#perseus jackson

Emma sits up, annoyance flashing over her features. “That’s all you have to say? ‘Ah’?! Seriously, Percy?”

Percy laughs, throwing his hands up in disbelief. “What do you want me to say, Em?” He puts on a stupid voice that Emma thinks is supposed to mock hers. “Oh my gosh, it’s girlfriend’s day, Percy. What to do, what to do?”

Her scowl deepens. “Cut that out.”

His laugh is the deep, rumbly kind he always has when he finds her amusing. “Well? What’s so… bad, exciting, crazy, whatever—about national thing’s day, huh?”

Emma sighs, sitting up slightly, propped on her palms. “Because I’m not one.”

“Not one what?”

“A girlfriend.”

“Oh.” Percy pouts, nose crinkling as he stares at her, expression deadly serious.

“Percy.”

“Yes, Emma?”

“How am I supposed to survive today?” she whines.

“What do you mean?” He’s laughing at her again.

“I’m single! Single, and alone, and lonely, and a loner, and—“

“Em.” Percy gives her a look, fingers playing with the edges of the paper sheets again. “Why exactly is this such a big deal? You don’t just want to be a girlfriend, right? Like, there’s a bunch of other stuff that comes along with that.”

“I know, but—“

Percy lets out a breath somewhere between a huff, a sigh, and a soft laugh. “Is this really that important to you?”

“Obviously!” Emma says, her voice desperate and nearly hysterical. “Everyone I know is dating someone, and today—it’s gonna be all over camp all day. Do you know how embarrassing it is every year to be a girl everyone knows is obsessed with all things love but still being single? It’s like… like a cruel irony or something!”

“Emma.”

“What?”

“Date me.”

Emma blinks. “Huh?”

“For today. Date me.”

“What do you mean, date you? That doesn’t even—”

Percy gets to his feet. “We’ll just fake it,” he says, shrugging one shoulder in that nonchalant way he does. “No one needs to know it’s pretend, but you can have your girlfriend day and… whatever.”

Emma is confused. “Wait, what? You’d do that? For me?”

“Obviously.” He rolls his eyes playfully. “You’re my best friend, Em. I don’t like seeing you this stressed out about something so dumb.”

She opens her mouth to protest, but he doesn’t let her.

“Not that it’s dumb to you, of course. It’s important to you, which means it’s also important to me.” Percy steps close to her, hands squeezing her shoulders reassuringly. He smiles with half his mouth. “So, what exactly do I have to do?”

Emma is still about ninety percent in shock, but she stirs slightly. “Um, well, all the guys are doing grand gestures for their girls, or giving them gifts and, well, I don’t know, Percy—”

Percy reaches down and laces his fingers through hers. The movement is so easy, so natural, you’d think they really were together and did this every day. Emma has held his hand before—they’re best friends—but this feels… different somehow.

She sucks in her breath slightly and glances at him.

“Come on,” he says gently.

“O-okay,” Emma lets out, her voice a hush, and she allows him to pull her out of his cabin and into the sunlight.

“Hey, guys!” Connor runs over, grin wide, but his steps stumble to a stop as his gaze falls onto their joined hands. “Happy August,” he adds, voice uncertain now.

Percy smiles easily. “Morning,” he replies. “What’s up?”

“Er—” Connor seems to have forgotten why he came over. “Oh! Yeah, Percy, I was coming to ask if you were coming to my party tonight. You know, the one I’m running for all the single blokes today who are avoiding the girlfriend day nonsense.”

“Ah.” Percy nods, grip on Emma’s fingers tightening. “Yeah, nah, sorry. I won’t make it.”

“Dude, it’ll be fun!” Connor protests.

“I have plans,” Percy says apologetically, gesturing at Emma with his shoulder. “With this one.”

Connor glances at Emma. “You two always have plans. You hang out with Emma every single day, Percy.”

“But—”

“You can surely spare one evening to hang with the bros.”

“We have a date,” Percy announces, and even Emma is shocked at how easily he says it.

Connor looks like someone just pulled a pistol on him. His mouth drops open, and he tries to speak, but his words come out as little individual gasps. “You two have a date?”

“Um, yeah. Obviously we do. It’s national girlfriend’s day, of course I’m taking my girlfriend out.” Percy says it so calm, so confident, it actually feels real for a second.

Emma has never seen anyone malfunction in real life before, until now. Connor stares at them, gaze flickering from Percy to Emma and back. “Oh my Apollo,” he finally decides. “Holy—I have to tell everyone. I can’t believe—Emercy is finally—this is amazing. I’ll see you both later.” He casts one more starstruck look at them, then runs off.

“So.” Percy is the first to break the silence. “That went well.”

Emma blinks. “I guess so, yeah… He’s literally going to tell everyone what you said, you know that, right?”

Percy laughs, squeezing her fingers good-naturedly. “I know. Hey, what did he mean by Emercy?”

Emma turns and stares up at him. “You don’t know?”

“No?”

She rolls her eyes slightly. “It’s our ship name, Percy.”

Now he’s the one staring at her like she’s speaking another language. “Our—”

“Emma plus Percy?” she probes. “Squish them together; it makes Emercy.”

“Yeah, but what’s—”

She lets out an irritated sigh. “Percy, people here ship us. Like, they want us to be a couple. I’m pretty sure there’s even a bet going around, which would explain why Connor was so excited—in his world, he’s just won said bet.”

“Oh.” Percy doesn’t meet her gaze. “Yeah, right.”

There’s a moment of silence, then he squeezes her fingers, flashing her a grin. “Alright, now that Emercy is supposedly sailing, shall we?”

“Shall we what?” Emma asks, laughing.

“Go and have our first proper date, of course.”

She just shakes her head in slight disbelief, a bubbly laugh settling on her tongue. “If you say so,” she agrees. “But what are we going to do?”

Percy winks. “You’ll see.”

An hour later, Emma is lying on her back in the grass, eyes closed. She can feel the sun hot on her face, smell the sweetness of nearby strawberry fields in the breeze, and she doesn’t think there’s a single place in the world she’d rather be.

She senses Percy’s presence right beside her, even without opening her eyes. He’s so close their shoulders almost touch, and if she shifted just a little, she could grab his hand.

“Sorry this is so lame,” Percy says suddenly, sounding genuinely apologetic.

“Huh?” Emma props up on her elbows, squinting at him. “What are you talking about?”

“This,” he says, waving around.

Emma wrinkles her nose. “You mean this date? It’s not lame, you weirdo. It’s amazing.”

“Really?” Percy looks unconvinced. “Because I didn’t really have time to prepare anything and it’s not like I’ve had a girlfriend before so—”

“It’s perfect,” Emma reassures him. They’ve sat between rows of strawberry plants, the smell of hot fruit surrounding them, just talking, picking berries whenever they please. Now they lie side by side, the grass warm, the sun warm, Percy warm.

“Well, hello there, lovebirds.”

Emma sits up abruptly, coming face-to-face with Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus, standing at their feet, hands on hips, massive grin spread over his impish features.

“Dude,” Percy grumbles, begrudgingly pushing himself up onto his hands, scowling up at Leo. “We are very clearly busy.”

Leo just grins wider, gaze flicking between them. “Uh huh,” he replies nonchalantly. “I heard.”

Emma’s brows furrow. “Hey?”

“I heard—” Leo explains, looking down at her, “—that Percy here finally grew a pair and asked you out.”

For a split second, Emma forgets that Percy had basically volunteered to be her boyfriend for the day, and she just stares at Leo in confusion. “What do you—ohhh. Yeah, um, I guess.”

Percy looks irritated. “Leo, would you just—”

“Oh, it’s all good, man,” Leo replies breezily. “I was on that side of the bet anyway, so honestly, I should be thanking you.”

“Thanking me?” Percy echoes faintly.

“For being the one to admit their feelings first,” Leo says, raising his eyebrows. “Connor and I started it, but half the camp thought Emma would cave first. I was smart enough to bet on you, Perce.”

Percy blinks, then sighs in defeat, closing his eyes and laying back in the grass.

Emma’s mind is whirling as she stares at Leo. “The entire camp was betting on us to… admit our feelings?”

“Yep.”

Emma blinks. “But—okay.”

Leo grins again, and it occurs to her just how adorable he looks when he does—and how accurate Piper’s comparison of him being a Christmas elf actually is. “Alright, well, bye,” he announces, kicking Percy lightly in the side with his foot.

Percy just lets out a disgruntled sound, not even bothering to open his eyes.

Leo gives Emma one last stupid grin that she refuses to decipher. Then he’s gone.

After a few minutes of silence, Percy sits up. His gaze lingers on her as he lazily rests his forearms on his knees. He squints at her. “What are you thinking about?”

“Me?”

“Yes, dummy. You.” He mimics her tone. “Who the hell else would I be talking to?”

A huff of a laugh escapes Emma. “Okay. Whatever. I was just thinking…” What was she thinking about? “About today, I guess.”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

“What?” His nose scrunches in confusion, and Emma can’t help but think it’s the cutest thing she’s ever seen.

She sucks her lower lip into her mouth, catching it with her teeth, studying him. “For offering to… do all this for me. Fake being my boyfriend and take me on this date and just… all of it. Thank you for making this day special for me.”

Percy’s smile is gentle. “You’re welcome, Em.”

Emma returns the smile, feeling a warm bubble spreading through her chest.

Percy’s fingers pull at the grass, letting it trickle through his hands as he studies it intently. “Hey, Em?”

“Mm?” She glances over, feeling drowsy in the warm sunlight.

He still doesn’t look at her. “How much exactly would you say that you liked this fake dating thing? Like, out of ten or something.”

“Er…” Emma leans back on her palms, thinking. “I dunno, why?”

He looks up, and his expression surprises her. He’s cautious, something Percy almost never is. “Would you ever want it to be real?” he asks slowly.

Emma stares at him, trying to figure out exactly what he’s asking. “Huh? You… you mean—”

“I like you,” he blurts, sitting up properly. “And I was always too worried to ruin the friendship until now, until today. I liked pretending that you’re my girlfriend, Emma, and I want you to be mine for real.”

Emma’s mouth is open, and for the first time in a long time, she’s speechless.

“You don’t have to say anything,” Percy continues, almost uncertain now. “I just thought it was worth a shot, you know? You’re my best friend, but…I want more now, Em. I’m done pretending I’m content with just being your best friend. I want to hold you and kiss you and adore you, and—and I’m not ashamed of that.”

Emma lets out a little sound, halfway between a sigh and a smile, as if a part of her insides has melted out. “Oh, Percy…” she manages, before she’s on the other side of the picnic blanket and in his arms.

He’s grinning, that stupid troublemaker smile that always gets him into trouble. But right now, Emma thinks it’s about to get her into trouble too.

“Is that a yes?” he asks.

She kisses him, long enough for the rest of her insides to melt too. When she finally pulls away for air, his smile has softened, like butter in the sun.

“Okay,” Percy murmurs, “that’s a yes.”

Emma laughs softly, heart pounding, as Percy leans back onto the blanket beside her, fingers entwined with hers. The sun warms them, the strawberries scenting the air, and for the first time, she’s with Percy. Real Percy. Real feelings.