A/N: Hey guys! Back with a sister chapter to 49, cheer up, baby. Hope you like it!

"What are you doing here?"

She's on her way back to the pep rally from the bathroom when she notices a figure huddled over on the floor of the empty side hallway.

He jumps, clearly not expecting anyone to talk to him. She holds up her hands. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

He looks up and suddenly she's drowning in sea-green eyes. It only lasts a second, because he quickly looks down.

"It's fine, you're, you're good."

It's clear he's nervous by the way he's fiddling with the book in his hands and she can't help but find it endearing.

"So, what are you doing out here, instead of…?" She gestures towards the rally happening in the gym. Judging by the book, she has an idea, but she wants to hear his answer.

Though she's seen him around, it's the first time she's ever actually talked to him.

"Not really my thing," he mumbles, looking down at his book. His hands are…very nice.

She surprises herself a little when she plops down next to him. It clearly surprises him even more, though, because his eyes widen, letting her get another view of those gorgeous eyes.

"Not really mine either," she agrees.

She can tell he's having a hard time believing her from the way his lips part a little. Why must he be so distracting?

"Oh…um…"

"What are you reading?" she asks, nodding towards his book.

"It's…" he visibly hesitates. "It's this um…fantasy, kind of novel…"

She just stays silent letting him talk. He squirms a little.

"Are you sure you don't want to go? You're missing the rally…"

"Do you want me to leave?" she asks simply.

"No!" He clears his throat. "I mean, um, no, I don't, just you don't have to…be here, with me…"

She smiles. "I want to be here." He has no idea how much.

"Oh! Okay, um, yeah, that's fine."

Her smile widens. "Good, so tell me about this book."

She listens to him explain the concept of demigods and Greek mythology and while she is listening, another part of her brain really wants to know if his hair is actually that soft.

The doors to the gym open and people start flooding out, cutting him off.

"Annabeth!" She hears Piper yell, but she really doesn't want to leave.

"Your friends…" he nods towards the crowd.

Sighing, she stands up. "Thanks for telling me about your book."

His cheeks flush just a little as he quickly looks down. "Yeah, um, sorry if it was boring—"

"It wasn't," she cuts him off. "I liked it."

And shooting him another wide smile, she turns to walk away. "I'll see you around."

And boy, is she planning on it.

-.-

His name, she learns, is Percy Jackson. Quiet, with few friends, stays out of everyone's way and insanely attractive.

Well, to her anyway. She got to see him light up as he talked about his book and the way he blushes when he gets flustered and—god, it's a problem.

"I can't believe after all this time, you choose him," Thalia comments.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Thalia rolls her eyes at her frown. "Relax, I don't mean it in a bad way, it's just you're…well-known and talkative and he's quiet and clearly introverted."

"I think it's cute," Piper pipes in.

"Where do you think he hangs out in the morning?" she asks, shutting her locker.

"Maybe the library?"

It's worth a shot, so she says bye to her friends and heads to the library, looking for that head of black messy hair.

Scanning the tables produces nothing so she heads further in, until she spots him in between the shelves looking for something.

Smiling, she walks up to him. "Sorry, just need to squeeze right past—"

She cuts herself off. "Oh! Hi again!"

His eyes widen and she tries to bite back how cute his reaction is.

"Annabeth?"

"You know my name?"

Immediately, he blushes, looking down. "Well, you're um…pretty popular…"

"Pretty?" she starts with a smile. "Or popular?"

Percy almost chokes on air when she adds a wink at the end. It's incredibly cute.

New mission: make Percy flustered.

"What, um, what are you doing here?" he asks, clearly trying to change the topic.

"Oh! Just needed a book. Speaking of…" she steps closer. "Let me just squeeze…"

"Oh, I can get out of the—" he cuts off as she brushes past him. Their arms touch.

Looking forward, she picks out a random book and brushes past him again.

"I can move—" Percy tries again.

But he seems a little frozen in place and she has a strong urge to touch his face, but she holds back.

"No worries!" she responds brightly.

The first bell rings, startling him and she wishes she could have a little more time with him.

"Well," she says, smiling at him. "I'll see you around, Percy!"

His reaction at him saying her name is even better and she wishes she could stand and watch it, but she has to get to class.

So she waves goodbye to his flushed face and thinks maybe her mission is too easy.

-.-

"Percy!" she calls when she catches a glimpse of him after school the following day.

He turns at the sound of his name, immediately looking a little more flustered when he realizes it's her. "Annabeth, hey…"

She walks over to him, her own heart beating a little faster. "Hey, I was wondering what you're doing later?"

Looking a little bit like a deer in headlights, he blurts out an answer. "Yes." And then, as if realizing it doesn't make sense, he quickly adds, "Um, nothing, uh, nothing much."

She could kiss him.

"Do you want to study later? You're taking bio too, right?"

She's quickly realized that he's in the period before hers and if she gets there early enough, she can see him be the last to leave the class.

"Oh, um, yeah, I am…"

"Soooo, do you want to study for the test coming up?" she asks again, since he still hasn't answered.

"You mean like, um, just me and you?"

She smiles. "Yeah."

She knows she's been flirting with him and that he gets flustered around her, but she actually doesn't know how he's going to respond to this.

Thankfully, he nods. "Sure." He clears his throat. "Sure, yeah, that sounds good."

She can't keep the smile off her face as they make plans.

-.-

The only biology she's interested in is Percy's arms. The study room they booked is a little warm, prompting him to shed his hoodie. Nothing prepares her for just how nice his arms are.

He's reaching across the table to grab the marker so he can write notes on the board and all she can focus on are his arms.

"Um…" he speaks up, breaking her out of her thoughts. "You um…"

It's adorable how he can't bring himself to say that she was staring.

"Sorry," she says with a smile, trying to take it in stride. "Can't help but admire the view."

Maybe it's the wink she adds at the end, but Percy drops the marker he's holding. It rolls across the floor back to her side.

"Shit, sorry," he apologies, realizing what he's done. It's the first time she's ever heard him swear, and here she thought he couldn't get more attractive.

"It's fine!" she replies cheerfully. "You can apologize by telling me your favorite color."

"Oh…um…" He's clearly confused at this line of questioning. "Blue."

She makes a mental note.

-.-

A few weeks later, she walks in wearing a soft baby blue blouse that with pretty frills at the sleeves. In what's become her new normal, she goes over to Percy's table in the library before school.

His usual smile is followed by his eyes travelling downward as he takes in her outfit.

It makes her heart beat way too fast.

"I like your shirt," Percy quietly comments as she approaches.

She smiles widely in response, that had been the plan. "Thank you."

"Not that," he adds quickly, as if just realizing how this might come across. "Not that, I like you or anything…"

She pouts. "You don't like me?"

His eyes widen as he rushes to explain, and it's just way too much fun to mess with him. "No, I do! I mean, like, um, a crush."

She shrugs, sighing a little. "That's a shame."

Percy stumbles back, even though he's the one sitting down, at her words.

"And," she adds, looking at him with a smirk, "I think you're lying."

That deer-in-headlights look his back. "No, I'm not." And with that he gets up and walks away before she can do anything.

"Wait!" she calls after him, running to catch up.

He's sporting a beautiful blush by the time she catches up at his locker. Two of his friends are also there apparently, but she ignores them, marching straight up to Percy. "So you do have a crush on me?"

"Oh yeah!" One of his friends, she recognizes Frank from her history class, speaks up. "He's had a crush on you for ages!"

Percy's other friend also nods in agreement.

Percy, for his part, vigorously shakes his head in a panicked sort of way. "No! Um, they're lying, it's not true!"

Annabeth can't help but smile. He's actually too cute. "Like I said, what a shame. I always thought you were cute."

Percy's eyes widen as his friends start laughing. "Ooooh!"

Shrugging, she starts to walk away.

"Wait! Annabeth…"she stops in her tracks, trying to hide the smile on her face. Turning around, she's met with a too-close Percy Jackson rubbing the back of his neck.

"Okay, so, maybe they, um…weren't too…uh, far off…"

She could kiss him but the bell rings.

She doesn't bother to hide her smile as she replies. "I know."

-.-

Percy Jackson is actually waiting by her locker. It's the boldest thing she's seen him do so far. Clearly, it's taking a toll on him too because when she gets closer, she notices he's shaking a little.

"Hey," she greets warmly.

"Hey."

"What's up?" she asks, curious to know what this is all about.

"Um, so, I, uh, have you heard about that thing," he starts nervously. There's a base level of nervousness that seems to always exist with him, at least when he's around her, but this feels like it's more than that.

"With the, um," he continues, "dresses and um, suits…there's uh…dancing…"

"Prom?"

A spark of hope flares up inside her. If this is actually what she thinks it is, then she's going to melt to the floor faster than him.

"Yeah, so you do know it…um, has, um, anyone asked you?"

Technically, yes, but she's worried that if she tells him that he's going to back out. (Besides, she'd said no anyway.)

"Nope."

Her heart bursts into a thousand pieces when he pulls out a sheet of slightly wrinkled printer paper with the words PROM? written in sharpie on it. She's pretty sure her soul just left her body.

"So um, did you, uh, maybe want to, uh go?"

She could kiss him. Instead, she just nods, unable to keep the smile off her face. "Yes!"

Percy looks surprised by her answer, which is dumb because she's pretty sure she's made her stance abundantly clear.

"Cool," he nods, clearing his throat. "Cool, that's um, good. I'll pick you up?"

"Can't wait!" She smiles brightly at him and he ducks his head.

"I'll um…see you later…" he mumbles, quickly walking away, leaving her standing there with a racing heart.

-.-

They're supposed to be studying but she's watching a TV show on her phone instead.

Percy looks over just as the love interest brushes aside a strand of the main characters hair. It's really sweet. And she says as much.

Percy turns is attention on her. "Is…is that a thing?"

"What?"

He gestures vaguely at her hair. "The whole…brushing hair aside thing."

Annabeth shrugs. "Well, if the guy likes the girl then yeah." Like how I wouldn't mind if you did that, her brain helpfully adds.

And then, all of a sudden, he's leaning just a little closer and she actually has no idea what's happening. "What are—"

Her words are cut off as he brushes some of her hair that's fallen out of her ponytail to the side.

She melts.

Like she's actually a puddle on the floor right now. A puddle with a dumb wide smile that she cannot keep off her face.

She grabs his hand on its way down.

He's avoiding eye contact but she can see the blush on his face.

Slowly, she interlaces their fingers and she's rewarded with those beautiful sea-green eyes staring back at her.

-.-

Him and his friends are sitting with her, Thalia and Piper at the lunch for the first time. Surprisingly, Thalia and Frank have a lot to talk about over some game she's not super familiar with.

Given that there's a lot of talk, she knows it makes sense that Percy is dividing his attention. But that doesn't stop her from complaining.

"You don't like me," she says quietly, tugging his side.

Percy turns to her with a confused look. "What? I do like you…"

"Alright then," she begins with a small smile "Kiss me then."

His eyes widen as he looks around the crowded room. "Right now?"

She's mostly messing with him (there is a part that just wants him to kiss her already too).

Leaning closer, she smirks. "I dare you."

"Okay…" Percy stutters a bit. "Fine, yeah, um...okay."

It's very apparent that it's not okay. She stays in place, trying not to smile as he slowly inches forward.

"You're nervous."

He shakes his head. "No, no I'm not. I'm…uh, fine."

She smiles. "Don't worry, it's cute." She winks, making his job easier as she leans closer to him.

Percy surges forward to giver her a quick kiss on the cheek.

She frowns. "That doesn't count!"

Because while her skin is tingling where he kissed it, she really wants a proper one.

"You…you never specified."

She's shook. Did he…did he just…

Oh, he's a sneaky little—

"I'll…uh…give you one…later, if you, um, still want to?" he whispers so only she can hear.

"I'm holding you to that." She promises, giddy with just the thought.

She does hold him to that, and after the kiss, he's the one holding her.

-.-

"How was practice, baby?" she asks, coming up to him after his intermural basketball practice.

He smiles in that adorable way that makes her heart flutter. "Good, do you want to get food?"

His teammates are getting closer and she takes the opportunity to draw out that pretty blush she loves to see.

"Sure, I'm down. But I get to choose dessert."

Percy nods. "What do you want for dessert?"

Looking at him dead in the eye, she smiles. "You."

He chokes on air. Again. He really should be used to it by now.

"Right, um, let's uh, talk, somewhere else."

She doesn't know if his teammates heard anything, but her mission from day one still stands, even into college.

Tugging him closer, she smiles innocently. "What? I can't say how I love my boyfriend?"

He's got a full-blown blush on his cheeks now. "There's um, no, yes, but there's, uh people."

Raising her voice, she looks around. "He's my boyfriend! We sleep in the same bed, people!"

Percy cringes, drawing his hood up in an effort to hide as his teammates laugh in good fun. "Good for you, Perce," one of them calls.

"Let's go!" he says, tugging her hand.

"You want to know what else we do?" she says in a teasing voice and Percy drops her hand.

"I'm out." And with that, he walks away.

Laughing, she runs after him. "I'm just kidding, baby!"

"I know," he mumbles. "Why do you do that."

She takes one of his hands again. "I love seeing you blush. But I'll stop if you don't like it."

She doesn't want him actually upset, of course.

They walk out the doors and towards main campus and Percy squeezes her hand. "I'll get you back, later."

The proper reaction shouldn't be a shudder of anticipation, but she can't help it.

"Promise?" she responds, throwing him a wink and watching his blush again.

His grip on her hand tightens.

"Promise."

A/N: A few people requested shy Percy and confident Annabeth after chapter 49: cheer up, baby so I wrote this as a sort of sister chapter to that one. Some more cute, fluffy tropes (inspired by some tik toks, shoutout to birlap_) so I hope you guys liked it!

This is another cross-posted chapter on both here and How We Could Have Met 3!

Please Review! I'd love to hear your thoughts!

And as always, thanks for reading!

See ya!