A/N: Hey guys! I'm back….late I know! I'm sorry I missed two months of updates! I got really caught up in one fic that I still haven't finished, and it stopped me from writing anything else. But I did write this one a bit longer to try and make up for it! I'll definitely be better about updates from now on cause I am close to finishing the other one.

Anyway, enough from me, here ya go:

Annabeth's world was a set of clean cut lines drawn in black to contrast the bright white. Everything was straightforward with some varying shades of grey. Her life was planned and predicted and projected. Everything was built up by familiar shapes and clear lines.

And so she lived in her clean cut world with white and black and grey. She wasn't unhappy, but she wasn't not unhappy. She was fine.

As so she claimed to her best friend Piper, who looked at her with a mixture of disappointment and sadness.

"Annabeth," she started slowly, "don't you ever think that there's more to life than this?"

She turned to face her friend with a look of confusion. "What do you mean?"

Piper sighed and took the textbook from her hands. "I mean, don't you think there's more to just going to classes and doing homework and hanging out with me everyday?"

Annabeth promptly stole the book back. "Yeah, sure... but it's fine the way it is, so why does it matter?"

Piper just shook her head and turned back to her own homework.

"You'll get it someday," she whispered under her breath, so quiet that Annabeth almost missed the words.

She frowned as she turned to the textbook. She didn't see the problems that Piper claimed existed. The world was just how it was, everything just existed.

She shook her head, it wasn't important anyway. Her attention went back to the book and they studied for a little while longer in silence before a boy with a grey shirt walked up to them.

"Hey Piper!" he called as he got closer, instantly drawing a blush to the girl's cheeks. Annabeth watched curiously.

"Hey Jason, what's up?" she replied.

And as Jason gave the obligatory response she took the opportunity to size up the boy. Neat, well-mannered, probably a good student. He fell neatly into a category, the lines matching and the shapes fitting into the slots.

He made sense. She approved.

"Oh, and this is my friend, Annabeth. Annabeth, this is Jason," Piper finally introduced.

"It's nice to meet you," he replied politely, shaking her hand. She nodded in return. Yep, she was right about this guy.

"Nice to meet you too."

He smiled at her once more before turning his attention back to Piper.

"I was thinking, would you- both of you-" he added, "like to come to a party this weekend?"

Before Annabeth could politely refuse, Piper spoke up. "Yeah, we'd love to!"

He grinned back, "Cool! It's super chill, only a few people are going to be there, I'll text you the details?"

Piper nodded enthusiastically and the two conversed further, Annabeth effectively zoning out of the conversation.

She'd really prefer staying in during the weekend, rather than going out. Maybe she could get out of it by claiming an abnormal amount of homework.

"-it was cool meeting you, hope to see you Saturday!" Jason was saying.

She hurried to give a nod of confirmation, because what else was she supposed to do on such short notice? The goodbyes ended and immediately Piper turned to face her.

Once again, before she could open her mouth Piper was speaking. "Nope, I don't want to hear any excuses, you're coming with me to that party."

Annabeth frowned in return but Piper was resolute. "I don't want to hear it. I really like this guy and I want you to be there, please?" she ended.

Annabeth sighed and gave in. She could try and fight more, but it probably wouldn't work, so it was hardly worth the effort.

"Okay," she relented, holding up her textbook again. "And for what it's worth, I like the guy."

Piper's smile and hug made it a bit better.

-.-.-.-.-.-

Saturday rolled around with its grey clouds and Annabeth was growing more and more wary of this party.

"I don't know about this," she said as they walked down the sidewalk to his apartment, "maybe this isn't a good ide-"

Piper cut her off firmly. "No, it's a good idea. Jason's a cool guy, it's not a crazy party, it'll be fine."

She glanced over to see Annabeth chewing at her lip nervously and stopped in the middle of the sidewalk to face her.

"Annabeth," she said, placing her hands on her shoulders and looking her square in the eye. "Please for once trust me, I know this is outside your comfort zone but try it out. Maybe something good will come of it."

Annabeth nodded, maybe Piper had a point.

They climbed a set of stairs to the second floor and stopped behind a door that had faint music coming from it.

Piper knocked and within seconds it swung open to reveal Jason, wearing a black shirt this time.

"Piper! Annabeth! You made it!" he exclaimed, giving Piper a quick hug.

"Of course," Piper responded a bit loudly to talk over the music.

It turned out "a few people" meant around two dozen, which was a lot for the small space, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

A little helplessly, Annabeth clung to Piper as they made their way around the space, Piper saying hi to a few of the people there.

They found some sanctuary in the kitchen where the music wasn't as loud and there were less people.

"What do you think?" Piper asked as she leaned against the counter.

"It's…alright." Annabeth shrugged, not really having an opinion on the matter.

"Come on, it's not too bad," Piper coaxed.

"No, it's not too bad," she agreed.

"Piper!" another voice squealed and some girl walked over to give Piper a hug.

Annabeth just shook her head as her friend was whisked away into the crowd. Great. Now she was alone.

Not that she couldn't manage that. She looked around for a cup to pour out some water because she honestly didn't trust whatever was in the punch.

"Here," a voice broke her out of her search and she turned to come face to face with green.

It was such a stark contrast against all the grey that she froze for a second.

"What?" she managed to ask.

The guy held out a bottle of beer. "I said, here, want some?"

She accepted the bottle, still a bit put off because the green was still staring at her.

"Thanks?" It came out like a question.

He laughed and seemed to vibrate throughout the house. "Are you asking me or thanking me?"

There was mirth in the green now. She was caught even more off guard.

"Thanking you," she affirmed, trying to gather her scattered thoughts. She was a bit annoyed at herself for her behavior. She always knew how to act. And this guy wasn't all that special, all he did was offer her a beer.

"In that case, you're welcome." He grinned back and the green got smaller but it was like his face had morphed into something else.

It was fascinating how much he changed, how much he…expressed.

She wasn't sure she'd met anyone like him before.

"So," he continued, "I don't think I've seen you around before."

"I'm here with a friend," she answered, vaguely looking around for Piper.

"Who?" he asked curiously and the green was focused on her, waiting for an answer.

"Piper, Piper McLe-"

He held up a hand and nodded his head solemnly.

"Say no more, I know exactly who you're talking about. Jason doesn't shut up about her."

"Yeah, she talks a lot about him too," she responded, finally taking a sip of the beer.

She made a face at the taste and he smiled at her.

"Not a fan of beer?" he asked, the green was sparkling now.

She shrugged, "I'm more of a wine person."

He nodded approvingly, "I can get behind that."

The green was on full display as he conspiratorially winked at her, only disappearing for a second.

It was mesmerizing.

"Well Piper's friend, you got a name or should I continue with this?"

"Annabeth," she introduced, holding out a hand.

"Percy," he responded, shaking it back. A tingle went through her body at the touch and she almost flinched, even more confused.

"So Annabeth, what's your major?" he asked, leaning against the counter, seemingly unaware of her involuntary shiver.

"Um, architecture," she responded, still trying to make sense of him. His lines didn't seem to be as clear.

"Damn," he whistled. "That's impressive, I couldn't do it that's for sure."

"What about you?"

"Theatre," he announced with a flourish. "And English."

She'd never met a theatre major before, but at least that gave him some more definition. He'd fit into a slot now.

But as the conversation continued the green stuck with her, a bright color amidst the blacks and whites and greys.

"You're really different," she found herself saying a few hours later. They had moved the conversation to the balcony and it was starting to get dark head was two beers fuzzy and the words just spilled out of her mouth.

"How so?" he questioned, the green once again intent upon her answer.

"Your lines aren't that clear, and you're green," she managed to say in lieu of some sort of explanation.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Maybe you've just had too much to drink," he joked.

No, she wanted to say, that's not it. It's different, you're…brighter than the greys but before she could Piper was by her side.

"There you are! I've been looking for you! We need to go now!"

"But-" she was dragged off before she could finish the sentence and the last thing she saw were the confused and slightly worried green.

-.-.-.-.-.-

Piper's dramatic exit had been explained by a bunch of drama and she said that he said that whatever else and Annabeth couldn't pay attention.

She couldn't explain it, and she hated not being able to. Because that boy, Percy, was hazy and green and maybe she'd had too much to drink but she couldn't stop thinking about him.

She fell asleep to green.

The next morning felt off like something was missing. She took an inventory of her room and found that everything was there. But somehow the lines were off and the world of grey oddly filtered.

She hated the feeling.

She was suddenly unsatisfied by everything around her and for once followed Piper to get coffee with Jason.

Jason was as nice as ever and politely didn't mention the slight third-wheeling that was happening. Annabeth had zoned out of the conversation and was absently staring around the place when a certain shade of green caught her eye. It was a stained glass vase used for decoration, but it was that exact shade and her focus turned to it.

"Do you have a friend named Percy?" she asked rather abruptly, breaking whatever the conversation was.

Both Jason and Piper turned to look at her and she felt her face heat up. It was uncharacteristic of her, but a lot of things had been recently.

"Uh yeah, he asked about you actually, how do you guys know each other?" Jason asked, still shocked by her statement.

"We don't really, I met him yesterday," she replied.

He nodded, "Oh, yeah he's a cool guy. He asked me earlier if I knew you well but I didn't have your contact information. Actually, you know what, I'll just call him over now."

And with that Jason started a phone call while Annabeth waited a bit nervously for the result.

"Well," Jason said smiling, "he's on the way."

She wasn't sure if this was a good thing or not, but before she could really come to a solid conclusion he arrived at the coffee shop.

This time it was blue that caught her attention. He was wearing a bright blue shirt and as she looked up the now-familiar green was there.

"Hey there stranger, long time no see," he joked, sitting across from her.

"I saw you yesterday."

He smiled as if she had played into the joke. "Wow, you're great at playing along."

"I try."

What was this, was she…banting with him? She shocked herself and one look at Piper revealed she was just as surprised.

Introductions happened again, for Piper's sake, but the entire time Annabeth couldn't focus on anything other than the blue and the green.

She couldn't put her finger on what really made him different but somehow he was and she hated that she wasn't able to figure it out. She hated that the day felt a lot more in place after she saw him again.

She was very glad she had decided to inquire about him.

Jason and Piper had left pretty soon after Percy's arrival and it left the two of them sitting alone.

"So, want to explain what you said yesterday or was it drunk rambling?" He grinned to let her know it wasn't going to be a serious question.

"I wasn't drunk," she stated. "You just don't make sense."

He was silent for a moment before he stood up abruptly.

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yeah, okay. Now let's go."

"What where?"

"Well if I don't make sense, I'm not going to start now. So come on." He held out his hand and she hesitated. But one look into the green and she decided to take the chance.

They practically raced out the coffee shop and down the street. She gulped air as she tried to talk and run at the same time.

"Where are we going?" she huffed.

He just grabbed her hand and pulled her along until they had reached an apartment building not to far away.

"What," pant, "what is this?"

He opened a side door to reveal a set of stairs. "This," he gestured, "is the way to the roof."

And a flight of stairs found them on the tiny roof a somewhat tall apartment building.

"But what are we doing here?" she asked for the third time.

"We're not staying here, this just gets us access to that tree." He pointed to a large tree whose branches were flowing part way onto the roof.

He walked up to the branches then used them to climb closer to the tree.

"Come on!" he called as he started climbing down.

"What? Are you crazy? No way!" she yelled back.

"I promise it's safe. And strong, if it can hold my weight, it can hold yours. Besides, we're climbing down."

He held out his hand and once again the green enticed her closer. She found herself closer, the soft blue shirt which contrasted heavily against the dark brown bark of the tree.

They climbed down pretty quickly and she found herself on the other side of a tall fence.

"Where are we?" she questioned, noticing the somewhat wooded area.

"We," he said jumping down the last of the tree, "are in a part of a small wooded area that might be private property.

"What?!" she whisper yelled, all to aware of their situation.

"Relax, technically it's government owned, it's just not open to the public."

"But we shouldn't be here," she replied.

He wiped his hands on the navy of his jeans and smiled. "It's okay, I've done this loads of times and nothing happens. Just trust me on this."

And for the fourth time that day, she set aside her worries and went along with what was happening.

If going to the party was outside her comfort zone she was miles away now, stranded on private property.

She followed him through the small patch of trees into a small clearing that was barely big enough to be considered a proper clearing. But a small patch of light green grass tufted out among the dark trees and they settled there, Percy lying on his back.

"Come here, you get the best shapes from here," he called

Tentatively she lay on her back and looked to where he was pointing. Fluffy white clouds drifted lazily along the light blue sky. Percy called out turtles and whales and boats while she struggled to see what he was.

"I don't see it," she finally grumbled. "Those aren't real things, you're just making it up."

He turned to her, the green looking earnest. "That's the point."

He turned back to the clouds. "We give things meaning, we're the ones who allot importance and meaning towards things. And sometimes you just sit back and give time and importance to the clouds in the sky simply because you can."

"But how can you see all those boats and fish and stuff when nothing is clear?"

He moved closer to her and held up her hand, tracing the shape of a passing whale. "Not everything is clear cut, just look at how the edges of the white contrast the blue and how if you follow it you can get a shape and make it into anything you want it to be."

As he drew in the sky, she saw what he was talking about. She supposed that the curve looked like a tail and the blob could be the face.

She turned to face him and was once again, face to face with a striking green.

They stared at each other for a moment that was only broken by the sound of voices that caused them both to jump up in a panic.

Despite the situation Percy had a grin.

"Run!" he whispered.

And they did, hand in hand.

-.-.-.-.-.-

A half hour later found them seated with ice cream under a large umbrella provided at the outdoor seating of the establishment. It was a bright cherry color and Percy, standing on the table itself, called it a cherry on top.

She rolled her eyes and forced him down before they got kicked out.

"This has been a wild day," she said as they ate their respective cones. "I don't think I've ever done anything that crazy and dangerous."

"Sometimes you just got to live on the edge," he replied.

"Maybe, it was definitely an experience though."

"Those I'm great at offering." He smiled warmly.

"Why did you?"

He shrugged. "Why not?"

It struck her because why not indeed? It was as good as a reason as any. Maybe things didn't always need a straightforward explanation. Maybe sometimes things didn't have one.

She looked once again at the sparkling green, and decided that it was okay.

-.-.-.-.-.-

Annabeth had never really truly noticed the color that the world has to offer. Percy's eyes were a bright sea green and the sky was beautiful magenta during the sunset. The roses on display at the nearby shop were a deep red and the sun looked like a burnt orange.

She also noticed that the sky faded in and out of colors, no clear cut lines separating everything but rather a light hazy gradient.

People didn't fit into neat categories, in fact most things didn't. There was always a nuisance to things that she had ignored.

There was more to life, she thought, Piper was right.

Annabeth's world of clean lines and grey wasn't intact. There were splashes of color here and there brought on by the one and only Percy Jackson.

She had to give Piper some credit though, because it was because of her insistence had she been able to step out of her comfort zone and try something new. And she continued to make that choice. It gave her a day she would have never had and a boyfriend she never expected.

Percy brightened her life, made her feel more than just fine.

He had taught her that complacency wasn't growth and stepping outside your bounds of normal to try something new could bring about some unexpected results.

But you'd never know if you didn't try.

And as she giggled her way through an impromptu kiss brought about by the green that had stricken her in the first place, she was very glad she did.

A/N: So what did you think? A bit different from my stuff from before and definitely more reminiscent of my drabble series (Semantics Of Love) but I really enjoy this concept and I wanted to expand upon it.

I wanted to try to delve into the message of trying new things and stepping outside comfort zones because you never know what you can find and it's always a growing experience. It's something I know I need to be better about too.

It's easy to just keep things the way they are because it's comfortable and normal but you won't grow that way. It's good to get out into the world to experience it and appreciate what it has to offer. I hope you guys take this message with you and try something new today, even if its something small :)

Please Review! I'd love to hear your thoughts! And as always, thanks for reading!

See ya! :)