~outrunning hope~

Disclaimer: if I actually did own, writing this would just be wasting precious time.

In which Percy likes wearing tank tops with motivational sayings on them, and Annabeth needs a jogging partner. It's really a match made in heaven.

…

Damn Piper Mclean. Only she would bail out on Annabeth the first day they were supposed to jog together. Now Annabeth has no motivation to even leave the dorms before eleven. Her classes don't start until later in the day, which means there's no incentive to do anything really, other than binge watch Stranger Things for the billionth time. No matter how much she watches it, she can never get bored of Millie Bobby Brown stealing egos whilst destroying associated facilities.

But damn Piper Mclean. If her father didn't take her on some "surprise business" trip, she wouldn't be in this situation. Piper would take one look at her, and then immediately shake her head before pulling Annabeth out of bed, possibly by the hair. She'd be forced to get ready, and they'd go on a jog. A nice, peaceful, exhausting jog.

Annabeth thinks it's all bullshit. Who the hell is willing to wake up at ass crack in the morning (aka seven forty-three) and jog. No one else does that, so why should she? Annabeth's a healthy person. She eats her vegetables, well, the vegetables that come in ramen packets, but they still count! And she's about as fully functioning as a freshman can be, so that's another plus. She doesn't need to exercise! Who would run in their spare time? It's stupid.

Well, as she looks outside, some idiots are actually working out. In like, clothing specifically geared towards workouts. Annabeth was just going to wear yoga pants and a Hogwarts sweatshirt. Also— why do they look so disgustingly pleasant? Like, each person has a slight smile on their face as they literally run at seven in the morning (it may be closer to eight, but Annabeth really doesn't care, because it's still seven o'clock).

Groaning, she grabs her phone, which is charging nearby her bed. As she checks it, she sees that there is a series of texts from Piper, all of which annoy her at an equal length. The girl is literally in Paris for the month with her father, why does she still have to torment Annabeth?

Pipes: annie i stg just because i'm not there doesn't mean you get to slack off

Pipes: sorry hon i'm not allowing it

Pipes: get your ass outta bed!

Pipes: pls just go outside, at least

Annabeth frowns at the messages. She doesn't get to do this— especially since she left Annabeth all alone, which just really sucks because Piper's really her only close friend in college. And her roommate, but to be honest, those are the same things to her. Honestly, the only good thing that came out of this is Annabeth gets to avoid Piper's horrible period hygiene for a month. Which she's extremely glad about. That still doesn't make up for the fact that she's all alone though.

But she can't ignore Piper. She's impossible to ignore, mostly because she's literally magnetic. Like her personality, her appearance, everything, people just get drawn in. And Annabeth's not ashamed to admit she's one of those people.

Annabeth: fine but you better not leave me again

Pipes: no promises but sure

Annabeth smiles, satisfied at the message. Piper's dad is like a B-list, nearing A-list actor, which means he gets big roles sometimes, which means he has to travel, and sometimes, Piper gets to tag along. So a "sure" is probably the best Annabeth can get, for now at least. Annabeth doesn't know a lot about what Tristian Mclean is doing, because it's secret and not even Piper really knows, but it's in Paris, so who could really pass off that opportunity?

(No one, if Annabeth had the chance, she'd do it in a heartbeat)

So she relents, because that's what you do when Piper Mclean is forcing you to do something. Grabbing some yoga pants from her drawer, which unlike Piper's (who is an absolute slob), is organized precisely by color, size, and clothing article (she's a bit of a neat-freak, sue her). She grabs a sports-bra and layers her Hogwarts sweater over it. Not exactly exercise attire, but it's what she's comfortable with. She leaves her dorm with her phone, earbuds, and student ID standing in front of the sidewalk, staring it down.

The pathway is long, and circles around this part of the campus. Annabeth doesn't think she'll be able to make it around the whole way— she'll probably do a mixture of run-walking until she passes out from exhaustion.

Better now than never, she thinks, and then connects her wireless earbuds to her phone, shoving said phone down her pocket. The pockets of yoga pants are always nice— Annabeth adores how they look on her body, which is why she has arguably, more pairs than she needs (eight, to be exact). She looks up at the pathway once more, and then adjusts her earbuds, before beginning to start on a jog.

And it's— not horrible. At first at least. The wind is nice and steady, and it's not too hot, not too cold. By the time she's turned her first corner, she's actually kind of proud of herself. There's no cramps coming along yet, and her stride is steady and strong. She picks up the pace a little bit, running to the beat of her music. In Annabeth's own little personal bubble of a world, she thinks she looks cool, but to others, she probably just looks like a weirdo with extremely bad posture and an extended stride.

But for Annabeth, that's fine, because who's really going to waste a part of their day judging her that harshly? She continues to run at a steady pace, one foot after the other, and actually feels kind of good about it. Like this isn't that horrible, that she could do this every day. Maybe Piper isn't so bad after all. Honestly, she's a little bit grateful that the girl forced her out of bed, even though she did abandon her for Paris (actually, Annabeth would do the same, so maybe that's not the best phrasing in the world). So yeah. Props to Piper.

Of course, all is going well until she literally slams into another person. She's not entirely sure if it's her fault or the other persons, but she immediately blames it out whoever she slammed into because that's just what Annabeth Chase does. "What the hell?" She shrieks, on the ground. The sun is like, directly in her eye, so she can't see the person in front of her, but then he— she thinks— shifts so she can get a better view.

And holy goddamn shit. Like, the mother of all shit in the world. He's hot. Annabeth doesn't usually think like this, but like— he's really really hot. His eyes are green— literally sea green, she thinks— and his raven black hair which is extremely messy (though not like, moppy messy, it's more ruggishly messy) hangs around his face. He looks concerned, and Annabeth backs away a bit because he smells good too. And he's wearing a tank top. A literal tank top that reads, "inhale excellence, exhale doubt." What the fuck?

"I'm so sorry!" tank top boy says nervously, holding out his hand. "I must've not been looking, sorry, sometimes I get distracted."

Annabeth's still in awe because the hot guy is talking to her and is holding his hand out for her and is smiling at her anxiously and it's so adorably awkward and cute, she can't take it. She feebly grasps his hands and just knows that it's clammy and sweaty, but then he pulls her up from the ground, and she doesn't really care anymore about it. He's like, drop-dead handsome. "It's okay," she says, brushing some dust off of her yoga pants. "I'm okay."

"Are you sure?" That's cute— even more cute than before— he actually cares.

Annabeth smiles brightly at him and then frowns, hoping that her blush isn't prominent. "It's good," her voice comes out kind of annoyed and rude, which is definitely not what she was trying for. "It's good," she repeats, this time hoping that it sounds cool and carefree like she runs into hot boys every day.

Tank top boy still looks concerned. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"It's fine." Annabeth reassures him, "you don't owe me anything. People run into each other every day." She laughs lamely at the joke, because run in, meaning meet, and then, like, run in, as in physically run into each other. It's lame. She knows this. She still laughs, because that's what people do. They laugh at lame jokes to cover up the awkwardness of conversations.

The boy frowns and then wrinkles his brow in this extremely cute way, and so far, Annabeth's convinced that everything he does is cute. She also wonders how you can be cute and hot at the same time— it always seems as if it's one or the other, but for this boy, it's both. "If you want, I could consolidate or something— get you coffee, it's early in the morning right?"

"Big words," Annabeth mumbles under her breath, making sure he can't hear. She nods, because who would pass up the opportunity to get coffee with a guy like this. "It seems so," Annabeth hums, "I mean, sure. I'm not doing this by choice anyway."

He shrugs this off, though it's a bit of an offhand thing to say, "there's a little cafe a block away. I mean, if you'd like to—"

"Sure," Annabeth interrupts, "Yeah, sure," why the hell do you keep repeating yourself Annabeth? Her mind kindly tells her, causing Annabeth to bite her lip, and turn away a bit. She looks at the tank top boy's chest for a moment, which admittedly, is a weird thing to do, but whatever, and stares at the quote on his tank top. Who wears tank tops anyway? Even weirder— one's with motivational sayings on them. She won't judge though, because she wears the same outfit basically every day, and so as for fashion choices, she can't really judge.

"Okay." Tank top boy pauses. "I'm Percy, by the way," he holds his hand out to shake.

A name to the face. That's nice. And it's fitting, his name even sounds attractive. At least now she can stop calling him, "tank top boy," or "guy." She takes his hand and shakes it. "Annabeth." It feels as if their hands are joined for a second too long, so it turns awkward, and Annabeth slowly pulls her hand away from him, which makes things even more awkward, and god why does she have to be such an awkward person it's a problem.

"That's a pretty name for a pretty woman," Percy says.

Annabeth blushes and nods. He's flirting, "thank you, my mother gave it to me."

"Your mother must have a knack with parenting."

She cringes because she knows exactly what her big mouth is going to say, which is going to make things even more uncomfortable than they already are but— "not really. She's gone." Stupid, stupid, stupid, what would Piper say? Piper would be disappointed because this always happens! It's what scares people off. Annabeth's not really an over-sharer, but for some reason, when it comes to her mother she is. She'll say it so bluntly that once one of her middle school teachers had to call her father at home to make sure that she was okay. "Sorry," she adds to the end, just to smooth everything down, but it ends up making everything worse because now Percy looks even more uncomfortable and Annabeth's feeling weird so they just go silent.

"You don't have to say sorry," Percy finally says, and Annabeth sighs in relief because if she has to take the reins with this conversation again, it's going to go down a much darker pathway, one she isn't sure she wants to explore with a tank top boy. Plus, it might be a record if she scares him off in their first conversation. And then, just to make matters worse, she wouldn't get to know his childhood trauma.

God, she's sadistic sometimes.

"I know, I just—" Annabeth shakes her head, "— I'm not usually an over-sharer, I just, you know."

Percy nods. "Yeah, I understand."

"Have I scared you off yet?" Annabeth laughs.

And that's good— he's shaking his head. "Nope. I still have to get you coffee."

"It's fine if you don't want to anymore," Annabeth tells him. Some people worry about being polite about bailing, but Annabeth— she understands. Not everyone wants to have these types of conversations. It's weird, and if once people get to know her, they want to leave, there's no harm in that. Annabeth knows people have preferences and for the most part, conversations about Annabeth's absent mom aren't what they want and that's perfectly understandable.

This time, Percy shakes his head. "I want to. Plus, I tripped you," he squints his eyes. "Are you sure that you're okay?"

"I wouldn't lie to a stranger." That's actually not true, which means she, therefore, is lying to a stranger, but a correction to that would easily be: "most strangers." She doesn't lie to most strangers. She'll lie about having a boyfriend to creepy guys at parties, or that she has a ride home when strangers ask her if she wants to ride in their car.

Percy shrugs, now settled, "okay. Well, coffee-hoe!"

Annabeth's probably over-using the word cute today, but come on, that's adorable.

…

They arrive at the cafe five minutes later, laughing. Annabeth's surprised at how fast they did a three-sixty in conversation, but she doesn't note the difference, because she's actually enjoying Percy's company.

"Do you have any idea what coffee you want?" Percy asks. A little bell rings as they enter the store.

Annabeth looks up at the menu, although she already knows what she's getting. "Cappuccino with extra sugar."

"Sweet?" Percy questions.

Annabeth nods. She could take this opportunity and make an extremely flirty joke, but she really doesn't think that now's the time, especially since they've just met. "Yeah." It's a little bit of an indulgence, and actually, she doesn't usually have coffee. She likes tea better, especially when reading a good book, but she's partial to coffee, it's fine. They approach the server together, and Percy pulls out his debit card. Any other time, Annabeth would argue and say she could pay for her own drink, but she's impressed at his gentleman-ness here, so she doesn't say a word.

"Hey, what can I get for you?" The server asks, smiling at the two of them.

Percy, bless him, gives her a huge grin, "I'd love a latte and I think she—" he motions to Annabeth, "wants a cappuccino with extra sugar."

"That'd be six seventy-five." The server says, and Percy hands over his card. Annabeth watches as they input the amount, and then swipe the card because she has this childish fear that employees could just take any amount of money. Not that they would, essential workers are amazing. Annabeth's just a jerk.

Percy gives her a reassuring smile, and they sit down, waiting for their orders. "I was wondering if you had a running partner or something like that?"

It's kind of cute, he sounds like a human puppy dog. "I used to," Annabeth scoffs, "but my friend abandoned me for Paris."

"A person or the place?"

"Place." She shakes her head, "her father's this famous actor, and he has to film some stuff in Paris, and of course, my friend would go along with him, and leave me, running partner-less."

"Is this friend, perhaps, Piper Mclean?"

"How'd you know?" Has she met Percy before or something— or well, has Piper? No, she would have remembered, because Piper would have definitely told her about him if so.

Percy shrugs, "my buddy Jason Grace has been like, in love with her since the first day, I think they have a class together or something."

"Oh…" Annabeth vaguely remembers Jason. Piper was interested in him too for a while. She doesn't know if Piper still likes him, because she moves on fairly quickly, she has the attention span of a Chimpanzee, but Annabeth thinks he's been mentioned in passing more than just a couple of times.

Percy waves his hand in the air, "but anyway, back to the jogging thing."

"Right, the jogging thing. So Piper kind of begged me to go outside and run, so I told her I would do it, but now like, with Piper not physically dragging me out of bed, it's hard for me to do it on my own accord, because who wants to jog at ass-crack in the morning? And without caffeine too."

Percy smiles, brighter than the sun, and holds his arms out. "This is perfect!" He says in a voice so loud a couple of people look over. "I need a jogging partner too! Jason has early classes, so I can't do it with him, but—" he clears his throat, "this is like, a match made in heaven!" Annabeth blushes at that a little bit, even though it's really not a big deal. Percy's enthusiasm doesn't matter, it's fine, she's fine.

Annabeth holds her hand out, "so, jogging partners?"

"Jogging partners." He takes it.

…

From then on, Percy picks Annabeth up from her dorm at precisely seven-thirty, and whines at her to get ready for their morning run. Annabeth sluggishly leaves her comfortable bed and puts on her clothing, as slow as she possibly can. The absolutely excellent thing about Percy is that he always comes with two coffee cups in his hand— one for Annabeth, and the other for himself, which really wakes her up. They drink the cups as they walk to the track, and then throw them out at the same recycling bin each and every time.

Percy's actually a really good jogging partner. He keeps pace with her, but also helps challenge her— making sure that she doesn't completely give up— they sometimes chat while jogging, and he always wears various motivational tank tops and jogging shorts. Annabeth always points them out and laughs, because really, it's such a Percy thing to wear.

"So, when's Piper coming back?" Percy asks, one day. He's wearing a shirt that reads: "your mind is the only limit" in cursive lettering and blue sports shorts.

It's been about two weeks of their daily jogging, which means Piper will be getting back in roughly two and a half more. "Seventeen days," Annabeth replies because she's extra.

"Are you going to jog together when she gets back?" Percy looks around, a little feverishly.

Annabeth quickly and adamantly shakes her head. "Nope. She had her chance. Plus, I think you're my favorite."

"Favorite what?" Percy asks, grinning at her widely like he knows what she's going to say.

Annabeth pats him on the back. "Favorite friend. You buy me coffee."

"I expect pay-back."

"No, you don't," Annabeth smirks at him, nudging him in the side.

Percy shakes his head, as they continue their slow jog around the track. "Rude."

"You do it by choice," Annabeth explains, "I didn't ask you to buy me coffee, which means I don't have to give you anything in response."

Percy pouts, making this face that's kind of extremely adorable— so adorable, that Annabeth pulls her phone out and takes a picture. Percy blinks, "did you just take a picture of me without my consent?"

"Public property," Annabeth motions to the grass. "I know my rights."

"Get your legal mumbo-jumbo out of my face."

Annabeth rolls her eyes because he's just ridiculous (and she loves it). She slips her phone back into her pocket and makes a mental note to send the picture to Piper later. They continue to run, with an easy conversation, finally circling back to where they started.

"I'm walking you home," Percy announces, just like he does every day.

Annabeth nods, "I know." She replies, just like she does every day. It's become a natural routine, as easy as breathing. Every day starts out the same, with Percy pounding on her day at the butt-ass crack of dawn, making her go on a run with him. The first few days were hard, but now that she's gotten her stride, she looks forward to her daily runs with Percy. She looks forward to seeing him.

…

Later in the day, after she's done with all of her classes, she sends Piper the image of Percy, grinning to herself as she adds a caption.

Annabeth: [attachment: 1 photo]

Annabeth: he thinks he's so funny

Piper responds only seconds later, even with the time-zone difference, which is strange. Well, strange is normal for Piper, because she barely sleeps anyway (Annabeth is convinced that she's a vampire), and she guesses Paris hasn't changed anything for her in that way.

Pipes: wait wait what back up a minute

Pipes: who is this

Pipes: i haven't seen this one before

Annabeth quickly scrolls back onto their previous conversations and realizes that she hasn't really mentioned Percy at all. She's talked about the running— how she's been jogging every day— but not that she actually replaced Piper, and now has a serious running partner.

Annabeth: my new jogging partner

Annabeth: since you bailed loser

Pipes: what?! i was not aware that you replaced me that quickly

Pipes: i'm hurt annabeth, hurt

Pipes: but also like go get it he's hot

Annabeth rolls her eyes. Only Piper. She smiles as she types her response.

Annabeth: he's a friend of jason's

Pipes: jason as in jason grace?

Annabeth: yeah

Pipes: are like, all the hot dudes in one big friend group?

Annabeth: possibly

Annabeth: didn't you ghost him or something?

Pipes: not exactly

Pipes: got a little scared, he's kinda perfect

Annabeth: you're perfect pipes

Pipes: aw thanks bae

Pipes: but like, you should ask jogging guy out he's cute

Annabeth: so superficial

Pipes: i'm sure that if you're this smitten, he has a great personality too

Sometimes, she's really happy to have someone who knows her this well. Piper's awesome like that, even though she's annoying sometimes. She always seems to know how Annabeth's feeling, what she needs, and how to help her get over something— whether it's a grade, a guy, or family. There's something about Piper, something about the way she talks, the way she interacts with Annabeth, that always helps her calm down.

As she sets her phone down, it occurs to her that she doesn't have Percy's number. Which she should probably get, considering they're more than just kind of friends. Plus, what if one day Annabeth's sick, and Percy comes over, and she grossly gets all her germs on him? That wouldn't be very fun. Also— maybe it doesn't just have to be for emergencies, maybe they could just… talk. Like the normal person that Annabeth is.

She makes a mental note to ask him about it the next day when they're done jogging. She'll do it in a suave, natural way like she totally didn't plan how she would ask him for it the day before. Annabeth is good at that— she's great at holding conversations. In her head, she looks at herself as this fumbling, awkward girl, but whenever she questions Piper about it, it's brushed off, which makes her think that she's good at being casual.

She lets out a huge sigh, and then gets her computer, pulling up a new document. She has some homework to do— reading and drafting an essay— which she wants to get done by tomorrow evening. If there's one thing Annabeth is, it's that she's organized. She always completes her assignments on time, and if she can't, she emails the teacher a least two and a half days beforehand. Piper is always in awe of this, but it's really not some big accomplishment. She has a notebook where she keeps a to-do list for each of her classes. It's a system she's used since the beginning of high school, and it works wonders. She's tried to convince Piper to use the system, but she adamantly refuses and continues to procrastinate and turn in her assignments by the deadline, not the due date.

Annabeth just shakes her head, and leans back, laughing at her. School has always come easy to her, and for college, it was really no different. Yeah, she had more distractions— like parties and games— but overall, she hasn't had that much trouble. Her biggest problem is getting to classes on time, which is way harder than she thought it would, especially since the campus is so big. Her classes are challenging, yes, but it's nothing Annabeth can't handle. She's had a long time to prepare for this— AP classes, plenty of after-school clubs, and several extra-curricular programs that focused on college-prep and education.

She finishes drafting everything around an hour and a half later, and then goes into editing, before finishing the outline. After reading for another half hour, she goes on Netflix, just browsing through movies. In the end, she lands on Stranger Things once more, because that's always her default. She switches to season three and leans back against her pillow. The good thing about not having Piper here is that she doesn't have to wear headphones, she can blast the show as loud as she can, without a care in the world (and without Piper's annoying commentary about how Joe Keery can have her babies).

After binge-watching two episodes, she realizes how late it is, and also the fact that she hasn't really eaten anything. So she goes to the small pink fridge Piper insists on keeping, just in case there's an apocalypse and they can't go down to the student cafeteria. She takes out a microwave mac and cheese cup, which has saved her stomach during long nights of studying plenty of times. It's simple and easy to make, but the portion sizes are small, so she takes another one out, makes them one at a time. After several water spills and seven minutes of preparation, voila! The mac and cheese are made. It's obviously very easy to eat, so she finishes it within the next six minutes, and then throws away all her trash, because again, unlike Piper, she's a neat freak.

By then, it's getting really late, so she shuts off the lights to the dorm, and waddles back to her bed, all to fall asleep.

…

"Percy," Annabeth huffs, as they finally reach the end of their run. "I was wondering if I could get your number?" She pauses, and looks up at him, "I mean like, you know, not for any particular reason, just like, if I'm sick one day, and you come, that wouldn't be great, and I wouldn't want to get you sick, because being sick sucks." She's rambling again.

Percy interrupts her before she can go on and on. "Of course!" He says, pulling out his phone. It has a phone case— with you guessed it— another motivational quote on it. She squints at it, trying to read the script. She thinks it says, "do good and good will come to you." The case itself is blue, and Annabeth thinks that his favorite color might be blue because he has a lot of blue stuff. His tank top today ("if it doesn't challenge you, it won't change you") is blue too.

"Great." Annabeth takes her own phone out. "What's your number?"

Percy relays it to her, and she adds it to a contact, taking the picture she sent Piper, and putting it on as his contact photo. She sends him a text, so he can put hers in too.

Annabeth: this is annabeth but you already know that because you see me typing this message

Percy looks up, delighted. He types a couple of things into his phone, and then, sure enough, she gets a message from him several seconds later.

Tank top: this is percy but you already know that because you're the one that texted first.

Annabeth then turns her phone, to show him what she's oh so cleverly named him, and he blushes a bit (or at least, it seems as if he does, it might be wishful thinking). "Is it going to be like that forever?"

"Maybe," she says, but then changes it back to his name, because she doesn't know how long she'll think the joke is funny, and she wants to enjoy it while it lasts. "Why do you always wear those tank tops anyway?"

Percy shrugs, "I think— for a while, I wasn't in a place where I…" he trails off, obviously struggling. "I wasn't in a place where I thought hope could be found. And then I slowly got better, started feeling better, and my mom and I left behind someone who was incredibly harmful. So, I guess, these are my way of giving other people motivation, but also keeping some for myself. I've also been told they show off my abs," he adds at the end, and Annabeth laughs because somehow, Percy can take anything that's serious and turn it into a sarcastic remark, or joke. She doesn't know if that's to hide the pain, or if it just helps him cope, and maybe she should ask.

She wishes she would just ask. Annabeth has had her fair deal of trauma, but she doesn't know much about what Percy has experienced. "Do you— want to talk about it?" She asks hesitantly, slightly touching his arm. "I'm good at listening."

"Maybe another day," Percy looks away, and Annabeth moves her arm back to her side, a little bit embarrassed. She doesn't know if Percy likes her that way, and even if he did, she wouldn't want to force anything on him. "I'm walking you home." He then says weakly, just as they do every day, not breaking the routine.

"I know," Annabeth responds softly.

When they reach Annabeth's dorm building, she smiles at him, "I'll text you."

Percy nods, "okay." His phone buzzes a little bit, and he looks at it, annoyed, before turning away. "See you tomorrow."

"I'll see you tomorrow."

Annabeth texts him later that night after all of her classes are over with. It takes him a while to respond, but he does, and they fall into an easy conversation.

Annabeth: how was the rest of your day?

Percy: all kind of sucky, especially since it started out so well

Annabeth: because of mee?

Percy: no, jason woke me up with early morning dunkin'

Annabeth: donuts? lucky you… but i didn't affect it at all?

Percy: maybe a little bit

Annabeth: as expected

Percy: you really had to drag it out of me

Annabeth: not really, but like, seriously, how was the rest of your day?

Percy: so many questions

Annabeth: i'll stop bothering you if you answer me

Percy: why do you care so much?

Annabeth: because you're my favorite friend

Percy: aw that's sweet

Percy: it was good, my classes went fine though i had a hard time focusing but overall, a minus

Annabeth: thumbs up to that (except for the hard time focusing part that sucks sorry)

Percy: yessiree, it does

Annabeth: i hope it gets better

Percy: doesn't seem like it

Annabeth: i still hope

Annabeth: do you have a tank top that's about hope?

Percy: probably

Annabeth: wear it tomorrow

Percy: okay

…

Percy does, indeed, wear a tank top that contains the word hope. The shirt says "hope is the passion for what is possible." She likes the tank top a little bit too much and teases him about it. That day, Percy seemed a little bit… distracted, a little bit not like himself. He's not in his usual happy, care-free mood, but Annabeth doesn't probe him about it, because you don't have to be happy all the time. Percy deserves to have moody days, he deserves to sometimes, not show off this facade of false joy. Well, maybe it's not false joy, but everything can fall flat sometimes.

She feels a little bit weird, because this time, Percy doesn't walk her home. He's checking his phone a lot actually, and he sort of… shrugs her off. She ends up walking home alone, with music in her ears.

Then, he doesn't walk her home the next day, and then the next. Soon enough, it's three days until Piper comes back from Paris and he just… doesn't show up in the morning. He doesn't come. Annabeth is extremely confused, so she texts him, which he doesn't respond to. It says he's read it, but he just isn't… replying.

Annabeth: did i do something wrong?

Annabeth: seriously, are you okay?

Annabeth: if you need anything, just let me know

Annabeth: text me if you can

It's kind of pathetic because she knows he's reading all the messages— it says that he's reading all the messages, but he just isn't responding. And she doesn't have a clue why.

So she manages to drag herself out of bed, and jogs, alone. It isn't half as fun without Percy, and there's this empty feeling in her stomach the entire time. By the end of it, she just feels… unfulfilled. It was boring, and running is becoming easier and easier for her, so it wasn't even that strenuous. She sighs and walks home by herself.

The next day, Percy doesn't come either, so she texts him again.

Annabeth: you know i really like you, right?

Annabeth: please, if you need anything, let me know

He reads this, and Annabeth almost has a heart attack when the three little bubbles come up. She waits anxiously for his response to come in, and when it does, let's just say, it isn't nearly what she expected.

Percy: why are you texting my boyfriend? this is rachel, his girlfriend.

Annabeth's heart drops, because one, she wouldn't have been half as flirtatious if she had known Percy had a girlfriend. Then again— Percy never told her.

Annabeth: oh my god, i'm so sorry, i didn't know

Percy: right.

Annabeth puts her phone down really quickly, her heart beating fast. All the times they flirted— was that just him being friendly? Him trying to slowly let her down? She really didn't expect this, any of this. Maybe Percy was just extra friendly, maybe she misread all of these situations.

But— no. This isn't her fault. Percy should have told her, should have let her know that he was linked up with someone. Because she was obviously flirting with him. She even almost kissed him once but had backed away quickly before anything had happened. And Percy had gone in too, so this obviously wasn't just her. He— this was partially his fault no doubt about it.

In a way, her heart hurts, because she genuinely liked Percy. Like, a lot. He was the first person she actually liked that way since Luke. Luke— who had broken her heart in high school was the first guy she'd let in, the first guy she'd genuinely liked, the first guy who she thought liked her back. And yeah, she'd trusted him, and he'd betrayed her, which had made it hard for a while.

But Percy— Percy was different in that way. This couldn't have been his intention, right? He was probably just trying to let her down slowly— maybe that was why he had slowly ghosted her. That was him, like, trying to calm the fires before everything burst apart. Maybe she was the one that just misunderstood everything. Maybe it's her fault that she was put into this situation.

She thinks she really needs someone to talk to now.

Annabeth: pipes i really need someone to talk to right now

Pipes: annie, i'll be back in literally three days

Annabeth: this is a now sort of thing

Pipes: fine call me

She taps the call button, and Piper immediately answers. "What's up?" She asks, in her usual Piper manner.

"Percy has a girlfriend," Annabeth whispers, whipping a tear off her face. Is she seriously crying? This isn't even a crying matter. God, maybe this is all just a gross overreaction.

"What was that?"

"Percy has a girlfriend," Annabeth says a little bit louder.

Piper's voice turns sympathetic. "Oh, Annie…"

"I just— I wish he'd told me, you know?" She sniffs. "Before I fell for him."

"How'd you find out?"

"She texted me." Annabeth pauses, collecting himself. "Through his phone. I think maybe, it was the plan all along, to let me know that way."

Piper is quiet. "That really sucks Annabeth but— do you ever think she could be lying? You haven't heard from Percy at all, right? Do you know where his dorm is?"

"I think so." There's a boy's dorm in the direction Percy always leaves, and Annabeth's always assumed that's where he lives. But like, Annabeth doesn't know if she wants to go knocking on every single door there, just to find in. And if she gets an answer that disappoints her, it is really worth it?

"So why don't you go there? I can even come with you when I get back."

"I don't know Piper."

"Annabeth," Piper says seriously, "I know what this feels like, okay, I've been there. But you need to understand, especially when it comes to guys, that things aren't always as simple as they look. It may feel like this is just, like, a blatant act of betrayal—"

"It isn't betrayal," Annabeth mumbles more to herself than Piper because it isn't. He has no— no loyalty towards her. They're friends and Annabeth probably just misread everything. Probably. She's tired of all these "what if's," just wants her thoughts confirmed or denied, preferably as lightly as possible.

"But it feels that way," Piper amends. And it's true. It does, in a way, sort of feel like a betrayal. Even though they were never dating. Even though they only ever flirted. "Hearing it from the so-called girlfriend isn't always going to be accurate. Listen to the source itself."

"I—" Annabeth status, and then wipes another tear. "Okay."

"Atta-girl."

"Thank you, Piper," Annabeth says, feeling kind of sappy. Piper's the best friend in the world.

"No problem. Now wipe those tears away Missy, you gotta be strong."

"I love you," Annabeth half cries, half sobs (and those are different things, she knows).

Piper clicks her tongue. "I love you too Annie."

Annabeth hangs up the phone and then goes to the mirror, to wipe away her tears, because Piper's right. She's strong. And of course, it can be good to cry sometimes, but she's not going to now. She doesn't need to, not anymore.

…

She walks to the dorm Percy (hopefully lives in) and luckily catches a short, tan boy just as he's leaving the dorm. "Hey."

"Hey." The boy says, surprised. "Girls usually aren't this forward with me."

She rolls her eyes. "Do you know Percy—" she swallows, realizing she doesn't know his last name. The boy raises an eyebrow.

"Ah, so you're using me to get to my friends."

"You know him!"

"Unless you're talking about a different Percy."

"What room does he live in?"

The boy thinks about it. "Second floor, third door to your… right? I think at least."

Annabeth nods quickly. "Okay, okay, thanks so much…" she halts, obviously not knowing the boy's name.

"Leo." He says, "and if you decide that you don't want Percy, you know, feel free to hit me up." He waggles his eyebrows.

Annabeth rolls her eyes again, and then rushes up into the dorm room, following the instructions that Leo gave her. Once she arrives in front of his door, she puts her hand up to knock but just… doesn't for a moment. And once that moment passes, she does and hears a fumbling on the other side of the door.

A slightly tired-looking Percy appears at the doorway. His hair is messed up as usual, but maybe Annabeth's imagining it, but he seems sad, he seems different. His eyes widen when he sees her. "Annabeth!" Today, his tank top reads, "love yourself, before anyone else." She rolls her eyes at it, not amused for once.

"Is this a bad time?" Annabeth says, trying to look undeterred.

Percy shakes his head and looks back into his dorm room. "No, uh, come in, come in."

Annabeth cautiously steps into the room, and it's just as messy as she thought it would be. Books are scattered haphazardly around the area, and several pizza boxes are stacked up next to the trash bin, waiting to be dealt with. It reeks of college boys and Axe deodorant. "Sorry about the mess," Percy says, awkwardly, "I won't say that it's not my fault, because it is."

"Okay," Annabeth says. Percy sits down on one of two chairs, but Annabeth is still standing, so it's a little bit weird.

"Sit down, if you'd like."

Why is this so awkward? She knows the answer. Because he ghosted her, completely. "I'm good," Annabeth says. She wants to make sure she has a quick escape if things get heated.

"I'm going to cut to the chase. Why didn't you tell me you had a girlfriend?"

"I— I don't!" Percy sputters, shaking his head. "Who told you that?"

"Rachel, your girlfriend. Didn't you see the texts she sent on your phone?"

"I haven't had my phone for the last couple of days. I thought I was getting it fixed, the screen was cracked."

"Okay fine," Annabeth says, "but you still haven't answered my question. Why didn't you tell me you had a girlfriend?"

Percy looks extremely confused. "I don't."

"Then who the hell is Rachel?" She's getting seriously annoyed right now.

"She was—" Percy stutters. "She was a hook-up. From a couple of weeks ago. I— I don't think I let her down well enough."

"I didn't know you were that type of guy." Annabeth turns away from him a bit.

"I'm not," Percy says adamantly. "It was a mistake. I went to a party, accidentally drank, and then got drunk. I know I'm underaged. I know that it's immature, and then I guess I hooked up with her. I didn't— I don't even really remember it."

Somehow, that makes it worse. Because drinking underage? That's hella irresponsible. In movies, it's always glorified, but in reality, it can cause really big issues. She refuses to let it be used as an excuse. "Why did you ghost me then?" Annabeth asks, her face straight, not entirely sure if she wants to believe him.

"I got scared." Percy looks down.

Annabeth glares. "Why would you be scared, and why would that cause you to ghost me?" She turns around, ready to leave now.

"Because I like you Annabeth."

She stops.

"Sometimes I like you so much it's hard for me to be around you without— without having these urges. And then I was scared that if you found out about Rachel you'd run away, so I thought if I distanced myself it would be easier. And like, I don't even know how Rachel got my phone. I don't know why she told you I was her boyfriend, and I'm sorry you had to hear something like that indirectly. I take full blame for my actions, but—" he sighs, "but it's just hard sometimes."

Annabeth doesn't know what to say to that. "Why didn't you just tell me?" She asks quietly.

"Because I didn't think you would like me back."

"I flirted with you non-stop the entire time. How did you not notice?"

"I'm not the most observant person in the world."

"That's true."

Conversation falls silent because still, Annabeth's not sure how to respond to any of this. She's not sure if she can handle Rachel or any of that stuff. She doesn't know if she'll keep getting texts from her, or if Percy will finally tip her off, and get his phone back. Annabeth doesn't want things to be uncertain, and most of all, she needs to earn her trust for Percy back. She needs to be able to know that something like this won't happen again, whether they're in a relationship, or not. If they don't have trust, they'll just keep hurting each other, and Annabeth's had enough hurt in her life.

"Where does this leave us?" She asks, her voice shaking. She turns back around to Percy, who is now standing up too.

Percy's face is serious, not playful. It's one of the first times she's seen him with a full frontal look like that. They're no jokes, no nothing. "I want to be with you." His voice wavers. "But I understand if you want to wait, or take it slow. I just, at least friends would be nice."

"You hurt me, Percy, I thought— I thought you didn't care."

"I never—"

Annabeth interrupts. "It doesn't matter if that isn't true, it matters that I thought that, and it's going to take a while. Even though I like you." She doesn't want to jump into a relationship, especially if she hasn't fully processed everything yet. Slow and steady wins the race, right?

"Can I ask you something?" Percy says, moving closer to her.

Annabeth nods.

"Are you rooting for me?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you want me to, you know, successfully win you over again?"

Annabeth looks at him. Even though he did hurt her, she still likes him. A lot. And she likes him even more for saying that. "Yeah." She says, turning away. "I am."

…

Percy gets his phone back from Rachel the following week, once Piper has gotten back from her trip to Paris. Now, Annabeth isn't getting any more cryptic texts from Rachel, who she thinks may be a little troubled, and instead, receives these sweet little texts from Percy.

They are starting up jogging, together again, but now Piper's the one that greets Percy (quite unpleasant) at the door. She doesn't think Piper likes Percy that much, even though she was the one that told Annabeth to hear him out. So that's cool, at least.

The only difference now is that every evening, after their classes, Percy takes her out. Sometimes it's just on a walk, and other times they grab a bite. Sometimes, Piper comes along, but she complains the entire way around, mostly about Percy, because again, she doesn't like him very much.

There's still this weird awkward air between the two of them. Sometimes, Annabeth feels like they're so couple-like, she could squeal, and other times, she feels so far apart. Like that time they started holding hands and only separated once Piper pointed it out. Or that time when Annabeth went in to kiss Percy on the cheek, but then realized what she was doing, and quickly avoided it. Like she said it's weird.

But they see each other every day, and slowly, Annabeth regains her trust for him. Everything slowly feels more natural, until the "friends," label they have, doesn't feel quite right.

One day, they're walking to Annabeth's dorm after eating out at a nearby sushi place. Annabeth is wearing a long green jacket that goes to her knees, and a scarf wrapped around her neck because it's getting colder and colder these days. Percy wears dark brown boots, gray sweats, and a puffy blue jacket that's opened up to reveal— you guessed it, another tank top ( reading "stars can't shine without darkness"). Annabeth feels their hands brush together, and instead of pulling them away like they normally do, Percy grasps her hand, and Annabeth feels herself blush and smile. She likes this.

They walk for a while until it's very clear that they're not heading to Annabeth's dorm. Percy leads her past a couple of streets until they reach a dimly lit park. There are several street lamps placed next to brown, wooden benches, and he eventually leads her to sit down on one.

It's quiet as they sit, only the sounds of the wind and birds cicadas chirping illuminating the night air. Annabeth sighs and leans again Percy's shoulder, their hands still entwined in each other. Friends do this, right?

"Annabeth?" Percy says quietly. "Can I kiss you?"

She shuts her eyes and nods. "Yes." She replies clearly. Because she does.

Percy slowly shifts his head so it's facing hers, and then cups her cheek, drawing her in. It feels comfortable, natural. Her eyes flicker down to his lips, and she slowly angles her head, as does he. Their lips slowly meet, and Annabeth feels at home— at home in Percy's arms, with her lips on his. She just wants to pull him closer and do it over and over again. She trusts him, right? Fully.

Well, maybe not yet, there's still this lingering feeling inside her, one that's scared on the off-chance she'll run into Rachel, whoever she is. And even then— she hasn't fully opened up to Percy. She hasn't told him about Luke, about her father, really about anything deep in her life, other than the fact her mother is gone. Which is something she tells most people, so it doesn't count.

She pulls away.

Percy looks at her, confused. He brings his hand up to brush his own lips. "You okay Annabeth?"

"I— I think we should take it slower."

He's surprised. She knows this. And disappointed too. She can see it on his face, but he knows that he'll be respectful, because Percy's a good guy. A really good guy. He's not Luke. "What do you mean? Slower than we were?"

Annabeth nods and feels her eyes tear up because no that's not what she wants. She wants to be able to hold Percy whenever she wants, without asking. She wants to kiss him, wants to be with him. But like— it's weird, it feels like she can't fully be with him until she tells him her past, why she's so sensitive.

"Are you sure?"

She nods again, and this time, she knows the tears are visible.

"Annabeth…" Percy says softly, moving his hand to rub the top of her head. "Tell me, what's going on." He slowly pushes her head onto his chest.

She nuzzles her head against his side because as much as she wants to deny it, she doesn't want to stop touching him. She doesn't want to stop feeling him against her. "I just— can I tell you a story?"

"Sure." He's so perfect. For her, and just in general. He knows exactly what to do to make her feel comfortable, and she's so grateful for it— so grateful for him.

Annabeth clears her throat, and fiddles with her hands. "Once upon a time, there was a girl named Annie," her voice is wobbling, and she doesn't feel— strong. She doesn't feel empowered. "She— she was a happy girl, she had fun at birthdays, loved her parents, and was carefree. But then her mom left, and everything changed. Her father was no longer happy, her mother was no longer present, and Annie was no longer carefree. She was sad. Her father became needy, and she tried to help him. She tried to be happy for him, but it was hard."

"And then she met a boy named Luke." Percy's grip tightens a bit, but not harshly. More just comfortingly. "Luke was kind to her. He was understanding. He told her that he knew what it felt like to be abandoned. And maybe he did. He sweet-talked her, made her feel special. She began to distance herself from her friends, so she could spend time with him because he was just so damn appealing. He made Annabeth feel alive, real like she mattered. At home, her father didn't seem to get better, and she continued to help him, but being with Luke made her feel like she was becoming stronger. It was away from her responsibilities, and maybe she started neglecting her father a bit. She still cared for him, but she didn't notice when he started to get really sad, or when it looked like he was dying. She didn't notice that he was having break-downs at his job, or that he had gotten laid off, and Annie would have to get a scholarship, instead of going to a college specifically of her choice."

"Her friends, the ones she was still talking to started warning her about Luke. Telling her he was no good, that he played around with girls, and then tossed them away when he got what he wanted. These girls— they wanted him, praised him. They wanted it all because he charmed them, but when he was done with them— when he got bored, he would toss them away, like garbage. Annie didn't want to believe this. She wanted to believe she was different. Because when she was with Luke—" she cleared her throat, almost not wanting to say it, "when she was with Luke, she felt special. Like she was the center of the universe. She loved it when he kissed her, loved it when he touched her, and she loved him, almost. Maybe. She didn't really know until it ended."

"One day, when she was walking home from school, she stumbled across Luke and another girl making out. She was surprised because maybe her friends were right— not just maybe, they were right. So she confronted him about it, and he denied it. Like the dumbass she was, she continued dating him because she thought it was a mistake, that maybe it wasn't him. They stayed together, until she saw it happen again, saw his face, saw everything, and wondered why she had been so stupid. He had played her, just as he had with every other girl, and even worse, she had seen it with her own eyes before. This time, he didn't waste time with false apologies, just told her that he didn't feel it anymore. Told her that they were over. And she was heartbroken. Because she had trusted Luke. She really had. She didn't know what he was feeling, or what happened to make him act this way, but what she did know, was that she was screwed up. That she couldn't trust anyone with her heart anymore."

"And then she went to college and made friends. She tried to forget Luke, she tried to block him out of her mind, and she did a damn good job of it until she met… Peter. Peter was different than Luke. He wasn't all charm, but he was hot and funny and sweet. He knew when to joke around, and when to not. Annie really did trust him— she started to realize that maybe, one mistake didn't have to dictate the rest of her life. So she opened herself to him. But then, something like it happened again. And she worried that she'd been played again, that it was another joke, another laugh. She worried that Peter was like Luke. She worried that she wouldn't be able to trust anyone again. It was stupid, how could she be blind, again? How could she not notice the signs? How could she make the same mistake, without realizing she'd made it?"

"But then, she was told it was a misunderstanding. Told that the boy was scared, that what she had thought wasn't true. Which made her worry, that maybe, the boy was like Luke. That maybe Peter was still playing her. But what got her really scared was that maybe the boy was telling the truth. And if he was, what would she do? Well, give him her heart back slowly. She tried really hard. So hard, in fact, it was almost there. And then she crumbled all in one moment, because it had just all built up, and now she needed to release it all. Because just like Peter, Annie was scared."

Percy took Annabeth's other hand, gently, and held it in his own. It was comforting, felt like he understood. They were quiet for a while, and honestly, Annabeth was so glad for sharing that story. She was so glad for finally having the guts to say it all, not hold anything back.

"Annabeth," Percy says to her, softly. "Do you want to hear Peter's side of the story?"

Annabeth nods, shutting her eyes tightly, leaning against him again.

He clears his throat. "Peter had a happy childhood. His mother was great, amazing, the best. She always told the best jokes, always made the best food. She always made Peter's life as happy as she could. And then, one day, she decided that she wanted to have someone, other than Peter, that she could hold on. A father figure for Peter, someone he could rely on, someone that she could trust with him."

"So she met a man. His name was Gabe, and at first, he was good. He gave Peter toys, and visited him, told him jokes, and made him happy. Peter never saw the signs. Then, one day, he asked Peter for his blessing to propose to his mother, and Peter, being naive, said yes. So Gabe proposed to his mother, and he moved in. Things only went sour after the wedding. Gabe started getting adjusted to the house and began to scream at Peter, scream at his mother. He would get drunk, really drunk, and really scary. Peter was young at the time, but as he got older, he saw more and more what a monster Gabe was. Then, one day, when he had his buddies over for Poker, Gabe hit him, because the beer he brought over was wrong. Peter was surprised but shrugged it off. It had never happened before, and it probably wouldn't happen again."

"Boy, he was wrong. It started becoming a regular thing. Once Peter got home from school, he'd get hit. One time, Gabe smashed a beer bottle against his foot. He got really scared then but tried to cover it up. He'd tell his friends that he ran into a pool, or accidentally stepped on glass. They were never suspicious, until one day, Peter came to school with a black eye. His friend Jace confronted him about it, and he told him to bug off. But then, Jace followed him home from school one day and saw it happen. At the time, they were both in their Junior year, and Peter wasn't sure if he'd make it to college. So Jace contacted the authorities, and Gabe was put into prison, for a long, long time. He couldn't bring himself to talk about it with Jace, he was worried that he wouldn't understand, worried that he'd be ridiculed. But eventually, he realized that he couldn't live a life based on negative thoughts, so he tried to be happy. He tried to think about the positives and changed his entire world-view. He followed things that made him happy, tried to work on his own self-care, and bought loads of shirts with sayings on them that made him happy. His friends would make fun of them for it, but Peter would never stop wearing them because it made him feel more like himself. And Gabe— Gabe always scared Peter. Peter was always scared that he'd turn into Gabe, or at least, turn into something he didn't like."

"And then one day, he met a girl. Annie. Annie was funny and cool and always made him feel happy. He was adjusted at this point, and she just made everything better. He saw her more and more, until he got scared, and made a mistake. He was at a party, and there were drinks. He had sworn to himself, and his mom, that he'd never drink until he was over-age, but he was confused and overwhelmed, and they were being offered to him, so he drank it. And then he got drunk. Distracted drunk, careless drunk, sloppy drunk. It was horrible. He knew that what he was doing was bad. And there was Rose. Rose was pretty, and at the time, he thought it would be nice to kiss her. So he did, and that turned into something more, something he wished he'd never done. He got scared and then began to distance himself from who was important. Annie. And then one day, out of the blue, she came back to him, angry And he was so glad she did, he needed to explain himself, needed to tell her what had happened, how powerless he had felt. Peter had always wanted to make everyone happy, and that didn't always work, which is why he inevitably screwed up."

"But then the unbelievable happened, and she slowly started to forgive him. Peter was overjoyed, he had another chance with the girl that he—" Percy stops himself, "the girl that he loved." He says, almost in a realization. "And so he took that chance, until one day, they both realized that in order for them to truly be comfortable, they needed to know each other's secrets and fears. They needed to know what was keeping them from being together, staying together. So they told each other what happened, hoping that the other would understand, hoping that the other would listen. And luckily, they did."

"Percy…" Annabeth breathes against his neck. "I love you too." She says, kissing him there. "I just— I'm glad that you told me that. I'm glad that I told you everything. I really am."

Percy smiles softly at her, "God you're gorgeous." Annabeth blushes. She's never been called that before, not even by Luke. "I love you." He says and then repeats it again, as if he needs to process it. "Annabeth can you— will you be mine?"

Annabeth has to seriously think about it. Is she ready? Can she handle this now? Well, after spilling her secret to him, and hearing from him, she feels a lot more comfortable. So yes. She thinks that she's ready. She wants this. "Finally." Annabeth giggles to herself, pressing her lips against his cheek. She nods quickly, "yes, Percy, I— will."

He wipes her eyes, because yes, a stray tear-drop is dripping down her cheek, but it's fine because in this case, she wants to cry. She's happy, not sad, and following that notion, these are happy tears. This is what she wants, and what she needs. She can live without Percy, of course, but this makes everything more perfect. This makes the whole roller-coaster ride of a relationship they went through worth it. And she hopes she knows that there will be a future for the two of them. She knows that in the end, they'll prevail. Because she loves him. And it's only been a month or so, but it's true. This is something she hasn't felt before, something she knows is true. And she's all here for it.

…

A/N: okay, so I was having writer's block for this other one-shot I'm writing, and then I just randomly write this, because apparently, you can just do that, right? So yeah, I'm just a lil' weirded out like how did I just do this? Oh! And before I forget, this is gonna be a series of sorts (like a one-shot collection), so follow if you'd like to read about more ships in this little universe! The next one will be called outrunning perfection and it'll be added as another chapter after I finish editing it. No update schedule obviously, but like, it'll be here.. eventually. Tysm for reading! Please please, leave a review and lmk what you think! I'd love to hear your thoughts. Stay safe and healthy, and until the next segment!

TheLil'Lion