:Percy:

The worst thing about having the paparazzi follow you around all the time wasn't having to take all the back alleys that smelled like garbage and vomit – New York had prepared him for that – it was the douchebag glasses. You know – the whole wearing sunglasses at night to avoid the flashing cameras thing, because you'd rather look like a jerk than be blind – but only by a little. Especially now.

It had been three days since the audition. Not his – her's. The thought of it made his palms sweat and his heart pick up a little faster. It was just the way she looked at him, like she couldn't believe he could amount to anything, nevertheless score a huge role with Hollywood's finest. Like she was daring him to prove her wrong. And then she opened up that script, and just became the part. For twenty minutes, he almost forgot that she was acting, that the girl across the table wasn't really her, the Cassie Frey in the script. That this girl wasn't actually in love with him. She snapped out of it as soon as the scene ended and Chiron turned off the camera. He was having a little harder time. Annabeth Chase. Absentmindedly, he thought about the next time he might see her, wondering if she might be thinking about the same. What he would wear, what he would say to her – congratulations probably – she kicked ass at the audition, and there was no way they could find anyone better for the role.

What he hadn't expected however, was for the next time he'd see her to be at the shabby diner down the street from his apartment. He'd caught a glimpse of her profile standing in line through the glass door as he debated furiously with himself about whether or not he should go in. God, why do you care so much? He thought irritatedly. He was wearing wrinkled jeans, a beanie, and a sweatshirt with an unidentifiable stain on it – hardly what his mother would call presentable. He had just decided that turning around and going through the rest of the night without any dinner would be preferable to having her see him like this when he looked up from trying to scrub the stain the away and saw that she was already staring at him through the galss, lips posed in a curious half-smile. Great. Just fucking great.

She made a sort of beckoning guesture, her face still paused in the beginning of some kind of laughter.

Deciding that pretending that he hadn't seen her and running away would undoubtably make him look even weirder than she inevitably already thought he was, he saw no way around it and ducked inside.

"Hi," She was still looking at him oddly. Understandable, but regrettable. "What are you doing here?"

"Uh, you know, just in the neighborhood. Well I mean, I – I live in the neighborhood, so uh…" He cleared his throat not sure how to end. "Just getting me some dinner." He finished lamely. 'Just getting me some dinner'? What the hell was he? A cowpoke? Aghhhhhh.

"Right," She said slowly. "Me too, actually. I live a couple blocks West, but the food here's worth the walk. Plus I still owe my agent for getting me such a last minute audition and she loves the burgers here, so." Percy nodded along like an idiot. What was wrong with him?

To her credit, Annabeth looked substantially more put together than him, in an oversized hoodie that somehow looked both careless and comfortable, but sophisticated, skinny jeans, and converse hightops. She reminded him of the hipsters that used to hang around the artist studio his mom used to work in, not at all like how he looked after his audition, harebrained and half-dead from apprehension. She cleared her throat, and he remembered that she was still waiting for a reply.

"Right. The audition. You did, uh, you did really well. Brilliant, really." Was it just him or did she looked flustered?

"You think?" Her voice sounded raw. Immediately after she snapped her mouth close and averted her eyes. Percy wondered if she was holding up as well as he thought she was. "I don't mean to dig for compliments -"

"No, it's fine," He assured her. He remember how he'd called his agent every half hour for a week trying to find out if he had gotten the part. "I've never heard anyone so convincing. I'll be surprised if you don't get the part. You were extraordinary, Annabeth."

She blushed, still not looking at him. "Thanks, I guess. Anyway," She lifted the hand that held the take out boxes. "See you around." She threw on her hood and began towards the door. She hesitated, hand on the knob before turning around, smirking. "Nice sunglasses, seaweed brain."

Xx

:Annabeth:

What the hell was she doing? Ever since she got home from the audition it was nothing but panic. She had thrown herself into her drawing, and the entire flat was filled with doodles. Set designs, buildings that probably weren't seen anywhere but Greece, beautiful women dressed in flowing white gowns, anything to take her mind off of… well everything.

When she first got back from her audition, she was seething. This guy was supposed to be some kind of god, the talent Hollywood should've discovered years ago. The kind of acting expertise that had taken her ten years to even attempt. And of course, he was born with it. She hadn't believed the stories, thought the casting was some kind of mess up, a joke. Some rumor Paris had started. Whatever. No newcomer got casted for something this important. There had to be some kind of Mabelline shit involved; no one was just born perfect. She wasn't sure what she expected when he burst into her audition and confirmed her worst nightmare. Could hardly believe it when he began to read out his first lines. He was… extraordinary.

And he thought she was, too.

I guess I was just waiting for him to trip up. Waiting for him to show them all wrong, that he wasn't perfect.

But he was. He was perfect for the part and – grungingly, she admitted – gorgeous; he got to be defiant and infuriating, and bashful and sweet. She couldn't even get the lead in a movie.

She decided not to trust him. There had to be something there. A hamartia yet to be discovered.

She could change that.

Xx

Four days after the audition.

No news.

Xx

A week after the audition.

No news.

Xx

A week and a half after the audition.

Annabeth has stopped periodically checking her phone.

Xx

Two weeks after the audition.

Annabeth does one of the auditions Thalia set up for her weeks ago. She reasons that the part wouldn't do too badly.

Xx

Fifteen days after the audition.

Annabeth goes back to the diner where she met Percy for the first time since she saw him.

Xx

A/N: Thanks for reading! As always, if you could leave a review, it would really mean the world to me. Even something really short! I should have the next one up in a couple days.