Chapter X: Off to Boston!

Rating: T—with a slight, delicious touch of your favorite pairing. And cinnamon.

Word Count: 5,000+

Beta Reader: ForeverAGallagherGirl135. More than a Beta I consider you as a friend!

A/N: Six days. I guess you know what that means. Woo! Chapter ten! Well, guys, here is the next update! I really hope you like it. From now on you'll start watching more Percabeth! Isn't that exciting? I want to thank you so much for your reviews—they are appreciated! I feel bad because I'll make you wait when I have already written chapter eleven and twelve. I could upload them, but what would Rick say? He'd be disappointed if I don't leave you hanging. Don't worry; next update is on Thursday! Six days. disahdish!

"Wake up, my girl. Open those beautiful eyes of yours."

The softness of his voice makes my eyes open, causing me to sit quickly over the spongy pillows of my bed. My eyes instantly fix on him, just sitting there at the other side the mattress, as serious as always, and with his dark hair glowing under the light of the sun coming through the window. Like an enormous spotlight, falling over his shirtless perfectness and making him look like a Greek god.

Apple red color starts spreading through my skin, painting every single space of it. What is he doing here? Percy is supposed to be at his home, not in my room. Especially not shirtless. But he doesn't seem to worry. Time flows slowly, and he acts like if this were normal. As if being in a girl's room, sitting beside her and covering from the waist down with the same sheets that she's using were something in his daily routine.

"Percy?" I ask, trying hard to keep my voice steady. His presence here makes me nervous. I'm not sure if it's because he shouldn't be here, or if it's his lack of clothes that makes me uneasy. Maybe it's both, but mostly the second. Watching him like this dries my mouth and turns my tongue to a big knot.

"Hush." His body starts leaning forward, nearing mine. Every inch closer makes stronger the scent of the sea―his own natural fragrance, emanating from his flesh. I can barely feel my heartbeat. If my heart weren't thumping hard against my chest I wouldn't feel it at all.

He's so near now, as near as he has been during these past days. But there's one thing different now. I accept that I want to kiss him. I can no longer deny that his feelings for me are requited. And the desire is increasing slowly, making my stomach churn and fill with tiny, imaginary butterflies.

When his lips are just a few inches apart from mine my mind recalls how I'm dressed. How I like to sleep wearing checkered Capri pants and a cropped tank top that exposes part of my abdomen.

Instinctively my hands reach for the silvery sheets over my legs and cover my bare skin. The simple thought of being like this in front of him can make my skin two shades of red darker―if it were possible since it's already colored as dark as the blood rushing through my veins.

A sweet smile spreads on Percy's face, making him look even better than before. A serious he can look good, but a happy one can look better―gorgeous, even.

"Don't feel ashamed," he says, and before my mind can think of something to say he's already getting near again. Something makes me feel as if my eyelids weighed a ton. They join slowly when his presence is near enough to make the beat of his heart audible.

. . .

"Annabeth, stop dreaming and wake up."

With my heart still beating hard I open my eyes, noticing the new presence in my room. There, sitting on the same place where Percy was, is mom. The odor of sea water is gone, replaced by mom's expensive perfume of red fruits. So it was all a dream? Everything felt so real―the warmth of the sun, his nearness, the feeling of his chest when I caressed it as our lips connected. Of course, everything before waking up. Now, the only thing left from that perfect dream is the desire to be with him. To have him near.

"It's about time you woke up." Mom removes a strand of dark hair from her face, enabling to see me with both gray eyes now. "I thought you were excited about this trip, but I see that you aren't. You were groaning while I shook you to wake up. If you don't want to go anymore―"

There's no way I let her finish talking. Before she can tell me to stay I get up and sit on the pillows, and this time it is real, not just a dream with a shirtless good looking boy in it. My arms stretch in the air as yawn comes from the depths of my throat. "I am excited about going to the tournament, mom. I was just…dreaming."

"I noticed that." Her eyes don't leave mine, as if she were trying to see the dream through the pupils of my eyes. "Did you know that you talk when you sleep?"

Alright, I didn't know that. I've never had anyone to watch me while sleeping. During my childhood neither mom nor dad came to see if I needed anything, or to at least give me a good-night kiss. It's not only a surprise for her, but for me, too.

"I didn't know," I answer. When I'm about to ask her why does she asks this my mind instantly starts working, and instead of turning as red as in the dream I start to pale, causing my skin to see as white as milk. Was I possibly talking about my dream while sleeping? My mind can instantly imagine me, lying on the bed unconscious while saying 'Percy' repeatedly.

"Well, you do," she says with a nod. She tilts her head to one side, as if talking with a little girl―and I am one deep inside. There's a part of me that is still a girl, and that is just starting her childhood because her mother is finally there with her. "You were repeating 'Per… Per…' What were you dreaming, Annabeth? What does 'Per' means?"

Do not blush, Chase. But it's hard not to do it. What if I'd said his complete name? It's obvious that my mind wanted me to say 'Percy'. Great moment for mom to discover about my problem while sleeping. Couldn't she discover it any other day? Like when I don't dream anything, or when I dream about books or training.

"I-I… It's nothing, mom." Did she believe it?

No, she didn't.

A smile spreads on her face from ear to ear. "Annabeth Chase, are you blushing? Wait, are you stuttering? Were you dreaming with a boy?" My mouth opens to answer, but something starts shining in her eyes, as if they were little windows that permit to see when a light bulb turns on over her brain―a realization. Crap. She starts rubbing her chin with one thumb, and her eyes never leave mine. "Annabeth, it's just a question. Were you dreaming about Percy?"

"Uh…mom, h-how can you think that?" Alright, stop stuttering, you're being pathetic.

"That wasn't the answer I expected. I expected a 'Yes' or a 'No'. But don't worry. Your skin, voice and reaction say everything." Can my skin be any redder? Yes, it can. It turns darker when she winks an eye, stands up and starts walking towards the entrance of my room. "I'll be waiting downstairs so we can have breakfast. You know, before Percy arrives―I mean, before you have to leave."

You can now say that we have a real mother-daughter relationship. Just what I needed; mom making jokes about my dreams―note the sarcasm. Before I can say something―I don't know; at least deny the Percy situation―she's gone. There's nothing left to do but get changed and hope that she forgets what happened here.

Neatly folded, resting over the desk, are the clothes I'll use today―white denim shorts, a black tank top that will be covered with a checkered flannel shirt and jeans. Will I look to casual? Too informal? Should I wear something different, like a dress? All this just makes me nervous. It's strange since nothing will happen today but the trip. The tournament will start on Monday.

Then, why is my heart beating so fast?

When I think that Percy will be here in any minute my heart skips a beat, and I know―due to the feelings I found during the dream―that he is the reason I'm nervous. But…I like him. I like him a lot―shit, it feels so strange but good to admit it. It sends electric shocks from my brain to the fingers of my feet.

Mom is already having breakfast in the dining room. She acts as if nothing happened back in my room, but I can see the glint of amusement in her eyes. I sit in a random chair while Rita comes from the kitchen with a plate on hands. The omelet smells good, and I dig in before anything else happens.

"Annabeth, I want to give you some rules before Percy is here." Mom takes a bite from a watermelon slice and then locks eyes with me. I nod and wait for her to talk. "Rule number one: you'll keep your promise and stay at Percy's. Until I don't meet your teacher and classmates I will not trust them." No problem. There's no other place I want to be. I nod, and she continues talking. "Rule number two: I heard from Sally what happened to her husband. Now I don't even want you to go out alone. If you're leaving the apartment it has to be with Percy." No problem. He doesn't let me go anywhere alone. "Rule number three: you aren't permitted to forget my souvenir. And rule number four: you can't come back without those first place trophies. Understand?"

She gives me a smile, and I answer her with one, too. "Clearly."

"Let me give you a hug." She stands up from her place and I do the same, receiving her with wide open arms. Her breathing near my ear is soothing, and I can't help wanting to cry. Finally, after years of not existing in her life, she cares about me. And even though she didn't do this to me as a little girl I feel happy. "You're better than anyone else. Don't feel sad if the things don't happen as you want."

"Thank you," I mutter. And we remain like this for minutes, until the sound of the door opening separates us.

"Mr. Jackson is here," says Rita and then moves from the door so we can see Percy standing there, smiling.

I'm glad that I didn't change my clothes at the end. He isn't dressed in a way that you can call 'formal' or 'presentable'―khaki beach shorts, a supple black t-shirt molded to his toned body and sneakers that are exactly as mine. We look ready…for a beach party or something.

"Good morning, Mrs. Chase," he says, and then turns his stare to…me. "Ready, Miss?"

When his sea-green eyes meet my gray ones I think I'm lost, remembering the Percy of my dream. The one I wanted to kiss. And as I remember every detail of my dream the desire to be with him starts appearing inside me.

"Ready," I say, and turn to give mom one last hug.

"Take care of my daughter," she says once we're walking to the entrance. An employee carries my suitcase to the trunk of the Maserati while Percy and I walk with mom. After downing the stairs of the entrance we stop, and Percy says something I didn't expect.

"With my life," he says. And I feel again the electric shocks traveling through my body. Why did he turn this important to me? I don't know, but I like it. I like him.

After we say our good-byes mom waves her hand at me before entering the house again. I wonder what she will tell dad. She never told me what she will invent.

"Shall we go?" asks Percy, who sees me standing there and staring at the empty entrance and the closed door of my house. Now that mom isn't here I turn around and, with Percy staring at me, I grab his face and place a kiss on his cheek. Like the one I gave him yesterday, but this one feels better. It feels wonderful, and fresher than yesterday's.

"Good morning, by the way," I smile and start walking towards the entrance.

Before I can open the door he appears from behind and opens it for me. But he stands in the middle of the way, not letting me in. Then, he does something unexpected. His arms wrap around the low of my back and pull me to him―like yesterday, too. And he places various kisses on my cheek before hugging me, and I snuggle on him without knowing why we're doing this.

"What was that?" I ask while he gets in the car. There's a moment of silence while he turns the car's engine on. Then, his eyes are back on mine.

"I don't know," is all he says before stepping on the fuel.

. . .

I am busy reading the book that mom lent me―the one where humans are slaves―when the car's velocity starts lowering. We've been traveling for less than half an hour, so I really don't know why he's stopping. The car reaches to a stop in front of a cafeteria, and I stare at Percy confused. Weren't we supposed to be going already?

"Why did you stop?" I ask, closing the book for a while. He just shrugs and turns the engine off, turning to stare at me.

"I promised to wait for Luke, Thalia and the rest here," he answers. "It might take some time, because Thalia sent me a message ten minutes ago saying that they were just leaving the Stolls' house. Maybe you want to continue reading, because we're trapped here until they arrive."

"Okay."

I don't say any other thing and open the book again to continue reading. But it feels different now. There's a strange sensation of my neck―one I've felt before when someone is observing me intently. Once again I close the book and turn to Percy.

"What are you doing?" I ask, aware of his beautiful eyes on me.

"Nothing. Just watching you read. Have a problem with that?" His head tilts a bit to one side, and it makes him look cute.

"Yes, it doesn't let me concentrate. Will you stop doing it, please?"

"But I don't want to," he pouts.

A sigh leaves my mouth as I place the separator in the book. After placing it in the glove compartment I sit and try to think of something to do, but all this silence is distracting. This is more uncomfortable that what I thought. Especially since his eyes don't stop staring at me.

"Can I?" I ask, grabbing his iPhone. It is connected to the car so we can listen to his music, though I don't know why if he hasn't put any song so far. He shrugs and takes it from my hand, unlocking it and placing it back in my hand.

"Just ignore the fact that half of the songs are mine and half from my cousin―a little girl as annoying as Thalia. But what makes them different is that Ashley is my fan." A grin spreads on his face. "So don't get scared if you see strange songs, or pictures of beautiful ponies."

"Don't lie to me," I joke. "I know you love ponies and cute love songs."

"I thought it was a secret." He continues grinning and I start scrolling down through the list of songs.

Alright, I can notice now what songs are from his cousin. Party in the USA, Beauty and the Beat, Diamonds. The kind of songs that a pony-lover would hear. There are almost four hundred songs, and he is wrong. More than half of the songs are not his.

"And why don't you delete them if you don't like them?" I ask.

He shrugs. "If I delete them Ashley will upload them again once I get to see her. Besides, not all of them are bad. In cases like this, when there's nothing to do, hearing to every song distracts you. I like some of them." I select one song and it starts playing, filling the car with Britney Spears' voice singing Womanizer. I crease my eyebrows at him teasingly. "Some of them."

I chuckle and continue listening to the song. Not that I like it, but it's already playing, so why not? After the song is over Your Love is my Drug starts playing. With this I can know that this 'Ashley' must be one of those popular girls that are in the hipster style or something. Then, I almost flinch when Percy lifts his index finger in the air, signaling that he has an idea.

"Why don't we play a game?" he asks, getting the phone from my hand. "Make me questions and I'll answer them with a song. The answer has to exist among almost four hundred tunes. Can we play, please?"

I roll my eyes. Now he's being childish? But it sounds fun, so I accept. "I start," I say and think of a question. "If you weren't going to the tournament, how would you feel? I mean, how would you feel being all alone in your apartment knowing that all of your friends are in Boston?"

He analyzes the question and starts scrolling through the songs, until The Lazy Song starts playing around the car. The song says everything. When Bruno Mars says the 'Today I don't feel like doing anything' line I get my answer. We continue listening to the rest of the song until it's over, and a small question appears in my mind.

"Would you feel like that?" I ask, and he nods. "And what about the 'Find a really nice girl, have some really nice sex' part?"

He shrugs. "Why not?"

I turn around and try to hide my blush. Oh, I shouldn't have asked that. A chuckle comes from behind. He's amused.

"My turn," he says and places the phone on my lap.A random songstarts playing while Percy thinks of a question to make. Then the same glint that mom has appears in his eyes. "Is there any song there where you can tell me at what age did you have…your first kiss?"

Is he serious?

By the way his eyes are watching me carefully I can tell that yes, he's being really serious.

It doesn't take me a long time to search and select the song Fifteen, because I'd already seen while scrolling down. My first kiss was at that age, with a boy that didn't like me a lot―and the feeling was requited. If a friend hadn't convinced me to play bottle with her and her friends I wouldn't have had my first kiss.

"I thought it would be that song," Percy says, and suddenly his mouth turns to a tight, fine line. "With who?"

"Why do you want to know?" I raise an eyebrow at him.

"For no reason at all. I just want to know. Can't you tell me?"

"No, I can't." I leave the phone over his lap, and it's his turn to answer. "My turn. If you could turn older right now, what age would you like to have? Oh. There isn't variety of songs with numbers. Let me think of another―"

"Actually there is a song with the answer to the question. Ashley can upload a lot of song that involve numbers." He taps the screen and another song from Taylor Swift starts filling the sound―22. So he wants to be twenty-two?

"Why do you want to have that age?"

"I don't know. I just want to be older. Not too old, but enough so that people would stop thinking I'm too young."

"So you want to be like an older person? I don't think you act like a young person anymore, then." My mind recalls how he bought the bottle of fine wine, and how he has his own car―well, it's his father's―and apartment. He lives alone. And he just assured some minutes ago that he wouldn't mind fulfilling the 'Have some really nice sex' line of Bruno Mars' song. I don't know if he was joking, but it isn't something that a young person would do…

He doesn't say anything more and places the phone back on my lap, and he thinks of a question again. "You know," he says while shaking his head, "I thought there would be a lot of possible questions to do, but I don't have any now. I'll ask you to do something else. I want you to put a song that whenever you hear it again you'll think, 'Hey, that song reminds me of a charming boy named Percy'. I want to hear what kind of song would remind you of me."

Charming, huh? I can't deny that he is, but I'd never heard him before saying a vain comment about him. He must be warming a lot with me. I wonder if he is like this with Thalia. Probably he is.

He smiles while I glare at him and put, again, the song Womanizer. With just hearing it he half closes his eyes and snorts, and I can't help grinning at his funny face.

"Don't you like your song?" I tease him. "It reminds me a lot of you. Woma-woma-I-don't-know-what-because-I-don't-know-t he-lyrics."

I laugh.

"Oh, Annabeth, have I told you how funny you are? When am I supposed to start laughing?" he says seriously, though I can see a bit of amusement in his eyes.

"You can start…now." I answer, giving him a smile.

"Oh, ha-ha-ha… You're so funny. Ha…"

By instinct I toss him the phone and it falls on…well, a private zone. And I can't help feeling ashamed and guilty as he leans a forward and grunts.

"I'm sorry," I say, noticing how red my skin turns through the mirror.

"No problem." He sucks in air and straightens his back. There's complete silence. When I threw the phone the cable that connected it to the car unplugged. But he connects it again and then turns to me, saying "Your turn."

It's true. There aren't a lot of questions to make. Even my smart mind can't think of a single thing. "I don't know what to ask," I say and decide to do the same as him. "Now I want to know what song will remind you of me. Of a 'charming, beautiful, and princess' girl named Annabeth."

Jokingly I place my hands beneath my chin as if making the same pose that princesses do. And he laughs. He isn't the only one that can joke with the other. I'd never heard him laugh before, either. The sound of his chuckles is manly. Small laugh lines start appearing, making him look very unserious. So he has laugh lines? The first thing I noticed of him during the first day was that he didn't have any.

His laugh stops a minute later, and he turns serious. "Can't you think of a question? I don't want to answer that."

"No," I answer. "Besides, I want to know what song will remind you of me whenever you hear it."

"Are you sure? I will be very honest."

"I'm sure."

"Okay."

There's complete silence in the car until a song I've never heard before starts sounding. I can hear a piano being played, and a boy starting to sing. I grab the phone and click on the home button, until I can see the picture of a boy I recognize as David Archuleta, and the song is named…Crush.

When the boy is singing a line that says 'Am I crazy or falling in love?' my stare lowers to my stiffened legs. I know what he feels, and I know what I feel. But all this is strange. I guess that it's because we've never talked about…feelings―if I know about his is because I was overhearing his conversation with Thalia. Yeah, we've been about to…kiss various times, but it's different. It's easier to let yourself go instead of talking.

Was it a good idea to ask him to put this song?

An extra weight is placed over my lap, and I can see that it belongs to Percy's hand, which is filling the spaces between my fingers with his like he's done it before, but this time slower, as if he is nervous that I can run away. Just let yourself go. It's easier than talking. And my fingers start closing between his.

Even though I'm not staring at him I can feel his smile, as if our connected hands gave me the ability to know what he's doing or thinking. His hand lifts mine, until I feel his lips over each one of my knuckles. The last kiss makes my body tremble―the electric shocks are stronger than before…because he's here.

Instinctively my hand reaches to touch his cheek, and I finally meet his stare, just to get lost in those stunning eyes. All this feels so…right. Maybe he is right for me. Thinking of doing this with anyone else, like Luke, makes me feel guilty. But he isn't Luke. And since this doesn't make me feel bad my other hand reaches to touch his other cheek, framing his face.

Everything happens so fast. The last thing I know is that his nose is brushing against mine, and his hands are framing my face like mine do. All I want to do is pull him to me. To touch his lips with mine. To tell him that we're still young, but time passes fast, and when we less know it we'll be already older. And with that I can…be the woman of his life. At least try.

His lips are inches apart from mine, and I―

The sound of something knocking on the glass of the driver's window makes both of us flinch, and we separate right away, noticing that it was…Thalia the one that knocked. Did twenty minutes already pass? I didn't even notice it…

Percy lowers the window and Thalia starts with her things.

"You know," she says with a grin, "I'm really sorry for interrupting you. You can continue. We'll have tomorrow free, after all, so we have time. If you want we brought some blankets and pillows, and candles, too, so you can―"

"Thalia, have I ever told you that you look beautiful when your mouth is closed?" I shout and open the book again, hiding my blush. I don't dare to see anyone again. The image of every single person in the other car grinning at us doesn't disappear from my mind.

I can't see Percy through the book, but I know that he's blushing as well, but he continues driving, and we don't talk. Again. Like every time. Whenever our incidents happen we don't talk about them and pretend that they didn't happen.

. . .

"And this is where we'll sleep," says Percy, opening one of the wooden doors of the house's hallway.

"Where we'll sleep?" I ask right away. Did I hear wrong?

"Yes, where we'll sleep. Here's the bed, and the couch, also." He takes a step back and I can see the couch behind the door. And I feel awful for having the bed. The couch is very…old. It's dusty and it's clearly visible that a lot of springs are dying to emerge through the surface.

Before I can tell him that I feel bad and that we can find a solution so that he doesn't sleep there a monstrous thing starts walking towards me. It drags through the floor, making me release an enormous, shrill shout while jumping onto the bed. Percy laughs and walks towards the filthy, eight-legged monster and steps on it, never taking his hands from his pockets.

"You're afraid of spiders?" He grins.

"Hey, they are monstrous things!" I shout and jump from the bed, suddenly feeling ashamed. "At least I'm not afraid of stupid things, like heights of something." Out of nowhere the color starts draining from his face, and I can understand clearly that he is afraid of heights. "Does that scare you?"

"Uh, no. Of course not."

"Swear it," I say and stand in front of him, looking him directly in the eyes and waiting for an answer. My mind gets distracted when he leans down. But all he does is place his lips next to my ear.

"Why don't we start unpacking?" he mutters.

And then disappears from my eyesight through the door.

. . .

After a delicious dinner of Fruit-Loops with chocolate milk―the only thing we were able to find after all the unpacking and cleaning―and changing to sleeping clothes I walk inside the bedroom just to find a shirtless Percy lying on the couch, hands behind his neck and eyes staring intently at the ceiling.

As he senses me entering his stare turns to me, and I resist the urge to cover myself like I did in my dream―now more than ever since I'm wearing shorts that reach the middle of my thighs and not my usual Capri pants. Don't feel ashamed.

The bed is ready for me after changing the sheets and dusting it. But instead of walking to there I walk towards Percy now that his stare is back to the ceiling. I bent down and place a kiss on his cheek, what causes him to make a surprised expression.

"Good night," I say.

While turning around slowly I feel soft fingers intertwining with mine, stopping me where I am. His eyes are back on me, but now there's a smile splitting his face.

"I would tell you to stay for a little while, but the couch is neither comfortable nor big enough," he says.

"Stay for what?" I ask, and he shakes his head.

"Forget it. Good night."

Now the urge I have to resist is the one of throwing me on him to snuggle and fall asleep. I walk away as his fingers release mine and cover my body with the sheets. There is a perfect view from here. Since we're in the second floor there's view of the city through the window. And it's also beautiful how from here I can stare at the distracted Percy that is staring at the ceiling.

"Enjoying the view?" he asks.

And I know that he isn't talking about the view of the city.

I ignore his question and snuggle against the pillow, waiting to fall asleep.

Even though I'm far from him I can hear Percy mutter to himself.

"Good night, my Annabeth."