Chapter Five:

August 18th

Percy was woken up bright and early with the smell of pancakes and his mom smiling down at him already singing "Happy Birthday."

After eating his favorite breakfast and trying to ignore the snoring of his stepfather throughout the apartment, they drove down to the bakery to prepare for the customers.

They were rolling out the dough for apple pie when his mom asked him who all was coming to their apartment tonight for his birthday.

"Well, Annabeth, Grover, Hazel, Frank, Nico, and Rachel. Travis and Connor can't make it because they have to watch their little sister." Percy answered.

His mom offered him a soft smile, "It sounds like it should be a great time honey."

He shrugged, "I mean, yeah, it's always fun but we're just ordering pizza and watching some movies at the apartment. You know I don't want to do anything big."

She nodded, "So, Annabeth gets along with everyone alright?"

Percy nodded excitedly, "Oh yeah, her and Grover have gotten pretty close recently. I mean, all of our friends have kinda mixed pretty well."

His and Annabeth's friends had gotten together on a few occasions and, for the most part, everything had gone okay, except for a few arguments between Thalia and Nico, they all really enjoyed each others company.

His mom's smile grew a little, "That's wonderful. It's very important that all your friends like each other, it makes everything easier."

He just nodded in response while they went back to working in silence until the bell rang, signaling a new customer, but then they heard Annabeth, "Don't worry, it's just me!" She said as she walked through the kitchen door.

Percy's mom smiled, "Hey sweetie, what are you doing here so early?"

She smiled back, "Well I wanted to go ahead and give Percy the first gift of his seventeenth birthday," she said as she pulled a present from her behind her back.

He smiled at her and then washed his hands before grabbing the gift from her. Shaking it by his ear, "Hmm what could it be?" He questioned before ripping the wrapping paper. When he finally got the box open, he was shocked to find an explosion of blue. Literally everything was blue, including the tissue paper it was surrounded by. There were a number of things in the gift, an assortment of blue candy he loved, Oreos, cool ranch Doritos, a pair of blue swim trunks, and, in the middle of it all, was a single blue key that was attached to a blue keychain.

Percy looked up at Annabeth, who was smiling nervously. When she saw the key held between his fingers, she quickly scrambled to explain, "I know you're apart of the swim team and you'll be swimming a lot then, but you always complain about how you can't go swimming whenever you want, so I convinced your swim coach to give you a key to the pool so you can use the school pool at any time."

He stared at her in shock, slowly processing what he heard. Percy finally snapped out of it when he saw his mom cross the room to hug Annabeth while saying, "What a sweet gift, Annabeth!" She pulled away as they both turned to look at Percy, who was barreling down on Annabeth.

He immediately scooped her up in a tight hug, "Thank you, thank you, thank you…" he chanted. She laughed as she returned his hug.

When the two finally separated, they were both wearing huge grins. "Wow, I mean… just, wow. Wise Girl, how did you even manage to get Coach Hedge to give you this?"

Annabeth smiled up at him and shrugged, "He just needed to be persuaded a little."

He chuckled, "You are the most incredible person ever!" She just blushed.

After a few minutes of Percy admiring the many blue things he had just received, Annabeth announced, "I have to get going. I'm meeting Luke for breakfast soon."

Percy felt a layer of ice settle over his heart and an unfamiliar feeling rise in his gut. "Why are you meeting him?"

He had met Luke on a couple of occasions when he hung out with Annabeth's friends and each time the guy was cold and unwelcoming. Percy might be a little oblivious but he saw the way he looked at Annabeth and the glares he shot him when she sat or talked with Percy. Knowing he wanted Annabeth made Percy dislike him even more.

She shrugged in response, "I'm not really sure. He texted me a couple of days ago and asked if we could meet up."

He tried to keep his cool, "Oh, um, okay. Have fun. I'll see you tonight then."

She nodded enthusiastically, "Of course, can't wait!"

She walked out the door and said goodbye to his mom, who had gone up front at some point during their conversation.

Percy spent the rest of the day trying not to think about Annabeth and Luke together. He failed, completely. By the time, he was leaving with him mom Percy was fuming.

"Are you okay, honey?" His mom questioned.

"Huh?" He shook himself out of his thoughts and quickly responding, "yeah, I'm alright. So, how are you going to get Gabe out of the apartment tonight?"

She smiled, not saying anything about his change of subject, "I gave him some extra money and told him to go out with some friends. He couldn't resist and that should keep him away for most of the night."

He nodded, "Cool, thanks for doing that Mom."

As they parked into their apartment building and started walking to their door, his mom nodded, "Well hopefully, we'll have enough time to get the place clean before everyone gets here."

Percy spared a glance at his phone, "Well, we've got a little over an hour so that should give us plenty of time," he said as they unlocked their apartment door, they stopped and looked around. "Well, we can at least cram most of it into the bedrooms and spray some air freshener, right?"

"Happy Birthday Percy! I hope you had a great day." Rachel said as she was standing in the doorway.

He smiled at her, "It was awesome, thanks for coming Rach!"

"Of course, I'll see you later!" He shut the door after he saw her safely get in her car.

The party had been great. All of his friends came over, they ate pizza while watching a bunch of random movies and then ate the blue birthday cake his mom prepared.

It was now well past 1 in the morning and Annabeth was the only guest left. He walked back to the living room to find her snuggled on the couch, fast asleep. As if she felt him watching her, she slowly opened her eyes and then quickly sat up, reaching for her phone.

"Shit, my dad is going crazy." She said as she sent a quick response before scrambling for her shoes and bag.

As she stood up, she swayed slightly while yawning. Percy reached out to steady her and she sent him a soft smile.

"Woah, Wise Girl, maybe it's not a good idea for you to drive right now. Why don't you just stay the night? You can sleep in my room."

Annabeth rolled her eyes at him, "I'm fine, Seaweed Brain." She shook him off and headed for the door. He quickly followed her and as she turned to say goodbye, she yawned again.

Percy quickly grabbed her arm before she pulled the door open, "That's it. I can't let you drive home right now. You're staying here, give me your phone so I can text your dad." He demanded, reaching for the phone in her other hand.

She pulled it away from him, insisting that she was fine. Percy, growing tired of the struggle, pushed her back against the door, and smiled down at her as he took the phone.

He felt her eyes on him as he quickly entered Annabeth's passcode and sent a message to her dad. After he finished, he turned back to her just as she was dropping her head to his chest. The action quickly made him realize just how close they actually were, too close and his heart was beating too fast.

In the past few weeks, Percy had experienced many moments like this with Annabeth, moments that reminded him all too clearly of his attraction for her and his desire to be more than friends. He would always try to put some distance between them to curve the want he felt, but it never fully went away. Always sitting below the surface, waiting until just the right time to boil over and send Percy's thoughts swirling into uncharted territory about his best friend.

"Come on, Wise Girl, let's get you to bed."

Sighing, she lifted her head, "Fine, but only because I'm way too tired to beat you right now." He smirked and started the walk to his room to grab some pajamas, Annabeth followed.

They both got changed and ready for bed. When he exited the bathroom, he stopped cold when he saw her lying on his bed, in his t-shirt. Only his t-shirt.

Percy hurried to the other side of the room, turning to say goodnight, Annabeth's voice stopped him as she had come to stand in front of him while he was busy trying not to look at her.

She wrapped her arms around his neck to give him a warm hug and whispered in his ear, "Happy Birthday, Seaweed Brain." She pulled back with a sleepy smile, still resting her arms on his shoulders, and pressed a soft kiss on his cheek, dangerously close to his mouth.

Percy felt like a fire was building inside him, sending his stomach up in flames, burning up all the butterflies that resided there. He wasn't sure what did it for him, it could have been the warmth Annabeth radiated, or the feeling of her arms on his bare shoulders, or the smile. That perfect smile. But something happened to him at that moment, and suddenly he didn't want to just be friends with her, he wanted to be everything with her.

So he did the only logical thing, he kissed her.

And damn, that kiss.

It was the beginning of the end for Percy. He knew nothing would ever be the same for him after that night.

They lost themselves in that kiss, it could've been minutes or hours before the front door slammed, alerting them to his stepfather's presence.

The two jumped apart as they heard Gabe's steps coming down the hallway. He stopped in front of Percy's open door and looked at the pair.

Percy could smell the alcohol and cigarettes rolling off of him, it made his stomach roll and his eyes water.

Gabe stared at them for a few seconds, peering way more at Annabeth than Percy liked, he instantly stepped in front of her, shielding her body from Gabe's wandering eyes.

He grunted and said, "Well, kid, how'd you land someone as beautiful as her?"

Percy glared at him as he heard Gabe's slurred words.

When he realized he wasn't going to get a response, Gabe stumbled away, cursing as he entered his bedroom.

Percy turned back to face Annabeth, shame, and embarrassment threatening to swallow him, "I'm so sorry you had to see that, Wise Girl."

She smiled nervously at him, "Percy, it's alright. You don't have to apologize. I know what he's like."

When he refused to look at her, she pulled his chin towards her, landing another kiss on his lips. "Stop it, Seaweed Brain. I'm fine."

He nodded half-heartedly at her, "Okay… I still want you to lock the door before you go to sleep. I don't trust him."

Percy turned to leave before Annabeth stopped him, "Wait… umm, ca-can you stay in here with me?" She asked him hesitantly, "I, um, just don't feel very, uhh, comfortable."

He hated that she didn't feel safe at his apartment, but it made him glow with pride to know that she felt safe with him.

As a response, Percy shut the door and clicked the lock into place. Annabeth smiled as a thank you and pulled him towards the bed.

They got settled and laid there for a few minutes before she said, "Percy?"

"Hmm?" He hummed.

"How did you land someone as beautiful as me?" She teased, he could hear her smile even in the dark.

He chuckled, "I haven't really landed you yet, have I?"

"Oh trust me, you have."

A/N: Helloooo! I know it's been too long, but I recently started school so I'm trying to balance that and work at the same time, it's a little exhausting. I also wanted to make this chapter amazing, because it's the last little bit before we start getting into the main plot! So, for the next chapter, expect a little bit of a time jump, and also for it to take some time to write :( I know, it sucks, but I just can't guarantee when I'll have the time and/or the energy to write. But, reviews always help, so please leave if you would like! Thank you! :)