10 chapters! I am super excited for these next few, and I hope you guys love them. Review!
Annabeth
Basorexia - the overwhelming desire to kiss someone
Annabeth had made the executive decision to not go to work today and face the humiliation of how everybody saw her tits. Well, they had been blurred out. Still. She had called Percy to tell him she was sick, but he hadn't picked up, which made her feel even worse. Her naked pictures were all over the internet, her mom was a crazy psycho bitch, and Percy was still mad at her. The thought crossed her mind that maybe he was just busy, but she was a pessimistic person so she didn't think too much about the latter option.
Her friends didn't push her. They didn't leave either, which was nice, but Annabeth honestly just needed some alone time right now. She hated this. She felt so claustrophobic, like no matter what she did, she could never just breathe.
It was around ten when she finally rolled out of bed and stumbled into their living room. The floor plan was open, so you could see the kitchen and dining room from where she stood.
"Hi!" Piper said, jumping up from the couch. "Do you need anything? We made French toast."
"No, I'm good." Annabeth said, giving her a smile, but a vacant one. Frank moved to the side a little, making room for her on the couch. Her hair was up in a messy bun, and she was wearing grey sweatpants with a black tank top. In other words, she looked gross.
Say Yes to the Dress was on, and Annabeth usually loved binge-watching that show, but her heart wasn't in to it. She closed her eyes and leaned back, focusing on the little noises that rummaged around the apartment.
The gentle clack of dishes that Jason was putting away, a soft stream of water always on. Hazel leaning over the dining room table doing the puzzle Annabeth had put out the other day. Piper tapping her fingers on the side table by the couch. She took a deep breath, trying to get air into her lungs. This whole morning, she had felt as if she couldn't breathe, which was stupid. She was here, alive. But it didn't matter when nothing about her life felt right at the moment.
The knock on the door was loud, piercing through the quiet comfort Annabeth had found in their little apartment.
"Are we expecting somebody?" Jason asked, shutting off the water.
"I don't think so." Hazel said, looking up from the puzzle.
"I'll get it." Piper offered. Annabeth hadn't even opened her eyes, but she could hear the pad of Piper's bare feet on the hardwood floor.
"Hi." Piper's voice echoed through the hallway. "Who are you?"
A man cleared his throat. "Um-" Oh shit. Annabeth recognized that voice. She shot up, desperately trying to make herself look more presentable, but it was a lost cause. "Percy Jackson."
"Oh! Of course, how silly of me. I knew I recognized you. Come in, come in." Piper said. Was she trying to make Annabeth's life worse? The guy who hates her and she has the hugest crush on was going to see her in her sweatpants that she got freshman year of high school. Great.
"Hi, Annabeth?" He asked. She turned to look at him. He was dressed in a suit with that blue tie she loved, and he was holding a dozen red roses and a brown paper bag. "These are for you." He said quietly, eyes flitting around the room as if noticing for the first time how many people were watching them.
"Guys…" Annabeth trailed off.
"Oh, right!" Hazel said. "We were going to go to brunch."
"We just had French toast." Frank pointed out, oblivious.
"Brunch!" Piper said, grabbing a coat. "Text if you need anything, A." Annabeth nodded, but her eyes never left Percy's. The door closed behind them, and it was silent.
"I don't deserve those." She whispered, sitting down at the dining table.
"Of course you do." He said. "I was a complete dick the other day. I could have handled it so much better. I was angry, but you never ever deserve to be treated like that. Then I saw those pictures, and I realized why you had-"
"So you're here because you feel bad for me. Is this what this is? A pity party?" Annabeth hated how she could never accept an apology. Her temper was so horrible sometimes. It was one of her favorite and least favorite parts about herself.
"What? No!" Percy said, his green eyes swirling with hurt. Annabeth's heart fell and jumped at the same time. Here he was, bringing her roses – red roses – after she had fucked up. Her mind raced a million miles an hour and she had the sudden urge to kiss him. "Here. Take them, please." He held out the roses again, and Annabeth took them with a small smile. She stood up and went to find a vase in the kitchen.
"I brought bagels, too. London bagels probably aren't as good as New York's but I figured everybody likes bagels." He rambled. Annabeth cut the ends off so they'd fit in the one vase the apartment was stocked with.
"I like bagels, Percy." She said with a laugh. A real one, which hadn't happened all weekend.
"Okay, good." He breathed. Annabeth grabbed two plates from the kitchen, along with the roses and settled back down at the table. They sat next to each other silently, facing the huge windows that looked out on the gloomy London skyline. The rain had been coming down hard the past few days, but it matched Annabeth's mood so she was okay with it.
He had gotten her a sesame bagel with scallion cream cheese. She wondered how he had taken such a lucky guess. It was her favorite combo.
"How did you know?" She asked, brushing her fingers off once she was done picking at the bagel. All that was left of their food was crumbs and sesame seeds.
"Know what?" He asked, turning to look at her. It struck her how… beautiful he was. There was really no other way to describe him.
"This is my favorite."
He laughed. "I just got you what I always get. I figured it wasn't too offending."
Annabeth chuckled. "Well, you have good taste." They were quiet for another few seconds, before she spoke up. "Listen, I am so sorry about what happened. I'll do anything to make it up to you."
"Anything?" Percy asked.
"Yeah, seriously."
"Well, for starters you can go check on the building today and deal with the carpenter." Percy laughed slightly, and Annabeth gave him a shove.
"And?" She prompted.
"You can go on a date with me." He shrugged nonchalantly, but his eyes betrayed him. He was nervous.
Annabeth almost threw up her bagel. "What?"
"You asked, what you could do. Go to dinner with me." His green eyes shone with hope.
Annabeth smiled. "Okay." She grinned, but her smile fell. "Our parents, our job, Percy everything's so complicated right now."
"I know." He said, grabbing her hand making butterflies rush into Annabeth's stomach. "What's not complicated though, is my feelings for you." Annabeth thought she was going to pass out. "We'll cross those bridges when we come to them."
She gave his hand a squeeze. "Yeah, okay." She said breathlessly. She felt like she had just run three miles, her breathing was so shallow. Yet it was a good feeling. She was happy.
"Good. Friday at 8 then, I'll pick you up. In the meantime, we have a lot of work to do. I brought it with, but if you want to get out of the house we could go back to the office." He suggested.
"Office. I need to get out of here. Just let me change." She said, standing up and pulling her hair out of her bun. "On second thought, maybe I should shower."
Percy laughed. "You look beautiful either way." The accent made the compliment all the more exciting.
Annabeth blushed. "To you, maybe. My hair is disgusting. I'll be right out." Annabeth tried to hurry, but getting ready for work was usually an hour long exercise. She got it down to thirty minutes, and came back out dressed in black plaid pants and a black silk blouse. Her hair was loose, since she hadn't had the time to do a bun, and her makeup was minimal. She felt giddy. Percy wasn't mad, he wanted to take her out to dinner. Just the two of them. A date. She hadn't been this excited since Luke, but thoughts of him were far from her mind now.
Percy was on the couch now, texting on his phone. He looked up when she came out of her room. "You ready?" She nodded in response, and he opened the door for her. His Mercedes was waiting – he had somehow found a parking spot right outside their building. She almost laughed thinking about where they were just a couple weeks ago. She was very glad she hadn't dug her fingernail into his car that day.
-0-
Maybe the necklaces were right.
Annabeth hadn't thought about hers for a while, probably about a week now, but she realized her and Percy were literally meant to be. She had always believed that they were stupid, they didn't work, how could the government know people's feelings? But Percy made her ditch all those beliefs. Everything between them felt right. They made each other laugh, their personalities balanced each other perfectly. The thought even crossed her mind that they would make cute babies, but she instantly put it out of her head. They hadn't even kissed.
It was almost five now, and Annabeth didn't want to leave. Unfortunately, Percy already had plans with his friends. He had invited her to come with, but Annabeth declined. She didn't want to impose, and besides, she already had plans with her own friends.
They had moved on to the interior design portion of the project, which Percy seemed less than focused on.
"Percy." She said. "You need another support beam here." She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. His mistakes were architecture 101.
"What?" He asked, snapping out of his glazed state, he looked down and saw the issue. "Oh, right. This is boring."
Annabeth sighed. "Well, it has to be done."
Percy pouted, and Annabeth had to crack a smile at the childish display of emotion. "You're no fun."
"Sorry." She said unapologetically. "It's five anyways. I should get going."
"Yeah, yeah. Are you sure you don't want to come with?" He asked, standing up and buttoning his suit. Annabeth's heart skipped a beat. She had always had a thing for guys in suits, and with the accent and it being Percy, she was surprised she didn't get on her knees right then.
"Yeah, I'm sure. My friends and I are going to check out that famous restaurant, Sketch, I think?" She said, grabbing her coat.
"Yeah," Percy said, taking the coat from her before she could protest and slipping it on her back. His lips brushed her ear, and she shivered, but he pulled away as quick as he had leaned in. "It's lovely, you'll enjoy it." She almost snorted at the thought of a guy saying lovely, but she had learned people talked differently here, especially boys.
"Thanks." She said, out of breath, not for the first time that day. "Tomorrow at nine?" Percy nodded and she showed herself out. Gods, life had gotten crazy.
-0-
Her friends were waiting when she got back, eager to hear what had happened that morning. Well, Piper and Hazel were. Jason and Frank just told her that if Percy needed to be beaten up, they were her guys. She just laughed, and thanked them, but they could tell by her good mood that everything was okay.
Annabeth promised to tell them at dinner, and went to get changed. She put on a red leather mini skirt, one she had bought while she was here a few days ago. Style in London was… extravagant. The leather skirt was the calmest thing she could find. She threw on a white mock neck sweater and some black nylons, and Piper convinced her into wearing the black boots from Givenchy rather than her usual high-heeled Chelsea boots. Annabeth had money – a lot of it – but she rarely splurged. However, she had decided that London was the place to do so, and she had bought herself quite a few things from Prada and other places like it.
Piper and Hazel always took longer than her, so she wasn't surprised to find just Frank and Jason waiting in the living room. A basketball game was on, and they were arm wrestling. Annabeth just rolled her eyes and sank down into one of the chairs. Boys.
"Dude." Frank groaned.
"I fucking beat you, bro." Jason said. "Two out of three."
"Three out of five." Frank said. "Let's go." Annabeth couldn't help but laugh as Jason accepted the challenge. Piper and Hazel came out soon, looking amazing.
"Ready?" Annabeth asked."
Piper nodded as she rummaged through her purse. "Has anybody seen my lip gloss? That rose sugar on I like?"
"Yeah, it's on the breakfast table." Hazel said as Annabeth called an Uber.
"Let's go, the Uber will be here in a few." She said, opening the door. It was always an exercise to get everybody out the door. You would think five twenty-five year olds would be able to live on their own, but it was a daily struggle.
The restaurant was absolutely gorgeous. Annabeth had been skeptical about the all pink, to the point of where she tried to get Piper to book the reservation in a different room, but she was glad Piper had insisted on having "the full Sketch experience".
Once they were seated in fluffy pink chairs, Piper's attention immediately turned on Annabeth. "All the details." She said, and her eyes were so serious.
Annabeth chuckled. "He apologized. We both apologized. He brought me bagels and roses. I mean, what else can a New Yorker ask for." The table laughed. "And, then he asked me on a date."
Hazel squealed. "You went on a date today?"
"What? No." Annabeth shook her head. "We had to work."
Jason laughed. "Of course you did." Annabeth glared at him, but it was playful.
"We're busy."
"Annabeth, keep going." Hazel said.
"That's it, really. I mean, the flirting was more there, but nothing else really happened." Annabeth shrugged nonchalantly, but in reality thinking about today made her brain go crazy. She had never felt this excited about anybody, ever, but she had decided to keep these feelings to herself in case things didn't work out. No need to let everybody down instead of just her.
"I'm happy for you, Annabeth." Piper said, putting a hand on her arm. "We all are."
Annabeth smiled, crossing her legs under the table. The bottle of wine they had ordered had come, and the waiter poured the liquid into her cup. Conversation droned on. Hazel and Piper were talking about what they wanted to do tomorrow. It didn't matter to Annabeth, since she was going to be with Percy all day tomorrow with work. Percy. Gods, just the sound of his name made her go insane. If she wasn't so happy, she would be more than a little bit worried about her mental state. Sighing, she leaned back, listened to the happy chatter of her friends, and took a well-deserved sip of wine.