this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart
Annabeth meets him first on the playground at the age of three. Her father takes her out on her birthday but he doesn't play with her at all, because as he's told her several times he's too old for playgrounds and swing sets.
His phone rings when they get to the park and in typical Frederick Chase fashion, her father dismisses her with a wave of his hand as soon as they get out of the car, patting her head as one would a dog's and telling her that she's big enough to go play by herself and that he'd be back in a few minutes! (He's back in half an hour, but only to tell her it's time to leave).
She walks over to the swing set, but she doesn't feel like swinging. Instead, she stares at the ground so hard it becomes blurry.
She knows exactly when he sits on the swing next to her because the metal chains creak as they twist ever so slightly, but she pretends she doesn't notice. He talks anyway. "Why are you crying?"
She blinks, realizing that her cheeks are wet, and that the ground looks blurry because tears are obscuring her vision. She denies it. "I wasn't," she says sharply, but it doesn't intimidate him.
"Okay," he says. He holds out a plastic box. "Want some cookies? They're blue chocolate chip with extra chocolate. They can fix everything."
She looks at him like he's grown an extra limb. "I'm not s'possed to take food from strangers. My mommy told me it could be poisoned." She turns back to the ground.
He isn't deterred by that either. "What's poisoned?" he asks, tilting his head.
"Poisoned is when someone puts something in your food and you eat it and then you vomit out all your organs and die," she says primly.
"That sounds cool," he breathes, eyes wide. "We didn't poisoned the cookies," he stresses the word, smiling. She doesn't blame him. Learning new words is fun.
"I'll prove it," he says. He takes a cookie out of the box and eats it. Nothing happens, and he sighs in relief. She does too, but only because she doesn't want to see another person's organs. That would be really gross.
"I'm Percy," he continues. He points to a nice looking lady sitting on a bench near the slide. "That's my mommy. She wouldn't poisoned anything ever." Percy's mom waves at them, as if she heard him.
She takes the box, opens it and sniffs a cookie. "I'm Annabeth," she says, pulling a cookie out of the box and taking a big bite. He smiles.
; ;
Annabeth feels really funny when she thinks about going to kindergarten. (It's called nervous. Her daddy told her). She doesn't know why. Mommy talked to her about it and Annabeth went with Percy and Sally to get a backpack and new pencils. She shouldn't be nervous, but she is anyway, and that makes her mad.
Percy on the other hand is really happy about going to school. "It's gonna be super fun! We can make friends and learn what two plus two is!" he tells her over the phone. She can tell he's eating cookies.
"Two plus two is four," she says. She pouts, even though he can't see her.
"That's okay! We can learn what two plus three is."
She rolls her eyes. (Percy taught her how, because Sally said they would need it at kindergarten).
The bus pulls up with a screeching sound the next day that makes her flinch and the acrid smell of burning plastic hits her nose almost immediately, making her gag. But she's fine, because Percy holds her hand even though he doesn't understand why she's scared.
(When they get off the bus at three p.m., their mothers are waiting for them. Annabeth steps off with a bright grin, explaining everything to her mother. When she and Sally turn to Percy for his opinion, he frowns. "Do we have to go back tomorrow?" he asks his mother, equal parts horrified and hopeful).
; ;
In second grade, Percy and Annabeth are put in separate classes at school for the first time. Neither of them finds it enjoyable, so they make up for it by spending the summer after second grade attached at the hip.
Their mothers drive them to the movie theatre every Tuesday, and they get ice cream together every Saturday, and when they're not at each other's houses, they're at the park, trying to out-swing each other. (Annabeth always wins, but only, Percy insists, because he lets her).
; ;
In fourth grade Percy gets into his first altercation. He's never liked bullies, but this particular girl really likes getting on his nerves. He lets it go most of the time because he doesn't want more strikes, but she takes it too far on their field trip to the History Museum.
There's a kid named Grover in their class. He's got a muscular disease that keeps him on crutches and also makes him an easy target. The girl steals Grover's lunch before they leave, and then during the bus ride, she tears it into chunks and throws it back at Grover. Annabeth sits next to Percy to keep him from doing anything stupid. He's practically vibrating as he sits down, even though she tries really hard to distract him with cool stuff she learned about the History Museum building.
She manages to keep him sitting the entire time, but as soon as they get off the bus, Percy pushes little Nancy Bobofit into the nearest fountain. He turns to Annabeth as she gets off the bus, and she rolls her eyes at him to let him know that she does not approve. The effect is somewhat muted by the fact that she's grinning at him too.
(Annabeth gives Nancy another shove on her way into the museum just for good measure).
; ;
Her parents start fighting when she is eleven. She doesn't tell Percy at first because it isn't that bad. Just a few occasional spats before dinner, an argument late at night while they think she's asleep. And then they start going at it all the time and it's made even more frightening by the fact that she starts middle school that year.
Percy finds out before she even opens her mouth to tell him. She doesn't know he pieced it together – he was always more perceptive than most – but she's glad he figures it out. They've never been able to keep anything from each other for long, anyway.
He tries to play it off, for her sake, but she can tell he's just as worried as she is. He takes her mind off it though, eventually. "It'll get better," he says one day, handing her a cookie like he does whenever he thinks she's thinking too much. "You'll see."
(Spoiler alert: it doesn't).
; ;
Her parents divorce two years later at a restaurant over parmesan chicken and ravioli. She finds out when she comes home from school and finds her father sitting on the old ratty couch in the living room by himself and sees only one car in the garage.
She runs to Percy's house instead to going to her father. It starts to rain as soon as she sets foot out the door, and by the time she gets to Percy's door, she's soaked to the bone.
He hugs her as soon as she sees her, and she cries into his chest, a little guilty that she's soaking his shirt. They stay like that for about a minute before Percy pulls away a little awkwardly and tugs her inside. Sally nearly drops a plate onto the ground when she sees her. "Oh sweetie," she says, running over, the plate forgotten on their counter, and wrapping her in a hug. "I'm sorry."
Annabeth laughs into her neck. "Sally, I haven't even told you what happened yet," she says, wetly.
"It doesn't matter," she says, tucking Annabeth under her chin. "What do you need?"
Annabeth steps away, biting her lip. "Do you…have any cookies?"
Percy gasps, exaggeratedly. "Annabeth! How could you ever think we didn't?" he says, touching a hand to his chest in a mock-affronted manner. He frowns. "I have to unfriend you now," he says seriously, pulling her into a hug.
"That's too bad," she says, smiling now, wrapping an arm around his waist and pressing her face into his wet shirt. "I'm here to stay."
He grins. "I know."
; ;
The summer before ninth grade year, puberty hits her hard. She shoots up like tree (but not enough to be taller than Percy again) her hair gets longer and shinier, she becomes curvier, and when they go back to school the next year, at least five different guys ask her out at lunch, even with Percy glaring into his food on the other side of the table.
She says no to every one of them, but a muscle works in Percy's jaw every time a guy comes to their table. She spends the entirety of lunch the first week of school awkwardly avoiding everyone's gaze.
; ;
She meets Luke Castellan in tenth grade, and she's utterly infatuated. That's also the same year Sally meets Paul Blofis at a writing seminar. Percy's too busy trying to figure out Paul to notice the way she moons after Luke and she's glad for that, because she's sure he'd tease her mercilessly.
Paul takes Percy's mother out on dates to local libraries and bookstores every Saturday and buys her ice cream after, and Percy surreptitiously checks to see if she's hurt when she comes back (she isn't) but he's still suspicious, even after seeing the starry-eyed look in Sally's eyes. Annabeth doesn't get it.
"You should be happy for her," Annabeth says to him, stealing one of his blue jellybeans.
"I know. But what if he hurts her?"
"He doesn't. And you've met him, Percy. He's almost as sweet as your mother, and he's obviously really into her."
Percy laughs bitterly. "Mom married this guy when I was two. His name was Gabe. He was nice to her. He bought her gifts and watched after me when Mom was too tired to. It lasted until I started walking and talking. He would call her into the living room and she'd come back with bruises. She would cry at night. I just… I don't want that to happen to her again."
She stays silent for a while, before saying, "Paul isn't like that."
He looks at her through his bangs. "You really think so?"
She smiles at him. "Yeah."
A couple days later, Luke asks her out and she couldn't be happier.
(The night of their first date, she's too busy staring at her date to notice Percy's frown when she steps into Luke's car wearing her nicest dress).
; ;
The next year, she finds Luke cheating on her with another girl, Thalia Grace, by the lake. Tears sting her eyes, her vison turning blurry as she stews in her car. She pulls herself together a minute later and steps out of her car clutching the first thing he ever gave her- a heart locket.
She storms over furiously, stopping in front of his car and tapping on his windshield so hard she leaves a scratch.
Thalia blinks at her for a while, before looking between Luke and Annabeth and asking, "Who is she?"
Annabeth answers for him. "Annabeth Chase, his girlfriend. Or rather one of his girlfriends."
Thalia scoffs bitterly, stepping out of the car and straightening her hair and clothes. "I knew I shouldn't have done this," she throws over her shoulder as she steps out.
"Thalia, I can explain," Luke calls, struggling with his seatbelt.
She doesn't wait to hear what he has to say. Instead she turns to Annabeth. "Can I get a ride back home?"
Annabeth nods, smiling. "Sure thing." She throws the locket at Luke, who's halfway out of his car. "Don't talk to me. Ever."
The walk to Annabeth's car is silent. "I'm sorry that had to happen to you. I didn't know you existed, I swear-" Thalia begins, but Annabeth cuts her off with a smile.
"It wasn't his fault, not yours. I would like to get to know you though."
Thalia looks relieved. "Of course. I'll give you my number before I step inside."
She drops off Thalia, stopping to exchange numbers, before driving home and throwing herself on her bed. She manages to remember to text Percy before she falls asleep.
The next day, Luke goes home with a black eye, touching his nose as he runs to his truck, and Percy meets her after seventh period with bruised knuckles.
She waves to Thalia before turning to him and raising an eyebrow.
He grins. "Just so you know, I had nothing to do with it."
"With what?" she asks, tilting her head.
"You tell me," he says, raising an eyebrow back at her.
She laughs. "Did he bleed?" she asks.
He taps a finger against his chin exaggeratedly, as if he's thinking. "I definitely broke a bone or two."
"Two bones?" she says playing along.
"Think I heard him cry for Mommy," he says, linking their pinkies like he used to when they were younger, and swinging their arms back and forth.
"Well. I know you definitely didn't do it. But thanks anyway."
He hums noncommittally, pressing a kiss into her hair and using their linked hands to tug her closer. "Anytime, Anna." She doesn't have the heart to tell him not to call her that.
; ;
Sally and Paul get married in the summer. Annabeth is Percy's date to the wedding and she doesn't feel bad at all, when she tugs Percy to the dance floor and thinks that this could be Luke instead. Thalia comes too, and she and Percy get acquainted by pulling pranks on Percy's step-cousins.
Sally absolutely insists that they slow dance together. They protest that they're not even together, but Sally isn't having any of it.
The DJ puts on a Whitney Houston song, and Annabeth turns to Percy with an overdone sigh. "Well, it will be absolutely terrible dancing with you."
"Terrible," he repeats, solemnly. "Horrific, even."
"But I think we should get it over with."
He sighs, placing a hand against his forehead. "If we must."
She rolls her eyes and pulls him behind her. It's a little awkward, but they figure it out. They don't dance, really. It's basically glorified swaying-while-hugging, but it feels…intimate. Like she's closer to him now, emotionally. She stares up at his face, as his eyes sparkle and shift as the light hits them, and she wonders how she didn't notice how handsome he had grown over the years.
; ;
If she had been able to tear her eyes away from his, she would've seen Paul and Sally and Thalia staring at them, conspiratorially.
("Twenty bucks says they get together in the middle of senior year," Sally says.
"Thirty says they get together around graduation," Thalia challenges.
Paul munches on the cookie his new wife hands him distractedly, before countering, "Fifty on Christmas Break.")
(The pot's up to two hundred dollars by the end of the night).
; ;
Rachel Dare asks Percy out at the beginning of senior year. They date for a while, and even though Percy insists that it's serious, they break up in in the third week of September after a month and a half. Rachel becomes a good friend after, and she and Thalia get along well, thankfully.
She asks Rachel about it, later. "I don't know why I broke up with him," Rachel says, frowning. "We were doing fine, and Percy's a great guy, but it kind of felt like I was borrowing him."
Annabeth frowns too. "Borrowing him from whom?" Rachel shrugs looking at the ground. Rachel doesn't say anything, but Annabeth's pretty sure she knows.
; ;
She goes to Percy's house for Christmas, and sleeps over. That night over hot chocolate, she remembers her conversation with Rachel, and turns to Percy, stifling a yawn. "Percy?"
"Hmm."
"Why'd you break up with Rachel?"
He shrugs. "I don't know," he says, sleepily. "I wanted her to be you, but she wasn't."
That wakes her up. "You what?"
"'Night," he says, placing his head in her lap and smacking his lips.
She frowns, and pushes him back up. "Why would you want Rachel to be me?"
He wakes up too, frowning and rubbing his eyes. "…Never said that."
"Yes you did."
"I didn't mean it. I was really sleepy-"
"Percy-"
"We got bored, that's all-"
"Percy!" He stops talking and looks at her. His expression is guarded. It scares her because he's never been this closed off with her. "Stop lying to me."
Percy gives up then. She can see it in the way he slumps. "What do you want me to say?"
"I…Explain."
Percy sits up and moves away from her, ever so slightly, but it hurts all the same. He looks towards the door as if he's going to run away, but she knows he won't. She grabs his arm anyway, to keep him with her. "I think I'm in love with you," he says, without preamble. "I know you probably don't want it-"
"Percy, stop." He does. "I think I'm in love with you too," she says, peering up at him through her lashes to gauge his reaction. His face is carefully blank.
"You mean it?" he says, cautiously, and she almost laughs, because her best friend thinks she's lying to him.
"Of course," she says softly. She leans forward and kisses him, just to drive it home.
; ;
Sally and Paul come home to a completely silent home, and the reason is apparent when they walk inside. Percy and Annabeth are sleeping, their foreheads pressed together, two mugs of cold hot cocoa on the floor in front of them.
Sally smiles. "Finally."
Paul hums. "Indeed." He grins down at her. "Now, fork over."
Sally frowns. "Dammit."
"Look at it this way- my money is your money too," he says, kissin her cheek.
; ;
fin.
; ;
notes: okay so I was reading over this and i realized that it sounded really childish, so here's a total revamp. i'm sorry you had to read what was there before, and please tell me if it was better, or if you hated it or whatever other thoughts you may have had about this fic, PLEASE.