A/N: Hey guys! Back again with another update! Hope you enjoy!
"Did you know there's a rumor going around that you're actually the estranged son of a rich businessman?"
He looks up from his laptop to see Annabeth scrolling through her phone.
"What?"
She glances up with a smile. "Yep, there's some rich guy that has similar eyes to yours or something like that, which is how it started, I think."
"No way, this is actually a real rumor?" he asks, attention officially lifted away from the menu he'd been designing.
Annabeth shrugs. "I guess so, Rachel texted me that some tabloid printed it."
Well, that would explain why he hadn't known, he stays away from tabloids like the plague. Especially since they print crazy things like this. And given that his dad is, well, dead, it makes the claim that much more outrageous.
"How do people come up with this stuff?" he asks, completely shocked (and lowkey impressed) at the audacity.
Annabeth laughs. "You look so confused, it's adorable." She leans forward to peck him on the cheek. "People always find something to spread around."
Placated by the kiss, he settles back into the couch, turning his attention back to the menu.
"If only I was the son of a rich businessman, it'd make starting this business easier," he mumbles under his breath, glancing up to see Annabeth laugh again.
-.-
He tries to brush off the rumor, he really does. But the curiosity starts eating at him enough for him to actually look at the dreaded tabloids to see what other rumors are going around about him, or Annabeth.
"Did you know that people think you can't drive?" he asks Annabeth a few days later when she walks out of the shower.
She shakes her head, walking over to her vanity. "You shouldn't be reading tabloids."
He knows that…it's just…how can people think Annabeth doesn't know how to drive? It's all so stupid.
"But yes, I do know that one," she concedes, looking at him through her mirror.
"It doesn't make any sense!" He jumps on the opportunity to continue talking about it. "Why would they think that? You do drive!"
"Not often," Annabeth says, applying moisturizer. She meets his eyes in the mirror and laughs at the expression on his face. He continues his tirade.
"Yeah, but you definitely do. But even if you didn't, what a weird conspiracy to spread around."
Annabeth gets up and walks over to the bed where he's sitting.
"You're so cute," she says, leaning down to peck him on the cheek again. "It is pretty random, but don't get too caught up in all that stuff. It's not good for you."
Getting in bed beside him, she smiles. "But you know what is?"
He thinks he has a pretty good idea when she pulls him in for a kiss.
-.-
Annabeth was right.
Annabeth is always right. He should have stopped after the businessman, or the driving, or even after the whole 'is their relationship a publicity stunt' part.
Because now he's staring at an article speculating that they are engaged. And it seems that all the fans have come out of the woodwork to support this theory. There is even a hashtag on twitter for this supposed engagement.
It makes sense, they've been together for a while
She's been wearing this ring a lot lately, maybe it's supposed to go on her ring finger
They have to be engaged, they're so in love
The comments and photographs are endless. People think they're engaged. And maybe it's a sign that he shouldn't be reading all this, but they've got him half convinced that him and Annabeth should be engaged.
After all, doesn't he want to marry her someday?
He freezes in place as the thought enters his mind.
They haven't talked about it, and he's too busy wrapping his head around the now that he hasn't seriously thought about what the future is going to bring either. (Well, other than the café he wants to open).
But he does want a future with her.
He looks at the comments again. They have been together for a while, a little over two years. Is that too soon? Too late? Does Annabeth expect a proposal? Or would she hate it if he did?
Okay, so he's officially spiraling.
And that's how Annabeth finds him a few minutes later when she walks into the kitchen.
"Are you okay?" she asks, eyebrows furrowed as she takes in his stiff posture.
"Fine, fine," he says quickly, springing into gear and putting his phone in his pocket. "Do you want anything? Water, coffee?" A ring, his mind helpfully supplies.
Annabeth raises an eyebrow. "I can get it," she says slowly. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Great!" He sounds a little to chipper and he knows he needs to bring it down a notch. But he's always been bad at acting around Annabeth. Disinterested subway rider is way too far away to summon now.
His head is spinning with too many thoughts, and he needs to figure them out…now. Because Annabeth is still looking at him in concern and he doesn't want to blow his chances at maybe marrying her one day by looking like a complete idiot.
"Be right back," he manages to say. "Bathroom." And then he takes off towards their bedroom. The house is big, but it suddenly feels too small as he locks himself in their bathroom.
He needs to calm down.
Who can he ask about this kind of thing? His mom? She would probably know what to do, or maybe—
Grover is engaged.
"Hello?" The phone had been ringing for so long, he hadn't expected an answer.
"Grover," he replies.
"That is my name, but I don't think you called to remind me of that."
"How did you know to propose to Juniper," he says, immediately cutting to the chase.
"Woah, um, well…uh…we had talked about it before, and the time seemed right. Wait, why are you asking this? Are you…"
"I don't know," he responds miserably, slumping down on the toilet seat lid.
"Woah, this is big. Um, have you talked about it?"
"No…."
He can hear the reproach in Grover's voice. "Dude, you know you need to."
"I know," he whines. "But how do you bring that up? What if she hates the idea? God, this is so stressful."
"You haven't even heard her thoughts yet, at least wait to stress until after."
"We've been together for two years, maybe it is time?"
"That's a conversation you need to have with her, not me."
"But—"
"Percy, go talk to Annabeth!"
And with that, his so-called best friend hangs up on him.
Percy sighs. As usual, his so-called best friend is right.
He leaves the bathroom and treks back to the kitchen where Annabeth is sitting on the island with a cup in front of her. She looks up as he enters.
"Hey, I made some hot chocolate, want some?"
"Sure." He moves automatically to the counter where another mug is sitting.
"Are you ok—"
"Did you know," he cuts off her words, forcing himself to grab the mug. "That some people think our relationship is a publicity stunt."
He chances a glance at her and sees her face falls. "Oh, Percy…"
"But," he forges on, looking down at his drink. "That's not even the crazy one. There are some people who think we're engaged."
He falls silent after the word and chances another glance at her. Her eyebrows are raised in surprise as she stares at him.
"Oh."
"Yeah," he forces a chuckle. "It's been, um…going around. There's a hashtag on twitter."
His eyes are still trained on his drink and there's an excruciating moment of silence before Annabeth speaks. And when she does, his head snaps up to look at her.
"I can see it."
"Huh." That was not the reaction he was expecting.
She shrugs the way she did when she told him about the rich businessman rumor. "I mean it makes sense why people speculate that."
Her tone is casual, but her eyes are trained on him in a way the betrays her tone. It's clear she's searching for something in his reaction.
"Right…" he agrees, cautiously. Her initial response seems positive, but what if he's reading it wrong.
"Why? Do you think it doesn't make sense?" She raises an eyebrow, and he hastens to explain himself.
"Oh no, it does! I mean we've been together for a while, and people see how much we love each other, and I live here so obviously—"
"Are you trying to propose to me?" Annabeth cuts his rambling.
"No!" he shouts, and then taking in the look on her face he walks it back. "I mean, not right now! This would be a pretty bad proposal you know, I wouldn't want this to be the story to tell our kids or whatever, so I'd do a better jo—"
"Kids?"
Oh shit. He'd said a little too much in his rambling, given a little too much of his thoughts.
His cheeks heat up and he looks down at his hot chocolate again.
"I mean, someday, like years from now probably. But really what I meant was that this would be a bad way to propose, regardless, so I wouldn't want to do it that way."
He forces himself to stop talking because despite his efforts he's managed to make a mess out of it all.
Annabeth gets up and he hears her shuffle closer to him.
"I agree," she finally says. "It wouldn't be the best story to tell our kids."
He might have broken his neck with how quickly he snaps it up to see her standing next to him.
"But honestly," she continues. "I wouldn't mind either way. I'll leave the story up to you though, since you're so worried about it."
Are his ears deceiving him? Is this actually happening right now? She actually wants this?
The thoughts must show on his face because she laughs and leans down to hug him.
"You're cute," she says for the third time in the past few days, leaving a small kiss on his cheek. "But don't worry me like that again, I thought something was actually wrong."
He's on cloud nine, riding the high of knowing that the future he wants with Annabeth is a possibility now.
"There is," he says, and she backs up to look at him.
"What do you mean?"
He stands up. "There is something wrong. You've been calling me cute a lot lately."
Annabeth frowns. "Well, you've been doing cute things. What's the problem?"
He snakes an arm around her waist and pushes her against the kitchen island.
"I think I need to start doing other things."
She gasps, another personal victory for him, and he smiles.
Immediately, her hands tangle in his hair, and she pulls him closer.
"I take it back then. You're sexy."
She kisses him and his mind is torn between how good it feels and how he's going to propose to Annabeth.
It should be a good enough story to tell the kids after all.
A/N: This was a highly requested prompt, I think I had at least four to five different people ask about Percy and Annabeth talking about the future and I figured for the anniversary month I'd combine them all together and finally answer it!
It's wild how far this series has come, thank you for all your support for it!
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And as always, thanks for reading!
See ya! :)