The next day, Percy swung the door open wide before Annabeth even knocked.

Annabeth took a step back, startled. "Were you looking out the peephole?"

"What? NO. I'm going to check the mail." He walked past her and down the hallway towards the stairs. "Go in. I'll be back in a minute."

Annabeth walked in hesitantly. She hated to be in someone's home when they were not there. It felt like an invasion. She stood awkwardly in the middle of the living room, in complete silence – or at least complete silence for New York City. An ambulance was speeding down a nearby street and the heat generators in the building were running full force as a result of the recent cold snap.

Percy came back and dropped the stack of mail on the coffee table. He grabbed her hand and pulled her down the hallway to his bedroom. He let go as they crossed the threshold. He opened the door to the closet and pulled out something on a hangar which he hid behind his back.

"A gift." He passed it to her.

She held it up in awe. "Are you serious?"

"Try it on."

She slipped it over her shoulders. She'd never worn a real leather jacket before, and honestly she hadn't seen one this nice in real life, probably ever. It looked brand new.

"Why are you giving this to me?"

"Do I need a reason?"

"It's just really nice."

He grasped her shoulders and looked deep into her eyes. Annabeth was expecting something romantic or heartfelt. "It's too small for me."

"Should've known."

"Can I kiss you?"

The question took Annabeth aback. Hadn't they spent half of yesterday kissing? "Course you can, Seaweed Brain."

He leaned down and captured her lips in his. Percy's thumbs tucked into her beltloops and he rocked her hips side to side, slowly bringing her closer to his body. He bit her lip before he pulled away, letting it snap back when he released it. Annabeth was positive that if he hadn't been holding her flush against his body, she would have fallen over. Her entire body felt like it was made of half melted chocolate.

"Annabeth?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you okay? You look like you're about to pass out."

"My legs aren't working too well right now."

He moved his hands down to her thighs and picked her up easily. "Better?" he asked.

Why was he being so extra? She could have just sat down. She voiced this to Percy, who laughed, the clear sound cutting through the room like a knife. He took a few steps backwards and dropped her on his bed unceremoniously. He tried to flop down next to her, but she moved at the last second and he ended up mostly on top of her. He propped himself up on his elbows.

"That was your fault," he accused.

"Shut up and kiss me."

He did, hands tracing through her curls. She traced her fingers across his lower back, venturing under the hem of his sweatshirt. When she got to a certain point, he gasped into her mouth and tried to tuck his head into his shoulder.

"What?"

He rolled off her and stared at the ceiling. He seemed to be debating something. "It's umm... it's just… never mind."

"Your Achilles heel?" Annabeth guessed.

He looked over at her, suddenly wary. "How'd you figure that out?"

"Two days ago." Had it really only been two days since they practiced sword fighting in Central Park? "When we were fighting, you said, 'just don't stab me in the back' and then you had this twisted smile, like you were privy to the private joke of a dead man."

"I hate that metaphor."

"It's a simile."

"You're too smart for your own good."

"So," she started, tugging his arm to roll him onto his side. "What does it feel like when I touch it?"

"Like an electric shock, I guess. It was more surprising than anything."

Annabeth reached around to his back and he didn't stop her. She traced around the small of his back, watching his face intently. After a minute, he grabbed her hand and pressed her fingers to the spot.

"Why your back?"

Percy sighed. "I had a reason. I'm sure it was an annoyingly noble one. Now I hate it. I don't like living my life as a constant irony." He reached out and began to trace her lips with his fingernail.

Annabeth stopped him, the want for knowledge greater than her desire to keep kissing him. "Explain."

Percy hesitated for a minute. "My fatal flaw is loyalty, so being stabbed in the back by someone who knew where to hit me, would definitely be considered ironic."

"How is loyalty a fatal flaw?"

"I would sacrifice the world to save a friend, blah, blah, blah. Doesn't matter, the world sucks. So far I've managed to save the world and the people who matter most."

Annabeth pulled him into a hug. It lasted a long time, before Annabeth realized that he had fallen asleep. A sliver of drool was stretching from the corner of his mouth to the peak of her shoulder.

Annabeth's stomach rumbled. She had skipped lunch in order to get over to Percy's faster. Normally, she would feel very awkward going into someone's kitchen and making herself a sandwich or something, but Percy wouldn't care, and she was sure that Sally wouldn't either.

It took her a while to find the materials since she was unfamiliar with the layout of the kitchen, but eventually she found bread, cheese, and some veggies. She made a second sandwich for Percy, but ended up eating that too, since he hadn't woken up yet.

"Hey, Annabeth."

Annabeth spun around to see Sally in the doorframe, Estelle smiling at the other end of her arm.

"Where's Percy?"

"Oh, he's probably still asleep."

Sally nodded. "He sleeps like a rock after any type of strenuous activity."

"Since when is answering the door considered strenuous?" Annabeth asked, before realizing that Sally had possibly been implying something. She cleared her throat and changed tactics before the blush could cover her entire face. "Hi, Estelle."

"Do you have your ears pierced?" she asked.

"Yeah." Annabeth tucked her hair behind her ear to show Estelle the diamond studs in her ear she had failed to ever change out.

"She's been obsessed with pierced ears for the past few days and there's nowhere good…" Sally started.

"I can do it."

"What?"

"I can do it. I know how. I've done a lot of my friends'. I'd just need a needle, a candle, a pair of earrings…"

Percy ran into the room and stopped abruptly, skidding a few feet across the kitchen tile in his socks when he saw the three of them.

"…some alcohol, some cotton, and a chunk of potato."

"The fuck do you need a potato for?" Percy asked, obviously having no clue what he had just walked into.

"It's a part of the process." Annabeth answered. Sally frowned at Percy's word choice. He muttered a quick apology and reached up to rub the sleep from his eyes. His eyes settled on Estelle and he immediately looked ten times guiltier.

Sally pursed her lips, while Estelle looked eagerly between the two of them. "Yeah, alright," she decided.

Annabeth ran the needle over the flame of the candle until she was sure that it was disinfected. Percy swung Estelle up to sit on the counter and Annabeth cleaned her ears with the alcohol.

She put the chunk of potato behind Estelle's earlobe and poised the needle above. "This'll hurt for a minute," she said. She pushed the needle in and replaced it with the earring before moving to the other side. She repeated the process. "All done." Estelle had not cried, or even flinched, something that surprised Annabeth. She had pierced the ears of grown friends, many of whom could not keep from reacting severely to the feeling of the needle. Annabeth had been hit more than once in her short career.

"Percy next!" Estelle said. She looked downright joyful.

Annabeth laughed "I agree, Percy next."

He smiled. "Give it your best shot, Wise Girl."

Percy sat on one of the kitchen chairs, and watched amused as Annabeth made a show of disinfecting the needle./p

"Okay, Perce what side?"

"Left." He seemed more than a little sure in his answer. Annabeth could not help but wonder if he had previously wanted to pierce his ears and was not able to because of his curse. He had obviously put some thought into it.

She poised the needle and stuck it into his ear. She hadn't been expecting it to go in, but it did. What the fuck had just happened? She ripped her own earring out of her ear and shoved it in his, taking a step back. She exchanged a shocked look with Sally before looking at Percy. She had never seen him look afraid before, but he certainly looked terrified right now.

Okay, but I had to end with a cliffhanger lmao. Thanks for the reviews!