Annabeth loved rainy days.

She loved the scent of water, of wet dirt and vegetation, that would surround her in relaxing humid coolness, like breathing in a cloud, and the calm greyness of the sky before a storm (so much like her eyes, Percy would say).

She loved the sudden gusts of wind that would slam her doors and windows closed; the way she'd have to rush to them and properly lock up, so the rain wouldn't get in. She also loved how it soaked her curtains, when she couldn't close them in time.

Looking out, the rain would sometimes be so heavy you couldn't see anything out, just vague outlines on the horizon. Even the brightest colours were muted.

Going to sleep to the rhythmic pitter-patter of raindrops, encased in her comfortable covers, gave her a sense of peacefulness that was unusual to achieve. The harder rain fell, the more tranquil it was; the drops made a shh-shh sound altogether; the shushing that subconsciously brought feelings of safety, as if someone were there with her.

She never minded the loud thunder, the streaks of lightning. The sky cleansed her of her anger, her spiking emotions, and sometimes, she enjoyed the rumbles from the sky, the sound round and...warm, even though that didn't make sense. Perhaps rain could be compared to the tears of the sky, but they were never sad - sympathetic, almost, crying for her and everyone else, cleaning everything away. It reminded her of a new start.

But mostly, rain reminded her of Percy Jackson.

Annabeth was drenched from head to toe, standing in a stupid puddle as rain dripped onto her hair and ran down her forehead. Straggly strands of hair had fallen out of her ponytail, and were sticking to her face. Whatever. Like she cared.

She was probably going to get pneumonia, waiting for her dad like this. Stomping her feet to get warm, anger surged in of her system. Wait for me in front of school, her father had told her. I'll be five minutes.

Yeah, well, it had already been about thirty and it was raining. She couldn't even call him anymore, because her phone had splashed into the aforementioned stupid puddle and stopped working. Plenty of people had walked past and looked at her blankly, like, are you standing in the rain on purpose? A couple had even laughed at her. Ha ha.

Damn rain, she thought. Stupid, annoying -

'Hey.'

A boy about her age was standing in front of her. He looked vaguely familiar; tall, dark hair, with eyes that reminded her of the ocean. He held a blue umbrella over his head.

'Uh,' he said, stupidly (everything was stupid to her, in her current mood), 'do you want an umbrella?' He had to shout over the rain to be heard.

Annabeth blinked the rain out of her eyes. 'No, thanks,' she replied, sarcastically. She probably looked like a rat drowned in a bucket now, so to speak.

'I'll take that as a yes,' the boy grinned, moving closer to share it. It didn't really work, though, because rain poured onto their outside shoulders, soaking his right arm. They awkwardly shuffled around underneath it.

'I'm Percy, by the way,' he shouted in her ear, even though they were practically standing on top of each other by now.

(Great, she'd only realized how close they were).

Gods, he's hot, she thought, followed by, argh, Annabeth, seriously? and great, only just noticed after you let him stand this close to you?

'Annabeth,' she said, now trying not to blush (she wasn't going to, of course).

'Annabeth. Cool name,' he grinned again, lopsidedly. 'So do you always stand out in the rain without an umbrella, or is it just a one-time thing?'

She sighed. 'I'm waiting for my dad.' Thirty-five minutes now.

He quirked an eyebrow, but didn't ask for more details, which was fine with her. She didn't want to go into a rage in front of this nice (cute) boy who'd been kind enough to shelter her from the rain, and scare him away. 'So what about you? Do you always offer umbrellas to people in the rain, or is it just a one-time thing?'

She groaned inwardly. That sounded prickly; it was intended to be a joke. She quickly said, 'I mean -'

'Actually-,' he started.

'Um, you go first,' Annabeth said.

'No, you.'

'No, you - I mean, forget it. I mean, haha. I mean, what are you even doing here?' Gods, she was so tongue-tied. And all because of a cute guy. And that hadn't even sounded any nicer the second time she said it.

Percy looked a bit uncomfortable. (And not because of their close proximity). 'Actually, I had to go to swim training about,' he checked his watch, 'three minutes ago.'

'Oh.' Annabeth tried her hardest not to look disappointed. 'Wait, you can have swim practice in this weather? Isn't that dangerous?' Thunder rumbled, as if to illustrate her point.

Shrugging, he laughed, 'Coach Hedge is harsh. Anyway, I gotta…'

'Oh,' she said, again. 'Uh, go! My dad will be here in a couple of minutes anyway.' She had no way of knowing this.

'Okay. Are you sure?' Percy asked. Her heart dropped (Get a life, Annabeth, she thought), but she smiled at him as cheerily as she could manage.

Percy handed her the umbrella, stepping out of it himself. Raindrops immediately painted dark spots on the sweater he was wearing.

'Wait, Percy - what are you doing?' Annabeth asked.

'Don't worry,' he assured her, already splashing through puddles back into school. 'I'll get wet anyway.'

Annabeth stared blankly after him for a moment, then looked back at the umbrella she was holding. 'Wait, Percy!' she called, but he didn't hear her. She hadn't even thanked him yet.

'Percy!' she yelled after him. He turned around and Annabeth yelled again, even louder, 'Thank you!'

She could see him smile in response.

About another half hour later (her dad really had no sense of timing), a car pulled up.

He was surprised to see his daughter in a slightly damp condition, holding a blue umbrella he'd never seen before over her head, even though it was no longer raining.

He was even more surprised to see what a great mood she was in.