What birthday present can you get for the boy you're kind of in love with, and he knows it and likes you back, but it's been almost a month and he hasn't asked you out? Annabeth had been asking herself that for the past few days and her time was running out. Percy's birthday was getting close and she still did not have even a remote idea of what to get him. She wasn't sure how many hours she had spent after work at the Spectrum trying to find the perfect present for him: clothes felt too informal, a skateboard or surfboard didn't feel right, there was no point in giving him a video game since he didn't have a console and she knew he wouldn't take it well if she got him a console. Anything baking related was out of the question unless she wanted him to spend his birthday in the ER with a severe case of food poisoning. The few things Percy had mentioned in passing that he wanted was all stuff Jason or his mom had already gotten for him, at least that's what Jason had told her after she went to him for help.

"He'll love anything you give him," Jason had said but Annabeth was still dubious.

She had been walking around Target for almost an hour when she saw the bag of blue Hershey Kisses and got an idea. She grabbed the bag and put it in her cart and went back to walking around Target, this time with a look of determination, getting a few more items before going back to the stores outside.

"This is like a creepy package," Annabeth said later that night while gathering the stuff on the dinner table. "He's going to think I'm a creepy stalker."

"Nah." Piper took a sip of her tea. "He's going to think this is super romantic." She tried to take one of the loose kisses on the table and Annabeth slapped her hand away. "The thing about romance is it's romantic if you like the person doing the gesture, like how I love Jason's morning texts, but if someone like Dylan sends me a good morning text every morning I would have blocked him already."

"Douchebag Dylan from CVS?" Annabeth asked.

"Yeah, that asshole." Piper managed to steal a chocolate from the table. "But Percy is crazy about you so he's going to love this."

Annabeth looked at everything on the table, it was a collection of random stuff: from Percy's favorite candy to a shirt with a terrible pun she was sure Percy had told her at some point.

"I like these." Piper picked up the blue-mirrored aviator sunglasses, "But doesn't he already have a similar pair?"

"He lost them surfing a few days ago and I think and hope he hasn't gotten new ones."

"Sucks for him." She tried on the sunglasses. "I love aviator glasses but unfortunately..."

"The nose things get stuck in your hair," Annabeth said at the same time as Piper. "You've only said that, I don't know, like every time you see this type of sunglasses."

Piper took the glasses off. "It's a tragedy, Annabeth! Do you know how hot I look in these glasses!?"

"You do realize I have a mess of curls on my head, right? If someone knows about tragedy it's me, everything gets stuck in my hair." Annabeth pointed at the sunglasses in her friend's hand. "Those especially."

Piper gasped in fake surprise. "Wait! You have curly hair!? Are you shitting me!?" She put the glasses down so she could hold her forehead with her hands. "I've never noticed! It's not like you're a freaking golden retriever, leaving hair fucking everywhere. I can't believe I haven't noticed the curly blonde hairs that are part of this house now."

"Hahaha, very funny McLean." Annabeth started to gently wrap the sunglasses. "Do I need to remind you that you have more hair than me and 99% of it ends up in the bathroom sink we share."

"Latte sheds less hair than you."

"Our neighbor's cat loses less hair than you."

"That was low Chase, he's called Mr. Fluffy for a reason."

"I do know that, Miss Fluffy," Annabeth smirked at her roommate.

"I don't like you to the point that I'm going to the falafel place near Target without you."

"What! No!" Annabeth stood up and started following Piper towards the door. "I'm the reason you know about that place."

"Your cousin is the reason we know about that place." Piper plucked Annabeth's keys from the hook on the wall and handed them to her. "But fine, I guess you can come with me."

Annabeth grabbed the keys from Piper's hand. "You are literally giving me my car keys, asshole, don't sound like a saint, you want me to drive you."

Piper started walking towards Annabeth's car. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"It still shocks me to see you drink coffee," Annabeth said while Percy drank from a yellow Cafe Mimosa mug. They were finishing Sunday brunch at a little French style restaurant downtown after she'd woken up to his texts asking if she wanted to meet him later that day.

"And I still don't understand how you haven't gone into diabetic shock from all the sugar you put in yours."

Annabeth peaked at his coffee and wrinkled her nose, making him laugh. Percy drinking black coffee was something Annabeth hadn't seen coming, she'd assumed he loved sugar, he worked at a chocolate store after all, and he did have a weak spot for cookies. Yet when they had coffee in to-go mugs and they couldn't tell which was which, Percy usually gagged when he took sips of her coffee by accident.

"It's not that sugary."

Percy stared at her. "A diabetic would die if they took a sip of your coffee."

"Well, according to my annual physical, my blood sugar is perfectly okay, thank you very much." Annabeth took a sip of her coffee to prove her point and Percy shook his head, a fond smile displayed on his face.

"You certainly are something, Annabeth Chase." He grinned at her. "Not what I expected, in the best way possible."

"You mean I'm not a heartless cold bitch? Because that's what they call me at work, actually they call me Elsa, but same thing."

Percy furrowed his eyebrows. "What? Why!? You cold-hearted? Do they even know you?"

"You're not the only one with a resting bitch face, Perce." Annabeth stole a piece of his bacon. "Plus, I take work really seriously."

"I know that, I've heard you talk on the phone to coworkers and your bosses, but I also know that if they took a moment to properly talk to you they would realize how amazing you are." Percy grabbed her hand and started playing with it. "But you also have a killer glare, I'm not going to lie about that."

"Thank you, I'm really proud of it."

Percy snorted. "You're amazing, do you know that?"

"I know, I'm the best," she said playfully as she raised her left shoulder towards her face in a fake posy manner, making Percy laugh.

"And you are so humble, I feel so bad about my selfish self." Percy had perfected a tone of voice that is so flat you're never sure if he's being serious or not, but he adds just a tiny hint of humor to it that, if you know him, you know he was joking.

"I actually won an award for being so humble." Annabeth played along.

"Mmm, did you?"

"Yeah, it's on a shelf next to all my first place trophies and medals."

"You are such a role model, Annabeth."

"The Dalai Lama keeps telling me that, but I don't like to brag."

Percy had managed to keep a perfect poker face until that moment when he burst out laughing. He rested his forehead against their still interlocked hands. "I'm so full."

"You ate your food and part of mine plus you asked for a side of bacon, I'm surprised you're not throwing up."

"I want some ice cream."

"What the fuck are you."

"I'm a growing boy."

"You're turning twenty-six in five days, Percy, I don't know how to break the news to you but you stopped growing a few years ago." Percy opened his mouth to say something but before he could Annabeth interrupted him. "If you make a fucking alexa-despacito joke I'm leaving, Piper and Leo don't stop saying it and you are not joining the club."

"Joy killer." Percy stuck his tongue out at her and she wrinkled her nose at him, smiling when she felt him tap her nose. "Do you want to go to the beach for a little bit? I don't have to be at work for a few more hours."

"Sure, do you want to go to the pier and get some ice cream?"

"Actually can we take the trolley to North Beach? It's going to be a little less crowded than the pier." Percy's posture had changed a little bit, instead of the relaxed, carefree vibe he had been giving her moments ago, she could see a bit of tension in his shoulders and jaw. "There's something I've been wanting to tell you but I wasn't sure how."

Annabeth gulped a little nervous, Percy wasn't blushing and his face had become serious, a love confession wasn't on the table. For the first time in a while she wasn't sure what to expect and that was making her anxious, knowing he was going to talk about something serious. Millions of ideas started racing through her mind: he was going to move, he was sick, his grandma was sick and they were going to move out of the state, Blue Truffle was going out of business. He probably saw how much his words had affected her and he gently took her hand to his lips.

"It's not something bad, I promise, it's just something I want you, no, I need you to know, it's… important for me that you know this."

Annabeth looked at his sea green eyes, he was nervous too but trying to not to show it. She could hear her heartbeat going crazy in her chest, but her hand was still resting against his lips and that was calming her a little.

"Okay."

"I have depression," Percy finally said and Annabeth tried to suppress a gasp. They were sitting on the sand, facing the ocean. Percy had been quiet the whole ride to the beach, lost in his thoughts and Annabeth had let him, she knew he was trying to find the words for whatever he needed to tell her. She was still feeling nervous, but Percy hadn't let go of her hand during the trolley ride and while he had guided them down the beach trying to find a quietish spot. He only let go of her hand when they sat down, her with her legs stretched and him with his legs crossed.

"It's something I've been suffering with since I was young and I didn't even know what depression was." Annabeth opened her mouth, but Percy gave her a sad smile before she could figure what to say and he kept talking. "I'm better now, I go to therapy and my therapist and I agreed a while ago that I don't need meds anymore but there were two moments in my life that I was not at…my best, I guess."

He looked at his hands and intertwined them before starting to twist them. It took a few moments for him to speak and when he did, his voice was firm and a little emotionless, like if he was trying his best not to show how much it had affected him. "I had my first serious relationship in my senior year, her name was Bailey, she was the first person I ever said I love you to, and well she was also my first in other aspects." The sad chuckled gave Annabeth an idea of what first he was talking about. "We started dating in November after I won my swim competition, it was something out of a movie, I guess, I ran to her and kissed her in front of everyone and I felt like the luckiest guy alive and I was, for a while, until my freshman year of college."

"That's when you dropped out," Annabeth said quietly, Percy had told her once that he had tried college but it hadn't been what he wanted in life.

"Both Bailey and I went to UCLA, I was majoring in marine biology but like I told you, as much as I love everything related to the ocean, I was not enjoying it, the stress was terrible, my ADHD was acting up like crazy in classes. I couldn't focus, I couldn't study, my swimming scholarship was sucking so much energy from me and things with Bailey were not going well." He stopped twisting his hands and started playing with the sand next to him. "San Clemente High School was a relatively small school and then we were out in the big city and I dunno, we started growing distant. College was taking a toll on us, meeting new people, and then I dropped out and a few weeks later I caught Bailey cheating on me."

Annabeth bit her tongue trying not to yell and curse at Bailey, she had been feeling a little jealous about her but now she wanted to scream, how could someone cheat on Percy!? This guy, who was absolutely wonderful and amazing and sweet and charming and loyal, how could someone do that to him? Percy looked at her and could probably read her emotions because he squeezed her arm.

"Thank you," he said. "I'm fine now, so much better, but after that, I started going downhill and the worst thing is that I didn't realize it. I started having bad thoughts, even before Bailey I was playing at the edge of an abyss and after her cheating, well, it was all the push I needed to fall into it. Sometimes I would get drunk, as much as I disliked the taste of alcohol it was better focusing on that than on the mess my brain was in, I also started having one night stands and that's how I met Ben."

Annabeth raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Chocolate hating Ben?"

Percy chuckled and smiled gratefully at her. "That's the one."

"So, I'm guessing him not liking chocolate wasn't the reason why you guys didn't work out."

He shook his head. "If only things had been that simple."

Percy had said he had two bad moments in his life, Bailey cheating on him had been one and that only meant Ben was related to the other one. Annabeth felt a pang in her chest, even if Percy had told her he was better now her heart was hurting over how much he had suffered.

"I fell for him, hard." Percy took a deep breath. "I also want you to know that Ben isn't a bad person, he was caring and loving and supporting even if he hated everything related to my job." Percy smiled sadly, probably remembering happy memories with him. "But when your head isn't in a good place…what started as an amazing relationship started to become a toxic one and when Ben realized that, he did what was the best for him."

Percy took a deep breath and closed his eyes and Annabeth realized what he was trying to say. "He broke up with you."

"Now that years have passed and I'm in a better place mentally I can understand why he did it. I don't blame him at all and I wish things could have ended on a better note but back then…I didn't take it well and not long after that I reached the bottom of the abyss."

Annabeth felt a lump in her throat, Percy had suffered so much to become the man he was today and she wanted to protect him from all pain, she knew it was stupid and she could never do it, nobody could protect someone from themselves. "I'm so sorry, Percy," she whispered.

Percy gave her a humorless laugh, he'd finally stopped playing with the sand and his hands were resting on top of his knees. "Not your fault."

"I know." She hesitantly laid her right hand on top of his left one, when he didn't pull away she kept talking. "But I'm still sorry you had to go through that."

"I am too, but, those experiences are what made me the person I am today, they were absolutely painful but I've learned from my mistakes, I'm still learning from them, but also." He looked at their touching hands, he slowly intertwined them. "That's why I'm scared."

"Of me?" Annabeth asked gently.

"I like you, Annabeth, so much," he said and she gasped at his words, she had been waiting for them for so long, she couldn't believe she was finally hearing them.

Percy looked at her and she could read every emotion on his face, for the first time he was an open book to her. "You are the most brilliant and intelligent person I have ever met, god, you shine in a way I never thought a person could. You are beautiful and determined and goofy and smart and hardworking, and you love your friends with all your heart and you make me so incredibly happy that it scares me how much I like you."

And then Annabeth finally understood. "And that's why you're taking things slow with me."

His thumb caressed her skin. "I'm sorry, I know this frustrates you."

Annabeth put her other hand on top of their interlocked hands. "I won't lie, it's been really frustrating but I also didn't understand what was going on with you, but I understand it now." She spoke with such determination and passion that it surprised her. "I'm so grateful you trusted me with this, I like you too, a lot, and if there's one thing my heart and my head are telling me it's that you are worth waiting for, so I'm going to keep waiting for you."

Percy's face moved closer to her but he quickly stopped himself, the movement had been so subtle that Annabeth would have missed it if she wasn't intensely looking at him. She could see the tension in his jaw, but it was his eyes that said it all. He wanted to kiss her, badly, and it was killing him not to do it, and it was killing her too. Annabeth knew why he wasn't leaning forward to touch her lips though, it was the same reason she wasn't pulling him towards her. After his confession, they both knew it wasn't the right moment, that as much as they wanted it, it wouldn't be right to start their relationship at that moment. But the electricity around them and the way Percy was squeezing her hand was like a promise to Annabeth, a promise made of just one unspoken word: soon.

"How soon is soon?" Piper asked. She was laying on Annabeth's bed while Annabeth put her clean laundry in her wardrobe.

"I don't know," Annabeth grabbed her clean bras and started putting them away. "I hope before summer ends." Piper hissed and made a face at her. "Summer's not that far away!"

"I'm not making this face because of that, I'm making this face because those are the most boring bras I have ever seen." Piper grabbed some of the bras left in the laundry basket, they were simple white, nude and black bras and Annabeth had never had a problem with them. Her roommate waved them around Annabeth's face. "What is this, Chase? You're twenty-six not sixty-two!"

"They're comfortable."

"Babe, you have small boobs, almost all the bras are made comfortable for you, hell, you can even get away without wearing one. Talk to me when you're a 38C and you want to find cute bras," Piper said and Annabeth snatched her bras back from her friend's hand. "I was hoping soon was before the week ends but now I'm hoping it isn't before I take you shopping for cute bras."

"I'm not buying new bras just for Percy!" Annabeth exclaimed, her cheeks burned red as her brain started playing with the idea of her wearing lacy underwear and his hands reaching towards her... she cleared her throat before saying. "Plus it's not like I'm going to jump in his bed the moment he finally kisses me."

"You're right, you can always jump in your bed together." Piper wiggled her eyebrows and Annabeth threw a sock at her. "Okay but like, you don't necessarily need to buy cute underwear for a guy, I started buying sexy underwear because it makes me feel good, the fact that Percy is going to eventually see you in it is just a bonus...for him."

"You are so stupi-are you seriously browsing Victoria's Secret right now!?" Annabeth said to her friend who was currently using her phone to look for bras.

"I'm doing you a favor."

"I'm not going to buy bras."

"That's okay, I can get them for you, I know your credit card number after all," Piper said simply and Annabeth glared at her.

"I'm gonna move out."

"Enjoy living off frozen food and fast food chains!" Piper blew her a kiss and Annabeth flipped her off, Annabeth kept putting her clothes away while Piper still used her phone, Annabeth wasn't sure if Piper was going to actually buy her the clothes or not, with Piper you could never be sure.

"I've already started planning our costumes for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party." Piper put down her phone on the bed and looked at Annabeth.

"It's August."

"So?"

"You usually start planning them in September."

"That was when there were five of us, now there's seven, plus I also have to plan Jason and my costumes for dad's Halloween party."

Annabeth rolled her eyes at her friend, Piper was obsessed with Halloween and she usually started preparing for the month of October in September, she usually had the best costumes and her friends let her plan theirs. "I'm going downstairs for food," Annabeth said and Piper got up from the bed to follow her. "Let me guess, couples costumes?"

"Think Atlantis," Piper said while going down the stairs.

"Nice, you're going to rock Kida's white hair. Jason's too muscular for Milo, though."

"It's okay, at least he accepted to not have a haircut until after the party."

"Damn," Annabeth opened the fridge and started getting out the ingredients for her toast. "That's love."

"God, I know, I love him," Piper said dreamily. "But that's not what I wanted to talk about, it's about your costume."

"I'm not going to your dad's party." Annabeth started cutting slices of cucumber.

"I love how much you pay attention to me, I was talking about your costume for Disney's Halloween party."

"Well, you also started talking about your dad's party so…" Annabeth started spreading cream cheese on her bread. "Okay, so what's my costume going to be then?"

"Princess Aurora!" Piper said proudly.

"Because I have curly blonde hair and I'm tall?" Annabeth looked at her friend. "Super original, never heard that before, I hope your brain didn't die from thinking so hard about it." Annabeth took a bite of her toast, tried not to throw up, and put the food in the garbage.

"That's what you get for being a sarcastic little shit." Piper went to the fridge and took out the sourdough bread. "And you always get the wrong bread for this, you would think you'd have learned your lesson by now."

"Har, har."

Piper started making them toast and kept talking. "And I know Aurora's not that original, but Aurora wearing Phillips clothes? Let's think about that."

"Oh," Annabeth said, "I like that."

"Of course you do, I'm a freaking genius." Piper gave her the toast. "Do you think Percy would like to be the Briar Rose to your Philip?" Annabeth took a bit of her snack and raised an eyebrow. "I mean brown pants, black t-shirt, and a grey sweater."

"Shit, he'd look hot."

Piper winked at her. "You're welcome."

"Wait, what's your costume going to be?

Piper raised her arms and flexed them. "Well, Gaston, of course."

"Oh, hell yeah."

Annabeth yawned while making her coffee, she'd stayed awake till almost three in the morning talking with Percy, she had called him the moment the clock had hit midnight to wish him a happy birthday and they stayed on the phone till she literally fell asleep. When her alarm woke her up a few hours later, she could barely keep her eyes open and she had a large iced Dunkin Donuts coffee in her hand almost all morning at work waiting till the sugar rush and caffeine kicked in, she was glad she had only worked half a day, she wasn't sure she could have made it to a full day work day of blueprints and meetings. She was debating on drinking her coffee or forgetting about it and taking a nap, Percy's birthday dinner wasn't until later that night and he was supposed to spend the day with his family.

She was settled on taking a nap when Latte jumped from his bed and started barking at the door, by the way he was sticking his tongue out and running in circles she knew the person who was coming to her house was someone he loved and he only reacted that way for two people. Annabeth opened the front door to find Percy Jackson, hand up in the air and a few inches away from the doorbell. The moment he saw Annabeth his face broke out in a blinding grin that made Annabeth's stomach become a butterfly flying arena. Before she could say anything Latte ran to Percy and started jumping at his feet begging for attention.

"Well someone's happy to see me," he said and knelt so he could pet Latte while the dog tried his best to cover Percy's face with drool.

"He's not the only one," Annabeth said and the way Percy smiled at her like if she was the best thing that had happened to him, made her knees go weak. "Come in."

He stood up and wrapped her in his arms the moment he walked through the door. "Happy Birthday," Annabeth whispered against his ear, Percy's reply was to hug her tighter, making her laugh. "I thought you were celebrating with your family," she said once they parted.

"I was." Instead of taking off his shoes and walking towards the living room, like he did every time he visited he went towards the kitchen island and sat on one of the stools, his way to let her know this was going to be a short visit. "We all had brunch at my parents' place, mom even opened Blue Truffle late which is a clear sign that I'm her favorite." He said teasingly. "But now she's back at work and my grandma took Tellie to play bingo."

Annabeth raised an eyebrow and leaned against the kitchen wall. "Your eight-year-old sister is spending her Saturday afternoon playing Bingo?"

Percy shrugged. "Her fate was sealed the moment my mom gave her an old lady's name." His eyes widening. "Just don't tell my grandma I said that she almost didn't forgive me last time, she's really proud of her name."

"I mean, you're not wrong there," Annabeth mumbled and in a more teasing tone added. "But you didn't want to join them!? And miss all the fun of bingo with all ladies?"

"I know right? I was really tempted to spend my birthday surrounded by my grandma's friends pinching my cheeks and telling me how much I've grown, but sadly I had to let that opportunity pass." He winked at her. "And come here to ask for a partner in crime to come with me on an adventure."

"You want Latte as your partner in crime?" She asked innocently and Percy shook his head.

"Unfortunately, I don't think Latte can go to where I'm planning to go next."

"And that is?"

Percy stood up from the stool and walked towards her. "You see, I recently became friends with some people, and this group of friends have a tradition." He was standing in front of her, leaning his body towards her and in an exaggerated whisper added. "They like to spend their birthdays at Disneyland." He stopped and stood straight again. "Actually scratch that, they love to spend time at the parks but let's focus on the tradition."

Annabeth snorted at his words. "Do they?"

"Yeah, this group is Disney obsessed, like it's kind of weird." She slapped his arm playfully, making him laugh. "But I like this kind of weird, and I like their tradition so I think I want to honor it."

Annabeth gasped excitedly. "Do you want to go to Disneyland!? Do you have a complimentary ticket from Hazel or Frank? I can text them and ask if they can sign you in, or I can buy your ticket! It could be part of your birthday present!" She said rapidly, excitement bursting from her words.

"Woah, woah, calm down." Percy gently held her arms trying to calm her down, his voice light and happy. "Jeez, I feel like the next thing I'm going to tell you is going to give you a heart attack."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm going to treat myself for my birthday, I'm getting an annual pass." He said and Annabeth squealed making him laugh. "Oh my god, I don't think I've ever seen you this happy."

"This means I can drag you to the parks whenever I want!"

"Yes, but now I'm gonna drag you to the parks with me so we can get my annual pass."

Annabeth started jumping. "I'm so excited, let's go, let's go." She started grabbing his arm and pulling him towards the door, he was laughing so hard and it was only making her happier.

"Damn, it looks like you're the one getting the annual pass."

"I can buy you the max pass to add your annual pass as a birthday present." Annabeth was about to open the front door and stopped. "Wait, your birthday present."

"You don't have to get me anything, seriously, just spending the day with you is more than enough."

"No, no, I already have a present for you." She pointed to the table in the living room where a box was resting. "Like, I want you to open it now but also…Disneyland."

Percy snorted. "I can open it tonight if you want to."

"I kind of want you to open it now," Annabeth said, biting her lip. "I guess I can drive and you can open it? But then again I'm tired."

"Oh shit, I slept in and you had to wake up early for work."

"No, it's okay, I got it, I can drive and make a detour to Dunkin Donuts so you can open your present and you drive on the way back."

Percy nodded. "Sounds like a plan." He took his car keys from his pockets. "Do you want to drive my jeep?"

Annabeth smiled at him before taking the keys from his hands. "Dah!" She started to walk outside when she realized she was still wearing her work clothes and she looked at him sheepishly. "Actually, just let me change really quick."

"Okay, I so need to record this," Annabeth took out her phone from her pocket once they were next in line to get into the park. "Your first time using your annual pass."

"You are terrible," he said but there was a smile on his face, the people in front of them walked into the park and it was their turn.

Annabeth greeted the cast member who scanned her pass and walked over the turnstile. "This is his first time using his annual pass and it's his birthday." she said to the nice old lady whose tag read 'Gabrielle' and started recording with her phone.

"Oh, is it? Well then, happy birthday!" She grabbed Percy's pass and smiled at him. "I'm going to need to take a quick picture for the system and then you're good to go." She quickly took a picture of Percy. "Enjoy your day, Prince Percy."

"And you're in!" Annabeth celebrated once he walked in, Percy raised his arm in celebration and made a funny face towards her phone. "And she called you prince! I've never heard them call a guy prince before!"

"You are terrible, did you know that?"

"You still like me either way," she said without thinking while putting her phone away, when he didn't say anything in response she looked up at him ready to apologize but he was looking at her with an intensity that made her forget how to breathe.

"I do, a lot." He said and walked towards her, offering his hand to her. "Shall we go, my princess?" He said in a terrible British accent.

She took his hand and in the poshest voice she could muster, said. "Lead the way, your Highness."

Walking hand in hand down Main Street was making Annabeth happy in a way she couldn't explain. She and Percy hadn't become a couple yet, they hadn't even kissed, but since that day at the beach they had become closer than they were before. And now, with their interlocked hands happily swinging between them, she was feeling a calm she never knew it was possible, even more so with the way every nerve in her body reacted to his touch, she was feeling happy and content. Not that she hadn't felt happy before, but the way she felt with Percy was something she wasn't sure how to explain. It was like watching the sunset over the mountains for the first time in a National Park, or the first time you ever jumped into a lake or taking the first sip of hot chocolate on the first cold day of the season. It was a feeling you didn't know could exist until you lived it.

"We need to get your ears," Annabeth said suddenly. "We can't have you celebrating your birthday here and not get you some ears."

"I don't need ears," Percy said while she pulled him back towards the start of Main Street so they could go into the Emporium.

"I'm getting you ears, Percy, it's your birthday and I don't make the rules."

"You kind of make the rules, and you already paid for my max pass and let's not forget that amazing birthday care package you made me."

Annabeth looked at him. "I think Sorcerer Mickey Ears would look amazing on you." They walked into the store and Annabeth started looking at the Mickey ears.

"Annabeth, you've already spent so much…" Percy started to say and Annabeth put her finger on his lips.

"It's your birthday, you are my…" She wasn't sure how to refer to him, friend didn't cover how she felt about him but he wasn't her boyfriend yet. "You are someone I deeply care about and I like to spoil the people I care about, even more on their birthdays, believe me when I say this, I can afford this and I want to do this for you."

Percy was looking intently at her, trying to find something in her eyes and he did because he sighed and said. "Okay, you win but if you buy me ears then I'm buying you ears."

"I don't nee-" She started to say but Percy put his finger to her lips.

"I'm the birthday boy, I make the rules." He said dryly and she rolled her eyes at him.

"Fine, you win."

"Do you want to do one last ride before heading back?" They were sitting on a bench on Buena Vista Street, Annabeth eating a Mickey Ice Cream Bar while Percy devoured a churro. The park was full, a combination of it being summer and the weekend, and most of the fast passes were gone and the ones left were too late since they had to leave in less than an hour for his birthday dinner. Percy looked at her, his mouth full from the last bite of churro he was still chewing and he looked so cute and hilarious with his ears that she took a picture of him. "And this is totally your new contact picture."

It took a few seconds for Percy to swallow before he could reply. "That was uncalled for Chase."

"I don't know what you're talking about." She finished setting the picture to his contact on her phone and opened the Disney app to see what rides had the least waiting time.

"I'm going to get back at you."

"You can try but you won't succeed." She stuck her tongue out at him. "You know it's a busy day when The Jungle Cruise has a wait time of 40 minutes."

"What about the Mickey wheel?" Percy asked. "How long is the line?"

"Um," Annabeth scrolled on her phone. "Thirty minutes for the normal one and an hour for the swinging ones."

"Let's do the normal ones," Percy said excitedly, he stood up and grabbed Annabeth by her arm and started nudging her to get up.

"Okay, okay! I'm coming, jeez! I didn't know you felt so strongly about the Mickey Wheel."

Running was not allowed in the parks, so Percy power walked his way to Pixar Pier, Annabeth trailing behind him, she would have probably lost him in the crowd if he wasn't holding her hand. Barely moving in the line of the ride was starting to remind her how tired she was and how little she had slept the previous night but Percy was bursting with energy, she was almost sure it had to do with all the sugar they had eaten at the park, she was sure her body was currently running on sugar and caffeine and she just knew she was going to crash really bad once her sugar high ended. She and Percy had fallen into a comfortable silence, she grabbed her phone and started scrolling her social media feeds until it was their turn to get into the cart.

"Have you ever been on this ride before?" Annabeth asked once they started moving and Percy shook his head. He was sitting in front of her and was avoiding looking at her, instead he was nervously looking towards the view of the park. "Percy are you okay? You're not afraid of heights, right?" They had been on a ferris wheel before but it wasn't as tall as this one but then again, he had ridden the Guardians of Galaxy ride a few times already and he seemed to enjoy it.

"It's not that," He said and took a deep breath and finally faced her. "Can I sit next to you?" Annabeth nodded and Percy quickly changed seats. "How many times does this go around?"

"Um, two I think?"

"Okay, I have time then."

"What do you mean?" She asked, confused. Percy took her hands in his and gently guided her so they were facing each other "Perce?"

"The first time I thought about kissing you was at the Spectrum," Percy said and Annabeth's heart started beating at a fast rate, his words spreading hope around her body. "We were on the ferris wheel and you were talking about your dreams, you were somehow glowing with happiness and there was this passion in your voice talking about it and that was the first time I thought about it."

"That you wanted to kiss me?" She asked quietly, afraid to break the moment.

"That there was something special about you. With every word you said I felt this pull towards you, it was like seeing you in a new light, maybe it was the sun on your hair making you glow, but Annabeth, at that moment you took my breath away and I never got it back." He let go of one of her hands and rested his hand against her cheek, she leaned into his touch and she could feel his thumb caressing her skin. "Having you in my life is something I never thought possible, not after my past, and every day I started to fall more and more for you and it scared the crap out of me because I was afraid of having you, fucking up and losing you, so I took my time."

"You took a lot of time," she said hoarsely, trying to keep the tears away. He laughed and rested his forehead against hers.

"I did and I'm sorry, but I wanted to make sure I was in ready, because you're special and wonderful and amazing and you deserved to know about my past before we tried something together and then I was scared of telling you my past, I was scared it would push you away or change your feelings toward me."

"Percy no, that would never make me think less of you." Annabeth kissed the inside of his wrist and moved her hand to touch his forearm. "The opposite, it made me see how strong and brave you are, because you went through hell and you're still one of the kindest people I know, you didn't let your past define you, you fell, true, but you also got up and kept going, but now you don't have to walk alone because I'm here with you."

"I know and that's why-," the wheel stopped moving and Percy looked behind them towards the park, Annabeth followed his gaze. They were at the top of the wheel, in the corner of her mind she realized this was probably their second stop but before she could think too much about it, Percy's eyes locked back on hers. "And that's why I love you." He pulled her towards him and when their lips met, Annabeth could have sworn fireworks went off.

By the time they made it to the restaurant, Percy and Annabeth were over an hour late, their texts to their friends said the traffic was terrible but in reality, they had spent half an hour making out in the Disneyland parking lot and another half an hour making out in the Spectrum parking lot. Their friends were sitting at the outside tables of Urban Seoul sharing appetizers and Leo was the first to notice their presence.

"Look who finally decided to show," Leo said the moment he saw them come closer. "We weren't sure if you guys were going to come at all."

"Yeah, we were about to start eating the birthday cake," Hazel added and stood up to hug Percy. The rest of their friends followed her lead, hugging Percy and wishing him happy birthday, after greeting her friends Annabeth sat down next to Piper and started looking at the menu.

"Okay, so what's the real reason you two were late?" Piper whispered, Annabeth looked at her trying to act as innocent as possible and shrugged. "Cut the lies, Chase, Hazel texted that she was leaving work the same time you texted me about traffic and somehow she still made it a lot faster than you two."

"The parking structure was full and a lot of people were leaving," Annabeth said nonchalantly, trying to keep her poker face. Inside she was dying to tell her everything but she wasn't sure if dinner was the right moment to talk about it. She knew the conversation would have a lot of squealing and loud laughs and maybe she was being a little selfish, but as much as she loved their friends, she wanted to have that conversation with Piper alone, she was her best friend after all.

"Percy you have something on your lips," Hazel said and looked at Annabeth. "Actually, you do too, Annabeth, did you guys eat something on the way here?"

Hazel had asked in the most innocent way, but unfortunately for Annabeth, that question had made Piper curious and she was staring at Percy "That's lipstick." Piper said and then turned to look at Annabeth who was trying her best not to laugh. "That's Annabeth's lipstick." Piper gasped and started hitting Annabeth on her shoulder excitedly. "Holy shit did you guys…?"

"What's going on?" Jason asked confused.

Annabeth looked at Percy, who was sitting on her left, at the head of the table, he was holding back a laugh when he caught her looking at him and raised his eyebrows at her. Annabeth had put the lipstick on after their second make out session, trying to hide the swelling Percy's lips had caused on hers, but Percy had stolen a few kisses during their walk to the restaurant and neither of them had realized her lipstick had ended up on his lips. Annabeth turned to face Piper, who was still tapping her shoulder waiting for a reply, but before she could open her mouth Percy spoke.

"Piper, I would really appreciate it if you'd stop hitting my girlfriend." The table went quiet as if their friends were still processing Percy's words. Annabeth, herself was trying her best not to melt, hearing him say those words for the first time was making butterflies fly in her belly. After what felt minutes, but was probably a couple of seconds, the table broke out in cheers. Annabeth laughed and accepted their friends' congratulations while Percy interlocked their hands and raised them in the air causing more cheer and applause from their friends. She looked at Piper who was smiling so hard at her. She grabbed her friend's hand and gave it a quick squeeze and Piper winked at her, catching what Annabeth was trying to say to her, that she would tell her everything first thing tomorrow.

"Are you sure you have to go to sleep?" Percy whispered against her lips between kisses.

Annabeth gave him one long kiss before pulling away. "If I don't go now we're going to reenact Sleeping Beauty."

"Which part? Because I don't feel like fighting a dragon."

"The one where you kiss me while I'm sleeping."

"Isn't that what wakes her up? So following that logic we should keep kissing."

Annabeth laughed tirelessly and rested her head against the door, they were standing outside, trying and failing to say goodnight for a while now. While their friends ended up going to watch a movie after dinner, Annabeth had called it a night, excluding her dinner, she had survived the day on caffeine and sugar and her body was finally shutting down. Her friends had teased them mercilessly when Percy had also called it a day and offered to drive her home. Their supposed chaste goodnight kiss had turned passionate and then Annabeth had changed their pace to slow lazy kisses. As much as Annabeth wanted to invite Percy into the house so she could keep kissing him and touching him, she was having trouble keeping her eyes open.

"We can keep kissing tomorrow." She moved her hands from his hair to his shoulders.

"And the day after?" Percy's hands were still resting on her lower back, caressing her over her shirt.

"And the day after that." Annabeth closed her eyes and was starting to fall asleep against the door when Percy embraced her and shook her, making her yelp in surprise.

"Come on, babe, stay awake a little bit more, you need to unlock the door and make it to your room."

Annabeth raised an eyebrow at him, but she was feeling absolutely giddy over the pet name. "Babe?"

"Yeah…" His cheeks turned red, he added. "If that's okay with you?"

"I think I'm absolutely fine with it." She stood up on her tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss. "So fine I want to keep kissing you but I need to open the door."

In her sleepy state, it took her a little bit to find her keys in her bag and unlock the front door, making Percy quietly laugh. "Was it a good birthday?" She asked once she managed to open the door.

"The best," he replied sincerely and she smiled at him.

"Good, text me when you get home."

"You're probably going to be sleeping by then, but sure."

"See you tomorrow, Perce."

"See you tomorrow, babe."

Annabeth blew him a kiss before closing the front door and going up the stairs to her room. She was feeling peaceful in a way she had never felt before, her heart was filled with warmth and happiness, she went into her room and about to change into her pj's when she saw a package on her bed. On top of it was a note in what she recognized as Piper's handwriting.

"Hope soon is really soon but in the meantime, work it, baby," She read out loud before focusing on the package, she burst out laughing when she saw it was from Victoria's Secret. Shaking her head at her friends' antics she picked the package up with a smile and left it on her dressing table. That was a whole different type of soon she would have to think about, but for now the faster she went to sleep, the faster she would wake up and kiss Percy again and with a smile that seemed to have been on her face all day, she went to sleep.

This is almost the end! The Epilogue will go up hopefully next Saturday!

Thank you so much for tagging along this story, if you like it please leave reviews!