Percy's pre-game nerves have never been this bad. The sheer idea of having to go out there and play makes him physically ill.
Right now he's trying to tape his stick for the match, but his hands are so shaky that he drops the roll. "Fucking shit," he groans, scrambling to grab it before it rolls away.
"Nervous?"
Percy startles and looks up at Jason, who flops down on the chair beside Percy's and begins to lace his skates.
"I mean, yeah, of course I'm nervous," Percy says. "It's a big game."
And really, calling it a big game is putting it lightly. The outcome of this match will determine whether they go on to the state semifinals. If they fuck this up, they will never hear the end of it from Coach.
Jason jostles Percy's shoulder. "Ease up. You're gonna be great out there. No need to look like you're about to piss yourself."
Percy sighs and winds more tape around the knob of his stick. Retching sounds are coming from the bathroom and he doesn't even have to turn around to know that it's Leo and his jitters again.
"You can't tell me that you aren't freaking out too," Percy says. "I saw you put on your lucky striped socks."
"Aw, don't shit on the lucky socks! They helped me ace three of Mrs. Dodds's trig function quizzes!"
"Grace, you haven't washed them since eighth grade. I'm pretty sure mold is growing on the bottoms."
"But if I wash them, they'll lose their luck!"
"They smell like the inside of a rat's ass. Or under Leo's bed."
"My lucky socks do not-"
"What the fuck?" The locker room door is flung open, interrupting, and in walks Frank.
Frank's eyes scan the room before they land on Percy. He moves with impressive speed for someone wearing skates and about a ton of protective gear. "Dude. Annabeth Chase is in the stands! Wearing your number!"
Percy stands up, wobbling slightly. "I know," he says. He tries to sound nonchalant when he continues with, "She's my, uh, girlfriend."
Jason chokes on his Gatorade. "Your what?" he gasps through coughs.
"Did you just say that she's your girlfriend? As in, you're in a relationship?" Frank asks, thumping Jason on the back.
"Yup," Percy says.
Before Jason or Frank can question him further and ask him why the hell he's with Annabeth Chase, Coach Hedge hustles in and blows his whistle.
"Jackson! Zhang! Grace! Get your asses on the ice!"
Jason jabs a finger at Percy. "We are not finished with this conversation!"
Percy groans, shuffling out of the locker room behind Jason and Frank. His legs feel like jelly. He's probably going to pull a Leo and puke, isn't he?
Then he glides onto the ice for warm-ups and sees Annabeth.
She's sitting in the second row, wearing the jersey he gave her yesterday. She scoffed when he told her to cheer and not just sit there watching Hannah Montana on her phone, but here she is. Sitting in this cold ass rink, his number not only on her back but also painted onto her cheeks, clapping and whistling and being almost too enthusiastic.
She cries, "Go Percy!"
And all at once, his nerves vanish.
They win the game.
Percy scores two goals and has one assist, and even though Will couldn't keep his ass out of the penalty box for more than five minutes, everyone played their asses off, and they freak out after the announcer declares that they're going on to the semi-finals. Everyone's hugging and at one point they hoist Leo in the air like the Stanley Cup and Percy's pretty sure he saw Coach Hedge crying.
Annabeth waves from the stands. Her makeup and face paint are smudged and her hair is beginning to slip out of her ponytail and she looks…pretty? He isn't sure why but he's strangely attracted to her in this moment, and it has to be the euphoria and adrenaline from winning making him feel this way, nothing more.
"Aren't you gonna come down here to congratulate me?" he calls, grinning.
Annabeth bounds out of her seat and down the steps, and then she's throwing her arms around him. She's warm and smells like lemon. Her face is tucked into his neck and her hair tickles his nose and even though hugs aren't supposed to last this long he keeps holding her.
"Hey," he says when Annabeth finally pulls away.
"Hi," she says, a little breathless. "You were amazing. I didn't really know what was going on most of the time but you scored those goals and it felt really good wearing the star hockey player's number."
"Star hockey player? I didn't realize you thought so highly of me."
"Don't let it go to your head."
"Too late, I think my ego size just increased by at least a thousand times," he says, throwing an arm over her shoulder and pulling her close again.
"I didn't realize being a couple involved so much cuddling," Annabeth says under her breath as Percy presses a kiss to her hair. "Are you really this desperate to get close to me?"
"Stop complaining and at least pretend to like me."
He starts giving a play-by-play of all his favorite moments from the game, but then Annabeth cranes her neck to look at something over his shoulder and asks, "Hey, is that Sally?"
Percy pauses describing a harrowing encounter with one of the other team's offenders. "What? I thought she and Paul were on a date!"
She points, and sure enough, there's Paul and and his mom, making their way over. Annabeth's grow wide with panic.
"Shit, Jackson, I didn't think we were telling your mom—"
"Please, just go with it."
Annabeth doesn't get a chance to say anything because then Sally and Paul are approaching. "Percy! You were great!" Sally cries.
"Mom, I thought you and Paul went out tonight. Did you skip it?"
She waves him off. "We wanted to surprise you!"
Percy lets go of Annabeth to hug his mom. Honestly, he's really happy Sally came to see him even if it complicates damn near everything. This was one of his best games, and it means a lot that she was able to watch.
Paul gives Percy a hug as well. "Good job, kiddo," he says, ruffling Percy's hair.
Annabeth seems hesitant to join in on their moment, slowly shuffling to the side, but Sally tugs her into a tight embrace after she's given Percy his third hug. "Oh, Annabeth, it's been so long! How are you?"
"I'm fine, just chilled to the bone from how freezing it is in here!"
Sally squeezes Annabeth's shoulder and seems to register that Annabeth's wearing Percy's jersey for the first time. The corners of her lips twitch. "So, it seems like I'm not the only one with surprises?"
Percy rubs the back of his neck. "Um, well, Beth and I are kind of…"
Annabeth takes Percy's hand and weaves her fingers through his. "We're still figuring it out, but I think we're together."
Sally claps her hands, a smile lighting up her whole face. "That's wonderful! Annabeth, you should come home with us for dinner so we can catch up."
"Oh, I wouldn't want to intrude—"
"I insist. We would love to have you."
Percy plasters a smile onto his face. Annabeth smiles as well, but as they're walking to the car, she mutters, "This was not part of the plan."
He only has time to mutter back, "Well, no fucking shit."
An hour later, they're gathered around the dining table, devouring Sally's paella. Percy's arm is draped over the back of Annabeth's chair and the conversation is light and easy.
"—so, Percy, when did you realize you liked Annabeth?" Sally is asking.
Well, so much for easy.
He has a mouthful of food at the moment, so he swallows and takes a sip of water before replying. It buys time to recall his and Annabeth's cover story. "You've known I always kinda liked her, Mom."
Annabeth takes Percy's hand and squeezes. "Wait, really? Even when we were little kids?" she asks, eyes shining. "You always treated me like your sister."
Damn, she's really great at this. If he didn't know any better, he'd think that she's slightly surprised and really into him.
"Trust me, my feelings for you are not brotherly in the slightest," Percy says, making everyone chuckle. "What about you? Did you always like me?"
"Um, I guess. I definitely thought you were pretty hot and—er, handsome?"
This makes his cheeks heat, so he steals a bite of rice from her dish as a distraction.
Annabeth pokes at him with a fork. "You are a jerk."
"And you love me," he says through the rice, accidentally spitting a few grains out.
Annabeth rolls her eyes and turns to Sally and Paul, who give her sympathetic and long-suffering sighs. "I swear, I'm dating a toddler," she grumbles.
"And I swear I'm still raising one," Sally says with a smirk.
"Hey!" Percy protests, throwing them both dirty looks.
Once Annabeth's had two helpings of food and refused Sally's offers to stay longer, she slips on her coat and starts out the door, Percy trailing behind because he has to be a gentleman and walk her home.
"Isn't it past your bedtime?" Annabeth asks as she stuffs her hands in her pockets. The night air is frigid and makes Percy, who's only wearing a hoodie, shiver. "I live literally next door and this feels unnecessary."
"Please, Mom would kill me if I didn't make sure you got home safely."
Annabeth stares down at the ground for a moment, then looks back up at him. "You know, we never discussed telling your parents. It was never explicitly in our contract."
"We never explicitly said we couldn't either."
"Jackson, I never wanted this. Lying to our friends is bad enough, but to your mom? This is turning into a web of deceit and it's gonna come back to bite me in the ass eventually."
Percy stops in his tracks. "Are you backing out?"
Annabeth nudges his arm and keeps walking. "I'm not backing out," she says. "We're in too deep for that. I'm just pointing out that your plan is kind of stupid."
"Hey, even if it's stupid, you still agreed to it."
"And I immediately regretted it and will continue to regret it indefinitely," she says, her voice lacks venom.
They approach the porch. The light is on, making everything seem glowing and yellow. Annabeth grabs a stack of mail from the box and gives Percy a small smile. "'Night."
He smiles back, and even if he still doesn't like her, it feels like an olive branch.
She steps inside her house a moment later, giving Percy another smile before pulling the door shut behind her. Her perfume still lingers faintly in the air.
Fuck. Percy squeezes his eyes shut. His heart is beating fast and he feels...giddy? Why does he—no, no, it doesn't matter. Whatever he's feeling isn't real. Can't be. Obviously.
He shakes his head, pushes his shoulders back, and walks back home.
