Author's Note: This drabble was written for the Rare Pair Project on Tumblr. This is self-betaed so all mistakes are completely mine.

It was all Piper's fault.

It was a typical New York evening, the one with the clouds hanging low over the Empire State Building and the sun barely a sliver in the gloomy sky, when Percy received a divine inspiration of having a cup of coffee to go with his uneaten lunch of half-grilled beef sandwich after his afternoon classes. He was having a nice day, after all, and with Piper offering her company, the two friends set off to a nice café downtown where old grannies found shelter and teenagers sought solace after a hard day of human norms.

Piper was a nice girl when she was not planning to destroy his peace and sanctity if not for at least three hours every day without fail. His trust towards Piper went deep to the extent of letting her become his personal fashion consultant, if their similar choppy fringes and shabby I-don't-really-care attires were really explanation, which was the reason why he was eagerly listening to Piper as she demonstrated a skateboard trick as they glided along the deserted pavement.

'Okay, you try.'

A bit of a pressure there, and a little skid sideways here, and then they were both whooping and high-fiving each other when Percy managed to lift himself over the ledge with the elegance of a flightless bird, but it was a trick nonetheless. And as always, they managed to make everything into a clash of competition, two dumb teenagers speeding along the sidewalk in an alarming speed, a dangerous glint playing off their eyes and on the curl of their lips.

For the first time in many days, Percy allowed his soul to be free, his hands cruising along to the violent wind whipping in his ears. Without meaning to, laughter bubbled out of his chest in pure ecstasy, his heart convinced that this was the very least a little bit good the world has to offer in his shitty life.

Even if it didn't last long.

He didn't see what was coming. Piper was screaming at him to watch out, and though the dodges and the manoeuvres were very well-practiced, the speed was far from controllable. Far down the alley, exactly in front of their planned destination was a huddled figure, unaware of Percy's approach, and that was exactly her warning.

Bracing for the pain that he knew would bound to happen, Percy pressed pressure to the back end of his board to decelerate before propping his foot out for friction. He skidded gracelessly along the pavement, the sole of his shoe practically burning under his foot, but he was slowing down.

'Hey, dude, watch out!' This was directed to the person who was idly standing by the lamp post, looking as if he was contemplating whether to enter the café or not. The last metre was of Percy finally getting off the board, the force still sending him hurling towards the guy in an awkward run while his skateboard flew the other way around.

'Oh, shit!'

'Oh, goodness!'

In the last second, Percy managed to whirl around the boy as he fell down in a trip, his arms clinging helplessly to the boy as they landed on the ground in a tangle of limbs, Percy's butt skidding an inch on the rough cement. The boy crushed his lap in a clumsy descend, groaning in pain on top of Percy, resulting in him with a mouthful of golden hair and a shot of pain on his butt. Books scattered across the ground.

'Do you always bulldoze every person you meet?'

Despite his aching tailbone, Percy couldn't resist a small chuckle. He was having a lapful of a blonde dude with a funny sarcasm, which was not impossible considering the bizarre ways his day always ended. 'Only when they're pretending to be a lamp post.'

The boy, whose head was ducked down in exhaustion from god-knows-what, tilted his chin to glare at Percy. Oh, a hot lamp post, then. Those blue eyes were icy when he regarded Percy, and Percy had a strange notion of feeling like a cornered animal, despite their awkward position.

'Hey, I'm kidding!' Percy raised his hands in defeat before his sass came back with a vengeance. 'And I'm sorry for pulling you with me when I fell.' He sighed. 'I was trying to cushion my fall by using you and it happens exactly the opposite.' Which is not a surprise, honestly. 'Jokes on me, yay.'

All hostile expression dissipated away from the guy's handsome face as his lips quirked upwards in a smile, laughter threatening to spill out. Percy watched on with mild curiosity as the guy lifted his hands off the ground with a hiss, scratches decorating his palm. 'Ow.'

'Okay, so when you get yourself out of my lap, allow me to make it up to you?'

The boy raised a golden eyebrow. He made no effort in standing up. 'In what sense, exactly?'

'I hope you like coffee.'

There was an exaggerated cough and the sound of a person clearing their throat. 'Boys.' Both of the boys looked up to find Piper looming before them, arms crossed and expression pleasantly bemused.

Both said, 'Piper!' before gasping together with an identical, 'You know her?'

'Honestly, of all places to fall in love. I really can't keep up with you guys.' Piper shook her head, crouching low with her delicate chin resting on her arms. Both boys looked alarmed. 'You guys look so comfortable with each other, I couldn't bother to intrude.'

Percy was suddenly aware of their close proximity, with the boy's minty breath fanning over his face and the realisation that they were still in that awkward position for a full five minutes. Though admittedly, Percy found that it hadn't felt weird at all. Apparently having a cute person sitting on your lap after a near-death experience, for Percy, felt natural.

Chuckling with his nerves evident in his deep voice, the boy ran a hand through his short hair and untangled himself from Percy. Like a gentleman he appeared to be, the boy offered a hand, and they stood up side by side. He also took an opportunity to be acquainted. What a nerd.

'I'm Jason, Piper's study buddy.'

'I'm Percy, Piper's skateboarding buddy.'

'And you're supposed to meet together, and luck seemed to be on your side considering such a romantic encounter,' Piper giggled, wrapping her arms around both of their shoulders. 'Oh my gods, crashing together with all the books dropping and tangling limbs, that's some serious crap I watch on the telly every Sunday.'

Crouching low and escaping Piper's half-embrace, Jason snorted with fabricated disinterest, trying hard to look unimpressed, which would have fooled Percy if not for the flushing cheeks and blushing ears. His hands went to retrieve his books as he said, 'I was waiting for you to show up.'

'And show up I did.' She looked on passively while Jason balanced the overwhelming amount of books in his arms and against his chest, his gold-rimmed glasses hanging dangerously on the tip of his Roman nose. 'What's with all the books, anyway?'

'Physics quiz on Monday.' He was really struggling, though, and Percy felt a nudge coming from the girl clinging on him.

'Hey, let me help.' He could tell that even Piper was surprised with the tone he was using, a hint of gentleness and a little bit flirtatious for his liking. He took three books into his clutches, and noticed the angry red marks criss-crossing on Jason's palm, courtesy of the rough pavement.

Without thinking (as of usual), he took Jason's palm into his free hand and gently blew across the blemished skin. A shudder ran through the boy's body as cool air caressed his skin, sending a tingling excitement down Percy's spine, and a fuzzily sweet ball of warmth on the pit of his stomach.

Jason's gaze on him was softening with a grateful look, his tongue darting out to lick the cute tiny scar decorating the corner of his lips, and Percy realised that he had never seen a creature so beautiful.

'Oh my gods, my teeth are falling all over the pavement,' Piper mused loudly, before dragging both of them into the café. 'I need a glass of latte before I drown in your sappiness.'

Percy hit her head with a book.

- a moment later -

News flash: Jason gave a soft kiss on Percy's cheek before waltzing out of the café, his phone number in the tight clutch of Percy's hand. Piper drowned in her latte instead, making awful dying whale noise, as Percy struggled to contain the crooked grin from splitting his face into half.

It was all Piper's fault, and Percy was grateful to her for it.

Author's Note: Tell me what you thought of this piece of trash down below ❤️

Disclaimer: All rights reserved of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians and the Heroes of Olympus series belongs rightfully to Rick Riordan. The rest of the plot and any significant else are all specifically mine.