Part 2
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the plot. The characters are owned by Rick Riordan and this song is from Radiohead and is called All I Need
The knock sounded on the door earlier than he'd been expecting. Percy cursed under his breath. "I'll get it!" He jumped up from the couch, nearly knocking his guitar to the ground.
"That's alright. I've already got it," his mother, Sally Jackson, said as she sat her coat down. He knew she was leaving for the hospital for her night shift at 7:45, but Annabeth found time to come early. Sally was almost out the door. "Annabeth Chase? Look at you! Oh my gosh, you've grown up so beautifully!"
"Thank you, Ms. Jackson," Annabeth said in that sweet voice she always used to impress adults. Percy, standing by the couch in shock, glared. He did not intend on her seeing his mother. "Is Percy here?"
"Sure," Sally said. "Come on in. How have you been?"
"I've been great," she spoke fluently, as if this didn't even bother her. "How about you? Still working on your book?"
"In small parts," Sally said, but Percy knew she hardly had the time to anymore. They gave her more shifts at the hospital in the last month. He hardly saw her home much at all. "Percy, look who came to see you."
"Yeah. Early," Percy huffed.
"He promised to play me an original," Annabeth grinned, setting her bright pink purse on the table. "He has an amazing voice."
Sally beamed at him, walking around and wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "He definitely does."
"Okay, you two can stop," he rolled his eyes.
"Well, Annabeth, I have to head to the hospital. Stay as long as you want. You know you're always welcome here. Come by more, okay?" Sally gave Percy one final hug, a real one this time, before hugging Annabeth as well. Then, she slung her coat on and opened the door.
"I will," Annabeth smiled warmly.
"Percy, behave," Sally admonished with emphasis. Percy gave her his mischievous grin that would only partly worry her all night. He was only being truthful, after all. Sally still believed him to be a good person, though, so she never truly worried, and that's how Percy liked it.
She shut the door quietly on her way out, and Percy turned on Annabeth. "I said eight."
"And I'm never late," she beamed brightly. Percy thought she was much too dressed up to simply be coming over to his house. She wore a jean skirt with a loose, pale orange top that exposed enough of her chest to distract him. Of course, she paired that outfit with pink heels, pink jacket, and a pink purse. He didn't know how it worked, but it did. "I missed your mom."
"She missed you," Percy shrugged. "Always wanted me to ask you out. I don't think she realizes how much you hate me through high school."
"Yeah, but we used to be best friends," Annabeth twirled around, taking in the apartment. "And I don't hate you."
Percy laughed humorlessly. He sat on the back of the couch and observed her hot little body try to lie to him. "Annabeth."
"Okay, fine. I hatedyou," she emphasized pointedly. "Not anymore."
"What the fuck did I do to impress you?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. I just feel like...you're not as bad as I originally thought."
"You told me at least five times last night how bad I am," Percy frowned. He knew he wasn't exactly pleading his case well, but he wanted to understand her better.
"That's not - that bad isn't the bad I thought you were before. It's a different bad. A good one," she blushed, eyes skirting his gaze. "Anyways, you wanted to ask me something?"
Percy pursed his lips. "Yeah. I need a favor."
He walked around to the couch and picked up his guitar, idly strumming it as he watched Annabeth inch closer. She took a seat beside him. "I'm listening."
Percy cleared his throat, unsure how to begin. "So...my band and I are trying to enter this huge competition. If we play there, we could really get noticed."
"That's awesome, Percy," she reached forward and pressed her hand on top of his thigh.
"Well, we need one thousand dollars to enter. Between the four of us, we can only get two hundred fifty dollars. So I was hoping you could throw us into your competition thing you're organizing this weekend."
Annabeth blinked. "You know the grand prize is only five hundred dollars. You'd still be two hundred fifty short."
"I know," Percy huffed. "But if we get that close, we'll get another gig and then ask their parents to loan us more."
"What about your mom?" Annabeth asked. Percy expression hardened. "Look, I'm only asking because I don't know if I can get you a spot. First of all, I've never seen your band perform-,"
"But you heard me. Think that plus better support!"
"Secondly, I only have so much say. The music director that this concert is supporting chose the bands. I only organized."
"Annabeth, please," Percy rested a hand over hers.
She groaned, yanking her hand away to run it through her curls. He noticed she'd let her hair down today and didn't curl it with any iron. Annabeth always had natural wavy curls, though, and it made her look less intimidating.
"I'll see what I can do. No promises, but you should know these bands are all pretty good." Annabeth sighed.
In return, Percy grinned. "Thank you, Annie Bell!"
"Stop that! It's a horrible nick name," Annabeth hissed.
"What would you prefer I call you?"
"Well, at least Wise Girl is a compliment of sorts...or Chase being my last name makes sense," Annabeth muttered bashfully. She turned to face him directly. "Okay. Now you have to play something for me. A Percy Jackson original." Her eyes twinkled as she spoke, making his head spin. How could she expect him to play an original with the correct lyrics when he had her around to distract him?
"Seriously? You're still on that?"
Annabeth tucked her legs under her body and scooted closer. Incidentally, the couch was an old couch, an old couch that caused each cushion to tilt one way or the other. In this case, it pushed Annabeth even closer to him, so much so that she was pressed against his arm.
"Please?" She asked, fluttering those long lashes of hers. "Your voice does things to me."
Percy felt his cheeks grow warmer. His mind bounced around a million ideas of what exactly his voice did to her. With that in mind, Percy rolled his eyes and strummed a few notes, gazing at her.
(song: All I Needby Radiohead)
"I'm the next act
Waiting in the wings
I'm an animal
Trapped in your parked car
I am holidays
That you choose to ignore
You are all I need
You are all I need
I'm in the middle of your picture
Lying in the leaves"
Percy sank slowly, with the low strumming not accustomed to his guitar. Normally, this slow and meek of a song was not his first choice, but he was staring Annabeth and couldn't think of anything else. He strummed along more as she cast a half smile at him, as if she were too stunned to say a word.
"I am a moth
Who just wants to share your light
I'm just an insect
Trying to get out of the night
I only stick with you
Because there are no others
You are all I need
You are all I need
I'm in the middle of your picture
Lying in the leaves"
Percy stopped singing finally, but kept up the soft, barely there beat as he looked at Annabeth. Finally, he stopped that, too. "There you go. One hundred percent Percy original of the top of my head."
Annabeth blinked, as if not understanding something. "Who is it about?"
Percy faltered. He frowned because he didn't know. He'd finished it this morning. The words had just come to him. Of course, sitting there with a gorgeous girl pressed against his side would incline him to say it was about her, but he didn't say that. Instead, he shrugged. "Didn't think that far into it."
"Percy," Annabeth began to scoot away to his dismay. "That song was painfully beautiful. You don't just write that out of random."
Percy scratched the back of his neck. "It just came to me. Honest."
Though suspicious of his answer, Annabeth seemed a little more at ease with it. Carefully, she ran a finger down the shaft of the bass guitar. "Well, it was beautiful. I didn't think you could sing without screaming a little. Somehow, it's more enchanting."
Percy let the hand previously behind his head fall to the couch behind Annabeth. "Enchanting?"
"Mhmm," she bit her lip, eyes flickering down to his lips and back. "You're quite enchanting, Percy Jackson."
Percy shot her a crooked grin, letting her know he knew exactly what was going on. "Prove it, Chase."
Delicately, Annabeth slipped her fingers under the guitar and moved it aside. Then, she took its place on his lap. "Will this suffice?"
Percy looked into those bright grey eyes, that glint never disappearing for a second as she gazed at him expectantly. The question was palpable. What was he going to do about it?
"Nah. Not good enough," Percy's hands landed on her ass with a loud smack as he pulled her closer. A high-pitched squeal escaped her pale pink lips, and Percy couldn't tear his eyes away from them. Her hands ran through his hair softly, slowly at first. Suddenly, she pulled his dark locks into two tight fists and yanked his face inches from hers. Then, she smiled coyly. "And you think I'm the bad one," Percy muttered with nothing short of desire. Slightly-psychotic Annabeth may have been the hottest thing he'd ever seen before.
"Oh, Percy," she whispered, the scent of strawberries brushing across his lips. "You have no idea."
Then, their lips melded together. She tasted just like strawberries. She kissed him slowly, tongue running along his lip tantalizingly. His body soon ached for more. With another squeeze of her plump ass, Percy lifted her up and flipped them over so he hovered over her. Annabeth took that opportunity to grasp his biceps, releasing an almost inaudible whimper at the feel of his muscles. Percy welcomed the distraction as his tongue slipped into her mouth, deepening the kiss.
Annabeth wrapped her legs around him, pulling him down. Her hands were all over his chest and abs and back, grabbing and scratching as she willed. Percy was getting turned on by the second. His hands worked soft, tickling lines up and down the sides of her body underneath her shirt while his lips attacked her neck, sucking just above her collarbone, sending her into a moaning mess.
Annabeth raised her arms, and Percy pulled back enough to tug her shirt off. Then, he took her in. Not just the sight of her beautiful boobs, though they were definitely included, but Annabeth in whole. Those cute curls framed her face in a way that made her smile shimmer. Cheeks red and rosy, Percy found his body in pain with how gorgeous she was. Her pink lips were puffy from their kiss, and all Percy wanted to do was make them even puffier.
"You're beautiful, Annabeth," Percy whispered, one hand caressing her face delicately. Her smile widened, the way girls do when they didn't expect the compliment, as if they didn't know it to be true.
"Yeah?"
Percy grinned and nodded, sending her a wink to make her flush all over again. He noticed with dirty joy that her chest also seemed to grow slightly pinker each time she flushed, though that could have been his imagination.
"Yeah," Percy agreed mercilessly as his eyes drew to her chest again as she took in deep breaths. His hands paused before reaching for the clasp behind her, asking her for permission. Her only response was bold wink and a slight nip on his neck.
The rest was a blurred piece of heaven.
. . .
"Percy, ow!"
"Is that better?"
"Oh my god, yes!"
"Like that?"
"Mhmm."
"Uh, are you sure?"
"Mmm mmm."
"Okay...I like this."
"Mmm."
"You're not very vocal, are you?"
"MMM!"
"Ow - oh fuck!"
Percy rolled over to his back, and Annabeth sucked in a large amount of air before sitting upright. "You're such an idiot! I couldn't breathe!"
Percy ran a hand down his face with an embarrassed smile. "I was wondering how you were doing that."
"Have you never cuddled before?" She huffed in exaggeration, but Percy simply shook his head. "What?"
"Nope. Never had a girlfriend, and most girls want me to leave after sex. Not that I'm bad-,"
"Obviously," Annabeth smirked in memory of what occurred just five minutes prior.
"- but also my mom freaks out if she doesn't know where I am."
Annabeth smoothed down her hair before scooting back to his side. She lied on his chest as he cranes his neck to gaze at her.
Finally, a satisfied grin spread across her lips. "See. You're aren't a bad guy. Bad guys don't worry about their mothers like you do."
Percy's face heated up. He twirled his finger around one of her curls. "If you say so."
"Want to know the reason I came over here, Percy?"
He frowned, throwing his hands behind his head as he continued looking at her striking eyes. "Well, I originally thought it was to hear me play, but I'm suspecting it might have been for sex."
Annabeth threw her head back laughing, eyes shining and smile stealing his breath away. Gods, he should have made a move on her so much earlier. Sure, he couldn't stand her at the time, but he supposed it was just sexual tension clashing.
"I came," she said, eyes still twinkling, "because of Piper."
Percy's grin fell. "What?"
Annabeth chuckled before pressing a kiss to his chest. "She told me that when you left last night, you took Nico home because he was too drunk to do anything with Will. Well, she said you tried to cover it up by saying you were dragging him to another bar, but Jason told her the truth."
"Fucking Grace," Percy mumbled. He shrugged. "Yeah. So?"
Annabeth tilted her head curiously. "That's not a bad thing, Percy. Looking after a friend who's that drunk is...really kind of you. Why would you try to hide that?"
Percy scooted upward, throwing Annabeth off him partially. He ran his hands through his hair. "I just changed my mind. I'm not hiding anything."
Annabeth bit her lip, and Percy realized his tone was harsher than intended. "Okay."
"Were you seriously not going to come here if it hadn't been for Piper?" Percy scoffed, getting out of bed to throw on some underwear.
"Well, I didn't know if I should. We're not exactly a good match for each other," Annabeth's words stung, slicing across his skin until it hit his heart.
"Right."
She seemed unable to stop explaining, though. "I mean, you're a hot band dude. I'm just that smart hot bitch everyone secretly hates. We're completely different."
"Got it," Percy shrugged on his jeans and faced her, shoving back any signs of the pain she was causing him. "Is this your ways of saying this won't happen again?" She began to speak, but Percy's heart couldn't take it. "Don't worry about it, Chase. I don't do relationships, remember?"
"O-oh," Annabeth breathed out shakily. Her eyes darted between Percy's exposed stomach and his clothes. "Right. Perfect, then. I'll, um, let you know about the concert."
"Great," Percy tugged on his shirt and tossed Annabeth her shirt, to which she nearly flinched. Hurriedly, she dressed herself. "Your skirt is on backwards."
Annabeth looked at him like she could hit him. "Got it."
Once dressed, she looked at him once more before frowning and hurrying out to the living room to retrieve her purse and jacket. By the door, she stopped and looked at him.
"I take back what I said. You're still an ass."
"Told you," Percy sighed. With one more disgusted look, she left.
Percy sat back on the couch with a frown. That wasn't what he'd been expecting. That was actually kind of sucky. Percy hated complaining when he had great sex, but this wasn't connected to the sex. This was connected to something else completely. He fell back on the couch and groaned loudly.
He was an ass.
. . .
The next day at school, Leo, Jason, and Nico bombarded him with questions. "Well? Did she put us in?"
Percy pushed past them to focus on opening his locker. "I don't know. She said she'd let me know."
"I thought she came over. That's all she said?" Jason asked, sliding to the side of his locker in an effort to get him to meet his gaze. Percy glared at him before slamming the locker, making Jason jump.
"Yeah."
"I could have sworn she had sex eyes at the party," Leo scratched at his head. "Maybe if you sleep with her, she'll be so amazed she'll put us in!"
"What makes you think he's that good in bed? We have a better chance with me," Jason said. "Well, not anymore, but still."
"Why not anymore?" Leo whined.
"Because Piper and I hooked up. They're best friends," Jason grinned.
"You're going to be even more whipped than before," Nico snorted.
"We're not dating," Jason stammered. "Well, I think. I don't know. She didn't say. I really want to, but I don't think-,"
"Hey, Sparky! Gonna walk me to class or what?" Piper threw a wadded piece of paper from across the hall. They all turned to them, and Percy's heart felt like lead. Piper was holding her bag out, but by her side was Annabeth Chase, dressed in tight jeans and a top that hugged her waist. Her heels made the familiar clicking sound as she tapped her foot impatiently. When her eyes glanced in their direction, she didn't even spare him a second.
"See ya at lunch, boys," Jason grinned, practically jogging to Piper's side and taking her bag before wrapping an arm around her waist.
"Well shit! You're not going to fuck Annabeth if you give her kicked puppy eyes all the time!" Leo smacked him upside the head. "Dude, I need this. Calypso said if we won the concert, I could take her on a date!"
Percy found that hard to believe. "She's pulling your leg, dude."
"Okay. You don't have to be such an ass," Leo muttered.
That one words. He'd been called an ass too many times in the past couple of days. He knew he was an ass! People didn't need to remind him what a horrible person he was! He knew he didn't mean shit to anyone because he was an ass. It was a fact at this point and didn't need to be brought up.
"For fuck's sake, stop saying that like I don't already know! I'm an ass, and you can all fuck off," he screamed, and in a sudden fit of rage, slammed his hand into his locker. "Fuck!"
His hand was pulsing with fury now. Or rather, with pain. A stream of curses flew out of his mouth as he cradled his hand.
"Percy," Nico said with caution. "Your hand..."
"I know."
"Let's go to the nurse's office," Nico grabbed him by the arm and refused to let go, pulling him away from the crowd that had formed to stare. The first people they pushed through were Jason, Piper, and Annabeth, all staring with horror at his hand.
A/N: Ahhh I'm so glad this got some good responses! It's been fun to write so far. I'm not finished with it yet, but I figured I'd go ahead and post what I have. I'll work on finishing the third and final part, but some love and commentary would greatly encourage me to do so!
