Sally Jackson-Blofis stirred her cup of hot chocolate, glancing at the couch thoughtfully. Well, it wasn't so much the couch she was staring at, but the occupants of it. Namely, her sixteen year old son and his beautiful girlfriend.

Sally had been observing the two for a while, without their noticing. But she was not as unobservant as they could be, when wrapped up in each other. She took notice of her son carefully brushing a lock of blonde hair behind his girlfriend's ear. She was not blind to the small circles the blonde girl would absentmindedly trace on her son's skin. Sally was not ignorant to the love that radiated from the pair of them.

For some people, they might look at the two squabbling on the couch and ask how they could even share space with one another, let alone be in a relationship. But Sally saw the bickering for what it was. She was so familiar with it. Whenever she would visit the elderly in a retirement home, she would hear the happy bickering going on between married couples. She even occasionally experienced it with Paul, her husband.

Right now, she was simply observing yet another one of these 'lover's spats' as she liked to call them. It seemed that Annabeth and Percy could not decide upon a movie to watch. Percy of course, wanted to watch a horror movie. Sally had a tiny inkling that had more to do with the fact that Annabeth was terrified of horror movies, more than anything else.

Annabeth however, wanted to watch something much tamer, a historical fiction. Of course, Percy insisted by 'tame' she meant boring. Within five minutes, Percy and Annabeth had moved past arguing to compromising, as Sally knew they would. Arguments between the two only went one of two ways. Either they compromised, or Annabeth won. Sally had the feeling that it would be the normality for the two of them for quite some time.

Finally, the pair decided to watch a children's movie. Neither of them was ashamed, considering Annabeth had younger siblings, and Percy, deprived of any, enjoyed kid movies as much as she did. Particularly when they took place underwater.

Sally continued to watch the beautiful pair from her spot in the kitchen. She was supposed to be working on her second novel, but at the moment she was busy observing with the intensity of a biologist inspecting a new species.

She noticed how they each knew their place in each other's life. How as soon as the movie started, Percy knew to get up and get some popcorn, while Annabeth knew to skip the trailers. She observed as Annabeth, who had been sitting on the opposite end of the couch, gravitated towards Percy, eventually ending up in his lap.

It was apparent to Sally when Percy automatically wrapped his arms around Annabeth, claiming her as his own, cherishing her in his own special way. And as the movie came to a close, Sally watched in fascination as Percy shifted Annabeth in his lap, so that she was facing him, her legs straddling his waist. Enraptured in their own little bubble, they began to converse, occasionally getting animated with their volumes and gestures. Occasionally Percy would reach up and kiss Annabeth's forehead, or the corner of her mouth, while the blonde would absentmindedly play with locks of his hair.

However, as soon as Paul walked through the door, disturbing the peace, the two would immediately jump away from each other, both blushing furiously, as if caught in the act of doing something wrong. This always led Paul to believe they were taking advantage of Sally being absorbed in her work, and doing things they really shouldn't be.

But Sally Jackson-Blofis had seen them firsthand. She knew what they were like, she knew how they operated. Seeing Annabeth's gaze sparkle at Percy and seeing Percy give his girlfriend a heart stopping smile-well, it made Sally happy. And it also gave her the courage to talk to Paul, which led to where they were sitting right this moment.

Had she been able to foresee this event, she would have laughed at the preposterousness of the situation. And then, had she paused to think, to consider it, she would have naturally assumed she would be taking Paul's place as the nervous, jumpy one, rather than the calm logical one, sitting still, casually taking sips from her mug of coffee. As she observed the actions of her husband and herself, she noted with a smile, how they resembled Percy and Annabeth.

And at that very moment, with grins spread widely across their faces, the two teenagers strode in. Sally happily noted the position they were in. Percy's left arm was draped casually over Annabeth's shoulder, and their hands were intertwined. Meanwhile, Annabeth had her arm wrapped around Percy's waist, a happy glint in her eye.

However, upon seeing Sally and Paul waiting up for them, after telling the pair that they would be gone tonight for a date at the movies, instantly wiped the smiles of their faces.

"Mom?" Percy asked tentatively, unsure of why Sally was still awake, "why are you guys still up? I told you guys that Annabeth and I wouldn't be back for a while."

Sally smiled at her son, while Paul simply looked fidgety beside her. She saw Annabeth's attentive eyes cut towards him, and she knew the intelligent young woman was coming to conclusions about their impending discussion based on Paul's reaction. The last time Paul had looked this jittery was when he took it upon himself to give Percy 'The Talk'. With Annabeth in vicinity. Needless to say, Sally had never seen either teen go so red. The poor couple had avoided each other for days.

"We needed to discuss something with you two." Sally assured the pair calmly. "It's nothing bad, I promise." Percy looked unsure, as his mom had proved that she had a rather wicked sense of humor, particularly when it came to teasing her only son and his lovely girlfriend. He didn't think she would ever tire of teasing the two about Paul's 'Talk'.

Annabeth, however, simply seemed confused about one thing in particular. "The both of us?" She asked with a slight frown. She had been trying to figure out a way to slip out of the apartment politely, not wanting to intrude on what must be a family meeting. A family she was not technically a part of. "Yes, this involves both of you." Sally said with a nod. Percy turned to his girlfriend and shrugged. Smiling softly at her best friend, Annabeth followed Percy's lead, and took a seat at the kitchen table, across from Paul and Sally.

Paul cleared his throat, and tried to start several times, before Sally finally rolled her eyes and decided to get the ball rolling. "Percy, Annabeth, listen, I've noticed lately, just how much time you spend in this apartment-"

Sensing where this was going, Percy cut his mother off. "I'm sorry Mom, I didn't realize we had been spending so much time here. We aren't trying to intrude, honest, we just…like it here." He finished lamely. However, Sally continued as if he hadn't spoken.

"-and with each other." And then the ball was dropped. Annabeth's eyes widened slightly, and Percy jumped up in outrage. "What are you saying?" He demanded, anger coating his tone. Sally was slightly surprised and saddened by her son's reaction. There would have been a time in his life when he never would have spoken to her like that, but now, Sally realized, when his time with Annabeth was threatened, he had priorities.

"Percy, sit down. Just here what she has to say." Annabeth tugged the sleeve of Percy's shirt, getting him to sit down and calm slightly, but her gaze was slightly hurt. She peered at Sally, her eyes analyzing the older woman. "Please continue Mrs. Jackson."

"We're moving."

Paul simply blurted out the two words, unable to handle the tension in the room any longer. So he decided to solve it by smashing it with a hammer.

"Wait, what? We're moving? Where?" Percy frowned in confusion, all previous anger forgotten. Ah the wonders of ADHD. "Not we, exactly." Sally corrected her son. Annabeth's eyes widened in confusion. Sally supposed she should feel proud. It took a lot to confuse a daughter of Athena.

"Do you mean I'm not coming with you guys?" Percy asked, outrage creeping back into his tone. Sally smiled. "Percy, I'm not blind. I see how you and Annabeth look at each other. I see what you guys mean to each other. I know this isn't some quick fling that will last a few weeks. So, Paul and I have decided that when we move out, you and Annabeth may stay here, and live in this apartment."

Sally was greeted with the satisfying sight of two faces full of shock. "Y-you want me to move in here?" Annabeth asked, her eyes wide with astonishment. "Of course. Annabeth, you're a part of the family. Besides, Percy spends most of his day with you anyways, you might as well just move in and keep him from moping, considering that's all he does when you're not here."

Percy blushed, but catching sight of Annabeth, who was literally glowing, it quickly faded. Who cared about his mom's teasing? He and Annabeth were going to live here. They were going to have a home.

A/N: For those of you who were hoping for an update on Olympic Gold, or An Exchange of Leaders, I'm terribly sorry. My laptop decided to crash and delete all my files, including my huge project due in two weeks, and the chapters I had written for Olympic Gold, 1-18. Needles s to say, that depressed me greatly, so I decided to work on two other, canon fics. I'll hopefully update OG within the next week, but I think I'm going to try and focus on these fics as well for the moment.