Character A's little sibling wants to meet a celebrity for Christmas, and Character B is said celebrity
Percy can honestly say that he didn't think this would end up happening.
When he had sent her a message, it had been done absentmindedly, fully expecting it to be ignored. He's well aware that celebrities don't respond to people like him, but it was Christmas, Estelle was on his last nerve, and he figured that he could at least try.
Somehow, all of that ends with him meeting up with a super hot Hollywood actress.
As Percy holds Estelle's hand, who can't stop bouncing excitedly, he thinks back to that moment. Estelle's dramatic cry of meeting the princess in the live action remake of Barbie and the Twelve Dancing Princesses had gotten to the point that he decided he was done and took things into his own hands.
It went something like him sending her, hey so my little sister is being annoying about the barbie movie and won't shut up so can you come meet her so I can get a moment of peace?
When she responded, yeah sure when and where, he thinks he may have had a heart attack. It was surreal, setting up a mini meet and greet through instagram dms of all things, but it worked well enough because here he was, looking out for Annabeth.
"Where's the princess!" Estelle demands, and Percy wants to bang his head into a wall. She's practically screaming, and she's pulling on his arm so arm that it may fall off.
"I don't know," he tells her.
"Find her."
"Estelle. I don't know where she is. Relax."
"I want to see her now!" Estelle is only five years old so it's understandable that she's so annoying. Percy loves his baby sister dearly, but sometimes he questions why is mother had a baby so many years after him.
"The movie isn't even that good. She wasn't even a convincing princess."
Estelle stomps. "Yes she is!"
Percy snorts. "Yeah, okay."
It's then that he feels hot breath on his ear, and he freezes, well aware that he's just made a very dire mistake.
"Not a convincing princess?" someone whispers into his ear, a hint of humor in their voice. "You offend me."
Percy whips around, and of course, there she is in all her glory.
He finds Annabeth Chase staring at him with eyes that look much more vibrant in person. She looks small and shy, and Percy thinks she would be the perfect person to hug in the cold.
He thinks she sure looks like a princess with the way her hair falls in old ringlets down her back, and her eyes shimmer in the sunlight. She's not even dressed as a princess right now, but he could have been fooled.
"I didn't mean—"
"Sure you didn't." Annabeth tightens her coat around herself, clearly cold, and she leans down to say hello to his sister. "You must be Estelle!"
Estelle gives her a wide grin, and Percy doesn't think he's ever seen her so happy before. "I am!"
"You look like a princess," Annabeth tells her, bopping her on the nose gently. "You could be one of my sisters!"
Estelle's eyes go wide. "You think so?"
"Of course I do, silly," and wow, even her voice is elegant. Percy's starting to think that maybe she really is a princess. He considers bowing to her.
"My brother says he's your friend and that's how he got you here," she says, crossing her arms. Percy shoots his sister a look as she continues saying, "Is that true? My brother is a loser so I think he's lying."
"You don't think your brother is cool?"
"Not to be friends with you," Estelle says proudly.
"But I think he's super cool! You're super lucky to have him as a brother."
Percy can see the change in Estelle's demeanor having just got told that her brother is cool. Percy knows full and well that she's about to suck up to him because her idol told her to, and that's what children do. It makes him want to stick his tongue out at her as though saying told you so, and he would have if Annabeth wasn't standing right there to see it.
"I'm kidding," Estelle swears. "I play with him all the time," which is a blatant lie.
When Estelle is no longer looking, Annabeth gives him a wink and mouths you're welcome. Percy feels his face turn red because despite not loving the Barbie movie, he's still all over everything else she's been in, which is a lot. She's practically royalty, and she's talking to him. He's breathing the same air as her.
At some point, they migrate over to a set of chairs outside the park they're in. It's pretty cold with the snow falling around them, but Estelle is vibrating with excitement to the point that he wouldn't be surprised if she generated her own heat. Percy sits to the side, letting his sister have her moment. As entranced as he feels by the celebrity sitting in front of him, he knows that he probably shouldn't show it, risking further teasing from both parties.
Annabeth's super kind, he learns quickly. She laughs with her whole being and brightens up the room with her smile. She tells amazing stories about the fantasy, and Estelle listens intently. She's so young that she doesn't entirely realize that she's not a real princess, and it warms Percy's heart.
(And from the look Annabeth gives him, it warms hers too.)
It feels like hours that they're sitting there before Percy decides they've had enough. As pleasant as Annabeth's been for his sanity, he knows she's probably getting tired herself.
"I think it's time to say goodbye, Stella."
And, of course, this cues the meltdown.
"No."
Percy sighs. "We need to go home soon."
"I don't want to."
Percy's temper is beginning to shorten again, and he can tense the temper tantrum that's about to occur. It's just a question of which sibling is going to start it at this point.
"We can't leave Princess Genevieve here without a way to get home!"
Percy almost laughs in his little sister's face because Annabeth is not a Genevieve by any means. Genevieve is a ridiculous name for a princess anyways. Annabeth is much nicer for a princess. "I'm sure Princess Genevieve has her own ride home."
"This is why you don't have a girlfriend!" Estelle loudly blurts. "You never offer girls rides home!"
Annabeth chokes on air, and Percy considers jumping into the Hudson river and swimming away.
"I don't want a girlfriend anyways, so good," he says, tugging her hand into his.
"If you were a nice person, then maybe Princess Genevieve would've been your girlfriend."
"They don't date peasants like us. Come on."
"Can we please take her home?" Estelle asks.
Percy sighs, dropping her hand. "Ask her yourself."
He genuinely expects Annabeth to say no, so when his sister walks right on up to Annabeth and stares up at her, he is blatantly shocked as she says, "I would love to."
It becomes very obvious that Percy ends up losing the fight against a five-year-old as he's driving the car with Annabeth in the passenger seat and Estelle in her car seat in the back. Estelle's continuously asking questions, and Percy is somewhat mortified because as time went on, Estelle gets more and more daring with what she asks.
Everything is mainly along the lines of having a boyfriend and pointed coughs in Percy's direction. Each time, Annabeth would give him a knowing smile and he'd do everything to look anywhere but at her.
Percy can't be thankful enough when they make it to his mom's apartment, and he gets to kick Estelle out of the car. She gives a heartfelt goodbye to Annabeth and a glare at Percy before she's out the door. It leaves him and Annabeth alone in the car, a silence settling between them.
They've been together for at least a couple of hours, but they haven't truly interacted until now, so he's at a loss as to what to do. It's as though he's blacked out during the last few hours, and maybe even the last few weeks, because last he remembers, he was just sitting on the couch doing nothing, and now Annabeth Chase is sitting in his car, looking at him expectantly.
Finally, she says, "Are you going to look at me, or…"
Percy turns his head like a deer in headlights. "I'm sorry."
"You look like you're about to pass out."
"I might. This is kind of weird."
"What is?"
"Having you in my car."
"Why?"
"You're a celebrity."
She smirks at him. "Do I intimidate you?"
"Uh, yes."
"Well, don't be intimidated."
"I'm sorry, but you're very famous. I will be intimidated, and you will let me be."
"I mean, I get that, but there's really no reason to be intimidated. The other day, I walked past a mirror and actually got excited to meet a celebrity."
"What? You just forgot your own identity?"
She smiles. "Something like that."
Percy laughs, slightly more at ease. He's at least able to look her in the eyes now. She looks back at him and leans against the seat with her shoulder.
"Percy," she teases. "You can talk to me."
"Believe me, I'm trying."
Annabeth rolls her eyes fondly. "Do you know why I'm here?"
"For my sister."
"It wasn't really for her."
Percy frowns, confused. "But you said…"
"I know what I said. The reason I even opened the message wasn't because of her, though."
Percy bites his lower lip nervously because the mood in the car has suddenly changed, and he's certain he doesn't have tinted windows.
"I opened it because I thought you were hot."
Percy blinks, a beat passes, and then he bursts out laughing. "You thought I was hot!?"
"You are! I thought maybe it would be fun!"
"You live in LA with a ton of super rich and famous people, and you come after me? The guy that can barely afford his own apartment?"
"I mean… it doesn't really matter if you can't afford it because I can. But that's only if, like, this actually goes anywhere."
"Are you always this forward?"
"Absolutely not, but you couldn't even look me in the eyes, and I have to leave soon."
"So you're saying you want to, what? Marry me?"
"Exactly," she deadpans.
"Woah, baby, I hardly know you! How could I marry you!"
"Hilarious."
"It was, wasn't it?"
"My point is," she says pointedly, "I like you and would want to see you again. Without a child there."
Percy's brain is going bonkers right now because Annabeth Chase just asked him out. It's even crazier because he's thinking of saying yes. He tries to withstand, because he knows that he'll never fit in with everything she's surrounded by, but something tells him that she won't mind, so he gives in.
"Fine," he says playfully. "I guess I'll take you on a date."
"Oh shut up. I've been around Estelle all day telling me about how much her brother wants me to date him."
"I didn't say that, but to be fair, she's not wrong."
Annabeth shoots him a surprised look. "You're not as shy as I thought."
"Neither are you," he counters, and it's true. Annabeth has been making the first moves, and it's different than what he usually sees. The thing is, he can tell this is exactly the way Annabeth is, and he's determined to switch things up for her.
"Hey princess," he says. "I feel like there should be a true love's kiss before people go on a date, don't you think?"
"Is that what this is? True love?"
"Isn't it? You live in a fairytale."
"I guess we'll just have to find out, then."
Percy pouts and whispers, "Bummer," and then he's pulling her in for a sweet kiss. It's not at all him, and he's sure this is no longer at all her either, but it feels right to both of them. Then, Annabeth bites his bottom lip, lets out a breathtaking whimper, and Percy deepens the kiss.
"These windows aren't tinted," Percy jokingly breathes out against her when she unbuckles her seatbelt.
"That's okay," she replies, smiling into the kiss. "I'm not one to be shy."
again, didn't have time to read it over so i'm sorry ahead of time if it's sloppy
