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"Percy! My yoga class was cancelled, so I'm home a little earlier than expected! Sally Jackson called out, dropping her bag on the sofa as she entered the apartment she shared with her son.
But instead of hearing her son's groan in response, she heard some rustling, and then silence. She scrunched her eyebrows in, deciding to check on Percy herself.
With each step, she could hear some more commotion happening in Percy's room, but by the time he reached his bedroom door and opened it, what she was faced with was a red-cheeked Percy, lying under his sheets. A tight-lipped smile spread across his face.
"Sorry, what did you say, Mom?" Sally looked around his room. Things seemed to have been thrown around the space, leaving his shirt, shoes, and backpack scattered on the floor in what seemed like a hurry. "I said my yoga class was cancelled. Are you okay? You look a little flushed."
Percy cleared his throat, putting a hand to his cheek; he felt the heat radiating off him. "Uh, yeah, I just think I caught something from someone in school, maybe." Sally frowned, walking towards him, reaching out a loving hand to place on his forehead.
Percy's eyes widened, looking briefly over her shoulder before smiling up at his mother. Sally's hand inspected his forehead for a few moments, deciding that yes indeed, he did have some sort of temperature. "Aw, okay, honey. I'll let you rest then. I'll be back around 8 with some soup for you."
She turned on her heel, making it out of the room before turning to face her son again. "You should probably call Annabeth and tell her you're not going to hers tonight. We wouldn't want you to pass it any more than it already has." She gave him a sad smile. She knew how much he loved seeing Annabeth. "Yeah, it's probably for the best."
With that, she closed the door, revealing said girl stood wide-eyed behind it. She let out a long breath, wiping away imaginary sweat as she walked over to the bed. Percy threw the blanket off his legs, leaving space for Annabeth to throw her leg over and straddle him.
"I feel rotten lying to your mom." She pouted, accepting a soft kiss to her cheek for her worry. Percy sighed, replacing his lips with his hand. "I know, Baby, but imagine if she'd seen you just now, you'd never be allowed in here again." She groaned, rolling her eyes at the truth of it all.
Percy lay down, pulling Annabeth with him. Her head was resting against his chest, his hands running up and down her back. "She already suspects us." He said casually.
Annabeth raised her head to look at his face. "Does she?" She watched Percy nod, moving a loose braid behind her ear. "Yeah! Every time you've come round in the past like 2 years, she gives me this look. And I know what she's thinking." Annabeth sighed out a laugh.
"We haven't been dating for 2 years." Percy smiled, enjoying her obliviousness. "Let's be real, Annabeth. I think we've been dating for like 8 years." She giggled, nodding her head. "I think you're right." She leaned in, kissing the smile off his face.
Percy strolls into the living room, on his way out for his swim practise, when he discovers Sally folding his laundry.
Sally loved when Percy was home for break from university. He'd made it his personal mission to take her out for food every week, help around the house, and cook for her most nights. But one thing she didn't miss was how much laundry one boy concocted. Like, how many socks did he need to go through in one week?
But amongst the socks, jerseys, and jorts, she discovered something that stood out for a peculiar reason. A blue vest with gems and stones adorning it. Her eyebrows furrowed as she inspected the item of clothing, as if she were an FBI agent entering a crime scene.
This was the moment Percy came in, throwing on his hoodie. "Hey Mom, I'm going for practise. I thought I'd cook some kind of pasta tonight. I found this blue pasta in the store and couldn't just leave it on the shelf." He laughed, his head locked into his phone.
Before he could leave, "Perce, before you go." He looked up, immediately clocking the top in her hands. His heart started to leap behind his ribs. "This was with your laundry. I can't imagine it's yours."
His mind brought him back to two nights before. Annabeth sat on his desk chair, typing away at an essay she had due, trying her best to ignore the kisses that were being pressed against her neck.
"Percy!" She giggled, trying to swat him away. She could feel his smirk against her skin. "I have to finish this before we go back." The sun was blazing, and the air was thick with humidity. For an hour and a half, Percy had been begging for the two of them to go out and enjoy the weather.
But Annabeth had been nose deep in her laptop and barely paying attention to him, and Percy had had enough.
"Come on, Wise Girl. We could go for a picnic or something." His lips returned to her neck, enjoying the citrusy scent that just always seemed to come from her.
She raised an eyebrow, liking where this was going. "Or, I could take you to Barnes and Noble, buy you as many books as you want?" He knew he was playing with fire with that one. "Mmm, I see what you're doing, Kelp Head." She sighed, raising her arm to run her hands through his curls. "Is it working?" She turned to face him, leaning forward to give him a peck. "Okay, fine, but when we come back, I really need to finish this."
After a long day of deli sandwiches in the park, a game of chess that took Annabeth close to two hours to teach Percy, and a quick game of basketball with a group of guys Percy knows from many days spent in the sun, the two made their way back to Percy's apartment.
As soon as Annabeth burst through the bedroom door, the blue top she had been wearing all day was practically torn off her body. "Whoa, Wise Girl. At least buy me dinner first!" She smirked, rolling her eyes as she reached for a loose jersey from his drawer. "Nice try, Seaweed Brain, but I've been itching to take that thing off."
And when morning came around, the two were awakened by the front door swinging open. Annabeth shot straight up, jumping out of bed and reaching for all of her things. "Percy!" She hissed, shaking him awake. He groaned, reaching out for her body that was currently stuffing all of her things in her backpack. "Your mom's back, I gotta go!"
The next thing she knew, she was climbing down the fire escape, thanking the gods for New York apartments. Unknowingly, she left her top behind.
He took a breath and started to rack his brain with possible excuses. In times like these, he hated having a boy brain. "Is it not yours, Mom?" He gave her a sheepish smile, reaching up to scratch the back of his neck, a tell-tale sign he's lying.
She raised an eyebrow at him. "I appreciate you thinking I could wear this, honey, but it is definitely not mine." Percy sighed, putting his hands on his hips. Just as he's about to give in, something comes to mind.
"It's from Grover!" He shouts a little too aggressively, making Sally's eyes widen. "For you?" Percy laughed, shaking his head before approaching his mom. "No, Mom. It's for his girlfriend's birthday. He didn't want her to find it in his house, so I said I'd keep it in my room until her birthday." Sally squinted her eyes, looking back down at the item of clothing.
"For Grover's girlfriend? Since when did he get a new girlfriend?" Percy just wanted this conversation to end; his blood pressure couldn't take any more. "You know, Grover, ladies' man." Sally gave him one more look over before passing him the top. "Well, just look after it properly, because I found it on your floor amongst all of the trash. God knows what you're growing under your bed." He pressed his lips together in a smile before taking the shirt and putting it in his bag.
"Yep, will do. I'll see you when I come back from practice." He was practically sweating when he left the house. Looking down at the bastard shirt, he was ready to cuss out Annabeth the next time he saw her. But then, he remembered what she looked like at the top.
And suddenly, he didn't mind nearly getting caught.
Sally had decided on this random Tuesday that it was spring cleaning day. She was running around like a headless chicken, throwing out the garbage, dusting every piece of furniture, and reorganising the entire kitchen. No surface was safe from Sally's disinfectant spray and cloth.
Next on her list was the hallway that led to her and Percy's bedroom. Now, if you were to ask Sally, she would say with full confidence that she was not eavesdropping. How could she eavesdrop on a private conversation her son was clearly having on the phone!
"How about a steakhouse?" She could hear his muffled voice through the door. "We had Italian last time," Percy responded to whom she assumed was Grover. He had been going out with him a lot, she'd noticed.
It was nice that he was spending so much time with Grover. Sally had always liked him ever since she met him when he first picked Percy up from camp. And the fact that they were still friends to this day made Sally very happ- "Babe, we can get Italian again next week."
Sally's cloth dropped from her grasp. Now Percy and Grover were close, but not babe close.
Did Percy have a girlfriend?! How long has Percy had a girlfriend?! Why hadn't he told her?!
"Yes, definitely wear that yellow dress. You look hot as hell in that." Sally was gobsmacked to hear such things come from her boy's mouth. She'd storm into his room and demand an explanation if she wasn't so taken aback by the fact that her son, Percy Jackson, had a girlfriend.
She knew Percy wasn't completely innocent. She'd managed to get Grover to admit to her that he had a date a year or two ago, but couldn't get him to say who it was, even after bribing him with her blue chocolate chip cookies. She'd assumed that date had fizzled out.
"No, you can't tonight, Mom's gonna be home. She's going for a hen party next weekend, so you can stay over then?" Sally gasped. He'd had this mystery girl over at the house?! Had she slept over before?!
Sally reached for the doorknob, ready to give this boy a piece of her mind. "I could make us food when you come here next weekend, Wise Girl. I've just learned my Mom's famous stuffed peppers recipe."
Wise Girl...
Percy's girlfriend...was Wise Girl?
...Annabeth?
She stepped back from the door, and a warm feeling flooded her chest. Percy was dating Annabeth. Boyfriend and Girlfriend.
She'd watched the two practically grow together. Before Percy had met Annabeth, he was rude, angry, and difficult. He had been expelled from several schools, had been distant from her, and was always angry.
So when he came home from camp, talking about a boy called Grover who kept eating grass when they'd play capture the flag, a girl called Clarissa who seemed a little mean, and a girl called Annabeth, who scared him equally and intrigued him.
She had a feeling Annabeth was going to become something more when he'd started talking about a boy called Luke.
She'd also seen the way her son looked at the girl when she'd visit in the summer. And when he'd told Sally they were going to the same university, she could feel his excitement vibrating the room.
"Okay, baby, I gotta go...Yeah, I know, but I said I'd help mom with the grocery shopping." Sally quickly picked up all of her cleaning supplies and dashed for the kitchen. "Mom! Are you ready to go? "I can drive if you want?" he strolled in with an easy smile on his face.
Sally wanted to call him out on it. Did he not trust her enough to tell her he and Annabeth were dating?! Was he not telling her so Annabeth could go into his room?!
"Mom?" Percy waved a hand in front of his mother's face, seemingly pulling her out of her daze. "Do you want me to drive?" he repeated his question. Sally cleared her throat. "Yeah, sure, honey." He smiled, turning to fetch the grocery bags.
Something scheming came to her mind. "How would you feel about going to a steakhouse tomorrow or something?" She could feel the heat radiating off his cheeks as he flushed across the room. "Um, I don't think I'm feeling up for a steakhouse, maybe next week?" She squinted at him slightly. "Okay, honey. Next week."
As the two got in Percy's car, Sally watched Percy as he pulled out of the parking lot. "So, are you going to have anyone over next week?" He could see a smile begin to fill his face. "Uh, yeah, I think Grover is gonna come over," Sally smirked.
"Grover...right."