A/N: Hey guys! Back again with another chapter! Hope you like it!
"Babe?" Annabeth's voice echoes through the hall as she shuts the front door behind her.
His head snaps up at the sound of her footsteps, tossing aside the towel he'd been using to wipe the counter in favor of greeting her.
"Hello gorgeous," he responds, poking his head out into the hall.
And she does look gorgeous, blonde hair pulled into a messy bun that just serves to show off the wide smile on her face as she speeds up to meet him.
Within a second, he's got her enveloped in a tight hug. She presses her face against his shoulder and visibly relaxes in his arms.
"I missed you." Her voice is muffled but he hears her loud and clear.
Squeezing her a little tighter, he threads his fingers through her hair.
"I missed you too."
She's only been gone for three days, some photoshoot in Chicago, but it was way too long as far as Percy is concerned. Ironically, the screen doesn't do her justice, and he ended every video call upset that she wasn't by his side.
(So maybe he's completely and irrevocably gone on her.)
They stand there, holding on to each other for a few more moments before she pulls away to look at him.
It's moments like these, where she's just staring at him with a soft smile on her face and eyes that seem to pour out something he still can't believe, where breathing becomes a struggle.
He might even say these moments are better than her kisses, but then her lips are on his after so goddamn long and he's melting.
She sighs when she pulls away, not letting go of him as he tries to get his bearings. Every time he thinks he's used to it, he learns that he is, in fact, not. The loud ting going off helps though, and he leads her into the kitchen.
"Blue cookies!" she exclaims excitedly, clutching his arm and looking at the oven where the timer is going off.
He can's help but smile at her excitement, the whole situation giving him a sense of déjà vu.
"Blue cookies?" The confusion on her face is evident as he tugs open the oven.
(Cheap rent means ovens that stick a little.)
"My mom makes them even better," he says as he takes the tray out of the oven. "But I guarantee you'll like these."
He sets the tray down on the stove top on the right and slides off the baking mitt, Annabeth peering over his shoulder. She reaches out a finger to touch one and he grabs her hand midway to stop her.
"You're gonna have to wait for them to cool, baby." The words slip out of his mouth before he realizes what he's saying. And when he does realize, he freezes.
Did he just call Annabeth baby?
The chocolate chips poking out of the cookies seem to be rolling their eyes at his ridiculous freak out.
It's not that dumb to question a pet name you called your girlfriend. Right? Especially if it's the first time.
It's a staring contest that he loses, for a multitude of reasons, one of them being that they're chocolate chips, but he thinks it was Annabeth looping her fingers through his that really broke his concentration.
"But I want them now!" she complains, carrying on the conversation as if her boyfriend didn't just face off with a bunch of cookies after calling her baby.
(To be fair though, he still hasn't quite processed the whole dating-Annabeth-Chase thing.)
"Percy?" Annabeth's voice breaks him out of his thoughts.
"Hmm?" He responds, opening up the oven door. She's leaning against his shoulder, arms wrapped around him from behind, as he carefully maneuvers the tray out.
"I lost you for a sec there, what were you thinking about?"
He sets the tray down and slides off the mitt. "The first time you had blue cookies."
She lets go of him at the words, and he turns around to face her.
"I remember that," she recalls. "They were so good I truly didn't know how I'd gone my whole life without having them."
"Yeah…" he tugs her close to him, remembering her excitement. (And her face after taking the first bite had been priceless).
She rests her hands on his chest as he loops his arms around her waist. Sue him for missing his girlfriend.
"It was also the first time I called you baby."
Annabeth, who had been leaning into his touch, leans back to meet his eye. "Really?" She pauses. "Oh yeah, I guess it was."
"I was so worried," he confesses, cheeks lighting up at the just the thought.
She frowns. "Why?"
He shrugs, keeping his hands firmly on her waist. "I don't know…I thought you'd be weirded out or something…"
It's a lame explanation, but thinking back, it had been a lame worry.
"Percy." She stops him by firmly pushing a hand against his chest. "I definitely didn't think that was weird. On the contrary…" her smile morphs into a smirk.
Oh god.
"I love hearing you call me baby."
The hand on his chest, run downward, stopping just above the waistband of his jeans. But it's enough to send tingles through his entire body.
"Oh?" It comes out a little choked and maybe, despite how far they've come, some things don't quite change. Like the effect she has when she pulls shit like this.
"Maybe we should move this?" she suggests, smiling innocently, like her touch isn't sending flames through his entire being.
"Whatever you say, baby."
The cookies end up being breakfast rather than dessert.
A/N: Shoutout to anon on tumblr for the prompt! It was so cute and fun to write. Hope you guys liked some of the backstory!
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See ya! :)