A/N: Hey guys! Back again with a other update! Hope you enjoy!
Percy wonders if kissing is a thing now. He thinks it might be, but still holds back from making any kind of move to do so when she opens the door.
They've planned another date of sorts, which involves going to a small music cafe where Will is scheduled to play the guitar. They're meeting up with him and Nico (who's already there), so it's kind of like a double date.
"Hey you," he says in what he hopes isn't as awkward of a tone as he imagined it because despite already going on a date with Annabeth, he remains incompetent.
"Hey," she responds cheerfully.
She looks great, as usual, wearing a nice green sweater that he can't help but think she could look better without. He stops that train of thought right there.
She loops her arm through his immediately, as if it's the most natural thing in the world (he won't deny that he loves it) and they go outside to wait for their Uber.
They're just chatting and catching up, but as she tells some story about work, his mind wanders to the way the streetlights glow on her face and just how pink her lips look. He knows what it's like to be kissing them.
He wants to be kissing them.
But they're in the middle of the sidewalk, so he holds back and contents himself with holding her hand or, bumping knees in the car or, basically any other form of contact he can think of.
The music cafe is chill, and even though no one's really looking, he can't help but get giddy over the fact that he has Annabeth by his side. It's like they're a couple, and he's sure anyone who would happen to look over would assume so.
Annabeth orders some drinks for them and Nico, the goth man himself, seems to appear out of the shadows directly in front of him just when he was looking away (at Annabeth).
Percy's not proud of the sound that comes out of his mouth when he sees his roommate standing there.
"Jesus Christ, Nico!"
Nico gives him a look that says you've got to be kidding me and Annabeth returns with the drinks at the same moment, grinning.
"Hey Nico!"
"Hey, Annabeth, how's it going?" Nico replies, the two completely ignoring him as they chat. (He contents himself by sneaking an arm around Annabeth's waist.)
"...and Percy just won't shut up about you," he hears Nico says as he rejoins the conversation. (Putting an arm around Annabeth took mental effort, okay.)
Percy almost chokes on his drink, shooting Nico a betrayed look.
Annabeth pats him on the back as Nico grins. "Thanks buddy," he chokes out.
"No problem man," Nico replies, his tone indicating that this was not new information anyway. "I'm going to check up on Will, he's on soon." And with that he leaves, somehow melting into the shadows again.
"Aww, you talk about me?" Annabeth teases once he's recovered.
Percy pouts. "Shut up."
"Make me," she replies with a challenge in her tone.
He takes it as a cue to lean down and kiss her.
After they part she smiles at him. "I've been waiting for you to do that."
"You could have done It too," Percy counters, but there's no bite behind it.
"Alright then, maybe I will."
And so she kisses him.
-.-
Annabeth tries to keep it together as the night goes on, but every shoulder brush, hand hold, or lean in is slowly killing her.
What she really wants is a nice long, deep kiss that maybe leads to something more. But they're in public and that is not an option. Luckily, the music starts up and she's able to distract her mind from the lack of kissing.
She cheers when Will gets on stage and he's a good enough performer (and guitarist) that he does manage to capture her attention. (But she's still all too aware of Percy's shoulders against hers and his arm around her waist).
"You were definitely one of the best of the night," she tells him when he comes up to them later, Percy echoing her.
Will grins. "Thanks guys!"
Nico is also grinning (quite proudly actually) next to him and she can see their hands entangled. It's honestly the cutest thing ever.
"He was awesome," Nico brags on his boyfriend's behalf, and for the first time since she's met him, she sees Will actually blush. She really is happy for them.
They order a round of drinks to celebrate, but only manage to get halfway through when Will gets carted off by another group of friends. He shoots an apologetic look their way as he and Nico are ushered away.
Annabeth shoots a smile back and a wave, hoping he gets that that they don't mind. At least, she doesn't. Percy's arm is still around her waist with his hand pressed against the curve of her hip. It's not much, but it feels so intentional and she finds herself pushing closer to him even though she's starting to feel hot.
She puts down her almost-finished drink and catches him watching her, his green eyes jumping from her lips that had been touching the glass to her eyes.
Maybe it's the bar lighting, but there's a tint in them that sends shivers through her body. She finds herself kissing him before she realizes. And it's not a sweet kiss either. It's hard and intentional and she has to restrain herself from opening her mouth any further. A slight gasp escapes her mouth as they break away.
Percy's not much better. The hand on her waist is gripping her tightly now and he's breathing harder than before.
"We should move this," he mumbles against her lips and it takes all her might not to kiss him again right there. Not trusting her voice, she nods instead.
They stumble out of the bar, drunk more on each other than the beers, and the chilly air feels like a slap to their face.
It's a bit sobering, but it gives them all the more reason to stay as close to each other as possible for the short walk home.
They don't talk much, Annabeth, for her part, is lost in thought. She feels a rush, a tingle of excitement as they grab an Uber, keeping their hands intertwined and their knees brushing the entire time. It's something she hasn't felt in a very long time and it feels so good to be like this again.
And when Percy looks at her, like she's all he can focus on right now, it just makes her heart beat faster, more shivers running through her body.
When they get to her door, reality hits them and they pause for the first time all night. She can't tell what he's thinking but she sees him hesitate, questioning eyes meeting hers. She understands the unasked question.
Pulling him to her, she backs up against her door and meets his lips halfway. He makes a sound at the force of the kiss, hands once against wrapping around her waist and holding her still.
"You want to come in?" she breathes, breaking away for a second, because she wants more than ever to open her mouth and let him in, but they're still in the hallway and she needs to know if he's cool with it.
The look he gives her, eyes slightly lidded, breathing heavily, the hands around her waist trail down to her hip and pause there with purpose, is the answer she needs.
Fumbling with the lock for the first time since she's moved in, she manages to get them both in. Almost instantly, Percy's on her, lips meeting hers once more and she feels herself finally able to relax into them.
He moves down to her neck and she feels her breath catch.
Resting her fingers on the belt loop of his jeans, she tugs him a little closer causing him to look up at her.
Another questioning glance comes to his face. "You—"
She breaks him off with another kiss, this time opening her mouth to let him in. When they separate, she pants her answer. "Yeah."
"We should move this?" he mumbles against her neck where he's resumed his exploration.
All she can manage is another "Yeah."
-.-
Percy curses a little when he wakes up the next morning to find out it's dangerously close to the time he's supposed to be at work.
Sitting up, the memories of last night flood his brain and he groans when he realizes this remembrance isn't really helping his...growing problem.
Annabeth is sprawled beside him with her blonde hair splayed behind her and a single bare shoulder peeking through the blanket, looking like heaven on Earth, and he can vividly remember what's under the rest of the blanket.
He curses again.
As quietly as he can, he gets out of bed and searches for his clothes thrown around the room and manages to get them all on without waking her up. He grabs his already dying phone and heads to the door, hesitating when he looks back at her peaceful sleeping form.
Why did they have to do this on a Thursday night?
He strongly debates calling off work when she shifts and he catches a glimpse of her bare leg.
But he has rent and bills to pay, and he needs this paycheck to be a good one, so with the heaviest heart he quietly slips his way out of her apartment.
He's forty-five minutes late to work, and Leo shoots him a look when he shows up disheveled and smelling strongly of the cologne he had sprayed over his change of clothes.
"Fun night huh?" Leo says lightly, trying and failing to hide a grin.
Percy curses for a third time.
-.-
Annabeth knows...is pretty sure...wants to believe...that everything is okay. But waking up to an empty bed with no texts, no follow up... the worry just set in.
And now, at 6:30pm with still no communication from Percy, the worry has grown into a mixture of anxiety, frustration and hurt.
She swears she got over feeling insecure ages ago, but this feeling is giving it a run for its money. To combat it, she's also mad, and her stomach feels like it dropped ages ago and never recovered.
Basically, she hates this feeling.
And then come the questions, the ones she always tries to avoid, the spiral comes back. Had she done something wrong? Did he hate her? Or—and she hated to think this-had he only wanted her for sex and now he was out?
She doesn't want to believe that last one, but she can't help but think it. It makes her want to call Piper a third time and she's pretty sure she was wearing down the rug from pacing so much. Every worry she could have had about him and the situation is coming up and she despises it.
And of course, there's the small part of her that's mad at herself for putting out on the second date. At least it wasn't the first, right? The thought is not comforting.
Her thoughts are really not productive and she needs to stop, so she does the only thing she can think of. She opens her laptop and pulls up Youtube. At least that'll help.
It does. The videos provide the mental escape she needs, and as a result she almost misses the knock on the door. She has to pause the video to make sure that she had heard correctly.
Yep, that was a knock. She feels her heart beat faster and walks to the peephole to confirm what she hopes.
Sure enough, there's a head of black hair, and all the things she was feeling come back to hit her all at once.
Percy looks like a complete disaster when she opens the door. Hair messier than usual, clothes disheveled and eyes looking a mixture of tired and scared as he gives her a hesitant and apologetic smile.
She wants to be mad, but it all breaks down when she takes in his appearance. Wordlessly, she steps aside so he can walk in. He shuffles in looking like a kicked puppy and she feels bad for him.
And it hits her then that she could have reached out today. It didn't all have to be on him. Clearly he just came back from work, given the button up and slacks, and clearly he's had a rough day. She could have at least attempted to reach out to him.
He opens his mouth, probably to apologize and she cuts him off in the most effective way her tired brain can come up with. A kiss.
He's taken aback, but he kisses her back for a moment before stepping away. It shouldn't affect her that much, but she immediately recoils at the action, hating every part of her being for going in for a kiss. Why was she being so dumb?
He sees the retraction and pulls her closer to him.
"I just want to apologize," he says quietly. She shakes her head. It's okay, she wants to tell him, it's alright. But the words don't leave because suddenly all the horrible things she had been thinking come back to her mind and she sees just how stupid they were.
"I could have texted you," she manages after a beat of silence.
Because really it's a two-way thing. Instead of driving herself crazy thinking of the worst things that could have happened, she could have taken steps to find out and resolve it.
Even though it would have been hard to do, it would have beaten the pit in her stomach she had carried all day. From the look of it, this had been weighing on him just as heavily.
He shakes his head. "I should have texted you," he says remorsefully. "I had to go to work and I should have let you know in the morning, but for some reason I didn't think that in my rush to make it to work, and then my phone died, but I really should have let you know. I'm so sorry, I got here as soon as I could."
It's okay, she wants to say, we're okay. But the words once again fail to form so she cuts off his rambling by her tried and true method of shutting him up.
With a kiss.
A/N: And there you have it! The next chapter, featuring Percabeth unable to keep their hands off each other along with some...trouble? Angst?
But what happened at the end of this chapter is a very common thing for people to feel in these situations and the important thing that Annabeth realizes at the end is that it's a two-way street. Being the first to reach out is so hard, but it's better than spiraling in what-ifs. Of course Percy was in the wrong too, but again it's the idea of communication that is so vital to any relationship.
Hope you guys liked it! Please Review! I'd love to hear your thoughts!
And as always, thanks for reading!
See ya! :)