In the hindsight, Annabeth really should have seen this coming. She's had plenty of experience in drinking but never had there been a good end result.
Her first time getting flat out drunk, she was nineteen and she had woken up on her kitchen counter dressed in a watermelon costume that she didn't even know she had.
The next time she got drunk, she had just turned twenty. Let's just say that she was now short two thousand dollars.
Annabeth really should have known better than to let Piper drag her out to a bar to celebrate her twenty-first birthday but Piper has a way with words.
•
One day earlier
"Come on, Annabeth. We need to celebrate! This is your first time drinking." Annabeth raised a blonde eyebrow at the brunette. "Legally."
"I really don't feel like it. Can't you just, like, buy me a card and balloon instead?"
"Where's the fun in that? Besides, for my twenty-first, you took me clubbing."
"Yeah and I highly regret it." Annabeth sighed, running a hand through her long curls. "You seem to have forgotten the fact that we both ended up in jail that day."
"That was hardly my fault. That guy grabbed your boob and you didn't even do anything about it. What did you honestly expect?"
Annabeth shot Piper a sharp look. "You actually shoved one of your stilettos up his ass. How you did that, I'll never know. There were less harsh ways of dealing with it."
"Who cares, he deserved it. We didn't even get anything on our record in the end because it was filed as self-defense." Piper's smile was as big as the Cheshire cat's. Oh, how Annabeth wished she could push Piper down the rabbit's hole right now.
"Can you, like, leave me alone? I'm not going."
Piper was silent for a second before she quietly said, "Remember that time I saved your sorry ass from missing your final?" Piper practically screamed the next sentence. "Well guess what! You promised to do one favor for me no matter what, so I choose this! Get dressed, you're going."
Annabeth groaned dramatically. "Fine. Don't think I'm going to be happy about this though." Annabeth reached out to smack Piper's forehead.
Piper simply moved before Annabeth could get her and got up. "Wouldn't dream of it. Now come on, get up, you're going to be wearing that one shirt I always borrow."
Annabeth followed Piper down the olive colored halls to her room. "I don't know if it's even here anymore. You steal it so often that it's probably at your apartment."
Piper started rummaging through Annabeth's small closet. "No, I'm pretty sure I brought it back last week."
"You took it three days ago when you went to that party," Annabeth said as she sat on her bed with a fluffy white comforter. "Why do you go to so many parties?"
Piper ignored her question. "I was going to take it, but I ended up finding another I liked." Piper stopped moving clothes around to eye Annabeth up and down. "You have such nice clothes yet you dress like that."
Annabeth scoffed. "Why do you even have your own clothes when all you ever do is steal mine?"
"Because I can," Piper answered simply. "Aha, here it is."
Piper held up a dark blue sequined top. It was a loose top with small chains as the straps. It had a triangle cut out to about five inches above her belly button that made the top very low cut.
"Now, where did you put those black ripped jeans?" Piper pulled her bottom lip into her mouth and began to bite it as she looked around Annabeth's now messy room.
"In the drawers, Piper. You're cleaning my room later."
"Yeah, whatever," Piper huffed as she got up and walked across the room to Annabeth's dresser. She opened them and pulled out a pair of black skinny jeans that had horizontal rips along them. "Here put these on with the shirt. And also put those black heels on. They look so good on you."
Annabeth wordlessly grabbed the clothes Piper was handing to her. "Is that what you're wearing?"
"Yeah. Hurry up, it opens at eight. It's already six and we still have your hair and makeup to do."
"I despise that idea."
"Good. Now get dressed." Piper pointed at Annabeth sternly before closing the door to Annabeth's room as she left. Annabeth sighed and shook her head, bending down to get dressed.
•
A little over an hour later, Annabeth found herself standing outside of Club Bacchus with her some of her friends.
Annabeth was getting nervous. She really did not want anything embarrassing to happen this time. She was a lightweight and she was not looking forwards to spending another night in jail.
"Are you sure this is a good idea, guys?" Annabeth had a waver in her voice.
Leo grinned his impish smile. "Of course. I'm not missing you getting arrested again."
Piper yanked at his hair. "That wasn't her fault, Leo." Piper's eyes gave Leo the message that if he keeps talking, he might be the one with a stiletto up his ass this time. Leo wavered under her stare.
Annabeth watched as Piper laced her fingers through Jason's. "I really don't want to be here."
Jason gave her a sympathetic look. "I'm sure you'll be fine. Just try to have fun Annabeth. It's your birthday."
"If it's my birthday and I don't want to be here, then why am I here? Riddle me that, Jason," Annabeth retorted. Jason didn't respond. Annabeth pursed her lips. "That's what I thought. Well, let's get this over with."
•
Simply put, Annabeth was not having fun. She felt extremely dizzy and this creepy guy kept asking to buy her drinks. He stopped when Annabeth told him about Piper and the famous stiletto.
It was about three in the morning when Annabeth decided to leave. She had already had about five extremely strong shots of who knows what as well as a lot of other drinks that she was too drunk to really remember.
Piper had left her to go with Jason on the dance floor and Leo had disappeared to go hit it up with some girl who she believes is named Calypso. Her friends Hazel and Frank had already left because they weren't ones for drinking. They had really only stopped by to say happy birthday.
Annabeth had been alone for a little over an hour just sitting at the bar. Piper had been paying for all her drinks, so Annabeth just let a generous tip and got up out of the chair.
Annabeth was a little over black out drunk so she was struggling to just put one foot in front of the other. After running into a lot of people and seeing what she thinks may have been a giant gummy bear (or just her drunk brain being drunk), she finally made it to the exit.
Annabeth had walked to the bar so she had no way to get back. She could have just ordered an Uber but a few months ago, her and Piper got drunk and Piper threw up in the Uber. Both of them were banned from Uber so thanks a lot Piper.
Annabeth was a little out of it so she didn't really stop to think that walking twenty minutes back to her apartment alone at three in the morning probably wasn't the greatest idea. Annabeth started walking, or really stumbling, her way back to her apartment.
What should have taken twenty minutes really took forty because she stopped to stare at a brick wall for about ten minutes because wow it's so pretty should I hug it or propose like who even knows anymore cause I don't. She also took a wrong turn at one point.
Annabeth giggled as the opened the door to her building. She walked up the stairs because the elevator wouldn't open (it somehow slipped her mind that she has to press a button to open it).
Once Annabeth got to what she thought was the fifth floor, she began walking down the carpeted halls. She walked to the end of the hall and turned to the right. She counted three doors and simply opened it. She didn't register the fact that it was unlocked.
Annabeth took her black heels off before promptly collapsing onto the couch that certainly wasn't gray. Within a few minutes, Annabeth was out cold.
•
She was woken up hours later by a very confused "Umm.."
She cracked her right eye open slightly before shooting up. A wave of nausea passed through her at such a quick movement but she didn't have time to worry about that. She was a little more concerned about the stranger with green eyes staring at her in her apartment.
"Who are you and why are in my apartment," Annabeth said quickly.
The attractive stranger had wide eyes. "I should be asking you the same question. I'm pretty sure this is my apartment," he scratched his head as he said this.
"Are you thick? Of course this is my apartment. Just take a look around-" Annabeth's words died off as her eyes moved to observe around her. "Oh my gods."
"Yeah, that's what I thought."
Annabeth's face was so red that if she was a tomato, she would have made her tomato parents proud. "I'm- I'm so sorry, oh my gods." She stumbled over her words and buried her face in her hands.
"Are you okay?" The guy looked a bit concerned. "You look pale."
"Yeah, well I slept in a stranger's apartment." Her words were a bit slurred. Maybe she was actually still drunk. She did drink too much.
Annabeth lifted her head. "Okay, well, I think I'm just going to leave now. Gods, this is mortifying," she groaned.
"Maybe you should stay, you look like you're going to collapse any second."
"Gee, thanks. How did I even get in here?"
The guy looked sheepish. Good. Your turn to be embarrassed. "I forgot to lock it."
"In that case, it's hardly my fault I came into your place."
"Yeah, are you sure you're okay. You look like you could throw up any second."
Her mouth morphed into a scrowl. "Shut up. Where am I anyways?"
"You're in Olympus Apartments, fourth floor. Were you drunk?"
"Unfortunately. I think I'm going to go since I live a floor above. I just need to find my keys…" Annabeth looked around but couldn't spot them. Her heart started racing.
She looked up at the guy. "Did you take my keys?!" she screeched.
"No! I swear I didn't. I didn't even know you were here until five minutes ago."
"Then where are they? Actually, where's all of my stuff, thief?" she said accusingly.
"Are you sure you came with it?" he asked hesitantly due to the deadly look upon her face.
"Am I sure I came with it?" she mocked. "Of course I came with it! I certainly didn't leave it at the bar-" Annabeth now distinctly remembers handing her stuff to Piper to carry in her bag. She had forgotten to grab it before leaving.
This guy must have sensed she realized her wrong because he smirked. "You didn't leave it, huh. You so sure about that princess?"
"Don't call me princess, asshat."
His smirk widened. "Well, you can't go to your apartment so looks like your stuck here. Princess."
She showed him a certain lovely finger. He had the audacity to chuckle his adorable dimpled smile.
"Don't be like that, princess."
"Don't call me that or I will actually tell my friend to shove her stiletto up your ass. She's done it before and I know where you live now," she said threateningly. The guy gulped.
"What do you want me to call you then. I don't know your name!" he argued.
"Annabeth. My name is Annabeth. Now stop it." She rubbed her eyes.
"Oh, well, I'm Percy," he said with a pearly white grin.
"I don't recall asking."
Percy faltered. "Oh, I just thought it would be nice since I know your name."
Annabeth shrugged her shoulders lazily. "Can I use your phone? I don't have mine."
"Um, yeah, hold on." Percy went down what she assumes is the path to his room to get his phone before returning. He unlocked it, handing it to her. "Here."
Annabeth didn't even bother with a thanks before opening the phone app. She dialed Piper's number, which she has thankfully memorized. She held it up to her ear for a moment.
Annabeth threw her head back against the couch with a strangled cry when Piper didn't answer. "She's probably sleeping and she never wakes up before three. What time is it?"
"It's twelve."
"Just great," Annabeth muttered.
"Sorry but since you're going to be here a while, do you want anything?"
"No. You can go do whatever you want, I won't bother you," Annabeth said as she settled her body back into the couch, making it clear that she didn't want to talk. She realizes she was probably being rude seeing as she's in someone else's apartment but she couldn't find it in her to care.
"Okay. I'll be in my room if you need anything." Percy made eye contact with her one more time before heading back to his room.
Annabeth closed her eyes and promised that she would get Piper back for this. Annabeth told her that something bad would happen like it always does but did Piper listen? Nooo. Gods.
Annabeth was extremely drained so as soon as she closed her eyes, she began to drift off to a dreamless sleep once again.
•
When Annabeth woke up, she was under a fluffy brown blanket and had a bottle of water sitting on the table in front of her. There was also a container of Ibuprofen.
Annabeth reached out slowly so the blanket wouldn't fall off of her cold body in order to grab the Ibuprofen. She opened it and grabbed two. She swallowed them and then grabbed the water bottle. She struggled to open it for a second but once she did, she sat up and let the water slide down her parched throat.
Once she set the stuff back down, she looked around. She didn't see Percy anywhere. She spotted a clock near the tv that said it was half past three.
Annabeth slowly got up with the blanket still wrapped around her. She didn't want to but she had to go find Percy so she could call Piper. She couldn't get back into her apartment without her keys.
Annabeth hesitantly walked down the hall, opening each door since she didn't know which was his room.
It ended up being the second to last door on the right. She poked her head in and saw Percy laying on his bed with a gold Macbook on his lap.
He looked up after she opened the door. "Hey," he smiled.
"Hi. Can I try to call my friend again?"
"Sure." Percy got up and handed her his now unlocked phone. "I'll be outside."
Thankfully Piper answered this time. "Hello?"
Annabeth breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank gods, Piper."
Annabeth could practically hear Piper perk up. "Annabeth! Where have you been? We were so worried!"
"I called you earlier but you didn't answer. I'm in my apartment building but I don't have my keys or phone. I gave them to you yesterday."
"You've been in your building all night? Why didn't you just ask the front person to unlock it for you?"
Annabeth felt the blood rushing to her face. "Well."
Piper went silent. "What did you do?" she said in an accusatory way.
"I kind of… walked into a stranger's apartment?"
"Annabeth!"
"I know! I thought it was my apartment so I just walked in. I didn't realize it wasn't my place until I woke up to some confused guy."
Piper snorted over the phone. "You're an idiot. Did you just stay there once you woke up?"
"It's not like I had anywhere else to go!"
Piper started cackling. "This is priceless! You always do something stupid every time you're drunk without fail."
Annabeth rolled her grey eyes. "Maybe this wouldn't have happened if you hadn't ditched me yesterday."
"I'm glad I did ditch you then cause just wait until the others hear about this."
Annabeth was fuming. "Don't you dare. Can you just come give me my stuff so I can go home?"
"I will as soon as Jason gets back. He left with the car."
"No Piper. I need it now. This is so embarrassing. I can't stay any longer."
"You're gonna have to. It's going to be a while before I get there, babe." Annabeth is so close to slamming her head against the wall until she passes out. "Who are you with anyways?"
"Some guy named Percy," Annabeth answered.
"Oh! Is it Jackson?"
"What? I don't know!"
"Well ask him. Jackson's Jason's friend."
"Yeah whatever. Just call this phone when you're here."
"Wait Annabeth," Piper didn't get to finish because Annabeth hung up. Right now, Piper is so not her friend.
Annabeth walked outside the room and back to the living room.
"Thanks for letting me use your phone. She should hopefully be here soon but who knows with her."
Percy smiled. "No problem. You've been here a while. Are you hungry?"
Annabeth's pride wanted her to say no but her stomach wanted her to say yes. "I mean, kind of. But I can wait," she added on.
"Nonsense. Do you want alfredo pasta?"
"That actually sounds… good."
"Of course it does. I'm a great cook."
"I'll be the judge of that." This guy, Annabeth thought, is actually not half bad. He's certainly pleasing to the eyes with those toned arms and messy black hair. Oh, and those gorgeous green eyes and dimples.
"So, Annabeth, tell me about yourself. We're probably going to be here a while."
Annabeth sat at the kitchen island on the spinning chair. She laced her fingers together and rested her chin on them while she pondered the question. "What do you want to know?"
"Let's start with your favorite color."
"Oh, that's easy. Purple and silver are definitely tied. Purple is kind of related to royalty, which I am definitely royal, not to toot my own horn. Silver is just pretty."
"I knew you were a princess. My favorite color's blue because my mom likes to make blue food." At Annabeth's confused look, he added, "It's a long story."
Annabeth nodded. "Okay, my turn. Favorite animal?"
"That's hard. Maybe it's a guinea pig because I just can relate to them. Maybe it's a dolphin, or like, a whale because I love the anything relating to water. I'm actually on a swim team."
"Oh, wow. My favorite animal is probably an owl because I'm the smartest person you'll ever meet and an owl is one of the smarted animals you'll ever meet. Wisdom and all that jazz." Annabeth turned to look him in the eyes. "How old are you anyways?"
"I'm twenty-two. I'm a senior at NYU. You?"
"I'm a junior at NYU. I just turned twenty-one. That's why I was drinking actually. It was my birthday present."
"Aw, happy birthday then."
"Thanks," Annabeth laughed. "How long should food take? I'm starving."
"Hopefully not long. You can have a snack while you wait if you want."
"I'll be okay."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, I'll wait."
"Okay. Did you have fun on your birthday?"
"I had fun, yeah. But the drinking part wasn't as fun as I hoped. I didn't want to go but my friend Piper made me." Annabeth rested her head on the marble island instead of her hands.
"Do you not like drinking?"
"Well, the drunk part is fun but the actions that come with it are not."
"Why do you say that?"
"I always have bad experiences. The first time I drank, I woke up in a watermelon costume surrounded by a bunch of food. When I say a bunch of food, I mean it looked like my kitchen exploded."
Percy chuckled. "I get a feeling more has happened to make you hate drinking."
"You're right. The second time I drank, I actually went to the ATM, got out two thousand dollars and then I threw it off a bridge. The third time, I decided to jump off said bridge because for some insane reason, I thought I could get the money I threw a month earlier back. I ended up in the hospital." Annabeth sighed. "I should really know better by now, shouldn't I?"
"Probably. How high was the bridge for you to have to go to the hospital?"
"Not that high, actually. I think they were just concerned but it wasn't just me who jumped. All my friends did it too to help me out. We're all pretty stupid I guess."
"Is that it?"
"You're never going to believe this. One time, I got so drunk that I just walked into a stranger's apartment. It was already unlocked though. I didn't, like, pick the lock or anything. Which I have done another time I was drunk though."
"No, really? That's crazy," he said sarcastically.
"I know right. Crazy."
"Okay. My next question on the game we were originally trying to play is what's your best pickup line?"
"Oh, I got a bunch. Probably 'hey girl, are you from Japan cause I see myself in japanties' or 'are you a drum major because you make all parts of me stand at attention.'"
"Annabeth?"
"Yes?"
"You're a girl. Those don't exactly work."
"It's still a great pickup line."
"That's true."
Percy and Annabeth continue talking for about half an hour as he cooks until the food's ready. Once it's ready, he gives her a plate and water.
"You gotta tell me if you like it, Annabeth."
"I will." She grabbed the fork and stabbed the pasta before putting it in her mouth. She chewed thoughtfully for a minute. One she swallowed she answered, "This is actually really good."
"Oh, thank god. You scared me there."
"How did I scare you?"
"You were quiet for a second," he whined like a child.
"I was just chewing," she responded slowly.
"Liar. It doesn't take that long to chew."
"It does if I don't want to choke. You probably don't even know the Heimlich maneuver."
"You're absolutely right, I don't know that."
"Which is why I have to chew it all the way if I don't want to die." Annabeth yawned. "You have to tell me your favorite pickup line now."
"My plan worked then."
"What does that even mean?" she asked perplexed.
"I asked yours because I wanted you to ask me mine."
"Well I guess it did work then. So what is it?"
"What's your shirt made of? I'm pretty sure it's girlfriend material."
Annabeth started snickering at Percy. Gods, this boy. "My gods. You're great."
"Why thank you. I'm serious though." Percy looked her in the eyes.
Annabeth didn't say anything for a second but her heart sure sped up. "Stop it," she laughed, gently pushing his shoulder with a hand. Annabeth didn't look at him long enough to see the disappointed look cross his face.
"Are you feeling better now? I could tell you felt sick earlier. I thought you would puke on my couch," Percy asked to change the subject.
"To be honest, me too. But I'm better."
"That's good. Wouldn't want a princess as beautiful as you to feel sick."
"This is what I get for walking into a stranger's apartment, isn't it."
"This is what you get, yeah. Do you want dessert?"
"Do you have ice cream?" she asked.
"Yeah. I have chocolate and strawberry."
"Oh, can I have strawberry if you don't mind?"
"Strawberry coming right up."
Percy stood up while simultaneously grabbing their plates. He walked around the island and put the plates in the sink.
"So, I'm surprised that you haven't been freaking out about not being able to text your boyfriend all day," he said as he reached up to his cabinets to grab two white ceramic bowls.
Annabeth scoffed as she looked at the area where his shirt had lifted. "Don't be shallow. I don't have a boyfriend. Is that your way of finding out if I have a boyfriend or not?"
"Guilty as charged," he responded as he began to scoop chocolate ice cream in one ceramic bowl and strawberry in another.
"You could have just asked, you know." Annabeth grabbed the bowl he handed her and set it in front of her.
"Where's the fun in that though?" he questioned.
"I'm surprised your girlfriend isn't jealous that I slept at your place."
"I don't have a girlfriend. Is that your way of finding out if I have a girlfriend? You could have just asked," he joked.
"Where's the fun in that though?" she mocked.
"Hey, be nice, princess."
"No."
They continue talking for about another hour, just eating a lot of ice cream and the one pound bag of sour patch kids that somehow managed to end up on the table.
Percy was about to say something about the video of Annabeth running smack into a wall at two years old but his phone decided to go off.
"It's probably Piper," Annabeth said as he handed the phone to her.
"Hello?" she answered.
"I'm outside your apartment. Come here and bring the hot boy."
"What do you mean the hot boy?" Annabeth agreed he was hot but she would never actually say that to Piper.
"Percy Jackson is hot and you're with him. Bring him with you so I can tell him that if he breaks your heart, my stiletto goes where the sun don't shine."
"First of all, you don't know if this is actually Jackson and second, I already told him about the stiletto."
"Ask him if his last name is Jackson."
Annabeth pulled the phone away from her ear. "Is your last name Jackson? My friend wants to know," she asked Percy.
"Yeah, it is. Why?"
"She says that your Jason's friend or something."
"Grace? Yeah, I am."
"Wow, it's surprising we haven't met before."
Annabeth pulled the phone back to her ear. "Yeah, he's Jackson."
"Okay, well come on, I don't have all day."
"Don't be bossy. I might just stay here because of your disgusting attitude."
"You better be already heading up here. I hijacked the car from Jason when he stopped at home for a minute so I'm in for an ass chewing. Don't get me in more trouble."
"Criminal. Okay, fine, I'll see you soon."
Annabeth hung up the phone. "Piper's here with my keys."
"Okay. Do you want me to walk you out?"
"You can but I'm warning you. Piper might threaten you."
"I can take it."
"Yeah but this is Piper. She could probably fight a velociraptor and win. Especially if her choice of weapon is a stiletto."
"Correction. Hopefully I can take it. She seems like she sure knows how to use heels after how many times you've mentioned it."
"She does. Come on, let's go."
They walk together in silence, Annabeth leading him one floor up to her own apartment. They found Piper standing outside Annabeth's door.
"Took you long enough, Beth."
"Give me my stuff and leave," she commanded, not that Piper would actually listen.
"You look like a zombie." Piper was eyeing Annabeth with disgust as she handed Annabeth her stuff.
"I'msorry I couldn't get in my apartment." Annabeth grit her teeth together. She really wishes Piper weren't here because telling her she looks awful in front of an attractive guy was the last thing she wanted.
"Okay, okay. I'll leave you two alone. But Percy, you break her heart, I break your rectum."
Percy choked. "Got it," he rasped once the coughing died down.
"Okay, bye you two lovebirds!" Percy and Annabeth watched Piper's retreating figure. Once she was out of their range of sight, Annabeth turned around and unlocked her door.
"I am so sorry. This is so embarrassing that I might just walk inside and start screaming," Annabeth said with a tight smile as she turned back around in the doorway.
"It's fine, don't worry about it. We wouldn't want someone so cute to be stressed, now would we?"
Annabeth's head cocked to the side. "Are you flirting with me?"
"I have been for a while but thanks for noticing."
Annabeth bit her lip for a second. "That's good to know."
Percy laughed nervously. "Annabeth. Feel free to tell me off because I know I literally just met you but I just wanted to know," Percy swallowed, "Would you maybe want to go out tomorrow night? On a date? Maybe to that carnival that's open or that new diner?"
Annabeth pretended to ponder for a second even though she already knew what she would be saying. "Hmm…" Percy's face fell with each second. "I'm just messing with you, Percy. I'd love to go on a date."
"Gods! Don't scare me like that!" Percy brought his hand up to his heart in exaggeration.
"Sorry," she let out between her giggles. "Sorry."
"Gods," he shook his head in humor. "Well, princess, could I get your phone number for details?"
"Sure. Give me your phone." Percy handed his phone to Annabeth and she added herself to his contacts. "Do you think we could go to the diner? I really wanted to try it out. If it goes well, maybe we can go to the carnival next?" she said suggestingly.
"I'd love that, princess. Maybe for our third, we can go to that awesome aquarium?"
"I'd love that."
"It's a date. Three dates actually."
"I'm looking forwards to it. I'll see you tomorrow then Percy." Annabeth contemplated pros and cons before deciding fuck it. She stood on her toes since he was a good seven or eight inches taller than her before giving him a simple peck on the lips.
Percy started beaming which caused Annabeth to laugh.
"Goodbye, Percy," she said while she stepped forwards to hug him.
"Bye, Annabeth," he responded, pressing a kiss to the top of her head resting his chin on top of her golden curls.
Annabeth stepped back and closed the door, but not before shooting him one last blinding smile.
•
Three years later
Annabeth was walking through the Central Park to where she had agreed to meet Percy. She was exhausted after a long day of work and she wanted nothing more than to take a nap but Percy had called her up excitedly. She couldn't say no.
After about ten minutes of walking, she spotted her boyfriend by the lake. He started smiling mischievously as he saw her approaching.
"There's my beautiful princess," he said once she was standing in front of him.
"What are you up to?" she said accusingly even though she was grinning.
"Whatever do you mean, my love?"
"You're smiling weird. Also I don't think you've actually ever called me "my love" before."
"Nonsense. Come on, sit. I made a picnic," he said as he motioned to the checkered sheet behind him.
"That's really nice of you. What's going on?" she joked.
"Haha," he said dryly. "I can be nice, believe it or not."
"I know, I'm just giving you a hard time," she ruffled his hair.
Annabeth sat down on the blanket next to Percy. Percy wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her into his lap.
Percy started rummaging through the wooden basket that was sitting on the blanket. He pulled out two simple ham and cheese sandwiches and a bag of chips.
"Do you want coke or sprite?" he asked.
"Sprite please," she said as she put her hair up in a bun.
He smiled at her as he grabbed two sprites and handed one to her.
They sat eating and talking about their days at work for about an hour. They had cheesecake for dessert.
Annabeth had been in the middle of telling her about this client named Aphrodite who kept changing the blueprints for her mansion when Percy asked her to hand him the napkins.
Annabeth reached forwards and looked inside the basket. She found the napkins but she also found a small velvet box sitting on top of them.
She pulled the box out of the basket. "What's this?" she said curiously.
Percy took the box from her. "Well, Annabeth," he said opening it. "This is a ring. To be more specific, it's a ring that I hope you'll be wearing one day."
Annabeth gasped at the sight of the ring. It was a silver band with a large square diamond in the center and two smaller diamonds on either side. It gleamed in the sunlight.
Percy moved to kneel in front of Annabeth. "Remember that day you walked into my apartment? I called you a princess because, in all honesty, you are a princess. That was the day I fell in love with you, as cheesy as it sounds."
Annabeth was looking at Percy with wide eyes and a smile across her face. "Percy…" she said adoringly.
"I love you so much. You're so gorgeous and you mean so much to me. I don't know how I ever lived without you and I never want to find out. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, princess. Will you marry me?"
"Of course, Percy. Gods, yes!" Annabeth had a twinkle in her eyes. "I love you so much."
"I love you too," Percy said as he pulled her in for a kiss. They pulled away when people they didn't even know were there began clapping.
Annabeth looked around at the people before turning back to Percy. She tugged Percy's shirt to get him to lean back in for another kiss. "But Piper's going to threaten you with another stiletto up your ass for sure," she said against his lips.
"I wouldn't have it any other way, princess."
•
Two years later
Annabeth unlocked the door to her house and took a step inside. She could hear her husband cooking in the kitchen.
Annabeth walked through the house to the kitchen. As soon as she stepped inside, Percy turned around eagerly.
"Princess! You're home early," he noted.
"Yeah, they let me go because I had nothing to really do," she said as she approached her husband.
"That's good. I was dying of boredom," he said, pulling his wife in for a kiss.
Once they pulled away, Annabeth looked around. "What are you making?"
"I am making alfredo pasta," he said as he booped her on her nose.
"Do you have enough for three?"
Percy's brows furrowed. "I mean, I guess, but I thought it was just us."
"It technically is."
"I'm sorry? I'm not following here."
"Percy, you need to cook for three," she said while pulling his hands to rest against her abdomen.
It took a few seconds but Percy's eyes widened and a grin made its way across his face once he understood her implication. "No way," he said in disbelief.
She laughed. "I'm pregnant."
Percy screeched in excitement. "You're serious? Oh my gods, I'm going to be a dad. You're going to be a mom. We're going to have our own family!" He swooped Annabeth into his broad arms.
"I know," she said with glee in her voice as he spun her around once.
"Oh gods, we have to tell everyone. How far are you?"
"I'm about ten weeks already."
Percy pulled Annabeth in for kiss that had teeth clashing because they couldn't stop smiling. "I'm so excited."
"Me too, Percy," she said as he caressed her face lovingly. He kissed her again.
"It's really amazing how walking into the wrong apartment can turn into something as wonderful as this. We're going to have a family, Annabeth. A family."
"As embarrassing as walking into the wrong apartment was, I wouldn't change it for the world."
He kissed her one more time. "I love you so much."
"I love you more," Annabeth challenged.
"I love you most, princess."
•