Chapter 7

Annabeth stared at herself in the mirror. She had changed six times. From a dress to a long, grey skirt to Jeans to black dress pants to a short skirt and finally to a black skirt that fell just below her knees. Nothing she put on said 'friend,' but as she slipped the black skirt over her hips, she wasn't sure if she wanted to just be friends.

Annabeth began to pull the bobby pins out of her hair that she had so meticulously placed there only a half hour before. Her hair fell down around her face. She quickly brushed through it, letting it fall freely. She had debated on whether to wear her hair up or down the entire afternoon. Finally, looking at the way her hair framed her face, she knew down was the right choice.

The next thing to tackle was her makeup, one of Annabeth's least favorite things. She wished Thalia was there to help her, but she was off on business, taking photographs of some foreign country for a travel magazine. Annabeth reached for her cover up and realized just how much of it she had used in the last week. As a general rule, Annabeth hated makeup. She hated applying it and she hated feeling like she had to wear it to make herself look better. But she wanted to look good for him. Although she never wore makeup on a regular basis, Annabeth had put it on every day for school, just in case she ran into Percy. Unfortunately, with the new history curriculum that the school was trying to create, she barely saw him over the last week. She hadn't decided if that was a good or bad thing.

"Well," Annabeth said after applying some cover-up and mascara. "This will just have to do."

She stood up, grabbed her purse and coat, and took a deep breath. She walked out of the door, hoping that she was making the right decision.

*****

Percy paced back in forth in his room. Every time he would pass the mirror over his bureau, he would stop and look at himself. He knew that since he and Annabeth were 'just friends,' he shouldn't care what he looked like, but he did. Because he knew that she would never just be his friend. She hadn't just been his friend since they were children.

As he continued to pace, he wondered if he was dressed too formally. Black dress pants with a button up striped shirt and suit coat over it seemed a little formal, but he didn't know what else to wear. It didn't exactly seem like a Jeans and T-Shirt kind of night. Percy looked over at the pile of ties on the bed. He had decided to go without one, but suddenly he was second guessing himself. He wished Grover was there to at least give him some advice.

He looked over at the roses on the bed and smiled. He sat down on the bed and brought the roses up to his nose. They smelled amazing. Almost as good as…

The doorbell rang. With the flowers in hand, Percy slowly walked out of his bedroom, down the hallway, and into the living room. He paused at the front door. He knew there was no going back after he opened the door. And he didn't want to go back.

Percy opened the door and smiled.

"Hi," he said.

"Hi."

"Come on in."

He stepped aside as she walked in. As she brushed past him, he smelled a perfume he couldn't quite pinpoint. Regardless of what it was, it smelled incredible. He wanted to tell her how beautiful she looked, but that seemed inappropriate.

She shook the snow that had begun to fall off her coat.

"It already started snowing?" Percy asked. "I thought the news said it wouldn't start until later."

"Yeah well, a weather man is the only job you can be wrong one hundred percent of the time and still have a job." Percy laughed. "You have a nice place," she commented.

"Thank you. These are for you." He handed her the roses.

"They're beautiful. But you shouldn't have."

"Think of them as roses between friends."

He had gone back and forth about whether or not he should buy her flowers. If they were going on a real date, he wouldn't have had a second thought about it. But he kept having to remind himself, this wasn't a real date. He spent most of the week thinking of reasons why she wouldn't want to go on a date with him. His thoughts ranged from her not liking him in that way to her seeing someone else even though she had never mentioned anyone else. The last thought made his blood boil so he tried not to think about it.

"Thank you," she said.

"So, are you ready?" He asked.

"Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise. Come on." He stuck out his arm and she looped her hand through it. They walked out together and towards the car.

The restaurant Percy had chosen wasn't too far. It was a small, Italian place he had stumbled upon one of the many evenings he hadn't felt like cooking. It had since become his favorite restaurant. It was the perfect blend of fine Italian food, friendly staff, a romantic ambiance, and privacy. They drove the twenty minutes in silence, Percy glancing over in her direction more than once. He couldn't take his eyes off of her.

Percy pulled the car up in front of the restaurant. A valet quickly went around to the side of the car and opened Annabeth's door. She left the flowers on the front seat as the valet helped her out. Percy handed the keys over to the valet and led her inside.

After Percy gave his name to the hostess, they were lead to their table. Percy helped Annabeth out of her jacket, he handed it to the hostess, and then took off his own coat. The hostess took off with both of them. When Percy turned back around, he couldn't help but stare at her. Her outfit certainly was not a 'friends' outfit. Her black skirt showed off the right amount of leg to drive Percy crazy. And, even though it was high-necked, the sweater she was wearing hugged her in all the right places. Her hair that he had first come to love so many years ago begged to be touched. She looked stunning. He tried to remember if she had always been this beautiful, even when they were children and he realized that she had been. He had always just been too much of a coward to realize it.

"Is everything alright?" Annabeth wondered, hoping that he liked what she was wearing. She wondered if she should have gone with the pants. Pants were definitely less date-like.

"You look…beautiful," he said.

Annabeth felt herself blush, but Percy wasn't going to take it back. She did look beautiful. He pulled out her chair and waited for her to sit before taking a seat across from her. She looked around, taking in the atmosphere. The table was lit by a single candle and a string quartet played in front of a dance floor in the corner. Even though it was Valentine's Day and the place was crowded, it felt like they were completely alone. This was definitely the perfect place for a date. But Annabeth had to keep reminding herself that it wasn't a date. And that she was the one who wanted it that way.

"This is a nice place," Annabeth commented, trying to ignore his last comment. She knew that from the outside he thought she looked beautiful, but that was only because he hadn't seen what was underneath it all. "Do you come here often?"

"Often enough that the chef knows me by name."

"Do you bring all your dates here?"

She didn't know why she asked the question. Suddenly she could picture him sitting there with a dozen other women, each of them more beautiful than the last. And why shouldn't he? He was free to do whatever he wanted.

"First of all, as you said yourself, this isn't a date. And second of all, I don't really date much."

The waiter introduced himself and brought over their menus.

"And why is that? With your looks and charm, I'm surprised you don't have women crawling all over you."

"You think I'm charming and I have good looks?" He teased.

"I never said that."

"Yes you did."

"No, I didn't."

"Yes you did."

"Okay, can we stop? We're not twelve anymore."

He cracked a smile and she laughed. It felt good to act twelve again.

"I don't go on dates," he began in all seriousness. "Because I haven't found anyone worth taking on one."

She sighed. "I don't date either."

"Because…?"

"That is a story for another night."

Percy was going to press the matter, but the waiter came to take their order. As they waited for their food and then began to eat, their conversation continued as it usually did when they were together. They would talk about school and their students. Annabeth would tell him about some of the architect projects she worked on before moving to New York. Percy even made her promise to take her to one of the buildings one day. It was amazing how much they could talk about almost nothing for hours without realizing how much time had passed by.

"That was delicious," Annabeth complimented as the waiter took her near empty plate away. "I can't believe how much I ate. If this were a date, I would be embarrassed."

"Well, good thing this isn't a date then."

"Good thing."

Percy looked over at the string quartet. He watched several couples floating on the dance floor, completely consumed with each other.

"So, as my non date, would you like to dance?" He asked.

She contemplated his proposal for a moment. There was nothing wrong with dancing as friends, was there?

"As your non date, I'd love to."

He stood up and reached out his hand. She closed her fingers around his and he helped her to her feet. They walked hand in hand towards the dance floor. Nervously, Percy put his left hand lightly on her waist as she put her arm around his shoulder. They took a step towards each other and began to move to the music.

"Did I tell you how beautiful you look tonight?" He asked.

"Is that you telling me as my non date?"

"No. That's me telling you as a man looking at the most beautiful woman he's ever seen."

She felt a lump rise in her throat. That was definitely crossing the non-date line she had tried to create. But, at that moment, in his arms, she didn't care.

She leaned her head against his chest, nuzzling against his neck. He pulled her closer. She felt safe in his arms, reveling in how close they were. She hadn't been that close to him in ten years and she missed it. Every fear she had about him disappeared for just a moment and she had never been happier.

Author's Note: Well, I don't have much to say about this one except that I really appreciate each and every review I've received. Thank you and Happy New Year!