A/N: Hey guys! Back again with another rooftops update! Hope you like it!
In a lot of ways, officially being in a relationship doesn't really change things all that much. They still hang out, kiss and go on dates.
But in other ways, it changes everything.
Like the first time he calls her "babe", only a few days later, and she freezes. She's in the middle of pouring out a glass of water when he calls out.
"Hey babe, can you get me some water too?"
It's such a small thing, a simple request (for a glass of water) of all things but she can't help but stop in her tracks, a warm blush overtaking her face. He hasn't even looked up from his phone, the word slipping out of his mouth so naturally that it makes her feel giddy.
The smile still hasn't left her face as she brings an extra glass for her boyfriend, who looks up at her gratefully and kisses her for her troubles.
She surprises him too, not long after, by making him breakfast. She's not that great of a cook (breakfast has been Percy's forte so far) but she knows her way around an omelet.
His surprise is instantly apparent at the sharp intake of breath she hears as he walks into the kitchen and almost trips over a chair at the sight.
Well, the sight includes more than just the food, so it might have something to do with that. (He tells her immediately to keep the shirt).
It continues like that, in small ways. Some nights, he brings takeout and flowers and she digs out an old vase as he grabs plates. And it's so domestic that a month later, she finds him so integrated into her life that she's forgotten a time where he didn't have a drawer in her room and his picture didn't decorate her lockscreen.
It's actually kind of insane, she thinks over coffee one morning before work. Just how quickly life can change. It had only been a few months ago that she had explored her way to the roof of her building, but it seems like eons now.
Even just the concept of warmth and summer feels so far away as December rolls around. It's all so different now. Her life is so different now. But in the best way she could have hoped for.
There's still a tiny part of her brain, nagging her with the fear that all this will come crashing down, but it's easy to ignore when Percy's name lights up her screen with a "Have a good day at work!"
She smiles at her phone for a second longer than she probably should before putting on a Youtube video to be the background for the rest of the morning.
She feels good.
And she continues to feel good until Percy shuffles through her apartment door, nervous enough to arouse suspicion, and drops a bombshell on her.
"So, um... my mom wants to meet you," he starts, watching her closely for her reaction.
Her surprise and concern must be evident because he hastily rushes to continue. "It's not a big deal, just like lunch or something."
It's dangerously close to the holiday season and she's been wondering how they're going to navigate around that, because it's much too soon to see each other's families for Christmas.
She nods slowly, steeling herself, because this is something she has to do at some point. It's what being in a relationship entails, so even though she's anxious, she'll go through with it.
"Okay, yeah, good, it'll be really chill—how's lunch this Saturday?" He's speaking a little quickly because he's nervous too, and she can't tell if it's because of her reaction or what he thinks his mom's reaction will be.
Annabeth learned early on that Percy adored his mother and went through some rough patches in his childhood with her. From what she had heard, Sally Jackson seems like a thoroughly nice woman, but what if she hated her son's girlfriend?
She flashes back to Thanksgiving with her family, where she'd casually mentioned a boyfriend, and how her stepmother had expressed a polite interest about meeting him.
So many thoughts are running through her head that she doesn't realize that she hasn't actually given an answer to Percy until he asks a tentative, "Annabeth?"
Saturday, right, it's far away enough from Christmas and it's probably fine and Percy's mom probably won't hate her but if she did Percy would probably break up with her and she'd lose what was probably her best chance at love and—
She nods again.
Percy smiles wide, squeezing her hand. "Great! She's gonna love you."
Annabeth sincerely hopes so.
-.-
Percy's excited to go home. He normally stops by every two weeks or so, but ever since he started dating Annabeth, things have gotten a bit busy. And from the long phone conversation he had with his mom a week ago, he has a feeling she's just as excited for him to come home as he is.
Mostly because of Annabeth.
When his mother had met Paul, it was like a weight had been lifted. She was finally happy after so many years of struggle and abuse from that disgusting creature he refused to think about. And then they had Lily, and his little family had grown.
Annabeth was simply the next addition. In a manner of speaking, that is. Regardless, he knew they would love her. If only she knew that.
She's been fidgeting with the pop socket on her phone the entire Uber ride there, and he remembers how he felt on that night not so long ago, in the back of an Uber going to meet her best friend. Piper, he's figured out, is more of a family than Annabeth's actual family, who seem nice but distant.
"It'll be okay," he whispers, clutching her hand not unlike she had held his that night.
She bites her bottom lip and nods and he wishes he could lean in and kiss her until she forgets what being nervous is.
He knows her worries will be alleviated as soon as she meets them. And he's sure he's right when his mom opens the door with a smile and pulls them both in for a warm hug.
Percy almost laughs at Annabeth's face at the action.
"And you must be Annabeth! Come in, honey, I've got a fresh batch of cookies coming out any minute now." His mother ushers them both in, talking a mile a minute with Annabeth.
"How are you dear? You can leave your coat here—by the way, that's a lovely shade of blue on your hat."
Paul approaches them with a smile and drinks and soon, Annabeth looks positively blown away by the reception.
And of course, everything takes a turn when Lily, screeching at the sight of Percy, runs up to give her half-brother a hug and demands to know who the pretty blonde girl is.
"This is my girlfriend Annabeth," he introduces, lifting Lily up. Annabeth does an extremely adorable tentative wave at the six year old while Lily reaches out towards her hair.
"Girlfriend? Is she a princess?"
And from there on out, all it takes is Annabeth braiding her hair once for her to quickly overtake him in Lily's list of favorite people.
He makes a point to gloat about how he's right when they get back.
"Told you it'd be great!"
She just nods, the surprised look from the moment his mother had opened the door not completely gone.
"Hey, what's up?" he asks, nudging her slightly, starting to get a little worried about her lack of reaction.
She shakes her head. "Nothing. It was good, you were right."
He frowns at the words. "Okay, something is definitely up if you're admitting I'm right," he teases cautiously.
She shakes her head again, leaning back onto the couch. "No, it was good. Really good. I've just never seen something like that before. My family..." she trails off. "We're just not like that."
And strangely enough, he gets it. Sure, his mom has always been a source of comfort but his family life with his stepfather was…
He pulls her closer and she rests her head against his chest. "I...well, I'm not going to pretend to know what your situation is like, but my family wasn't always like this. My old stepfather was an abusive asshole and we really struggled. It only became this good after she met Paul. It's because of all that shit we got close."
He feels the resentment and anger rise up again. He hadn't thought about him in a long time and it never failed to make him angry.
Maybe she feels the shift, because she separates from him to look him in the eye.
"Well, you have a great family now," she says softly, taking his hand in hers. "Thank you for inviting me to meet them."
He nods, a surge of emotion preventing him from speaking, because it really had been so good to see all the people he cared about together. Annabeth had fit in perfectly with his family, and it wasn't a stretch to get a glimpse of a future together.
"Yeah," he says slowly, shifting the mood to something more playful. "Told you they'd like you."
Annabeth kisses the smirk off his face.
-.-
Buying a Christmas gift for your boyfriend is hard. Buying the first Christmas gift for your boyfriend is even harder.
She stares helplessly at the men's section while Piper peruses the nearby purses.
"What about this?" she asks, holding up a tan purse and shaking it in her face. Annabeth shakes her head fondly, a single eyebrow raised.
"You already have a purse similar to that Piper," she responds, turning back to the men's section.
"Not for me, for my mom," Piper clarifies and Annabeth immediately turns back around. Knowing that Piper isn't exactly close to her mother and doesn't even see her that often, she makes an effort to really look at the purse.
"Does it come in black?" she asks finally. Piper pulls it out from behind her like magic and Annabeth nods appreciatively.
"Yeah, that's good," she declares. Piper stares at it for a moment longer, obviously still hesitating, and Annabeth can't blame her. Piper's mom is really picky. She turns back towards the men's section and thinks that Percy probably isn't that picky. Probably.
"Why is it so complicated?" she huffs out loud.
"Get him a tie," Piper says from her spot.
It's the best idea she's heard so far, so she flags down a sales associate to ask him about the ties.
"Excuse me," she calls to a blonde-haired guy around her age, arranging some shirts.
He turns around and she's struck by how blue his eyes are. "Yes?"
"Hi, um, where are the ties?" Despite it being their job to assist people, she always feels bad about asking for assistance.
"Oh, they're in the back, a little hidden away. Let me show you," he says with a smile and starts to lead her.
"Okay, cool, let me tell my friend real quick," she says as he starts to walk away. "Hey Piper!"
Piper looks up and she gestures that she's going to be walking away, and is about to turn around to follow the guy when Piper drops the purses and comes to her instead.
"Hi," she says a little breathlessly to the guy. He stares back at her.
Turning to Annabeth she needlessly explains. "I should get a tie for my dad."
Annabeth's almost insulted at the poor excuse, as if she can't tell when her best friend finds someone extremely attractive, but lets it slide for the amount of times the two look at each other on the short walk to the ties.
Fifteen minutes later, Annabeth walks away with a royal blue tie and Piper walks away with a number.
A/N: And there you have it! Some fluffy established relationship Percabeth featuring introspection and opening up and Piper getting a mans because she deserves it!
I hope you guys liked it! Please Review! I'd love to hear your thoughts!
And as always, thanks for reading!
See ya! :)