Forever Fangirl Writes

“Are you kidding me?” Piper says over the phone call. “That’s so stupid.”

“I know, and if he hadn’t been so clearly working hard to make it up to me I would have walked away.” 

She’s driving home from work. (Or rather, the extended time she spent with Percy over Chinese food.) 

“Well, I suppose he’s alright then,” Piper says. “I only approve because he’s so hot.”

“Thanks,” Annabeth replies, rolling her eyes but she can’t stop the smile on her face. “I think he does want to ask me out. He’s been trying.”

“That was a power move,” Piper cuts in. “Telling him to ask you out. I’m proud of you, Annabeth.”

Annabeth smiles at the memory, remembering how hard her heart was beating right after. “I don’t know how I managed it.”

“Oh, I’m sure it was nerve-wracking but it doesn’t change the fact that it was a power move.”

“Thanks, I’ll keep you updated.”

“You better!”

And with that, Piper hangs up and she pulls into her parking spot. How she’ll be able to go to sleep with all of this running through her mind, she has no idea.

She’s getting into bed when she gets the text. “Please pick up coffee from Cali’s Cafe tomorrow morning.”

Raising an eyebrow she types out her response. “Sure thing.”

It’s not an odd request, he’s definitely asked for this before, but given the evening they had just shared it feels a bit weird. Then again, despite all that, she does have a job to do. 

But her curiosity is still lingering as she shows up to the cafe the next morning. The morning rush means she’s at the back of the line, but she scans the specialty menu wondering if she should get herself something now that she’s here.

“You should,” a voice next to her says. She jumps at the sound and turns to find Percy Jackson standing next to her. 

As she tries to control her shock, he smiles.

“You should get something for yourself,” he says. 

“How…how did you know I was thinking that?” 

She remembers the day she bought the olive green wallpaper that lines her closet. A teenage act of rebellion from the beige her stepmother had been obsessed with at the time.

Thankfully, it hadn’t cost her too much (since the closet is pretty small) and her stepmom has since relaxed on the beige aesthetic. 

Reaching her hand along the back wall, she finally finds what she’s looking for, her old tennis shoes. The new ones she bought a month ago just aren’t as nice. More likely, she hasn’t done a good job of breaking them in but hey, if she’s visiting home might as well grab the ones she likes.

She glances around the room to see if there’s anything else she wants to bring back. The room is pretty barren so there’s not much to select from. Walking to the window, she peers at the suburbia outside. 

Quiet, pretty empty, and hold on—

Is that Percy Jackson?

The downside of going to a small college is that everyone pretty much knows everybody else. But most people know Percy Jackson anyway, as the star swimmer who’s secured a bunch of wins for the school.

She knows him as the annoying guy hanging around the athletic building being too loud and too cocky. Honestly, she just doesn’t get the hype. He’s just like every other jock she knows, a little narcissistic. 

There’s also the innate annoyance that comes with knowing she will never be as good as he is with swimming at tennis because her degree is more academically challenging than hers. He gets an easier workload and can spend time perfecting his sport, whereas she doesn’t have that luxury.

But all that aside, what is he doing here? 

He’s looking at his phone then glancing around, which stirs enough of her curiosity to go downstairs and out the front door. 

Before she has a chance to say anything, he looks up and sees her.

“Annabeth?” There is clear surprise in his voice.

They’ve only talked a handful of times, and that was mostly him bragging, so it’s a little surprising that he remembers her name.

“Percy,” she acknowledges. “What’re you doing here?”

(That last part comes out a little more hostile than she meant it to be.)

He raises an eyebrow. “What are you doing here?”

“I live here,” she responds, rolling her eyes already annoyed at the conversation. Didn’t he see her walk out of the house?

“You’re the one wandering around like a lost puppy,” she says, nodding towards his phone which does have Google Maps open.

Percy grins. “A puppy?”

If he thought she meant that as a compliment… There’s always this element with her conversations with him too, a back and forth that he clearly enjoys more than she does.

“I’m a cat person,” she responds dryly. “And you haven’t answered the question.”

“Oh, do you own this road or something? No one else is allowed to be here?”

“You know what, this is ridiculous.” She throws her hands up and turns to walk back into the house. This conversation was going nowhere.

“My family recently moved to this area. I thought I’d check it out.”

“Great,” she responds, still walking towards the house.

“I’ll see you around, Chase!” he yells as she gets to her door.

She turns around with a raised eyebrow. “Hopefully not, Jackson.”

-.-

The semester starts without much fanfare since the spring ones rarely do. But Piper has news as soon as she walks up to her friend. 

“Did you hear?”

Annabeth shakes her head. Whatever it is, she probably hasn’t. “Hear what?”

“Our school is going to be entering the Brains and Brawn competition again this year. The search is out for contestants.”

She’s heard of the competition. Their school had come in second last year and it had been the talk of the town for a bit. From what she remembers, it was a series of challenges to test physical and mental aptitude.

“Sounds like way too much extra work,” Annabeth replies, pulling out her homework.

“I think they’re offering a monetary prize.”

Now that piques her attention. She could always do with extra cash.

“How much?”

Piper shrugs. “A few hundred, not sure. Are you going to sign up?”

“Maybe…I guess I’ll see what the time commitment is.” 

Yet a few hours later finds her at the office for student affairs, where the banner for the competition recruitment is placed. 

“Annabeth?”

She turns around at the sound of her name. Her advisor, Mr. Brunner, has wheeled up to her. 

“Are you thinking of signing up?” he asks, nodding towards the banner. 

“Oh, I don’t know—” She starts to hedge but Mr. Brunner smiles at her.

“I think you’d be a great fit!” he says. “Our school will have a chance with someone like you on the team.”

Her face flushes at the praise. “Thank you, I’m just not sure how much extra time I’d need to commit.”

“Well, it would be worked out with your partner. I’m the leading advisor so I’d come up with the basic training. Probably a dedicated hour during the week and a few others in your personal time.”

“Oh.” She hadn’t known Mr. Brunner would be directly involved. That fact alone makes her want to sign up for it. “Then I suppose I will.”

“Great! We’ll be emailing you if you’ve made it. Though,” he adds with a wink. “I’m sure you’ll be chosen.”

Ten minutes later she walks away having filled out and submitted the form, wondering what she might be signing herself up for.

-.-

Percy Jackson, apparently, is what she’s signing herself up for. She arrives at Mr. Brunner’s office, only to find him sitting on the other chair. 

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” she says. “Where is Mr. Brunner?”

It’s probably too late to back out now that she’s been selected….right?

Percy raises an eyebrow. “Hi to you too. He had a call.”

“Did you get chosen?” she asks, already knowing the answer.

She needs to stop letting her pride get in the way. A few well-placed compliments by her advisor had her filling out the damn form and now she’s stuck with—

“No, I just like sitting here in my free time,” he answers with a roll of his eyes.

As warranted as his sarcasm might be, it’s still annoying.

“Fun hobby,” she says, finally sitting down on the chair beside him. 

College au. Percabeth meet when they’re chosen to represent the school for a National ‘Brain and Brawn’ competition. They create an unexpected bond/relationship through their time together

Hey! I've finally written this prompt under this fic:

one prize i'd cheat to win

i was wondering if you could write an academic rivals oneshot (with percabeth ofc) because there really aren't any good ones and i think you could bring a flair to it

Hello! First off, thank you so much for reading my work! I have incorporated this prompt into a few others and have finally posted it!

Link: one prize i'd cheat to win

Percy’s mind is racing. Frank left his office a few minutes ago and is now chatting with Annabeth at her desk. Next to her are the flowers she’s decorated in a vase. The flowers that were supposed to be for her.

He wants to be mad at Frank for spoiling his plan of asking her out, but to give him credit, the news he had brought was big.

It turns out the inflated numbers had been associated with a shell company that was owned by none other than Castellan Corp. And if there is one true enemy Percy has, it would be them.

This could also explain why Luke had been hanging around the office. Potentially, trying to get some insight into what has happening? 

They are already planning on dropping the whole project but this is the final nail in the coffin. Castellan Corps is never good to get close to.

Running his hands over his face, he slumps back in his chair before picking up his phone. The last person he wants to call is his father. (Two conversations in one day is two to many honestly.)

He lets it ring and it goes to voicemail. Great. He reaches out to Jonathan, his father’s secretary and learns that the great Mr. Jackson is in a meeting. 

“Please tell him to call me back,” he tells Jonathan. This could be a text or an email, but he knows his father is going to have questions. 

He looks back out the small window and sees that Frank has left. The flowers sit prettily on her desk.

And then there’s her. A small smile on her face as she types on her keyboard. 

He gets up and walks to her desk. 

“Yes?” she asks, when she sees him.

“Will you step into my office, please?”

She nods and he leads her inside. At least they shouldn’t get interrupted by someone walking up to them in here.

“Is there something you need?” she asks and he swears there’s a mischievous glint in her eyes. As if she knows what he’s about to say.

He has to hold himself back from just asking her out, right then and there.

She knocks on the door before entering his office. With everything going on, she wonders what this will be about. 

“Yes?” She waits for him by the door. 

“Come inside, take a seat.” Mr. Jackson gestures towards the couch. His face is troubled and he’s once again running a hand through his hair, messing it up further.

She has the urge to reach out and fix it, but she makes her way to the couch instead. He takes a seat opposite to her and it’s clear he’s struggling to start.

“Is everything okay?” she prompts, mostly to satisfy her curiosity as to what this is about.

“Well…not really,” he starts. “Ava told my dad about you being my girlfriend. He called me and said he wanted to meet you. I managed to back him off that idea but the point stands that this is getting out of control.”

Her eyebrows rise in surprise. A part of her had wondered if Ava would stay true to her threat of telling his father. 

“And I know it’s my fault. I am so sorry that you’ve been dragged into this.” He looks genuinely sorry about it too.

“It’s okay,” she responds automatically. 

He shakes his head. “It’s not, but I appreciate you being a good sport about it.” 

She nods, though she really thinks that this is alright with her. (Now why she thinks that is a different thought she doesn’t have time to delve into.)

“So what do you want to do?” she asks.

He leans in closer. “The way I see it, we have two options. So if you have any other ideas, let me know. But we can’t keep up this lie. So either we say we “broke up” which I can just bring up whenever my dad inevitably asks again.” 

He stops, looking to her for her thoughts.

“Or?” she asks. He hasn’t said the second option and she wants to hear all the choices before making a call.

Suddenly, shy, he looks away from her and clears his throat.

“Or we actually start dating so it isn’t a lie anymore,” he says quickly. “But, I think the first option is the more painless one of course. Especially since you didn’t even ask to be a part of all of this so I’m sure you want to be removed from the whole thing as soon as possible so—”

“Is this you asking me out then?” she interrupts his ramble.

“What?”

“Well, you said we could start dating so is this you asking me out?”

“What? No! This isn’t, I—”

“So you don’t want to?” she asks. 

“I do!” He says the words a bit too loudly as his cheeks flush red. “Just, I mean, not like this.”

She raises an eyebrow. “I’m not sure what you mean, you’re confusing.”

Not a date, Percy reminds himself as he drives back home. He’ll never admit it to Ava, but the conversation got a lot smoother after her surprise appearance. Nothing like shared absurdity to lighten the mood. He can still picture Annabeth’s smile when he had admitted how ridiculous this whole thing was.

Calling Annabeth his girlfriend had been a risk, one he probably shouldn’t have taken, but had (thankfully) paid off. He needs to be more careful in the future, it’s not something he should make a habit of. 

Especially since he’s already having a hard time not calling it a date in his head, when it was really an apology dinner for a guy being an asshole. The memory still makes him mad. But it’s quickly overshadowed with her smile from across the table. 

He parks his car and runs his hands over his face. He’s got to get a grip before something drastic happens.

-.-

Something drastic happens. Okay, so not the most drastic thing, but probably an eight out of ten if he has to judge.

Not that he should be focused on that when Ava is standing in front of Annabeth’s desk the next day talking in a loud voice.

“...appointment?” Annabeth is asking as he steps out of his office. 

Ava immediately turns to him. Her disregard of Annabeth irks him, but he tries to school his face to a neutral look.

“She’s your secretary,” Ava declares as if she’s Sherlock Holmes or something.

“Yes,” he replies. “And you don’t have an appointment, so either you set one up with Annabeth, or you leave.”

“You lied to me!” Her voice is getting louder. Percy sighs, walking the rest of the way to Annabeth’s desk. 

“I did not,” he responds. “Just because she is my secretary doesn’t mean she can’t also be my girlfriend.” 

Ava is having a hard time processing this information. He glances at Annabeth who has her hand over the security request button and nods. It’s not great how many times she’s had to use that button these past few weeks.

“That’s not possible!” Ava cries, crossing her arms.

“I assure you it is,” he replies. “You’re creating a scene and disrupting the workplace. You will be escorted out.”

LA is not at all like what Miley Cyrus had told him. He hops off the plane at LAX and the taxi doesn't play a Jay-Z song. 

Instead, it's some old dude who doesn't say a word, but frowns at him in the rearview mirror and proceeds to charge him nearly half of his food money for a cab ride to his motel.

It makes him reconsider if the change of scenery is worth it. 

But deep down he knows it is. Knows that he’s been ready for change, itching for something new.

The motel room is pretty standard, an acceptable amount of shaggy for the price, and he dumps his bags on the single bed as he looks around. Some old beige wallpaper, a splash of paint on a canvas in the rough outline of a horse, green blankets, and two black bags that carry all the remains of the life that he had packed up.

He’d sold pretty much everything in his old apartment when he’d made the decision to move here, only packing the things he knew he wanted. He had another box ready to be shipped to him once he found a place to live.

Deciding he’s had enough of the motel room, he walks out, warm air hitting his face.

It’s strange.

By September the heat is pretty much gone from New York, making way for the cool breezes of fall. But here, it’s a warm day.  And if he’s to believe the forecast, it’s always going to be a warm day.

He treks along the sidewalk with no particular destination in mind. It’s easy when you don’t know where you are. 

Palm trees line the roads and everything is just so…different. Then again, if you want change, moving all the way across the country will do that. 

He approaches an intersection, only to be met with none other than McDonalds. 

Different, except for McDonalds, that seems to be a constant no matter where you go. 

Since half of his food money was spent on the taxi (and he wants to stretch his savings for as long as possible) McDonalds is probably his best bet. It won’t be healthy, but it’ll be cheap.

He steps inside and the familiar smell of burgers and oil hits him like a wave. Well, if he ever feels homesick this is where to go. But it’s too early for that, it’s only the first day of his new adventure. 

Ordering a big Mac and fries, he leans against a table, waiting for his food. The sight outside shows blue skies and a late afternoon golden sun. That must be why they call it the Golden State. He’s only visited California once and that was San Diego when he was like thirteen. Moving here, though, is already different.

It wasn’t quite throwing a dart at a map, he looked into places that would actually be viable because contrary to popular belief, LA is more than Hollywood. (And based of off his research, he wants to stay away from Hollywood if he ever wants to afford a place to live.)

KEEP READING ON AO3

Annabeth is still processing as he walks back into his office. Her hands start automatically gathering her things as if she hasn’t been invited to dinner by her boss.

It’s not a date, she reminds herself as she resists the urge to fix her hair. It’s an apology dinner for what happened, even though it wasn’t his fault.

Mr. Jackson steps out in less than ten minutes, but she’s ready so it’s not a big deal. Though it makes her wonder if he’s a little anxious. (She is, but it’s been a day, as he said.)

He gestures for her to go first into the elevator. “Do you have a cuisine in mind or shall I pick?” he asks as they ride it down.

“You can pick,” she answers. Honestly, she doesn’t want to overstep at any point of this, so it’s easier for her if he just does what he thinks is best.

It’s a little awkward but someone else enters on a different floor so the silence is a lot more natural the rest of the way down.

“I’ll drive,” he says once they step out into the parking garage. “If that’s okay with you?”

“Thank you,” she replies politely, with a nod. 

“Did you drive here?” he asks as they walk up to a black porsche. 

“I did,” she responds. He walks to the passenger door to open it up for her. It’s very nice, she thinks as she shoots him a thankful smile and slips inside. He closes the door and she looks around in awe. It’s a level of luxury she is not familiar with.

He gets into the driver’s seat and starts the car, fiddling with music so it plays a popular radio station. (Probably for her benefit, but she wonders what his music taste actually is.)

“I’ve gone to this place a few times, their pasta is very good,” he says as he begins to drive.

“Better than yours?” she asks. It kinda slips out, she doesn’t mean to bant with him, but the smile she gets in response makes her think that she should do it more often.

“Only by a little,” he responds and is he joking? With her? It’s fascinating. “But I’ll let you be the judge of that.”

“I’ll make sure to take notes.” She smiles at him and he chuckles. 

“You are very good at that,” he concedes. 

Wow, smiles, banter, and compliments? It’s a home run and she’s trying to calm her giddiness. (Apology dinner, not date, she reminds herself.)

“Thank you,” she responds. “It is my job after all.”

“Mo chose well, I trusted her to, she loves messing with me though…” he trails off a bit, lost in thought for a second and she wonders what he means by that.

Why would Mo choosing her as a replacement be messing with him?

"He’s actually so hot though.”

“I agree, but like in an underrated kinda way.”

Annabeth cocks an ear toward the conversation happening behind her. She can’t see the two girls, but they’re talking just loud enough for her to overhear.

“His arms,” one of the girls says with a sigh. She’s got a higher pitch voice compared to the other one so Annabeth mentally dubs her ‘Bubbly’.

“He does have that vein thing going on,” the other one agrees. She sounds more reserved and so gets named ‘Introvert’ in Annabeth’s head.

She’s supposed to be going through her emails but the conversation is so much more exciting than her inbox, so her attention stays on them.

Leaning back, she takes a sip of her drink. Annabeth is in what she likes to call ‘Incognito Mode’, engulfed in Percy’s hoodie (with the hood up, of course) and leggings. With her laptop in front of her, she looks like one of the many people who come to Blue Cookies to work.

“Can I get you girls anything?” A voice interrupts their conversation. Annabeth automatically smiles upon hearing his voice.

“No, we’re good,” Bubbly replies cheerfully. “Thank you!”

“Cool, well let me know if that changes,” Percy replies, and Annabeth can imagine the smile on his face as he says the words.

He’s been so happy since he opened this place, and it makes her happy too. It’s clear Percy loves this kind of work.

“Ugh,” Bubbly whines. “How is his smile so charming?”

“He’s def got that bad boy turned good type vibe,” Introvert adds.

Annabeth freezes. Wait…so this whole time they had been talking about—

there could also be a part 2 to this where social media finds out about this and twists the story into percy being a jealous and controlling bf which makes annabeth mad because he is anything but and then she tries to dispel the rumours?

idk i just thought this could be an interesting idea haha, do what you make of it

“Ugh,” Annabeth grunts as she plops down on the couch, papers in hand. “I’m so tiredddd.” She draws out the word as a whine as she tosses the papers onto the coffee table before cuddling up against his side.

He chuckles, setting his laptop aside to focus his attention on her. She’s incredibly cute, all blonde hair and blue crewneck bunched on top of him.

“Hi there,” he says, pressing a kiss onto her head.

Her eyes finally peek up. “I’m tired,” she repeats with a pout.

Oh, someone save his heart from exploding out of his chest. Because of all the different Annabeths (cute, hot, sexy), adorable Annabeth is rare form. With all the pouts and cuddles and puppy dog eyes, he’s going to melt into a puddle.

“Do you want to take a nap?” he asks in an effort to keep functioning like a normal human being.

“I want to!” There are those puppy dog eyes again. “But I can’t!” And there’s another pout.

(Is she trying to kill him?)

“Why?” he asks, pulling her even closer. Because at this rate he just wants to hold her. She quickly repositions so her head is on his lap.

“I have a script to read. Rachel wants my thoughts tomorrow and I haven’t startedddd.” Once again, her last word ends with a whine as she rubs her hands over her face.

He grabs one and brings it up to his lips for a kiss. “Read it now, with me,” he suggests.

Annabeth sighs. “But it’s over there.” She points to the coffee table. “So far away…” She mimes reaching for the papers before giving up and looking up at him expectantly.

It’s so endearing, he can’t help but lean down and kiss her forehead.

“Message received,” he replies as he reaches over to grab them for her.

“Thank you!” Her smile is so bright, he’s ready to climb a mountain for it.

Annabeth holds the papers up and immediately frowns.

“What?” he asks, poking her side so she squeals.

“Percy!”

He grins back. “Well, what’s the problem?” he repeats, hoping she’ll forgive him.

She turns back to the papers. “There are so many words….”

“A script will have those,” he replies.

“Percy!” she admonishes. “Are you on my side or not!”

“Your side of course,” he says quickly. “You’re right, words are horrible. How dare they be there.”

the little burst of happiness everytime i see the "actress annabeth" "she's back!" (in some variation) like that combo of tags just makes me ridiculously happy for no reason

(will we ever see her again?)

Hi! First of all, thank you so so much for liking my writing enough to re-read it! I really appreciate it! And secondly, your message really tugged at my heart, I promise you will see her again!

In fact, you get to see her now! I just posted a new how to handle fame chapter!

(Also I didn't realize just how much I said that she's back lol I did consciously add it to the tags this time though)

I just had to say that you are an ICON and doing the lords work I am so glad I found you again!! I can’t wait to read more

Percy’s hands clench of their own volition. These people have already made his life harder with their suspicious data and on top of that, if this idiot Greg doesn’t stop existing near Annabeth in the next three seconds, he’s ready to throw a punch.

Annabeth manages to escape out of Greg’s grasp and is opening the door by the time Percy gets to him. But now the idiot is hollering up a storm.

His hand is turning a tad pink and he holds it out in front of him as he shouts.

“Who has peanuts! I’m allergic!” Then he points to Annabeth, paused by the door. “Her! She’s trying to kill me! That bitch.”

Alright, that’s enough.

“You pulled off her gloves,” he roars over everyone. The room had started to quiet when Greg began shouting, but it’s silent now. Even Greg is staring at him in surprise.

“You put your hands on my secretary, took off the gloves she’s wearing to prevent contamination, and now you’re calling her a bitch?”

His hands shake in an effort to not punch this idiot in the face.

“Your allergic reaction is your fault,” he thunders. “And don’t you dare put your hands anywhere near her again, or I will sue on grounds of sexual assault and make your life miserable.”

His breathing is heavy and his ears are ringing. Staring out at the rest of the people around the conference table he continues is what he hopes is a slightly calmer voice. “I hope everyone else is capable of maintaining professional decorum, otherwise you are free to leave along with Greg here.”

There are a few seconds of silence and thankfully security arrives quickly. “Escort this man out. He needs medical assistance that he is capable of arranging, given he hasn’t gone into anaphylactic shock or pulled out an epipen and is managing to stand there and breathe just fine.”

Annabeth is nowhere to be seen. He has no doubt she’s the one who called security.

Greg is escorted out as his coworkers watch and Percy has no choice but to assume the meeting is going to continue.

“Why don’t we all take five to finish up our food before we begin the presentation,” he says, once again addressing the room in a quieter volume.

He shoots his directors a glance to let them know they need to handle this, and turns to walk out of the room.

The only thought on his mind is Annabeth. He finds her at her desk, staring at her screen in a way where he knows she’s not taking in anything on it.

“Are you okay?” he asks, making her jump a little. He winces, wishing he hadn’t scared her.

Annabeth stares at the container on her desk with a mix of surprise and disbelief. She re-reads each sticky note two times and even glances through the blinds of his office to make sure he’s actually not there.

She slumps into her chair, feeling mystified at what just happened. He’d sent her to get papers but then had to urgently leave? And then he’d told her to go home? What was that about? And what had come up so quickly? He clearly wasn’t expecting to be back.

And then, of course, the elephant in the room which is the food he’d left her. Food that he had actually cooked. She recalls the meeting at the grocery store (it had left her flustered) but she hadn’t expected him to actually cook her something.

But here it is right in front of her.

Overall, it’d been quite a day. Going to lunch with Frank also meant she got to meet a few others at the company. Hazel and Leo were very nice and she’d enjoyed catching up on random workplace gossip. It actually made her feel included at this company.

Straightening up in her chair, she starts to pack up for the day. She’s not about to turn down a reason to leave early. Wondering what she’s going to do with the few extra hours, she grabs her bag along with her newly acquired food, and leaves.

Turns out the extra hours are just her chilling at home. She tries to tell herself it’s not a waste if she’s actually resting. (And sometimes resting is just scrolling through your phone for like an hour.)

Her stomach grumbling reminds her that she has food waiting in the fridge. Food that Mr. Jackson had made.

She shoots up and heads straight to the kitchen, her curiosity back in full force. She doesn’t know what she expected but it’s certainly not what she actually experiences as she eats a forkful of rigatoni.

It’s delicious. Like actually rich and creamy and could be served at restaurant.

Before she knows it, the entire container is empty. He really hadn’t been lying about being a good cook. (Not that she’d doubted him.)

She lays back down on her couch, thinking about the kind of person Percy Jackson is. he must be good at what he does given that Frank, Hazel, and Leo have respect for him. And that’s rare since people usually don’t like higher ups on principal. All three of them had said that he cared about the business and tried hard to actually understand things.

And, apparently, he is a good cook and does his own grocery shopping.

Speaking of, she should probably give him something back. She’s a good cook in that she makes pretty good food, but it’s not her passion or anything like it is his.

Maybe she should bake something? Really, what else can you put in a Tupperware container so you don’t hand it back empty?

It’s probably her full stomach that lulls her to sleep as she ponders on those thoughts.

It’s like déjà vu the way she wakes up the next morning at 4am on the couch with a kink in her neck.

Though this time, her panic is that she has work and nothing to put in the empty Tupperware container. It does strike her how much of a 180 this is from the problem she woke up to last time, which just goes to show how much life can change in a relatively quick amount of time.

In the end, she gives up and decides to pick up fresh cookies from a bakery on the way to work.

Mr. Jackson isn’t there yet, so she quickly writes a note thanking him for the food and saying she picked up some cookies from a bakery. (She won’t take credit for the incredible work that Sweethand Bakery is doing.)

Placing the container on his desk, she speedwalks back to her desk, sitting down just a minute before he shows up.

He’s on a call and directs a nod at her as he answers the person on the other end. There really shouldn’t be any anticipation on her end, given she just ordered something, but she can’t help but peer through the blinds as he sits down and notices the container.

She quickly looks away as he looks up.

Focusing on work for the next little bit is hard, but eventually he does get up and walk over to her desk.

She looks up expectantly.

He clears his throat. “I’m glad you liked the food,” he begins. “The cookies are delicious.”

“You’re a really good cook,” she replies. “And Sweethand Bakery is a good bakery.”

He sees her before she sees him. She’s got her hair up in a ponytail wearing sweats and a pale pink t-shirt with a box of cinnamon toast crunch in her hand.

She’s also, he realizes when he notices her earbuds, on the phone.

“Right, he’s not that bad.” He hears her say.  “He just frowns a lot which is a shame cause his smile is pretty but—”

Her sentence cuts off the moment she turns to see him standing there. Her eyes are wide as he raises a hand up as a greeting.

“Mr. Jackson,” she says, clearly flustered. It’s incredibly cute and he can’t help but smile.

“Percy is fine,” he replies. “Hello Annabeth.”

There’s a pink tinge to her cheeks as she hugs the box of cinnamon toast crunch closer.

“Hi,” she responds, somewhat shyly. “I didn’t expect to run into here.”

Neither had he honestly. Nor had he expected to overhear her conversation. (And he will admit he’s immensely curious about who she was talking about.)

But he also doesn’t miss the emphasis on the here part of her sentence.

Raising an eyebrow, he responds. “What? Did you not think I went to the grocery store?”

She looks down, still blushing. “I didn’t mean, it’s just, I thought you had someone else do that.” Then she looks up quickly. “Not that you can’t, I just meant—”

She’s somehow even more adorable stumbling over her words, but he decides to help her out.

“My dad does. But I happen to be a great cook and like getting my own ingredients.”

“Oh.”

She looks at him, her head tilting ever so slightly to the right, as if she’s trying to imagine him cooking.

(Which to be fair, he knows he doesn’t really look like someone who cooks.)

“Do you not believe me?” he teases, and chuckles when she rushes to deny the accusation.

“I’m kidding,” he says, cutting off her apology. “But I guess I’ll have to prove it to you.”

“What?”

“Annabeth, to what do I owe the pleasure?” Jason says as soon as he picks up the call. She shakes her head at his antics, leaning back into her couch.

“Are you busy?” she asks, ignoring his statement.

“I’ve got some time before the next scene and I’d prefer not to engage in a conversation with the producer walking this way, so please,” he replies, fervently.

Annabeth smiles. “I guess I’ll save you.”

“Appreciated,” Jason jokes back. “So what’s up?”

What is up…honestly, she’s not sure why she’s calling about it. It could have been a text and there’s not really too much to say other than the fact the barista from Cali’s Café has not left her mind all day. (And she isn’t going to say that because she’s aware it sounds a little insane.)

“I checked out the café you told me about,” she starts slowly.

“Oh, awesome! Did you like it? The coffee is good and the place is lowkey, right?”

“Yeah, the coffee was good.” She pauses, unsure of what to say next. Does she ask about Percy? What could Jason even tell her?

“Why am I sensing a but? Was the service not good? I always have the guy, Percy, and he’s super chill. Not sure how the other employees are.”

“I met Percy,” she says. The picture of his face and sea-green eyes comes clearly to her mind the moment his name is spoken.

“What happened?” Jason asks, clearly sensing that something had, in fact, happened.

But really, nothing had happened. Sure he’d been awkward, endearingly so, but very sweet and had made great coffee.

No, he hadn’t done anything wrong. She is the problem.

“Nothing,” she replies. “He was awkward but it was cute. He forgot to charge me and said my coffee was on the house when I brought it up.” A smile surfaces as she remembers his cheeks getting red.

“Really? My order has never been on the house.” She suspects Jason might be frowning.

Chuckling, she replies. “Guess he like me more.”

“Are we in competition over a barista?” Jason asks and she imagines him raising an eyebrow at her.

She pulls the blanket closer to her chest and re-settles herself.

“No,” she replies easily. “I’ve already won.”

“Rude,” he jokes, before his tone turns serious. “I’m sorry if you were uncomfortable though. Honestly, he handled Thalia very well so I thought it would be alright.”

“Not at all!” She rushes to explain. “I was not uncomfortable, it was good and I’ll be going back.”

No Percy had not made her feel uncomfortable, just…intrigued. In the way that she wants to go back and see him again.

“Okay good, I’m glad to hear that. I’ll be going tomorrow morning anyway—oh, they’re calling me, gotta go.”

“Yep, talk to you later,” she says, as she hangs up the phone. She stares at the black tv screen she has yet to turn on.

So Jason is going tomorrow? Maybe she should tag along…just to see how Percy is with Jason. It’s for science really, nothing more than that.