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The older she gets, the less sure she is about anything. For example, is her friend actually serious about setting her up with some guy from her English class? The world may never know.
“I’m serious,” Piper says, evidently staring past her eyes and reading her mind.
“I’ll think about it,” she responds. Which, of course, means she will not think about it. Piper knows this too, because she shoots her a look.
“Listen,” she feels the need to explain. “I’m just…not ready to start dating again.”
Piper shakes her head. “You’ll never be ready Annabeth, no one ever feels ready. You just have to jump in at some point, otherwise you’ll be waiting forever.”
Waiting forever doesn’t sound that bad but she knows Piper has a point. Dating has just not been easy for her and every time she tries she gets to the talking stage with some mediocre guy and then it falls through anyway. It’s a frustrating process that she does not want to repeat.
“You know I wouldn’t bring this up, but you literally told me yesterday how you wish you had a relationship,” Piper so helpfully reminds her.
“Anything I say after 2 glasses of wine doesn’t count,” she retaliates.
Piper sighs. “Please actually think about it, I gotta go, I have a lab.”
“Have fun!” she calls after her friend, who rolls her eyes at the comment.
As she heads to her own class, Piper’s words come back to her. Does she want a relationship? Yes. But is she totally fine without one? Also, yes. Honestly, life is just less complicated without boys in the mix.
And on that note, she turns her thoughts to the quiz her professor had hinted at the last lecture.
-.-
“This is cool,” she comments, taking a sip of her drink. The venue is small, half-filled by a bar and a bunch of tables scattered around, leaving a small area in the center for people who want to be close to the stage.
“Right? I know it’s not really your thing but—”
“No, I like it,” she cuts Thalia off, assuring her that she’s having fun. It’s not like she doesn’t like concerts, she just doesn’t go to them often. And this is different since it’s mostly local bands.
“I’m glad, can’t believe Jason bailed on me last minute.” Thalia takes a swig of her drink.
“Hey, don’t worry, I’ll scream, um…what’s her name again?”
“Reyna.”
Reyna is the solo artist they're here to see. She’s local and a clip of her music had recently gained popularity which had led to a growing fanbase, Thalia being among them.
“Right, I support her.”
Thalia looks at her over her drink, clearly amused. “Have you heard her songs?”
“I actually have, I listened to them when you asked me to come.”
“You’re better than Jason,” Thalia says solemnly, placing a hand on her shoulder.
Annabeth grins. “I know.”
Whatever Thalia would have said is drowned out by cheers as the first band makes their way on the stage. It’s a mixture of rock/punk music (a genre she’s only dabbled in in the past) and she finds herself nodding along to the music.
After the second band finishes, Thalia grabs her hand and drags her out onto the floor.
“We need to get a good spot early,” she says in her ear. “She’s coming up after these guys.”
‘These guys’ end up being a band called Cerberus. She wouldn’t have paid too much attention, except for three things. One, she’s up by the stage now thanks to Thalia’s pushing. Two, the name caught her attention as a Greek mythology reference. And three, the drummer totally just twirled a drum stick between his fingers as he walked up and it caught her eyes.
Actually, he just caught her eye.
He looks like the ‘punk’ part of their genre, with ripped black skinny jeans, a graphic t-shirt and black messy hair, not to mention the silver chain, earrings, and rings adorning those deft fingers she’d noticed earlier.
It’s hot. Like really hot.
She can’t stop looking at him as the band starts their first song. Maybe it’s 'cause she’s paying attention to the beat, but it’s good. Good enough for her to take a look at the other two members; a pale skinny guy with long hair on the guitar and the lead singer with dark skin and curly hair who has a great voice.
The other two members also have mics and she notices that the guitar player sings fairly often, while Mr. Hot Drummer in the back adds things in here and there.
Having taken the inventory of the group, she goes back to ogling the drummer, who is entirely too attractive to be allowed.
“They’re good!” Thalia yells in her ear and she just nods because if she’s being honest Cerberus has just gained a new fan. (And not just because of the drummer).
It’s crazy and chaotic so she’s not sure, but she thinks that maybe he catches her eye once. By the time they’re done, she almost forgets that they’re actually here to see Reyna.
She’s still hyped from Cerberus when Reyna walks onto the stage, eliciting loud cheers. Annabeth can’t help but admire her stage presence and her performance is fantastic.
When Thalia and her finally head back to the tables after Reyna finishes, they’re both buzzing from excitement.
“She was so good!” Thalia says with a wide grin.
“She was,” Annabeth agrees. “And the band before her, Cerberus? Also, really good.”
“They were, but…” Thalia pauses to raise an eyebrow at her. “You were totally staring at the drummer the entire time.”
Okay, so maybe she hadn’t been as discreet as she’d thought.
“Well…he’s hot, okay,” she admits, ducking her head a little. “Anyway, let’s get a drink.”
“I’ll be sure to pass on the message,” a voice behind her says.
They both spin around to see a guy, who Annabeth recognizes as the lead singer of Cerberus, standing there with a smile.
“I’m Leo,” he continues, holding out his hand.
She shakes it. “You guys were really good.”
“Thanks! I’m glad you enjoyed the show!” Leo replies brightly. He turns around waves and that’s when she sees him walking closer.
Up close, he’s even more attractive. His sharp jawline looks great, and she’s once again momentarily distracted by his hands before she looks up to meet his eyes.
And never mind, his eyes are even more gorgeous.
“Percy, Nico, meet some new converts,” Leo jokes. “We must have done a decent job today.”
“You guys were actually good,” Thalia speaks up. “I don’t normally focus on that kind of thing, but the lyrics stood out.”
“Thanks,” The guitarist speaks up. He says it relatively quietly, but somehow, it comes across clearly.
“Oh, and Percy, another person who thinks you’re hot,” Leo says, nodding his head towards her.
She feels her face heat up at the words and somehow both Thalia and Leo find it hilarious.
Percy turns to her, raising an eyebrow. “Hot, huh?” he says in a low voice. “Guess I should buy you a drink then.”
He’s smooth, and she knows it, and she knows he knows it. Damn him.
It takes an embarrassing amount of effort for her to shrug. “If you want.”
He smiles, no, smirks. “I want.” He pairs it with a wink that’s also too attractive to be fair.
She’s got to be careful of this one. “What does everyone else want?” he continues in a more normal tone. “I’ll buy.”
Thalia jumps on the opportunity to not only say her own order but also Annabeth’s. Something that Annabeth smacks her for as soon as Percy walks away.
“What? You weren’t going to say no to a free drink, especially not from him.”
She glares at Thalia. (Which her friend pointedly ignores, by the way).
Leo laughs. “I don’t even blame you.”
“What song did you like the best?” The guitarist asks quietly.
Leo chuckles and throws an arm around him. “Nico here is focused on the band.”
Nico glares at him and unsuccessfully attempts to throw off Leo's arm before giving up. “Someone needs to work on getting better.”
“And this is why we trust you to lead the group well,” Leo says with a smile.
“I’m just the pretty face,” he adds, throwing a wink at them.
Annabeth can’t help but smile. Somehow their opposite personalities work well.
Percy appears, somehow holding three drinks at once and Leo quickly takes his own to help lighten the load. (She definitely does not notice his rings when he hands her the glass).
“Thanks,” Thalia says, accepting hers.
“We need to keep up fan retention somehow,” he answers, but he glances at her as he says it.
“Consider us fans then,” Thalia replies, speaking for her again. Annabeth can’t even get mad at that because it’s true.
“To Cerberus,” Leo says, holding up his glass for a toast. “And new fans.”
Percy’s eyes meet hers over the beer can he had put in his pocket as they all take a sip.
“Where’s your next performance?” she says, speaking up for the first time in a while. The question is aimed at Leo, but she can’t stop herself from glancing at Percy.
“Tomorrow night actually, at this local bar, The Underworld,” Leo responds.
“I know that place,” Thalia says.
“So will we see you there?” Percy asks, this time locking his gaze on hers. She raises her chin defiantly.
“Maybe.”
Percy moves a little closer to her as Thalia says something about how they’ll try to make it.
“I bought you a drink,” he murmurs, sending a delightful chill up her spine.
“Are you trying to bribe me?” she shoots back.
“No, just charm you, oh wait—” he fake pauses. “I did that already.”
His grin shows that he’s just teasing but two can play at that game.
“How are you so sure of that?”
“You think I’m hot.”
She hopes her face isn’t red as she answers. “So? Just 'cause I think you're hot doesn’t mean I like you.”
He leans even closer, and she swears she forgets how to breathe for a second.
“Doesn’t it?”
She’s saved from responding as Thalia’s voice cuts through their conversation. “I’m Thalia and this is Annabeth.”
Leo must have asked their names.
“Well it’s been great meeting you guys, but we have to go pack up our stuff,” Leo says, glancing between them. “Hope you guys can make it tomorrow!”
He and Nico wave goodbye while Percy takes a second to consider her.
“Nice meeting you, Annabeth.”
She hates that even just him saying her name is attractive.
“See you, Percy,” she responds as he walks away. He turns around to throw her a smile before running after his bandmates.
“What the fuck was that?” Thalia explodes almost immediately afterward.
“I don’t know,” she replies truthfully, still looking in the direction he’d left in.
“It looked like you were flirting with a punk drummer in a freaking band and he was flirting back.”
She turns to look at Thalia. “Well, I don’t know if it was flirting…”
Thalia rolls her eyes. “You’re right, it was unbearable sexual tension.”
She flushes at the words. “It was not!”
Thalia just shoots her a look. “So, we’re going tomorrow.”
“I have to se—”
“We’re going tomorrow,” Thalia affirms.
-.-
If anyone asks what she’s doing at The Underworld the next night, she’ll say she was peer-pressured into going. (It’s not like she had selected an outfit beforehand or anything when Thalia knocked on her door).
The bar just has a small pseudo stage, only a step up from the normal floor, and though there is equipment set up, they haven’t seen any members of Cerberus yet.
Not that Annabeth is looking.
“I’m sure they’ll show up on stage soon,” Thalia says, scrolling through her phone, not even looking up at her.
“I’m not looking for them.”
“Sure.”
Annabeth makes a face that her friend doesn’t see and automatically scans the bar again. Sure enough, a few minutes later there’s some cheers as the members make their way onto the small stage.
“Hello everybody!” Leo calls, mic in hand. “We’re Cerberus and your night is about to get a whole lot better.”
More cheers. But her eyes have already found Percy, who’s done fiddling with the drums and is now looking up at the crowd.
She watches as he scans the faces, waiting with a bated breath to see if it’ll get to her.
“Ready?” Leo shouts. “One, two, one, two, three, four!”
And a second before the song starts, he finds her. It’s like his hands move automatically, because his gaze is set on hers and she refuses to be the one to look away first. It’s legitimately impressive how he plays without even seeming to pay attention for a good few seconds before he’s forced to focus more on the performance.
She recognizes the song as one she heard them play yesterday and remembers enough of the chorus to sing along.
(And she's pretty sure she catches Percy looking at her throughout the song).
Their set finishes to loud cheers and she thinks they may have gained some more fans. Thalia gets up to go get them some drinks while Annabeth holds down the table they managed to snag. She’s buzzing off the energetic music and the fact that Percy had spent a fair amount of it looking at her.
“I knew you’d come.”
The voice is quickly followed by the presence of someone sitting next to her and she turns to find him right there.
And oh god, he is so much more irresistible up close.
“No you didn’t,” she says just to be contrarian.
“I did,” he replies, before leaning in. “Because you like me.”
“Do I?” She uses his own words from the day before against him.
“Give me your number and I’ll prove it to you.”
She shakes her head, even though her heart is beating way too fast. “So demanding,” she chides.
“Well, how about—”
“Percy!” Leo’s voice cuts their conversation, and they look up to see Leo and Nico waving him over. “We got some fans who want to meet you!”
To his credit, Percy shoots her an apologetic look as he gets up and walks over to his bandmates. The fans in question are three girls and she watches as they smile and giggle while talking to him.
And of course, Percy is smiling back and giving them hugs and she doesn’t want to watch this.
“What’s going on?” Thalia says, returning with the drinks and evidently seeing something on her face. She follows Annabeth's line of sight to see Cerberus’s little fan meet and greet.
“Ah, you’re jealous.”
“I am not!” she says, turning to her friend who’s now settled across from her. “There's nothing to be jealous over.”
“Riiight.” Thalia takes a long sip of her drink.
“This,” she says, nodding over to Percy, “is exactly why it isn’t flirting; he acts like that with everyone.”
Thalia takes a moment to turn around and watch the interaction for a few seconds, before turning back. “Nah.”
“What do you mean, nah?”
“Nah, he’s not like that with everyone. He’s smiling at them, not smirking. He’s not trying to…what’s the word he used yesterday? ‘Charm them’.”
She has more to say on the matter, but the band members are now walking towards them.
“Ah, our number one fans!” Leo greets with a smile.
“I’m sure you have fans that have known you for longer than a day,” Thalia points out.
Leo just grins. “You’re right, those girls had been following our music for a while. They actually might be our number one fans, what do you think Percy?”
Percy, who she’d avoided looking at until now, shrugs. “Sure.”
He plops back down next to her and the other two grab seats.
“Hope you don’t mind us sitting here,” Nico says, ever polite.
“Are you kidding me? It’s like we’re sitting with celebrities, those girls keep looking over,” Thalia says, tilting her head to the right.
Leo immediately looks over and they quickly look away.
“That’s cute,” he says with a smile. “Percy, the one who liked you is looking over the most.”
Once again, Percy shrugs.
“What? You’re not gonna go flirt with them?” she can’t help but say. She says it in a light teasing tone, and it makes Leo and Nico laugh but Percy just frowns.
Leo says something about drinks and while the rest are distracted, Percy once again leans in.
“No, that’s just for you,” he says in a low voice which causes her heart to skip a beat. “Don’t worry.”
“I’m not worried.”
“No?” His tone is teasing, and it makes her blush in embarrassment.
Instead of answering, she just lightly shoves him instead which just makes him chuckle. Those hands with the rings come up to grip the table as he pulls his chair closer.
“If you want to touch me, I’ve got a lot of other ways for you to do that,” he says in a low voice.
Well, her face is officially red because how the fuck can he just say something like that so casually?
“Who says I want to touch you?” She retaliates.
He smirks. “Me.”
That shouldn’t be hot.
“Hey!” Leo says, getting their attention. “We need to get going. You’re welcome to help us pack up the van if you want though,” he adds, turning to her and Thalia.
“Sure,” Thalia agrees.
And that’s how they end up at the alley behind the bar as Leo, Nico, and Percy load up the drums and guitars. She and Thalia are supposed to help, but they don’t really seem to need it and it’s mostly Thalia and Leo continuing their discussion of music that must have started earlier.
She takes the moment to uninterruptedly watch Percy’s arms at work. He catches her looking and smirks and she forces herself not to shy away from his look. After a second, he goes back to work and she swears he’s flexing more or something.
At some point, everyone else is busy; Nico is talking to someone from the bar, Leo and Thalia are still talking music and that’s when Percy once again comes up to her.
“You’re staring, Annabeth.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Percy shakes his head. “Why are you so contrarian when it comes to me?”
Honestly, she doesn’t know why. She could be playing into his flirtations more and for some reason she’s not. Piper’s words come back to her, ‘you need to jump in again at some point’. So, what’s stopping her?
Even she can’t deny that she clearly likes him.
“Yo Percy, let’s go!” Nico calls from the van. It seems everyone has gotten in except him.
Percy sighs, turning towards her. “See you later, Annabeth.”
She nods, her stomach turning in a bad way, as if she’s just messed something up. And she wasn’t even aware there was something to mess up.
“See you.” She offers him a smile and hopes it counts for something.
At least he smiles back, even if it’s a small one.
-.-
Going to classes the next day feels weird. As if the weekend had been some fever dream where she met a band and flirted with the hot drummer. If not for the fact that her Instagram timeline now shows the band Cerberus, she could believe it never happened.
She’s sitting in the quad, focused on finishing up a physics problem when Piper walks up to her.
“Okay,” her friend starts right away. “Remember the guy I told you about?”
Annabeth turns back to her physics problem. “Piper, I said—”
“No hear me out, I really think you’ll like him!”
She takes a second to add to her formula before she continues, talking more to the page than to Piper. “I’m not interested.”
“But why!”
Her thoughts immediately flash to Percy.
“Because I’m dating someone.”
“What! No way! You would have told me!”
Annabeth is so close to solving this problem. “Okay fine, I already have someone I like.”
“Who!”
“Yes! Finally!” she exclaims, having solved the problem. She’d been trying to figure it out for ten minutes.
“Annabeth!”
She’s checking over the problem as she begins to answer. “Fine, he’s a drummer—”
Her words cut off as she looks up at Piper for the first time, and then right past her. Piper seems to notice this and turns towards the guy standing behind her.
“Oh!” Piper exclaims, talking to him. “I’m sorry, I really thought you guys would hit it off, I wouldn’t have brought you if I knew she liked someone else.”
But his gaze is fixed on Annabeth.
“Want to finish that sentence?” he says, causing Piper’s eyes to widen in surprise.
Her heart is pounding as she levels her gaze with him. She remembers the slightly defeated look he had at the back alley of the bar the other night and how queasy she’s been feeling about it ever since.
This is her chance to make it better.
“He’s a drummer from this band called Cerberus that I met two nights ago.” she says, standing up.
Piper is duly surprised, but she can see Percy’s eyebrows flicker upward for a second as well. Clearly, he wasn’t expecting her to actually finish her sentence.
“Someone you like, huh?” he says after a second.
Piper’s right. She isn’t ready, but she can’t keep waiting until she is. Especially not when the opportunity is right here in front of her.
She smiles. “What if I said yes?”
Percy smiles back and it makes her heart soar at the sight. “Then I’d say we need to go on a date.”
“In that case,” she says, pretending to think about it. “Yes.”
-.-
Watching a concert backstage is so different from watching It upfront. And she loves it. Because every so often, Percy’s eyes slide to the left and she knows it’s just for her.
Plus, since he’s more towards the back anyway, she has a perfect view of his amazing drumming skills.
Cerberus finishes their set (Percy shooting her one quick look before the bow) and walk offstage.
“You guys were great!” she tells Leo, who holds his hand up for a high-five.
“That was exciting, the crowd was great today!” Leo says, breathless as she high-fives Nico.
“I know, right! I could hear—” her words are cut off as Percy lifts her up and spins her around.
“Percy!” she gasps in surprise. He just keeps his arms around her as he leans in.
“I’d love to hear that gasp again,” he murmurs in her ear, “just in a different context.”
She knows she turns red as she smacks his arm lightly, but he just grins having accomplished his objective.
“Still trying to ‘charm’ me?” she teases.
“Don’t need to,” he replies. “You already like me.”
“Do I?” She smiles, leaning closer to him.
He proves that she does when his lips meet hers.