Chapter Four:

July 26th

For the first time in a long time, Annabeth was completely focused on what was in front of her. And boy was it a pretty good view.

This boy was wonderful. It had been two weeks since her birthday party and even though they spent close to three hours talking that night, neither of them ever mentioned the kiss again. Since she and Percy had been hanging out, they'd spent almost every moment talking and getting to know one another. When they weren't physically together, they were texting or calling each other. It was pure bliss.

At the current moment, the pair were having a picnic in Central Park under a large oak tree to shade from the hot summer sun. With the sunlight filtering through the branches, Percy's eyes showed all the hues of green and blue, with the lightest touch of brown that made his eyes the perfect shade that couldn't be replicated.

Percy was all of the things Annabeth never knew she searched for. He was goofy and care-free and kind all while being honest. He made her forget how much pressure she felt and made her feel accepted for every thought and feeling she had.

Annabeth was brought out of her train of thoughts by the same person who had been consuming her thoughts tugging on her curls.

He smiled at her, "Where did that big brain of yours go, Wise Girl?"

She grinned at the nickname, "Places you wouldn't understand, Seaweed Brain."

His nickname came after they had hung out a few more times and Annabeth realized that Percy was practically a dolphin and then he told her the story from when he went swimming in the ocean for the first time and came out with seaweed on his head.

Her nickname came because Percy couldn't think of anything better to describe her.

He just scoffed and rolled his eyes and went back to eating his sandwich. "So, what do you think?"

At Annabeth's blank expression, Percy elaborated, "About my birthday? I know it's not for like another month but you know my mom, she's gotta plan everything early. And ever since she's been asking me to ask you if you can make it. I think she wants you there more than she wants me there." He chuckled.

She smirked and shrugged, "Well what can I say? I make a good impression. But I should be able to make it, I mean, it's a Sunday so I don't think I'll have anything planned. And even if I did, I'll make it work. I wouldn't miss seeing your mom for anything."

He groaned, "I knew I never should have introduced you two. I'm going to regret it for the rest of my life. I'll never catch a break now."

"Oh please, like you ever would've gotten a break anyway," Annabeth responded.

Percy just shook his head before reaching into the picnic basket to bring out a container of blue cookies, "Well, if there's one thing my mom is good for, it's making some good food."

She rolled her eyes, "Although I can't disagree that your mom is a brilliant cook, you know you're lucky to have her."

She tried to keep the jealousness out of her tone, but she knew Percy heard it when his look turned to one of sympathy, "I know, I got crazy lucky in the mom department, but it doesn't change the fact that my mom practically adopted you the moment you walked through our front door and that you'll always be welcome there."

Annabeth took a bite of the chocolate chip cookie before speaking, "Thanks, it's nice to hear that, I want your mom to like me." She tried to keep her smile and blush to a minimum. She knew she wanted more from her relationship with Percy, but she didn't want to rush it.

It was scary for Annabeth to be vulnerable like she knew she would need to be if they took the relationship farther. So, for right now, she was content with his friendship, at least until she worked up the guts, to be honest with herself and, more importantly, with him.

After finishing up the bag of cookies, the pair sat for a little while longer chatting until Annabeth's phone lit up with a text message from Thalia.

Tell me u 2 finally admitted ur love for each other

Another one pops up on the screen immediately after, and that u let him pop ur cherry ;)

It took Annabeth a good second before she fully processed what she was reading and in the time it took her to understand what her best friend meant, the friend sitting next to her had undoubtedly read the message. The very inappropriate message. About him.

She quickly snatched her phone up and held it to her chest, feeling her cheeks redden. She spared a glance at Percy to see that he was looking anywhere but her with red cheeks to rival her own. Pulling her phone back to send a quick, very angry, response to Thalia, she then set her phone face down and looked back up at him.

The awkwardness set on top of them like a blanket, engulfing her whole body in a suffocating warmth.

Annabeth finally said, with a halfhearted chuckle, "God, can you believe Thalia? Even when she's not here, she still manages to make everything uncomfortable."

Percy's chuckle was weaker than hers and he cleared his throat before responding, "Well, that's Thalia for you, right?"

She just nodded with a polite smile. They sit in silence for a few minutes while they both rack their brains for a way to begin a new conversation.

Percy's phone finally dings with text, he glances at it before sending a quick reply. He then says, "My mom needs me back at the bakery to help out."

Annabeth quickly nods, already reaching to pack up their picnic, "Oh, okay."

"Sorry, we have to cut it short." He says sheepishly, despite having spent the past hour and a half together.

She furrows her brow, "Don't worry about it. I completely understand, I probably need to get back home anyway."

They walk back to Annabeth's car, climb in, and begin the drive to Sally's Bakery, all of this done in complete silence.

The silence was loud and overwhelming for Annabeth. She didn't want to leave it like this, but she didn't know how to fix it.

Right as Percy was pulling the door handle to get out of her car, Annabeth steeled herself and said, "Percy."

He turned, letting his hand fall from the door while raising his eyebrows in question.

She took a deep breath, "Look, I-I don't want something stupid that Thalia said to, umm, mess thi- anything up because I can almost guarantee that she'll say a million more stupid things," she said with a faint smile. "Anyway, I just wanted to apologize for those texts."

He nodded, "Annabeth, it's okay, I've gotten to know Thalia enough that I'm sure that's true. Honestly, it's not a big deal."

Looking at his reassuring smile, Annabeth's heart deflates a little, if he can brush off those comments so easily, then there must be no chance for a relationship between them.

She clears her throat and then responds, "Okay, great. Uhh, glad we cleared that up." Her eyes continued to dance to all the areas of the car except for the ones he was in.

His smile got a little wider and his dimples got a little deeper when she finally looked him in the eyes again. "Me too. Text me when you get home, okay?" He questioned.

She rolled her eyes before nodding. The last time Annabeth forgot to text him, he spent an hour blowing up her phone while she was in the shower.

Percy opened the car door and climbed out, hesitated, and then leaned back down to look at her and said with a smirk, "Oh, but when you want that cherry popped, you let me know."

He winked, before shutting the door and disappearing into his mom's shop.

When Annabeth returned home, after sitting in her parking spot for 10 more minutes, her cheeks hurt from smiling so much.

a/n: Hey guys! This is kinda a filler chapter, but I don't want to just jump into the main chunk of the story, I wanna build a little, but don't worry! The next chapter will have more Percabeth and then the chapter after that will finally be leading into the big parts! So please leave a review! I love hearing y'all's thoughts! See ya soon! :)