First Date

Percy was nervous. He'd dressed more nicely than usual—still in jeans and sneakers, of course, but he'd worn a button-down shirt that his mom had taken him to buy when he'd come back to the city after camp ended. He'd even run a comb through his hair, although it hadn't done a whole lot of good. For a minute, he'd debated about asking Paul if he could use one of his colognes, but then decided against it. Now, walking down the Manhattan street, he was trying not to sweat through his dress shirt. But the nerves were as bad as the early September heat. Which was dumb. He and Annabeth had been dating for just over two weeks, all the way through the end of camp. But this was their official first date, outside of Camp Half-Blood, back in the real world.

When she came out of her dorm building, Annabeth was smiling. Percy's heart started to thump harder because she looked good. Really good. Of course, he usually thought she looked good, but she'd clearly also put a little extra effort in today. Her hair was curled around her shoulders, she was wearing a cute top, and it looked like she'd maybe put on some eye makeup because her eyes looked extra sparkly when they met his.

"Hey," he managed, even though his mouth felt dry.

"Hi." The evening light made her hair glow.

They set off down the street. After a few steps, Annabeth asked, "So, where are we going?"

"Paul suggested this Italian place in Midtown," Percy said. "Unless…unless that doesn't sound good?"

"No, that sounds great." Annabeth smiled again and Percy's pulse picked up.

"Cool. Then I thought, uh, maybe, we could go to a movie? Since, I think, I owe you a movie date."

Percy wasn't sure how the last part would go over, since the last time they'd had a movie date planned, it had been interrupted when an empousa had blown up his school band room and he'd run away with Rachel in tow, right before running into Annabeth.

But now, Annabeth looked surprised for a moment, then slowly smiled. "Alright, Seaweed Brain." She slipped her hand into his. "Let's go."

Dinner and the movie were both great. Actually, Percy didn't really remember much of the movie, but that was probably because he and Annabeth held hands all the way through it. He'd held her hand before, quite a few times, but this was one of the first times when it wasn't a life or death situation. Which made it much nicer.

After the movie, they walked down the sidewalk, still holding hands, discussing the movie and just enjoying each other's company. Percy had to admit, this dating thing was going better than he'd thought it might. At first, he'd been terrified of messing things up. Now, he was slightly less terrified. Because, after all, this was Annabeth. She'd been his best friend, and the person he most relied on, for a long time. And now, bonus, he got to kiss her.

All in all, the night was going well. Until a spot on the sidewalk caught Percy's eye and his stomach dropped. He stopped walking.

"What is it?" Annabeth asked. His face must have shown some of what he was feeling because she added, "Percy? What's wrong?"

Percy swallowed hard. The corner of sidewalk looked the same as any other piece of sidewalk in New York City. The gods had done a pretty good job of fixing things up, so the city barely remembered the hits it had taken from the Titan's army. But some places still looked a little bruised. Like here, on this corner, where there was still a very faint stain, like old blood. But, Percy knew, it wasn't that old. He'd stood here, on this corner, during one of the gaps in the battle, and watched Will Solace kneeling beside a Hermes kid who had taken a giant's spear to the stomach. He'd watched as Will finally took a deep breath, then gulped, and stopped working. After a moment, he'd pulled a jacket over the kid's face. The guy couldn't have been more than fifteen years old. The moment still made Percy's stomach hurt. Even now, with the energy of the city, the movement of people and vehicles bustling around him, Percy could feel himself right back in that still moment.

"Percy?" Annabeth touched his arm, her face concerned. "Come on, what's wrong?"

Percy swallowed again, then cleared his throat. "Um—this was—during the battle of Manhattan, there was a camper who—right here…"

His voice trailed off, but Annabeth nodded. She looked thoughtful for a moment, then tugged on his hand. "Come here."

He followed her back about half a block to where a building had some potted flowers in front of it. Annabeth looked around, then picked a handful of the blooms. She then led Percy back to the spot where the Hermes camper had died, and held out the flowers. "Here. Put them on the spot."

Percy blinked fast a couple times, then took the flowers. He leaned them up against the brick building, so they wouldn't get trampled by people walking past. "Hey, man," he said quietly, trying to remember the camper's name. Once it came to him, he said the name out loud, then said, "I'm sorry."

When he moved to stand back beside Annabeth, she took his hand again, making his arm tingle like an electric shock had run across his skin, cutting through the grief and guilt clouding over him.

They stood there quietly for another minute, letting the city buzz around them. Finally, Annabeth leaned into his arm and gently tugged on his hand. "Come on, Seaweed Brain."

So Percy let her lead him away, farther up the street.


It was a great first date. Percy looked cute when he picked her up, like he'd actually tried. Which Annabeth appreciated, since she'd had a friend in her dorm help her to lightly curl her hair and do her makeup. Dinner was delicious and the movie was fun, although Annabeth hadn't been paying that much attention—she'd mostly been enjoying the feeling of Percy holding her hand, his thumb occasionally tracing the back of her hand, which she didn't even think he realized he was doing. Sparks traveled up her arm every time his hand shifted in hers. She loved the warm feeling of his fingers wrapped around hers, the sureness and the solidness of it. And it had been nice to just hang out tonight like normal teenagers on their first date, especially after this summer. Annabeth could grudgingly admit, just to herself and now that Rachel was the oracle, that she could understand why Percy had felt the need to escape to this over the summer. It was nice to be away from the war, and among people unconcerned with mythological problems, at least for a while.

Until they stumbled upon the spot where Percy had seen a Hermes camper fall. But Annabeth was able to try and help. Or, at least, she hoped she had. She thought she had. Percy gave her a small smile and squeezed her hand as they started walking again, and she had returned both the smile and the pressure. For better or worse, they weren't normal teenagers. They had been through some really tough things, especially recently. But what was nice was that most of the awful things they'd been through, they'd gone through together. And they didn't have to hide the bad stuff or the demigod stuff. It was nice to be able to share those experiences together.

So as they walked down the street, occasionally passing another location marked by the Battle of Manhattan, they talked about it, what they'd seen, the hard times, and the good—because there were still good times mixed in with the terrible. "The stuff worth fighting for," Percy called it, and Annabeth agreed.

The city sparkled around them, lights glimmering against the darkness. When Annabeth had first stayed in the city, the semester she and Thalia had been roommates, it had been kind of overwhelming. But now, she'd grown to appreciate, even enjoy, its energy.

They walked slowly back to her dorm, neither of them in a hurry to say good-bye. It felt good just to be together. The tension that had existed over the last few months—over the last year, really, if she was being honest—was gone. It was amazing how nice things could be when they were just honest with each other about their feelings. Probably worth remembering for the future, Annabeth thought.

When they reached her dorm, they stood outside on the street for a few minutes, still talking. Finally, though, Percy said, a bit awkwardly, "Well, I guess, um, I guess I'd better get home. I think it's almost my curfew."

"Wouldn't want your mom to worry," Annabeth said.

"No," Percy agreed. "She's had enough of that for a long time."

"We all have," Annabeth said. Unbidden, the words Seven half-bloods shall answer the call… floated through her head, but she shoved them away. That was for another generation of demigods. They'd already had their war. Focusing back on the present moment, she said, "So, I guess this is good night?"

"Guess so," Percy said. He ran a hand through his hair, then blurted out, "It was, right? A good night?"

Annabeth couldn't hold back a smile. "Yeah, Percy. It was a really good night. A great first date."

"Awesome." Percy looked relieved. "I mean, good. Because I want to do this again."

"Me too, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth couldn't wait any longer. She moved closer, putting a hand on his neck, and kissed him. After a moment, Percy kissed her back, his hands sliding to her waist, pulling her closer. For a few moments, in a city of over eight million people, it was just the two of them, alone beneath the stars.

When they finally said good-bye, Annabeth couldn't help smiling as she headed into her dorm. She turned at the door to wave, catching Percy's grin as he waved back.

It had been a great night.


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