Sorry for not updating in a while. School is a pain. 

Dialogue and scenes from the lightning thief all go to Rick Riordan! All rights go to uncle rick!

This one shot is an AU where Percy never found out he was a demigod, never went to camp half-blood, though Grover and Rachel (who does know about the gods) are his best friends at Goode High. Since he never went to camp, do he and Annabeth still find a way? (Tyson, who has two eyes, and Estelle are in this one shot, though it's a bit different, so if you're confused, remember it's an AU). And I know that, like, when they first met, Annabeth and Percy kind of got on each other's nerves and fought a lot, but in this... it's not really like that. Besides, Annabeth doesn't really have a reason not to like him anyway. And I think this is also pretty cliche. 

I'll explain more things at the end.

So, I apologize for any mistakes and OOC-ness. 

Percy thanks his step-dad for the ride as he steps out of the old Prius and into he crisp fall air, sighing as he begins his walk up the stairs leading to the entryway of Goode High School where he's been attending for over a year. Sophomore year had only begun last month, but now in the early stages of October, Percy's already dreading the amount of homework he'll be lugging home later this afternoon. 

Tugging the hood of his blue sweatshirt over his black haired head, Percy pushes open the double doors and steps inside the school. His worn down converse tap against the recently waxed floors as he beelines his way through the throng of teenagers to his locker where his two best friends, Grover and Rachel, are standing, talking among themselves. 

As he nears them, they greet him with quiet "hey's" and "hi's" before diving back into their conversation about homecoming that's taking place a couple weeks from now, and Percy rolls his eyes as he begins to enter the combination into the lock attached to his locker. As he's taking things out of his locker he'll be needing, and putting back things he won't, he overhears Rachel talking about having nobody to go dress shopping with, and he inwardly rolls his eyes again because, honestly, he doesn't think he's going to go. He's not a big dance person. He's usually the guy that plays basketball in the corner while everyone else dances and has fun. 

Grover's offering to take her when Percy, for whatever reason he doesn't know of, feels like a magnet is pulling him towards the doors. Right as he glances over, the doors open and the most beautiful girl he's ever seen steps in, looking down at a small piece of paper in her hand. Her curly, blonde hair rests a bit below her shoulders and she's wearing a thin strapped, orange tank top tucked into light blue, high waisted jeans. Her shoes are similar to his but instead of black, they're white. But when she looks up, his breath hitches, because her eyes are stunning. They're a sparkling, pure grey, like a rain cloud, and they're honestly a bit scary. 

He's watching her enter a combination into her locker a few yards away from his when Grover calls out his name but it sounds like it's coming from underwater. His lips twitch up in a small smile when the girl drops a notebook and he hears her swear under her breath as she picks it back up and shoves it in her locker, cheeks flushed. 

"Percy!" 

"Huh?" 

Rachel laughs at his response and follows his gaze over to where the girl is now zipping up her black backpack and throwing it over her shoulder before leaning against the locker and staring down at her phone now in hand. Even from here Percy can see that the case is just clear with a Polaroid tucked behind it. Rachel's face dawns with realization and she nudges Grover with her elbow as she says, "Ah, Percy's checking out the new girl." 

"Am not," he mumbles, even though he's still staring at her blonde curls. 

Grover peers over his shoulder. "Annabeth!?" 

The girl looks away from her phone, eyebrows furrowed as she glances around the hallway for the source of her name, and when she finally spots Grover standing beside Percy, a grin breaks out across her face and she starts her way over. "Grover? What are you doing here?" she asks as she wraps her arms around him. 

"I could ask the same about you," Grover asks as they pull away. 

"I live here now."

"You do?" 

"Yes?" 

Percy looks between his best friend and the new girl, Annabeth, a wave of confusion crashing over him as they talk like they've known each other there whole lives. Or maybe they have, what does Percy know? All he knows is he hasn't been this confused since he'd heard Grover bleat for the first time, or when he'd came home to find his ex-stepfather nowhere to be found, or the time when he'd figured out he'd been being stalked by an odd man in a trench coat in the fifth grade. This is truly the most perplexing. 

"Wait," Rachel interludes, voicing Percy's thoughts, "you two know each other?" 

"Yeah," Grover says, smiling. "We go to the same summer camp." 

Rachel's emerald green eyes widen for a moment before she smiles. "Ah, I see." 

And now Percy is even more confused than he had been before. He leans against his locker, not taking his eyes off the girl, Annabeth, as she shakes hands with Rachel and starts a small conversation with her. He must have zoned out at some point because Grover's snapping his fingers in front of his face by the time he comes back to the real world. "Huh?" he asks once again, mentally slapping himself for it. 

"Percy, this is Annabeth." Grover gestures to Annabeth. "Annabeth, Percy." 

When they shake hands, Percy can't help but notice how perfectly her hand fits in his, and his heart beats out of his chest when she holds his longer than necessary before letting him go, and his cheeks flush as she smiles up at him. "Uh," he says, "I'm Percy." 

Annabeth laughs and out of the corner of his eye he can see Rachel hiding her own chuckles behind her hand and he's tempted to flip her off, but he doesn't because Annabeth's voice reaches his ears, "I know." 

"Oh. Oh, yeah, right." His cheeks flush. "Sorry." 

"Don't be," she says and takes out the piece of paper she'd been holding as she walked into the school only a few minutes earlier, and now that he's closer, he sees it's a schedule. Her grey eyes drift across the sheet and it takes her a while before she says, "I don't know where room 126 is." 

Percy knows that room number, but still he hesitates to speak up as the words die in his throat because this girl he's known for approximately ten minutes already gets him tongue tied. But Rachel beats him to it anyway, "Percy can show you." She shoves him forward before running off with Grover, laughing. 

Great friends he has, right? 

They're walking down the hallway together in a surprisingly comfortable silence and Percy's having a hard time controlling his breathing as her shoulder brushes up against his arm as they turn a corner. 

"So," she begins and her voice sends a jolt through him. "How do you know Grover?" 

"We went to the same school in sixth grade. Both got kicked out for dealing candy bars." 

She laughs and he swears it's the most beautiful thing he's ever heard in his short time on earth, and he never wants it to stop. He smiles along as she brushes blonde curls away from her eyes and his cheeks flush when she catches him looking. Her chuckles drift away into nothingness as they near the classroom and he opens the door for her which he receives a grateful smile in return. 

Thankfully for Percy, their teacher, Mr. Norman, puts Annabeth in the empty seat beside him in the second row. One thing he learns about Annabeth throughout the class is she's a note taker, even when nobody else is taking notes, she's always writing things down in her college ruled notebook. 

He can't help but watch her instead of listening to Mr. Norman's lecture about ancient Greeks and their way of living back in B.C. When she catches him staring, instead of telling him to stop, she just sends him a frightening glare, though she's smiling so he's not all that terrified. Only a little bit. 

When the teacher calls his name and once again responds with, "huh?", the whole class laughs at him and his inability to pay attention, which offends him slightly because really, he's not as stupid as people make him out to be. It's hard having both dyslexia and ADHD. But when Annabeth stifles her own laughs, he's not offended, he just can't stop thinking about how bad he wants to be friend with her. 

----

Lunch rolls around a few classes later and there's a noticeable spring in Percy's step that wasn't there the day before as he retrieves his lunch box from his locker, and he grins when he finds Annabeth sliding a textbook into her locker. 

"Hey," Percy greets as he stands beside her. "Do you have lunch now?" 

She glances up at him. "Yeah." 

"Cool. Me too." 

"Nice." 

They end up walking together to the cafeteria and he doesn't even mind when half the student population stops their conversations to look at them. He ends up standing beside her all the way through the lunch line since he doesn't want her to be alone in such an evil place known as the lunch room, even though he refuses to eat cafeteria food. She's talking to him about this architecture class she's taking and he tries to focus on her words but Percy finds it hard to pay attention when her eyes are lighting up the way they are and her lips are turned up in a way that's so desirable. 

What is she doing to him? 

After lunch he walks her to her next class which is English which is chemistry and they both agree that it's one of the worst classes. Percy smiles when he bids her goodbye as she enters her classroom, waiting till she's in her seat before practically running to his English class as he only has two minutes left to get across the school. 

The end of the day can't come soon enough. He's passed Annabeth a couple times in the halls and they don't have anymore classes together, and he really, really wants to see her. Percy's only known her for a few hours, but it's felt like they've known each other longer than that, and he knows that's cliche but it's true. 

He's tapping his foot impatiently as he watches the small hand tick around the clock all too slowly, twirling a pencil in his hand. When the bell rings, Percy's already out of his seat, shouldering his backpack when his geometry teacher is announcing their homework for the night, and he practically bolts out the door. 

Grover and Rachel are already leaning against his locker, bickering about something meaningless, and they back away without ending their discussion when he clears his throat. As he opens his locker to put away the things he doesn't need, Percy looks over at Annabeth's locker and doesn't see her. 

"Have you guys seen Annabeth?" Percy asks, tossing his backpack over his shoulders. 

"No," Grover tells him, looking sympathetic. 

"Why?" Rachel smirks. "You got a crush?" 

"No," Percy says, though he has a hard time believing it himself. "Just wondering." 

Rachel nods. "Yeah, I saw her. She's talking to her English teacher." 

Percy nods and enters their debate about which club is better: art of save the earth, and Percy has to side with Grover on this one which result in him being punched in the shoulder by Rachel herself. He feigns being hurt and she laughs before announcing she's gonna head home and both he and Grover wave her goodbye. 

"You like her," Grover says once Rachel's out of sigh. 

"Who? Rachel?" Percy furrows his eyebrows. "She's like- no." 

"No, not Rachel!" His friend rolls his eyes. "Annabeth!" 

They begin to walk towards the doors, and Percy shoots his stepdad a text saying he's going to take the subway home. His stepdad replies a minute later with a thumbs up emoji and he tucks his phone away in his pocket. 

"So what if I do?" Percy asks. 

Grover holds his hands up in surrender. "Nothing, nothing! Just telling you." 

"Do you... think she likes me?" 

"Annabeth's a tough cookie," he says once in a while. "Hard to tell with her." 

Percy tries to hide the disappointment from his voice. "Oh." 

"Don't worry, man." Grover pats his shoulder. "Invite her to homecoming." 

"Oh, yeah, sure." 

When Grover leaves five minutes later, explaining he's got enchiladas waiting for him, Percy tiredly plops himself down on the roadside curb, holding his cheek in his hand as he watches the different colored cars whiz by in a blur. He won't lie and say he isn't disappointed by Grover's answer to his simple, yet difficult question, but he tries to push the negative feeling away because he's only known Annabeth for eight hours, not even. Yet, when someone sits themselves down next to him, their arm pressed into his, and their familiar voice says "waiting for you ride?" Percy can't help the way his heart does a flip. 

"No. You?" he asks, turning to look at her. She's looking out at the street, her grey eyes reflecting the colors of the cars driving by, and she fingers on of the clay beads hanging from a leather chord around her neck. 

Annabeth shakes her head. "No. I walk." 

"Oh, same." 

They sit in silence for a while until she stands. "You want to walk together?" 

His heart lurches and he stands up as well. "Sure. Where you heading?" 

"That way." She points to the right and he nods because that's where he's going as well. 

They walk down the sidewalk, weaving in and out of crowds of people on their way home from work and school, and Percy's smiling as Annabeth rants about English and how she hates Shakespeare because "why can't we just talk normally" and he laughs when she straight out curses the dude in another language he strangely understood. 

"I don't like it either," he tells her as they wait at a crosswalk. "It's a pain." 

"You're telling me." Annabeth follows him across the street as the walking sign lights up across the street on the street light. 

Sooner than he would have liked, they come across his street and he's forced to tell her he has to go the opposite direction as hers, and his heart thuds as he sees disappointment flash in her eyes, but as soon as it was there, it was gone. They bid goodbye, and she even tells him she'll see him tomorrow, before they go there separate places. 

He's sitting at the dinner table, picking at his blue noodles, when his mom asks how his day was from across the table as she feeds his little sister mashed carrots that makes his nose crinkle in disgust. 

"It was good." 

"Better than yesterday?" his mom asks, wiping some carrot off Estelle's lip with a napkin. 

Yesterday had been an absolute nightmare. For some reason, Thursdays were always out to get him and he has no idea why. Anyway, he'd failed a chemistry quiz that morning which ruined his mood for the entire day. He hadn't even played Call of Duty with Tyson last night like he'd promised. English had been terrible. They're studying this old play that Percy just can't seem to read of comprehend so he failed the questions the teacher sent home with him, and to make matters worse, he'd forgotten his lunch at home and had to eat the nasty cafeteria food. 

Percy nods. "Way better. I met someone today." 

"Oh?" His mom raises a suggestive eyebrow. 

"A girl?" his eight year-old brother asks teasingly, making kissing noises. 

"Shut it, Ty." Percy shoves his brother's shoulder. 

Tyson laughs and brings his empty bowl to the sink before asking their mom and stepdad if he can be excused, and after they nod their heads, he runs into the living room to play video games for a couple hours until their mom forces him into bed. 

His stepdad, Paul, swallows a drink of water before asking, "What's her name?" 

"Annabeth." Her name causes his stomach to flutter in a weird way and he bites back a smile. 

"I think she's in my English class," Paul says. "Blonde hair? Grey eyes?" 

Percy nods. "That's her." 

"You should invite her over for dinner," his mom suggests as she hoists little Estelle out of her high chair and starts carrying her in the direction of the bathroom, most likely for a bath since she's covered in mashed carrots. 

"Um, maybe," he calls after her before going to play video games with Tyson. 

-----

Friday went by uneventful. He'd gone to school and learned about things he'll probably forget by next week, especially after being home with Tyson for two whole days. He'd spent time with Annabeth again which included walking together until they were forced to go different ways, then he'd gone home and stayed up late, eating a bag of chips with Tyson as they had a Toy Story marathon, per Tyson's request (the guy loved those three little aliens). 

When Saturday rolls around, Percy's woken to small hands shaking his shoulder and a sweet, all too familiar voice calling out his name to wake up. Blinking his eyes open, Percy turns around in bed and comes face to face with his little sister, Estelle, and she gives him a gummy smile as he reaches out to ruffle her brown hair. 

"Perthy!" she exclaims adorably, holding her arms out. 

"Percy," he corrects with a soft laugh as he peels the blankets off his legs and stands, bending down to hoist Estelle into his arms, and he grimaces when she plops a slobbery kiss onto his cheek. 

She just giggles in response and he shakes her head, knowing an eleven month old is a lost cause at this points, and saunters into the kitchen where he finds his mom flipping pancakes on the stove while his stepdad leans against the counter, newspaper and coffee in hand. 

"G'morning," Percy says with a yawn and Estelle squirms in his arms so he sets her down, watching as she waddles into the living room where Tyson is sprawled on the couch, covered up in a warm blanket, and he laughs when Estelle jumps on him. 

His mom turns to give him a kind smile. "Good morning, Percy. How'd you sleep?" 

"You mean after Tyson had me stay up till two watching toy story?" 

"That stinker," his mom laughs. "I told him he had to be in bed by midnight." 

Paul chuckles along with her. "Well, you know Tyson..." 

"Fortunately, yes, I do." His mom flips the last of the pancakes and sets three stacked atop each other on a blue plate, handing them over to Percy and he quietly thanks her before grabbing the syrup and taking his spot at the table. 

After he'd completely drowned his blue pancakes in syrup, Tyson bounds into the kitchen, pulling Estelle, who's sitting on the blanket he's carrying, behind him. He raises an eyebrow when Tyson completely ditches their sister on the floor when he catches sight of the warm pancakes laid out on a plate for him, and Estelle cries out angrily when he sits down at the table to devour their mom's awesome breakfast. 

"So, Perce," his mom begins after she'd made sure Estelle was all strapped into her high chair with a bib clasped around her neck as she feeds her peach oatmeal. "Do you have any plans with friends today?" 

He suddenly remembers the plans he'd made with Annabeth yesterday after school as they'd been walking home, and he frantically checks the time, relaxing back into his seat when he sees it's only ten. They'd agreed to meet at the crossroads where they go their separate ways to get home around noon so he has some time. 

"Uh, yeah. Annabeth and I are hanging out." 

At this, Tyson perks up and smiles smugly. "Oh, your girlfriend." 

"She's not my girlfriend," Percy tells him sternly. 

"Could've fooled me," Tyson says before a spoonful of oatmeal is thrown in his direction. 

Percy finishes breakfast rather quickly and offers his mom some help with clean up which she gratefully puts him on dish duty while Tyson sweeps the floor. Once the last dishes is put on the drying rack, Percy excuses himself after his mom thanks him, and heads to his room where he exchanges his pajamas for sweatpants and a swim hoodie before he checks his phone, realizing he has ten minutes to meet Annabeth. 

After brushing his teeth, he bids goodbye to his family and has to pry Estelle of his legs before he can actually leave the apartment after making sure his wallet is tucked safely in the right pocket of his black sweatpants. 

Annabeth's waiting for him beside a stop sign, clad in black leggings and a hoodie, the same white converse she's been wearing since he'd met her a couple days ago adorning her feet, and her honey blonde hair his tied up into a messy bun at the top of her head with a few short strands framing her face, and she looks beautiful to Percy. 

"Hope I'm not late," he says once she sees him. 

"Right on time," she tells him and he silently congratulates himself. 

Not really having a destination, they walk around the city of Manhattan, conversing about things normal teenagers talk about, but he wonders why she hasn't mentioned anything about her family yet, but he doesn't ask. They decide to stop for lunch at a random fast food restaurant a few blocks away around one, and eat in almost complete silence, although it's comfortable and not at all awkward. Leftovers in hand, mainly fries they couldn't finish off after the large cheeseburger they'd both gotten, they're laughing about Grover's can chewing obsession when thunder rumbles overhead and it starts to rain. 

Annabeth tells him they're closer to her place than his so he follows her through the throng of grumpy New Yorkers walking down the sidewalk, holding umbrellas over their heads to keep them dry and he wishes he would have brought one along. That way, he and Annabeth wouldn't be running through pouring rain right about now. 

Percy's not really sure what he had been expecting when Annabeth had mentioned they were going to her place, but he certainly wasn't expecting her to lead him up the stairs of a hotel building and pull out a key card to unlock the door to room 100 on the second floor. Her cheeks are flushed as she welcomes him inside, closing the door behind them once they're both inside. 

"Is- is this where you're staying?" he asks her. 

"Home sweet home," she grumbles as she plops herself down on the stiff couch on the other side of the single bed, next to the window. 

He strides over to her and sits beside her, wincing when a spring pokes his leg from inside the couch cushion, and takes a look around. It's small, only fitting for one person so he knows she's staying here alone, and there's school work scattered across the desk across the room, including a few blueprints he knows she's using for her architecture class at Goode. 

"Um, why?" Percy questions, not trying to sound rude. 

Annabeth kicks of her shoes. "Nowhere else to go." 

"W-where are your parents?" he asks her and by the way she stiffens, he knows he's hit a soft spot. 

"California," her voice is hard, full of resentment. 

After a few full minutes of awkwardness, Percy finally asks her why she's not with her parents and staying in New York all alone, and he's just a bit frightened when her grey eyes harden and she turns to glare at him. "I don't think that's any of your business," she practically spits and Percy winces at the hatred in her tone. 

When the tension that lies between them becomes to much to bare, Percy takes out his phone and pretends his mom had texted him, saying she needs him to babysit his younger siblings for a couple hours while she and Paul run some errands. He feels bad about lying but when Annabeth doesn't so much as look up at him when he turns to leave, he tells himself not to beat himself up about getting himself out of a situation like that. 

-----

She doesn't speak to him all of Monday, and Percy starts to regret ever asking about her parents in California on Saturday back in her cheap hotel room. After the final bell rings, he races to her locker to try and get a few words in before she blows him off like she'd done all day, but he finds she's left already. 

As he's waiting outside for Paul to finish talking to another teacher, Percy asks Grover who's standing beside him, chewing on a coke can he'd found on the ground somewhere, about Annabeth and her past with her family. 

"It's complicated," is all he says before taking off. 

On Tuesday they're assigned a project in their history class on Ancient Greek religions that's due Friday, and fortunately or unfortunately (he's not too sure), their teacher had partnered him and Annabeth together. 

"Nice," Percy says then awkwardly asks if she'd like to come over to get started on their project since he knows, unlike him that she likes to get things done and out of the way, and she reluctantly agrees. 

They don't speak for the rest of the day, and quite frankly, Percy's depressed about it. He doesn't completely understand what it is about her that does it, but he hasn't felt this happy or carefree in a long time. And now that she won't even look at him, much less actually have a conversation with him, he feels all his past anxieties and depressions crawling back into him since there's no other emotion of scare them off. 

As they're walking to chemistry, the class they share together, Grover jokes that he looks like a zombie with his hood pulled over his dark haired head and earbuds tucked tightly into his ears so he can block out all background noise, but Percy doesn't care. He just wants this day to be over with so he can go home, hopefully fix things with Annabeth, and eat some blue cookies. 

And sure, he knows he's acting quite stupid, especially that he's only known Annabeth for four days and he's walking around like his dog just died, but he's not the only one at fault here and he knows she knows it too. It's not like Percy had known she'd been living alone in a busy city while her parents are all the way across the country, so really, she shouldn't have reacted the way she had. 

Yet again, Percy doesn't know how he would have reacted if she'd brought up his childhood. 

Once school ends, Percy meets Annabeth by her locker when she's talking to Rachel about something but they stop their chitter chatter when they see him approaching. He furrows his eyebrows at Rachel who just shrugs before running off to find Grover, leaving him and Annabeth who's still not looking at him alone. 

"You ready?" he asks her and she nods. 

They take the same route to his place they take everyday, and Percy can't help but notice the space between them as they walk together down the sidewalk. And, honestly, it shouldn't hurt him as much as it does. It's not like they're anything but friends, if you could even call them that anymore. 

Though, the tension lessons when he pushes open the already unlocked door to his apartment only to be bombarded with his little, energenic siblings. Estelle calls out "Perthy!" as always before wrapping her small arms around his leg and Tyson just raises an eyebrow as he gestures to Annabeth asking, "who's this?" 

"This is Annabeth," Percy introduces as he pries Estelle's arms away from him so he can lift her into his arms, making a face when she slobbers over his cheek again as she plops a kiss onto it and he sets one on her nose in return, smiling when she giggles. 

"Oh." Tyson's lips twitch up in a suggestive smirk. "Annabeth." 

Annabeth forces a smile, eyes blown wide and Percy's not sure why he feels offended. "Hi." 

Tyson's about to say something else, something rather embarrassing, when Percy interrupts him loudly, exclaiming he and Annabeth are going to go start on their project. Not thinking, he grabs her hand and pulls her through the living room, leaving his two siblings behind in the doorway, and heads to the hallway, but he's once again stopped by his mom in the kitchen. 

"Who's this?" his mom asks kindly, drying her hands on a dishtowel. Her wavy brown hair is flowing freely down her back and blue eyes bright with excitement as she smiles at Annabeth, and Percy sees a bit of flour slashed across her forehead. 

"Um, Mom, this is Annabeth," he introduces. 

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Jackson," Annabeth says. 

His mom rolls her eyes playfully. "Oh, please. Call me Sally." They're about to walk away when his mom speaks up once again, asking Annabeth if she'd like to stay for dinner. 

Annabeth blinks, swallowing thickly. "I-uh, I wouldn't want to be a burden." 

Percy frowns at her response, but after the incident that happened on Saturday, he really doesn't want to press on why she feels like she'd be a burden when asked if she'd like to stay for dinner. Personally, if he were staying in a hotel alone, probably depending on take out for meals, if he were offered to stay at a friends house for dinner, he wouldn't hesitate to say yes. 

"Oh, honey," his mom says softly. "You're not a burden. Stay for dinner. Unless your parents-"

"My parents- they won't care," Annabeth tells her while blinking repeatedly and Percy knows she's trying not to start crying. 

His mom smiles and starts to ask what she would like to have for dinner, and Annabeth's eyes are as wide as saucers as she hesitates to answer when his stepdad, Paul, joins them in the kitchen with Estelle atop his shoulders. 

"Is that Annabeth Chase I'm hearing?" he asks, smiling, and Percy remembers she's one of his many students in his multiple English classes. 

"Mr. Blofis?" Annabeth asks, her voice laced with confusion. 

"That's me. How are you?"

"Confused- I mean, good." 

Percy bites back a smile of his own and Paul straight out laughs which makes Annabeth's cheeks color a deep red of embarrassment. He sits back as his stepdad takes the lead, explaining that he's Percy's stepfather and Annabeth nods along, listening but looking a bit envious to what reason Percy doesn't know. 

After the introductions are officially done and his family has all officially met Annabeth, Percy leads her to his room that his mom made him clean last night much to his frustration, but now he's glad she had, not that he'd ever admit it to her. He keeps the door open a few inches in respect of having a girl in his room, and they settle onto his bed to finally get started on their project. 

"You didn't tell me Mr. Blofis is your stepdad," Annabeth says after a few moments. 

Percy can't help but grumble out a, "Well, we haven't really been talking recently, have we?" 

He hears her sigh before, "I'm...sorry." 

Looking up at her then, Percy sees she's staring down at her notebook in front of her where they'd been listing different versions of Greek myths to look up, though she seems to already know mot of them. Her cheeks are flushes and her bottom lip is caught between her teeth, and he knows she had a hard time apologizing. 

She continues, "For Saturday. I kind of... blew up on you then ignored you all of yesterday. I mean, I should have expected a question about my parents-" she says the word parents with such malice in her tone that Percy almost flinches back. "-at some point." 

Percy reaches across the bed and wraps his hand around hers and she gives his a squeeze in response that gets his heart racing. "Hey, um, I'm not going to force you into telling me anything because, as you said, it's none of my business, but just know that... that I'll be here when you're ready to talk about it. I'll always be here," he says sincerely and the truth of his words scare him. He's said it before but he's only known her for six days and he already plans on standing by her side for as long as life will let him, friends or not. 

Her eyes show she's doubtful, and he wants to do anything to prove to her that he's not going anywhere anytime soon, but before he can, she smiles and says, "No, you deserve to know. After the way I've been treating you." Then she dives into a deep explanation about her her mother had left her with her busy father when she'd been only a baby, and Percy can kinda-sorta relate to that in a way, and he frowns when she tells him her father hadn't wanted her either and tried sending her back to her mom. 

"Gosh, I'm sorry," Percy says quietly, giving her hand a squeeze. 

She just shakes her head and continues to tell him how she'd been pushed away from her dad most her life and when he remarried to her stepmom and had her two younger brothers, Bobby and Matthew, that she'd been the burden of the family ever since. His eyes widen when she says she'd ran away at the age of seven because she'd felt so unwanted in her home in Virginia where they'd lived at the time. "They... my dad didn't look for me. Or maybe he did, but no that I know of," she says, eyes misty. "I didn't hear about any missing child or see anything on it so I assumed I really wasn't running and didn't go back." 

"And you were seven?" he asks, not being able to comprehend a literal child running away and living in an alley with nothing but a hammer because her family had made her feel so unwanted. 

Annabeth nods. "I-I've been back once. A couple years ago. It...didn't work out so I left again, and the next thing I know, I hear they've moved across the country, leaving me here in New York." 

When a tear escapes her eye, Percy has to try to resist the urge to reach over and wipe it away, but he doesn't want to overstep his boundaries so he keeps it pressed against the bed while the other one holds on tight to hers. 

She wipes it away with a humorless laugh. "I'm sorry. It's stupid." 

His heart squeezes painfully within his chest and he's quick to shake his head and respond, "No, no, it's not stupid. At all. You've been hurt by people who were supposed to be your family and look out for you. I- I understand that." 

Giving him a surprised look, Annabeth says, "Y-you do?" 

He nods and swallows the forming lump in his throat as the painful memories come swimming back to the surface, and he doesn't really want to talk about it, but Annabeth had just told him all about her childhood trauma so it's only fair he does the same, right? "Um, Paul... he's not the first stepdad I've had." 

Annabeth raises a curious eyebrow for him to carry on. 

"My dad- he left before I was even born," Percy begins, "My mom had barely been twenty and he left her alone and pregnant. She says she understands and that I shouldn't hold a grudge against him, but I really can't help but do just that." 

"Kind of similar situation," she says solemnly and he nods his head. 

"Anyways, she remarried when I was three to this absolute pig," he spats. "He drank constantly, always played poker and gambled with his equally as nasty friends.  Had no respect for my mom or any woman for that matter. He wasn't only disrespectful, but he- he..." 

She squeezes his hand. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." 

"I-I have to- need to," he tells her and takes a deep breath before continuing, "He started by stealing my money that I'd earned, threatening to punch my lights out if I told my mom." He doesn't realize he's crying until Annabeth reaches over with a slight hesitation and swipes the tears away with the pads of her thumbs, and he relishes her warm, soft touch. 

Percy keeps his eyes on her as he humorlessly laughs, "but I guess stealing my money wasn't enough for Smelly Gabe. So he'd get really drunk and....he'd hit me. Hard." 

Annabeth whispers out, "I'm sorry." 

He shakes his head and wipes his tears away. He rarely ever cries and the wetness against his cheeks feels odd and unfamiliar, and he's not sure if he likes it. Ever since he'd been a little boy, his mom had always told him to cry when he needed to cry and not bottle everything up because it leads to unhealthy habits, but that's exactly what he'd done. If the ice cream on the cone fell onto the sidewalk, he'd bit his lip and move on. When he'd fall off his skateboard and skin his knee, or the time when he'd actually needed stitches, Percy always had blinked the tears away, bit his lip, and pushed the pain down deep inside him. He hadn't even cried when Gabe threw empty bear bottles at his head or shoved him into the wall, or slides his shoulder open with the pocket knife. He'd kept his head held high and moved on. 

"Then after putting up with it till I was twelve, I found out he'd been hitting my mom as well," he says, remembering the memory all too well. He'd just gotten home from school and had been in his room when shouting erupted from the kitchen. Being twelve years old, and an abuse victim, Percy had crept alongside the wall and peered into the kitchen and found Gabe raising his hand and his mom flinching back after she refused to make bean dip because she'd promised Percy she'd make him blue cookies. 

"My gods," Annabeth mutters, clearly fed up with Gabe's behavior, and Percy nods along in agreement, not even asking why she'd used gods, putting it off as they were supposed to be working on Ancient Greek religions and somehow gotten wrapped up in sharing childhood trauma. 

"Then when he'd gone to another room, I finally told her. She sent me off to go find Grover and keep ourselves busy for a few hours," Percy tells her, "and when I came home that night, there was no sign of Gabe." 

She gives a small smile. "Good thing she got rid of that bastard." 

Once again, Percy agrees. "Yeah. She met Paul a couple years later and got married last year." 

"Have- have you talked to anyone about this before?" She asks, seemingly embarrassed. 

"Only to Grover," he answers. "You?" 

"Like you, Grover," she says. "Guess we both had a pretty messed up childhood, huh?" 

Percy nods. "Guess so." 

They sit in silence until Annabeth's pushing all their school supplies off to the side and moving closer to him, and his breath is already hitching even before she's wrapping her arms around his neck, hugging him, and asking if this is okay. In response, Percy just circles his own arms around her back, burying his face in her hair and he breathes in her scent of lemons. He sits there in her arms and she in his, letting each other hold each other, and he can't help noticing how well their bodies fit against each other, and how good it felt to let out everything he'd been keeping to himself since being twelve. 

When they pull away, the tips of Annabeth's ears are pink and he's pretty sure his own cheeks are a good shade of red. 

Annabeth tucks a curl behind her year. "Uh, sorry." 

"Don't be... I liked it," Percy tells her with a grin. 

She smiles. "I've been deprived of a good hug for a long time." 

He smirks. "I hope my hug was good enough for you." 

They're about three quarters of the way done with their history project when his mom calls out to them announcing dinner's ready, and they quickly tuck everything back into their backpacks before heading into the kitchen to find blue spaghetti set onto the table. Annabeth doesn't ask about the odd pigment as she sits down beside Percy at the table, across from Tyson who's watching the two of them with raised eyebrows throughout all of dinner, and by the way Annabeth occasionally squirms in his seat, Percy knows she's uncomfortable with it so he kicks his little brother's leg under the table, earning him an "Ow!" 

After an abundant amount of blunt teasing from Tyson and spaghetti being flung across the table from Estelle, landing on Annabeth's shirt, though she just laughs it off, Percy's walking her back to the hotel she's staying at once she'd finished helping his mom clean up dinner. The space is again non-existent between them as they walk side by side, and Percy feels as though everything is back to being right in the world. 

"You're welcomed over whenever," Percy says as they near the hotel. "My mom loves you." 

Annabeth hums. "Thanks. I'll keep that in mind." 

They pause in front of the double doors leading to the lobby of the hotel, and Percy's only now realizing their height difference, which is quite a bit if you ask him. His mind tells him he's tall enough that if he pulls her into a hug right now, her head would fit right underneath his chest, and he tells his mind to shut up because his face is already red enough as she tells him: 

"P.J. Clarke's tomorrow after school," she says quickly. "I'd like to get to know you better." 

The before he can respond, she's disappeared into the building. 

-----

School had been exhausting and boring, and though he'd gotten away with fairly little homework, he still has to finish the homework that had been assigned, and he's not looking forward to it. But the fact that he's sitting across the table from easily the most beautiful girl he's ever laid his eyes upon, kind of makes up for it. Not to mention the delicious cheeseburger and fries he's been devouring since the moment it was set in front of him. 

Annabeth's absentmindedly swirling the straw around in her half finished chocolate milkshake she'd gotten along with her cheeseburger when she asks what he likes to do in his free time, such as a hobby. 

"Swimming," he says easily. "I've just always felt a connection to the water. Especially the ocean."

Ever since he'd found his love for the water, Percy can't surpass the feeling of utter strength and energy he gets from stepping into any body of it, including the baths he'd taken as a young child or the showers he takes now. And though it sounds absolutely insane, he'll get this tug in his gut every once in a while, and the water seems to obey him. If he think the water is to warm or too cold, it instantly heats or cools itself down. Too wavy? Immediately calms. Percy doesn't really know what it is, but he assumed his love for the ocean came from his father- the guys apparently loved the ocean.

"Are you on the swim team?" Annabeth asks him after taking a sip of her milkshake. 

"Yeah. The season ended just a couple weeks ago," he tells her. 

"Bummer," she says with a small smile. "I would have totally gone to your meets." 

His eyes widen. "Really?" 

"Really," she confirms. 

Percy can't keep the smile of his face. "Why?"

 "Because you're my friend, Seaweed Brain. Anymore stupid questions?"

"Seaweed Brain?" 

"Yeah. You like the ocean so your brain is full of seaweed," Annabeth says in a duh tone. 

Percy chuckles and thinks for a moment. "Alright, Wise Girl. What about you?" 

She doesn't even phase at the nickname, just smiles. "Architecture. I love designing buildings." 

"Seriously?" He leans forward, interested. 

She nods. "Yeah. My- uh, my main goal in life is to build something permanent." 

Does it have to be a building, Percy thinks as he watches her throw her hands in the air when she gets carried away in talking about her future which includes attending NYU and studying to be an architect, maybe even starting her own company and all Percy can do is smile and try to carry along with what she's talking about, but it's difficult. Her grey eyes are sparkling like they do when she talks about something she's passionate about and a selfish part of him wonders if she talk about him and if her eyes light up the way they do, but he knows it's just wishful thinking. She's also smiling so wide wide that's making his heart melt as she says something about actually getting to design something big over last summer and Percy's having a hard time looking away from her lips. 

"I think that's really cool," Percy cuts in. 

Her eyes widen adorably.  "Really? Usually people laugh or scoff..." 

"Yeah," he says as he leans back in his seat to get a full look at her and he mentally high fives himself as he sees her cheeks painted a light pink, and he holds up his fingers in a square shape, moving them different angles to get a good shot of her. "I can see it very clearly. Annabeth Chase, the most amazing, successful architect to ever walk the earth. Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

Annabeth laughs softly and takes another sip of her milkshake as she looks out the window where impatient New Yorkers are on their way home from a busy day at work. Some even have umbrellas drawn as it had been sprinkling for the last few minutes. Her eyes reflect the colors coming from outside, taking on a light yellow and orange color and Percy really feels like he's starting to take the fall for this girl and that scares the crap out of him. 

She finally looks back at him after a few minutes, lips drawn into a small, genuine smile and he returns it, fighting the urge to reach across the table and hold her hand. She opens her mouth to say something but then something flashes in her eyes and her mouth snaps shut, and Percy wants to know what she'd been about to say as badly as he wants a blue cookie. But, instead, she looks down at her empty plate as she says, "So...you and Rachel?"

Percy chokes on his coke that's sadly not blue, and he covers his mouth as he coughs until his eyes sting with unemotional tears, and Annabeth is watching him from across the table with her eyebrows drawn and lips tilted down in a frown. Once he calms down, he blinks his eyes before assuring her there's been noting between him and Rachel. 

But Annabeth doesn't seem to completely believe him as her lips form a thin line and she arches a single eyebrow, and Percy feels panic seeping into him. He knows how jealousy works in girls and Annabeth's scary enough when she's mad, so he really doesn't want to see her green eyed monster come out. 

"Honest!" Percy squeaks out, holding his hands up as he tries to explain, "Rachel- she doesn't date. Anyone. I promise. Besides, I-I... kind of have a- uh...." he trails off when his throat becomes suddenly dry and he's tugging at the collar of his hoodie as the temperature in the small restaurant seems to increase at least a hundred degrees. And it certainly is not helping that Annabeth looks so good in the plain turtle neck knitted sweater she's wearing tucked into blue skinny jeans, and her blonde hair is tied up in a messy bun at the top of her head, short strands that can't fit falling in front of her face as she leans forward, nodding for him to continue. And he wishes he could, because he really wants to tell her how he feels about her and maybe if he's lucky, she'll feel the same. But before he can finish, he feels his phone buzz in his pocket and he sees a text from his mom asking if he can babysit Tyson and Stella for a couple hours. Percy shoots her back a quick text before stuffing it in his pocket, standing. "I have to babysit," he explains, giving her an apologetic smile as her shoulders his backpack. "You're welcomed to come over if you want to." 

She copies his movements after finishing off the last couple sips of her milkshake and swings her backpack over her shoulders. "I think I'm going to head...home and get some homework done if you don't mind. Thanks though." 

"Of course not." Percy waves her off and after paying for their food, they walk out of the restaurant together, and he's dreading the moment they have to go their separate ways at the crossroads between their buildings. "See you tomorrow?" 

"Tomorrow," Annabeth confirms and steps onto her tiptoes to press a quick kiss to his cheek before running off towards the hotel building she's staying at, leaving Percy blushing in the middle of Manhattan traffic. 

He finally breaks out of his daze when an impatient Taxi driver honks and shouts at him angrily, and Percy has a bounce in his step as he finishes his walk home with a smile on his still blushing face. 

-----

The next day during the first few minutes of first period, Percy's worried when Annabeth doesn't show up for class right away like she usually does. Usually they walk together, but she hadn't been at her locker either and Grover had just shrugged before running off to his class. His eyebrows furrow as his brain takes him through all the negative possibilities that could have happened to her since she's all along and she walks to school everyday. What if she'd been mugged? Or kidnapped? Hit by a car? Came across an angry gang? Okay, maybe he's more than just worried. 

He tries to pay attention to Mr. Norman's teachings about the nonexistence of individualism in Ancient Greece, he really does, but he can't help his eyes flickering over to the vacant spot beside him every other minute. The seat's supposed to be occupied by the girl he's gotten to know and take quite a liking to over the passed week, but instead it's occupied by air. 

Percy's reaching for his phone in his backpack to attempt on contacting her just to make sure she's safe, but then he remembers he doesn't even have her phone number and lets out a string of curses underneath his breath. 

"Are you alright, Mr. Jackson?" Mr. Norman pauses his lecture to ask. 

"Oh, yes, my- uh, my pencil broke." Percy forces a smile and he lets out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding when Mr. Norman buys his excuse, even though he's using a mechanical pencil, and goes back to teaching the half asleep class. 

He's dozing off due to boredom and his teacher's quiet voice when the door slowly opens and he snaps his head up in the direction, seemingly wide awake now, and he watches as Annabeth Chase slips into the classroom, holding her textbook close to her chest as she mutters Mr. Normal a quick apology. He waves her off and logs her name into his computer for attendance as she walks to the second row and plops herself down in the seat next to him. 

Her hair is disheveled, falling out of her messy ponytail, and she looks utterly exhausted. She's out of breath, he notices, and her tan skin glistens with sweat, and Percy starts to make assumptions he shouldn't be making when he sees a long, red gash along the side of her neck as she leans over to take a notebook and pencil out of her backpack. 

"Are you okay?" Percy whispers as his eyes rake over her frame, looking for any other injuries that are noticeable. She's wearing ripped jeans and a blue hoodie that looks exceptionally good on her and the same white converse, though they seem a bit dirtier than they had yesterday, covering her feet as she taps them against the white tiles floor. 

Annabeth nods and starts to copy down the notes on the chalkboard. "I had to run to school; my alarm clock didn't go off and a tree branch caught me on the on the way over." 

"Okay," Percy says, although he's skeptical.

Class ends and they walk together as far as they can before they have to go different ways; him to physical education and her to geometry. 

The next time he sees her is during lunch. He's late since he'd stayed back in chemistry for some extra help on an assignment he couldn't figure out, so she's already sitting at their table next to Rachel and across from Grover. They're laughing at a joke Grover told, and his heart flutters at Annabeth's joyous expression. He slides into the seat beside Grover, across from Annabeth, and he's suddenly confused when he sees the side of her neck. 

The once red, nasty gash is now a thin, white line. A scar. 

Percy blinks as he opens his lunch box and takes out his food, coming to conclusion that it's just his mind playing tricks on him. Now that he thinks of it, he's noticed little white lines littering her arms, and there's a white line starting from her temple all the way to her jawbone, now including the one on her neck so maybe it's always been there. Happy with his conclusion, Percy joins in on their conversation about Grover's obsession with Enchiladas. 

After school, Percy walks Annabeth back to her hotel and halfway there, their hands brush against each other, and his breath stutters in his chest because he swears jolts of electricity shoot up his arms every time the back of her hand brushes against his. And his brain comes to an abrupt stop when she slides her hand into his,though he doesn't let go until he has to. 

When he gets back to his apartment, Tyson is following him around with little Estelle in tow, asking if he and Annabeth were a couple yet. 

Percy just laughs and ruffles his brown hair. "No, Ty." 

Tyson groans. "But, brother! You two are perfect for each other!" 

"Who says?" Percy raises an eyebrow, grabbing the cheez-it box out from one of the many cupboards lining the wall of the kitchen. He takes two bowls out of a different cabinet and pours the orange squares into them before handing them to his little siblings. Estelle waddles back into the living room where a cartoon is playing on the TV while Tyson just rolls his eyes. 

"Uh, me," he tells Percy matter-of-factly, "and Mommy, and the universe." 

Percy laughs. "You're delusional, Ty." 

-----

The next couple of days, Annabeth doesn't show up to school at all and if Percy thought he'd been worried when she'd been late on Wednesday, he's absolutely panic-stricken now by her sudden disappearance. Not to mention she'd left Percy to present their history project by himself that Friday morning, but that's beside the point. 

Percy had been wanting to ask Grover, thinking he may know of her whereabouts since he couldn't just quickly send her a text because he still hasn't asked for her phone number, and he curses himself out for it. The only problem is his best friend is also no where to be found after seventh period passes. 

Then he'd been informed by Rachel before she'd ran off to art club that Grover had left shortly after lunch, and she had no clue where Annabeth's been. 

"I'm sure she's fine, Percy," his mother assures him after dinner that night. 

"Maybe she came down with something Wednesday night," Paul offers from his spot beside his mom where they're doing the dishes together. 

Percy huffs. "You guys don't understand. She's on her own, staying at that hotel down the road. Her parents are all the way in California and now she's missing. For two days! Doesn't that seem a bit strange to you?" 

His mom turns away from the sink to give him a stern look that he winces from. Her hands are on her hips as she says, "and you're meaning to tell me you hadn't offered her to stay here?" 

He stays quiet as his face heats up. 

"Perseus Jackson!" 

Percy winces at the tone of her voice that she rarely ever uses unless someone is in huge trouble, like the time when Tyson stole all the cookies, or when he'd seen a bird outside on the fire escape and let it inside. That had been fun. "I know! I'm sorry!" He holds his hand up in surrender and his mom softens. "Next time I see her, I will." 

"Good." 

-----

There had been no sign of Annabeth nor Grover since Wednesday, so when Rachel asked him to accompany her to an art show their school was hosting on Sunday afternoon, Percy agreed to get his worried mind of his missing friends. Art really isn't his thing, and hasn't been ever since he'd managed to destroy all the paints in art class in the first grade, so he smiles and nods as Rachel talks animatedly about an art piece that doesn't seem all too intriguing to Percy. 

After another hour of following his red-headed friend around the school gym, looking at different art pieces which included just a simple pair of glasses sitting on a podium that seemed to catch everyone's attention, including photographers (though Percy doesn't understand what's so special about them but Rachel certainly does), Rachel's gone to sign up one of her own art pieces for the next art show that's taking place in a couple months or so when his phone rings. 

It's an unknown number and Percy doesn't usually answer them since half the time it's just spams or people frantically calling the wrong number, but something tells him to press the answer call button so he does. Holding the phone up to his ear he says, "Hello?" 

"Perr-cy!" An all too familiar voice exclaims loudly in his ear. 

His eyebrows shoot to his hairline. "Grover?" 

"That's me!" 

"G-man! Where have you been?" 

There's a pause of silence and Percy's worried he's hung up on him which sparks an unwanted flame of anger within him, but then again, why shouldn't he be angry? Grover had just disappeared after lunch on Wednesday without saying goodbye or mentioning where he'd been going to him or Rachel, and Annabeth might just be with him. But then the line crackles and Grover's speaking loudly in his ear again: 

 "Oh, you know. Trouble at home." 

Percy nods, aware that Grover can't see him, though his best friend knows him well enough to know what he's doing, and he asks if Annabeth's with him by any chance, and much to his relief, Grover confirms she is and then invites them to their go to pizza place at six before hanging up the phone, leaving Percy standing there like an idiot. 

He blinks a couple times in confusion but he quickly overcomes it and checks his watch, eyes widening when he realizes he's been at an art show for over three hours, and he only has a half an hour before he and Rachel are meeting their friends for pizza. 

So he sets out to search for Rachel, finding her across the gymnasium, examining a very well done self portrait of some student from a different school with wide eyes, and Percy can understand why this art piece is so amazing, but not the others, and certainly not the glasses that people are still taking pictures of. 

"We're going to meet Grover and Annabeth for pizza," Percy tells her as she starts walking towards him after he'd called her name several times to catch her attention, and she perks up at the mention of food and practically drags him out of the school. 

So all he had to do to leave was offer her food? 

They're walking down the sidewalk towards the pizza place they eat at quite frequently, almost once a week, with a sensible amount of space between them, and Rachel had just finished another long, excruciating rant about those glasses and again, Percy just smiles and nods because he's still not grasping the idea that glasses could be such a masterpiece. People wear them everyday! 

Once she finishes, there's a comfortable silence that settles between them, and Percy's kicking away dead leaves with his tennis shoe covered foot, hands stuffed into the pockets of his blue jeans when Rachel suddenly blurts out: 

"You should ask her out." 

Percy feels as though the wind's been knocked out of him. "E-excuse me?"

Rachel nudges him with her elbow and he gives her a look which causes a laugh to escape her as she holds her hands up in surrender. "Oh, come on! It's obvious you like her!" 

His cheek flush. "What-what makes you say that?"

She rolls her green eyes and stuffs her hands into the pockets of her light purple jacket, blowing a red curl away from her freckled face as she says, "You can't be serious, Percy! You've been the happiest you've been in such a long time and anyone who knows you well enough can see it. All you do is talk about her and- it's just obvious you like her." She gives him a supportive smile. "Now all you gotta do is muster up the courage to ask her out." 

Rubbing the back of his neck, Percy asks, "Do you think she likes me?" 

"You're oblivious. She's known you for a little over a week and won't shut up about you when you're not around," Rachel tells him and he rolls his eyes. "No, Percy, I'm serious. I invited her to come over after school last Friday and I swear it was Percy this- Percy that the whole time she was over." 

"That doesn't mean she likes me," Percy tells her. "I talk about Grover all the time." 

Rachel laughs. "No, this is different. I promise. When she talks about you or someone mentions your name, her eyes light up and she smiles... she likes you, Percy. Just ask her out. Or just take her to homecoming next Saturday. I guarantee she'll say yes." 

"I'll-I'll think about it," Percy says after a moment. 

Rachel sighs. "Good enough." 

When they reach the restaurant and step inside, the bell above the door announcing their arrival, Percy scans the area for their friends and he finds Grover and Annabeth already seated at a booth to the right beside the window, sitting across from each other. Him and Rachel make their way over but before he can slide in next to Grover, Rachel ducks under his arm and takes that spot, leaving the only empty seat beside Annabeth, though he's not really complaining. But he still gives her a dirty look which she responds with a smug one. 

Annabeth grins up at him as he sits beside her and their arms brush up against each others like they do when they walk home from school, and his stomach does a flip. They order sodas and a half cheese- half olive pizza, it's apparently Annabeth's favorite and he keeps that in mind for possible future plans, and converse about random things until it arrives. 

An hour later as they're finishing up the pizza, laughing at Grover who peels the cheese of and just eats the sauce and crust, Percy's wiping his sweaty palms against his jeans as he asks if he can speak with Annabeth outside, and he smiles nervously when she agrees. As they walk towards the door, Percy looks behind his shoulder and finds Rachel and Grover both giving him thumbs up and he gives them a nervous look. 

Everything okay?" Annabeth asks once they're standing outside, the cold breeze nipping at her nose, turning it a light shade of pink and Percy takes in her appearance. She's dressed in black leggings and a hoodie with those same white converse, possibly the only pair of shoes she owns, though they're even dirtier than they'd been on Wednesday and he thinks he sees a drop of blood on them but he doesn't ask. Her blonde curls are loose around her shoulders and the wind causes them to whip around her face that's glowing beneath the street lamps, grey eyes sparkling and Percy's finding it hard to speak. He's pretty positive he's falling for this girl. 

Percy nods, his mouth suddenly dry. "Yeah, I just want to ask you a question. 

She arches an eyebrow. "What is it?" 

He takes a deep breath and shakily grabs her hand, holding on tightly, hoping she doesn't mind how sweaty they are but when she intertwines their fingers he knows she doesn't, and he keeps his eyes focused on hers as he says, "I- I know we've only known each other for a short time, like only a little over a week, but I honestly feel like I've known you much longer than that. And I've been wondering if- if you wanted-" 

There's a loud crash sounding from the down the street that rattles the ground followed by a loud grunting noise, and though Percy's upset he'd been interrupted after being so close to telling her how he feels about her, he's also quite curious to what's making all the ruckus somewhere down the road. 

Annabeth notices too and looks behind his shoulder, eyes flashing dangerously, as she grips something clinging around her waist, and as he looks closer, Percy realizes it's a sheath with a hilt of some weapon sticking out. His eyebrows furrow as he tries to figure out why she needs a weapon with her, but another crash sounds from behind him and he turns around but doesn't see anything out of the ordinary. 

Suddenly the door to the restaurant slams open, Grover and Rachel both exiting looking worries as they come to stand beside Percy and Annabeth. Rachel's clenching her fists as she follows Annabeth gaze and Grover's clutching his read pipes, for whatever reason Percy doesn't know. 

"Do you think-?" Rachel looks at Annabeth who hasn't taken her eyes away from the alleyway down the road since the first crash sounded, and she nods slowly. 

"Most likely," Annabeth responds before bolting towards the noise and Rachel and Grover immediately follow her, leaving Percy standing beneath the street lights alone, watching their running figures in both confusion and alarm. 

He attempts to catch up to them, his legs burning from the physical excessive he's not use to receiving on a daily basis. "Wait, wait, wait! We're running towards the noise? Shouldn't we bre running away?" Percy yells after them and nearly runs into Annabeth's back as she abruptly stops a few feet from the opening of the alley where the noises are coming from. 

She's breathing heavily, fingers still gripping the hilt of her weapon (which Percy is still wondering why she even has it) as she narrows her eyes, trying to make out the large figure at the end of the alley, digging though dumpsters and boxes. Her eyes suddenly widen in fear as she warns, "Get down!" 

They all drop to the ground right as a dumpster is thrown over their heads, skidding to a stop across the street, and oddly, no one but them seems to have notices. Percy shakily stands back up, eyes blown wide. "What the-" but before he can finish, Annabeth slaps a hand over his mouth and shakes her head, and he understands that he can't make any noise to attract whatever is hiding deep in the dark alley. 

Annabeth beckons the three of them with a flick of her hand to follow as she presses herslef against the brick wall of a tall building next to the alley's opening, keeping her head forward so she can keep an eye on the giant dumpster throwing beast. Percy leans over her should in attempt to get a better look but someone grabs his shoulder right as he makes out horns sticking out of the giant's head, and he's pulled backwards. He meets Grover's eyes and his friend shakes his head as he pulls Percy behind him and Rachel which makes him more confused. 

Do they know what this thing is? Are they trying to protect him? And most importantly, what the hell is going on? Are the questions currently running through his mind when he hears Annabeth's breath hitch and he's snapped out of his train of thought, and he keeps himself from asking if she's okay when she says, "he wants Percy." 

"Well, yeah. No shit," Rachel whispers. 

Grover ignores her. "How are we supposed to get to camp fast enough? None of us have a car." 

Annabeth presses her lips together as her eyebrows furrow. He's seen this look on her multiple times during first period at school when she's working through a hard question or staring at the notes scrawled over the chalkboard, but never when she's trying to figure out a way to get away from a dumpster throwing giant. Finally, her shoulder slump as she mutters, "I don't know." 

"You don't know?" Grover's eyes widen. 

"I..." she trails off and Percy can see the faint red tint of her cheeks in the streetlights shining down on them. Huffing, Annabeth stops her foot against the sidewalk in frustration as she clenches her fists and looks away. 

"Annabeth," Percy whispers, reaching out to grab her hand but he stops himself, letting his arm drop back to his side as he purses his lips, remembering he shouldn't be making any noise. He watches intently as she sighs and unsheathes her weapon, a bronze dagger. 

"I'll try to fight him off while you all run," Annabeth tells them. 

Percy's eyes widen. "What? No, we're not leaving you." 

"We don't have any other choice, Percy," she tells him. 

"There- there has to be," he insists and looks to Grover but for help but he just looks down guiltily and Percy feels his heart drop to his stomach. He turns back to Annabeth, eyes blown wide, and she's watching him crazy as if he'll do something reckless. His brain is running five thousand miles a second and he blurts out the first idea that comes to mind, "Then we'll stay and fight with you. Right guys?" 

No one responds. 

"No," Annabeth tells him sternly after a second, her knuckles turning white from the death grip she has on the hilt of her dagger, and as tough as she's acting, Percy can see right through the facade and knows she's terrified. "You and Rachel have nothing to fight with. Besides, the whole point of me staying is so Grover and Rachel can get you to safety." 

"She's right, Percy," Grover chimes in from beside him and Percy stares at him, not believing that his best friend, the kindest most compassionate person he's probably ever met besides his mom is agreeing on leaving their friend alone with a dumpster throwing giant. "We don't have a car so this is the only way. I'm sorry." 

Rachel winces as another dumpster is thrown across the street, taking out a stop sign in the process. "If we don't go now then we may never make it." She turns to Percy. "I'm sorry, Percy, but they're both right. This is the only way and we have to go. Now." 

Shaking his head in disbelief, Percy slowly turns back to Annabeth who's looking right back at him, grey eyes wide and pleading with him to go but how can he possibly do that knowing he's leaving a friend to quite possibly die? For his sake? It doesn't seem fair. Percy clenches his fist and glares at the three of them. "You guys are crazy. I can't believe any of you. This- this thing is after me and you all want to sacrifice one person for my sake? If anyone should stay to fight, it's me, and you all get to safety." 

"No!" Annabeth whisper-shouts as she stands right in front of him, and he means right in front of him. Her eyes flash dangerously and she points her dagger at him. "You don't understand. You don't understand any of this. You don't know what that thing wants. You don't know what that thing will do to you if he gets his hands on you. Grover, Rachel, and I do. And we're all telling you to leave. Are you even listening to me!?" 

The truth is, he really wasn't. His heart is thumping wildly and he can hear the blood pounding in his ears as she yells at him, and all Percy can focus on his the brightness of her grey eyes underneath the streetlights and the dangerous glint they hold. She's glaring up at him, her dagger back down at her side, away from him, and the breath catches in his throat. The girl he's known for less than two weeks and come to enjoy being around is trying to risk her life for his so he can get to safety. Whatever that means. 

Without thinking, he leans down and presses his lips to hers. 

For a moment she stands there, and Percy's worried he'd been picking up all the wrong hints throughout their short friendship, but just as he begins pulling away, Annabeth grabs a fistful of his sweatshirt and pulls him back down, and he swears there's fireworks. Sparks ignite in his stomach and it's the best kiss he's ever had. Granted, it's the first kiss he's ever had but that's besides the point. 

They pull away after who knows how long, breathless, and she's staring at him with a whole different kind of fire. One burning with passion but then she blinks, eyes widening as she realizes what she's just done, and lets go of him all together. Annabeth clears her throat and now she's back to glaring up at him but it's halfhearted. 

"Go," she says sternly. 

Percy's starting to protest when something screeches to a halt behind them and they all turn around to find a white car parked along side a curb. A boy with dark, shaggy hair falling bin front of his dark eyes, dressed in black clothing is leaning against the back seat, swinging the keys on his index finger, and Percy's eyebrows furrow in confusion because this kid looks too young to drive. 

"Someone need a car?" the boy asks. 

"Couldn't you have come sooner?" Annabeth asks and snatches the keys out of his hand. 

The boy rolls his eyes. "Sorry, your majesty. I forgot I must be of your service at all times." 

"Well, remember next time," Annabeth mutters. "How'd you even get a car?" 

"Well, okay, so the pizza delivery guy got lost again, and I saw he left his car, so when I sensed you all needed help, I stole it and shadow traveled it over here," the boys says, spreading out his arms as if to say: ta-da! Look what I did!  "But we should better hurry. Not because that... thing over there is going to eat us, but because the pizza guy is going to be wondering about where his car is." 

Annabeth stares at him. "Nico-fine, whatever. It works."

Percy watches Annabeth and this Nico guy talk back and forth in a joking manner, almost like they were teasing each other, and something red and hot swirls in his stomach, though he can't pin point what it is. He's never felt this feeling before and he's already decided that he doesn't like it. He narrows his eyes as Nico laughs at something Annabeth says before turning serious again, and Percy wonders if there's something between them. But then why would have Annabeth responded to the kiss if she already had a boyfriend? Wouldn't she have pushed him away? Wouldn't she have told him earlier? And if she already had a boyfriend, why would she have kissed him on the cheek a few days ago? All this is making his head hurt. 

"....should really, really get going," Nico says, snapping Percy out of his daze and he follows the younger boy's gaze to find the large figure standing at the opening of the alley, and his large, cow like, eyes seem to be staring straight into Percy's. 

"You're not driving," Annabeth tells Nico.

Nico frowns. "Why not? I am, what, eighty?" 

Percy has never been so confused in his life, but he holds back his questions about everything going on right about now and takes the keys from Annabeth since he's the only one with a drivers license, and slips into the drivers seat. He places the key into the ignition and twists, sighing in relief as the car roars to life without a problem. He may or may not have been expecting the car to not work like in the movies. 

"You didn't say you could drive," Annabeth says as she sits down in the passenger seat, leaving the rest of their friends to cram in the backseats along with empty pizza boxes and receipts. Her nose crinkles at the smell of greasy pizza, and she buckles up. 

"No one asked," he tells her as he steps on the gas and starts driving down the streets of Manhattan, dodging thrown boxes, dumpsters, and cars. "I'm not really sure where I'm supposed to be going," He looks at the rear view mirror and sees the figure chasing after them and he drives faster, probably breaking the speed limit. 

"Long Island!" everyone shouts. 

Percy takes a turn right as Grover yelps, "He's gaining on us!" 

"I'll hold him off," Nico says calmly and turns in his seat, stretching out his arm towards the road and Percy sees cracks appear in the road behind them and hands jut out, grabbing onto the pavement, hauling themselves up, and with a frightening start, Percy realizes that they're skeletons, and Nico seems to be controlling them. His eyes are closed but when he opens them, the skeletons nod, turn around, and charge the beast. 

He's so shocked that he swerves in the road and Annabeth yells, "Eyes on the road!" 

"Sorry!" Percy turns back around. 

"Drive!" Grover screams in his ear, leaning forward against the seat and he yelps as a streetlight is thrown over the car, but thankfully it lands on the opposite lane as they're driving on. 

Rachel gasps. "He's coming back! Drive faster!" 

Now, on any other circumstance, Percy would have absolutely loved to be driving this much over the speed limit, but right now he's being chased by an angry... bullman who's apparently after him with a dude in the backseat who can control skeletons, so he's more focused on surviving than doing something illegal. 

"We're almost there, come on," Annabeth mutters, bouncing her leg nervously and Percy's tempted to set his hand on her knee in comfort but decides against it. Besides, he should probably be more worried about making it to their destination than making any moves on the girl he's hopelessly falling for. 

"He's right on our tail!" Nico shouts. 

Percy tries to go faster but suddenly there's a loud grunt and something large comes running full speed into the back of the car, sending them flying forward. Shouts and screams fill the small space as the car flips upside down and skids to a stop on the side of the road. The windshield's shattered and Percy's away of the tiny shards stuck in his palms as he tries to use them to list himself up. Opening his eyes, the first thing he notices is Grover taking off his pants, and he's about to remind him now is not the time to undress, but the words get caught in his throat as the pants fall off two very, very hairy legs and hooves for feet. 

"Dude, you're a donkey!?" 

"Part goat!" Grover kicks the back door open with his hooves. "Out! Everyone out!" 

Grover, along with Nico and Rachel, crawl out of the backseat, falling onto the black pavement of the deserted road, but before Percy and Annabeth can make their way to the back, Annabeth's door is wrenched open and they quickly climb out. 

His first instinct is to make sure everyone's okay and unharmed. Grover seems fine, maybe a bit paler than usual but it's hard to tell in the dark, and part of Nico's jacket is torn at the sleeve but other than that he seems unharmed. Rachel's hunched over near the grass, one arms wrapped around her stomach as the other holds her frizzy, red hair back as she throws up. His eyes then land on Annabeth who's breathing hard as she watches something behind her, and there's a red, bloody gash across her forehead. She's dazed but other wise okay. 

He turns around, following her stare, and finally gets a good look at the beast they've been running from. Well, really, driving from. It's a hideous creature with the top half of a bull and the bottom half of a man. Percy rubs his eyes to make sure he's seeing this right but as his fists fall back to his sides, the bullman seems closer than it had been a second ago. He even pinches himself to make sure he's not dreaming. He's not dreaming. 

The bullman huffs and scuffs it's foot against the ground. 

"Percy, up the hill! Now!" Annabeth shouts and he's broken out of his trance. 

They're halfway up the hill when teenagers dressed in full battle armor drop from the trees, landing expertly on their feet in crouched positions. Some hold bows ready to shoot the bullman charging up the hill, others carry spears and swords, along with daggers much like the one strapped around Annabeth's waist. Some even have guns. 

"Nico!?" one teenager in particular with blue eyes and wavy blond hair calls out as they ran passed. Nico gave him an apologetic smile and the boy huffed. "You son of a-" but before he could finish, the bullman let out a loud roar (can a bull even roar?) and charged. 

The teenagers let out a loud war cry before facing the creature, weapons drawn. 

Percy frowns as the bullman swats one of the teenagers aside and the girl falls against a tree, clearly unconscious. What had Annabeth said earlier? That the bullman wants him? So why are all these kids, who don't look much older than him, risking their lives so Percy can make his way to safety? 

Mustering up all the courage he has in him, Percy does something insanely stupid. He lifts his arms and starts waving them around, ignoring Annabeth and Grover's cries for him to stop and keep moving up the hill. "Hey, meat head!" Percy shouts, 'holding back chuckles at his friends' horrified expressions as they watch him. "You want me? Come get me!" 

The bullman's eyes narrow as he breaks through the other teenagers' defenses and charges at Percy, grunting and shoving away trees that are getting in his way. Percy side steps as the bullman runs straight at him and he sees Grover faint, falling into Rachel's arms, out of the corner of his eye. 

Annabeth shouts at him to stop but he doesn't listen. Instead, Percy somehow manages to climb onto the bullman's back, grabbing the fur to haul himself up, and wraps his hands around one of the two horns protruding atop it's giant head. From somewhere surrounding him, Percy hears someone tell him to pull, so that's exactly what he does. 

Pop!

He's almost flung off the beast, but he keeps his grip as stabs the bullman with his own horn. The nasty creature howls out in agony before disappearing, leaving nothing behind but the horn and a pile of golden dust, then Percy's falling and everything goes black. 

-----

Percy dreamed of hungry barnyard animals, most of which wanted to kill him in particular. The rest just kept throwing dumpsters around carelessly. Like that attitude was going to get them any type of food. Not from him at least. 

When he wakes up, the first thing Percy notices is he's no longer in his bed back in his apartment in Manhattan like he'd thought he was. He's sitting in a deck chair on a huge porch, reclined back, with a light sheet-like blanket draped across his legs and a fluffy pillow behind his neck, and he's looking across a meadow with green hills in the distance. The breeze smells like strawberries. The next thing he notices is Rachel and Grover talking to some dude he faintly recognizes below the porch, but they're too far away for him to hear anything they're talking about, but by their facial expressions, it's serious. 

He sees something move in his peripheral vision and he turns to find Annabeth sitting beside him on her own chair, elbows digging into her knees as she keeps her face buried in her hands, and he notices she's changed out of her leggings and sweatshirt. She's now dressed in ripped jeans and an orange T-shirt that has black words printed onto it but he can't make out what they say, her blonde curls are tied back into a messy ponytail, and she looks so beautiful even though he can't see her face that his breath hitches in his throat. 

Annabeth suddenly lifts her head and rubs her eyes, jumping slightly as if she were startled to see him awake and probably staring at her in a lovesick daze. He expects her to ask if he's okay or if he needs anything, but instead she stares at him, totally poker faced, and says, 

"You drool when you sleep." 

He quickly away any traces of drool at the corners of his mouth with his sleeve which earns him a laugh from Annabeth, which causes Grover and Rachel and the stranger, yet familiar, man to turn their way. At the sight of Percy's consciousness, Grover and Rachel race up to the porch, enveloping him in a huge bear hug that he returns, but he doesn't miss the way Annabeth's cheeks flush and she quickly glances away at the man who gives her a knowing glance. 

When his friends pull away after a minute, they sit down on the two empty seats to his left that he hadn't noticed been there until now. Percy gets a good look at them and realizes they've both changed out of their previous clothes as well. Grover's back into his usual blue jeans and high tops, his dark hair covered in a Rasta cap, and he's sporting an orange shirt similar to Annabeth's and he makes out the words CAMP HALF-BLOOD printed in black against the orange fabric with a black Pegasus beneath it.  Rachel on the other hand is wearing paint splattered jeans with a green T-shirt and her frizzy hair is tied back with a bandanna. 

"How-how long have I been out for?" Percy asks, sitting up straighter but winces. 

"A couple days," Grover tells him, sounding worried. "How are you feeling?" 

As if on cue, his back throbs painfully. "Sore," he answers honestly, glancing back at Annabeth who seems to be having some type of silent conversation with her eyes with the man in the wheelchair who purses his lips in response, and Annabeth sighs. 

"You did take a pretty big fall," Rachel says, pressing her lips together. 

"So... that whole thing wasn't a dream?" His frown deepens. 

Another voice he vaguely recognizes speaks up, "I am afraid not, Percy. What occurred last night on on Half-Blood Hill, unfortunately did happen. Fortunately though, for you and your friends who escorted you here safely, you've all survived," the man in the wheelchair says as he rolls up beside Annabeth before folding his hands professionally on his blanket covered lap. His scruffy beard and thinning gray hair makes him look, oddly, like a middle school history teacher, or maybe even a Latin teacher. 

Then it clicks. 

"How do you know my- Mr. Brunner?" Percy's eyes voluntarily widen as he stares at his sixth grade Latin teacher from Yancy Academy. He'd been the teacher no one would think would be cool, rather strict actually, but he'd told stories and jokes and let everyone play games in class every once in a while. Percy also remembers he'd had this awesome collection of weapons so his class had been the only one he didn't sleep in. 

"Indeed, Percy," Mr. Brunner responds with a smile and Annabeth frowns at the exchange but doesn't say a word. Come to think of it, she hasn't really said anything since Grover and Rachel along with Mr. Brunner came running over once he awakened

"Uh, why are you here?" Percy asks then looks around. "Why am I here?" 

Mr. Brunner chuckles. "Welcome to Camp Half-Blood."

"Thank you?" he responds, unsure, but before he can ask anymore questions, Mr. Brunner carries on, 

"I can say, Percy, I hadn't been too sure about you at the time. I'd contacted your mother during your time at Yancy Academy, the year I taught, to alert her I'd been keeping an eye on you in case you ever needed to get to camp. Fortunately, nothing happened to make it by any means necessary to bring you here." 

"Again," Percy repeats, growing impatient. "Why am I here?" 

His former Latin teacher frowns. "Your mother, did she tell you anything?" 

"Nothing about a weird summer camp," he tells him. 

"Hm," Mr. Brunner hums, stroking his beard. "Well, you understand how your friend here, Grover, is a Satyr, right? And you know you've killed the Minotaur last night. What I am trying to explain, Percy, is the Greek gods are very much alive." 

Percy feels like passing out again. "So, like Zeus and Hera and Apollo?" 

"I wouldn't throw names around like that," Annabeth says, staring up at the sky wearily. 

"But they're just stories," Percy tells them. "Mr. Brunner-" 

"Chiron," Mr. Brunner- no, Chiron, corrects him with a small smile and when he begins to apologize, he waves his hand in dismissal. "And no, Percy, they're not stories of myths. They're immortal beings, living on Olympus, and whether you choose to believe in them or not, they're still there and not leaving anytime soon."

Percy leans back into his chair, heaving out a loud sigh. 

Chiron lets out a chuckle at his response. "I know it's a lot to take in. We'll discuss more later but as of right now..." he trails off and look at Annabeth. "Would you mind showing Percy around, dear? I must discuss a few matters with Rachel and Grover." 

"Not at all." Annabeth pushes herself off the seat into a standing position and offers Percy her hand and he takes it gratefully once he's removed himself from the blanket, and allows her to pull him up, though she doesn't let go of his hand right away. She leads him around the porch that seems to wrap around the farmhouse. His legs felt wobbly walking that far but Annabeth's grip on his hand gives him the strength to keep going, and when they arrive on the other end of the house, his breath catches. 

The landscape below is dotted with buildings that somewhat resemble ancient Greek architecture, which he only knows because Annabeth had talked his ear off about it last week when they were hanging out. There's an open air pavilion, an amphitheater where a large looking fireplace sits in the center, and an arena. A few yards away in a nearby sandpit, groups of teenagers and satyrs dressed in orange T-shirts are tossing a volleyball back and forth over a net, and his eyes widen as someone spikes the ball on someone's head, that someone crumpling to the ground and a group of kids carry a stretcher over. Other kids wearing the same T-shirts are chasing each other around the cabins formed to look like horseshoes, and on the other side of the camp, more groups of campers are practicing archery. 

Something flaps above him, wind rustling his hair, and Percy glances up to the sky, eyes widening to saucers as he sees a camper in, you guessed it, an orange T-shirt flying a horse with wings: a Pegasus. The camper, a girl with grassy green eyes a pin straight brown hair leans over the side and waves down at Annabeth who smiles up at response. 

Percy hears someone curse under their breath a couple yards to his right and down at the end of the porch, a small but porky man with a red nose, red eyes, and really dark, black curly hair that looks almost purple. He's wearing a tiger-pattern Hawaiian shirt, and he's dealing a stack of cards to a couple satyrs across from him, though he doesn't look to happy. 

"Afternoon, Mr. D," Annabeth calls over, no emotion in her voice. 

"What do you want, Annie bell," he says impatiently. 

"There's a new camper," she tells him with the roll of her eyes but as he glances over with his own bloodshot eyes, she forces a smile and gestures to Percy who just stares at the guy who looks as if he'd get along just fine with his ex-stepfather and his goonies. 

Mr. D sighs and waves dismissively in their direction. "Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. Don't expect me to be glad to see you. I don't like it here." 

"Okay," Percy says slowly before he's led away from Mr. D and the two satyrs who seem to be beating the old guy at whatever game they're playing, and Annabeth explains to him that he's the camp director as she leads him down the porch and onto the grass. 

As they pass the volleyball pit, some of the campers stop playing, causing the ball to land on someone else's head, to get a look at Percy and he turns self conscious. They stare at him with slacked jaws and wide eyes, some nudging each other, and Percy's now aware that he's still holding on tight to Annabeth's hand, and she seems to realize it too because she quickly lets him go, instantly crossing her arms over her chest. 

"Come on," Annabeth says and turns away from the volleyball pit. 

Most of the campers are the same age as Percy, some younger but not many, and many of their satyr friends look older and taller than Grover, but they all are wearing the same orange T-shirts with CAMP HALF-BLOOD written on them, and he's yet to figure out what the term half-blood even means. 

Annabeth leads him over to the cabins, pausing in front of one which seems like a regular old summer camp cabin, except this one looks really old. The brown paint is peeling off the walls surrounding the windows and over the door is one of those doctors symbols, a winged pole with two snakes wrapped around it. A caduceus. 

"This is cabin eleven," Annabeth informs him as she pushes open the door, allowing him to step inside before following herself, closing the door behind them. Inside it's packed with boys and girls of all different ages, a little over the number of bunk beds. Percy has a sneaking suspicion that he's going to be using one of the sleeping bags laid out across the floor, but as long as he has somewhere to sleep, he won't compare. "This is where you'll be staying." 

"Is he regular?" somebody asks across the room. "Or undetermined?" 

"Undetermined," Annabeth sighs while everyone else in the cabin groans. 

A camper Percy's age with brown hair and matching eyes with freckles splattered across his nose, lips turned upwards into a permanent mischievous smirk, pushes through the crowds of campers and smooths out his camp T-shirt before sticking out his hand. "I'm Travis Stoll, the councilor of cabin eleven." 

"I'm Percy Jackson," he says and hesitantly shakes his hand. 

"Oh, I know. Everyone knows who you are," Travis says and leads him over to a small section in the corner, explaining this is where he'll be sleeping until he's determined, whatever that means, and pats his shoulder apologetically. 

"Thank you, Travis," Annabeth says and grabs Percy's wrist. "Come on, there's a lot to see." 

She pulls him out the door and they leave the curious campers inside cabin eleven to mutter among themselves, and she slips her hand into his once there's no prying eyes or any whispers circling around them. Percy frowns but holds her hand nonetheless as Annabeth shows him around camp, pointing out the armory and amphitheater he'd seen from the porch of the farmhouse already. Whenever they pass someone Annabeth seems to recognize, she'll loosen her grip on his hand or let go of it all together before grabbing it once they're gone, and her flushed cheeks don't go unnoticed. Is she embarrassed to be around him? Embarrassed to be seen with him? Maybe her and Nico are a thing after all. 

"So... uh, where's Nico?" Percy asks her, his throat suddenly feeling dry and his heart racing wildly inside his chest as he waits anxiously for her answer as they walk pass the pavilion where two campers are arm wrestling while the kids surrounding the table pass golden coins around as if they're betting who will win and lose. 

Annabeth shrugs. "Probably off somewhere with his boyfriend." 

His shoulders noticeably relax and a relived sigh escapes his lips, cheeks flushing when Annabeth gives him an odd look. Okay, so Annabeth and Nico are definitely not a thing. But that still doesn't explain why she's acting so hesitant around him. Just last week they were holding hands as they walked home from school and pressing kisses to each other's cheeks like it was no big deal and it hadn't been, but now that they've arrived at this strange camp, it seems as though everything that had existed between them had spontaneously vanished. 

"Hey, I'm still confused on why I'm here," Percy says once they stop by the lava wall to watch a camper dodge boulders and spouts of lava, and he winces when he burns his hand, looses is footing, and falls onto the mat below. A group of teenagers ranging around thirteen and seventeen rush in, circling the hurt camper, and start feeding him yellow squares and a beverage that looks like apple juice while bandaging his hand. 

"As Chiron told you, the Greek gods are real," Annabeth explains as she comes to stand closer, and Percy's having a hard time focusing because she's right next to him, like right next to him. It shouldn't shock him this much since they'd walked this close before in the hallways of Goode or on the sidewalks of Manhattan, but this is the first time since arriving at camp that she's stood closer than a half a foot from him. "And those gods tended to have children with mortals." 

"Like... Theseus and Odysseus, right?" Percy questions. 

Annabeth nods. "And Perseus." 

"Right." He purses his lips. Now he vaguely remembers his mom talking to him as a little kid about his namesake and how he'd been one of the bravest heroes in all of history, but the most important thing had been that he'd lived. "Okay so what does that have to do with me?" 

"Well, the gods never stopped having children with mortals." Annabeth picks at her fingernail. 

Percy's eyebrows furrow. "So... my dad is a- a god?" 

"Pretty much, yeah." 

"Oh, wow. Okay." Percy blinks a few times as he tries to process everything. His father who's been absent all his life, leaving his mother alone and pregnant at twenty with barely enough money to support a child, and being the cause of his traumatic childhood was all because his father had been a... god this whole time? "How... how do you know?"

"Your dyslexia and ADHD were the first hints," she tells him. "The letter float of the page when you read, don't they? That's because your mind is hardwired for ancient Greek. And the ADHD, you're impulsive, you can't sit still in a classroom. That's your battle reflexes. They'll keep you alive in a real fight and as for you attention problems, it's because you see too much instead of too little. Most of your teachers want to medicated but they're most likely monster who don't want you seeing the truth." 

"How do you know all that?" 

"Most of the kids here go through the same thing. We all have similar situations." 

"Did you-?" 

Annabeth looks up at him then quickly looks back over at the lava wall where another camper decided to try to go for the climb, only to get knocked down by a boulder the next minute, and they wince as they see blood dribble down to their chin. "Remember how I told you that our childhoods were similar? Your dad left you, my mom left you. We both had terrible step parents." 

"Yeah?" Percy doesn't quite understand. It's all so confusing. 

"My answer to your question is yes, I've been through similar situations. I struggle with ADHD and Dyslexia. I might be able to read but I can't spell for the life of me," she laughs at that and shakes her a head a bit, her curls flying around her face and Percy reaches out to tuck one behind her ear and she blushes as she does so. "Anyway, I ran away because my stepmom kept blaming me for monster attacks and talk of imaginary spiders." 

"Imaginary spiders?" 

"When- when I was little, at night, these spiders would crawl through the windows and my closet and out of the floor, everywhere." She shudders. "They'd bite me and I'd cry for help but my stepmom told me to be quiet before I woke them up and the bites would be gone by the time I woke up so no one believed me. A true curse from Arachne." 

Percy frowns. "I'm sorry." 

Annabeth lifts her shoulder in a half shrug. "Eh, well, we're demigods. We're not guaranteed a perfect life." 

"It doesn't seem fair," Percy mutters. 

She lets out a humorless laugh. "You'd be right. It's not." 

His mind is reeling with so many questions such as who is dad is and when he'll find out but before a single word can leave his mouth, a husky voice beats him to it and calls out, "Hey, a newbie!" Percy turns to the source of the deep voice and sees a big ugly girl, holding a long spear tight in her fist, sauntering towards them with an evil glint in her eyes that Percy doesn't like. Annabeth lets out a groan as three other girls just as ugly and mean looking as the other one appear behind her, all wearing camo jackets and pants. 

"Clarisse," Annabeth says in annoyance, "why don't you go bother someone else." 

"Hm, I don't think so, princess," Clarisse sneers.  

Annabeth sighs. "Percy, meet Clarisse, head of the Ares cabin." 

"The war god?" Percy says dumbly. 

"Got a problem with that, punk?" Clarisse steps towards him but Annabeth steps between them. 

"No," Percy crinkles his nose in disgust. "It just explains the bad smell." 

Annabeth noticeably winces in front of him and Clarisse growls. "We got an initiation ceremony for newbies, Prissy." 

"Percy." 

"Whatever. Follow me. I'll show you." 

"Clarisse-" Annabeth starts. 

"Stay out of it, princess," Clarisse mutters angrily and wastes no time in grabbing Percy by the arm and practically dragging him across the camp while Annabeth runs to catch up, sending him apologetic glances every now and then which he just forces a smile in return. He tries to pry her grubby hands off his arm but soon realizes it's no use and settles for just laying there limply, not amused, as she drags him into the girls bathroom and he rolls his eyes as he gets an idea of what they're about to do to him. 

Clarisse's friends, or sisters, he's not really sure, are laughing as she kicks open a stall and forces him onto his knees while one of the other girls holds his hands behind his back. Percy turns his head to spot Annabeth and he finds her standing in the corner, arms cross, teeth gnawing on her bottom lip but then Clarisse shoves his head forwards and he can't see her anymore.  Her large hand presses against the back of his head and tries to force his face into the flushing toilet but he keeps fighting against her and she growls lowly. 

The something happens. There's a weird tug in his gut, the same one he feels when he's swimming or even taking a shower, and he hears a the plumbing rumble as the pipes shudder and Clarisse loosens her grip on his hair as she looks around and Percy moves his head away just in time as water shoots right out of the toilet over his head. The next thing he knows he's sprawled across the bathroom toilets, Clarisse screaming somewhere behind him. 

Water bursts out of the toilets again and Percy barely get out o the way in time and watches as it hits Clarisse right in the face, causing her to be pushed backwards into the three other girls who soon become drenched in sewer water as well. When the next toilets explode, and the ones after that, the force shoves them right out of the bathroom along with a bunch of garbage, and Percy's left breathing heavily on the floor. 

The tug in his gut lessons and the water shuts off as quickly as it started. He stands and goes to wipe his hands on his pants but pulls them away when he realizes he's completely dry. His face scrunches up in confusion and he meets Annabeth's eyes from across the room. She's drenched head to toe, a damp crumples paper towel hanging from out of her curls, and she's staring at him with wide eyes as jaw dropped. 

"How... how-?" she begins but she's too shocked to say anything else.

"I- I don't know." Percy turns around slowly, inspecting the bathroom. Water's dripping from the ceiling, water droplets dribble down the walls and the sinks' pipes are all busted. There's puddles of dirty water surrounding every toilet and garbage is strewn across the bathroom tiled floor, and it's all really nasty and smells really bad. 

"We...need to go find Chiron." 

They find him back at the farmhouse, sitting at the table beside Mr. D and both Grover and Rachel are sitting across from them, playing a game of Pinochle. Grover lets out an "ah-ha!" as he wins another round and grabs a tin can from the center of the table, taking a big chunk out of it and chewing noisily, eyes closing as he does so. Rachel's the one who spots them first and she holds a hand to her mouth as she laughs. 

"What happened to you?" the question is directed at Annabeth who's still in shock. 

Grover opened his eyes and they immediately widen as he finds Annabeth soaking wet, pealing wet toilet paper out of her darkened blonde hair. "Did you fall into the lake or something?" he asks, setting his can down and letting Mr. D win this round. The camp director bellowed out a laugh as he took a few of the golden coins from the middle of the table. 

"No, this guy-" Annabeth jabs her thumb at Percy. "-exploded the toilets." 

Chiron spins his wheelchair around them and watches Percy carefully and he grows uncomfortable as his old Latin teacher doesn't speak, and he starts to shift from foot to foot as he waits for him to say something. He strokes his beard thoughtfully. "We'll have to keep an watchful eye on him. I'll call for a game of capture the flag tonight." 

"But it's not Friday," Grover points out.

"Think of it as extra practice," Chiron tells him. "Now, I must speak to Percy alone." 

"Chiron-" Annabeth says but he holds up a hand to silence her. 

"Alone," he repeats. "Annabeth, dear, why don't you go get changed." 

Mr. D nods along. "Yes, please. Annie bell, you smell of sewer." 

Annabeth clenches her fists before spinning around and marching towards the cabin, muttering something about rude wine gods and thunder rumbles overheard but nothing else happens, not even a single rain drop falls. 

"Follow me, Percy." Chiron doesn't waist for a response as he starts rolling his wheelchair around the back of the farmhouse, out of Percy's sight, and once he catches up to him, he's no longer sitting in his chair, rather standing up. But that's not what catches Percy off guard as he comes to a sudden halt. The front half of Chiron is human, but the back half is a white stallion, the tail swinging back and forth contently, and Percy swallows down a yelp. 

"You're a- you're a...." Percy trails off, not quite knowing what they're called. 

"A centaur," Chiron finishes for him and smiles down at him as Percy comes to stand beside him and together they look out at the meadow in silence, watching the tall strands of grass sway in the surprisingly warm breeze for October. "So," he breaks the silence, "you've exploded the bathroom?" Percy nods for confirmation. "And you've told Annabeth you like swimming because you have a special connection to the water?" 

Percy nods his head again. "Yeah, and my dad loved the sea. My mom told me." 

He frowns at the mention of his mother. What's she doing right now while he's all the way in Long Island Sound at some weird camp where people believe in Greek gods and climb lava walls instead of rock walls. Does she even know where he is? His heart starts to race anxiously as he pictures his mom pacing around the house, worried out of her mind, as she tries to figure out where he's disappeared to, and if what Grover said had been correct, then he's been gone two days. And what about Tyson and Estelle? What do they think happened to him? What about Paul, his step-dad? Certainly he's worried too. 

Chiron picks up on his thoughts rather quickly. "Do not worry. I've contacted your mother." 

"Oh, okay... okay, good." Percy sighs in relief and his shoulders relax. "Now, about my dad?" 

"Right, well, I have a suspicion of who he is," Chiron tells him, keeping his gaze out on the meadow where two Pegasi gallop around happily, snacking on wild, vibrant yellow wildflowers before letting out a whinny and taking to the sky, flying towards the stables. "Unfortunately, I cannot tell you." 

"Of course you can't," he says bitterly. 

"I am sorry, my child." Then he notices that Chiron's clutching something in his hand and when he silently passes it over to Percy with no explanation of what it is, he accepts it without hesitation and raises his eyebrows as Chiron says, "This shall be your weapon you will use during battles." 

Percy stares at the object in his hand with an unreadable expression. He's not sure what he'd been expecting but an ordinary ballpoint pen you buy at a store for thirty cents was not it. He purses his lips, clutches the pen, and says flatly, "Thanks." 

"It's a gift from your father."

That catches Percy's attention and as he stared down at the black ballpoint pen in his hand, something at the back of his head nags him to uncap it, only silencing as he does, and he backs away instinctively as the pen grows longer and heavier. In only half a second, he's holding a bronze sword that shimmers in the sunlight with a double-edged blade with leather-wrapped grip, and a flat hilt rooted with gold studs. "Woah," is all he can get out as he turns the sword around in his hand, pleasantly surprised at how comfortable and right it felt to hold. 

That catches Percy's attention and as he stared down at the ballpoint pen in his hand, something at the back of his mind nags him to uncap it, so that's exactly what he does, and he steps backwards as the pen grows longer and heavier. In only half a second he's holding a bronze sword with a double edged blade with a leather wrapped grip, and a flat hilt rooted with gold studs. "Woah," is all he can get out as he turns the sword in his hand, surprised at how comfortable and right it felt to hold. 

"It's name is Anaklusmos. It means-" 

"Riptide. Ancient Greek," Percy finishes, not missing a beat. 

Chiron gives him a stern look. "Use it only for emergencies, understand? And only against monsters. No hero, or demigod for that matter, should harm a mortal unless it is absolutely necessary, though this sword shouldn't be able to harm any mortals." 

"How can't this harm mortal?" Percy takes his eyes off the sword to meet Chiron's. 

"This sword is made of celestial bronze, Percy. It's forged by Cyclopes. It's deadly to monsters and any creature from the Underworld. The sword will pass through mortals since they are not important enough to kill with the blade. But, since you are a demigod, not fully human, you can be seriously injured, even killed, by celestial bronze weapons." 

"Uh, that's good to know, I guess." 

"Now, recap the pen and throw it as far as you can," Chiron instructs. 

"But-" 

"Throw the pen." 

Percy sends him an odd look but throws the pen as far as he can out into the meadow, making sure not to aim for the single white Pegasus, that had appeared only minutes before, enjoying some nice wildflowers. He watches as it disappears into the green grass and now he's wondering if Chiron's going to ask him to go down and fetch it like a dog. It certainly wouldn't be the weirdest thing he's done throughout the day 

"Now check your pocket," Chiron says, looking at him expectantly. 

"Uh, okay." And sure enough, when Percy reaches into the pockets of his blue jeans, the pen is there, sitting silently in his right pocket. Taking it out, he stares at it for a long moment, mouth agape in amazement. "That is insanely cool, and good too since I tend to loose all my pens and pencils b the third week of having them." 

Chiron laughs. "Yes, it is enchanted so you can't lose it. It will always reappear in your pocket." 

"What if a mortal sees me pulling out a sword?" Percy asks, tucking the pen back in his pocket. 

"The mist will cover it," Chiron explains. "It obscures the vision of humans. You will view things as they are since you're a half-blood, but humans will see thing quite differently. So you will not have to worry about that, my boy." 

"Um, cool. Thanks." 

"Yes, well, dinner will be starting soon," Chiron says, watching the sunset. "I suggest you go find your cabin leader, Travis Stoll. I will see you around." 

Before the centaur could leave, Percy asks, "Wait, when can I go back home?" 

Chiron takes a second to find the right thing to say. "As soon as you learn to use that sword of yours. Now off to dinner." 

It takes him roughly about five minutes of searching around camp to find his cabin leader, and he's leaning against one of the poles holding up the volleyball net, the ball tucked under his arm as he converses back and forth with a girl with short blonde hair and green eyes, clad in shorts and an orange T-shirt. She laughs at something he says before turning around and running off to who knows where. 

Travis stands there for a few extra seconds, a dazed look on his face, as he stares the spot the girl had been previously standing, but he snaps out of it when Percy approaches and he gives him his sly smile and Percy says, "Hey, uh, Travis-" 

He laughs. "Oh, no, no, no, my dear friend. I'm Connor." 

Percy frowns. "What-?"

"Travis is my older brother, but I am just as capable of helping out," Connor says as he throws his arm around Percy's shoulders as they start to walk towards the pavilion. "Watcha need? Pranking supplies?" Something glints in his brown yes. "I've got plenty, including a rubber spider we can plant in the Athena cabin-" 

"I just need to know where to go for dinner," Percy interrupts. 

"Oh." Connor pulls his arm away. "Follow me." 

A horn blows in the distance and Percy somehow knows it's a conch shell, even though he's never heard one before. Somewhere behind them, he hears Travis yell "eleven, fall in!" and the whole cabin of about twenty files into the commons yard. Percy watches behind his shoulder as they all line up in order of seniority, and he assumes if he'd been over there, he'd be put dead last. The caboose. Campers from other cabins did the same, except for the three empty cabins for Zeus, Poseidon, and Here, and cabin eight. 

Percy follows Connor over to their cabin and he offers to stand with Percy in the back of the line which he's grateful for since he doesn't know anyone outside of Rachel, Grover, and Annabeth and they're nowhere to be seen. They march up the hill to the mess hall pavilion and Satyrs and nymphs and naiads join in.

Upon entering the pavilion, Percy takes a look around. Torches blazed around the marble columns and a fire burned in a large bronze brazier in the center of the space. Connor explains to him that each cabin has their own table, covered in white cloth trimmed in purple. Four of the tables are empty because those gods don't have any children, but cabin eleven's table apparently is always crowded. 

He takes his seat between Connor and some other kid who's either a regular or undetermined and he looks to be about eight years old. Percy finds Grover and Rachel seated at table twelve with Mr. D,  couple blonde boys who resemble him, along with a few satyrs who are all chewing empty coke cans and plastic forks that had been dropped on the floor. 

Across the pavilion, Percy spots Annabeth, sitting with her back to him, at table six with a bunch of kids with honey blond hair and piercing grey eyes, all looking very serious. He notices she's changed out of her jeans and T-shirt after being drenched with toilet water a couple hours ago and now sat comfortable in black sweatpants and a deep pink tank top that doesn't seem like something she'd wear, and her curls are tied back into an even messier ponytail. 

Chiron pounds his hood against the marble ground of the pavilion, which causes everyone to fall silent and give the centaur their full attention which must have been hard for a large group of ADHD demigods. He raises his glass and says, "To the gods!" 

"To the gods!" Everyone copies his movements, though Percy only mutters the words. 

The wood nymphs came forward with platters of food; strawberries, grapes, bread, cheese, barbecue, and some other things. Percy looks down into his cup and realizes there's nothing in it. He must have been staring at it for a while because Conner chuckles from beside him and tells him to speak into it. 

"Whatever you want. Nonalcoholic, though I won't stop you," he snickers. 

Percy looks back into the glass. "Blue coke." 

Sure enough, blue coke filled the cup. 

"Here you go," Travis says from across the table and hands over a platter of barbecue and he loads his plate and is about to take a bite when he notices everyone standing, carrying their plates over to the fire, and dumping a portion of it into the flames. "Burnt offerings for the gods," Travis tells him. "They really like the smell for some reason." 

Percy wants to say something sarcastic but decides against it when all the kids around his table stand and start to bring their food to the fire. He follows closely behind Connor and stands beside him, watching as he mutters something under his breath before scraping the warmest, most buttery roll into the fire then he turns around and heads back to the table. 

He glances up as someone comes to stand on the other side of the fire, and he sees Annabeth tossing the ripest strawberry into the frames as she says, "Athena." The orange glow of the fire lights up her face and the flames flicker in her eyes, causing them to look a soft amber, and though he's never seen a goddess, Percy's pretty certain she looks like one right now. She turns around and walks back to her table without so much as looking at him. 

Taking a deep breath, Percy scrapes a big slice of brisket into the frames and makes a silent plea into the flickering flames licking the cool air, Dad, whoever you are, please tell me. He then spins around, almost running into the person behind him which just so happened to be Clarisse and she growls at him, and he gives a lopsided grin in return. 

As they're all enjoying their meal and conversing among their siblings, and friends for the table eleven's case which Percy found out is Hermes, Mr. D stands and says without emotion or enthusiasm in his tone, "Hello, brats. Chiron, the activities director, has informed me that we will be having a game of capture the flag after dinner." 

A bunch of campers started cheering and Percy sees table six, Athena, all huddle in close. 

Mr. D rolls his eyes. "Anyway, we have a new camper today, Peter Johnson." 

Chiron leans in and mutters something into Mr. D's ear. 

"Oh, uh, Percy Jackson," Mr. D corrects. "Anyways finish up dinner and prepare for the game." 

After dinner there's a lot of excitement going around. The campers at all different tables huddle in close and talk quietly to each other, peeking out every once in a while to make sure no one had been listening in, and when the plates were cleared away and the conch horn blew, everyone broke out of the huddles and stood at their rightful tables. 

Campers cheer as Annabeth and two of her siblings carry in a ten foot long silk banner that's glistening with grey with a painting of a barn owl above a tree. Across the pavilion, Clarisse and her equally as gross run in with another banner, this time a red color, a bloody spear and a boar head painted onto it. 

"Are those the flags?" Percy asks Connor over the cheering. 

"Yup," Conner responds. 

"So... which side are we on?" 

"Thankfully, tonight, we have a truce with Athena," Connor says, lowering his voice so only Percy can hear. "The Ares cabin is a great alliance but they don't have strategy like the Athena cabin. They just attack. We have a better chance of winning with Athena." 

Percy nods. "So we take the Ares flag?" 

"Correct," Connor says and gives him a smile. "And you're helping." 

Chiron stomps his hoof against the floors and the cheering dies down, giving him a chance to explain the rules. "The creek is the boundary line, as always. The entire forest is fair game. All magic items are, indeed, allowed. The banner bust be displayed, not hidden, and cannot have more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed but you may not bound or gag them, understood? No killing or maiming allowed. I am serving as referee and battlefield, along with Rachel Dare. Now, please, arm yourselves."

The tables are suddenly covered with equipment used in battle, such as helmets and breastplates, bronze swords, spears, and much more.  

"Sounds like a dangerous game of capture the flag," Percy says nervously. 

"Killer." Connor flashes him a grin and hands him a helmet with blue horsehair plumes on top and breastplate. "I don't know for sure but I'm pretty positive you'll be border control, but we'll wait for Annabeth to decide. She's the team captain. Always is." 

"Blue team!" Annabeth shouts, "Forward!" 

Everyone cheers as they follow Annabeth down to the south woods as the Ares cabin and their teammates yell threats as they head down to the north. 

Percy jogs up to Annabeth. "Hey." 

She glances at him. "Hi." 

"So... what's the plan. I don't really know anything about this and no one is telling me." 

"Watch Clarisse's spear. Don't let it touch you," Annabeth tells him seriously. "Don't worry about anything else, okay? We'll get the banner from Ares and Connor gave you your job right? Border patrol?" 

"Yeah. I don't know what I'm supposed to do." 

Annabeth cracks a smile. "Stand by the creek, keep the red team away. That's all." 

"Um, okay, sounds easy enough," Percy mutters. 

"It is. As long as you do exactly what I just said." Then she pushes ahead, leaving him in the dust.

Percy frowns at their short exchange. Throughout the day he's noticed she's barely spoken a word to him since they're arrival at camp, well, really when he'd waken up that afternoon, and maybe he's overthinking. Maybe it's because they're in different cabins or that she's focusing on winning this game of capture the flag, but he's really starting to feel as though she's more of a stranger than the girl who'd offered to risk her life for him, the girl he'd kissed after relieving he'd never see her again, the girl who'd kissed him back. Why is she pretending as if she doesn''t know him? That she's never met him before? Why-

"Hey, man," Connor Stoll says as he comes into step next to him. "You got a weapon?" 

"Yeah." He holds up his pen. 

"Um, that's a-"

"Pen. I know," Percy finishes for him and uncaps it, holding it a little ways in front of him as the pen extends into a shimmering celestial bronze sword, and he holds in a laugh as Connor's jaw drops. He twists the hilt in his hand a bit to get the feel of it. "It's a gift from my dad, whoever he is." 

Connor pats his shoulder before heading off towards his brother. 

Not even ten minutes into the game and Percy's already bored out of his mind. He's been waking back and forth along the creek since the conch horn had blown, signaling the start of the game, and he'd been left behind while everyone else went to do all the fun. Kicking the water out of frustration, Percy wonders why his shoes isn't getting wet, but when he hears a twig snap a couple yards away, his gaze wonders over to the flag where it's hanging from one of the tree branches a few feet into the woods. 

Then something reaches his ears and he freezes. A rustle in the bushes. Quickly, he uncaps Riptide and holds it out in front of him, ready to fight, and his sea green eyes start to sweep around the area, keeping a look out for any demigod with a red plume or monsters. He hears another twig snap from behind him and he whirls around, ready to attack, but then he makes out familiar curly blonde hair in the moonlight. 

"Percy," Annabeth whispers, beckoning him over to where she's standing behind the tree the flag is hanging from and he takes a quick cautious look around before jogging over to her, grimacing as the stones loudly crunch under the soles of his tennis shoes. She grabs his hand when he's close enough and pulls him in front of her. "I'm supposed to be scouting right now but  no one's advanced yet and I kind of, uh, wanted to...talk to you for a bit." 

His cheeks are flushed and he won't lie and say he isn't relieved that she temporarily stopped playing the game to come and talk to him after a whole day of barely any communication. And maybe he's been overreacting about the whole thing anyway. She'd probably had been busy with her usual camp activities, but that still doesn't explain why she'd seemed so embarrassed to be around him earlier today. 

"Okay," he says slowly. "What's up?"

"Um," Annabeth clears her throat and Percy can see the faint tint of pink to her cheeks in the moonlight and his heart quickens it's speed. "I just wanted to apologize for how I- this afternoon when I...I kind of freaked out and- ugh, I suck at apologies." She stomps her foot against the dirt covered ground in frustration and clenches her fists. 

"Hey, it's- it's okay," Percy mutters and pulls a loose curl behind her ear, letting his hand linger against her cheek for a few seconds longer than what had been necessary but Annabeth doesn't move away, but leans into him, her eyes closing. When she opens them and stares into his own eyes, he holds in a gasp because holy Hera her eyes are the most beautiful thing about her. They're bright, even in the dark, sparkling in the moonlight and Percy's finally come to realize that he's way too close to taking the fall, right there, right now.

Annabeth unclenches her fists and grabs onto his upper arms as she steps onto her tiptoes and tilts her head upward, and Percy's leaning down. Their lips meet halfway and he doesn't ever want to stop kissing her as the sparks ignite in his stomach, and Annabeth slides her arms around his neck as his goes around her waist. He deepens the kiss, smiling into it when Annabeth lets out a small sigh and-

"Well what is going on here?" a familiar voice booms.  

They jump apart with a surprised gasp and his cheeks her red and the tips of her ears are turning pink as Clarisse smirks at them from across the creek, spear in hand, looking ready to seriously kill them, but then the dangerous glint in her brown eyes disappear and she just watches them in amusement. 

"Just you wait until I tell Chiron you and the newbie were making out, Princess," she taunts. 

Annabeth yells out a curse in Greek which Percy fully understands and he chokes back a laugh as the daughter of Ares' eyes are blown wide but soon they narrow into almost slits and she lets out a low growl, clenching her teeth and tightening her grip on her spear. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Annabeth take out her dagger before Clarisse and her charge at each other and all he can do is stand and watch as they fight against each other. 

"Chiron will be so disappointed in you!" Clarisse shouts over the clang of metal. 

"Everyone's disappointed in me! What's the difference?" Annabeth growls back. 

Clarisse makes a move to disarm Annabeth but she sidesteps just in time. "You know, Princess, I didn't expect you to make a move on anyone ever again since everyone just ends up leaving you anyway." 

Annabeth just grits her teeth and slashes at Clarisse again but she blocks. 

He's so absorbed in their fight- he's mainly focusing on Annabeth- that he almost doesn't see the figure with a red plume helmet stealthily making their way to the flag hanging from a tree a few feet away, but they make the mistake of stepping on a tree branch and the sound echoes throughout Percy's mind until he snaps out of his daze. 

"No!" Annabeth shouts as she notices them too. "It was a trick!"

Percy tightens his grip on riptide before running after the figure he comes to recognize as one of the girls who'd helped Clarisse drag him into the bathroom and would have almost accomplished their task of giving him a swirly if he hadn't exploded the toilets into their faces and shot them out of the bathroom. She's climbing the tree expertly but before he can reach her to get the flag back, someone grabs the back of his armor and shoves him into the creek. The water splashes around him but somehow Percy doesn't get wet.

"Hey, no maiming!" he says as he stands back up. 

"Whoops." the guy who had pushed him shrugs helplessly. "No dessert for me. Boohoo." 

Instead of backing down like he probably should have looking back on it, the water seemed to have woken his senses, so Percy stands his ground and holds riptide out in front of him, earning a laugh from Clarisse's cabin mates. The guy who'd pushed him into the creek holds up his own sword and slashes it across Percy's arm, leaving a pretty good gash and the blood dribbles down onto the rocks by his feet. 

He's aware he doesn't know the first thing about fighting with weapons, or really fighting in general, but Percy follows his gut and swings the flat of his sword against the guy's head, knocking his helmet clean off. His eyes vibrate from the force of the hit as he crumples into the creek, unconscious, and some of the other campers cry out angrily as they charge at Percy. 

The next person to attack lifted their sword and swung down but Percy met them halfway, the clang of metal echoing throughout the woods, and he could hear the faint howl of a monster in the distance. Percy slammed the guy in the face with the butt of his sword, and he drops his won weapon to cradle his bloody nose. The next guy came running in but Percy carelessly swung his sword and cut right through the red plume which had been a warning to back off, and he'd ran straight back into the woods to probably report back to his team. 

Annabeth let out a shout behind him and he spins around, teeth gritting as he realizes Clarisse had managed to slash her spear across Annabeth's cheek, though the daughter of Ares had a few cuts herself across her arms from Annabeth's knife. 

The gut feeling he'd felt back in the bathrooms returns and suddenly a fist made of water came out of the creek and plucks Clarisse's spear right out of her hands, snapping it in half before dropping it to the ground. Clarisse yells out angrily and starts to throw curses at Percy but she's silenced as the fist of water drops onto her, soaking her from head to toe and she sputters out words as she tries to find the right words to say and ends up with, "-kill you, Jackson!" 

Cheers erupt from the woods as two of Annabeth's siblings he recognizes as the ones who had helped Annabeth bring the banner into the pavilion came running across the creek, cheering out happily as the banner shimmers from red to a silvery grey, a barn owl replacing the boar head. The Hermes, Apollo, and Athena cabin came into the clearing near the creek, cheering and lifting the two Anthea kids onto their shoulders while the Ares cabin along with their allies following behind, grumbling underneath their breath. 

He looks over at Annabeth who's watching him with an unreadable expression, though he thinks she looks disappointed? Sad? Her eyes keep flickering between him and the water, and she bites her lips as she runs off over to Chiron who bends down so she can whisper something in his ear, and he turns grim the longer she talks. 

But then she takes a step back and the smile is back to his face as he congratulates the Athena, Apollo, and Hermes cabins for being the winners of tonight's game of capture the flag and the three cabins cheer loudly once again, and Percy's wondering how they haven't attracted any monster yet. 

"Now, head back to your cabins. Lights out at eleven," Chiron instructs and everyone starts retreating out of the woods, but Percy stays behind, not taking his eyes off the water and his hands, wondering how he'd done that. 

Suddenly there's a green glow coming from somewhere above him and all the campers turn around, eyes widening and jaws dropping as they look at something above his head. Percy frowns and his eyebrows furrow and he looks above him to see a glowing green trident floating above his head and he's even more confused when the campers all start bowing. 

"It is determined," Chiron announces. 

"My- my father?" Percy asks. 

"Poseidon," Chiron says then kneels down on his front legs. "Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses Hail, Perseus Jackson, son of the Sea God. 

The excitement dies down after a few minutes of the campers gawking at Percy, but they soon grow bored and head back to their cabins, but Chiron and Annabeth stay behind. Percy can't figure out why Annabeth won't look at him the whole walk back to the cabins, and the only time she speaks is when she shows him to the Poseidon Cabin, explaining he'll be staying there now before running off to the Athena cabin. 

-----

Percy doesn't see Annabeth for another couple days. Well, okay, he doesn't talk to Annabeth for a couple days, or rather she's been avoiding him like the plague ever since he'd been claimed by Poseidon and he just can't figure out why. He hadn't done anything stupid, he doesn't think, and he hadn't said anything offensive to her, had he? The only reason he can think of as to why she'd be upset with him is if she's mad about him maiming the Ares campers, though she'd done the same thing so it doesn't really make any sense. 

When he does see her again, he's leaving the Arena after finishing his sword lessons and she's entering for knife lesson, but before she can pass him, he grabs her hand and tries to ignore the jolts of electricity that shoots up his arm. She doesn't meet his eye as he asks if they can talk but she agrees to meeting up at the beach tonight before the campfire, and then he lets her go to her lessons so he can head to archery class. 

The rest of the day goes by much too slow for his liking. He'd been attending classes all day and the only time he'd gotten to get out of them had been to say goodbye to Rachel who decided to leave camp to attend school that upcoming Monday while Percy was stuck staying at camp until he's prepared enough to fight out in the mortal world. He'd tried explaining to Chiron that no monster had attacked him yet, so why would they start now but Chiron had shut him down almost instantly by explaining that "once you know who you are, your scent grows stronger" and he'd also thrown in he'd be putting his family in danger which shut him up fairly quick. 

He'd eaten breakfast and lunch alone at the Poseidon table since Grover had decided to spend the day with his girlfriend, Juniper, instead of eating with him which had been fine. It's just not very fun eating alone, but by the time dinner rolled around, Grover had been back from his seven hour date with Juniper and was now sitting across from Percy, chewing on a tin can and digging into an enchilada. 

"So, what's going on between you and Annabeth?" Grover asked. 

Percy looked up from his half-eaten food. "What do you mean?" 

"Ever since you two met, you've been attached by the hip and now it's almost as if you two want nothing to do with each other," Grover said, taking another bite of his can, chewing carefully and Percy waited patiently until he's swallowed to continue, "Oh, wait, I know what it is. Oh, yes. I should have seen this one coming." 

"Seen what coming?" Percy asked. 

"Oh, nothing." Grover waved him off dismissively. "Annabeth's meeting you at the beach?" 

Percy nodded. "Yeah." 

"Just ask her about it then." 

So that's why Percy's pacing around on the beach as the sun starts to set behind the horizon, casting a faint golden glow across the sand. He's biting his lip anxiously, and clenching his fists in the pockets of his sweatpants as he waits for Annabeth to arrive so they can (hopefully) work this out. Whatever this is. 

The surprisingly warm breeze tussles his already unruly hair and he turns towards the ocean where the calm waves are silently lapping against the shore, and Percy closes his eyes and takes a deep breath of the salty air which instantly calms him. Whatever's going on between him and Annabeth can easily be resolved... he hopes 

His eyes blink open, squinting through the setting sun, as someone comes to stand beside him, and he already knows it's Annabeth. Percy turns his head so he can look at her and she's staring out at the ocean, her eyes taking on a yellow and blue tint as they reflect the water and sun , and her blonde hair sparkles in the sunlight, the golden glow of the sun causing her skin to illuminate and she's never looked more beautiful. Okay, that's a lie. She looks really, really gorgeous when she's fighting. 

"Hey," he mutters. 

"Hi," she says quietly then turns to face him. "You wanted to talk." 

Percy rubs the back of his neck. "Yeah, I just- I want to know why you've been avoiding me." 

Annabeth presses her lips together and glances out at the ocean before looking back at him, and is that fear he sees flashing through her eyes? "It's hard to explain," she tells him, her voice barely above a whisper. 

"I have time," he says. 

"It scares me," Annabeth mutters, and she sounds so vulnerable, so unlike herself, and Percy already knows she doesn't open up to people very often and that this is probably very hard for her to do, but when he grabs her hand as a show of comfort, she pulls her away and bites her lips as she casts her gaze down at the sand. 

"You can- you can talk to me," Percy says. 

"I know." 

"So, what scares me?" 

She gestures between them. "This." 

Percy frowns. "Us? Why would you be scared of us?" 

"Our parents, Poseidon and Athena, they're rivals," Annabeth says slowly as if she's talking to a child, but he's also grateful because he's already having a hard time following. What does their parents have to do with anything? They never had been involved in their lives so why should they be involved right now? "And... we're not supposed to get along, much less... we're not supposed to- Percy, we can't...ugh." 

"Hey, it's okay, breathe," Percy says gently. 

Annabeth closes her eyes for a second and takes a deep breath before opening them. She looks right into his eyes as she says, "Our parents don't get along. We're not supposed to get along, much less.... like each other, and it scares me because- because I like you!" 

"You...like me?" Of course, he's known for a while but hearing her actually say it... 

"Yes, Percy. I like you and I shouldn't," Annabeth says. "What would our parents thing if-" 

"Who cares what they think?" Percy interrupts her and he ignores the way her eyes widen in panic because, really, why should it matter? Just because their parents are rivals does not mean they have to follow in their footsteps. "They've never been involved in our live and they never even showed any interest in us. So what if they're rivals, why does that have to make us rivals too? We obviously get along, so we obviously aren't rivals, and I just- I don't understand why we have to follow in their footsteps." 

She presses her lips together as she stares up at him. "But, my mom-" 

"You're not your mom," Percy presses and sets his hands on her shoulders, curling his fingers into her hair, and this time, she doesn't pull away or make any indication that she's going to do so. "You shouldn't ruin your own happiness just to seek her approval. If she still can't approve of you or love you because you like her rival's son, then- then that's her problem." 

Thunder rumbles overhead but he doesn't care. 

"Percy..." Annabeth sighs but he sets his forehead against hers and she closes her mouth. 

"Annabeth, just listen to me, please," he pleads, staring into her grey eyes that are reflecting his own and she swallows thickly before nodding. "Our parents may be rivals but that doesn't mean we have to me. We don't have to live in our parents' shadows. We don't have to live in their footsteps. We aren't them. Their rivalry doesn't have to affect us." 

She closes her eyes and breathes deeply. "That's not the only thing I'm scared about." 

"Talk to me," he says gently. 

"I- I... I've never admitted it to anyone, but you deserve to know," Annabeth whispers. "I struggle with abandonment issues," her voice cracks and Percy tightens his fingers around her curls but not enough to hurt her. "Everyone I've ever loved has left me at some point... and- and I'm terrified you're going to do the same. I just, I don't want my issues to come between us." 

"Oh, Annabeth," Percy mutters and pulls her into a hug, keep one hand buried in her hair while the other slides down to wrap around her waist, holding her close as she buries her face into his neck, breathing heavily as she tries to calm down. "Hey, hey, it's okay. We'll figure everything out, I promise." 

She pulls away and wipes her eyes. "I just- I need some time to think about it." 

"Take as long as you need." He presses a feather light kiss to her forehead. 

-----

After a long week of training nonstop, Percy got an okay pass from Chiron and his swordsmen instructor, Chris Rodriguez, that's clear to head back into the mortal world now that he can defend himself from monsters. After breakfast Chiron has called Argus, a big blond haired dude with blue eyes littering his body, that they'll need a ride back into the city and he'd instantly helped them carry any luggage (which wasn't much) down into the van below Half-Blood Hill. 

Percy had been a bit sad to say goodbye to camp until winter break when he'd hopefully be able to visit again. Throughout the one week of being there, he'd made a few new friends including the Stoll Brothers and Katie Gardner from the Demeter Cabin, and he'd grown closer to Annabeth as well, even though they'd agreed to stay friends until she got everything figured out, and he respected that. 

He watches from his spot between Annabeth and Grover as Half-Blood Hill grows smaller and smaller the farther Argus drives them away, and once he can't make it out anymore, he turns back to the front. Annabeth's fallen asleep against his shoulder and he presses a light kiss to her blonde hair. Even though they'd agreed on being friends didn't mean they weren't allowed to be affectionate with one another. 

On the other side of them, Grover's chewing on a tin can as he tries to keep it together. He had a very tearful goodbye with his girlfriend, Juniper, before they'd left since they wouldn't be seeing each other until next summer (she doesn't like to come out of her tree in winter) and Percy pats his friend shoulder in comfort and his satyr friend gives him a watery smile. 

Grover asks to get dropped off at Rachel's house since they're still planning on going to the homecoming dance this upcoming Saturday, so he's the first to exit the small van, and Annabeth's jostled awake as Grover noisily climbs out of the van after giving Percy a fist bump, and she waves to him through the window. 

Argus silently asks where the two of them want to get dropped off and Percy tells him Annabeth's hotel address, planning on keeping the promise he'd kept to his mom the day before disappearing off to camp, and Annabeth gives him a weird look but doesn't say anything. She holds his hand for the rest of the drive, placing with his fingers and tracing the lines of his palm, and she's pressing their palms together, comparing the sizes when the van comes to a stop in front of a familiar hotel. 

They thank him quietly which he nods in response and opens the door for them, making sure to keep his coat and scarf tightly around him in case any clear sighted mortals (like Rachel) are walking around. Annabeth and Percy wave him a goodbye, waiting until he turns a corner to head up to her hotel room, and as they step inside, it looks the same as she'd left it. Blueprints strewn everywhere, an unmade bed, and takeout boxes littering the table. 

Annabeth's cheeks flush in embarrassment and she quickly scoops them up and dumps them into a garbage can in the corner of the room, and she's about to kick of her shoes and unzip her coat when Percy suddenly stops her. 

"My mom- I told her you're living here and she offered for you to stay with us." 

He swears she's going to cry, but she blinks her tears back furiously before nodding in agreement after many reassurances that his family doesn't mind, and he helps her pack all her things up before they check her out of the hotel and head down the block to his apartment. 

His mom nearly cracks his ribs with a tight hug when he walks through the door, and Estelle comes bounding in afterwards yelling out a "Perthy!" before wrapping hers arms around his legs tightly and he carefully sets Annabeth's stuff down on the floor before hoisting his little sister into his arms and peppering kisses all over her face, causing her to giggle uncontrollably. 

Then Tyson comes running in at full speed, nearly knocking Percy and Estelle both over as he slams into them, hugging him so tight it's almost impossible to get any air into his lungs, and he's wondering if his little brother had grown since he'd been gone. When he pulls away and grins up at Percy, he has to hold in a surprised yelp because his brother doesn't have two eyes, he has one, but he gets over his surprise and smiles. 

"Hey, big guy," Percy greets and ruffles his hair. 

Annabeth's still standing beside him, clutching the handle to her suitcase so tight her knuckles are turning white, and Percy beckons her to come inside and not just stand in the doorway. She laughs a little at that and respectfully takes off her shoes before following him into the living room where Sally's waiting and she envelops Annabeth in a tight, motherly hug, and he sees a few tears escape Annabeth's eyes. 

"If- if it's too much for you, I can go back to the hotel," Annabeth says.

"Uh-huh," his mom says sternly. "You're staying here. We have a guest room and everything." 

"You're sure?" Annabeth asks, looking like she's going to start crying again. 

His mom gives her a warm smile. "Positive." 

That night, Percy and Annabeth are sitting on the couch with a blanket wrapped around their shoulders as Tyson and Estelle lay on the floor, Finding Nemo playing on the TV in front of them, and they're sharing a bowl of popcorn. Their hands brush against each other's as they both reach into the bowl at the same time, but instead of jerking away like he thought she would, Annabeth slips her fingers through his and sets the bowl of popcorn down on the coffee table so she can move closer and lay her head on his shoulder. 

He takes the risk and leans down to kiss her forehead, and she smiles before closing her eyes. 

The next day after school, they're sitting in the library sharing a small bag of chips they'd gotten from the vending machine down the hall as they wait for Paul to get out of his meeting. They couldn't walk home since October decided to let it rain that day. 

Forgotten ext books are spread open in front of them and they're supposed to be working on their history homework, but Annabeth had seen one thing relating to architecture and got carried away in the beauty or arches and a whole lot of other terms Percy doesn't understand, but the way her eyes are lighting up and she's talking so enthusiastically, he can't help but just watch her and worry about homework later. 

One of her hands is waving in the air as she talks about Greek and Roman architecture while the other is upturned on the table, and Percy reaches over to grab it, squeezing her hand affectionately and this time she doesn't pull away, but she squeezes his hand back. 

Back at the house that night they decide to surprise Sally with a nice batch of blue cupcakes since her next book is going to be published in the next few days, but they end up coming out looking like blue cemented bricks and flower is all over the kitchen floor. But instead of being mad about it when she got home, Sally just laughed and told them to have it cleaned up before they went to bed that night. 

"You got me in trouble the second night of me staying here," Annabeth jokingly accuses Percy as she sweeps the poured off the floor and into the dust pan before dumping it into the trashcan where the cement cupcakes lay untouched. 

Percy laughs. "It was your idea." 

And that's how another flour throwing fight started. 

They're walking home after a long day of school the next day since October decided to give them an unusual warm and sunny day, and they decided to stop at a local coffee shop to get their homework done before taking a walk through Central Park. 

Annabeth grips his hand with one of hers while the other holds onto her paper coffee cup as they walk through Central Park, the cool air rustling her curls, and the falling colorful leaves completes the fall aesthetic. She leads them over to a bench that's overlooking a small pond and she rests her head on his shoulder as he rants about his horrible English teacher, and she eventually starts to tease him since she has his stepdad. 

Silence follows and thoughts of homecoming start to flood his mind. The dance is only two days away and Grover and Rachel had already gone to get their dresses and suits, though Annabeth and Percy declined the offer to tag along. He really doesn't want to go, but if Annabeth does then he'll suck it up for three hours so she can do something that will make her happy. 

His throat suddenly feels dry as he realizes what he's about to ask her and his palms start to get sweaty so he pulls his hand out of hers which causes her to sit up straighter and look at him with furrowed eyebrows. Percy wipes his palms against the fabric of his jeans as he clears his throats and explains he wants to ask her something. 

"You can ask me anything," Annabeth tells him and he feels himself relax only slightly. 

"What do you think about homecoming?" Percy asks her. 

She presses his lips together. "Honestly? I'd rather just dress up and go out to dinner." 

"Really?" Percy's eyes are wide as she nods. "Thank gods. I hate dances." 

Annabeth laughs. "Me too. My last dance in eighth grade,  I got attacked by a monster." 

"I just always sat in the corner by myself," Percy admits with a shrug. 

"Oh, poor you," she teases. 

------

Saturday comes soon enough, and Percy's waiting in the living room, helping Estelle put a puzzle together while he waits for Annabeth to finish getting ready. His mom had taken her shopping the day prior for a dress, much to Annabeth's complaints that she didn't need a dress to go out to dinner, but his mom hadn't been having any of it. She'd made it very clear that her and Percy are dressing up and that seemed to convince Annabeth to go. 

They hadn't showed him the dress, actually made him cover his eyes, when they'd come home three hours later after looking at five different stores before buying the perfect dress. Paul had taken him out earlier today to buy some dress pants and a nice button up shirt, even though Percy had made it very clear that there wasn't a need to do that, but his stepdad had shoved him out the door and the last thing he'd seen from inside the apartment was Annabeth's laughing face, Estelle sitting against her hip. 

"Blababa," Estelle babbled as she tries to fit a the square piece in the triangle slot. 

Percy laughs and helps her put it into the correct slot and he reaches over to ruffle her dark hair when his mom clears his throat, and he picks himself off the floor, brushing off any dust that had collected on his white button up shirt tucked into his black dress pants. He'd left his hair untouched, knowing there had been nothing he could do to tame it. It's permanently crazy and it's just something he has to deal with. 

His eyes trail away from his sister on the floor over to the entryway of the kitchen where his mom is helping Annabeth adjust one of the straps to her dress before fixing a curl that's laying against her collarbone, and Percy has to do everything in his power not to let his jaw drop to the floor when Annabeth turns to face him. 

Her cheeks are flushed and he can't tell if it's because of the blush his mom had dabbed on her cheeks or because of the blood rushing to her cheeks, and the mascara makes her grey eyes pop and sparkled more than they usually do, and her curly hair is flowing freely around her shoulders His eyes flicker down to her dress and his cheeks flush. It's a spaghetti strap, white, cami dress that end a few inches above her knees and the light pigment makes her tan skin glow. 

"Wow, Annabeth, you look so beautiful," the words slip from his mouth without a second thought. 

Her cheeks darken even more. "You don't look too bad yourself." 

Before he can reply, his mom shows up with a camera. "Picture time!" 

Annabeth smiles and stands next to Percy and his heart stutters in his chest as she wraps her arms around his middle, locking her fingers on the other side as she leans her head against his shoulder, and Percy wraps his arm around her shoulders in return. His mom snaps a couple pictures before calling after them to be safe and have fun. 

He helps Annabeth into her black pea coat and she smiles at him in thanks, tucking her phone into one of the pockets, and she waits patiently as he slides into his own coat before grabbing his hand and walking with him out the door. 

The weather decided to treat them nicely today so they decide to walk to the restaurant Paul had helped him make reservations for the night prior, and by the time they arrive, the sun is setting behind the skyline. Percy gives the waitress his last name and she leads him to a table to the right of the restaurant and she places menus in front of them on the table as they sit down. 

"Can I get you two anything to drink?" she asks kindly, holding a pen over a notepad. 

Percy lets Annabeth order first and once their waitress, whose name tag reads Hanna, scribbles down her order of lemon sparkling water, he orders a coke for himself and she tucks the notepad in her pocket before heading into the kitchen. 

They hold hands over the table and he's a bit distracted by her thumbs caressing the skin over his knuckles, and he can't help it when he lifts her hand up and presses a kiss to it. Percy grins when her cheeks turn a light shade of pink and they thank the waitress when she places their drinks in front of them. 

After they order their food, Percy squeezes Annabeth's hand. "This is way better than a dance." 

Annabeth nods in agreement. "Definitely. Though, Rachel thinks I've gone insane." 

Percy laughs. "It honestly surprises me she'd even be into dances." 

"It surprised me that Grover wanted to go," Annabeth tells him. 

He shrugs. "I'm just glad we're here." 

She agrees. 

They finish dinner and Percy pays for the both of them but not before Annabeth put up a fight about it, wanting to pay for her own food and they make a compromise that she can pay the tip. They thank their waitress before leaving the restaurant and instead of heading straight home, they take a nighttime walk through central park. 

Annabeth wings their intertwined hands between them as Percy leads her to a clearing near the center of the park, and he stops beneath a canape of trees in a large patch of grass and he lets go of her hand which causes her to frown. 

"Dance with me?" he asks, smiling as he holds his hand out. 

The smile returns and she says, "Right now?" 

"Well, yeah. Just because we're not at the dance doesn't mean we can't dance." 

She laughs then and grabs onto his outstretched hands, allowing him to pull her closer as he slips his hands inside her jacket to wrap his arms around her waist. Annabeth's arms circles around his neck as they start to sway together to the nonexistent music, but then she gets an idea and takes out her phone, scrolling through her playlist until she finds the songs she's looking for and taps it, dropping her phone back into her pocket. Percy gives her a lopsided smile and kisses her forehead before pulling back, grinning down at her as he grabs her hand to spin her away from him. She laughs softly as he pulls her back against his chest and she rests the side of her face against his chest, listening to his heartbeat, and Percy rests his head against hers as they sway. 

"Percy?" Annabeth says after a few minutes. 

"Hm?" he hums in response, eyes closed as his cheek rests against the top of her head. 

Annabeth pulls her head away and he opens his eyes to find her staring into his, a serious look on her face as she says, "I've been thinking and you were right." The corner of her lips tug upwards into a soft smile and Percy finds himself caught in a wave of confusion. 

He stops swaying for a moment and tightens his arms around her. "What do you mean?"

"About what you said at camp," Annabeth elaborates and his eyes widen as he realizes what she's talking about and his heart starts thudding against his chest wildly. "Just because our parents are rivals doesn't mean we have to be. We're our own person and can choose for ourselves what makes us happy, and you, Percy Jackson, make me happy." 

"So... what are you saying?" Percy asks her, his eyes glinting. 

Annabeth rolls her eyes but she's smiling. "I'm ready for this whole relationship thing." 

"Really?" His grin widens. 

"Really," Annabeth confirms. 

Percy laughs and tightens his arms around her as he lifts her off the ground and spins her around in a circle, loving the way she laughs gleefully near his ear and her grip around his neck tightens, and when he sets her back down on the ground, he pulls his arms away so he can cup her face. His thumbs brush against the skin of her cheeks as his eyes ears her own. He's smiling so wide his cheeks are starting to hurt and she's still laughing softly. 

Not wasting another minute, Percy leans down and kisses her. Her soft  lips fit perfectly against his and the familiar sparks ignite and his heart's racing, and he feels as though his whole brain is melting straight through his body. Her hands slip into his hair and he leans down as she tilts her head upwards to deepen the kiss, and they praise each other's lips with each kiss exchanged. He tangles his fingers into her hair as their kisses grow more sloppy, and they pull away with a gasp. 

She grins up at him before kissing him once again, pulling away a couple seconds later. 

Percy envelopes her in a hug, holding her tight and never wanting to let go. 

And it was in that moment that Percy realized he'd taken the fall for Annabeth Chase. 

------

I was gonna end it there but lets have a bonus, shall we?

They would have stayed out longer, conversing quietly and exchanging kisses, if it weren't for the unpredictable October weather. They'd been walking hand and hand through the path surrounded by trees that lead the the sidewalk when the first raindrop landed on Percy's nose, and he'd made the comment that they better head back. 

More rain drops fell from the sky and they laughed as they ran back to the apartment, holding their jackets close to keep them warm from the icy droplets. Annabeth laughed her head off when Percy slipped and fell in a puddle before she helped him up and kissed him, not caring that they were getting soaked or standing in the middle of the sidewalk somewhere in Manhattan. 

By the time they make it back to the apartment, the rain had passed but they were soaked. Annabeth's hair's slicked back and darkened from the rain water, and her dress sticks to her skin uncomfortable, and Percy's hair is already drying as they walk through the doors that the doorman, Darrell, holds open, and Annabeth's still laughing about him falling as they step into the elevator and he sticks his tongue out at him. 

Percy unlocks the door to the apartment and allows her to stop in first before stepping inside himself and closing the door behind them, locking it, before setting the keys in the bowl beside the door and slipping his shoes off.  

"What happened to you two?" his mom demands, hands on her hips as she sees them walk into the living room, hair and clothes dripping with water, but her tone is light and full of amusement as she takes them in. 

"It rained," Percy tells her. 

"Poured," Annabeth corrects. 

Then Tyson comes bounding down the hall, dressed in Toy Story pajamas and their mom scolds him for not behind in bed but he ignores her as he laughs at Percy and Annabeth. Then he gestures for Percy to lean down and when he does, he whispers loud enough for only Percy and Annabeth to hear, "is Annabeth your girlfriend yet?" 

Percy straightens, a smile on his face as he glances beside him at Annabeth who's also smiling down at Tyson and reaches out to ruffle his hair, and he swats her hand away with a laugh before looking back at Percy expectantly. 

"Yeah, she is, Ty." 

"...YES!" 

Alrighty, that's the end! After three weeks of writing and 28,205 words, it's finally finished!

I'm sorry if somethings are confusing. If you have any questions just ask!