Okay! Hi, again!

Uhm, as I said last chapter - new update schedule!

Don't have much else to say, so… enjoy!

Thanks for reading!

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Everyone stared at Percy, waiting for him to start his story.

"Um," he blushed. "So…"

Percy embarrassingly recounted the story of how he and his best friend Grover got attacked by a crazed street performer at Times Square, and how at some point during the fight his pants got yanked down to his ankles.

It was around that time the police showed up. Percy had managed to pull his jeans back up fairly quickly, but they had gotten ripped up in the scuffle and he had to walk home in tatters. Thankfully, this was New York, so either no one noticed or they just didn't care.

At the end, Annabeth, Frank, and Hazel were nearly in tears. Percy was flushed beet red, and nervously fiddling with his cup of hot chocolate.

"That can't have really happened," said Frank between laughs.

Annabeth, who had pulled her phone out just as Percy finished his story, said, "Oh, it happened, alright. I found the news article about it." She triumphantly showed her phone to the others, while Percy groaned and buried his head in his hands.

Ugh, I messed up big time, he thought to himself. I was trying to help Frank loosen up, but now all these people know about the Times Square Incident!

If it were just him, Frank and Hazel, he probably wouldn't have cared as much. It was Annabeth he didn't want hearing embarrassing stories about him.

She always made him feel flustered. Around most people, he was fine, but when it was just him and Annabeth he quickly lost his ability to think clearly... or at all.

Hazel handed Annabeth back her phone, smiling at Percy. "I can't believe that actually happened. That's crazy!"

Percy made a face. "Why do all of you assume I'm a liar? I don't deserve that."

Annabeth laughed. "Well, you sort of look like a troublemaker, so maybe we're all just being cautious." She winked at him.

He frowned melodramatically. "You can be a very rude person, you know that?"

She snorted, then covered her mouth in wide eyed embarrassment. Percy and the others laughed, and soon she joined them.

"So," Percy said, raising his hot chocolate to take a drink, "I've shared an embarrassing story; now let's hear from all of you."

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No one spoke up immediately, and Annabeth's mind whirred to life trying to find a distraction. She had no intention of sharing an embarrassing story with these people.

As Percy set his cup back down, Annabeth spotted something that looked like small, black writing on the side of the cup. "Hey, Percy," she pointed to the small words written there. "What's that?" Percy turned the cup so it faced him as he read the words aloud.

"'Percy, the happiest hero~'" Percy looked at Hazel questioningly. "What's that about?"

Hazel giggled. "Oh, I wrote that. Just a cute little way of personalizing peoples' orders, you know? I do it for pretty much everyone."

"Oh, really?" Annabeth said curiously. She turned her cup to the side and made out the word Bananabeth. "Huh."

Percy raised his eyebrow. "What's it say, Wise Girl?"

"N-nothing," Annabeth muttered, cheeks turning a light pink. Then, she gave him an annoyed look. "Really? Wise Girl?"

"What? I heard one of your friends say something like it," Percy grumbled defensively. "I figured it was just a regular nickname for you, so I thought I'd just- you know- give it a try."

Annabeth wanted to tell him she didn't have a regular nickname, nor did she like them, but she let it slide (she wasn't sure why).

Hazel's head snapped up, and she smiled at Annabeth. "Annabeth, you're avoiding telling a story~" Hazel called out.

Annabeth groaned and made a face. Guess there's no avoiding this...

They spent who-knows-how-long talking and sharing stories, laughing and having fun. Annabeth didn't volunteer a lot of information, but she learned about Frank's love for archery and how Hazel enjoyed horseback riding.

Mostly she learned about Percy though. He carried the conversation with a comfort and ease she wished she could match. He laughed and smiled and joked, entertaining them all with his goofball sense of humor.

Percy seemed to have a big thing for music, though he seemed evasive when asked about it. She could tell from the way he talked about it though that he was clearly passionate about it. He also had lots of funny stories, some about his friends, but most were about himself. He never topped the first one though.

A lot of them came from all the jobs he had worked. Percy had had so many that Annabeth wondered how long he stayed at each. She recalled meeting him at a cafe, then within a week he was delivering her pizza, then the next day he'd submitted an application to her firm. She didn't have long to dwell on the reasoning behind that though, because about that time Hazel stood up.

"It's been a few hours, and I'm kind of hungry," she said. "Who wants food?"

"I think everyone does," said Annabeth, Frank and Percy nodding in agreement.

Frank jumped up as well. "Let's raid the kitchens! Don't worry, Mr. Brunner won't mind, as long as we don't take too much."

The guys cheered, and Hazel led them to the back where all the food was stored.

It was a decently sized room, with boxes placed sporadically, and shelves stocked with books, cutlery, and other assorted food and drinks.

Annabeth could barely see a few feet in front of her from the dim light of the candle, but Frank and Hazel seemed to know where they were going. Frank and Percy went left, she and Hazel to the right.

Annabeth held the candle while Hazel looked up and down the shelves.

Annabeth's phone started ringing. Looking down, she saw the caller ID was Silena. She excused herself and ducked behind a shelf and held the phone up to her year. "Yeah, Silena?"

"Annabeth," Silena said urgently. "Luke called me. And he wants to talk to you."

Suddenly, it felt like the floor had dropped out from under her. Her mind raced with possibilities (and all the things she wanted to say), but she tried to stay focused on Silena.

Annabeth quickly set the candle on a shelf and turned away from Hazel. "He, what?! What do you mean- why didn't he call me?!" she whisper-shouted.

"He said it would probably be for the best if you were prepared in advance for the next time you spoke. He wanted to schedule an appointment to meet in person..." Silena trailed off, clearly uncomfortable with her role in this situation.

Annabeth was fuming. He thinks he can break up over text, then tell me that we shouldn't talk again until we see each other in person?! He thinks he can just schedule an apology meeting with me? And not even with me directly, but through my secretary?!

She took a deep breath. "Fine," she muttered. "Fine, whatever. Tell him I'll meet him… Monday, I guess." With mixed feelings and a lot of confusion in her heart, she hung up without another word.

Hazel peered at her curiously. "What was that about?"

Annabeth pursed her lips. Hazel was nice, but she didn't really know her… She looked at Hazel, and, seeing genuine concern there, Annabeth's need to vent won out. She took another deep breath.

"My ex-boyfriend cheated on me, broke up with me, and now wants to meet me again for whatever reason." Annabeth replied shortly. She sighed, and dragged her hand through her hair.

"Oh," Hazel said quietly. "Do you think he wants to try and get back together?"

Annabeth shook her head. "I doubt it. Once he's made a decision, he commits to it."

Hazel tilted her head slightly, and gently asked, "And what about you, Annabeth? What do you want?"

She stared at the flickering candle. "I don't... it's complicated. We were together for a long time, you know? And I know I loved him at one point, but now… I don't know." She rubbed her eyes in frustration.

"Annabeth," Hazel said seriously. "You know Percy likes you, right? As more than just a coworker. As more than just a friend. So… don't break his heart, ok? I haven't known him for long, but I can tell he's a good guy and he doesn't deserve something like that."

Annabeth's face flushed. "I would nev- I mean, I don't have any feelings toward him, not like that, and I'm certain the feeling is mutual. I'm his boss, that would be wrong. And I'm sure Percy and I will be able to keep a strictly professional relationship."

Hazel clicked her tongue, and if Annabeth didn't know any better she'd say she was being pitied. "Hmm. Life's hard sometimes, don't you think?"

Before Annabeth could think of a response, something hit the back of her head. She picked it up and saw it was a cookie. "What the-?"

"FOOD FIGHT!" Percy screamed wildly.

Annabeth immediately ducked, just in time as a chunk of cookie dough came flying in their direction. Hazel caught it, surprised, but another one hit her in the face right after.

Annabeth yelled out, "Are you kidding me?! What are we, childr-" but she was cut off as another cookie came flying in, smacking her right in the forehead. Her jaw clenched. Oh, it's on now.

Percy laughed in the darkness; they put out their candle, she realized. "I told you earlier, my inner child will never die!"

Annabeth saw Hazel, now recovered from being hit with cookie dough. Neither of them could believe this, but as they locked eyes they also knew neither were willing to lose. Annabeth nodded, and they broke.

She quickly blew out their candle, then ducked for cover. Hazel grabbed a tray of muffins from a nearby rack and began launching them one by one. Frank ran to the back of the room for cover, using handfuls of powder from a spilt bag as a smoke screen, while Percy ran around the room laughing maniacally and chucking cookies in random directions.

The four screamed, cheered, and laughed as they were all pelted with food, flour, and something that might have been ice cream two months ago.

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"That was fun!" Frank said happily. They had relit the candles and were all headed back into the main seating area.

Annabeth gave him a look. "Yeah… fun. Something like that." She picked at some white glob in her hair. "Oh, gross. What even is this?"

Percy sidled up to her. "Let me get that out for you." Percy tugged on it gently, making sure not to hurt her. As he worked, he took extra time to admire her golden hair (without being creepy). It was soft, a teeny bit greasy (workaholic) - not that he minded.

At all.

"You done?" Annabeth asked, startling him out of his reverie.

"Oh! Yeah… yeah, I'm done." Percy stepped away from her, quickly walking back to his seat.

The winds and lightning seemed to have mostly stopped while they were all having fun, but it was still raining heavily outside. Percy didn't want to head home just yet, and Frank and Hazel agreed they could stay until the rain let up some, since they didn't have anything better to do.

"I guess we should just be glad nobody came in while we were messing around in the back," Annabeth said.

Frank smacked his forehead. "I didn't even think of that! Whoops." He looked at Hazel sheepishly.

She rolled her eyes and sighed. "Well, luckily for us, I did, a few hours ago, actually. I locked the door and switched the sign to say we're closed."

"Oh! That was a good idea. I'm glad you're so much smarter than me," he said cheerfully. Percy could relate to that; he felt like everyone was smarter than him.

Hazel smiled. "Well, one of us has to be responsible," she said, winking at Percy and Annabeth. They both laughed.

Everyone fell into easy conversation after that. Percy tried to mainly focus on Hazel and Frank; if he spent too much time looking at or talking to Annabeth, he started getting awkward again. She seemed to forgive him for hitting her with cookies, at least.

They all exchanged phone numbers, with the exception of Percy and Annabeth, since Percy was too afraid to ask and Annabeth didn't offer. Hazel looked sort of disappointed at the pair, probably because of the massive mess she has to worry about now, thanks to us, Percy thought.

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Hazel sighed. "Okay, let's go back and check the damage." The group of four, together, walked into the back storage room, Hazel in the lead.

Even in with the dim light of the candle, Annabeth could tell it was an absolute mess. "Oh, gods. Hazel, I'm so sorry-"

"Annabeth." Hazel interrupted. "Not your fault." She glared at the two boys in the room, both of whom suddenly found the floor very interesting. "But… me and Frank need to clean this."

Her brain naturally screamed Frank and I, but she said instead, "I- we can help. Right, Percy? We made the mess, we help clean it."

"No," Hazel stated firmly. "You're technically still customers and it's not your job to clean up after our messes. I'm glad you came and we met you, but the rain has let up enough for you both to go home, so shoo. Out. Go."

Frank winced. "You should listen to her. She's normally really nice, but she's not gonna let this happen."

Annabeth wanted to argue that it really was fine, no really, we're responsible so we should help, but one more look from Hazel had her biting her tongue.

Frank led Annabeth and Percy back out into the seating area, told them goodbye and to be safe, and locked the door behind them. As they stood under the store's small awning, Annabeth pulled out her umbrella. When she turned to say goodbye to Percy, she saw him shifting from one foot to the other, squinting into the downpour. She remembered he didn't have an umbrella.

He had pulled his hood up and zipped up his jacket, and he seemed to be calculating which path would have him spending as little time in the rain as possible. Annabeth smiled to herself. It's cute he thinks I'll let him do that.

"Hey, Percy," she said. When he turned to her, she held her umbrella so that it covered both of them. She tilted her head slightly. "Where are you headed?"

Percy blinked, then blushed. "You don't have to-" he started, but Annabeth cut him off, waving her hand.

"No, I know I don't have to, but I'm going to because I think it's the right thing to do." Hazel's knowing look from earlier flashed through her mind. And no other reason.

Percy still looked uncomfortable, but he nodded and they set off together. Thankfully, they were headed in the same direction, so she didn't have to go out of her way.

They walked in silence, but the air between them was awkward now. She sensed his tension beside her and pursed her lips. Where did his confidence go? Does he really feel that uncomfortable sharing an umbrella with me? I'm nervous here too, you know. You could try and help me feel less awkward about this.

As if sensing her thoughts, Percy coughed. "So, uh… that was an unexpectedly long coffee run."

Annabeth laughed. "Yeah, it was, but I had fun all the same."

Percy looked at her with a big, goofy lopsided grin on his face. "Yeah, it was."

They returned to walking quietly, but it was more relaxed than before. Annabeth enjoyed the sound of the rain, and the heat Percy radiated beside her. He began mindlessly humming a tune she hadn't heard before, but she liked it.

They both held the umbrella, Percy's hand lightly touching hers. Annabeth felt hyperconscious in that moment, aware of everything that happened around them. The rain had lightened into a slight drizzle, but neither of them seemed to have any inclination towards letting go.

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"We're here." Annabeth murmured.

Under the safety of the bus shelter, Percy gave her a half bow. "I suppose this is where we part ways, milady."

Annabeth bit her cheek to keep from smiling. She gave him a little curtsy. "I'll see you around, Hero Boy."

Percy watched her go, darting past puddles and dodging cars, wishing for a moment that she had stayed by his side just a little longer. He began humming the tune she'd inspired in his head again, but this time it took on a more melancholic tone. I wish someday I could be your Hero.