Before he was even fully aware of what was happening, much like how most of this day was going, his name was being called and his body auto-piloted across the stage, shaking hands with his principal before being handed the diploma. The only thing that broke him from his almost-trance was the surge of cheers from one spot in the arena in particular. He smiled up at his family briefly before getting off the stage and back to his place in the sea of students.
As he walked by the rows, he caught Annabeth’s eye. She had the biggest smile on her face, pride shining in her eyes. Percy had done the bare minimum to get through high school, but she was looking at him as if he’d gotten valedictorian. Her admiration for him admittedly made him stand up a little straighter. If his girlfriend, someone as incredible as Annabeth Chase, thought he was something to be proud of, then maybe he was.
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you never called it what it was: a (taylor swift) playlist
please be sure to read chapter 18 of if we loved again before reading this!<3
After his parents and Grover left, he pulled her into another hug. Annabeth smiled up at him. “It was nice of her to invite me,” she said quietly.
“If she didn’t, I would’ve,” he replied easily, grinning back at her. “But that’s more just because I like having you around more than the thing with your parents.”
Her smile wavered a little. “It’s stupid of me to still be disappointed by them,” she said, but he immediately shook his head.
“It’s stupid of them to not appreciate you the way they should,” he amended for her. “But you… you have people who do appreciate you and are very proud of you.” He said it timidly, worried that it might be too strong of sentiment when he was still gaining her trust back. He didn’t want it to seem like he was trying to replace her family, though they really did deserve to be kicked to the curb in his opinion, but rather trying to offer her a second family. Another group of people that loved her the way she deserved.
He was just about to lean down and kiss her again, when he heard, “If it isn’t the happy couple.”
Percy let out a small sigh as he glanced over to where Octavian was walking towards them, the stupidest smile on his face. Percy wrapped his arm around Annabeth’s shoulder. “Fuck off, Octavian,” he said, turning to take Annabeth to his car.
“So do you just feel bad for her, now?” Octavian called. The smile was so present in his voice. “Is she your pity girlfriend now?”
Percy stopped in his tracks, and he felt that anger bubble up inside of him again. He looked down at his girlfriend. There was a glimmer of hurt in her expression, but he knew it wasn’t directed at anything he’d done.
“Oh, did I hit a nerve, Jackson?” Octavian laughed.
Percy closed his eyes for a second before quietly asking Annabeth, “How mad would you be if I punched him?”
Annabeth glanced over her shoulder at Octavian. “Hey princess,” he sneered from behind them. Something in Annabeth’s gaze hardened and she looked back up at Percy. “Not even a little bit,” she answered. In a flash, he dropped his arm from her shoulders and spun around, crossing the few feet of distance. Before Octavian even had a moment to react, Percy’s fist collided with his jaw, and he fell back on his ass. Shock was written all over his stupid face as he stared up at Percy.
Most of the family members were gone already, but a good amount of their former classmates were still around, and they all gasped. Percy shook his hand for a second, brushing the pain off. He squatted down to Octavian’s height, taking great satisfaction in the way he flinched. “Before you think about pressing charges,” he said just loud enough for the other boy to hear, “just remember we were friends once. I know a lot about you that you’d probably prefer to stay a secret, yeah?”
Octavian didn’t say anything to that, but there was a flicker of defeat in his expression. Percy simply smiled and stood up again, turning to find Annabeth with her arms crossed. The look of distaste on her face as she regarded Octavian made Percy grin wider. He wrapped his arm around her again, steering her towards the car. She reached for his hand, taking it gently and examining the knuckles.
“Are you okay?” she asked. His hand was still a little sore, but he nodded.
“God, yeah. That was kind of fun.”
Annabeth’s lips twitched into a smile. “He certainly deserved it,” she said, letting Percy’s hand go. He nodded.
“Uh, yeah,” he agreed. Then he pressed a small kiss to her head. “Are you okay? Because of… what he said, you know?”
The topic of the dare was a touchy subject, obviously, and Annabeth always closed herself off whenever she was reminded of it. They never really talked about it when she did that, afraid of opening a healing wound.
But today, she just took a deep breath and nodded. “I am, yeah,” she said softly. “It… hurt for a second. But I know he’s a fucking idiot, so I don’t really care enough to listen to him.”
They stopped at his car and he reached for the passenger door to open it for her, but she stopped him by standing on her toes and kissing him. It was a kiss a little too long and a little too heated for a parking lot full of their former classmates and the family members that were still leaving the arena, but Percy didn’t care.
When she pulled away, it was with a soft, pretty smile. “I love you,” she whispered. His stomach still felt a little flurry of butterflies when he heard those words, even though it was an everyday occurrence now.
To say Percy was struggling would be an understatement. It had been five days since he’d talked to Piper, and he hadn’t heard a peep from Annabeth. Maybe that was a sign that Annabeth was done with him, and he should move on. But it was so damn hard to just let everything go when she was all he wanted.
It was nearing 3 pm and he hadn’t left his bed yet. He’d have to eventually, because he was supposed to meet Grover at five for dinner. But doing anything at all seemed absolutely impossible these days. He was either at school, waiting for Annabeth to talk to him, or at home and curled up in bed, waiting for Annabeth to text him. Was it the healthiest cycle? ...No. Was he fully aware of that and at least not trying to deny it? Yes.
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He felt like something was off, though. He couldn’t pinpoint what, exactly. Annabeth was still Annabeth, of course, which meant she was perfect as usual, so Percy assumed it was something going on with himself. If he had to take a wild guess, it was likely something centered around the giant lie he had tucked away.
Shockingly, harboring such a big secret from someone you’d grown to care about tended to eat away at you. Imagine that.
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i hope i never lose you: the (taylor swift) playlist
Percy had never fully understood Annabeth’s dedication to looking so cute and put together everyday, but that didn’t mean he was ever complaining. Especially not when she’d walk into school wearing one of those skirts that reminded him of cheerleader outfits - she’d called them pleated skirts - and tight shirts tucked into them or loose sweaters hanging off her shoulder. It was like she was trying to kill him. Which, after his confession over a month ago of how much she affects him, he was fairly certain that was her goal now.
Even in the cold, late February and early March days, she’d show up in short skirts and dresses that would make him all but drool. Sometimes with socks that came up to her thighs which really made his mind wander. Any time she caught him staring, which was too often, she’d just smile silently. It wasn’t his fault she was so effortlessly perfect.
Every day he was growing closer and closer to telling her how much he loved her. And he almost did after they had finished, when she rested on his chest and smiled up at him. Before he could, Annabeth said, “I think you’ve corrupted me.”
“I really did,” he chuckled. “Did you miss me that much from having to sit alone today?”
Annabeth perked up. “Oh my God, speaking of which,” she said, shifting up a bit to rest on her elbows, “you didn’t hear this from me.”
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you never called it what it was: (the taylor swift playlist)
Percy was a little bit of a disaster in the kitchen. Which was a shame, and slightly odd, considering Sally was some kind of wizard in there. She’d tried a million times to teach him how to cook, but the only thing he’d ever been able to master were pancakes and cookies - and even then, his mother’s were still worlds better.
Despite his several protests though, he was still helping her prepare some pasta dish with a white sauce and sundried tomatoes. The night Percy had invited Annabeth over that weekend his parents were away, they’d heated up the leftovers of this exact pasta dish and Annabeth had fallen in love with it. When Sally had mentioned Annabeth coming over for dinner, she’d all but begged Percy to convince his mother to make that dish again. He couldn’t have denied her, even if he wanted to.
