A/N: Hi guys! I am sososososo sorry about the taking several months to update. I started university this fall and it has been wonderful, but I overloaded myself with activities, so I didn't have much time to work on writing, and for some reason, this chapter was insanely difficult to finish. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy it, and I'm working on chapters over the break so that I can update on time! This chapter features Percy and Annabeth having some nice conversations and being all cute. As always, reviews and follows are appreciated and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 6: Night Changes

"Hey," Percy felt arms snake around his neck and a head on his right shoulder. "I'm heading home now," Annabeth said softly to him

"Annabeth, if you wanted me to go home with me, all you had to do was ask," Percy winked at her.

Annabeth gripped Percy's shoulders very tightly. "I've already said good night to my friends, but Reyna oh so kindly reminded me that I need to say good night to you so as not to arouse any suspicion."

"How 'bout I arouse something else?"

"Good night!" Annabeth said crossly, lightly pushing him and beginning to walk away.

"Wait," she felt a tug on her arm. Percy was holding on to her hand. "I'm coming with you."

Annabeth continued walking. "No thank you. I told you I don't want to go home with you, so why don't you take a hint."

"Annabeth," Percy said, slightly exasperated. "I can see the street from here. First—you're either walking or driving and there's no car so I'm either waiting for the car with you or walking you home. And second—the paparazzi is still out there. It isn't even one in the morning, so they'll all probably make up an imaginary feud between you and Piper. Let me take you out a different way."

Percy had led Annabeth through a supply room, into an alley—Annabeth held on to her keys in case she needed to defend herself—and out onto the other side of the block. Annabeth turned her map app on just in case and the two walked together in silence.

"So…" Annabeth started, trailing off.

"So…" Percy trailed off in response.

"I have so many questions," Annabeth said, looking up at Percy.

"I don't know how far your house is, but we have plenty of time—shoot."

"How'd you know how to get out of that club?"

"Chase, I am offended," Percy feigned hurt and put one hand to his chest while using the other to wipe an imaginary tear away from his face. "I am, like, the king of clubbing. I've been to every good club in this city and—"

"Let me guess," Annabeth cut him off, "You got lost on your way to the bathroom and you happened to notice an exit light blinking in the storage room."

"No!" Percy quickly replied, looking away.

"Oh you did! You so did!"

"Shut up! I have actually been to that club and I know it. Otherwise I would've accidentally led you to the bathroom when we were leaving."

"That is the worst excuse ever. You just don't want to admit that you have a problem"

"With what?"

"Partying."

"I don't have a problem! You have a problem!" he whined.

"That was the worst come back I've ever heard," Annabeth laughed.

"Shut up," Percy muttered.

"Ok. Next question: why are you walking home with me? You're not getting anything out of this. If anything, I ruined the rest of the night for you and you have to take even longer to get home."

"I honestly don't mind—you're fun to talk to especially when you're angry. And besides, my mom raised me to be a gentleman."

Annabeth couldn't contain her laughter. She almost tripped over herself in the stilettos she had on, so she grabbed Percy's arm and continued laughing. "What?" Percy asked, confused. Annabeth thought she was done but she burst out into another fit of laughter at that. "Seriously. Annabeth!"

"I'm sorry," Annabeth said, gasping for air. "I almost thought for a second that you referred to yourself as a…gentleman." She burst out laughing on the last word when she looked at his face. "I can't believe you're serious!"

"Hey hey hey! I'll have you know that I never let a woman go home alone when it's dangerous. Usually I go home with her, but that's not the point! And I'm never creepy towards girls either!"

"Interesting take on chivalry, Jackson," Annabeth mused.

"Chivalry isn't dead, Chase," Percy responded. "It's just adapted with the times."

"Let's agree to disagree on that one," Annabeth said, waving her hand as if to dismiss the subject.

"My turn for a question," Percy said.

"Fineeee," Annabeth replied begrudgingly.

"It's not serious or anything—I just needed to get you to be quiet enough so that I can ask you something I'm wondering."

"I can so be quiet long enough," Annabeth muttered.

Percy raised his eyebrows at her and Annabeth let out a huff of air.

"Why did you want to leave so early?" Percy asked, concerned. "Are you feeling well? You waited until the clock struck midnight then you scrambled out of there faster than Cinderella."

"Not all of us like to party, Jackson," Annabeth responded, suddenly offended. Realizing the harshness of her voice, she softened it before she continued. "I mean… Piper told me to come over for baking and eating junk food and watching movies, and then she and Hazel shanghaied me and forced me to show up. It was pretty fun, but only because my friends were there—in general, I need to be mentally prepared for a party. I didn't even eat dinner!" she exclaimed at the same time her stomach rumbled. She covered it and looked down in embarrassment.

"Hmmm… I know how to fix that," Percy said, smirking. "There's a great place that's only a few minutes away," he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her into a run.

"Percy!" Annabeth screeched, struggling to keep up in her heels. Annabeth finally fell into a rhythm and caught up to Percy, throwing her arms out and enjoying the breeze.

After a few minutes, the pair slowed to a walk. The silence and deep breathing were interrupted when Percy said "We're here."

Annabeth's stomach immediately resumed grumbling while looking at the inconspicuous restaurant. "Come on!" she said, dragging Percy behind her and making him stumble. She laughed, thinking of the payback.

Annabeth staggered into the restaurant out of breath, with Percy following right behind her. Percy put a hand on her back and led her to the register. Annabeth glared at him but remained silent. As Annabeth started reading the menu, mouth salivating, Percy spoke. "Two usual's please, Dave."

Annabeth elbowed Percy in the gut. "What the hell?" she asked.

Percy groaned. "What? They don't have really have salads here and I thought you'd get mad and lecture me on how women don't all want to eat salads if I tried to get you one. Please don't hurt me."

"You don't understand," Annabeth said. "You didn't ask me what I wanted. Are you really that inconsiderate?"

"Sorry. This is my favorite burger place. I just got really excited, and their double cheeseburgers are basically how this place got its name—Ambrosia."

"We'll see about that. And by the way—I do not eat salads as meals. They really just aren't filling." Percy gave her a cheeky wink and she rolled her eyes.

Finally, the cheeseburgers arrived. Annabeth grabbed one and the side of fries that came with it, and rushed to the nearest booth. She started eating the burger before Percy even slid into the booth across from her. "This is amazing. I want to marry this burger," Annabeth spoke with her mouth full, her precious burger threatening to fall out of her mouth.

"Beth, I thought we had something special," Percy mocked, hand on his heart.

Annabeth looked at him in disdain. "This burger is better way better than you'll ever be."

"I bet I taste better," Percy leaned in, whispering in Annabeth's ear.

Annabeth placed her palm on Percy's face and pushed him away. She finished her bite of burger and threw a fry at him. "You are absolutely nasty. I told you not to make comments like that."

"Chill. Kissing isn't that inappropriate—I get that it was out of line, but it wasn't like I was—oh," Percy realized what Annabeth thought he meant. "Annabeth," Percy continued seductively. "If you just wanted that you could have just told me. Who am I to deny a pretty lady what she wants?"

"Leave me alone! You started it!"

"Yes, but you're the one who thought I was talking about blowjobs."

"Shut up," Annabeth said with a tone of finality, sliding into her seat and stuffing her mouth with burger.

"Whatever you say, Beth," Percy said with a satisfied smirk on his face.

The duo ate in awkward silence until they both finished. Annabeth and Percy made eye contact and Annabeth looked away quickly, blushing. "We should—uh—probably go," she whispered.

Percy nodded in agreement and they got up. After leaving the restaurant, they wandered around until they came across a familiar street. Annabeth then started walking the familiar way home then she stopped. "You know…" she trailed off. "You don't need to put up with me any longer. I know the way home. I've walked it before. I'm fine alone."

"You're kidding, right?" Percy asked in disbelief. "There's no way in hell I'm leaving you alone. This is LA. You're famous. And you've still got more than an hour of walking left. At least take a cab."

"Can't," Annabeth told him simply. "I left most of my valuables at Piper's after she told me we were going out. I only got like 1 shot, but I'd rather not see how far $15 can take me at 1:30 am."

"All right, then let's go," Percy announced, taking Annabeth's hand before she could protest.

Percy and Annabeth walked in silence for a long time. Annabeth stopped suddenly. "I can't take this anymore. My feet hurt so much and the ground is filthy. I'm going to kill Piper for giving me these damn stilettos."

Percy gaped. "Did you just curse?"

"Yes," Annabeth responded uncertainly, looking at him like he'd grown a second head. "So?"

"It's just—you're so—good," Percy responded.

Annabeth felt her face redden in anger. "Ok just because I enjoy being all sunshine and rainbows and like keeping my music themes PG doesn't mean I can't curse. I don't particularly see a need for cursing, but I will when I fucking want to," she said, emphasizing the curse word.

"Anyway," said Percy, clearly uncomfortable with a woman's anger. "Jump." He moved so that he was slightly crouched in front of Annabeth.

"What?"

"Your feet hurt and you don't want them to touch the bare ground. I'm giving you a piggy bag ride so we can keep going. Seems like a pretty simple solution to me. Are you stupid?"

"But…" Annabeth blushed, looking away.

"That's what I thought." Percy smiled and started running backwards toward her. Annabeth stumbled back a few steps before she gave up.

"Fineeee," she groaned. She placed her arms on Percy's shoulders and jumped. Despite Percy's insistence at the piggy back ride, he seemed to be caught off guard and had to readjust after almost dropping Annabeth.

Percy sauntered with Annabeth on his back for a long time. "This is nice," Annabeth mused after a while. Percy was silent below here. She shifted to look at him. "Something wrong?"

"Nah. You're not that heavy, but this is going to take a while so I'm saving my breath."

"Oh this is ridiculous! Put me down then. My feet have hurt way more before."

"No!"

"But we have another 30 minutes to walk!"

"Not anymore!" Percy said, as he took off running.

Annabeth was surprised by how far Percy made it running with her on his back. He made it several blocks before he slowed, out of breath.

"OK, we get it—you're all strong and manly. Put me down now so we can walk."

Percy refused until Annabeth started swinging from side to side, throwing him off balance. Realizing he was too tired, Percy grumbled something incoherent and put Annabeth down. After he made a big show of stretching his limbs and giving Annabeth a dirty look, they continued walking.

"So…" Annabeth trailed off, "How do you know Thalia?"

"We're cousins," Percy responded simply.

"Wait, WHAT? Thalia's one of my really good friends! How did I not know that?"

"Well did you ever talk about me?" Percy asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Yeah, now I see why I never knew about you. I don't think your name has ever come up. It must be weird for her to have a cousin in a famous band she competes with."

"And brother," Percy added.

"Brother?" Annabeth asked, confused.

"Yeah. Jason is Thalia's brother and my other cousin."

"That's why he looks so familiar! I think I've heard of him, but why haven't I met him before?"

"He went to a boarding school for a bit. Probably before you met Thalia. Then he lived in New York with some relatives where he met yours truly."

"Unreal! I can't believe one of my best friends is your cousin!"

"What can I say? I have awesome family. I mean, Thalia and Jason's dad is kind of shit, and my dad isn't the best either, but at least he tries. Anyway—not the point," Percy stopped himself, smiling apologetically.

"Yeah ok," Annabeth said, smiling through the urge to frown.

"This is your street, right?" Percy said, trying to keep the conversation from stalling.

"Yeah! How'd you know, stalker?" Annabeth teased.

"Well, I've been to your house before," Percy responded, trying to sound creepy but failing, eliciting giggles from Annabeth.

Walking in silence until they reached Annabeth's property, she punched a code and opened the smaller gate. Upon reaching the doorway, Percy and Annabeth faced each other in silence. "Thanks for helping me escape the party early," Annabeth looked up, smiling softly.

Percy remained stone-faced for a second, before breaking out into a smile. "Not a problem. I couldn't watch you fail at leaving early—actually, that would have been pretty amusing."

"Oh, shut up."

"Well, I should probably walk back now…" Percy started, slowly.

"Wait no!" Annabeth saw Percy's eyebrows raise and she quickly elaborated. "Let me call you a cab. You can't walk all the way back into town on your own."

"I don't have any money, though. And I don't mind walking."

"You're not walking back, you doofus. I'll pay for it."

"No it's fine. I don't want to owe you."

"So? You just pay me back tomorrow or something. You're going to see me again."

"No! Just let me walk!" Percy said, raising his voice.

"Absolutely not!" Annabeth responded identically. As they stood, ready to fight, Annabeth had an idea and exhaled slowly, trying to calm herself down. "You're sleeping over," she told Percy earnestly.

"What? No. I'm walking back," Percy stated, visibly calmer due to Annabeth's calm.

"Please sleep over, Percy," Annabeth begged, one foot in the door.

"I'm not sure I'm ready to take our relationship to the next level," Percy said, grinning.

"Don't—" Annabeth glared at him. She stepped inside and gestured to him to follow. "Ok, so I'm going to go make up a bed for you. I can show you to the bathroom if you need to pee or something."

"Don't bother, Beth, I'll just sleep on the couch."

"Don't call me that. And that's fine, but I am bringing sheets and a duvet for you."

Before Percy could even open his mouth to protest, Annabeth had returned, wearing shorts and a t-shirt and holding a stack of sheets, a new toothbrush, and a mini bottle of toothpaste. Percy went to brush his teeth while Annabeth began putting sheets on the couch and putting a duvet cover on the duvet. When Percy came back, he was met with the amusing sight of Annabeth dancing around trying to shimmy the duvet into its cover. He got out his phone and started taking a video, but suddenly, he heard Annabeth yell at him as her dancing led her to turn toward where he was standing.

"Are you taking a video of me?" she yelled, stuffing the last bit of duvet into the cover.

"No," Percy chuckled, keeping the camera trained on Annabeth. Annabeth, however, was having none of it and lunged at him. Percy quickly went from feeling amusement to a fear of Annabeth's wrath that was far greater than it should be for a girl of her size. She toppled him over and tried to wrench the phone from Percy's hands as he curled into a fetal position and cradled his phone. "Please don't hurt me," he whispered repeatedly.

Finally, Annabeth got a solid hold on Percy's phone and tugged. Unfortunately, Percy pulled back, and instead of Annabeth winning the phone, she flew and landed half on Percy, phone still clutched in her hands. As she rolled off Percy and landed in front of him, she saw his eyes clenched tightly shut. Forgetting her mission, she started laughing at the ridiculousness of it all. Percy opened his eyes in surprise and grinned at Annabeth's laughter. Feeling her grip on his phone loosen, Percy took it back to finish what he started. Though he had only recorded the video on snapchat for convenience and had planned to save it for blackmail in the future, he needed to get Annabeth back for attacking him, so he typed a quick caption and posted it to his story.

After Annabeth's giggles calmed down, she remembered why she was on the floor in the first place. "Please delete the video," she said.

"Too late. I put it on snapchat," Percy grinned.

"Ass!" Annabeth exclaimed, kicking him in the gut before unlocking her own phone to look at his story. As she watched the video, her eyes narrowed. "'I leave the room for a minute and I come back to this.' Why would you do that, Percy?"

"Hey! It's very entertaining! And I wasn't going to post it, but you attacked me."

"You're not getting away with this. I'll kill you in your sleep if I have to," Annabeth said, lunging once more. Percy moved his phone, but not himself, so Annabeth's face ended up very close to his.

"You'll have to kill me then. You don't even know my passcode," Percy told her.

Annabeth suddenly became aware of the proximity and stood up. "Alright then, it's well past three in the morning, so I'm going to go to sleep. The lights are right here on this wall, so just turn them off when you're ready to sleep. Good night," Annabeth said dismissively, going upstairs and leaving Percy alone.