The semester is finally over! Yay! And this is here! Is it still pointless to apologize for the long wait? Yeah, you guys are probably going to kill me anyway. Haha. See you at the bottom!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own PJO, HoO, Star Wars, and any other familiar references in this story. All rights belong to their respective owners.
Of Crowns and Cookies
Chapter Twelve
Leo still had his eyes directed outside the window. "Why is this event such a big deal?"
Percy looked up from his homework, following Leo's gaze. Students looked busy outside on the field, setting up stalls and gigantic holographic posters. There were images of what vaguely looked like fireworks.
"Um," he said. "Because it's the school's eighty-ninth founding anniversary?"
"If it's an anniversary, then why are people going frantic looking for dates?"
"This coming from a lady-lover like you." Percy grinned, rolling his eyes. "Who killed your goldfish?"
"This is the school's anniversary," Leo insisted. "I mean, yeah, it coincides with Valentine's Day of all events, but come on. We should be celebrating the academy, people! The fireworks aren't even that romantic!"
"First girl you asked said no?"
The Ceprione prince nodded miserably. "And the second… and the third…"
"Hey." Percy smiled lightly, nudging Leo's leg under the table with his foot. "Those girls don't know what they're missing."
"I know, right?" Leo said a little too loudly. "I'm Leonardo Valdez! I'm as hot as my planet!"
Annabeth finally spoke for the first time since they sat on their table. "We are in a library. The two of you—shut up."
Leo grinned. "I will never get used to you saying that, princess."
Jason and Piper chose this moment to arrive. Their entwined hands didn't go unnoticed.
Leo scowled for the hundredth time that day. "That!" He pointed to Jason and Piper's hands. "That is what makes the school a disgrace! The two of you should be ashamed of yourselves!"
Jason glanced at Percy as the blond prince took his seat beside him. "Girls said no?"
Percy nodded. "I guess so."
"Aw, Leo," Piper said, ruffling Leo's hair. "We're going as a group, anyway. All for one."
"It's like all the greatness I was born with comes down to this very moment," Leo pretended to sniff. "Was I always destined to be a fifth wheel?"
"Dramatic," Annabeth commented, eyes still on homework.
"You don't know how I feel, Annabeth!"
"Technically, you're not a fifth wheel yet." She finally looked up. Her grey eyes trained on Percy, and she raised a perfect eyebrow. "Percy here hasn't asked me out yet."
Four pairs of eyes were on the Aspyros prince.
Jason coughed.
Piper snickered.
Leo had a what-the-hell-are-you-going-to-do look.
Percy shook his head, letting out a nervous laugh. "Is it your life mission to embarrass me?"
"We're waiting, you idiot," Piper muttered under her breath.
"If there's any reason why I haven't asked you," Percy continued. "It's because I'm not sure if you're actually going to say yes or kill me."
Annabeth kicked him under the table.
He burst out laughing before giving her a small smile, suddenly gaining all the confidence in Olympus albeit blushing slightly. He found one of her hands from across the table. "Watch the fireworks with me tonight?"
She smiled smugly. "I thought you'd never ask, Prince Perseus."
Leo sighed, pretending to be wistful. "Ah, young love. And here I am. Back to being lonely again."
"You've got us, bro," Jason told him. "You won't even know you're a fifth wheel!"
"Say that again, Superma—"
"Annabeth!" someone suddenly cried out. The door burst open and the librarian glared at the intruder.
"There you are! Thank the gods you're here!" The girl panted. Percy recognized her as the one whose face is plastered on the holo-screen every morning at breakfast. "I know you said you weren't going to be busy tonight – well, unless that Perseus Jackson finally asks you out—and –"
She suddenly stopped short, finally noticing the prince she just mentioned. She looked him dead in the eye. "You didn't yet, did you?"
Percy was confused. "Huh?"
Annabeth was more than happy to interject. "I'm actually busy tonight, Calypso."
Calypso was still glaring at the Aspyros prince, hitting him quite painfully on the arm.
Poor Percy still couldn't understand what was going on. "Hey!" he exclaimed, rubbing the spot she just hit.
"Now I have to cover alone tonight," Calypso half-whined, half-grumbled. She finally turned to the blond princess. "Annabeth, they're making me do a live broadcast tonight. Now that Luke's gone, there's no one else to set up the perfect stage. All the others have already been asked to the fireworks tonight, and you're the only other one who knows how to adjust the lighting and the audio." She shot Percy an annoyed look again. "This is all your fault."
"I didn't know!" Percy defended himself. "Hey, if this is really important—"
Annabeth kicked him under the table. "Hush, Perseus. I've waited forever for you to finally ask me out."
Piper snorted. Calypso finally noticed that there were three other people with the couple.
Leo, as usual, was the first one to make his name known. "Finally nice to see you up close and personal, Princess. My name's—"
Calypso cut him off, grumbling. "Unless you know how to work a set, you're not hitting on me."
Percy and Jason shared a look before Jason beamed. "Actually…"
"That's not a bad idea!" Annabeth grinned, sending Leo a look that looked like she was thankful he existed. "Calypso, Leo here is a genius when it comes to all things technical! Leo, if you don't mind, you can help Calypso out tonight."
"But I thought you said we were going to the fireworks as a group…"
Piper must've kicked him underneath the table, because suddenly he cried out an, "Ow!"
Percy answered for him. "He'd love to help you out, Calypso."
She hadn't warmed up to him yet. "This better not be a ploy to get Annabeth out of your date tonight, Jackson."
"No, no," Annabeth said, but she looked like she was close to snickering. "Leo's really skilled, I promise. Do you remember the holographic posters for the Blue Team at the Olympics last semester? He created those."
Calypso raised an eyebrow, finally looking at the Ceprione prince. "Well, Your Highness? Your friends appear to be very supportive. Will I see you later?" Before Leo could open his mouth, she added, "This isn't a date. We're going to be working."
Leo was finally out of his stupor. He grinned widely. "Guess I'll just have to look extra hot tonight."
Calypso scowled. "You're a lucky prince because I don't have a choice. School grounds by the academic building entrance, six o'clock sharp. We're heading to the broadcasting room for the equipment and you'll be in charge of that."
Leo nodded obediently, winking. "You got it, Princess."
She left without another word.
"It's a date!" He called out to her retreating form, earning him a glare from the passing librarian. He turned to his friends once she exited the library. "You guys better not be getting rid of me because you all want to be with your respective dates."
"What?" Jason coughed. "No, no, not at all."
"Calypso's beautiful," Piper offered. "You'd make a great couple."
"Just…" Percy muttered. "Try not to… screw up?"
Leo faced Annabeth. "I never thought I'd see the day you'd wingman for me, Annabeth."
"Wingman." Annabeth and Percy nodded a little too enthusiastically. "Of course. That's what I was doing."
"Traitors," Leo said but he smiled mischievously as he leaned back on his chair. "I'm so happy for you guys, but I hate you all."
Percy used the hand that wasn't holding Annabeth's to pinch Leo's cheek. Jason did the same. "We love you, too, brother."
For obvious reasons, their plan to go as a group immediately died.
Percy and Annabeth were sitting cross-legged in the middle of the field amidst all the other students. They were still in their school uniforms, not bothering to change unlike all the others with their respective dates. They were cooped up in the library, anyway, trying to finish as much homework as they could until they realized the event was finally starting.
Then Percy shyly took her hand to lead her out of the library, and her smile was so bright she could've blinded him.
And now she was talking to him. Her eyes were on the huge screen in front of them where Calypso's figure was reporting, but Annabeth was holding his hand and she was smiling as she talked.
His cheeks were hurting from grinning, too.
"Percy?" she suddenly said.
Whoops. "Sorry, what?"
She snorted at him, and she was so different from the snobby princess he first met that it was weird. "You're staring."
But she was still an expert at making him embarrassed.
And he had a crush on that snobby princess, anyway.
He liked all things Annabeth, he decided.
"Sorry," he said again, chuckling. "You… you make me nervous."
She smirked at him, nudging his shoulder with her head. "I thought we established that the first time we met?"
"This is different."
"How so?"
"Well…" he started, not giving her playful face the satisfaction. "We're holding hands now."
"Ah." Annabeth squeezed his hand to emphasize her point. "Okay. But we've held hands before."
"This is still different."
She looked like she was going to start laughing. "How so?" she asked again.
"You're torturing me."
She shook her head, chuckling. "No, I'm not." But she leaned in to kiss his cheek before resting her head on his shoulder.
And, really. That was torture enough.
Silence consumed them again as they watched the holo-screen in front of them. There was a countdown for the fireworks shown.
At the back of Percy's head was a nagging thought. It was weird being in a school event without knowing what was going on. Usually Luke filled him in, but for reasons unknown to him he wasn't here. His absence was the only thing that made this semester bad. He had Jason and Leo, but Luke was his first friend and he knew the ins and the outs of the school. He had Malcolm, but Mylita prince was more interested in blaster shooting than in saber sparring. He had Annabeth, but he really, really did miss Luke.
"I can hear you thinking," Annabeth said, looking up at him from where her head was resting. "You're sad."
"I'm with you," he stated. "Nothing's wrong."
"Your shoulders just sagged." She lifted her head from his shoulder and she turned to look at him. He wanted to protest at the sudden lack of contact, but he settled for wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her to him instead.
She knew him too well.
"I was just thinking."
"About Luke?" He couldn't lie to her, so he nodded slowly. "Oh, Percy. I wish I knew what to say, but I don't know what's going on either."
"I know. I'm sorry." He shook his head this time, deciding to change the subject. "Hey, how do you think Leo is doing?"
She burst out laughing, and he felt his heart clench at how pretty and adorable she was. He was an idiot for ruining their night, even if it was just for a little while.
"I won't be surprised if he's burst from all the excitement."
"He's with you and Piper all the time. He should be used to beautiful girls."
"You and your attempts to be smooth."
"Is it working?"
"I'm with you right now, aren't I?"
Gods, she was beautiful. He couldn't help it; it was his turn to kiss her cheek.
He felt himself smile a little once he saw her blush.
"Speaking of Piper, have you seen her and Jason yet?" Annabeth asked.
Percy's eyes searched the crowd, and he was thankful for the job. He tried really, really hard not to faint at Annabeth's scent being so strong and her presence being this close. "As a matter of fact, I haven't."
"They probably aren't even in the field. In fact, I don't think they'll be watching the fireworks at all."
He raised an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"I think Jason's learning how to kiss a girl as we speak."
Her words dawned on him a second too late. "Oh," he said. "Really?"
"Do you know Piper?"
He snorted. "Oh, man. Jason's going to die."
"At least he'll die happy."
He hummed in agreement.
"And," she continued. "At least he'll die knowing how to kiss the girl he likes."
Percy's eyes probably shot right out his sockets. But, nope, still intact. (He checked).
"What?" he choked out.
"Ooh, one hour left until the fireworks," she said instead, and he just knew that he changed the subject on purpose.
Well, two can play at that game.
"Wise Girl," he said, tugging on her uniform sleeve to avert her attention back to him.
"Hmm?"
"Hey." He smiled shyly because to whoever is up there please don't let him lose any confidence now. "I like you."
And it probably would've been the greatest night of his life, too, if they both finished leaning and he finally, finally got to kiss her.
But his holopad rang.
And Annabeth glared at Percy's backpack and where the sound was coming from. She took out his holopad for him and all the color from her face drained.
"Who is it?"
"Percy." She forgot that she was supposed to be annoyed.
"Luke is calling you."
End of Chapter Twelve
So… this was kind of a filler-slash-fluffly-slash-what-the-fck-is-going-on kind of chapter, eh? Since it's the break, the next chapter should be out real soon. :D
In the meantime, I have a new one-shot posted, and it was really just something I did so I can get back to writing again. Nonetheless, if you have the time, go check it out. It's entitled, "Swings" and it's Percabeth, of course. :)
Thank you for reading! Comments (and bad-author-why-did-you-take-this-long messages) are welcome!
Oh, and if you have any questions, I will most likely answer on my Tumblr ask: itsscaryyoke.The link is on my profile. I also posted an important announcement there, too. ;) Happy December, you guys!
-YJ
