this was actually a pain in the butt to make but its fine
i actually had this idea last v day but hadnt even started writing it till last march and finished sometime in july? august?
and htne i went and forgot to post it for this v day
oof
i didnt even read it over so lets just pretend its not the worst writing ever
Percy had everything he needed in life. He had a great best friend, an amazing crush, and plenty of blue cookies. Well, he did have one thing he could have done without: the fact that, well, maybe the first two mentioned things were possibly the same person.
And, although he wasn't particularly known for his smarts, he did know that he wasn't going to be able to survive for much longer without her finding out. Because, of course, he was going to slip eventually and that would be embarrassing.
Which meant that he was going to have to tell her, hopefully not by just blurting it out at the worst moment possible. And then he tried to think of a way that she would like, a way that was probably way more trouble than it was worth.
And then it struck him. Why not tell her in the most backwards, annoying way possible?
Good thing it was February.
Annabeth didn't particularly like Valentine's Day, but she didn't particularly hate it either.
What she didn't like was when she got someone else's Valentine's Day flower on her doorstep. On February 6th.
She looked left and right from her doorway, seeing no one else in the hallway. She bent over to see if there was a note attached to the single lily lying on her doormat. There was a small white note tied to the red ribbon around the stem, but all it said was, don't forget me nor my friends' names. Annabeth looked around her again, but there was no one. She shrugged and brought the flower into her apartment, rereading the note in her hand. What kind of Valentine's note is this supposed to be?
It was probably someone else's, but who would leave such a cryptic note on a note to the person they loved? Eight days early?
Percy sagged against the wall around the corner from Annabeth's door, breathing heavily, but making sure that he wasn't too loud. He was pretty sure that she had almost caught him. Maybe tomorrow he should go in and tell her he found it on the doorstep, because he was not fast enough nor in the mood for an early morning run this early in the day. Why had he decided to do something that involved coming to Annabeth's every day? Not that he didn't enjoy coming, he just didn't enjoy having to go there every day, especially so early in the morning.
He waited until he heard the door close, his nerves on edge. Coming around the corner, he let out a thankful sort of sigh, glad that he had remembered to wait until she closed the door. Annabeth wasn't stupid, far from it, actually, and if he had come around the corner, still breathing a little heavier than usual, she would have known immediately what was going on. Probably.
Annabeth had almost forgotten about the flower. She had pushed it to the back of her mind when she went to her class. Algebra had a way of taking over her entire mind that probably helped her do the actual algebra but didn't help when she had to remember something.
In fact, she had forgotten about the flower, right up until someone knocked on her door at 9 am the next day.
She opened the door to find Percy on her doorstep, holding a flower.
He looked a little panicked when she opened the door, but smiled crookedly as usual when she looked at him weirdly.
"What's up, Percy?" she asked him, smiling back.
"Oh, nothing, I just found this on your doormat and I was starting to worry that you were trying to replace me with a boyfriend." He handed her the flower, still smiling like an idiot.
"Replace you? You mean, you're catching on now and I have to stop?" He raised his eyebrows at her, his smile fading into an exaggerated scowl. "You don't have to worry about that, Perce. I don't even think that they're for me. I got one yesterday, too, but who would give me flowers? Though, the one yesterday was a lily, but this ones' a—"
"This one's an orchid!" interrupted Percy, proud that he knew the name of the flower, probably.
"You silly, I already knew that. And while you're at it, why don't you come in instead of just standing there in the hallway like an idiot?"
"Fine, then, you don't have to be so mean about it." He scowled as he swept past her into the apartment, as dramatically as he could manage while muttering about how mean she was, insulting him twice in a single breath. "And you should be proud of me for knowing the name of the flower. Just because you know it doesn't mean anything, because you know everything." He flopped down onto the couch, letting out a sigh as he did.
"Hey, scooch over, you goose, you're taking over the whole couch." He lifted his legs, and Annabeth sat down next to him, letting him rest his feet on her lap.
"Hey, be careful, you might offend Frank," he whined into the cushion.
"I think he'll forgive me."
"Someday you'll learn not to survive solely on the kindness of the Canadians," he said, twisting to face the girl next to him and looking at her seriously.
Annabeth snorted.
The next day, it was a couple of violets in a small bouquet. There was a ribbon with a note tied around the stems, just like the first day. Why wasn't there a ribbon yesterday? Annabeth wondered.
On the ribbon it had the words have you been paying attention, Annabeth? in a messy scrawl, not as well written as the first note.
Annabeth was slightly creeped out. Now, it was obvious that it wasn't just someone else's careless boyfriend. Someone was targeting her.
Percy was slightly tired of having to go to Annabeth's apartment every day before anything else, but, of course, it was too late to back out now. He had already left the notes yesterday and the first day. Today, though, at least he didn't have to run. He was going to bring it in like a normal person, which he told himself he deserved, because he had twisted his ankle the first day, and it still kind of hurt.
The only problem was, today, the flower was one that maybe she wouldn't know. It was an everlasting, which he had had to request specially for, because it wasn't a common flower, and maybe that was kind of the problem. If she didn't know what kind of flower it was, then she couldn't figure out the message.
Percy shook his head violently, startling the only other person in the elevator. He half-smiled, half-grimaced at them, as if to tell them he was (at least somewhat) okay. Then the elevator reached Annabeth's floor, and he got off and walked quickly away, leaving the slightly weirded out girl behind in the elevator to try to figure out why he was acting like that.
Annabeth heard the knock at the door, and, feeling too lazy to get up, yelled at whoever was at the door. "PERCY?" She did have to make sure it was Percy, after all.
"YEAH!" Percy's came from outside.
"COME IN!" she yelled from her place on the couch, where she was doing her homework, trying to do as much as she could before Percy happened.
Percy came in, using the spare key he had, and Annabeth saw that he was holding a flower again. He noticed her looking at it, and he shrugged. "It was on the doorstep. I figured I'd be a nice person for once." He smiled after saying this, covering the distance between the doorway and the couch quickly, and handing it to her. She looked at the flower in her hands, and, for the first time that week, didn't know what flower it was that had been delivered to her doorstep.
Percy saw her look of confusion. He smiled victoriously. "Hah! I finally know something the great Annabeth Chase doesn't!"
She scrunched up her nose and pulled her knees up to her chest, so Percy could sit down on the couch. He did, and she put her feet on his lap. "You don't have to rub it in. I'm not going to know everything."
"Oh, but you do know everything. And I never know anything." He scowls as he says this, even though they both know he's exaggerating.
"Oh, don't be such a baby. You have plenty of things that I can't do either. But seriously, what flower is it?"
"It's an everlasting," he smirked, obviously laughing silently at the fact that she was so desperate to know what the flower's name was.
"Thank you." Her stance relaxed with the relief of knowing.
"But now I don't know anything you don't." He pouted, giving her his signature Baby Seal Eyes™.
"Oh, what a tragedy."
Annabeth's interest had been officially piqued. Apparently, she was being given flowers every day by a mysterious secret admirer that had given her two different notes that made it seem like they were leaving clues, or at least messages. (Annabeth hoped they would lead to the identity of the mysterious stranger, because maybe curiosity was one of her flaws.) But, either Annabeth was missing them, or else they hadn't given anything to pay attention to.
Annabeth's phone buzzed, jarring her out of her thoughts. She realized that she was laying spread eagle on her bed, staring at the ceiling. She sat up and grabbed her phone off the bedside table, swinging her legs down and standing up.
Percy had texted. Hey I'm outside your door but I left my key at home so please let me in and your neighbor is out here save me she's asking me weird questions as if I live here help me save me Annie
Annabeth considered not letting him in, then got another text.
And I've got some Chinese and it's getting cold you forget that I can see when you've seen my texts you meanie
Annabeth ran to the door, almost running into about half of the furniture on the way. She opened the door, grabbed the bag from Percy's hands, then swiftly slammed the door in his face.
Percy yelled at her through the door. "Annabeth Chase, I swear to—" He made an unintelligible noise. "ANNABETH!"
She opened the door slowly, smirking smugly. He raised both eyebrows at her. She smiled widely. He huffed a sigh. She smiled wider, then opened the door wider, letting him in, then scrambled to get to the couch before him. She did, by only one second.
Percy stopped, smiling as widely as she had been before.
He smirked knowingly, then walked over and sitting next to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders in a way that would have been annoying if it were anyone but Percy.
She opened the takeout bag. In it, she found not only two plastic containers filled with goodness, but a flower, too. It was a petunia, and, the stem didn't have a note tied to it, making her wonder what the pattern for ribbon or not was. She pulled it out, frowning as she wondered if her supposed "secret admirer" knew how much a sporadic pattern would bother her.
Percy stiffened a little when he saw her holding the flower, but he loosened a little when she looked at him questioningly. He shrugged, then pulled her a little closer to him. "It was on the doorstep, so I just stuck it in there. Didn't want to give your creepy neighbor any ideas about us." He shrugged again. "Guess I forgot it about it."
"You forgot about it in less than five minutes?" Why had he stiffened, then become a little too nonchalant? Was he lying?
"You already know I'm an idiot."
"You're not an idiot," Annabeth soothed, petting his hair, "You're just a Seaweed Brain."
"And you're a Wise Girl."
"I don't really see how that's fair, because Seaweed Brain is kind of an insult, but you're just calling me smart."
"Ah, but I wouldn't be a Seaweed Brain if I was smart enough to defend myself from the insult."
Annabeth laughed, and Percy just looked at her.
"What?" she asked him, wondering why he was looking at her like that. He just shook his head, smiling. "No, I'm serious. Why are you looking at me like that?"
"I just love you. I'm so lucky to have you as a–as a bestie."
"No, Percy, it's too early for this sentimental stuff!" Annabeth ignored that he had been about to say something else, though it burned in her mind.
"No, it's not," he defended himself, before smiling a wicked grin. Then, he started tickling her. "I love you, I love you, I love you!"
Annabeth gasped for air in between breathless giggles, all thoughts of Percy's weirdness banished from her mind. "No! Stop! Percy!"
"Never!" He tickled her even more, so much so that her breathing was ragged and gasping.
She finally pushed him off the couch, taking care to keep the Chinese safely in her lap, and sucked in a deep breath, savoring the sweet air.
"You really are a meanie. You pushed me off the couch."
"You deserved it. I couldn't breathe. We're even. Now should we be responsible adults and eat at the breakfast bar, or should we watch TV while we eat our morning dinner?" Annabeth looked at him, like it was even something that needed considering.
They weren't responsible adults.
Percy sighed. He did realize that if he wanted to keep Annabeth from suspecting anything, he would have to run it to her door again at least a few more times before the big V day. But that didn't mean he had to like it. Sure, Percy only had four more days until Valentine's, and he had been cheating for most of the days since the first, but ugh.
He took a deep breath, set the flower on the doormat, and let the breath out, trying to prepare himself to run like his life depended on it. He took in another deep breath, then pressed the doorbell. As soon as he heard the muffled electronic tone from inside, he took off sprinting to the right, instead of to the left, as opposed to the first day, because he had discovered that this one was closer, hoping against all hope that she wasn't anywhere near her door, or else he'd be in some deep water.
When he reached the corner, he threw myself around it, and collapsed against the wall. Through the pounding in his head, he heard Annabeth open the door, then heard her curse softly under her breath. Usually, he wouldn't be able to hear that, but his senses were on high alert, and his nerves were pulled tighter than the strings on an instrument, all on edge, waiting for her to realize that it was him the whole time, or something with equal consequence.
His head swam with questions. Why had she been so close to the door so early in the morning? Was she trying to catch me at it? Was—
He suddenly realized that Annabeth hadn't gone back inside. Instead she was apparently standing in the hallway, cursing the name of whichever person that dared to keep her hanging in suspense like this. Percy laughed out loud at how adorable she was, realizing it only a second too late.
He heard her voice, heard her say his name, but only barely. The yelling in his own head was far louder, it being a thousand copies of his own voice, all screaming at him for being such an idiot, for letting himself make any noise at all, for letting her find out.
He drew in a deep breath, blew it out through his nose, then forced a smile on his face and turned around the corner to face the mess he had made.
"Percy?"
Annabeth had been waiting near the door, ready to throw open the door as soon as the doorbell chimed. But she had gone to get her pop tarts, and, of course, that was when her secret admirer had appeared, when she was just far enough from the door to see who it was.
She had stood in the doorway a moment for a moment, confused, because finally, the person had made a mistake, because, surely, the person hadn't meant to bring the same flower twice. But there it was, another everlasting on her doormat, again, with no ribbon or note.
Then she remembered why she had woken an hour early and began to curse a few shades louder than a whisper to herself. She would have to wait an entire day before she could try again, and who knows? Maybe they wouldn't even deliver. Maybe they'd just give up, because Annabeth was losing her touch if she couldn't even figure out a message from a secret admirer.
She was about to go back inside and eat her pop tarts, when she heard it. It was a soft laugh, barely audible, coming from around the corner, and it was a very familiar laugh, too. It was Percy's laugh, bubbling and oddly comforting, but why was Percy–unless he was her–no, there was no way. Was there?
She began to walk towards the corner, towards where she had heard Percy. Why else could he have been around the corner where she couldn't see him from her doorstep. Were there any valid reasons why he could be here without him being her secret admirer?
Before she could reach the corner, though, Percy came around it, smiling widely, though it looked a little bit forced, and his eyes were slightly wider than usual.
She made the first move. "Care to explain, Seaweed Brain, why you're laughing at me from around the corner?"
His eyes darted slightly from side to side. "I was coming to see you, silly. I happened to be coming just as I hear you cursing the name of 'whichever person that dared keep you hanging in suspense like this'. And then I laughed, because it was funny?"
He was nervous again. Why?
The next day, the flower was a rose, and for the first time in four days, it had a ribbon and note on it. The message this time was kind of creepy, and it was scrawled in the same scribble that had been used since the second note. It said, yesterday was not a mistake.
Well, then.
Annabeth was exhausted. For three days in a row, counting today, she had woken up an hour early, and today, she actually had a class to go to and try to stay awake in. She had told herself that she would try to catch her secret admirer again this morning, but honestly, she was exhausted.
There was a knock at the door. Annabeth groaned, and crawled out of bed, stumbling over to the front door.
It was Percy. He stood there, a box of donuts in his hands and a dark red flower on the doorstep. Annabeth nearly cried with frustration.
Percy saw her expression, and carefully stuck the box down on the ground. "Hey, hey, what's wrong?" He encased her in a warm hug, taking care not to step in the donuts.
Annabeth sniffed. "This stupid idiot who's dropping off those stupid flowers, that's what." She tried to sound like she wasn't two seconds away from crying, but the lump in her throat was hard to talk around.
He smiled softly. "Will donuts make you feel any better?" He handed her the box in his hand, then bent to grab the flower.
"A little bit. What flower is it this time?"
"A carnation, I think." He handed the flower to her too, seemingly haven forgotten about it until now. "But seriously, are you okay?"
"Not really, but I will be when this stupid holiday is over." She yawned, then sniffed.
"Good thing it's tomorrow." He smiled at her, and for some reason it looked a little bit guilty.
Percy felt like a terrible person. He had almost made Annabeth cry yesterday.
And she wasn't stupid. Percy had seen her face every time he made an excuse that didn't quite make sense, which happened more often than he would like. She would squint a little, head cocked to one side, then shake her head, not to him, but to herself, as if to tell herself no. She had already probably figured it out, and she was denying it. Because it couldn't be Percy. It couldn't possibly be her best friend. Percy felt suddenly, and undeniably friend zoned. Of course. She didn't love him, no more than just a friend. Because if she did love him, why would she wait 8 years to tell him, like he had? She was smarter than him. She wouldn't let herself struggle like he had himself. She would have just told him if she liked him. Of course, she didn't (and never would) love him.
She hadn't accepted the truth just because she didn't want it to be Percy.
Why did he have the bright idea to tell her like this, instead of stuttering out a couple sentences, torturing her for maybe nine minutes, instead of for nine days.
Percy was officially the worst friend ever, and he felt bad for anyone who ever had made the mistake of befriending him.
Annabeth woke early on the morning of Valentine's Day, relishing the moment she had; warm and cozy, wrapped up in her blankets while all was still and quiet around her.
Then she realized what day it was and moaned softly under her breath. Today was the last day, but then she would still have to survive this, the last day. Thank gosh she didn't have any classes today, thanks to the holiday that didn't deserve to be a holiday.
Today, she would indulge herself, and just not change into real clothes. She wasn't planning on going anywhere anytime soon, and she was probably just going to sit and watch Harry Potter or something. Percy was probably going to show up sometime soon, hopefully-not-but-probably finding a flower on her step.
There was the sound of keys in the lock. Speak of the devil, here he was.
Percy stood outside Annabeth's door, stressing. But that was nothing new. He'd been doing that since he started this whole thing.
Today was the last day. He had no more flowers, no more days to stall. Today was the day. Today he was going to find out whether she liked him, or if she didn't. This may well be the last day they would be friends. Because who would want to be friends with someone who had had a crush on them for eight whole years and hadn't told them? How creepy was that?
Percy shook his head violently, derailing his train of thought, but also making him kind of dizzy. He had to stop getting distracted. Sooner or later, Annabeth was going to wake up and find him standing outside like a creep. Why was he such a creep?
Percy shook his head again. He had to get down to business. Not to defeat the Huns, but to write the message on his final flower note. He had actually only planned the first one, and the rest were just when he thought they were needed. He thought for a second more, then scribbled out a message.
He looked at her front door one more time, then added two more words at the bottom. I'm sorry.
Annabeth heard the door open, then slam shut. She then heard Percy call out, quietly, cautiously, him always being the best, most perfect friend possible.
She called out, equally soft, but so that he could hear. "Perce?"
He came out around, wearing a pajama top with some jeans. "Yeah?" He was holding a small bouquet of small red flowers. There was a small note tied around their stems, holding the together. He saw her looking at them. "Yarrow," he muttered.
"Percy?" Annabeth sat up in her bed. "Are you okay?"
He smiled, though it looked a bit shaky. "I'm fine." He stepped over and sat next to her, putting his head on his shoulders and his arm around her waist comfortingly. "But I'm not the one I'm worried about. How're you?"
Annabeth sighed and shrugged halfheartedly. "I don't know. I'm just trying to figure out this puzzle, you know? The first note said not to forget the flowers' names, and that's pretty much all I've got at this point."
Percy frowned. "Well, do you remember them all?"
Annabeth counted them off on her fingers. "Well, in order, there's lily, orchid, the violets, the everlasting, the petunia, the other everlasting, the rose, the carnation yesterday, then the yarrow today. There's no other hint, no other clue. Just names. Annabeth, remember them. Annabeth, did you remember them?" Annabeth got more and more agitated as she went on. "I just- I—"
Percy interrupted before she could fully hyperventilate. "Hey, hey, let's go write it down or something. That might help, right? If it's something about names, then maybe looking at them will help." His face looked very worried, and guilty? He looked guilty yesterday, too. He was talking again. Saying her name. "Annabeth? hey, let's go figure it out, okay?"
Annabeth breathed in deeply. "Yeah, let's." Her voice was just a bit shaky, and Percy didn't mention it, only steadied her when she almost fell twice on the way to the breakfast bar.
Percy procured a pencil and a paper from who-knows-where, and began to write the nine flower names down, writing each in a vertical list.
She stared at the paper for about five minutes before she saw it. Percy had gone into the kitchen to make some breakfast or something, and when she saw it, she left out a strangled sob, and then there was a clang from the kitchen.
But she payed Percy no heed, because staring at the paper, she finally saw it, and felt unbelievably stupid. How could she have not seen it?
Lily
Orchid
Violet
Everlasting
Petunia
Everlasting
Rose
Carnation
Yarrow
Annabeth let out a sound that was half laugh, half sob. "Percy?" she called out to the now silent kitchen. Her voice wobbled, and Percy peeked out from around the corner.
"Yeah?" His voice was even, but Annabeth saw the worry in his eyes.
She grinned at him, standing up. "I love you, too, you dork." It took him a second to recognize her words, and in that moment, she ran to him, throwing her arms around him. After the meaning of her words sank in, he looked down at her, grinning back.
"So, you figured it out then?"
She snorted.
Percy had everything in his life that he needed. He had a great best friend, an amazing girlfriend, and plenty of blue cookies. And the thing that was best of all was the fact that the first two mentioned things were maybe the same person.
:D ((finally))