#knuffled fic

It all happened in a split second. He’d been walking through the gym between the mats cordoning off different problems, looking up if there were any decent pizza places nearby that he could swing by for lunch, when he heard someone suck in a sharp breath. Percy barely had time to turn around when a blonde-haired blur missed a dyno to her next foothold and bowled into him. Fortunately, his freakish reflexes and years spent balancing on a skateboard helped him catch her without falling over. 

Unfortunately, he’d dropped his phone on the hard floor in the process and shattered the screen. But Percy had no time to mourn because the climber in his arms had to be the most gorgeous woman he’d seen in his entire life. Her storm-gray eyes were open wide in shock and sweat-soaked strands of golden hair laid matted to her forehead and her cheeks were flushed rose from exertion and holy shit her back muscles were insane and was that the outline of her abs pressing into his midriff?

The woman let out a soft laugh and said, “Thanks for catching me, but you can let go now.”

Her voice was tinged with a Scandinavian accent and just enough of a teasing lilt to make him blush as he helped her upright. To make matters worse, that was when he heard the cheers and wolf-whistles of the bystanders nearby. 

The whole episode was so mortifying that before he could think, Percy scooped up his mangled phone and scurried away like a frightened field mouse. 

He stepped out into the blistering summer heat, his face burning, and tried to console himself with the knowledge that no one would remember his embarrassing moment. But by the time his pizza arrived literally a half hour later, he was getting DM’s from all his friends sending him the same Instagram link. To his utter horror, someone had managed to catch the moment on phone camera and the post was going viral. 

Stranger smitten after two-time Olympian Annabeth Chase falls into his arms.

She was an Olympian? Oh god, he was going to hurl. 

He skimmed over comments with tens of thousands of likes about how the scene was like something out of a K-Drama, how cute it was that he blushed so hard he’d ran away, and more that he didn’t have the heart to properly read. 

Great, now his moment of humiliation would be captured for all posterity. 

Percy set down his slice of sausage and olive and buried his face in his hands to stifle a groan. 

“No way, are you that guy from that viral video?” 

Frowning, Percy looked up and found the woman from earlier standing at his booth, a teasing grin on her face. 

Instead of saying something smart or suave, all he could manage was, “How did you find me?”  

“I’m stalking you, obviously,” she said. “Can I sit?”

Percy nodded numbly as the woman slid into the booth seat across from him and rested her chiseled forearms on the table. 

Seeing her again in a less frantic setting, his first impression proved woefully inadequate. If someone designed the perfect woman in a lab to cater to every one of his conscious and unconscious preferences, they would still fall short of Annabeth Chase. Even though she still hadn’t showered or changed out of that utilitarian, gray sports bra and yoga pants, and he could smell the scent of her citrusy perfume mixed with sweat, he definitely should not have found her as hot as he did.

“You’re drooling,” she teased. 

For the second time that day, Percy felt his cheeks prickle. “What can I do for you Miss, uh, Chase?”

“Call me, Annabeth,” she said easily. “What’s your name?”

“Um, Percy.” 

“Well, ‘Um Percy’, I came by because I finished my problems for the day and I wanted to apologize.”

He furrowed his brow. “Apologize?”

“Didn’t I break your phone when I fell on you?” 

“Oh, it’s cool,” he said. “Thanks to you, I’ll use my five minutes of virality to launch a crypto-currency like the Hawk Tuah girl.” 

She laughed at his dumb joke, and he was pretty sure people had started religions for less. Percy bit back the stupid grin that was threatening to break across his face, but then Annabeth said, “Well, I still want to apologize. Could I buy you dinner tonight to make it up to you?”

Wait, like a date?

Her lips quirked up into a smile. “Yes, like a date.”

“Uh, I didn’t mean to say that out loud.” 

Annabeth laughed again and handed him a slip of paper. “Here’s my number. I’ll see you at seven?”

She didn’t have fears that her date with Percy would be like that, but in the three minutes she sat there, she became woefully aware of her own lack of dating experience. It had never mattered to her before, but she didn’t want to come across as lame and uncool in front of someone as effortlessly debonair as Percy.

Oof. Debonair. An SAT word. Definitely lame and uncool.

Annabeth peeked down at the outfit Piper had helped her choose: a billowy, black shirt-like blouse and a pair of high-waisted white pants. Even she had to admit the outfit looked good, but now that she had time to languish in her own mental prison, she wasn’t sure it would be to Percy’s taste. Annabeth buried her face in her hands. God, she should’ve gone with something more fun and casual.

A knock on her window made Annabeth jolt in her seat. It was Percy, motioning for her to roll down her window, so she did. As he rested a forearm against the doorframe and leaned in, the scent of his cologne caught her off guard and made her face prickle.

She shook her head to physically dispel her thoughts and said, “H-Hey.”

“Hey yourself,” Percy said, smiling. “I was thinking I could drive tonight, but I’ll leave it up to you.”

“Uh, yeah, no, that’s fine by me,” Annabeth said.

“Cool!” Percy said, straightening. “You can just leave your car here in the lot then.”

Annabeth nodded and turned off the ignition before grabbing the keys and her purse. Percy rocked on his heels, hands in his pockets, and grinned at her when she got out of the car. As they started walking, Annabeth took a second to get a proper look at him since she’d been too frazzled to before. He was wearing a black bomber jacket over a plain white t-shirt and a pair of black chinos. It was almost unfair how good he looked with such a simple outfit, like James Dean or something.

He must have noticed her staring because he coughed surreptitiously. “Am I too underdressed or something? I can head inside and change real quick?”

“Oh, no, you look good,” Annabeth said quickly. “Great actually.”

“Yeah?” Percy asked, ducking his chin. “Well, I think you’ve got me beat in the outfit department. You look, um- spectacular.”

It was a little pathetic how giddy that made her feel. “T-Thanks.”

Percy shot her a boyish smile that she couldn’t help returning. When they came to a stop in front of a blue Prius, Annabeth couldn’t help giving him a little shit.

“Who would’ve thought,” Annabeth drawled. “Percy Jackson drives a Prius.”

“It gets good mileage, okay?” Percy protested, his face turning pink. “And it’s environmentally friendly!”

Annabeth bit back a smile and shrugged. “Just seems like an odd fit for a brooding, bad boy-type.”

Percy rolled his eyes and opened the passenger’s side door for her, which was such an antiquated, chivalrous thing to do that it made her swoon just a little bit. He waited until she was settled before sliding into the driver’s seat and starting the car. As they pulled out of the lot, Percy reached to turn on some music out of habit, but a Nirvana riff blared through the speakers so loudly it felt like getting hit in the face with a shovel. He immediately shut it off, but Annabeth laughed at the way his cheeks flushed.

He ruffled his hair and muttered, “Sorry. Forgot I had it turned up that loud.”

“Was that Territorial Pissings?”

Percy turned to her, eyebrows raised. “You know that song?”

Annabeth nodded. “Yeah, one of my stepbrothers, Bobby, is obsessed with Nirvana. He got a guitar for his birthday, and he’s trying to learn their songs.”

He gave an innocuous look and asked, “And how has that been?”

“Awful,” Annabeth admitted. “Like, hearing a total newbie butcher Nirvana riffs on a shitty practice amp is miserable, especially when their bedroom is right to yours.” “Yeah, I’ll bet,” Percy said, laughing. “What kind of music do you listen to?”

“I like a lot of stuff.”

“C’mon, that’s a cop out answer,” Percy said. “Give me a guilty pleasure song.”

“I don’t believe in guilty pleasure songs,” Annabeth said, shrugging.

He gave her a sidelong glance. “Hmm, I can see that, considering you’re the heathen that puts pineapple on pizza. Shame probably isn’t in your vocabulary.”

Annabeth snorted with laughter, which made him smile. There was something so easy about talking to him. They must have driven for at least a half hour, but it felt like five minutes passed because the conversation flowed so well between them. Annabeth had seen in movies or heard from Piper that chemistry was important when it came to romance, but she’d never known what that meant. The idea of magically clicking with someone, feeling effortlessly seen and understood, sounded like a fantasy. At the very least, it wasn’t something she ever thought would happen to her. And yet, here she was, talking to this gorgeous boy that she hadn’t even known four months ago, and she suddenly understood what Piper had meant.

Eventually, Percy pulled into a parking lot and opened the door for her again. Annabeth tried to ignore the heat of his hand on the small of her back as he guided her inside the building. It was an indoor mini-golf course.

When Annabeth glanced at him, Percy shrugged and said, “A little cliché, I know, but you’re a competitive person so I figured getting your ass kicked is probably your love language.”

Annabeth barked a laugh. “Oh, is that right? You sound awfully confident.”

His eyes twinkled. “Only a little bit.”

They got a pair of clubs and spent the better part of two hours taking a child’s game far too seriously. True to his word, Percy did end up kicking her ass, but Annabeth did a damn good job for a first-timer. By his own admission, she would have won if they’d played as beginners. Still, it was a ton of fun since Annabeth tended to scare people off by being too intense and competitive, but instead that seemed to attract Percy, not push him away.

After mini-golf, they went back to the restaurant, which Sally closed early for the night on account of their date. Percy took her back into the kitchen and tossed her an apron, which surprised her.

“Uh, what’s this for?” “We’re gonna make a pizza for each other that we think the other person would like.” Percy shrugged off his jacket and tied his apron behind his back with practiced ease. “And it goes without saying, but no pineapple on mine, please.”

Annabeth toyed with the apron’s strands. “Uh, I should let you know, I’m kind of a walking disaster in the kitchen.”

Percy waved a hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll be watching you every step of the way.”

Despite her apprehension, Annabeth nodded and slipped on her apron. Percy grabbed some dough that had already been proofing in the fridge and showed her how to flatten it into an oblong disk with a rolling pin. He tossed them into the air himself since Annabeth stood a snowball’s chance in hell of pulling that off. After that, he showed her how to ladle the sauce and distribute cheese, but he let her have free reign over the remaining toppings. Since it was a secret, they worked at other ends of the kitchen, but Percy ultimately put the pizzas in the wood-fire oven, although he made a show of closing his eyes so he wouldn’t see her toppings.

Within a minute or two, Percy fished their pizzas out and cut them. Percy’s pizza for her was sausage and black olive, and her pizza for him was Calabrian chilis and feta.

Percy took a bite of a slice and made a sound of surprise. “Wow, this is great. I’ve never tried this combo before.”

“I had it once at a restaurant back when I lived in San Francisco,” Annabeth said. “It was one of my favorites there. I didn’t know you guys had Calabrian chili’s here, otherwise I would have ordered it.”

Percy nodded and then motioned for her to try hers as well. “It’s delicious.”

“I’m glad you think so,” Percy said, smiling. “Ever since I was a kid, if I was having a bad day or we were celebrating something or just because, my Ma would make a sausage and olive pie for me. It’s my favorite food.”

“It’s a good choice,” Annabeth said softly. “Could be improved with some pineapple though.”

That made him shake with laughter, and something about the sight of him sitting on the countertop, hiding his smile behind a hand like it wasn’t worth seeing, stirred something in her.

She craned up to kiss him, catching him by surprise. Instead of melting into the kiss, he broke away and met her eyes with a hard look on his face.

Panic and hurt rushed through her, but Percy whispered, “This- look, I know you only meant it as a joke earlier, but this isn’t all to like fulfill some bad boy fantasy or something, right?”

“It’s not, Percy,” Annabeth said quickly. “Why would you think that?”

He averted his gaze and said, “I, uh, have had bad experiences in the past with girls like building this weird idea of me in their heads, and then they’d get disappointed that I wasn’t what they wanted me to be. And like, that’s fine, but I really, really like you Annabeth, and I- I’m not sure-”

“Hey, listen to me,” Annabeth said, putting a hand on his cheek. “I like you. Like a lot. It’s honestly a little scary how much. The whole bad boy thing was an insensitive thing to say, I didn’t mean that, and I promise that’s not what I like about you or even how I think of you, okay?”

“Okay,” Percy whispered. He pulled her closer to him, hands resting on her hips, and put his forehead against hers. “Sorry for fucking up our first kiss.”

It was a cold, brisk day in early November. Annabeth pulled her hair into a ponytail, tips of her fingers already starting to go numb because of the cold, while Coach Hedge finished reminding the team of the tactics he’d implemented for the game. When he finished, he motioned for Annabeth to speak, so she went to stand in front of the rest of the team and looked into their faces. She was happy to see the grim determination on their faces reflecting her own mental state. 

“I don’t have a lot to say,” Annabeth started. “This is the semi-finals, but we know this is the big one. Don’t forget what it felt like to lose to them last year. It’s time we gave them a taste of their own medicine.” 

When her teammates nodded, Annabeth put her hand out and they formed a huddle around her, placing their hands on top of hers.

“This is our time! Play without fear!” Annabeth shouted. “East Summers on 3. 1. 2. 3.”

“East Summers!”

With that, as her teammates took the field, Coach Hedge clapped her back and said, “Good speech, kid.” 

“Thanks, Coach.” 

“Now, it’s time to get ‘er done, okay? Bring me their heads, Chase.”

Annabeth gave him some serious side-eye. “Don’t think you’re allowed to say that about a high school soccer game, Coach.”

Coach Hedge rolled his eyes and grumbled, “Agh, you know what I meant, but fine. For legal reasons, I meant that figuratively.”

Annabeth shook her head as she jogged onto the field and stood at the center circle. Creston had won the coin toss, so they got the ball first. Their striker glared at Annabeth, but it didn’t faze her in the slightest. There was only one person on Earth that could intimidate Annabeth, and he was probably helping his mom make pizza. 

The referee blew her whistle, and the game went under way. Creston immediately mounted an attack and started to string together a series of intricate passes in an effort to bring the ball closer to their goal. Annabeth and her teammates were prepared for this though - they knew that they wouldn’t get much of the ball and that they would have to be patient and counter-attack when Creston messed up. Well, it would be more accurate to say if Creston messed up. They were historically known as a very technically proficient team, so stealing the ball off of them was almost impossible. 

For the first thirty minutes of the game, it felt like Annabeth and her teammates were chasing shadows, and they barely got a single touch of the ball. But although Creston was running circles around them, they couldn’t break down their defense. In fact, they only managed one shot on target, but Melanie managed to save it comfortably. 

Melanie tried to start a counter-attack and threw it to Ellie in midfield. That was Annabeth’s cue to start running towards Creston’s goal, but Ellie was immediately swarmed by two of Creston’s midfielders who robbed the ball off her and started yet another attack. 

Annabeth bit back a groan of frustration and started to track back to help defend again.

The remaining ten minutes in the first half were more of the same, but they managed to make it to half-time without conceding a goal. As she and her teammates jogged back to recon with Coach, Annabeth was struck by how tired they all looked, but it made sense considering the amount of running they’d been doing trying to win the ball back and the mental strain of knowing that any slip up would result in Creston scoring. If Creston ever scored a goal, then the game was pretty much done for. East Summers’s entire game plan was predicated on making sure that the score remained 0-0 and to bank on winning the game with a goal from a counter attack. 

Her teammates grabbed bottles of water and powerade from a cooler one of the parent volunteers had brought and took long draughts from them. Coach approached them, a hint of worry on his face that Annabeth caught, but he erased it before the rest of the team could notice.

“You’re doing well,” Coach huffed. “You’re the only team so far in the tournament to manage a whole half without letting them score. They’re starting to get frustrated, I can tell. And their frustration will result in mistakes, mistakes that you will capitalize on and punish them for. Remember, a chance will come. They’re human, just like you. They’re not perfect. And one chance is all it takes to win.” 

Although her teammates nodded in agreement, Annabeth could tell they were terrified about the prospect of having to endure another forty minutes against more of the same from Creston. It wasn’t like she couldn’t understand them though. There was massive pressure on her shoulders too - her teammates could defend all they wanted, but if she couldn’t score with the one or two chances she got, it would all be for nothing. 

Eventually, they had to head back onto the field, and Annabeth wracked her brain to think of what she could do differently to alter the trajectory of the game. She passed the ball back to Ellie when the ref blew her whistle, and Creston immediately pounced again. Ellie managed to retain possession and passed to one of the other midfielders, but it was only a matter of time before Creston won the ball back. 

The rest of the half was more of the same, only Creston’s attacks continued to get sharper as Annabeth’s teammates got more and more tired. It felt like it would only be a matter of time before Creston broke through and scored. 

Annabeth’s team managed, by some miracle, to make it to the last three minutes of the game without conceding, but Annabeth hadn’t gotten a single touch of the ball. Scoring on Creston felt impossible. But then one of Creston’s wingers made a rare mistake and failed to trap the ball properly, and Rosa, one of the defenders on Annabeth’s team, stole the ball and passed to Ellie. 

Despite Annabeth’s exhaustion and frustration, she forced herself to make yet another run upfield in the hopes that Ellie would find her. Her lungs burned with exertion as she raced towards the last two Creston defenders, and then the ball fell right in front of her. A spark of hope lit inside her, Annabeth bit back a grin and looked up to find the defenders rushing towards her. 

With one touch, Annabeth feinted going left and managed to trick the defender and sped past her. The last defender tried to drop back and by time for her partner to recover, but Annabeth booted the ball past her and opted to beat her in a foot-race. Like she’d guessed, she was faster, although not by much. Annabeth got the ball, but the defender was close enough to pull on her shirt. It looked like she would be able to break free, but a few meters from the corner of the box, the defender stuck a leg out and tripped her. 

Annabeth went tumbling forward and the ball rolled past the sideline, but the referee blew her whistle for a foul, awarding East Summers a free kick. Annabeth stood up and picked the mud off her knees before she jogged to the sideline to retrieve the ball from the spectator that had recovered it, but she froze when she saw who it was. 

“Percy? What are you doing here?” Annabeth asked, wondering if she was so tired she was hallucinating. 

He gave her a lopsided smile. “My sister begged me to come watch the game with her.”

Annabeth looked past him and noticed Estelle standing there, beaming at her. “Hi, Annabeth!” 

“Hey, Estelle,” Annabeth said, blinking. “Thanks for coming out to see me. I know it’s not been a fun game to watch so far.” 

“No, it’s cool seeing a forward helping the team defend. Without your help, Creston would have scored by now,” Estelle said. 

Hearing that warmed Annabeth’s heart. She’d felt useless all game since she hadn’t been able to do her job as an attacker, but it was true that she’d been doing her best to defend and was still helping the team. 

Annabeth looked back at Percy, but before she took the ball from him, she scuffed her cleats against the back of her heel. “Um, have any words of encouragement for me?” 

Percy smiled and said, “If you score, I’ll use my powers to grant you one wish.”

For some reason, Annabeth felt a sudden rush of bravery course through her. “Then, what if I asked you out on a date?” 

His eyes hardened like she was playing an elaborate prank on him, but when he realized she was being serious, they seemed to thaw. 

He cleared his throat and peered at her through his stupidly long eyelashes. “Come back after you score and we’ll see, Chas- Annabeth.” 

Annabeth bit back a grin and looked at Estelle. “Any words of advice for me?” 

Estelle offered her a solemn nod. “You’re not going for power here. Bend it.” 

Hearing her own advice parroted back to her made Annabeth’s grin widen. She took the ball back and returned to the field, but she could feel the siblings’s eyes on her. The referee gestured for the spot where she could take the free kick. Her teammates exchanged looks with her when she put the ball down without a word. They looked confused, but they trusted her enough not to question her. 

Annabeth sucked in a breath and stood back six paces from the ball. She’d never scored from this far out before, but Estelle’s words made her realize this was the exact angle she liked for her go-to move to score. All she had to do was bend the ball to the far post. 

When the ref blew her whistle, Annabeth ran up to the ball at an angle and hit the ball without too much force. The moment it left her foot, Annabeth had a good feeling. She watched as it curve around the wall of Creston defenders, past the outstretched glove of their goal keeper, and flew into the top corner of their net. 

The referee signaled for a goal, and Annabeth’s teammates exploded with excitement. They rushed around her with exuberant cheers and smothered her in a team hug. Annabeth fell to the floor laughing and relished in the feeling of victory. The game wasn’t over yet, but Annabeth had seen the faces of the Creston players when she’d scored - they looked completely defeated. 

Sure enough, the remainder of the game passed uneventfully, and Annabeth’s team moved on to the finals. After another round of congratulations from her teammates and Coach Hedge, Annabeth found Estelle and Percy waiting for her near the bleachers. 

“You did it! That was such a cool goal!” Estelle cheered. 

“Thanks, Estelle! Your advice definitely helped,” Annabeth said, smiling. 

She looked at Percy then and grinned at him. “So, I’ve upheld my end of the bargain. Now, it’s your turn.” 

He rolled his eyes fondly. “Alright, fair enough. Come by the restaurant next Saturday at 6, and I’ll take you out.” 

“Cool,” Annabeth said, feeling breathless. 

Percy shook with suppressed laughter, eyes glittering. “Alright, I have to head out now, but I’ll see you later, Annabeth.” 

Annabeth nodded. “See you later, Percy.” 

At least Matty was having fun. The skate park was empty this early in the day, which gave him free reign to do whatever he wanted. Although the park’s offerings were meager — it had a couple of bowls, handrails, and ramps — it was perfect for a beginner like Matty.

Still, Annabeth found herself worrying her lip while she watched him. His lack of balance was plain to see, but he still insisted on skating recklessly. He could barely steer properly, but he was already trying to skate down into one of the shallower bowls close to her. Sure, he was wearing a helmet and elbow pads, but he could still seriously hurt himself if he wasn’t careful.

His board wobbled precariously as he slid down the concrete slope, which prompted her to stand and rush over to the lip of the bowl.

“Matty, take it easy! You’re gonna wind up hurting yourself!” Annabeth shouted.

He responded by flashing her a cheeky grin and a thumbs up, but that did little to quell her mounting anxiety. Annabeth chewed on her thumbnail and found herself wishing she knew how to skate so that she could teach him proper technique.

“Hasn’t anyone told you it’s bad to bite your nails, Chase?”

Annabeth blinked and found Percy standing behind her, a well-worn skateboard tucked against his side.

“Percy, hey!” Annabeth croaked, suddenly breathless. “What are you doing here?”

He shook his skateboard. “Thought the skateboard I’m holding made that kind of obvious.”

His tone was affectionately mocking, but Annabeth’s face burned with embarrassment all the same.

Percy bit back his smile and decided to spare her, saying, “I’m more curious about what you’re doing here of all places. Didn’t exactly peg you as a skater.”

“Oh, um, I bought my brother a skateboard for his birthday, and he wanted to come here and try it out,” Annabeth said, still flustered.

“Bought him a new board and took him to the skate park, huh? That’s sister of the year material right there, Chase,” Percy teased.

“Oh, shut up, Jackson,” Annabeth muttered, rolling her eyes.

Percy offered her a lopsided grin and stepped to the edge of the bowl, his gaze trained on Matthew. A furrow formed in his brow, and his lips pressed in a hard line, making him look stormy and intimidating.

“Please tell me that isn’t your brother.”

A spike of anxiety lanced through her. “Why? What’s wrong?”

Percy breathed an incredulous laugh and shook his head. “Uh, just about everything. His form is — um, how do I put this nicely — kind of all over the place. It’s a miracle he hasn’t broken an ankle yet.”

Annabeth pressed a hand to her forehead and muttered to herself, “Shit.”

She cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, “Matty, can you stop for a sec?”

He stopped with a frown and looked up at her. “What?”

“Apparently your form is dog shit, and you’re lucky you haven’t broken a bone!”

Her comment made Percy snort with amusement, and when Matthew’s response was to flip her off, Annabeth caught him shaking with repressed laughter. The sight made her grin, but then an idea popped into her head.

She turned to Percy and cleared her throat. “Hey, um, I know this is a lot to ask, but do you think you could give him some tips? Just so he doesn’t wind up in the ER or something? My step-mother would kill me if he got hurt under my watch.”

A look of surprise flashed across Percy’s before he said, “Yeah, for sure.”

Annabeth offered him an apologetic smile as he stepped on his board and slid easily down the bowl. He came to a stop in front of Matthew and started speaking to him, but Annabeth couldn’t hear what he was saying over the wind. She assumed Percy had offered to teach him judging by the way Matthew’s face lit up with excitement.

She sat down at the lip of the bowl, dangling her feet over the edge, and watched Percy gesture to her step-brother about how and where to put his feet on the board. He watched Matty vigilantly to ensure he didn’t lose his balance. When needed, he physically shifted Matty around until he was satisfied with his form.

They moved on to skating around the bottom of the bowl so that Matty could get used to maintaining his form while moving. Percy continued to give him pointers here and there, but it was clear that Matty was picking up on his instructions quickly so it wasn’t long for him to start showing some more comfort and stability while he skated.

Still, there was a clear difference in the grace and fluidity Percy had while skating that Matty simply lacked. Watching Percy skate, he looked so at home that she couldn’t imagine him ever losing his balance or falling. Annabeth couldn’t help noticing how the hard lines on his face melted away as he skated, how he looked less sharp around the edges while on his board.

She must have been lost in her thoughts because she didn’t notice Percy skate up to her later until he called out to her.

“Wanna give it a try, Chase?”

Annabeth snapped out of her reverie and shook her head vehemently. “Uh, no thanks. I’m fairly certain that I’ll wind up cracking my head on the pavement.”

Percy’s intense eyes narrowed. “I’m almost offended that you think I’d let you fall.”

Something about his words made her heart flutter in her chest. Despite her reservations, she found herself hopping into the bowl, but his answering smile kind of made it all worth it.

He stepped off his board and stood next to her. “Okay, so you’re gonna wanna put your left foot here, perpendicular to the board, and then same thing with your right foot here. Alright?”

Annabeth worried her lip but nodded all the same. Under his careful watch, Annabeth carefully put her left foot towards the back end of the board, but it promptly slipped out from under her foot, sending her careening backwards. But she fell for all of half a second before Percy’s hand looped around her waist, breaking her fall.

He smiled down at her. “Whoa, easy there.”

Annabeth quickly drew herself upright, her heart racing. “I told you I’d be awful at this.”

“You’re not, I promise. Same thing happened to me my first time getting on a board,” Percy assured her.

She shifted on her heels and said, “I- I don’t know, Percy.”

He met her eyes with a searching look before he said, “Hey, if you feel uncomfortable I totally get it, but I really think you’ll get it next try. And again, I promise I won’t let you fall. What do you say?”

Annabeth sighed, but her mind was already made up. It was a little stupid how much she wanted his approval, but that thought vanished when Percy beamed at her once she nodded in agreement.

She took a deep breath and tried to get on the board again and positioned her feet as he’d instructed, and this time the board didn’t fall out from under her. Heart racing, she put her other foot on the board as well and held her breath, expecting to eat pavement, but she stayed mercifully upright.

“Holy shit!” Annabeth said, laughing breathlessly. “I’m doing it!”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Chase. You still need to try actually, you know, moving?” Percy said, but his voice was tinged with approval all the same.

Annabeth nodded and tentatively pushed off with her back foot, sending the board in motion. Percy hovered right beside her, watching carefully, but she managed to do a full lap around the bottom of the bowl without any incident. Her balance still needed a lot of work, but she was doing a lot better than she imagined that she would. She wasn’t brave enough to go any faster than a comfortable walking pace, but she found herself having fun anyways.

That was all up until the front wheel caught on a stray pebble, sending her arms flailing, looking for something to hold on to. Immediately, one of Percy’s hands pressed against the small of her back to keep her upright while his other hand caught one of hers. The sudden surge of panic gave way to a burst of butterflies in her stomach at the feel of his hand, so gentle but stable, wrapped around hers.

Percy led her on a final lap around the bowl and her heart had raced in her chest the entire time. He helped her off the board and gave her a boyish grin.

“See? Not so bad, right?”

Annabeth bit back a smile and said, “Sure, if you ignore the two near death experiences, I had a blast.”

Warmth blossomed in his stomach at the sound of Percy’s answering laugh, but then someone coughed surreptitiously to catch her attention. It was Matthew, watching her with a knowing smirk on his face.

“If you’re done flirting with your boyfriend, I’d like to go home now,” Matthew said.

Annabeth’s face began to burn, but it was made worse by the way Percy averted his gaze and how the tips of his ears turned pink.

God, she was going to murder Matthew once she got home.

She turned to Percy, unable to look him in the eye, and muttered, “Thanks again for teaching Matty and me. We both had a lot of fun. Didn’t we, Matty?”

Matthew jogged over to her and nodded. “You’ve gotta show me more tricks later, Percy! That kick-flip you did was so sick.”

“Sure, man. Anytime,” Percy said, smiling.

Annabeth gave Percy one final look and said, “I’ll see you later, Percy. Thanks again.”

“No problem,” Percy said. “Catch you later, Chase.”

With that, Annabeth made her way back to her car, Matthew in tow. He waited until Percy was out of earshot to give Annabeth a shit-eating grin.

“You are so down bad for him, holy shit!” Matthew cackled.

“Come on, Underwood. Stop being such a pussy,” a voice sneered.

Another voice added, “Yeah, we just want twenty bucks a piece. That’s not so hard now, is it?”

“I- I told you. I don’t have anymore on me. I told you that I don’t get paid until Friday. I-If you could just wait-”

“You talking back to us, Underwood? Do we have to do this the hard way again?”

At the sound of Grover’s whimper again, blood boiled in Annabeth’s veins and she balled her hands into fists. One thing about Annabeth was that you did not fuck with her friends. She got ready to burst into the boy’s bathroom, propriety be damned, fully ready to fuck shit up, until another familiar voice interjected.

“Wow, three guys bullying a dude on crutches for money? Yikes. Talk about pathetic.”

“What was that, Jackson?”

“Getting sacked so much as the school quarterback really turned your brain into mush, huh Sloan? Want me to speak slower so you can understand?”

Annabeth hid a grin at the indignant sputtering from the other speaker. Sloan was a name she unfortunately recognized. Matt Sloan was easily the biggest douchebag in their school. She’d had more than one unfortunate run in with him in the past. It had ended with her breaking his nose, but he would never admit that.

“Fuck you, Jackson,” Matt sneered.

There was a scuffle of feet, which was enough of a cue for Annabeth to burst into the bathroom. Matt and his two cronies rushed towards Percy with their fists raised. Percy neatly side-stepped the first punch and hooked his foot behind his assailants calf and lifted, throwing him off balance. With one hand, Percy pushed him face-first into a urinal, while using his other hand to catch the next attacker’s wrist. He pulled him by the wrist, making him fall forward into the wall with a groan.

Matt was last, but he’d stolen one of Grover’s crutches to use as a weapon. A flicker of worry flashed in Percy’s eyes, but Annabeth dashed in quickly and kicked Matt in the back of his knee, sending him crashing to the floor with a scream of pain. Matt looked up at her from the floor, livid.

“Chase, you fucking bitch. You almost broke my leg!”

Annabeth shrugged nonchalantly. “Whoops. I’ll try harder next time then.”

Percy’s lips quirked upwards in a smile before he went to go help Grover up. Annabeth kept her attention focused on Matt and dropped to a crouch.

Annabeth glared at him and dropped her voice to a deadly whisper. “If you ever pull this shit again, on anyone, I’ll be sure to let everyone at school know I manhandled you in a fight. I’m sure it’ll be a real embarrassment to find out the school quarterback got his ass beat by a girl.”

“As if anyone would believe that,” Matt sneered.

“They sure will,” Percy chimed in. “After all, me and Grover here are two eyewitnesses. And in case Dumb and Dumber here get any ideas, maybe the two of us saw her kick all your asses. Now that would be a real funny story, wouldn’t it?”

The other two stiffened at that and gave terse nods of acknowledgement.

“And another thing,” Percy continued. “I want you three to hand Chase all the money you’ve stolen by the end of the week, or I’ll actually be serious about hurting you next time I see you. Got it?”

Matt stood up gingerly and flipped him off, but Annabeth could tell that they were rattled by Percy’s threat. She waited for the three of them to stagger out of the bathroom before she rushed to Grover’s side.

“God, Grover, why didn’t you tell me this was happening?” Annabeth whispered furiously.

Grover hung his head in shame. “I- I don’t know, Annie. I guess I thought I could just- deal with it.”

“Hey, promise me that you’ll come to me if something like this happens in the future,” Annabeth said.

Grover looked hesitant, which only served to bewilder her more. She opened her mouth to say something more, but Percy stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. Annabeth looked up at him and he gave her a subtle headshake no. She bit her lip in frustration and watched him escort Grover out of the bathroom before he turned back to her.

“Why did you stop me?” Annabeth burst out. “I could’ve helped him!”

“I know,” Percy said simply. “But you have to think about it from his perspective.”

“What’s there to think about? Unless you mean he enjoys getting bullied by those shitstains-”

“You’re infantilizing him, Chase,” Percy interjected.

Annabeth stopped mid-sentence like he’d hit her with a shovel.

“He’s got it rough as it is with his disability and all. People try to take care of him all the time and he has to let them. Getting bullied is hard, yeah, but at least he was dealing with it on his own. But you demanding he ask for help just reinforces that he can’t solve problems on his own, that he needs someone to take care of him,” Percy said.

“There’s nothing wrong with asking for help,” Annabeth muttered.

Percy held his hands up in surrender. “Hey, I agree, but I don’t think he sees it that way.”

“So you’re saying I should just sit there and watch?” Annabeth demanded.

“I’m not saying anything. I’m just trying to explain how he might feel,” Percy said softly.

Annabeth pursed her lips at that and crossed her arms over her chest. She didn’t want to admit it, but Percy was kind of right.

“Fine,” Annabeth grumbled. “But if I see someone bullying a friend, I’m still going to raise hell about it.”

Percy smiled. “Yeah, I know.”

The fond admiration in his voice thawed the ice in her blood. “Thanks for stepping in. I really appreciate it.”

Percy put his hands in his pockets and shrugged. “Nah, it’s no problem. I don’t like bullies.”

“Still, taking three guys on at once is pretty ballsy,” Annabeth admitted.

“Pretty sure it was three on two. You helped, remember?” Percy said, grinning.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. “Yeah, sure, with my heroic sneak attack.”

“Well, I thought we made a good team,” Percy said.

A smile threatened to break across her face. “We kind of did, didn’t we?”

When Percy returned her smile, it sent another infuriating flurry of butterflies loose in her stomach. God, it just wasn’t fair. The boy’s smile could make flower’s grow.

“We should probably get out of here. Would be kind of weird for someone to walk in and see you in the boy’s bathroom,” Percy said.

Annabeth felt her face heat up. “Oh, um, right. Let’s do that.”

When they stepped outside, Percy gave her a hesitant look and said, “Would you mind not telling anyone about this? I already kind of have a bad rep at school. I don’t want to make it worse.”

“Oh, yeah, no problem,” Annabeth said.

“Great, thanks!” Percy beamed. “I’ve gotta run down to pre-calc before I get written up by Mrs. Dodd’s again for like the fifth time this year. I swear she has it out for me.”

“Yeah, see you later, Perce.”

“I hope so, Annie,” Percy said, a cheeky smile on his face.

Annabeth tried her best to look stern. “Hey, not cool. Only Grover gets to call me that.”

Percy made a show of looking apologetic. “Darn, just when I thought I finally found a cool nickname for you.”

“How about just calling me Annabeth instead of Chase all the time?”

“Alright, let me try again then,” Percy said before clearing his throat. “I hope so, Annabeth.”

Annabeth mimed applause and bit back a smile. “Well done, you dork. Now get to class.”