This was inspired by all the Punk!Percy fics I've read, and lately I've been obsessed with the image. Unfortunately, I really have no idea what the word "punk" entails, so I made my own version of it. Haha. I hope you enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own PJO, HoO, all songs mentioned in this story, and any other familiar references. All rights belong to their respective owners.
"Hey there Delilah, I've got so much left to say.
If every simple song I wrote to you would take your breath away,
I'd write it all.
Even more in love with me you'd fall."
-Hey There Delilah, The Plain White Ts
If every simple song I wrote to you
Chapter one
Percy Jackson annoyed Annabeth for a number of reasons.
He rarely smiled, for one, and that little fact bothered her more than it should be. Annabeth liked to think that his too skinny jeans were what caused him to grimace all the time, or that the dark T-shirts he liked to wear were causing all the sunshine to shy away and prevent themselves from gracing his day.
He didn't look that "punk rock", she had decided long ago, but he wore enough band shirts and he ignored the rest of the students frequently like they weren't cool enough for him, so Annabeth steered clear from him nonetheless.
Also, Percy Jackson certainly didn't look like it, but apparently he wrote the best poems in her English class.
Of course, it's such a silly thing to be annoyed about, but every time Ms. Hudson returns the poems they submit every week, it's Percy that she smiles at.
Not Annabeth. Perfect, straight A student, I-didn't-cram-this-poem Annabeth Chase. Oh, no. Ms. Hudson smiles at ripped jeans-sporting, headphones-wearing Percy Jackson.
"Amazing as always, Percy," the teacher would say. He'd reply by smiling slightly before going back to his usual grimace. On the days Annabeth thinks he's in a good mood, he'd actually wear a poker face. Ms. Hudson would pass by Annabeth, give her back her only second best poem, and pass by her without the praise she gives Percy all the time.
And it easily became a routine. She'd glare at him from behind and (hopefully) burn holes on the back of his head.
The worst part is that Percy Jackson doesn't care at all. His whole presence infuriates Annabeth more than anything, yet he isn't even aware of the effect he had on her. Class would end and he'd stand up quickly like everyone else, headphones already in place, and exit without taking another glance back.
Annabeth would huff, earn another sense of determination to write a better poem next time, and leave for her next class where she was sure she was going to be appreciated for all her hard work.
She should probably blame her competitiveness and perfectionism for her odd fascination with making a better literary piece that's only ten percent of her grade.
But she completely blamed Percy Jackson, anyway.
If there was anything Annabeth loved more than studying, it was probably her music.
And right now, she needed it more than ever.
She could hear her parents shouting in the room next to hers. She flinched when she realized that her iPod was already at its fullest volume, yet she could still hear the profanities pouring naturally from her parents' mouths as if the blasphemies were their second language.
It was amazing how she could still manage to study with this ruckus every night. It was even more amazing how they still think she hasn't noticed even after months of it.
She even figured out what the problem was without them telling her. Apparently it involved Greece and her mother possibly leaving. It involved his father and wanting to stay close to his work. It involved stuff about him never supporting her dreams, and about him only marrying her because of a mistake one night that conceived their daughter.
That's usually the part where Annabeth stops listening, and usually her music did an awesome job of drowning the noise.
Not tonight, however.
Vivaldi's Spring was already blasting from her headphones and she tried very, very hard to focus on the high notes of the violin arrangement she already knew by heart.
"I'm just saying!" her mother was yelling, her voice muffled by the walls. "And don't you dare say that I love work more than I love my daughter—"
"Bullshit!" her father retaliated. Was it possible that the walls were shaking? "You know what? Annabeth and I aren't stopping you from leaving!"
"I've been meaning to! And I mean it this time, Frederick!"
Her mother's next words made Annabeth's heart stop.
"The papers are on their way!"
It certainly didn't help that Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 was what played next. The dun-dun-dun-duuuun was definitely mocking her.
Unfortunately, that was all it took for Annabeth to act on her next decision. She shut her Biology book, turned off her desk lamp, and quickly stood up from her desk, her chair making a loud screeching noise. She moved to her closet where she retrieved her jacket and socks, before squatting down to put on her shoes.
She later found herself grabbing her keys and exiting their front door.
She didn't know where she stopped driving.
She quickly paused her iPod – Pathetique by Beethoven was playing, because she was feeling particularly dramatic that night – and stepped out of her car. She surveyed her surroundings, and she wanted to smack herself when she realized where she ended up.
She was nearly at the border of the next town. She could already see the Welcome! sign a hundred meters ahead of her. That meant she was driving for nearly an hour already. If her parents noticed her absence, they'd be worried sick by now (or she hoped they would be, at least). Thank the gods it was a Friday night.
Annabeth sighed and leaned against her car. She was pretty content with staying that way when she suddenly heard footsteps. Her panic hadn't even begun to settle in when a bright light that nearly blinded her was directed onto her face.
The culprit was already laughing at her freaked out expression.
At least she acquired the senses to glare.
"Annabeth Chase, is that you?" Mystery guy was still guffawing. "Man, you should've seen your face!"
Annabeth squinted until her eyes already adjusted to the intruding light.
Her heart stopped for the millionth time that night once she realized who the person was.
So not the person she wanted to see tonight. She nearly groaned at her bad luck.
"Percy Jackson." She glared at him. "What do you think you're doing scaring people at a time like this?!"
He smirked. "Please. How could you not have seen me approaching? I saw your car, like, five minutes ago."
She finally noticed that he was carrying his phone to use as light on one hand, and the other was carrying something black and huge by the handle. He was wearing his usual jeans and black Converse, but he had a sleeveless shirt on this time that showed off his toned arms. He topped his look with black fingerless gloves.
The weirdest part? He was grinning at her. Percy Jackson never smiled.
The next thing she noticed got her gawking. "Are you wearing… eyeliner?"
"Huh?" Percy raised an eyebrow before his eyes widened in recognition. "Oh. Oh, yeah. My friends always insist that I wear some every time we hangout. Not really a fan of it, but I've been told I look good."
He grinned smugly for effect, not a single bit embarrassed. Annabeth scoffed at him, before internalizing what he just said.
"Friends?" It was her turn to raise her eyebrows. "You have friends?"
He rolled his eyes. "Should I be offended that you think that I don't?"
"No," she retorted. "Just that… you don't hangout with anyone at school."
He shrugged. "No one shares the same interests," he said simply.
Annabeth wondered what these "interests" were. This was honestly the first time she ever got to talk to the person who's annoyed her since the beginning of the school year. Heck, this was probably the first time anyone from their school talked to Percy Jackson ever.
"So," he started once she went quiet. "What brings you to this part of the town?"
She scowled at him, finally remembering why she ran out here in the first place. "That's none of your business." But she was a hypocrite because she asked, "What are you doing here?"
"I told you." He shrugged again. "I was hanging out with my friends."
"Do your friends dress like that?"
She could see him smirking under the moonlight. "Worse." He motioned for her car with his head. "So. Are you going to give me a ride home or what?"
Her nostrils flared at his candor. "You wish, Jackson. Why don't you call your friends instead?"
"Eh," he muttered. "It's Friday night. They're out drinking at a party."
Huh. "You're not one for partying?"
"Hey, honestly." His eyebrows scrunched in confusion and maybe annoyance. "What sort of image do I have in your head?"
"You're annoying," she blurted out. "I'm trying to create an ugly persona of you so that when I leave you out here alone, my reasons are justified. And then I won't have to feel guilty."
"I thought you were the good girl?" Percy challenged her.
She scoffed at him. "I am."
"So give me a ride home."
He wasn't even bothered at her adamant refusal; he seemed to find her grumbling amusing.
"Maybe I don't want to go home yet, Jackson," she hissed at him, crossing her arms over her chest stubbornly.
"Yeah, um, I can't go back to my original plan of walking all the way home." Percy grinned sheepishly. "Now that you're here. So, okay. I'll wait for you."
Annabeth's eyebrows shot up. "Walk all the way home? Are you insane?" But then again she kind of liked the idea. "On second thought, you do that. I don't care."
He surprised her by taking several steps closer to her. He raised a perfect eyebrow at her, and with the proximity, Annabeth noticed for the first time how his green eyes had tiny specks of blue that reminded her of the ocean. She noticed the tiny freckles on his tan face. It didn't help that when she looked away, she noticed his muscled arms and the ripped sleeves on his shirt bustling in the wind.
"Oh, you don't, do you?" He asked, smirking with his lips dangerously close to ghosting hers.
She hated to admit that she was probably hypnotized for a total of two seconds.
"Ugh!" she exclaimed, remembering that this was Percy Jackson for crying out loud Annabeth what is wrong with you? and taking a step back instead of pushing him away. Her back nearly hit the hood of her car. "All right, get in! Gods, you're so annoying."
Percy smiled victoriously as he pocketed his phone. He clutched his chest with his now free hand. "Why, thank you, Miss Chase." He jogged to the passenger side of the car, but not before opening the backdoor and dropping the heavy thing he was carrying earlier. Annabeth finally noticed that it was a guitar case.
So. Percy Jackson played the guitar.
Not that she found guys who could play instruments attractive.
Nope.
Not. At. All.
He got into her car first and left her pondering what she got herself into. Rolling her eyes quite dramatically, she decided to face the inevitable and got into her own side of the car. Percy was already in the car, anyway, and she definitely wasn't going to leave herself stranded just because the most annoying person of all time was in her vehicle.
He made her want to strangle him, but she wasn't stupid.
The first thing Percy did once the engine hummed to life was fiddle with Annabeth's iPod. The last riffs to Beethoven's masterpiece were barely fading when he made a face at her.
"I give you a ride home, you respect my music," she warned him.
He grunted but obliged. Debussy's Clair de Lune soon filled the car. Percy's eyes widened in recognition.
"Hey, why does this sound familiar?"
Annabeth smirked. "Soundtrack for Twilight. You've watched it, haven't you?"
"No," he scoffed at her until she raised her eyebrow in anticipation. "Okay. Maybe I have. But I was with my mom. She felt that she needed tons of romantic inspiration for her books."
This was probably the most she's heard Percy Jackson talk.
"Oh, yeah." Annabeth nodded. "Sally Jackson, right? I read her articles on the town paper. She's good."
He grinned at her. "She'll love to hear that."
"While we're on the subject… is your mom aware that you're out of town in the dead of the night?"
He slumped back in his seat, rolling his eyes and bringing his gloved hands up in exasperation. "As a matter of fact, yes. Hey, just because I look totally bad boy and totally hot, doesn't mean I'm a bad guy."
"You killed it when you said totally hot."
"Well, am I not?"
"No," she lied. He was annoying and that already made up for any sort of attractiveness he seemed to possess.
"I'm in a band, in case you're wondering," he continued. "My mom's not really all happy about the idea of me staying up too late, but it's kind of like a part-time job. Helps pay the bills. In return, I just don't have to dress – ehem – scary for her. At least, not too much."
So Percy played the guitar, is a momma's boy, and is incredibly chatty.
But her mind was still reeling at the first part of his story. "A band?"
He grinned, kind of proudly from what Annabeth could deduce. "Yeah. We started about two years ago. Slowly growing every since."
"You guys any good?"
"People like to think so. We're all incredibly good-looking, so I guess that helps."
"You killed it again." But she was trying hard to hide her smile. Yeah, okay. So she couldn't deny that fact. At least, the man beside her was proof enough. She wondered who the rest of his friends were…
He burst out laughing. "You should come watch us some time. Funny. You're the first person from our school to know about this. Could you maybe spread the word for publicity?"
"Uh, yeah, in case you haven't noticed, we're not exactly into the same type of music." She motioned for her iPod. "And why don't you just talk to some people at school?"
"I haven't actually… like, found fellow Fall Out Boy enthusiasts."
"And you're the only one who dresses like that."
"Yup."
"You should smile more," she added before she could stop herself. "You rarely smile… so, yeah. This is weird."
"Well," he considered what she just said. "You're giving me a ride home, so I'm bound to smile for you and talk to you. And you're funny entertainment because I think I annoy you."
One of her hands let go of the steering wheel and hit him on the shoulder.
He guffawed at her annoyed face, further proving his point.
"Also, if I smiled at school, the female population probably wouldn't be able to take my devilishly handsome face."
"Killing it."
It was a miracle that she was able to survive the past hour.
It was funny, because the person beside her now was definitely not the person she thought sat in her English class.
The Percy Jackson sitting on the passenger seat of her car was smiling mischievously and teasing her about the little things she did. He was talking nonstop which was a phenomenon in her book, because she never saw him talk at school at all. She wondered what caused him to change his demeanor.
(So maybe she also thought he was sort of attractive. But, whatever. He was still annoying.)
"We're here!" he cheered like a little kid when Annabeth stopped in front of his house. He suddenly turned around on his seat and sat up in such a way that his knees were on the cushion. His shirt rode up a little as he reached for his guitar in the backseat.
She didn't stare at the small exposed portion of his tan skin.
She didn't. Honest.
"I wonder if mom's still awake," he mused, sitting back properly.
"It's nearly two in the morning," she said. "I doubt it."
He shrugged. "You'd be surprised. She likes to stay up late writing."
At the mention of his mother, she remembered her own and the reason why she ran in the first place. Her stomach tightened at the thought, and Percy seemed to notice her apprehension. One of his hands hesitated on the handle of the door.
He licked his lips before answering (and it wasn't like she noticed). "Thanks for the ride, Chase. Are you… uh, are you okay?"
She managed to smile for him. "I'm fine. You should go."
"Getting rid of me already?" He faked a hurt expression, putting a hand over his chest. "And here I was thinking that we were starting to become friends."
"No," she protested but she was smiling at his attempts to make her laugh. "I just took pity on you because you're too much of a kelp head that you considered walking all the way home."
"Thank the gods for you then." He made a face before sporting a concerned one again. "Seriously, though. If you don't want to go home yet… uh, do you want to, like, I don't know… talk about it?"
She snorted. "Don't push it, Jackson. I've only known you for approximately one hour."
"And you already know that I'm in a band and you already think I'm the most handsome guitarist you've ever met."
"I only know one guitarist and that's coincidentally you."
"Handsome, yes? But, uh. I'm not pushing you or anything. But you know. I'll be here. Or something."
"Or something," she laughed. Before she could stop herself, she added, "It's just the parents. They were, uh, fighting loudly. So I left and ended up where you found me."
He nodded seriously, all previous thoughts of teasing gone. "Oh. Well that's a bummer. Did you know that my last stepfather was an asshole?"
She cocked her head to the side. "No." She wanted to tell him that she didn't know a lot of things about him before today, but she kind of liked that this annoying dork was being sweet.
"Yeah, well, a few years ago my mom finally dumped him and left. And… okay." He shook his head. "This doesn't really help, nor does it have any relation to what you just shared. But, uh, I know it sucks to have bad parent history. But it gets better. My mom and I are happy now. You will be, too. Just give your parents time."
"It gets better," Annabeth repeated slowly, testing the new mantra. "Okay. I… uh, thanks, Percy."
He grinned. "Now I'm handsome and I give great advice. I'm cool."
"Sure you are," she allowed. "It's late. Your mom's probably wondering why there's an alien car in her lawn. You should sleep now."
He nodded, finally pushing the door open. "Nah, my mom won't mind." He stepped outside the car and waved at her with his free hand. "Not when she sees that there's a pretty driver. See you, Chase."
It was a good thing that he had shut the door before her cheeks started becoming an embarrassing shade of pink.
When she arrived home that early morning, her parents had grounded her for driving them mad with worry.
But she couldn't bring herself to care.
part one of five
Songs used: Hey There Delilah by The Plain White Ts; Spring by Vivaldi; Symphony No. 5 by Beethoven; Pathetique by Beethoven; Clair de Lune by Debussy. I own nothing.
tumblr: itsscaryyoke. Link is on my profile.
Thank you for reading! -YJ