Annabeth strolled to the dorm bathrooms on her floor, carrying a towel and a bag filled with soap, clothes, and other shower essentials. It had been a long, stressful day filled with a total of three exams, two of which she's pretty confident she failed.

Honestly, Annabeth just wanted to take a scalding shower to scrub away all the stress of being a senior in college. Or at least try to, anyways.

Annabeth hopped into one of the empty showers, closing the white curtain as soon as she got in, and stripped off her clothes. She turned the shower knob to the right before checking the temperature with the back of her hand.

Once the water was hot enough, she moved under it, grabbed some coconut shampoo, and began massaging it into her scalp.

She closed her eyes and could hardly suppress a groan at how amazing the water felt against her tense skin. It was so relaxing, and refreshing, and–

The shower curtain was ripped open to reveal a green-eyed stranger, whose eyes were open wide and jaw was dropped.

"What the hell?" Annabeth shrieked, immediately reaching forwards to grab the towel since she wasn't close enough to close the curtain instead, successfully knocking all her bottles of soap onto the floor.

Green eyes gaped at her, mouth wide open like a fish. He stumbled through his words. "Uh, I- I'm so-," before he choked out, "Sorry!"

This person, though his face was red as a tomato in clear embarrassment, made no effort to move. Annabeth seriously could not believe this. She's currently standing naked with a towel getting soaked by the water that was still running and this guy had the audacity to stand there like a statue.

"Get out!" Her voice was, though she'd never admit it, still very high pitched. The guy, finally, started moving backwards but he didn't have the decency to stop staring at her like she was the one who walked into his shower.

He finally managed to say, "Shit. I'm so sorry, oh my god," as he was pulling the plastic curtain back shut. "If it means anything, you're really… pretty?"

There was a resounding thump as the shampoo bottle smacked him square in the face.

He cursed out a few colorful words, grabbing at his face, and gods, she hoped blood poured out of his nose. He deserved it because who walks into a girl's bathroom, much less someone's shower? Apparently this maniac does.

"Was that necessary?" the guy groaned out.

Annabeth scoffed in disbelief. "Was that necessary? Screw. You."

Annabeth held her breath until she heard his retreating footsteps before asking herself what in the hell just happened. Shaking her head exasperatedly, she took another glace at where he stood behind the curtain a few seconds ago before yanking the curtain shut and finishing her shower, grumpy at the fact that she'd have to air-dry now.

•

It was only a few days later when Annabeth saw the shower intruder again. She had been sitting in her dorm with her roommate, Rachel Dare, who hated Annabeth with a passion for no apparent reason, when a knock sounded against the wooden door.

Rachel didn't even bother looking at Annabeth before grunting, "Get the door, dumbass." If Annabeth didn't know any better, she might have thought her roommate was a robot.

Annabeth got up with a sigh, running her fingers through her hair as she approached the door. She unlocked it and swung it open and was met with the green-eyed man holding a bouquet and smiling nervously.

"Um, hi, I just really-" Before he could even finish, Annabeth slammed the door in his face. Hard.

"Oh, come on," she heard muffled through the door. "Please? It's important."

Annabeth debated on ignoring him but her curiosity won out so she reached towards the doorknob to unlock it but before she had the chance, she was slammed into the wall.

"Oh my gods, Rachel," Annabeth wheezed as Rachel swung open the door, a bit too forcefully.

Annabeth looked up and saw confusion written all over the man's face before he was tackled by Rachel, who was currently shrieking what she assumed was his name, sounding like a wild banshee. Rachel reached up and mashed her lips against his, before opening her mouth, and sliding her tongue out and-

Annabeth turned her head so fast it's surprising that her neck didn't snap, but hey, that would be better than watching her creature of a roomate go at it.

The guy Rachel called Percy put one of his hands on Rachel's hip as he gently pushed her away. He smiled at her, dimples showing, before asking, "What are you doing here?"

"This is my dorm, silly!" Rachel said in a sickly-sweet voice, reaching up to kiss him once again.

"Is it? That's cool," Percy said distractedly. "Listen, babe, I actually have to talk to-"

Rachel cut him off before he could finish. "Are those flowers for me? Awe, I love you so much." She put her hands on his shoulders, trying to push herself up onto him, but Percy moved away before she could.

"Actually, they're not. I came to talk to your roommate, if you don't mind." Percy said hesitantly as though Rachel might sprout a second head and eat him.

"Oh, of course! I have to go anyways," Rachel said mawkishly, though this was clearly a lie considering Rachel was in no way dressed for public.

"I'll call you later, Rachel," he called out as she stalked away.

Annabeth's eyes followed Rachel, wondering where that girl thought she was going looking like that when Percy turned towards her and said, "Before we talk, can I ask your name?"

Her attention snapped back to him. "No."

"Seriously."

"Annabeth."

"Annabeth. I'm Percy. I got you flowers."

Annabeth raised a blonde eyebrow. "I can see that," she said, eyeing the flowers suspiciously. "You mind if I ask why?"

Percy scratched his neck nervously. "I just wanted to say sorry. For, you know, walking in on you showering. Naked. A few days ago."

"Yeah, I remember," she scoffed.

"It was an accident, I swear, I just wasn't looking at which bathroom it was and I just walked in."

Annabeth tilted her head slightly to the left. "Haven't you been here long enough to know where the right bathrooms are? And haven't you lived long enough to know not to choose a shower someone's already in?"

Percy licked his lips, a nervous laugh bubbling out of his throat. "About that. I was drunk. Really drunk. I was totally wasted and I just walked in and I didn't realize the stall was taken. Because I was drunk."

"That's irresponsible."

He waved his hand exasperatedly. "Damn it, I know. I'm trying to apologize here, give me a break."

"I don't owe you anything after you decided to say I'm really pretty while I was standing there naked. That was absolutely disgusting and rude," she said, finger quoting around his words.

"I know, trust me, I feel so bad. I'm sorry."

Annabeth took a long look at Percy. He did look sorry. Like a guilty baby seal. And, not to mention, he was pretty attractive, not that she could act on that. (Though it did help.) Her roommate would kill her in her sleep. But, yes, she decided she could at least try to forgive him.

"Okay, fine. I'll forgive you but if you ever do that again, I'll murder you. Don't think I won't."

"That's fair,' he said as he gave her a smile.

Annabeth leaned against the doorframe, crossing her arms. "How did you find me anyways?"

"I saw you walking with someone the other day and I explained everything to them, got laughed at, then got where you live."

"Stalker much?" she teased.

"Shut up. I was trying to be a decent human being."

"To be a decent human being, you probably shouldn't date someone who isn't," she let out with a snort.

"Rachel?"

"No," she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"She's not a bad person."

"Mhm, sure she isn't. Have you met her?"

"Yeah, believe it or not. I date her."

"I can't imagine why."

"Be nice, I brought you flowers."

Annabeth threw her head back and laughed. "Yeah, They're pretty. What are they?"

"Purple hyacinths. They mean sorry and forgive me and all that jazz."

Annabeth nodded. "That's really nice of you, though. Thank you."

"Of course, it was necessary after what I did." Percy looked at his black watch. "Hey, I got to go now, I'm running late for my class now but maybe I'll see you around?"

He pushed the vase of flowers towards Annabeth. Annabeth reached to grab the glass vase but as she grabbed it, she spotted a tiny spider sitting on top of one of the flowers. She practically threw the vase across the hall and it shattered against the carpeted floor.

"What was that for?" Percy said incredulously. "That was expensive!"

She looked up at him, her face quickly turning red. "There was a spider."

"And you had to throw the vase halfway across the world?"

She paused. "Yes."

"My gods, that vase cost a lot of money that I can't spare!"

"Sorry but I don't want a spider in my dorm. And I wasn't going to say anything but I'm allergic to those anyways. But don't worry, I'll clean it."

He shook his head but had a grin on his face. "This is a train wreck. I'll see you around Annabeth."

•

Annabeth stood along the bare wall as the music blared throughout the house. Annabeth had gotten roped into going to a party with Piper. Annabeth had hesitated but it was her senior year and you only live once, right?

Annabeth checked her phone and there was still no sign of Piper. Annabeth was really starting to regret agreeing to this.

She sighed and turned around to continue her seemingly pointless search for her best friend when someone grabbed her shoulders.

Annabeth put a hand over her heart when she caught a glimpse of who it was. "Oh my gods, Percy, don't do that! You nearly gave me a heart attack."

Percy chuckled as he gave her a hug, careful not to spill whatever was in his red cup (probably beer.) "You're fine," he said, dragging out his words.

"Easy for you, the person who wasn't grabbed in the middle of a party, to say," she said, pointing a finger right in his face.

He wrinkled his nose and shoved her hand away. "Sorry. Where's Piper?"

Annabeth scoffed in annoyance, letting her face drop onto Percy's broad shoulder. "Don't ask me because I have no clue," she mumbled into his shirt. She lifted her face a second later. "Probably in a closet with her boyfriend, or something."

"Ah, giving you time to spend with your other best friend, I see."

"And who would that be?"

"Me, of course."

She laughed, shaking her head and leaning against Percy. "Unfortunately."

After the whole incident in the bathroom and with the flowers, they started to notice each other around campus more often. They began eating lunch together on Wednesdays in that adorable little sandwich shop, and studying in the library together, and simply walking with each other. It hadn't taken long for them to become best friends.

Percy glanced down at her empty hands. "Where's your drink, Beth?"

"I have a lot to do tomorrow." Confusion written across his face, she continued. "I don't feel like getting drunk right before that."

He clicked his tongue in disapproval. "That's tomorrow. Today is today," he said, shoving his cup into her hands.

"Percy."

"Annabeth," he mocked. "Come on, Rachel's out of town so you have to be my drinking buddy tonight."

Upon seeing her face, he added, "Please?"

A lazy smile broke out across her face. "Okay. Fine. You owe me," she said, raising the cup to her lips.

"Good. Now come with me, I need another cup now that you took mine, greedy."

He grabbed her wrist and dragged her through the crowd of college kids getting all up on each other on the dance floor.

Once they reached the table filled endless amounts of drinks, Percy let go of her and grabbed another red cup, pouring in god knows what.

"Here, fill mine with more," Annabeth said as she looked around the party, simultaneously pushing her cup to his hand. She turned back to him a few seconds later and saw a confused face staring at her.

"I finished it," she clarified.

He raised an eyebrow and shook his head but did as she said. "Here," he said, pushing the drink back to her.

She grabbed the cup from the counter, muttering a thanks.

Hour after hour passed by, and so did the drinks. Annabeth couldn't remember how much she had to drink and everything was starting to become very fuzzy. The room was spinning around her and she could barely tell her lefts from her rights.

She could tell the same was happening to Percy (or maybe not. She was that drunk). They were sitting on a red couch in the center of the main room of the party. Annabeth was practically on top of Percy's lap with all the other people crashed on the couch.

Percy was mumbling something into the top of her head, but she couldn't hear him over the blare of the music.

"What?" she drunkenly slurred.

"I said that you're so pretty. You're always so beautiful, Beth." He whispered, nudging her ear with his nose.

Annabeth leaned back into his chest with a sigh. "You're just saying that because you're wasted," she said with a sloppy wave of her hand.

Percy sat up and turned Annabeth face to look at him. "No, I'm not," he objected. "I'm serious. You're so gorgeous and I can't stand when people stare at you in this disgusting way that I hate. I love you so much," he slurred.

Annabeth stared at him. And before she even knew what was happening, she was kissing him.

Their lips moved slowly as one and Annabeth could taste the mix of alcohols on their lips.

Percy groaned into her mouth. "Do you want to…" his question was left hanging in the air but she knew what he was asking.

She bit her lip nervously, nodding and leaning back in a moment later. "My roommate's out this weekend," she whispered against his lips.

They linked hands and together, they stumbled out of the house and started walking down the road, or at least they tried to.

Annabeth's dorm wasn't far from the party and it was currently January, so it was pretty cold in New York. They were giggling and stumbling down the sidewalk, pausing to lock lips every once in a while, and after what seemed like hours, they finally reached Annabeth's door.

Annabeth giggled, shushing Percy with her finger as she reached into her coat to grab her key and unlock the door. They walked inside and as soon as Annabeth shut and locked the door, Percy was pushing Annabeth up against it.

He gave her a long, searing kiss, before kissing his way from the base of her neck up and working his mouth right below her ear.

Annabeth threw her head back, groaning, encouraging Percy to keep kissing and sucking at the sensitive spot, warning him not to stop.

She let him continue for a few more minutes before grabbing the collar of his shirt and bringing his lips back to hers. There was a fiery passion burning between them and it didn't seem like it would be going anywhere anytime soon.

Percy nuzzled his face into his neck, pressing gentle kissing along her throat. "Are you sure?"

She nodded, breathless, forcing his lips back onto hers and running her hands through his black hair. "Yeah, I'm sure."

•

They lay breathless under the covers, gripping onto each other like they might disappear.

Annabeth was cuddled into Percy's side, barely able to keep her eyes open. She kissed wherever she could reach on him. "I love you."

Percy tightened his grip on her waist. "I love you too," he said, pressing a sweet kiss to her head.

Within a few minutes, both were peacefully asleep. Neither realized the mess that they just managed to create.

•

Annabeth began to stir as the rays of sunlight seeped into the room. She had a pounding headache and felt quite nauseous and the light certainly wasn't doing any good.

She threw her hand over her face, and with a groan, attempted to turn over to escape the blinding light, but froze when she felt another body pushed up against her.

Annabeth took a quick glance over her shoulder and dread immediately began to flood into her. Percy was the body pressed up against her and if that wasn't bad enough already, he was also very, very naked.

Annabeth tried to recall the events from the night before but not much came to mind. She went to a party with Piper and Piper ditched her which is when she found Percy. Percy offered her a drink and- and she took it and then took more and then- Oh gods she remembers him saying something, her lips against his, making their way here, and then—

"Shit," Annabeth hissed through gritted teeth.

She took another glance at Percy. She could just leave before he woke up, but no, that wouldn't work because this is her dorm, and her roommate's dorm, who also happens to be his girlfriend, and boy, she is thoroughly screwed.

Annabeth has no idea what to do. She drunkenly slept with her roommate's boyfriend, who already hates Annabeth with a passion. Yeah, it may not seem like a big deal because it's not like Annabeth has a boyfriend and Percy's not a stranger, but this just isn't the order that things should go in and she helped someone cheat!

Annabeth's lower lip began to quiver against her will and her eyes prickled. She seriously could not believe how she could be so stupid. Annabeth brought a hand to her face to furiously wipe at the tears that began to spill down her face when she felt Percy stir beside her.

Percy mumbled something incomprehensible into a pillow before attempting to pull Annabeth closer to him. When Annabeth didn't budge, he cracked open one eye.

Upon seeing her tear-stained face, he sat up immediately.

"Are you okay? What's wrong?" he said in concern, reaching up to brush the tears off.

"Seriously?" she snapped, smacking his hand away.

A look of hurt flashed across his face as he straightened in bed.

"I don't understand. What's going on?"

"Percy, take a look at us." She shook her head in disbelief. "Do you have any idea what we just did?"

His eyebrows knit together. "I know what we did. I just don't understand what's wrong about it. I thought we both wanted to?"

She laughed humorlessly. "You don't get what's wrong with this? You have a girlfriend, Percy."

Percy's face fell.

"Don't tell me you forgot about that little detail," Annabeth added patronizingly.

Percy took a shaky breath. "I understand why you're upset but I meant what I said. About loving you."

"That doesn't make this okay!"

"I know, I promise I'll explain it to Rachel, but—"

Annabeth pressed the heels of her hands against her eyes. "But what? There's no 'but' here. Even if you do talk to Rachel, we can't be together."

"Can we just talk about this?"

"There's nothing to talk about. Even if you didn't have a girlfriend, this isn't the way things should go."

"It may not be the normal way, but it happened for a reason, Annabeth."

"I can't do this. I slept with my roommate's boyfriend. Not just a stranger, but a roommate."

"I know, Annabeth, trust me, but I did it for a reason. I love you and I'm in love with you and while the timing was horrible and I should have figured things out with Rachel first, I don't regret it. I'm in love with you."

"Percy, don't say that. This is your girlfriend; you love her."

"Please, Annabeth," he said desperately.

"No, Percy."

He stuttered to say something, to say anything.

"We've been having problems for a while now. I haven't felt like I've actually been dating her for a long time now," he managed.

Annabeth wordlessly slumped down and shook her head, running her fingers through her tangled curls.

Percy sighed, defeated. "So this is a no?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I'm sorry."

"I get it," he paused. "I promise I'll explain things to Rachel."

Annabeth sniffed. "Yeah."

Percy chuckled mirthlessly. "This is a train wreck, isn't it? Everything involving us has been a train wreck."

"It has been."

An uncomfortable silence settled between the two.

"I should probably go," he spoke up a few minutes later as he began to get up from the bed and gather his clothes from around the room. Annabeth closed her eyes and took a deep breath, attempting to keep the tears from spilling over.

Once Percy was fully clothed, he moved towards the door, glancing back at Annabeth who was now leaning back against the pillows, eyes shut tight.

"Goodbye, Annabeth," he said as he opened the door.

She barely managed to choke out a broken goodbye before the door was slammed shut. She knows the loud sound was the force of the door closing and, in fact, not her heart breaking but then again, could've fooled her.

•

She couldn't help but feel that a piece of her was now missing.

•

It was a few days later when the entrance to her dorm was violently shoved ajar and a teary eyed Rachel stormed in. Before Annabeth could even react, Rachel turned towards Annabeth and a fire roared to life in her eyes at the sight of her roommate.

"I hate you!" Rachel sobbed. "I hate you! I know you don't like me but I never thought you were capable of stooping so low that you'd sleep with my boyfriend," she finished, her voice cracking.

Annabeth opened her mouth to say something, anything, but she had no words. There was nothing Annabeth could do, or deserved to do, but take what Rachel had to throw at her.

Rachel threw her hands up in the air, clearly distraught. She choked out a wet laugh. "I hope you rot in hell. We both know you deserve it."

Annabeth could do nothing but stutter out, "I'm sorry," a tear slipping down the corner of her eye. "I'm so sorry."

•

For the next few weeks, Annabeth would see Percy in passing and immediately start walking in the other direction once they made eye contact. Percy was driving Annabeth insane and she hadn't even talked to him in what felt like forever. This isn't fair, she thought. Gods, she loved that boy but she couldn't bring herself to do that to someone, even if that someone she hated with the strength of a thousand men.

The first time she actually was within distance to actually see and be able to touch Percy was a rainy Tuesday afternoon. Annabeth finished her classes for the day and had a huge project she had to work on for what would probably be the whole night. Seeing as she had gotten barely any sleep the previous night, Annabeth decided to stop to get coffee because heaven knows she'll need it.

She walked to the back of the line of some coffee shop she couldn't be bothered to remember the name of. She busied herself on her phone by opening apps, only to close them a second later with nothing to do. Within a few minutes of her pointlessly opening and closing apps, she was almost at the front of the line.

Annabeth slipped her phone into her back pocket and took a step forward in line. The person in front of her reached out to grab their drink and then quickly turned around, almost running right into Annabeth.

Annabeth was content to just ignore it because it wasn't that big of a deal, until the stranger let out an apology. There was no way she wouldn't recognize that voice.

Annabeth slowly looked up and you can imagine her horror when, yes, it is who she thought it was.

"Annabeth?" Percy said breathlessly. All hopes Annabeth had of quietly slipping away without being noticed flew right out the window.

Annabeth took what was probably a very noticeable breath. "Hey, Percy."

Percy shifted from foot to foot awkwardly, holding his drink in one hand. "Haven't seen you in a while," he settled on.

She cleared her throat, lacing her fingers in front of her. "Yeah."

Percy's eyes darted around the room. "So," he started. "How've you been?"

"I've been okay," she answered shakily.

"Good, good."

"Yeah." Annabeth stepped up in line and ordered a black coffee. Surprisingly, Percy just waited next to her in silence until her drink was ready.

Annabeth muttered a thank you, reaching out to grab her drink. She took a look at Percy but he stood silently, so Annabeth made to move out of the shop and away from this hellhole.

Percy grabbed the wrist not holding the drink before she could escape, sighing. "Listen, Annabeth, I'm really sorry about what happened–"

She shook her head. She does not want to do this right now. "Don't. Please don't, Percy."

"I miss you. Can we please just talk about this?"

"I can't. I can't even look at you without feeling ashamed. What we did was terrible, Percy."

He looked distraught. "I broke up with her."

"I know. It still isn't fair."

"I'm trying to make things right Annabeth," he said, running a hand through his disheveled hair. "I'm not saying we have to date because I know it's not fair to anyone but I just want my best friend back."

Annabeth blinked. "You just want to be friends?"

"I just want you back in my life, Annabeth. I don't care how. Does that sound okay?"

She hesitated, but she misses him and just wants him back in her life too.

She finally broke the silence, shaking her head incredulously, her face slowly breaking into a nervous, gentle smile. "That sounds great."

•

She felt a piece of her come back, but it didn't quite fit into place.

•

It wasn't long before Percy and Annabeth were back to their old habits. Every day, they found themselves meeting up after classes and going out for lunch. Annabeth hadn't realized how badly she had been missing Percy and she was glad to finally have him back.

Percy had said that he wanted her as his best friend and Annabeth was glad for that but there were still times where she couldn't help but find herself wanting more.

They'd be walking around campus and Percy would say something endearingly stupid and they would lock eyes, finding themselves leaning in only for Annabeth to pull away and Percy to stutter out a few apologies.

Annabeth constantly found herself pining after him and she wanted so badly to tell him all of this, but she couldn't. It wasn't right to go after him after everything with Rachel. Annabeth may think Rachel was a despicable person but it wasn't ethical to destroy a relationship and proceed to date one of them. Especially since Annabeth had to live with Rachel for the rest of the year.

Annabeth found herself laying on her bed afternoon, attempting to do homework and failing miserably. Her phone went off and she turned to grab it off the nightstand where it was charging. She opened her phone to find that Percy had sent her a close-up picture of his face, which appeared exasperated, and was captioned, "help me."

She clicked the picture and stared at it with a smile on her face when her roommate spoke.

"Just go for it."

She lifted her head from her phone, locking eyes with Rachel. "I'm sorry?"

"It's obvious that you love him. You're making yourself miserable constantly sitting there pining over him. For the love of god, please just tell him."

Annabeth blinked. "You're encouraging me? You of all people?"

"Don't get me wrong, I still hate you. I just think that you two fit pretty well together. Not to mention that if you two get together, I'll finally stop having to see you ogling my ex all night long."

"I don't do that."

Rachel looked at her as though saying try me.

"Are you sure you're okay with that?" Annabeth questioned.

"Don't make me change my mind about this. Go already. Please."

Annabeth stared at Rachel, not quite sure what exactly had just happened.

"What did I just say?" Rachel snapped. "Seriously, leave."

When Annabeth didn't make a move to stand up, Rachel got up from her bed and walked towards Annabeth. Annabeth's eyes followed Rachel's figure across the room, not prepared for Rachel's next action.

Rachel shoved Annabeth off her bed, Annabeth landing on the floor with a loud thump.

"Um, ow!"

"Out!" Rachel said with a kick at Annabeth's leg and point of her finger towards the door.

Annabeth scrambled to get up and finally, finally walked herself out the door.

•

Annabeth was walking along the sidewalk towards where she knew Percy's dorm resided.

Her fingers were restless to match her racing mind, twitching to grab at the ends of her hair and pick at the loose thread of her jeans.

She took a left turn, just so happening to run right into the person she was looking for.

Annabeth stumbled back, nearly tripping over her own feet.

Percy's arms reached out towards her waist, steadying her. "Careful," he said, laughing.

Annabeth straightened herself, blowing a strand of her hair out from in front of her face.

"Sorry, my bad. I was –" Her sentence was cut off as Percy lifted his hand to gently brush the strand of hair behind her ear, causing her blood to rush to her face.

He smiled, his dimples appearing. He put his arm back to his side. "What was that?"

She bit her bottom lip, shaking her head with a grin. "Nothing important."

Percy shifted from one foot to the other. "Are you okay? What are you doing here?"

"Actually, I was looking for you. I was going to ask if you wanted to go get food or maybe go watch a movie. I miss you."

"I saw you yesterday," he said. "I'm down to go eat. What were you thinking?"

"Your choice."

"Panda Express?" he asked, a gleam in his eyes.

Annabeth pretended to ponder this for a moment before stating, "That sounds delicious."

"Yes! I've been dying for Panda Express for weeks now," he said, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her like a piggy bank.

She laughed. "Well, today's your day."

Percy grabbed her hand, lacing their fingers together and yanking her towards him so he could wrap his arm around her shoulder.

"What are you doing?" she questioned, a smile on her face.

"Loving you, of course."

•

The two spent a little over an hour in the restaurant, talking, eating, and fighting over who gets the last piece of orange chicken. By the time they were done, it was a quarter past seven.

The two were walking back in silence, simply enjoying each other's presence. Fifteen minutes later, they reached the doors of Percy's building.

Percy turned towards Annabeth. "Thanks for taking me to eat. It was a nice break from school and I had a lot of fun."

"Wow, the way you're talking, I could have mistaken this for a date," she said teasingly with a tilt of her head and her heart seemingly beating out of her chest.

He locked eyes with her. "Do you want it to have been?"

"I mean. I wouldn't have minded it."

"Then it was a date," he said, stepping towards her.

She had to lift her head to look him in the eyes, never realizing how much taller he actually was until now.

"Best first date ever, if I do say so myself," she said as he wrapped his arms around her hips, pulling her in closer, her breath hitting his lips.

Their eyes locked again; grey on green, a storm on the sea. Annabeth lifted her hand to thread her fingers in his hair, and she began leaning in, her eyes fluttering closed when a sudden sharp pain spread through her face.

"Ow!" she said as she backed away, her hand reaching to grasp her nose. "What the hell!"

Percy stumbled back in horror at the fact that he actually just punched her in the face. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to punch you! I was just trying–"

Annabeth groaned in pain. "My god, and here I thought you wanted to kiss me," she mumbled, her hand still clutching her nose.

"I did! I do! I just freaked out and then I saw you lift your hand and I thought you were trying to fist bump me, but then you moved your hand and I full on just smacked you with my fist, and oh my goodness, Annabeth, I'm so sorry!"

She shook her head, dissolving into laughter. "We're a mess!"

"I'm so sorry!"

She put her hand down and on her stomach instead, trying to slow the sparks of laughter flowing through her body.

"You're fine." She giggled. "Don't worry about it."

Percy looked at her with such adoration on his face and she really should have expected what came next.

Percy grabbed her by the waist, pulling her against him tight, and then he was finally, finally, pressing his lips to hers.

A piece of her has finally clicked back into place.

•