Annabeth was absolutely positive that Percy Jackson was not a real person.
It wasn't how he looked, exactly. It was more in the way that she couldn't picture him harming another person, ever. It was in the way that every person he smiled at, instantly brightened. It was in the way that he touched people so effortlessly, and in the way that he seemed to visibly shine when he did. It was basically how he looked, actually. He was a very pretty, shiny boy.
She looks over at him, and remembers the inspiration for her train of thought.
They had decided to buy some ice dream in celebration of finding his mom a present. Unsurprisingly, he had gone for the blueberry sherbert on the largest cone. Also unsurprisingly, he had refused to let Annabeth pay for her vanilla in a cup. Despite her pride, she had actually let him buy it for her. Maybe it was because she knew he still felt guilty. Or maybe it was just because he was different, and seemed wholly incapable of offending anybody.
After the awkward dance of paying for the ice cream, where the desserts and cash were exchanged through far too many hands, they had taken a seat at a table for two. It was an intimate choice for two people who just met that morning, but they did it seamlessly. She feels like she's known him for much longer than she really has.
With an awkward silence where they simultaneously pretended to be fully invested in eating, the conversation turned to school. And along with that came the realization that she would be attending Percy's high school, Goode High.
Because of course she would.
She was hopelessly entertwined and this was starting to feel more and more like a date. And she began to internally freak out about how much she didn't know about this guy, when the bell above the door chimed.
And then there was a little girl in the shop. She walked towards the display and seemingly found what she wanted. And then she waited. A few seconds later a woman came bursting in and fussed over the little girl. But she still kept her eyes on the prize. The woman's face was pained as she understood the situation her daughter had craftily put her in. Annabeth saw something in the corner of her eye. Percy had nodded at the girl behind the counter and she had nodded back. Before the mom could even open her mouth to voice the denial she dreaded giving, she was reaching into the tub that the little girl had been looking at, and handing it to her on a cone. And it all happened so fast, and Annabeth was at a complete lost. The woman was trying to tell the server that she couldn't pay for it, and Percy was suddenly up at the counter offering up money from his pockets, and Annabeth understood.
He'd done this before. This is something that he does. He knows that girl behind the counter. He has probably done this enough times to be acquainted with the entire staff. So acquainted in fact, that they can communicate with each other in a series of gestures. And she felt ridiculous for freaking out about not knowing everything about him. Because this was all she really needed to know.
And then he was smiling at the mom and there was something so beautiful and intimate there that Annabeth could not even hope to understand.
She looked away.
As he came back to the table, he was smiling shyly. She had not asked why he did it, but he answered anyway. He said that the family reminded him of his mom and him. And it's not a lie, she can tell, but it's not the whole truth. But if he doesn't want to admit his philanthropic hobbies, she wouldn't force him.
And now the ice cream is gone but she is still frozen. She is looking at him intently, but he is looking at the people around them. Mainly the little girl and her mom, who are seated close by. And he smiles at the little girl and she smiles back and the world around Annabeth is insanely bright and suffocatingly beautiful.
Annabeth starts choking.
And then he's looking at her with that goddamn concerned look on his stupidly perfect face.
And air is suddenly even farther out of her reach.
And then he's shouting to the girl behind the counter for water, because he doesn't understand.
She doesn't need water.
She needed this scary new world that she had just discovered with him, to go away.
To be completely gone, and out of her memory.
Or to never go away, and be with her forever.
Both options completely terrify her.
And she needs some fucking air, right now.
And finally her lungs start obeying her, and she decides she needs to test the rest of her body.
By getting the hell out of there.
But he's standing over her with a cup of water, pleadingly but still giving her space to breath. And she almost chokes again. He is too much. She couldn't handle the innate goodness and selflessness that was him. He was too good for this world, and especially for her. She makes a decision.
She stands up abruptly.
"I need to go", she wheezes out, not daring to elaborate.
Either because she doesn't have enough breath yet, or because she has no idea where she was going, she decides not to dwell on.
He raises his eyebrows for a second, and then he searches her face.
Then he's nodding.
He's nodding like he had been expecting this all along.
And maybe he has.
And he just keeps nodding like this happens all the time.
Like this is something that makes sense to him, when she has no idea what anything means anymore.
Like he deserves this.
Her heart is doing that painful contraction thing that had never happened before she met him.
And she can't look away from his eyes, which are turning from magnets into fortresses before her very own.
"It was nice talking to you", he says, so completely resigned to what is happening.
And all Annabeth can think is What is happening?
But his words break her, and she gives in.
Gives in to what, she doesn't know.
But she knows she made the right choice when she sits down again, and sees the utmost surprised look on his dorkily gorgeous face.
He doesn't ask for an explanation for her erratic behavior, and for that, she is eternally grateful.
And then he's sitting across from her and beaming his face off.
And her face does the same without her consent.
And the pain in her chest is so worth it.