Go ahead.”

“Alright then. Everyone up.” Thalia nodded to Annabeth and they went to stand on opposite sides of the sitting room. The rest of them congregated in front of the couch in an awkward attempt at a lineup.

“Who do you want first then, Thals?” Annabeth asked.

Rachel, who’d ended up standing next to Percy, leans over and whispers, “Is it me or does this feel vaguely traumatic?”

He snorted. “I’m getting some very vivid middle school gym flashbacks.”

When he looks back, Thalia is scrutinizing the group carefully and Annabeth is frowning slightly in his direction. He raised an eyebrow, but she just gave the tiniest shake of her head, like Don’t even worry about it.  

“Grover.” Thalia said at last. “Get over here, Goat Boy.” Percy still doesn’t fully understand where that nickname came from. Something about a trip to a farm years before. Or maybe it had something to do with the way Grover’s snoring sometimes sounded a little like a goat bleating.

Grover sighed, looking equal parts relieved and scared, but he squeezed Juniper’s hand and went over to stand with Thalia. “First time I’ve ever been picked first for anything.” He says in bewilderment.

“Percy.” Annabeth said quickly, like t someone might contradict her. He did an exaggerated fist pump and joined her, lightly bumping his shoulder into hers.

“Big surprise there.” Thalia said, slightly under her breath but not quietly enough that the whole room couldn’t still hear it. “What the hell, I’ll take Juniper too.” Juniper ran over to her boyfriend with a squeal of excitement.

Percy gave Thalia a surprised look. “Never took you for such a romantic, Grace.” 

“Oh, you have no idea, Jackson.” She shot back, weirdly threatening.

Annabeth chose Silena next. Thalia picked Tyson. Which left them with Rachel.

“Feeling really wanted right now, guys.” She remarked as she joined Team Annabeth, voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Sorry, Rachel. I had to prioritize.” Annabeth apologized, pragmatically. 

Percy surveyed their group, realizing he’s the only guy.  “Hey, do we get a team name? Because I’d like to suggest Percy’s Angels.”

“Absolutely not.” Annabeth said flatly.

“Not happening.” Rachel seconded.

“I don’t know, it’s kind of cute.” Silena said, contemplatively. 

Percy grinned at her. “Thank you, Silena. Nice to know someone appreciates my ideas.”

Annabeth rolled her eyes, but she seemed amused.. “I’ll appreciate your ideas if you can come up with a good strategy to win this thing.”

Percy cracked his knuckles. “Challenge accepted.”

Percy isn’t quite sure how they actually reached this point, but Scrabble has become as intense as a battle to the death. Tiles are thrown. Insults are hurled with abandon. Friendships and romantic relationships alike are tested. By the time Percy’s Angels (unofficial name, still contested by two of the aforementioned angels) have taken the win, everyone is slightly irritable, and when he dared to try and break the tension with a tentative, “So I’m taking it we’re ready for Monopoly now?” He was met with a series of glares that make him feel like he’s facing down an enemy army.

 Annabeth took a sip of her lemonade and cleared her throat. “Maybe we should take a break? Just… hang out and talk for a while?”

This suggestion is met with a much warmer reception than Percy’s attempt to make a joke. He can’t even be mad about it. It’s just one more good idea to add to the endless list of good ideas Annabeth’s had since he met her. He’s pretty sure he had to stop counting when they were like fourteen.

“Sounds like a plan.” He agreed, getting to his feet. “Anyone want another drink? More snacks?” 

There was a murmur of assent, and Grover offered to give him a hand.

“Next time, you and Annabeth need to be on different teams.” He said to him as he tore open another bag of ready-made popcorn and poured it into a bowl.

“What? Why?” Percy asked as he grabbed a fresh bottle of Coke.

Grover shook his head. “The two of you together...it’s just  too much. Neither of you know when to back down.”

“You never say that when we’re on your team!”

“Yeah, cause I’m not on the receiving end of it!” 

Percy leaned back against the kitchen counter. “You really think we make that good of a team?”

“Obviously you do, Percy. You always have, even when neither of you were willing to admit it.” He said emphatically, voice laced with insinuation.

“Admit what?” Percy asks carefully.

“You know e xactly what.” Grover told him as he left the kitchen, taking the bowl of popcorn with him. Percy just stared after his friend for a moment before he followed.

He left the bottles on the table and shouted to everyone to come grab more snacks, and then he flopped back down on the floor next to Annabeth, who was leaning up against the couch. Everyone else was heading to the table.

“You’re not hungry?” He asked her.

“Not really. I had plenty of pizza. You?” 

Percy shrugged. “I’m the host. Everyone else gets the first pick. Are you sure you don’t want a refill?” He nodded to her half-empty solo cup. 

“I’m fine, Percy, really.” 

“Hey, Percy!” Tyson yelled from the table. He was holding a piece of popcorn in his hand.

“Oh no.” Annabeth mumbled worriedly, scooting away from Percy as fast as she could.

Percy sat up straight and opened his mouth as wide as he could. Tyson threw the popcorn right in. He does it again, successfully, two, three, four times. Cheers follow. It’s one of many useless talents of his, catching popcorn in his mouth, but it always makes everyone crack up. Especially Annabeth. So it’s not entirely without merit.

The violence of the Scrabble game is soon forgotten as they lounge around and fondly recount stories most of them have already heard a million times before, but never stop being entertaining. Details get forgotten and embellished, once humiliating events become hysterical in the haze of nostalgia, and the storytellers find themselves blessed with newfound confidence in their own senses of humor. And sometimes, they forget that not everything can be made unimportant with the passage of time.

It’s Percy’s fault, really, for not taking just two minutes longer in the bathroom.

He walked back into the room as Thalia was midway through telling the tale of how a hike with Luke and Annabeth went disastrously wrong.  She had the room enthralled. Even Annabeth, who was obviously there when it happened, was having trouble keeping a smile off her face. She met Percy’s eyes when he came back, and when it looked like her expression softened even further, he felt like his heart was soaring.

“And you have to understand,” Thalia was saying to the group, “This was when Annabeth was like… what thirteen?” She turned to her friend for confirmation. Annabeth nodded. “And at the time she had this embarrassingly huge crush on Percy for some godforsaken reason-” 

The world slowed down, and a surprised hush fell over the room as Thalia stopped mid sentence, realizing her mistake too late. But Percy wasn’t looking at her. He was looking at Annabeth.

So he noticed the exact moment that gentle smile melted off her face like she’s just been slapped. The way her entire body stiffened like she was waiting for the next blow.

He just felt like someone had just dumped a bucket of ice cold water over his head. His ears were ringing. He was frozen in place, stopped dead in his tracks. He could feel several sets of eyes flicking between him and Annabeth like spectators watching a tennis match.

Thalia was reaching out to Annabeth, clearly trying to apologize, to comfort her. Percy couldn’t make out the exact words. Not that it mattered, because Annabeth flinched away from her touch and scrambled to her feet, looking nothing short of utterly mortified. Silena and Grover were on their feet now too, moving towards her with visible concern, but she avoided them too, slipping away from them with ease. No one else tried to stop her. 

Annabeth pulled up short when she realized Percy was blocking her escape route, and they made eye contact for a single excruciating second. There were visible tears in her eyes, and she was breathing way too fast. It made Percy’s heart drop into his stomach. She inhaled sharply, blinking rapidly, and then she passed him too, giving him a wide berth. But he still felt the air shift as she walked past him. 

Percy found he could move again, then, although he felt a little unsteady on his feet, and he turned around in time to see her disappear into his room, slamming the door behind her with a ferocity that made him jump. He felt torn between running after Annabeth and staying here to yell at Thalia for being so careless.

He could hear the rest of their friends talking behind him in hushed whispers. 

“Is Annabeth okay?” Tyson asked, sounding upset on her behalf. 

“I think she just needs a minute.” Grover told him.

“I should be the one to go after her.” Thalia said, a lot louder than the others, like she’s standing right behind him. “That was just so fucking stupid of me, and I really-”

Percy spun on his heel, the shock and stupid, naive hopefulness giving way to the red hot anger he knew too well. “Haven’t you done enough, Thalia?” He snapped, harshly.

Thalia, for her part, at least looked genuinely remorseful, more vulnerable than he’s ever seen her. She swallowed, looking close to tears herself.

“It doesn’t have to be a big deal, you know? Please don’t make it into a big deal, Percy. You’ll just hurt her more.” She implored him, voice thick.

Percy pressed his mouth into a flat line, but before he can say anything else Silena is walking over, putting herself between them. “You two should stay here. I’m gonna go talk to her. See if she’s okay.” She said decisively.

Percy shook his head. “No, I should go, she’s my-” His voice caught. “It’s my party.” He said instead, uselessly. Silena furrowed her brow, looking like she wanted to argue the point but wasn't sure how to. 

“Are you sure that’s a good idea, Percy?” Rachel interrupted, stepping closer to them. Percy looked at her, half-expecting to see a smug look on her face, but she just looked concerned. 

“I’m not going to stand here and argue about this while Annabeth’s upset. I’m going to check on her.” He said to the room at large, in a tone that brokered no argument.

And so he went.

He inched his bedroom door open slowly. The only light in the room came from the moonlight spilling through the window, which definitely wasn’t open earlier. He shut the door behind him softly, and grabbed a discarded hoodie off the back of his desk chair to stop the wind chill.

A gust lifted the translucent blue curtain, and that’s when he sees her, sitting on the fire escape, arms wrapped around her knees, chin propped on top, hood pulled up over her head. She didn’t turn around as he climbed out the window behind her. He moved slowly, carefully, scared she was going to run away, somehow. When he sat down next to her, he left far more space between them than he usually would.

Percy didn’t say anything for a while, just sat there, silently, listening to the familiar sound of Annabeth’s breathing. Eventually, she lifted her head up just slightly. He could barely see her face under the shadow of the hood, but it looked tear-stained.

“It’s you. Of course it’s you.” She said quietly without anger or relief or any emotion in her voice at all. She wasn’t looking at him

Percy swallowed. His throat felt dry. “I can go, if you want.”

Annabeth sighed, the noise muffled by the sleeves of her hoodie. “It’s your room, Percy. I’m not going to tell you to leave.”

“Technically, it’s a fire escape. So it’s not really mine at all. It’s basically public property.”

She laughed then, thickly and without humor, but she did laugh.  He felt a little lighter at the sound.

Annabeth shifted, finally sitting upright and lifting her head up properly. “I’m gonna kill Thalia.” She told him, in a flat voice.

That makes him laugh. “Not if I beat you to it.”

“You’re not the one she just humiliated.”

“I’d argue she humiliated both of us, technically.” He paused. “But you’re right. I’m really sorry she did that.”

He glanced over at her. She was staring out over the city skyline. “Are you okay, Annabeth?”

She swallowed, her mouth twisting unhappily. “I’ve been better, you?”

“Terrible. I hate upsetting you.” 

“You didn’t upset me, Percy.”

“So then why won’t you look at me?” He said, without thinking.

She did look at him then, but it took him aback, because she looks more angry than upset.

“Why do you think , Seaweed Brain?” It was the first time she’d ever used that nickname like a real insult, venom inflecting her voice, and it feels like being punched in the stomach.

But he just nodded his understanding silently, twisting his fingers into the material of his hoodie.

“Sorry.” She said after a moment, shrinking back. “I know it’s not your fault.” 

That made Percy’s heart hurt. She looked so small.

He shook his head. “Don’t apologize. It’s not yours, either. You have every right to feel angry, or upset, or humiliated, or however you feel right now. And if you need to yell at me, you can yell at me, Annabeth. It’s okay. I can take it.”

“I don’t want to yell at you, though. Not really.”

“Then that’s okay, too. And I really appreciate it.”

Annabeth sighed heavily, allowing him a tiny smile. “You’re being too nice. I feel like this would be easier if you would just go ahead and tease me about it already. I know you must be dying to.”

Percy shifted, leaning back on his hands. “Weirdly enough, I’m actually not. If I acknowledge how embarrassing it is that you liked me when we were thirteen, I have to acknowledge why that’s so embarrassing.”

Annabeth laughed. Her hood fell back from her face, and he could see that she looked almost happy . “Because you were such a nightmare at thirteen?” She teased.

“Bingo. Right as always, Wise Girl. What on earth did you see in me?” 

She looked down, her smile turning shy. “I don’t know. You were just…you, I guess.” 

Percy felt like the air had just shifted around them. The conversation suddenly felt delicate.

“I mean, it was just like-” She started, looking away from him. “All the other boys were just ridiculously annoying and weird, you know? Apart from Grover, obviously.”

Percy raised his eyebrows. “And I wasn’t annoying and weird? Come on, Annabeth, we both know that’s a lie.” 

He felt like he was asking questions he really shouldn’t be asking. But he just couldn't fathom it. The idea that there was a moment in time where she actually did have feelings for him, even if it was just a childish crush. That there was a moment where it wouldn’t have ruined everything if he’d just gathered his courage and told how her eyes sparkled when she laughed and she gave him butterflies every time she touched him or smiled at him or even just looked in his direction.

Annabeth laughed at that, ducking her head. Her eyes looked like they were sparkling now, moonlight dancing off her pupils. “I mean of course you were. You still are, a lot of the time. But so was I, back then. So was everyone. And you were- you were cool, too. And kind. You were never mean if I corrected you, or I knew a word that you didn’t, or I figured something out before you did.” 

Percy just stared at her. There was a lump in his throat.

“And you made me laugh. A lot.” She added, voice soft. “You made me laugh more than anyone else ever could. You still do.”

A silence settled between them, heavy and fragile and significant all at once. He was looking everywhere but her, and he could tell she was doing the exact same thing.

And then, like the idiot he is, he made a joke out of it. “And you thought I was really good-looking too, right? That must’ve been part of it.”

Annabeth glared at him. “I’ve changed my mind, you need to leave.”

He threw his hands up in surrender. “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry. I’m an asshole, I know. You had terrible taste.”

She just pursed her lips and shook her head.

Then something occurred to him, so swiftly and with such violence he knew he was turning bright red at the thought, and he shouldn’t bring it up at all, shouldn't push his luck more than he already has. But God knows he’s never been good at quitting while he’s ahead.

“Were you..” He started and then cleared his throat, keeping his eyes fixed on a hole in his jeans. “Did you like me when…when we played that game of truth or dare?” He asked slowly.

He heard Annabeth inhale sharply. “Seriously?”

Shit. “Sorry, it’s a stupid question it doesn’t even matter and I don’t want to-”

“Of course I liked you then, Seaweed Brain, couldn’t you tell?”

“Oh.” 

She shrugged. “I wanted you to be my first kiss. That’s why I barely protested.”

Oh.  

Percy felt like he’d been dropped into an alternate reality. Or a prank show. Any moment the rest of their friends were gonna emerge from the shadows of his bedroom and start laughing at him for believing this.

He must’ve been shell-shocked and silent for too long, because Annabeth let out an audible groan that snapped him out of his disbelief. Her head was in her hands.

“Annabeth?” He asked, cautiously. 

“I shouldn’t have said that.” She said in a small voice. “Can we pretend like I didn’t say that?”

Fuck. She was upset again. That was the last thing he wanted. 

“Annabeth.” He kept his voice level, calm, like he wasn’t currently losing his mind. Inhaled deeply before he said, “Me too.”

Her head snapped up. “What?”

“You heard me.” 

Annabeth stared at him in disbelief.

“I thought about that kiss for, like, weeks afterward. I wanted it to happen again.” The words came tumbling out in a rush. If he was braver he would’ve told her that he’d actually thought about it for years afterward. That he still did. That he hadn’t gone a single day since without wanting to kiss her again.

But he didn't tell her that part.

“Are you being serious, Percy?” She asked, slowly.

He smiled softly. “As a heart attack. I used to have an embarrassingly huge crush on you too. Pretty much from the day we met. So you shouldn’t be self-conscious at all, really.” 

She kept staring at him for a moment, and then she reached out with one arm and shoved at his shoulder.

“Hey! What was that for?”

“You couldn’t have said this earlier?” She half yelled the question.

“I didn’t really know how to.” He said weakly. “I was just trying to make sure you were okay, not make everything even weirder between us.”

“Weirder? You think it’s weird now?” She said, abruptly, suddenly a lot less angry, her voice a lot softer.

“Well, isn’t it?” He asked, quietly. “Just a little?”

“I don’t know.” Annabeth said slowly. “I really don’t.. I don’t want it to be.”

“Neither do I.”

“Well then. Let’s not make it weird.” She took a deep breath. “I liked you, you liked me. It’s all in the past now. We were kids. It doesn’t have to change anything.” She wasn't looking at him.

“Right.” said Percy, trying to keep his voice steady. “Of course. Nothing has to change.”

Annabeth nods. “Exactly.” Percy found he couldn't quite read her expression.

“So, you’re okay? And we’re okay?” He asked, carefully, searching her face.

“Yeah. Everything’s okay, really. We’re good.” She assured him, with half a smile.

Percy nodded. Then he shuffled towards her slightly, and held out his right arm, like a peace offering. Annabeth stared at him for a moment and then she smiled in understanding, and scooted towards him, closing the distance between them so that he could settle his arm around her.

She relaxed into him, resting her head on his shoulder as he lay his cheek against the top of her head, suddenly feeling a lot calmer. But he feels a little mournful too, like something just slipped through his fingers.

“You know what?” He said, after a moment.

“What?” 

“It’s a good thing we never told each other. Imagine if we’d dated in middle school and then broken up. We probably wouldn’t even be friends right now.”

Annabeth laughed, and he could feel the vibration of it in his very bones. “Or worse, we’d dated and didn’t break up. We’d be one of those insufferable couples who’ve been together for way too long and can't be apart for even five minutes.”

“Imagine that. Thank God I was too scared to tell you I was obsessed with you.” 

She shifted her head to look up at him. “Oh, so you were obsessed with me?” She repeats in amusement, “How embarrassing for you.”

“Don’t start, Chase. You thought I was the cutest guy in school.” He can’t lie, he’s enjoying this now that she’s not upset and it doesn’t seem like it’s going to jeopardize their friendship or make it profoundly obvious that he’s still obsessed with her.

“I never said that!”

“It was implied.” 

Annabeth gave a resigned sigh. “This is exactly why I never told you, Seaweed Brain. I knew you’d be this insufferable.”

“I’ve always been this insufferable. And you’ve always liked me anyway.” 

“Yeah, I always have.” She said, sincerely. Something in her voice made him go still. He felt afraid to move.

A noise behind them made them both start.. Annabeth lifted her head off his shoulder, and just like, the moment was lost. Percy turned to look for the source of the noise, and saw a figure in the darkness of his room. After a moment, they stepped out into the light. 

“Grover?” Annabeth asked.

“Hi.” He said, sheepishly. “Just wanted to see if you guys are okay. And ask if you want everyone to leave.” He addressed that last part to Percy.

“We’re okay.” Annabeth reassured him.

Percy blinked, feeling like he’s just come out of a trance. “What time is it?”

Grover glanced at his watch. “Little past nine thirty.” 

“That’s kind of a lame time to send everyone home.” He looked over at Annabeth. “I can kick Thalia out though, if you want.”

Annabeth smiled ruefully. “Thanks for the offer, but it’s okay. She can stay if she wants.”

“She’s really sorry.” Grover supplied, helpfully. “Like, she’s been pacing round the room for the last fifteen minutes, sorry.”

Annabeth sighed. “I’ll go talk to her.” She got to her feet, brushing dust off her pants, and turned back to look at Percy. “Thank you for not making it weird. We’re okay, right?”

“Of course we are.” He told her, smiling softly. She nodded once, holding his gaze, and then ducked back into his room and headed for the open doorway, giving Grover a quick hug as she went. 

Once she was gone, Grover looked at Percy questioningly. “So does that mean you’re not…?”

“Not what?” Percy said flatly, coming over to the window.

Grover scratched at the back of his neck, uneasy. “I don’t know, when you went after her I guess I thought… you two would end up.. figuring something out.” He said, vaguely.

Percy looked away, back out at the skyline. “We did figure something out. We both liked each other once, but we’re over it now. So we’re staying friends.” 

Grover stared at him incredulously. “Seriously?”

“It’s platonic, Grover. Purely platonic. Can’t we just leave it at that?” He replied, imploring his best friend to drop the subject. 

Grover’s expression turned annoyingly sympathetic. “Do you need a hug too, Percy?”

Percy sighed. “Maybe?”

Grover hugged him.

In the main room, it almost felt like things were back to normal. Annabeth and Thalia were conspicuously absent, but everyone else was just sitting around chatting. Silena and Beckendorf apologetically let him know they’re leaving.

“I like to get an early run in.” Beckendorf tells him. “And we have brunch with Silena’s mom tomorrow.” He looked a little petrified at the thought.

“I need my beauty sleep.” Silena added.

Percy grinned. “No worries. I’m uh, I’m really sorry that it got a little weird there at the end. I swear that doesn’t usually happen.”

Beckendorf shrugged. “It’s okay man. We had a lot of fun, anyway.”

“I’m just glad Annabeth’s okay.” Silena said, stepping forward to hug Percy goodbye. “I hope you guys have a good weekend.”

As Beckendorf hugged him, he whispered “I thought you might be getting somewhere for a minute there, Jackson.”

“Not likely.” Percy whispered back forlornly.

Thalia came back, Annabeth a couple feet behind her, and said she was leaving too, apologizing profusely. “I think that’s the first time you’ve ever said sorry to me for anything.” Percy told her in amazement. 

“Yeah, well, it’s the first time I’ve actually had something to apologize for..” Her tone was laced with regret, as she glanced over to where Annabeth was perched on the loveseat, deep in discussion with Grover and Tyson.  “Look, Percy, I know we don’t always see eye-to-eye, but uh,” She hesitated. “I’m really glad Annabeth has you. You’ve stuck around for her. Not a lot of people have.” 

Percy stared at her. “Thank you?”

Thalia patted him on the shoulder. “She could still do a lot worse, you know.” She said, with a wry smile, then disappeared to say goodbye to the others, leaving him more confused than ever. 

No one really felt like playing any more games tonight, so Percy suggested a movie instead, and the six of them squished onto the couches and a beanbag purloined from Percy’s room, which gets immediately claimed by Tyson. This left Percy sitting between Annabeth and Rachel, which made him feel a little tense, but thirty minutes into the first Shrek movie and he’d completely forgotten why.

The others left at a little after eleven, and Grover went with them, insisting on walking Juniper and Rachel to the subway. While he was gone, Tyson helped them clean up, which Percy was immensely grateful for, because he felt like if he was alone with Annabeth again tonight, he'd say something irrevocably stupid.

But soon enough, Grover was back and Tyson was bear hugging all three of them goodnight. Once he was gone, Percy leant against his front door and breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn’t that he didn’t like his other friends, it was just that Grover and Annabeth felt like home to him. When it was just the three of them, he could be completely himself.

They set up his room while the same playlist they’ve been using since middle school played softly from Percy’s speakers.  Grover flopped onto his back on the air mattress and watched as Percy tried and failed to pull a fresh bottom sheet over the far corner of his bed. 

“Are you going to help me out or what?” 

“You can’t make the bed by yourself? That’s not what you just told Annabeth.” Percy had shooed her out the room to get ready for bed, insisting they could finish up.

“Well, I guess I’m more tired than I thought I was.” 

Grover sighed and made a show of getting to his feet to help, and by the time Annabeth came back they were both sitting on their phones in their pajamas, laughing at the kind of video that only becomes funny past 11pm. 

“What are you laughing at?” She asked, dropping down next to Percy on the bed. She’s wearing shorts, which is a little distracting. 

He looked back to the screen. “Just a stupid cat video.” He told her as Grover tilted the screen towards her. 

Annabeth watched the video obligingly, laughing quietly, then nudged Percy’s arm. “Are we stargazing tonight?”

He grinned. “Of course we are. Hot cocoa?” 

They took their drinks and draped blankets round their shoulders while they huddled together on the fire escape and pointed out constellations. 

“And that’s the North Star?” 

“The bright one? Yeah, Grover, that’s the whole point. You do this every time!” Annabeth told him, a little exasperated. 

“What about that one over there?” 

“That’s a planet.” 

“It’s Neptune, right?” Percy chimed in.

Annabeth looked at him in surprise. “Yeah. You remembered.”

He shrugged. “I like Neptune. A water planet sounds really fun.”

“I don’t think you’d enjoy swimming so much if you had to do it constantly.” Grover pointed out.

“Maybe I wouldn’t even need to swim up there. Maybe there's like, space dolphins for me to ride. Or whale creatures like those things they had in Avatar.”

“I don’t think there’s any life on Neptune, Seaweed Brain.”

“But you can’t be sure right?” 

“You’re ridiculous.” 

“Is anyone else getting cold?” Grover complained, pulling his blanket tighter around his shoulders.

“Why, do you want to cuddle, Grover?” Percy asked over the top of Annabeth’s head. 

She sighed theatrically. “Let’s just go back inside. It’s getting late anyway.” 

When he asked the first Would You Rather? question ten minutes later, Annabeth groaned loudly and said they should really think about trying to sleep, but then she answered it anyway, just like Percy knew she would. He propped his head on his hand and watched her animatedly explaining her choices in detail from his spot on the air mattress. 

He wasn’t sure when he drifted off. One moment he was laughing at Grover’s horrified reaction to the question of whether it’d be better to have hair for teeth or teeth for hair, and the next he was waking up in darkness and the digital clock on his nightstand was telling him it was well past three. Grover was snoring away next to him. Very loudly. Percy sighed, trying to scoot away from the noise. But in his tired state, he forgot that he wasn’t actually on the floor, and before he knew it he’d awkwardly slipped right off the air mattress and onto the carpet with a soft thud.  

Ow.

The snoring doesn't stop though, his friend clearly undisturbed by the noise. But above him, he heard the bed creak.

“Percy?” A tired voice asked. “Are you awake?”

“No.” He said, petulantly. 

The bed creaked again and then Annabeth was leaning out over the side of the bed, the ends of her braids falling around her face like a waterfall. She was almost directly above him, but he could barely make her out. He knew she had a blue scarf on over her hair, but it looked black in the darkness, her features cast in shadow. Not that it mattered, because he knew the contours of her face by heart, could perfectly conjure up the expression of equal parts annoyance and affection she must be wearing right now. 

“Did you fall off the mattress?”

“Does it look like I fell off the mattress?” He whispered as loud as he dared, voice laced with sarcasm. 

“It’s like an inch off the floor, how did you even-”

“I was trying to get away from the noise!”

“ I can’t even get away from the noise, Seaweed Brain!”

“Well, I had to try.”

Annabeth sighed. He could actually see her face now, just barely. Bits and pieces, caught in the moonlight. The slope of her nose, the curve of her lips. The flutter of her eyelashes as she blinks.

“Did I wake you up?” He blurted out quickly, scared she’ll catch him staring. 

“No. That’s all on Goat Boy over there. I’ve been tossing and turning for ages.” 

“Should I kick him?” 

“Don’t you dare. You know how he gets when he doesn’t get enough sleep.” She told him sternly.

Percy groaned, grabbing for his pillow and pushing it up against his left ear to muffle the noise slightly. “Maybe we should just roll him out the room.” 

She sighed again, and then shifted back, sitting up so he could only see her outline in the darkness.  “Come up here.”

“What?” 

“Come and sit on the bed for a minute. Neither of us are getting to sleep anytime soon. We can talk easier if we’re both up here.”

Percy hesitated.

“Just get up here already, Percy.” 

He gave in, partially because he didn’t really have a good counter argument and partially because he really, really wanted to. He took a blanket up with him, leaving Grover with the comforter. 

Annabeth shuffled over closer to the wall, and he settled himself across from her, sitting cross legged near the edge, blanket draped over his shoulders.

“It is a little quieter up here.” He whispers. “You got lucky.”

He could see the white of her teeth flashing in the darkness when she smiled. “You gave me the bed, Seaweed Brain. This is on you.”

“I vote we put Grover on the couch next time.”

“I second that.” 

They sat in silence for a moment, listening to the rhythmic snoring of their friend. It did sound a little like a goat bleating.

“I feel a little bad for Juniper. She doesn’t know what she’s got herself into.” Percy said after a moment 

Annabeth snorted out a laugh, and then clapped a hand over her mouth when she realized how loud the noise was. “Me too.” She said, through her fingers. “Should we warn her?”

“ You should warn her. Isn’t it like, girl code, or something?”

“I don’t think you understand what girl code is.”

“Probably not.” He glanced over at Grover again and lowered his voice even more, just in case. “Do you think they’ll stay together?”

Annabeth leaned in closer to hear him better. “Grover and Juniper?”

“Yeah.”

She paused, looking thoughtful. “I think so. They’re so besotted with each other, I can’t imagine them breaking up.”

“What about college?” 

Annabeth shrugged. “They’ll probably go together. Some liberal arts school on the West Coast or something.”

“And become leaders of the eco-society by the end of their freshman year.”

“And get matching nature-themed tattoos.” 

“Exactly.” 

They grinned at each other.

Then Annabeth’s expression shifted and she furrowed her brow, looking like she was about to say something else, but she hesitated, opening her mouth and then immediately closing it again like she’d thought better of it.

“What?” Percy asked, curiosity peaked.

She shook her head. “Nothing.”  

“Annabeth.” 

She exhaled slowly, and tilted her head back against the headboard until she was looking at the ceiling instead of him. 

“Do you think everything would change? If one of us got into a relationship?” She whispered, and he knew he wasn't imagining the unsteadiness in her voice. He just didn’t know what to make of it.

His ears were ringing faintly again. 

“I uh..” He started, slowly, trying to puzzle out his own thoughts. “I don’t know. Maybe. Some things would have to change, I guess.” He shifted uncomfortably, staring into his lap. “I haven’t really thought about it.”

“Really? Not even when… not even with Rachel?” 

He glanced up at her, surprised. “Rachel?”

Annabeth was looking at him again, but her expression was unreadable. “Well, you almost dated, right?”

“I mean, sure. But that wasn’t-” That wasn’t anything to do with you. He almost said, which would be a blatant lie. “I wasn’t actually going to ask her out or anything. I uh, I don’t really have feelings for her like that.” He was pretty sure he had already told Annabeth that. More than once. 

“But it would’ve changed things, if you had started dating her.” She said slowly. “You know, like we wouldn’t hang out as much anymore. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, Percy, just-”

The implication stung him. “What do you mean? It’s not a bad thing if we don’t hang out anymore?” He asked, cutting her off, unable to conceal the hurt in his voice.

“That’s not what I said.”

“Well, that’s what it sounded like!” 

Annabeth suddenly held up a hand, shushing him, and he opened his mouth to argue again, annoyed, when he suddenly heard it too. The silence. 

Grover wasn’t snoring away anymore.

Percy sucked in a sharp breath. Any moment Grover was going to wake up and start complaining about his beauty sleep being disturbed by their bickering. He was sure of it.

But after a minute or two, he started snoring again. Percy glanced over at Annabeth, who was still holding up a hand. She let it drop, and then turned to scowl at him.

Sorry. He mouthed.

“Me too.” She mumbled, wrapping her arms around her knees, suddenly looking very apologetic.  

Percy watched her, chewing at the inside of his cheek contemplatively. “For the record,” He started. She glanced up at him. “I would never hang out with you any less just because I had a girlfriend or a boyfriend or whatever. I’d find the time. Ditch my homework or something, I don’t know. I’d make it work.”

Annabeth smiled softly. “That’s sweet, but we really need to work on your time management, Seaweed Brain. I wouldn’t need to avoid schoolwork to make time for you.” There’s butterflies in his stomach again. “And a boyfriend, or girlfriend, or whatever.” She added quickly, echoing the sentiment.

That made him remember something that soured his mood. “On the topic of us dating, actually, there’s something I should probably tell you.”

He looked up, and found Annabeth sitting stock still, eyes wide. He realized his mistake. “Oh I didn’t mean- not like that, not like us dating each other but like, the two of us dating. Just…in general. With other people.” He fumbled lamely, heart pounding in his ears. He was sure he must be turning red again.

“Oh.” Annabeth said, slowly.

Percy ran a hand through his hair,  feeling very stupid again. “Connor likes you.” he said flatly. “He told me at school today- well, yesterday now, I guess.”

Annabeth was staring at him in confusion. “Connor likes me? Like Connor Connor, Connor Stoll? From the newspaper? Travis’ brother?”

“Yeah, that Connor. He’s going to ask you out.”

Annabeth blinked at him. “Huh.” 

Shouldn’t she be happier about this? Or at least a little more affected? Wasn’t she just unsubtly trying to let Percy know she wasn’t going to let their close friendship or that whole crush incident earlier get in the way of her finding someone else? That’s what it had felt like, anyway. But she reacted like he’d just told her a mildly interesting fact.

He raised his eyebrows at her. So?

Annabeth frowned, tilting her head to one side.. “Why was he even telling you? He must’ve known you would tell before he had a chance to talk to me.”

Percy exhaled slowly. ”He wanted to make sure that uh, that you were single. He thought the two of us might be a couple, or… something.” He was trying to seem nonchalant, but it didn’t feel like it was working.

“Why would he think that?” She asked, in a low voice.

Percy found he couldn't look at her. “I don’t know. Maybe he heard about you being deeply in love with me when we were thirteen.” The joke has no real humor in it. “That’s enough to make any guy wonder.”

He was being a little petty now, he knows, but he can’t help it. The green eyed-monster has its teeth in him.

Annabeth didn't laugh, and she didn't berate him either. She just crossed her arms over her chest. “So it was some weird bro code thing?” She asked, in a strained voice.

“I guess.” 

“So you told him I was single.”

"Yeah.. should I, uh, should I’ve said something different? Told him to leave you alone or something?”

“No, of course not.” She says quickly. Her voice sounded.. off. “Why would you say anything different? He never should’ve involved you in the first place.”

“Right, yeah. Of course.” He watched her for a moment. She was staring out the window, her expression seeming somewhere between irritated and pensive.

“What will you say?” He asked, masochistically. He’s not sure he can bear to hear the answer.

She looked  down. “I don’t really know. I, um.. I don’t even know if I like him like that.” She didn’t elaborate, and he didn’t know what else to say. Their entire last five minutes of conversation had felt like the emotional equivalent of getting burned by hot oil. 

He found himself looking over at a photo tacked up on the other side of the room, above his desk. It was a Polaroid of the two of them with Grover, taken by his mom at their cabin in Montauk a couple months back. They were sitting on a picnic blanket out on the beach at sunset, drinking lemonade. Sally had taken a couple photos where they’d been posing more deliberately, but this one was a candid where they’d been totally caught off guard. Grover and Annabeth are staring out at the horizon, laughing, their profiles turned to the camera. Percy’s just staring at Annabeth. He looks so content, suntanned and wearing a lazy smile. It was one of the only photos of him he really liked.

It brought a smile to his face even now.

“It’s getting late. We should probably try and get some sleep.” Annabeth said eventually. “Or try to, at least. He seems a lot quieter now.” 

He looked away from the picture and nodded, lazily. She was right, of course. His eyes were drooping. And he didn’t really want to talk anymore. Not about this.

But when he goes to get off the bed, she suddenly leaned forward and stopped him with a hand on his arm. 

“Percy, wait.” 

He stared at her hand on his arm. “Yeah?” 

Annabeth swallowed. She looked conflicted. Whatever she was going to say, he realized, she’d decided not to say it now. Her hand fell away. “Nothing. Don’t worry about it. Goodnight, Percy.” She smiles, but it’s tinged with sadness and he can’t understand why.

His eyes searched her face. For what exactly, he’s not sure. But whatever it was, he didn't find it. 

“Goodnight, Annabeth.” 

Percy was the last to wake up that morning. It was past nine, and the smell of pancakes wafted through the apartment. He dragged himself off the mattress, pulled on a hoodie and walked to the bathroom, rubbing sleep from his eyes. 

He almost walked smack into Annabeth as she was coming out. “Look what the cat dragged in.” She said in greeting, grinning smugly.

She was wearing denim cutoffs and smelled faintly of citrus. He wasn’t awake enough to process her looking as pretty as she did, and he found himself totally unable to formulate an acceptable response, and so he just stared at her blankly.

She raised her eyebrows. “Are you awake enough for breakfast, Seaweed Brain?” 

He grunted noncommittally. “I don’t know. Hungry enough, maybe.” 

Annabeth gave him a one-sided smile and stepped in closer to him, reaching out to tug at one of his curls, which he imagined were currently all over the place. “You need to comb your hair.” She told him, casual. He can feel his pulse speeding up at their proximity.

“I know. Bedhead.” When he met her eyes, she dropped her hand and smiled again. Then she was  walking past him towards the kitchen, and he found that he suddenly felt wide awake.

He found Grover in the kitchen, dishing up pancakes onto three plates. “Morning, sleepyhead. Where’s your maple syrup?”

Percy reached past him to open one of the kitchen cupboards. “Right here.”

“Thanks. Annabeth said I kept you up last night.”

“Yeah, you did. As usual.”

“Sorry.” he said, not really sounding it. “What did you guys talk about?”

Percy shrugged. “Nothing much, just, you know, life.” 

Grover squinted at him. “Sure.” He shoved a plate and the bottle of syrup at him. “Come on. I’m starving.”

Annabeth was sitting at the table, frowning at something on her phone. “Thanks.” She said looking up when Grover put a plate in front of her.  “Do you think we’ll be ready to leave by ten?”

Percy reached for the syrup. “Sure.” 

"You know your hair’s still a mess right?” 

“I combed it.”

“You need to comb it again.” Grover said which makes Percy feel a little like he’s being ganged up on.

He self-consciously touched his hair. “It’s only going to get wet anyway. You two are worse than my mother.”

“Hey! Don’t disrespect Sally like that!” Grover admonished. 

“I’m not!”

“What are you doing to your pancakes?” Annabeth cut in, sounding a little disgusted.

Percy glanced down at his plate. “Putting syrup on them?”

“You’re drowning them.”

“You can’t drown pancakes, Annabeth. They don’t breathe.”

“They look like they’re being drowned to me.”

Percy poured even more syrup onto his pancakes, holding eye contact with her the whole time. Just to make a point.

Annabeth shook her head at him, and glanced at her watch. “You know if you’re not ready to go, we’re leaving without you.”

“And how exactly are you going to do that? I’m the one with the car.”

She put her fork down and leaned forward, wearing a smug smile. “I’ll steal your keys while you’re still trying to fix your hair.”

“I thought you wanted me to fix my hair.”

“I also want you to be ready on time, Seaweed Brain.” She said with an air of finality, taking her plate and disappearing into the kitchen. 

He watched her go, trying not to think about how much he’d wanted to wipe that smug look off her face by leaning across the table and pressing his lips to hers.

“I think we should go to Lido Beach.” Annabeth said in the car forty minutes later, as they drove by JFK. She was riding shotgun, one leg pulled up onto the seat, sunglasses perched on top of her head. He’s not sure, and he doesn’t want to ask, but he thinks she’s wearing a little more makeup than usual. Her lips look really shiny. Kissable. But he’s trying not to think about that, keeping his eyes firmly on the road.

“That’s a good idea.” Grover piped up from the backseat. “We could get soft serve.”

“Ice cream at the beach, what a revolutionary idea.” Percy muttered.

Annabeth gave him a look. “What’s with the attitude?” 

“Didn’t get enough sleep.”

“That’s my bad.” Grover said, sheepishly. “I’ll buy you the ice cream?” 

“It’s a deal.” 

Annabeth just rolled her eyes and turned up the music, some decade old indie rock song that he loved to drive to. He didn’t think she’d liked it that much. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as she turned away from him, looking out the window. But he could still tell she’s singing along, and it made him smile.

Annabeth refused to come swimming with them. 

“I don’t want to get my hair wet.” She told him, pulling a hefty book out of her tote bag. “You guys go, I’ll watch our stuff.”

Percy pouted. “You’d rather read your book than hang out with us.”

She shot him an irritated look. “Stop making that face and go show off your future Olympic swimmer skills.”

“You don’t need to show off any skills.” Grover said, sounding a little panicked. “I really don’t want to go out that far.”

“We won’t go out that far.” Percy promised him, “Come on, before the sun goes in again.”

“I’m sure she’ll go into the shallows with you later.” Grover told him as they headed for the water. “If you ask her to.”

Percy made a non-committal noise. “Maybe.” 

Grover started complaining the minute they started walking into the surf, and Percy can’t really blame him. The water’s a little cold, and the weather’s not quite hot enough to make up for it. But Percy doesn’t care. He walked in until the water was up to his waist and then dived right in.

“You're insane!” Grover called out to him as he resurfaced. He was barely up to his knees, and he was shivering.

“It’s fine once your shoulders are under!” He called back, swimming out a little further. 

Grover did join him, eventually, and they both turned back towards the beach, admiring how far out they’d come. They spotted Annabeth, who appeared laser-focused on her book. But after a moment she looked up, like she could feel their gazes on her, and she lifted a hand in greeting, smiling widely.

They waved back. 

When they got back to the beach, Annabeth had enough foresight to put her book away before Percy walked up and started shaking his wet hair in her direction like a badly behaved dog. She threw his towel at him and called him an asshole, but she was laughing the whole time.

“You’re coming in with me next.” He tells her once he’s dried off a little, sitting down on his towel.

“I already said I don’t-”

“You don’t have to actually swim , Wise Girl. We’ll stay in the shallows. Your hair will stay bone dry, I swear.”

“Maybe after lunch.”

He held her to it. Thirty minutes after they’ve polished off some hot dogs (or veggie dogs, in Grover’s case) and not a moment sooner (Annabeth takes the no swimming right after you’ve eaten policy very seriously) she followed him down to the sea, pulling her braids up into a bun as they walked down the beach/

Percy couldn’t resist splashing her the moment they reached the water. She splashed him back, violently, and he countered immediately, and soon enough they were in an all out war, laughing and shrieking with delight as they retreated further and further from the sand. After a few minutes Percy let up, raising his hands in a gesture of surrender. 

“Loser.” Annabeth said victoriously, flicking more water at him as he was bent double trying to catch his breath. 

“Sore winner.” He stood back up, looking over the water and then back to Annabeth. “You wanna go any further in?”

She glanced down. The water’s barely up to his calves, but she’s a lot shorter than he is, and it’s already up to her knees. Dangerously close to the bottom of her jean shorts. She looked back up at him and smiled ruefully. “Don’t think I can.”

Percy ran a hand through his damp hair. “I mean, if you don’t want to get wet, I could just like, give you a piggyback, or something.”

Annabeth raised a dark eyebrow. “The last time you did that, you fell over. And that was on solid ground. Remember?”

Percy winced at the memory. It was at a park by Annabeth’s house, spring of eighth grade. They’d sworn they could win a race against Thalia and Grover, and they had. Percy had just immediately lost his balance and sent them both sprawling on the grass right after they’d crossed the imaginary finish line.

“Okay, that’s fair. But you know, I’m actually a lot more-” He trailed off, because Annabeth isn’t paying attention to him. She’s distracted by something back on the beach.

“What?” Percy asked, stepping closer to her and trying to follow her gaze. “Has Grover been kidnapped or something?” He squinted towards the stretch of beach they’d claimed, searching for their friend. But nope, there was Grover, lying back on his beach towel and sipping at a can of Coke, looking relaxed as ever.

Annabeth turned back to him. “Those girls over there were checking you out.” She said, casually, like she was observing the weather.. 

He felt his eyebrows knitting together in confusion. “Come again?”

“To the left of Grover. Under the yellow umbrella. Don’t make it obvious.”

Percy scanned the beach until he spotted the umbrella. There they were. Two girls, probably around their age, one brunette and one blonde. They were giggling behind cupped hands in a way that reminded him uncomfortably of being made fun of in school. He glanced away quickly when he saw them looking back in his direction.

“How do you know they’re not checking you out?” He asked Annabeth, feeling oddly defensive.

She snorted. “Because they were staring daggers at me and gawking at you.”

“Oh. What’s their problem with you?” He asked which must be an extraordinarily stupid question, judging from the way Annabeth is looking at him.

“Just that I'm with you. They probably think I’m your girlfriend.”

He snuck a look back at the girls, and invariably made eye contact with one of them, which made him turn bright red and immediately look away again. 

“You should go talk to them.” Annabeth is looking out at the sea instead of him, and he can’t gauge whether she’s being completely serious or not.

“Why?” He asked, carefully.

Her eyes snapped back to him. “Why not? They’re obviously interested in you.” She sounded almost annoyed now, like he was being difficult for no reason.

Percy pushed a clump of wet hair back out of his face, desperate for something to do with hands. “I don’t know, I just…”

“What, you don’t think they’re pretty or something?” 

He could feel himself going red again. “Uh yeah, sure. But a lot of girls are pretty, and that doesn’t mean I have to date them. I mean you’re really pretty, and we’re not dating.” 

She was staring at him now, eyes wide, and he realized he’d said far too much. Or maybe far too little. He wanted to kick himself. What happened to subtlety, Jackson?

“What, you don’t think I’m pretty too?” He asked, in mock offense, hoping the joke will distract her from the compliment.

Annabeth stops staring, a reluctant smile playing at the corners of her mouth.

Which means it worked.

“You’re ridiculous.” She kicked water up at him. “Come on, let’s head back to the beach, pretty boy .” She laughed at the look on his face, and began to pick her way back through the shallows.

Pretty boy? 

Now he was the one left gaping after her. He stared down at his bemused expression in the water for a moment, distorted by the light waves rolling through, before he followed in her wake.

Back on the shore, they made attempts at building sandcastles with Grover, and Percy became profoundly aware of how difficult it is to actively avoid looking at Annabeth. He does it more often than he realized. It feels like a bad habit he can’t break. But he’s just too nervous to look her in the eyes right now.

Admitting he liked her when they were younger is one thing. Admitting that he thinks she’s pretty now, today, even though anyone with a functioning set of eyes would say the same thing, is something else entirely. And that ‘pretty boy’ comment? What the hell was that? Was she just making fun of him? Or was she actually flirting with him? He wanted to pull Grover aside and ask for his advice, but he didn't know how to do that discreetly. Annabeth would definitely put two and two together. 

After their latest creation crumbled, Annabeth sank back down onto her towel, defeated. She looked over at the boys. “Hey, should we go for a walk along the beach?” 

Grover looked between Percy and Annabeth, and his expression shifts like he’s just caught onto something. “You know, that sounds really nice but I was thinking of trying to Facetime Juniper. But you two should go if you want !” He told her cheerfully. 

“Percy?” Annabeth asked, voice sounding oddly high.

“Yeah, I’ll come with you. Of course. Give me a minute ” He pulled his shirt back on and grabbed a can of Coke.

He turned back to look at Grover as they were walking away, and his friend gave him a wink and a thumbs up, which is a little disconcerting, because Grover can’t really wink properly, and it just looked a little like his face is spasming.

“Don’t worry.” Annabeth told him when she noticed him anxiously searching the beach ahead of them. “Your admirers were in the other direction.”

He laughed awkwardly. “Right, yeah. That could be weird.” He struggled to find something else to say, which feels wrong. She was usually so easy to talk to. “But who knows, maybe we’ll run into Connor Stoll instead.” If she’s teasing him, he’ll tease her right back.

Behind her sunglasses, he could tell she was rolling her eyes. “You’d just love that, wouldn’t you?” 

He frowned, confused. “Would I?” 

“You want to see me embarrass myself.”

“Wait, why would you embarrass yourself?” Percy asked, confusion growing.

Wait.

“Do you… do you really like him?” He spoke slowly, trying to keep the jealousy out of his voice. They were reaching a quieter section of the beach now, the noise of the crowds behind them growing fainter with every step. 

Annabeth stared down at the sand. “I don’t know. But maybe I could, if I spent some more time with him. Isn’t that the whole point of dating someone?”

“I thought dating would be a distraction from school.” He said, warily.

She shrugged. “Like I said last night, I think I could probably handle it now. If someone was really worth it.”

He didn’t know how to respond to that, and they walked on in silence for a while. Eventually,  Annabeth nudged him so he stopped walking. “Should we sit for a while?” She suggested indicating a spot up on the grassy dunes.

Percy nodded, scared to use his voice. He sat down next to her on the sand, stretching his legs out in front of him. He waited for her to say something, but she remained quiet.

Which left it to him.

“So.” He started, throat feeling dry. “Hypothetically, if Connor was here right now, and he asked you out on a date, what would you say?” This is it, he thinks. If she says yes, he’ll give up entirely. He’ll back off. He’ll try to let her go. 

He’ll move on.

Annabeth turned to look at him. Thankfully she’d taken her sunglasses off now, so at least he could see her eyes. When she swallowed, he watched the bob of her throat. 

She almost looked as nervous as he felt when she asked, “What would you want me to say, Percy?”

It felt like an invitation. It felt like a glimmer of possibility. It felt like blind hope. “No.” He answered quickly, before he could overthink it. “I’d want you to say no.”

“Why?” She asked quietly. “Because it would change everything?”

He could hear his own heart beating at a pace that felt far too fast to be safe. There was sand on Annabeth’s cheek, just below her right eye. He didn’t know where the sudden burst of confidence came from, but it was enough to make him reach out to gently wipe it away with his thumb.

“No, that’s not why.” He said, without taking his hand from her cheek. 

She inhaled sharply, and suddenly he was keenly aware of how close they were, how small the distance between them was. How easy it would be to just lean forward and kiss her.

Annabeth was covering his hand with her own, and moving impossibly closer; and he could smell flowers and citrus and count the shades of brown in her eyes and he was almost certain this was a dream he’s about to wake up from.

And then his phone rang.

They jumped apart like they’d just been electrocuted. 

“Sorry, sorry I just-” He stammered awkwardly, pulling his phone out of his pocket to see his mom’s face lighting up the screen. Goddamnit mom, could your timing be any worse? “It’s my mom, so..” He told Annabeth, apologetically. 

She nodded, moving away from him and pushing her hair behind her ears, not meeting his eyes.

He glanced at her anxiously, and then he picked up the call. 

“Hi, darling.” His mom’s face took up most of the screen, and she was grinning widely. “How’s it going?”

“Hi, mom. It’s going great!” He’s pretty sure his voice cracks halfway through the word ‘great’.

“Are you at the beach?” She asked, leaning in closer to the screen. “It looks like you’re at the beach.”

He switched the camera around so she could see the ocean. “Yeah, we’re at Lido. Did a little swimming earlier.” 

“Of course you did. And your little party last night? That all went okay?” 

He thought about Annabeth leaving the room in tears. “Yeah, it went fine.” Not a complete lie. “We had a really good time.” 

“That’s nice to hear. Now, where’s Annabeth and Grover? I want to say hi.” 

He looked over at Annabeth. “Annabeth’s just here, we went for a walk down the beach. Left Grover with our stuff.” 

Annabeth obligingly moved closer to him, although she did so reluctantly, and he tilted the phone towards her. 

“Hi Sally!” her voice sounded a little off, but only because he knows to listen for it.

Percy let her take the phone for a minute, so she could reassure his mom that yes, Percy has been a perfectly good host and yes, no one touched a single drop of alcohol last night, she made sure of it. He took the phone back and Annabeth moved away again, and then he chatted to his mom about her trip for a while; and Paul appeared in the background to bombard him with more questions, and when he turned to ask Annabeth if she wanted to say goodbye she wasn't there. 

He sputtered out an excuse and hurried his own goodbye, and then he scrambled to his feet to look for Annabeth. He found her standing at the edge of the surf, looking entirely lost in thought. She’d taken her hair down, and the ocean breeze was lifting her braids. 

“Annabeth?” He called, carefully.

She turned to face him, pushing her hair out of her face, which was set in a perfectly blank mask of indifference. “Everything okay with your mom?” She asked, casually, like absolutely nothing out of the ordinary has happened.

He tucked his hands into the pockets of his swim shorts. “Yeah, they’re all good. You wanna head back?” He said, trying to match her nonchalant tone.

She nodded. “We should probably call it a day soon anyway.” 

They walked back in a silence that felt somewhere in between wildly uncomfortable and entirely normal. Percy felt too scared to speak, like he’d be breaking a spell. 

If Grover noticed the tension between them, he didn’t show it, leaping to his feet at the sight of them and insisting they need to go get that ice cream now . All the way to the dessert shop and back to the car, and on the drive home, they let Grover lead the conversation, barely speaking directly to each other unless they have no choice. It all feels alarmingly reminiscent of that car ride home two and a half years ago, the first time they’d kissed. The only time they’d kissed, he reminded himself, stomach flipping at the thought.

Back at the apartment, Annabeth claimed the first shower, and Percy sank onto the couch with a loud groan the minute she left the room, head in his hands.

Grover sat next to him, quiet, clearly waiting for his friend to speak. 

“I think I fucked up.” Percy said, at last, lifting his head.

“Why? What’d you do?”

“I tried to kiss her.” Percy tried not to wince at the admission, glancing nervously towards the bathroom like Annabeth was going to storm out here and yell at him for saying it aloud.

Grover raised his eyebrows, but he didn't look entirely surprised. “Tried like she pushed you away or-”

“Tried like we got interrupted and now it’s all weird and awkward and I feel like I totally misread the situation and I’ve ruined everything and she hates me.” The words spill out in a stream of painful honesty. 

“Percy.” Grover said carefully, “I know it’s a little awkward right now, and I don’t know exactly what happened, but I’m pretty sure you haven’t ruined everything and I know for a fact that Annabeth doesn’t hate you.”

Percy let his head flop back against the couch. “How can you be so sure?”

Grover shrugged. “You’re one of the most important people in her life. I meant it, you know, when I said she’d never not be your friend. I think you’d have to do a lot worse than that to make her hate you.”

“But what if she just thinks of me as a friend? What if she didn’t want to kiss me at all?”

“Percy, come on. This is Annabeth we’re talking about. If she really didn’t want to kiss you, she’d make sure you knew it.”

That was actually a pretty good point. But it didn’t do much to improve his mood.

Grover took the next shower, giving Percy a pointed look as he left. But Annabeth didn’t even join him on the couch, just stayed where she was, in the doorway looking lost.

“Do you wanna sit down?” He asked, the question coming out oddly formal.

“Oh, yeah. Of course.” She left a whole seat in between them when she sat down, which is a little hurtful, but not entirely surprising. 

Percy jiggled his knee nervously, unable to sit still. “So, um-” He started, but Annabeth interrupted him.

“Should we watch something? An episode of New Girl, maybe?”

He blinks at her, taken aback, but recovers quickly. “Sure. But only if you’re putting on the back-”

“The background check episode? Way ahead of you.” They grinned at each other, and for a moment it feels like nothing has happened at all, like everything’s completely fine and normal. And he felt himself relax slightly. 

When Grover came back, they were both almost in tears from laughing so hard, and Percy was reluctant to move. Without knowing he was doing it, he’d gravitated towards Annabeth, and now they were sitting close, knees knocking and arms brushing every time they laughed.

Grover looked between them and the TV, mouth open in horror. “You’re watching Background Check without me?”

Annabeth wiped at her eyes. “Sorry, sorry! I’ll rewind it, I swear!” And then she promptly dissolved back into giggles, which set Percy off too. He was still grinning to himself when he stepped into the shower, and he only remembered that everything is not totally fine and normal when he watches stray sand particles spiraling down the drain and remembered how he’d brushed some off Annabeth’s face right before he’d-

Nope. Not going there. Not dealing with that right now.

For the rest of the day, they seem to settle into a sort of unspoken truce where they act like nothing's happened, even though all three of them can all feel the awareness of it hanging over their heads like a particularly heavy rain cloud.

They watched too many episodes of New Girl, heated up a leftover chicken dish for dinner, put on a ridiculously cliche horror movie that had Grover hiding behind a pillow and the other two relentlessly teasing him for it, and then they were in bed by eleven and playing yet another game of Would You Rather? until they were too tired to talk anymore.

Percy had trouble sleeping that night, and he can tell Annabeth did too. He could hear her tossing and turning, and they both knew it wasn't just because of Grover’s snoring. But he didn’t say anything, didn’t try to start up a conversation, didn't try to broach the subject they’ve both been avoiding, and neither did she. And eventually sleep comes, in fits and spurts.

In the morning they ate a late breakfast of French toast and fresh fruit in companionable silence. When she was finished with her food, Annabeth took a careful sip of orange juice and then clears her throat loudly.

Percy’s head snapped towards her so quickly it hurt his neck.

“I think I’m going to head home soon.” 

That familiar sinking feeling was emerging in his gut again. “You’re not staying for lunch? I thought that we were going to study together.” He was trying to keep his voice neutral and he was pretty sure it’s not working.

Annabeth glanced up at him, a flash of what looked like guilt passing over her face. “I know, but I um, I think I might be a little more productive…on my own.”

Percy nodded. Message received, loud and clear. He’s not actually a complete idiot. He can read between the lines. “Oh, right, yeah. I get that. Of course. You should leave whenever you want.” The conversation feels stilted, awkward. Like they’re near strangers, not two friends who’ve known each other for going on four years.

“I’ll stay for lunch.” Grover interjected. “And studying. You’re better at history than me.” He smiled at Percy. 

“Thanks, G-Man.”

Grover got up from his chair, squeezing Percy’s shoulder as he reached for his empty plate with his other hand. “I’ll start cleaning up.”

Which left Percy and Annabeth alone again. Probably on purpose, knowing Grover.

Percy cleared his throat, ready to say what exactly, he’s not sure but Annabeth is getting up too now, pushing her chair away from the table abruptly.

“I should go pack.” She said, quickly. “Make sure I haven’t forgotten anything.”

He blinked at her. “I mean, sure, but it’s not a problem if you do. I can just give it to you tomorrow.”

She laughed, awkwardly. “Right, yeah. Of course. Thanks.”

Percy felt like he’d done something wrong for what must be the twentieth time in the past 72 hours. 

“Annabeth.” He called out, hesitantly, before she could walk away. 

She paused. “Yeah?” 

He wavered, suddenly unsure of himself again. “Are we… are we okay?”

Something flitted over Annabeth’s face, so brief that you wouldn’t have even noticed if you didn’t know to look for it. But he was always looking.

But then she just said, “Of course we are. Why wouldn’t we be?” 

It was convincing enough that he almost, almost believes it. And he let her walk away.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to give you a ride?” He asked later, for the third time, as she was standing by his front door with her suitcase in hand. 

“It’s fine Percy, really. My dad was driving this way, anyway.”

He nodded again. “Can I walk you down, at least?” 

She looked like she’s biting back a smile. “When did you get so chivalrous?”

“What do you mean? You don’t think I’m a knight in shining armor?” His voice caught halfway through the sentence. He almost said your instead of a .

“You’d drop your sword.” Grover joked, as he lingered by the door with them. 

Annabeth did smile at that, and then glanced down at her watch. “I better go. I think my dad will be here soon. Thanks for having me, Percy. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” She moved towards him, and for a moment he thought she was going to hug him goodbye, but then she suddenly backed away, looking confused by her own actions. When she gives him an awkward nod instead and turns to the door, he feels like he’s been punched in the stomach.

He stayed staring at the closed door for far too long after she was gone, until Grover put an arm around his shoulders and suggested they play video games for a while instead of studying.

Percy was grateful for the distraction. Incessantly shooting at zombies for hours with his other best friend was effectively mind-numbing, and by midday the pain in his chest had lessened to a dull ache, and he was only thinking of Annabeth every five minutes instead of every five seconds Grover, to his credit, could clearly sense that his best friend was in no mood to be talking about any of it, so he didn’t bring up the subject. 

But as they were walking to the subway after lunch, there was a lull in the conversation, and his face shifted to an expression that meant  Percy knew exactly what he was going to say.

“Percy, I know this is probably really obvious, but I’ll say it anyway. Just talk to her. The longer you wait, the worse you’re gonna feel. You need to rip the bandaid off already.”

Percy’s mouth twisted. He didn't try to contradict him, because he knew he was right. “Yeah, I know. Thanks, man.”

Grover waved goodbye as he disappeared down the stairs, and Percy felt a distinct sense of melancholy as he walked home by himself.

His mom got back not long after he did, which is a relief because he didn’t want to be alone with his thoughts for much longer, and he felt too frazzled to concentrate on schoolwork. She swept him up in a hug, kissing his head and acting like she hadn’t seen him in months.

She had Paul with her too, but luckily he just gave Percy a smile in greeting.

“Paul’s staying for dinner.” Sally told him, as she collapsed into a chair at the table. “He’s cooking.”

Percy turned to look at Paul. “Are you a good cook?” He asked him.

Paul shrugged, leaning against the wall. “I’m alright. Are you?”

Sally ruffled Percy’s hair before he could answer, ignoring his loud protests. “He’s awful, but he’ll get there.”

Percy scowled, mumbling an excuse about needing to study, and retired to his room, where he spent a solid ten minutes staring at Annabeth’s contact on his phone and debating whether or not to call her. Instead, he stuck his headphones on and lay down on his bed staring up at the ceiling and trying not to think about how she had been sleeping in this very same bed just the night before.

He was remarkably normal all throughout dinner. He stayed completely composed when they asked him about his weekend and about his friends. He did a valiant job of avoiding eye contact with his mother, who’s wearing the same meaningful smirk she always wears whenever Annabeth comes up. 

Percy just agreed with Paul’s remarks about how good of a student she is, how polite and composed she always is. He didn’t mention how her eyes shone with angry tears out on the fire escape that Friday night, or how vulnerable she’d appeared on the dunes when they’d almost kissed. He even managed to make it halfway through an after-dinner movie without fidgeting too much. 

Until he made the mistake of scrolling through their old text conversations, and saw the telltale three dots appear at the bottom of the screen, and his heart dropped right into his stomach. The graphic disappears, and he stared at it for a long time, waiting for it to come back. It didn’t.

After two minutes he had trouble sitting still. After five, he was shifting in his seat, feeling uncomfortable in his own skin. After ten, he couldn’t stand it anymore, and he stood up abruptly, causing Paul and Sally to stare at him in concern, pausing the film.

“Percy?” His mom asked, sounding confused.

“I have to go.” He said, bluntly. He felt jumped up, nerves were on fire.

Paul frowned. “Go where?”

“Annabeth’s house” He caught the look on his mother’s face. “She um- she left her biology textbook here. I need to go drop it round.” He elaborated, the excuse sounding weak even to him.

“Now? Can’t you give it to her at school?” She asked, sounding apprehensive. 

“Well, I could, but uh…” He scrambled for an explanation. “She wants to study tonight. Before bed. I mean, you know how she is.” He addressed that last part to Paul, inserting a little camaraderie into his tone.

Paul laughed. “That does sound like her.”

Sally sighed. “Alright. But don’t be long! I know how you two can get.” 

That made his cheeks pink a little, but he didn't wait for further questioning, retreating to his bedroom and grabbing his own textbook from his desk, hoping Sally won’t somehow call his bluff with her magic mom senses.

He rushed out into the hall, textbook under his arm. “Say hi to Annabeth for me.” Paul said as he passed through the lounge. His mother just gave him a meaningful look that makes him think she’s perfectly aware of the lie, that she knows exactly what’s really going on. But he ignored the implication, grabbing a jacket and his keys and pulling on his shoes in a rush, refusing to give himself a single second of stillness to reconsider what he’s doing. 

Percy could hear his own heart thudding in his ears the whole way down to the parking lot, where he tossed the textbook onto the passenger seat and tried to stop his hands from shaking as he put the car into gear.

It was only a twenty minute drive to Annabeth’s, but he considered turning around and driving home at least five times. Every traffic light, every pause in the flow of cars, every moment that he’s not moving made him think that this is actually the worst idea he’s ever had. And he’s had some truly terrible ideas. By the time he was on her block and he was searching for a place to park the car, he was buzzing with nerves and the butterflies in his stomach felt like they’re having a cage match.

He sat there in the car for a while, steeling himself, alternating between attempting to fix his hair in the mirror and staring at the exterior of her house with an increasing sense of dread. Eventually, he took out his phone and sent her a text saying he’s outside and nothing else. Then he switched it off, took a deep breath, and opened the car door, grabbing the textbook in case he needed the excuse for her family too.

He raised his hand to ring the doorbell, but the door swung open before he got a chance to press it, and revealed Annabeth, standing in the doorway with an indecipherable expression on her face.

“Hi?” He said weakly, when she didn't say anything.

Annabeth glanced behind her. “What are you doing here, Percy?” She asked, sounding more exhausted than anything else.

He ran his thumb along the top of the textbook in his hands. “I need to talk to you.”

She shifted, moving to stand in front of the half open door and crossing her arms. “You couldn’t have just called? Or, I don’t know, waited a whole twelve hours until we were at school?”

“No.” He said, firmly. “I needed to talk to you in person. And it couldn’t wait.”

She swallowed, looking like she was torn between slamming the door in his face and dragging him inside. Then her eyes moved down, and she spotted the textbook. She frowned. “Why do you have your-”

“I needed an excuse.” He stammered out, quickly. “Paul and my mom think you left this at mine.”

Annabeth quirked an eyebrow. “Clever.” She said, dryly and then glanced behind her again. She sighed in defeat. “Fine. You better come on in then.”

The minute he stepped through the door, she was shutting it behind him with the utmost care and then shoving him towards the stairs with a contrasting abandon. “Quick.” She hissed, “I don’t want to deal with questions.”

He didn’t protest, just let her lead him to her bedroom in silence. It’s immaculate as usual, which he’s always thought is partially because she’s just naturally a very neat person (especially compared to him) and partially because she spends almost no time here. He motioned towards the door, “Should I..?” But she was already leaning past him to shut it with a quiet click, and then rapidly moving away, to the other side of the room. 

Percy stood awkwardly by the door until Annabeth pointed to her desk, where he set down the textbook atop a stack of notebooks and sat down on the spinny chair.

She sank down onto her bed and looked at him expectantly. “So?” 

Shit. This is it. He really should’ve written something down, or practiced what he was going to say, because sitting here, in her bedroom, with her staring at him and waiting for him to speak, he feels dumbstruck. Like he never learned how to speak at all.

“Percy?” Annabeth prompted. She looks nervous too, he realizes. Under all her bluster, under the mask of irritation at his sudden appearance in her house, in her room, she looks just as tense as he feels. She did let him in, after all. She could’ve just turned him away. But she didn’t. Which means she wants to hear him out, at the very least.

He swallowed. “What happened yesterday, at the beach…” He started, “I just wanted to say that-”

“It’s okay, Percy.” She interrupted. “You don’t need to apologize, or whatever. It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have-” She hesitated, didn't meet his eyes, lowered her voice. “I shouldn’t have tried to kiss you.” 

He stared blankly at her.“What?”

“I was making assumptions, and reading into everything too much, and you were probably just confused and-”

It was his turn to interrupt. And he has to, because she’s so far off the mark it would be funny if it didn’t make him absurdly angry, not at her but at himself and his own lack of courage. 

“Why are you apologizing? Annabeth, I wanted to kiss you too. I.. I pretty much always want to kiss you. Ever  since that stupid game of truth or dare in eighth grade. Before then, even.” He admitted, heart pounding in his ears.

Annabeth was staring at him like she couldn't comprehend what she’s hearing. “What? Percy, what do you- what do you mean by that?”

Percy smiled softly. “Come on, Wise Girl.” He said wryly, suddenly feeling braver than he has in years. “Surely you can figure this one out. You’re the smartest person I know.”

She swallowed, shaking her head. “No, I’m really not. Not when it comes to this. Not when it comes to you. I can’t-” She clenched her jaw, looking frustrated. “I can’t risk being wrong about this, not with you. You’re my best friend, and one of the most important people in my life and I-”

“Annabeth.” He cut in again, getting up out of the chair to take a step towards her, unable to stand it anymore. “I’m in love with you.” 

He didn’t mean to say it. Not exactly that, not something so unambiguous. His mouth acted independently from his brain. It was the sight of her in front of him, so close but so far away, downtrodden and hurt and somehow still entirely unaware of the fact that he’s loved her so long he doesn’t even remember what it felt like not to. 

“What?” She said, whispers, really. He couldn't read her expression, and it terrified him.

Percy closed his eyes. “Do I need to say it again?” 

He heard a shuffle of movement, and then footsteps, and when she speaks again she sounds like she's standing right in front of him.

“Are you joking right now, Percy? Is this some kind of elaborate prank? Because if it is, it’s not funny in the slightest, and I think I’d be justified in hitting you.” Her tone was firm, almost angry, but there was an undertone of something else there too, something that sounds like hope.

He swallowed. His throat felt as dry as sandpaper. “You can hit me if you want, but it’s not a joke. I mean it. I love you, Annabeth. I think I’ve always loved you.”

Annabeth was silent, her eyes searching his face, and he felt desperate, more vulnerable than he’s ever felt, like he just laid his soul bare in front of her and he can’t ever take it back. So he did what he always did, and he started rambling like an idiot.

“But I get if you don’t feel the same way at all, or if you do but uh, just kinda like in a more chill, regular less grand proclamation of love way and I just freaked you out by saying that when we’re not even dating yet, not that we’re going to date; unless you want to, because obviously I do but again I totally understand if you-”

“Percy?” She cut him off, stepping closer to him.

“Yeah?” His voice broke awkwardly halfway through the word like he’s 13 again.

“You said you wanted to kiss me again, right?”

He made an unintelligible noise in the back of his throat, unable to believe his own ears. “I think I did say that, yeah.” 

Annabeth took another step towards him, and he felt scared to breathe, like one wrong move will make her reconsider. And then she smiled that familiar smile, the one that always made his heart feel like it was running a relay race in his chest.

“Go on, then.” She whispered, like she was challenging him to something, tilting her face up to his.

Percy didn’t need to be told twice. He put one hand on her cheek and the other on her waist, and then her lips were meeting his and it felt like his brain was turning to mush, like he’s never going to be able to think about anything else but this.

Through the haze, something occurred to him, and he pulled away with some reluctance, refusing to let go of her. Her hands were on the back of his neck, fingers tangled in his hair, and the feeling of it distracts him again so all he can do is stare down at her in wonder for a moment. 

“You okay there, Seaweed Brain?” She asked, smiling brightly, looking almost as giddy as he felt.

“I’m fantastic.” He told her, sounding a little out of breath. “But um, does this mean you-?”

Annabeth laughed loudly, and he could feel it in his fingers, in every point of contact between them. “Yes, obviously.” 

“And we’re-”

She moved a hand from his neck to his face cupping his cheek. “I love you too, Percy. And I’d really, really like to date you.”

He leaned down and pressed his forehead to hers.

“Even though you think I’m an idiot?” He asked quietly.

 “Especially because I think you’re an idiot.” 

He kissed her again, pulling her in closer to him, just because he could, and she slid a hand into his hair and he could feel her smiling against his mouth, and he thinks he’s just found his life’s purpose. He exists to kiss Annabeth Chase.

They both forgot that he was only supposed to be dropping off a textbook, and Annabeth rushed him out the house, but she was holding his hand as she dragged him back down the stairs, properly holding it, with their fingers interlaced, so he can’t even really complain. He kissed her out on her porch once, twice, three times before she pulled away and reprimanded him like she didn’t kiss him back every time with equal enthusiasm

“Sorry.” He apologized, grinning dopily and catching one of her braids in his fingers. “I’ve just got a lot to make up for.” 

Annabeth pushed at his chest, but didn't move away. “I know, but your mom’s gonna realize something’s up if you don’t get home soon.”

“I think she’ll realize something’s up when I walk in looking like I just won the lottery.”

She grinned again, shaking her head in exasperation. “You’re so corny.”

“It’s not corny if it’s true. That’s just how I feel right now.”

Her face softened and she kissed him again, just a peck, really, but it’s enough to make his heart start racing again.

“I was going to ask you about when we should start telling people, but I have a feeling there’s no point. Everyone’s gonna figure it out on their own.”

Percy smiles. “Yeah, they definitely will, sorry. I really can’t act like I’m not madly in love with you anymore. Not that I was doing a particularly good job in the first place.” 

“You had me fooled.”

“So did you!”

“I’m a good actress.” She said smugly.

“Yeah, a little too good.” And then he kissed her again, just because he could. 

It doesn’t last nearly long enough, not that it ever could, before Annabeth pulled away and put her chin on his shoulder, hugging him. “I love you, Seaweed Brain.” She said softly, lips against his neck, and he felt like he could melt into a puddle right there outside her front door. “But you really need to leave now.”

He let her go with a great deal of reluctance, kissing her cheek and squeezing her waist before he did. “I love you too, Wise Girl.” He told her as she turned back to her front door. 

Her smile was bigger than he’d ever seen it. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Percy.”

“I’ll pick you up!” 

“Only if you’re not late.” She called back, and he walked backwards to his car so he could look at her for as long as humanly possible.

Conveniently, he totally forgot the textbook he left in her room, and he comes home empty handed, alibi still intact. Paul was gone, but Sally was still sitting on the couch.

“I thought you said you wouldn’t be long.” She said, voice stern, but her too- casual expression made it entirely unconvincing. 

Percy shrugged, trying to play nonchalant. “Sorry. I needed Annabeth’s help with a, uh, math problem.”

Sally raised her eyebrows. “Right. Of course you did.”

He didn’t answer, and made a show of taking his shoes off at the door.

His mother watched him intently. “You know, we should have her over for dinner tomorrow. If she’s not busy.” She suggested, after a moment.

Percy stared at her, trying to gauge if she was implying something.  “Yeah, that sounds good. I’ll ask her.”

Sally looked a little too pleased with that answer. He sat down next to her on the couch, trying to concentrate on the show she was watching.

“I knew you two would figure it out eventually.” His mom said, just as he’d convinced himself she doesn’t know anything.

“Figure out what?” He asked, innocently. 

But he just can’t keep the smile off his face.