xi. Piper and Annabeth

Piper

Guilt is such a sad feeling, Piper thinks, as she watches Percy make sad glances towards the cafeteria doors, like he's half-expecting Annabeth will magically appear and smile at him. To be fair, Piper had only meant to keep Percy safe and away from harm (the blonde's name is literally a red warning in itself). But all Piper did was to worsen the situation, and possibly cause the break-up of a probable genuine relationship of one of her closest friends. So of course, Piper feels guilty.

"Do you really think they'd break up?" Piper asks their group, once Percy has left for class.

"Break up only happens when they're together in the first place," Rachel comments. "It's probably just a fraud."

"I don't know, but Percy seemed really sad."

"He's probably just good in acting," Grover comments sheepishly. "Or probably not."

"But what if they're really together?" Piper says. "I'm feeling loads of guilt now. Percy has been uncharacteristically quiet this morning."

"Maybe it's a facade. You said so that they looked awkward during the dinner," Leo says.

Jason shrugs. "They looked pretty genuine to me."

"Speaking of genuine," Grover tries to say while munching on an enchilada. "Juniper saw them together."

"Who?"

"Percy and you-know-who, duh." Grover takes a big sip of his milkshake. "She said she saw them getting out of the janitor's closet. Looking flustered."

Both Rachel's and Jason's eyes widen—totally not expecting such a turnaround of events. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, I know! I didn't believed it at first because it was really unlike Perce, but I think Juniper is honest, I swear. You-know-who even told her not to tell anyone about it, but apparently, she trusts me."

"Well, she's not gonna trust you now," Rachel comments as she turns back to her food.

"Oooh!" Leo exclaims and wiggles his eyebrows suggestively. "Look who's now getting some."

Piper shakes her head exasperated. "Can we stop referring to Annabeth as 'you-know-who'? She has a name and it will not kill you to say it."

"Uh-uh, it totally can," Grover supplies.

Piper glares at him. "Not helping, Grover."

"Maybe we should just wait it out," Jason says. "I mean, if we do something now, we might make it worse. Let's just wait for Percy to come to us if he wants to say anything about it."

"That's sensible," Rachel comments.

"That's actually a smart idea, Jason," Piper says. The blonde slinks back to his seat; cheeks flushed. "I'm glad at least one of us makes sense."

Annabeth

True to his word, Percy does try his best. If during the first few days of their fake dating, he's been nothing but an awkward and a blushing mess, he's certainly showing up a new side of him. A side that's probably more confident and well, more boyfriend material.

Not that she's swooning or anything (nothing can make her swoon, ever), but Percy looks more put together now. He no longer flinches when they hold hands, and now he's started initiating some changes to their fake relationship. One example is when he started coming over to her house in the mornings so they can carpool together to school ("Saving fuel is saving the environment, Annabeth. So, we're carpooling.") And just recently, he began walking with her to her classes like some dork (which earned amused glances from the students who were used to seeing them bicker like there's no tomorrow).

It first happened on the third day after they have both reconciled and declared a temporary truce. She's just finished putting her books and picking up her homework from her locker when Percy sidled up on the locker next to her.

"Hey," he greeted.

"Hey yourself," she replied, and turned to look at him. They were certainly doing better now compared to last time when they were still fighting like they were in a screaming match. And while they have adjusted to each other enough to tell knock-knock jokes (like acquaintances, not friends), there are still some lulls of silence when they have both nothing and too much to say.

Her reply drew a chuckle out of him. "Are you finished arranging your books for the day?" he asked.

"Yep. Unlike you, I suppose."

Percy crossed his arms in front of him. "Oh, I actually finished it awhile ago."

The thought was so absurd she actually snorted. The sound made the end of his lips twitch, like he's trying his hard not to laugh. "Really? I'm debating whether to ask you how you did that, but I'm afraid I already have an idea."

He shrugs in his most carefree way. "Y'know, just dump some stuff and see if it fits. Bam!"

Still the good old Percy. "I knew it was a crazy idea."

"Well, it works for me. Saves the time as well."

"For now," Annabeth commented. "That dump and bam thing you do? It will bite you in the ass sooner or later."

"Guess I just have to run fast so it can't chase me," he said with a grin. She rolled her eyes. A few years older and he still hasn't gotten over that.

She scanned over the hallway and noticed that it's still pretty empty, save for a few students loitering around. Understandably so since they are always 20 minutes earlier than the rest of the school.

With eyebrows raised, she looks back at him. "Is that the only reason you came to bother me today?"

"Oh, that? I'm just waiting for you," he said casually.

"Waiting for me? Why?"

"So we can walk to class together."

His reply stopped her short. What is he up to? "O...kay," she said slowly. "Where'd you get this idea?"

"Nothin' really."

"Really."

He rubs the back of his head sheepishly, like the next words are going to embarrass him for lifetime. "It's just I've always seen Beck and Silena walk together to their classes. And I think we could be a lot more convincing if we do the same? I mean, just the other day, Silena asked me why she has never seen us together. I have a feeling she's now getting suspicious," he whispered. "It's really scary."

She nodded. "We better not have the school gossip snooping on us."

"Right on that."

They now begin walking towards their first class, which is mythology. And even though they're not holding hands, they were still walking quite close together.

Percy said to her, "Besides, I figured it wouldn't be too bad. Standing this close to me? This is like every girl's dream."

"A nightmare you mean."

"A nightmare is when you don't get to spend time with me," he said with a cheeky grin.

Annabeth stopped and pretended to gag. "Gah, I think I'm choking."

"You're crazy."

"Says who."

He just smiled and kept his hands in his pockets. A moment later, he nodded to her shirt. "That shirt looks nice on you."

"What? This shirt?" she asked, as she looked down on the plain grey shirt she pulled this morning. She hadn't given thought much about it, seeing as she's in a rush earlier.

"Yeah. It brings out the grey in your eyes."

"Oh, thanks."

"But I'd rather you wear mine," he said.

Her world stopped. That's just—

That's just plain bleh. Probably the sorriest line he could ever think of (except for the 'you make me wet' one, nothing beats that yet). But one thing Annabeth is sure of, he better stop with those cringe-worthy lines.

After a beat, Percy turned to her, clearly bubbling with excitement. "So, how's about that for flirting?"

"That's the dumbest thing I've heard."

"But it was nicer than the last time!"

"Yep, because those pick-up lines don't deserve to exist."

He pouted at her in annoyance. "I don't know what kind of swords you eat for breakfast, because damn, those words are sharp."

"I'm not actually a sword person. I prefer knives."

"Yeah? Good thing you didn't ran out of murder weapons."

"Ha-ha-ha," she deadpanned.

"Ha-ha-ha."

Annabeth shoved him. "Shut up. You know what's a good idea? Burn those pick-up lines. They are an abomination."

"Yeah? And here I thought I was making progress," he said. "Until you so mercilessly pointed it out, you heartless woman."

"You're just a big baby." She turned to him with a smile. "But seriously, you're off to a good start. These things you're doing lately are good. And yeah, cool off with the lines."

"Oh, thanks." He grinned at her. "Wow, you're now warming up to me. Just a little more, and I'll make you swoon."

"Ugh. I take back everything that I said. You're horribly confident for you own good."

"No take backs!"

"Whatever."

So yeah, they'd already started carpooling to school, walking to classes together, and holding hands. It's not much, but they're getting close to convincing the normal people. The school gossip Silena had also stopped her questioning and she now just drones on how interesting their love story is (always quoting 'Romeo and Juliet', as if Annabeth wants to be associated with such tragedy). Anyway, despite going through a rough start, Annabeth thinks they're doing pretty good. They just have to keep the act until Percy improves enough to make Rachel notice him. Which will probably take some time (keeping him away from pick-up lines is battle she is yet to win). So yeah, Annabeth Chase is doing the world a favor by fake dating Percy Jackson (and saving them the trouble of hearing those pick-up lines).

A/N: SORRY! I know I was gone for a really long time (Just some Real Life problems I needed to fix) so I wasn't able to post an update. Anyway, I know it's not the usual chapter length but I'm stuck on how to go around with the next scene so I decided to just end it here. Just a filler chapter, but hopefully we'll start progressing into the plot real soon!

Reviews are very much appreciated! Ciao!