Chapter 14

Percy had been looking forward to this day all week. Yes, today was the day that Annabeth was going to come over to his place and hang out!

Percy wore a simple blue hoodie with some black jeans, but he combed his hair to make it less tousled and to look a little more charming!

Right now, Sally was just baking some blue cookies, she was in the kitchen and Percy was there with her. Sally leaned against the counter, watching as her son paced back and forth.

"Gabe won't be home until like 9pm?" Percy checked, looking at his mother."He won't be home until 9pm. And I told him to let me know if he would come home early so that we can get Annabeth out before he gets home." Sally nodded.

"O-okay, and you won't be checking on us every like 10 minutes?" Percy questioned."... Every 20 minutes?" Sally grinned at Percy."Mooomm!!" Percy wailed.Sally laughed and she shook her head slightly."I won't check on you two that regularly. But I will check up on you every now and then." Sally said.

Percy bit his lower lip and he looked at his mom. "Do I look fine?" Percy asked. "I mean, Annabeth said that my face was healing quickly and nicely, but do I look fine?" "You look perfect, Percy." Sally smiled at Percy. "Relax. I'm sure she's going to be here any minute now-"

There was a knock at the door and Percy felt his breath get caught in his throat. "Go on then. I need to check on these cookies, then I'll come meet Annabeth, okay?" Sally smiled. Percy took a deep breath and he nodded at his mother. "Okay!"

Percy then made his way out of the kitchen and he walked towards the front door. Percy quickly went over, unlocked the door and he opened it. Annabeth was there, wearing a beige sweatshirt and some denim shorts. Her hair was up in a ponytail, as it usually was, and she had a couple of strands at the front of her face, over her ears. Percy stared at Annabeth and Annabeth fiddled with her sleeves.

"Erm, hi." Annabeth smiled at Percy. "Hey!" Percy managed to get out. "You look... really nice." Annabeth rolled her eyes, smiling. "You're ridiculous, this is a normal outfit." Annabeth said.

"And what's with your hair? It's not messy like it usually is." Annabeth reached her hand up and she ruffled Percy's hair, ruining his nicely combed hair. Percy didn't mind though, he didn't mind as Annabeth smiled when she 'fixed' Percy's hair. "There! That's the Percy I know."

"Well, come in." Percy said, stepping aside. Annabeth entered the apartment and she began to take off her shoes as Percy shut the front door, locking it. Annabeth neatly set her shoes aside and she turned around, facing Percy. "So, erm..." Annabeth was unsure what to say. Percy was also unsure what to say, but thankfully the silence was cut by Sally as she made her way over with a plate of blue cookies.

"Ah! So this is Annabeth?" Sally smiled at the young girl. Annabeth blinked as she looked at Sally. Sally was a beautiful lady, her hair was brunette, and she seemed to have a few grey strands in her hair, but she suited it. Annabeth smiled at Sally. "Mrs Jackson, hello, thank you for letting me come over." Annabeth said.

Sally seemed surprised by how pleasant Annabeth was and her smile grew. "Oh, of course! Percy has talked about you, and I've been curious to know who you were and meet you!" Sally exclaimed. "And please, Sally is just fine, sweetheart." Percy's cheeks turned red as his mother mentioned he's talked about Annabeth to her a couple of times. Annabeth glanced at Percy, seeing how he got flustered and she smiled. "I'll keep that in mind, Sally. Still, thank you." Annabeth said.

"Alright mom! Thanks for the cookies! Love you, but we're gonna go to my room now!" Percy smiled at his mother. Percy gently took the plate of blue cookies from his mom. Sally smiled as Percy began to walk off and Annabeth was about to follow behind.

"Please let me know if you want anything." Sally said, looking at Annabeth. "If the cookies don't taste good, you don't have to eat them either, honey."Annabeth smiled at Sally. "You're very kind, Sally. Thank you, for the third time." Annabeth nodded. Annabeth then quickly followed behind Percy towards where his bedroom was. Sally watched the two walk off and begin to talk a little.

It was official, Sally loved Annabeth already. She seemed like a sweet girl, and she and Percy both seemed to already have a bond together. Perhaps Percy had found his soulmate.

"Soo, you talk about me to your mom?" Annabeth questioned, her tone of voice teasing. Percy couldn't stop blushing. "W-well, I don't have many friends, I mean, you know that. I only ever had Grover, and now I have Grover and you." Percy said. "And, well, my mom likes to make sure I'm hanging around some good people. I think she already likes you!" Annabeth smiled, feeling her own cheeks warm up.

"... Your mom seems really cool, Percy. You're lucky to have her." Annabeth said, her tone of voice soft and quiet. "Oh she's the best!" Percy exclaimed, glancing back at Annabeth. "I agree, I'm super lucky to have her..." Annabeth tried to figure out Percy's emotions, it seemed a little sombre, but Annabeth decided not to press further with anything.

"So, blue cookies. I guess what you told me was true." Annabeth said, glancing at the plate of blue cookies as Percy began to turn into a room. Percy entered his bedroom and Annabeth followed behind. Percy shut the door as Annabeth glanced around his room. "And blue walls? Yeah, you must really love blue." Annabeth stated, noticing how Percy's walls were a lovely prussian blue. "I told you my favourite colour was blue." Percy smiled at Annabeth.

Percy made his way over towards his bed and he sat down, setting the plate of blue cookies down next to him on his bedsheets. Percy looked up and saw Annabeth still looking around.

"I'll be honest, I expected your room to be a mess." Annabeth said, smiling at Percy as she began to make her way over towards Percy's bed. "Oh, it is usually a mess." Percy said as Annabeth sat down on his bed, on the other side of the blue cookies. Annabeth picked up one of the cookies, still quite warm. "I had to clean up, I couldn't have you judge my messiness just yet."

Annabeth smiled, looking at Percy. "How messy is it usually?" Annabeth raised an eyebrow, bringing the blue cookie towards her mouth. "Mmh... think hoodies all over the floor, bag and my notes all over the place nearby my drawers, and my bedsheets are all over the place and usually has a lot of crumbs on it." Percy answered. "You're a slob." Annabeth snorted out, taking a bite of the blue cookie.

Percy smiled as he watched Annabeth's eyes light up once she took a bite out of the cookie. "Good, yeah?" Percy questioned, grabbing a cookie for himself now. "Amazing!" Annabeth exclaimed once she swallowed down the bite she took. "Wow, I mean, your mom is a great baker! I mean, I was impressed how she made these cookies a perfect blue and it doesn't look green like how usual blue foods look, but... wow." Percy grinned. "Yep! My mom is awesome!" Percy exclaimed, taking a huge bite out of his own cookie now.

Annabeth swallowed down another bite she took of the blue cookie and she looked at Percy. "Soo, what are we gonna do?" Annabeth asked, crossing her leg over the other. "Well, we could just get to know each other a bit more!" Percy exclaimed, bringing his legs up onto his bed and crossing them.

"So, how messy is your room?" "Oh, it's spotless. I am terrified of spiders, so I try my best to clean my room up like... every week or something?" "... Can I hire you to clean my room-?" "Sure! Sixty dollars for me to clean your room." "Annie, I don't have that kind of money!!!" "Ah, looks like your room will have to stay messy, sorry!"

*****

"Wait, okay, so, you tried to run away when you were seven?!" Percy questioned, sitting up and looking at Annabeth.Annabeth continued to lay down on Percy's bed and she smiled as she looked up at him."Yep. Thalia and Luke also went on the run. We managed to stay alive for a week out on the street? That was until my aunt took us to her place and called my dad, concerned why his daughter and her friends were in Boston by themselves." Annabeth said."Boston?!" Percy blinked.Annabeth nodded.

"You are wild, Annabeth." Percy smiled."Oh come on, did you not do anything stupid as a kid?" Annabeth questioned.Percy shrugged."I dunno, I usually just did what I was told. Though, one time I shoved this bully of mine, Nancy Bobofit, into a water fountain while we were on a school trip?" Percy said. "I got in a lottt of trouble. Not expelled though!"

"You got bullied?" Annabeth raised an eyebrow as she now sat up.Percy shrugged slightly again."Nancy Bobofit liked to pick on a lot of people. And of course the kid whose dad left when he was born and only really had his mom to count on was the perfect target!" Percy exclaimed.Annabeth frowned slightly and she shuffled closer next to Percy. Percy felt Annabeth press their shoulders together and he looked at her.

Annabeth kept her gaze on Percy and Percy met her gaze.

"I'm fine though. Seriously." Percy said softly. "Her bullying wasn't even that bad. It just made school a little insufferable.""I wish you'd stop saying you're fine." Annabeth said quietly, her pinky reaching out and interlocking with Percy's pinky on the bed.Percy felt his cheeks warm up as Annabeth interlocked their pinkies.

"Do you not believe me, Annie?" Percy asked quietly."How can I? Especially when you've seemed to suffer quite a bit... I mean, even last week, you had all those cuts and that bruise and..." Annabeth trailed off as she looked at Percy's face, remembering how it was covered in plasters.

Percy tightened his grip on Annabeth's pinky slightly. "I swear, I'm fine. I'm strong." Percy whispered softly. Annabeth looked into Percy's eyes and he smiled at her. "I don't doubt you're strong, but it's okay to admit you're not fine." Annabeth whispered back.

A silence overcame them. It wasn't awkward. It was a little sombre, a little sweet. Percy appreciated that Annabeth cared so much for him. Annabeth wished Percy would open up a little more to her, even though she hadn't exactly opened up to him about her own situation.

Percy then froze for a moment as he heard the front door open and he looked over at his bedroom door, feeling his anxiety rise. Annabeth furrowed her eyebrows as Percy tensed up. "Percy?" Annabeth said quietly. Percy listened in, hearing the door shut and some rapid footsteps heading towards the front door.

"Gabe! Y-you didn't tell me you'd be back home early!" "My phone died. Now, where is the little brat?" Percy swallowed and he tightened his grip on Annabeth's pinky. Annabeth heard the faint voices, she kept her gaze on Percy as Percy seemed to be panicking now.

"Percy? Are you okay?"

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Word count: 1947