Chapter 21

Percy

Percy and Annabeth had somehow gone from spending no time together to everyday. They met up for lunch during their workday, they frequented the Ulysses' after work at least a couple times a week. They went out after their friends got tired on Friday, they met up after their respective girl's/boy's nights on Saturday. They had even ran errands together last Sunday after brunch, laughing as their fingers turned red from holding the grocery bags, stopping by a CVS to pick up shampoo.

It was purely platonic, and Percy was surprisingly one hundred percent okay with that. Not that he wasn't attracted to her in that way anymore, because gods if anything she had become even more beautiful in the past two years, but he just didn't feel the need to do anything about it. Obviously if she one day changed her mind, he wouldn't say no, but he was completely on her terms now.

It was Saturday night, and they had gone to a bar on the UES after dinner with their friends. They were laughing about something, Percy couldn't quite remember. It had been a long night.

She quieted, taking a long sip of her Cosmo, her lips lingering on the ring. "Have you told any of our friends we're hanging out?" Her voice was soft, and he could barely hear her.

"No." He shook his head. They always said they were going home after dinner, while they texted under the table about where they wanted to continue the they hung out before brunch, they always split right before to approach the restaurant at a different direction. He wasn't sure why they thought it needed to be secret. It wasn't wrong.

"I think I'm worried that my friends are going to disapprove." Annabeth said, putting it into words better than he could. "They… they like you, obviously, but I know they don't think it would be good if we got involved again."

Percy nodded. "I get it." He said. "But that isn't what this is."

Annabeth scoffed. "Obviously." She said, but in the back of both of their minds, they knew they were playing with fire. How long could they stay away from each other, honestly?

The next weekend, she let him pay for her after one too many drinks. "If you'd like to buy me a drink, I wouldn't mind." She cocked her head to the side, exposing her smooth neck. He wondered if she did it on purpose, if she knew she could drive him crazy, or if she really had just had one too many drinks and couldn't keep her head from staying still.

Percy grinned despite knowing they were teetering dangerously close to the edge. "I'd love too." He said, adding her drinks to his tab.

Three days later, she showed up at his apartment with a duffel bag. Luckily, Grace wasn't there, or she would've been so confused.

"I know I should have texted, but I was so angry at my neighbors I couldn't even think straight." Annabeth said, barging in after he opened the door.

"What happened?" He asked, then looked at her bag. "If you wanted to move in, all you had to do was ask."

She shot him a look. "My neighbors, fuck, all night long. It drives me nuts. There's only so much I can listen too, so I knocked and they answered the door basically naked. I have put in so many complaints with my landlord, but why would he give a shit when his own apartment is a pigsty, and so I called Piper in the taxi, but then I decided not to go there because she's less than two months from having a baby, and then I was going to go to Hazel's, but she and Frank are on vacation upstate, and so now I have nowhere to stay because if I have to listen to them moaning one more time, I will go absolutely insane." She took a long breath.

Percy laughed. "Yeah, sure you can stay here. Grace's room is down the hall."

"Great, thanks." She said, dropping her bag down there. "Do you have wine?" She asked, coming out from the hallway.

Percy rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. "Yes, red or white?"

"Red." She responded, turning when she heard the clink of glasses. "No need for glasses." She said, settling onto his floor instead of his couch.

Percy came over, about to lift the bottle to his lips, when she pulled it away from him. "Thanks." She said, taking a big gulp as he chuckled and settled in next to her.

They sat in silence for a while, just passing the bottle back and forth until it was half empty. It probably wasn't such a good idea to get drunk in a private place, because who knew how Percy was going to control his mouth now, but he did.

"Do you have movies?" Annabeth asked, crawling over to his TV cabinet.

"Yeah, princess ones, Disney, lots of G rated stuff." He laughed. "I have Netflix, though."

Annabeth nodded. "Sounds good." She sat back down next to Percy, noticeably closer but he wasn't sure if it was just an accident or she meant too.

He scrolled through. "Wanna start a show?" He asked, then immediately regretted it. A show implied she was coming back later, that she would be back to watch it with him next Wednesday night.

"Sure." She seemed unphased. "Which one?"

"Uh, the Bodyguard?" He suggested. "I've heard it's good."

Annabeth shrugged. "Okay." She grabbed the wine and tried to take another drink, but there wasn't any left. "Do you have another bottle?"

He paused before answering. "Uh, yes, but-" She was already standing to go grab it. "Annabeth, we don't always need to be drunk around each other. I mean, it's not like we need alcohol to have a conversation."

"Percy," She ignored him, grabbing a white wine now. "I need to be drunk around you, because it's the only way I can deal with my bad decisions and I can block out how I really should just go home right now, and yet I somehow find myself with you every other night." She popped it open. "So yes, I need more wine."

He didn't respond, because honestly the words stung. He just took the bottle and lifted it to his lips, taking another swig. They started the show, which was good, but Annabeth was exhausted. He heard the wine clatter out of her hand less than thirty minutes later and was going to go clean it up when her head hit against his shoulder softly. She made a little sigh that melted him, then curled deeper into his side.

He thought she was asleep, but she murmured against his neck, her hot breath hitting right behind his ear. "I'm not comfy." She said, and he resisted the urge to laugh.

"If I carry you, are you going to freak out?" He felt the slight shake of her head, so he stood, scooping her up. She weighed nothing, or maybe he was just so tired he didn't notice. He laid her on his bed, pulling off her socks because he knew she hated sleeping with them on, then turned off the light.

"Goodnight." He whispered, thinking she was already out but she spoke up just as the door was closing.

"No, stay." Her voice was so soft, Percy wasn't sure he had heard her right.

"What?"
"Stay." She murmured again. "Please."

"Are you…" He trailed off as she nodded, her hair frizzy against the pillow. "Okay." He crawled into bed next to her, and she scooted closer, resting her head on his chest. Her warm curls sprawled against him, and he was asleep within minutes.

-0-

They ignored what happened that night. They went back to their old - new? - routine of sneaking around behind everybody's backs, but they never talked about that night. It was too hard of a conversation to have, and it would cause nothing other than a fight.

"You're being ridiculous." Annabeth said, laughing. It was a Friday night, and they had said goodbye to their friends and headed to a bar in Midtown.

Percy shook his head, chuckling. "No, I'm not. I can't fly."

"But your work, you have to fly for that right?" Annabeth asked, sipping her Cosmo. Percy wasn't sure he had seen her order anything else.

Percy blushed. "I drove to San Francisco one time." He said quietly, but she heard and burst out laughing again.

Their nights got later and later, until a few times he insisted that he either ride the subway with Annabeth home or she stay at his place. She rolled her eyes, but she wasn't dumb. Three AM was not the time to be on the train alone.

In some ways, their relationship now was more intimate than it ever was. She wore his clothes to bed sometimes, she used his toothbrush on a particularly late night a couple weeks ago. They shared everything, from remedial things such as taxis and stories to secrets and their morning cup of coffee.

They were meeting up after work when they got the call from Jason. They both knew Piper was at the hospital that morning, but weren't going over until after the baby was born.

"Oh my gods!" Annabeth gushed, showing a picture to Percy. "She's adorable!"

Percy wrinkled his nose. "She looks like a rat."
Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Come on." She said, getting out cash to pay for her half of the drinks. "Let's go." She dragged him out of the bar, and hailed a taxi. "Mount Sinai on the Upper East, please."

Annabeth bounced her knee up and down the whole drive, the taxi barely moving above five miles per hour the entire time. "We should have taken the subway." She said, probably five or six times.

"If we had taken the subway we would be standing on other people's feet right now." Percy finally said after the last time she complained.

She shot him a look. "At least we would be moving."

Percy resisted the urge to roll his eyes, and stared at the taxi TV screen. Eventually, they pulled up and Annabeth opened the door before the car even stopped.

"Sorry, sir." Percy said, shutting the door. "We'll pay through Curb." By the time he finished talking to him, Annabeth was already inside and he had to run after her.

"Hi, Piper Grace? She just had a baby." Annabeth was saying to the front desk person when he caught up to her.

"Um, yes, third floor room 347." He said, and Percy thanked him. Annabeth pulled at her fingers and bounced her legs in the elevator, looking like she was going to explode if the elevator didn't move faster.

Piper's door was open, and they could hear voices from inside.

"Hi!" Annabeth said, waving to Hazel and Frank. "I'm sorry, there was so much traffic."

Piper looked exhausted and there were huge bags under her eyes, but she smiled up at Annabeth. "It's okay. Here, do you want to hold her?"

Annabeth looked slightly nervous, but nodded. Piper looked up and saw Percy, waving. Percy waved back, but his eyes were on Annabeth as she gingerly picked up the girl.

"Hi!" Annabeth cooed, letting the baby latch onto her finger. Percy probably would have started drooling at the sight but Jason came over to him.

"I don't know how you did it." Jason said, laughing.

Percy chuckled, turning towards him. "Congrats, man." He said, giving him a hug.

Jason had a nonstop smile on his face, and Percy was happy that he was so happy. Jason deserved it. "The nurse, who had a New York accent, didn't even say congratulations. She just came in, did her check, and then told us it only gets harder."

Percy laughed. "We love New York."

Before Jason could respond, Annabeth came over with the baby. "Do you want to hold her?" She asked, still staring down at her. "Hi, Marie." She said again, and the baby looked up at Annabeth with wide eyes. "Hello?" She asked, making eye contact with Percy.

Percy looked at the baby's hand attached to Annabeth's. "No." He said, smoothing Marie's hair back. "She likes you."

Annabeth let out a little laugh. "Sure. I want a baby." She said, laughing, and wiggled her hand again. Percy couldn't take his eyes off of her - Annabeth, not the baby. Obviously, she was joking, but the wrong idea started to cross his head, and he tried not to think about. There was no way after everything that had happened, him and Annabeth would end up having a baby together. They couldn't even hang out without a drink, the two of them were in no shape to make another human being. And yet, he couldn't get it out of his head. How perfect and natural she looked with Marie, how motherly she looked. Not a word he would have ever chosen to describe Annabeth, even when she was his child's nanny, but now…

"Here." Annabeth said, passing Marie back to Piper. "I'm coming over every day though." She said, and the girls laughed. Piper's dad came back in, and the four of them headed out into the hallway to go grab shitty hospital coffee.

While he and Frank went to the vending machines, the girls went to the bathroom. Immediately when they were alone, Frank raised his eyebrows. "You and Annabeth came together." He said.

Percy shrugged. "I saw her on the streets after work. Our offices are a block from each other."

"Don't make shit up." Frank said. Not mad, just direct. "You guys smell like alcohol, and Annabeth's not wearing her blazer or tights. Besides, it's almost 9 PM. There's no way the two of you were still at work."

Percy rested against the vending machine while it didn't work. Was there a vending machine in this world that did. "We were at drinks." Percy finally admitted. One of their cokes spit out, but the other was stuck.

Frank just looked at him. "Dude."

"I know!" Percy protested, not making eye contact. "It's just been a few times."

"Uh huh." Frank said as they went back to the waiting room. "Just, don't be dumb. I mean, I know it's too late for that, but-"

Percy rolled his eyes, hitting him lightly on the shoulder. Frank laughed, pushing him back, the girls rolling their eyes when they saw them.

a/n: Hey! Happy Tuesday, hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Review and let me know what you thought!

-a