Once the clock struck seven, Piper clapped her hands just once and a respectful hush washed over even the farthest couples. She grinned. "Hello, everyone. My name is Piper McLean and I'm your instructor. If you would please follow me."

Percy shuffled quietly along with everyone else, glancing around for his partner. If there was anything more awkward than doing a blind date version of couple's yoga, it was doing it alone and abandoned.

As he reached the entrance of the hallway he spotted her walking towards them. Her blonde hair had been neatly tied up into a bun at the nape of her neck, and she'd switched the Burberry and Prada for a t-shirt and too-long yoga pants that probably belonged to Piper. Her grey eyes narrowed at him as she neared.

Percy tried his hand at a nervous smile again. She scowled and pushed past him into the room. Well then.

What's her problem?

He mimicked her scowl and followed her in. Percy found himself in the room next to his normal one. It was larger, and instead of in rows, the mats were in pairs, spread evenly throughout the room.

Most of them were already taken. He scanned the room until he found one on the far side of the room, already half-occupied by Blonde Chick.

While most of the other couples had already began stretching or were sitting cross-legged facing each other, Annabeth was awkwardly standing next to her mat, looking at it like she expected it to start talking to her or spit out instructions like it was Aladdin's magic carpet or something. Jesus. She chose this opportune time to glance up and caught him staring. She scowled slightly and turned her gaze back to her mat. Blushing, he picked his way over to her, tossing his bag over to the adjacent wall.

He took a seat on his mat, stretching out quietly. Realizing that Annabeth wasn't taking his lead he glanced up, amused, at the surly blonde.

"You coming?" he patted the mat next to him. He thought about adding in a comment about not biting, but honestly, with the way this session was going, no promises were being made.

She pursed her lips, flushing. "Hmph."

She did sit down though, which Percy took as a little victory. There may or may not have been some smirking.

(Spoiler alert: there was totally smirking.)

Fortunately, the silence didn't have much time to be awkward, as Piper swept towards the front of the room, a built-blond-beach-rat-looking type at her heels. "Now that we're all settled," Percy glanced over at the rest of his peers. There were about six other couples, all in varying forms of 'settled', half looking relaxed and somber, and the other half looking rather awkward and tense.

One could guess which one he and Annabeth were.

He could've sworn Piper glanced sympathetically over at him for a second before continuing. "This is my partner Jason," she said as Jason glanced up from where he was kneeling over his bag and grinned at the class. It was like being bitch slapped by the sun. Or Jesus or something. "We'll begin every day with a question. Please turn and face your partner," There were sounds of shuffling around the room. Percy peeked out of the corner of his eye at Annabeth just in time to catch her doing the same thing. She hmph-ed again and reluctantly turned her body to face him, and he mirrored the movement. They both appeared to be doing what they could to avert their eyes anywhere but on each other. "The questions are meant to help you better get to know your partner, to develop a deeper understanding."

Percy wanted a deeper understanding of how he got roped into this.

"The question today may be simple or complex: where do you come from?"

Piper turned her back to the class and took her seat across from Jason. Across the room was a buzz of conversation.

Percy turned back to Annabeth, who appeared to be looking over his shoulder. "So." She snapped her eyes back to his, and for a moment he was taken aback by the intensity of her gaze. "Do you want to start or shall I?"

She shrugged. "I guess I will." She cleared her throat. "I was born in San Francisco. Your turn."

He smiled. "New York City. I moved here two months ago."

Her eyebrows raised, but didn't comment. The pair spent the remaining five minutes in burning silence. Twice Percy contemplated trying to elaborate, but honestly, Annabeth was probably about as eager to hear his life story as she was to clean out the men's toilet in Taco Bell. Which was to say, probably not a lot. At all, really.

Finally Piper turned to address the class again. She did this from the floor, probably seeing no reason to stand when everyone else was in similar positions.

They moved on to some basic stretches from there. Annabeth, despite all of her surly reluctance to couple's yoga, was surprising limber, as if she were a frequent practitioner of the yoga … arts… or whatever.

They began with side-by-side sun salutations, which involved some awkward omg-your-elbow-is-in-my-elbow-space and omg-what-do-i-do-with-my-elbow moments which ended in Percy having to shuffle forward because god forbid the royal highness do the moving.

There was a lot of synchronized breathing and moving that wasn't really synchronized because it seemed like someone kept changing her pace on purpose (not that he was pointing fingers or anything), until Piper's voice, which had taken on a melodic tone, instructed them to get into a foreward bend facing each other. Percy slid back onto his mat, stretching his legs in front of him and towards Annabeth. She mirrored the step half a second behind him. Her gaze was watchful, methodical, and analytical as they pressed their feet together. When Percy leaned forward to grab his ankles, Piper chimed in with more instructions, this time to take hold of their partner's hands. Percy hesitated before reaching forward to clasp his hands with Annabeth.

Her grasp was firm, her skin soft but her palm calloused. He glanced up for a moment. Annabeth was resting her head on her arms, soft blond strands curling around her temples. With her eyes closed she looked almost peaceful, and she was, well, beautiful. Percy focused on his breathing.

From there they went to other poses and positions before returning to sun salutations where there was more not-so-synchronized-but-kinda moving and breathing and occasional elbow touching.

As always, at the end of the session, there was a five-minute meditating session where Piper, in her smooth and eerily distant voice, encouraged them as they lay to listen to each others' breathing. So Percy did, bringing his ADHD mind to a halt, and listened to Annabeth's breathing. He timed it with hers, in for one, out for two.

When Piper drew the session to a close and the class murmured "Namaste," in unison, Percy was not quite sure what to do. He rolled up his mat slowly, buying time to figure out what to do. Did he say goodbye? Did he just leave?

"So," he began, glancing up. Annabeth, who had already turned to leave, glanced back, looking equal parts confused and intimidating. Percy's throat chose this moment to get dry. He mentally cursed his spit glands. This was not the time to get all Sahara Desert. Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "Er, nothing?" he finished off lamely.

For a second she just stood there, eyebrows creased. Just when Percy thought she was going to turn around and leave again she opened her mouth. She snapped it back shut, as if thinking better of it. She walked away a couple steps before turning back.

"Your shirt's inside out."

"What-? Oh. Great."

He glanced down. It was indeed. Fan-freaking-tastic.

He sighed before hauling himself up and heading towards the bathroom to change. He stepped out a couple minutes later in jeans and a (right-side-out) t-shirt for a band he stopped listening to in middle school.

"See you, Piper." He called as he headed out, carefully planning out her painful, painful death. Worst. Yoga. Session. Ever.

"Wait – Percy!" Percy did indeed wait, his hand already pressing against the door. He took a step back, turning back to face his (probably ex) friend.

"What's up?"

He glanced over her shoulder. Jason was standing by the desk still. Something about him reminded him of the army guys that would visit his old high school in talks about recruiting. Back straight, feet shoulder width apart, and sinewy arms crossed over his chest.

He shifted slightly, and Percy saw a glimpse of curly blond hair.

"Do you have dinner plans?" Percy glanced down at the clock on the wall. It was around the time that he would crack open a new Campbell's soup can and settle down in front of the TV for some Game of Thrones or something.

Did those count as plans?

He imagined shaking a magic eight ball. Khaleesi says no, loser.

"Um, no, I guess not. Why?"

"We're about to go out and grab a bite to eat. Since you're kind of new around here I thought I'd show you one of our favorite places. You in?"

Percy hesitated. Game of Thrones and Chicken Noodle Soup for the third time this week, or risk having to spend some more quality time with the blonde ice queen over there?

Well, what was a life without risks?

A/N: Hey guys! Yay for updating relatively on time! Hope you're all doing fantastically. I've been watching lots of TV, sleeping late, and basically just soaking up the last remains of summer before my sophomore year kicks in. Thanks as always to my beta, Maddie, aka bookish-type-7, for being amazing. She also writes Percabeth and has the cutest superheroes au out right now that she'll definitely update if you guys help me get her review count up to what it deserves! Also, don't forget to check out my tumblr, combustspontaneously, for updates and the whatnot. 33

Speaking of reviews... please? :D it would make it very happy if you did.

Anyway, Love,

Anna x.