"A month??"
Jason shrugged and tossed his equipment over his bed. "It's not a big deal. Meanwhile..." He held out a pamphlet and passed it to Annabeth. "I got advanced shooting training. Bigger guns. Bigger problems."
Annabeth asked. "So, you went away?"
"It's not away. It was Camp Jupiter. Besides, I'm back now." He frowned, "Why're you asking me this after all this time?"
"They had no clue where you were! You just disappeared!"
"What about Percy? He knew."
Ah, there you go.
Percy.
Again.
Whether it was the Royals, the Selected, her maids, her friends or even the ex-Selected like Thalia or Clarisse... it honestly didn't matter who Annabeth talked to. No matter what, it always went back to the same three things: Percy, Percy's Selection or topping the tournament to impress - you guessed it right - Percy.
Annabeth was fed up of hearing it.
One, she wasn't undergoing training for him. She was doing it for herself, to improve her skills. Two, she was never supposed to be in the Selection in the first place! Three, unlike every other Selected, she didn't hit the gyms because she wanted to be 'nice to touch' for Percy. No, she only started going there because she wanted to... well, to say the truth, she went there to vent out all her anger and other feelings.
Annabeth looked away. "Percy's been a little busy these days."
Jason raised an eyebrow. "Has he? No one to kick his butt for a few days and messes up again, huh?" He made Annabeth look up at him and pet her hair in a brotherly manner.
Annabeth scowled and pushed his hand away. "Don't do that."
He grinned. "Hey! I can't help it! Your hair is all soft and nice. What shampoo is that?" She scowled harder. Jason turned serious. "But seriously, what did he do?"
Now, that was a question she didn't hear often.
What did he not do?
It had been over three weeks.
In no time, the Selected had finished their 21 'on' camp days. It was already 1st July, the last day for practice, and the next day, that is, on July 2nd, they were going to have the official tournament.
A lot had happened in these weeks - that is - a lot in Percy's life and slightly lesser in Annabeth's. She assumed the overall drama must be the same for them. Just... different kind of drama.
While Annabeth was busy backfiring all the judgemental, betrayed looks and comments given by the Selected (minus Piper, of course), Percy was busy going on dates with them and kissing more girls. While she was busy handling Athena and all the other drama in her life, he was busy looking at starless nights, having picnics in beautiful venues, busy with romantic dinners, dancing in the moonlit gardens with girls who smirked and gave her looks like: Oh, if you just knew what he did with me yesterday.
The worst part of it all was - like they said - Annabeth knew exactly what he'd been doing with them.
How? Why?
Because some weeks back, a freak version of herself had decided to be Percy's best friend and ask him about his first Selection kiss. Back then, it sounded like something that she would want to know - because she was his friend - but now...
Now it was just too much.
She was fed up of being his friend and friend alone.
Ever since their fight, Percy was pretty open with anything Annabeth asked regarding the Selection or the Selected - both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because she didn't need to hear the exaggerated versions of a date floating from ear to ear in the common room and wonder if it really happened so. A curse because she knew too much; not all stories made it to the common room but all stories definitely reached her - as long as she asked for it.
Percy and Annabeth met a lot but never long enough for it to be a date. It was always between their routines where Percy would fill her up on what he was up to with whom and ask her on how the Selected did in training.
It was seriously starting to look as if he was using his 'best friend Annabeth' to get inside information on the Selected.
At first, Annabeth was the one grilling him till he looked uncomfortable or awkward sharing things. To her defence, she did it only because she wanted to know instead of staying in the dark. Finally, it had gone to a point where, even without her asking, he had told her about how he'd taken Drew on a nice evening walk and kissed her next to Zeus's fist - to which Annabeth backfired a very rude version of "don't tell me things I didn't ask for!"
Percy had stood stunned and silent a minute before his guards reminded him of yet another meeting he was getting late for. He'd given her a chaste kiss like - Later, okay? - and left.
To his defence, it didn't feel like he considered her as 'just a friend' because they kissed.
Often? Uh, no.
Few countable times.
It was all chaste, short, nothing deep: not even a little tongue touching or neck pecking, usually in the middle of the hallway, and always, ALWAYS, with his guards few feet away from them, (meaning, absolutely no privacy whatsoever,) but she took what she got. He tried to convince her a few times to let him inside her room but she refused.
She wasn't comfortable letting her lifelong crush kiss her after strenuous practice. A lot of problems with that: she was sweaty, her breath probably didn't smell nice, she had all kinds of dirt over her cloths and hands from the practice. Most importantly, she felt self-conscious around him because he never looked anything less than incredible in his custom-made Gucci and Saint Laurent suits.
Also, the fact that he was either going to or coming from a really wonderful date made her want to extend her training time and practice throwing knives at him.
Not the kind of mood you're looking for before a make out session.
Once, Percy had sneaked out of his room and gotten into Annabeth's after her curfew. Maybe it was because she was sleepy or maybe she thought it was all a dream but she had agreed to watch a last minute, late night movie in the Royals' commonroom (which was obviously closed and out of bounds). Percy being Percy wanted to sneak in instead of being a responsible royal and telling his guards so that they could have some privacy.
Only problem was that Chris had spotted them and nearly cursed at Percy for being an irresponsible jerk.
He had called in Beckendorf who had brought with him a certain Silena and soon it was a mini gang meet inside the Royal commonroom. They all slept on mattresses on the floor with a dozen Bluetooth connections put together. (Leo's innovation.) (They could all hear the movie in their wireless earphones while it played on the wall via the projector.) Percy and Annabeth had pretended to look interested in the movie and slowly snuggled close together in one corner of the room. He had smirked at her and they'd resolved into silent kissing.
Annabeth still avoided frenching Percy so they didn't start sucking each other's faces off but it was better than those chaste kisses in the hallways.
That is, for one hot minute.
After that, Malcom had complained of not being able to see the movie, glared at Percy and lied down between the two of them - and, that's it, the date was no longer a date and sneaking out became useless.
It is not like they didn't want to go on proper dates. Just... their schedule never let them.
That was something Annabeth was starting to doubt too; considering Miss Willow was the one coordinating Percy's and Selected's timetable and setting Percy up with girls who were free when he was. Aphrodite, being a good partner, was letting Willow do all the paper work or computer work or well, any work, actually. Whatever time she spent for the Selection, she spent talking to all the girls and giving them free dating advice. (Anything from 'gold is the new sexy' to 'tell me how he reacted!')
Like Percy, Aphrodite also spent the least time with Annabeth because she claimed she already knew everything about her. Yes, Annabeth had started to feel mad at everyone and everything whose name didn't start with P and end with R - Piper.
So, she knew for sure that the universe had plotted against her when Piper came to her and told that she'd kissed Percy.
It happened on 25th June. Since the Report was on 23rd, it meant that everyone else thought Percy had kissed eight girls till now but actually, he'd kissed nine. Piper had told her that she was confused and apologised for confusing everyone. Annabeth didn't really know what to say to that.
Piper seemed to have a way with words.
Talking about the Report, like Apollo and Helios had promised, they'd started with questions on Annabeth but quickly diverted their attention to the other girls when Percy mentioned that he had kissed five more. Unfortunately for them, they were only able to find three out of five.
Jason waved his hands in front of her. "Um... hello? Earth to Annabeth."
Someone opened Jason's door which got both their attention.
It was Thalia.
Annabeth frowned; Thalia frowned harder.
What was she doing here? In Jason's room...?
First, Piper kissed Percy and now Jason has given his room key to another Selected...? (yeah, yeah, ex-Selected)
What was going on here? What did Annabeth miss out?
Thalia looked between the two of them and cleared her throat. "Um... Bad timing?"
Annabeth understood why Thalia had frowned. Her being inside Jason's room was definitely weird.
Oh gosh, Thalia doesn't think anything is going on between me and Jason, right?
Especially if she has something for him. She was the one who had his room keys after all...
Jason shook his head and smiled at her. "I could use a hand or a brain with this one." He pointed at Annabeth. "Did Percy do something stupid while I was away?"
Thalia shrugged. "I heard he's been on dates. Nothing else." She came forward and hugged Jason from one side. "What about you? Did you pass training or do I have to baby your broken heart?"
When did these two get so close?
Jason pushed her away. "I have more experience with this, you know? You're the one who is new here!"
She laughed. "What about Annie? Got a chance to beat any Selected yet?"
Jason snorted. "She is about to. The tournament is tomorrow." He looked teasingly at Annabeth. "This is your one golden opportunity. Don't miss it."
Annabeth couldn't help but smile. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that she was looking forward to the same.
No matter how many smirks and full-of-themselves looks the Selected threw her way, she could see the uncertainty in their eyes during practice. They knew, Percy knew and everyone else knew that it would be a hard fight for the Sword Champion title and unfortunately for the Selected, Annabeth had the upper hand.
Someone knocked on the open door.
It was Luke.
"Hey." Annabeth said, standing awkwardly next to Jason's bed (which now had his bow and arrow, dumbbells, a sword, a spear and his gun.)
He nodded slightly to acknowledge her. While Annabeth had been 'away' from Percy most of the time, her new company became Thalia and Luke. They got along very well. If Annabeth wasn't wrong, she saw Thalia blushing around Luke a few times. She wasn't sure what she felt about it but it sure did confuse a lot of things.
Like why is Thalia so close to Jason now if she liked Luke...
Like why doesn't Annabeth feel jealous over the fact that an ex-Selected could be crushing over her first crush...
Ugh, feelings are confusing.
Someone else cleared their throat behind Luke and he stepped away. Percy came to everyone's view.
Thalia beamed, "Tell me we're gonna have another two to two sword fight again."
Percy shook his head. "No."
"Annabeth was just about to tell something that I will beat you up for." He walked two steps towards him and hit him hard on his chest. Percy's back hit the wall and he looked peeved. "That's trailer."
Percy did not even look at Annabeth. "Girls, stay out. I need to clear something with these two."
Thalia looked unimpressed. "Will you let me stay or should I use my extended -"
Percy looked alarmed. "Fine. Stay." He looked sharply at Annabeth.
What is going on here?
"She'll stay too." Jason said. "It is two against one bro. You're outnumbered."
Percy wasn't pleased. "Fine. Fine. Luke is officially taking your post." He told Jason. He turned to Luke and sneered. "Temporarily." He turned to Jason again. "Mom can't stay mad at you forever. She knows how good you are."
Annabeth frowned. "Sally is demoting you?"
Percy sighed. "No. She isn't. I'm not letting her."
Jason tried to say something but he dismissed it and finally turned to Annabeth. "Can we talk?"
Annabeth got up and walked out of the door and Percy looked at her like: What does this mean now?
"What?" She said. "You coming?"
Percy shut his mouth and followed her. They walked to the archery arena without saying a word. He turned to his guards once they reached the door. "Stay outside. The door will be open. You'll know if anything happens."
The guards looked like they wanted to argue so she let Percy deal with them. Meanwhile, she got her quiver, few arrows, her favourite bow and opened three different target sets.
Annabeth was wearing a short golden dress which wasn't the best idea for practice but at least she didn't feel too self-conscious over Percy's perfecto suits.
How does he manage to look this good always?
Percy laughed. "I don't think you need any last-minute practice, Wise Girl."
She didn't reply.
"Okay." He grabbed her arrow. "Let's talk." He flipped her around so she faced him and looked at her sharply.
She stepped on his toes and grabbed her arrow back. "I didn't get any training with archery and I want to practice. BACK OFF."
"Fine!" He stepped away in frustration.
She aimed her first arrow and shot it. It hit a 78 on 80. She grabbed another, ran to the next one and shot. Without stopping in between. It hit a 60. For the last one, she did a front flip, grabbed two arrows mid air and shot them together. One of them hit a 20, the other hit a 50 and she grit her teeth in frustration.
I'm out of practice.
Percy just gawked at her as he took out another set of archery equipment for himself. He removed his blazer and swung the quiver over his back before saying, "Wow."
Annabeth grunted. "I'm out of practice."
"Yeah, right. And I'm not the Prince." He laughed shortly. "Beth, you're doing incredible."
The compliment made her want to smile and a few awkward seconds passed when she looked away. She doesn't bother tell him off for calling her Beth.
Percy walked up and stood in front of the first target. "Okay, there is no way I can beat that. How about-"
She looked amused. "You're challenging me, Jackson? Why? Has your day been so good that you wanna feel stomped on?"
He gave her a straight face. "Haha. Let me finish." He smirked. "You don't know if you'll win."
She walked back to him. "Shoot."
"Rules: We hit three arrows on three targets. I get a 30 second time window for every aim and you get only 15-"
She smiled, "Too easy."
"-But... Total points don't count. If you hit any arrow below mine in any one of the targets then I win. And, I go first. Deal?"
"Sure. What am I winning?" She asked.
"You're not winning. I give you one chance to add and subtract rules. Now. If I win, we sit in a nice quiet place and talk. What rule do you wanna change?"
She couldn't wait to kick Percy's butt at this. "I'm changing the rule where I'm not winning. When I win, I'll think of something I want."
"Fine. If it is a draw, then we both get our price."
Percy went on to shoot the first arrow. It hit a 40. Annabeth had to admit, Percy trying to concentrate so hard for something looked cute. She had to try hard to maintain her stern expression and not smile.
He walked to the next position, aimed and shot an arrow that landed on a 20.
She found herself staring at the little things about him: parts of the SPQR ink that was visible if she concentrated long enough on his sleeves, small freckles on his face that she could stare at for a long time, his untamed hair, how he bit his upper lip in concentration-
Is it getting hot in here?
How long had it been since we last kissed?
She'd shouted at him three days ago. That means at least 72 hours missing and thinking about how good-
Because... Gods, he looks so-
Right. Stop swooning over a troublemaker.
He shot the last arrow and it landed on a 30.
She smiled smugly. This was an easy win. Percy tagged at her quiver, took it off of her back and hung it over his. "I'll give it to you."
She aimed her first arrow and from the corner of her eye saw him staring at her.
Wait a minute- Is he checking me out?
"What are you doing?" He was looking at her bare legs. Annabeth suddenly felt a need to cover herself.
"Observing." He smirked, looking back at her in the eye.
She shook it off and shot the first arrow. He whistled, looking at her and Annabeth's cheeks felt hot. She frowned.
"What? That was a bull's eye." He reasoned and smiled smugly.
Annabeth was sure he had whistled before the arrow hit the target...
What is this idiot doing?
She walked over in front of the next target and brought her arrow next to the bow. She pulled on the string and - suddenly, two arms wrapped around her from the back. She jumped and let out a pathetic whine.
"Percy!" She tried to get out of his hold. "That's cheating."
"No, it's not." His breath fanned the little hairs next to her ear.
Annabeth could feel her body temperature reacting to him. Oh gods.
"Look", he said and adjusted himself so his chin touched her left shoulder. "I'm not touching your hands. You can still aim and shoot."
She struggled to look at him. "How am I supposed to-"
He hit her slightly on her stomach as if to playfully say: deal with it.
She breathed out and tried hard to focus. As she brought the bow on level with the target and shot, all she could think about was how hot her neck felt and how her stomach churned in anticipation. The arrow hit between 30 and 20. That still counted only as a 20 but luckily, Percy's arrow was lower than hers.
Annabeth had almost lost. How is that possible?
She could feel him smirk on her skin but she just huffed and walked off. Percy had other plans though. As soon as she stood in front of the next target, he resumed his former position.
Why is he being so annoying today?
For a second, she thought of telling him off but that would be like admitting defeat. Besides, her body liked this a little too much for her reasoning to deny him.
Game on. Annabeth wasn't planning to lose.
He changed his strategy and kept his chin on her right side this time.
Have you ever got a full body massage? Why did I ask this? Well, listen to my point: when there is a single person massaging you, they may prefer to finish one leg then move on to the next. If the feeling is good, then somewhere between the slow movements, your other leg starts wishing for attention. The thing is, when it finally does get the attention, it feels even better than the first one because you've been anticipating it.
That is how Annabeth felt. All this time, the right side of her face and neck had been silently, involuntarily asking Percy to touch it.
As if to test her limits, he started peppering soft kisses to her shoulder.
Great, why on Earth did I wear an off-shoulder dress today?
She let out a breath. Her right side burst out in goose bumps.
Why is it so hot in here?
Just as she was about to shoot, he pressed his lips to her ear and said. "You should-"
Annabeth flinched in surprise. A weird tingling feeling spread through her sternum from the inside. "Don't do that!" She tried to sound stern but her voice came out low and girly.
Her arrow didn't even touch the target. It went straight above it and probably hit a minus 30.
"Ha." He detached himself from her. "Looks like I won then."
"That-that's not even..." Her cheeks felt hot.
Percy faced her and raised both his hands up in the air. "I just wanted to-"
Annabeth scowled at him in anger and pushed him harshly to the nearest wall to kiss him. Percy responded almost instantly. He put his hands around her hip and smiled through the kiss.
To be honest, Annabeth didn't like what Percy had wanted to 'try' during their rooftop dinner date. She wasn't sure if she genuinely didn't like the idea of tongue kissing or if it was because he'd tried it on her during that particular night (when she'd dressed up more like Drew than herself.) That's why she had been rejecting him every time he initiated.
In theory, it was gross. In practice, it felt even more so.
That said, for reasons unbeknownst to her, she found herself craving exactly that.
They were all feelings, of course. She didn't consciously think any of these things. No, that would be impossible.
Percy's lips were keeping her busy enough.
Without actively knowing it, she opened her lips wider like an invite and gladly, he got the hint. He brought one hand up to hold her in place as he dove in to stroke her tongue with his. In a rush, her insides exploded. Her entire torso swam in a heated frenzy of emotions. There was joy, content, happiness and a lot more things she couldn't quite place yet.
Two months ago, if someone had told her that she would love making out with Percy then Annabeth would have hit that person. (And blushed afterwards.)
But this... This was different.
His breath smelled like mint and Annabeth felt self-conscious. He didn't pull back so maybe that was a good sign? He wasn't going slow. Not even close. Annabeth had no clue what Percy had done, but whatever it was made her squirm.
Too much.
She was feeling too many things too fast.
She pulled away but he didn't look disappointed or hurt. He chuckled and beamed at her. "That's not what I meant when I said we should talk but hey, great conversation."
She laughed and playfully pushed him away without actually moving. "What did you want to talk then?"
He looked at her for a second, still with that big adorably smug smile. "Nothing, Wise Girl. Nothing important."
Their euphoric bubble broke when someone entered the archery academy from the second entrance.
It was Lady Reyna.
Immediately, Percy tensed and Annabeth stepped away from him. Reyna just stood there for a second before saying, "Oh... um... I should..."
The guards came in at the same time.
Oh Gods, have they been seeing everything here? (Annabeth thought.)
Percy spoke. "It is okay. Stand down." He turned to her. "Do you need to practice, Lady Reyna?"
"No. No, your highness." She tightened her jaw and slammed the door on her way out.
Percy sighed and sat atop the metal container that had all the arrows.
After the guards left, Annabeth sat next to Percy. "What was that?"
He looked like he was debating if he should say or not. "I turned her down."
Annabeth frowned. "Huh?"
Percy looked at her. "She made a move on me today and I didn't..."
"Right." She sat next to him and put one hand over his. "Did you... um... not want to turn her down?"
Percy motioned for her to sit on his thighs. "Come here."
Annabeth did. For a second, she thought of facing him and putting both her legs on his sides but it felt too intimate. Instead, she sat such that her entire body faced one wall.
"To be honest, I don't know. I just thought I'm moving too fast with the girls and..." He gestured around with his other hand. "I already feel like I've kissed too much and - I don't know, Wise Girl."
"Oh." Annabeth said.
He felt like he kissed too much?
Um...
"What?" He turned to her. "No, I mean, I don't mean that. I just mean that with Rachel, Calypso, Piper, Drew..." Annabeth raised her eyebrows. "Right. Yes. No information if you don't ask. I just mean that - Look, I... I liked it, I promise."
She hummed. Before she lost her confidence, she said, "Well... Can we do it again?"
Percy stared at her, laughed and then tried to control it. He looked, sounded and smelled amazing to Annabeth. "Yeah okay."
"But." She absentmindedly stroked his hair. "Slower?"
He looked at her seriously this time and nodded. "As slow as you want."
When they kissed, she thought of what Percy had told her during that rooftop dinner: Trust me, it feels way better when you get comfortable with it.
It really did.
...
Okay, so I know this part is just fluff so... Happy?
A lot happened in the background of this chapter though. Will be revealed soon enough.
By the way, if someone was wondering where I got all the names of the Selected from then here you go: (mentioning only the ones I think are uncommonly known)
Nyssa- Demigod daughter of Hephaestus
Lacy- Demigod daughter of Aphrodite.
Meg McCaffrey, daughter ofDemeter
Miranda Gardiner, daughter ofDemeter
Lou Ellen- Demigod daughter ofHecate.
Valentina Diaz, daughter ofAphrodite
Chiara Benvenuti, daughter ofTyche
Laurel Victor, daughter ofNike
Kayla Knowles, daughter ofApollo
Billie Ng, daughter ofDemeter
Alice Miyazawa, daughter ofHermes
Julia Feingold, daughter ofHermes
Marilyn, daughter ofEuterpe
Leila, daughter of Ceres
Claudia, legacy ofMercury, daughter ofCardea
Janice, daughter ofJanus
Lavinia Asimov, daughter ofTerpsichore
Mimi, daughter ofMefitis(formerly)
a few names of my own.
...
Mentioning guys names too: (the ones already used and the ones which will be used) (uncommon ones)
Chris Rodriguez- Demigod Son ofHermes.
Clovis- Demigod son ofHypnos.
Butch Walker- Demigod son ofIris.
Lee Fletcher- Demigod son of Apollo.
Michael Yew-Demigod son of Apollo.
Jake Mason- Demigod son of Hephaestus. ..
Castor- Demigod son of Dionysus. Twin brother of Pollux.
Pollux- Demigod son ofDionysus. Twin brother of Castor.
Mitchell- Demigod son of Aphrodite.
Harley- Demigod son of Hephaestus.
Damien White, son ofNemesis
Austin Lake, son ofApollo
Cecil Markowitz, son ofHermes
Ellis Wakefield, son ofAres
Sherman Yang, son ofAres
Mark, son ofAres
Paolo Montes, son ofHebe
Blaise, son ofVulcan
Dakota,son ofBacchus
Michael Kahale, son ofVenus
Julius, son ofMars
Larry, son of Mercury
Pranjal, son ofAsclepius
(DISCLAMER: Credits of all the names to Rick Riordan and the official PJO, HoO fandom site.)
