07-21-15

Edited: 05-02-15

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Waking up at 12:34 AM was not how Percy planned on spending his Saturday morning. His usual routine actually included piling out of bed around 11:00 AM and arriving in their sunshine-y yellow colored kitchen to a plate of his mother's infamous blueberry pancakes with chocolate milk.

Unfortunately, on this particular night (12:30 AM was still too early to call morning) however, he was denied this routine due to the invasive knocking on his window. Throwing on a T-shirt he picked up off his bedroom floor, he made his way to the obnoxious-sounding window. Peeking through the curtains, his eyes found their way to a mess of blonde curls lounging on the fire escape, who could only be Annabeth. Lifting the glass with a squeak, he eventually stumbled his way out onto the fire escape.

"Hey," he grunted as he sat down, "What up?"

The blonde squealed as he ran his hand through her hair. "The house was too loud," then, "I'm sorry for waking you up."

"Hey now, no worries," he confessed with a yawn and a "casual" arm thrown over her shoulder, pulling her into his side. He could smell her lemon shampoo. "What would I do without my best friend, huh?"

A small smile graced her face as she raised her chin to look him in the eyes. "Probably fall on your face. A lot."

He barked out a laugh at her joke (which was all but false). "Wanna come inside and watch Teen Wolf? I know how much you love Dylan O'Brian."

"If I do I might end up falling asleep and staying over," She argued, which didn't do much to persuade Percy otherwise.

With a sigh, he lifted her up by her hands, "Well, I guess that's a risk I'm willing to take!"

"Hey, Perce?" Annabeth pulled him back from entering through the window just yet. "Thank you."

Disentangling their hands, he wrapped his arms around her back and pulled her into his chest, while she wrapped her hands around his waist. "What are friends for? So, how about some Tyler Posey, okay?"

"Okay."

;;

"So, um…" Percy stumbled over his attempted explanation of the Battle of Waterloo. "Uh, um…, I don't know." He could practically feel Annabeth rolling her eyes from the seat behind him in AP European History class. Right afterwards Percy felt her hand snake up his neck onto his head, ruffling his hair.

"Anyone else know what the Battle of Waterloo was?" asked Mr. Liles, a tad disappointed no one appeared to have listened to his lecture on Napoleon.

The new absence of warmth on his head led him to believe that Annabeth had raised her hand. His suspicions were confirmed when Mr. Liles called her name.

"The Battle of Waterloo took place on June 18, 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium. A French army under the control of Napoleon led the defeat of the armies of the Seventh Coalition. This, happened to be the battle where Napoleon was exiled." She's like a fucking dictionary, Percy's decided and he loves that about her.

"Thank you, Annabeth. At least someone was paying attention during class instead of dozing off," Mr. Liles complained. Percy couldn't help noticing the jab in his direction. If he passes this class with a C, he'll be fine. Besides, this is why he has Annabeth, to keep him from procrastinating on his homework instead of watching Netflix all day (His favorite movie, by the way, happens to be "Kill Bill" which Annabeth only ends up watching with him because "Uma Thurman's a fucking badass").

After clock-watching for the next thirty-eight minutes, the bell signaling the end of the school day finally rings, leaving him free for the next two days over the weekend.

"Wanna grab something to drink on the way back home?" he decides to ask Annabeth, watching her pack her textbooks into her backpack. "We could stop by The Fairgrounds, grab some coffee or something."

Annabeth ended up agreeing, because Percy knows she would never pass up an opportunity to hang out at Fairgrounds. She claims it's her favorite place, though he's not quite sure why. Slipping into Percy's passenger seat and throwing her bag onto the ground, she glances over at him struggling to fit the keys into the car. Once he got the car going, they headed off.

Percy ends up slipping into a parking space right in front of the tiny café. Taking the keys out of the ignition, he and Annabeth climb up the stairs into the renovated apartment, making their way to the back counter to place their order, which Percy insists on paying for (his mother raised him to be a gentleman, what can you do?). While taking their lemonade to the tiny table near the staircase, Annabeth's mind seems to be elsewhere.

"What's up?" he asks her, a bit concerned because if anything happened to his best friend he'd honestly be so crushed.

"Hmm…" was her eloquent, initial response, "Percy have I ever told you why I love this place so much?"

Percy watched her eyes scan the abstract painting behind him, extremely confused.

"No."

"This place was once someone's apartment, right? Like he or she lived?"

He nods, not quite sure where she's heading with this.

"Well, how long ago was that? I mean, look at this place! It can't be less than thirty years old. And yet, there's still something here. People come hang out here, best friends, like you and me. Or fathers with their sons. Or couples out on coffee dates. Ad even though those people who lived here before never intended this place turned into a coffee shop. But the people who bought it did! And look at what they've done with the place. Percy, this feels like home to me. Or at least a home, like if I were ever lost I could just come here with a book and curl up on that couch. It's permanent, even though sometime in the future it will be gone. It'll go bankrupt, or collapse because it's too old, or whatever. But it's like…" She blushes when she finds his eyes staring at her with admiration, realizing she's gotten lost on a tangent again.

Afterwards they fall into a comfortable silence. Eventually, Percy reaches across the table to hold her hand because he wants to.

;;;

"Hey," Percy felt hot breath next to his ear say. Opening up his tired eyes, he found Annabeth lying on top of him while he was sleeping. He hates her for waking him up, but who's he kidding? He thinks Annabeth is the cream-cheese to his bagel. Lately though, he's started thinking about, well… more about Annabeth. He imagines them going on coffee dates to The Fairground like she talked about. He imagines cuddling close with Annabeth laying on his bad together, drinking tea and watching re-runs of How I Met Your Mother. He craves it. So instead, he decides to run his hand through his bed-head and reaches to flip himself on top of her, making her laugh.

"What's so funny?" he asks, unsure what brought on this spill of laughter.

"You've been working out more, haven't you?" she asked running her hands up my biceps. It was then Percy realized that he had failed to put on a shirt before Annabeth had woke him up.

"Fuck," he yelled, and in the meantime, gracefully face planting on the ground, "Ugh, why do you do this to me?"

Annabeth started laughing so hard, he swore she would break a rib. Percy decides her laughter is his favorite sound.

"So what brings you here to my humble abode?" he questions her, getting up to lie under the covers.

"I came to drag you out of your room into the kitchen to make me fucking brownies. Now get up!" she said, pushing him off the bed, following him into the kitchen.

"Why do you want me to make you brownies at… 9:56 anyway?"

"Is there a time limit to when you can and cannot have brownies? Now go be a man and make me some brownies."

He really did not want to make brownies this early in the morning, but this was Annabeth. God, he didn't know what this girl was doing to her. He wishes she could understand what he's feeling. "Seems like you've got everything pulled out already. Someone's a bit eager for my brownies," he said, smiling at her while she climbed up to sit on the kitchen counter.

"Well you do make the best brownies, save your mom's," she replied with a smile. He moved himself so he was standing in between Annabeth's legs.

"Really?" he asked. They were almost the same height in this position.

"Really," she said, leaning forward a bit.

Now, Percy's watched a lot of How I met Your Mother, from which he learned there's a signal when a girl wants you to kiss her. He leaned in because, well, what the hell! If this wasn't the signal then he'll take his chances.

When his lips met hers it was like fire. Percy had always imagined Annabeth's kisses like a soft cloud-like feeling, but instead he felt like he was eating sunflower seeds, his lips were so raw. He realized Annabeth's one of those girls who bites lips while kissing. The fact just made him smile even bigger than before, clashing their teeth together.

"Pffft! Nice going, Idiot." That's another thing about Annabeth he loves about her, her calling him names. He should find this offensive, but it's Annabeth. Anything she does is endearing.

"Don't think this'll get you out of making me brownies by the way," she whispers in his ear.

FUCK.

So when Percy's mom came home, she found brownie batter everywhere but in the pan.