A/N: Hey guys! Back again with another update! Hope you like it!
It's a slow day.
So slow that Percy has taken to watching Netflix on his phone, catching up on the new docuseries about the fashion industry, featuring Piper McLean and Thalia Grace (he wants to be able to talk about it next time he sees either of them).
Never had he thought that would be his reason for watching a Netflix show.
Then again, there's a lot he never expected from life, like intimately knowing his favorite actress.
The bell on the door rings, signaling the first customer in like forever, and Percy pauses his show to walk up to the counter where a classic California brunette is scanning the menu.
"Hi, welcome to Cali's, how can I help you?"
Her gaze drops to him at the words, immediately raising an eyebrow as her eyes continue to scan as much of him as the counter will allow.
Internally, Percy is burning in the most uncomfortable way. But he has a job to do, so he once again summons careless indifference paired with polite midwestern newscaster.
"Do you need help?" he prompts, since she still hasn't said anything.
"Sure," she says, leaning onto the counter a little with a sly smile. Percy takes half a step away and wishes he hadn't said anything at all. It had not been an invitation.
"Well I'd recommend the specials, they're on that board." He gestures to the board in hopes that she'll turn her attention to it instead, but unfortunately, after a casual glance she turns back to him.
The bell rings again and Percy is grateful for whoever just entered, because he's not alone with this girl anymore, and she needs to hurry up now that there's someone behind her in line.
"But which one specifically would you recommend?" She leans against the counter a little more and he's all too aware of the fact that her tank top is showing a modest amount of cleavage.
Honestly, she's cute and not doing anything wrong (he recognizes how much courage it takes to flirt so openly like that), but he's dating the love of his life and this poor girl just can't compete.
"How about the vanilla bean frap?" he offers, mostly because it's the easiest to make of all the specials.
"Sure, if you recommend it, it has to be good," she responds, sending another smile his way.
"What size?" He asks, instead of acknowledging what she had said. He needs to nip this in the bud.
"Large." The wink she throws makes him want to disappear into himself because no, he's so notgoing there.
He does his best to maintain composure. "That'll be $5.25."
She hands him her card and their fingers brush, clearly something she had been planning for. Percy stifles a sigh and hands her the receipt.
She takes it with another smile and starts to walk towards the pickup area and he gratefully turns his attention to the other customer.
"Hi, welcome to Cali's how can I he-"
And she's back, poking her head in front of the other customer. "Sorry, you never got my name."
He stares at her.
"You know, for my drink," she continues.
"We call out by order." It's the first thing that comes to mind even though it is not true.
She doesn't quite buy it either. "Oh, are you sure?"
He wants to explain that it's a slow enough day that he actually would call out by order, but that would mean more conversation.
"I need to attend to this other customer," he says instead, with an apologetic tone a midwesterner would be proud of.
She smiles and walks away. "Right, sorry."
He breathes a sigh of relief when she does, turning to the customer with a genuine apology on his lips.
"Hi, sorry about that, what can I get you?"
"A medium caramel macchiato," a clipped voice responds, and his head snaps up.
She's got her hair in a ponytail, wearing a hat and sunglasses along with a hoodie—his hoodie.
And even though she's hiding most of herself, he still goes a little weak at the sight of her because, well did he mention she's wearing his hoodie?
"Sure thing," he stutters out, punching in the order.
Her lips are set into a thin line and though he can't see her eyes, he suspects they're stormy (so what if he likes comparing his girlfriend's eyes to the sky, he has the right to do that).
He doesn't really know why she's mad and just hopes it's not at him.
She doesn't offer her card and he doesn't ask, simply turning around to start making the vanilla bean frap, his mind running a mile a minute.
Why is she mad? Had he done something? He had been on his phone, she hadn't texted him anything, or was it something he did last night?
(Though he remembers her really enjoying last night.)
Was it because she was annoyed at the other customer cutting her off? It is rude to get cut off and the other girl—
Wait.
Was she mad because the other girl was flirting?
His hands work on autopilot, pumping the vanilla into the cup, without really thinking about it as he formulates his theory. But even as he thinks about it, it sounds more absurd by the minute. Why would Annabeth Chase be jealous over some random girl?
"Vanilla Bean frap," he calls out, and the girl looks up from her phone, sauntering over to pick it up.
"Thank you!" she says brightly, immediately putting the straw in her mouth. "You're right, it's so good!"
"Glad you like it," he responds politely. "Have a good day!"
And with that, he starts to move back in to make the caramel macchiato.
"Actually," she calls before he can do so. "I was wondering, if you wanted to maybe get a drink sometime?"
"No, um, sorry, I'm not really interested…" he trails off awkwardly 'cause he really hates doing this. Not that he's constantly turning people down or anything, which is probably why he sucks at it. "Drinks really aren't my thing," he blurts.
"We could do lunch instead?" she offers.
"I, um, I can't, sorry, um, hope you have a good day." And with that he quickly shuffles back towards the espresso machine, picking up a glass to make himself look busy.
"Okay," she calls out, a little confused. But thankfully, she leaves.
He lets out a sigh of relief, setting down the glass and slumping against the counter once he hears the bell ring.
"Are you just not going to make my drink?" The same clipped voice asks, and Annabeth removes her sunglasses, revealing, sure enough, dark eyes and creased eyebrow.
"Of course I will," he says quickly, standing up. "Anything for you."
He walks back over to the espresso machine, well aware of the palpable tension in the room.
"So how was your day?" he asks casually over his shoulder. "I wasn't expecting to see you." He doesn't know why he's trying to be normal.
"Should I leave?"
"No! No!" He turns around, horrified. "You visiting me is the best thing that's happened all day!"
"You sure about that?" she says in the same surly tone.
"Of course, babe, what's going on?"
"Well, you seemed fine with that other girl for company."
There's a moment of silence as he interprets her words.
There's no fucking way.
He can't help it, He busts out laughing.
"What!" Annabeth angrily yells.
"Are you…" he can't get the word out. "Are you jealous?"
"No!" she yells, crossing her arms and he needs to stop laughing before he actually fucks something up.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he says, holding his hands up in defense while trying to calm his laughter.
"It's just." He rubs the back of his neck, thinking that it's completely unfair that his girlfriend looks this good even while mad. "It's just, you're…"
At a loss for words, he just gesticulates wildly.
"I mean, you're Annabeth Chase," he leans closer to her while she remains firmly rooted in place. "Not only are you extremely talented and beautiful and smart, even if you weren't the kickass actress that's taken Hollywood by storm, you're still…" he pauses.
Reaching out, he cups her face. "By some miracle, you're still my Annabeth, and no one can hold a candle to you."
At his words, her arms drop from her chest and she sighs, defeated.
"Okay."
And god, for a literal millionaire actress she looks so small and he wants nothing more than to hold her in his arms.
So he does.
Jumping the counter, he walks over and wraps his arms around her, letting her lean into his chest. He presses a kiss into her hair and holds her close until finally, muffled by the fabric of his shirt, she talks.
"I had a really rough day, it took forever to get one good take."
"I'm sorry baby," he mutters, running a hand down her back.
Sighing, she steps out of his embrace. "At least it's over. When are you done?"
He glances at the clock. "I've got like an hour left."
She looks entirely too cute when she pouts.
"You're welcome to stay, it's been a slow day."
She cheers slightly at his words. He leads her behind the counter, showing her the door to the employee room should she need to hide.
"You weren't…" he hesitates as he finally makes her caramel macchiato.
"What?" she asks, leaning on the counter next to him, scrolling through her phone.
"You weren't actually jealous right?"
She turns her attention back to her phone and shrugs infinitesimally, but he catches it.
"Annabeth, how?" He cannot believe this, he refuses to.
She sighs. "It's not easy dating me, I know, and maybe you'd prefer a more...normal relationship, where you don't have to hide things. Plus," she adds, even quieter. "You didn't seem to hate it."
He pours the shots of espresso in her drink and caps it.
"Annabeth," he says, walking over to hand her the drink. "I want you, I don't care if I have to do extra things, I don't want normal. And," he stresses, "I did hate it. I just shouldn't be rude to a customer. It's called acting." He adds a wink and she rolls his eyes, taking a sip of her drink in favor of responding.
"Besides," he adds, completely changing the tone of the conversation by wiggling his eyebrows. "How many people can say they've had sex with Annabeth Chase?"
"Percy!" she smacks his arm, a blush coloring her face at the crude comment.
He just laughs and pulls her closer.
"Maybe you need a reminder on just how much I'm yours," he says in a low voice, inches away from her lips.
Annabeth doesn't say anything, but she sets her coffee down and rests her hand on his chest. "Maybe," she whispers.
It's all the reason he needs to lean in and close the gap between them, capturing her lips in his and prying her mouth open.
She tastes like caramel macchiatos and the day is anything but slow.
A/N: I had actually written this already because I thought it was a fun idea but then it was also requested by someone on ao3!
Please Review! I'd love to hear your thoughts!
And as always, thanks for reading!
See ya! :)