AN: Hello everybody! New PJO fic from yours truly, once again starring Percabeth. A fleeting encounter with a 'supposed' stranger niggles at Annabeth's memory. This is going to be a multichapter fic. It's AU, some OOC-ness may be there and its rated T just because I'm paranoid

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Annabeth Chase loved the rains. She loved the way the trees turned green and the wind turned cold. She loved listening out for the boom of thunder, heralding the approaching storm. She loved the way flashes of lightning ripped the horizon in the dark. She loved nothing more than frolicking in the garden with her twin stepbrothers, Bobby and Matthew, getting drenched in torrential downpours. Then she would dutifully towel her siblings down, wrap herself up snug in a hoodie and sweatpants and watch the rain pelting down with a steaming cup of hot chocolate warming her palms.

Annabeth was in a cab, heading to the bus stop where she had to catch a bus to go visit her friend Thalia who lived in the suburbs. It was her friends' engagement weekend. As she sat back on the worn out seat, she mused how her closest friend who had always scorned at love and eschewed the company of boys had found the love of her life in her fiancé, Luke. At 23 years herself, Annabeth was in no hurry to join her best friend in marital bliss. She was an architect, a rising star in her firm Olympus Designs. Her work mattered the most to her, private life could afford to take a back seat. Besides, she'd yet to meet a man who presented a challenge to her.

The unmistakable rumble of thunder cut into her thoughts. While she had been lost in thought, the sun had vanished behind menacing clouds. Soon enough a slight drizzle began. Annabeth's grey eyes lit up. She opened the window of the cab and extended a hand, catching the first cold drop and shivering with delight and eagerness. The summer had been cruel and dry. The rains were a welcome sight for her.

The cab stopped outside the bus depot and the driver said "That'll be $8 miss". She handed him a tenner and motioned him to keep the change. Lugging her duffel bag out, she swung it across her body and shook out her blond curls. Before she could enter the bus depot, she turned her face up to the sky and savored the feeling of the drops streaking across her features. Smiling to herself she began walking, purposely avoiding the eaves where other passengers were huddled under.

She nimbly jumped out of the way to avoid a bus that was being reversed. The large blue bus looked almost clumsy, even awkward as the driver attempted to maneuver it through the throng of people gathered at the bus depot. Annabeth was in no hurry. She stood in the pitter patter and watched the bus swing around. Suddenly she noticed that a passenger was staring at her. It was a youth not much older than her with a shock of raven black hair and sea green eyes. His face was tanned and from what little of his shoulders Annabeth could make out from the window, he was definitely built. His eyes sparkled with mischief and happiness. Annabeth couldn't help but smirk at him. A blush tinged his cheeks when he realized she knew he was staring at her. Almost hesitantly he waved at her. Annabeth waved back just as uncertainly. A wide grin broke across his face. That's when the bus he was in turned out of the depot and soon he was gone.

Annabeth stood for another moment in the rain, the confusion and noise of the place becoming a distant background buzz. For some inexplicable reason, her mind was racing furiously, as if trying to place the boy she'd just seen. He seemed very familiar to her for some reason. A side of her wished the encounter hadn't been so brief.

Her practical side kicked in and she realized how silly she was being. Odds of her ever meeting that stranger seemed close to none. She shook her head and went ahead to find her bus.

As she sat down in her seat and shoved her duffel under it, she thought once more of those happy sea green eyes. Her mind urged her to think of it as inconsequential, still, she felt absolutely certain that they were fated to meet again.

AN: Its brief. Yes, I know. Reviews spur updates y'all. Go on then. R&R And till next time, take care everybody!

~Drakky28293