Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Annabeth was having a bad evening.

She'd been excited about the annual summer party at Michael Yew's Long Island home. All of her friends from camp were going to be there, and Michael's party was the first time all the resident campers from previous years could reunite before starting the camp season. She'd even been excited to see Percy again, despite the weird year they'd had.

She and Percy had made a little bit of progress repairing their relationship over the school year, but the pair still hadn't addressed their kiss under Mount St. Helens. Annabeth didn't think they were ever going to address it at this point, and she sometimes caught herself wondering if it had even happened. Percy seemed so determined to ignore it, but then he did things like call her to tell her how much he missed her during the school year, and she didn't know what to think.

The last time they had talked, Annabeth asked if he was planning on attending Michael's party. When he said yes, she couldn't help but let a smile spread from ear to ear. The time apart had been good for them; they'd both been able to breathe a bit and get over everything that happened in the Labyrinth and at camp last summer. Maybe they'd even address their kiss finally this year. Maybe there would be more kisses. He'd said he was excited to see her. She had even put on a bit of makeup, picked out a new outfit, and made sure her blond curls were tamed into place. Unfortunately, Percy hadn't mentioned that he was going to bring her.

Now, Annabeth was staring daggers at the back of her red hair as she watched Rachel and Percy flirt with each other on the opposite side of the room.

She'd arrived at the party before Percy, and when she saw him come through the front door she bounded over to him and threw her arms around his neck. His arms encircled her waist, giving her a big squeeze in return and lifting her off the ground. She laughed. He was taller than her now, and while she pretended that it bothered her she secretly loved it.

When he set her down, she noticed Rachel standing beside him.

"Percy," she said quietly. "This party is supposed to be for campers only."

"Oh, uh, yeah. I asked Michael and he said it was fine, since she's clear-sighted and was on your quest last summer."

"Oh," Annabeth bristled at that. She had spent the whole school year trying to forget that Rachel was on her quest. What, was she going to show up to camp next? Oh, I asked Chiron if she could come to camp since she's clear-sighted and helpful and beautiful. You understand, right Annabeth?

"I'm going to get a drink," Annabeth straightened and walked away from the pair. She heard Percy call her name, but she just kept walking over to where Michael had drinks and snacks set up.

Now, she sat on one of the couches alone as Percy and Rachel talked with a couple of the Apollo and Aphrodite campers. Annabeth picked at the rim of her soda can absentmindedly, thinking about how this evening had already turned into a disaster.

The couch dipped, and she felt someone sit down next to her.

"You couldn't look more miserable if you tried, A.B.," Connor Stoll said, draping his arm over the back of the couch casually.

"Oh, hey Connor," she responded, going back to staring daggers at the son of Poseidon across the room.

"Rough night?" he asked, following her gaze to the back of Percy's head.

Connor was the only one who knew about the kiss with Percy during her quest last summer. After it was over, he'd found her crying by the canoe lake one afternoon and she spilled everything to him. Once you got past the class clown exterior, Connor was an excellent friend and a good listener.

"Percy's an idiot," he'd said back then. "But, for what it's worth, we've all had a betting pool on when he'll ask you out for a while. I'm going to try not to use this information to my advantage, but if he holds out a few more weeks I'll win the jackpot."

Annabeth had laughed out loud at this. If everyone else saw it too, was it possible that she was really so off base about his feelings for her?

"I can't believe he brought a mortal here, either," Connor was saying now. Annabeth snapped the pull tab off her soda can.

She huffed and took a good look at Connor's face for the first time. He also looked miserable, and his eyes had drifted across the room.

"Where's Katie?" Annabeth asked, looking around for the head counselor of the Demeter cabin. While Connor was the only one who knew about her kiss with Percy, Annabeth was the only one who knew about Connor's massive crush on Katie Gardner.

It made a lot of sense when you thought about it. Beyond the surface of their rivalry, they had a very schoolyard crush dynamic. Connor had done everything short of pulling Katie's braids at the jungle gym.

"I don't know, talking to Will Solace, I think," he sighed.

"Well, cheers to the reject couch," she said, holding her soda can up for Connor to knock his against. They both took a sip of their drinks, and Annabeth was thankful she had at least one friend she could confide in about this.

Right then, Rachel's laugh rang out across the room. She was obviously laughing at something Percy said, because she put her hand on his upper arm as she laughed. Annabeth ground her teeth together.

"I just don't want to wait around forever. If he's never going to reciprocate, I at least want to know so I can move on," she said.

"I think you should just walk right up there and kiss him in front of her," Connor said, and Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"Sure, I'll do that if you walk right up to Katie and kiss her," she responded.

"Or, secret third option," Connor started, raising both eyebrows and throwing on a cheeky grin, "We could kiss instead."

At first, she was taken aback. Kissing Connor was never something she'd considered before. But Connor was funny and attractive, why shouldn't she give it a shot? Especially if Percy was going to be preoccupied with Rachel all night, and potentially for the rest of the summer and the rest of their lives.

The music continued to drone on in the background, and Annabeth grabbed Connor's shirt.

"You know what, why not?" she said, bringing him down so she could plant her lips on his.

They took it slow, letting their lips touch for a moment before getting into it a bit more. It lasted maybe ten seconds before they pulled away from each other. Connor was a good kisser, but she didn't feel anything. When she'd kissed Percy under the volcano, there had been a lot of adrenaline but she'd also seen fireworks. Every inch of her body tingled when she kissed Percy, but not so much with Connor.

They both laughed as they pulled back.

"Immediately no," Annabeth said, and Connor shook his head in agreement.

"Yeah, sorry A.B. but I don't think we're going to work out."

Annabeth was glad Connor wasn't taking it personally, and that he also didn't feel anything. It was good to have something to compare her kiss with Percy to.

Suddenly, said demigod was standing in front of them by the couch. Annabeth looked up, and his expression made it clear that a storm was brewing behind his green eyes. Rachel was still across the room, still talking with the same group of Apollo and Aphrodite campers.

"Can I talk to you?" he asked, and she looked at Connor. This wasn't because she was seeking his permission, but because she was so surprised that Percy was even paying attention to her. This seemed to make him even more angry, and he gently pulled her up from the couch by her arm. "Now?" he asked.

Percy guided her into the hallway, and Annabeth shot a panicked look at Connor, as if to say "what do I do?" He responded by placing a hand on each of his cheeks and making a kissy face. She rolled her eyes again, he was so unserious.

"What?" Annabeth asked once they were alone in the hallway, crossing her arms.

"What was that about?" Percy asked.

"What was what about?"

"Why were you kissing Connor Stoll?"

"Why do you care?"

"Annabeth…" he ran a hand through his hair and looked at the ceiling, as if this conversation was painful for him. She kept her arms crossed, determined to stand her ground. She hadn't done anything wrong, but Percy must have managed to tear his attention away from Rachel just long enough to see her kissing Connor.

"Look, Percy, I don't want to do this with you tonight. I thought we were doing better, but you've basically ignored me all night." She was irritated, but her face softened a bit at the way his eyes revealed some hurt as she spoke. They were falling back into the same pattern they had been in last summer: not knowing how to act and hurting each other in the process.

"I've ignored you?" Percy asked, disappointment lacing his voice. "You ran away from me as soon as I got here. I was really excited to see you, but you're acting like you don't even want to talk to me."

"I want to talk to you," she said, irritation masking the note of sincerity. "But I don't want to talk to Rachel."

Percy sighed. "She's not that bad, Annabeth. I wish you would give her a chance."

"Why, so I can stand there and watch you two flirt all night?"

Percy leaned back as if she had just slapped him in the face. "I'm not flirting with Rachel," he stated.

"Sure, and I didn't kiss Connor," she responded, deadpan.

They stood there for a moment in silence, an unspoken challenge for one of them to speak first hanging in the air. The electricity moving between the two could have rivaled Zeus' master bolt.

"Did you like it?" Percy asked, and this was the last thing she expected him to say. She reeled back, considering slapping him for real this time.

"Excuse me?" she said instead.

"Did you like kissing Connor?" he asked again, louder this time. She looked around, hoping their friends in the next room couldn't hear them fighting. Her back was against the wall, and Percy was standing in front of her now, one hand splayed next to her head on the wall as he supported his weight.

She let out a huff through her nose because she didn't know what to say. No, she didn't like kissing Connor, but she couldn't say that to him. She wasn't going to admit that and lose this unspoken battle they had going on.

"Why do you care?" she asked again, her voice barely audible. His face was close to hers now, and they were almost nose to nose. Her eyes dropped to his lips, mere inches from hers.

"You know why," he responded, and suddenly he was kissing her.

Every nerve ending in her body was on fire. He reached his free hand up to cradle her face and deepen their kiss. This was much better than her kiss with Connor only minutes before.

She kissed him back, winding one hand around his neck to cradle the nape and keep him close to her. He showed no sign of breaking the kiss, and she didn't want him to. Their kiss under the mountain had been fast and panicked, and while it was amazing it wasn't like this. Annabeth was sure she was going to melt into a puddle the moment he pulled away.

They stayed like that in the hallway for a minute, exploring each other slowly for the first time. There was a noise in the other room, something breaking, followed by someone yelling and someone laughing.

Percy pulled back, and she almost wept at the loss of contact. She wanted to pull him back down to her, and kiss him again and again until they both forgot about everyone else at the party.

He put his forehead down so it was touching hers, and she felt a whisper of breath across her face as he spoke.

"I don't want to see you kissing anyone else," he said, but his voice was soft. It wasn't a demand, it was a request. She could still sense the hurt lurking beneath his words.

"Percy, I…" she looked up at him with wide, soft eyes as he pulled his head back and his gaze met hers.

"We should probably get back to the party," he said after a moment.

"I can't do this with you again this summer," she blurted out, not knowing where the words came from.

He sighed and put a hand on the back of his head, looking up at the ceiling. "I know, me either. Let's talk about it when we get to camp? This isn't a good place to do it."

She couldn't help but wonder if he was saying that because Rachel was in the other room.

She wanted to believe him, but they'd both had so many opportunities to talk this out over the last year. Plus, there was a war looming, and Percy wasn't even privy to what might be his ultimate fate.

"Okay, whatever you say, Seaweed Brain," she forced a smile, but her eyes were still sad. His eyes were sad too. How had everything become so complicated? It used to be easy, but now they couldn't even interact without hurting each other.

He grabbed her hand and squeezed it before heading back to return to their friends.

"I am really happy to see you, Wise Girl."

She smiled at the sound of the familiar nickname. As annoying and kelp headed as he was sometimes, she would always be happy to see him too.

Chapter Text

Percy didn't know what was going on.

One second, he was minding his own business talking to Rachel, Silena, and Austin, and the next second he was watching Annabeth make out with Connor Stoll on the couch.

He'd been trying to give her space all night, even though all he wanted to do was ask her why she was acting so weird. He thought they'd been doing better. Last summer had put a lot of strain on their friendship, between Annabeth's quest, his "death," their kiss, Rachel, Luke, Kronos, and all of the countless other things that were happening. It had definitely put a strain on their relationship, but 24 hours earlier he had really thought they were starting to get through it.

He'd been making an effort to get back to normal with her over the school year. He made a point to call at least once a month, even though she never called him first. He never missed a month, and if she didn't want to talk to him she was going to have to tell him that.

Things had really improved by the time Michael Yew's annual summer party rolled around, and he was starting to feel hopeful because Annabeth had even called him first for the first time all year.

He remembered running to the phone when his mom yelled for him that Annabeth was on the line. He had taken a deep breath because he didn't want to sound too eager. She would without a doubt notice and make fun of him for it, but he smiled at the thought.

"Hey," he said, trying to sound as cool and collected as possible.

"Hey," she responded, and it sounded like she was smiling. A smiling, happy, carefree Annabeth was one of his favorite things.

"What's up?" he asked.

"I just wanted to let you know that I decided I'm not coming back to camp this summer."

"What?" he nearly yelled, confused but also slightly panicked. Not only did Annabeth keep him alive half the time, but if she didn't come back to camp they could basically give up on trying to repair their relationship, and he definitely didn't want that.

"I'm kidding," she laughed, and he let out a breath. "Of course I'm coming back to camp. I was calling to ask if you're going to Michael's party tomorrow?"

"Ha-ha, very funny. But yeah, I'm planning on it."

"Good," she stated, matter-of-factly before adding "I, uh, just wanted to make sure."

"Are you?" he asked.

"Yeah, of course."

"Good," he closed his eyes tightly for a second before saying his next thought. "I would have been bummed out if you weren't, I'm excited to see you."

They talked for a while after that, getting caught up on life and also discussing the upcoming summer. They both danced around the impending conflict with Kronos, and settled on lighter topics like Charles Beckendorf finally asking Silena Beauregard to be his girlfriend, and how that was going to affect camp dynamics this year. Percy couldn't help but wonder if Annabeth was thinking about him as they discussed their friends' newfound relationship. Part of him wanted to bring up what happened under Mount St. Helens, but per usual he was too afraid that he might upset the delicate status quo between them.

He'd gone to sleep thinking about her, and feeling hopeful that they might finally be getting back to normal. The next morning, Rachel had called him in tears.

She'd apparently had some big fight with her dad that morning over the new school he wanted her to go to. Percy needed to get packed for camp, but Rachel sounded like she really needed a friend so he invited her over. By the end of it, after clearing it with Michael, he ended up inviting her to the party so she wouldn't have to go home and face her dad.

He didn't think Annabeth was going to react so poorly to it, although maybe he should have been able to guess. Annabeth hadn't liked Rachel ever since she joined the quest last summer.

When they arrived at the party, the first thing he saw was Annabeth's blond curls barreling toward him. She threw her arms around his neck, and something in him melted in relief for the first time in a year. Maybe they really had fixed things, and this summer was going to be better. His arms automatically wound around her waist, and he squeezed her so tight that he lifted her off the ground. He was taller than her now, and he never passed up an opportunity to remind her.

After they untangled themselves, Annabeth finally noticed Rachel standing next to him. He watched as the giant smile on her face melted, giving way to a look of disappointment.

"Percy," she said quietly. To her credit, it seemed like she was trying not to let Rachel hear them talking about her. "This party is supposed to be for campers only."

"Oh, uh, yeah. I asked Michael and he said it was fine, since she's clear-sighted and was on your quest last summer."

Truthfully, Percy hadn't been sure about inviting Rachel to the party. He thought it might be kind of weird, because this was supposed to be the one place that all the campers could let loose before the summer started. He knew that bringing Rachel might be a bad look, he wasn't that dumb, but she had seemed so sad all day that he couldn't make her go back to her dad's house.

"Oh," he watched as Annabeth's face dropped further, and he kicked himself internally for getting them into this situation again. If he was worried about upsetting the very delicate dynamic of their current relationship, he'd just done it.

"I'm going to get a drink," she said curtly as she walked away.

"Annabeth, wait," he called, but she didn't turn around.

"I'm sorry," Rachel said beside him. "I shouldn't be here."

"No, it's fine," he said, exasperated but determined to make the best of the situation. "Let's just enjoy the party"

Annabeth had been not-so-subtly staring daggers at them all night, so he decided to give her a bit of time to cool down. Yeah, maybe he'd messed up again, but his heart was in the right place and he'd been really trying all year. She needed to put some effort into repairing things, too. Plus, he'd learned early on in their friendship that when she was mad, it was better to talk to her after she'd had some time to think things through.

So now, he stood in a circle with Rachel, Silena, and Austin from the Apollo cabin. Silena was recounting how Beckendorf had kissed her at the fireworks last summer, but hadn't officially asked her out until midway through the school year.

"I really didn't know what to think after the fireworks last year," she was saying. "Everyone kept telling me that they were so sure the two of us were going to end up together, but I was starting to doubt it. After he kissed me and then didn't make another move, I was mentally preparing myself to move on."

Percy was starting to sweat at Silena's story. He really needed to figure out this thing with Annabeth.

"Connor actually encouraged me to hang in there and wait it out, although he did say something about trying to win a bet. Oh, there he is now," she started to wave Connor over, but he sat down on the couch next to Annabeth instead.

"Anyway," she continued. "Turns out Charlie was just nervous. Which is really cute, but boys can be so clueless sometimes!"

"Yeah…" Percy mumbled, mostly to himself but loud enough for the group to hear it. "Can definitely confirm that."

The group laughed, and Rachel leaned closer to him and put her hand on his arm. He quickly examined Rachel's hand placement before she dropped it. He'd been starting to think that she might have a crush on him, but he genuinely wasn't sure. He wasn't good at picking up on stuff like that, and the last thing he wanted to do was ruin their friendship by making assumptions. He glanced over at Annabeth, hoping that she hadn't seen what just happened.

She and Connor were still talking on the couch, and he breathed a small sigh of relief that she hadn't noticed Rachel maybe flirting with him. He watched for a moment as they continued to talk, and then—hold on—was she kissing him?

He watched in horror as Annabeth reached up and grabbed Connor's shirt, bringing him down to her level and placing her lips on his. It wasn't a quick peck either, they lingered. Percy felt all the blood drain out of his face. Was she really kissing Connor Stoll right in front of him?

The two finally broke apart, and Annabeth laughed. She was smiling after kissing Connor. Gods, she had just kissed Connor. This was a disaster. Tonight couldn't possibly get any worse.

He turned to Rachel without a second thought.

"Hey, I'll be right back. Will you be okay for a few minutes on your own?"

She nodded, and he sped off to go talk to Annabeth or kill Connor, whichever happened first.

They were still laughing when he reached the couch, but Annabeth seemed to sense his presence immediately and looked up with panicked eyes.

"Can I talk to you?" he asked, trying to stay as calm as possible but suspecting that his expression might be giving him away.

She looked at Connor before answering, and he felt a vein pulse in his forehead. What, did she need his permission to talk to him now? He really didn't want to punch his friend from Cabin 11, so instead he grabbed Annabeth's arm and gently pulled her to her feet, moving her away from the couch and away from Connor.

"What?" She asked when they rounded the corner into an empty hallway. She crossed her arms over her chest and stomped her foot. If he hadn't been so worked up, he probably would have thought it was cute.

"What was that about?"

"What was what about?" she responded. She couldn't be serious, was she really going to make him say it?

"Why were you kissing Connor Stoll?"

"Why do you care?"

"Annabeth…" he ran a hand through his hair and looked at the ceiling, questioning all his life choices up until this moment. How had things gotten so complicated between them? It used to be so easy. He used to be able to make her laugh, sometimes at his expense, but her smile in those moments was always the highlight of his day. Now he couldn't even talk to her without making her mad. He thought back to Silena's story. Maybe he'd waited too long, and Annabeth had moved on.

"Look, Percy, I don't want to do this with you tonight. I thought we were doing better, but you've basically ignored me all night." An edge of irritation was creeping its way into her voice, but her eyes remained soft and sad.

"I've ignored you?" he asked, disappointment lacing his voice now. "You ran away from me as soon as I got here. I was really excited to see you, but you're acting like you don't even want to talk to me."

"I want to talk to you," she responded, not masking the irritation in her voice now. "But I don't want to talk to Rachel."

Ah, there it was. He knew this had to do with Rachel. He didn't get why she was acting this way. Annabeth was so kind and always willing to go out of her way to help everyone. She was everyone's favorite person. It wasn't like her to be this mean for no reason. She wasn't an Ares kid, after all. "She's not that bad, Annabeth. I wish you would give her a chance."

"Why, so I can stand there and watch you two flirt all night?"

He felt like he'd been punched in the gut by her words. Maybe she had seen Rachel touch his arm after all. He and Rachel were just friends, and even if she was flirting with him, he definitely wasn't flirting back.

"I'm not flirting with Rachel," he stated.

"Sure, and I didn't kiss Connor," she responded, deadpan. They weren't getting anywhere, and Percy wondered if he was just going to have to let this go and watch their relationship slowly wither away into nothing.

No, he couldn't accept that. He wasn't going to let her go that easily. One way or another, they were going to figure this out.

The air became even more charged as he asked his next question: "Did you like it?"

She reeled back, now looking like she had been punched in the gut. He wondered for a moment if she was going to hit him.

"Excuse me?" she said instead, her face twisted into a mix of indignation and hurt. He regretted his question, but he knew he couldn't go back now. They just had to figure this out. They had to figure out how to be around each other without hurting each other.

"Did you like kissing Connor?" he asked again, louder. He didn't care if everyone in the next room could hear them. If they did, maybe they'd think twice before kissing his best friend in the future.

Through the course of their argument, she had backed up a few steps and her back was now flush against the wall. He leaned forward some, putting his hand near her head and letting it support all his weight.

She didn't answer, but she let out a huff and her arms had fallen to her sides in defeat. So she didn't like it. He knew her well enough to know that was her "you're right, but I'm not going to admit that you're right," face.

A small part of him sighed in relief. Thank the gods, hopefully he would never have to see her kissing Connor Stoll again. Hopefully he would never have to see her kissing anyone else again. Suddenly, he regretted letting his anger take over. He wanted to hug her and tell her that he was sorry, and that he just wanted to put tonight and the whole previous year behind them.

"Why do you care?" she asked quietly, and this question almost surprised him more than anything else that happened tonight. Did she think he didn't care? He knew that they needed to talk about their kiss under the mountain, but he didn't think that that translated into him not caring that she kissed other guys.

He needed to do something. He could feel her slipping away day by day, moment by moment, fight by fight. He needed to make sure that she knew he cared.

"You know why," he said, bringing his lips down to hers.

He kissed her slowly, determined to make it last longer and mean more than whatever happened out there with Connor. But, if she was feeling even a fraction of the sparks currently happening over every inch of his body, it would.

As he cradled her face, determined to hold on to her until she understood what she meant to him, he felt the tension finally leave her body. Her hand snuck up around his neck, and his skin tingled as her fingers lightly traced the nape.

Their first kiss hadn't been like this. It had been fast, panicked, and distracted. Their first kiss was a request that he would come back alive, and this kiss was the resolution.

There was a noise in the other room, and Percy remembered there was a whole house full of people right on the other side of the wall. He started to pull back, but she clung to him, eyes wide like she might cry.

He hated seeing her like that, so he put his forehead down on hers and closed his eyes, trying to comfort her but also trying to comfort herself.

"I don't want to see you kissing anyone else," he said. He knew he couldn't demand this of her. She'd never been one to take orders, but he didn't think he could handle seeing her kiss someone else again.

"Percy, I…" she looked up at him, her eyes still wide. He wondered briefly if she was going to kiss him again.

When she didn't say anything else, he filled the silence. "We should probably get back to the party."

"I can't do this with you again this summer," she finally exclaimed, and she almost looked embarrassed after the words fell out. He understood, though. He felt the same way.

"I know, me either. Let's talk about it when we get to camp? This isn't a good place to do it."

He was worried Rachel was going to come looking for him soon. He wasn't worried about Rachel seeing them talking, or even kissing really, but he knew it would upset Annabeth if Rachel interrupted them. This was much too delicate of a conversation to be having when they could easily be interrupted. They needed to find time to talk, alone and just the two of them.

"Okay, whatever you say, Seaweed Brain," she smiled, but he could tell it wasn't genuine. He knew what her real smile looked like, and that wasn't it. Plus her eyes were still so sad. He wondered if his were too.

He knew he couldn't do anything to completely fix this tonight. It was going to take more than one kiss in the hallway. He would keep trying though, she was worth the effort.

So, as a final good faith gesture and a promise, he grabbed her hand and squeezed it.

"I am really happy to see you, Wise Girl."

She smiled again, but this time he could tell it was genuine. Gods, he loved her smile, and if he had to kiss her a thousand more times to make sure he got to see that smile forever, that's what he was going to do.