Hey guys! I'm back with a little bit of a longer drabble I wrote a while back but have finally got around to publishing! Hope you like it:

Maybe it was stupid, stupidly hopeful, stupidly emotional and stupidly desperate. But there he was in the one specific corner of Central Park at that one specific bench.

It was March 12, 2019. Exactly ten years since they had made the promise. And there he was, ready to fulfill it.

He tried not to get to excited or hopeful, he knew it would lead to disappointment if he built up an expectation in his head but it was hard not to.

His thoughts kept wandering, he wondered how she had been all these years. If she was working in a lab, like she always wanted. He wondered if she had gotten a cat and if she still liked Pride and Prejudice. The more he thought, the more personal the thoughts became. He wondered if her hair was still the long and curly like the last time he had seen it, if that sparkle in her eyes was still there. He wondered if she still curved her lips in that reluctant smile to a bad pun.

He wondered if she had moved on.

This is why this had been a stupid idea. Because no one had been able to compare to her. Because he had not moved on. Because he realized that he loved her.

And when she— if she came at all, she would inevitably tell him how she was in a happy relationship, it would break him apart.

That brought him back to the fact that there was a strong chance that she would not show up, after all the promise had been made when they were 14. Right before he was going to move away to a different state, to a different high school.

It was so easy to lose contact with people, he noted as he relaxed into the bench. So easy to get caught up in life, so easy to let people slip away. That's the thing with the life, it just keeps going on, it doesn't wait for you to catch up or do something, it just keeps moving forward.

And now that he looked back at it, he realized just how quickly things had gone by, high school, then college, and suddenly ten years later he was here, back in the park.

He checked his phone, it was close to six in the morning. The sun had just started to rise. Just like it had ten years ago when they had sat there on this bench watching it spread light to the rest of the world and made the promise.

He had left by noon that very same day.

It was just as breathtaking as the last time. He should really watch the sunrise more often, he thought as the gentle orange light stretched out in the sky. It was so peaceful, he let out a content sigh.

"It's gorgeous, isn't it?" a voice from his right spoke. He jumped at the sound. He couldn't believe his ears, slowly turning to face the person.

He would recognize that voice anywhere.

The sight of Annabeth Chase with her soft blonde hair looking amber in the light and sparkling grey eyes that outshone the stars greeted him back.

He couldn't formulate words. How could she have gotten even more beautiful?

"Not as much as you," the words left his mouth before he could stop them, and he slammed his mouth shut after.

Her lips curved into a soft smile, a light blush dusting her cheeks. God he was going to die.

"You don't look too bad yourself," she replied, causing his face to heat up. He ran a nervous hand through his hair a little self-consciously.

"Yeah, finally got a haircut," he joked.

Her eyes followed the movement before she quickly looked away, "It looks nice."

"I missed you," he blurted out.

He watched her reaction closely, her eyes were genuine when she replied, "I missed you too."

He couldn't help it, "God Annabeth, it's so good to see you. I haven't been able to get you out of my head for the past ten years. It's like everything I did was fine and all, but like something was missing. And the more I thought about it the more I realized just how much I needed you. No one could even compare to you. I-I-I realized I…I realized I lo-"

His words were cut off by a soft pair of lips on his and his brain short-circuiting.

Annabeth pulled away and he looked at her in shock. She smiled shyly back. That was the last thing he was expecting her to do.

"I..um, I'm sorry," she began when he didn't say anything. Not that he could be blamed, his mind was still frazzled. He ended up kissing her this time.

They pulled away from this one panting slightly, their foreheads pressed together.

"Hi," Percy whispered, smiling.

"Hi," she returned the smile.

They separated and just stared at each other for a moment before Annabeth started to giggle. In a matter of seconds they were both laughing.

"I did not expect that to happen," Percy said as he finally settled down.

"Neither did I, to be honest," she replied.

"I'm glad it did though."

"Me too."

It had been stupidly hopeful, but sometimes that's all you have. Because life just keeps going and it's up to you to catch up. Taking a chance on something, even if it was stupidly hopeful, wasn't a bad thing, Percy thought as he walked hand in hand with Annabeth. Sometimes it's just what you need.

A/N: So what did you think? I thought a cute little re-meeting with a lot of hope was something we could all use. You just got to take chances, even if you don't think anything's gonna happen. Sometimes you just hold out hope for something. Don't ever give up hope!

And with that I'll leave you with, hopefully, some inspiration as you go about your day!

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

See ya! :)