Annabeth and Percy had been texting non stop all Saturday and had agreed that they would hang out the next day. Percy had just woken up and jumped straight into action. He hopped in the shower making sure to wash his hair really well. He was already picking the outfit he was going to wear that night and it was 10:00 in the morning. Annabeth and Percy had agreed to hangout at 6ish that night. The plan was for the two to just get to know each other, which made sense considering they barley knew anything about one and other. Percy found the whole being friends with someone he had hated with a burning passion thing strange. He realized that he had judged Annabeth a bit harshly. The only thing she ever did wrong in his opinion was play with guys hearts. The thing is, he wasn't sure it was her fault because she seemed to be unwittingly doing the same thing to him.

Linebreak

Percy showed up to Annabeths house right on time. Annabeth was waiting on the porch with her arms crossed and a smirk on her face. Honestly, Percy used to think this was a look of arrogance but now all he saw was a beautiful girl with her signature smirk. For better or worse Percy knew that tonight would change his opinion of Annabeth forever.

"Howdy there miss Chase" Percy said trying and failing at an old west accent.

"Howdy to yerself mister Jackson" she said in an equally appalling accent, though Percy suspected she only did it to make him look like less of a goof.

"Shall we be on our way" Percy said holding out his arm. Annabeth linked her arm with his before relplying "we shall sir Percy, of the seaweed brain council".

"Ahh yes, my council of ever dimwitted patrons" Percy said starting to feel like an actual dork. As a matter of fact, the only thing that made Percy keep up with this odd act was the fact that it made Annabeth smile, which in turn made Percy smile. They got in the car and Percy pulled out, ready to take Annabeth to his favourite restaurant in the city.

"I hope you dressed nicely Chase, because this is a seriously fancy restaurant" Percy deadpanned.

"Percy!!!! You didn't tell me it was going to be fancy!" Annabeth said, or rather yelled, getting a look of panic on her face. She only calmed down when she looked over at Percy who was laughing hysterically. Annabeths face dawned a mask of realization as she piced together that of all the places that could possibly be Percy freaking Jackson's favourite restaurant, none of them had any chance of being fancy. Annabeth flashed Percy a dirty look, to which he held his hands up in defence and Annabeth grabbed the wheel to make sure they didn't crash. All in all it was a fairly painless ride. Percy started to crack up again once he pulled over, knowing what was coming next. He parked the car and stepped out with Annabeth. He waited for her to be beside him before starting to walk. The streets were packed with people going either way. There were neon light everywhere and restaurants all up and down the street. Percy saw the look of anticipation on Annabeths face as she looked around, wondering which restaurant could possibly be the one they were going to. Percy walked around a corner into a much less populated street that was still just as lit up with neon lights. He walked about halfway down the street hand in hand with Annabeth before coming to an abrupt stop and turning towards the street. Annabeth looked over his shoulder to see what he was stopping for and saw...a food truck. A. Freaking. Food truck.

"Hey perrrrcyyy" Annabeth said in a sugar sweet voice.

"Yes Annabeth" Percy said in an equally cheery voice.

"Why are stopped at a food truck" she said keeping up the fake preppy attitude.

"Becuase Annabeth my dear, this food truck happens to serve the best pizza in New York" he said cracking a full on grin.

"Annabeth rolled her eyes realizing he was just messing with her about the whole dress fancy thing. They walked right up to the front because there was no line and Percy ordered for them. He ordered two slices of pepperoni pizza (no he didn't ask her what she wanted) and gave the guy a wink asking for his usual side. The guy greeted Percy as if he were his son and although the sign said 3 dollars a slice, Annabeth saw Percy give the man 3 dollars total. Clearly Percy came here quite often. The guy came back with their pizzas which were in little cardboard boxes, and a little container which he gave to Percy and Percy slipped into his pocket. Annabeth grabbed a plastic fork and knife from the counter before Percy handed her pizza slice to her led her further down the street. He walked over to wall before putting his pizza on the ground and jumped up grabbing a ladder that was attached to a fire escape. He pulled the ladder down, picked up his pizza, and climbed up the ladder like it was no big deal. Annabeth followed behind, not sure if this was where Percy's apartment was or if they were on some random persons fire escape. Percy stopped once he got to the first landing and sat down, legs dangling under the rails over the streets of New York.

"I know the people who own the apartment, so you don't have to get worried about people being mad about us being up here" Percy said smiling.

Annabeth sat cross legged and put her pizza

Down before picking up her fork and knife and cutting of a piece. Percy was once again bothered by her eating habits and how proper they seemed. He reached over and grabbed her fork and knife from her, stuffing them into his pocket. Annabeth gave him an incredulous look before he picked up his pizza ready to demonstrate. First he took out the small bottle that the man at the pizza shop had given it and dropped a bit of the substance around the pizza. He mixed it in a bit and Annabeth realized it must have been blue food colouring considering the pizza was becoming a light blue colour. She was wildly confused at why he was turning his pizza blue, and decided to ask him about it later. He started at the Tip and rolled the pizza up, effectively makeing a pizza burrito. He then stuffed it in his face, inhaling the thing in about three seconds flat. Annabeth started making a gagging gesture to which Percy just shrugged. After that Percy picked up her pizza and held it out to her, silently telling her to show him she had payed attention. Annabeth, always ready for a challenge, took the pizza and, with expert hand movements, rolled the pizza just as Percy had.

"Bravo" Percy said clapping, "but you still have to stuff that thing in your mouth.

"Sorry Perce but I don't know that I can be as barbaric with my pizza as you" Annabeth said eyeing the hefty mess of cheese, pepperoni, and probably a fair amount of grease that was in front of her.

"Cmon Annabeth, let loose for once in your life" Percy said egging her on.

"Once in my life?!" Annabeth said, "I'll have you know, I'm a very fun person when I want to be".

"Oh really Chase, then why don't you prove it" Percy said knowing he had won. Annabeth glared at him and then, without warning, took a massive bite out of the pizza, leaving only a small amount left. She took her time chewing, considering she had about a whole pizza in her mouth, before swallowing and letting out a groan.

"I get the whole best pizza in New York thing now" she said eyeing her last little bit wistfully. "To bad I can't have this last little bit.."

"Why not?" Percy asked, although in hindsight he wished he didn't.

"Becuase this" she said throwing the bit of pizza so it stuck to the side of his face. Percy looked dumbstruck for a moment before peeling the pizza off his face and wiping the remains bits away with his sleeve.

"Wow Chase, I gotta admit, I didn't think you had it in you" Percy said laughing at her antics. They laughed together for a bit before both swinging their legs over the side of the fire escape, leaning on the railing.

"So Percy" Annabeth said breaking the silence, "is there a reason you made your pizza blue?" Annabeth asked still confused as to what in the world that was about. Percy got a troubled look for a split second before smiling and saying,

"Short version is someone told my mom that blue food couldn't exist and so we both live a life of proving that person wrong".

"And what's the long version?" Annabeth said, switching to a hushed tone and scooting closer to Percy. He sounded uneasy when he said

"I don't know that I'm comfortable with telling you about that".

"Percy, I know we don't know each other well but I promise you, I'm not just trying to add you to my list or date you for a week, I really want to get to know you and become friends with you" She said completely dead serious. Percy looked her in her eyes and saw the piercing honesty shining through. Percy sighed and took a deep breath, not taking his eyes of Annabeths while he started talking,

"About 6 years ago my mom met this guy" he said seeing how Annabeth followed every word. "He seemed like a really great guy and they became friends. After awhile they started dating and he moved in. He was nice to me, but most importantly he was good to my mother. He payed for most of the rent and treated her like a queen. After 6 months he asked her to marry her and she said yes without a second thought. The wedding happened and everything was great, until about one month later. He started drinking all the time and made my mom pay for more and more of the rent all the time. After that he quit his job completely and dedicated his life to sitting at home watching TV and drinking with his buddy. Even after all that my mom and I tolerated him because he was still the nice man we met. It was only a couple days after that when the beatings started. It was my fault really, I had told called him out on his laziness knowing full well that he was piss drunk at the time. He hit me hard and left me stunned. For the next couple weeks it started getting progressively worse and worse. The moment I put an end to all of it was the day that he hit my mom. I could handle it but when he lay a finger on my mom I knew it had to end. I charged him but I guess he knew what hitting mum would trigger me to do because he had a knife... I still knocked him out but when the police arrived it was to one uncouncious man and one unconscious teen with a knife in his back. They took me to the hospital and removed the knife, giving me a total of 32 stitches. My mom had explained to the police all about how he had been beating me for weeks and about how he had stabbed me. He ended up getting 25 to life for his attempted manslaughter and my mom and I were finally free. I know he's gone it's just sometimes I get these nightmares where he comes back and their just so vivid." Percy said finishing his story. Annabeth who had tears running down her face wrapped her arms as tightly around Percy as she could and started crying into his shoulder.

"Oh Percy, how could he do that to you" Annabeth sobbed squeezing even tighter.

"It's ok Annabeth, I'm okay" Percy said into her hair hugging her back just as tightly.

"So was he the one who said blue food was impossible?" Annabeth asked calming down slightly, but still sniffling every few seconds.

"That was him" Percy said with a thin smile.

"I'm so sorry Percy, you really didn't deserve that. You're such a nice person I can't belive anyone could be so cruel" she said pulling away and grabbing his hand. They stood up and walked over to the ladder of the fire escape, climbing down. Once they got to the bottom Annabeth wrapped her hands around Percy's waist and Percy put his arm around her shoulder. They walked this way, in a comfortable silence, all the way back to to Percy's car. They climbed in and drove back to Annabeths with her head on his shoulder and his eyes on the road ahead. Once they got to Annabeths house they both stepped out and walked up to the front door. Once they got there they turned to face each other, still not saying anything. Eventually Percy broke the silence by saying in a hushed voice

"I had an amazing night Annabeth, I really did".

"I did too Percy. I'm so glad I have you as a friend, I really hope we can do this again sometime" she said looking directly at his sparkling green eyes.

"Oh and if you ever meet my old step dad in 25 years, tell him to go to hell for me" Percy said smiling.

"I absolutley will" she said nodding her head vigorously, "you just have to tell me his name first".

"Oh right I guess I never told you. His name is Gabe, Gabe Ugliando. If you want to find him in a croud just yell smelly Gabe and I'm sure he'll come running" Percy said.

"Will do" Annabeth said in a quieter voice, stepping closer so there was barley any room between them. Percy's eyes flicked from her eyes to her lips and then back up again, realizing they were closing space. She leaned up and puckered her lips, then she pressed her soft, beautiful, pink lips against him. He would have felt completely elated at the fact that she had just kissed him except he didn't because of one thing... she kissed him on the cheek.