Summary: Percy doesn't believe that birthday wishes come true. Annabeth may or may not prove him wrong without meaning to. AU.

"""

The next day, I got up at 9 o'clock. In the morning. On a normal day, you would be able to find me in bed until at least noon.

But today was not a normal day.

Granted, it probably would be a typical day for me if I hadn't talked to Annabeth the day before. However, I had, and I wanted to do it again.

So I woke up early, got dressed, announced that I was going out to the beach, and was out the door in an impressive amount of time.

The moment I stepped foot onto the sand, I looked around for anyone who looked even remotely like Annabeth.

I didn't have to look long; there were only a few people out at the moment, and one of them was her. She was sitting under the same tree as the other day, but this time, she was without a book. I did a mental fist-pump. It would be easier to talk to her if she wasn't reading.

Smiling, I walked up to the tree and slid down next to her.

"Hey, Annabeth."

She acknowledged me with a nod and a short "hello".

I frowned and decided that the conversation wasn't going to go anywhere unless I moved it along. "So," I began, dragging out the 'o'. "What's up?" I silently cursed myself, because that couldn't possibly be the only thing I thought to say. And then I cursed myself again, because I shouldn't have cared that that was all I'd said.

Annabeth shrugged, but didn't say anything. Then, she got up and dusted herself off.

I was confused. Had I said or done something wrong?

"Where are you going?" I asked—for the second time in two days.

She stretched (and I might have stared, but who would know that?)

"Thirsty," she said simply, and then she started to walk away.

I just sat there, under a barely stable tree at the edge of Montauk Beach for a few seconds, shocked and... just because I might have looked a little lovestruck didn't mean that I was.

That's when Annabeth turned around, and raised a blonde eyebrow—for the second time in two days.

"Well, are you coming or not?"

And who cared if I jumped up a little too eagerly, or if she laughed at me for that? I certainly didn't.

"""

We walked until we faced a café that me and my mom always used to go to. Annabeth walked in, and I followed because I missed the place (I would have followed her in even if I hated it, but nobody needed to know that).

Not many people were in the café, as it was the summertime and most that lived in the area were out on the beach.

Annabeth walked up to the counter, me trailing along behind her. She looked up at the food and beverage options for a moment before making up her mind.

"I'd like a medium latte macchiato, please," she told the guy manning the register.

He looked up from punching down numbers. "That'll be two-eighty-five."

She reached into her pocket, presumably for the money that she would pay for her drink with. Her eyes widened.

"Shit," she cursed. "I must've left my wallet at home." She looked back at the guy behind the counter. "Could you hold that order please?" Then she turned to me. "I'll just run home and be back in a few minutes. You can stay here and wait for me or uh, go home, if you'd like." I wasn't sure, but I thought that she almost looked disappointed when she spoke that last part.

"Annabeth, it's okay," I said to her, pulling out my own wallet. "I've got it." I paid for her drink, then handed it to her.

She took it, but knitted her eyebrows (and I would be lying if I said that I didn't think it was extremely adorable). "But I can't. You paid for it."

I laughed. "It's okay, seriously. It was only a couple of dollars."

She shook her head. "Still, Percy. Here," she said, trying to give it back to me.

"No, Annabeth," I replied just as firmly. "It's your drink. Plus, I don't even like coffee."

"Okay, but..." she sighed, still looking doubtful. "Fine, but I'm paying you back."

I smiled, leading the way to one of the tables and pulling out a chair. "No need; consider it an early birthday present. Or a late birthday present. Speaking of, when is your birthday?"

Annabeth sat down, too. "July twelfth," she answered.

"And you already know when mine is," I said. "So, what's your family like?"

Suddenly, she looked really sad. "Uhm—"

"No, it's alright; you don't have to answer that if you don't want to," I assured her.

She smiled. "Thank you, Percy," she said, looking me in the eyes.

I fidgeted in my seat, because was it just me, or did Annabeth get ten times more beautiful right then?

"N-no problem," I stuttered out.

She finally took her eyes off of me to move them to something behind my head, and I slumped in relief because I probably would have burned up if she looked at me one second longer.

She stood up, looking apologetic. "I have to go. My parents want me home by lunch."

I also got up. "It's okay. I should probably be heading back, too."

"Okay," Annabeth said, but she didn't make any move to leave.

"Uh, alright," I responded. "Let's go, then."

She nodded, and made her way to the door, me following behind her.

And I may have walked behind her so that I could stare without her noticing. So what? It's not like anybody would know.

"""

I followed Annabeth through the beach, to a beach house that was similar to mine, but was a little larger. We stopped.

"So," I said.

"So," she repeated.

"Is this where we say 'goodbye' for today?"

"Yea," she tucked her blonde curls behind her ear. She almost looked...nervous. "Thanks, Percy," she continued. "For everything." Then, she leaned up and kissed my cheek, and retreated into her house.

I, on the other hand, just stood there with a smile on my face. I probably looked ridiculous, but I really couldn't care less.

After a few minutes, I started walking back home.

And, yea, I was aware of the huge smile on my face the whole way back.

"""

It was 12:30 when Percy got home. His mother, Sally Jackson, smiled at him. He smiled back, and his smile got even bigger when he smelled her wonderful chocolate chip cookies in the oven.

"Hey, mom," he greeted.

"Percy," Sally replied.

"It's not Monday," he said, confused. "Or the evening."

"I know," she smiled, but didn't elaborate.

Percy grinned and kissed his mother's cheek. "Thanks, mom. I'm gonna go to my room now. Call me if you need any help." With that, he fled to his room, and shut the door.

He touched his cheek where Annabeth's lips had been just a few minutes before. A smile graced his own lips, and he felt the most happiness he'd ever felt in a while.

He had his mom, her chocolate chip cookies, and Annabeth...well, at least she'd talked to him, and kissed him (even though it was on the cheek, Percy still felt like he was on cloud nine), and that was definitely a start.

"""

And so what if he liked Annabeth, or decided that, just this once, he would let a wish guide him? It was certainly no one's place to judge him on that.

"""

END

"""

A/N: Sorry for not updating this in...how long? 11 days? Yea... But I wrote a one-shot while trying to finish this! It's called Even Though, so you guys can check that out, if you want. :D