Prompt: "I'm pretending to be your best friend because you looked very uncomfortable with that guy hitting on you."

"What's a pretty lady like you doing alone tonight?"

Annabeth scowled and closed her eyes shut, before forcing a small - fake - smile and turning around. She was faced with a man, probably in his late twenties. He was smirking at her, probably in what he thought was a charming way.

He smelled strongly of beer. Annabeth almost gagged.

"Just having a drink," she responded coolly, clutching her cup in order not to shove the guy away from her. The man was unfazed.

"Name's Lucas," the dirty blonde told her. She hadn't asked. "You have pretty hair." The drawl to his voice made Annabeth's skin crawl with discomfort, as did the way his eyes traveled over her.

"I'm surprised you can even see in this dim lighting," Annabeth said, raising her voice slightly. It was a little loud in the bar they were in, mostly because the music had encouraged people to get up and dance (though there was little space). It was starting to hurt Annabeth's head, and she had been just about to leave when this guy started flirting with her.

The man chuckled slowly. Annabeth scooted away from him. "What do you say we go someplace more private, babe?" He said, leaning forward.

"Please don't call me that," Annabeth scowled. She pushed down her temporary fear and replaced it with anger. If he took a step closer, she was going to slap him.

"Call you what, sweetheart? You've got a nice ass." The man replied drunkenly, reaching out to grab her.

Annabeth raised her hand to hit him away, but then -

"Hey, Anne," a voice said right next to her. Annabeth had been this close to throwing a punch, but the voice startled her enough to pull back. Lucas, the dirtbag, also seemed surprised enough to lean back away from Annabeth, much to her relief.

"Annie, did you get me that drink like I asked?" A tall and slim young man stood next to her, looking at her expectantly. His green eyes seemed to glow in the dark lighting of the crowded bar.

For a second, Annabeth glared. Seriously, two guys hitting on her in one night? Why couldn't she have a drink in peace?

But he looked too friendly to be hitting on her, Annabeth realized quickly. Was he… helping her? She glanced to Lucas, who looked confused (one of the effects of being drunk, she supposed). Already, he was inching away from the now not-alone-Annabeth.

She resisted the urge to smile, though her skin still crawled with disgust.

"Please don't call me Annie," was the first thing that came out of her mouth when thinking of a good response to the guy. The boy looked the slightest bit surprised, but then he grinned.

Annabeth noticed, absentmindedly, that he was very attractive and, luckily, did not smell of alcohol.

"Aw, Annie, you know you love it," the man teased. Despite not knowing the guy, Annabeth blushed. Then she cursed herself.

"Jason and Frank are back there," the guy vaguely gestured behind him, ignoring her question - and Lucas. Annabeth glanced to the douchebag, who, surprisingly, had disappeared.

The man glanced too, and then smiled at Annabeth. She cocked her head and frowned.

"Why'd you pretend to be my friend?" She asked suspiciously, her tone haughty. "Why are you helping me?"

The guy looked taken aback. "Um, because you looked like you needed help?" He said slowly. "You didn't look very comfortable with that guy hitting on you."

"I could've handled him," Annabeth snapped. The guy rolled his extremely bright green eyes.

"Yeah, and gotten more in trouble in the process," he pointed out.

Annabeth scowled. "Well, I'm not gonna buy you a drink or go on a date with you just because you helped me out, okay?" She told him angrily.

The guy raised an eyebrow. "Dude, chill," he said quickly. "I pretended to be your friend to get that douchebag to leave you alone, alright?" He looked concerned, making Annabeth feel guilty. "I seriously don't want anything out of it. Are you okay?"

Annabeth sighed. "Yeah, sorry." she apologized under her breath. "Thanks."

The guy smiled brightly. "No problem, Annie."

Annabeth pursed her lips. "My name's actually Annabeth."

"I was close!" Percy said excitedly. She rolled her eyes, hoping he didn't see her blush. "I'm Percy," he introduced himself. "Does this…" he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "...happen a lot?"

"Definitely too much, that's for sure."

"Too bad."

"Yep."

"Well, if you ever need an excuse to get away, you can always say you've got a boyfriend."

"Then I'd be lying," Annabeth pointed out, pretending not to notice when Percy's face brightened a little. "Besides, they're usually too drunk to notice."

"Ah," Percy nodded. "Maybe punch him?" He offered.

Annabeth laughed, earning a smile from Percy. "I would've but then you came over and ruined it," she teased.

Percy shrugged and bit his lip (no, of course she wasn't staring at his lips). "As your fake boyfriend, I admit I was a little jealous."

He winked jokingly, and Annabeth forced a laugh, looking down to distract from her sudden sped-up heart rate. "Sorry to disappoint," she said.

"No, no, it was well worth it to see your face," replied Percy hurriedly, a ghost of a smile fluttering across his face. Annabeth bit her lip.

"I know this is probably inapproriate," Percy started, looking down at his feet. "But could I have your number? It's not about a date," he explained. Annabeth tried not to show her slight disappointment and only arched an eyebrow. "We could be… friends?" He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"What's in it for me?" Annabeth teased. He smirked, but still managed to look adorably shy about it.

"Fun times?" he said, his head cocked. "An easy way out of jerks flirting with you again?"

"A good offer," Annabeth mused, making Percy roll his eyes. After a moment, she swiped out her smartphone with a small smile.

"Smile," she said, then snapped a picture of him and handed it to him for him to type his number.

"Could I have your number?" he asked with a smile.

"You'll get it when I text you," Annabeth responded quickly, taking her phone back with a teasing smile. (No, she was not flirting, thank you very much. Whatever they were doing was way more fun than any flirting Annabeth had ever done before). "Still trying to figure out if you're just doing this to get in my pants."

Percy sputtered dramatically, his eyes dancing in the dark lighting. "What accusations! I can assure you that I-"

"Percy!" A loud cry interrupted the two of them. A tall, muscular Asian guy hurried up to Percy, a worried look on the guy's face.

"Jason's throwing up in the bathroom," he told Percy with a sigh as Annabeth watched. "Piper's helping, but she has her shift starting soon, and you know how I am with vomit…" The guy shuddered

"Piper's in the men's restroom with them?" Percy asked.

"You know her," the man chuckled lightly, then turned serious again. "Anyway, could you come? Please?"

"Of course, Frank, I'll be there in a second." Percy assured. "Ask Pipes why she thinks he's getting sick." Frank nodded.

"I've gotta go," Percy said as Frank hurried away. The green eyed guy smiled at Annabeth, his attention on her again. "My friends are expecting me." He raised an eyebrow, smirking again. "Maybe this can convince you I'm not just trying to get in your pants. I do have some honor, y'know."

"Yes, have fun with dealing with Jason throwing up." She said it teasingly, but really, she was quite impressed with Percy. He did seem genuinely concerned about this Jason guy, and that friendliness in a guy was refreshing.

Percy laughed. "Thanks." He paused. "I'll… see you around?" he added hopefully.

Annabeth cocked her head. "Yes," she decided, her lips quirking up.

Percy grinned brightly, and Annabeth couldn't help but smile back.

"I look forward to it."

A/N:

Again, PLEASE REVIEW if you like this idea. :) Reminder, these one-shots are not related at all. Unless stated as a 'Part Two' (which won't happen for awhile), they are in a completely different settings with (usually) altered personalities and characteristics. It's still Percy and Annabeth, but please don't get confused and consider any of the chapters linked in anway!

Thank you!