#9: Neighbor

This is another AU Percabeth.

"Uh, hi, I'm the new tenant?" Percy Jackson rubbed his face with one hand while the doorman looked for the key.

"Here's your key. Room 8B."
Percy thanked him and hoisted his suitcase with one hand. After searching a few minutes he remembered there weren't any elevators and found the stairs.

Eight floors was a lot, so Percy was panting by the time he got to the right floor. The rooms started at L and went up. Apartment 8B was the second last one, at the end of the hall.

When he tried the key in the door, it didn't fit. He flipped it over and jammed it in the lock again.

And then the door opened. The key went with the knob, into the apartment, and Percy slowly raised his eyes.

A girl was staring at him. Blonde hair pulled up, one earbud in her ear the other dangling on her gray sweater.

"Uh..." He said. "Do you live here?"
She cocked a hip and raised an eyebrow. "Yes...why were you trying to break in?"
"I wasn't!" He corrected hastily. "I mean, the doorman told me this was my room-"
"Yeah, well, Jon's an idiot. Come on."
She wiggled the key out of the door and closed it behind her.

"Where?"
"Find your apartment." She muttered something that rhymed with bum glass.

"Excuse me?"
She turned her gray eyes on him.

"What?"
"Did you call me something?"
She smirked, fitting the key into apartment 8A. "Not at all."
The door opened, revealing a bare room.

"Thanks so much," He said sarcastically as he went in. "I'll be sure to leave a tip."
She shut the door between them. So, obviously, he peered through the peephole to watch her shake her head and go to her door, try the knob, and kick the door in frustration.

Wordlessly, he went out to her door, grabbed the knob and lifted the entire door up. When it settled back in its spot, he shoved it forward and it opened.

She stared after him as he turned on his heel and disappeared behind his door.

*A few days later

The apartment building had mail boxes in the laundry room, so people tended to stare at the boxes and guess what the person had gotten. Which is what the girl was doing when Percy had to check his mail.

"Stupid mailman," He muttered as he tried to wiggle the package out of the too-small space.

Once he had gotten it, he tore off the brown wrapping to reveal a Tupperware container of blue chocolate chip cookies.

He ate one in three bites, then eyed the girl.

"Do you want one?"

She raised an eyebrow. "They're blue."
He shrugged. "It's an inside joke."
"What? I'm sorry, I don't really speak mouth full."
He grinned at her through blue dough and chocolate, making her roll her eyes dramatically.

Percy hopped up onto the table beside her and held out the open container to her. She took one and tried a big bite.

"Delicious," She mumbled.

"What?" He asked after swallowing the last bite.

"They're good, I said."
"I don't speak mouth full. Hey, you said you didn't, either."
The corner of her mouth quirked up for a second.

"What was that?" Percy acted astounded, leaning forward and peering at her mouth. "Did you actually smile?"

She swallowed the bite and frowned at him.

"Nope, I must've imagined it. Never mind."
"You're odd," Was her only comment.

"I've been told."
"Anyways, what's the story behind the cookies?"
"Oh, well, my stepfather didn't believe in blue foods so my mom went on a blue-foods-week. Everything was blue, from our hamburgers to our cake to our cookies. Most of the desserts actually stuck and it's now tradition."
"Huh."
He regarded her thoughtfully. "I'm Percy, by the way."
"Annabeth."
This was weird and not very good. Sorry. Review, though!