"You can't do that," Percy said indignantly.

Annabeth frowned, looking down at her cards. "Why not?"

"It's against the rules!"

Annabeth threw up her hands in exasperation. "I've never heard this rule!"

The pair were sitting in the slightly sticky corner of the diner, cards out in front of them, playing a game Annabeth had never heard of before. Now, as they sat three hands in, she wondered if it was a game at all, or if Percy was making it up as he went along. It seemed every other second there were more rules being added, and quite frankly, it was something Percy would do.

"I didn't mention it? I thought I did. I'm quite sure I distinctly remember telling you before we started." Percy frowned.

"Yeah, well you're obviously out of it, because you never told me. Who made up this game anyway?"

He groaned. "My friend Rachel and I like, forever ago." He answered offhandedly. "And just take back your card! You can't play double sixes after someone puts down a wild card."

"Sixes? Those are nines!"

Percy peered towards the middle of the table at the pile of cards, squinting his green eyes at the two cards on top. "Oops," He said weakly after realizing they were indeed nines. Annabeth rolled her eyes, but not unkindly. "Hey, don't blame the dyslexic." He retorted, returning to his cards before taking out a king and sliding it between the two. Like she said, this game was severely complicated. She raised her eyebrows at this revelation.

"You're dyslexic?" She asked, more out of surprise than clarification.

"Yeah," He replied nonchalantly. The slightest flush overcame him, the tips of his ears pink beneath his dark hair – crazy as ever – and a tinge of color settling over his cheeks. He avoided her eyes, clearing his throat and prompting her to take her turn.

She surveyed her cards before selecting a seven and eight, putting the former at the top of the pile and the latter beneath it. She thought quietly to herself. "I am too," She said after a moment, studiously rearranging her cards.

His head lifted at her admission, eyes searching her face. For a moment she let him.

"I thought for a long time -" She began, not quite sure how to communicate to him the things she wanted to say.

"I know."

She raised her eyes to meet his. Grey met green. Startling met piercing. Rational met reckless, and in those few silent seconds, Annabeth said things she could never quite formulate into words.

Not for the first time the waitress and her throat clearing separated the pair. Annabeth jumped slightly, posture rigid, eyes averted, and face heavily guarded.

Not for the first time Percy looked like he wanted to kill the waitress.

"Do you need a cough drop?" Annabeth had never heard sharper words come out of the sweet, charismatic boy sitting across from her. He was far from sweet at the moment, jaw locked as he leveled a glare at the poor woman that chilled even Annabeth. Almost without thinking she placed a placating hand on the clenched fist laying on the formica table top, glad for the way Percy relaxed beneath her touch.

"I'm sorry. Did you need anything?" Annabeth asked in a far sweeter tone, withdrawing her hand – to Percy's immediate disappointment.

"Do you, um, do you w-want -" The waitress stammered. Annabeth felt immediately horrible. When Percy called her this morning and asked her to meet him at the diner for lunch, she was sure they'd be turned away at the door. In fact, she was already googling nearby eateries on the way there. Fortunately, such a measure was hardly needed, as she walked into the far warmer diner – the weather was finally starting to cool down – and saw Percy already lounging in their usual booth. The waitress was wary, obviously, after the events the last time they had been there, but kind enough – or maybe just a really big fan, she thought. The way she cowered now, turned almost entirely into herself, like a child that had just been chastised, invoked a sudden warmth inside Annabeth towards the waitress.

"Yes, dear?" Now this waitress had to be a decade Annabeth's senior, but at the moment Annabeth felt more like a kindergarten teacher trying to determine who hid the crayons.

The waitress worked out a sentence, however so quietly, she had to repeat it several times before Annabeth could catch the general drift.

"Oh," She turned towards Percy who looked sheepish now. "Do you want a drink?"

"Nothing, thank you," He sent an apologetic smile towards the waitress, but this just made her even worse.

"Same," She said just to give the waitress an excuse to get out while she could.

She turned back to Percy, an admonishing frown already on her face as the waitress shuffled away.

"I shouldn't have done that, I know." Percy said before she could even get the words out. Annabeth snapped her mouth shut again.

"I wasn't going to say that." She said automatically. He rolled his eyes.

"Yes, you were." Yes, she was.

"When did you get to know me so well?" She teased, but she already knew. For the past two weeks since her premier they spent a lot of time together, mainly just talking about the movie and practicing lines.

Percy merely grinned, glancing down at his phone which suddenly buzzed to life. "Hey, we gotta get going." He said, gesturing to his phone. Annabeth nodded, sliding out of the booth, and pretending that her hands weren't shaking in her pockets.

They were heading on their way to the studios for a meeting with Chiron and some of the producers. Annabeth was nervous and trying very hard not to be. She wondered idly outloud if Mr. D would be making an appearance.

"Only if he can manage to get his fat ass off the couch, I imagine." Percy replied, wrinkling his nose.

She laughed, surprised. "You don't like him, I gather?"

"He… gets on my nerves." He supplied, scowling. She understood immediately. There was just something about his derisive, flippant manner that made Annabeth want to punch him in his pig-like face. She could only imagine the things Percy wanted to do to him.

"I'm kind of surprised you got the part considering he's the casting director," Annabeth said. "You two don't really seem… the compatible type."

Percy laughed. "Compatible. Yeah, that pretty much summarises what Mr. D and I will never be. And I think it was the fact that I was so… uncompliant that got me the part." Jack, the character Percy got for the part was basically just as sassy as Percy, except blond. Which got her thinking.

"Are you going to dye your hair?" She asked suddenly. Percy shuddered, running his hand through his hair unconsciously.

"Haven't given it much thought," He responded. "Me as a blond, though…" He looked physically pained. Percy glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Are you?" Cassie Frey, her part, was distinctly redheaded while she was significantly not.

"I think the fanbase would hate me if I didn't," She laughed, fingering a lock of curly blonde hair.

"No one could hate you, Annabeth." The assurance and steadiness in his voice when he said this made something in her chest squeeze uncomfortably.

"Well, you obviously underestimate the power of fandom," She teased dismissively. The cab they got rolled up to the gate leading to the lot. Annabeth dug into her bag for her wallet but by the time she finally found it, Percy was out of the car and opening her car door. She looked from him in surprise to the taxi driver who was tucking a twenty into his breast pocket. "You didn't have to do that," She said.

"You can pay me back later," He shrugged, helping her out of the car.

She suspected this wouldn't be the case.

Xx

The meeting went fairly well. Mr. D did not make an appearance, but many more people than usual showed up. There were a handful of producers that wanted to stick around to see what their millions of dollars were doing, Chiron of course, and a couple of gorgeous people Chiron told to wait outside. She wondered who they were. Thalia and some guy Percy introduced as Grover were already waiting there. Thalia appeared to know him too, but… well, something was going on there.

Annabeth hardly had the time to linger on her musings as Chiron jumped right into it.

Thalia and Grover both disappeared to deal with contracts and scheduling moments after the meeting began. The only thing the two actors would have to worry about, he said, was getting ready for filming. "Your agents will debrief you about the specifics once you leave," He said. "I just needed to talk to you both about a favor, so to speak." Annabeth nodded along. Percy fiddled with something in his pocket.

"It's mainly about the premier two weeks ago." This got both their attention.

"I didn't think it was going to be a problem," Annabeth said quickly.

"It wasn't," Chiron clarified. "Quite the opposite, actually. Have you two been keeping up with the media?" The both shook their heads no. The first rule of fame? Don't google yourself. Her publicist dealt with all that, only informing her when something had gotten too big for just her to handle.

"Well, all the Fangirls and journalists have jumped onto what they call 'Percabeth'," He paused waiting for them to catch up. Annabeth caught on immediately. Her stomach found itself twisted into knots.

"Wait – what does this have to do with us?" Percy asked, eyes narrowed.

"Percabeth," Annabeth clarified without looking at him. "Perce, Percy. Beth, Annabeth." When he still looked a bit confused, Annabeth went into more detail. "Everyone thinks we're together. And Chiron… wants it to stay that way." When Chiron didn't make a sound of protest, affirming what she already believed, Annabeth felt close to death. She rubbed her temples. "Our lunch date probably didn't help, did it?" She asked weakly.

"The pictures are already up," Chiron confirmed. He typed something into a laptop and spun it around towards them. There were entire websites once dedicated to just her – now Percabeth fan sites.

"So… you want us… to pretend… we're dating." Percy said, slowly, slowly putting the pieces together. "But… why?"

"It's good publicity," Chiron said, sounding apologetic. "You don't have to do it, but…"

"But we do." Annabeth finished, mouth dry. "Don't we?"

Chiron frowned and looked away. "The producers are… adamant."

Well, if anything, at least the press wouldn't have to worry about her being boring anymore.

A/N: Hey, darlings. If you've stuck with me this far, thank you dearly. My life's been good, albeit busy, and I hope many of you can say the same. I completely forgot to add an A/N note when I edited this so that's why I went back to re-update this. You're all amazing, and I really, reaaaalllyyyy hope that you consider reviewing. REVIEWS ARE INSPIRATION, MY FRIEND.