It's done. I sat on this for over two months and all I have to show for my efforts is almost 8k words. That's well below what I wanted to get out, but I literally could not think of anything else to add. I think it's bad. Give it a read.
0000000000
It's been two weeks since their argument. Jason's back living with Percy while Annabeth is still with Piper. The effect has definitely been felt by their friends. Two days after... that, everyone was hanging out at Frank's place. Leo, drunk as he was, said something about Percy and Annabeth having sex which caused Annabeth to leave.
Hazel tried to remedy the situation by suggesting in their group chat that they all meet at a small restaurant to study and hang out. It went about as well as Percy expected. Maybe even worse. The tension was so thick, it would take a godly lightning bolt to sever it. Eventually, Percy just couldn't handle it, so he took off, heading for the one place he knew would give him solace.
He ended up in the aquatics center, sitting in the bleachers, staring at the water. The smell of chlorine assails his nose as a lump builds in his throat. Why did this have to happen? Their friendship had been great but, of course, he had to go and ruin it. The lump grows and Percy feels tears starting to prick at his eyes.
"Percy." Piper says, suddenly in front of him. Jason's there too, at the bottom of the bleachers.
"What?" Percy mumbles, sniffling and wiping his eyes.
"What happened with you two?"
"I told her I liked her 'n' she said she didn't. Argument ensued," Percy says. Piper shook her head.
"There's more. What actually happened?" Her tone was so commanding, Percy knew he couldn't lie.
"I asked if she liked me. She said no coz we're best friends. I argued that best friends don't kiss each other. Yadda yadda, I called bullshit, she got mad that I was making it about me, stuff was yelled, she left." Percy says. Piper sits next to him while Jason stomps up the metal rows and plops down on the other side of Percy.
"Percy, listen. Annabeth… she had her emotions been fucked with for years. Like by her ex. He was manipulative, basically abusive, and just not a great person. Oh, and he was like five years older. So it wasn't a great situation for anyone to be in. But she was head over heels for him." Percy's not sure how to take this info, but he realizes it explains a lot about Annabeth. "It fucked her up when she found out he was cheating on her with one of her friends at the time. She became really reserved. It took her weeks to trust me when we were roommates for two years." Piper explained. "She was already hella reluctant to show up at that first Game Night. And it doesn't help that her stepmom is an awful person and her dad's too blind to see it. But I do know one thing. Your friendship meant the world to her. She was glad to have a close guy friend." Percy sits in silence, thinking.
"And I fucked it up," he whispers. Jason pats his back.
"You scared her. She's never really had anyone say they've liked her," he says. Piper nods.
"And her pride got in the way. It isn't your fault, but she's probably not gonna make an attempt to fix it, at least not for a while. Give her space." Percy nods.
"I just don't want her to hate me,"
"She won't. You're hard to hate."
0000000
Percy takes Piper's advice and leaves Annabeth alone, essentially ignoring her except for a few moments where they're forced to talk to each other. It sucks. She doesn't come to Game Nights as much and the times she does, it's awkward but bearable, like tonight.
They're playing a twisted version of Sorry!, which Leo, Annabeth, and Jason managed to patch together by duct-taping three boards together, Hazel and Piper painted the other boards different colors, while Thalia, Percy, Nico, and Will came up with the rules. Percy came up with the idea of being allowed to "capture" other player's pieces and use them as weapons, but not being able to put them into home, and if someone loses all their pieces, they're out of the game.
Percy's playing as blue and he has two of Leo's pieces, one of Piper's, and all of Jason's. One of his guys is in Home, two are close, and one's on the other side of the board. It's almost his turn and he knows he has to make a play soon. Frank draws a Sorry! card and knocks one of Will's pieces back to his start, muttering the titular word as he does so. Everyone's dead quiet, focusing on the game.
It's finally Percy's turn and he holds his breath as he draws his card. It's a two. He exhales, moves one piece two places closer to Home and draws again. This one is an eleven, giving him the option of either moving eleven places or swapping positions with another player. Percy looks at his section of the board. Two of his, one of Thalia's and Nico's, two of Hazel's, and… aha. One of Annabeth's. Percy looks at his third piece by Leo's area, then at Annabeth's just to the left. Bingo. Percy picks up Annabeth's gray and slides it over. Everyone watches, surprised at the play.
"Gimme." He says, gesturing to his man. Annabeth narrows her eyes as she grudgingly hands it over. The tension rackets up three notches as Percy ends his turn in endgame position.
The game is nearing its end and Percy and Will both have two pieces in their Homes, Leo and Nico have one, and somehow, Annabeth has three in. It's Leo's turn and he makes a move that gives him Nico's last piece, who grunts in annoyance. Percy draws his card, a five, and moves. Annabeth takes her turn, which lets her take Leo out of the game. Percy narrows his eyes. This is gonna be harder than he thought.
Percy somehow manages to wing his way to the end of the game and beats Annabeth. It's kind of funny hearing her sigh as he moves his final man into Home.
0000000
When Percy finds out that he made it to the semifinals of the state meet, he's ecstatic. His coach congratulates him and Hedge gives him a grunt of approval. Once he's changed, he sprints back home.
When he throws open the door, Jason and Piper are on the couch and, ew, making out. They jump at his sudden intrusion.
"I made it to the semis!" Percy says excitedly. Jason smiles and leaps over the back, tackling Percy in a bear hug and lifting him off the ground. Piper beams.
"Nice job, Perce."
Later that night, Percy texts his other friends, who all respond with varying amounts of congratulations. Thalia replies with, "I guess we have to wait longer for you to drown, huh?"
He texts Annabeth about it and obsessively checks for a response. He knows it's dumb because his phone will go off, but he can't help it. It's like his phone buzzes and when he checks it, there's nothing.
When she finally does reply, it's a simple "Good job", but Percy smiles at it regardless.
0000000
It's Nico's birthday, and they're all gathering at his house for a surprise. The plan is for Will to intercept Nico on his way back from his lecture, which Will does, texting Piper a confirmation.
Piper's of course coordinating decoration set up, flawlessly directing everyone like she was born to. Black and gray streamers are strung across the ceiling, white balloons are drawn on to look like skulls. Percy wonders if Nico is secretly in cahoots with the Grim Reaper, since he seems to have a fascination with death. And Pokémon.
Will texts Piper a status update and apparently it freaks Piper out that she starts yelling for everyone to get their ass in gear because they're like two minutes away.
Finally, everything is all set up. Percy hits the lights and scampers into a hiding spot next to Jason. Everyone's silent and they hear the door open. Suddenly Percy hears Nico say, "Wanna go upstairs?"
"Sure," Will says. Without warning, Jason stands up and yells "Hey!" Nico jumps, cursing in Italian as Will backpedals and falls over.
"You have not asked permission!" Jason screeches flicking on the lights and storming towards Will. Nico sees the birthday decorations and frowns.
"What the fuck did you do to my house?" Piper and Hazel jump up.
"Surprise…?" they say. Percy stands up and waves at Nico, who sighs. Jason is busy laying into Will, berating him for attempting to defile his son without them being together, how dare he do that, etcetera etcetera. Piper pulls Jason away, who's still indignant at what had happened.
"They should have waited!" he yelps. Piper sighs. Will grins and takes Nico's hand, who rolls his eyes, but Percy doesn't miss how Nico's cheeks redden and doesn't let go of Will's hand.
The party gets going, much to the relief of Percy. Apparently Piper had been busy, since a lot of people that showed up seemed to know Nico pretty well. Leo starts mixing up cocktails and the party goes up a few notches too many. The music starts getting too loud and Percy suddenly doesn't feel like being there.
He starts to leave and is glad to see that Annabeth has the same idea. They're both leaving when Annabeth grabs Percy's arm.
"Hey, Percy, can we talk for a sec?" She says. Percy's heart rate jumps up.
"Sure, what's up?"
"I want to be friends," Annabeth says. "I… miss what we had." Percy smiles to himself.
"You wanna try again?" he asks hesitantly. Annabeth beams.
"Yeah. I'd really like to."
They both go back to Percy's that night. Neither can sleep, so they stay up late asking questions. Percy realizes that there's quite a bit about Annabeth that he still doesn't know about.
By the time they're both tired enough to go to sleep, Percy finds out that Annabeth lowkey has an obsession with pink glitter, she played soccer in high school, and likes McNuggets.
0000000
Percy and Annabeth slowly repair their friendship. It started simply enough; they agreed to not let things be awkward. Then it just went from there. They aren't quite back to what they had before, but it's enough.
Annabeth doesn't move back in with Percy, but she's over so much that it's basically the same. Percy realizes exactly how much he missed her.
0000000
"I really, really, really fucking like her." Percy says as he counts coins. It's a slow day in the pizza shop, so Percy's friends decided to come visit. They'd ordered their pizza and sat down, but Piper and Jason, being the stellar friends they are, came up to talk to Percy.
"We know," Jason says. "Annabeth doesn't though. As smart as she is, she should have picked up on your blatantly obvious signs."
"Thanks, Jace," Percy says, sighing. Piper elbows Jason, who squeaks in pain.
"Be nice."
"I'm just saying! You've been hella obvious, dude."
"I am well fucking aware, thanks."
"You need to tell her, buddy," Piper says, tracing her fingers along the wood grains in the counter. "Or I will." Percy groans and shuts the cash register.
"Please do not."
"Then tell her."
0000000
Percy's chugging through his swim season and it's great. He's dropped time in most of his good events and events he didn't expect to. All his friends show up to his meets when they can and they're always the loudest. Piper even made shirts that spelled out his name.
He's at a meet now, a home one, and when he looks at the stands, there are his friends. Annabeth smiles and gives him a thumbs up, making Percy blush. He's about to swim the one hundred meter butterfly and the adrenaline is coursing through his veins.
The rough surface of the starting block is beneath his feet as Percy steps up, swinging his arms in preparation of the race.
"Take your mark," the official says. Percy bends over, grabbing the edge, tensing up, preparing to dive in. The buzzer sounds and Percy goes.
He glides underwater for a bit before coming up, taking a quick breath and he starts moving his arms and legs in tandem. The roar of the crowd mixes with the crashing of water as Percy surges through the water. He passes the halfway mark.
'Come on,' he tells himself.
The opposite wall quickly comes into view and Percy pushes himself to it. He grabs the edge, swings his legs below him, and pushes off, gliding underwater. His shoulders burn as he starts the stroke yet again.
As Percy nears the wall, he looks up to see how far away he is. Five strokes.
Everything slows down. Four strokes.
He wonders if Annabeth is cheering for him. Three strokes.
Percy wills his body through the water, almost forcing it to push him forward. Two strokes.
As Percy takes his final stroke, his arms sail through the air, slashing into the water. His hands make contact with the wall and his wrists bend back. What feels like a red hot iron spike drives into one of his arms. Percy lets out a scream of pain and comes up. He looks at his hands desperately. Nothing seems off. He tries moving his left hand. All good. He moves his right one and it doesn't move.
Percy's heart rate jumps as he stares at it and tries again. It hurts. Badly. Percy's breaths come short and fast as he desperately hopes it's not what he thinks it is.
"Jackson!" His coach is standing over him, worried. Percy looks up.
"I think I broke my wrist."
When the doctor tells Percy that he won't be able to finish the swim season, he nearly goes into shock.
0000000
Annabeth traces her hand along the cast.
"Did it hurt?" she asks. Percy snorts.
"You have no idea," he says.
"I feel bad for you,"
"I feel bad for me too,"
"When you came up screaming, everyone went quiet. I think my heart stopped." Annabeth says, scribbling her name on his thumb. It's blue and there's a smiley face next to it.
"Aw, you were concerned!" Percy says and laughs. Annabeth rolls her eyes and huffs.
"Of course I was, Seaweed Brain. My best friend hurt himself pretty badly."
"I knew you had a heart."
"Shut up."
Their friends come by later to see him. Hazel had made a cake in the shape of a hand with a cast on it. Leo hands Percy a bottle of voda to "take the pain away", as he put it.
"Physical or emotional?" Nico asks. Leo stares at him.
"Both, you Italian nutjob."
A few hours later and some, Jason's lamenting the fact that Percy can't finish his season. Percy's bummed too, but he's too busy staring at Annabeth to care. Piper flings herself onto the couch next to him.
"You're being obvious," she whispers. "Quit staring at her."
"But she's prettyyyy," Percy slurs. Piper shakes her head.
"You're gonna scare her."
"I already did. Don't you remember?"
0000000
"Drew cannot take a fucking hint," Percy says hotly, shutting the front door, thinking Jason's in the living room. Instead, he sees Annabeth's sitting on the counter, a mug of something in her hands, and an amused smile on her face. Her blonde curls spill over her shoulders. Percy's chest overflows with affection as he heads for the fridge. Piper's in the living room with Jason, who's wearing a skull cap as Piper writes on it.
"Why's that?" Piper asks. Jason throws him a look that asks for help, now, please.
"She kept flirting with me even though I basically told her to fuck off."
"Can't imagine why," Annabeth says, sipping from her mug. "You look like a brain dead frog." Percy puts his hand over his heart.
"You wound me, Wise Girl." Annabeth sticks her tongue at him. Percy bites into his apple and watches Piper scribble on Jason's head. "What're they doing?"
"Piper has a psych quiz tomorrow over different parts of the brain so she's writing them on Jason's head." Annabeth explains.
"Good thing it's not an anatomy quiz," Percy says. Annabeth snorts.
0000000
Percy's walking back from a class when someone slams into him. Hard. He falls to the ground, a flash of red in his peripheral.
"I am so sorry," the girl says. Percy half-recognizes the voice, but he's busy trying to get back up and ignore the stabbing pain in his wrist. "It's my first day and I have to get to the admissions office because I just transferred here and… Percy?" Shit. Percy realizes where he knows the voice. Slowly, he moves his gaze over the paint splattered Converses and the jeans with Sharpie doodles all over them. Her shirt has an exotic bird printed on it with some conservation slogan on it.
Rachel Elizabeth Dare.
Percy hadn't seen or talked to her since his senior year of high school. They'd been close, a sort of friends-with-benefits situation, promised to keep in touch through their college years, since she was going to a school nearly four states away. Then they'd never spoken again. And yet here she was.
"Uh, hi, Rach."
0000000
Percy and Rachel wasted no time in reforging their friendship. They started hanging out more and more, sometimes at Percy's, sometimes at Rachel's. Her roommate was a sweet girl named Calypso. Percy recalled that Leo had a thing for her. He would be ecstatic when Percy told him about this.
As part of the ritual of friendship, Percy invited the two of them to a Game Night. Leo was reduced to a blabbering idiot, which wasn't much of a change, as soon as he laid eyes on Calypso. Everyone else was on board with Rachel joining their group. Except for Annabeth. She'd been friendly enough the first time she met Rachel, but Percy could tell something was off. What it was exactly, Percy had no idea. But Rachel was rubbing Annabeth the wrong way, which bothered him.
Eventually, Percy and Rachel began dating.
0000000
"She's mad," Jason says one day, after Annabeth leaves their house, angry. Percy doesn't know why. To be honest, he doesn't really care.
0000000
Percy's fairly sure Leo is in cahoots with some sort of fire deity, since the little gremlin seems to have zero control of how much heat he can put into a hot sauce.
Leo's hard at work crushing, mixing, and blending to try and make the hottest sauce ever , which Percy worries is getting increasingly possible. Finally, Leo claps in victory.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Your attention please!" Everyone looks at him, excitement and fear permeating through the air. "I have finished it. My magnum opus. My masterpiece, my last symphony. I present… Fire Hand hot sauce." Percy raises an eyebrow. "Made with five crushed up Carolina Reapers, three shots of Fireball whiskey, five cups of Frank's Extra Hot sauce, a half a cup of Bdub's Blazin' sauce, and a bag of crushed Flamin' Hot Cheetos and Takis, this little concoction will be sure to melt your goddamn face off."
"What's the Scoville level?" Annabeth asks. Leo shrugs.
"I don't fuckin' know. It's spicy though." He holds up a small bowl and a chicken nugget. "Who wants to try it?" No one says anything. Rachel gives Percy a look. He shakes his head.
"Percy wants to try it!" Rachel yells. Leo grins with evil glee and hands Percy the nugget and bowl.
The sauce is bright red and slightly watery. Percy can smell it and oh boy, it is vile. His nose starts to burn and his eyes water. He looks around at his friends and Leo sets down a bowl of ice cream. Percy steels his nerves.
"Mama didn't raise no bitch," he says and dunks the nugget.
On first contact, it's not spicy. In fact, it's slightly sweet. Then the spice hits. And it hits like a freight-train.
His tongue is literally on fire. It's the worst pain he's ever experienced. Each breath feels like he's inhaling fire. His stomach heaves. Sweat starts breaking out on his forehead. The scent of the sauce goes up his nose harder than before and into his eyes making him immediately start sniffling as tears roll. Desperately, Percy fumbles for the ice cream and starts shoveling it into his mouth.
"More," he tries to say, but it comes out as a mess of a word. Leo scrambles for the kitchen to get more ice cream as Percy throws up. Rachel quickly moves next to him, rubbing his back as Percy throws up more. Some of it goes out his nose and it burns. He sees Annabeth glaring at Rachel, as if imagining the myriad of ways she could remove Rachel from Percy's presence.
He's vaguely aware of Thalia and Reyna laughing at his misery. He can't blame them, he'd be laughing if it wasn't him.
0000000
Percy stares at his phone, re-reading the sting of texts between him and Rachel. The discussion had started innocently enough; Rachel was wondering why Annabeth didn't seem to like her. Percy explained that they'd been good friends for a while, which made Rachel ask why Annabeth basically lived with Percy. Cue the accusations of cheating. Percy may have gotten a bit heated and said that his relationship with Annabeth wasn't any of Rachel's business.
The whole thing is bumming Percy out, so he shuts off his phone. Confrontation was one thing he vehemently disliked. Unfortunately, he can't sleep, so he lays awake, staring at the wall.
A bit later, he's half asleep when he hears the door open. He looks over to see Annabeth climb in next to him, sniffling. Percy doesn't question it.
When they wake up the next morning, Percy realizes that Annabeth's head is on his chest, his arm is around her waist, and they're basically cuddling. Annabeth wakes up too and Percy turns red. They separate quickly.
"Morning," Percy says awkwardly. Annabeth just purses her lips, deep in thought.
"I had a nightmare," she says. Percy nods as she leaves.
0000000
Percy and Rachel have been dating for almost three months and it's on the rocks. No relationship is without problems, but the ones they do have are enough to make Percy wonder as to whether or not him and Rachel should be together. Percy isn't sure what the deal is, but he plans on talking to Rachel about it.
As he's pulling on his shoes, someone knocks. Confused, Percy opens it and shit, it's Rachel.
"Oh, hey Rach," he says, trying to act casual. "What's-"
"I'm breaking up with you," she says. Percy blinks. He knew Rachel was a direct person, but he didn't realize she was that direct.
"Uh. Why?"
"Because of Annabeth." Rachel sighs. "Wait. That came out wrong. Annabeth's a lovely person. I know she doesn't like me because we're together. Piper's told me a lot." Percy blinks.
"But I don't like Annabeth. I like you."
"Your heart doesn't like me though. I see how you glance at her sometimes. You still think about her. A lot, Percy." Percy's silent as he thinks about what Rachel said. Then he remembers what had happened a few days ago when Annabeth had a nightmare.
"Oh." He slides to the floor, much like when Annabeth stormed out. Rachel smiles down at him.
"You're an amazing person, Jackson. But you and I… we aren't meant to be. You and Annabeth are. I'm glad we found each other again." Rachel offers her hand and Percy takes it. Rachel gives him a quick hug.
"See ya 'round Percy."
And then she's gone, leaving Percy alone with his thoughts.
0000000
In the time that Percy's known Annabeth, he's never seen her drunk. Until tonight that is. Not to be outdone, Percy immediately started trying to get more drunk than her.
They're at Frank and Hazel's and Nico is attempting to be Batman. The little bastard tied a black towel around his neck and is jumping around, throwing cups at anyone he can. Will's running around behind him, ready to catch his boyfriend in case he falls. Leo, Piper, Jason, Reyna, and Thalia are busy playing a card game with copious amounts of alcohol in their blood and Percy's fairly certain that they're all a bit high.
"Perrrrcyyyy," Annabeth slurs from her place on his shoulder. "Wha's your… mmmm…. fav'rite dinosaur?" Percy tips his head back, downing some of the vodka in his glass.
"I like th' Tyrannosauce Rex," he says. "Wha's yours?" Annabeth's silent for a second, clearly using a mighty effort to form coherent thoughts.
"I like-" she hiccups. "I like the Para… parasaurolopholasaurus."
"How th' fuck did you say that?" Percy asks. Annabeth giggles.
"I have no idea!"
They manage to sober up a bit, but are still hammered out of their minds. Eventually, Hazel, the only sober person other than Will, takes them upstairs to a guest room. When she leaves, Annabeth grabs Percy's shirt.
"Do you want me?" she whispers, still slurring. Percy's mind lags for a second as he processes what she said.
"Yes," he says back. Annabeth smiles, biting her lip, and Percy's mind goes blank.
Percy wakes up the next morning to probably the worst hangover he's experienced. He's also very cold. It takes him a moment to realize that he's naked. In a bed. With Annabeth.
This realization shocks him so badly, he falls out of the bed, scrambling for his boxers. As he's quickly pulling on his pants, Annabeth also wakes up and stifles a shriek of understanding.
"Fuck fuck fuck fuck!" she mutters, trying to set a world record in putting on clothes. Percy's eyes widen as he hears the door open and he turns around. Frank's poking his head through.
"Frank, no!" he yells, but it's too late.
"Hey, Percy, are you gonna-" Everyone freezes. Annabeth's pulling a shirt over her head, Percy's on the floor trying to get his foot through one of his pant legs, and Frank just walked in on them. He yells in horror, clamping a hand over his eyes, slamming the door shut so hard everything rattles, and runs away.
"Oh no," Annabeth says, summarizing their thoughts entirely.
Their friends aren't idiots, so the first thing Percy hears is Leo yelling, "Give it up for the champions!"
0000000
Percy and Annabeth do their best to avoid any and all discussion about what happened. Unfortunately, neither of them can ignore it entirely. They end up doing it again, under the guise of satiating the awkwardness. It's far from awkward and Annabeth's sighs are music to Percy's ears.
After they finish, they're laying next to each other, taking in each other's warmth.
"This was a one time thing, right?" Percy asks. Annabeth hums in confirmation. He doesn't mind.
0000000
"I seem to recall you said this would be a one time thing," Percy says as Annabeth opens the door.
"Fuck you," she grumbles. "I had a long day." Percy laughs.
"So I'm a booty call now?" He asks, causing Annabeth rolls her eyes. They head upstairs, already beginning to pull their shirts off. Percy's lips quickly become sore. His hands travel along Annabeth's torso, feeling her skin. She pushes him onto his back, biting her lip as she eyes Percy's bare chest. He winks and grins.
"Swimmer bod."
"I like it," she says huskily as she presses light kisses to his pecs, his abs, his pelvis. Percy shivers under her touch.
0000000
Annabeth calls him one night in a slight panic, saying that they should tell their friends because it would be bad if they found out otherwise.
"Why would it be bad?" Percy asks.
"I dunno. I just… feel like they'd feel betrayed," Annabeth tries to explain. "Like we didn't tell them about… us. Continuing this." Percy tries to not fixate on the "us".
"Really? I think they'd be more fake-mad than actual mad."
"Fake-mad?"
"Yeah. Like, they'd be mad we didn't tell them and they'd definitely tease us-"
"They already are teasing us though."
"Exactly! Listen, they think it was a one-time-thing, right?"
"Yeah,"
"So don't worry about it."
"Fine."
0000000
Percy texts Estelle one night about his situation.
stella, halp
Whaddya want
Im fwbs with Annabeth
It takes a minute for her to reply.
N when the fuck were you gonna tell me this?
Language bitch
Nah, fuck that
When the fuck were you gonna tell me?
I dunno
I didn't think you'd want to be involved in your brother's sex life
Well, youre right abt that
I dont wanna know what or who my brother does every night
But what's the problem?
I like Annabeth
Like, a lot
Stella halp
Took you long enough holy shit
Not helping
What do i do?
Tell her
Worst she can say is no
I've already done that tho
N she shut me down
Hard
You wimp
Do it
Or i will
I have her snap
And insta
And number
Wat
Listen
Tell her
Just
"Hey i like you"
You might be surprised
0000000
Despite all better judgement, Percy follows his sister's advice. Of course, there aren't a whole lot of good times to tell her, so he has to wait until they're alone. Fortunately, whatever fate deity was watching over Percy must have felt nice, or cruel, and decided that Annabeth had to show up at Percy's unannounced.
They spend some time hanging out (they have a Minecraft building competition and Annabeth builds the Parthenon), watching movies (Percy manages to convince her to watch Jaws), the whole shebang (Percy makes a note to never try to mix Pixie Stix and Coca Cola), until they end up in Percy's room. Annabeth's wearing one of Percy's swimming sweatshirts. The hem goes down to her thighs and Percy absolutely cannot stop thinking about what he's probably gonna do very soon.
Annabeth doesn't seem to plan on any of that, since she just lays on her back in the middle of the bed, holding her arms out, asking Percy to join. Which he does.
They hold each other, staring at the ceiling, enjoying the feeling of holding another person.
"Annabeth?"
"Yeah?"
"I like you. A lot." Percy exhales nervously and she's silent for a count of ten.
"Not now, Percy. Please?"
0000000
Piper's sitting at the table when Percy gets home one day.
"Uh, what're you-" he starts to say, but Piper cuts him off.
"Why the fuck were three of your sweatshirts in Annabeth's laundry?" Percy blinks. Oh. Shit. Percy immediately falls back onto his default defense. Play dumb. "Don't act like you don't know, either, Jackson. Because I know exactly what's up."
"And that is?"
"You guys are screwing, aren't you?" She asks. Percy sighs.
"Yeah. We are." Piper grins.
"Fucking knew it."
"Promise you won't tell anyone," Percy says. "Please?" Piper stands up.
"Promise."
0000000
Piper decided one day that she would organize a "Girl's Night", so Leo and Frank are hanging out at Percy and Jason's. Leo's setting up his old Wii console so they can play Mario Kart.
"I got dibs on Waluigi," Percy says, grabbing his controller.
"Dude, you can't be Waluigi. I'm always Waluigi," Leo says, offended.
"Fuck you both, I'll be the Purple God," Jason butts in.
"Wait, what if we race for him?" Frank suggests. "You guys choose someone else to race with and whoever wins out of four can be him the next round."
"How do we know you won't take him?" Leo asks. Frank raises an eyebrow
"Because I'm Canadian."
After four races, two of which ended neck and neck, Leo's won the right to use Waluigi. Percy vows to take Leo down.
"Who sent the goddamn blue shell?!"
"Me."
"Bastard! Come face me like a man!"
"No."
"Jason, stop camping in the middle!"
"I'm not camping! I need the rocket!"
Frank ends up winning the sole usage of Waluigi for eternity. Leo vows to claim the honor for himself.
0000000
Percy's studying his biology notes. It's incredibly boring, but he has to do well on the upcoming test. He's just hung up a call with Frank when Annabeth walks in. She sits on the edge of his bed and is quiet for a bit before speaking up.
"My mom called me." Percy stares at his notes. Annabeth's never mentioned her mother.
"Oh?"
"Yeah. She wanted to know how I was doing."
"An' what'd you say?"
"I told her I was okay." Percy can tell there's more, but he doesn't want to pry.
"Is there something else…"
"I haven't seen her in seven years," There's the bombshell. "And she wants to meet me for dinner. Tomorrow."
"Is that bad?"
"I just… don't want it to be awkward."
"If you don't let it be awkward, it won't be."
"It's been seven years, Percy. What do I even talk about?"
"Me. Duh." Annabeth rolls her eyes at that and mutters something under her breath about stupid fucking boys.
"Yes, let me casually bring the topic up of my best friend who I've been fucking every single day."
"See? Genius." Percy tries not to dwell on the best friend part. He hears Annabeth's fingers tapping on her phone, which buzzes a few seconds later.
"Percy?"
"Yeah?"
"Can you come with me?" Percy blinks and spins around.
"Like, with you? To dinner with your mom?"
"Yes," Annabeth's expression is neutral, but her eyes are pleading for him to come.
"Sure."
0000000
A few days later, Percy's adjusting the collar of his shirt while Annabeth's in the bathroom, finishing up her makeup. Annabeth's mother made a reservation for the three of them at a place where jeans wouldn't be acceptable, so Percy knew exactly what and who he was dealing with. At least he thought he did.
Percy prided himself on being pretty non-judgmental, but he couldn't help thinking about what Annabeth's mom was like. Based off what Annabeth had told him and the fact that she booked a table at a fancy-ass restaurant, he figured she'd be a stuck up bitch who would talk down to both him and Annabeth.
He couldn't have been more wrong.
They pull up into a parking space and Annabeth immediately sees her mom. She's a tall woman and Percy thinks she kind of looks like she eats lemons. But the moment her daughter steps out of the car, her expression changes into a genuine ear-to-ear smile. Percy blinks. That was surprise number one. Surprise number two is how she greets Percy.
After giving Annabeth a hug, she turns to Percy. She has the exact same eyes as Annabeth, an intense, steely gray that makes Percy feel like he's being analyzed.
"You must be Annabeth's friend." It's direct and to the point. Percy nods and sticks out his hand. She shakes it. Her grip is strong.
"Uh, yes, ma'am. I'm Percy."
"Pleasure to meet you, Percy. I am Athilda Pallas."
"Nice to meet you, miss Pallas."
"Call me Athena."
Later, they're at their table. The dim lighting turns Annabeth's hair to a dirty blonde and Athena's hair, already a light brown, to nearly black.
"So, Annabeth. How have your studies been?" Athena asks. Annabeth shrugs.
"Okay, I guess."
"You guess? Sweetie, they're either good or not."
"Then good. I had to draw a blueprint of a government building façade for my architecture midterm. It did well enough, but I don't think it's very good."
"Oh? Do you have a picture of it?" Annabeth shakes her head, but Percy's already pulling out his phone.
"I do. I think it looked amazing." He hands Athena the phone, who zooms in and out of the picture with a practiced eye. She quirks an eyebrow and shows Annabeth the screen.
"This joint right here needs a load-bearing pillar or wall. If this had actually been built, the majority of this would have collapsed." Annabeth tilts her head and looks at the drawing. "I can understand how you would have overlooked it, since you have supports on either side of it and aesthetic is always a goal, but you must consider structural soundness." She hands Percy's phone back to him with a nod of thanks.
"I'll fix that for my final then. We have to build a to-scale model for our final. I'm not sure what material to use," Annabeth says. "I'm thinking of using clay and toothpicks."
"You could use Legos," Percy blurts. Annabeth and Athena look at him. He shrinks back slightly. "Or… or not."
"That is not a bad idea," Athena muses. "Legos are renowned for their incredible stability. Choosing a color scheme would also be quite an easy task."
"But wouldn't it be, like, unprofessional?" Annabeth asks. Athena lets out a laugh.
"Goodness, no! I've used Legos plenty of times to build models for buildings. My clients always appreciated it because it enabled them to go hands on with the structure. I remember one man asking to take it apart and reconfigure it to his liking. That was how I landed the biggest deal of my career." Athena regards Percy again, reanalyzing him. "You never mentioned your major, Percy."
"Oh, uh, I'm studying to be a marine biologist." Athena nods.
"A man of science, I see."
"I just like the ocean."
The rest of the time passes well. Athena's down-to-earth and speaks her mind, just like Annabeth. But she's nice enough and Percy can clearly see that Annabeth is her mother's daughter.
After Percy and Annabeth get home, they head upstairs. Annabeth flops onto Percy's bed and exhales.
"That was fun." Percy says, unbuttoning his shirt. Annabeth nods, staring at the ceiling.
"What made you think of Legos?" she asks. Percy pulls his shirt off and shrugs.
"They're run. I used to play with them all the time and build spaceships 'n' shit," Annabeth snorts.
"Of course you did."
"Hey, they're fun okay?"
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Annabeth stands up and walks over to Percy, hugging him. "Thanks for coming with me. It meant a lot." Percy returns the hug.
"No problem."
0000000
Percy calls his mom a few days later, asking about his old Legos. Much to his surprise, they're not boxed up or sold. Estelle had taken a liking to them but is quickly outgrowing them. So Percy and Annabeth decide to drive on over to pick them up the next day.
Sally's waiting for them outside the apartment building. She greets them with a bone-crushing hug.
"Stella's been wondering when you'd come back," she says. "All she can talk about is you, Annabeth." Annabeth laughs.
"Of course she would."
"You made an impact on her and now she's obsessed with art and history. I swear, one day I'm going to wake up and see the walls turned into a massive mural."
No one's home except for Sally and Mrs. O'Leary, who goes absolutely bonkers at the sight of Percy and Annabeth walking through the door. She nearly knocks Percy over and starts licking his face. Annabeth laughs as Sally heads for Estelle's room.
"Thanks for the advice, Percy," Annabeth says, kissing Percy's cheek. Percy smiles.
"Thank me later when you ace your final."
When their friends find three boxes of Legos a few days later, the first thing they do is have a building contest. Reyna, being the unimaginative fucker she is, decides to be the sole judge. She sets the incredibly arbitrary time limit of one hour and thirteen minutes (Percy asks why after the competition and she say that she was hoping that the thirteen would cause someone to mess up) and everyone starts building. Percy's already envisioned his creation and immediately dives into the blue bin.
After Reyna calls the time, Percy's reasonably proud of his work. He's built a half scale trident, using blue and gray bricks. Hazel built a sizable horse farm, Frank made a dragon (It's all blocky and weird and Frank says it's bad)., Jason and Thalia teamed up and made a lightning bolt, and Piper made a very fancy heart with frills. Nico and Will made a cool looking yellow skull. When Percy sees what Leo and Annabeth made however, he's blown away.
Leo made a to-scale, steampunk style, Greek trireme. He captured every possible detail, from the oars, to the shields lining the deck, to the insane pipes and engine. He even managed to incorporate Technic into it and made stuff move too. The dragon head has a fire piece that spins when a knob is turned.
Percy's sure Leo's going to win until Annabeth unveils her creation.
It's a miniature Mount Olympus. She built the top half of a mountain and then built tiny mansions and houses, even including the Palace of the Gods, which has twelve tiny thrones. When Reyna asks about how Annabeth made the mountain top, she opens up the mountain and reveals a crazy network of lattices, Technic pieces, and supports. Percy is in awe of it. He's never made something that intricate before
Annabeth tries to be humble about her win, but she's lowkey gloating about it. Percy doesn't mind. He dropped his trident and it broke.
0000000
Percy and Annabeth are both sitting at the kitchen table, doing homework, when a massive thunderclap suddenly rattles the house and the lights turn off. Percy looks around the dark as his heart starts to pound.
"I might be wrong, but I think the lights just got turned off," he jokes, trying to stay calm as he grabs his phone and turns on the flashlight. Annabeth's phone starts buzzing.
"It's Piper," she says and answers. "Hey, Pipes." Percy peeks out the window. The clouds are a deep gray, rolling with the wind. Rain pelts down and the wind screams past, flinging leaves and the occasional stick. A bolt of lightning scythes down and a clap of thunder follows. Percy scampers away from the window.
"Piper and Jason are in the dark too," Annabeth says. Percy snorts.
"I know what they're gonna get up to."
"Oh my god, shut the hell up," Annabeth groans. She stares at her papers and sighs. "I'm not gonna get anything done."
"Same here," Percy says, now sitting on the couch, wrapped in a blanket. A clap of thunder makes him shrink into the couch.
"Are you scared?" Annabeth asks. Percy shakes his head. "You're scared. Percy Jackson, college swimmer. Scared of a little lightning."
"Shut it," Percy mutters. Annabeth sits next to him, resting her head on his shoulder.
Percy wakes up the next day laying down, Annabeth's head on his chest.
0000000
"I can't fucking do this," Leo says, bouncing up and down.
"Re-lax, drama queen. We all know she's into you." Piper says, swatting Leo's arm. Percy nods in agreement. They're waiting for Calypso outside some greenhouses on campus for the botany students, where she had a class.
Leo and her have been getting very close over the last few months and Leo wanted to make it official. He's holding a bouquet of flowers, because he decided to for maximum cheesiness. Percy stares at his phone and when the time changes, the doors fly open.
"Right on cue," he says.
"It's go time," Annabeth says. Percy's somewhat surprised that Annabeth agreed to come. But he's glad she's there nonetheless.
"Oh man, I see her," Leo says, clearly getting antsy. He hesitates for a brief moment, then buries his face in his hands. "I can't do this guys. I can't." Percy grabs Leo's shoulders and shakes him.
"Snap the fuck out of it, Valdez. She's one hundred percent into you." Leo takes a shaky breath and nods.
"Okay. I'm gonna do it,"
"Give her that Valdez charm!" Piper yells. Calypso hears the noise and sees the group. She starts to walk over, focusing on Leo, and smiling. Leo quickly hides the bouquet behind his back and walks to meet Calypso.
Percy can't hear their conversation, but he does see Leo give Calypso the flowers. Leo says something else and Calypso freezes for a second before a huge smile over takes her face. She wraps her arms around Leo's neck and kisses him. Percy's pretty sure it's a yes.
Annabeth's beside him and she wraps her arms around his torso.
"Nice pep talk," she says. Percy slings an arm over her shoulders.
"Thanks. It's a beta version of what I'd do before meets."
0000000
Mr. D is too much of a lazy fuck to close up the store himself, so Percy's stuck with it. He's in the food pantry tonight, taking inventory, mostly because it's been awhile since Mr. D or Percy did that and also because he feels like it.
He's sorting through the different dough ingredients when he hears his name being called
"Percy? Piper told me you were here. Where are you?" It's Annabeth
"Back here!" he yells, wondering what the fuck she's doing here at almost midnight. She knew he'd be home soon. Her footsteps echo through the kitchen as she gets closer. Percy stands and turns around, seeing Annabeth standing in the doorway.
"Hi. I told you I'd be home soon,"
"I was impatient," Annabeth says, pulling him into a hug. She looks up, meeting Percy's eyes. "I wanted to do this." She kisses him, but it's not like the other times. Those are quick and meaningless. This one is deeper, more passionate. There's an intense feeling behind it. It's like a hurricane, destroying any sense of doubt Percy has if Annabeth likes him. Her lipstick tastes like cherries and Percy kind of loves it.
When she pulls away, Percy has to remember who and where he is.
"Uh, the fuck was that about?" He asks. Annabeth smiles.
"I like you, Percy. A lot."
"Yeah, I got that, but like," he waves his hands. "Why now?"
"I talked to Piper. She told me everything you told her." Percy sighs.
"Of course she did. Well, I suppose there's no denying it now. I also like you, Annabeth. Now, do you wanna be my girlfriend or what?" Annabeth snorts.
"Yes, you doofus, of course I do." Percy smiles wider than he ever has.
0000000
When the rest of the group finds out, money is exchanged between hands. Leo grumbles and insists that Thalia rigged it.
0000000
Senior year flies by. The days are filled with alcohol, board games, fun times with friends, and of course, Annabeth.
The swim season is the highlight of the year. Percy performs extraordinarily well, managing to make it to the state swim meet. He sets school records and ensures that a few freshmen follow in his footsteps. Mr. D laments how he's gonna have to find a few new employees, but he wishes Percy well.
At long last, graduation rolls around. Once the ceremony is over, Percy, Annabeth and all their friends are back at Percy's and Annabeth's, very unsure of what to do.
"So now what?" Frank asks. Everyone knows what he means by that. What do they do now? They've graduated college, except for Hazel, but no one has any idea where to go or what to do.
Leo stands up and heads upstairs. Percy hears him rummaging around, then stomping back down the steps. When he rounds the corner, Percy sees what he was doing. In Leo's arms are board games.
"Who wants to play?"
0000000000
Honestly, I didn't want to put as much focus on Percy and Annabeth as a boyfriend and girlfriend relationship coz this was supposed to be about how they ended up being together, so I think I did well on that part. In terms of the ending, I wanted to end with something that was meaningful. Hence Leo with the board games. Drop a review with your thoughts!
Peace, Love, and Donuts: 8Ball3
