"You look fine," Thalia says for the third time, rolling her eyes as she watches Annabeth stand in front of Piper's gigantic mirror checking every angle of her outfit.

It's not the most reassuring tone and Annabeth finds herself frowning at her friend through the mirror.

They're at Piper's getting ready for homecoming together and since Thalia was the first one done, she's been idly scrolling through her phone and giving vaguely encouraging remarks to Annabeth and Piper.

Piper shakes her head as she clasps her necklace. "You look good Annabeth," she says with a lot more sincerity than Thalia. "Percy is going to freak."

Logically, she knows that Piper is right. If Percy freaked out over her cheerleading outfit, well… this is better.

Not that she cares about what Percy thinks or anything.

"It's not about him," she insists in an effort to convince her own mind. "I just want good pictures for our last homecoming."

"Right…" Thalia responds, looking down at her phone, clearly skeptical.

But before she has a chance to emphasize her point, Thalia continues. "Also, they're almost here. Jason just texted me."

"Oh!" Piper tugs Annabeth away from the mirror and starts fixing her already perfect hair.

"You know you look good," Annabeth says, watching her friend scrutinize every detail.

"I know," Piper responds with a smile. "Just want to make sure I don't have lipstick on my teeth or anything. If Jason isn't floored then he's…" she pauses to turn towards Thalia, "no offense, an idiot."

Annabeth laughs and Thalia smirks. "He already is an idiot," she agrees.

On cue, the doorbell rings and Thalia goes to answer it. Piper turns towards her as Thalia leaves the room. "I'm serious Annabeth, this color looks great on you."

Annabeth looks down to take in the sea-green dress. It has a sweetheart neckline and flares out at the bottom ending mid-thigh. It's not super fancy, with just some small sparkles on the skirt but she's not that fancy of a person anyway.

"Thanks," she says looking up to find her friend curiously looking at her. A part of her wants to ask Piper what she's thinking, but the other part thinks it's about Percy and maybe she doesn't want to know.

"Alright, I'll go down and say you need a couple more minutes so you can have your moment," she says instead of asking the question.

Piper grins. "You're the best."

She shoots her friend a wink and slips out the door, making her way down the stairs to the living room where everyone is gathered in.

Thalia and Leo seem to be in a thumb war, Jason is looking around at the décor and Percy's on his phone.

She takes a moment to observe him quietly. He's wearing a suit.

It makes sense of course, but she's never seen him this dressed up and a part of her believed he'd show up in jeans and a hoodie.

But no, he's cleaned up really well, suit and tie with an attempt made to style his hair too.

Her heart is already pounding when she steps into the room and speaks, forcing herself to look at Jason instead. "Piper will be down in a couple of minutes."

At the sound of her voice both Jason and Percy look towards her (Thalia and Leo still focused on their game) and Jason smiles in response. "Thanks."

She can feel Percy's gaze on her before she turns to meet his eyes. Trying to hide her smile, she walks right up to him.

"Not bad Jackson," she says, once again taking in his suit, while his eyes are on her. It's even better up close, mixed in with his familiar cologne. God, he looks really good.

She doesn't say that, but she wonders if maybe her eyes are giving it away.

Percy still hasn't said anything, but she knows he's been looking too so she leans in. "Percy?"

The only movement is the way his jaw clenches.

Is he mad? Why hasn't he said anything?

The click of heels announces Piper's arrival and of course Jason's cheeks heat up at the sight of her burgundy dress.

"You alright there Jason?" she teases causing Jason to turn even more red.

"Let's do pictures!" Piper says with a smile, grabbing Jason's arm.

She turns back to Percy who's still looking at her, almost as if he hadn't stopped. She swears there's a slight frown on his face.

"Percy?" she repeats, starting to actually worry that maybe he's in a bad mood when he continues to stay silent. "Can you talk to me?"

"Annabeth, Percy, come here!" Piper calls, putting everyone into formation. She follows the instruction as Percy follows behind her.

At least he's following her, that's a good sign, right?

Piper places them by the window and his hand encircles her waist so quickly and naturally when Piper tells them to pose that she shivers at the unexpected contact.

"Smile!"

Which starts a flurry of movement and pictures for the next fifteen minutes, especially when Piper's dad shows up to do group shots.

It's hectic, first the girls then the guys, then together and by the time they're all done she wonders if Percy's mood is better. He'd been smiling in all the pictures as far as she knows.

Maybe they're out of the woods.

But then, as they're wrapping up, he speaks up for something other than picture coordination, asking where the bathroom is.

"Down the hall, to the left," Piper responds, but Annabeth cuts in.

"I'll show him," she volunteers, ready to grill Percy on what is going on with him.

The two walk out of the room and she sees Piper shoot her a concerned look, but she brushes it off and doesn't say anything until they're halfway down the hall.

She spins around to face Percy, taking a deep breath to prepare herself.

"Okay, what the hell is going on with y—"

Her words are cut off by him taking a step closer, and another, and another until she's crowded against the wall.

"Anabeth," he says in a low voice. That combined with the fact that he doesn't say her name that often causes her to shiver. "Don't you think this dress is inappropriate for homecoming?"

She shakes her head, frowning. She thought it looked good, what is he—

"Cause it's giving me all sorts of thoughts…" he trails off and oh. Oh.

All the heat rushes towards her face as he takes another step so that their bodies are touching. She's not proud of just how badly she has to fight the urge to pull him closer and just kiss him cause god, he's actually going to be the death of her.

"In that case," she responds. "Maye you should change too."

She can tell that she's surprised him by the way his eyebrows flick involuntarily upward and grins to herself inwardly.

But the surprise on his face only lasts a moment before it's replaced with a smirk as he's leaning even closer and oh god—

"Annabeth?"

Piper's voice makes them both spring apart and Annabeth takes another deep breath before forcing herself to break his gaze and walk back towards the living room.

"You good?" Piper asks when she enters and Annabeth nods, trying to calm the way her heart is pounding. Percy shows up a second later and places a hand on her lower back making all her efforts go to waste.

They all walk out, Percy firmly keeping his hand on her lower back the whole time and they step outside to—

"A minivan?"

Leo turns to her with a raised eyebrow. "How else did you think we were going to fit six people."

He has a point.

"Shotgun," Thalia calls, already moving towards the passenger seat.

Leo slides the door open, and Piper and Jason enter first sliding onto the back, leaving her and Percy to take the two middle seats.

There's only about a foot of distance between them but it's enough to give her some space to breathe.

Some space to clear her head because, for some reason, lately Percy's presence has her thoughts all jumbled up yet shouting one thing.

Honestly, how can the urge to kiss him be so strong? Doesn't she hate him? But the only thing she can remember right now is his touch with astounding clarity.

"Annabeth?"

"Huh?"

She turns to see Thalia turning back to look at her. "Your vote?"

"Um…"

She has no idea what's been going on, having completely tuned out the conversation. God, Percy really is consuming her mind.

And since she can't seem to help it, she chances a glance at Percy. His lips turn upward for a second, as if he can tell what she's thinking. She quickly turns back to Thalia.

"Sorry, I zoned out," she admits. "What's happening?"

"Annabeth's vote doesn't count!" Leo cuts in. "We need an odd number of people anyway."

"Fine, but that doesn't mean—"

She zones out again, looking towards Percy. He's already looking at her and she has to bite her lip to stop herself from saying something stupid.

It doesn't help that his eyes slide down to clearly watch the motion.

Quickly pulling out her phone, she checks the homecoming committee group chat in an effort to distract herself.

Everything had already been set up earlier, but Connor and Travis are probably there now doing a sound check. She quickly types out a request for an update and looks out the window to avoid Percy's gaze.

Luckily, she doesn't have to wait long since Leo is pulling into the school parking lot.

"I'll drop you guys at the front," he says, turning towards the entrance. "For the ladies in the heels."

She steps out first, feeling the cool fall breeze on her skin. "I need to go in and check on everything," she says to everyone as they file out.

Piper frowns at the already forming long line and wraps her arms around herself. "Ugh, I wish I could cut the line, it's so cold."

Annabeth smiles. "Should've joined the committee. Anyway, see you guys inside!"

She steps away just as Jason is offering his jacket and Percy falls into step beside her as she starts to walk.

"What…" The question dies on her lips as she realizes that, technically, Percy is a part of the committee.

"You trying to run away from me?" he asks. It's clearly meant to be a teasing remark but there's a slight bite in his voice that shines through.

Is he…

They come to a stop at the side doors and one of the hall monitors she knows, opens up the door for them.

"Annabeth! Your team did a great job, it's beautiful in there!" Rosie says with a smile, ushering her in.

She pauses when she sees Percy behind her. "Uh…"

"He's with me," she says quickly, grabbing Percy's hand and pulling him inside. "Honorary member. And thank you, I'm glad you like everything!"

"Of course," Rosie replies, still unsure and clearly recognizing Percy Jackson for who he is, a trouble maker.

"See you!" Annabeth shoots her a quick smile and pulls Percy down the hall and towards the gym.

And to think Percy was worried about—right, she never addressed his earlier remark. And given the fact that he's quiet and hasn't made a remark about how she's on a first name basis with a hall monitor, she's pretty sure that he's still thinking about it.

She stops abruptly, turning to face him. "Still think I'm trying to run away?"

Surprise flashes behind his eyes but he doesn't respond right away. Percy without a quick remark? He must actually be worried.

And for some reason that bothers her, she hates that he's feeling that way. That she must have done something to make him think that.

"I'm not—" he starts to say but she cuts off the rest of his sentence by grabbing his suit jacket collar and tugging him closer.

The thought that it'd be nice if he puts his arms around her crosses her mind, but he just stares at her, surprised.

"You're not getting away from me," she says quietly. "Percy."

His name comes out a bit more breathless with a bit more need than she intended, but it springs him into gear. All of a sudden, his arms are deliciously around her, one hand flat against her back to pull her closer until their chests are touching.

"Yes?" he asks, his voice low and sending tingles though her body. Now this is more like it, this is the Percy she knows.

Not the worried boy from before.

"I need…" she starts, pausing to bite her lip.

"What?" There's an urgency to his voice that mimics everything she's feeling. But she can't do this, not right now anyway.

"I need," she starts again. "To see how Connor and Travis are doing with soundcheck," she ends, swiftly taking a step back from him even though it's the last thing she wants to do.

Her heart is pounding as she turns away and her mind is screaming to get back to the ocean-scented cologne and kiss him, but she ignores it, pushing the doors open and walking in.

"Well?" she says, pausing to look back at Percy still standing in the same place in total shock. "Aren't you coming? Or should I go see Connor and Travis alone?" (So what if she put a little more emphasis on Connor's name to get him riled up?)

She doesn't wait for him to respond, just turns around and keeps walking knowing he'll be by her side in a second.

Sure enough, a second later, there's a hand on her back.

A/N: Back again with an update! The tension grows, the dance is upon us, what will happen next? Tune in next time to find out!

Also for those asking, updates are every two weeks and occasionally the updates will be sooner (in a row or only one week apart) depending on how my other series are going.

In general, I post new writing every Wednesday, it can be for this or any of my other series as well. I hope that helps to clarify things!

Please Review, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Thanks for reading!