so sorry the last few chapters have been short. I just really wanted to get this chapter up

After he left her apartment, freshly showered, Annabeth didn't see Percy for the rest of the day. She heard him drill in the apartment at one point though and so she knew he had electricity again.

She tried to be busy all day, because if she was honest to herself, she didn't want to dwell too much on what had happened the night before.

A one-night stand! Really, she had never thought herself capable of doing something like that! She actually had never really cared that much about sex anyway. With, in hindsight now seemed not so surprising when this one night-stand had been by far the best sex she'd ever had. That was actually a good thing. She hadn't been exactly heartbroken when she split with her long-term boyfriend Luke Castellan last spring, but it always nagged at her that she found him cheating on her with his secretary. It wasn't good for your self-confidence when your boyfriend told you he just had to have a "good Fuck" from time to time because "you suck at it".

She had tried to shrug that off, but she knew that comment had stung.

"Not me, Luke . You were the one who sucked. Because I know now how really good it can feel if a man knows how to do it!", she thought with a slight smile.

Percy Jackson. She thought about him downstairs in his apartment. What does he think of her? He had said she was "lovely" and "gorgeous" and "incredibly sexy". Wow. Even if he was just using lines, it still was kind of nice to hear something like that, especially if it came from a man who was so terribly hot himself. Oh dear, she was pathetic. She didn't need a one-night stand to gain self-confidence. She had enough to be proud of. She was intelligent, independent and successful, and before yesterday she'd thought that was enough.

She sighed and decided to go for a walk in the snow instead of sitting in her flat all day and thinking about her very uncharacteristic behaviour from the night before. She could just go into town even though the shops would be closed, but she needed some fresh air to clear her head. Maybe she would grab a coffee somewhere, too. Then she would come home, eat something in front of the TV, watch some corny Christmas special and then go to bed early and ... alone.

The walk did her good. She came home after two hours, her cheeks rosy and in good spirits. But then she almost bumped into Percy when she opened the door to the house and suddenly she was all awkward again.

"Oh," she stammered and to her horror blushed deeply when she recognized who was standing before her. "Sorry."

He seemed blissfully unaware of her embarrassment and just smiled as if he was happy to see her.

"Hi, Annabeth," he said. "How are you?"

She mumbled something about being fine and then asked if he had electricity now, even though she knew he had, but she just wanted to say something.

"Yes! I'm fine now. I actually did get a lot done today, so I'm already feeling at home now. I was just taking out the garbage, but would you... would you like to see the apartment? I can even offer you a coffee now."

Her first instinct was to say no and run, but he was so eager and nice and yes, devastatingly handsome, she couldn't resist. So she nodded and heard herself saying, "Sure, yes, I'd like that."

She wasn't sure if it was a good idea though,