Percy cracked open his Coke and flopped down on the couch. It was Saturday night and he was sitting at home, grading papers with Netflix and pizza. The papers shouldn't have been too bad, just some Freshman Comp essays on To Kill a Mockingbird. Percy still wasn't quite sure how he felt about teaching the book; it was one of his favorites and he always felt like he wasn't doing it the justice he deserved.

According to Kayla from first period, though, the book was riveting and important to today's social and political climate. So maybe he was doing ok.

He was halfway through his first period's papers when the doorbell rang. His stomach growled as he grabbed his wallet off the table and hurried to the door.

Frank was standing on the other side with a bag from the Chinese place down the street cradled in his arms.

"You're not pizza," Percy said by way of a greeting.

Frank scrunched his nose as he walked inside.

"Pizza? I brought Chinese."

"I can see that. I ordered pizza."

"Well we can have a smorgasbord then."

Percy closed the door and scratched the back of his neck. "What're you doing here?"

Frank was busy taking the food (enough to feed them both for a week probably) out of the bag. "I bought one of everything."

"Seriously?"

Percy didn't know how Frank afforded one of everything with his teacher's salary, but it definitely smelled good. He also didn't mention that Frank had totally avoided his question.

"Apparently Annabeth is having dinner with her father and step-mom tonight and Reyna is going out with her sister. Usually I'd go to one of them. But since that isn't an option, I came here. I need advice."

"Annabeth's having dinner with her dad?" Percy still hadn't made it past this statement. From what he could gather, Annabeth got along with her dad even worse than Piper got along with her mom.

"Yeah. Didn't she tell you?"

"Nah," he said casually, "must've slipped her mind." He decided to pretend it didn't bother him at least until Frank left.

"Ok, so you need advice?"

Frank nodded. "About girls."

Percy tried not to smirk. "You mean about Hazel?"

Frank smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his neck.

"So, a smorgasbord then, huh?" Percy said rubbing his hands together.

Frank grinned and grabbed a Coke for himself out of the fridge.

By the end credits of the sixth episode of How I Met Your Mother, the pizza was gone but for a few crusts and they'd made a good dent in the Chinese food. Percy felt like he might puke, but it had been good.

"So what were you doing when I got here anyway?" Frank asked pulling two more Cokes from the fridge.

Percy shrugged. "Just grading. Glamorous life of a teacher and all."

Frank held his can up in a toast. "I hear that."

"So," Percy said as tactfully as he could, "Hazel?"

"Yeah, Hazel."

Percy grinned and punched Frank in the shoulder.

"I don't know what to do," Frank said rubbing his temple. "It's like I lose the ability to be a normal human being when I'm around her. My brain just goes fuzzy."

Percy chuckled and shook his head. "That's because you've got it bad."

Frank groaned. "She's just so nice and smart and pretty. She's way too good for me."

Percy punched him again, this time a little harder. "Stop that. You're awesome, man. Anyone would be lucky to have you or whatever. Besides, she totally likes you too."

Frank spluttered, his eyebrows disappearing into his hairline. "No way. She- no, no. Definitely not."

Percy shook his head and smiled bemusedly. "Dude, you really like her."

Frank blushed and Percy patted his knee as he got up to get another drink.

"Dude, you're really not helping."

Percy took a moment to think before he cleared his throat. "Ok, I'm channeling Annabeth."

Frank looked at him skeptically, but Percy just squared his shoulders and thought, What would Annabeth do?

"Just tell her how you feel," he said in the best approximation of Annabeth's voice he could do.

"Ok, that's just weird. You sound nothing like Annabeth."

Percy sighed exasperatedly. "Ok fine. But that's what you should do. That's what Annabeth would tell you to do."

Frank still looked hesitant, but Percy could see him giving in.

"Fine. I will. But it's your fault if she, like, hates me after."

"Dude, she's not gonna hate you. I don't think Hazel is capable of hating anyone."

"Yeah, you're right. It's gonna be totally fine," Frank said to himself. Percy patted him on the shoulder and switched on the next episode.

"So when are you gonna tell Annabeth how you feel about her?" Frank asked as the opening credits flashed on the screen.

Percy spluttered into his drink and Frank smirked. Percy elbowed Frank in the side and scowled. "Shut up."

Annabeth kicked her shoes off and flopped onto the couch beside the black cat she'd found hanging around outside the school the other day (she was pretty sure it was a boy and he was still nameless). The house was dark but she didn't bother turning on any lights. She was exhausted after such a long day, but she was also feeling something else she couldn't quite put her finger on.

Dinner with her father hadn't gone nearly as badly as she'd thought it would. Everyone had been mostly friendly, even Leanne, and she was pleasantly surprised by the men her brothers were growing up to be. Dinner had been a little awkward, but taking pride in teaching was something both she and her father had in common and they shared entertaining anecdotes about work for most of the meal. Leanne was nice too, though Annabeth wasn't quite sure if it was an act or not. Usually she was good at reading people- especially her stepmother- but for some reason she was having trouble figuring it out. It definitely could have been her nerves, but it was still bothering Annabeth when she got home.

She'd left the house with a hug from her dad, her brothers' cell numbers, and a promise of updates about their lives at college. Leanne had laid a hand on her shoulder and told her not to be a stranger and Annabeth had barely been able to smile and nod. Her father had slid his arm around Leanne's waist and the boys had run back inside with shouts about eating the rest of the cake from dessert and Annabeth had only looked back twice while she drove away. (Her dad and Leanne were both there the first time. The second, her father stood alone on the front porch, waving and smiling.)

She poured herself a glass of wine and ran a hot bath with some good-smelling salts with the hopes of relaxing. She was still kind of on edge and tense from trying to analyze dinner, plus her feet were killing her after wearing new shoes all day long. She sank into the water and felt her muscles unknotting almost immediately.

How was dinner?

Annabeth frowned as she tried to figure out how to describe it to Piper.

I honestly have no clue

That good, huh?

I'll call you tomorrow when I figure it out

:)

Annabeth leaned her head back and closed her eyes. The water was getting cold, but she didn't want to get out of the tub. She sighed and pulled the plug, letting the water drain out. She put on a pair of flannel pants and an old Webster tshirt and scampered back downstairs for some more wine.

Annabeth flopped onto the couch and switched on the TV. Her DVR was backed up and she needed to spend a few hours doing something mindless so she chose an episode of her favorite medical drama and settled in.

i think i'm having a food baby

Annabeth snorted when Percy's text came through.

Does this mean you'll be taking maternity leave?

man, i wish

She went along with the playful banter because it had kind of become their thing, her show still playing, forgotten, in the background. She'd almost finished her wine by the time he asked about her night.

I had dinner with my dad and his family. It was… I don't know what it was. I'm still trying to figure it out.

She was expecting him to prod her with questions that she honestly couldn't answer but his response pleasantly surprised her.

well I had dinner with Frank and we feasted

Annabeth smiled and shook her head fondly. Percy really was a good friend and she was surprised sometimes by how well he knew her after only a few months.

Aah, hence the food baby

yes, hence the food baby

You're a nerd. See you Monday.

She finished off her wine and a few more episodes and by the time she went to bed she wasn't freaking out over dinner nearly as much as she had been.

"Your responses were generally astute and well-written. Overall, I'm very happy with what I read and I hope you all respond this well to the rest of the material we'll be covering this year."

As he passed back papers, Percy couldn't help but feel that excitement that could only come from being a teacher. The delighted looks on the faces of students who got good grades made him proud.

"Good job, buddy," he said placing Tyson's paper on his desk. Tyson let out a delighted whoop at the sight of the red B- on his paper and beamed at Percy. That was it. Those were the moments that made being a teacher worth all the crap.

"Thanks, Mr. Jackson."

"Life is awesome," he said as he sat down to lunch that afternoon.

Annabeth and Piper looked at him dubiously. Obviously he'd interrupted something but he was in too good a mood to take their dithering looks to heart.

"You're such a nerd," Piper said shaking her head.

"Shut up," Percy mumbled, unwrapping his sandwich.

"So what exactly is so awesome about life?" Annabeth asked opening a Tupperware container filled with some kind of macaroni salad.

"It just is. My kids wrote some great papers on TKM, conditioning for swimming starts next week, and I gave Frank some excellent relationship advice this weekend. By the end of the day, he and Hazel will probably be an item."

"Did you really just use the word 'item?'"

"Wait, what kind of advice did you give him? You didn't tell him to do anything stupid, right?" Annabeth asked with wide eyes and a worried expression.

Percy rolled his eyes. "I'm not an idiot." He chose to ignore Piper's snickering. "I told him to be honest and tell Hazel how he feels."

He couldn't help but feel a little smug when they both looked at him with surprise.

"Well, that's surprisingly good advice," Annabeth conceded.

"Hazel and Frank are two of my favorite people. I want them to be happy," Percy said with a shrug.

"So does that mean we'll get to double date with Frank and Hazel?" Piper asked excitedly.

Annabeth snorted. "Probably."

"Hey, if you'd find a guy then we could double with you," she said with a pointed look at Annabeth.

Percy didn't like the way his stomach protested at this thought so he changed the subject.

"So, either of you chaperoning for Winter Formal?"

Piper and Annabeth both started laughing, confusing Percy as per usual.

"Is that a funny question?"

Annabeth smiled and patted his cheek. "You're so new it's cute. We don't chaperone dances."

He felt his face flush (wow, her hands were super soft) and stuffed his sandwich into his mouth.

"I chaperoned Winter Formal my first year and had to break up a fight between two girls throwing hot sauce at each other," Piper said.

"Where did they get hot sauce?" Percy asked in alarm.

"They brought it specifically for that purpose."

Percy blinked. "Teenage girls are weird."

Annabeth scoffed. "Please, when I chaperoned Homecoming, there was a group of boys taking pictures up girls' dresses. Girls might be a little weird but teenage boys are just gross."

"So, you're chaperoning Winter Formal?" Piper asked with a smirk.

"Yes," Percy muttered sullenly.

"In the future, maybe come to us first before you make these kinds of commitments."

"I expect pictures," Annabeth said pointing at him with a carrot stick.

"Yes! I'm gonna get you a corsage," Piper cooed.

Percy groaned. "I hate you both."