A/N: Hello all, apologies for the wait, another chapter will be up very soon. Please do read and review
Annabeth woke up to yet another harsh sound. She groaned, wondering when the world's combined assault upon her hurting head would end. The sound came through again and she realised that it was the doorbell. Looking over at Silena, she saw that her friend was out like a light.
With a lot of muttering to herself about unhelpful best mates, Annabeth dragged herself out of her room and across the living room. She hesitated for a second then threw the door open, her eyes coming to rest on Percy standing in her doorway.
For a second, she did nothing but stare at him. He was dressed in black pants and a simple, white button-down shirt, with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. She could see his long, thin fingers and his slightly muscular arms were brought to her attention when he reached a hand up to rake it through his hair. She wondered how they would feel wrapped around her, holding her close. Suddenly, she started, looking at his face and seeing that he was grinning at her.
"Annabeth? Are you alright?" he asked politely, still grinning, knowing the direction in which her thoughts were heading.
"Yes, I am. What's up?" she said as she leaned against her doorway. Inadvertently, this brought her much closer to Percy, whose throat tightened as he stared down at her.
"Nothing, I just wanted to check on you. See how you were doing," said Percy, glancing at the bandage round her head. He was quite amazed by the fact that despite being injured and having clearly just woken up from sleep, she still managed to look absolutely breathtaking. Her hair was pulled back in a messy braid and she was still wearing the Star Wars pyjamas from earlier. His eyes slowly travelled up her body, pausing at her lips when he realised that she was quite amused.
Annabeth smirked, it was his turn to stare now. And that too, with her looking like a mess. They looked into each other's eyes, and both suddenly realised that neither had said a word for a solid minute now. Another realisation came crashing down upon them when they realised that they were standing barely six inches away from each other, all the while leaning closer.
Annabeth jumped back, fiddling with her braid.
"Yeah, erm, I'm alright. Would you like to come in?" she asked, standing back from the door.
"Great. Oh, no thank you, I'm actually heading out. Just wanted to see you. I mean, see how you are," said Percy, mentally kicking himself.
"Okay. Have a good time, then. I'll see you later!" said Annabeth, moving to close the door.
"Yeah, see you" muttered Percy. He turned on his heel and slowly walked away, all the while berating himself for the slip of tongue that he was sure she had noticed. Get a grip, you absolute buffoon. First you call her Sunshine, then you say that. Why don't you just snog her and be done with it? he said to himself angrily.
Annabeth closed the door, thinking about Percy's slip of tongue. Inwardly, she thanked Freud for coming up with the concept, and considered its meaning, which if she was being honest with herself, was pretty clear. But as she pictured him standing there, with those sleeves rolled up, just a few inches away from her, her heartbeat quickened.
For just a second, she let herself picture pushing Percy up against a wall, kissing him until he couldn't breathe, those arms around her, those hands in her hair, his lips against hers. She shook herself a little and went back into her bedroom, where she sat on her bed, far too wound up to sleep. Try as she did, her mind did not seem to want to do anything but imagine a full-on makeout session with Percy Jackson.