Disclaimer: I don't own anyone. It all belongs to the immortal genius called Rick Riordan.
Not for the first time that day, Annabeth Chase wondered why she had ever thought this was a good idea. Sure, she had always loved the Fourth of July fireworks, ever since she had first come to camp all those years ago. It was the one night of every summer where she could forget about her family, about monsters, about (more recently) certain, stupid sons of Poseidon, and just relax and revel in the spectacular light show with her siblings and friends surrounding her.
Of course, this year, she had to go and ask that certain, stupid son of Poseidon to the fireworks. And, of course, she had to run away before he answered and spend the next few days leading up to the fireworks avoiding him like the plague because she wasn't sure if he thought of it as a date (probably not), if she should think of it as a date (didn't matter, she already did), if it was possible that he might feel something—anything—for her (gods, no wonder Silena told her she was romantically-dumb on a daily basis).
"There is something wrong with me," Annabeth announced randomly to Malcolm in the half-hour before the fireworks were scheduled.
Malcolm adjusted his glasses and leveled an amused stare at her. "Yes, I know, sister dearest. For one thing, you're holding your book upside down."
Annabeth stuck her tongue out at him and flipped her book right side up, even though she knew she would be staring at the same page for the next thirty minutes. Judging from her not-so-beloved brother's smirk, he had guessed the same thing.
"Have you ever considered not obsessing over Jackson?" he asked casually, raising an eyebrow.
"I am not obsessing!" she defended indignantly. "Who said I was even thinking about him, anyway?"
"You always are," Malcolm deadpanned, effectively stopping her denial with the truth of his statement (not that she would ever admit it).
"…Shut up."
Silena insisted on dressing her up, leaving Annabeth to ponder on her own stupidity once more as her considerably more girly friend systemically forbade her from wearing her Camp t-shirt, her faded blue jeans, her dirty sneakers, or a ponytail.
"You can't go on a date with Percy Jackson looking like that!" Silena cried, as if Annabeth's clothing choices were an insult to her personally.
"It's not a date!" she protested, to no avail.
"You asked him out, didn't you?" Silena said sensibly. Annabeth wished she hadn't gone and said something logical like that. "Now, go change!"
The daughter of Aphrodite, who was long since ready for her own date with Beckendorf, all but shoved Annabeth into the closest bathroom with some of her less-worn clothes. Annabeth had to admit that Silena's blue silk blouse didn't look half-bad (at least when she buttoned it over a camisole, because that much cleavage couldn't possibly be healthy), but she refused to wear any mini-skirts.
"No. No. No. Give me back my jeans!"
Silena sighed and ordered one of her half-sisters to fetch a mostly-new pair of white jeans for Annabeth. "There, that better?"
Annabeth huffed. "I like blue jeans better," she muttered, but put the white ones on. "I'm also not wearing heels, just so you know."
"Well, you're certainly not wearing your old sneakers," Silena told her matter-of-factly. "How about sandals?"
"Sneakers."
"Boots."
"Oh, fine."
Malcolm was smirking, Silena was giggling, and Percy was staring at her.
Honestly, what was wrong with the boy? Couldn't he at least say something? Anything? She was gonna die of embarrassment and the combined, annoyingly knowing stares of Malcolm and Silena if he didn't say something right now.
"You look great," he finally blurted out, and she nearly sighed with relief. At least he was talking. Now she could stop fidgeting and get moving.
"Thank you. You don't look too bad yourself," Annabeth grinned at him. And it was true, he didn't. Not that he ever did, though she'd deny thinking that as soon as he stopped looking at her with those dizzying green eyes of his.
Percy half-smiled. "Thanks. Must be the godly genes. We're all super-attractive tonight, aren't we?"
That surprised a laugh out of her. "Must be," she agreed. "C'mon, let's get away before Beckendorf and Silena start sucking face."
The two weren't far from it now, and Percy looked half-disgusted, half-impressed as he followed her gaze to where Beckendorf and Silena were seated. "He works fast," he muttered, plopping down on the grass and crossing his legs.
Annabeth sat down next to him, a tad more gracefully, and wished there wasn't a storm of butterflies dancing in her stomach at the moment. "So, um, have you seen Grover and Juniper around?" she asked, mentally cursing herself for the awkwardness and sheer stupidity of that statement. What was the matter with her today, anyway? She wasn't normally so…hormonal (if that was the word; for once, she wasn't sure).
"They're probably making out in the woods," Percy said casually. "You'd think it was Valentine's Day, with all these hormones flying around."
Annabeth grinned. "Only half-bloods could celebrate Valentine's Day on the fourth of July."
"Yeah." Percy leaned back, bracing his palms on the grass. "Whoa," he said suddenly, as the first burst of red showered the night sky in light. "Awesome."
"They really outdid themselves this year, didn't they?" Annabeth marveled, watching as more and more fireworks lit up the sky, now forming patterns and shapes.
"It's amazing," Percy agreed, then flashed her a butterfly-inducing smile. "How much do you wanna bet Beckendorf did this to impress Silena?"
"That's a sucker bet, Jackson," Annabeth laughed. "But I'll bet you a drachma that they can last another two minutes before coming up for air."
"No way," Percy shook his head. "Only one."
"You're on."
They shook on it, which, Annabeth reflected, was probably a bad idea. His hand was refreshingly cool, like water in a river, and sent tingles racing up and down her arms. She pulled away quickly and turned to watch Beckendorf and Silena, keeping one eye on her wristwatch to time them.
"They're already past a minute," Annabeth smirked at him, but she spoke too soon. At the minute and a half mark, their two friends broke apart, gasping for air and smiling like lovestruck fools at each other. "Oh, come on!" she protested. "You can make out for that long, but not another thirty seconds?"
Looking at Percy right then was probably a bad idea, too, she thought with a mental sigh, because her mind started wandering to uncharted territories—namely, how would it feel to kiss Percy like Silena was kissing Beckendorf? Was he a good kisser? Was she a good kisser? And why did she care, anyway?
But then, she knew the answer to one of those questions.
"Guess we both lose," Percy grinned, interrupting her jumbled thoughts, and would have said more if they hadn't been interrupted by a green-skinned dryad.
"Hello!" Juniper greeted cheerfully. Annabeth automatically searched for Grover, but he was nowhere nearby, which was odd. "Enjoying the fireworks?"
"Very much," Percy said, smiling at the tree nymph. "Where's Grover?"
"He got caught up talking to one of his cousins," explained Juniper. "He hasn't seen him in a while, apparently. I let them have some privacy. Are you guys enjoying your date?"
Annabeth felt her cheeks heat up, and a sidelong glance at Percy revealed a similar blush on his cheeks. "Um," she said intelligently, cursing herself. Seriously, this was getting ridiculous! A simple crush was nothing to act stupid over, especially not for a daughter of Athena!
And yet, the look in Percy's eyes—embarrassed, but strangely intense and thoughtful—forced her to admit that this was so much more than a simple crush. This was her best friend, someone she would trust with her life and more, and this was the boy she had, against all odds, fallen in love with.
Now, what to do about it?
"Oh, sorry," said Juniper, looking both amused and sheepish at the same time. "I didn't realize—I assumed—Grover said—well, never mind. I should probably go find him, anyway. Bye! Enjoy your d—uh, enjoy the fireworks!"
She waved and all but ran back into the woods, leaving Annabeth to avoid Percy's gaze on her own.
"Annabeth?" His voice was much quieter than usual, and she looked up out of sheer curiousity. "Um…" Percy looked flustered. "Is this…well, Juniper said, and I wasn't, erm, sure, y'know—and I was wondering—I've been wondering, that is…uh, is this a d—date?"
If she weren't blushing so much, she might have laughed at how much effort that sentence seemed to take. As it was, she was too busy trying to get some words out without stammering or squeaking or giving away the fact that her heart was pounding out a drum solo in her chest.
"Um, if you want it to be," she managed, her voice so soft that it was a miracle he could even hear her.
Percy was silent for a moment, then he cracked a smile. "Well, don't get all sappy on me now, Wise Girl," he mock-chided. "Of course I want it to be. If, uh, you want it to be, that is."
Maybe it was the playful tone of his voice, or maybe it was the glittery golden fireworks exploding around them in the shape of Greek soldiers, but Annabeth found herself grinning at him, back in her element. "I wouldn't have asked you out if I hadn't, Seaweed Brain," she retorted.
Percy rolled his eyes. "Well, you never gave me a chance to answer, so how was I supposed to know?"
His smile was infectious. "You were supposed to do intensive research of the feminine mind, Percy. Duh."
A snicker escaped him. "Right. That's totally how I want to spend my day, Annabeth. Researching your brain. Sounds totally exciting—not."
"Excuse me?" she asked, faking offense. "I'll have you know, my brain is plenty exciting and fun to research."
"Sure it is," he grinned and adjusted his position slightly so that his thumb brushed the side of her palm, and it was enough to send butterflies waltzing through her stomach. "Hey, um, Annabeth? There's no tradition that says you have to kiss under fourth of July fireworks, right?"
Her heartbeat seemed to have tripled. "Uh, I don't think so. Why?" He couldn't possibly be asking…there was no way—was there?
"Because everyone else is doing it," he said, almost too quickly as he glanced away from her. The butterflies in her stomach slowed down enough for her to focus on someone besides him and realize that his words were true. Silena and Beckendorf weren't the only ones who had come with a make-out partner. Almost everyone was kissing under the glowing lights of the fireworks.
"Well, they don't call it the biggest dating event of the summer for nothing," Annabeth offered, feeling just as awkward as he looked. "Um, so…"
She never got to finish her sentence, too distracted by the dazzling green of his eyes as he looked over at her and the way his hair, dark and adorably messy, looked when it was being tousled by the wind. His hand shifted to cover her palm and he was leaning forward…or maybe she was…or maybe both of them were, but it didn't matter, because either way, his face was getting closer, there was a set of drums where her heart should be, and if she just tilted her head—
High in the night sky, blue and white fireworks exploded, showering Camp Half-Blood and it's many, lovestruck campers in spectacular lights.
"Did you kiss him?"
"Shut up, Silena."
"Well, did you?"
"Shut up, Silena!"
"She totally did."
"You shut up too, Malcolm."
"Well, you wouldn't be smiling like that if you hadn't!"
"There are a thousand different reasons I could be smiling, brother."
"Yeah, but there's only one reason why you would be blushing like that, and his name begins with P and ends with -ercy."
"…Didn't I tell you to shut up, already?"
Author's Notes: So…first PJO fic ever. Percy and Annabeth kinda ran away from me at the end there =D I really, really hope you guys liked it, though. And, um, sorry for the lack of any real kissing. Next plot bunny, I promise! And please review if you liked it (or even if you didn't)! Thanks!
To my HP readers: Sorry about clogging your inbox with an alert if you don't read PJO! Hope you enjoyed this anyways! And I will update Crazy Chronicles...as soon as my muse comes back.