AN: This was intended as a one shot and inspired by a stray thought, more than anything. I just thought I'd share the outcome.
It is an All human AU in which Percy and Annabeth are a little older than in canon, at 17-18. The rest you should work out as you go. It was mainly for some fun, and because I had such a clear mental image of the entire concept/setting. As always, I'm open to constructive critisism, and feedback is much appreciated, since I never feel I've got these two quite right.
Obviously I don't own Percy, Annabeth, the books, the world or anything really. I just own this story.
-There is a bit of a mature tone throughout, but I didn't think it warranted an M rating. If you feel differently, please just let me know-
Annabeth killed the engine.
The parking lot of the town poolhouse was empty, but for her little Prius, and the floodlights were all on a manual circuit, so it was dark, too.
At midnight on a Sunday no one was here.
She reached across to the passenger seat for her bag and quietly pushed open her door. There was a gentle breeze drifting through the empty bays as she locked up the car and lifted the hood of her sweater over her blonde curls. Summer was on the way out and soon school would be back in session, so Annabeth was making the most she could of the unofficial benefits of working at the local swimming pool.
She hurried across the lot and into the shadow of the glass complex at the front of the building. Fishing out her keys, she found the one labelled 'Pool' and easily let herself into the reception.
The alarm kicked in as the glass door pulled open, and after relocking it, Annabeth traced her way, in the dark, to the box on the wall. She plugged in the eight digit override code without a second thought. The wailing died out and the familiar faint humming of the building's heating and electric took over in the ensuing quiet.
Smiling softly, she lowered her hood to her shoulders and cast her eyes about.
The sleek reception desk curved out into the open room, the surface made of glittering midnight blue marble. Across the front was the business name 'Poseidon Pools'. The words were usually lit with a blue backlight, but with it being after hours, the lettering was dark. The computers were silent, the promotion boards still and the only light came from the bubbling aquarium set into the wall behind the desk. A variety of marine fish swam lazily through an elaborate coral reef; it was an impressive attraction – one that the kids loved.
Annabeth shrugged her bag more firmly onto her shoulder and slid past the desk, finding her way easily to the double swing doors despite leaving all the lights off. She had been working at the pool doing double shifts as both a receptionist and lifeguard for the whole summer, but she had been working at the desk and swimming there for longer than that. The layout of the building was familiar, light or no light, and she sort of preferred it in the dark, anyway.
She walked past all the lines of changing rooms and lockers. The floor was dry by now – having been mopped up after the last swim shift – and everything was spotless. Finally she let herself into the main pool area at the end of the maze of corridors.
This was the most beautiful part of the complex.
The high domed roof was a web of clear glass panes and the night sky settled above it like a velvet drape, stars glittering down. The walls were black – in deep shadow – but the bottom of the pool was lit up so that the water itself seemed to glow.
The bright surface was still like glass, white stripes that ran the length on the mosaic bottom blazing into the surrounding darkness.
A feeling of peacefulness settled into Annabeth's chest, and she sank onto a bench at one end of the pool. There, she shrugged off her bag and began unloading it.
She pulled out a sleek laptop, which she lifted open. While it booted up with a delicate whirr, she laid out a towel and bottle of shampoo. Even for a relaxing midnight swim, Annabeth couldn't help the compulsion to think ahead and be prepared.
In just moments she'd pulled up a playlist and music was washing through the cavernous hall. No one would hear it outside the building, but with how quiet it was at night, it filled the space enough to be heard over splashing. Annabeth knew that from experience.
She stood up, tugging down the zip on her hoodie and shrugging it off onto the bench. Her boots were kicked off and then she pulled her loose t-shirt up and over her head. She slid out of her jeans last and stepped away from her things.
Some distance away, where the splash wouldn't hit her clothes or laptop, Annabeth stretched up, stood precisely on the edge of the pool, then dived cleanly into the deep water.
Streams of tiny bubbles cascaded around her as she sank down. The blue lights at the bottom of the pool, and the now broken surface above combined to make fractured patterns dance across her skin. She reached out through the water, and swept wide, propelling herself forward with the breast-stroke.
Annabeth swam gradually up, holding the last of her breath and letting the feeling of freedom surround her. She broke the surface several metres from where she'd plunged in. Her hair was dark, heavy around her shoulders and then weightless, floating, where it touched the water. She often swam in just her bra and underwear, and today's plain white set were almost luminescent in the lit up pool.
She blinked drops from her eyes, found herself smiling, and resumed her swim to the far end. She touched down, took a breath, and propelled away for another length, this time doing the butterfly.
Halfway there, she drew her arms forward for another stroke, and instead dived down. She kicked out with her legs in tandem like a mermaid's tail and reached the bottom.
Annabeth let a few bubbles escape her and race upward as she reached out to trace the mosaic tiles with her fingers.
From down here, the world looked all too big and empty; the dancing blue of the water over the inky blackness of the sky high above the dome.
She stayed as long as she could, but all too soon, Annabeth's chest tightened with the demand for oxygen. With a press off the floor, she headed back to the surface.
Swimming like this – alone, at night – calmed her and gave her space to think. She was grateful that the pool's owner, Poseidon, was happy for her to let herself in after hours. It was a complicated thing to do with him thinking she worked hard and deserved it, as well as knowing it annoyed her mother that she so loved to swim. Poseidon and her mother – the architect who designed this very building – had never gotten along well.
The music was still floating across the water when she surfaced. But a voice also floated over to her.
"Well, I was not expecting you."
Annabeth spun, sending up a splash, only barely managing not to cry out.
A boy was sat on the end of the same bench all her things were laid on. He looked tall and had tanned skin with a lean form and a head of messy black hair. He was barefoot, dressed in simple jeans and a cotton t-shirt. A flight bag sat on the bench next to him. His voice was friendly and fitted with the laid back smile on his face.
Annabeth was suddenly all too conscious that she was swimming in her underwear. And then she was annoyed at herself for having the thought occur to her.
"How did you get in here?" She asked. She was treading water; she didn't want to get out while he was sitting there, but nor could she simply return to swimming.
He shrugged in a slightly apologetic kind of way. "The front door."
Annabeth frowned. "It was locked." She knew it was. She locked it after letting herself in every night.
He nodded. "I know. I have a key."
Tentatively – he didn't look dangerous, but she was admittedly in a bit of a vulnerable position (not something she enjoyed) – she swam towards him.
His eyes stayed on her as she pulled herself to the wall of the pool and folded her arms on the edge. At least this way all he could see of her were her shoulders upwards. That did little to stop the intense way he was watching her, though.
Annabeth felt her spine tense up. She never liked being looked at the way teenage boys were so good at. This boy was looking at her differently, but it was no less unnerving. She wondered if part of it was his eyes themselves. Up this close, she could see they were a startling shade of blue-green; the colour of the sea.
"Only staff should have keys," she said, to fill the gap and cover her nerves. "I've never seen you work here."
"Because I don't."
Annabeth tried hard not to growl in frustration. "Do you enjoy being difficult?"
He raised an eyebrow at her and asked in a confused tone, "Difficult?"
"Yes. Difficult," she said in exasperation. "The short answers; the vagueness."
He held up his hands as though surrendering at gunpoint. "Sorry, I didn't realise I was being difficult. Look, I don't know about the 'staff only' thing with the keys, but I've had a key to this place for years. I just don't really use it."
"How did you get it?" Annabeth asked, eyes narrowing in on him. Nothing about him screamed gang leader or criminal, but you could never be too sure nowadays.
He gave her another confused expression. "I was given it."
She gave him her best withering look.
He cleared his throat awkwardly and shot her an apologetic smile, looking up at her from under his eyelashes. Annabeth felt her heart flutter and was immediately annoyed at herself for noticing how good looking he was while they were sort of arguing and she was not quite naked.
"Sorry," he said, still smiling softly at her. "difficult again. Right, my dad gave it to me. He split with my mum and he's not around much so this is sort of his compensation, I guess – I get free access to the pool. He owns the place."
Annabeth felt her eyes widen. "Your dad is Poseidon?"
The boy smiled brighter. "Yeah. You know him?"
It was Annabeth's turn to swallow hard over the irony caught in her throat. "Uh, yeah. He's up here a lot; he told me I could use the pool after hours. He knows it annoys my mom and they don't really get along."
"Who's your mom?" he asked, sounding genuinely curious.
Annabeth barely hesitated. "Athena Olympa. She's the-"
"Architect who designed this place," the boy finished, casting his eyes around the domed roof with an amused smile.
Annabeth nodded.
The boy looked back at her. His eyes were more green than blue, now, and his expression was more open and happy. Annabeth couldn't help feeling like he'd simply decided he trusted her.
"I'm Percy Jackson," he said.
Annabeth didn't hesitate this time. "Annabeth Chase."
Percy frowned. "A different name to your mom?"
"My parents split, too," Annabeth supplied, wondering absently why she was telling him this. "I have a step mom and brothers. My mom has her work."
Percy gave another of those soft, quiet smiles. "I have a step dad. But its sort of a crazy family on my real dad's side, so I have a few cousins and they're like siblings, really…um, so…" his eyes slid across from her to the lit up and still surface of the pool. "Would you mind if…"
Annabeth tensed against the pool wall. "Oh, no. Go ahead; I'm going."
His head shot up from his bag just as he'd turned to it. "What? No," he protested. "I didn't mean you had to leave. I just meant…well it's big enough for both of us, right?"
Annabeth bit her lip. "I'm not exactly…dressed for company," she said awkwardly.
For what seemed to be the first time, Percy's eyes flitted down from hers, tracing across her shoulders. A blush rose in his face and he quickly looked away. "Oh. Well…I'm going to be sort of the same and if it bothers you – you could wear my shirt?"
Annabeth stared at him. He rubbed the back of his neck and waited. "But you need it," she said, unable to think of anything else.
It had the wrong reaction, though. The blush left him, and he pulled out of his bag a second t-shirt, smiling brightly at her. "No I don't."
Annabeth hesitated, her eyes darting from the t-shirt in his hands, across to her things. Her laptop was still issuing out music tracks.
"Come on," Percy said when she remained quiet. His eyes were soft, bluer again than before. "I've not really settled in this town before and it would be nice to know someone before I have to start school in a couple of weeks."
That gave Annabeth something to hang on to. "School? You're starting your last year of school here?" That meant he was around eighteen, like her, and it was good to know she'd guessed his age accurately.
Percy nodded. "Yeah, I've spent a lot of time at different schools – apparently I'm a troublemaker," he added in a stage whisper. Annabeth smiled in spite of herself. "But mom and Paul, my step dad, had an amazing opportunity to get away for a bit, so I said I'd stay with my dad for a while. That means going to school here while he's based in town is easier."
"But what makes you think I'm going to school in town? I could be here for the summer."
Percy gave her a smirk, and unlike the way his smiles made Annabeth's heart jump, this smirk made her skin warm. He reached over to her bag and lifted up her notebook. It had been tucked into the edge of her bag and was emblazoned with the local high school crest.
"Fair enough," she said.
"So?" he asked. He raised his spare t-shirt again.
Annabeth bit her lip once more. The pool was pleasant, and she hadn't been swimming for long yet, and Percy didn't seem like most boys their age. But she was the smart one who always thought things through and had a plan.
She had not planned for this. For him.
"Turn around," she told him.
Percy's hopeful expression dropped a little, but he turned away on the bench without comment. Annabeth quickly hoisted herself out of the pool and got to her feet. The air was cool but even with goosebumps erupting over her skin, she was not quick to approach him.
She watched his back tense as she got closer before reaching out and gently taking the t-shirt out of his hand.
He went still, and Annabeth backed away. She quickly pulled it over her head, and almost immediately it dampened against her skin. It was too large on her, so it covered enough of her that she felt a little less vulnerable, and it was dark grey, so she was doubly thankful that it would actually do the job she was wearing it for, even when soaked through.
Back at the edge of the pool, she gave him one more glance – his back was still turned – and dived back in.
The splash must have shaken him, because when she surfaced, he was staring at her, his expression surprised and pleased.
"Well?" She called to him, treading water again. "Are you getting in or not?"
He smiled at her and stood up.
Annabeth meant to look away; she really did. She was going to resume swimming – maybe dive back down again – while he shed his clothes, but instead, she found herself watching him.
The lean muscle in his arms flexed as he tugged his shirt over his head in an easy, practiced motion. Annabeth barely noticed as he turned next to his jeans; he was a good looking guy, no arguments there, but it was the leather cord about his neck that caught her attention.
She'd always had a bit of a thing for guys who wore cord necklaces.
She bit her lip again, silently cursing him, and turned hastily and belatedly away.
A splash behind her announced she was no longer alone in the pool, and she turned to try to find him.
He was near the bottom; a fast moving shadow outlined by the lights as he cut easily through the water and moved beneath her. He remained near the bottom for long enough to be a concern, were it not for the fact that he was still swimming almost lazily around from light to light. Finally, he pushed off the floor and began to swim up over halfway down the length of the pool.
He broke the surface and flicked his sopping hair out of his eyes with a careless shake of his head.
Annabeth bit down on her lip again as he turned towards her, and started swimming quickly away, intent on finding her own corner where she wouldn't be tormented with images of him soaking wet with his cursed cord necklace.
He would be lucky not to get mobbed by the female population on his first day at high school. Showing up in the dead of night a couple of weeks early was probably a very good idea. Learn all the escape routes first.
But by the time Annabeth – who was no weak swimmer – had reached the other side of the pool, Percy was surfacing again not far away and propelling himself easily towards her, like it was no effort at all at the speed he was going.
Against her better judgement, Annabeth stopped in the water.
"Okay, how are you doing that?"
He looked adorably confused again. That expression was growing on her. "Doing what?"
Annabeth cast an arm around them. "Swimming so fast, holding your breath that long, looking like you're barely trying."
He shrugged helplessly. He'd somehow wound up right in front of her – she could easily have reached out and curled her fingers around that necklace of his. A necklace, she happened to notice, that was strung with an assortment of clay beads.
"I've been on swim teams through high school."
Of course.
"And I spent most of my summer so far on a boat with my parents, so I was swimming in the ocean a lot, too. Its tougher out there; the currents and everything. I guess it makes you step up so pools are just easier now."
Annabeth had to grudgingly admit it made sense.
Percy suddenly smiled again. That green shade had come back to his eyes, and no – the fact that he had colour changing, beautiful eyes was not helping her situation at all. "So, help me out here," he said. "I'm guessing you're not a cheerleader."
Annabeth snorted. "How did you guess?"
"I've never met a cheerleader like you."
Torn between asking 'met lots, have you?' and 'what do you mean 'like me', Annabeth just frowned at him.
He gave her a simple look and said, as though it were simply common sense, "Cheerleaders aren't often the type to be self conscious, especially when they're as beautiful as you."
Annabeth gaped at him and after a moment, she thought he might be blushing again, but it was hard to tell with the blue lights shining up at them.
"Was that a line?" she asked, for lack of anything else.
He shook his head. "No. I don't exactly know how to use pick up lines; my friend told me once I just shouldn't do it because I'm awful."
Annabeth smiled, muttering to herself, "You don't need them". But now she was in too deep – just not the water. He was far too close and her heart was beating far too hard. "What makes you think I'm self conscious, anyway?" she demanded, trying to inject some bite into her voice.
He just gave her a somewhat lazy smirk again, his eyes turning the colour of the sea under the sun as he said, "You're wearing my t-shirt."
Well, shit.
"Or," he said, still watching her in that quiet way that seemed to go through her. "I make you nervous."
Annabeth stopped breathing.
No. No you don't.
But she couldn't say it. And it would sound too much like denial anyway.
Thankfully, he didn't seem to have taken himself seriously. He just smiled at her and with barely a ripple, dunked himself under the water. He turned easily and dived down, leaving Annabeth above, trying to calm down her suddenly frantic heart.
She was torn between two more choices now, neither of which she would have contemplated just half an hour ago. Yank him closer by that damned cord and kiss him – or use it to strangle him.
She swam away, trying to work out where her sudden frustration came from. She decided, watching him surface again and begin swimming her way, that it must stem from his utter obliviousness to how much he put her off balance. He simply had no idea the effect he had on people. On her.
He would be so lucky not to get mobbed in school, Annabeth decided.
"So," he said, when he'd caught up to her again. "You're not a cheerleader, so where do you fit in? Musician? Mathematician? Sports? Drama?"
"I'm a nerd."
Percy stopped talking. Annabeth held her breath again. She figured it would be less painful to rip off that bandage straight away.
"Says who?" he asked, blankly.
"Everyone?" Annabeth suggested, quickly growing irked with this conversation. She began drifting through the water absently. "I have friends, but I study a lot, and I like to do well so apparently, in the modern world that gets you labelled a geek or a nerd."
"Do you wear glasses?"
Annabeth shot him a flummoxed look. "What? No."
"Then you can't be a nerd. Nerd's need glasses; those ones with the huge rims."
"That's a stereotype encouraged by Hollywood," Annabeth protested, laughing unexpectedly. "Not all nerds wear glasses."
Percy just quirked his head sideways at her. "You should laugh more," he said.
And Annabeth didn't ask why. She wasn't sure she wanted to know.
"What about you?" she asked instead. "If you're on the swim team you must be a jock."
"I hate that word," he said, suddenly looking troubled, his eyes turning blue.
"Why?"
"Because most of the people coined with that term are assholes," he said bluntly. "Sorry. I just…didn't get along well with a lot of guys like that."
"You're not one of them," Annabeth murmured. Of this, she was suddenly certain. Percy frowned at her. "I mean I don't know you," she hurried to explain. "But you just don't seem like that to me."
He smiled at her like he'd been told Christmas was tomorrow and his eyes turned brilliantly green. "Good. But you know, I'd like to get to know you. You don't seem like a nerd to me, either."
"You haven't heard me talk about chemical equations, algorithms or architecture yet," Annabeth teased.
He laughed and suddenly, Annabeth thought she understood why he wanted to hear her laugh more. The sound was genuine and carefree and it made his face light up.
"One day you can try to convince me," he said, swimming closer. Annabeth had been floating around and he quickly closed the distance again. "But for now, I don't think any of that makes you a nerd; it just makes you smart."
"And if you're smart in high school, and you study lots, and don't go out to all night parties, you are a nerd," Annabeth pressed, suddenly amused with the topic. No one else had ever made her feel like this was easy to talk about – being stereotyped.
Percy smirked again. "Got an answer for everything, don't you, Wisegirl?"
"So what about you?" She tried again. Realising he'd given her a nickname brought some rather complex emotions that she couldn't handle right now, so she brushed them aside.
"What about me?" Percy teased. "Why did you guess jock?"
"Swim team?" Annabeth shrugged. "Sport players all kind of get grouped if we're talking stereotypes. Plus, guys that look like you don't always get a choice; they're just given labels."
"Guys that look like me?" Percy seemed intrigued; his expression and tone a mix of curiosity and daring.
Annabeth swallowed. "Yes, like you." And she wasn't willing to give him any more, but he seemed to have guessed. Something heated passed through his eyes. Annabeth tugged the conversation back on track.
"If you're not an ass you don't fit in at the jock table, so where do you fit?"
Percy shrugged, seemingly throwing off his previous thought. "I guess I don't."
"Everybody fits somewhere," Annabeth protested.
He smiled patiently, "Is this your inner nerd? Trying to categorise everything? Not everyone fits a label, Annabeth."
She shivered at his use of her name. "Or maybe your brain is just so full of seaweed from all that ocean swimming that you can't remember who you used to hang out with."
"Seaweed? Really?"
She let out a breath of annoyance and Percy, trying visibly not to laugh, reached out and with the edge of his index finger, turned her jaw so she was looking at him.
The rest of her breath rushed out, but he didn't seem to notice. His fingers fell away and she could still feel the warmth on her skin where he'd been.
"Its okay, you know. I've never really fitted in, but I don't mind. I have my cousins, and my friends who were also sort of outcasts. I don't need to fit to be happy and have fun."
And watching him, Annabeth could see he was sincere. Her annoyance ebbed away and she nodded. "I don't think I've ever met anyone that thinks like you do."
"Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?"
It's a very bad thing. You're dangerous. Dangerous to every wall I've put between myself and the world since- well…since.
"It's a good thing."
And his smile might just have been worth the lie.
"I need to go," Annabeth suddenly realised, her eyes sliding past the clock on the wall in the shadows. It was nearly 1am.
Percy turned his head to look with her, his expression turning down. "Oh."
Annabeth swam around him, heading back for the top end of the pool and her things. She hoisted herself out, wrung her hair and padded over to her towel.
Percy was climbing out of the pool behind her, so with a brief smile – out of the water, this felt like new territory all over again – she headed for the women's shower unit. Tucked around the corner of his intense eyes, she shed his t-shirt and stepped under the warm spray.
She washed through her hair and dried as best she could before returning to the pool hall.
Percy was sitting on the bench in his jeans and t-shirt, both a little damp, but in the summer weather, it was nothing to worry about. He turned his back on her without being asked and Annabeth quickly pulled on her own shirt, jeans and boots over her damp underwear.
Most people said it was not a comfortable feeling, but something about letting your clothes get damp when you put them back on over wet things Annabeth loved – especially in summer when you wanted any way to cool down you could find. It seemed Percy either shared that feeling or simply didn't care.
"You can turn around," she said quietly, when she sat back on the bench in her hoodie.
He did so, smiling at her, and waited without speaking as she shut off her laptop, put her things away and stood up.
"You know, you didn't have to leave," she said. "You could have kept swimming."
Percy shrugged, casting a strange look across the pool. "Yeah…I thought I'd be here on my own anyway, but I don't know…After finding you here, it seems kind of pointless to stay."
Annabeth nodded, biting her lip again lest she say something stupid. She and Percy walked back through the maze of lockers and changing rooms through to the reception.
It was still dark, and the glowing of the aquarium the only light source as they opened the door. Percy reset the code and Annabeth locked up after them.
"Did you walk here?" Annabeth asked, spotting only her car in the dark parking lot.
Percy rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Uh, yes. It's not far, though and I like to walk."
Again, he seemed to be telling the truth, so Annabeth let it go. They both crossed to her car and she set her bag down on the passenger seat before turning back to Percy.
He was standing close, just inside the curve of her open door, his hands jammed into his jeans pockets but smiling softly at her.
"Are you coming back?" he asked.
Annabeth pressed her own hands into her hoodie pockets. She shrugged. "Sure."
"When?"
That made her smile. "I've been coming down every other night. I want to make the most of it before school starts up again."
"So you won't be here tomorrow?"
She shook her head, laughing faintly. "No; you can finally get it to yourself like you planned."
"That's not what I meant," Percy said softly. "So if I come back the night after tomorrow, will you be here then?"
Annabeth bit her lip and nodded. "That was the plan."
"Can I come back?"
"Your dad owns the place. I can't tell you not to," she said.
"Again, not what I meant," Percy smiled. "The way I figure, we have two weeks and you're the first person I've really met in town – I only arrived three hours ago – we can get to know each other without the pressure at school. Then I won't be the new kid who doesn't know anybody and you won't be the nerd who didn't socialise over the summer."
"A strong argument," Annabeth said wryly.
Percy smirked. "Is that a yes?"
God, he was dangerous.
"It's a maybe."
For a moment he just looked at her, and then he nodded. "Okay. I'll take that. Stay safe, okay?"
She nodded. "Goodnight, Percy."
Sharp green blazed through his eyes, and she realised it was the first time she'd said his name. He backed up, smiled and started walking away. His hair was still damp and the faint impression of his shoulder blades were caught in the equally moist t-shirt he'd pulled back on.
Shaking herself, Annabeth turned back to her car, just as her phone beeped.
Sighing, she plucked it from her bag and leant against the roof of the car to check it. The battery was dying, and the clock said it was now past one in the morning. She was just thankful she didn't have to be up early.
"So there's something I forgot."
Annabeth spun around in shock, "Holy- you scared me!"
Percy was standing in front of her again, as though he'd never walked off, looking slightly apologetic. There was an air of…surety about him that Annabeth couldn't explain, though.
"Sorry," he said, smiling.
"What did you forget?" she asked.
He closed the distance between them, his fingers threading into her drying curls so he could tilt her head back.
"Just feel free to slap me," he said, before he sealed his mouth over hers.
Slapping was not on the to-do list.
A noise between a gasp and a moan raced up Annabeth's throat and her lips parted under his as she welcomed his invasion. Her fingers leapt up, finally curling around that cord at his neck and drawing it down. He groaned quietly and Annabeth felt her whole body heat up as she swallowed the sound, dipping her tongue into his mouth as though to catch it. His weight slid further into her, and he braced them against the roof of her car with his free hand. His occupied one slid from her neck, down to the small of her back where he splayed his fingers, pressing her forward. Their bodies fell into line and Annabeth burned where they touched, even through the layers of damp clothes.
Their kiss was at once slow and easy, with an underlying fierceness and it seemed to end all too soon. Percy drew away, his mouth leaving hers almost mournfully as he tugged at her lower lip. His forehead settled on hers and Annabeth took in a shaky breath.
"You haven't slapped me," Percy said, slightly breathless.
"Give me a minute," she joked, just as out of breath.
Percy chuckled. The vibration ran through his chest and Annabeth, still pressed to him, shuddered. He let his hand loosen against her back so she could separate them by a few inches.
"You should know," he said. "That I've never kissed someone after knowing them barely an hour before."
"Then why did you?" Annabeth asked, out of simple curiosity. "I just never figured you were the type who would."
He smiled, "A few years ago I wouldn't have; I didn't have the guts. Things change and…do you realise how much you bite your lip?"
Annabeth hadn't. "No."
His eyes were dark as they flickered down to her mouth and back to her eyes. "You seem to do it a lot," he said. "and every time…" he didn't finish, but he didn't need to. The look on his face said it all.
Annabeth blushed. In fairness, though, he'd done a good job of hiding it; she prided herself on noticing things, but she'd never realised the effect she was having on him. She'd been too caught up in thinking the other way around.
"You're not alone," she muttered. His eyes turned green and she tugged gently on his cord necklace. Realisation flooded his face.
"Good to know," he said, smiling. "Meet me here the night after tomorrow and I'll tell you why I wear it."
Damn him.
Gently he pressed her to the car and backed away, that soft smile still on his face.
But Annabeth was always hopeless about letting someone else have the last word. Mentally slapping herself as though that would snap her back into rationally-thinking-Annabeth, she moved after him.
There was a surprised but pleased look on his face when she hooked a finger back in his necklace and tugged, just lightly enough to still him. She rose on her toes and kissed him, careful to keep their bodies completely separate.
She felt him start to respond and let him go.
Her heart was racing; responding when he kissed her was one thing, but initiating one was all kinds of scary. She forced herself to look him in the eyes, doing her level best to hide the nerves. His last remark was fighting talk, especially since he knew she had such a thing for that damn necklace, and he had to know she never went down without a fight.
"Or maybe you're out of my system now," she said.
His voice followed her as she side-stepped him and headed back for her still patiently waiting car. "I hope not."
She glanced back over her shoulder. His hands were still in his pockets, his shirt only just starting to air dry, rather like his mussed hair, and his necklace resting over his collarbones. He was smiling softly at her, eyes the colour of the sea.
Definitely not. The necklace may have caught her attention, but something about him – his unassuming honesty, the moments of bashfulness, the moments he wasn't so easy to get – had snagged her completely.
"Don't be late," she said instead, as she slipped into her car.
He smiled brilliantly and Annabeth felt it ripple through her as though his happiness were tangible. He waved and turned again, finally beginning his walk home, bag over his shoulder. Annabeth fired up the Prius and rolled quietly out of the parking lot towards her own home.
Getting to know Percy Jackson might be the best thing she was ever going to do, or the worst, but it would definitely be interesting.
But next time, she was wearing a bathing suit.
AN: Because I have the attention span of a goldfish, I actually have no plans to write more of this, even though I do have ideas and scenes in my mind of later happenings. A one shot is better than a multichapter fic that never gets finished.
That said, I am contemplating writing a companion fic, of this same scene from Percy's point of view (or possibly just one wrap up one shot from his perspective after the events in this). So if anyone wants to see anything like that, speak up and let me know :)