.

i got this feeling on a summer day / knew it when i saw her face / i just thought that she could be the one

summer days / / macklemore, martin garrix

•

"Get up, we're going out," Annabeth announces one afternoon a few days later.

Percy groans. He and the other Marauders are lying on damp towels on the beach, relaxing in the hot waves of sun beaming down from the blue heavens. Leo is snoring to high heaven, Grover's reading a book, and Jason is busy building a sandcastle, because he and Annabeth are both secret architecture nerds and they've been working on different designs the past few weeks together.

The sun is warm and the gentle hum of waves crashing onto the beach is calming, and needless to say, Percy doesn't exactly feel like getting up.

Annabeth's foot prods him again. "I said, get up. We're going out."

"We are out," Percy says, gesturing aimlessly to the miles of deserted sand around them.

Annabeth sighs. "As in, we're going to London."

"London?" Percy's head pops up. "Why London?"

Annabeth shrugs. "Piper sent me a letter. She wants us to meet her at the pub she works at. She said she can get us in even though we're underage."

At the mention of his girlfriend, Jason perks up and trots over to them. "What are we doing?" he asks, and Annabeth patiently explains again.

"Oh yeah, she mentioned that," Jason replies, bending down to grab his sandals. "So we're going tonight?"

Annabeth nods. "We're flooing to her house after dinner. I already talked to Sally, and she said if we were all back by four then we can clean up and leave by five or so."

"And you're just telling us now because…" Percy trails off.

She shrugs a tan shoulder, playing with one of her matted, sun-bleached curls. "I forgot earlier."

Percy rolls his eyes, but turns to where Leo's sprawled on the towel. "Hey, Valdez. Get up."

Leo groans, flopping over. His dark curls are tangled with sand, and there are sleep marks on his cheek from the towel. "What?" he asks flatly, still half-asleep.

Percy stifles a laugh. "We're going to London tonight, to the pub where Piper works." When Leo fails to make a response, Percy shakes him again. "Pub? Pretty girls? Music? Alcohol?"

Leo's eyes open, just a crack. "I'm coming," he groans. "Quit kicking me, you lug."

Percy rolls his eyes again and saunters back to the others, who are busily packing up the basket with the beach toys and sandy towels from the day at the shore. "I call first shower!"

Grover scowls at him, his nose dark with freckles and peeling with sunburn. "You know that's not how it works, Percy."

He shrugs, reaching over to grab the beach umbrella. "Well, it was worth a try, I suppose."

Within a few minutes, the five of them manage to reach the house relatively unscathed. Percy drops all the towels into the laundry and dumps the beach toys in the shed before heading to the kitchen with the rest of his friends.

"Hey, mum," he says, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

She ruffles his hair, making a face at the sand that tumbles from his dark locks. "Go help Annabeth set the table please, honey. Jason's outside shaking out some rugs, and Leo and Grover are upstairs stripping the sheets. They're long past needing to be washed at this point."

Percy nods amiably, turning to the silverware drawer and counting out five forks. "'beth, you got the plates?" he calls towards the general direction of the dining room.

"Yep, just need you to fetch the glasses. I'll get the napkins," Annabeth says as she walks briskly back into the kitchen. She's thrown an oversized sweatshirt over her bikini, which Percy knows is smart; their air conditioning hasn't worked in years, but his mum constantly runs fans all over the house, and the chilly air is cooling his damp swim trunks and causing goosebumps to rise on his bare chest.

He whistles to himself as he helps Annabeth set the table, playfully bickering over which way the napkins should go, and what the hell, Percy, were you raised in a barn, the forks go on the left side of the plate—and Percy rolls his eyes, I'm hungry, princess, does it look like I care about your royal etiquette—and then Sally enters and scolds them teasingly as she carefully sets a full pot of steaming pasta on the table.

Annabeth is sent to call the boys inside, just as it's beginning to rain, and they all tromp through the front door, laughing and shouting.

Sally insists on washing up, since none of them had time to take showers before eating, and then they all sit at the table as she dishes out the food. The boys all dig in hungrily, and Annabeth can keep up with the best of them. They all devour helping after helping, Sally more than happy to oblige the hungry teenage appetites.

When they're all full to bursting and the plates scraped bare, Sally shoos them upstairs.

"Aw, mum, we can help clean up—" Percy begins to protest.

The others join in. "Yeah, Mrs. Jackson, you've been working all day, and—"

"No, no, it's fine," Sally insists. "You all are going out tonight, I'll do the dishes. But tomorrow I'm putting you all to work, do you understand?"

They laughingly promise to help the next day before tromping up the stairs. "You all are supposed to floo to Piper's in less than an hour!" Sally reminds them, fondly watching them go. "Better hurry!"

"I've got to shower first, my hair takes the longest to dry," Annabeth announces bossily as soon as they get upstairs, her look challenging any of the boys to fight her.

Jason sighs in defeat. "Fine, but as long as I get to go next."

"Aw, does Jason need some time to primp up before seeing his girlfriend?" Leo teases, making kissy faces at him.

Jason scowls. "No, I just—" and the rest of his sentence is cut off as Percy enters his bedroom, smiling to himself at his friends' antics.

He jumps in the shower as soon as Annabeth's finished, quickly washing up before wrapping a towel around his waist and heading back to his room. He spends a little more time on his outfit than he's used to—the past few weeks they haven't even left the house other than to go to the beach, and the casual shorts and no shirt ensemble he's been using won't work for a club.

Eventually, he decides on a pair of slim-fitting jeans and a white button-up, the color contrasting against his deeply tanned skin. He pulls on a pair of Converse, fights Leo for the sink so he can brush his teeth, and surveys himself in the mirror.

He looks pretty good, he thinks.

He heads to Annabeth's room. She's already dressed, her damp hair cascading down her back as she applies her makeup in the mirror.

Percy whistles teasingly, and she blushes as she finishes her mascara and stands up. He surveys her; she, too, has gotten dressed up. She's wearing a tight leather miniskirt and black stiletto heels, and a white, lacy, skintight crop top that exposes more of her smooth skin than it covers. Percy thinks she looks incredible—and to him, she always looks incredible, but. This is kind of over the top. He might die before the night ends.

She saunters over to him. "Stand still," she orders, running her hand through his hair as she makes it look effortlessly messy in a way he never can.

"Well, thanks," Percy replies, grinning. "I was going to get my mum to fix my hair, but."

Annabeth's nimble fingers roll up the sleeves of his shirt to his elbows, revealing his tan forearms, then she steps back to survey her work.

Percy spreads his arms. "How do I look?" he asks.

"Sexy," Annabeth decides, and then she squeals as Percy steps forward and kisses her.

It would be easy to get lost in the kiss, to take it farther, but Percy's all too aware that his friends are right outside, and he pulls back. Annabeth seems to understand as she rushes to the mirror.

"Dammit, Percy, you messed up my lipstick," she teases, reapplying it, andnow that's all he can think about. He comes up behind her and moves her damp curls to the side, kissing her neck. Her head falls back as a sigh escapes her lips, her knuckles white as she clutches the vanity.

They're interrupted by a knock on the door. "You ready to go, 'beth?" Jason calls.

They jump apart, and Annabeth shoots him a dirty look before steadying her voice. "Uh—yes, I'll be right out," she calls, and Percy smirks at her.

"You sure about that, princess?" he asks, voice low.

She shoves at him playfully. "Shut up, Jackson. Quit distracting me."

Quickly, they both head downstairs to join the others. Jason's wearing a sky-blue button-up, and he's fidgeting with the buttons on the wrists nervously. Annabeth leaves Percy's side and heads over to him to roll up his sleeves as she did for Percy.

"Relax, Jase," Percy hears her say quietly. "You and Piper have been writing ever since school ended, and it hasn't been that long."

"Yeah, but this is the first time I've seen her since Hogwarts," Jason murmurs. "I'm just—I'm nervous."

Annabeth pats him on the chest affectionately. "Seriously, calm down. I'm her best friend, and trust me when I say she's over the moon about you. She's not going to dump you just because you guys haven't seen each other in a few weeks."

Jason's voice is soft. "Thanks, Annabeth."

She beams at him. "No problem."

Percy turns away to hide his smile. The past few weeks have turned the Marauders and Annabeth's relationship from friends to family, and it's kind of amazing, thinking back to the time when none of them trusted her, when he hated her.

His mum interrupts his thoughts as she puts her arm around his shoulder, despite being a head shorter than him. She beams at the teenagers. "You all look wonderful. Are you ready to go?"

"Yes ma'am," Percy replies, kissing her cheek. "We'll just floo out of the chimney, if that's alright."

"Fine by me, although it's quite strange for me to think about," Sally says, fanning herself with a dishtowel. "To think that you can just—go through a chimney and appear somewhere else, is incredible."

Annabeth laughs delightedly. "I'd love to see your reaction to Hogwarts," she says, hugging Sally quickly. "We'll probably be back quite late, so don't wait up for us."

The other Marauders quickly say farewell to Sally before disappearing, one by one, into the fireplace.

Percy and Annabeth are last, and Sally raises her eyebrows at them knowingly. "You two behave yourselves," she chides, teasing,

Annabeth blushes as she grabs a handful of floo powder from the jar that sits on the mantel. "We will, don't worry." She closes her eyes, distinctly pronounces "Gold Cauldron Pub!" and then she's gone in a puff of ash.

Percy blows a kiss to his mum and steps into the fireplace, and then suddenly he's upside down and the world is swirling before he tumbles out of another chimney.

He gets to his feet, and can hear people talking below him. Annabeth and the Marauders are a few feet away, chatting with Piper.

"Hey, Percy," Annabeth says, catching sight of him. "You made it."

"Yep," Percy says. "Hey, McLean."

She smirks at him, Jason's arm around her shoulders. "Hey, Jackson."

"How's business?"

Piper shrugs. "Not bad. I'm actually enjoying working here a lot."

Percy nods. "Cool. Oh, you should come by sometime," he remembers to tell her. "Anytime you're free from work, my mum would love to meet you, and you can hang out with us at the beach."

Piper's expression relaxes. "Well, thanks, Percy," she says, a little surprised. "I'd love to. Next weekend?"

"Sounds good," Percy says, offering her a thumbs up as he goes to stand in between Annabeth and Leo.

"So," Piper says, clapping her hands, "we're currently setting up, and the early birds should get here in about an hour. The real crowd starts filtering in at about nine or so."

Percy grins. "Awesome. Anything we can do to help?"

Piper surveys him curiously. "Who are you and what have you done with Percy Jackson?" she asks, playfully awed.

Percy laughs, ducking his head. "You got us in here, just trying to return the favor."

She raises her eyebrows, shaking her head. "Well then, I guess wonders will never cease. Let's head downstairs—I suppose you guys can help me and Will set up."

•

As the sun goes down, the crowd gets larger, and the minutes pass until it's past ten o'clock and the club is packed. Music pounds from the speakers as people dance and down shots, waving their hands to the beat. Since it's a magic club, there are a couple of accidental spells let loose—the bar has a rule that no one can touch their wand past four drinks, but accidents still happen.

Percy and Annabeth sip their drinks at a little table in the corner, watching their friends dance fondly. "This is bringing back memories of the Halloween party at Hogwarts," Annabeth remarks, playing with her empty cup absentmindedly.

Percy laughs. "Yeah. That was fun, wasn't it?"

She smiles at him. "It was. That was the first time I'd been to one of your parties, and I must say, it exceeded my expectations."

Percy aims finger guns at her. "In all the best ways, right?"

She snorts. "Right."

They sit in silence for a while, bobbing their heads to the heavy, pounding beat of the music and watching their friends have fun in the strobing lights. Leo apparently has made a new friend, dancing with a girl in a white mini dress, and Jason and Piper are making out on the dance floor. Even Grover, who normally dislikes social interaction, seems to be having fun—he's talking to one of his friends from Hogwarts, Juniper Green, and they're both laughing and blushing.

Percy offers his hand to Annabeth. "Shall we dance?"

"We're not drunk enough for that yet," Annabeth says drily, and Percy remembers saying that at the Halloween party. The memory is random, and kind of funny, and he laughs.

"What?" Annabeth inquires as she stands to flag down the bartender.

He shakes his head. "Nothing."

They down their shots quickly, and then Annabeth allows him to pull her onto the dance floor. They dance for a while, waving their hands to the music and doing ridiculous dance moves that Annabeth would probably never be caught dead doing normally. Percy wiggles his butt, and Annabeth chokes with laughter, and then she does some ridiculous hair flip and Percy's stomach hurts from laughing.

The lights start to get fuzzier, and the music louder, and Percy vaguely remembers dancing a bit with Leo and Jason and even Piper, swinging them around and yelling out the lyrics crazily. He finds Grover and Juniper in a corner making out, and he and Annabeth squeal together until Grover's face is a fiery red and he runs off with Juniper.

Percy reaches to sling an arm over Annabeth's shoulder, but she's not next to him anymore, and he nearly falls before righting himself and looking around for Annabeth. He spots her blond curls and lopes toward her before seeing who else is with her.

It's a tall, blond guy—fit and muscular, with just a hint of stubble on his chiseled jaw—maybe a few years older than Annabeth. They're chatting and laughing like they've known each other for years, and Percy bristles.

He goes over and slings his arm over her shoulder, sizing the other guy up. The blond man's a few inches taller than him, but not by much. "Hey," he says, cool. "Who are you?"

The other guy laughs, and Annabeth giggles as she introduces him. "Percy, this is Luke Castellan, an old friend of mine. He's been going to Beauxbatons, so I haven't seen him in years, but his father just got a job here in London, so he'll be going to Hogwarts for his seventh year."

Percy nods. "Pleasure to meet you, I'm sure."

Luke nods, not looking particularly pleased about Percy's arm around Annabeth. Percy doesn't particularly care. "Likewise."

"You wanna get out of here?" Percy murmurs to Annabeth, so Luke can't hear.

Annabeth understands. "Sure," she whispers, before turning to Luke again. "It was so good to see you again, Luke," she says. "We should meet up sometime before school starts."

Luke pulls her into a hug that lasts longer than Percy would have liked. "You too, 'beth," he says, pulling back. "And of course, that would be brilliant. Owl me sometime, yeah?"

She nods, blushing, and Luke gives her one last blinding smile before turning around and disappearing into the pulsing crowd.

"I don't like the way he was looking at you," Percy mutters.

Annabeth rolls her eyes. "Percy, I've known him since we were children. Our parents are old friends, and my mother got his father the job here in London, working in the Ministry of Magic."

Percy nods, but doesn't say anything.

"So what were you saying, about getting out of here?" Annabeth changes the subject coyly, twirling a curl around her finger.

Percy grins, any thoughts of Luke immediately disappearing from his mind. "Follow me," he says and grabs her hand, leading her out of the packed club and into the alleyway outside.

The cool summer-night air feels good compared to the stifled heat and the smell of packed, sweaty bodies inside. Percy and Annabeth lean against the wall as the door closes behind them and effectively cuts off the blasting music, though they can both still hear the muffled shouting still.

Percy takes a quick glance around, and the dim lighting reveals that they are the only ones anywhere near. He's drunk, he can tell, and Annabeth is too.

She kisses him sloppily against the wall, and Percy smiles against her lips even as he runs his hands against her skin, twists his fingers in her hair.

This is definitely the best summer of his life.

•

It's three in the morning before they all meet up again, drunk and exhausted. The Marauders and Annabeth bid farewell to Piper and the few stragglers left inside the club before climbing the stairs to the room above the club with the fireplace, where they flooed in earlier.

"She said she liked me," Leo giggles, exulted, clutching Annabeth for balance as he climbs the stairs. "Your hair smells pretty, 'beth. Like… like sunshine, or something."

"Thanks, Leo," Annabeth answers, rolling her eyes. Out of all of them, Percy's pretty sure he and Annabeth are the most sober, though it isn't really saying much.

Jason stops and throws up, and Percy, sighing, wipes his mouth with his shirt sleeve. "You okay, mate?"

Jason groans. "I want to… I want to sleep," he says confusedly. "With Piper. I want to sleep with Piper, Percy, why can't she come home with us—"

"Buddy, we all know you want to sleep with Piper, and none of us really want to hear about it," Percy tells him dryly. "Where's your wand—okay here, drink this water. Grover, how're you doing?"

Grover's sitting on the floor, looking up at the ceiling adoringly. "I like the stars," he mumbles. "So many people don't know about light pollution, and—other stuff that I can't remember, but. You can't see the stars in the city."

Percy raises his eyebrows. "You also can't see the stars inside, which is where we are, my dude. Chase, a little help here—" he gestures to Jason, who has slumped over and is snoring loudly, his cheek pressed into the ground and butt in the air.

Annabeth groans and gently sets Leo on the floor before coming to Jason. "Jase, wake up. We've got to go."

"Go?" Jason asks blearily, eyes still closed. "Where?"

Annabeth closes her eyes momentarily before opening them and pasting a smile on her face. "Home, Jason. We're going home."

"Huh," Jason considers, his words slurring. "I like home."

Annabeth's smile is soft. "I know, Jason. I do, too."

It takes a while, but they eventually get Grover, Leo, and Jason into the fireplace and sent back to Percy's house. Annabeth leans against Percy's chest, and he holds her close, knowing how exhausted she is.

"Did you have a good night, then?" he asks.

She grins a little. "Yeah. Yeah, it was fun." Annabeth yawns widely, slumping against him. "I don't know how much longer I can stay awake, though."

Percy lets a smile slip onto his face. "Here," he says, scooping her up bridal-style. "I'll carry you."

Annabeth giggles, her arms entwining around his neck. "Thanks, Percy," she says, her eyes already closing as she nestles in his arms.

Percy smiles, stepping into the fireplace. "You're welcome, Annabeth." He kisses her forehead, and sees she's already asleep. "Let's go home."

•

hey guys! early update today because i'm gonna be gone tomorrow and felt bad not updating for three weeks in a row. thanks for all the concerned PMs checking in on me-i'm okay, i promise, i was just on vacation with my boyfriend and didn't have much of a chance to update. :)

hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! as always thanks to aisling for being my inspiration for just about everything in this fic.

until next week

wm