Awe! I had a few people saying about how it was so mean of Annabeth, but never you guys worry, Percy's birthday isn't quite over yet and there's an overload of fluffy cuteness this chapter! Remember my beloved readers, the key is communication! This is the last chapter of this one, though I'll add an AN to say that it's been updated. I haven't finished typing up the Titans curse plotline-it's a lot longer, possibly because there's a lot of personal emotional development between certain characters-also it will hurt I warn in advance, certain chapters will be painful-I literally haven't wrote for a couple of days 'cause I keep making myself cry so you know that's fun lol! I am pretty sure when it gets to certain chapters my readers will literally try to kill me.
To the person who did ask, I'm fine, the update time just depends on when I get the chance. Some days are busier than others, but thank you for checking in.
Percy and Grover danced-making a game of who could do the most ridiculous moves-joined by the Stoll brothers.
There was a lot of laughter that filled the room as they celebrated.
It was the biggest birthday party Percy had ever had, and the most fun one she had to admit.
It had been going on for almost an hour before Percy decided she needed to take a breather, and she headed to the edge of the room, snatching up a can of soda as she did, cracking it open and sipping the cool drink, watching as Silena dragged Beckendorft onto the makeshift dance floor.
And Percy nearly died of laughter when she saw Nico, Will and Kayla working together to force Clarisse onto the dance floor-and Percy grinned when Lacey and Mikey teamed up to drag Chris onto the floor and shove him up to Clarisse-making the daughter of Ares turn a bright shade of red when Chris shrugged and grabbed her hand to dance with her.
Percy had just managed to calm down and she was leaning against the wall, grinning and shaking her head fondly when she felt something brush against her arm.
She forced back a yelp, jumping slightly as she turned her head, looking around-but she couldn't see anyone else there.
She frowned, a confused look crossing her face. "Hello?" her voice was soft, "Is anyone there-"
"Nobody's here." the voice was familiar, and Percy's lips twitched slightly as she tried to fight down the huge smile that threatened to take over her face.
"Nobody huh?" she raised an eyebrow. "Hey Wise Girl."
"Sorry I'm late." Annabeth's voice was a whisper-and Percy felt a hand closing around her own, "I was talking to Thalia-" and Percy's mood sunk slightly at that. "Can we go outside. I wanna go on a walk and talk."
"Uh, sure. We can probably slip out." Percy tried to keep her voice upbeat and the smile on her lips as Annabeth lightly tugged her towards the door-and sure enough everyone was too distracted by the party and the dancing.
Soon enough they were out of the rec room and Percy let Annabeth drag her out of the Big House-at which point Annabeth swiped her cap off of her head.
"Wanna go down to the beach Seaweed Brain?"
"You know I'm always up for beach walks." Percy shrugged slightly. "Though I do feel kinda bad for abandoning my birthday party."
"I don't think anyone minds." Annabeth gave a hopeful smile, "Please Percy. I have your birthday present and we haven't actually hung out in ages." her voice was pleading and Percy faltered, biting her lip hard as she glanced back towards the Big House.
"I..." but she'd been wanting to spend time with Annabeth again since Thalia had woken up, was she really gonna give up what would probably be her last chance to spend time with her friend before she went home? Since she highly doubted that their original plans would happen now that Thalia back.
She was going back home tomorrow.
Besides Percy knew she couldn't say no when Annabeth gave her that wide eyed look.
"Ugh. Fine." Percy sighed, though a smile tugged at her lips when Annabeth's face lit up, gray eyes shining with happiness.
Percy let Annabeth drag her down past the cabins and to the beach-which was fairly deserted.
Together they sat down facing the sea, and there was a long moment of silent before Percy asked; "So what is Thalia doing?" she did the best to keep the bitterness out of her voice.
"Talking to Chiron-he wanted to talk to her alone-about the prophecy."
"Oh." Percy found herself tensing very slightly. So that was why Annabeth had come to see her. Because Thalia was busy with Chiron. "Right. I guess you'll wanna go and make sure she's okay after Chiron's explained-"
"What? Percy-" Annabeth's expression shifted, turning confused. "It's your birthday I wanted to spend time with you-"
"Because Thalia's busy." Percy turned away, moving to stand up.
"What-no-" Annabeth grabbed Percy's wrist, "Percy wait-what's up with you-"
"This is the first time we've spoken without Thalia around since she woke up." the words slipped out before Percy could stop them and she felt her cheeks burning red in embarrassment, "It's my birthday and the only reason you even came was because Chiron needed to speak to Thalia alone about the stupid prophecy-"
"That's not the only reason." Annabeth shook her head, "And we've-" she faltered, "I- I'm sure we've talked since Thalia came back-"
"Not for more than ten minutes and not without her around all the time." Percy hated how bitter and whiny she sounded. This wasn't who she was, she didn't get jealous. Not like this.
"I..." Annabeth looked stunned, "I didn't realize... I just-"
"I get it. I get it okay Thalia's your best friend you wanna hang out with her, you thought you'd lost her and now you got her back, I just... didn't realize that you wouldn't spend any time with me anymore."
"I..." Annabeth's shoulders slumped slightly, "I'm sorry Percy-I didn't even realize-"
"You love Thalia, you wanna spend more time with her. She's your best friend I get it. I just... wanted to spend some time with you before I go home with mom-I figure you're gonna want to stay here with Thalia."
Annabeth blinked, staring at Percy with a shocked look on her face, "Percy no... I... I mean a part of why I wanted to spend so much time with Thalia was because she'll be staying here at the end of summer and I'm going home with you-I didn't realize it was hurting you so much though."
"Y-you're still coming to stay with us?" Percy faltered, lowering herself back onto the sand-at which point Annabeth let go of Percy's wrist.
"Of course I am." Annabeth's expression went soft, "You're such a Seaweed brain." there was something so incredibly fond in Annabeth's voice that it made Percy flush slightly, feeling slightly warm. "I am so sorry-I should have taken some time to speak to you-I just got kind of caught up with Thalia being back."
"I... I do get it." Percy ducked her head, looking down at her hands, "She was your best frie-"
"No." Annabeth shook her head, "No-no Thalia isn't my best friend Percy. She's... Thalia's my big sister-like you and Luke." she hesitated before grabbing Percy's hand, threading their fingers together, "Percy you're my best friend."
"I am?"
"Of course." Annabeth shifted slightly, bumping their shoulders together, "Percy I'm sorry I let myself get caught up in the excitement of having Thalia back-
I'm sorry I didn't think about how you felt."
"I-I'm sorry I got so..." Percy shifted uncomfortably and Annabeth giggled.
"Jealous?"
"Yeah." Percy admitted reluctantly. "I should have probably tried to talk to you properly before now."
"I wasn't exactly making it easy." Annabeth admitted. "And I wasn't even on time for your birthday-I am so sorry-"
"It's okay." Percy shifted so that she could rest her head on Annabeth's shoulder, "You came in the end."
"I've got your present too."
"Really?" Percy gave a hopeful little grin, "I didn't know you were getting me anything."
"The only reason I didn't last year was the fact that you didn't tell me your birthday was coming up literally until the day." Annabeth gave her a disproving look when she said that, and Percy went red.
"I didn't want to make a big deal of it-so much already happened and I was already getting loads of attention."
"You're ridiculous." Annabeth rolled her eyes, and pulled a small carefully wrapped package out of her jeans pocket, "One of them is for me."
"Oh?" Percy's brows furrowed and she tilted her head as she unwrapped the paper.
Inside were two bracelets, both made out of strips of denim stitched and braided together in an intricate design.
There there were little clasps stitched into them both so that they'd fasten, and both of them had maybe six little seashells stitched securely into it, though one of them also had a little owl charm stitched into it.
"Annabeth-"
"I made them myself." Annabeth's voice was nervous, "I... I always kept the jacket you gave me the first time we met. It was the first time anyone other than Thalia had given me something like that-it wasn't anything big to you but that jacket kept me from freezing more than once. You probably saved my life giving me that and I kept it as a reminder that not everyone was bad." Annabeth's cheeks were red. "Of course that was years ago and I uh... I used to wear it constantly and it got kinda worn out-and I was talking to Luke about how I wanted to find a way to give it back to you but I was worried you'd be upset that I destroyed it but he said you wouldn't mind-"
"Of course I don't!" Percy was lunging at Annabeth, wrapping her arms tightly around the other girl. "I love it Annabeth thank you."
Annabeth hugged Percy back, relaxing almost instantly, a wide smile crossing her lips. "Oh thank the Gods I was so nervous. I thought you wouldn't like it-"
"I love it-and I love that you made two."
"Kinda like friendship bracelets." Annabeth's face was bright red as she said that.
Percy grinned, "Yeah. Yeah I love it." she pulled back and carefully grabbed hers and fastened it on her wrist just above the watch.
"Is it the right size? I had to do rough guess."
"It's perfect." Percy declared brightly as she held out her wrist so Annabeth could see. "I love it Annabeth. Will you put yours on?"
"Of course." Annabeth beamed and nodded, grabbing hers and carefully putting it on. "I'm so glad you like it."
"It's perfect." Percy grabbed Annabeth's hand, "I think this might just be the best birthday I've ever had."
"I'm glad." Annabeth looked down at their hands, "If you want we can go back to your party now. I know I kind of dragged you away."
"We probably should-" Percy hesitated, a sudden grin on her lips, "But we could go dip our feet in the water first?"
"You'll dry us off after?"
"Of course."
"Okay then." Annabeth and Percy quickly got to their feet, hand in hand still as they rushed towards the sea together, reaching the edge of the water quickly and kicking off their shoes.
Together they laughed and ran into the waves, the water cool around their feet as they danced with the waves, kicking and splashing one another with the water, their giggles filling the world around them as they enjoyed themselves.
They danced around for some time, until both of the girls were panting and laughing, wet from all of the splashing around-the bottom of Percy's dress was damp from it, and Annabeth stumbled, breathless giggles slipping from her lip as she grabbed onto Percy to keep herself from falling over. "That was so much fun." Annabeth managed to gasp out breathlessly.
"It really was." Percy grinned as she gripped Annabeth's arms-and she met the blonde's gaze, her eyes shining with amusement as Annabeth's piercing beautiful gray eyes met hers-shining with happiness. "I've missed this. You and me messing around."
"So have I." Annabeth admitted, laughing as a wave rushed around their legs, nearly knocking her off balance and sending her toppling forward slightly-right into Percy, who laughed harder as she tightened her grip on Annabeth's arms.
"Hey! Careful Wise Girl."
"Not all of us have sea powers." Annabeth pointed out playfully.
"Uh huh, I'm just cool like that." Percy teased softly-and as she said that she noticed how close they were-Annabeth was pressed against her, their faces were close together Percy realised-she could feel the other girls breath on her cheek-and she felt her own cheeks burning a bright shade of red.
"That you are." Annabeth's eyes flicked down slightly and Percy swallowed hard, her eyes widening slightly-her heart suddenly pounding in her chest.
"Annabeth-"
"Yeah?"
Percy bit her lip, "I-" she was suddenly hyper aware of Annabeth.
The other girl was beautiful-Percy had been more and more aware of that lately, and she really did look beautiful as Percy stared at her, her curly blonde hair was tangled and windswept by the sea breeze.
Her cheeks were flushed a pretty shade of pink, and now there was a gleam of anticipation in beautiful gray eyes-and she felt her eyes flicking down slightly to Annabeth's lips, which were just slightly parted.
"Annabeth I... what... what is this-"
"I don't know." Annabeth's voice was just as soft as Percy's. "I guess that depends on what you want."
And what did Percy want?
She thought about Annabeth, about her best friend. They'd been through a lot together. She always felt happier when she was with Annabeth than when they
were apart. Annabeth was smart and brave, she kept a cool head when Percy panicked.
Annabeth was one of the most amazing girls Percy had ever met, she couldn't imagine a world in which she didn't love Annabeth in one way or another.
And Annabeth was also one of the prettiest girls Percy had ever known, and every time Annabeth had kissed her cheek she'd felt all warm and fuzzy inside.
She didn't fully know what that meant for herself-she was self aware enough to know that she'd had crush on Alabaster.
It had only been a very brief thing-crushed completely before it had time to turn anything else, before she'd really had time to understand that that was what he felt.
This though... this was different than that, it felt deeper, stronger.
It scared her. Because this was so much more than she'd ever felt before.
It also brought up the question of her sexuality which she'd never even considered before. She wasn't gay-no matter how short lived it had been she'd had a crush on a guy.
So, bi then maybe? She remembered hearing Lacey giggling about an older half sister's girlfriend and when she'd asked Silena had talked to her about all of that.
The biggest fear though, was of what would happen if things went wrong.
"A-Annabeth." Percy whispered the name, "What if things don't work I don't wanna lose my best friend."
"Seaweed Brain." Annabeth shook her head, a fond look on her face, "You're never getting rid of me." and then Annabeth was leaning in and pressing her lips against Percy's.
And just like that Percy's brain shut down, and all she knew was that Annabeth's lips were on hers, and Percy had never felt happier.
