Hello there lovelies! Yes, yes, I'm talking to you. You guys are amazing people! I can't believe someone would ever even read this. I'm glad you did :) You are my lovelies, and your reviews/follows/favorites make me smile even when life gets tough.

Special thanks to KaylsDaughterofHades for the motivating review!

Oh, and this one will be a bit long. I got too caught up writing it, haha. There's something about writing at late night that gives me too many inspiration. One of the inspirations for this chapter is a NYE party I went to when I was in Minnesota. I didn't want to go at first but it ended well :)

Okay, I'll stop talking.

Now, enjoy!

Part II: New Years and Countdowns

~~O~~

December 31, New Year's Eve

Percy set his glass down, scowling. "Party?" he asked, looking at the younger blond boy with electric blue eyes who was standing across from him.

Percy had called his best friend Jason over for videogames (they still do that, by the way, it's kind of a tradition) and the least he wanted to hear from him was that he was going to yet another party. And he hated parties. He was a homebody, like, he'd prefer watching Netflix all day than getting up and accompanying Jason to his stupid parties.

And besides, he still hasn't recovered from the trauma the last party they went to gave him.

A drunk Percy got on the table, taking off his shirt and grinning at no one in particular. "You're the oooonneeeeee that I want – at the end of the dayyyy! Day!" he sang, his voice cracking. Jason tried to get him down, but Percy shot him a sharp glare.

And the next thing he knew, he was sitting in front of his laptop, and watching himself on a video posted on their high school website, with a caption: Reunion Perks.

He shuddered at the memory.

"Come on, Percy, please? I'm literally begging you, literally. I swear it won't be like the last time," Jason promised. He was literally close to tears, Percy noticed. But he won't budge.

"And what will I do there? Stand there like an awkward idiot would do while you go smoochy-smoochy with your girly…" Percy looked at his lemonade sourly. "…again?"

Jason threw his hands up defensively, a baffled expression plastered on his face. "I don't go smoochy-smoochy with Piper!" he said. "But that's beside the point. You've got to go, Percy. Please, please, please?"

Percy glared at him, "I won't, Jason, and that's final."

Jason leaned closer to him, his blue eyes twinkling, "Pretty please?" he asked again.

At that moment, Percy's expression softened. Dang, he scolded himself, you're such a softie, Percy Jackson. If Annabeth were with him, he was sure she would have teased him.

Wait…

Annabeth.

He frowned, shaking his head, and trying to clear his thoughts. Why was he still thinking about that girl? It was almost a week since he had met her, and during those days, he'd spent at least two hours thinking about gray eyes shining like the stars, and flowing, golden curls like that of a princess'….

She was just so…beautiful. And different. The moment their eyes met, something sparked in Percy. He felt as if electric current had coursed through his body, freezing him into that position and making him want to stay there forever.

And as much as he tried to contain it, he found himself hoping to see her again, and get to know her more.

Dammit, Cornball.

Reality kicked in again when he felt a shake on his shoulders. He blinked multiple times, his vision clearing.

Jason let go of his shoulders. "So, uh, you okay, man?" he asked.

"Oh-oh yeah, just zoned out for a second," Percy replied.

A smirk played on Jason's lips, "You were thinking about something."

Percy's cheeks felt hot. And by the way Jason was laughing, he was sure he was blushing redder than a tomato…and his own blood. Or anything that was red at all.

"I-I wasn't thinking a-about…about someone – something, I mean…I wasn't…" Percy buried his face in his hands, groaning helplessly. "Just…leave for now, man."

"But you're gonna come?" Jason questioned hopefully.

Wanting his best friend to leave (so he could save himself from the embarrassment that was sure to come), Percy said, "Yeah, yeah, I'll go with you. Now leave."

"YES!" Jason literally squealed in excitement. He winked at him, "You're not going to regret it."

Percy sighed, but Jason had left already (he did that so Percy wouldn't have the chance to change his mind anymore).

"I already did," he mumbled.

"I don't want to be a wallflower at my own party," Thalia muttered, and then popped a chip into her mouth. Annabeth stifled a laugh.

They were sprawled on the old couch they bought at a Thrift Store, a bag of chips in hand, watching Love Actually, a movie she and Thalia watched every end of December. It had sort of become a tradition, and for some reason, both girls had never, ever, once got bored of watching the said movie (Annabeth liked Thomas Sangster and although Thalia refused to admit, Annabeth knew the spiky-haired girl had a thing for the actor, too).

And Annabeth loved Thalia. She was her best friend and the sister she never had. Thalia had always stuck up for her and Annabeth had always stuck up for Thalia. And Thalia wouldn't say it (she's not one for 'cheesy stuff'), but Annabeth knew she let her share the apartment because Thalia knew full well that Annabeth had practically no one but her. It's not like she'd ever tell Thalia that, though.

"I mean, my brother will probably exchange a few sentences with me, but then he'll leave, just like he always does. If you don't come then I'd totally be a wallflower at my own party," Thalia said, rolling her eyes before she popped another chip into her mouth. She stared at her, "Heck, Annie, I would probably be invisible to the people there. At my own party," she said, shaking her head.

Annabeth raised an eyebrow, "Why did you even throw a party? You hate parties."

"Well blame that on my dad, who wants me to – '' Thalia broke off, her eyebrows scrunching together in deep thought. After a few seconds, she perked up. "Ah, socialize. He wanted me to socialize, whatever that is."

"I think you would be great at it," Annabeth teased, shooting her best friend an innocent smile. Thalia glared at her. Annabeth held her hands up. "Fine, fine," she said, cowering under Thalia's killer glare.

"By the way, Annie, who was that guy you were talking to at the coffee shop again?" Thalia asked, smiling sweetly. She dodged a pillow that Annabeth threw at her. Thalia huffed, "I'm your best friend! We literally live under the same roof! And now you're not sharing your little secret to me!" she grumbled.

"Because, it's a secret, Thals," Annabeth retorted.

"Still!"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. She knew Thalia was faking her anger. But when she did she becomes a drama queen. In the past few days she wouldn't stop pestering her about "the guy", and now she was using this card to annoy the living daylight out of Annabeth.

"You spent an hour with the guy! Whom I don't know!" Thalia ranted. Then her eyes narrowed. "Who is this guy?"

Annabeth blushed beet red.

"S-someone," she stuttered.

"Oh, so Mr. S-Someone it is, then? I can't believe you, Annie. You didn't introduce me to Mr. S-Someone."

"Thalia," Annabeth pleaded, sighing in exasperation.

"But Mr. S-Someone must be so hot to even catch your eye. I mean, look at Thomas Sangster."

The mention of Thomas Sangster made Annabeth smirk. "So you think Thomas is hot, too," she said. All she managed to get out from Thalia was pink-tinted cheeks. PINK TINTED CHEEKS? Oh gods Annabeth needed to grab a camera now.

Thalia looked away. "Don't change the subject, Annie."

"Am not."

"Yes you are. And seriously, who is that guy? All I saw was his back."

Only his back? Annabeth breathed in relief inwardly. But the curious look that Thalia was giving her made her blush more furiously.

Percy.

She remembered his name. She remembered eyes as green as the untamable sea. She remembered his dark hair and his odd way of laughing. Everything they talked about was etched in her memory, refusing to miss a single moment. And Thalia pestering her about it was definitely not helping.

"H-he's a stranger," she told Thalia, who gave her a weird look like, really? That's all you've got?

Well it was sort of true. Sort of.

Thalia set down her bag of chips, grinning. "Just come to the party, okay, Annie?" she said. Then her grin widened and turned more mischievous, "But young lady, we're not done yet with this conversation."

Annabeth gulped nervously at that.

"Excuse me – excuse me," Jason mumbled as he dragged his best friend through the partying crowd. He couldn't be heard through the loud music though, so instead he used Percy to wade through. "Excuse me, KING OF THE SEAS, coming through!"

The way he said it made a couple of people turn to them, strange looks on their faces. Percy dipped his head low to hide his face. After what seemed like forever of passing through the crowd, they came to a stop. Jason let go of his arm.

"King of the seas? Really, Jace?" he said, his eyes twitching.

Jason shrugged, "Don't look at me. I learned a few things from my sister."

And on cue, a girl with spiky black hair in an all-black attire shouted, "Make way for the Lightning Queen!"

The crowd parted for her.

"That's your sister?" Percy asked disbelievingly. Jason nodded. It was hard to process. Although he and Jason had been best friend for years, he had never really met his sister (Jason said she could get intimidating at times and no kidding). But really. She bore no resemblance to his brother, except maybe for the eyes, which were electric blue. But that was it.

The girl caught sight of them, and made a sour face. She walked over to Jason, hands on hips, and her eyes blazing.

"So you're here, huh," she spoke. She seemed the type of person whose every word dripped off of sarcasm, just like Annabeth, but with a dangerous edge.

He tried to focus on the conversation before his mind wandered off to Annabeth again.

Jason shrugged, "For the same reason you are here, sister."

"Oh, to socialize?" Jason's sister smirked. "I think you're pretty social enough, Sparky."

Sparky?

"I told you I'd need you here," Jason whispered to him. "Or I'll be going home with cuts and bruises all over my body."

Percy shuddered. Was his sister that bad?

He didn't want to ask.

Or to know.

The spiky haired girl seemed to notice him for the first time. She jerked her thumb towards him. "Who is this you forgot to introduce to me, brother?"

Jason rolled his eyes, "I didn't want to introduce him to you. You're gonna scare him away, sis."

"Shut up," the girl hissed, which basically made Percy flinch. The girl turned to him. "I'm Thalia, Jason's older sister. You must be his friend?"

"Of course," Jason mumbled under his breath.

Thalia ignored him.

"I'm Percy. Percy Jackson. Jason's um, uh…friend," he said. Great, Percy. Be stupid and sarcastic at the same time, and this girl would be lunging at you at any time.

She didn't lunge at him.

"I want you to meet my friend, too," Thalia offered, but Jason shook her off.

"Uh, maybe later, Thals," he said. "Piper's waiting for me…" Jason looked at Percy sheepishly. "I mean…Piper's waiting for me and…Percy. I – we, need to go…"

And Jason grabbed his wrist and dragged him away before Thalia could even reply.

The place was really noisy and crowded. Percy didn't like it at all. Those flashing lights hurt his eyes. He looked around…

And something else caught his eye.

Or someone.

He stopped dead on his tracks, which caused Jason to stop too. "Hey man, what's wrong?" he asked, but Percy couldn't be bothered. His gaze was glued to only one person in the crowd.

Flowing, golden curls – like that of a princess'…

Gray eyes that shone like the brightest stars in the night sky…

The girl was talking to another girl – whom Percy recognized as Jason's sister, Thalia. She smiled at something Thalia said, and Percy's heart skipped a beat. That smile.

I want you to meet my friend, too. Thalia had said.

Was that girl…

He snorted. No. No way. That would be much of a coincidence, right? It couldn't be her, right? He must be hallucinating…right? Besides, these kind of things only happen in those sappy movies (okay, he's guilty of watching them).

It wasn't her.

Stop lying.

"Man, seriously, what's – '' Jason was interrupted by Percy.

"Just…go to Piper. I'll be fine," he told him, his eyes still fixated on the blonde haired beauty.

And she turned to his direction, their eyes meeting. The storm and the sea.

Her reaction was just like his: slack-jawed, wide-eyed, and unbelieving, as if she'd never believed in ghosts and saw one. Percy swore to the gods that if this was a dream then he'd strangle anyone who would ever wake him up.

Apparently it was her that caught herself first.

She bobbed her head towards the door, and he understood clearly: outside. Not here. The blonde said something to Thalia, smiled, and then walked away. She glanced over her shoulder before disappearing from sight.

Percy followed.

.

So he ended up on the garden of the mansion (he still wondered why Jason lived in an apartment if his dad had this grand of a mansion). It was really great. It was pretty quiet, he could still hear a bit of the music but otherwise it was quiet. The sky was full tonight, too. There were a lot of stars and the moon was in full light.

Different kinds of flowers and plants – whatever – filled the garden. They smelled amazing, and the Greek god statues and fountains made his breath hitch.

But there was nothing that could amaze him more than that one person.

That one person sitting on a bench, kicking off her sky blue heels – just comfortable being bare footed. Of course at the back of Percy's mind it still felt weird to look at a stranger (kind of) like this.

But she's a goddess in that flowing white lace dress!

He blushed at his own thoughts.

And so he walked over to her, clearing his throat. The girl's head snapped towards him, her eyes narrowed. Upon seeing him, her expression softened.

"Hi?" he said awkwardly, sitting beside her, just as he had done at the park when they first met.

"So you're here too,"

"No, I'm actually not," he said sarcastically, causing the blonde to roll her eyes good naturedly.

"You were invited by Thalia?"

"Her brother did," Percy answered, although shuddering from the memory of meeting Jason's older sister. "And honestly? She scares me."

Annabeth laughed, a sound Percy was glad to hear again.

"Oh I know the feeling. It's nice to see you again, Percy."

His heart might or might not have done a double flip at the name. She remembered.

"Same, Annabeth,"

The corner of her lips quirked upwards, but he could tell she was trying to suppress it.

"Is that a smile I see, Annabeth?" he teased.

Annabeth punched his shoulder playfully, "You wish."

"Oh but we didn't need the dollar to meet again," Percy said in a sing-song voice. He smiled at Annabeth. "Must be fate, huh?"

"But I won't be giving you my number anytime soon,"

"But I'll escort you back home and memorize your address so I can pester you every morning," he said with a mischievous grin. "And every night," he winked. And he thought this would be awkward.

"You won't,"

"I will,"

"Jackson, I swear if you do you'll be the biggest dog food ever," Annabeth threatened, but her face lacked all signs of seriousness, which Percy was grateful for. He didn't exactly join the swim team in high school and built those muscles just to become dog food.

"Oh so we're on a last name basis now?"

"Percy, this is like, our second meeting. For all I know you could be a Mafia leader, or some crazy murderer, or – you get the point," she lowered her gaze, sighing. "Trusting someone is hard," she said in a low voice. "And it's really hard to gain my trust."

"I can try. After all, Rome wasn't built in a day…" he trailed off, replaying the words he'd said in his head. "Wow! That was nice!" he beamed, grinning like an idiot and waving his hand triumphantly, like he had just won the lottery.

Annabeth shook her head. "You're such a seaweed brain."

"Hey, I have my moments." Percy argued.

Annabeth raised an eyebrow, "Oh yeah? Like the 'Rome wasn't built in a day' thing?"

"Yep," he agreed, popping the 'p'.

"You do realize that it's overused, right?"

"It's the first time I used it…" he admitted, his ears turning pink as he did.

"Seaweed brain," Annabeth decided.

"I was in the swim team during high school," he blurted out.

Crap.

Annabeth gave him a funny look. But Percy had to admit – the grin that came with it looked hot. "Ooh, so that's why your brain is full of kelp. From now on, you'll be Seaweed Brain."

"I am so honored to be given a nickname by you," he replied with a smirk.

"That was an insult…"

Percy leaned back on the bench casually, shrugging. "More like an excuse to give me a sweet name, though,"

Okay, confession time.

While during this conversation, he was all cool and dandy (and flirtatious, if he might add), he was internally very, very terrified. Sure he had some experience with girls, but Annabeth was different. With her, everything felt so…right. Jason told him something about soul mates, his mom told him every time.

And that's when anxiety kicks in.

What if he said something wrong? What if she didn't like him back? What if she rejected him? Can he handle that? It was so terrifying to know that the person you like isn't your soul mate.

Yet all the worries faded when he heard her voice.

"Don't get your hopes up, Jackson. That was an insult, if you haven't noticed. Seaweed refers to thin and brain is, well, brain, and so it means – '' Annabeth cut off, turning to glare at Percy who started humming twinkle, twinkle, twinkle star. She slapped her forehead in frustration, "Oh what could I do with a seaweed brain like you, Percy. It's hopeless."

"You're gonna have a hard time with me, wise girl,"

"Wise girl?"

"Yeah, uh, Wise Girl…my nickname for you…" Well the nickname suited her perfectly.

"Hm, so great Percy Jackson got me a sweet name, too?" Annabeth cooed, a gesture Percy gagged to jokingly. But it couldn't hide the blush that was dominating his cheeks.

So, before she could notice, he grabbed her heels from the grass.

And that's when the countdown started.

10.

"Hey! Give me those, Seaweed Brain!" Annabeth got up on her feet, and sent Percy a sharp glare.

9.

Percy wiggled the shoes, and then started running. Annabeth sprinted after him, and Percy swore the World Champion in athletics would have hidden their faces in shame.

She chased him around the garden, giggling every time she saw him stumble a little bit.

8.

"Seaweed Brain! My feet are wet!" Annabeth whined. She folded her arms over her chest and huffed.

"Then come and get it, Wise Girl," he said before running away again from an angry Annabeth.

7.

"Wait what is that?" she asked, stopping to listen to the people counting down from inside the mansion. Percy took this opportunity to breathe. Seriously, this girl was as fast as a cheetah, if not faster.

"The countdown to New Year," he answered.

6.

Even Annabeth was panting now. She stopped chasing him, leaning on a statue of Cupid to rest. Percy needed a time out too. He could barely breathe.

5.

"Gods, aren't you tired?" Percy yelled at the blonde, who chased after him again. Guess she wasn't one to give up after all. Good girl. He smiled at the thought.

"Well Percy, you were the one who started this!" Annabeth retorted back.

Good point.

4.

"Percy, look up! There's an airplane!"

He looked up.

Frowning, he looked back at the blonde.

3.

The girl tackled him to the ground, and snatched her heels. "Gotcha, Seaweed Brain," she said with a victorious smirk. "You're too easy."

"Oh yeah?" he challenged, grinning. He grabbed her shoulder and exchanged positions with her. "I'm still stronger than you…Wise Girl."

2.

And that's when the realization dawned on both of them.

Percy was on top of Annabeth, their faces too close…and their lips. Percy tried not to look at her lips too much.

He noticed her heavy breathing, her chest moving up and down.

"Um…Percy?"

He felt her breath fan his face.

1.

Staring straight into her eyes, he said, "I win…" he leaned closer to her face and smiled. "…Wise Girl."

Annabeth chuckled, her gray eyes shining as they met with Percy's green ones. She cupped his chin and grinned, "Just this once, Seaweed Brain," she said.

0.

The fireworks went into the night sky. Percy heard the loud cheering from inside the mansion, yelling Happy New Year. Annabeth released her hands from his face and giggled – a soft sound he adored.

"So we meet again," he told her.

Annabeth dropped her heels. She smiled at him. "I believe we did, Percy."

"Well, Happy New Year, Wise Girl,"

Under the crackling lights of green, blue, red, and yellow, he did something that changed his life forever.

He kissed her.

Okay, fine, that was fast. But this is only a three-shot so please forgive me. Last chapter will be posted a week or two weeks after this one is posted, I don't know. I'm a crappy updater.

But…I hope you guys enjoyed it. And enjoy your New Years! Do you have your New Year's Resolution? I have a long list but I don't think I'll follow them, though (it's not like I ever did). But I'll try. So I wish you try too! We all want to start the year right, don't we?

All the love!