A/N: hii! so it's been... almost 3 months? 2021 is going by almost as fast as '20 sheesh. so, i wrote this in like 3 hours because our school had us studying our asses off for the past month for exams, and a day before they tell us that they're canceled cause of covid and i'm mad.

also,

RageSage: hey thank you so much!

Swarls: when i re-read the chapter, annabeth's para stood out to me too, so thanks for pointing it out! and i'll keep the grammar errors in mind :))

anyway, thanks for listening to my brief rant, thanks to those who reviewed, and thanks again to whoever is reading the fic, here's chapter three :)

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO, HOO or anything else other than the plot.
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Somewhere between the stairs, they established nicknames, senseless ones at that. But it's only fair because we don't know each other's names wise girl and I have never come up with anything so stupid in my life seaweed brain, and also so what if it's stupid, at least it's authentic.

She eventually had to give up because she felt bad for him and was the bigger person, not because she secretly adored him and the nicknames.

His apartment was… interesting. Super messy but somehow he seemed to know exactly where everything was. Dark blue-greyish walls, ordinary furniture. It was nothing special or expensive, but warm and homey. She fell a little more in love with him.

He had asked her if she needed to change into something more comfortable when they got to his apartment, while he changed into sweatpants. Because apparently, he was a complete gentleman. She looked tiny in his blue sweatshirt, it covered her halfway to her thighs. She had her hair in a ponytail and had her hood up now because of how frizzy it had gotten on the roof.

She sat on the kitchen slab, her long legs bouncing to the rhythm while he played random tunes on his guitar.

"Okay, so the cool thing I was talking about?" He seemed unsure as she moved to the edge of her seat beside the stove.

She was getting skeptical, "I'm officially worried. You aren't going to like- slice me into pieces and mail them to my friends, are you? Because having a stranger invite me to their apartment around 3:30 in the morning doesn't exactly scream safe."

"And accepting said invite does?" He had a mischievous glint in his eyes.

He raised his eyebrows when she quickly responded, "I blame the bourbon."

"Right." He stretched, a small smile on his face.

She rolled her eyes, "The sarcasm is getting old."

"And you're getting red." He grinned.

She seemed to roll her eyes a lot at him, "Shut up."

And then they were both smiling at each other.

She broke the silence, "So the cool thing you wanted to try?"

"Right. Okay so this may not work but I did it once and it was fun-"

"Cutting up people into bits and mailing them to their friends was fun?" She had a small smile playing on her lips as she interrupted.

He threw his head back and laughed, clutching his abdomen, amused. Her breath hitched. He must've heard her because he stopped to look at her shocked face with confusion in his eyes.

"What-?" She looked at him as if she couldn't comprehend what she saw.

The sparkle in his eyes died, he looked almost ashamed when he realized why she seemed so upset.

He asked anyway, "What are you so cut up about all of a sudden?"

She seemed even more shocked, more unable to understand him.

Poor choice of words damnit.

How had she not noticed before?

"We keep going off track, wise girl." He spoke casually, but his eyes were pleading to let it go. Please. So she looked at him one last time intensely as if trying to figure him out before they went back to their little game.

He got his guitar ready, he was leaning on the kitchen slab across where she was sitting, facing her.

"Alright. I want you to sing a lyric of the first song that comes to your mind, and I will continue the lyrics as best I know."

She raised a brow, "What if you don't know the song?"

"I will."

"I suck at singing."

"No you don't, I heard you singing 'runaway' under your breath before."

She blushed.

"That's why I wanted to try this." He added.

She murmured loud enough for him to hear, flustered, "I didn't know you could you hear me."

He just smiled, "Go on."

"Okay… um-" She took a second to think, quietly clearing her throat, she started,

"The day that I met you, I started – he started playing to the tune perfectly- dreaming,

But now I write 'em down if I remember in the morning time"

She smiled as he joined in, his raspy voice smoothening a little with every word,

"I don't know that much about Kingston,

But I like the sound it makes,

When it starts pouring rain."

Her sweet and melodic voice was a contrast to his deep and smooth one. But they fitted together to sound heavenly. And I have my next song she thought, lost in his angelic voice.

"I think that tonight I'll leave my light on,

'Cause I get lonely when it's out,

And I miss you right about now.-"

They finished the song, sounding as beautiful in the night as they stared at each other. It was calming and the jump in their racing hearts made them more excited than ever.

She looked at him like he was the most precious thing in the world, "You sound so- beautiful. And intimate."

And now it was his turn to blush because he didn't get compliments like these. He was used to hearing 'you sound great man!' and 'dude, I didn't know you could sing well." But this, this made his heart skip 5 beats at once.

She dropped her hood and pulled her hair out of her ponytail, curls springing out and long and dark, golden blond hair cascading down her neck to her shoulders and settling on her waist.

He was taken back again because of how breathtaking she was, her cold grey eyes held a storm in them, but right now she was looking at him and all he felt was welcomed and warm. Her atmosphere was compelling and exhilarating.

Breathing a little heavy, he ran a hand through his hair and tugged at his roots because the urge to kiss her till neither of them could breathe was too strong and a little hard to control.

All the while all she wanted was to pull him towards her and kiss him senseless because he was looking at her with specks of blue in his swirling green eyes like she was the only person on this damned planet. His aura was intoxicating, he was indescribable.

But they gravitated toward the other, like a force field. And suddenly he was right in front of her and she was wrapping her legs around his waist while he tucked a curl behind her ear, holding the other tenderly.

It was hard not to go limp in his arms when he leaned into her ear and whispered, "Remind me to breathe when I'm near you," He lightly bit her earlobe as she sighed a little. She felt a bit dazed as he leaned into her other ear, hand lightly set on her hard jaw, "I wouldn't trust myself around you." And then she fully sighed, eyes closed and she just- he was killing her.

She was breathless, high on how close they were. He looked a little too close to smug, it made her want to make him feel as out of it as she felt.

So she turned her neck to face him, and softly licked his lips, careful not to touch her mouth to his. "They say love is pain," he closed his eyes and exhaled shakily as she ducked to press her mouth to his set jaw.

"So let's fucking hurt tonight."

He cursed under his breath, "fuck."

In less than a second, he pulled her jaw and crashed his lips to hers, he felt her smile a little. He knew she thought she won but frankly, he didn't give a single shit.

Because she was the epitome of irresistible and he had never felt so full with anyone.

Their tongues were in a war, hands all over each other, when she pulled apart, both breathing heavily, "You really do forget to breathe."

He bit and pulled on her lip as he pulled away and he just smiled, a little drunk off of her, he pulled her back. Their eagerness was amusing.

She reached to take his shirt off when he put his hands on top of hers, he pulled away, still breathing heavily, "You shouldn't see,"

She tried to catch her breath, and at once she said like she understood, "Inside. Now."

But how did she? He was a little shocked, still out of breath, but he picked her up at once, her legs tangled around his waist as he led her to his room.

He closed the door and laid her down gently on the soft bed, sucking on her neck, her collarbone, her stomach. The darkroom made it hard to see but the sense of mystery was compelling in the way that she never wanted to stop.

The feel of his touch left her feeling completely enamored. Breathless lungs, erratic pulses, and dilated pupils. The night was consuming. They got lost in it without a thought.

But giving someone every part of yourself can be dangerous.

Sometimes feelings or pleasure isn't all that it's made out to be.

But then again, "all in" right?
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A/N: if you read till the end, you're amazing!

(the song they were singing was 'Kingston' by Faye Webster)

kindly excuse the mistakes and please do leave a review and let me know what you thought about the chapter and what I can improve. take care and have a great day/night :)