A/N: Hey guys! Back again with another update! Hope you like it!
Percy has never considered himself to be a morning person. Most of the time he just manages to drag himself out of bed, even when sleep is beckoning to him, but he's not…cheery about it.
And yet, here he stands in the middle of his tiny apartment, showered, dressed, and ready at 6 am. Is it overkill when he's supposed to be picked up at 7? Maybe. Is it overkill when he's supposed to be picked up by none other than Annabeth Chase?
No.
So much so that he's actually been up since five and his apartment is the cleanest it's probably ever been during the years of its tenancy.
He forces himself to sit down and take a deep breath of Febreze'd air. Wait…does it smell too cheap? Maybe he should light a candle instead?
In a second, he's standing up again and searching for a lighter.
Maybe he'd be less anxious if he knew exactly what was going on. All Annabeth had texted him was, are you free Thursday morning?
And when he had confirmed that he was, in fact, free, all she had responded with was great! I'll pick you up at 7!
That had been two days ago, and she hadn't said anything else about it since. Even when she stopped by the coffee shop for her regular macchiato and chat, she'd said nothing about the plans.
The only reason he knows it's still happening is because she had requested his address last night.
The likelihood of Annabeth Chase stepping foot into his apartment is extremely small, but since she's given him no idea of what to expect, he's expecting everything.
He sits back down, having lit the candle, and tries to calm himself. And, as has been the case since three days ago when it happened, his thoughts naturally drift towards his date with Annabeth Chase.
Which, to be fair, is a really big deal. And an even bigger deal that it had gone well.
(The biggest deal is something that still makes his heart race, the soft memory of the brush of her lips against his. But that's more than he's capable of unpacking right now).
His phone buzzes, jolting him out of his thoughts as he rushes to read a new text from the subject of his thoughts.
I'm a little early, are you ready? I can wait if not.
He quickly types out a response to let her know he's on the way, before almost stumbling onto the candle he just lit in his haste to get up.
He blows it out, all but sprinting down the stairs and out the door.
There's a dark blue SUV and he hesitantly approaches it before the door swings open from the inside and he sees Annabeth's smiling face.
"Hey!" she greets, looking just as beautiful as ever in her blue jeans and oversized sweatshirt.
"Hey," he responds, climbing onto the seat next to her and closing the door. Almost immediately, the car starts, and he looks towards the front to see a buff-looking guy with a buzz cut driving.
"Percy this is Frank, my bodyguard of sorts. Frank, Percy," Annabeth introduces with a wide smile.
"Hi," he says hesitantly, raising a hand in greeting.
Frank nods but doesn't say anything.
"Are you excited?" Annabeth asks, pulling one of his hands into hers.
Her touch doesn't fail to give him a mini heart attack.
"Yeah, but I, uh, don't know what's happening…"
Annabeth beams and god, she's like the sun. He revels in the warmth. "Well," she starts as Frank merges onto the highway. "Remember when you told me about that thing you've wanted to do but haven't done yet?"
He combs back through his memory. They've talked about a lot of things, he doesn't really know what specific thing she's referring to or what he might have said. All that comes back to him is everything she's told him about herself.
"Uh, I don't…" he trails off, unsure of how to finish the sentence.
"You'll see," Annabeth responds cryptically. "So tell me, how's work been?"
He remains confused for the remainder of the conversation until he sees Frank take an exit towards a sign he has to double take to read.
"Wait, what?"
Annabeth grins. "Surprise!"
They're at…Disneyland.
No fucking way!
He's been in LA for around six months and he hasn't been able to go to Disneyland and she…
He turns to look at her only to find she's already looking back.
"Annabeth…"
She squeezes his hand. "I hope you like it, I'm sorry we had to come so early. It's just the least crowded in the mornings so we can actually go on some rides and stuff."
And she's less likely to be spotted, but she doesn't say any of that.
It occurs to him then that she's nervous. Nervous and rambling a bit.
Annabeth Chase, nervous.
He squeezes her hand back. "It's perfect."
-.-
"It's better than perfect!" he all but shouts as the Pirates of the Caribbean ride drops down suddenly.
They're making their way counter-clockwise through the park, hitting the jungle ride and a few others until the Pirates of the Caribbean one that Annabeth was especially excited to show him. And he sees why, it's like a cool and dark boat ride with amazing ambiance.
Annabeth's hand once again finds his and he manages to wrench his eyes away from the animatronic dog to look at her. Even in the dim lighting, he can see the excitement in her eyes.
"Thank you so much for this," he says quietly, interlacing her fingers through his.
"We're not done yet!"
And by that she means they hit about seven more rides until just before lunchtime. The crowds are definitely bigger and though she's got her hair up in a baseball cap and sunglasses, he can tell that Annabeth is starting to get worried.
Yet she still insists on another ride after their break for snacks.
Frank, who had been tagging along from a distance, is now close enough to look a part of their group. He doesn't say anything, but Percy has the feeling he's worried too.
"Um…actually," he starts slowly. "I'm kind of tired, let's uh, head back?"
Both Frank and Annabeth look surprised at his words.
"What do you mean?"
She sounds so dejected that he wants to take back the words right then and there. But he doesn't want to risk her safety, not at his expense. Not to mention, she probably shouldn't be seen with him anyway.
Steeling himself up, he reaches for her hand. "Annabeth, it's starting to get crowded, I know we should be getting out of here. And I'm okay with that." He pauses for a second. "I want you to be okay and comfortable too."
"But…" she stops, unable to continue as she hangs her head. "Oh, Percy…I'm so sorry!"
He shakes his head, drawing closer. "Don't be, come on. How do you feel about coffee?"
Her mouth quirks into a small smile and he uses the moment to once again grab her hand and pull her towards the exit. "Are you sure Percy?"
"Absolutely."
They still have more than half the park to cover, but it's worth it for Annabeth.
"You didn't have to do this," she repeats later, once they've made their way back to the car.
"Hey, we still got Tomorrowland and Fantasyland and a bunch more that I'm going to hold you to," he teases, elbowing her side playfully as they slide in the back.
Annabeth breaks out into her first real smile since he asked her to leave.
"Same time next week?" she asks, some hope edging into her tone.
"Absolutely."
She snuggles into his side as Frank starts driving and he tells his heart to calm the fuck down, hoping she can't hear how he's falling apart at the action.
"So not a bad second date then?" she asks quietly.
"The best," he replies, hoping his gratitude is coming across. "Thank you."
"We'll come back," she says, stifling a yawn as she snuggles even closer to lay her head on his shoulder.
"We will," he agrees, shifting so she's more comfortable.
A few minutes later she's lightly asleep on his arm and he wonders if she also had an early morning.
A part of him is freaking out, unable to contain the fact that Annabeth Chase took him on a second date. The other is just content with making this moment last.
He looks up and meets Frank's eyes in the rearview mirror. But before he can awkwardly look away, the other man shoots him a smile.
He smiles back, something bright awakening in his chest at the approval and the girl napping against his arm.
Something akin to hope.
A/N: Shoutout to anon on tumblr for the prompt: Disneyland!
I put a poll on my tumblr and ao3 and basically the option that won was to reorder the series in chronological order, so it's now reordered!
If you want to read it in the raw unedited order it came in, there is a post on my tumblr (forevfangirlwrites) with the original order that I will continuously update!
Hope you guys liked this one, filling in the second date and Frank intro lol
Please Review! I'd love to hear your thoughts!
And as always, thanks for reading!
See ya! :)