Percy was tense. Annabeth was late. He leaned on the side of his mother's car and nervously twirled Riptide on his fingers. He was fourteen, the only demigod son of Poseidon, and probably the most powerful demigod alive.
He saw the glass doors of the expensive tower open and a blond-haired girl walked out. He breathed a sigh of relief.
—*—
Annabeth's tension vanished when she saw Percy. She could tell he had been stressing, by the worry lines on his forehead and the tension of his jaw. Gods. Percy was incredibly protective of her. She smiled.
He ran up to her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tight against his chest.
"I'm glad you're okay." He whispered.
Annabeth was glad that he couldn't see her blush, she couldn't remember the last time she had been hugged like that, it was nice.
Luke used to hug her, but his hugs were different than Percy's. They were stiffer, more tight, more brotherly. For a very long time she had wanted something more between her and Luke, and now, she glanced at Percy. She realiezed that Luke was never her destiny.
"It's good to see you too, Seaweed-brain."
Percy let her go and he grinned at her.
For a moment, Annabeth forgot about everything else, she forgot about the mess with Tony, she forgot about the misery of it all.
Behind them, Tony coughed gently for thier attention.
Annabeth looked at her father and ignored his raised eyebrow and pointed gaze. "Dad, this is Percy."
—*—
"So you're the one who got my daughter into all this trouble" Tony accused.
Percy turned wide eyes to Annabeth who grimced. She didn't know what Tony was doing.
Tony's mask broke and he grinned. "Don't worry about it. I'm just teasing."
Annabeth scowled at her father. She didn't need him scaring off Percy, by trying to 'protect' her. She was not some fragile doll.
"So," Tony said awkwardly, "I heard you have a mother?"
Annabeth sighed, this was going to be painful.
—*—