AN: I Own Nothing

Percy sat on a bar stool waiting. It had sort-of become a ritual that had been going on for weeks now. They—Percy and Annabeth—would meet every Friday at Half-Blood. The nights had ended in varieties of ways, always urging the couple to meet again the next Friday. Suddenly, a hand was on his back, touching his spot, and jarring him out of his thoughts. Percy gasped when the warmth left his back, "You have to stop doing that Annabeth."

"Sorry," Annabeth said, not meaning it in the slightest.

Percy changed subjects, not particularly interested in being mocked at the moment, "You look beautiful," And perfect, Percy added in his mind—though not daring to say it aloud, thinking about how many times some jerk told her that just to get in her pants.

Annabeth thanked him and turned to the bartender, ordering her poison (alcohol), and turning back to Percy. Something about Annabeth was glowing; her whole body just hummed with excitement. Unable to resist making her happy and seeing that animated gleam in her eyes, Percy lit the match that would ignite her passion—at his own expense. "Anything good happen today?"

Girl you're beautiful
You're bout near perfect
But I bet somebody's already told you that
Name your poison
Name your passion
Cause a boy like me just couldn't help but ask

Annabeth pounced on the invitation and immediately began talking—in big words, might Percy add—about her designs and how her clients were loving it. Percy tried to following along despite the architect terminology and all the other rarely used English words, but he managed to get the gist of it.

Annabeth finished her monologue early, noticing how Percy was struggling to follow. Annabeth returned the favor, "How about you? Anything exciting happen?" Annabeth smiled and listened as Percy described a women setting off her smoke alarm while lighting all of her previous boyfriend's things on fire. Annabeth followed the conversation easily enough, but was more focused on the sound of Percy's voice. Each laughed word, every deep vibration of his vocal chords sent Annabeth into a hidden, peaceful world; and Annabeth hung on his every word, like they were a secret drug.

Annabeth laughed at the appropriate times, drank a sip of her cocktail, and exchanged one of her own stories with Percy. They continued talking, conversation and drinks flowing easily with the two. Drink after drink Annabeth listened to Percy while thinking how easily they lulled one another. Percy was just what Annabeth needed to de-stress after a hectic work week. If week after week it continued on like this, maybe her and Percy—two of the most contributing people to society—would finally get what they deserved out of life—time to give up the weight of the world and relax.

Keep on talking to me baby
I'm hanging on your every word
Keep those drinks a coming maybe
We'll both get what we deserve

Percy loved the time he spent with Annabeth. It was just the thing he needed to help him unwind. Working for five days a week, from nine in the morning to five at night, in a job that demanded staying in mental and physical excellence at all times strained Percy's sanity immensely. But with Annabeth, he stayed anchored. She calmed him. With her, the weight of the lives of New York's citizens weren't on his mind and he thought less than he usually did.

Percy and Annabeth's conversation died down to a comfortable silence when Annabeth stood up and pulled Percy toward the dance floor. He trailed behind, being dragged by Annabeth's hand. His eyes ran over the view he had of her now. She was wearing a black dress, ending above her knees, spaghetti straps, low-cut in the back, but not very revealing in the front—just teasing. Annabeth stopped and began moving to the music. Percy didn't mind the change of roles and began following her lead. They were not grinding, but the way Annabeth moved was still sexy. Percy watched her hips sway, her luscious lips matching the lyrics of whatever song playing, the way her dress mocked him with its tightness on her, all of these things—plus the adrenaline—sped Percy's beating heart into overdrive.

Put in a long hard week doing this 9 to 5
And you're just the girl to get that off my mind
You shouldn't've worn that dress
You shouldn't dance like that
You got this little heart of mine in overdrive

Annabeth was in bliss. She and Percy were connecting again on a whole different level. Their bodies were talking, responding enthusiastically to each other with each graceful swing the couple danced. The thundering stereos continued playing her favorite songs, as if the club had stolen her ipod and were playing it on shuffle.

Despite all of this, Annabeth wanted more. She wanted to be in ecstasy. She wanted to call a taxi and be alone with Percy—not necessarily going that far—but just to be. She wanted to snuggle with him and just bask in his warmth. But what would he think? What would he expect if she just asked him now if he wanted to call a cab and leave with her?

I sure love this conversation
The band is good, the music's loud
But would you get the wrong impression
If I called us a cab right now

And what would be so bad about that? Annabeth thought. Sure, it would be a little more than I asked for, but it's still enjoyable. Besides, this was her and Percy's relationship.

What Annabeth was referring to, was a line that neither her nor Percy realized they had drawn. It was mutually understood between the two that this relationship was not a big commitment. It was nothing more than a meeting between the two one night that just happened to—coincidentally—become an ongoing practice. Their time together began and ended that night—sometimes into the morning. But nothing past the morning until the next Friday if—and it was a really big if—both parties decided to come again.

Although it was completely unintentional, the two had done it to protect themselves.

They had just come out of two relationships that—albeit weren't the best—were still relationships that they had invested their heart in. Although their old partners were nothing to praise, both had still hoped it would pull through; because, honestly, no one wanted to fail in love.

It was so much easier to hide when it was dark. Everything seemed as they could be hidden: their faults, their failures—their Achilles heels. Nothing is as clear , and you can choose which place you want the spotlight to land. To Percy and Annabeth, this was ideal. They were both in a funny place at the moment. Freshly broken-up singles that had had no time to reestablish their personal identities before jumping into a new relationship—sort of. Their situations were…complicated. And, while able to function properly, were still licking the remains of their wounds. They didn't want to deal with all this stuff at the moment. They wanted to be happy, to have fun. So, they tried to keep the other in the dark about their circumstances; knowing that the stability of their current relationship would be weakened by the sun's ray beams, poking holes in it, and worsening something that already had begun on a bad-enough start.

So now, unbeknownst to the both of them, they were in a gray area: somewhere between friends-with-benefits to a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship. They met up in "dates" once a week at Half-Blood. They held hands, kissed, got up close and personal, but these things meant nothing. There had been no formal first date. They hadn't gotten matching keychains or something cheesy like that. They hadn't even met any of the others' friends or relatives. If one of them decided to end their mutual relationship, that was simply it. It was over.

But at the moment, these things were still hidden deep within their consciousnesses, leaving unaware to their circumstances. And the possibility of ending their current relationship appealed to neither of them. They were just looking for a good time, and found it with the other.

How bout baby
We make a promise
To not promise anything more than one night
Complicated situations
Only get worse in the morning light
Hey I'm just lookin' for a good time

In the end, Annabeth had decided to ask Percy to leave and he had agreed quickly. They went to Annabeth's apartment because it was, without question, much neater than Percy's. They talked for a while on trivial things, before the mood got much more lustful with a quick, accidental brush of the hand on Annabeth's thigh.

From there things progressed quickly and they were soon tangled up in each other on Annabeth's bed. They rolled away from each other, escaping the suffocating heat that they had produced together and also trying to regain their breathing and composure.

Annabeth was the first to recover and rolled over to face Percy. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him close. She thought of him like a life-sized teddy bear and debated telling him. She decided against it, knowing she would be lying. Percy was hardly like a teddy bear at all. His eyes were just too amazing a shade of green instead of the lifeless black beads usually sewn on. He wasn't furry or as squeezable, and he had toned muscles. And he, for sure, was not innocent enough to be a child's toy—if the last hour was any indication.

Percy hugged her back and buried his nose in her hair, taking in her hypnotic aroma. "I love you," whispered Percy into her hair.

Annabeth smiled but otherwise did not respond. She liked just basking in the glow of his sweet words, but knew they couldn't be true. How could they love each other when they had only known each other for a couple of weeks? What could they have already seen in the other person that they already knew they loved? With the unpredictability of their relationship, how could she know these feelings would stay true?

The hardest thing for Annabeth in this relationship was the spontaneity of it all. Annabeth was a planner, so just meeting up once every Friday and not knowing how the night ends is something that irked her. She would love to plan dates, coordinate schedules, schedule quick meet-ups, but all of these things were too much for their type of relationship. Another one of the rules they had: no future-planning. They could not talk about what they would be doing after forever happily-ever-after because that was not a for-sure thing that would happen.

Annabeth shook these thoughts from her head as she returned her focus to spooning and cuddling with Percy. Percy was tracing the owl tattoo he had found weeks earlier on Annabeth's lower right shoulder. Percy's fingers were rough but his touch was soothing on Annabeth and she felt herself relax into Percy even more and become drowsy. Before she slipped out of consciousness, a memory of a cheesy poster flashed into her head, "Never say never."

Go ahead and lie to me and pull me close
Tell me that you love me even if you don't
The rule is don't you ever even talk about forever
But you never say never in life

AN: So, there it is. I know, shorter than the previous ones, but i hope the quality of it is still the same. And even though it's short, it is setting up the plot. This chapter somewhat touches on things to come, and you may figure it out if you read it enough times and think it through ;). Please though, if you're going to take the time to reread over and over, leave a review. I don't even care if it's just how many times you've read it, that itself could make me extremely happy.

Next song is Tangled Up In Me by Skye Sweetnam.

Quick question (just wondering) : Do you guys listen to the songs i base the chapters off of? Do you read the lyrics while reading or just skim them to get to the actual plot?