Hey everyone! Just a little Valentine's Day special I decided to put out. But, I guess technically it doesn't have to be specifically for Valentine's Day... Whatever, it's a romance, and I hope you enjoy it!

"And the umpires say... He is safe! Ladies and gentlemen, Gomez is safe!"

"Oh COME ON! Are you kidding me?!"

Percy turned to his left to stare incredulously at the girl next to him, who was practically levitating in her seat, she was so animated. Her blonde princess curls were clenched tightly in her fists, as if to demonstrate how tense she really was; Percy had no doubt that if the other team scored one more point, his girlfriend would rip out all her hair, despite having the brains that came with being a daughter of Athena.

"Seriously? He wasn't even touching the plate!" Annabeth screamed at the field, though whether she was yelling at the umpire, the player Gomez, or just the whole "unfair" world of baseball, Percy didn't know.

Admittedly, he wasn't really much of a baseball fan. In fact, he pretty much knew as much about baseball as he did cricket or curling, which was to say that he knew absolutely nothing about it. Sure, he knew the basics of how you played: you hit a ball with a stick when it's pitched to you and try to run the four bases of a field diamond. Every self-respecting American knew the fundamentals of baseball, but he certainly didn't understand what all the fuss was about. Safes and outs and catchers and pitchers and batters and umpires - it was enough to make a young demigod go crazy, if he wasn't already.

Heck, the more he thought about it, he realized that he wouldn't even be there if it wasn't for Annabeth. He didn't know a thing about the dam game. All he knew was that he was supposed to love the Yankees - Annabeth's favorite team - and hate the opposing side, whose team name he didn't even know. But he had to at least act like he knew what was going on, or else he'd be dead meat.

After all, this was their first date.

"That's right, Alfonzo!" The daughter of Athena cried as she glowered at the field, distaste practically dripping from her voice as she rolled her eyes at the player who swaggered onto the field with a bat, probably on the other team judging by the color of his uniform. "You think you're so great. Well, just wait til Rodriguez gets a hold of you!"

"Should I be worried?" Percy asked, turning in his seat to face Annabeth.

She looked at him with furrowed eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"Should I be worried," he repeated, "about these other guys? Gomez, Alfonzo, and Rodriguez. I thought the two of us were on a date, but I'm wondering if I've got some competition with these baseball players." He grinned, to let her know that he was only joking. "I mean, they might have some muscle, but I think that, if you really line us up next to each other, I would stand a fighting chance."

"Oh Percy," she sighed, a faint smile betraying her attempt at exasperation. "You can be such a Seaweed Brain sometimes!"

She turned right back to the game, and shrieked at the top of her lungs "COME ON, RAMIREZ!"

"Oh, so now there's a Ramirez too?" Percy joked, but she didn't seem to hear him. He sighed, and stood up, feeling the bones in his back creak. That was a bad sign, he thought, signaling that he'd been watching baseball for too long and eating for too short of a time.

"Hey, I'm gonna go get a hot dog," he told her, and she just nodded, her intense gray eyes never wavering from the player on the pitcher's mound. Then, being the gentleman that his mom raised him to be, he offered, "Do you want anything?" She just shook her head, and he tried to be thankful that at least she had acknowledged him this time. When he'd stood up to go get a drink about an hour ago, she had just completely blocked him out, shutting out everything in the world except the game before her. He had had to squeeze past her to grab his backpack and dig out his concession money, in the meantime having to avoid getting squashed by the rather large beer-belly type of fan sitting right behind him, the guy's rotund gut nearly bonking him in the head on a few occasions.

After climbing the steep steps and weaving his way through the maze of weasling vendors, Percy found a decently-priced hot dog cart (although cost was relative when it came to baseball food; one of the few things that he and Annabeth could agree on when it came to baseball was that the food was way overpriced).

He sighed, leaning against the cart while he waited for the vendor to hand him his food. So far, this date hadn't exactly gone as he'd expected. When he'd first asked her to come with him to the game, he'd expected them to be able to have a nice, easy time and talk during the game. But only a few minutes into the game, he had realized that Annabeth took the sport very seriously, and therefore "could not be bothered with small talk". He didn't judge her for it, not really; she was Annabeth, after all, and when she wanted something, she got it. He just wished that their first date was going smoother, was all.

"Percy!" He turned, searching the crowd of people (most likely, other people who didn't understand the game much either) and looked for the person who had called his name.

"Annabeth?" he asked, bewildered. "What are you doing here? Why aren't you watching the game?"

She shrugged, going for a nonchalance that he knew didn't exist between her and baseball. "It's not looking good for the Yankees. I like to win, so I'd rather not see my favorite team suffer. But more importantly," she continued, pausing for him to accept the hot dog that the cart vendor handed him, "what are you doing here? This is like the tenth break you've taken in the past hour."

"It's the second," he corrected, and winced as he realized he shouldn't have, judging by the expression on her face. When it came to Annabeth, she was always right.

"Anyway, what's really going? Something's not right. I can tell."

Percy didn't know whether to be freaked out, annoyed, or relieved. She knew him so well.

"It's just..." he sighed. "I wish I hadn't taken you here today. I really just wanted to go somewhere where we could talk and laugh and just get to know each other a little bit better. Y'know." He shrugged. "But, you've been so occupied by the game..."

He trailed off, and she finished for him, realization dawning on her face. "That I've completely ignored you the entire time." She sighed, a slow puff of hair that made the ends of her hair fly up. She slumped down on the top step, and he sat next to her. "Some first date this turned out to be."

"Yeah..." He added, staring at his shoes.

"I'm sorry, Percy. I really am," she said, turning to him, and he smiled at her.

"It's okay. No, seriously, it is," he insisted upon seeing her doubtful expression. "I mean, I'm sure there have been worse. And who says this has to be our only date, right? We've got all the time in the world to go on dates and stuff like that. For now, I'm just enjoying spending time with you," he finished, replacing his food with her hand in his.

She smiled up at him, a mischievous glint lighting her gray eyes. "Hey, why don't we give this whole first-date thing another try?"

"What, right now?" He asked, incredulous.

"Sure! Why not? Let's go to the park or something, and do what you wanted. Just walk and talk and laugh and stuff."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah, of course. It'll be fun," she grinned, and he grinned back, though still a little uncertain.

"But, what about the game? Don't you want to see how it turns out?"

"Nah, it's okay," she said, waving her hand dismissively at the field below them. "This game is kinda dull anyway. Besides, the Yankees are losing, and you know how I hate to lose."

"Yeah, Annabeth," he said as they stood up, hands intertwined, and left the stadium. "I do."

Well, tell me what you think! I'm considering doing more chapters like this, whether it's focusing on different dates for Percy and Annabeth or for different PJO/HoO couples. So please let me know what you think, and I appreciate constructive criticism very much. That's all; thank you so much for reading! I really hoped you like it!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Love,

~Princess Andromeda II