Annabeth:

It had been one week since I had taken in the dying barn owl trying my hardest with Daphne to nurse it back to health. Percy tried his best to assist with its care but his expertise on helping animals was only limited to ocean and a few fresh water animals that chose to interact with him.

Between the chaos that was cleaning up blood on our house pathway, nursing an owl back to health, and working along side Dan on a project I wish went to someone else, my energy was mostly spent.

Dan had been trying his best to work with me outside of our office hours. Despite each rejection his advances just continued. It was honestly getting to me more than it usually did.

It was 4:45 in the afternoon and I had 15 minutes left of my day with Dan and my tolerance for being flirted with was reaching its maximum limit.

"So…" Dan said with a smirk on his face.

"So, what?" I tried my hardest to let my annoyance be conveyed in my voice.

"So, what do you say we work on this project a little longer. You know in the office of course. This way we can have more time for polishing." His words conveyed a mixture or slyness with his last sentence.

While Dan and I were only fuck buddies I knew from his talks about his work ethic that he never needed to polish anything. He always completed things in one go and received approval and praise for his work. From the look on his face I could barely tell if "polishing" was supposed to be an insult or one of his tricks to get me to be in his presence.

"I don't think I can tonight." Nor should I.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

The office clock struck 5 and the whimsical chime that was an orchestra version of Dreams by Fleetwood Mac played throughout the office letting everyone know it was time to clock out. Despite my boss being a complete asshole they had good taste in clock out music.

"Annabeth, seriously we could finish this up in three days times if we work a little longer."

"Fine."

Dan insisted on ordering food for us before we continued our work. I barely wanted to spend anymore time with him let alone eat dinner with.

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By the time the food had finished being consumed, Dan and I started back on our project working in silence. Or at least trying. Occasionally Dan would interject trying to start a conversation. Most of the time I stayed silent as a response to his questioning or looked up from my blueprints with a bit of annoyance displayed on my face at the inquires that didn't apply to the task at hand.

"Annabeth, I know you're trying to ice me out but seriously think about it. You and me taking things slow and going on dates. Sounds nice doesn't it."

"No." I replied back. "No it doesn't."

Dan's face contorted into a grimace before returning back to normal.

"And why not?"

"Because we were fucked buddies and that is all we will ever be."

My answer seemed to be final one to get Dan to remain quiet for the remainder of the evening.

When we finally finished up the rough draft of blueprints and proposals I was exhausted. Five pm had easily turned into eight fifteen pm.

Daphne was with my parents for the night. Leaving me to enjoy a mom's night in after leaving Dan.

"See you on Monday, Annabeth."

Before I could even react Dan pulled my arm towards back towards him and kissed my lips and then walked down the street towards the company parking lot.

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Percy: hey wise girl.

Annabeth: hey seaweed brain.

Percy: how was your day?

Percy: are you free tomorrow?

Annabeth: it was a day to say the least. Tomorrow?

Percy: yes, tomorrow.

Annabeth: I think so.

Ding dong

The sound of the doorbell ringing out at 10:27 pm scared me slightly. When I got to the door there was no one there on the other side of the peephole but a note was slipped under my door.