Disclaimer: I do not own PJO

4. Double Trouble

Percy walked into his apartment a little after mid night. He had dropped Annabeth off at her house right at her curfew. He smiled. This date had gone surprisingly well. Sally was already in bed, so Percy just sat on the couch, careful not to wake her.

All night he couldn't stop thinking about Annabeth. Was this a good sign? He thought so. He loved the sarcastic comments she would make under her breath. He loved her natural curls, and how she didn't work too hard on her appearance. But the thing Percy loved the most about Annabeth was that she liked him back.

The next morning Percy met Grover for coffee. As Percy walked through the doors of the shop, he spotted Grover right away. "Hey man. How was the date?" Grover asked, giving him a man hug.

"It went surprisingly well." Percy shrugged. Grover raised an eye brow.

"She actually showed up?" he asked. Percy shot him a glare. "Joking!" Grover claimed, holding his hands up in surrender.

"So how's Juniper?" Percy asked. Juniper was Grover's girlfriend. Like Grover, she was an Earth enthusiast. In fact, they met at some "save the polar bears" convention.

"She's great. In fact, she should meet Annabeth. We should double date." Grover stated. Percy was a little reluctant. Was it too soon to double date? He hadn't known Annabeth very long, and he didn't want to ruin anything.

"I'll ask Annabeth about it."

a.a.a

Annabeth rolled over in her bed. She groaned as she sat up, just waking up from a dreamless sleep. What time was it anyways? She checked the clock by her bed. Crap! It was already almost 11.

Annabeth dashed down the stairs to find her father drinking coffee and reading the newspaper next to her step mom. Her brothers were playing video games in the living room.

"Well, it looks like Sleeping Beauty finally woke up." Dr. Chase regarded Annabeth. "Sorry," she replied. "I slept in a little."

"How was it with Percy last night?" Her dad asked.

"It was really nice." Annabeth said simply.

She grabbed a bagel and headed up to her room. Annabeth did her normal morning routine to get ready. As she was pulling on a navy blue tank, she heard her cell ring.

"Hello?"

"Hey Annabeth, it's Percy."

Annabeth smiled, hearing his voice. "What's up?" She asked.

"Wanna meet for lunch? My friend just opened up a new restaurant."

"Sounds great."

a.a.a

And so it went like that. Percy and Annabeth would meet somewhere, have a good time, and then wait for their next date. Annabeth was Percy's drug. It was like he couldn't get enough of her.

To Percy, Annabeth wasn't just your average girl. She was smart. She was tough. Yet, she opened up to you if you had her trust. Percy sure hoped Annabeth trusted him. He thought so, since she told him about her mom. And Percy decided he trusted her too.

They got each other. They depended on each other. With each date it seemed they liked each other more and more.

A week had gone by since they first met. Percy and Annabeth decided to take a walk in Central Park. It was a nice day and there wasn't too much smog blocking the sunshine.

"So Annabeth, what do you think about double dates?" Percy asked her.

"I don't know. I've never been on one. Well unless you count this one time Luke made me pretend to be his girlfriend to make this other girl jealous." Annabeth replied.

Percy furrowed his eye brows. That made him mad. Leave it to Luke to take Annabeth for granted.

"Well my friend Grover and his girlfriend Juniper want to double date sometime." Percy told her.

Annabeth contemplated the information. She wrinkled her forehead, deep in thought. Percy laughed.

"What?" Annabeth asked.

"Nothing. I just think it's cute how you have to think everything through so deeply."

Annabeth smiled. "I'm a thinker. It's like I'm a brain child or something. Sure, I'll go on double date."

"Awesome," Percy said as he wrapped his arm around her slim waist. "But I have to warn you, Grover's kind of a dork."

Annabeth laughed. "It's ok. I'm a dork too."

"Yeah, but you're a hot dork. There's a difference."

a.a.a

"Percy! What should I wear?" Annabeth called from her room. It was the night of their double date. Percy was over at Annabeth's house while her parents were out seeing a movie. They were just waiting for the nanny to come watch her younger brothers.

"Just wear something nice. What ever you wear, you'll look nice. So it doesn't really matter." Percy replied from the hallway.

"That doesn't really help, you know."

A few minutes later, Annabeth walked out wearing a simple white dress made of light fabric that was short in the front and got longer in the back. Her hair was made up into a slightly messy bun. On her feet she wore her beat up black Converse. And of course, she had her owl necklace displayed above her chest.

Percy broke out into a huge grin. "You look beautiful, Annabeth."

a.a.a

They spotted Grover and Juniper at a booth at the end of the restaurant. Grover picked the restaurant, so they were eating at some really fancy expensive all natural foods place. Everything on the menu was vegetarian and organic. To Grover, it was heaven. To Percy, it was like eating vegetables for dessert.

"Hey Grover. This is Annabeth." Percy introduced, as Annabeth and Grover shook hands.

"It's nice to meet you, Annabeth. This is my girlfriend Juniper." Grover said, motioning to the girl next to him.

Juniper had light brown hair and green eyes. She had a splash of freckles across her nose and was wearing no make up. "It's nice to finally meet you, Annabeth." Juniper greeted.

The night was going well. Percy actually choked down the food while Grover and Juniper ate it like it was their last meal. "Did you guys hear about what's happening with the army right now?" Grover asked everyone at the table. Simultaneous "No's" and "What happened?" came from everyone.

"A bunch of tanks got bombed over seas. We lost a lot of soldiers. I heard the army is recruiting a lot of guys to join. More than usual." Grover stated.

"Oh that's a shame." Juniper said, frowning. "We should start a campaign to raise money!"

After dinner, they all walked around the city for a while. But then Grover and Juniper said they had a charity walk to do the next day, so they left.

Annabeth buried her head into Percy's chest as they walked. He smelled faintly like the ocean. She let out a yawn.

Percy chuckled. "You getting tired?"

Annabeth nodded.

"Come on then. Let's get you home."

They walked over to Percy's car. As they headed over, they noticed a couple in front of a house having some sort of argument.

"Oh please don't leave, Tom!" The woman cried.

"The army needs me right now, Victoria," The man said.

Percy tightened his grip around Annabeth as they walked past the sad couple. So what Grover was talking about was true. Percy decided he didn't need to worry about that right now, though. Right now he had to take his beautiful girlfriend home.

When they got to Annabeth's house, they stopped outside her door. "I had a great time tonight," Annabeth said. "Even though Grover made us eat foods I didn't even know were edible."

Percy let out a laugh and kissed her. It wasn't a super passionate kiss, but it was enough to show that they both cared. Percy pulled away, smiling at her.

"Goodnight, Annabeth."

"Goodnight, Percy."