Annabeth considers herself to be a fairly observant person. She’s very smart and has very good judgement of others, deciding early on whether they are people worth keeping around or not.
Percy is someone who she decided within moments of meeting that she would keep around. Well on her way to drunk at a house party thrown by Piper, she had been paired with him for a game of beer pong - which they had won - and had stuck with him for the rest of the night. And then, for the next seven months. They had been among the last awake that night and ended up sharing the couch, far too wrapped in each other’s space for relative strangers. But he was a friend of Hazel, so could be trusted, and proved himself very trustworthy that night, and at every party after that one, when they ultimately ended up as beer pong buddies and couch buddies and drink holder buddies.
Then, one morning, they had grabbed breakfast together and wound up spending the whole day together. They didn’t need the parties as an excuse to hang out anymore. Truth was, that Annabeth had moved to the city a month before that first party at Piper’s, and didn’t have much in the way of a friendship group. Percy had been a welcome fill to her sparse social circle and had happily taken on the role of showing her the best and worst of New York City.
It’s a Thursday evening and she is at Percy’s apartment which he shares with his best friend, Grover, who is at his girlfriend’s. They are sitting down to eat the pad thai she just made when Percy asks her what they’re doing this weekend.
“We could go to the farmer’s market on Saturday? I have a videocall with my brothers in the afternoon.”
“That’s cool. We could go in the morning. My mom said something about meeting her on Sunday if you’re down?”
“Sure.”
She swallows a mouthful of noodles and follows it with a sip of wine and thinks, did I just casually plan my whole weekend with him like he’s my boyfriend? And yes, she did. And no, it is not the first time she has done so.
Annabeth takes another sip of wine and then puts the glass down, picks it up again, but doesn’t drink from it.
“What’s wrong?” Percy asks.
She stares at him. His cheeks are just a little flushed from the chilli in the dish and he’s wearing that lovely warm sweater which fits his shoulders just right and his hair is in need of a wash because he’s been raking his hands through it all day, stressed about the funding proposal he and his little team have been putting together. His eyebrows are raised as he looks at her with growing concern.
Annabeth puts down her wine glass.
“Are we dating?” she asks him.
Percy blinks at her for a few seconds before he snorts in laughter. “Oh my god. Jesus, Mary, Mother of God. Annabeth. You’re something else.”
“What?” she asks, perplexed and still trying to do the mental math.
He starts to smile as he shakes his head at her. “I know I never, like, formally asked you out but…”
“Oh my god. We’re dating,” she realises out loud.
“Do you need a minute?”
“Oh my god. Stop laughing at me!”
Percy is shaking with laughter though. “Oh, Annabeth.”
“It’s not funny!”
“It’s a bit funny.”
“Percy, I swear to god.”
He takes a bite of pad thai as she recalibrates a few things in her mind. And then his hand sneaks over the table to tentatively grasp hers. When she looks up, she sees a hint of unsurety in his expression.
“Do you...not want to be?”
Immediately, her hand grips his. “No, I do,” she says, without thinking. Then she thinks for a moment and nods to herself. “Of course I do, I…”
He waits for her to work things out for a moment, keeping a gentle hold of her hand while he continues eating with the other. She’s grateful to sort a few things out in her mind. They had kissed, several times, whilst very drunk and falling asleep on a couch or the floor of a living room or, one time, underneath a kitchen table. They hadn’t quite had sex, though had gotten close on one occasion, but still.
“I’m an idiot.”
Percy puts down his fork. “I wasn’t gonna say it.”
Despite everything, she rolls her eyes. But then she is tugging her hand out of his to cover her face as the shame seeps in, heating up her cheeks.
“I’m sorry for being an idiot.”
Percy laughs as he tugs her hands away from her face, holding them gently in his own. “I forgive you.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
He shrugs. “I didn’t want to scare you away. You’re a little….flighty.”
“So you snuck your way into being my boyfriend.”
Percy’s eyebrows pull up along with the edges of his mouth. “Boyfriend, is it?”
She groans. “Oh my god. Don’t make this more painful for me.”
“Oh I’m definitely never gonna let you live this down.”
“You’re insufferable.”
“Nope. I’m your boyfriend.”
A thought occurs to her. “My boyfriend who I haven’t had sex with yet.”
His expression transforms in a second as he stares at her and visibly swallows. And yes, here it is, the way for her to gain back some ground between them. Even the playing field and get his cheeks flushing with colour instead.
“No, you haven’t.”
Emboldened, Annabeth stands and very slowly moves into his space, keeping hold of his hands as she nudges his knee so that she can straddle his lap and sit there facing him. When she releases his hands they move to her waist and she smiles at the familiar feeling of his warm palms there, long fingers flexing into the curve of her back as she arches into him. She cups his face and leans close, pressing a fleeting kiss to his lips and drawing back as he chases her touch.
“Well,” she says, ghosting her mouth over his. “Problem solved.”
Their food is long abandoned on the table as Annabeth makes sure to make up for lost time. They end up sleeping under the kitchen table again but it’s totally worth it this time around.
