Her again? Yeah. Hi. :D I would've upated a bit earlier, though the lack of incomplete work has busied me down. :P I had 17 missing assignments for my math class, and I wonder why I have a D...
Thanks for the supportive feedback, and whatnot. It's greatly appreciated. :)
This is a really long chapter.. (To me)
ENJOY!
Disclaimer: Rick ownz all. ~
Annabeth's P.O.V.
Annabeth couldn't resist the impelling feeling of anxiousness. Percy, on the other hand, appeared thoroughly delighted that she even agreed to follow him. Annabeth smiled at his delirious behavoir, if he thought that she wasn't aware of his excited smile, he thought wrong. The light gleam in his eyes expressed some mischief, with a side of pure excitement rolling off the edges. It was sort of difficult to ignore his smile, it was somewhat infectious.
Annabeth hardly noticed that Percy's hand was still intertwined with hers, for some reason she didn't mind holding his hand. It felt right. She wanted to ignore the slowly increasing blush that stained her cheeks, and seem like she wasn't aware of it growing by the second. Right when she was about to tear her eyes away from him, he caught her glance and smiled. Annabeth frowned when it lessened, and she realized he was staring at their hands. He slowly slipped his hand out of Annabeth's grip and bit his lower lip.
"Uh, sorry," Percy muttered.
"It's all right," Annabeth said, a weak smile on her face showing him that it really was all right.
"So, we're almost here," he announced, his normal demeanor switching back into place. "This is my favorite place to go, and you're lucky I'm sharing it with you."
"And what makes you think it's such a privilege for me to see it?" Annabeth asked.
Percy raised an amused eyebrow at her, like it was unbelieveable that she would say such a thing, "Trust me, you'll understand once you see it."
From there on, there wasn't really much of a conversation that happened. The only sound shared between the two were the light scuffs of their shoes every time the came in contact with the dirt ground, forming a small cloud of dirt around their feet. Annabeth truly wanted to say something, anything really. Yet there wasn't a topic that needed to be discussed at that moment, or something untold each of them wished to speak about. Ignoring the actuality that Annabeth didn't know anything about the male population, but she was sure Percy was sparing the subject for later.
Annabeth decided if there wasn't anything to talk about, why not artlessly observe? In the water, there wasn't much to take notice of it, however, Annabeth always discovered a way to make it work. She studied the littlest detail that was engraved in her board, she observed her opponents, and of course she observed the movement of the violent or humble waves crashing against her board causing an upward reposition from the board.
Now, she was out on land and she had to make the best of it. Which really wasn't arduous task to complete, she did it every day. Annabeth was being lead by Percy up a strait, rocky terrain that ascended up into a small hill, with fluttering green plants of different varieties blooming along side of it, with dirt paths made especially with a width that fit exactly two people. Annabeth merely saw it as a natural coincidence, but she later on would discover how wrong she was.
While Percy's feet were secured with an original pair of Converse, Annabeth had to tolerate the abundant supply of dirt that was slowly seeping between her toes. But Annabeth had always been the type of girl who always played in the dirt, hussling around playground equipments, and not caring if she got her clothes dissappointingly dirty. The dirt was only a minor irritation, even as much as it resembled sand in slight similarities.
After a couple of minutes, excluding when Annabeth nearly plummeted down the hill due to the lack of support her sandals provided, with Percy gripping her elbow tightly, they eventually made it to the top of the hill, Percy's designated location. Annabeth only had to follow Percy a good couple ten feet until she was facing a bunch of vines hanging elegantly off a branch of a nearby tree that almost curved perfectly. The vines made Annabeth's suspicion grow more, they looked as if they had grown forcefully onto the branch, also, a wall of leaves were place either side of the tree.
Now, Annabeth had studied the plant life in Hawaii when she first flown out to the exotic island, though the flowers that were spread around the area she was in was something new to her. Annabeth was definte that her mouth was hanging opening at the sight, the land around her could easily be defined as beautiful especially with the rays of pure sunlight shinning down on the extravagant plants.
Next to her, Percy walked over to what appeared to be a group of. . .red pineapples? He swiftly pulled out a pocket knife, twirled it in his hand, before striking the fruit cutting of the leaves that belonged to it. Annabeth stared at Percy as he worked on cutting the fruit in half, and when he did he hand no caution as to placing it in his mouth.
"Percy!" Annabeth shouted in alarm. "Do you even know if that's not poisonus, or at least edible?"
Percy rolled his eyes, while nibbling on the ripe fruit. "Ananas bracteatus, otherwise known as a red pineapple. It's completely edible, Annabeth, calm down. I'm not stupid enough to randomly eat something out in the open. I mean, it's a bit ripe but it's better than nothing. Here, try some," Percy offered, cutting of a piece of the fruit and handing it to Annabeth.
Annabeth stared at it, then back at Percy, stared at it, then back at Percy, and repeated this until Percy got fed up. He thrusted the fruit into her mouth, literally forcing her to eat it. Annabeth's eyes widden at Percy's sudden actions, and she spoke to him angrily through a mouth full of fruit, "Why did you do that?! I was fine, and wasn't hungry at all!"
Percy wiped his shorts off, not concerned about the juice of the pineapple staining his shorts, and smirked at Annabeth. "Listen Wise Girl, you don't know what's good until you try. And you obviously like it, seeing as your still chewing on it, so you should be thanking me rather than complaining." Percy left Annabeth staring at his retreating figure, as he walked over to the vines and carelessly slipped between them.
"Wise Girl?" Annabeth muttered, proceeding to then on follow him.
Annabeth was greeted with another shock, there was no way nature could possibly have created something so imagineably beautiful. The thing that caught her attention the most was a peaceful, small waterfall flowing down into a small pond filled with clear blue water, filled with different selections of fish swimming in it, and with a unmistakable amount of white sand at the bottom of the pond. Around the pond, palm trees were whipping loosely in the light breeze, giving off a fresh scent.
Another thing that was unforgettable was the vibrantly spread flowers around the pond, planted freely or intertwined with a bush. There was much more to take in, like the fact that on the sides of the waterfall there was a wall completely made of stone, with exotic purple flowers planted at the base of it. Annabeth turned to Percy, speechless, why had he brought her here?
Percy leaned against the stone wall, his arms crossed, and his eyes gleamed with a hint of intensity with a brief "I told you so". He didn't have to voice it for Annabeth to understand what he was thinking, it was clearly evident and she really didn't want to start a kindergarden leveled debate.
"There's no way nature created this?" Annabeth stated but it was seemingly pronounced as a question.
Percy grinned at her widely, showing off his flawless teeth. "You dare defy the wonders of Mother Nature?"
"If Mother Nature was real she would be assumed evil, because there's no way she could create something so beautiful," Annabeth retorted, allowing herself to smirk at Percy, looking at the breath-taking sight once again.
She had come to a point where she felt somewhat comfortable with Percy. She wasn't going to expose her true self almost immediately, but Percy was getting closer and closer to demolishing her well-protected barrier. And she couldn't wait for it to happen.
"There's something called individual beauty, she created that," Percy defended, looking directly at Annabeth.
Annabeth frowned, she knew she was blushing, yet she didn't know why Percy caused her to. He made her feel. . .weird, different.
"Well, there's these flowers, the waterfall, the fish in the pond," Percy said, gesturing at everything he listed. "You."
Annabeth bit her lip, she felt as if she was walking through murky waters, without a clue as to where she was going, and she was suddenly caught by something that couldn't be defined. She couldn't define how she felt about the compliment. He had technically called her beautiful, something she wasn't used to hearing.
Percy stared at her, as if reading her emotions, he smiled at her letting the intensity of his expression drop, "Am I making you uncomfortable?"
"Uh. . .," Annabeth muttered, and shrugged. "No? I mean, I'm not usually told that. So, there's some sort of surprise, you know?"
Percy nodded at her, his smile lowering into a smirk. "Everyone has a boundary, I just wanted to see if I could cross one of yours."
That had meant that what he told her wasn't true?
"So, I'm not beautiful?" Annabeth questioned, pretending to act mock hurt, though she honestly would be hurt if he had thought otherwise. He called her cute, not beautiful. Beautiful is, like, the ultimate compliment.
Percy's eyes widdened, while his face grew timidly red. He stuttered a couple of times before he could form a coherent sentence, "Yes- Well, you know what I mean. You're. . .You're-"
"I'm what?" Annabeth asked tauntingly, sort of enjoying his discomfort, but she wanted to know the truth. Blame her for being insecure about certain things.
"You're beautiful," Percy told her, a newfound confidence probably coursing through him. His head was held high, and he looked her right in the eye.
"Thanks," Annabeth squeaked, walking over to the pond. Only to secretly hide the smile that was spread across her face. Annabeth realized there was a ledge formed in a circle around the pond, about three feet above it, and she thought of something to cure her sore feet. She kicked off her sandals, and stuck her feet in the pond. Smiling at the tiny fish that scuttled away from her feet.
Almost instantly, Percy was by her side. Though, he didn't stop from there. He downright entered the water, waddling over to the other side of the pond, and came back with something held in the center of his hands. Not once did Annabeth notice baby sea turtles swimming in the pond.
Percy gently caressed the top of the baby sea turtle's head, making it's wee head pop back into it's shell, maybe out of fear and he grinned at Annabeth. "You want to hold it?"
"Now, where on Earth did that come from?" Annabeth asked, scooping the turtle into her hands.
"I found him," Percy answered. "He was on a local beach, his right fin was messed up, and I didn't want to leave him alone. The dangers of baby sea turtles being alone, and whatnot. From there on a beautiful friendship bloomed."
Annabeth was pretty sure the turtle hadn't befriended Percy, or found anything sapid about him.
"What'd you name him?"
"Guess," Percy commanded, his eyes growing excited.
"Turtle?" Annabeth had honestly took a wild guess.
"I'm not that unoriginal," Percy said glaring at her. "His name is Squirt."
"And you think that's original?" Annabeth asked incredulously. "Finding Nemo fan obviously."
"Please, that's for little kids," Percy scoffed, "You really think I find interest in something like that? And last time I checked Finding Nemo doesn't own the name "Squirt"."
"P. Sherman," Annabeth started off, in a nonchalant tone, watching Percy's eyes light up in recognition. "Fourty-two-"
Of course he choose the perfect moment to cut her off, "Wallaby Way. Sydney. What's your point?"
"Only a true Finding Nemo fan can quote the address correctly," Annabeth explained, "It played an important part in the movie, and I thought you didn't find interest in things like that?"
Percy sticked his tongue out at her, accepting the fact he was in deep waters, while grabbing Squirt from her hands, "Remember, fish are friends, not food!" He waddled back to the other end of the pond leaving Annabeth pondering about something. More specifically him.
Annabeth sat behind the waterfall in a cave-like area, but it appeared to be some sort of entertainment center. Percy unwillingly admitted that this beautiful place wasn't created naturally, it was for a purpose. His entertainment purposes, of course.
Annabeth watched the waterfall from aback, listening to the stillness of the ever-so-easily flowing water. There wasn't anything that could interfere or disturb the moment, everything was at place and the serenity of the moment was operating smoothly. Percy came back to sit next to her, his body saturated with water, and he intentionally flung his hair around a few water particles catching onto Annabeth's face.
"Thanks," Annabeth muttered, wiping the water from her face with a snide smile, "I needed that."
Percy ringed his shirt out on his lap, Annabeth didn't see how that helped anything, and he gave her another one of his annoying, yet signature grins. "It's all good, I'm glad I could help a friend out."
"You consider me as a friend?" Annabeth asked, a little perplexed.
Percy frowned at her, "Well, what do you want me to call you. . .human?"
"No, no," Annabeth said, she wanted be acknowledged by her own name, "Even though it's technically true."
"It's amazing to see you opening up a bit," Percy pointed out randomly, now lying on his back, his hands behind his head, "Your true self will get you far with people. It's sort of hard to believe you've never talked to a boy but me. Explain to me why you want to know more?"
Annabeth imitated Percy's position, and layed her back on the smooth, however cold floor of the cave. "I really dunno, I guess I don't want to feel left out? All the girls at my school have somewhat of an experience with a boy, yet here I am not knowing the difference from genuine kindess to flirting. Which is something really hard to decipher, from what I've heard. I want to have an experience, not grow up without knowing anything about half of the things I need to be aware of. I just can't read boys like I can read books."
Percy listened to her silently, grasping every word that was released from her mouth. Annnabeth watched him in expectancy, wanting him to be the key to all her questions about boys. She allowed herself to think that it wasn't much of a deal, but in her case, it deserved to be a big deal. Boys were a popular feature in the world of a teenage girl, and to be excluded from that is certainly sad. Sad as in, Regina George getting hit by a bus and everyone blamming it on Cady Heron.
"Well," Percy drawled out the word, pursing his lips, "Don't you think you should be asking a girl about this? I mean, I'm a guy not all of us are good at explaining things like this."
Annabeth chuckled at him, nudging him with her shoulder. "I think learning things from a guy's perspective is a better option. Some things from a girl's point of view can be inaccurate, just a plain opinion, or what they know from experience but it's misleading. Just tell me what you think, or know. I'm positive that there's a few guys who share similarities with you."
Percy sighed loudly, and looked Annabeth in the eyes, his sea green eyes swirling with unsureness, "You honestly want to know?"
Annabeth vigirously nodded in expectation, hoping she wasn't annoyingly coming off as desperate.
"The thing about flirting. I guess us guys aren't aware of it just as much as girls aren't, it just happens. Though, if it's constantly happening then it must mean a guy is into you. Flirtatious behavoir isn't that hard to catch. Another thing to take notice in is a change in behavoir. If a guy suddenly starts acting mean or whatever, he's probably trying to sent a vague hint. Or if he acts the same, just. . .weird," Percy told Annabeth, staring up at the ceiling as he voiced his thoughts to Annabeth.
"That's all I need to know?" Annabeth asked, not willing to accept that was all there was to it.
"Hold on, Miss I-like-to-absorb-all-words-quickly-and-meaningly-w ithout-a-pause. I'm thinking," Percy jeered stroking his nonexsistent beard.
Annabeth huffed, crossing her arms. "That wasn't necessary."
"You're interruption wasn't either," Percy said, smirking.
"How was I supposed to know you were done?" Annabeth questioned, getting irritated by the second.
"Easy, you look at the person's face, and if there's a thoughtful expression it must mean they're still thinking," Percy clarified. "And I would've announced it, too."
"All right," Annabeth said, "Are you done?"
"Eh," Percy sighed jokingly, "You interrupted my thoughts again."
"Oh my gods, Percy!" Annabeth groaned, rubbing her temples.
Percy laughed at Annabeth, his eyes reflecting with great amusement. If it weren't for his eyes, Annabeth would've been enraged that he had the nerve to laugh at her. After Percy calm down he finally spoke to her with an uneven breath, which Annabeth saw as superfluous, it wasn't even all that funny. . .
"Another thing is flirtatious actions. Guys will do things like; holding your hand, putting an arm over your shoulder, a kiss on the cheek, an arm wrapped around your waist, a hug from behind, or anything else in that general area," Percy said after his strange laughing fit.
"What if a guy does it out of kindness?" Annabeth asked, judging by the look Percy was giving her it was a stupid question to ask, much less think of.
Percy stared at her, making Annabeth flush in discomfort, "Annabeth, no guy is randomly going to kiss you on the cheek as an act of kindness. Well, depending on the situation, but overall no. He does it 'cause he wants something."
"So everything you mentioned is good, guys don't do anything bad?" Annabeth had heard about a few relationship growing bad. Relating towards abuse, rape, and whatnot. She just wasn't sure how things could so easily lead to things like that.
"I think you know of something called sexual harassment, right? Please tell me you know, 'cause I really don't want to go into depth," Percy whined, looking at Annabeth expectantingly.
"Of course I know, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth rolled her eyes, "Continue."
Percy choose to ignore the "Seaweed Brain" comment, but didn't mind throwing Annabeth a glare.
"I mean, it depends on how you feel about it," Percy muttered.
"What do you mean by that?"
Annabeth jumped out of surprise when she felt Percy's hand on her thigh, slowly inching up her dress. . .
She quickly grabbed Percy's hand, crushing it while yelling at him in fury, betrayal, and confusion, "What are you some perverted rapist naïve girl lurer?! You know what: I'm leaving! I cannot believe you would do something like that." She wanted to be able to trust Percy but if he want only that from her, what's the point in trying if what she thought his intentions were, were incorrect? Annabeth honestly thought he was a genuinely nice boy, but he lost all respect from her. She felt like crying, to make Percy feel bad. Though, they just wouldn't seem to form.
Please, Annabeth, you've known the guy for like a day - don't get your expectations up too high.
Annabeth quickly stood up just about prepared to run and leave, but Percy quickly pulled her back to the ground, "Please stay, and at least let me explain to you! I'm trying to help you!"
Annabeth looked at him skeptically. "You were trying to get under my dress! How is that trying to help me?"
"Sexual harassment," Percy said, "You obviously weren't comfortable with me doing that. And now we both now know one of your boundaries. When someone touches you inappropriately you get uncomfortable. And Annabeth, before you go and leave I want to let you know I would never do something like that to you or any other girl. I know where girl's respect lies." Percy stared at her his eyes boring into her with a deep passion that can easily be defined as truth.
If you know where girl's respect lies then why'd you try to shove your hand up my dress?!
Needless to say, boys had become a species Annabeth wasn't entirely sure if she even wanted to understand.
"I'm sorry," Annabeth whispered. "You could've at least gave me a warning or notify me as to what you were about to do."
"Now, where's the fun in that?" Percy smirked at her slyly, and even had the guts to add in a wink.
"Perv," Annabeth said, smacking his chest.
Annabeth decided that Percy wasn't the best person to ask for advice nor was he the right person to give advice. She had learned enough, but Percy told her she'll eventually learn everything soon or it'll just happen. Not that he was an expert or anything. She also decided to leave the topic alone for a while, and she would soon investigate herself. But for now, she was completely fine with being oblivious to the topic.
"Why did you even bring me here?" Annabeth asked, pondering on the reason why Percy brought her here for a little while now.
The were laying down underneath the stars that filled the sky, if not for light pollution, they would freely be able to see the true beauty of the stars. But they were in a secluded area, away from the city lights and they could somewhat make out some of the stars. Though, at the moment, Annabeth admired the moon for giving her some brightness, other than the torches in the cave, and around the pond. Percy didn't seem to mind the dark, he acted as if he did this every night, which he probably did, though she didn't really know what to assume now.
"I sort of felt bad that Leo had to leave, and I wanted to make it up to you," Percy mumbled, slowly coming out of the entrance he was in.
"That's very sweet of you, but you were honestly doing me a favor." Annabeth smiled.
"How so?" Percy questioned, squinting one eye open to look at her.
"I think I can say that Leo definetly isn't my type nor am I his," Annabeth sighed.
"And how can you automatically assume that?" Percy muttered, his voice deep and hollow, he was on the verge of falling asleep and the only thing that was keeping him up was their conversation.
"He seriously took notes on my personality due to my actions, and the last one he wrote was something like "total nerd, never going out with again", and it's not like he had another chance, anyway," Annabeth huffed.
Percy's eyes were now fully open, and he was staring at her with deep amusement. "His loss, that means someone new gets to have a chance."
"You really think I'm worth it?"
"Of course, Annabeth, you're an amazing girl no matter what guys think of you," Percy told her softly, "Some times we're dull and stupid, and don't really mean what we say. Leo is just missing the obvious. Plus, you need to get out more."
"Yeah, yeah. I know," Annabeth droned lightly. "Do you know what time it is, my phone died a little while ago?"
"It's, like, nine thirty," Percy told her pulling out his phone.
Annabeth shot up from her spot in alarm, she had a curfew her mother had set and she was probably going out of her mind with worry. Percy noticed this too, and sat up looking at her tentatively.
"Do you just want to stay here tonight?"
Annabeth's eye brows creased together tightly, "I can't, I have a curfew, Percy! It's set by nine, and it'll definetly take us a little over a half an hour to get back to my hotel! Do you know how much trouble I'm in right now?! My mother is going to kill me, and I'm being totally literal right now! And why are you laughing, it isn't even funny! How would you like it if I laughed at you while a shark was bitting off your head? You wouldn't like it, huh? Not everything is a joke, you know?"
"Calm down, Annabeth," Percy said, still chuckling, holding her shoulders, "Why don't you stay here? I'm tired, you're tired. You can explain to your mother in the morning, I'll get you home before sunrise."
"No," Annabeth said in exasperation, "I need to go now!"
"Don't throw a tantrum now," Percy joked, thoroughly happy by Annabeth's freak-out.
"Fine then," Annabeth muttered, "If you won't help me get back, I'm going back myself. Have a nice night, Percy!"
As Annabeth was about to leave, passing through the vines, Percy decided to have a little fun and scare her.
"You too, Annabeth! Just be sure to watch out for spiders, snakes, and whatnot. Wouldn't want you to get bit, now would we?"
Annabeth abruptly turned around and stared at Percy who was staring back at her with a straight face. He couldn't possibly know of her fear, she hadn't mentioned not once to him. Maybe Percy thought she was a typical girl who was afraid of spiders, but Annabeth wasn't a typical girl nor was she afraid of spiders. They traumatized her to the point where she would continously shudder even after five minutes of seeing one.
"I really hate you, right now," Annabeth grumbled throwing herself back into the previous spot she was in, ignoring Percy's deep chuckles.
Annabeth woke up in the morning, Percy's arms wrapped around her tightly (not knowing how they got ended up in that position), and she realized it was well past sunrise. She decided to sleep in a little longer, not caring about the consequences to come, and enjoyed the steady breaths that Percy emitted with dried up drool in the corners of his mouth. All she knew he better not have drooled in her hair, or he would be woken up from his peaceful sleep. Even if Annabeth allowed herself to think he looked cute or not.
Yay! I'm not good with fluff, much less romance. Sorry. I hope you enjoyed, and sorry for any mistakes throughout the chapter. I honestly don't want to go over this whole entire thing and proofread. . .
If you read the whole thing, leave a review saying "Made it" and I'll give you a shout out the next chapter. :D
~Review.
Have an awesome day/night! :}
-That Was Such A Face Palm -.\
