A/N: Hey guys! Back again with this week's update, hope you like it!

Percy's there less than a minute after he hangs up the phone and she curses herself for calling him. Then she curses at herself for being this way. And then she just curses in general.

God, this is embarrassing, but apparently not enough for her to face her fears, so really she has no one to blame but herself.

He knocks on the door and she yells, "Come in!"

It's unlocked because she was about to go throw out the trash, now left sagging by the front door, when the beast had appeared causing her to scream and take cover on the coffee table.

Percy rushes in with a look of panic that morphs into confusion when he sees her standing on her own coffee table.

Maybe dying at the hands of the beast was better than this embarrassment. This is the first time he's ever come over, and she's standing on her coffee table like an idiot.

"Hey, um...what's up?" he asks, about to take a step forward.

"Don't move!" She yells, causing him to freeze in place.

Right, calm, she needs to be calm. Taking a deep breath, she continues. "I'm sorry, this is really dumb. But I kind of have this...intense fear of spiders and there's one right there and OH MY GOD IT'S MOVING!"

There is no more calm.

Percy looks over to where she's pointing, and if she's being honest, it's actually a decent size. And if it takes one more step towards her, she will hyperventilate.

"Okay, okay," Percy starts in a soothing voice. "I got this, let me just grab a paper towel real quick, okay?"

He slowly steps around the coffee table to avoid disrupting it and she focuses on breathing. The beast holds it's position the entire time Percy's gone, as if it's challenging her. The thought causes her to shudder.

Percy returns with the paper towel. "Alright, I'm going to kill it now," he says as he slowly moves towards it.

As if sensing him, the beast scuttles closer to her and she tries to muffle her scream.

Luckily, Percy's quick and manages to catch it in the napkin and crush it, stuffing it into the trash bag she was about to take out.

"There," he says, holding up his hands. "It's gone."

She breathes a sigh of relief as he helps her step down from the table. "Thank you so much".

He grins at her, and she knows it's partially from the excitement that just happened, but it warms her heart. "No problem, I'm here to help."

She returns the smile gratefully. "No seriously, I know it's stupid but I can't get over it. I just realized the downside of living alone…I just can't handle spiders."

Actually, there's a whole rabbit hole of panic about living alone that extends beyond spiders. Like what if something happens to her and she needs help, who would even know? She pushes the thoughts aside. The last thing she needs are more fears.

Luckily, Percy is the best distraction. "Hey, it's cool, everyone has their thing. Just call me. I'll be your knight in shining armor!"

She laughs along with him, but deep down she can't deny that it's true. He had pulled through when she needed him.

"But seriously," he adds in a softer tone, "you can call me anytime."

It's beyond sweet and her heart (that just calmed down), starts beating faster again. They're so close and his eyes are so beautiful and his lips—

She needs to stop it there. Returning to reality, she backs up, still blushing. "Thank you Percy, I appreciate it. And I really appreciate you coming to help me today even though you were busy."

"Oh shit," he says, as if he too has just been jolted back into reality. "I need to get back to Nico and Will, they'll be wondering why I left."

"You didn't tell them?" she asks incredulously.

"You needed help," he replies as if that explains everything. And then with a quick, "I'll text you later," he runs back up the stairs. Leaving her staring at the empty space where the guy who had dropped everything to come and help her had been.

She can't stop the cheesy grin that overtakes her face.

-.-

Will and Nico are still sitting at the table where he left them five minutes ago, looking equal parts baffled and surprised.

"What the hell was that?" Nico demands as he shuts the front door behind him.

"Um, right, sorry," he starts, recalling he had run out the door yelling "I'll be back" with no other explanation. "Annabeth needed help with something."

He offers an apologetic smile, mostly directed toward Will since he's the guest.

"Is Annabeth your girlfriend?" Will asks, curiously.

Percy's face flushes, though he's not sure if it ever stopped. "No…" he trails off as if there's more to it than that. Spoiler alert, there isn't. Another spoiler alert, he definitely wants there to be.

"It's the girl he's trying to get to be his girlfriend," Nico explains casually, forking the last of his spaghetti. "Also, we ordered way too much food."

Percy might have morphed into a tomato, but Nico isn't wrong. "Leftovers?" he suggests, eager to keep the conversation off of him and Annabeth.

It doesn't work.

"Or," Will pipes up. "You could invite Annabeth."

Percy and Nico both turn to stare at him. Will just shrugs, keeping his cool. "If you want, that is, I wouldn't mind, and besides, isn't that what this is all about?"

"Huh?" Percy asks eloquently.

"Well," Will starts sweetly, turning to Nico, "isn't the point of this dinner to introduce the guy you're trying to get to be your boyfriend?"

Nico chokes on air while Percy bursts out laughing. Yeah, he definitely likes the guy.

-.-

Annabeth stares at her phone, the screen lighting up with Percy's name. She just saw him like ten minutes ago, why is he calling?

Well it would help if she picked up. Rolling her eyes at herself, she accepts the call just in time.

"Hello?"

"Hi…" she can hear some sheepishness crawl into his voice.

"What's up?"

"So..uh…" he starts and she can hear people in the background yelling something. "Alright, alright, I'm doing it," he grumbles to the people in the room.

"So, uh, I was wondering if you wanted to come up and hang out with us? We ordered too much food and Will is here so um, want to join?" he trails off again, and she hears another shout.

She's wearing a tank top and pajama pants and this is the last thing she had expected. To be fair, she hadn't expected the spider either, so really, this night is a toss up.

Part of her thinks she should say no and be polite, but a bigger part of her wants so desperately to say yes and see him again and actually hang out with multiple people.

"Um...sure, I guess,"she finds herself responding. After all, he did ask.

"Cool! I'll see you in a few." And with that the conversation ends, and she's left staring at her phone once again.

Moving to her closet ,she's all too aware that this is the first time she's going to his place, and not only meeting his roommate but also some other friend of theirs (she has no clue who Will is). She decides on a Harry Potter v-neck (because that's always a good talking point) and some jeans, and tries not to fuss too much with her hair, all too aware of the fact that Percy saw her like ten minutes ago.

Nervously excited, she heads up and knocks on the door.

Percy opens on the first knock with a wide grin on his face.

"Hey! Long time no see!"

It's actually adorable but Annabeth shakes her head at him. "Cute," she responds dryly.

Percy smirks back. "I am."

Well ,he's got her there. He moves aside and she steps into the space, laid out similarly to her own. It's comfy and clean and there's a slight scent of Febreze mingling with the Italian food laid out on the counter.

"Guys, this is Annabeth, Annabeth, this is Nico and his would-be boyfriend Will," Percy introduces.

On the couch sat the two aforementioned guys. Nico, she presumes, is the goth looking one based off of Percy's complaints about his loud music, and Will, the exact opposite of Nico, smiling as brightly as his blonde hair.

She gives a little wave. "Hi."

Nico nods back with a small smile that she thinks is a pretty high honor.

"Nice shirt," Will says by way of greeting. She knew the shirt was a good idea.

"Thanks, you a Ravenclaw too?"

Will nods his head. "Yep, Ravenclaws unite!"

"Wait, I'm a Gryffindor," Percy interjects, walking up behind her. She's suddenly all too aware of how close he's standing. "Where my Gryffindors at?"

Everyone turns to Nico who just burrows further into himself, arms crossed. "What?"

"What's your Hogwarts house, sweetheart?" Will asks, causing Nico to turn pink.

"Would-be boyfriend?" Annabeth asks Percy in a low voice, and so what if she uses the question to get even closer to him.

"They're not there yet, but any day now really, if only—" Percy is cut off by Nico's yell.

"Hufflepuff!"

Apparently, the only thing worse than talking about Hogwarts Houses is his relationship status with Will. Nico is a permanent shade of pink.

"Awww, that's sweet, I can see it," Will says, nudging him gently.

"Yeah, okay, can we talk about something else now?" Nico grumbles. Will chuckles and puts an arm around him. It's really cute, and she's not going to lie and say she doesn't wish it was her and Percy on the couch right now.

Clearly, this apparent crush has risen to levels she had not anticipated.

Percy leads Annabeth towards an armchair and pulls out a chair from their dining table to sit on. (Actually, he flips it around and sits on it backwards and it's the dumbest thing to find attractive but Annabeth can't help it.)

"Sure," Percy says with a grin, "let's talk about your would-be boyfriend, Will." He turns to address Will. "So Will, what do you like about Nico?"

She suspects that it actually is a serious question, despite the joke, she knows that he's sort of protective of Nico.

Grinning, Will plays along, seemingly content to watch Nico suffer. "Well Percy, I like a lot of things. For one—"

"How about we talk about your would-be girlfriend Annabeth!" Nico interrupts yet again.

Everyone in the room freezes, Nico included, and Annabeth feels her face warming up. She ducks her head a little and side-eyes Percy to gauge his reaction. He's just as frozen and there's a moment of awkward silence until Will finally speaks up.

"Hey," he offers a smile to the frozen room. "You can't distract from all the things I like about you. As I was saying, your hair is super soft…"

Nico buries his face in his hands with a groan and Percy laughs, everything returning to normal.

She takes a moment to mentally thank Will for the save, and even though she laughs along at Nico's reaction, her mind doesn't let go of the words. Is she Percy's would-be girlfriend? They've definitely flirted, and sometimes he looks at her in a way that makes her think it's not just her thinking there could be something there.

And when Percy turns to her every few seconds throughout the night with a smile, and especially when he pulls off his hoodie later, she decides two things:

One, her crush is not going away. And two, being Percy's girlfriend sounds kinda great.

A/N: Finally the conclusion to the cliffhanger from last chapter, that and some more solangelo! Idk about you guys but I also think that Annabeth being Percy's girlfriend sounds pretty great, and I hope you guys keep reading to see where that goes!

Please Review because I'd love to hear your thoughts!

And as always, thanks for reading!

See ya! :)