“Problem Solved” or “that wasn’t supposed to happen”! Love love love these, by the way. <600 words and you make me FEEL things about these two idiots 🥰
lmao thank u sm <3 I hope u enjoy this absolute nonsense which totally got away from me
Percy met Grover in middle school and he’s still the nicest person he’s ever known. Which is why he can never say no to him, even when he really wants to. Even when he has the absolute worst track record of setting people up and tells Percy over their lunch one Wednesday that he knows the perfect person for him and they should totally go on a blind date that weekend because she’s new in town and she’s really headstrong - just like you! - and he thinks they would be great together.
Percy hates blind dates. He’s been on four of them - which is far too many, in his opinion - in his life and they were all terrible. Grover had set up two of those, one with a girl who quite honestly scared him and not in a good way, and the other with a guy who Grover worked with and was too far on the hipster side of hippy for Percy to be able to hold down a genuine conversation with. So Percy’s hopes are not high, even if this girl - woman - is someone who Grover knew from when they were kids at the same summer camp and even if she’s the smartest person he knows and even if the worst that could happen is that he gets a nice dinner out of it.
But Grover is his best friend and he had given him those big doe eyes, full of hope, and Percy had been helpless.
Despite how reluctant he had been to come on this date, he’s still cursing himself for running so late. Percy is many things, but he is not rude and the idea of leaving this woman sitting alone in a restaurant, thinking she has been stood up, makes his stomach twist. When his train finally pulls into the station, he turns his shoulders to weave through the crowd and breathes in sharply at the cold air of the street when he reaches it, taking a moment to orientate himself before starting down the street in a jog towards the restaurant Grover had directed him towards. He doesn’t even have her number to text an apology, given Grover’s insistence on this being a blind date. Why, Grover, why?
Percy is panting and a little sweaty when he finally arrives at his destination and he takes a moment to catch his breath before he steps inside, to be met by a smiling hostess who asks him for his reservation details.
“Um. I’m meeting someone. Annabeth Chase?”
The lady smiles and checks her tablet for a moment before looking up again with that pleasant, customer service smile he’s sure she’s spent years perfecting.
“Yes, she’s already here. If you go through the main restaurant, your table is in the back room.”
He follows her pointing finger through the busy room and lands on a woman sitting by herself at a table. He’s too far away to make out anything beyond her blonde hair but he thanks the hostess and makes his way towards the table, wiping his hands on his pants as he goes.
He doesn’t know anything about Annabeth. She “doesn’t do social media” according to Grover, who had only childhood photos to show him; along with her display photo which is of her standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial, throwing up a peace sign but too far away to make out anything other than her curly blonde hair.
That hair is currently pulled away from her face in a half up half down sort of thing, leaving her face unobscured and golden ringlets falling over her shoulder. And she’s...wow, okay. She’s super pretty. She’s like, Percy’s dream girl level of attractive. He can’t really believe that Grover knows somebody like this. She’s nursing a glass of wine as she peruses the menu and Percy cringes again at his lateness.
She looks up as he approaches and Percy has never met somebody with grey eyes before but here they are, staring back at him, wide and wonderful. She actually looks him up and down and he tries to let that settle his nerves, rather than thrill them up.
“Percy?” she asks, putting down her wine glass.
“That’s me. I’m so sorry I’m late.”
She stands up, creating an awkward greeting decision for them both which ends up being a hand shake.
“That’s okay,” she tells him as she grasps his hand. “Grover gave me a bit of warning.”
They let go of each other and take their seats as Percy holds back a groan. “I dread to think what he told you about me.”
Annabeth’s smile is full of secrets. “I promise you he was very kind. I don’t think he can be anything other than kind. He just told me you don’t have great time management.”
She says the last part into her glass of wine, meeting his eyes over the top of the glass, like a challenge. Percy shakes his head, having no counter-argument to that comment.
“I’m curious what he told you about me,” she says when he doesn’t offer a verbal response.
Percy picks up his menu to avoid eye contact. “That’s you’re really cool and really smart and probably out of my league, honestly.”
That startles a laugh out of her which he has to look up and see. The smile pushes a dimple into her left cheek and the compliment sends a rush of pink to her complexion as she shakes her head.
“Like I said, he can’t be anything other than kind.”
“You’re not wrong. But also, neither does he seem to be.”
Annabeth meets his eye. Percy is not one for suave charm. His mother has told him countless times that he is charming, but she’s his mom, so it really doesn’t count. He is not a natural flirt, he’s too self-aware and lacking in confidence to ever pull it off. But he’s not going to sit here and not compliment the most beautiful woman he’s ever been fortunate enough to have dinner with.
They are interrupted by the waiter who has arrived to take their orders and Percy picks one of the first things he sees on the menu, eager to get back to their conversation, as premature as it had been.
“So,” he says when they are alone again. “Grover said you’re new in town?”
“Oh. I mean, I’ve been here four months, so I suppose I still am. I’m from here though, originally.”
“Right. Grover said something about Camp?”
Annabeth smiles. “Oh man. Yeah, that place was my whole childhood. I lived with my mom in the city but she was busy so much that I became pretty much full time at camp. Then my mom decided to ship me off to live with my dad in San Francisco. And the rest is, uh, history.”
“So what brought you back?”
“I’ve always wanted to come back here. I even ran away from my dad’s a few times, but didn’t get very far.”
“No way?”
“Yeah. Turns out a thirteen year old with a backpack full of jerky and capri sun didn’t have much chance of travelling cross country.”
“Sounds like you had a fighting chance.”
Annabeth’s smile is rueful. “Well I got dragged back home and ended up staying until I finished grad school before I managed to follow through on my escape plans.”
“Congratulations then.” He lifts his glass in cheers and their glasses clink together delicately.
“Thank you so much.”
“What did you study at grad school?”
“Architecture.”
“Oh shit. Grover was right about the smart thing.”
Annabeth rolls her eyes, but she is smiling too and she doesn’t deny the compliment. Percy has always known that he likes confidence. His friend, Beckendorf, calls it a competency kink which is mildly mortifying and something that Percy does not want to be thinking about right now.
“Okay, enough about me,” Annabeth announces. “I want to know more about the nicest guy Grover knows.”
Her tone is teasing but in a way that makes Percy want to blurt out his life story to her. And he doesn’t quite do that, but it comes close, and Annabeth gently teases him through the whole thing. She laughs at his bad jokes and makes him laugh even more in return and truly, Percy does not want the night to end. They drag things out over dinner and dessert and then the Limoncello which the waiter convinces them into having.
It’s needless anyway, when they leave the restaurant and begin walking in the same direction without saying a word about it, continuing their conversation from the table. Percy has no clue where they are walking, he just follows her lead, hanging off of her every word. Then she’s announcing that they’ve reached her building and she’s standing on the step so their eyes are level and they haven’t kissed yet but their arms have been brushing together on the walk, sending shivers through Percy despite the thick jacket he wears.
Those grey eyes are blinking at him and her pink lip is bitten beneath her teeth and her cheeks are rosy from the chill of the evening and Percy wants in a way he doesn’t remember wanting somebody before. Not least on a first date.
His breath spills out in a cloud between them as he steps closer and Annabeth’s hand is icy cold on his neck but he doesn’t pull away. He wants to pull her close and warm her up. But in the end, he’s not the one who closes that distance, grasping the collar of his jacket and the back of his neck as she draws him in. Her lips are cold too, but not for long. Percy finds himself inexplicably drawn to her, against and around her as they kiss and kiss in the cold New York evening. He doesn’t want to allow any space to come between them again and is grateful that she apparently feels the same way.
“Do you,” she says, breathily, with her arms still wrapped around his shoulders. “D’you wanna come up?”
Percy takes one look her eyes, the grey of her irises almost obliterated by wide, black pupils, and knows he will never be able to say no to this woman. Not that he wants to. His answer is a smiling kiss pressed against hers as he moves up onto the step to crowd her against the front door. And Annabeth just pulls him closer.
--
Annabeth groans as she stretches awake in her bed, feeling the sheets slide over her bare skin as she slowly wakes up. She’s alone, which is not how she fell asleep, and immediately feels a rush of anxiety clench her chest tight as she imagines her date having slipped out of the apartment before she woke.
But then she hears a clatter from outside the bedroom, followed by a curse and the smell of coffee. And she realises that Percy didn’t flee. The thought of him clumsily trying to master her coffee machine in his boxers brings a smile to her face and that tightness in her chest is replaced with a spreading warmth as she pulls herself upright against the headboard.
A moment later, Percy walks through the door with two cups in hand and smiles when he sees her.
“Good morning,” he greets her.
Annabeth smiles. “Morning. I thought for a second that you had gone.”
Percy hands her one of the mugs and carefully sits on the bed. He is, in fact, just wearing his boxers, and he looks just gorgeous with his mussed hair and bare skin all on show.
He scoffs. “As if.”
She grins into her coffee, keeping an arm over her chest to hold the sheet in place there. He had seen it all last night, but still.
“That...wasn’t supposed to happen,” she says after she has taken a sip of coffee. It’s good. He had managed to win the fight with her fickle machine.
“What?”
“Um. Last night. I didn’t plan to take you home.”
“Oh. I didn’t assume that you had.” He shifts on the bed, folding one leg under the other and keeping a careful hold of his mug. “Do you regret it?”
“Oh, god no,” she says, too quickly, but can’t find herself to regret it as that wonderful smile spreads over Percy’s face. “I think it’s probably the best decision I’ve made since I decided to come back to New York.”
“Well,” he says, blushing all the way to his ears and trying to hide behind his coffee. “I can’t argue with that.”
They are both quiet for a moment as they drink their coffee, stealing glances and shifting closer in the large bed as they both slowly wake up and Annabeth is filled with absurd thoughts of waking up with this man tomorrow and the day after, and the day after that. She just doesn’t want him to leave, can’t quite bear the idea of him walking out of her door and not seeing him again. So she makes a decision. Playing her empty mug on the bedside table, she gathers the sheets around herself and moves into Percy’s space, forcing him to abandon his own coffee.
“So, what do you think about breakfast?” she asks, maneuvering herself into his lap.
Percy’s arms move around her as if on instinct. “I love breakfast.”
“Okay. How about breakfast with me?”
He smiles, like fucking sunshine. “Even better.”
“Okay,” she says.
Percy laughs and shifts so they are more firmly on the bed. The movement causes her sheet to drop some but she doesn’t move to cover herself and Percy doesn’t complain.
“Okay,” he tells her. “Breakfast it is.”
They don’t make it out of bed until after midday and wind up getting a late lunch instead, not that Annabeth is complaining. While Percy is in the shower, she sends a thank you text to Grover and feels her chest fill up with that warmth again when he replies telling her Percy had sent the same text several hours ago.
I have recently gotten into the Jilly fandom and have absolutely looooved your works! I heard you have a test today (or maybe you already did?) and I just wanted to say that I hope you do well! And I hope that you know your writing is absolutely amazing. Thanks for sharing your talent with us 💜
oh man this is just too kind! thank you so much, and welcome to jily fandom! we're glad to have you! thank you for the sweet words about my works, I'm so glad to share them with lovely people like you!
✍🏼 - why did you start writing/what was your inspiration?
🤍- favorite trope to write?
(Whichever you feel inspired to answer! Thanks for inspiring me 💜)
aww thank you, you're so sweet :""")
👻 - Random fact about yourself
you guys are getting so many facts about me LOLLL. here's one that will date me: the first CD i remember buying for myself was avril lavigne's the best damn thing
Hi! I’m a new follower and already love you blog!! Um, I saw a whole bunch of your fics recs and I totally understand if you don’t want to do any more, but I’m a very fall mood and wondered if you had any Halloween/Fall-centric fic recs! Again, love your blog and thanks for all you do for this fandom 💜
Hi♥ Thank you so much, sweetheart!
Sure, here:
🎃🥧🍁 🥧 🍁 🥧 🎃
Ned the Dumbwaiter by whumphoarder Peter gets horribly sick on Halloween night and his very overwhelmed Guy In The Chair attempts to take care of him. But when both boys find themselves in over their heads, Tony takes over.
13 nights of halloween by killerqueenwrites 13 halloween prompts, from spooky to angsty to fluffy.
Peter Parker's October by happyaspie A collection of related short stories that center around fall/Halloween. Everything from pumpkin spice lattes to Halloween night.
You Broke Tony by whumphoarder Peter stumbles into the tower one evening, clearly injured and in need of assistance. Cue a very agitated and sleep deprived Tony trying to make sense of what happened.
Friendly Neighborhood Craft Project by whumphoarder Through a convoluted series of events, ten-year-old Cassie Lang is in New York and missing a costume on Halloween. Peter, his aunt, and his long suffering mentor all come to her rescue, hot glue guns a-blazing.
The Prank by blondsak “Kid, you couldn’t be scary if you tried.”A pause on the other end. “Is that a dare?” Tony rolled his eyes. “Tell you what, if you actually manage to scare me, I’ll get you and Ted movie premiere passes to that upcoming Star Wars film you keep going on about.”
To Infinity... and Beyond! by superhusbands4ever (Potterwatch97) Halloween in coming up and after watching a certain toy themed movie, Peter knows exactly what he wants to be. He's just going to need a little bit of help.
slow down, you crazy child by hailingstars Peter dresses like Tony Stark for Halloween and Tony has Feelings about it while worrying his kid is working too hard.
That Time Peter Went Trick or Treating by Supernaturalislifeforyouandme It's Halloween, how could Peter not go trick or treating? His costume is a surprise to Tony, however.
Trick or Treat (or Traumatize) by awesomesockes, whumphoarder In which Hulk destroys a mannequin factory, Tony gets sued by his boarding school childhood rival, and Peter accidentally chops off his own finger.
A monster among us by frostysunflowers For Peter, the best thing about fall is the leaves.
🎃🥧🍁 🥧 🍁 🥧 🎃
Again, love your blog and thanks for all you do for this fandom
Hi! Sorry if this is weird, but if you’re not too busy and stuff, I was just curious...do you have favorite St David’s Day traditions or anything? I’ve always loved Wales (I am a proud descendant of Welsh grandparents!) and want to learn more about how today is celebrated! Anyway, Cymru am byth ond dydd Gŵyl Dewi hapus 😊
diolch a dydd gŵyl dewi hapus i ti 🥰 to be honest the only tradition I keep is getting daffodils. when we were in school we would usually pin one to our school uniforms but I don’t quite manage to do that anymore lmao. anyway here’s a pic of my daffs today
Happy FFWF!! Hope it’s a lovely one, friend 💜 My question is: what writing accomplishment are you proudest of? It could be something as simple as “I started writing” or as big as “I wrote a novel-length fanfic!” Go ahead and brag for a second...you deserve it 💜
Happy late FFWF! Hmmm, I am pretty proud of Here to Help and my original story Pearl Thief! I haven’t finished either of them but I’m still very proud of them :D
Hi friend! Happy FFWF! 😊 what was the last fic you published, and what inspired it?
Happy late FFWF! That would be Here to Help, with it having being updated about a week ago now. It was inspired by me wanting to write a story where Tony found Peter in a an alleyway lol, I don’t know that there was much else to it haha. It originally started out as a oneshot, but as people asked if it would be continued and as I thought of more ideas for it, it got bigger. 15 chapters and over a year later, it’s still going :D
