This is placed somewhere between the events of The Titan's Curse and The Battle of the Labyrinth, when Annabeth first realizes that her feelings for Percy aren't purely platonic.
Disclaimer: I don't own PJO, but I do wish that I did - Christmas/birthday/life present, anyone?
The strangest things remind her of him.
They're the little things around her; the glass bowl on the counter colored in shades of green, the pen on the table that doesn't even look anything like Riptide, even the smell of the sea.
When her mind makes the connection, her entire day is pretty much a gone case. The only thing she'd be able to focus on are the curve of his lips, the twinkle in his eyes as he makes yet another bad pun, the dark waves of his hair. And oh, his eyes; green and mesmerizing, framed by lashes any girl would kill for-
Stop it! He's just Seaweed Brain, she tells herself. And he would never think of her that way...
But thoughts like these are hard to hold on to when he looks at her like she holds the answers to the universe. Thoughts like these are hard to remember as she watches him in battle, all hero-like, sparing no thought for his own safety. It's near impossible to remember how she could've ever had thoughts like these when he makes her laugh when she needs it the most, even when her heart is breaking apart and the world seems much too dark for such brightness to even exist.
"Annabeth?" He's at the door of the Athena cabin, hesitant, probably wondering why she's staring at a wall.
Her thoughts come to a screeching halt as she realizes that nothing will ever compare to the real Percy. The green glass of the bowl does his eyes no justice - they shift with his mood, stormy and guarded one moment, laughing and carefree the next. He is all legs and arms, stuck in the middle of a growth spurt, but she has a sneaking suspicion that he will soon tower over her. As always, he smells like the sea, refreshing and salty and oh-so-Percy.
She shakes her head, wondering where these pesky feelings have come from and how she can return them. "Sorry Seaweed Brain, what was it you wanted?"
"Come quickly," he urges, eyes wide with fear. "Clarisse has gotten into it again with Travis and Connor, and I swear I just saw her head towards the armory-"
She laughs, gray eyes clearing. A task, something she could focus on. Good. "Lead the way, Seaweed Brain."
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