PERCY
They rode in the back of the car town through the streets of downtown San Francisco, conversing about their apartment, college, and their parents. Percy was grateful for moments like this when he and Annabeth could just talk in peace without having to worry about a horde of giants attacking. They were technically exposed to monster attacks out here, but he prayed to the gods that tonight they'd be left alone. He yearned to spend quality time with Annabeth.
He had already been planning a formal dinner for a few days now, and today was perfectly convenient even though it was out of the blue. As soon as they had arrived home from the furniture store, he contacted the tailor from the small tux shop in New Rome to make him a deal, and after they were finished arranging the stuff she bought, he told her. Her reaction was a bit skeptical since she wanted them to wait until the whole apartment was 100% finished, but she eventually agreed.
He was really nervous, though. Earlier on that day he asked Frank a huge favor to transfer Percy's ordered bedroom items from the store into their apartment. The favor a lot bigger when he also asked of Hazel if they could both help set everything in place, just how he designed it to look like in the computer. He knew very well that doing all of that would take an incredible amount of time, from moving all the stuff upstairs then assembling it together and whatnot. The good thing was the both Hazel and Frank were overjoyed to help. He could have simply let Annabeth know about the ordeal, but since she was the main one designing the interior of the apartment, Percy kind of wanted for her to see something that wasn't arranged and decided by her. When she told him to be in charge of their bedroom, he was really surprised. He was expecting her to have the say in the bedroom. Especially the bedroom.
Now the only fair result was for the plan to go well and most important of all, make Annabeth love it. That was the main reason why he felt nervous.
"Hey, where you go?" Annabeth asked him, waving her hand in front of his face.
He broke out of his reverie and looked at her. Every other time, Annabeth had always looked amazing and beautiful to him, but tonight she was utterly and stunningly magnificent.
The way her hair fell down her shoulders in curly waves, how her white dress managed to bring out her face and gray eyes that seemed to glitter tonight, and definitely her sweet fruity perfume that just made him want to bury his face in her neck.
"I was just thinking...about us. How grateful I am to have you." Percy said sincerely. "You know...when I look back to when we were twelve...our first quest together, I think about how I admired you and down deeply wished to always have you close. And here we are." He said looking deeply into her eyes.
Annabeth's eyes seemed to water a bit.
"I...you know I secretly had a crush on you since the moment we met." Annabeth said. "I thought I was nuts, like how can I like him, he's so annoying." She playfully punched him in the shoulder.
"Well, I guess I am irresistible after all." He said amusingly. Annabeth laughed and kissed him.
They had already been driving for 35 minutes when the car finally stopped at the front of the restaurant.
Oscar exited and moments later opened the door to Percy's right.
"We have arrived, welcome to the Acquerello Italian Taste."
At the entrance, a middle-aged man with a mustachio greeted them and offered to take Annabeth's coat. She seemed a little reluctant for a second but eventually let the man take it. Percy realized why right away. Annabeth's dress had a big cut in the back that exposed enough skin to get a whole year of detention back at his school.
She started to look a bit self-conscious, so quickly Percy took her hand and whispered a reassurance in her ear.
"Come this way please." Mustachio Man gestured as he lead them through a doorway on the right.
As Percy and Annabeth passed through the tables, he noticed various people start turning heads, most of them men. Percy immediately moved close behind Annabeth to cover her as they walked. Of course, she would be turning heads, not just because of the revealing dress, but Annabeth was naturally captivating. You just had to look at her eyes.
After what seemed eternal hours, Mustachio Man showed them to a rather private booth on a raised dais with roman-like columns. The booth was
circular with high mosaic made pots of silver queens that surrounded the booth in crescent form.
"Shall we start the night with some drinks? Our special tonight is Red Bordeaux with the new platter of Juniper Crusted Bison." The man said with a peculiar smile and protruding eyes.
"I'll just have a glass of water at this moment, please." Said Annabeth.
"And I'll have some iced sprite, please." Percy said, regarding the man's mustachio.
Percy wasn't sure, but he felt as if this man had spent tons of hours inside that restaurant that it might just have started affecting his brain. He also wasn't sure if it were a good idea to try the new platter since the phrase "Juniper Crusted" reminded him of Grover's girlfriend and a horrifying platter of...He shook the thought away.
"Alright, alright, here are your menus." He said and walked away with a skip in his steps.
Percy turned and looked at Annabeth and imitated Mustachio's smile.
"Oh gods, I'll have nightmares tonight." She said laughing and holding her stomach.
"'Our special tonight: a platter of circus escapee with crusted garlic.'" Percy said, in Mustachio's voice.
Annabeth kept laughing and clutching her stomach.
"You're not helping, Percy. I'll have double nightmares tonight."
"Don't worry, I'll make sure Mustachio Man keeps his distance from my pretty girlfriend." He put an arm around her waist and kissed her lips.
They ordered a course of Alfredo pasta, lobster, smoked potatoes, salad, and bread sticks. Occasionally, Mustachio Man peaked his head through the columns and asked if everything was going alright for them.
They had been eating for about 20 minutes, which would have given Frank and Hazel about an hour already to set things up.
Percy told Frank to text him a quick thumbs-up to let him know everything was all set, which he clearly hadn't done so yet. Just in case if they needed more time, Percy planned to take Annabeth for a stroll in the bay. And they still needed to eat some desert so, so far they were good.
"Mmm, I got to say that this is the best dinner I've had in my life." She said as she bit the lobster's leg. "I am really glad I agreed to come. We definitely needed a little rest."
"Of course! You should've seen yourself in particular, all hurried and excited to finish the apartment. You deserve to rest and relax. You shouldn't stress out, save that for when we start college in a few weeks."
"And what makes you think that I'll be stressed out when school starts?" She said with a lift of her brow.
"You know, never know if a class will be complex and really complicated."
"I'm an architecture major. It's all stuff that I've done before. Don't you remember who redesigned Mount Olympus?" Annabeth challenged him.
"Yeah..." He thought for a moment. "You're right. Hey I'm just putting it out there. Whatever comes ahead, I don't want you stressed out. I want to see you bright and smiling." Percy said touching her chin.
"Look, maybe you're right, there might be stress while in college." Annabeth said. "Good thing we're getting financial aid as result for surviving Tartarus and deserving a nice peaceful life for now on. What else could we ask for?"
Percy nodded and said, "We can ask for a nice summer vacation before classes start?"
Annabeth gave him a cautious look.
"You're...kidding or...?"
"No, I'm serious. We could go somewhere for a week and have a proper summer vacation that doesn't involve prophecies." He said smiling at the idea. "Just you and I, somewhere far, watching the sunset and-"
"Yes!" Annabeth said with enthusiasm in her eyes and voice. "Yes, Percy lets go! I want to."
"Okay, then. And where would you like to go? Bora Bora? Hawaii? Mexico? Antarctica?" Percy asked her.
Annabeth kissed him tightly, throwing her arms around his neck. Percy ran his hands up her smooth back.
"I want to go everywhere with you, Seaweed Brain." She told him and returned to kissing him.
They finished eating and ordered desert-Percy feeling a little bummed that they didn't have blue cake. It had been about an hour and 41 minutes when Percy's phone vibrated. He looked at the screen and saw Frank's thumbs-up.
He replied a quick thank you, then set to finish his blue berry cheesecake.
When they exited the restaurant, Oscar was waiting inside the town car.
"Hey, Oscar. I brought this to you man." Percy said handling over a takeout bag with food he ordered especially for him.
"Oh, you didn't have to Mr. Jackson." He took the bag and opened the back door for them.
"You deserve it. The food is amazing. We weren't just going to let you wait out here while we ate delicious food, and come back with nothing for you." Percy snorted and climbed in.
"Thank you very much." Oscar said
"Thank you, Oscar." Annabeth said. "For bringing us."
"Ahh, you welcome. So where to know Mr. Jackson?"
Percy looked over at Annabeth and smiled.
"Take us home, Oscar."
"Alrighty, then. Home we go."
They walked up the stairs to their apartment on the third floor. Percy held Annabeth's hand just in case she busted inside their bedroom before time.
He felt the back of his neck sweating with anxiety. Would she like it at all? There was no going back now. He turned the key to their front door and pushed it open. He flicked the lights on and immediately spun Annabeth towards him and kissed her deeply.
She responded to the kiss and ran her hands up his arms.
Percy didn't know why he had the sudden sensation to kiss her. Maybe that was a sign of how nervous he was.
Annabeth broke the kiss with a giggle.
"What's up with you, Seaweed Brain. You're acting as if I was gonna run away or something."
"...Annabeth...I lied to you..." He said.
"Wha...what are you talking about? What do you mean by that?" She responded, the look of worry start to creep in her eyes. He quickly took her hand and guided her to the bedroom.
"I will not be picking up our bedroom furniture tomorrow, because...I didn't order from that catalog at all." He said turning the door handle and slowly opening the door.
"Percy, what? Why? Why did you-"
He flicked on the lights and Annabeth completely went silent.
It was as if Percy himself had never seen the room before either. His eyes widened at the sight.
There it was. Exactly the same pieces of furniture, fabrics, and decorations he ordered, but a million times better in person.
He smiled at her and was surprised to see that she had tears in her eyes.
"Percy...oh my gods...you did this?" She couldn't believe it.
"I thought that it would be great to surprise you with a room where your influence was absent. In the hopes for you to like it."
"Percy." She put her hands in his chest. "This is beautiful."
"You like it?" He asked.
"I love it! It is beautiful, Percy. How did you...? How did you do it?" She asked as she
wiped a tear.
"I received the aid from Frank and Hazel to set it all up while we had our date."
"All for me?"
"All for you, Wise Girl."
She untangled her hands from him and moved further inside the room.
For their master bed, Percy decided on a white canopy with wooden columns that had intricate designs engraved on them. The white canopy curtains matched the balcony doors' that also opened from their bedroom, and had actual sea shells sown at the base and top. The headboard was made of white velvet and above it stood a painting of Long Island Sound. The bed sheets were all white except for the top cover which was cobalt blue satin, while the pillow cases were indigo. On top of that, there were five throw pillows of different sizes and colors-white, sky blue, navy, and periwinkle.
And then there was the mirrored night stands with night lamps each. Across the bed stood the matching mirrored dresser with three portraits-one with Percy, his mother, and step father, the other one with Annabeth and her father, and the last one of Percy and Annabeth during the Fourth of July at Camp Half-Blood.
Above the dresser stood a white plasma TV hooked on the wall (curtesy of Leo Valdez, a piece of non-monster attractive technology.) And then there were the cobalt blue armchairs next to the dresser, with a small table. Underneath it all was a massive white rug and to finish it off, the walls were filled with various portraits with paintings and pictures of Rome, Camp Half-Blood, and their friends.
It had been a tough job choosing it all together, and even tougher for Frank and Hazel to arrange it all. And not speaking of the amount of money spent because he wanted it all for Annabeth.
"Percy, when I told you to choose the furniture for our bedroom, I was expecting just a bed and night stands. This is beyond of what I could ever ask of you."
He walked towards her and put his arms around her waist.
"The way I figured it is...that you and me will be living under this roof for a while. Why not make it glorious." Percy said with a smirk
"I love it, Percy. Thank you." Her gaze drifted behind Percy to where the portraits of their parents were.
He could see it in her eyes. The longing and memories. The good thing was that her father also lived in San Francisco. They occasionally visited.
"So..." He said, turning her attention back. "What do you say if we go change and try out the bed." He realized what he said and blushed.
"Not like that! But you know...sleep. If you're tired."
"I'd like that."
That night they slept like angels. Nestled together. Safe and sound.
The End.
I want to thank you all for taking the time to read this. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. It'll be nice if you drop a comment letting me know your thoughts.
Also, I will be writing a separate story in the future about Percy and Annabeth's vacation and a companion story from Frank and Hazel's POV as they helped Percy bring in together the bedroom.