The tension was high and the lights were bright as the white/blue and blue/orange masses crowded the stadium. It was the top of the seven and the Yankees were 3 to 2 versus the Mets. The Yankees were at bat.
Annabeth sat in the first tier between home and first with Jason and Piper to her right and Percy, Nico, and Will to her left. Annabeth was nursing a beer in one hand and holding hands, fingers laced, with Percy with the other, who, by the way, was sitting wide-eyed and teary and just about to spit-take on his coke due to whatever outrageous story Will had just divulged to him.
She knew this because while in the midst of explaining the game to Jason she got distracted by a light airy laugh erupting from her left. She had to do a double take to be sure of what she was seeing. First, was her boyfriend with coke dribbling from the lips of his puffed-out, coke-filled cheeks. Dork. Second, was the source of the refreshing sound. It was Nico, who was leaning into Will with bright squinted eyes and an open mouthed smile, as he held his stomach while slouching with laughter. Percy's reaction was just making him laugh harder. His laugh was like a happy virus. Will was laughing and the people around them were either chuckling or smiling along.
Lately, Nico had been more lively and was becoming more like he used to be. Sure, he was still a pouty loner, but he was better. Percy and Will had a great effect on him. They even got him to stay at camp as a resident. Having Hazel in his life helped a lot too; he had a family again, meaning people to love and people who loved him. Being a prince of darkness didn't mean he couldn't or shouldn't love, it was the exact opposite. If anything, the war against the giants and Gaea reinforced the importance of love and friendship in all the heros.
When Annabeth had won the tickets to the game, she and Percy thought it was the perfect opportunity for them meet up with their friends again and have some fun. They had been very busy in their last year of college with Percy as captain of the swim team and Annabeth with internships and working on designs for camp, which made it more difficult to meet up with their friends than they liked.
The last batter had just stuck out and hordes of people, along with Jason and Piper, were already making their way to the bathroom and the food stalls as they entered into the seventh inning stretch. Seven minutes later, the couple returned with three huge nachos boxes, one for each couple to share.
While they devoured their nachos the kiss cam started making its way around the stadium. Annabeth watched as the camera zeroed in on couples and the few strangers who sat awkwardly and tried to notify the audience that they were not a couple. They even caught a couple already kissing. Annabeth's attention was rapted by the show, while Percy remained oblivious to the event as he talked to Nico and Will.
The screen suddenly flashed to spell out "Rivals in Love" before returning to the kiss cam. The Yankees and the Mets had a rivalry as both were New York teams. So the camera started to find couples supporting the opposing teams. It was entertaining as the couples chosen and the people around them made small mock fights and standoffs before kissing.
As much as Annabeth was enjoying it she wasn't expecting to see such a familiar face plaster the screen. It was her and Percy. She didn't know how she had forgotten they were supporting opposing teams; Annabeth was wearing a Yankees jersey and Percy a Mets. But, he wasn't paying even the slightest attention. He was completely oblivious to the fact that his face was on the Jumbo-tron.
"Percy," Annabeth called him, but he didn't hear her. So, she called again. "Percy!" No answer once again. For someone with ADHD, he sure was focused on his conversation to have been so totally unaware of Annabeth calling his name.
Feeling the pressure and a little miffed that he didn't hear her the first two times she called him, she smacked him in the left pectoral a little harder than she was intending. Whoops.
Utterly startled, he turned to stare at her with furrowed brows displaying his surprise with a hint of fear, while grabbed for his chest with his right hand to massage the spot where she hit him.
"Ow!" he exclaimed, then raising his brow as if to say "What the hell was that for, Annabeth?"
She just looked at him with her eyebrows raised as if to say "Really, Percy? That didn't even hurt you." And with an amused smirk and love in her eyes for the handsome dork in front of her, she grabbed the lapel of his Jersey and kissed him.
He stilled wide-eyed in shock for like a microsecond before sighing into the kiss. Percy removed the hand from his chest to cup the side of his girlfriend's face as he deepened the kiss into something gentle, slow, and passionate.
The kiss was a short one, lasting all of seven seconds, but each pulled away with a goofy grin on their faces.
"What was that for?" Percy asked quietly as the two remained in their own post-toe curling kiss haze.
"We're on kiss cam," she said smirking in return.
Percy snapped toward the screen, his sea-green eyes widening in surprise to see his face staring back at him and his girlfriend trying to contain her laughter but failing miserably. He smiled meekly at the camera, cheeks blushing as he raised his hand to the back of his neck nervously before turning to Annabeth.
She looked at him for a second smiling and her eyes shining with amusement before she reached out a hand to wipe away a smudge of her tinted chapstick rested just above his lip. And after that the camera moved on to another couple, leaving their friends to tease them mercilessly.
As the couple turned back to enjoy the rest of the game, little did they know that the game was being broadcast live to nation. The kiss cam was being played in the background as ESPN commentators recapped the game so far during the seventh inning stretch.
And even if they had known about the game being filmed, they definitely couldn't have predicted their particular kiss segment to be used by New York news stations as a fluff piece during the nightly sports recap. They only found out because later that night Sally had called Annabeth to say how sweet it was and congratulate Percy on making Headlines in positive light as opposed to when he was a teenager. The only thing she neglected to inform them of was that she had recorded the segment and planned show it at the couple's wedding for when they finally decided to get married.