So I still feel bad about being gone for awhile and I'm so in the groove right now, and as mentioned in the last chapter I'm was on spring break and I had time this week and I also love you all so HERE'S A PRESENT FROM GOOD OLE ME. XD.

P.S.(Another period afterwards? I have no idea.) I listen to Paramore and Twenty One Pilots a lot when I write because it gets me in the right feels. I thought I'd mention that in case you guys want to get in the same headspace as you read it. Idk. OKAY HAVE FUN BYE

Percy POV

Percy didn't want to say he had been avoiding Annabeth, but he was avoiding her. It's not that he didn't know what to say to her, it was that he was afraid he would say too much. He wanted to tell her what he wanted to do before her mom opened the door. He wanted to tell her how much he liked her.

But, he didn't want to scare her off. Not when things just started going well. So yeah, he was avoiding her. This strategy worked wonderfully until lunch time.

Percy had his bagged lunch in hand and was walking to his lonely table, observing the room around him. Annabeth was sitting with her back facing him, and it looked like she was talking to Piper who sat across from her.

He watched as Piper made eye contact with him and quickly began talking to Annabeth. He saw her back strain and her head turn slightly before Piper said something and she snapped back around. Strange. Percy couldn't help but cock an eyebrow in their direction. Piper kept glancing at him furtively and whispering forcefully at Annabeth.

He turned his gaze to his table as he made his way forward. He had just passed their table when he heard Annabeth yell, "Percy!"

He whipped his head around so fast at the sound of her voice, that his neck pinched.

"Do you want to sit with us?" she asked, her cheeks tinged a shade of pink.

Percy was shocked. Did he want to sit with them? He only dreamed of it every single day. He weighed his options. If he sat with them, he would be that much closer to completely ruining his reputation. Though, then he would be giving Gabe exactly what he wanted, which wasn't going to happen anymore.

So, he smiled and made his way to the table. Piper scooted over and Percy squeezed next to her on the end. He could feel the eyes of everyone in the cafeteria watching him. They were probably shocked that Annabeth asked him in the first place, let alone that he actually agreed. Percy felt the heat rise to the tips of his ears, and he absentmindedly rubbed the back of his neck.

After an awkward silence, Piper started, "So, Percy. How's your mom?"

"Oh, she's good. Overworked and underpaid, but good."

"That's good," she replied, turning to her lunch. Then she turned back and said, "Not the overworked and underpaid part, that's not good. The 'she's good' part is good... I'm glad your mother's good."

She gave an embarrassed smile and turned back to her lunch. Percy chuckled and began to unravel his lunch bag. He hoped they weren't regretting their decision. Should he just leave?

"Ow!" Annabeth yelped as she glared daggers at Piper, who, in turn, was giving her a pointed look. Annabeth gave her a sarcastically sweet smile before she turned to Percy and the group.

"So, Frank, Percy, how's the swim team?" she asked.

"Great!" Frank said from down the table. Percy nodded in agreement. "Especially Percy. Man I don't know how you do it! You're like Poseidon or something!"

Percy felt the tips of his ears heat up again as he responded, "Oh. Thanks, Frank. You're really great too. Very, um... fast."

Thankfully, Frank either didn't pick up on the awkwardness, or thought it would be better to pretend it wasn't there. Either way, Percy was glad when he just said, "Thanks man!" in a very nonchalant way.

"Yeah, we've got sectionals in a few weeks and we're training real hard for it, right Perce?" Frank added.

Percy found it so odd how comfortable Frank was with him. Sure, they had been on the same team for a few years now, but honestly, Percy was never nice to him. He wasn't necessarily mean, but he would always shoot down Frank's attempts at friendship. No matter how many times Percy would blantantly ignore his niceness, he would always try again. It was like he was too pure to notice Percy was trying to ignore him. He couldn't tell if it was distressing or comforting.

"Yup," Percy replied, feeling a bit awkward.

Seemingly content with his answer, Frank turned back to Hazel and Jason. Percy took the opportunity to try to spark up a conversation with Annabeth, who had been oddly silent.

"Thanks for inviting me to sit with you guys," he said, looking into her eyes. They were a light gray this morning, and they looked stunning. He swore they were the exact color of the sky on a cloudy day. She had her hair in a low bun with those cursed curls framing her face.

"Oh no problem. I always thought you seemed a bit lonely over there by yourself," she replied, not really meeting his eyes. Percy rubbed the back of his neck and tried in vain to think of a witty comment.

Instead, an awkward silence followed until Annabeth said, "I really wasn't too sure you'd say yes, honestly."

Her gaze rose to meet his and look into his eyes. She seemed to be searching them, looking for something. Too bad she didn't know all she had to do was ask him. He would do anything for her.

Percy gave an easy smile and said, "I'd much rather eat lunch with you." He realized too late what he said and he felt his whole face heat up. "With you guys. I'd much rather eat lunch with you guys than alone."

Annabeth blushed and smiled as she looked down toward her food. Percy saw Piper smiling as she watched the encounter with glee.

With a face resembling a tomato, he continued to eat his lunch until the bell rang. He wasn't lying. Lunch with Annabeth and her friends proved to be Percy's best lunch ever.

Percy waited by the main exit after school. He was pretty sure this was the way Annabeth went out, but after waiting ten minutes, he was having second thoughts. He should've just waited by her car, what was he thinking? He felt confident after the lunch situation, but now he was doubting himself. He just wanted to spend time with her is all. That wasn't a crime, right? She wouldn't think he was creepy, right?

He walked out the door and was about halfway down the sidewalk when he heard the door open. He turned and there she was. She hadn't seen him yet. Her eyes were focused on the sky, and her hands were casually holding her backpack straps. The light breeze pushed her hair in her face slightly, and she gently pushed it behind her ears. The little voice in his head was screaming at him to keep walking and pretend he didn't see her. He just needed to get out while he still could.

No! He could do this. Lunch was fine, this would be too. Don't let Gabe win, he thought as he took a deep breath and walked over to her.

"Hey Annabeth."

Her eyes shot down and when she saw him, she smiled slightly. His stomach was full of static as he watched her eyes relax a bit. This wasn't so bad.

"Hey Percy."

He knew that if he waited any longer he would chicken out, so he blurted, "Hey, so umm... I know we talked before about you helping me with my reading and how we could stick to the same schedule as our project, but... um... I was free tonight and wondering-"

"Percy what are you doing right now?" she asked, smiling at him.

He suddenly felt panic. What did she mean? Oh gods he was just embarassing himself. Why did he think this was a good idea? How much worse would this be if he just ran away? No, no, no. He came here for a reason. The real Percy would stick this through.

He cleared his throat and answered, "Well, uh... I guess I'm asking if you'd want to get together tonight and-"

"No, Percy," she laughed her loud, contagious laugh. "I meant what are you doing after you're done being flustered over this question?"

"Oh," Percy rubbed his neck and tried to fight the incoming blush. He awkwardly forced a smile and continued, "Nothing. Coach is sick, so no practice today."

How did she make him blush this much? He swore he spent more time blushing with her than actually speaking.

"Nice," she said, her own face beginning to turn pink. "Would you want to, umm... come over for dinner?"

At first, Percy was too shocked to say anything, and it was obvious Annabeth took that in a bad way.

"You totally don't have to, it's okay. I just thought, like, we could eat dinner and then do the reading stuff but I totally get it if you don't want to come over. I mean, it's so nice outside and you probably have so many other things to do, and I think I'll head out now. I'll just text you some tips."

She started speedwalking past him and towards the parking lot before he got his wits about him.

"Annabeth!" he called. He couldn't help but laugh as he said her name.

She turned to look at him, her face completely engulfed by her embarassment. He started walking towards her and waited to speak until he was face to face with her.

"I'd love to."

He gave her a lopsided smile and her face immediately broke into relief. However, her blush just deepend and they began to walk towards her car.

"Who's flustered now?" he smiled down at her as they walked side to side and watched as she blushed, somehow, even harder.

"Shut it, Seaweed Brain," she said playfully as they got into her car.

The ride from the school to Annabeth's house was filled with comfortable small talk. Thankfully, the awkwardness between the two earlier had dissipated when they got in the car.

As they parked and walked to her front door, Percy began to feel nervous. He remembered the last time he was here, and his stomach squeezed itself into a knot. Annabeth used her key to open the door waited for him to go ahead of her.

"Guests firsts," she said, motioning forwards.

"I'm pretty sure the expression is ladies first, but I'll take it." He smirked and walked past her.

He stepped in and marvelled at the sheer normalcy of their house. There were family pictures all over the walls, which were painted gray and white. It looked so fancy that Percy felt immediately out of place.

"You've got a lovely home," Percy said, turning to face Annabeth.

"Thanks. My dad designed it himself," she replied, hanging her coat on a rack and taking her shoes off. Percy followed suit, feeling exposed in his tight red t-shirt and socks.

"Really? He designs houses?" he asked, following Annabeth as she began to walk upstairs. Percy followed and found that her butt was right there. He knew he shouldn't, but he couldn't avert his eyes. She had a really nice butt. Gods he was such a creep. He forced his gaze to move down to her ankles.

"Not just houses. He does fancy buildings too. He works with the architectural company that designed that new building up on Fifth."

"Oh I've seen that. That looks cool." They leveled out on the second floor and moved down the hallway. They walked past a few doors before coming to the end. On the right, there was a door with the names Matthew and Bobby on it. The other door, which Annabeth was opening, was plain.

"Do you have brothers?" he asked as she opened the door to her room. The red walls were in stark contrast to the rest of the house's gray ones. She had white furniture, and a bookshelf that was so full, Percy was sure it was about to fall over. She had a bay window with a bench on it, which was where she chose to sit. He followed suit and sat on the cushioned bench. She had a nice view from here. He could see the corner where she waved to him the other evening.

"Yeah, and they'll be home soon, so I'm sorry in advance."

"Sorry about what?" he asked, realizing that he had sat as far as he possibly could from her on the bench. What was he doing? He had wanted to spend time with her, not make her feel like she had a contagious disease.

"They're just... excessive," she said.

"Oh. Okay." Percy let his eyes wander about her room before adding, "I really like you're room. It's very different from the rest of the house."

She gave a small laugh and said, "Thanks. Helen thinks so too."

"The way you say her name makes me think she sees it differently than I do," Percy smiled and watched Annabeth's face turn to annoyance as she talked about her.

Sarcasm dripped from her voice as she said, "You've got that right. I guess there's too much individuality in this room or something equally as horrible."

Percy laughed as he replied, "I'm sure you're mom doesn't think that."

Annabeth turned deathly serious before stating, "She's not-"

The front door smashed open and noise exploded in the quiet house. Percy heard kids screaming and little feet stomping around.

"Annabeth! We're home!" a woman called as the smaller footsteps ran crazily through the house and began yelling, "Annie, Annie!"

"Brace yourself," she said before standing up and walked out the door.

Percy looked down at himself and wished he didn't wear skinny jeans. As he walked past her mirror, he tried to fix his hair and made sure there was nothing in his teeth. His mother always stressed to him that first impressions were everything. He couldn't expect to be liked if he didn't make a good first impression.

"Are you done grooming, yet?" Annabeth asked as she came back in the doorway. There's the blush again.

"You can't rush beauty," he said, quickly following her down the stairs. He felt butterflies in his stomach as he hit the bottom step and saw a woman bent over the kitchen table. The same woman, in fact, who had interrupted them the other day.

She looked up at him and paused for a moment in surprise before saying, "Well now I have been dying to meet you."

She gave a pointed look and a big smile to Annabeth before turning back to him.

"You've been here before, yes?" she asked, looking like she was having way too much fun.

"Uh... yes. Well, just the porch," he said, feeling incredibly dumb and embarassed. He thought about how angry she must be with him for almost corrupting her daughter. She probably thought he was an idiot unworthy of Annabeth. Well, that last part was definitely true. Who was truly worthy of a goddess?

Mrs. Chase smiled and introduced herself, "I'm Helen."

Percy was surprised at the kindness behind her words. The way Annabeth said her name, one would think she was a minotaur or something. He expected to at least see some anger towards the bad boy flirting with her daughter.

"Percy Jackson. Nice to meet you, Mrs. Chase." Percy walked forward and shook her hand. He was aware of her scrutinous gaze looking over him.

"Please, just Helen," she said, releasing her hand and walking further into the kitchen.

Two young boys that looked the same chased each other into the room and stopped in front of Percy. They stood and stared at him while the other began to poke him in the stomach. He wasn't doing it hard, but he had a conveniently placed bruise right there that ached with every touch.

"Annie," began the one who was just staring, "Is this your... boyfriend." He turned and looked at her with a devilish grin as she her blush returned.

"No! We're just friends," she said, a little too quickly.

The one who was poking him paused for a moment before saying, "I'm Bobby."

"I'm Matthew!" the other one said, running circles around Percy. He quickly took note of the small scar on his chin and tried to remember that it belonged to Matthew, not Bobby. That was the only difference he could see between the boys.

"Is it okay if Percy stays for dinner?" Annabeth asked.

"Of course!" Helen answered, opening the cupboard. "I was thinking breakfast for dinner. How does that sound, Percy?"

Percy smiled and replied, "That's actually my favorite."

"Good!" She set out a box of pancake mix and some bacon. "Annabeth would you mind getting it started while I go change?"

Percy saw Annabeth tighten her lips slightly as she agreed and turned the stove on. Bobby and Matthew chased each other upstairs to, Percy assumed, their bedroom.

"Percy you can sit in the living room while you wait if you want," she said.

"Nonsense. As you know, I'm practically the master chef over at Coco's Cafe."

She laughed and said, "Well, in that case, you do the pancakes. I'll get the bacon and eggs."

Percy started to mix the ingredients before he remembered, "Oh. Where's your food coloring?"

"What?" she asked, turning to look at him from her position at the stove.

"The coloring for the food," he replied, smirking at her. She playfully rolled her eyes and opened a cupboard above him. She stood on her tiptoes and just barely managed to grab a small box with four dyes.

"Thank you very much," he said taking the box from her. He sorted through them until he found a blue one and put a few drops in the pancake mix. He gingerly put it back in the cupboard and began mixing once more.

"Blue pancakes?" she asked him.

"Mmhmm."

"Doesn't it make your tongue blue?"

"What's wrong with being blue?" he asked her, pausing his mixing.

She laughed and replied, "Well you'll get some strange looks unless you're a smurf or a member of the Blue Man Group." She laid the bacon out on the stove and almost immediately, the kitchen smelled wonderful.

"Hey Annabeth."

"Hmm?" she turned her face slightly to show she was paying attention, but her eyes were still on her pan. Percy took his batter filled scraper and gently dolloped the blue mixture on her nose.

"Now you're blue. Not so bad, huh? Does this look seem strange?" he grinned and made a dumb face as she turned to him in shock and her eyes became a determined gray. His grin quickly disappeared as he became slightly afraid.

"We'll see who's the blue one," she lunged forward and used filled the scraper with batter.

"Agh!" Percy ran to the other side of the kitchen, but not before she caught his cheek with the scraper. He laughed and grabbed a spoon from the counter. He ran back to the bowl that she was guarding to get more ammo. She was painting his face blue while he scooped some batter, but as soon as he was armed, he dropped the scoop onto her forehead. He saw it drip down her temple and he ran once again.

It wasn't until they smelled burnt bacon that their war halted. At that point, they were both so blue, they really could've passed for smurfs. The batter was all in their hair and clothes, they were practically the definition of a mess. Percy looked at Annabeth once all was calm and found himself smiling. She had blue all over her hair and face, but she had never looked better.

And as they were standing there, panting from the efforts of their pancake war, Percy realized he was completely, hopelessly, falling in love with Annabeth Chase.

Annabeth POV

Percy and Annabeth had both taken turns washing up in the bathroom after dinner. While she waited for him, she was thinking about him. She couldn't decide if she was worried about their chemistry, or excited about it. She knew he was different now, but what if he changed back to the jerk? He would surely break her heart. She didn't mind that she was falling for the goofball; she just didn't want to also be falling for the asshole.

Even though she was doubting herself, she couldn't help but smile when she thought of him. He just made her laugh so much, she loved it. When she was around him, she felt more like herself than ever before. She didn't even mind getting soaked in blue pancake batter, and she was a class A neatfreak.

"Alright Wise Girl," Percy's voice said from the hallway. "I'm ready to read." He walked into her room with his shirt splotchy from his attempts to clean it.

She smiled and pulled a battered book off of her bookshelf. She really needed a bigger one, that one looked like it would explode. The book was her favorite when she was teaching herself to read, so she was hoping he liked it.

She handed him the book and watched as he cocked an eyebrow and looked at her in amused confusion.

"Twilights from the Garden?" he asked, reading the title. He sat down on the window seat and brought his knees up, leaning his back against the wall.

"It was my favorite book for awhile there," she said, grabbing a book of her own and mirroring his position on the bench so they were looking directly across from one another.

"Is this a romantic book?" he asked, looking up at her.

"What gave you that idea?"

"Hmm. Maybe it was the ripped shirtless guy making out with this girl, though, I could be wrong," he laughed and flashed the cover at her.

It did in fact have a cheesy, shirtless guy on the cover to make you swoon. Not gonna lie, it worked. She laughed along with him and looked out the window. She gave Percy a few pointers on what she tried to do while reading to make it easier, and she opened her own book.

It wasn't long before Percy laughed again, digging Annabeth out of her concentration.

"What?" she asked, smiling at his amusement.

Suddenly Percy said, "'I didn't think I could love you more than I did yesterday," Annabeth froze in shock at his words before she recognized the line from the book. "but then I saw you today, and I fell all over again'. I'm worried what will happen to this guy tomorrow!" He laughed and looked at her, waiting for her laughter to chime in.

It took her a moment to say, "Don't tease my favorite books!" She forced a bit of laughter to hide her embarassment. Did she really think he would say that? Percy Jackson would never subject himself to romantic lines like that. Right?

"It's such a cheesy line!" he said, ignoring the book completely, his eyes never leaving her face. His scrutinous gaze was making the butterflies in her stomach go crazy.

"It's romantic," she stressed, ignoring her own book.

"Cheesy," he said, leaning towards her with his lips wearing that half smirk that drove her crazy.

She leaned forward and said, "It's romantic and you know it."

"Really? Because I can smell the jarlsberg from here." He put his hands to his side so he could lean even closer. It was almost like a game. He would move forward, and she would do the same. Soon, they were only a few inches apart, and Annabeth was very conscious of her breath. She felt her stomach tug towards him, and she wondered what would happen if she closed the small distance between them. She had to make a conscious effort not to give into her temptations.

They paused as they both realized the position they were in. Annabeth was worried he would be able to hear her heart pounding. She licked her lips and searched his eyes. She felt like she could see straight into his soul.

"I guess," she watched his throat move as he swallowed. "romantic isn't so bad," he softly whispered. His eyes darted so fast to her lips, she almost didn't catch it. Her own lips tingled with anticipation, and she watched as he ever so slowly moved closer to her. Was he going to kiss her?

She stared into his beautiful green eyes. How does one get such pretty eyes? They looked like they were swirling with color. She could get lost in those eyes. She saw them slowly start to close, and hers began to do the same. She felt his breath on her nose, and she just kept leaning, and leaning, and leaning.

"How's it going, kids?" Helen burst into the room and the two shot away from each other. There was a crack as Percy's head smacked against the wall, and Annabeth felt her back hit the wall. First the porch and now this. How did she always know the worst times to open damn doors?

"Oww," Percy rubbed the back of his head and closed his eyes in pain.

"Are you okay?" Annabeth and Helen asked at the same time. Percy nodded, but Helen still had to confirm with her own eyes that there was no blood.

"So..." she began after everything had calmed down. "How's the... reading going?" She looked at them both with arched eyebrows and a smirk.

"Great," Percy said giving a thumbs up. He was sitting at perfect attention at the very end of the bench. He looked as though he would jump out the window if either of them moved any closer.

"Yup. Peachy." Annabeth tried to give Helen a hint with her eyes. Get. Out. She made eye contact with Annabeth and seemed to understand.

"Well I'll just leave you two at it, then." With that, she walked out the door, but it was a few moments before Annabeth released the breath she didn't know she was holding. She hadn't even realized she was pushing her fingernails into her palms until she saw bright red drip down her wrist. Percy noticed this too.

"I see you do that a lot," he said, looking at her palm.

"Yeah, I just... I don't know. I guess I do it when I'm stressed," Annabeth replied, standing to get a bandaid from her desk.

His eyes had a mischevious glint to them as he asked, "You're stressed right now?" He gave her a famous Percy Jackson half smirk. She blushed as she realized she talked herself into a corner.

"I'm always stressed when she's around," she answered, avoiding the obviously stressful situation that just happened.

His eyes turned genuine when he asked, "Why?"

As she looked into his seagreen eyes, she found she couldn't lie to him. Well, maybe she could lie to him, but not to those eyes. "She just..." she started, suddenly looking everywhere but those beautiful eyes. "She expects everything I do to be perfect, but... I'm just... I'm not perfect. And she doesn't get that."

She waited a moment for him to say something, and when he was silent, she looked back to his face. He looked conflicted, like he was fighting himself. Now, he was the one not meeting her eyes. What was he thinking? She tried searching his eyes, but he wouldn't look at her.

"Annabeth, you..." he cleared his throat and met her eyes, looking like he made a decision. "You may not be exactly perfect, no one is... but you're pretty damn close."

She didn't think she'd ever blush as much as she was right then. He thought she was almost perfect? The thought put a smile on her face, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't smother it. She wished they were leaning again, because this time, she wouldn't let Helen ruin the moment.

"I'm sorry your mom-" he started before she cut him off.

"She's not my mom."

His eyebrows shot up in surprise as he replied, "Oh. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have assumed."

"No... It's okay. My dad married her a few years after my mom died," Annabeth heard her voice go numb as she mentioned her mom. Percy moved closer and gently put a calming hand on her shoulder. He seemed hesitant to touch her, but once he did, his hand melted onto her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Annabeth. I'm sorry someone that important was taken from you." She felt his concerned gaze watching her, and she realized that she didn't want to have a sad moment right now.

"No. It's fine. It was awhile ago," she said, looking up and meeting his eyes. They radiated sadness and comfort.

"It's not fine," he said with finality. She agreed with that. It wasn't fine, but for now, sitting here with him, she was fine.

After a moment, she pulled herself away from his eyes and cleared her throat. She saw Percy look at his watch as he picked up his book.

"I should probably get home." Annabeth felt a sinking feeling in her heart as he said that. She desperately didn't want him to go.

"I can drive you," she stood up and grabbed her keys. "You can borrow the book. Let me know how you like it."

Percy smiled and led the way out the door. He thanked her parents and said goodbye to her brothers before they walked out.

As they rode down the streets, Percy would periodically tell her she could just drop him off at this corner, or that sign, but Annabeth refused. She wanted to take him all the way to his house. She didn't want him to walk alone in the dark, but she also selfishly wanted to know where he lived. She thought it was important to know where people she cared about lived.

Percy pointed at a house and Annabeth began to slow down. They were really this close to each other? The distance between their houses was only a few blocks. She could walk between the two in ten minutes.

"Thanks, Annabeth. For the book, and inviting me to dinner." Percy smiled and seemed rushed to get out of the car.

"Of course. I'll see you tomorrow," she said out the window as he got out. He stood on the sidewalk and tried to wave her off. She always liked to wait for people to walk inside to make sure they weren't locked out. She waved back at him, but stayed put. He realized she wasn't budging and he slowly began to walk up the sidewalk, turning his head to look if she was still there multiple times.

Once he reached the door, he waved at her again, signaling her to leave. She just smiled and waved back, still not moving. Percy took the hint and opened his front door just enough for him to slip through. That was good enough for her. She smiled at the thought of their night together before she realized the time: 10:12. Ugh. She had so much homework.

Wow that was so long! I just couldn't stop in the middle of all the chemistry! Speaking of that, there was sooooo much tension between them I loved writing it. Those crazy kids, amiright? Please review and tell me what you thought of PERCABETH. :D