#apt 305

Seeing him back in this environment, after their date the night before, was a little surreal. Rectifying the Percy she’d come to know in those first few morning swim courses with the dream of a man who had kept her grounded through one of the worst experiences of her life took a little work. It was more than that, though. Now that he stood there, a few feet away and smiling directly at her with a warmth and familiarity that made her heart begin to race, Annabeth had irrefutable proof that she had not simply hallucinated the entire prior night.

The surrealism faded fairly quickly once Percy started in explaining what he had planned for their class’s hour, but it was replaced with something far worse. Quite suddenly, Annabeth was hyper aware of the fact that she now knew exactly what his lips felt like against her own. She knew how wonderful it was to be wrapped up in those outrageously muscled arms. She knew how firm that broad chest of his was beneath her fingertips, and how steadily his heart pounded beneath it. She knew exactly how much she liked all of those things, too.

No matter how much time passed, Annabeth would never been entirely sure how she made it through that first Monday morning in a post-date world. Her memories were all of stolen glances and stomach butterflies and heated cheeks. She often flashed back to the rush of catching Percy watching her, his gaze no longer as appropriate as it had once been, or the knowing, teasing looks she noticed Hazel and Leo shooting Percy’s way.

It wasn’t until the end of the hour that she was finally able to talk to Percy, though. Annabeth hung back as her classmates rushed off to change, but she waited for Percy to approach her first. Those few minutes of waiting were even more torturous than the entire previous hour had been.

“Did you sleep alright?” Percy asked, when the last of his other students had disappeared into the locker rooms and he finally came up to talk.

“I did,” Annabeth confirmed. She had found it surprisingly easy to sleep, considering all the anxiety she’d battled earlier in the evening. “Did you?”

“Couldn’t sleep a wink, honestly,” he replied, huffing a nervous laugh. “In a good way, though.”

More butterflies and heated cheeks were Annabeth’s initial reaction to that bit of honesty, and she had to reel it all in before she could formulate a reply. “You probably shouldn’t make a habit of that, especially on school nights.”

“If that’s the price I’d have to pay for making a few other things from last night into habits, I think the sacrifice would be worth it,” Percy countered, though the bravado of his bold declaration was softened by a shy duck of his head. “Are you feeling alright after…”

“I am,” she replied without hesitation, nodding confidently. Whether he meant seeing Luke, or the night as a whole, or some other combination of events, the answer was all the same. Annabeth was eager to get home and debrief with Piper more extensively than they’d been able to do over text, and she wouldn’t be truly okay until then, but she felt wonderfully content already. Percy had made that possible.

A smile spread across Percy’s face. “Do you maybe want to get lunch later?”

“I’ve got some homework I should probably be doing, but,” Annabeth started, trying to hide how immensely the prospect of lunch with him excited her, “yeah. I’d love to get lunch.”

“Well, I’ll try not to distract you too much,” he assured her, smile only growing wider.

Annabeth raised her eyebrows, skeptical. “Are you sure about that? Last night’s distractions were pretty fun. Revisiting a couple of those might not be so bad.”

“It might not be bad, but it would probably be pretty dangerous,” he replied, and though his tone was light, Annabeth didn’t think he was completely joking.

“How so?” she asked, but as her eyes flickered down, over his bare abdomen, still covered in droplets of water from the pool, Annabeth couldn’t help agreeing with him about those dangers.

“If I start kissing you right now, I won’t be able to stop,” Percy told her, having to break the brief eye contact he’d made in the wake of that confession. “Next thing you know, I’ll be kissing you everywhere – out at lunch, on sidewalks, in the middle of class.”

To hide the giddy smile threatening to break across her face, Annabeth tugged her bottom lip between her teeth and turned her gaze downward, occupying herself with picking up her dufflebag and draping it over her shoulder. She considered those dangers he warned of for several seconds, letting herself imagine sweet pecks on the lips of greeting and goodbye, giving in to the irresistible urge to kiss him no matter where they might be, all the people who would inevitably see them, and she didn’t think it would be bad at all if he never stopped kissing her.

In a rush of confidence and courage, Annabeth took a step forward, not so close as to accidentally touch him when they were both wearing so very little, but close enough. Percy watched her closely, cautiously, but he didn’t pull away or object. She pushed up on her toes and brushed her lips against his, fleeting and light, with a promise of more to come.

“I’ll text you so we can figure out details for lunch,” she said, when she was flat on her feet again.

“Sounds good,” he replied, his tongue darting out to slide across his bottom lip where she’d touched it a second before. He clearly wanted another kiss already. She did, too.

Without saying another word, Annabeth adjusted the bag on her shoulder and then nodded once. She smiled at him for another second and then slipped past him to head into the locker room. After she’d gone all of five steps, Percy called out, “Hey Annabeth?”

Heart racing, she turned to look back at him. “Hmm?”

“Am I to understand you were completely clearheaded just then?” Percy asked, his head held a little higher, more confidence in his voice.

“Clearheaded enough,” Annabeth confirmed, a giggle of a laugh slipping past her lips at his reference to the night before. It was the best she figured she would ever be able to do. She couldn’t imagine ever being truly clearheaded around him, but then she didn’t want to be, either. “I’ll see you in a few hours, Percy.”

“See you in a few hours, Annabeth.”

Even though he didn’t want to disturb Annabeth when she seemed so at peace, and when they were so close to his mother being able to back him up about her snoring, Percy decided to five her a gentle nudge. “Hey, Beth? It’s getting late. Do you want to get out of here?”

“No,” Annabeth replied, only stirring enough to nuzzle a little closer to him. “Let’s stay a little bit longer.”

“You’re just going to fall asleep,” he argued, though it was hard to fight her when she was acting so cute about it. “It’s only going to be harder to leave if we wait.”

“But I like it here,” she said, practically whining. If she got any cuter, Percy was going to be entirely useless at denying her whatever she wanted.

He attempted to have a semblance of a backbone though, gently rubbing her arm in an attempt at coaxing her further awake. “You’ll like it better at home in your own bed.”

Unconvinced, she shook her head. “I like it here.”

“Why?” Percy asked, all curiosity and no annoyance. He had to admit, he enjoyed hearing that she liked being at his parents’ place. It made him feel good about the fact they’d made standing plans to spend every other Sunday afternoon there, plans that would cut into his and Annabeth’s already limited alone time. Apparently she didn’t mind sharing.

“It feels like you here,” Annabeth explained, the words slow, quiet and lazy, evidence of how tired she’d become. “Being here makes me happy. Must’ve been a nice place to grow up.”

Percy hadn’t really grown up in that apartment. He’d moved there in high school, after his mom and Paul had gotten engaged. In reality, Percy had grown up in a series of apartments, many of which had been little more than closets, and falling apart on top of that. He still understood what Annabeth meant. Even though he hadn’t lived in particularly nice apartments, they had still been pretty great places to grow up, in the grand scheme of things, if only because his mom had been there, making the best of their circumstances.

“It wasn’t too bad,” Percy agreed, turning his head to get a better look at the woman beside him now. “It’s still a pretty nice place to be, too, you’re right.”

“Let’s stay like ten more minutes,” Annabeth suggested, shifting slightly against him to get more comfortable.

Sally appeared from the kitchen, leaning against the wall and observing them with a tiny smile. It never failed to make Percy’s heart break into a sprint when his mom looked at Annabeth that way – like Annabeth had always been hers to shower with love, and she intended to make up for all the years she hadn’t been able to do it as quickly as possible. Annabeth looked at Sally in much the same way, if not with a few more, very understandable, reservations. All of it confirmed what Percy himself had felt from the very beginning of his relationship with Annabeth – they were meant for this, to be together, to share their lives and their families, and build a future of their own one little block at a time.

“Why don’t I just make up the couch for you two so you can spend the night?” Sally offered, that fond smile on her lips only growing. “It’s late and you both look like you’d be better off just getting to sleep now.”

Annabeth lifted her head, blinking sleepily at Percy. “Can we?”

So rarely did Annabeth defer to Percy’s judgment with such entirety, Percy almost didn’t know what to do with himself. It did make sense, though. This was his family, so it was his choice, not that he had much of one when his mother was so clearly happy to have them and the woman he loved so completely content to be there.

“Yeah, it sounds like a good idea,” Percy agreed, reaching over to tuck a rogue ringlet behind Annabeth’s ear. Her sleepy, responding smile only made him that much more confident in his decision.

They managed to get themselves up just long enough to clean up a little in the bathroom. Percy had his own toothbrush at his parents’ place, but that night Annabeth got one of her own, too. When they returned to the living room, Sally had finished dressing the couch with blankets and pillows. It didn’t pull out, but Percy had no doubts they would be comfortable enough. He and Annabeth were disgustingly cuddly sleepers, anyway.

Both Percy and Annabeth were given hugs and forehead kisses goodnight before Sally finally turned in. Percy didn’t miss the way Annabeth’s cheeks flooded with pink when she got hers. If he hadn’t valued his life so much, he might have grabbed his phone and snapped a picture of her that way. Since he wished to live past the night, he had to settle for the mental image.

It didn’t take them long to get settled on the couch after that. Annabeth’s body, half on top of him and half wedged between him and the couch, was a comfortable and welcome weight. His fingers instinctively found their way into her hair, twirling strands around them in what had become a soothing nightly habit. Percy didn’t think he’d ever loved anything quite the way he loved falling asleep each night with Annabeth.

“Thanks for letting us stay,” Annabeth mumbled into the stillness of the night.

Staying would mean an even more rushed than usual Monday morning, but Percy thought it was worth it. “I’m just glad you like here so much.”

“I really do,” she confirmed, the reverence in her voice making it sound a little like a confession.

“I like being here with you, too,” he told her, thinking it just as much as a confession. Percy always liked being with his family, of course, but being there with her was a different kind of special. It made him feel complete.

She hummed softly, tilting her head to press a kiss against his jaw. “I love you.”

“I love you,” he echoed.

Percy wasn’t sure exactly when that had become their nightly ritual, saying I love you instead of a standard goodnight, but it was always one of his favorite parts of the day. If the world ended while they slept, he would have no regrets about those being his last words. He never failed to sleep a little more soundly having said them.

"It won't hurt," he argued, still with those big eyes. She refused to be moved by them. "Leo does it all the time. I promised him I would wash his car for a year if it ever hurt, so he tries all the time."

There were so many parts of that statement she found ridiculous that Annabeth was, for a moment, stunned to silence. "No," she finally managed. "I'm not punching my boyfriend."

"Annabeth, please."

"No."

He held a finger up against the sole of her foot. "Punch me or I'll tickle you."

"My feet aren't ticklish," Annabeth said with a shrug. The way Percy's brow furrowed at that made her laugh, but he got no extra reaction out of her when he actually tried tickling her foot.

"Where are you ticklish, then?" he demanded, index finger still brushing the sole of her foot lightly in an attempt to break her.

She shrugged. "I'm not telling you."

"Fine," he relented, dropping his hand. "Punch me, though."

This was it, the way Annabeth would finally lose her mind, at the hands of the most beautiful and outright insane man she had ever known. "How many times are you going to make me say no?"

"Just do it once," he pleaded, back to the whining, shaking her legs in his lap.

"Why?" she asked, hating herself for the fact she could feel her resolve dwindling. God help Annabeth Chase, she was going to end up punching him.

A hint of a smile returned to his face as Percy seemed to sense her starting to give in to him. "Because you'll think I'm cool and sexy when you punch me and I don't even flinch."

"Yeah, that's not happening," Annabeth said, wrinkling her nose at him. "It's too late for me to ever think you're cool."

"But not too late for you to think I’m sexy," he noted, eyebrows raised.

Both of them knew all too well that the ship had sailed in that regard just about the minute she'd set eyes on him, but Annabeth pretended to be aloof. "I guess it's still possible I could find you sexy, yes."

"So, punch me and find out," Percy said, something changing in his gaze. Annabeth didn't realize what was happening until it was too late – he lifted his shirt and flexed his abdomen, and her eyes focused on the exposed area far too quickly. Definitely sexy.

Taking a deep breath in through her nose and dragging her hands down her face, she succumbed to his begging and the temptation of his lifted shirt. "Fuck it."

"I mean, that's not what I'm asking you to do," he said as she sat up and scooted down the couch, "but we can certainly discuss it."

Annabeth refused to substantiate that suggestion with a reply, settling in beside Percy on the couch with her legs wrapped around his torso. Pretending like that position, the intimacy of being so wrapped around him, didn’t still affect her deeply was impossible, so she opted not to try. She let her face flush and her heart race and didn’t shy away. This was a feeling she had decided to embrace fully.

“Do I just do it, then?” she asked, staring shamelessly at the patch of his abdomen exposed. Punching him was definitely not what she wanted to be doing at the moment. He’d admittedly been more on track with his other idea.

“Yep, just punch me,” he confirmed, his grin growing massive in anticipation.

There would be no turning back now that she’d agreed, so Annabeth simply nodded and took a steadying breath. Percy’s smile didn’t fade in those seconds she resolved herself to actually giving into his request. Curling her fingers into a fist, Annabeth shook out her shoulders to loosen up and nodded to him once. Then she did it, punched him right in the gut, not holding back, because she knew he would complain otherwise. As promised, he didn’t even flinch when her fist made contact, but it did kind of hurt her hand.

“Why,” Annabeth demanded, instantly dissolving into a fit of giggles, and she smacked him lightly in the same spot she’d just punched him before collapsing back onto the couch again. “What purpose does being like this serve?”

It served the purpose of making him one of the best swimmers in the world and came as a result of years of hard work and self care. Annabeth knew that. Knowing as much did not make it any less outrageous that he was so absolutely ripped and she was free to touch (and apparently punch) him to her heart’s content.

“You like it,” Percy replied, following Annabeth’s motion to hover just close enough for her to kiss if she strained her neck even a little. There was nothing quite as terrible as when he did that, tempted her so plainly, because Annabeth did not have enough self control to resist for more than a few seconds.

“Maybe,” she conceded. She maybe even more than liked it, but that was a thought and conversation for another time. For the moment she settled for hooking her legs around his back, leaning up, and snagging that kiss.