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“What are you doing?”
Percy jerked his head out of the freezer and closed the door swiftly, a guilty expression on his face. “Nothing.”
“We just had lunch.”
Not that it was anything special, just a sandwich each and a pickle on the side like a lot of NY deli’s offered.
“I’m still hungry.” Percy’s voice edged on the side of whining, and Annabeth wanted to poke fun at him for being so childish, but then, she wasn’t one to talk, seeing as she had some sugary, off-brand fruity cereal for breakfast this morning.
“Can’t you wait until your mom gets here? She’s bringing pizza.”
“That’s forever away.” Percy pressed his hand to the door, a plaintive expression reminding her of one of those kawaii characters, all big eyes and pouty lips.
“You’re smudging it with your dirty fingers,” Annabeth pointed out. He shot her a look, the ticking of the wall clock reminding her of how time was passing by: too quickly.
She had told Sally she wouldn’t stay late, only until eight or so, and the day was flying by quickly. Their earlier game of Mario Kart had gone way longer than she thought it would — it wasn’t her fault that Percy kept winning and she had to even the score.
“Am not. Look how pretty it looks.” He turned towards her, motioning like an old-timey game show presenter, but all Annabeth saw was a jumble of mismatched magnets, a grocery list half-full with scrawls that looked a lot like Percy’s sloppy handwriting, a couple of takeout menus and crayon drawings that must have been from his elementary school years.
She cocked an eyebrow, unimpressed, and immediately regretted it.
“Well, I mean, I guess it might impress you if you could actually see it.” He clasped his hands behind his back, a Cheshire grin rounding his cheeks.
Immediately, her heart jumped like a silly girl’s, but she pushed it down.
“Are you trying to say I’m blind?” Annabeth looked him up and down, tossing a braid over her shoulder and crossing her arms.
“Nah, just short.”
“Excuse me?”
“It’s a fact, Annabeth, that’s all it is.”
“Right. As if you know anything about what constitutes a fact.”
“I’ll have you know, I went to several of the best schools in the city and the surrounding counties.” He arched an eyebrow and she snorted.
“And that’s supposed to impress me.”
“Hey, you know I had to change schools frequently for my own safety.”
“Whatever,” she murmured, the ‘you annoy me’ unspoken, as the slamming of a door on the floor above them broke the quiet of the afternoon.
“I can show you the fridge, shining, shimmering, platinum.” Percy extended his arms like a Broadway performer, his voice cracking on the last note as he got into his performance which wasn’t actually all that bad. Annabeth ducked her head to hide a smile.
“More than likely, it’s covered in dust,” she drawled, in control of her tone despite her boyfriend’s idiotic behavior. “And it’s stainless steel.”
“How would you know? You can’t even see it.” Percy's freckled nose scrunched, a familiar, playful grin pulling at his lips and giving her the irrational urge to kiss him despite his insistent and unsubtle digs at her stature.
“You forgot that I’ve seen your bedroom. So I know, for a fact, that the top of the refrigerator isn’t clean.” She sent up a prayer that Sally wouldn’t be offended (she was an amazing woman, and took great strides to upkeep the apartment with a messy teenage boy around, but Annabeth felt she would understand her son’s girlfriend needing to get in a good dig).
Annabeth propped one hand on her hip, pinning him with a look that had him toeing the linoleum with one large, sock-clad foot.
“Come on, Beth. It’s part of the song… and I was just kidding around.”
She hummed in her throat as she turned around and headed back into the living room.
Percy paused for a moment, probably wondering whether his original mission to grab a snack was still permissible with his girlfriend’s apparent irritation, but he followed her and slumped down on the couch next to her.
“Good boyfriend,” she teased, leaning forward to grab the remote and flick the channel to something else.
“Pfmp,” Percy grumbled as she turned to a cooking show. She might love him, but she wasn’t above torturing him every once in a while. Besides he deserved it, for enjoying teasing her about his height’s superiority and her lack of a growth spurt over the last couple of years.
She settled back into the sofa, dragging a pillow over and cuddling it to her chest like she was settling in for a binge session.
He crossed his arms, blending in with the slouchy couch in his light gray hoodie and matching sweatpants, his eyebrows dragging downward in a fierce scowl.
The show flicked through a few different scenes, flames flaring high on a gas stove, and juicy, charred meat that made her cringe just a little bit, but the loud sound of Percy’s stomach growling was the last straw.
Annabeth couldn’t control herself and she snickered, her laugh catching his attention immediately. He jumped up and over the back of the couch, practically colliding with the kitchen counter in his haste to reach the fridge.
She laughed even harder, pulling the pillow up to her face to catch the sound, but she couldn’t stop. Hiccuping took over as she wiped tears of hilarity from her cheeks so she didn’t notice Percy’s return.
The cold touch against the side of her face made her gasp and she jerked back, glancing up at Percy who held a can in his hand, the sheen of condensation on the outside glistening.
“Soda?” he asked with a condescending grin, and she grabbed at it, but he held it up and out of her reach.
“Percy Jackson,” she gritted out, but he still held it out of her reach. Laughter sneaked past his lips as she snatched for it, the top of the couch digging into her stomach. “You are so aggravating.”
“It could be worse. I could have grabbed the kitchen faucet extension.” He failed to mention the fact that he could use the plumbing without even having to touch the faucet, which she was thankful for, as he poked his tongue out at her. She growled, finally hopping over the back of the couch and launching herself at him.
“I will fight you,” she threatened as she backed him into the wall. His eyes were lit up with the force of his smile and his curls were tousled adorably, but he wasn’t going to get away with it just because she found him irresistible.
“Oh, I know that for a fact,” he quipped, the can of soda dangling just out of her reach, like Hercules probably dangled his retrieval of the golden apples over the heads of the Hesperides.
“And you still want to test me?” she asked, although she knew the answer. Percy had always been unable to walk away from a challenge, even one he wasn’t guaranteed to win.
He cocked his head like an adorably confused puppy, and she popped up onto her toes, grabbed his face in both hands and kissed him.
Percy was naturally surprised, and she leaned into him for a moment, trying not to let herself get too distracted. He was a very good kisser, and she lost track of what she had been planning for a moment or two.
His skin was warm against her palms, and she drew him down so she was no longer standing on tiptoe. The downside of being several inches shorter than your boyfriend was that he had to lean down, and she got a crick in her neck and had to suffer some discomfort for the pleasure of his kiss.
The moment he wrapped his arms around her waist, she filtered one hand into his hair so that he couldn’t escape, and with eyes closed, groped for the can of soda that she could feel pressed into her back, condensation seeping through her thin shirt.
As soon as she had wrenched it from his hand, she took a giant step back, laughing at his dazed expression and crowing her victory.
“You’re playing dirty, Beth.” His chest heaved and she forced herself to calm down. The storm brewing in his eyes wasn’t only a precursor of his frustration but could spell the downfall of her resistance.
“I know,” she chirped. Lifting the can she popped the top with a hiss and took a large swig, forgetting to take into account the fact that he was now able to reach her.
The can sloshed soda down her front as Percy snatched it back, and she gasped, half irritated at herself and wholly annoyed that she was now sticky with soda.
“Seaweed Brain!”
“Finders keepers.” Percy shrugged, leveling a smirk in her direction before he chugged down the rest of the can. “Plus, it’s my fridge.”
“You’re so…” She stomped a foot and glared at him as she pulled the wet shirt away from her skin.
“Handsome, charming, wonderful?” He cocked an eyebrow, she shot a dirty look right back.
“Wonderfully irritating,” she grumbled as she moved into the kitchen and opened a few drawers.
“What’re you doing?” Percy asked, as she continued to rummage for a sponge or anything to blot her wet shirt, and she glared at him. His frown was adorably confused, but she forced herself to remember that she was annoyed at him. No giving in, Beth, no matter how cute he looks.
“Looking for something to clean up this mess,” Annabeth replied before moving to the sink and flicking on the tap. She hadn’t been over to Percy’s place very many times and was still trying to figure out where things were kept.
“Do you have any soap?” she asked. Scrubbing with plain water was not going to cut through the caramel-brown stain.
“Yeah… somewhere.” Percy winked as he turned around and walked down the hallway towards the bathroom.
“How are you washing dishes without dish soap?”
“You know, I just send my dishes down to Tyson. He’s got a good deal on incandescent lava and pumice stones,” he replied as he handed over a bar of soap (at least it was brand new, out of the box).
“Be serious.” She groaned, as she continued to try to clean her shirt without success.
Percy was quiet, too quiet, and she turned to give him a questioning glance. He wasn’t looking at her, well, not really, but at the way the wet shirt was clinging to her stomach and bra.
“Do you have something I can change into?” she asked, hoping to distract him with a task. He was always good on a quest, after all.
“Oh, yeah. Be right back.” He shook his head free of the daze, and she had to smirk.
She meandered down the hall to Percy’s room.“You should really dedicate some time to cleaning up this mess.”
“Now why would I want to do that? Especially with my beautiful girlfriend here to distract me.” He moved towards her leaning in the doorway and she took a step back.
“Uh, no. Don’t think you’re getting special treatment after what happened in the kitchen just now.”
“Hey, I was just defending myself. You wouldn’t let me have any snacks and you knew how hungry I was.”
“First off, you started it by making fun of my height, and I don’t appreciate it.”
“Come on, Annabeth,” Percy crossed his arms, “you know I tease because I love.”
“Right. And you told Clarisse last summer that she could make a circus tent look like a dress because you absolutely adore her.”
“That’s not fair. There’s different types of teasing. And don’t even mention Clarisse to me.” He scrunched his face into a disgusted expression and she had to laugh.
“I’m sorry. I promise I won’t mention Clarisse to you ever again.” She rolled her eyes and reached out a hand for the shirt he held. “Now gimme that shirt so I can change; I'm getting all sticky.”
“I’m gonna…” He forked a thumb over his shoulder and left the room, closing the door with a quiet click.
Annabeth shook her head but couldn’t wipe the smile off of her face as she shook out the crumpled up shirt.
The front was wrinkled and faded but the orange shirt was as familiar as her face in the reflection of her favorite dagger. The hem was frayed and the collar stretched out, but when she lifted it to her nose, it smelled like detergent and faintly like her boyfriend.
She stripped off her shirt and tugged the other one over her head, and despite the fact that it was worn and used to fit a younger Percy, it still hung to mid-thigh on her. Typical, she thought, but shrugged and carefully picked her way around the mess and back to the door.
Annabeth half expected Percy to be hanging around outside the door, but the hallway was empty so she headed back towards the kitchen.
Percy sat at the kitchen table, his back turned to the room, and she had the perfect opportunity to sneak up on him — a counterattack — but he was finally enjoying his snack, so she let him be.
The sound of a crinkling bag was noisy in the otherwise quiet room and she walked up behind him and wrapped an arm around his neck.
“Want one?” he asked, turning his head slightly and holding the bag out to her.
She leaned into his side and reached inside, the crunch of the salt and vinegar chip tangy on her tongue. She scrunched her nose, but chewed and swallowed.
“You have weird taste,” she commented, but he simply leaned over and planted a kiss on her cheek.
“But I like you, and you’re definitely my type,” Percy replied, like that explained his weird food choices, but the warmth of his sweet compliment made her forget their earlier “fight.”
“I didn’t say everything you choose is weird,” she responded and slipped even further down, sitting on his leg and wrapping her other arm around his chest.
“I think I have to reiterate that you chose me first,” he murmured as she leaned her head against his shoulder. He tossed the empty chip bag onto the table and wrapped an arm around her waist.
“What are you talking about?” she asked, pulling back to look into his eyes.
“I mean, you were the one watching me while I slept that first night at Camp Half-Blood.” His smile was altogether too smug, but she ignored it.
“Yeah, and? Everyone wanted to see the kid that defeated the Minotaur. I was just lucky enough to catch a glimpse first.”
“So you are lucky to have met me,” he teased, his grin softening into something entirely too sappy, and she shook her head.
“You’re lucky you had me on that first quest or you would have been one of those terrified statues in Auntie Em’s Emporium.”
“Yeah, well, I think she might have looked more kindly on Poseidon’s son over Athena’s daughter.” His eyebrows creased in the middle, and she rolled her eyes; her Seaweed Brain could be dense at times.
“Actually, I think she hated us equally as much.” She pinched at the tip of his shoulder, the thickness of his hoodie protecting his skin, and he shied away.
“Can’t argue with you there.” He laughed and she joined in as he fingered the edge of his t-shirt where it rested on her leg.
“I’m just glad we met each other when we did,” Annabeth added, sharing a smile with him that trembled just slightly when she recalled every time she could have lost him but didn’t.
“Me too. Even if I was a little kid, I feel like that allowed me to grow to love you as I grew, if that makes sense?”
“Makes perfect sense… and maybe it will keep growing, if we keep nurturing it.”
“You mean, like feed it snacks?” He asked and she laughed again, leaning forward she kissed his cheek, a smile pressing against his skin.
“A little bit like that.”
“What kind of snacks do you feed a relationship?” he asked, and she reached for his hand, intertwining their fingers.
“Things like trust, sharing, laughter, loyalty,” she ticked off a list, and his expression turned serious as he squeezed her side with his other hand.
“I’m pretty sure we’ve got all of those things.”
“Then I think we’re doing a pretty good job at feeding it.”
“Me too.” He smiled softly, and leaned forward to kiss her, his tenderness turning to fervency as she kissed him back with the same intensity.