Caught in the Act
DG32173

Sarah: I got the idea for this from CrayolaMarkers' fanfic 'Listen to Me'. Go read her fanfic, it's awesome. This was originally gonna be just a one-shot, but I figured 'what the heck?' and decided to make a little fanfic about this. I don't own the series, Percy, Annabeth, and I definitely don't own the Greek gods. I don't even own the idea entirely, either. Please read and review nicely. Takes place after the fifth book. Let's pretend they haven't gotten together yet. If people like, I might write a sister-fic, the same story from Percy's POV.

!!!WARNINGS!!!
M-rated for mature content such as descriptive fight scenes, some OC deaths, and other "stuff" (coughsmutcough). You have been warned.

SUMMARY
Annabeth visits Percy nightly just to talk to hm while he sleeps. One night, she's caught by Percy himself. Then, the very next day, they are given a vaguely detailed quest together. Just the two of them. Alone. In Hawaii. Sharing one hotel room. Completely unsupervised. What could possibly go wrong? Annabeth/Percy Annabeth's POV

KEY
(Authors note)
"Talking"
'Thinking'
Scene change
POV change
Memory/dreams
Scene change in memory

Chapter 1
Nighttime Visit

I hear the clock in the cabin chime the midnight hour and smile softly. It's time. I carefully and silently climb out of my top bunk and head to the door leading out into camp, easily avoiding the squeaky points in the floor from much practice. It's a good thing my half-siblings are sound sleepers. I would hate to have even one of them notice that I leave the cabin at midnight every night, even though it's well past curfew. But they all sleep like rocks until morning.

I grab a light jacket and slip on some sandals before quietly slipping out the door. I glare up at the gray stone owl hanging over the top of door to Athena's cabin. "Oh, quit giving me that look," I softly growl at it, noticing that it is looking at me condescendingly. "I don't care what you think. I'm going to do this, and that's that!"

Turning my back on the stone owl, I swiftly and quietly make my way to Poseidon's cabin. I gently ease the door open, slip inside, then close the door just as gently. I look over at the only occupied bunk. Ever since Tyson got put in charge of the Cyclops, he's either been at Poseidon's home under the sea, helping rebuild the palace, or on Mount Olympus, learning battle strategies from my mom and techniques with weapons other than the club from Ares. So Percy is the only one who resides in Poseidon's cabin in Camp Half-Blood now, thankfully. I come to visit him every night at midnight, when I'm sure all the campers are asleep. Mr D and Chiron don't come down from the Big House at night unless it's an emergency.

I take a chair from near the wall and silently set it next to Percy's bed. I sit down and watch him sleep for a while. He looks so innocent when he's asleep. I knew that from the first time I met him, when I was nursing him back to health after he fought his first battle with the Minotaur. I glance at the wall beside his bed, where the Minotaur's horn is hanging, a memento from that occasion.

I return my gaze to Percy and smile softly. "Ya know, Percy," I start softly. "I really like you, in a way my mother would definitely not approve of. You really shouldn't lead me on, though, if you don't like me like that. I know we're best friends and all, but that doesn't give you the right to hold my hand when we walk or hug me like you do sometimes if your heart's not into it."

I sigh. "Like today, you were holding my hand the entire time we were racing our chariot. You were still holding my hand when we got off the chariot. I appreciate how you helped me down, but I bet the Aphrodite cabin is gonna start spreading wild rumors around camp that we're together." I blush brightly, remembering what he did after we found out we won the race. "Especially after you kissed me when we were told we won! Give a girl some warning before you go springing stuff like that on her!" I say, struggling to keep my voice soft. Percy may be a sound sleeper, but he's by no means immune to waking up at loud noises. That's the battle instinct all half-bloods share. I shake my head. "Aphrodite's cabin is going to be talking about that for a long time. Next thing ya know, they'll be trying to get their mom to get us together. And if you don't like me like that, that could ruin our friendship. I don't want that to happen, ever."

I glance out the window at the ocean. Judging by where the moon is on the water, I figure I've been here for about an hour and a half. Percy doesn't have a clock in his cabin for some reason. "Ya know, I'm glad Rachel became the Oracle last year. Because she's the Oracle, she can't ever have a boyfriend, so she can't go flirting with you anymore. You probably didn't realize she was even flirting, but she was. Yeah, I know I acted weird whenever I saw you and Rachel together. I'll admit it, I was jealous. Me, Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, jealous of a mortal girl. Bet you didn't see that coming."

I think back on our five years together. "Ya know, you really shouldn't have held me like you did after you saved me from the sirens. I mean, I've been hugged by friends before, and the way you hugged me then wasn't like that at all. I mean, it's not like you'd be into me like that. And when we were on Circe's island after I saved you from being a guinea pig for the rest of your life, remember the way you looked at me? You looked at me like I was a goddess, and in a good way. You still look at me like that sometimes. You really shouldn't look at someone like that when you're not into them."

"Remember how you made Mount St. Helens explode after making me leave you behind? Well, I had looked back in time to see the explosion. I don't know how long I was sitting there, crying, thinking you were dead. I guess that's when I finally admitted to myself that I like you in more than a friendly manner. Don't you ever scare me like that again, Seaweed Brain. When I saw you at the amphitheatre two weeks later, I felt like the gods just granted me a miracle by saving your hide."

I then remember back to our first quest. "Challenging Ares like you did at the end of our first quest was stupid! You could have been killed! Then I would have had to explain to your mom why you weren't coming home at the end of summer. Do you realize how upset she would have been? And Poseidon would have blamed it all on me and Grover for not stopping you. Not to mention that Grover would never have gotten his searcher's license and probably have been taken off seeker duty for years."

I sigh and stare at him. "I just wish you liked me like I like you. And just so you know, I still hate Calypso. Why'd you have to end up at her island when that volcano exploded? I know I probably wouldn't have survived the explosion, since I'm not a child of the sea god, but I wish you would have let me stay and fight with you. Ya probably wouldn't have blown up the volcano if I had stayed and fought with you."

I sigh, glancing out the window again. "It's getting late, I should probably go before someone finds me in here. That would be bad."

I get up and quietly put the chair back where it was and silently open the door just enough for me to squeeze out. Suddenly, his voice comes from behind me. "Ya know, for a daughter of Athena, you can be pretty dumb sometimes, Annabeth. I do like you.""

I squeak and glance back to see him propped up on his arm, watching me with a smirk. His sea green eyes glint in the light of the moon shining through the windows and his brown hair is mussed from sleep. I just barely stop myself from drooling at his hotness in this moment.

"Erm, I was just leaving," I say quickly, running out the door and letting it close on it's own. I dash back to Athena's cabin, quietly open the door and slip inside. I gently shut the door behind me and slip off my jacket and sandals. I creep across the room and dive under my covers.

That was completely embarrassing! How long was he awake while I was blabbing about my feelings? I can feel that my entire face is flushed bright red. Thankfully, no one in the cabin is awake to see my blush. But… he likes me too? Gods! I just hope he doesn't try to bring it up in front of anybody!

Then I imagine the way he had looked, propped up on one arm, the covers pooled around his waist while leaving his torso bare, the moonlight caressing his skin, making his beautiful eyes glint. His hair mussed from sleep and a mischievous smirk on his lips. Gods, he's hot! Who would have thought that Percy would be so good-looking? My fingers itch to go back there and brush his hair out of his face, but I manage to control myself.

It takes a while, but I finally manage to calm myself enough for sleep. When I do sleep, I dream of what might have happened if I had stayed with Percy rather than run of from the embarrassment of being caught..

Sarah: well, here's this. What'd ya'll think? Good? Bad? Please review! The idea for this chapter belongs to CrayolaMarkers, not me. But the rest of the fic is all mine… I think.